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The Teaching of Peter Dunov Around the World Peter Dunov's new ideas attracted attention outside Bulgaria after 1925. The teaching spread through foreigners who had visited him here in Bulgaria and had been strongly impressed by him, Bulgarians who traveled abroad and spoke about the Master, and through books, magazines and newspapers published in Bulgaria and distributed abroad. A personality of the Master's rank could not remain unnoticed by the greatest minds of his time. Researchers of the life of Leo Tolstoy say that in 1910 he left for Bulgaria. He never got there because he fell ill and died during the trip, reads the biography by Biryukov. Quite a few researchers believe that Tolstoy's intention had been to meet with Peter Dunov in whom he recognized the Universal Master. Leo Tolstoy. In 1910, one of the Master's future disciples of the name of Boyan Boev studied with Rudolph Steiner. Steiner once told him: "Slavdom has a great mission to fulfill. It, and Bulgaria in particular will make an enormous contribution to the spiritual uplifting of humanity. I have nothing to teach you. Go back to Bulgaria; the Universal Master is already working there." Rudolph Steiner In 1926 in Japan, the religious movement Omoto, known for its progressive spirit of unification, acknowledged the Bulgarian White Brotherhood as ideologically related. "I am just a sage. The Master is in Bulgaria," said the movement's leader Onisaburo Deguchi. Onisaburo Deguchi Peter Dunov's new ideas attracted interest in Czechoslovakia, too. The Die Gloke magazine published his biography, and in his book Das Reich Glottes auf Erden the philosopher Rudolph Burkert described him as "a prophet of the white race".. In 1927 in Italy, Aldo Lavinini published in the Il Messagero della salute magazine an extensive biography of Peter Dunov and admired his work. In 1928, Agnesa Hoffmann of the Catholic Liberal Church in the Netherlands visited Bulgaria, wishing to meet Peter Dunov, credited with being one of the Masters. She said: "I came to meet with the Master Peter Dunov. Humanity has but a few masters." In 1929, the foreign publications on Peter Dunov's teaching and his activity in Bulgaria became more numerous. In Japan, the Omoto magazine wrote: "The movement of the White Brotherhood is something new and original that the Bulgarian nation has contributed to the world. It is an occult movement based on the ideas of real Christianity." In Germany, the Reformblatt newspaper published an article entitled Heralds of the New Culture. It said about the White Brotherhood: "The true value of this movement is not only in its ideas but in its inflexible will to implement them in life." Peter Dunov was described as "a magnificent figure, radiating kindness". Das Wort and Das Neue Licht also wrote of the Master and the White Brotherhood. In Italy, Peter Dunov's ideas quickly gained ground. The Alpha newspaper - publication of the Association of Psycho-Experimental Sciences in Palermo, described him as "a mystical apostle of Christianity in its full power and grandeur". In Locarno, the Yoga Publishing House published nine selected lectures by Peter Dunov in Mara Belcheva's translation, with a foreword by Professor Gino Sordelli. Sordelli wrote that the lectures indicated "the road to the blessing which is the purpose of life and the ideal for every person". An Italian Academy of Science, Literature, and Art was opened in Venice on the 24th of October 1929. In his address at the inauguration ceremony, the Academy's Director, Professor Luigi Bellotti proclaimed Peter Dunov its supreme patron. In Romania, the pacifist writer Reljis launched an international discussion on the subject of global peace. He addressed outstanding public and religious figures of his time such as Romain Rolland, Rabindranath Tagore, and Albert Einstein. He also wrote to Peter Dunov, who wrote back: "Love is a fundamental law in the divine world, and the peoples are the organs of its manifestation on earth. The organs of an organism have no right to fight between themselves. Thus, a nation fighting with another nation excludes itself from the whole organism. War is an anachronism, an abnormal state." In Argentina, the Bulgarian emigrant Rasho Todorov founded a branch of the White Brotherhood. They studied Dunov's lectures and sang his songs in Bulgarian. Magdalena de Pita also spread the teaching through articles in various newspapers and a volume of Dunov's aphorisms. She wrote: "The teaching of Peter Dunov is based on love; it is about a new life." Dunov's lectures were translated into Spanish, and from Argentina, they spread in other countries of South America: Chile, Paraguay, Mexico, and Peru. In 1930, along with the countries mentioned above, the teaching spread in the United States, England, and Hungary. In the United States, 19 lectures were published in an English translation, and they were acclaimed by the press. The Rosicrucian society in Oceanside, California, was impressed by the lecture entitled The Great Law: "The author of these magnificent and lofty thoughts has a deep knowledge of the secrets of life." In the Hungarian newspaper Gyori Hirlap, a journalist who had visited the Master at the Izgrev centre wrote: "Peter Dunov is a very modest person. He leads people in the most natural way, himself being their model. His life illuminates the path of humankind to a spiritual life that would bring it health, strength, and vitality. He wishes to liberate humans before they are convicted. The basics of his teaching are rooted in the teaching of Christ." The Bulgarian Petar Pamporov, a renowned Esperanto expert, made a trip to Europe with the aim of popularizing the international language and the New Teaching of Peter Dunov. During his stay in Britain, he gave lectures on the Master's ideas in Oxford, London, and Manchester. Paneurhythmy in England. The Manchester Guardian carried an extensive article on his activity. Petar Pamporov delivered lectures in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Latvia as well. In 1931, many of Peter Dunov's lectures were translated and published abroad. The number of the groups where these were regularly studied increased. In Canada, The Torch - the publication of the Canadian Astrological Society - wrote about the lecture The Great Law. "This brochure is unequaled in the entire American literature. The author has penetrated the mechanisms of the spiritual alchemy of the universe, and shows how each virtue helps build the individual and the collective good of humankind." In Latvia, three lectures by the Master were published in a volume entitled The Three Basics of Life. In Yugoslavia, Zivoin Kostic published a book in support of vegetarianism, paying particular attention to the Brotherhood movement in Bulgaria as followers of this philosophy. In Japan, the Omoto movement organized an exhibition of the spiritual movements in the world. The Bulgarian White Brotherhood was given a central place. In Italy, Udine was the next town where Dunov's activity became popular. A group called Sons of the Light was formed there. They drew inspiration from the Master Peter Dunov and described him as "the movement's soul, the supreme moral essence" of their every initiative. In Brazil, the Reformation magazine, publication of the Brazilian Spiritualist Society in Rio de Janeiro, carried an article by Gabriel Gobron on the White Brotherhood's activity in Bulgaria. In 1932, at a Theosophical Convention in the Netherlands, Jiddu Krishnamurti rejected the idea to be proclaimed as the World Teacher and confessed to participants at the convention: "The World Teacher is in Bulgaria." Jiddu Krishnamurti In the same year in Germany, the Mcnschhcitspartei movement also declared their closeness with the Bulgarian White Brotherhood and their deep respect for its creator Peter Dunov. In Italy, many of Dunov's lectures were published in Italian in the translation of the prominent Bulgarian poet Mara Belcheva. Mara Belcheva. In Argentina, the lecture The New Eve came out in a translation by Magdalena de Pita. In France, the Mercury universal magazine carried an article entitled Bulgarian Alchemy about the life of Peter Dunov. From 1933 to 1943, Peter Dunov's New Teaching continually spread and expanded. An increasing number of movements acknowledged the White Brotherhood as the supreme embodiment of ideas they had been looking for years. Sweden, Switzerland, and Estonia joined the list of countries where there was interest to Peter Dunov. In Yugoslavia, S. Paunovic who had visited the Izgrev centre personally described Dunov as "professor", and his school at Izgrev as "the free university of the Universal White Brotherhood". A number of editorials from the Zhitno Zurno (Grain of Wheat) magazine published by Deunov's disciples were translated and published around the world. In Poland, Angi Pilszova wrote in the Hejnal magazine: "There are many occult schools in the world, but the one in Bulgaria is special, it tries to influence society beneficially by serving as a positive model." In Switzerland, the press wrote about the volume Speeches of the Master: "Never before have we seen so many truths, so condensed, so vividly and beautifully presented!" Paramahansa Yogananda visited Greece in 1936 in connection with the foundation of ashrams for his followers. When they were close to the Bulgarian border, a disciple asked him: "Wouldn't you establish an ashram in Bulgaria? It has a beautiful nature, high mountains..." "I have nothing to do there," Yogananda replied. "The Spirit of Truth is working there." Paramahansa Yogananda. In France, Peter Dunov's disciple Mihail Ivanov, an ardent follower, and propagator of the teaching, was very active. Gradually, he formed the largest branch of the White Brotherhood outside Bulgaria.

The Sun Essence Small things are the limit of the great things. Small things are the beginning of the great things. A man who cannot start a small thing cannot do a great thing. Thus the world cannot be created. The world has not been created as the scientists think. At 12 billion miles away from our solar system, all the space has been filled with matter. All this matter has been gathered, it has formed the Sun; it has formed all the planets. There are more planets that the scientists will find out. Whether they will find them or not, this compressed matter is the material world. There are other worlds that are invisible. The scientists have a lot of theories about the creation of the world. According to one of these theories, it has initially represented a nebula and its rotation around the centre has formed Sun. So this nebula has gradually hardened, has shaped, until finally has become a solid mass. At first the Sun has occupied several billion kilometres space volume, but then around it has appeared a few hoops that have divided it into several parts, which have gradually formed a line of planets such as the Earth, Venus, Jupiter and others. Currently (1926) our astronomers know only seven planets, but there are two still unknown to them - nine planets in total. The number 7 is a strict number. It is the judge that hangs you with a rope without thinking that God exists. The number 9 is the dealer that puts you in front of the liquidation table. How will you liquidate? You will liquidate with a 25% interest. I ask you: you, the people of today, starting your liquidation, with how many percent will you liquidate? At first the Sun has occupied huge space, but gradually its matter has thickened, while it has made its current form and shape. Thus are all the planets have been formed. According to the Bible God has created at first the Heaven and the Earth, and on the fourth day He has created the Sun. According to the modern scientific theories, it is somewhat inconsistent, because the Earth has come out of the Sun. According to them the Earth has ever been in the Sun and then it has gone out of it. The same can be said about the other planets. And they have come out of the Sun. In the Scripture it is said that at the beginning God has created the Heaven and the Earth and then the Moon and the Sun. The Sun is necessary because it determines the seasons and the years; it determines conscious life as the life of evolution. The Sun chronicles all that is done under heaven. It records everything in the great book of life. All objects in the universe are interconnected and form a single, great body. All the planets governed by this body, yet are absolutely free. Among all the planets have been routed roads and communications for the citizens of one planet with the citizens of another. Each planet has been turning around its axis and around its sun. Between the planets has risen something that caused discord that ultimately put them in their respective place. The Sun has taken over the centre stage and around it has begun circling the other planets. Our Earth is moving at breakneck speed through space, the Sun too. The Sun is a million and a half times bigger than the Earth; it is heavy and moves in this rare matter. Who holds these huge bodies in that space, let me know! Only the thought, mind alone holds these huge objects in space. The entire nature, the eternity, all space is permeated with mind and thought. Sun sends to the people air, gold, and life. That man who has knowledge would make his clothes from sunlight. Wool, food, everything comes from the Sun. Man who has knowledge will collect his food, his fuel from Sun. He will not give money for food and coal, he will not argue with anyone, because there will be nothing to argue about. A man who has knowledge can check the status of the Sun. You, if you have those vibrations of red, or if you have the vibrations of yellow, or if you have the vibration of the blue, you can enter in connection with people of the Sun and talk to them. Because light is the language of the inhabitants of the Sun, as they talk, they form the light and send it worldwide. Light is their speech, therefore it is so nice. I believe that in the centre of the Sun is the intelligence of Sun. The Sun is rational, the Earth is rational. Between these two rationalities there is a relation. The visible land is the body of the Earth. And the Earth has a soul, and the Sun has a soul. And the good man is inspired by the Sun and the bad man inspired by the Sun. When man does not think much, he says: "To remove evil from the world!" How could you remove evil, when the Sun is both the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the world? What would you say about this on top? You say: "Whether is it true or not true?" If it is true, it is true, if it is not true, not true. This cannot be proved. This does not mean that the evil arises from the Sun. That is the reason for evil in the world: the Sun has a dark area that goes around the Earth. The dark area around the Sun is due to the dark rays coming out of it. So, around the bright Sun, we see very bright and dark suns. Dark Suns obstruct the light. They are invisible, but produce a blackout, as a result of which appears this is a dark zone around the Earth. These dark suns are a guard measure. So when people say that there is a dark area around the Earth, they must know that there is a dark area and around the human mind, and around the human heart. These dark areas around the mind and heart of man are precautions so do not be afraid of them. When man wants to taste the evil in the world, then this dark zone opens and all darkness invades his mind and his heart. Then we say that to this man come all the misfortunes. It is enough at least opening the area for human life to become miserable for at least 100 years. It is enough at least the smallest effort to strengthen the faith, to make the life happy for at least 100 years. Human happiness or misery depends on man himself. Heaven in the solar system is the Sun. How would I prove it? One day you can see it for yourself. You can place your spine to the Sun to bake. And if you know how to put your back, you will have a film; you'll know what there is on the Sun, like a film it will be presented on canvas. Pictures of the Sun will start. What happens on the Sun you will start seeing it. The Earth hides great treasures, these are small mysteries. The Earth carries small secrets and the Sun carries big secrets. There is Love greater than that of the Earth. It is the Love of the Sun. Speaking of "heavenly things," Christ has had in mind the great mysteries of the Sun. There is a large dark sun that does not give any heat. And it is not about size. There is a dark sun. Yet the science of the future will study these dark suns. They say it is energy supply that exists in nature. When one sun above starts to weaken, it takes power from stock. Collected in these suns energy is stored inside. In contrast to the Sun there is another black sun, from which that Sun takes all of its matter. And you have one dark sun. What is the dark sun? Good is the bright sun that works. So you will put the bright sun between the dark sun and you. You should not communicate directly with the dark sun. The bright should be between you and the dark sun. It is the straight path. When you have an enemy put one friend between you and him, to protect you. Never enter in a relationship with one of your enemy of yours directly. There are stars that make a turn in 2 million years. Our sun makes a turn once in 20 million years. According to the scientists, when a star rotates 400 million years, it is possible to collide only once. A star must collide four times, so that the mind to come to her head. Do you know what it means "the mind to come to her head?" The mind to come to her head means to balance, not to spend the energy in vain, as our current Sun, which is considered rational. Those suns that give more light are lighter. And those who give less light are heavier. Every sun that collides four times becomes lighter and becomes more rational. It can live for millions and millions of years. They have a long life. Scientists know the weight of the Earth. On what scales have they weighed it? They have ways for that. They also know the weight of the sun. There might be a small error in their calculations, but they have come around to the actual weight of the Earth and the Sun. We know the things only when we try them. What is there on the Sun? Now the scientists think from 92 million miles, that the Sun is in the molten state and say what elements there are there. If these scientists would have gone to the Sun and returned back, and have verified their theories they would have had quite different concepts. It is a truth, which manifests itself from 92 million miles. This position of the Sun is only true when it is 92 million miles away. The Sun is put 92 million miles away, which is aligned according to the organisms on the Earth. This distance is not arbitrary; it is aligned with the creatures that live there. Scientists cannot know the boundaries of space. From here to the Sun, they calculate the distance, but where are the boundaries of the Sun, no one knows. According to my calculations, on the Sun there are there 25 million degrees of heat. If this temperature of 25 million degrees passes through your body, it will clean it but it will not amend it. You will become geniuses, you will light up; your faces will become angelic. This is exactly the music; it is a fire that does not destroy. Thought without ruining music, it is passion, love without destroying music. It is assumed that on the Sun there are 35 million degrees heat, and this heat, I am talking about cannot be measured by any thermometer. Only it is able to purify the hearts and minds of people. When that fire comes it will clean it the hearts, it will free them from worries and disturbances. You are troubled by thoughts that are not yours. You are troubled by feelings and desires that are not yours. You are troubled by acts, which are also not yours. God has created the world, and yet you are troubled, what will happen to the Earth, which has existed since thousands of years. Our scientists discuss the question since how many thousands of years the Earth has existed and in how many thousands of years the Sun will be gone out. What do they know of the issue of when and how the Sun will be gone out? Indeed, if the Sun is like a candle made of a similar matter, then you can make a mathematical calculation in how many years this Sun will go out. Dry wood are burning on fire, but the fire should come from outside. The same can be said for the Sun: combustible matter is in it, but the energy that develops in combustion comes from outside somewhere. So some scientists think. And man must always be on the side of truth. A scholar in Germany proves that the sun is cold. He says that on the surface of the Sun it is 6,000 degrees, but inside there is cold water. This cold water forms patches on the Sun. He has concluded that the light produced by a firefly to be formed needs 1165 degrees. Firefly does not have this heat, but glows. He says: as firefly does not have these 1165 degrees, it is cold, but lights, and the Sun is shining but it's cold. This work is misunderstood. I think the question is: the Sun has a magnetic surface and the interior of the Sun is electric, there is cold light in there, but that does not mean that there is frost. There is a light in nature that is cold. All forces that go in a straight line are cold, and all that go in a curved line are hot. The straight line shows no coldness, but the vibrations are special. In the summer when the wind blows it cools. This movement is pleasant to you. This is not the cold that takes, that is cold that feeds things. Electricity feeds magnetism. I call electricity - potential and magnetism - dynamic. If a body hits anywhere, its energy is converted into heat. Your magnetism that you're wearing on the outside, it is flexible, you have to be magnetic. The Sun today is better than it has been 2,000 years ago. The Sun now gives more energy to the Earth than 2,000 years ago. And in 2000 years it will provide more than now. The Sun will start to rise from elsewhere, what will happen in a lot of time. One day, when man learns to serve his mind, heart and soul, then he will walk to the Sun himself and he will check how has happened the creation of the world. Today he lives on a relatively small planet the Earth and can not embrace it, but what would be the situation if he has been living on the Sun, which is 1 million and 500,000 times greater than the Earth? A time will come when the Sun will be populated as the Earth and will be shined by another sun, larger than it. As ants cannot cover the idea what is the Earth on which they live, and we cannot imagine what the Sun is and how it is possible to live on it.

From Dawning of a New Epoch, Beinsa Duno The Importance of What Is Small “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in Heaven their Angels always see the face of My Father who is in Heaven.” Matthew 18:10 In human society men and women all strive for big things, for great achievements; and everyone despises the little things in life. This is a weakness in human nature. If, for example, you are given five leva[1], you say, “This is nothing! I wish to be given one thousand, ten thousand, or a hundred thousand of leva. Just five leva? I feel offended—I am not a beggar!” You are offered one walnut, but you say, “Sir, you insult me with this. If you give me 5-10 kilograms of walnuts, I will accept them, but just one walnut, are you making fun of me?” When we strive for great purposes and achievements, we try to make contact with people in high positions: kings, presidents, directors, scientists, and philosophers. At the same time, we say about people in inferior positions, “This or that person is ignorant, a simpleton!” In all areas of life we see contempt for what is small and great interest in what is grand. Yet, Christ addresses his disciples and warns them not to despise the little ones. Why? Do not despise the little ones because thus you offend their Angels who serve them in Heaven. If you despise them, you also despise the Angels to whom the little ones are like children. When we want to split tree logs into firewood, we first chisel small sharp wedges, and as they penetrate the wood, they make space for the bigger ones. If the wedges are big and dull, how will they drive in? So, the little things open the way for the larger things. In the world as well, the entire process of development begins with these little things that you despise, and the overall progress in the Universe is a result of these. Figuratively speaking, we say that a plough feeds the whole world, because after the farmer ploughs and sows the field well, it rewards him with a plentiful harvest. This is true, but we should not forget the role of those billions of earthworms who also help by turning over the soil. However, we have been taught to look down upon the weak. Even after becoming devout Christians, hidden under our sheep’s skin we still have some wolfish instincts, which we occasionally show. We have not lost our old inherited habits and if someone steals from us even a small amount of money, one lev, for example, we immediately bring that person to court. However, if the amount is big, five or ten thousands leva for example, we say, “Bravo!” Yet, those who steal a lot did not develop this habit all at once: first they stole one coin equal to 2.5 stotinki[2], later one gologan[3], later on one grosh[4], followed then by five, ten coins, and so on. This Law is true in all aspects of life. When we do not consider the little details in our actions, we also miss the big effects that they produce. All our misfortunes today, both individual and collective, come as a result of our previous neglect of little things. Therefore, Christ addresses His disciples and advises them “not to despise one of these little ones.” Who are “the little ones?” Someone may say that these are our children, and that is true. Yet, if we want to apply Christ’s Law in full, we will see that there are many other things that should not be despised. “Do not despise one of these little ones!” I will reveal the hidden meaning in these words. A Hindu gave a whole walnut to his son and asked him to find out what was inside. The son cracked the shell and ate the kernel. “What is the essence of the walnut, son?” asked the father. “Nothing special, just some tasty nut meat,” replied the son. “Are you sure you have not found anything else in the walnut?” “No, nothing.” “Son, there is a great power hidden in the walnut. If you had planted it, instead of eating it, a big tree would have grown and you would have seen the greatness of this seemingly small thing, which has a hidden potential within it.” In the same manner God sends you one small thought, one apple seed, but you say, “It is nothing,” and discard it. Yet, God says, “Ask yourself what power it has. Plant it, and you will see the tree that will grow from it.” As a result of this constant overlooking of the little things in life we have reached the present situation of complaining that the world is bad. And what is more, we think that we are the clever ones! Christ advises us not to despise these small things, not to strive only for big things, but to learn to recognize the hidden power within the small things, and to use them, as they will help us achieve big results. For example, your house is built up of microscopically small and densely pressed together particles, is it not? In the same way, our daily life is based on those little things, like the grain of wheat, fruit, and many other things, so-called “trifles.” This pertains not only to the human body, but also to the human mind. In reality, it is the little thoughts and desires that bring joy and happiness in life. Sometimes we laugh at children because they are occupied with little thoughts. We forget that the small grains are those that produce growth into big things. Why should we “not despise the little ones”? It is because we should not disobey the second Divine Commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[5] You should not despise any living being, as it can give useful service, whether it be a pigeon, a hen, a sheep, a horse, or a donkey. For each and every form of life there is a special book. For example, it is written about the donkey, today you loaded the donkey that much, the next day that much. All this is written in the book and when God calculates five leva per day for this service, then after 100 years, assuming that the donkey has served you its entire life, how much do you need to pay it? One day you will find that you, like the debtor from the Scriptures, owe almost ten thousand “talents.”[6] You may say, “I do not remember,” but God has written your debt in the book. So, in fact, all of us are in debt to the little ones. We owe our present progress, our thoughts and desires to the “little ones,” as Christ said. Therefore, being in debt to them, we should have love for them; and knowing that they have served us, we should now serve them, too. Meanwhile, I would like to give you an explanation about a mystery. I have often been asked why Angels are interested in human beings, and whether there is any connection between them. Once upon a time, when Angels were in our present situation and they were living on Earth as consciously aware beings, we were in the situation of animals and served them. Thus, they are obligated to us and God requires them to pay their debt. Cosmic Beings do not despise their smaller fellows because they have served them. Maybe your servant is ignorant, but you do not really know the truth behind this relationship and why God has placed this man in your home. Your relationship with him did not originate in the present: this particular servant has been in your home many times previously. You do not know this, but God knows. This person has probably saved your life many times; therefore, you need to have love and compassion for him. And this is how we can understand this Divine Law: to have love for the little ones. Love is to be expressed not only for great people, Angels, and saints; it is also for the little things, the little ones, the poor and fallen brothers and sisters. This is the reason for the strong love of a mother toward her child; she loves by the power of this Divine Law that obliges her to do so. She loves her child thanks to this inner Divine Fire. You want to see God, but when He comes in your child, you say, “Why did God give me this child?” Every day you ask God to come and every day you chase Him away. And you consider yourselves to be learned people! This is not only an attitude, but a pattern of behavior in the entire world. Every day God tests you to see how much you love Him and how truthful are your words. Once upon a time, after the Fall of Man, when the world went wrong, a rumor was spread that God had descended to Earth to see how people were living. Many people had decided that, since there was no God in Heaven to control them from above, they could live as they wish, without any restrictions. In one place God saw someone selling a blind horse, but telling the buyer, “In God’s name, the horse is not blind.” The man replied “Since you swore in God’s name, I believe you,” and the man bought the horse. God passed by a house and saw a husband beating his wife who cried out, “In God’s name, forgive me!” and the man stopped. These both went to Heaven afterward and justified themselves, saying, “God, on Earth we called upon Your name.” Modern people call upon God too, especially when they try to sell a blind horse or want to beat their wives. Some priests advise, “Believe in God,” but what would God reply to them? He would reply, “I do not know you because you use My name, not for My glory, but to deceive people by encouraging them to perform wrongful actions and make excuses for doing so.” These are the little things that create big misfortunes. You have a blind horse and you want to sell it by using the name of God, but you need to be careful and responsible for your actions. Do you know what the “blind horse” is? It is your body. Yet, people talk against it all the time, punish it, and blame it. No, the body is not the guilty one. Someone gets drunk in the pub and orders, “Do not give food to the horse.” He is doing wrong by getting drunk, but he punishes the horse. Do not despise your body and do not confuse the flesh with your desires and lusts. You need to renounce them—not the flesh. To renounce the flesh would mean to renounce all thoughts and deeds that are realized through it. In addition, you should not torment your body—a temple created by God. In fact, you should be very sympathetic with it because you can work only as long as it is fit and healthy. When Christ says “their Angels,” He refers to those Wise Beings who keep a record of our actions. In fact, what we call “consciousness,” these are the Angels abiding within us and recording each of our actions: either good or bad. They say to us, “Well done!” or “You have not done well.” When you insult someone, then the Angel of this person tells you that your behavior was not good. You start apologizing, “I am sorry, I was a little nervous, indisposed, the conditions were such and such.” Your excuse about the conditions you were in has nothing to do with the rule that you should not despise the little things because they create the foundation for the Divine Laws. The little things can sometimes cause either great benefits or big harm. A wolf once boasted that he was a hero and the king of the animals. The fox interjected, “Do not talk big because if a mosquito enters your nose and stings you, you cannot do anything to it.” “I will blow my nose and the mosquito will fly away,” replied the wolf. One day a mosquito entered his nose and stung him, thus bringing infection to the wolf and causing his death. Often the small circumstances in our life can, in one way or another, bring either progress in our development or an impediment. The causes that bring us good or bad results are not bad in themselves, but their application is wrong. Take, for example, air: if you breathe it through your lungs, it will purify your blood producing a positive effect for you, but if it goes into your stomach, it will produce stomachache. In both cases, one and the same cause creates two totally different results. If you take some charcoal mixed in water, it will have a good effect on your stomach, but introduced into the lungs, it would be poisonous. Therefore, through those little things Christ advises us not to despise, He is referring to the whole of human life with all these little things we are closely involved with. For instance, if I ask you about the way your body, heart, and mind have been formed, could you tell me how this has happened? Initially, when human beings came into existence on Earth, they were not huge, but microscopically small; but under certain conditions they developed and became a million times larger than before. Their power was initially hidden in a nucleus. In a similar way in modern times, an idea is a great Divine foundation; and if it falls on good soil, it can revive our life. That which we call “revival” exists as a Spiritual Law; it is the inner Divine process that uplifts and renews the human heart, mind, soul, and spirit. This is the process of ascending from lower to higher states of development and being, lower to higher levels of existence. And our uplifting, deliverance, and salvation come as a result of this Divine striving. Therefore, all beings, from the biggest to the smallest, strive to rejuvenate and to evolve because in rejuvenation is hidden the blossoming of the human soul. The reason why we should be tolerant toward the little ones is to avoid bringing sorrow to God because when we hurt someone, in fact we hurt not only that person, but also God Who resides in him or her. And when we do good, we help God as well. In fact, when we assist people, their Angels in Heaven will serve us too. Therefore, if we want to have friends in Heaven, we need to serve the little ones, and their fathers, the Angels in Heaven, will welcome us in their Home and offer us a feast. The world is like this: service for service and love for love. Do you understand now why Christ addressed His disciples with these words? You need to remove contempt from your soul. For instance, when you meet people you do not know and feel contempt for them, thinking that they might possibly be inferior to you, if instead you could just help them with their ignorance, you would change the situation; but if you look down upon them, you are introducing a poison into the relationship. In modern aristocratism and caste systems, some are noble, others not, some are rich, others poor—all that has its origin in contempt. If we understand how relations among people should be, we will not be ashamed of poverty, as it is a service given us to carry out. We need to be small and we need to be poor, in order to become rich and great. These are the two polarities, between which development happens. Movement is always from the large to the small, indicating that God always pays attention to the small. He is interested not only in big things. God created all that exists. Yet, ruling over all His creation gives Him less pleasure than being involved with children. His work is to teach people when they err. Thus, He gives us an example not to despise little ones, but to tolerate them and teach them because this is our time to rest and enjoy. When a teacher works with his students, he enjoys it, and when the students study well, he praises them. Saints and priests are involved with wrongdoers in order to turn them to God. The assignment of all of us is to pay attention to weak people and small things. When someone says, “I do not have time for rest,” I know that this person is occupied with big things and big thoughts. How could such a person rest, if he takes an overloaded backpack with 10, 20, or 50 kilograms of gold in it? If he leaves only one Napoleon[7] in his backpack, he would realize that he had plenty of time to rest. Now God comes to tell us “Leave your backpacks!” This will liberate the world of its burdens. Down with the weapons that destroy your minds and hearts! All of you need to become like children, not to despise the small things that God has created. God wants to bring people back to this pure, primeval state that people call “being wild,” but in reality it is not wild, but virgin. I would like to see people becoming wild in this way. In Sanskrit “wild” means “pure.” Let us become pure and come closer to God, instead of becoming evil and cruel. I would like the entire world to become “primeval” as soon as possible, to become pure, noble, and stop despising the little things and the little ones that God loves. I would like the world to place Love, Justice, Wisdom, Truth, and Power in the high esteem where they need to be. This is the way to salvation. Lecture held on August 3 (16), 1914, Sofia. _________________________________________ [1] Lev—BGN (Bulgarian lev, plural leva, levove) is the currency of Bulgaria. [2] Stotinka (plural stotinki): One hundredth of a lev, the basic unit of money in Bulgaria. [3] Gologan is a folk name for an old coin made mostly of copper, with a value of 10 stotinki. [4] Grosh (denarius in Latin) is a coin used in the past in many European countries with a value of 20 stotinki. [5] Mark 12:31 [6] See also Matthew 18:24. [7] The Napoléon is the colloquial term for a former French gold coin, originally minted for Napoléon Bonaparte. The coin continued in use through the 19th century and later French gold coins in the same denomination were generally referred to as “Napoleons.”

from The Blossoming of the Human Soul GRAIN OF WHEAT “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:24 The grain of wheat is a symbol of the human soul. It represents a great story in the development of Nature. If you could open Nature’s book on the grain of wheat and trace its history, you would completely understand the history of the human soul. As the grain of wheat falls into the soil and “dies,” as it sprouts up, grows and bears seed, the same is also true of the human soul. Probably the grain of wheat is something very simple and of no value to you, its weight is only a sixteenth of a thousandth part of a kilogram. How much would it cost, if a kilogram of wheat costs one grosh[1]? However, the grain of wheat contains a power, a potential, and a spirit of selflessness by which it nourishes both itself and others. But when you sit down at the table to eat, you do not think at all about the grain of wheat; you do not consider what joy and what thoughts it imparts to you. You do not know its origin either. People do not value it; hens do not value it; no one values the grain of wheat. But it represents a great mystery in the world. Now, what lies hidden in it? The grain of wheat is a symbol of Life. If we take the Bulgarian letter “ж” (zh), which is the first letter of the word “wheat” in Bulgarian[2], it fully corresponds to the grain of wheat, with two legs or roots below and two small branches above. When we sow it, it shows us the direction in which we have to strive. The grain of wheat tells us that we need to strive for the One Whom we have come from, God, and that in order to strive for God, we need to branch out, blossom, and bear food for the world. That is why Christ says, “Help and sacrifice yourselves for your fellowmen as I do.”[3]And at another place, “I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven.”4 What is bread made of? It is made mostly of wheat. People of today say that their life is miserable. All are discontent, including kings and princes. From the highest to the lowest ones, all have some want, but when it is given to them, they are still discontent. Ask them why: it is because they seek more and more. Let us go back to the story of the grain of wheat. What would you say if you were in its place, sown in the ground? You would say, “It is the end; I am decaying; my life is over!” There is more faith in the grain of wheat than in us. Buried in the ground, it begins to decay, becoming soft, but as soon as the first rays of the Sun appear, it immediately understands their language and says to itself, “I am not going to die, I will rise again and bear fruit for others.” It begins to generate inner energy and to strive toward the Sun. It bears fruit and ripens. Then people come to it; they use a sickle to cut it down. Its suffering does not end here; after reaping it, people bind it in sheaves, prick it with pitchforks and throw it into carts, so that they bring it to the threshing floor and settle it in piles as big as mountains. Then they trample it with horses and threshing-boards. What if you were in its place? Human life passes through the same process. You ask, “Why should we pass through all this process?” You should draw a lesson from this example of the grain of wheat. After the threshing-board and the horses’ hooves have threshed it, people put it into the barn. Again, its suffering does not end there; the grains are sifted; the bad ones fall below and the good ones that remain are put into sacks and taken to the mill, where two heavy mill-stones grind them and crush them completely. If you were in the grain’s place, what would you say? “What a life, what a world has God created!” However, the grain of wheat has great patience. It says, “You will yet wonder what my story is.” When it is taken from the mill as flour and carried home, it is still not left at peace. The wife will roll up her sleeves, sift the flour, throw away some of it, put leaven in the good flour and turn it into dough. If you were in the grain’s place, you would say, “Our suffering is already over.” No! When the dough rises, it goes into the oven and when it is taken out, we see those nice, fresh-smelling loaves of bread. If you were in the grain’s place, you would say, “Our suffering is over at last.” However, after a short time, people break up these nice loaves and start eating them. In this way, the grain of wheat enters our stomachs, forming nutrients that enter our minds and what happens then? Great thoughts are created in our minds and new desires, in our hearts. The grain of wheat carries the garments that clothe our feelings. It flows in the pens of writers and poets and in the bows of violin players. That is what the grain of wheat can give us. If it had not passed through the process of all this development, we would have never seen all the beautiful things in Nature. Why? It is because the grain of wheat gives us strength to look and see. That is why Christ says, “I am the Living Bread.” In order to be alive, one needs to be in communion with the environment, integrating into it, helping others and being helped by them. As the grain of wheat passes through such a process, in the same way we should sacrifice ourselves. This sacrifice is not so difficult. Now let us turn to Christ’s life story and to the history of the Jewish nation. How can we explain this contradiction: the nation awaiting for years its Savior and King to come and bring it freedom, at the time when He appeared, its elite, namely the Jewish high-priests and princes turned against Him? You may say that if Christ has come today, you would behave better. I doubt it. I am going to point out a fact: see how a husband treats his wife or a wife - her husband and you will have an idea about your attitude to Christ. When Truth will show up in the world, it will not be clothed richly but in the simplest garb. That is why Christ came among the Jewish nation in such a simple fashion. That is the reason why people cannot understand Truth. Such are the Laws of this world. However, there is another Law in the world, which is revealed through the sunlight: When the Sun begins to shine on all seeds and beings on Earth, its light producing joy and gladness in some people, evokes hatred and spite in others. This same light that makes some people well-disposed causes others to be fierce and violent. The light and warmth will make a wolf begin looking for sheep to satisfy hunger. The same light and warmth falling on a thief will make him think about how to steal more money. And when the rays fall on those who want to do good, they will wonder whether they can find someone in need to render their help. Feed the hen with corn and it will have nice feathers; give such food to a swine and it will create strong bristles; give it to a wolf and it will make good teeth and nails; give it to a fish and it will produce nice scales. The physiologists cannot explain this process. Each being uses food and heat according to its development and understanding. You can comprehend this Law by experiencing these two different worlds. It is not possible to explain to you why negative tendencies exist in human beings, why they prefer hatred to Love and falsehood to Truth. Many “why” questions will remain unanswered. The Bulgarian word “why”[5] is a question mark meaning “I want.” Why should we want? It is because there is a Law stating that we have to strive for advancement. Christ says that if the grain of wheat, which has fallen to the ground does not “die,” it will remain alone in this world. What is loneliness in life? It is the greatest possible suffering that people could experience. Procreation is the purpose of Life. All suffering in the world comes from the fact that people desire to live for themselves only. Evil always emerges from the desire to be alone and to become the center of the world. However, this is impossible in the Divine Laws. Our thoughts and wishes fail because we construct them on sand. We can be happy in the world only if we live for God and we need to live for Him. We find the explanation of this in Nature. When the Sun rises in the morning, it rises for all because it loves all. It is considerate to all beings, from the lowest to the most advanced ones, and that is why all turn their eyes toward it. From there comes this energy that rises and uplifts us, but does the Sun say to us that we must grasp the meaning of this action? It tells us only to make use of the benefits it is giving and just as it illuminates the world, so should we shed light and enlighten those around us. We have some false ideas in our minds that come from our individual lives. For example, if you enter a house that has a single window, but it is full of twenty to thirty visitors, you may tell them, “You have no right to stay by the window: I want to look through it alone!” However, while you are looking at the Sun, all others will be deprived of its light. Instead, you should better invite them all to see the Sun and show them the way out of the house in order to enjoy the light. That is why it is not good to keep many people around you, since they can never have the benefit of the sunlight and heat all at the same time. We would better tell them to go outside. That is why Jesus says that whoever loves only oneself needs to leave. In another place, He says, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”[6] Thus, if someone gets too close to the window, this person will block the whole view for the others. Keep a distance of twenty to thirty steps off. It is valid in the physical environment. Jesus implies that life does not consist of material benefits. These are only simple tools and aids in the same way textbooks, pens, and boards are to students. Do not think that God has prepared for you only these simple things. He has prepared much greater things. Ask a frog about its idea of life and it will answer, “I would like more flies to fly over my pond and to fly nearer so that I could catch them.” When sometimes you see the frog sitting quietly like a philosopher, it is observing the flies in order to catch them when they come nearer. Such is the frog’s concept of life. Advancing farther on the ladder of evolution, we should not think that we have already reached the climax of our development. There is still a lot to be covered on this staircase from our present position to the Path we are striving for. The distance between human beings and Angels is so great; it is almost the same as the distance between tadpoles from which frogs will develop and human beings. From the Angels’ point of view, we are still little frogs. Some people object, “But human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, are they not?” However, they have not attained this image and likeness up to now. You see how we act. In order to say that we are made in the image and likeness of God, we need to possess the traits of God. What are His traits? They are Virtue, Love, Wisdom, and Truth. Virtue excludes malice, Love excludes hatred, Wisdom excludes nonsense, and Truth excludes falsehood. If all these negative tendencies are not part of us, we will have the likeness of God, but if they are yet a part of us, we are still little frogs. I have nothing against frogs, they need to eat flies. Why? I will tell you why. Flies are winged, so they live in a higher state than frogs. The latter aspire to fly in the air; they want to receive the vibrations of the flies, to develop these vibrations and to begin flying. Why do wolves eat sheep? They need to eat sheep in order to become gentle, for when we eat good things, we become good. Some actors tried to add mutton to their diet for a long time, when they wanted to play the ideal love; for this kind of meat is conducive to such feeling. In this train of thought, if wolves want to be as meek as a lamb, it is good for them to eat lambs. And they will surely become gentle, for they are much gentler now in respect to what they were before. I will tell you the reason why people eat meat: They eat mutton because they want to become nice, they eat poultry because they want to become winged like the Angels. You have this right. The problem is not in consuming such kind of food. When a certain food is restricted, it is because of the consideration not to cause suffering to the animals used for this purpose. I say that you may eat such food. When you go to the chicken coop and catch a hen, if it does not cluck, you may kill it and eat it, but if it clucks, leave it, it wants to live. In the same way, if a sheep bleats, leave it, it wants to live. So, you would do better if you ask them and see which sheep or hen is ready to live through you. Christ says, “I am the Living Bread and who eats Me will have eternal life.” We need to purify ourselves to be able to understand the words of Christ. We need to purify our sight and our mind. Our mind is a perfect tool, if we know how to use it, but it could be also very dangerous, if we do not know how to use it. It is your right to plough an empty field when you will sow it as you follow the natural Law. However, when you plough an already cropped field, you do a foolish thing. Some people say, “We need to think this over and criticize.” In their view, science cannot exist without criticism, but in what sense? Criticism that is like surgery, removing the diseased part of a human body, is useful, I understand this, but removing a healthy part is out of the question. It is not difficult to be such a surgeon, for each one is able to use a saw and cut off someone’s leg. All of you have this skill, but only a few know how to perform a surgical operation successfully. In order to learn it, we need to obey the Law of Virtue and Love in all cases. Do not think that I am preaching only peace and tranquility when I speak to you about Love. A person willing to love should endure the greatest suffering in the world. Who has not suffered cannot experience the Divine Principle of Love. In order to love God, we need to be ready for sacrifice, just as God sacrifices Himself for us. Your way to come to know Him is to say, “God, give us what we need.” “Give, give, give,” this call can be heard from the one end of the world to the other and currency has never been cheaper than it is now. Today, we all are receiving salaries probably three or four times higher than people had before, but again we think we do not have enough. Money is devaluated, for no goods correspond to it. Thus, we should ask for wheat, corn, pears, and apples. You say, “God, I want to be beautiful; I want to be rich!” You want to have many things, but do you know that it will be a disaster for you? If you become rich, you will be an object of criminal intentions and will need guards to keep you safe, like those rich Americans who take three or four bodyguards because they are exposed to blackmail at each step. We do not need riches, we need only those basic things that make our life good. We have neglected our emotional development, so we have to go back to that fundamental principle of training and ennobling our hearts. Negativity does not reside in the human mind but in the human heart. We shall, each one of us, ask our hearts about their own desires. It is our fault, for we have corrupted our hearts alone by making them repeatedly lie as some maid-servants do; by making them think negatively; and so on. God said in the Scriptures, “My son, give Me your heart!”[7] God knows and sees human faults, however, God requires no more from us than to open our hearts and let Him in. You will ask, “How?” We do this in the same way as we open a window to let the light come into the room. There are sayings, “A room full of light is not visited by doctors or diseases;” and “Where Light never enters, the doctor never leaves.” In the same way, no devil has admittance to the human heart where God dwells. If a doctor pays you a visit, he will say, “You need to eat more, drink more, do this and that.” We put up with all this until our backs break. We are often like the cameleer who traveled through the desert and whose camel could barely carry all the load. But when he found a fox skin on his way, he threw it on the camel too; and as a result of overloading, the camel’s back broke and all goods remained in the desert. The camel can carry only a certain amount of weight. We are like this camel, as we are also travelling. If we put on our backs a load that is heavier than we can carry, one day it is going to hinder our development. I do not recommend poverty to you, but to gather riches in three aspects: not only physical and intellectual but also spiritual. Heaven wants such wealthy people because they can be generous and when Christ says, “Lay up treasures in Heaven,”[8] He means such spiritual treasures. Deposit your capital in Heaven so that God may feed the poor on Earth by its interest. It is not the Angels who are working out our salvation; we need to do it by ourselves and we have all the favorable conditions for this. The Law does not require all of us to be equally learned - everyone should know only what is needed to them. Someone says, “I have a small brain,” but I ask then, “If you cannot take care of a foal, how could you take care of a big horse? If you have a small heart and cannot control it, how could you master a bigger heart with greater desires?” What should we do? In my opinion we should not think about the future, but rather take advantage and use for good all the benefits that the present day brings to us. It carries all the future blessings for us. The Law is that God, Who has given us provisions for this day, will do the same for all other days. We should better not think about what will happen to us in the future, but stay calm; there are certain laws regulating the human relationships. It is not by chance that someone causes harm, but it happens according to a Law. However, any misfortune will bring you a blessing; any obstacle will open a new horizon for you. You may test this at all times, so do not worry about the misfortune that may befall you. Some people ask me about the political situation in Bulgaria and what will happen to the country. Is that not strange? What has happened? Bulgaria has been massaged a little bit and that is all. Some load has been removed; Bulgaria was given a new experience and a new task to solve. Most people do not consider reasonably the Laws regulating Life, but we are looking for the guilty ones instead. Tell me: Who is guilty? You are not able to find the guilty ones now. The individual human life is to be blamed. When one wants to become a king of the others, he is guilty and the one who wants to dethrone the king, he is guilty too. It does not matter who the king is, this or that one, the third or fourth one; they all follow the same pattern. I do not say that one should not desire to become a king or a queen. But of what subjects? Of yourself only, of your mind, heart, and will-power. What is the state of your residents? Have you succeeded in mastering your thoughts, feelings, and desires; have you set yourselves in wellness and order? You should give an example to the world at first place. What preacher am I if I turn to the people telling them to be generous, but I am a miser; if I tell them not to steal, but I steal; or if I tell them not to lie, but I lie? A teacher who is teaching others should be a model for them and should first give them an example. Jesus, when He came down to teach the human beings, first gave them an example to follow and if we apply His Teaching, the world will be immediately transformed. A dynamic force is hidden within us, but we cannot use it because we do not know how to act properly. Once a prickle grew on the road, blocking people’s passage. Travelers passing by it hit it with their crooks, but the more they hit it, the more it grew until it began to overturn the carts. People did not know what to do. But then a pick came and said to the prickle, “I am going to show you my art now!” At first, the prickle laughed at it, thinking, “So many people could not do anything to me; will you frighten me then?” The pick began to undermine the prickle’s roots from far away. It dug deeper and deeper and at some point, the prickle said, “Yes, you have found my weak point.” Until you put a pick to work within you, the prickle inside will always laugh at you, saying, “I am going to grow more and more!” It is an allegory for you to comprehend. What is the pick? Think and find it out! We should be always in the place of a judge regarding our deeds. For example, in the American Civil War, two criminals - one blind and the other crippled, were apprehended, while stealing apples. The owner of the garden caught them and brought them before a judge. The blind one said to the judge, “I am blind; I did not steal, but I spread my hands and took some apples from the ground.” The crippled one shouted, “I have no legs, so I could not go to steal apples!” After some thought, the judge said, “Put the crippled man on the back of the blind one!” and he added, “He who has eyes has found the apple tree and he who has no legs but hands, has gathered the apples.” They were caught in that position. The same is true for the human being, each one of us is made of two beings: one is blind and the other is crippled. When God catches them at a crime scene, each one will claim, “I have not picked; I have not taken; I could not have been there!” God answers, “Put the first one on the back of the other!” and after that, He judges them. Who is the blind being? It is the human instinct. Who is the crippled being? It is the human mind. They both have decided to steal apples, the crippled on the back of the blind. But when they are caught, each one says, “Why do you blame me?” However, they are both guilty. Evolution is a prerequisite for us. Much greater blessings are in store for us, but we are to become enough learned, fairly good, and mature enough so that this heritage could be entrusted to us. These three things that I mentioned before: Virtue, Justice, and Wisdom; are great riches and if you have them, you will be healthy and happy. You will ask, “How can we apply this Teaching in the world?” I answer: We are not required to set the world right. The world has been set right and there are no abnormalities in it, for everything moves according to a set order. We know the reasons why events, natural or political, occur. We should not alter this flow. However, the individual transformation of each person in the world, male or female, is a necessity. When individuals transform themselves, their children, their sons and daughters, will be transformed too, and when their neighbors undergo this transformation too, the entire world will be set right. As the leaven is, so is the dough. It is the principle that Christ has established and He is working for its realization. Just as the chrysalis advances and is transformed into a butterfly, in the same way the world will be uplifted and changed for the better. The great unrest in it is due to all those who cannot create their own chrysalis and are worried about how they will spend the coming winter. The transformation therefore, should take place in our minds, as well as in our hearts and wills; and as soon as it occurs, we are going to sense that we also possess a certain inner power. Then we will be able to contact those Sublime Beings who have already advanced and whom we call Saints. As a result our minds will be enlightened in the same way as students are enlightened in the presence of their teachers. Saints are the Teachers of the humankind and we all shall follow their guidance, for they teach the world how to live. You will ask, “Where, at what place, are these Teachers? We do not see their images in the church.” It is because every object has a shadow by which we can find the object itself. Your desires are just a shadow in the world, as your aspirations are. If you want to grasp the essence, you must observe the Law: from your heart to move up to your mind and think about God. How can we visualize God? We can visualize Him as the most perfect Being, in Whom there is absolutely no malice or hatred. God loves human beings in the same way as real father loves his children. Such is the attitude of God toward us. What do you think: Is He listening to us or not? He is listening to us and He is working inside our minds. The good disposition that we have every day is due to Him. Just as the Sun makes us well-disposed every day after its rise, in the same way, the happy moments in life are due to this inner Sun that is shining within us. There are rises and settings in the spiritual life as well. The Sun rises high in your mature age; you are at your noon and you will set in your old age in order to rise up again. God will rise in many hearts and minds, but in many others He will not rise. Those individuals in whom the Divine will rise are going to feel joy and gladness; but those in whom It will not rise will say, “Life is misfortune, sorrow, and suffering.” They need to wait. Why? It is because no conditions exist in them for rising. If the Sun rises in them prematurely, it will be a disaster, so it is better for them to rest now. I do not say that they are going to die, not in the least. I only quote a Law. When I speak about setting, everyone associates it with dying. What is death? It is a supposition. Everyone needs to die in order to be able to tell what death is because now you are only presuming. In one of his stories, Tolstoy tells the following: He met a Russian monk, 85 years old, white bearded and asked him, “What were the reasons compelling you to become a monk?” The monk told him his story in short, “I come from a royal family. When I was between 21–25 years old, my parents wanted me to marry a princess. At that time I fell into an lethargic sleep. Doctors came and checked my pulse. ‘His heart does not beat,’ they said and wanted to have me buried. I said to myself, ‘Is this really death?’ I was unable to give them a sign that I was alive. My fiancee came with her father and I heard that he was advising her to cry a little bit so that people would think that she loved me. She answered, ‘I never loved him but his wealth. And then I told myself, ‘If God brings me back to life, I would live in a different way.” How awful it is to be alive and not to be able to tell people about it; how awful it is to see everyone weeping and not to be able to show them that you are alive! How many people have been buried in this way? There is nothing more horrible than to be buried alive. The greatest misfortune is to remain for days and months in the ground and not to be able to separate from your body; that is the worst prison, just like hell. If we are pure, we will know when the soul leaves the body and will never pass through such suffering. When a doctor states that someone is dead, people say right away, “Take him!” They make a nice coffin and carry him in it with music and songs. Where is their love? That is the love of fellowmen and of society! Someone tells you, “I love you.” In what way? Is it in the way a cat loves a mouse or a wolf loves a sheep? It is also love, but the world only suffers from such love. The Love needed in the world is to love others helping them to be happy like us. That is why Christ says, “He who trusts Me will do what I do and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, Who will come and dwell in him.”[9] You ask, “What will happen to Bulgaria?” I ask what will happen to you. You do not know that the Devil has taken all your property; he has sold even your skin. Yet you ask what will happen to Bulgaria. Bulgaria, it is you. Pray to God to help you in expelling this uninvited guest from you, to help you in preserving your property: your mind and your heart. The Devil is to be blamed for all this suffering, but you should not be angry with him. I approve of him only in one aspect: he is very industrious and does not get discouraged. If you chase him out of one door, he enters through another; if he does not succeed one way, he tries a second, a third, and a fourth way. It is an excellent and encouraging trait of his. God says, “Take an example from him, as he is a teacher of people, teaching them lessons and he will teach everyone.” After he has lied and lied to you, finally you are going to tell him, “We have already learned your lies and you cannot lie to us anymore.” One person said to a friend, “You cannot lie to my monkey.” His friend went to the monkey and pretended to be asleep. The monkey also closed its eyes and at that time he took the money. The master of the monkey came home and punished it. Next time, the monkey will keep its eyes open, as it knows what will follow. With the experience we get after we have suffered, we shall tell the Devil, when he comes, “My eyes are open!” If you begin to suffer, say, “I have not yet passed through the whole process of the grain of wheat.” When your minds and hearts are transformed and perfected, then you will attain the image and likeness of God and God will lift you up in the same way as the Sun revives the sown grain of wheat. Lecture given by the Master, March 23, 1914, Sofia. ------------------------------------------------ 1. Grosh is an old Bulgarian word for a penny. 2. Wheat in Bulgarian - жито 3. See also Ephesians 5:2, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” 4. See John 6:51. 5. “Why” in Bulgarian - защо? 6. See Matthew 10:37. 7. See footnote 11 on page 24. 8. See also Matthew 6:19–20, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” 9. See also John 14:21.

from The Blossoming of the Human Soul BEHOLD THE MAN “Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”[1] John 19:5 The Bulgarian word chovek or chelovek (old style), which is translated as “man” in English, refers to a being who can live for more than a century. However, in the ancient language in which this phrase was written, the word chovek refers to Jesus, the Man, who came to the Earth; the Brother of those who suffer. What is the meaning of this word? When we go into the world, would people say about us, “Behold the Man?” To deserve this name, one should possess four qualities: wealth, strength, knowledge, and virtue. Some may ask, “What has wealth to do with this?” Wealth represents the soil, in other words, the conditions under which humans can develop; it is the foundation necessary for attaining strength. Strength brings warmth and light that results in growth and development. Knowledge involves understanding and the regulation of our lives. Virtue, on the other hand, is the goal people need to strive for. Plant a grain of wheat and it will show you what you should do. “How?” you may ask. Water it and the sunrays will guide the grain of wheat toward the Sun, toward the source of life. Similar to the grain of wheat, we need to grow, to strive for God. But someone may ask, “Can the grain of wheat reach the Sun while growing? Will I reach God?” You do not need to know where God is, you only need to strive toward Him. The grain of wheat knows what the Sun is and has received what it needs from it. The same Law is true for people and we need to produce the same result: we need to be sown. We are going inevitably to meet hardships in our lives, small but necessary obstacles, as in the case with the grain of wheat. Some pressure is needed so that the process of growth and true Knowledge can begin. When we bear fruit, we already have Virtue. Therefore, we need to be sown, covered with soil, and experience some pressure. After that, we should grow up and should attain Knowledge. And that Knowledge, after growing to a certain extent, should be immediately transformed into a grain of wheat. After we attain Knowledge, the Master will order the wheat to be harvested, separating the useful from the useless; the wheat from the chaff. While our birth is similar to wheat sprouting, our death is similar to the threshing of wheat. From the threshing floor, the Lord will take what He needs. This corresponds to the barn and the granary: the chaff is placed in the barn and the grain is placed in the granary. I read the 19th chapter of the Gospel of John to remind you of the four things that Christ carried on the cross, the four things that we need to learn. Virtue was on His head, which was not nailed; on the left side was Knowledge; on the right side was Strength; and below, at His feet, was Wealth. These four together represent the crucified man. In other words, when we nail Wealth, Strength, and Knowledge; their essence rises up to the head, toward Virtue. Whenever God wants to do something good for someone, He nails this one to the cross; He nails one’s wealth, strength, and knowledge to create a virtuous person. What does it mean “to nail”? It means that God is securing the person so that no one can take him away; no one can be that person’s master because God is his Master. God says, “Stay calm when I am working.” But since man does not want to stay calm, God says, “Nail him down so that he will be calm while I am working.” When we are being nailed to the cross, we should not cry because God is working for our improvement. Those who are not nailed to the cross are unhappy. Whoever wants God’s attention should pass through this process of development. I am speaking allegorically. Before this process of development can take place, steadfast faith in the universal Divine Plan is required. We should not have doubt in God because He is perfect and almighty. Jesus said, “Things impossible to men are possible to God.”[2] The ways of God are unfathomable. Do not think that God’s ways can be distorted and obstructed. When we are called upon to walk the Divine path, we should have the simple faith, which children have. We should avoid any shortcomings as the ones illustrated in the following story. A great artist in England wanted to portray extreme poverty. For days and months, he roamed the streets of London to find a subject corresponding to his idea. Finally, he found a child dressed in rags who appealed to his heart and he thought, “This is going to be the model for my painting.” He approached the child, gave him a card with his address, and said to him, “Come to my place in four days, I have something to talk to you about.” The child, looking at the well-dressed gentleman, thought, “How can I go to this man in rags?” The boy decided to borrow clothes from his friends so he could look presentable. But when the child went to the painter, the man asked, “Who are you?” When the painter realized it was the poor boy, he said, “Go away! If I wanted someone dressed like this, there would have been thousands to choose from. I needed you dressed in rags like when I first saw you.” When Heaven invites us to work, we, too, wish to dress well. However, our power is not in our clothes, hats, gloves, shoes, collars, ties, or watches. These are not of any importance. The power is in our minds, in our hearts, in our noble impulses and aspirations to do good. When we have these, all others will come in time. When we go to Heaven, do we need to take our clothes? God does not want our rags, so He says, “Bring him the way he is.” When a person dies, it is common for most people to turn away from him. Even loved ones say, “Take him away as soon as possible.” Where is their love then? Only God does not turn away from him, but says, “Bring him to Me just the way he is.” When we are placed in the grave and left there, what is God doing? He begins conversing with us; the soul is not immediately liberated as some people think. He asks us, “Have you understood the meaning of the life that I gave to you?” During this conversation, God is painting His masterpiece. The people who have said goodbye to the departed person begin weeping and reciting his good qualities. These people see the Divine painting in these qualities. We need to endure the suffering we experience and learn from it. With His earthly suffering, Jesus wanted to provide us with an example of surrendering to this Divine process. He points out, “Do I not have the power to ask my Father to send thousands of Angels to rescue me? But if I do not fulfill that for which I have come, how will human beings be raised up?[3] Jesus desired to ascend to the Heavens. You are on Earth and one day, you will experience turmoil as well and maybe even the same fate as Jesus. But when this moment comes, do not consider it as a misfortune, for without suffering, there can be no gain. Where there is sorrow, there is joy; where there is death, there is resurrection. Those who do not want to participate in the suffering of humankind will gain nothing. After all, what is suffering? It is a consequence of the errors made in the past due to our ignorance. These errors are corrected through the process of suffering. This process is a method of accepting and attaining the sublime elevating vibrations that awaits us in Heaven. One needs to endure a hundred sorrows in order to experience one Divine joy. Only then can a person properly appreciate and retain Divine joy. That is why God tempers us with sorrow, the same way as a blacksmith tempers the iron to make it fit for work, so that we can endure the joy that will come later. Each of us is needed, very much needed by God. To the world, you may be valueless, but for God, you are an important part of the whole. Only God, Who has sent us to the Earth, values our suffering. Therefore, you should not be concerned with what the world thinks of you. The One who has sent you here thinks about you and values you. It is important for you to have God’s approval. If God is with you, you will be beautiful and the world loves the beautiful ones; if He is with you, you will be wealthy, strong, and good; goodness is always honored. Now I would like to speak to you about God. I will not talk about an abstract Being scattered into space and difficult to reach, as presented by many philosophers, but about God Who thinks of us, Who observes our actions, corrects, punishes, dresses and undresses us; and Who allows us to be born and to die. What is dying? Dying occurs when God performs “surgery” and observing that you will lose a lot, shortens the process of your life. As if He says, “To prevent creating more debt, take away the capital that I gave to this person. Times are not favorable now, let him come at a different time, bring him to Me now.” During this process, it is possible to think that the world has forgotten us. But even when the world has forgotten us, God is still thinking of us. And the world shall forget us. A girl can never marry if she is in love with many young men; she needs to choose one of them claiming, “He is my world.” This fact is true for faith as well. There must be only one God. In this world there are many gods who would like to sway you, but you need to find your God who will help you to live, evolve, and grow. It is said in the Scriptures, “God is not only in Heaven; He abides within the hearts of the meek.”[4] Therefore, in order for God to live within you, the first quality you need to attain is humility. But this is not the humility of a sheepish person. When you are beaten or someone breaks your leg, it is not right to think, “There is nothing I can do.” It is not humility when all your wealth is taken away to say, “We became humble.” Humility is when you have all the wealth, power, knowledge, goodness; and being aware of your blessings to say, “God, everything I have is Yours.” Many people today show interest in preaching the Gospel and participate actively in organizing the affairs of the world, yet at the same time, they are unwilling to make any self-sacrifice. As soon as God touches their overfilled purses, these people cry out, “Ah, this is not permitted! We may give half of what we have but not everything.” When it comes to power, they say, “You cannot dispose me of all my power.” But whenever we find ourselves in need, we pray to God to lead and help us. This kind of human understanding of life has dominated philosophies for thousands of years. All our misfortunes come because of this understanding. Through His life, Jesus wants to show us the path. Many people think that once they become Christians, they should leave the secular life. You may give up your houses, riches, wives, children and still think about them. You may go to some secluded monastery and still think, “What is happening to my wife, my children, my house?” And that means that you have not given them up, so you are not free. To give up things does not mean exactly forgetting about them. It means that you leave people to do what they wish: allow your wife to act as she wants; leave your son to act as he would like. To renounce the world means to abandon it, not to be in its way and allow life to follow its course. We cannot stop the flow of a river. We should let it follow its own way. We can only do one thing: make use of it. In the same way we cannot stop life, but we should make use of things. Jesus, clearly and positively told us, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments.”[5] And we should love Him. He did not say, “Pity on you if you do not love Me!” The Lord never requires forced sacrifices from us. People say, “Why does the almighty God not put the world in order?” How shall He put it in order? “Those who tell lies, let their tongue wither; those who steal, let their hand wither.” If that was the case, we would have a world of mute and crippled people. Would a world of handicapped people be pleasant? In fact, God gives a totally opposite ruling. He goes along with the opposite of this process, saying that whoever wants to be a master should become a servant. Strong people usually desire that all rivers flow into their river; but when goodness is present, the process is completely the opposite. God flows into small rivers and instead of directing them; He allows them to rule themselves. You can conduct a small experiment in your home. Remove the thought that you rule and instead strive to become a servant for God. And then you will come down to God’s Place. You seek God in Heaven, but He is not there; when you moan and suffer, He is within you. What people call growth and advancement indicates the fact that God is at work in this process. God is the best Worker. Some complain, “Why does God not see our suffering?” Yet, He tells, “I am so busy with your affairs, I have no time. I am occupied with your important issues. When I have some free time, I am going to look into your trivial, petty disagreements.” This is not an allegory but a reality. There is a verse in the Scriptures where the Lord says, “I was in Israel as a loaded wagon into which people constantly place everything.”[6] The suffering we experience here is the Lord’s suffering. He suffers and weeps within us. We say, “I weep. My soul is full of grief.” However, when we say, “Lord, forgive me. With my impure thoughts and actions I have caused You much suffering,” we will come to that true path that will deliver us from everyday evil. We should allow our Lord to become stronger within us. We have tied Him with ropes and nailed Him. We need to lay Him in the grave and leave Him there at peace. Only then will He resurrect us and set us free. Be sure of one thing: we are the ones who obstruct His path. It is the human beings and not the devil obstructing God’s way. Because God has established the Law of Freedom, He cannot and does not want to change this Law. Unless we come to this understanding, unless we voluntarily surrender, He will not deliver us. The striving to become like Him needs to penetrate us. We need to be engulfed by the striving to become God-like. Then, we are going to use our wealth, power, and virtues for uplifting our brethren, our fellow man. Each one of you needs to search and value the souls of your brethren, rather than their bodies. I can tell you that Jesus, Who came down here, has not left the Earth even now. He is living and working among humans and it is time for Him to rise within us. We need to have true faith, not fearful faith as the Jews who said, “We have no other king but Caesar.” However, a few years later, when Caesar destroyed Jerusalem and demolished their temple, they renounced him. Even now a person may say, “Caesar is my king,” but the consequences will be the same. Let me explain. We need to live first in this world in order to be prepared for the World beyond. We cannot live in Heaven because the heat and light there are very high. As a gardener transplants pine trees brought down from a higher elevation, he makes various grafts until the trees are acclimated. Similarly, our Heavenly Father cannot take us from here and transplant us in the Garden of Eden without first preparing us. Even our educational system is organized in a similar manner: first we must pass first grade, then second, then high school, college and university, and lastly we enter the world. These are methods of the New Culture and those who want to advance should follow these guidelines. In my opinion, we should not be foolish and say, “I do not need to do anything, God will provide all for me.” When you have ploughed your field, you sow the wheat because if you do not sow the wheat, what will God give you? He will give you weeds and thistles. Cultivate your vineyard and it will bear fruit. Whatever vine you plant, it will produce the appropriate fruit. If you plant low-quality vine twigs, it will produce sour grapes. God gave your child a good mind, but what did you plant in it? Were these the seeds that would bear good fruit? We desire to be virtuous, strong, and wealthy. We can have it all: virtue, strength, and wealth and it is necessary to have them. The conditions under which these can thrive and develop are: Divine seed, Divine Law, and Divine balance. Balance represents the Virtue, Law is the Knowledge, conditions represent the strength, and seed stays for the abundance. But you will ask me how to find God. It is very easy. Someone wanted to make fun and to tease his companion who told him, “We are in an orchard in which there are many beautiful apples.” “But I see nothing,” he answered closing his eyes. His friend slapped the other person’s face, causing him to open his eyes and see. God sometimes slaps us in the face so that we can see. Those of you whose eyes are closed should desire to open them. People of today argue and say, “Where is God? God is in the trees, stones, and ground.” However, it is when adversities come that people look up and seeing Him there, they cry out, “Oh, Lord!” Adversities are the God’s slap in the face, telling us, “I created you to see, not to keep your eyes closed.” In order to advance, we need to become like children, to search and be receptive. I will tell you something else now, related to the method we should use in our work. We should always be connected through our minds and hearts with all people on Earth because our salvation comes from our united prayers. There is power in unity. When minds and hearts of people become united, then the Kingdom of God will come to Earth. We should not look for faults in a friend whom we truly love, for we may have faults too. Shortcomings are the outer garment that a person wears. However, the human soul is pure, it cannot be spoiled, nor can it be destroyed. No one is able to defile your Divine soul. Externally, it may become soiled, but it will remain pure internally because God dwells within it. It is unthinkable that something that God protects could be destroyed. We may submit to the world just as per the words of Christ when Pilate said to Him, “I have the authority to crucify you.” And He replied, “I submit to that One Who has given you this authority, but My soul is free.”[7] We need to submit to transient suffering. We cannot understand it now, but after we die and resurrect, we are going to understand the reason for suffering. Until now, all people have suffered torments and fears in life, but this is not true Life. Life is when one is filled with noble feelings. A person who is able to do selfless acts is happy. If someone treats you badly, you may not want to take off your hat or shake hands with that person in greeting. Or you may shake hands, but not in a sincere way; you may also take off your hat, but without the genuine feeling of respect. Usually, we take off our hat to a person in a higher position, but with this gesture, somehow we say, “Can you give me a promotion?” In the Black Sea, there is a devil fish which “greets” all it encounters. People, too, grasp someone by the hand. Why? The devilish fingers of the human hand speak a lot. For example, the little finger says, “Can you give me some money? I need to start a business. I have losses, I was robbed. Will you help me?” The ring finger says, “I would like the fame and knowledge of an artist.” The middle finger, “I want my rights and privileges.” The index finger, “I need to be respected and honored.” The thumb, “I want power and skills.” The greeted one, if the will and chance is there, will give these things to the other person. And so, the two of them, later taking a third one in their company, go into the society and form a group, but they cannot find what they are looking for. Finally, Jesus said, “Whatever you are searching for: wealth, strength, knowledge, and goodness—I can give you all this. There is no one among you who has left his father and mother for Me and who has not received a hundred fold in the future Life.”[8] Behold the Man Who can shake hands with us and Who can give us everything: wealth, strength, knowledge, and goodness. Yet people shouted, “Take Him away, crucify Him!” And Pilate remarked to them, “You are losing Him!”[9] Jesus is before you today as well. I am telling you, behold the Man Who you are searching for. The only Man Who can bring tranquility to your hearts; Who can give you a bright mind, health, social position; Who can uplift you, show you the way and illuminate your thoughts. Yet, in your doubt, you say, “Show Him to us so that we can see Him.” I will present to you a comparison. In the distance, a person appears at night carrying a small candle and I say to you, “Behold the man who brings you light.” However, you only see the candle and not the person. When will you see him? You will see him when the Sun rises. Search for this Light that the Man is carrying; it will help you find the path that you need to walk. This is how you should understand this concept. Let me give you another, clearer comparison. Imagine that I lead you to a lavish but dark living room and tell you, “This is a room with beautiful decorations, with big riches. There, in that corner, is this; in the other corner, that and that.” You reply, “It could be possible, but who knows? I see nothing.” However, if I bring a small lit candle, then the nearest objects can be seen; if I bring a candle with a bigger light, the objects become even more visible. If I light more candles, gradually the room becomes brighter and brighter. When the electric light is on, the objects are clear and when the daylight comes, everything can be seen. The world is like this room and each of us needs to be a bearer of light, to carry a candle. When we all enter with our lit candles and place them together, we will increase the light and will be able to see more. Our brains are similar to candles. I do not like people who carry extinguished candles but people who carry lit candles as on the night of Good Friday. Everyone should be like a lit candle. A devoted, loving, and good person is a lit candle. It is a great mistake for a person to be an extinguished candle. You ask what to do. You should pray for each other. You should send forth good thoughts to your friends, pray for them, and ask to be blessed; when God blesses them, He will bless you too. But why should we pray? In the summer of 1899, there was a great drought in the region of Novi Pazar.[10] The Turks from the nearby thirty-nine villages gathered together and prayed for rain. And the rain came. The Bulgarians thought, “If God is sending rain to them, He will send it to us too.” But no rain fell over their villages and their stock became emaciated from hunger. When other people are praying, you should pray too; you should hand in also your humble prayers. God will not keep a special file about you if you do not pray. Prayer is a great power and people of today should be people of prayer. Through prayer we will prepare our minds and hearts. We should pray not only for ourselves because doing so is selfish. I do not want to deal with the minds of people, but rather with their hearts because all malice is hidden there. The Lord Himself says, “My son, give Me your heart.”[11] We need to begin now with a thorough cleaning as we do for Easter, to open the windows and clean the floor. We all groan when we are burdened. There is disharmony everywhere. Husband and wife cannot come to an agreement; they divide the house and money. The wife is displeased that her husband keeps the money. It does not matter whether the husband or the wife keeps the money. Reach an agreement on who will be in charge. People argue who will hold the first place at home: the hen or the rooster. What is this issue about the hen and the rooster? It is not important in life. Something else is more important. Jesus has come and He is working. When Light comes, it comes gradually, silently, without noise. Jesus will not come like a thunder, as some expect. This may also happen, but Jesus will not be there. The prophet Elijah went to the desert and devoted himself to prayer and fast. When storm and fire came, Elijah covered his eyes, yet God was not in the storm and fire, but in the still Voice that spoke to the prophet. God is not in your suffering, your power, or your knowledge. Where is He? He is in Love. If you have Love, He is within you. If you do not have Love, He is absent. And you should love, that is the Law. Some people do not love, but expect others to love them. This is similar to sitting in front of a stove and waiting for someone else to bring wood so that we can get warm. We alone should collect this fuel, which others can use as well. We, the followers of Jesus, Who has given us abundant strength, should finally allow Him to come and reside within us. Now I am leaving this Man with you. Are you going to welcome or crucify Him? Are you going to let Him in, or will you say, “We do not want Him?” This is the question that you need to answer. If you say, “Let Him in, He is our Lord,” you have properly answered the question and the blessings will come. Then the words in the Scriptures will be fulfilled, “I and My Father will come and We will make Our Home with you.”[12] Then the Light will be in us and we will all reconcile. Lecture by the Master Beinsa Douno, held on March 16 (Gregorian calendar of the 29th century), 1914, in Sofia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. All quotes are from the Holy Bible, most being taken from the New King James, Version (NKJV). 2. See Luke 18:27. 3. See also Matthew 26:53–54, “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of Angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” 4. See also 1John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the Love that God has for us. God is Love and he who abides in Love abides in God and God in him.” 5. See also John 14:15. 6. See also Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” 7. See also John 19:10–11. 8. See also Matthew 19:29, “And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My name’s sake shall receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal Life.” 9. See also John 19:13–16. 10. A town in Northern Bulgaria. 11. See also Proverbs 23:26, “My son, give Me your heart and let your eyes observe My ways.” 12. See also John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our Home with him. ”

From Dawning of a New Epoch, Beinsa Duno Greetings to All for the New Year 1914 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of Light.”[1] John 12:36 Divine Light is for the soul what the light of the Sun is for the body. Nourishment, growth, and the development of the physical body are unthinkable without the light of the Sun. In the same way it is impossible for the soul to grow, develop, and give fruit without Divine Light. As the Sun is the source of visible light, so God is the source of inner Light for the soul. In the same way the sunshine is an emanation of the Sun, though not the Sun itself, the inner Light is an emanation of God, but not God Himself. The solar light reminds us of the Sun, while the inner Light leads us to God. On a cloudy day it is difficult to immediately locate the Sun when the sky is overcast. But we can still do this by using our knowledge and experience: based on the hour of the day and time of the year we can judge approximately the actual position of the Sun. After that, if we focus our attention in that direction, we will perhaps see a brighter light and thus, we begin to perceive the Sun in the sky, even through the darkness. In the same way, when we have the Divine Light within ourselves sent by God, with similar efforts, using our experience and knowledge, we could and should search for God. When a child is born, the parents provide all the necessary conditions for the child’s future growth and physical development. Similarly, inner Light, which is necessary for the development and growth of souls, is given to human beings at birth. Good conditions are necessary for us to fulfill our desire to go to Heaven. Such conditions enhance the spiritual cleansing and advancement of the soul. Heaven is a place for souls that are spiritually mature, purified, and adorned in “wedding gowns.” To be “sons of Light” means to be given good conditions in life and to use them, and to make good use of the Light given for our spiritual progress. The work with the Light is a process of purifying the soul and bringing it to fruition. The light of the Sun provides the necessary conditions for plants to feed on earthly saps and transform them into nourishment in the leaves of the plant. This in turn, enables the plants to grow and bear fruit. Our soul, too, is like a plant that needs to bear fruit. Through the heart it puts forth roots into the physical world: these roots are our desires. Thoughts and desires are the saps that make the soul grow, giving it the opportunity of bearing good fruits. We can become good through our thoughts and desires. However, our thoughts and feelings become valuable only when they come together and are manifested in unity. If they come to realization, we say that our soul did bear fruit by using the soil or conditions it was given. In the same way as solar Light is vital for transforming the saps into building elements important for the plant’s growth and fruit-bearing, Divine Light ensures the transformation of our thoughts and desires into good deeds, fruits of the soul. To be Sons of Light means to make use of the Light, to utilize the God-given conditions of living and to bear spiritual fruit through the Light. As sons of Light we all have individual relations to the Source of Light: God. At different times God gives us different conditions for development. And each soul understands its close relationship with God differently, according to the conditions for developing and improving in which God, as our Guide, places us at any given moment. We need to be saved in order to enter the Heavenly Kingdom. Salvation itself is not enough, unless we can make use of it. Salvation means that God saves us from unfavorable conditions in which we cannot progress, and places us in different conditions where our soul, mind, and heart can evolve further. When we free someone from prison, we take them out of the conditions that were hindering and paralyzing their development and place them in more favorable conditions. However, those who are saved need to use the new conditions and continue to improve themselves and gain knowledge and experience. Otherwise, in spite of their favorable conditions, they would not develop; they would not progress even with the salvation they have been given. In this respect, we, who have been saved by Jesus Christ are relieved of unfavorable conditions obstructing our progress, and are placed in new conditions of Divine Light and Grace, which we should use for our development and improvement. Liberation leads to freedom. A person who is liberated from prison is delivered into freedom. We, too, who are saved by Jesus Christ, are freed through Christ-consciousness. True life is hidden in every one of us—in our soul that is connected with the Source of Life, since the Creator Himself has breathed this living soul into us. It is this hidden life, this Divine Spark in us that is constantly indignant, sighing, dissatisfied, and yearning for something different and higher. This hidden life is the impetus behind any progress; it is the driving force moving us forward in our evolution. When the Divine spark finds itself in conditions that obstruct its manifestation and natural growth, it is not free. And vice versa: freedom is that moment when the powerful hidden, spiritual life is taken out of the limiting situation and is placed in conditions that are favorable for its development and manifestation. Hence, freedom comes as a result of salvation. Those who are not saved are not free. And vice versa: if someone has inner freedom and experiences his soul connected with the Creator and the Soul of all people in the world without feeling any hindrance to that oneness, this person is saved. Wrongdoing is an obstacle to salvation as those caught up in sin are not free. Therefore, the Apostle Paul tells the Romans that when we are saved, we have been set free from sin.[2] There are certain signs that indicate whether we are free or not. These signs are our sufferings, which signal that our life needs to enter into new conditions of existence. When we enter into a period of favorable conditions, sufferings are not felt. For example, Angels are free; they have favorable conditions for the manifestation of their inner life. Saints are not slaves of the conditions they find themselves in; they have not complained or experienced sufferings, because their spiritual life has been more thoroughly manifested and raised into the higher conditions of the Divine atmosphere, where they are free. Therefore, if we suffer, we need to attune our inner life to higher vibrations. If we raise and intensify our inner life, if we connect with the mighty Elevated Light Beings, we will be free, and we will not suffer any more. This means that we will be sons of Light, as we have made good use of the conditions we have been given. Those who are sons of Light profit from both the light and the dark side of life. In other words, they are able to utilize for their uplifting both happiness and sorrow, assistance as well as obstacles. A teacher offers his students not only a smooth easy path with good conditions, but also with some obstacles to overcome. Favorable circumstances help in achieving knowledge, but limiting conditions and obstacles bring experience. Those who are free are not without obstacles in their path, but they easily overcome them and move forward, while those who are not free are hindered by the obstacles. Therefore, God, as a perfect Teacher, gives His children challenges that they need to overcome. Only then will they become free and strong. Often we complain about our sufferings, and have negative thoughts and desires. This is not helpful, as sufferings provide the conditions for the soul to grow and mature, or, more precisely, for its fruits to ripen. Our Heavenly Father has given us such challenges for us to overcome and conquer, to turn them into our servants instead of our masters, and in this way to become worthy, mighty in Good and rich in Spirit. It cannot be otherwise because “from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”[3] And this violence is a struggle, “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.”[4] Hence, when we “wrestle against the rulers of darkness of this age” we are sons of Light and we will receive help from Heaven. Therefore, we should seek only this help and be prepared to “put on the whole armor of God”[5]: the belt of Truth, the armor of Justice, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, Divine Words, and to pray with all our heart and soul at all times. And so, if we want to be sons of Light, we need to use all the situations of life—good or bad, favorable or otherwise—in which we find ourselves at any given moment and, by using them for our growth, we will free ourselves from those that are unfavorable, in other words, we will become free. In this way, through our experience and with the knowledge we gain, we will find God, the Source of Light. Thus, the sons of Light become joyful, do not despair in their souls, attain a Divine balance within themselves and introduce it into the world. In human relationships and activities there are two kinds of law. The first category includes laws of a mechanical nature that have two aspects: addition and subtraction. The second category includes Laws of a Divine nature whose two aspects are multiplication and division. Wrongdoing is always followed by activities of the first category. For example, Adam and Eve came together; they added themselves through the fruit and also through the serpent. Thus, they displayed disobedience and pride, so God chased them out of Heaven. Another example is women gathering together to bring bad on themselves by gossiping and criticizing people. In so doing, they display the shortcomings not only of others, but also of themselves. The rich man in the Scriptures made a granary and gathered his grain without making use of it in a Divine way. For this reason, God took his soul that same night. Diamonds are expensive and lustrous—a sign of having achieved the crown of worldly living. Yet, although they can accumulate and refract the sun's rays, they are totally unable to amplify them. The grain of wheat is modest and inexpensive, but when sown in the ground, it multiplies. Such is the spiritual person. The good and faithful servant multiplies the talents of his master[6], thus fulfilling the Divine Law. The seed sown in good ground multiplies 30, 60, or 100-fold.[7] When God created the first human beings, He commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply.”[8] You should multiply any talents and gifts you have. The wife should see in her husband only his good qualities, which she should try to multiply. As a result, the husband will begin to confide in her his feelings, his thankfulness, and to share with her his endeavors. Thus, he will give back what he has received from his wife, and he will love, appreciate, and support her. The husband should behave in the same way. If one sees shortcomings in the other, it is better not to display them to others, but to try to transform them into good traits and when they become such, to multiply them. It is said in the Scripture that the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven and a mustard seed[9], which means, that when the elements of this Kingdom enter the human soul and spirit, they will multiply. In this way God will share His Kingdom with them. From this point of view, when it is said that we should be sons of Light, this implies expansion and multiplication; it implies making appropriate use of all conditions in which we find ourselves for the good of ourselves and of our neighbors. As the reproduction of plants and animals is possible only through physical light, so the multiplication of human deeds according to Divine Law is possible only through Divine Light. The sons of Light are required to be like grains of wheat multiplying, not glowing on the outside like diamonds, which do not grow and remain fruitless. Fruitlessness is death; the fruitless fig tree was condemned and removed.[10] Each branch of the grapevine that does not bear fruit and does not multiply, is removed, but the fruit-bearing trees are pruned to give more fruit.[11] Therefore, let us sow seeds of Love and Joy so that Peace will start growing in our minds. Let us sow the seeds of long-suffering and kindness so that the fruit of compassion will start growing in our hearts. Let us sow the seeds of faith and gentleness so that the fruit of self-mastery will grow in our lives. In this way, the fullness of life will be manifested, our hearts will become ennobled, our minds will become brighter, our love will blossom, and true happiness will be achieved. This is the ascending path of God for the individual, society, and humankind. Only in this way, from the Bulgarian crown of thorns will the great blessing of all Balkan and Slavonic nations be braided. Only in this way will the oneness of all nations be achieved. Message from the Master Beinsa Duno delivered during his stay in Veliko Tarnovo (from November 4, 1913 until the first days of January 1914). _________________________________________________________________ [1] All quotes from the Holy Bible, which are used in this book, are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV). [2] Romans: 6 [3] Matthew 11:12 [4] Ephesians 6:12 [5] Ephesians 6:11 [6] Matthew 25:14–30 [7] Mark 4:20 [8] Genesis 1:28 [9] Matthew 13:31–33 [10] Mark 11:14 [11] John 15:2

From Dawning of a New Epoch, Beinsa Duno The Spring Equinox Celebration “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen...” Matthew 28:5–6[1] Many people have no idea of the importance of this date: the Day of the spring equinox in 1914, but it will remain memorable in the history of the Earth because it marks the transition between two cosmic cycles, the ending of the old epoch and the beginning of a new one. You may ask, “What is so special about this?” It is similar to when a famous composer and musicians present a great new concert, but the majority of people are away at work or elsewhere. Some people in the audience will simply express their admiration, while for those who are knowledgeable music lovers this would be remarkable event and a day to remember. In Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast, when those invited to the wedding of the king’s son were not willing to come, the king told his servants, “Go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.”[2] (We are those invited.). Then when the invited guests were not dressed for the occasion, the Master of the wedding ceremony provided them with wedding garments. The most important experience for the soul is the awakening of one’s consciousness, which can be compared to ascension in consciousness. As one recognizes an apple or pear by tasting it, the same is true when one awakens or ascends in consciousness. Everything that we think and feel is not the true unchangeable life because our mundane life is constantly changing. We have three instruments of perception that could be unreliable and mislead us: taste, heart, and mind. Taste can mislead us into overeating, and then we get stomach problems as a result. With our heart we love our fellowmen and occasionally some of them could cause us heartache. Our mind misleads us into various desires and thus causes us problems and suffering. However, the stomach, soul, and spirit are our genuine, unchangeable guides. If taste does not mislead the stomach, it will receive as much food as it needs. The soul shows us our true friends and warns us when we have listened to our heart and chosen unfaithful friends as the following tale illustrates. Two friends were walking through a forest when a bear appeared. The first one immediately climbed a tree. The other, as he did not have time to do the same, lay flat on his stomach on the ground without moving. The bear came close, sniffed him, and thinking him dead, continued on her way. The first man, after coming down from the tree, asked his companion: “What did the bear whisper in your ear?” “She told me in future not to travel with a ‘friend’ who would abandon me when danger comes along.” Such a “friend” is chosen by our heart without consulting our soul. People also harm themselves because they become absorbed in satisfying their mind without consulting their Spirit. Taste acts as an agent of the stomach; mind is an agent of the spirit, and heart of the soul. We need to come to know Christ with our stomach, soul, and spirit. People usually perceive with their physical senses, while Christ uses His spiritual senses. Every physical sense should be in harmony with our inner spiritual senses. Christ would like to restore in us three things: the stomach, which creates the true living juices necessary for our existence; the soul, which is the “queen” of our body and represents a world in miniature; and the spirit, which creates in us positive thoughts. The closer we come to God, the more we feel empowered, but if we distance ourselves, the reverse happens. There are two requirements for coming closer to God: equal acceptance of losses and gains, and equal acceptance of joys and sorrows. We need to walk with faith without discontent because we do not know what we will gain after a loss and what joy will come after a sorrow. One day a daughter may attempt to teach her mother or a son his father, but how can such people teach others, when they have not first learned themselves. Christ showed us in His life on Earth that we need to accept with joy and gratitude whatever happens to us in life, as all is for good. When people say that they cannot bear their present situation, they are deceiving themselves because, if they ask for help, they will be able to do so. We should neither lie nor allow ourselves to be deceived, and then God will give us Divine Light. Today is an auspicious Spiritual day. Light Beings from Above are present at this Celebration and the Heavenly Friends are greeting you. If someone does not believe this, the day will soon come when each and everyone will be able to verify and be convinced of the truth of my words. Whoever has an ailing soul is always afraid and sees danger in everything. Christ came to Earth to save us from wrongdoing. People on Earth are always discontented and when they speak about this in Heaven, they describe us as “the complaining people on Earth.” God always wants to transform our discontent into contentment and joy. Once a rich man dreamed that another wealthy person had decided to give away his riches in order to be free and dedicate himself to God. He loaded all his possessions on camels and started on his journey from village to village. The poor people came to him, some with cups, others with pots, taking parts of the wealth offered and then leaving. The first rich man told himself, “Let me get some as well, so that I can add it to my property and increase it.” But when he asked, he was told that he would receive only by getting down on his stomach and having a chest placed over him that would be loaded until he would say, “Enough.” So, they started to load the chest, and loaded it, and loaded it, but the man remained silent. Finally when he said, “Enough”, he tried to get up, but could not because of all the weight. Our life consists, not in the possessions we have, but in our communion with God. Our present situation contains in itself the nucleus of the future. The Divine in us is microscopical at first, but it multiplies as the grain of wheat when sown multiplies many times in just a few years. One Divine thought sown in us will bring the highest happiness in time. Christ shall come, but how will He find us? Spring and summer will come, but how will they find the farmer? If the farmer has sown the fields in time, he will make use of the gifts of springtime; he will harvest in the summer, and will fill his barns. However, if he has failed to sow, springtime passes by, summer comes and goes, but because he has lost the precious moment of sowing, they will leave him empty-handed. A new Cosmic cycle starts today in the Divine World, so we need to ask ourselves how our names will be written in the New Book of Life? When we suffer, we will receive Heavenly support. I feel sorry for those who will not have anyone to help them. Until yesterday, we were told to go and preach to the people to repent, but, from now on, believers shall save themselves by faith and God will support them. However, saving oneself is the most difficult of all. If you find yourself in the midst of an ocean after a shipwreck, is it possible to save yourself by your own efforts alone? Even now Christ is our Savior with His Ship rescuing us one by one, and after He saves us, He will teach us about Justice and Love. Yet, in order to learn this, we need to uplift our spirit, upgrade our mind, and resurrect our body. Only then can we become masters of life. Until this happens, we cannot be citizens of Heaven. Every day we abuse our body with our desires and sufferings. Our physical vessel is the scaffolding within which our true body is built—a Light body that will enable us to become visible or invisible as we choose. We can see Christ appear before us when we have pure thoughts and desires. According to Christ, both men and women are part of the Divine Plan; and when one of them falls, the other one is dragged down too; and when one of them rises, the other one is uplifted as well. Christ is a Teacher Who shows us our errors in life in the same way as a school teacher marks the mistakes of the students in their exam papers after the exam, and grades them. All of you need to make efforts so that when Christ comes, He could find fewer mistakes in your notebooks and give you a higher grade. Just as the periods and commas in the students’ notebooks are very important, so they are important in your life too. Here and there the Lord stops us at our “commas” in life, but much more at our “periods,” as He wants us to reflect on what we have written so far, stopping to rest before continuing. And when we have finished the story of our life, we should find some meaning in what has been inscribed and written. A great person is one who loves and serves, not one who is being served. A servant’s position is the most menial in our world, but God considers it the most honorable. The Lord will implement the New Teaching on Service. You need to become like seeds. You should not be afraid! You should not fear the devil, but chase it away from you. If you think about evil, you create it and empower it. Women and men are not bad in essence, but the devil makes them such. Therefore, every morning a wife should see that her husband has become a little better than yesterday and the same is required by the husband to see some improvement in his wife. In this way and by singing, both of them will expel all negativity. A stone is not placed on the road for us to stumble on it, but to teach us to be attentive. We are the cause of our sufferings. Those who are balanced and keep their temper may be considered to have noble characters. Judge not one another, as any judgment is a kind of charge, and so we would be called to give evidence: and how unpleasant it would be to testify against someone in a Divine court—like accusing our brother or our sister and wanting them to be punished. Let us raise our consciousness and keep in mind the image of today’s Divine Celebration in Heaven. Light Beings and Angels will descend to teach us acceptance and how to become content with what we have; and Christ will be with them too. With His blessings transformation may bring about a repair of our contemporary situation. However, if the situation is irreparable, a more dramatic transformation may occur, bringing down everything (like buildings with decayed foundations), and then Christ will begin His Holy Work anew. We should not be afraid of what is to come! Christ is always above us and among us. We need to keep Christ in our souls; we need to open our hearts so that He can enter and bless us! Lecture of Beinsa Duno held on 9th (22nd) of March 1914 (as written down by Ivan Garvalov). ________________________________________________ [1] See also Matthew 28:1–20, Mark 16:12–20, Luke 24:19–53, and John 21:1–25. [2] See also Matthew 22.

METHODS FOR SELF-IMPROVEMENT Only the Luminous Way of Wisdom leads to the Truth. The Truth holds Life within. Scholars, and especially those occupied with geometry, deal with geometrical figures and bodies. Meanwhile, ordinary and uneducated people do the same in everyday life, only that they are not able to give definitions to these figures. For instance, who, whether learned or ignorant, is not familiar with the circle? Does a farmer’s treshing field not represent a circle itself? However, it is not so important to be acquainted with the properties of the circle as a figure, as it is to know how to apply it. Many have knowledge about coal and its origin, but this knowledge is worthless if they cannot use it as fuel. Many are familiar with the properties of water, but it will be much better if they can transform the aquatic energy into electricity and light. The more transformations a particular type of energy undergoes, the better it gets for humans. For example, we benefit from the sunshine due to the transformation of solar energy into light. You may say that the sunlight comes directly, without being transformed from its source which is a celestial body. Go to the Sun to see what it is in reality and then make your comments. In fact, the light we receive with our eyes does not come from the physical Sun that we see. Really and truly, the physical Sun emits certain energy that is transformed several times until perceived as light. Light is produced by the higher consciousness, so, behind the physical Sun, there is another “Sun,” emitting the Eternal and Unfailing Light. In reality, that is the Light, which is true and genuine, as it never changes or fails. In this sense, we call “real” that which is everlasting. How real are human feelings, beliefs, and decisions? For example, today you are cheerful, the next day you are sorrowful. Which is real: your joy or your sorrow? Today you believe that there is a God, the next day you do not think so. Which of your two views is true? Today you decide to take an exam, the next day you change your mind. Which of these two intentions are you going to fulfill? Reality is everywhere and nowhere. Reality is neither sustained nor denied. Whoever has good sight and sees well will recognize the Sun. But the Sun cannot be recognized by those who cannot see, which is quite normal. The blind people do not acknowledge the Sun, because they cannot see it and no relation is formed to it. Reality becomes knowledgeable by its manifestations. If it does not reveal itself to us, it will remain unknown. What idea could we have of the Sun, if it does not reveal itself to us? We see the Sun as a physical body and as a result, we perceive its light and warmth. That is why we say that the Sun is real for us. Thus we call “real” anything that we can feel, think, and speak about. It is unusual for someone to accept something which is only thinkable as real. Not that it is unusual, but people are simply not aware that thoughts create forms in the same way as feelings and actions do. Forms can be physical as well as mental and emotional - corresponding to the respective worlds and distinguished by the different density of their matter. Physical forms are the densest, emotional are less dense, and mental are the least dense. To a clairvoyant the mental and emotional forms are as real as the physical ones. To a seer, life is uninterrupted and wholesome in all its forms and manifestations. But to those who do not see clearly, life seems to be interrupted and consists, as they say, of different ages as different phases of life, which have no points of contact. They will tell you that what was in youth was quite different from adulthood and disparate from old age. Actually, life is wholesome and uninterrupted. As a child you depend on your mother’s care, as a grown-up you separate from your parents, and finally, when you become an adult, you live entirely on your own. However, these are different phases of one process that is in progress. As long as the apple is green, it is on the branch of the apple tree; but after ripening, it falls on the ground and will eventually become food for a person, bird, or animal. If maiden’s soft, caressing hands take it from the ground, the apple will be happy. But when it goes among the girl’s strong, hard teeth, the apple will wonder at the change: how it is possible for someone with such soft hands to have such hard teeth at one and the same time. As spiritual students, you are required to obtain a clear idea of how all is arranged, and you should apply your knowledge and abilities as methods for self-improvement. With this consideration, you should not be puzzled why a girl may have soft hands, but hard teeth - just put every single thing in its place. When someone is in prison, sentenced to death, his younger sister needs to go to the ruler [pasha - in Turkish] who has passed the sentence and appeal for her brother’s liberation. Which method is advisable in this case: the soft hands or the hard teeth? Definitely, the soft hands are better. If the young woman wants to appeal for her brother’s life, she should be wise enough to apply the softest and kindest attitude toward the person in charge. If the ruler appreciates her kind and tender approach, he may pardon her brother. But if the sister uses the other method - the method of hard teeth, instead of attaining a pardon for her brother, she will quicken his death. So, it is much better to apply the soft and tender approach toward someone who has a heart of stone. In conclusion, the above mentioned forces are equal, but they are acting in opposite directions. What will happen to a body exposed to the effect of two equal, but opposite forces: the heart of stone and the kind attitude? The answer is that this body will remain immobile. In other words, the young woman’s brother will remain alive and healthy as the sentence will not be applied to him. Every young woman who succeeds to release her brother from prison is beautiful and wise; in other words, she has knowledge and power to apply her methods. Beauty represents the Truth in human beings. The ruler cannot withstand the young woman’s knowledge, power, and truth; that is why he yields. The woman has softly touched his heart of stone and as a result, he will discharge her brother. No one can resist Truth. Love is where the Truth is. Where Love reigns, there the relationships are as they should be. Where there is Love, the exchange between two beings is genuine and harmonious: they both give and both receive. When one gives, the other pays in return. The first, for example, is a merchant who offers high quality goods; the other is a buyer who pays for the purchases regularly and generously. The roles then switch: the first buys and the second sells. Therefore, to be able to maintain good relationships, you should pay off your old bills and correct your past mistakes. The old is like a thorn in your foot. It is small, but nevertheless, you need a needle to pick it out. You need to gather your courage and probe with the needle until the torn is removed. If you do not do this, you need to wait for about ten days, so that the thorn may soften and go out by itself. Regardless of which way of treatment you prefer, with or without a needle, the thorn must come out. People of today are afraid to strike their inner balance. For example, someone has a negative opinion of his neighbor, but he is afraid to find out why. It is awful to keep negative thoughts about anyone in your mind. Moreover, you should consider the objectivity of your opinion: is it based on real facts or not? If untrue views accumulate in your consciousness, they will bring you adversity and suffering. Negative thoughts will make you nervous and indisposed. To avoid negative thinking, you should make efforts toward your self-improvement and also learn from experience. What do you understand by “self-improvement? It means unassisted nourishment. On the path of self-improvement you need to try many ways in order to find out the method which is appropriate for you. In this way you will work out the right feelings and thoughts, which will create your own experience. Thoughts, which are attained through personal experience, are genuinely precious. For example, you realize that to become a scientist one must apply persistence and diligence; to become a singer, one needs a properly developed larynx, love for singing, and a good teacher. To be truly beautiful, one must be in touch with lovely images and inspiring people. To become smart, one needs to be in connection with the thoughts of Sublime Beings. To attain the Great Love, one needs to come into communion with God. Divine Love is received through the crown chakra at the upper part of the head. On the other hand, physical love passes through the back side of the head. In general, each brain center is related to certain forces of Nature. When you know this, you should be careful to avoid unconscious touching of the different parts and centers on your head. If you act on some center needlessly, you can cause yourself great harm. But if you treat a given spot on your head with knowledge and when necessary, you can improve your health. This knowledge can be used for self-improvement. As spiritual students, you need to consider the sacredness of your body. Each time you treat it, you should remember that it is a part of the Great cosmos. Therefore, it is through your body that you have a relationship with the Cosmos. That is why every disharmony caused somewhere in your body introduces a discord in the entire Cosmos. For this reason, it is better sometimes not to touch certain body centers, because unintentionally you could produce a whole “explosion” in yourself. Only the initiated know when and how to treat their body centers properly. The control of body language will help you to avoid such unconscious inner “explosions.” So, it is good to avoid any unaware and chaotic movements striving for conscious and thoughtful ones. In this respect, self-improvement is achieved through conscious living. Self-improvement implies to make your movements conscious and give way to your inner wisdom. Let’s say you are observing a young woman making some movements under an apple tree. If she bends down and then straightens up without doing any useful work, you will say that her movements are not conscious and meaningful. But if with each movement, she picks apples and places them in a basket, her movements are conscious and they are also approved by the apple tree. Even when the young woman eats some of the apples, the apple tree does not regret it. The apples would be sorry only if the woman eats them with the seeds, as they are bearing new life. The apples expect their seeds to be sown, so that to grow up again. Good relationships with plants and animals are a sign of good relationships with people and also with God. Only in this way are favorable conditions created for the manifestation and further development of the good that is invested in human beings. As soldiers exercise physically to become stronger, so every person should exercise in doing good. Exercises and efforts are needed for the development of each body center and personal ability. A person may have one or another physical make-up, but by conscious work and self-improvement, the negative features and planetary aspects can be overcome, while the positive ones are strengthened. The crabapple can be grafted in such a way as to bear good fruit. Similarly, the mindful person can be grafted with what is good and valuable. Many say that their living conditions are bad; that they cannot manifest their goodness, and so on. These are only mental beliefs typical for an ignorant person. Whoever is knowledgeable is also responsible to keep on working, practicing, applying, and gradually improving the self. It is not easy, but neither it is impossible. Through intensive conscious practice you can overcome your weaknesses and strengthen your innate good. It is hard to tame an elephant, but it is not impossible. Things can get scary when it gets angry. When this happens, the trainer pushes the elephant to the ground and rolls it over a few times. Getting up, the elephant will become as meek as a lamb. Sentient nature treats humans in the same way. While someone is standing upright on his legs, he is brave and decisive. But when he is thrown on the ground and rolled over and over, he gets tamed and humbled. Thus Life serves Nature. When someone is headstrong and stubborn, Life pushes him down on the ground and rolls him over few times. When this person gets up, he has already learned a lesson and he would probably think before getting angry again. Nature applies the same methods to stubborn, headstrong, and unruly people as to animals. Even the most vicious dog can be tamed, if caught and twirled around and around by its tail. However, Sentient nature can apply on people some other methods as well. She can display her own advanced methods to them and leave them to self-improve. Those who apply her methods will have good results. There are specific methods for the development of any living species - fishes, birds, mammals, and so on. Similarly, there are specific methods for the education and self-improvement of everyone - either learned or ignorant. As a whole, if someone wants to apply proper methods for self-improvement, he needs to apply the methods of sages and saints, who have drawn their knowledge from Sentient nature. Observe their life and see their routines: how they go to bed and get up, how they wash themselves and dress, how they pray and work. By improving yourself you can change your old ways of living and enter a new life, where things are set right. Someone gets angry and thinks that the appropriate way to change oneself and others is by showing power and control. In fact, nothing can be achieved through anger and violence. There is only one kind of anger that could be helpful: only when and if it comes from the power of the Divine source. If the Divine is not taking part in your actions, you will easily fail. A man was walking through the forest when a big bear appeared in the distance. He took a thick stick and said angrily, “May it dare come to me!” Nevertheless, the bear was approaching slowly and calmly toward him. Seeing this, the man threw his stick aside and quickly climbed the nearby tree. What did he do with his anger? First he did get angry with the bear and took a stick to stand against it, but then he quickly changed his mind and backed up. Certainly, you have some reason to be cross and angry with a bear coming toward you, but if you decide to fight it, you should comply with your decision. Therefore, if you have a certain thought, which you can use against evil, do not throw it aside, but make use of it. Because if you throw it aside, it shows that you are a weak person. Always sustain the view that what is imbued in you is meaningful, that Life is meaningful, and that you can use the methods of Nature for your self-improvement. The insufficiency of true knowledge should not bother you, but if you do not make efforts to acquire it - that is what cannot be excused. All people suffer, because they do not utilize the conditions they have. You may say, “But we make errors.” It is not an excuse either. If you have errors, you need to correct them. The Scriptures say that you will give account for every empty word.[1] Every empty word is a debt which you must pay together with interest. If you have collected a debt in the morning, review your accounts during the day, and arrange it all, so that when the night falls, it will find you to be with paid debts, without any due interest. The unpaid debts are nothing else, but the karma that everyone is afraid of. That one who does not pay his debts will fall under karmic law, or in other words, under unfavorable limiting conditions. Under these conditions he will complain of his destiny, get discouraged, and will not be able to develop properly. As students of the Sublime life you need to exclude the word “discouragement.” You should know that even under the most difficult circumstances you can evolve spiritually. The human being is changeable in body, yet steadfast and stable in spirit. Give priority to the Spirit in you in order to avoid mistakes. Ceasing to transgress, the wrongdoer extends his life. And vice versa, if a righteous person begins to transgress, his life is shortened. Do not think that you are king’s sons who have come to Earth for pleasure. You all need to work both for yourselves and for your fellowmen. Work is one of the important methods for self-improvement. If you do not work willingly, you will be ordered to do it, but then you will get different results. True work implies working out of Love and without any force. If you work in this way, you will rejoice at the results achieved. If someone works without Love, the results will be a disaster. Whoever studies with Love rejoices in success. Only such a person can become learned. Apply Love as a method for your self-improvement and you can develop even the smallest of gifts imparted to you. Love excludes any kind of discouragement. No matter how many times you may fall down, you can stand up again. No matter that you have lost your property or your health, you can gain it anew. The person of Love can lose something only temporarily, but he is going to regain it. There are only gains and achievements in Love. As spiritual students, hold an optimistic view of life. Whatever befalls you, accept it with joy. Address your difficulties consciously to be able to discover the precious gifts hidden in them. Every trial and sorrow will bring you certain blessings. Use the blessings, which joys and sorrows bring to your life. See the manifestations of Great Divine Love, Wisdom, and Truth in all that is. This is the right method to apply for your self-improvement. Only the Revealed Divine Love, Wisdom, and Truth will bring a full and abundant life. Lecture held by the Master Beinsa Douno to the Youth Esoteric Class, February 6, 1931, Sofia, Izgrev. --------------------------------- 1. See also Ephesians 5:6, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.”

RULES OF LOVE The days of the brotherhood meeting were coming, the gathering days as we call them. The Master determined them for each year. They were expected by everyone with a sacred tremble. On this occasion the Master said: For 19th of august - the gathering day - you will prepare the same way as for Easter. You will wash up; you will dress with your finest cloths - white coat and white hat. One brother asked the Master in relation to one idea from today's lecture at the Praying top. The Master said: When someone has spoken badly of you, pass by this place three times, until you meet him so you can give him a gift. And say nothing to him. Then this man will say: "They speak badly of that man, but he is not bad." What does it mean Do not resist evil? It means to use Love as an instrument. When someone insults you, when he does something bad to you, do not tell anyone, keep it to yourself, show Love towards him, because he has fallen. If he has fallen, why do you have to fall too? I do not want anyone to come to me and tell me the short comings of any one! Someone insults you, but you are already in the Love, you are not offended - the law of Love excludes you feeling offended. The Love you feel for somebody has to be sacred. The one you love has insulted you. What will you do? Because of the Love in which you live, you will turn the bitter feelings into sweet. You say: "I am not disposed toward that man." Try to come to love the one you hate. Get used to seeing in those you do not love, a manifestation of the Divine. Someone does not love his wife. Let's find in her something nice, one good quality. God is in the minds and hearts of people. A thug speaks to you. Smile to him and take his hand, feed him. When you shake hands with him, he will become smaller, you will grow and he will do nothing to you. A saint passes through the forest. When the thug sees him, he says: "There is no need for me to rob you" - this means that God is manifesting through the thug. You send a good thought towards someone, but he does not receive it. It will come back to you. As he does not love you, he gives you back the good - he says: "I do not want your good." And when you send him evil, he does not want your evil either - and it comes back to you. When you do him evil, you wake up his mind and he will try to do you even bigger evil. And when you do him good, he may not do you good, but he will not do you evil either. If you love me because I love you, this is good. But if you love a man, who follows you, this is character. When you do the man who follows you a favor, this is character. When you do a favor to the one, who has insulted you ten times, you are peculiar in your actions. God wants peculiar things like that. In the external life the stupid serve the smart, the weak - the strong; in the internal life the smart serve the stupid, the strong - the weak, the loving - the unloving. All of you hold on to one rule: Do not care what the others think of you, whether they love you or not. In a given moment it is not necessary to know whether they love you; it is important for you to be sure that you love them. You are not responsible to decide whether they love you. Who and how they love you - this is not your business; how you love - this is your business. Do not be interested in how much your friend loves you. If someone loves you, leave him be and tell him that he is on the right path. Do not ask why those people love each other. You have been sent as ambassadors to love the people and to give them what you have to. What God requires from you, this is the important thing. People do not have to give me rules on how I have to love. Nobody must intervene in the love of others. There is only one Creature, Which can talk about Love - It is God. Therefore do not intervene in God's work - who loves who and how he loves them. Do not interfere with Love, do not interfere with God, but learn from Him! I will give you another rule of Love: welcome your beloved firstly in humble cloths, while working in your garden. Do not interrupt your work, let him come to you and help you. And then you will dress with your nicer cloths. A king's daughter is getting married. She was so loved in Heaven, that God sent an angel bearing gifts. But he fell in love with her and could not come back. When a man becomes attached to something, he cannot go back. Let's be happy for those relationships, which God has developed. Many of you have been connected artificially to see if you know how to break the connection. If you cannot break it, you have not passed the test. You do not love somebody - this is a relationship. Man has to think that he is in a world where everything is arranged. And if there are any contradictions, he should know that he has not completely understood things. There is no better thing than having a friend, who has the same opinion of you as you have of yourself. This friend, to be ready to sacrifice his life for you; and you, to be ready to sacrifice your life for him. Whoever loves is a mother. If you love, you are a mother, no matter what form you have. What God has done for us, we have to do for others. The service of the servant is related to Love. When we love someone, we foresee everything, we are mindful. The mindfulness is a quality of Love. You will be careful toward the one you love. You will learn what he needs. When you love, you will be loved back. If you do not love anyone, there is no one to help you. When you love someone, you are ready to do anything for him. You have to give him freedom, not to racketeer him. You have to be very delicate, careful with the mind, heart and soul of your beloved, so he would not think that you want to use him, but think that you want to sacrifice yourself for him. If he thinks that you want to use him, you are lost. The first servant is God. Let's decide to be servants, so we can be together with God. Until you gain the power through which you find pleasure in serving, in providing benevolence towards the smallest, and realize that this is a privilege, until then you cannot say you know something. This is the law of the angels, of the White Brotherhood, which now leads the world. All the White Brothers, all the angels fulfill this great law. Someone is unhappy because he has not learned the law of serving. Open your hearts for Love and God will begin to talk to you as clearly as he never has before. He will tell you: "This is how this will be is done, do that, this is how you serve." Love firstly serves the others and then itself. Only Love can make a sacrifice in the world. Without Love, no sacrifice is possible. A sacrifice, in which there is no Love, is not accepted. If you are ready to sacrifice your life for the one you love, you will be ready to sacrifice yourself for God too. We will begin our life with the teaching of Love. Do not say to anyone: "You will do this for me", this is not in the Divine teaching. I do not have the right to tell anyone: "Do that for me, don't you have Love?" Everybody should race in Love! When we say about someone that he loves, this means that he has provided for every need of his beloved. In Love you tremble for the one you love and you try to satisfy all his needs. When you love certain people, God has entrusted them to you so you can raise them. This means they are entrusted to you by God. The one who has real Love will give to you, he will not want anything from you. But the one who gave you one and wants ten, loves you with human love. You have written what I have been saying. You can read it to others. This is the good you can do. After you gather water from the fountain, you will bring from it to others. While you place someone lower than yourself, you do not love him. Whoever loves you truly will cure you, will teach you, will show you Nature, etc. He cannot be unhappy. When in Love a man wants to take, then he is unhappy. You can never influence people if you do not love them. To influence a plant, you have to water it, to hoe it. When you love a man, he represents a flower or a tree you are watering. Christ with His Love has been carrying the sufferings of all mankind for thousands of years. With this Love He can carry all the sufferings of the world. When you are very sad, this shows that there are clouds in your mind - darkness. And when you are happy, the sky is clean. The Sun always shines, but the ones who are sad, have not perceived its rays. Man needs softness. If you are not soft, flexible, you cannot endure. People get old because they are not flexible. If you are with Love, everywhere they will stop you and tell you: "Come, take this watermelon", "Come to our garden and take some apples." But if you are without Love, they will not stop you anywhere, and they will tell you: "Leave." You have come to the world to find out who loves you. Now workers are needed for the New teaching. If you put a prism, it refracts light. If you put a simple stone, it does not refract and does not reflect light. This way the human soul must reflect Divine Love and Divine knowledge. Be joyful now. Do not lose your heart, because I often find lost hearts. You give your hearts to anyone, but God says: "Give Me your heart" - because the human heart has to be in very good hands. When it falls in the hands of God, this is a blessing, but when it falls in human hands, someone will touch it, cut it, so he can study it, and when he gives it back, it is all cut up. Loved is the man who always gives. When a man is not loved, outside they pay him for work, and when they love him, they do not pay him anything - they pay him with Love. There is no bigger foundation than the foundation of Love, there is no holier thought than the thought of Love and there is no brighter feeling than the feeling of Love. Because of that, always rest in Love. Outside Love are the shadows, the unreal, but the unreal things give nothing to man; they take, but do not give. An important law is: in Love you must not lose yourself. Do not lose yourself. People first love each other and then they begin to lose themselves, i.e. they leave their work, the growth of the spirit falls behind. When you lose yourself, the soul stops its growth and Love leaves. Two people love each other and start drifting - for instance when you love someone, you cease your writing, your reading, your praying, you forget everything. You must love and work! All good people must gather and then they must scatter, so they can help. Be joyous. I say this: do not take off your smile, never take off the smile from your face. Always, even in your saddest moment, there always has to be a smile to be noticed, because if you do not smile, the worst comes. Love smiles to everybody without exceptions. When someone smiles, I am happy, because that smile is like the morning zephyr, like the dawn. The smile increases the human capital. Always smile, do not be serious. A man should be satisfied when everybody is satisfied, this is the order of things; but to be satisfied among unsatisfied people - this is art. When you go to unsatisfied people, you will bring a donkey loaded with gifts: bread, fruit, and clothes. Then the faces of everybody will brighten up and they will become satisfied.

GRATITUDE Today, when we came back from the Praying top, we danced Paneurhythmy by the second lake. After breakfast we did the following exercise: we stood around the lake with some distance between us, we took off our shoes and we stepped a little into the water. We washed our hands, face and head, after that we scooped water with both our hands and we splashed in front of us. We came out of the water lively and refreshed. The Master said: kids can do this exercise in school. If there is no lake, a clear river or a spring can be used. The water works mitigating - it calms down, brings softness. It works very healthily on the nerves - drenching with water acts therapeutically on the nervous system, but it has to be done with warm water. The people from villages where you can find a lot of water differ from the people from villages with less water. On the physical plane there are two powerful elements - water and bread. Another element is air; it has a certain relationship with the nervous system. The forth element is the light; it is related to thought. The bread, the water and the air are condensed energy, or to be more specific, they are condensed light, and the light is condensed Divine thought. Light has to be consumed the same way as the bread -you have to chew bread and you also have to chew light. What does it mean to chew the light? It means to accept it with your mind, with the participation of the consciousness, in order to perceive the Divine thought which is in it - only then will enlightenment come. When he perceives light, a man must be aware that it is a condensed Divine thought. When you step into the water, be thankful. When you step out, be thankful again. When you breathe, be thankful. Whatever you do, be thankful. We have to perceive Love through our heart, which is where its place is.

Prayer for Departed Souls Rest, Lord, the Soul of the departed brother/sister [Name], who You have taken above because of Your Will. Accommodate him/her in the brightest places of Your dwelling spheres. Bless him/her with Your Spiritual Virtues, so that he/she may uplift him/herself, revive him/herself and see Your Glory and Might. Let his/her Soul rejoice in Your Sweetness, Goodness and Love. With eternal Peace endow him/her, Lord, and let eternal Light shine upon him/her! Amen.

http://en-petardanov.com/index.php?/files/file/12-%7B?%7D/ A call to my people Bulgarian sons of the slavic family[2] Listen to the words of Heaven: Brothers and sisters from the Slavic house, family of suffering, tribe of discord, soul and heart of Life and Salvation of the present, bearers and defenders of peace, Sons of the Kingdom of God, listen to the Word: Heaven has assigned you a sacred office in the coming Kingdom of Peace, which is coming and approaching in its power, to mark a great event in the life of this world, and if you prove to be faithful from now on to this noble and sacred calling awaiting you, then believe that the God of Hosts Himself will enwreathe you in the glory and the greatness of His life and will inscribe your names in the Supreme Books of the higher worlds that minister to the Supreme Holy Work of the great redemption. A glorious future is awaiting you, coming not to wipe out or destroy life but to resurrect it in its perfect fullness. All chosen people and nations, constituting the flower of the new generations of humanity are called to partake in this life. Your time is approaching, your trial is coming to an end, the hour of your calling has come and the moment of your life has arrived to wake up and to enter into this gentle life which is coming to this long-suffering land. I come from above at the supreme command of God, your Heavenly Father, Who has entrusted me with the great mission of warning you against the bad ways and to announce you the Truth of Life which descends from the heavenly dwellings of the eternal Light, in order to enlighten each mind, revive each heart, to uplift and renew all spirits – the chosen children of Truth preordained to form the seed of the New Humanity of which the Slavic family, the stock of Judah,[3] will become the hearth. The leader of this salvation, the anointed of Zion, the Lord’s King, the brother of those who suffer, will arrive in all His power and spiritual fullness and will change the appearance of this world. You will soon be elevated in the order of the redeemed higher worlds, which gradually yet steadily rise one after the other into a new region of the upper supreme worlds, into the Heaven of the Divine Instructions, into which also your world will step forward to take its place among the others as assigned to it by the Supreme Father. Your stepping into these new infinite boundaries of the New Kingdom of the everlasting worlds will be marked by being given the sign from the Supreme Lord, Ruler and King over everything. He with all the angelic hierarchies will meet you, will receive you with joy and cheer as fellow citizens of the Everlasting Kingdom of endless power and glory. Do not grieve God by your conduct; do not doubt His Truth, which He brings to you from the Heavenly Dwellings as a sign of His faithfulness and His love for you. Become enlightened, pull yourselves together, become conscious of the truth of life. He Who has given birth to you keeps watch over you. You know His Name. Doubt not or hesitate, but put aside your faintheartedness; come to the eternal light of life to know the eternal ways of God, Who has raised you from the ashes of nothingness to the glory and greatness of immortality. Do not err, but make a place for Him Who gives you life. In Him the families, generations and nations do not disappear, but they are restored and regenerated through this same Eternal Spirit, Who puts everything in this great Divine World in order. Renewal is a great blessing for you, which contributes to your becoming worthy of entering the path of light, which is endowed with peace and love at every step. This blessing is the powerful and eternal generator of life, which uplifts all the fallen in spirit. It is the path to salvation which unfortunate mankind takes, summoned from Heaven to perform one more heroic deed, with which everything that is destined will be completed. The path on which I come to lead you, so that you enter the Kingdom of God, serve Him, is eternal. It is a path filled with all the sweetness of life. All the heavenly hierarchies and dwellers, before the origin of that very eternity without beginning or end, have passed along this path. Between you and this path of the Heavenly Dwellers exists a great distance which no mighty power can fathom, yet there is an invisible bond connecting everything in one indivisible brotherhood. This bond is the love of the Eternal and Invisible God, the Source of Life. It is this infinite love of Him Who loves you and cares for you that called upon me from on high in order to come and help you in these hard times that lie ahead for the last time in this world. Before you lies a great danger which is getting ready to destroy all holy things which have been planted by the hand of your Heavenly Father. This is why I came to this world to guide you in person through this most dangerous moment of your lives. Be brave, strong and steadfast, faithful to your calling, and braced for battle. Each of you, make the necessary self-sacrifices for the truth to triumph. Now is the right time to show that you are the chosen kindred, a Royal Seed, a nation whose ruler is the God of Hosts. I come to support the Slavic family to whom is given to prevail over all its enemies and foes standing on its way to the noble knowledge for which it is striving and in its way to its destiny as ordained by Supreme Providence. The time is drawing near and is by the gates of this world. Truth will triumph and will reign in all its beauty, which will illumine the face of this world with heavenly radiance. This is the day of Truth that has given birth to you for His glory. Listen to His voice. He is coming from above, raise your eyes to see that which is awaiting you, open your ears to hear the sweet songs, the pleasant hymns, the great anthems, the songs of praise sung by the angels who are preparing themselves for this glorious day. Listen: faithfulness is the first step for entering the new life, the first condition of passage through the narrow gates of admission; it is the first fruit of Love which you shall place before the Hearth of the Father’s altar. There is no time left to involve yourselves with irrelevant discussions of the past which are of no use to you, unless past errors teach you a lesson to correct the present ones. Your rebirth requires pure virtues which are lacking. It is now superficial and not fundamental; it is of a transient and inessential nature, not able to bring the expected good fruits. This nation is yearning to be led and ruled by holy and godly principles, which are necessary to succeed. These principles were established long ago by God, Who takes care for the improvement of all His nations, and these principles are implanted in your souls. In the revival of the nations, the mind and the heart must be in harmony, love and virtue must be together, power and reason must jointly lead and steer the way of their good endeavours. Without these conditions everything is irretrievably lost for the nations. This is why you need to stop and consider the situation in which you find yourselves, in order to avoid the total destruction which is hanging already over all your heads. I arrive in this depraved world at this important moment to exert the necessary influence, to lead you away from this pernicious path into which the nations on earth rushed to pursue recklessly. Remember, if you repudiate my good advice and oppose my Divine Directions which I gave you because you are dear to My heart, then I will employ also other measures which are much worse and I am bound to apply in response to your disobedience to the holy Divine Commandments. You are under my protection and it is my duty to guide and educate you in the Word of Truth. I am your protector and a supreme leader among the Heavenly Dwellers. When I took upon myself to take you under my guardianship, I could foresee all the difficulties which time would present to me until I lead you to safety. I knew how many obstacles and how many failures in this great battle you and I would have to face, yet my spirit will not depart from my intention. My love for you dictates this sacred duty to me, so I stepped forward to take you under my supreme protection. In this distant past your spirit did not possess any beauty to attract me and make me love you. You looked disgusting and those who looked at you were repulsed by the rudeness of your heart. I did not reject you because of your flaws, nor did I disdain you because of the crudeness of the external garments in which your soul was wrapped, but I came to love you completely with all my kind spirit, which undertook to probe you and to find any Divine virtue, any kind feature of your soul, which my spirit could cultivate and make fertile, so that it might bring plenty of good fruits and that a pure, holy and sublime behaviour might be formed in you, so that you could deserve the honour to join the family of the first nations which the God of Hosts has chosen to fulfill His everlasting holy will. The day has already come to determine the main destiny of this corrupt world, in which Heaven is going to make a radical and great change, and that very soon in the approaching New Age, to mark new pages on the face of the earth. It is my desire to prepare you for this, because you are far behind due to your present crimes as well as past national sins; for them you were required to go through countless sufferings and sacrifices, until you wash away and clean the disgusting vileness with which you annoyed God. This made Him turn His face away from you and leave you in the ordeal which took centuries,[4] so that you might recognize and repent for your sins, that tear the sacred bonds of His Love. Yet, God is not angry forever. His mercy is from generation to generation and His kindness is always with those who love Him and His blessing does not withdraw. He guides you with a strong hand through all the dark ages and His eye watches you, especially when you were passing through the dangerous paths of this world. As your Supreme Protector, I had to exert great efforts and make sacrifices in order to correct your past behaviour, to educate you and adorn you with the beauty of the eternal assigned to you. For this purpose I deigned to call forth from afar, from the farthest realms of Heaven, the two brothers,[5] luminaries of the Slavic family, and to hand to them the Word of Truth and the Word of Life, so that they could bring them to you and teach you the path, so you could climb along it towards the Eternal Light in which I dwell, i.e. the Light of Life which I sent you to live in forever. “The world did not accept this Light but refused it and exposed Jesus, My Anointed of the Covenant, to violation and death because the deeds of these people were evil. But the transgressors of My Testament have paid for their lawlessness, and now all has come to an end. Righteousness is everlasting, My Father is unchangeable and His deeds can not be changed; you are My nation.”[6] The Lord searched for a dwelling for Himself and His choice fell upon the Slavic family which Heaven has come to love because of its Divine virtue. For this reason I sent My two servants to bring you good tidings, to abandon the darkness of gloomy pagan gods. And there was great joy in the worlds of the Light when God placed the seal of His great name upon you and put His Spirit into your hearts as an eternal covenant. And I appeared to your royal Ruler at that time,[7] and let him know the Will of Heaven to receive My Messengers of the New Testament; and he listened to my voice and was honoured in my presence to become the founder of your spiritual renewal. I can assure you that since him there has not been a more modest and pure-hearted ruler born to the family of Slavs. He fulfilled the given promise with unshakable faith, like Abraham who did not spare his son, but presented him as a living sacrifice to God; in this way acted your pious ruler and father of the Slavic family, who gave the eyes of his firstborn son as an auspicious sacrifice, a chosen gift to God, as a sign of his unshakable faithfulness to Him;[8] this very day your calling was initiated by the God of Hosts, Who ordained in His imeasurable wisdom to glorify, together with you, the whole Slavic family in which God Almighty abides and which He has destined to take the first place in His Kingdom which is now coming into power in this long-suffering world. Understand the unchangeable truth that the elevation of the Slavic family is an elevation necessary for all, which God Himself is performing for His chosen one, the Leader of Salvation, Who will appear soon among you in his full Glory and Power to restore the eternal Kingdom of Peace, God’s Kingdom on earth. “And he who challenges your pre-eminence from now on, says the Lord Himself, challenges Mine, for I have the power to give Mine to whomever I wish, and if I give out of My good will, who would oppose Me and ask Me what I am doing? He who has the courage to do so, let him come and try his strength and he will see. I am one, My Word never changes, I am faithful and true in all My ways. My Word is irrefutable.”[9] The Lord is to you a Leader, He is to you a Bridegroom Who sends forth His gifts, Who is delighted as a newly-married man with the love which you have accepted faithfully from Him, Who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This is why I come from the eternal dwellings to awaken you to a good and holy life and to protect you not to trespass anew against the supreme will of Heaven, so that it may reject you as it did in the past, when you annoyed God with your unlawful acts and He let you fall into the hands of your enemies, who came from far away to punish you for your crimes and to fulfill the Supreme Judge’s will against you. Yet, at that time during your fall I supported you with My Love, because you had not been completely rejected from the sight of Him who had chosen you. And thus during this longlasting bondage I steadily guided you along the path of patience and humility and taught you to correct your life, to become conscious of your sins, to repent and turn to God the Lord with your whole hearts, with Whom you are united in the marital ties of pure and immaculate life. In all your sufferings and trials I supported you with My hand and gave you spiritual power and strength, so that you would not completely decline spiritually and become lost in the mire of life and in despair. And with all the power which I possess I began to create in you a pure and immaculate soul with Divine conduct. And at the end of your trial of many centuries, when Heaven under a Supreme judgment of Divine Providence decided to deliver you from the heavy slavery,[10] I was the first to appear, to intercede for your liberation, supposing that you would take advantage of this given blessing and correct your past behaviour; yet, you misused the gifts of your freedom. Anyway, I began the process of your liberation by putting into action all my mighty powers to work everywhere for the accomplishment and realisation of the great idea which I shall bring about in the shortest time. This is waiting for My supreme order, but your discord, your new sinful life are interfering with the sacred idea which I keep in my heart for your good and for the good of the whole mankind. There is a limit to everything and you must know that. During these last years of your newly begun life I have guided you safely until the present moment and have made greatest efforts to protect you from many dangerous evils. Give praise to God that I am not one of those who can be defeated. “The time has come when you will feel My Power and you will know that I am God, Who cannot be deceived, but you are a self-willed nation who does not see where its own good is hiding.”[11] The weak side of your soul is the general lack of unity and discord which hinders the sacred cause of the Slavic family, yet I am faithful to the work of Him, Who has sent Me. For Him there are no obstacles, no difficulties, His will is eternal and unbending and all He has said shall come to pass, but not in your days, if you turn back as did the Israelite nation in the desert, and like them you shall leave your bones because of your faintheartedness and general disbelief. Yet, the new generation which the God of Hosts Himself shall raise, shall bring to completion His intentions as ordained to be carried out. You may speed up or hinder the development of your cause, if you become involved in the licentious life of the corrupt nations, and this makes Me be more watchful over you, so that you may not turn back again and fall into the trap of evil, which fall shall cost you your lives. This has forced Me to come among you from above and to intercede for you again and to wipe out and remove the infernal hatred towards your brotherly nation which has sacrificed innumerable human lives for you. This is holy Russia for which God has ordained a great future, to fulfill His will for your glory and for the glory of His Kingdom. You will receive a gift from Russia as Melchizedek received from Abraham whom he blessed.[12] She owes her present power and glory to you; such are the Divine orders: one sows and another reaps, but in the end all will partake in the blessings of God. The infernal venom is being put aside today, the events are taking another course, the powers of hell are yielding the leading role on the battlefield; those who disturb the Peace of God will be punished everywhere and His justice shall be re-established on earth. The kingdom which I will restore is not a kingdom of hatred, but of love; raise your eyes to see that the world is ripe for harvest. Soon I shall prove the truth of my Divine words. One more great deed and all hearts shall tremble and the speculations of the world shall cease once and forever. As a sign of its benevolence, Heaven has given you a sacred pledge of great mercy and love which is kept between you, and from the day when the answer is given, your redemption shall begin; and I am warning you to protect what I am building, not to destroy it, because it is sacred and if you try to commit a sacrilege, I shall send three evils upon you: hunger, plague and devastation, and I shall have no mercy on you and I shall judge you so that you shall forever remember that God has spoken to you. Mind My words. In the Pledge, which I have entrusted to you, your future rests; it is the legacy of your house, it is the hope and life of your family. Listen to me, Slavic house, be witness that I have spoken to you. Now I am addressing you, my servants, leaders and teachers and to you scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites, and I command you to not corrupt My people which I have entrusted to you. Turn away from your evil paths, it is time for you to consider, guide my people on the path of the truth and do not mislead them, help the defenseless in their sorrows and do not injure the poor. Put away lawlessness, renounce injustice, leave depravity behind, for God can no longer look upon these evil deeds which are being committed everywhere before His eyes. He is out of patience, I have been called to bring an end to the mass of evil. Heed this while there is still time left, for the moment is coming when it shall be too late to seek me; think about this, the lack of faith which has taken over you wilfully, won’t bring you any good. This is my second coming since you have become my people, in order to see with my own eyes how you are and how you live and My spirit is moved when I see the dismal picture. You are to be pitied, you for whom I have sacrificed all that I acquired: life, glory, and honour; you have misused My goodness and love. In front of My eyes a great number of your unhappy brothers and sisters are standing whom you yourselves have violated and plundered. Go to them and confess your trespasses and make peace with your neighbours. On the day when I am coming to reveal myself to you in My full glory, I wish it to be a day of joy and not of sorrow, a day dedicated to My Lord. I am Elohil, The Angel of the Lord’s Covenant. Communicated on 8 October 1898, Varna, Bulgaria ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Translated by Harrie Salman. Translations made by Marianna Radoulova and anonymous translators have been consulted. Redaction of the translation by Cora Manzano (Hawaii). 3 A reference to the book of Isaiah, chapter 48:1, where the house of Jacob, sprung from the stock of his son Judah, is addressed. 4 The years under Byzantine rule (1018-1186) and Turkish rule (1396-1878). The Bulgarians were under Turkish bondage as a punishment for the persecution of the Bogomils, as Peter Deunov later explained. 5 The two brothers St. Cyril (827/28-869) and St. Methodius (815/20-885), who devised the Slavonic alphabet, the so-called Glagolitic alphabet. During their missionary work in Moravia (863) they began to translate the Bible into the language of the Slavs (now called Old Bulgarian or Church Slavonic). 6 In these sentences not the angel Elohil, but God the Father and Christ are speaking. Quotation-marks placed by the translator. 7 The Bulgarian king Boris I (ruled 852-889, died in 907), who adopted the Christian religion in 865-866 and later introduced the Slavonic alphabet. He welcomed the disciples of the two brothers, St. Cyril and St. Methodius, in 886 and founded schools where they could teach and translate Biblical texts into Old Bulgarian. 8 King Boris I abdicated the throne in 889 and became a monk. When his son and successor Vladimir attempted to restore the pagan religion of the past, Boris emerged from his monastery to save Christianity and defeated him in 893. Vladimir was blinded and replaced by his brother Simeon. 9 In these sentences the Lord is speaking. Quotationmarks placed by the translator. 10 After the Bulgarian uprising of April 1876, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1877 and liberated the Bulgarian territories. A much smaller Bulgarian state was established at the Conference of Berlin in 1878. 11 God is speaking here. Quotation-marks placed by the translator. 12 It is not clear what kind of gift is referred to here.

Note 1 How Much Higher A Man Stands Than A Sheep “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:12 We ought to thank the Hebrew Pharisees that they provoked Christ to say such a great truth - otherwise He would not say it. People who are extreme formalists, who filtrate the mosquito but devour the camel; who are specialists and virtuosos in finding and pointing out other people’s mistakes – the Pharisees could not explain to themselves how come that Sabbath may be infringed. According to their comprehension, after the law of Moses, the Sabbath had to be spent in rest and inactivity. The Hebrews understood the rest peculiarly, namely, in the same way that Bulgarians understand the Sunday. A Bulgarian would drive his oxen into the cattle-shed, leave the plough under the garner, dress himself well, put his fur cap on, and go to the tavern where still with his entering he would shout out: “Bring here half a kilo of wine, it is Sunday today – we should work six days, and on the seventh we shall eat and make merry”. The Hebrews held similar views of the Sabbath, too. And Christ lays them bare, making a comparison: “If your sheep”, he says to them, “falls into a pit on the Sabbath, you will lift it out, won’t you; and certainly not out of love for the sheep, but so that your interest does not be impaired. But when you have to do good to a person who needs help, then you raise a big question that his hand should not be recovered on the Sabbath.” Christ adds something more: “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep”, that is, how much higher a reasonable being stands than an unreasonable one. If you cook for your stomach four or five hours a day in order to feast it, because it constantly bleats, and you say: “Let me not torment it, let me feed it a little” – then, when it concerns the reasonable being, the human being – that his very thought and heart be elevated, why do you say: “This cannot be done on Saturday, there is time for this, let it wait”? Christ stipulates two conditions, saying: “I must take care of the reasonable just as you take care of your sheep; I have come to Earth to liberate these reasonable beings and lift them out of the pit just as you lift your sheep out of the pit.” The hand of that person was numb. Do you know what it means, the hand being numb? His will was paralysed, and Christ says: “I want to restore his will, so that he can act freely and apply his thought and his feeling; because he is sent to Earth in order to work. Whether this will be on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday, whenever, I will accomplish My mission.” And such work, which does not break the Divine law, can be done by anyone, because rest is meant only for the body and not for the Spirit. Only the lazy ones rest on Earth, and they rest every day, while the industrious ones say: “When Christ comes back to us, we will then take a rest.” A real Christian should comprehend work in this way. There is one basic principle which we must have in mind; there are certain laws which we have to understand; and not only understand them but also apply them in our life. Without this application, every teaching, every religion, whatever it may be, is fruitless. It is not enough for a plant only to sprout and grow up, develop, blossom, set fruit, but this fruit must also ripen – the purpose of this plant is achieved only when the fruit becomes ripe. Therefore, according to the same law, one may be born, may grow up and develop, set fruit; but if the fruit in him does not ripen, his life is sterile. Christ untied the hand of the man – He restored his will. If you go further reading this chapter, you will notice that to Jesus were brought a demon-possessed person, a blind one and a mute one, and He healed them as well. These things are connected. Who are the demon-possessed, the blind and the mute one? You might say that these things used to happen only at the time of Christ, but they happen nowadays, too. I will stop for a while and give an example through which I will explain the meaning that Christ has put into these words. There is a story about King Solomon, in which it is said that Solomon summoned a proficient prince of the spirits to help him in building the temple. However, after helping him build the temple, this prince wished to get hold of his throne as well. When Solomon learned about this, he caught this spirit, shut him in a pitcher, closed it with his own seal and cast it in the sea. After this prince stayed some ten years in the sea, he promised to give the most beautiful woman in the world to the one who opens the pitcher and lets him out – but no one opened it. A hundred years passed, and he made a promise again: to give not only the prettiest woman, but also the best children to the one who opens the pitcher – again no one appeared. Another hundred, two hundred, three hundred years passed – again a promise: he would give not only the most beautiful women and the best kids to the one who gets him out, but he would make him the most educated person – no one showed up for this luck, either. He made another promise: he would not only give all things promised earlier to the person who delivers him, but he would also make him a king of the Earth – again no one appeared. After five hundred years, he said: “Whoever frees me from now on, I will kill him.” Some time passed, and a fisherman went fishing, cast his net, caught the pitcher and pulled it out. He thought that a rich treasure must be in it, and began to unseal it, and when he unstopped it, a black smoke started to come out of it, and after some time, the figure of the prince appeared, and he said: “I have promised to kill the one who gets me out of the pitcher; I had promised this and that earlier, but no one came up; you have no one to blame but yourself now, such is your destiny.” The fisherman thought: “Why did I have to unseal this pitcher!” but after some time he said to the prince: “I don’t believe that you have come out of the pitcher – you must first prove to me that you have come out of the pitcher, and then kill me.” “I was in the pitcher.” “You were not in the pitcher.” “I was in the pitcher.” “You were not.” “I was.” “Prove it.” The spirit began to go back into the pitcher, and when he entirely got into it, then the fisherman immediately stopped up the pitcher and said: “If you promise the first things to me, I will let you out.” Such is life: you come to this world – it is a sea; you cast your net, catch some fish and you win. When you have these favourable conditions to catch fish, you are not there; when there come conditions of suffering, disasters, then you cast your net, and you pull out the pitcher with the evil spirit. You will notice a contrast in this tale – although being a tale, it shows that every life has favourable and unfavourable conditions. We ought to understand the laws in order to make use of the favourable conditions. If we, like the fisherman, fall into unfavourable conditions, we will reap death. Let me revert to the words of Christ, which He said when they brought to Him a demon-possessed one, another one - blind, and a mute one. The demon-possessed, the blind and the mute one are inside us. Here all of you look like Angels – how beautiful and pious you are; but once a demon gets into you, and there begins wailing and gnashing of teeth day after day. The man and children flee – the mother has run amuck; you, the reasonable ones, should stretch your hands to heal the demon-possessed by saying: “Peace to you”. You can say these words and heal the sick one just as the demon left the man at a Christ’s word. When you start feeding your horses in the stables, they begin to kick without thinking that there are children around. What should you do? You should say “Psh!” like a Bulgarian, and draw the horse by the rein. The rein – this is a law; each unreasonable being must have a rein. The reasonable being is given speech to talk. Therefore, you must heal this feeble-minded person inside yourself. This sheep is affected with staggers, it is rabid – you have to cure it. It is blind; people say: “But we are not blind”; I believe that probably you are not blind, but there are many who are. People asked a woman who could not read, and she said: “Son, I am blind, blind!” Can’t you open the eyes of this woman – open them. Teachers are people who open the eyes of the blind; they are wonder workers – send your son to them, and in ten or fifteen years they will send him back with his eyes open. You also have to punch the ears of the deaf one, so that he can hear and comprehend. It is easy and possible for a human being, because he has reason. Therefore Christ says: “How much higher a man stands than a sheep!” What does the life of a sheep lie in? It has to graze in order to cover its back with some wool and give milk; and sometimes, to bleat at you. You would say - what is the reasonable thing in this bleating. Some present-day people are like sheep, they are constantly bleating: a brother complains of his brother, servants complain of their masters, and masters complain of their servants – three hundred and sixty-five days of the year, they sing one and the same song. Is not such a life constant bleating? Christ says: “How much higher a man stands than a sheep, because a man can think.” His hand must be untied, the demon-possessed inside him must be healed, his blindness must be removed, and his hearing must be recovered – this is what Christ wants to say with these words. He says to the Pharisees: “You do not understand the fundamental Divine law, and I know why you want people with tied hands – your interests dictate you to have invalid people; you say of the blind one: “He’d better be blind, so that he cannot see our crimes”; of the deaf one you say: “It is in our interest that he is ignorant”. And if there are people who do not like enlightenment, it happens because of certain practical considerations. However, Christ maintains the opposite – He says that the hands of the crippled ones must be untied, and that the demon-possessed, blind and deaf-and-dumb ones must be healed. He wants intelligent people who understand and do God’s Will. The Bulgarian word “muzh”1 has a deep content; it derives from the Sanskrit word “manas” which means “a being that thinks”; therefore people say “Be a man2!”, that is, a being that thinks, reasons, that has the will to do what is Good – this is what “to be a man3” means. And be sure in this law that one cannot have will unless he does Good. Some people say: “I have will”. If I let a wheel from top of Vitosha4, it will roll down, but it cannot roll up towards the peak; a river runs with a rush down from a mountain peak, but it cannot run up – in the same way, most people roll and go down. And only the one, who can climb up the mountain, only such a person has will – he can remove and overcome certain obstacles and contradictions. And Christ addresses Himself to the Hebrews saying: “You should not be sheep; you should not be like creatures, who roll only downwards, like rivers and stones do; but you must be humans who ascend up towards God; that is, to implement His will” – this is what He wanted to tell them. They understood Him. In present life people also constantly descend, roll down from Vitosha, and ask themselves, why they are unhappy. Everyone, who rolls downwards, is unhappy; one is happy when he begins to ascend. One is unhappy until he begins to think and reason; once he begins to think and reason, he becomes happy, and the things which earlier used to be impossible in life, start being possible. The concealed thought which Christ implies in these words, has a great meaning to us. When God said in the first chapter of the “Genesis”, that He made the man in His image and according to His likeness, He wanted the man to think and act as God thinks and creates, to have will; and likeness means to liken things, that is, to distinguish between Good and evil, to generate harmony. To think and act is a Divine principle which God has implanted in us. And everyone, who does not think and act as God orders him, does not have God’s image – he is a sheep. We do not say that sheep is bad, but we say that the purpose of a sheep is to pasture and to give milk and wool; while the purpose of a human is completely different – he is created to rule over all beings, to regulate the atmosphere, to regulate all other elements, to arrange the Earth. He has to become a good master, and he can become such a master only when he understands the things that God has implanted in him. Now, people often ask: “Are you a Christian?” “What do you comprehend by this word?” “Do you believe in Christ?” “I believe that Christ has come. I believe in this just as I believe that the Russian king had once been to Bulgaria.” “And what of that? Do you believe that your student has been to school today?” “I believe it.” But this faith should go a little further; I will ask the student: “Have you been listening to what the teacher spoke today?” “I did not.” I will say to him: “I have been listening to his lecture and I know more things than you do.” And then you will say: “You have grasped the thought.” People say: “We believe that Christ came to save the world.” All right, you keep preaching this again and again for two thousand years, but how will He save it? “He shed His blood to redeem people.” Well then, when a Bulgarian agricultural worker byes a pair of oxen from the market, what does he do with them? He puts a halter on each of the oxen, puts the yoke on their necks, takes the plough and the goad, and goes to the cornfield. You believe in Christ, but if you are in the position of a sheep and you do not settle down to work, do you serve Christ then? You believe that He has come – this is very good, but are you listening to Him? No. I advise you to go and listen to Christ speaking in His school – to understand His teaching and apply it in your life. I do not want people to throw away what they have, even in the least. What you have now is that you are still in the first forms of the school; but you have been studying nothing but the primer for thirty or forty years now, and this primer is already worn to rags. Put down your primers, take the readers! I understand if one keeps the primer one, two, or three years; but I do not understand if he reads haltingly nothing but the primer for a hundred years. Christ says: “Now take the readers”. And to those who have finished the readers, He says: “Put down your readers and take the Grammar books, Arithmetic, Physics, Chemistry, Bible classes, and go forward; this bleating has been quite enough!” – “Do you believe that Christ has come?” Something more is required from you – listen to what Christ speaks, and learn what He has brought. Only then you will come to know the profound meaning of this Life. And when you have the ability to think, act and create, you have advantage hidden in you; you have riches, you have a mine that you ought to work out – these are your mind and your will. Now I am asking you – have you been working over your mind and your will, or you have only been bleating over your primer until now? If Christ, who is coming, makes an inspection in your houses, He will make a complete check-up of whether you have been occupied. I do not have in mind those ordinary houses you have made, but I mean the houses you are living in now, the houses with which now you have come here. Christ will see whether in these little cells, in these rooms, there is reasonable human thought and action, or there are sheep excrements. This dung is also good, but it is a sin for a person whose father has sent him to school and has given all the conditions for him to become a reasonable being, to remain outside, bleating. And when the Angels descend and then go back again to Heaven to report about people, what will they say up there? “They are still bleating down there.” This bleating will turn into speech, whenever. And now Christ, wishing to make this sheep be reasonable (because it has the conditions to be so), places these two principles, one next to the other, and says that this wool of the sheep ought to be spun, and fabric must be made out of it. Everyone can shear sheep, but wool has to be produced. And if this wool is not sheared on time, it will fall out, like the leaves of a tree. The wool must be stowed, processed, and fabric ought to be woven out of it – our thoughts and desires must turn into actions, and then the naked people will be able to get dressed. When, exactly, did man get naked in Eden? When he became stupid, when he became a sheep and began to bleat, when his hand became crippled, when his wife succumbed and left the chaste life for the veneer of things; and when he himself followed this lead, so they both indulged in loose-living. Then they became stupid, lost their eyesight and their right reasoning. Now Christ says: “I came to Earth precisely for this human, who is made in the image of God and according to His likeness – in order to untie the hands of this human, so that he can implement God’s law”. You, who have shepherded the swine of this world until now, and who have been forbidden even the carobs; what else do you expect, may be the song of singers: “Lord, rest the soul of Thy servant”? Among the swine or the carobs of this world should the Lord rest your soul? No, take your stick, take your bag and set out – towards your Father’s home, towards your Father’s school, which the Lord has prepared for you. Christ advises to you to lay aside the primer and the reader, and take the grammar-book – it is a useful science, it teaches us how to speak and read correctly, where to put the different letters.5 Right thought, right reasoning, right way of feeling, right acting is required from all. May our life be beautiful and good – both in form and content (as it is said two thousand years ago: “Be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect”) – here is the slogan for the New life to which we should aspire. It is a Divine law, but a slightly bigger effort is demanded from us in this respect. And I commend worldly people in one aspect: look at a lady who is getting prepared for going to a dancing-party or a ball, or to the theatre; see how much she exerts herself in the room in which she dresses – she keeps turning hither and thither a full hour; she surveys her face, nose, hands – everything must be in good shape. I commend her; but you, the Christians – how many times have you ever sat before your mirror to examine and correct your character? You say: “I can do without a mirror”. You need a mirror; follow the example of this worldly lady. I stand up for the mirror, only the mirror of the heart and mind – when you look at yourself in it, everything ought to be in good condition; only then you should appear before the Lord. Do you think that the Lord will accept you in Heaven as you are now? No. Worldly people understand this much better, and therefore Christ says: “The sons of this century are cleverer”. We should not condemn then, and besides this we should learn a very good lesson from them – I recommend worldly people in every aspect, because they give excellent examples in comprehension and energy, and in preparation. If we could follow their example by applying it in the Spiritual world, we would be standing higher than we are now. You say: “Their matters are foolish; we do not need this; we do not need that.” Well then, what do you need – the Heaven? But Heaven wants no foolish people. If you cannot construct a stone house, then how could you construct a character that requires very big efforts? You do not have a thousand levs6 to build a house, but you want to construct a magnificent character! And when the Lord tells you to take no heed of worldly affairs, He implies this: when you have built one, two, three houses, He says: “This is enough, you are a specialist; now I want from you to construct the house of your heart; and when you learn how to construct the house of your heart, then construct the house of your mind.” The same law must go by analogy from below upwards. Hence, Christ says: “How much higher a man stands than a sheep – a man who thinks and is able to develop his character, than a sheep that constantly bleats and pastures.” Contemporary world demands: “Bread, bread!” – this call is heard from all sides. – “We need also sheep, because they give us wool.” But if the whole Earth was filled only with sheep, there would be no harmony at all. I have in mind that the reasonable element in us has to prevail over the unreasonable one – the human must be substituted for the animal. Altercation is heard everywhere: “He is an animal.” It is not bad for a human to be an animal, but there is something higher than animals. It is a matter of course for a sheep to be an animal, but not for a human. In the Scripture it is also said: living soul and life-giving Spirit. The one who wishes to teach, ennoble, save humanity and its disciples, who are summoned to this field, let him assist Christ – for He wants intelligent people to help Him – people who now well how to construct according to all rules of Divine science; people in whose minds the welfare of the Kingdom of God stands on the first place. Such people are needed now, who cannot be tempted, nor deluded by external ostensible look of things. I admit that some priests do not perform their duties properly, but I do not condemn them – this is their conception, while I have to take to what my duty is. If we constantly stay at one place and condemn them, but we are negligent of our own duties, what could be the use of this? There would be no use at all; it would be as the case of that teacher who has not taught his students the lesson, and therefore he wants to punish them. Let us pass into the stage of reasonable living, which aims at improving of all nations and the entire humanity. We should consider the human soul, the home, the society, the nation, the humanity – Christ comprises all these categories; all of this composes one whole. The home is a bigger individual; the society is bigger than the home; the nation is still bigger then society, and humanity – still bigger than the nation. Therefore, from little things we aspire to the bigger ones; that is, from animal manifestation we aspire to reasonable manifestation. By laying this thought before you: “How much higher a man stands than a sheep”, Christ regards man as more capable of constructing and building up his own Life. The first thing for you to do after going back home, is to start with healing the demon-possessed; the second thing to do is to open the eyes of your blind one; the third thing is to unstop the ears of your deaf one; the fourth is to untie the hand of the one with a tied hand – to set your mind into operation. This is a serious task – you have rules, so you will make the resolution. Of course, a day, two or three days might pass, but if you persist, you will resolve it. And when solving it, the results will point out how you should work. If a teacher always solved the problems of a student, the latter would never learn to calculate. The teacher gives one, two, three, four, five problems, and says: “Next time you shall bring me these problems solved.” And the whole world around us is all problems which the Lord has submitted to us for solution. In the chapter I have read, Christ has laid many tasks. I dwelt upon one of them, and the others are much heavier – according to the complex rule of three. Now I am giving you the problem only with the four simple operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Once you get into the complex rule of three, the matters there are slightly more difficult, but you can solve this problem very well with the four simple operations. Some of you say: “We cannot add”. You will learn – two apples and two more apples make four. You do not know what kind of people to add to yourself – a man does not know what kind of a woman he should add to himself. Then, subtraction comes: a man marries a woman but does not like her and wants to abandon her – he does not know how to subtract. It is not the time to subtract now. His children multiply and he wants to turn them out, because they were not clever – but he has to teach them. What a great law is concealed in these four rules – to know how to add, how to subtract and so on! It is a deep science which has been standing before people for thousands of years. We have learnt only the mechanical aspect of calculation. When we come to be added to the saints, to the Angels, when we are added to God, then we will learn genuine addition. A grosh7 and one more grosh make two groshes; but what if in the addition there are plus and minus? Someone says: “I can add.” “But how can you add – with plus or with minus?” “I have”, this person says, ”minus two thousand leva.” “How long do you have to wok to pay them off?” “I have plus two thousand leva.” “Ah, you are a rich person, you have enough and you can do good to other people.” This is the fundamental law of Christ. You will add and subtract this sheep; this sheep will give you the elements. If you visit a shepherd, he will teach you the basic law of addition and subtraction – when he curdles the milk in order to make cheese, he will add a part of it, while he will subtract out another part8. If he knows how to subtract the useless part, he will gain; if he does not know how to do this, he will lose. And you, if you know how to curdle your milk, how to add a part of it and subtract another part, then when it comes to making the balance of your account, you will say: “Now we have a profit”. If you have a loss, it shows that you have not made use of that reasonable principle of Christ, but you have been a sheep which all the time has only been pasturing and bleating. When a sheep sees a wolf, it stamps its foot, wishing to tell the wolf: “You ought to get off from here; don’t you know that I am pasturing?” But the wolf pounces and eats the sheep – so the sheep is that much clever. And you, when seeing the devil, do not stamp your foot against him, for he does not get scared; he gets scared only by people who have mind and will - whose hands are untied. Therefore Christ came to untie the hands of humans and give them strength to struggle with the wolf – with the devil. Wolfs, too, have the right to walk around the world and exercise their teeth, but we also have the right to use our mind and our will against them. They have the right to eat, but we also have the right to pull out their teeth; they have the right to exercise their claws, but we also have the right to cut their claws off. Eradicate the teeth of this devil and extract his claws. And when you make the devil a sheep – to give you wool and milk, do not be afraid; may be in the next step you will make him an ox, may be you will halter him and get him to plough. And Christ says in another task, that the spirit, which went out of the man, was very restless, and if it happens to come back, he will be seven times wickeder than he used to be. All those foolish people become seven times wickeder as well. Hence, Christ says: “I came to save the reasonable human” – He came not for the sake of animals, but for the sake of humans. So, exactly this salvation of the profound Christian teaching, we have to apply in our life; we should be a model with our hearts and minds; our home should be a perfect garden – this is the task of our life. Therefore, you set to work, and let everyone work inside himself. When a friend comes to visit a Bulgarian, the host takes him and shows him what he has in his farm, how his matters are arranged; and his friend praises him and is delighted. Some day, the Lord from Heaven will come, where will you take Him round? Your loft and your barn are demolished; the church and the school, too. If He finds everything here well arranged and in good order, He will say: “Here is one who has worked reasonably”. This is the thought which Christ represents before you this morning: “How much higher a man stands than a sheep”. 11 October 1914, Sofia 1 „muzh” [mәζ] – meaning “man”, “male person” 2 Here “man” is used in the meaning of “male person”, as a part of a common Bulgarian expression 3 Here “man” is used in the meaning of “human being” 4 Vitosha – a mountain to the South of Sofia 5 Here, instead of “different letters” in the Bulgarian text there is a short list of special letters of the Bulgarian alphabet 6 “lev” is the Bulgarian currency 7 A “grosh” is an old Bulgarian coin which was equal to 20 % of the lev. Groshes were used in the period after the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish yoke (1878) 8 This is a pun: in Bulgarian we have the same word for “subtract” and “take out”=”extract”, and another identical word for “add” and “gather”. Thus, the sentence may sound also: “…– when he curdles the milk in order to make cheese, he will gather a part of it, while he will take out another part” Source

Note 6 The Necessity of Knowing God “And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 Life is the strongest and most natural aspiration of the human soul; it is the treasure, which she desires to earn. This aspiration has existed for thousands and millions of years and not just in human beings but in other mammals too, in birds, in fish and even in plants. The difference lays only in the methods of obtaining life by these various beings. Let us come to the human aspiration for Life - it concerns us, it is important for our growth. You enter, for example, a music school not only to listen but also to learn. You are given a violin, you are given a bow, strings are put on the violin, you are taught how to tune it; you are given a teacher to teach you the main rules of music and you start practicing your mind, your hands, and your fingers. And, in this way, in the course of time you master the art of being an excellent violinist. By the same law God wants to teach us to master the method, the way of acquiring Life. Once people had possessed Eternal life, but they lost it. They lost it for one simple reason and now they strive to correct their mistake. This mistake has caused death and only when people began experiencing the permanent degradation of their souls, of their minds, of their hearts, of their organisms and of everything that forms, only then did they realized what they had lost. It is said in the first chapter of Genesis that God put humans into Eden and told them to cultivate and use everything in it but forbad them to touch one tree - the Tree of knowing good and evil. However, humans wanted to make a small trial of disobedience and first the woman began this trial. It is said in this chapter that the snake wound round the Tree of knowledge and began talking with Eve, asking her a question: “How is that you, being masters of Eden and making use of all the trees in paradise, can not make use of the Tree which hides a great mystery? The woman asked: “What mystery?” “If you eat from this tree you will have the knowledge of God, you will know why you live, you will know good and evil, and you will be very strong on the Earth, as God is.” And then vanity began arising in the woman and she said to herself: “To become like God – this is my burning desire”; and she picked the forbidden fruit, tasted it and then went and convinced her husband, so he tasted it too. As a result of this, the Scriptures say that they saw their nakedness. When do people get naked? A rich father died and left his son money, farms and woodland. The son made friends, used to go on walks and sprees, spent everything and became naked; he did not become naked for no reason but because of eating, drinking and laziness. This suggests to us that Adam and Eve had eaten from this tree for a long time and began pawning Eden and then God told them: “What are you pawning, is it your property? Get out! From now on you will earn your living with labour and with the sweat of your brow in order to learn this great law – to appreciate Life which I give you.” Man can easily become poor. An American millionaire, whose father had left about twenty million dollars inheritance to him, had a weakness for flowers and he began collecting various flowers from all over the world; he even sent a special expedition for some specific rare flowers. After some decades he spent everything that he had and when he died he had to be buried at the expense of the municipality. But you will ask how one can lose his Life. I will tell you how: you have a son, healthy and sound, educated in foreign countries, but he conceived the idea to rise to greatness, fame, to hold St. George’s cross; he says: “I am going to fight for glory” and he goes; a bullet hits him – he accepts the glory but loses his life. Adam and Eve desired such a cross and God sent them to the battlefield. They departed from Eden, and went to conquer the world but they lost their Eternal lives. Now, let us revert to Christ’s thought. We know how to spend money, how to lose our lives but we do not know how to gain Life. Christ came to teach us how to gain the lost Life. I will talk on this thought in your presence. Christ says: “I am Life.” By what is Life distinguished from the other forces? It is a force that builds, raises, joins, unites and gives joy and fun to the soul. In the last verse of the chapter that I read to you, three words are important: life, knowledge and God. Life is the aim we strive for; knowledge is the method for achieving this aim and God is the environment or the conditions from which we can obtain this Life. This matter has a double sense. I can talk on its purely philosophic side; I can explain its biological origin to you, its psychological or psychic state and so on. But this will not be of use to you, as if I do not give a hungry person some bread to eat but begin telling him how the bread is prepared, what flour it is made of, what woman kneaded it, how she baked it, what elements it has, how chemists discovered them in the laboratory and so on, man will say: “I am hungry, give me something to eat. I do not need to know who kneaded it. Also, I do not want to know which elements it contains. The only thing I am interested in right now is to take my meal; and then I will be able to listen to you telling me those things.” And we too will say now to the philosopher: “We do not want to know what elements Life consists of, how and from what it is kneaded, how it has derived; we want to take our meal, to eat from Eternal Life and afterwards we may discuss with you these things as long as you wish; now we just want to get free from this death.” And I think this is the correct solution to the matter. How can you acquire Eternal Life if you have not lived yet? You think that you live and you say: “I live.” You have Life indeed but it is not yours, it is life on loan. Tomorrow the one to whom you owe will appear, will present the bill for your debt, will put you into prison and will take your life. You will be put on a stretcher and the priest will come to just confirm the sentence, saying a requiescat for God to mention you in His Kingdom, that is to be merciful to you; then the singers will sing the established song and you will be buried. What does it mean for a person to be buried? This means to be imprisoned down in the jail in order to pay off his debt. Everyone who instead of going to pay off his debt goes to search for George’s cross is buried in the earth in order to first pay off his debt, to learn how to acquire his Life. All people cry when their closest ones die, but tears will not save people. The one to whom we owe will not take pity; He will say “Pay your debt” no matter how much we cry. When coming, death too will say: “I do not need your tears but I want to have your debt paid – you owe me.” Now, we need to know the main law of Life in order to free ourselves from death. I will give you an example to clarify this. In the time of the Bulgarian slavery, in the epoch of janissaries1, a Turk – daaliah2, a wrestler, seized the whole countryside and put the whole population in fear and trepidation. Whoever he caught, he beat, wounded and killed; he boasted everywhere that he frightened the giaours3. No one from the local population dared to raise their voice; everyone prayed to God to rescue them from this evil. All men bore the scars of the Turkish daaliah, but no one dared to rear his head. Everyone bore his yoke in fear. One day, a young Bulgarian shepherd, neat and with shoes on, with a crook in his hand, was passing this countryside. He entered a forest; the Turkish daaliah saw him from far off and called out: “You giaour. Stop! Who allowed you pass here?” – ‘I am a shepherd, I take my flock across.’ – “You must throw down your stick!” – ‘But I am bringing it to you as a present – it is full of gold. My grandmother told me that my grandfather had brought it from Eden. It has never deceived me and has cleared my path.’ – “Look at this foolish giaour, what nonsense he speaks! I will tell you from which paradise it has come from, from yours or from ours! I will impale your head on it.” However, with the first blow the bold shepherd broke the sword of the wrestler–daaliah in two; from the second blow his right hand hung down completely; the third blow broke the left leg in two and the wrestler–daaliah fell onto the ground. ‘I told you that my stick always stated correctly that it has come out of Eden. For the present these three words which you learnt from it are enough for you. God pays well. When I pass by the second time my stick will say to me – I will tell you three more words and will crush your head.’ The wrestler–daaliah replied: “I believe in your stick. I will practice its words in my life. How can I stand against such a stick which has come out of Eden and speaks the truth? From now on let the rayah4 be free; this is the will of the Allah.” I am giving this poetic story in order to explain a truth in a folk-form. This Turk represents death; and the giaour is who we are. Is there any place in the world where this wrestler has not been? Is there any house he has not visited? What do the crosses on graves show? Everyone in this world talks about the wrestler–daaliah, mothers and fathers talk about his feats. There are volumes and volumes written about his story, about his power. All sing one and the same tune: “Our wrestler–daaliah is unconquerable in this world.” And if someone dares to say that it is possible to get free from him, we immediately hear the words: “Are you crazy, have you taken leave of your senses? This is impossible, we do not believe you; these are empty words, foolish phrases, and youthful illusions.” But this young Bulgarian shepherd, with his stick that has come out of Eden, that tells no lie, with three hits – against the knife, in the right hand and in the left leg of the wrestler–daaliah, is enough to refute the false theory that the wrestler–daaliah is unconquerable. However, manliness is needed; will is needed for such a giant fight. But one may retort and say: “I do not see what deep sense exists in this ordinary example.” Yes, you are right in your point of view because you do not trouble yourselves to set things in order. But, if behind this formula the following truth lies, what will you say then? If this young shepherd represents the reasonable uncorrupted person; if his grandmother represents the Divine Love which permanently speaks to our soul that Liberty is a human right; and if the grandfather represents the Divine Wisdom, which takes the stick out, i.e. the Divine laws and entrusts it to the arms of this wise being in order to defend its soul from enslavement; and if the knife represents the Nature, forces contrary to human progress; and if the arm represents the corrupted human will, and the left leg – the corrupted human heart. We consider that by reacting to these forces in a certain direction we can eliminate the destructive actions. In this exact sense one should comprehend the words: “He who will win to the end will be saved.” The victory is a condition for acquiring of Life. And the words of Christ: “The stronger one, while going into the home of the strong one and tying him, only then could he plunder his home” understand the same idea. For this reason, that Knowledge is necessary which can make us familiar with the laws of this process of acquiring Life. A woman who wants to weave some cloth should first know how to wash and spin wool, to prepare her loom, her harnesses, her weaver’s reed, her vatali5 and then to make the warp and to wind it to the cloth-beam, to stretch it tight and to start weaving in compliance with the rules determined in this art. The shuttle should be repeatedly thrown at one moment from the left side, at another from the right side; to carry the fibres of the weft, and when woven together with the warp will make the desired cloth. An artist, who wants to paint a valuable picture, has to know the rules of this art; has to know the harmony of paints and has to wield his brush. A sculptor, who wants to mould a great statue, has to wield his hammer. He who wants to build a house has to know how to build it, how to raise and arrange it. A doctor who wants to become eminent and useful, has to know thoroughly the elements which cure the sick. A teacher, who teaches and elevates people, has to know the human soul, the human mind and has to act in compliance with them. Now, the Christian who wants to acquire Eternal life should know the basis of this Life and should apply the laws on which it can be acquired. Life could be likened to a cloth, which we have to first weave and then dress. It is the first garment which human Spirit should be covered with. When we wear this cloth out, we become bare from outside. This baring is called moral lapse. Christ clearly says: “It is Eternal life to know God.” To know Him – this is the secret of acquiring of Eternal life. But you will ask me: “Is it possible that we do not know God?” If you would know Him in the Christ’s sense you would not die. But you will answer back: “Who is he that does not die?” And this is what refutes people’s contention that they know God. But you will tell me that Christ died, too. No, He did not die but He resurrected and appeared to His beloved ones. When you die, will you resurrect to appear to yours? This is the important question for you. You may have a particular concept of God such as that of a philosopher, a pantheist, a materialist, a churchman; but it will not carry Eternal life in you – that eternal beginning, that eternal blessing for which we strive, and which is our aim. If you don't have this you will be in the position of a sick person who basks in the moon in night-time and expects that it will warm him up; or of a hungry one who watches the nice loaves from a distance; or of a thirsty person who imagines from a distance that he drinks clear water and he says to himself: “I know it.” I am telling you this is not knowledge; this is an idea for the outside shadow of things. When you acquire the true knowledge of God, the Eternal life will be realized in your soul; then you will meet death like this young shepherd did. And there will be no epitaph over your grave: “He was buried here in the prime of his youth, he whose life, death put an end to.” But let me return to the subject and illustrate the matter with a small analogy. Every living being needs an environment and conditions in which it will be able to live: soil, humidity and light is needed for plants; water is needed for fish - without it fish can not live; for birds, mammals, and people, air is the environment of their lives. This analogy is also true regarding external human feelings. The environment for the human eye is light; for the ear – sound; for the nose – smell, the flowers which constantly emit those ethereal vibrations which are the food of this feeling. The environment for taste is food; all those organic substances and saps that constantly flow and give life. If we now go still higher up this staircase, we will notice how this great law works. The environment in which our heart can live, these are wishes; the environment in which the human mind can live and develop these are thoughts. Without thoughts the human mind atrophies, without desires the human heart atrophies, as well. The environment for human will is force, activity and energy for work – without work, will atrophies. Under the same rule, the environment of the human soul is God. That is why it is said in the Scriptures: “We live, move and exist in Him.” Through Him the soul can acquire its initial Life – can dress in immortality. Therefore God is an inner environment, an inner condition and an inner force from which we should constantly obtain. For example, as our eyes are connected with light, our lungs – with air; as our stomach is connected with the mouth in order to eat, so are our heart and our mind two means through which the soul can accept Life. These are preparatory environments for the Divine environment – the Universal Divine consciousness, in which our soul is dipped. It is true that each time when a being loses the connection with its environment, it is exposed to death; it makes no difference whether this is a plant, fish, bird, mammal or human being – the law is one and the same for all. Christ, who deeply realized this law, insists that it is necessary to know God or, saying in terms of science, that it is necessary to have connection with our environment. But you will say: “We will know Him when we go to the next world.” The next world is God. People who think that when they die they will go to next world, look like that criminal son who, being imprisoned said to himself: “I am going to see my father.” Is this the prison where you will see your father? You will go to the place of reformation. In the next world you will not go to your Heavenly Father. In order to go there you should defeat death, get out of prison, and be free. That is why Christ says in the chapter read from the Gospel: “I am the door”; and at another place: “He who will go in and go out through Me, will find pasture, too.” Do tell me; have you ever gone in through this door and have you ever gone out through it and how had you done it? If I ask you about the house of some friend of yours, you will say: “The outer gate of his house is to the west and the inner one to the north or south”; you will also describe how great it is, what paint it has and how it is locked. All churchmen say: ”Christ is a door.” As soon as Christ is a door, do clarify what it is made of, either of wood or iron, gold or silver, gems or something else, by what rings it is hung on, and on what bedding it lies? “But, you will say, this is figuratively said.” Good, make a translation of this door, what Christ is, in what sense He is a door? You will say: “Christ saved us.” How did He save us? “He died for us.” Is a dead one able to save? “But He resurrected.” How has He resurrected? “Through Divine life.” So, Christ has been united with God, He knew God and by this knowledge of God He defeated death, resurrected and came to our souls. Now He is with us. Firstly, He was imprisoned 33 years together with us and He taught us how to get out of this prison, how to overcome death and evil. Christ is now outside, in the next world with the Father of Light. He comes to visit our minds, our hearts and the world will see Him with those three hits: against the knife, in the arm and in the leg. He will pull down all false teachings. What are these false teachings? They are those elements, thoughts, desires, actions that disrupt human happiness, human mind, human heart, human soul, human Spirit; which fill us with death, anarchy and slavery everywhere and paralyze our life. And what is the teaching of Life? These are all the elements that give happiness, blessing, goodness, enlightenment; which raise the human Spirit, the human heart and bring in it Fondness and Love towards everything – this is the living Christ. And that is why He says: “In order to have these basic elements which can bring eternal Life in you, you surely should know God.” In the world it is necessary to be at war. But with whom? “With death.” However this art should be understood properly otherwise mistakes will constantly follow us. I will tell you how: a Bulgarian mother sent her son to Germany, I think, to study. She was quite a well-to-do woman, every month she used to send some three-four-five hundred leva6 to her son, but it was not enough; he was short of money. One day he wrote to his mother to send a thousand leva. But she wrote: “I have no money; you will have to try to find some small job”; but her son said: “If you do not send me any money I am going to kill myself.” Then she, being indignant, wrote him so: “Kill yourself, I will spit over your grave; I do not want a son who is a coward, who does not want to work, who is afraid of work in the struggle with life and wants to live like an old woman.” The words were not the exact ones but were in this sense. The son pulled himself together. And today this telegram is in a frame and when questioned about it he replies: “It saved me.” So, in the world you should fight with the elements of death. And how are you going to win? By one way only: by knowing God – the beginning of Life. But you will ask me again: “How can we aspire to this Beginning?” This is the easiest thing. Let us say, you choke; what will you do? You will open your mouth and will breathe. You should breathe in through your nose. So, in order to have Life, we should have knowledge and in order to have knowledge, we should have a fresh mind that is able to take in, to move.[M1] And when you permanently take in those good, elevated thoughts with your mind, as you permanently take in air through the nose, you will be on the way to this Eternal life that you are searching for. If everyday you make a small trial to strengthen your will; when bad thoughts and desires come, to drive them off and to take only the good thoughts and desires then within one year and more you may do wonders with yourselves; there will be no hindrance which will not submit to this effort of your will. Now, of course, one who wants to acquire immortality should have a strong will in the true sense of the word. But you say: “I am not able.” Those who are not able will go to prison. This is what is written in the Divine book. When you say: “I am not able”, God says: “Imprison him, I shall teach him to be able.” There is not another way to begin. This is our fate. If we want to unite with God, to live with Him, to acquire Eternal life, we surely should be servants to Him. Otherwise there will be another kind of serving, but to whom? - To the devils, to the princes of this world who will set us to work three times a day. The devil will take a whip and will say: ”Gee! You do not want to work for God – flap!” After all that you will say: “There is nothing to be done – there should be work: because there is a stick - a beating of course. If you stop, the whip will begin cracking again. These are the two ways. “I do not want to serve God.” Once you do not want to serve God, you will have another god. “I want to be free.” You deceive yourselves, there is no freedom in this world; the only one that has Freedom, is he, who is united with God and live conscious life. Sometimes you say: “I got angry, I told him this and that.” You think that you have acted very wisely - you talked down to him! Who did talk down, to whom will you talk down? “I beat him up.” What were you paid for this? This is okay, tomorrow you will be beaten. What kind of freedom is this: today you beat, tomorrow you are beaten; today you strangle, tomorrow you will be strangled? This is not Freedom. Christ says: “You should acquaint yourselves with the main principle of knowledge.” I want you to apply what I am saying to you. You go to the church, stand up, fold your arms, close your eyes, get carried away and pray to God; as soon as you leave the church – you forget all this. People from outside say: ”This person goes to church, he is religious: he departs – his life is different.” This means that you have not found the correct and true way of salvation. But they say: “Christ came and saved us.” Christ saves the intelligent and the good; He never saves the bad and the foolish people. He saves the intelligent and good ones who listen and implement His teaching. In the first place Christ teaches us how we should work for ourselves. He says: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Way – is the method. Truth this is your mind by which you should acquaint yourselves with things – which are good and which are bad. Life – is an art, by which you already know how to make the cloth, and how to dress yourselves with it. Make a small trial with yourselves. You are sick, nervous, indisposed; your children are not good. Leave the children in peace, do not worry about them, and think a little about yourselves. Why are you nervous, why are you indisposed? There are deep reasons for this. If you tell me: “I am thirsty”, I will tell you: ‘Drink some water.’ “I am hungry.” ‘Have your meal.’ “But how will I drink, there is no glass?” ‘Kneel to this mountain spring that is the element which can quench your thirst.’ “I do not want to kneel.” ‘You will kneel, otherwise you will stay thirsty.’ “But my trousers which I have bought now will be covered with mud.” ‘If you want to protect your new trousers you will stay thirsty. Better kneel, get dirty in order to feel the blessings of water.’ “I am hungry.” ‘Come with me’; I take him into a room: ‘Here is some bread, you will sit down on the ground and will eat.’ “But I am not used to eating in this way; I need a fork, a knife, a bowl.” ‘Leave the fork, the knife, the bowl; there – you will take this bread, will break it to pieces with your hands and will eat.’ “But people will see me. It is a shame.” ‘Once you feel ashamed, you will stay hungry. If you feel ashamed to go to school with an ABC book, you will remain uneducated.’ So, when one is called to follow Christ, he should not say “what would people say” but he should come near to Christ, put His teaching into practice and then he will become strong. The devil threatens us because we are weak. I do not want you to be weak but to eat enough. How? By feeding your mind, and your heart. To acquire eternal Life, means to know how to feed not only your body, but also your heart, your mind, your soul, and your Spirit. This is a method of feeding in compliance with the deep teaching of Christ. And this morning, I would put the following title to my lecture: “How to learn to eat.” You have learned only to chew and you are very skilful at this art. Now start from there on: put the meal and feed your heart, feed your mind, feed your Spirit, too. And when you have your meal in this way, I will tell you that you are very sensible, that you have learnt Christ’s teaching and that you will acquire Eternal life, because you know how to unite with God. I place this matter on an experimental ground; I speak about things that I understand, about things that I have experienced myself. The only thing that impedes you is that you hesitate; you use big words to describe how this matter stands. When speaking of practical life, there is no philosophy. You have called a woman to teach you how to spin and weave. “But I am not able.” You will be able. In the beginning, this will not be done instantly but gradually, from day to day, in a week, in a month your yarn will become thinner; then you will learn how to twist; after that the weaving itself will come. Do not think that everything will go on wheels at once; you will have hindrances, but if you persist, you will learn. Let your first attempt be the following: try to keep your mind free for one or two minutes, not thinking of ordinary trite things of everyday life. You say: “I stopped thinking, I do not think of anything”, but through your mind pass your grandmother, your children, hens, oxen, firewood and you think that you are free. Chaos exists in your mind: your grandmother, your mother, and your children are all there. Say at last: “I want to be free; today I will think of God – the Great love of Life. Everyone – out in the yard, you will play there and leave me alone, because I have very important work. Try the first time, for only two minutes. But the children will come; they will fight, and cry. Let them fight, let them cry; forget them for two minutes and devote this small time to think only of God of Love. This is the art – the smallest. “But, you will say, this is very easy work.” It only seems easy. After that try for five minutes, ten minutes. So, Christ first wants to turn out of your heart the oxen, the hens, the horses, the wolves, the foxes that have dirtied your sanctuary. Do you know who these wolves and foxes are? There are foxes and wolves in you. I see them – with long tails, with red fur, with great teeth and claws. Your hatred – it is a wolf; your hypocrisy is a fox. Why do you want this fox, what is the use of it? No use. Turn everything out and put order in yourselves. Then you will call your priest: “Come you, servant of the living God, put your vestment on, and take your burner by which you offer your incense up to God.” You will call the bishop of your Life, too. And who is that bishop? – Your Spirit. You will also call the singers. Who are they? – Your good feelings and desires. You will say: “Come, start singing, and serve God in this erected temple.” And then Christ will come and finding this meeting free of those who had been selling pigeons and the like in it, having been driven out by him, He will say: “Let Peace be with you! The day of your resurrection has come; today you will be in Paradise with Me.” Do you know the deep meaning of the words said by that robber, who was crucified at the right side of Christ: “Good God, mention me in Your Kingdom!” He was a person who had expelled all the vermin from within and for this Jesus told him: “You are a person who will be in Paradise with me today.” Turn out all vermin, pigs, foxes, and wolves from yourselves. And the other robber who was crucified at the left side of Christ, what did he say? – “If you are really the Son of God, go down and set us free.” How could he set him free if he had not expelled all the vermin from himself, and was still a slave of his egotism? I think that you understand me; I am speaking very clearly to you. I want to speak to you in a way that you maybe have never been spoken to. The first thing is to learn to love God and this Love will connect you with Him. You have thousands of opportunities to unite with Him and to make your life happy. And when you connect with Him and go into the Eternal life, everything in you will change and everything will come to its place. So, set yourselves the aim to expel foreign thoughts from you; first for two minutes, then for five minutes and when you remain alone, in this deep contemplation start thinking on this great matter: why you are on the Earth, you are indisposed, why you do not have lofty thoughts and heart, why you do not have the will to solve a certain problem. And Christ will answer you. He will answer in this form: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. This means that when you drive everything out of you and accept Me in yourselves, when you know My Father as God who lives in Me, who has given Me Eternal Life, He will give such to you, too.” We should accept Christ in ourselves in order to connect with God. And Christianity has meaning only when we learn to overcome this life in order to acquire the life which is of value to us, because it brings Knowledge, Power, and nobility in our feelings, happiness, gives power to the Spirit to overcome everything. Let the fear from poverty stop in the world. This is the teaching of Christ. You are afraid of death. Meet her saying: “We will fight with her!” They may want to put you into prison; say within yourself: “We will fight against him who brings death, through the power of Him who lives in us, through the one true God.” The whole world may oppose you, you may be frightened – do not be afraid. One who is frightened can not become a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Now you fight in the world and when you go to the Heaven you will each be given a George’s cross, which will be a living cross. You will come back and then Christ will say to you: “Come you good servant who has fought in the battle-field.” Humans suffer for thousands of years but they have not suffered for humankind, for Justice; till now they have suffered only for themselves, for oxen, horses and so on. At last they have to suffer for Christ. In this suffering you will find the true Life. And that is why Apostle Paul says: “If we liken with Him in suffering, we will liken in the resurrection, too”; because while living for Him, God will resurrect us in the same way as He resurrected Christ. Let Christ’s Spirit develop in us, let us know the True God and acquire Eternal life. Then we will go out to work for our smaller brothers and sisters, so that they too could learn the art of acquiring the wealth of this Divine life. 21.09.1914, Sofia 1 Turkish soldiers from the Christian population. 2 Turks from the south parts of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria who used to rob at the end of the XVIII-th century and the beginning of the XIX-th century. 3 Turkish word for persons of religion different from the Islam and who do not profess the Islam faith. 4 Turkish word for the non-Muslim population in the Ottoman Empire. 5 Parts of а home loom where the reed is put. 6 Bulgarian currency. 7 The lecture “The necessity of knowing God” was first published in the collection “Power and Life”, first series, Sofia, 1915. [M1]Suggestion to make it clearer – {obtain knowledge and to move in the right direction} Source

From Peace be with you Peace be with you "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." " (John 20:19) Immortality - this is an aspiration of the human soul, an ideal which she strives for and always desires to fulfill. The human soul lives on Earth so that it may find the path to immortality. Immortality is regulated by a great Divine Law, a law which man must study and apply in all areas of his life. And in this sense, we have to constantly learn [1], to find those conditions under which immortality can exist. Man can be immortal and lose his immortality, he can be mortal and acquire immortality. Death and immortality - these are two states. In a [more] scientific language - immortality is an equilibrium of [all] things, of the powers which act within Nature. Death is a loss of this equilibrium. Immortality contains in itself a unity, a harmony; death - a disunity, a discord, a disharmony. When people desire immortality, they should know exactly what it contains in itself. When you enter a modern-day concert hall to listen to a symphonic orchestra, if you have the ability to observe, you will see that, firstly, when the players come in with their instruments, which are mostly stringed, they take the instruments out of their cases, after which they begin to tune the violins, to determine the tones of the wires, some of which are stretched more tightly, others less so. In this tuning there is a certain ratio. And after they attune the instruments according to specific tones, they take the bow and begin to play. Do you know how much time a violinist needs to become able to join a symphonic orchestra, to become able to control his instrument, his bow? He needs to dedicate at least 12 years to specialized tuition. Here they usually say that someone who plays a violin is a gypsy - this is the byname of the violinists. But in this instrument there is a certain emblem. We can say that the violin is the most perfect instrument, which, for the last 300 years - since the great master Stradivarius made it - has not undergone any changes, because it has almost achieved its perfection. I can liken the violin to the human soul: it has four strings and a bow. The violin - this is the human soul; the strings - these are the four human temperaments. The human will we can consider to be the bow. A violinist, when he goes to buy strings, will say: "Give me a such-and-such string - Mi (E), La (A), Re (D) or Sol (G)" and when he returns home, he knows where to put every single string. In human nature there are, we said, four temperaments - choleric, phlegmatic, sanguine and nervous [2] - these are four states within man. They correspond to the human soul, mind, heart and life. These are four main strings which we should know how to tighten and relax. And when we tune our heart and our mind, we should know to tune them to one and the same tone. In the violin, the four wires are tuned to four different pitches, and between every wire there are also four tones, that is, every consequent wire is tightened four tones higher than the previous one. When you tune the whole violin, you have 4 x 4 = 16 tones, steps, to which the strings are tuned. When the violinist tunes his violin, he takes the bow and begins to play. And the violin is precisely the only instrument which is played on a cross, an instrument which creates the most pleasant music, which with its tones comes nearest to the human voice. Therefore, when you tune your violin and take the bow, you form this cross of which you now complain and say: "Why, Lord, have you given us this heavy cross!" I tell you, that the Lord has given you a beautiful instrument, but you do not know how to tune it, and, because of this, you carry it on your back as a heavy burden. Take it off and start tuning it, so that it may become playable. And when Apostle Paul says: "I will boast in the cross" (Gal 6:14), what do you understand? Everywhere I see people who carry these crosses, I see them in the Churches and everywhere besides, but I have not seen a man play on his cross. Enter the concert room and see that people applaud the playing on the cross, without realizing that they, too, have crosses - the sufferings - that they, too, play. But the most important thing in this playing on the cross is the keeping of measure. When the Kapellmeister [3] raises and begins to wave his baton, everyone must be attentive and [allow themelves to] be guided by him. And the movement of the bows causes us a certain pleasantness, because the bows move according to a certain rule. So, when we come to the deep intrinsic meaning of life, when we tune its strings - the mind, the heart, the soul, the life, and when we harness the bow - the human will, to work, through the Spirit of the Kapellmeister Who will raise His baton, we will create the most pleasant music in our life. Note that the cross is a great blessing with which the Lord visits us on Earth: the most grandiose symphony proceeds from it, music, singing, which is called salvation. It is in this kind of singing that salvation is to be found. When Christ was suffering on the cross, the Angels above, in Heaven, were not weeping, but singing. All the prisoners in Hell were rejoicing that their Savior is coming. So too when He was born upon the Earth, the Angels came to announce His arrival with singing yet again. So, when this Instrument, these Strings, this Bow of our faith were being created, the Angels were singing above, in the Heavens. The modern-day Christian says: "Woe to us! The Earth is a woeful lot, life is a burden, it does not have meaning". For the foolish people who do not know and do not wish to play, who do not know how to tighten their strings, who do not listen to the Kapellmeister, for them indeed, life does not have meaning; but for those who can adjust their violin and play, for them life is full of meaning. And the violinists who play so pleasantly receive a very large remuneration - 4-5-6-700, 1000 levs per month, just by moving their bow. Christ often visits you and asks: "Do you know how to play?" When I ask a man: "Do you know how to suffer?" I understand: "Do you know how to play?" You do not want to suffer, this means - you do not want to play. Those who do not know how to play are gloomy; I have no hope in them. There is a saying: "A man who sings and plays does not think evil". A man who suffers, this means - he sings and plays in life and saves himself. Does a violinist who plays stay hungry? Whoever does not know, will beg. Whoever knows and stands somewhere to play, he receives a payment from the people. Whoever knows how to suffer, he will never stay hungry. And note, people always rush to help one who suffers, just as they give to the violinist. When I remain to listen to how someone plays, while others only watch how the bow moves, I also hear the voice of the violinist, and I can see whether he has learnt to play [already] or whether he is learning now. If he is learning, he is a novice, now he is taking lessons, but in 12 years he will be in the symphony orchestra and then you will pay a high price for a ticket to listen to him... Now, when we learn this great law, to sing and to play, said in the modern language, or to suffer, said in a Christian sense - these words have one and the same meaning for me - through the suffering we will reach that great law, immortality - in which all harmony exists, in which there is no disharmony. Christ, Who comes to the Earth, is coming to teach people how to sing and play. He will teach you {pl.} how to tighten the strings of your soul. The string of the soul is Mi (E), the top-most string, [the string] of the mind - La (A), of the heart - Re (D), of the life - Sol (G). Here is the first lesson which Christ will teach you. Many times people ask themselves: "Why has the Lord given me such a good-for-nothing heart?" Is the heart good-for-nothing or you are good-for-nothing! They say: "Why has the Lord given me this foolish mind?" Is the mind foolish or are you foolish! "Why has the Lord given this meaningless life?" Is life meaningless or do you not know what it is for. The sufferings - these are the laws through which the Lord works for our development. We have to sing and play - to feel and think. To think means to play; to feel means to sing. Now, if two neighbors tune their violins and begin to play, it will be very pleasant. A year ago I visited a family; the father, the mother, the son and the daughter - all played; the father has taken the violin, the son - the double-bass and so on; everyone has something to occupy themselves with. Most modern-day people, the husband, the wife [4], the children, do not know how to play and since they do nothing else, they begin to fight. For them, of course, life is meaningless. Christ says: tune your violins, pull your bows, learn to play; when you gather in the evening, take up a song to play or sing in measure and then another, a third, a fourth. Have a meal and start again. Lay down to sleep; on the next day - go to work again in life. Now, you will say: "What connection does this have with the resurrection of Christ?" The modern-day Christian deliberates the question of the resurrection and says: "When I go to Heaven, then I will learn everything". This is for the world beyond [5]. But for this world, what shall we do? There is the illogicality in people's reasoning {pl.}. For this world we are very clever, but for the other world [beyond] we are not. When a youth wishes to study at a certain University, can he fly off from home and enter straight into the university? First he has to pass through kindergarten, then through the grades of primary school, the classes of high school, to prepare himself to understand advanced science and only then can he enter the University. Now, why has the Lord sent us to the Earth and what is she? This is a kindergarten, the grades of a primary school through which we have to pass. If we do not graduate from them, how are we to enter the classes [of the secondary school]? When we go to the other world, do you think they will accept us in the classes? No, by no means. The word "resurrection" contains a lofty idea in itself. It contains Divine secrets. To resurrect - this means to be master of all elements, of all powers, of all thoughts, of all desires, of all your actions. And how can a man resurrect when he is not a master of all these things? When a frog, or a little snake can frighten you, how are you preparing yourselves for resurrection? When on the Earth you cannot bear the smallest sorrow and be of service to the Lord, how will you be able to resurrect? If a violinist has to spend 12 years of constant 1-10 hour a day labor in order to learn to play, we, the Christians, how much do we need to play in order to learn Christ's resurrection? One of the failings of the modern-day Church is that it thinks that everything can be received as a gift [by grace]. The Lord can give us a violin, strings, a bow as a gift and He can find a teacher for us and pay for him, but we will have to spend 10 hours a day to learn to play - the exercise must be from us. And whoever cannot exercise thus, is a man indolent, incapable, he is not worthy of the Kingdom of Christ. When Christ says to His disciples: "Peace be with you!", if I were to interpret this phrase for you in its broad sense, it means the same as when the Kapellmeister takes some symphonic aria, beckons with the baton and everyone listens at once and begins to play. Similarly, when Christ says: "Peace be with you!", everyone should prepare themselves with their own violin, with their own bow, and listen to this Divine measure, which constantly moves from one end of the world to the other. All people sing and play before the Lord. He inspects them. Whoever has not learned to sing, twists his mouth. Weeping - this is distorted singing. In laughter the mouth rises up a little, and in crying it bends downwards. Whoever cries is young, he has not learned to sing yet. And so, crying is distorted singing, which, incidentally, is preparation for good singing. It is not bad to cry, because in time this crying will turn into very good singing. But, it is grievous for the man. We will be lenient: he will learn to sing. With this new energy which Christ brought into the world with His resurrection, He showed the way of that Divine art - salvation. And this is exactly why you should study the Gospel diligently. You say: "I do not understand this, I do not understand that, this is necessary, that is not necessary, this is right, that is not right". I ask, what is right? Some people do not want to suffer, do not want to sing, others do not want to work. What, then. do they want? Weeping is an exercise; it is a transition to singing. The hoe, it also has its tone. To work with the hoe, to raise it and apply it - this means to beat [upon] a drum. And the drum has to be beaten. You raise an axe and bring it down - these are the bells in a piece of music. And when you raise the hoe and till, even then you should think, you should say to yourself: "The master is watching me - I have to know how to apply this hoe rhythmically". Chop wood {pl.}, but chop it {pl.} according to all the rules of the art. We say: "This is meaningless, that is meaningless". But then, what has meaning in life? The things seemingly smallest, to which we attribute the least significance, have the greatest content in themselves. Resurrection is a process which the Spirit of God performs in our life, a grand process, through which God restores that primordial harmony. One day, when your ears open and you begin to listen a little more and further away than you listen now - now they are very thick, you do not even have musical capability, you perceive only the roughest tones - you will notice that throughout the whole Universe there is a movement of certain tones which the objects - the wellsprings, the trees, the leaves - emit, and you will hear majestic music which spreads from one end of the world to the other, and then you will understand the inner meaning of life. And Christ, through His resurrection, wishes to introduce you into this concert hall. He will pay for you, He will give you [each] a ticket, but will you have an ear to understand this Divine music when you enter that hall and see that concert, that playing? This is the internal deep meaning of Christ's resurrection. This is the life which develops among the Angels, from the lowest to the highest. This Divine manifestation is [present] everywhere in the world, and, because we cannot find this internal connection, we assume that there is no connection between the various phenomena. And when you hear the words: "Peace be with you!" you should be ready for what the Kapellmeister will order you to play - whether to sing or to cry. When the Lord raises His baton and says: "Peace be with you!", the husband [4] who does not know to sing begins to shout, and his singing is already called beating. And he beats the drum, but beats it awry. The wife, she, too, sometimes beats the drum awry. The Lord says: "You have not learned to beat the drum, you do not take the such-and-such tone correctly, you have not set your voice right, tune, tighten a little the strings of your life, of your soul". Then again He says: "Peace be with you!" and you begin to play. "Hold on! You do not place your fingers on the violin correctly" - He will stop you again. You will say: "I have had enough!" But you have to understand that art is acquired with great patience and conscientiousness and that for the indolent there is no Heaven. This is why the Lord says: "If you do not become receptive like the children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven"; because children have the striving to study [these] things, while adults say: "We do not need this, we do not need that" and finally they stoop downwards, become like a question mark, the Earth attracts them and they are buried in it. The Lord says: "Because this violin is not made well, put it down, so that it can be made anew once again". They will assemble it again, and it will go out in the world afresh, so that it may start learning again - the Lord has decided that each of you is to learn how to sing and play. He does not desire children in Heaven who do not wish to learn to sing and play. And Apostle Paul says that he was taken up to the third heaven and heard something which cannot be expressed with human language (2 Cor 12:2). He had heard singing and playing. [st.] John also said, that he heard singing and playing. This is the thought which I wish to leave for you. Do you know what the fundamental tone of your soul is? Do you know how to tune your violin? Learn to tune it. Every morning, when you get up, tune your nervous system. You are a little grumpy, anxious - this shows that your violin is not tuned. Stop, tune it. And so while you gradually tune it, your anxieties will disappear. How will you tune your nervous system? You will go to say a prayer - prayer, this is tuning. Some ask: "Why should we pray?" In order to tune your violins. When you tune your violin like this, you will say to the Lord: "My violin is tuned", and the Lord will tell you: "Begin the work of the day". And peace will enter amongst you, and your work will proceed well. And on some days the wife does not tune the violin well and starts to beat now this, now that child; of course, [on] this day the music does not go well. She says: "Why did the Lord give me these children? They are so unruly [6]!" Whether the children are misbehaved or the mother is, this is a question. Another day, when the violin is tuned, everything goes well, yet the children are the same. So there is something discordant. This is why the first thing we should do in the morning is to pray - to tune our minds, our hearts, our souls, our lives, and thus to appear before the Lord for work. To be grateful and to say: "We have learned our lesson in singing and playing well today, and our Dad, when He comes back, will receive our gratitude". Christ has come to see how we sing and play on Earth. He is nailed to the cross and 500 million people today sing and play on this cross, which, since its arrival, has given the perfect civilization. And so, Christianity is Divine music, Divine singing. Learn to sing and play on it; tune your violins well, move the bow correctly and listen to the commandments of the Kapellmeister. The whole world will follow this Divine law, and you will prepare yourselves for the other world, for the other life, which is coming. Lecture given on the 11th of September, 1914, in Sofia. --==[][][]==-- ______________________________________________ Notes: [1] or study [2] i.e. melancholic [3] From German; this is a court composer-conductor who would compose music for and lead the palace opera company, orchestra, and/or Church services. Nowadays a Kapellmeister is the director or conductor of an orchestra or choir. [4] In Bulgarian, there is a single word for "husband", "male" and "man", and similarly for "wife", "female" and "woman" [5] literally: for the other world. It is possible that the quotation beginning with the previous sentence extends until the end of this one. [6] i.e. children who do exactly the opposite of what they are told

from The Blossoming of the Human Soul THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Luke 18:10 You will probably ask: is it so strange that two people - a Pharisee and a tax collector - both entered the temple. Truly, there is nothing strange for those who understand the nature of life, but for those who do not, everything is strange. For the first everything makes sense and for the second everything is nonsense. I will take these two types of people, the Pharisee and the tax collector, as subject of today’s lecture. These two persons are prominent representatives of a very old culture. Let us compare their distinctive features one by one so that you could clearly understand their life styles and their state of mind. The word “Pharisee” originates from the Hebrew word parash, which means “to divide.” In Arabic, there is also a word pharsi, which derives from the same root and means “something flawless.” To know a language pharsi implies a very good knowledge of this language. In this chapter of the Bible, Christ is presenting two distinctive types of people. A talented artist who is aware of the science of man would paint these two types with all their distinguishing features and this flawless painting would be worth to be exposed in every home as a model. What are the most apparent features of the Pharisee and of the tax collector? It is not enough to say, “He is a Pharisee” or “He is a tax collector” because we need to know the external characteristics of their faces and hands, the structure of their bodies and heads. After that, we need to find out what characterizes the state of their mind and soul. Only in this way we could clarify the idea embedded in the text and benefit from it. Christ was a great master of art. He gave the major distinctive features of these two prototypes and with them, I am going to describe the Pharisee and the tax collector. You may ask, “How can you describe a person with only a few words that have been said about him?” It is a science and can be described. There are scientists who have researched in comparative anatomy, who have studied the structure of animals. If you give them even the smallest part of an ancient animal, they are able to describe the size, the structure of all bones, the place of its muscles and tendons; and in this way, they can recreate the extinct form. If you give an expert botanist only one leaf of a plant, he is able to describe the whole tree. Using the same method, I will try to describe in approximation the Pharisee and the tax collector, showing you what they look like. Yet you will ask me, “What do these two persons, who have lived two thousand years ago, have in common with us?” Two main prototypes of people live in the world: tax collectors and Pharisees. Many other types have derived from them, but they remain the primary ones. You may belong either to the one kind or the other, no matter whether you are a priest or not, a person of high status or not, a scholar or not, a philosopher or not, a man or a woman. These two characters are intertwined and stand out in the life of everyone. They will remain forever the two distinctive prototypes in the entire human history. One of Christ’s greatest accomplishments in reality is that He has succeeded with very few words to express and present them so clearly and distinctly. The Pharisee’s appearance is decent at first sight. He is a nice-looking person, well-built, slender, tall, about 175–180 centimeters, which is more than average. His hands and fingers are rather long. His thumb is long and symmetrical, a sign of well-developed opinions, of will power and intelligence. The index finger is equal to the ring finger, which indicates that whenever an idea comes to him, he will carry it through to the end. His digestive system is in good condition. Lacking the weakness of a glutton or a wine drinker, he is sensible when it comes to eating and drinking. His taste is refined. His waistline is on the slim side. As to age, he has lived for four decades, entering into the fifth; in other words, he has turned forty-five. His shoulders are slightly rounded, his face is a bit elongated and pear shaped, which indicates a developed nervous system. His lower jaw is properly formed, with an elongated and pointed chin, showing a person whose mind is quick and bright. His mouth is an average size; his lips are neither thick nor thin. The ends of his lips point slightly up, with a smile of contempt as if saying, “Look at all these people - they are such a crowd.” But he never expresses his inner contempt. His eyes are ash-gray. His eyebrows are arched, slightly bent like the branches of an old tree, showing a person who has lived long and is much experienced in life. His high forehead is well-shaped. The area above the nose is protruding slightly which is a sign for a strong individuality and an observing practical mind. The area of the temples is average; his ears are normal and closely adjoining the head, which is an indication for material order. His beard is slightly thin and reddish, a sign of impulsiveness and persistence. His head is round, measuring around 56–60 centimeters in circumference around the ears and with well developed and raised parietal bones, a sign of a person with great self-control, superiority complex, pride, vanity, and who is hard to please. He possesses religious inclinations, but one-sided; he shows compassion, but only toward himself and those close to him. His face is slightly pale, white, with a Greek-Roman type of nose. He is a person with an aesthetic taste, but lacking an aptitude for poetry and love for nature, as well as for the sublime and ideal. He is a person of strong faith, but only in his own mind; of great hope, but only in his own power. He is religious, but his belief system reflects his own selfishness as he honors and worships only himself. If we enter his temple, we will find in the most prominent place not the image of Jesus Christ but his own portrait. In the place of the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, and the other Saints, we will find his grandparents and ancestors, to whom he burns incense and offers prayers saying, “Our family is famous and great.” He is an intelligent person, who gathers knowledge from life; he knows the Hebrew Kabala as well as the principles of the civilization of his time. Should he have lived in our times; he would have been a prominent writer, philosopher, artist, statesman, or a religious leader. Why did Christ choose this type? What is wrong with his praying? The Pharisee’s prayer reflects a philosophy that has outlived its time; that is a prayer of someone living only in the past, thus missing the present and the future. He is in love with his own portrait like a youngster; wherever he goes, he sees only that. How odd it is to fall in love with one’s own image! Once I observed a Bulgarian writer. He was sitting in a prominent public place, with a mirror near him. He began to smoke a cigarette, turning his head and looking into the mirror as if saying to himself, “I am handsome and make such a good impression on people.” Again he smoked and looked at himself in the mirror. Should this mirror be destroyed one day, his happiness will be destroyed as well. The Pharisee is like that type of a person who has fallen in love with oneself. And when he turns toward God, pay attention how interesting his words are, “Lord, I thank You that I am not like the others, but more than them.”[1] Yet, his philosophy is wrong because God has created all human beings equal. “I am not like the others.” Who are you then? An angel? You are not an angel; you are made of the same dust and the blood in your veins is the same as in others. Therefore, the Pharisee lies both to himself and to God. This is the first lie he uses. And the Lord says to him, “You do not speak the Truth.” The Pharisee’s statements are negative. He is not comparing himself with the beings who are superior to him, like Angels but rather with the inferior types, like criminals and thus he is concluding that he is not like them. Let us assume that I compare myself to the other beings and say, “Thank You, Lord, that I am not like these oxen, donkeys, dogs, lizards, snakes.” What comparison can I make with them? It is a tendency that can be found in all humans. Years ago in Bulgaria, it was fashionable among the college and university students, while studying the biographies of the great writers, for example, Shakespeare, to adopt their weaknesses since they lacked their positive qualities. Students would say, “Let us see if we have these shortcomings as well” and when they find them in themselves, they would say, “We are also ge niuses like Shakespeare.” Studying the character of Schiller[2], they looked for any eccentric side of him and when they found it in themselves, they would say, “We are also like Schiller.” Studying a big number of great people in this way, they would say, “We are great people indeed.” Yes, you are great, but in a negative way - great people, who are missing something. I prefer someone who is nothing because if he has nothing to receive, he has nothing to give. So the Pharisee makes a comparison and says: “Thank You, Lord that I am not like that one who is a robber.” The Lord replies to him, “If I put you in his place, who would you be?” Once an angel looking down from Heaven saw one person sinning, so he turned to the Lord and said to Him, “How can You tolerate this inferior being? If I were in Your place, I would have rid the Earth of him.” God sent the angel to incarnate on the Earth and placed him in the same situation; the angel erred twice as the person he has judged before. Therefore, one shall not judge people for their deeds from his own position because in their place he would have made errors as well. Many people come to me stating, “We are not so bad, we are well brought up because we come from prominent families.” I do not doubt your words and within my soul I deeply believe in what you tell me. We all come from prominent families, I accept that. However, your and my ancestors did not posses such noble character as we think; many of them were goodfor-nothing people, criminals, evil-doers, scoundrels. You and I carry with us the testimony that God has written about them. Outwardly things may look of proper decency, but from within, they lack the essential value. Our forefathers have not been as pure as assumed and it is seen from those inherited negative tendencies that we manifest at least twice a day. If your grandfather and grandmother, father and mother were as pure and good as angels, where had these negative tendencies and deeds come from in your life? If you pour some bitter substance or poison in a liquid, it will manifest itself and will be noticed. Therefore, it will become evident that in the good content something bad has been added. To conclude, we call the people confessing the Pharisee’s philosophy, conservatives or belonging to the conservative party: these are people who have a high opinion of themselves. It is not bad for someone to have a high opinion of oneself, as long as it is merited and without any addition of bitterness. Nitrogen is the greatest conservator and regulator in Nature, as it stops any combustion and suffocates any life. Nitrogen is the oldest and most balanced element in Nature. However, if it was the only substance in Nature, everything would have been dead. In spite of that, the organic world should be very thankful to nitrogen. The Pharisee addresses God not to help him to smooth out some of his own flaws - not at all. He is only thankful that he is not like the others: like the traducer, robber, murderer, and adulterer. Just as a scribe and philosopher, he should address the reasons that cause blasphemy, robbery, murder, and adultery. According to Christ’s Teaching, when we meet people who are seemingly inferior to us, we should not judge them, but learn a lesson. We should find the reasons for their coming to such a low state and if we have taken on their habits, it is better to try to get rid of them. Because He Who has laid out the Great Laws of Life is saying, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”[3] There is a deep meaning in these words and that one who has comprehended them has come close to the Great Law of human wellbeing. Modern zoologists have given many valuable works to the world, but no one has yet studied the profound reasons of animal creation. For example, why do some animals have horns, while others do not have? Why do some animals crawl, while others walk on four legs? Why are some animals carnivorous, while others are herbivorous? Why are animals deprived of human intelligence? There are profound and essential reasons for this. It did not happen by chance as some people think. When humankind comes to understand these profound reasons, it will come to the great philosophy upon which the future social order can be constructed, presenting “the dawn of the New Culture.” The modern civilization as a whole is based upon the concepts of the Pharisee, so it is a Pharisaic civilization. This is a civilization in which people are distinguished by form, by appearances, and by social status and it was born in the distant past of Egypt, India, Babylon, China, Persia, Judea, Greece, and Rome. At present, it is in Europe as well, attired in the beautiful Christian garment. I do not say that it has a bad foundation, but I do say that its form should have certain content in it. Without content, the form remains just an empty shell in which only parasites can thrive. People say, “He has lovely eyes.” So what? “They are really beautiful.” What makes them beautiful? “Well, they are bright and lovely.” What is it that makes them lovely? Someone’s nose is beautiful, well shaped. Where does the beauty lie? His mouth is beautiful, well-formed. In what respect? People have concepts of certain things that cannot be explained, namely that certain powers are hidden in the eyes: in the black or in the blue eyes, in the ash-gray, greenish or brown eyes. If someone with black eyes is looking at you, a certain thought will come to you; if a person with brown eyes is looking at you, it will bring a certain mood to you, and so on. People with blue eyes are usually self-composed and calm. They are like the sky: clear but serene, distant. Such people are not for this planet. They have deep faith and were born before time. Probably they are the people who are yet to come. I speak of those blue eyes that are an expression of Heaven. Legend says that Christ had such eyes. People praise someone, “His mouth is as beautiful as a rose.” What indicates the human mouth? It is the expression of the human heart and indicates whether this person is kind or hard-hearted. It also indicates how intense and sincere one is. You can notice that those who are gluttons have thicker lips than most people - it is a physiological law. More blood flows there, that is why their lips are quite thick and reddish. When such people taste their food, they say, “Oh, this is good.” And their faces light up with a delicate, barely noticeable smile, which speaks of the disposition of their souls. If we consider someone’s beautiful nose, it is an expression of the human intelligence and mind. The type of nose - straight or curved, Roman or Greek - has a profound meaning. The outer appearance of the human face is very important; it also gives an implication about the inner life of a person. If we examine a human face and notice something asymmetric in it; for example, if the eyebrows are slightly different - one is more developed, while the other is more protruding - it is a sign of some imbalance in that person. If you draw a straight line, you may see also for yourself whether your nose is in the right place. The nose is like a barometer, indicating the state of your mind. When engineers drive a steam engine, they look at a gauge that shows the atmospheric pressure in the steam boiler. According to its indication they add more coal to produce more steam or if it is in excess, they let the steam out. Have you ever considered to make an effort and as engineers do - to check the condition of your steam engine, in other words, your heart? For this purpose God has given you the nose. Go in front of the mirror, ask your mind and it will inform you about the state of your heart. When you look at your eyes in the mirror, you may see the condition of your soul. Only the eyes never lie and cannot be hypocritical. For this reason, when a person intends to lie, sometimes this person closes eyes or hides them with hand. Children know that their mother giving a look at them will guess whether they are lying, that is why they put their hands over their eyes. Christ, looking at the praying Pharisee told him, “Your soul is muddled, your forefathers did not live a pure life as you presume.” You think that you do not resemble the others, but you have been exactly like them in the past and even now you are not too far from their level.” It is not so important how we interpret this fact, in compliance with which teaching: of the Hindu philosophers about reincarnation or the Egyptian sages about transmigration; the Kabala and esoteric science regarding emanation and perfection of the spirit or the modern science referring to heredity. These teachings and theories are only guidelines for us to comprehend certain things better so that the phenomena of the human life may become clearer and more understandable to us. However, the primary principle of all things remains always the same, no matter how we explain and interpret its manifestation. The Great Law of Cause and Effect, of actions and consequences, never lies. It always reveals the Absolute Truth. It is all written in the Book of Life: whether you are good or bad, whether you speak the truth or not; help your neighbor or not, self-sacrifice for your nation, work for the benefit of humankind, serve God with Love or not - it is all written in the Book of Life. If you harass and take advantage of your neighbors, commit treason against your nation, impede the progress of humankind, if you are disloyal to God - this is also written in the Book. God mercilessly writes His testimony about any of the human actions on different parts of the body: forehead, nose, mouth, face, head, arms, fingers, and all other parts - every bone gives evidence for or against us. We can read the history of the human life every single day. The life stories of all our ancestors are also recorded from the very beginning. Some of them were noted to be terrible criminals, thieves, and robbers. Looking through the Book of Life and following the lines of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, and many others we will find detailed records of their actions. We may find out about Abraham that he was a righteous person, very bright, with a generous heart, strong faith, noble spirit and that he was acquainted with the profound wisdom of the Divine Ordinances for the bright future of the humankind. If we look at Jacob, we find out that at the beginning he was a deceitful and a selfish double-dealer, who used lies and fraud to steal his brother’s birthright. He changed to better only after he had turned 33 and after 14 years of work in exchange for his uncle Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel. Only then did the transformation occur to Jacob. As to David, we know that he was a brave man, resolute, with a naturally excellent and poetic mind, but he was fond of beautiful women. Since the moment he took Uriah’s wife by deceit, his trials had begun. The courageous prophet Nathan did not hesitate to expose this straight to his face showing him the bad effect that the karmic Law would leave for him in the Book of Life for the future generations. About Solomon, it is said that he had an excellent philosophical mind and compassion, but excessively strong emotions and passions, great vanity, and weak willpower. He was a veracious eater and drinker and enjoyed the company of women. Christ knows all this. He knows also how His own ancestors lived and when people called him “Merciful Teacher,” He objected, “Why are you calling me merciful? Merciful is only One, God.”[4] He implies, “The family of my descent is not as noble as you think. God has a different way of evaluating, which you cannot grasp. He requires Absolute Purity in every way. Many of this descent did not live in a way that was pleasing to the true God, Whose Will I fulfill.” That is why Christ turned to the Pharisee and told him, “You are deceiving yourself, as well as other people and God. Many of your ancestors have committed crimes; hence you do not have the right to say, ‘I am not like these people.’ And because you lack humility in your soul, your prayer is not received and you cannot be excused. You, Pharisees, have misinterpreted God’s Law by using hypocrisy as a cover. Stop presenting yourselves in the way you are not because God is not a human being who can be misled by your appearance. He judges you according to what He sees in your heart.” Let’s look now at the other type, the tax collector. You have here a person of average height, slightly overweight, with rather short legs, thick arms, slightly thick and tapered fingers, and a round face. His digestive system is well developed, as he loves to overeat and also to drink. “I have a long way to go. Therefore, I need enough food.” This is how he philosophizes and that is why he has become a tax collector. He will beg a little here, he will take and steal some there, until he fills up his bag. He justifies his actions saying, “You are doing just like me; I beg your pardon, you may consider it theft, but I need it. If you do not want to give it to me, I will take it by force or steal it.” As I said, the tax collector has a round face with thick eyebrows and his chin is wide in the base, which indicates that whatever he undertakes he will finish it successfully. He is between 40 and 45 years of age. His beard has black bushy hair; the same is for the mustache and that is a sign of a great vigor. His nose is well-built, slightly short, thick, wide at the ends, which is a sign of a good respiratory system. A person of feelings, impulsive like a child, he can always express his joy; after having half a liter of wine, he can jump and be joyous; when he gets sober, he begins to cry about his wife being ill. His temporal bones are strongly developed. His ears are quite large, almost like Tolstoy’s, or like in someone who steals and takes. However, the tax collector is a person who also gives, saying, “My father and mother have been stealing as well; so let me give something, help people and may God forgive our sins.” He has brown or reddish brown eyes indicating natural tenderness and good nature awaiting their time to be manifested. His head is well developed, similar to the head of Socrates. The tax collector has perfectly developed home and social feelings: including the strong religious sense and compassionate attitude of mercy. He has also a right concept of life, excellent unsophisticated mind and cultivated conscience highlighting his mistakes, which he is not ashamed to confess before God, others, and before himself too. He lacks any pretentious ideas about his status. He is religious and in his belief system he has placed not his own image but the image of the Good God. He has always believed that this Good God will guide him to the Light. He has more trust in God than in himself. He has the right philosophy; he does not compare himself to the lesser ones like the thieves and scoundrels, but he says, “Lord, when I look at You, at the Angels and Saints, I think: who am I in comparison? I need to rise up to become like You. I am a sinner and with my ancestors we are good for nothing, I eat and drink like a pig and have become like a pig. Forgive me that I cannot make use of the bounties, which You gave to me.” And what did Christ say? “Those who have a sublime ideal and are aware of their own mistakes will surpass the Pharisee one day.” How can this happen? Rich people rely on their rents or incomes. They do not need to work, but only discuss politics and social life. Those who get up early in the morning and work for ten hours daily, though they may experience failure after failure in their lives, they are persistent, so in time they acquire knowledge and become acknowledged. Now, I am sorry to say, but both types are represented among you. Since Christ has pointed at these two opposite prototypes, I advise you: Adopt the good aspects of both. Attain simultaneously the Pharisee’s and the tax collector ’s noble features of character. Thus create a third type of a Christian or the New human being. This is what I have in mind. You say, “How can I be a Pharisee? I do not think that I have done much wrong in my life. You offend me.” I will tell you a truth. When misfortune comes into your life, you say, “Why, Lord, is this misfortune? There are some others who are much greater sinners than me.” Are you not a person who argues with the Lord like the Pharisee then? The Lord will tell you, “You are very pious, but do you know how many scandalous things your ancestors have committed and at one time you were a partner with them? See, here is a bill you signed many years ago, which is due to be paid.” “But I do not remember.” “It does not matter; as it is recorded in My Book, so there is no lie.” When you experience misfortune and say, “Thanks. It is nothing. It could have been worse,” then you are like the tax collector. And Christ will say to you, “You will go to the home of My Father.” Sometimes you judge the Pharisee to be insincere. But do you know that you, who are judging the Pharisee, are the modern Pharisees? Learn a lesson from the Pharisee. You should not take his negative traits, but if you have them, eradicate them not to get into the path of a negative lifestyle. What your grandfather and grandmother, your mother and father had will be of no use to you. You remember the story of the geese guided toward the town. They complained to a traveler meeting them from their guide, “This man is treating us like a flock! Does he not know that our ancestors once freed Rome? What a shame, what a scandal!” “But what are your own achievements?” asked the traveler. “None.” “Well, then you deserve to be cooked in a pot.” Your grandfather and father were distinguished people of noble character, but who are you? If you do not have a noble character, acquire it. Your grandfather and father may have left you some capital, but you could waste it or lose it all. If we examine the religious views in life, there exist religious Pharisees: “I belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church,” “I am from the Evangelist Church,” “I am from the Catholic Church,” or “I am a freethinker.” I am glad that you are Orthodox, Evangelical, Catholic, or free thinking, but do you have the noble characteristics of Jesus? “I do not have them.” Then, you are neither Orthodox nor Evangelical, you are none of them. Attain the noble characteristics of Jesus and you may become one of them. “But I am a free thinker.” Do you have the noble characteristics of the honest free-thinking people? By the phrase “free thinker,” I understand someone who is a friend of the Truth. If you are not, then you are a first-class liar. Often people say, “You are a great person.” People of today gather together by threes and fours and begin to boast of their social status and achievements. They praise the author, “We read your work with delight.” But as soon as he leaves, they state, “He is a first-class idiot.” When the second leaves, they criticize him too. Then the third leaves, he is also such and such according to the rest. When only one remains, naturally he will not say anything bad about himself. Do not be fooled by people’s talk about you because it could hold many unpleasant things. No one speaks the truth. Your enemies will tell you, “You are a scoundrel, liar, good-for-nothing person. They are closer to the truth than someone who flatters you, saying, “You have nobleness.” You may be good but not that good; do not think that you are great. Sometimes you walk with your head up, swinging your arms and cane, as if you have solved a great problem like Archimedes. You think that there is no one like you. If you are a tax collector, you are telling yourself, “I will rule the world.” Christ says, “Listen, years ago your ancestors ruled and I remember to be written in My Book that they had committed crimes. It is quite possible for you to go in that direction too. Do not be so certain of yourself.” Therefore, in whatever situation we may find ourselves, we should have God, the Lord, as the only ideal. In this world we will encounter many painful experiences. We may meet a friend who loves us and will tell us certain things that are true. I do not say that we should suspect everyone to be a liar, no. But if a hundred people praise you, perhaps only three among them will tell you the truth in a proper way. The rest will tell you the truth either in a harsh way or by flattery, these are two extremes. Truth is not to be found there, but in the middle path by taking the good characteristics of the Pharisee: his excellent mind, his concepts and tidiness; and from the tax collector by taking his compassion, profound religiousness, inner awareness of the mistakes and aspiration to set right his life. The tax collectors and Pharisees are to be found in the families as well: for example a Pharisee husband and a tax collector wife. The husband is coming from a high prominent lineage, he is wealthy, slender, handsome, “a man of nobleness,” as people call him. The wife comes from a simple family, her father and grandfather were uneducated simple people. The husband looking at her likes to ask, “Do you know what social status I have taken you from?” And she cowers a little. There is nothing she can do in this situation, but to cower and cook. Every time when the Pharisee’s finger indicates she did not cook well makes her cry while hearing his words, “I do not want such a simple, unlearned woman. I do not want such a tax collector in my home.” Elsewhere, the wife is the Pharisee while the husband is the tax collector. The wife comes from a wealthy family; her father helped her husband to prosper in life and at one time he was his apprentice. “Do you realize how fortunate you are that I have taken you? You do not know how to dress, how to put your tie, or how to blow your nose.” These Pharisees can be very detailed when they begin criticizing. Now both of them need to set right their lives. When Christ says that the tax collector is more justified than the Pharisee, He means that the tax collector is not completely right as well, but in his thoughts about life and the Divine Order he has a better understanding than the Pharisee. He wants to imply that the tax collector one day will stand higher than the Pharisee. If you do not wish to humble yourselves, the Lord will humble you because He humbles the proud and uplifts the humble. Pride and humility are synonyms for these two types of people, the Pharisee and the tax collector. You do not know what is in store for you in the future; all your noble qualities and all your ancestors may not be able to help you. Some years ago in England (in London I think), one of the richest and most prominent Englishman went down to his subterranean vault to take a look at his treasures and by chance he closed the door behind him with his key remaining outside. After examining all his wealth and enjoying it, he wanted to go out, but realized that he was locked in. He stayed for one, two, three days. He was surrounded by gold and enormous wealth, but what of this, when he could neither go out, nor call for help. Finally, he died, leaving the following note behind him, “If only there had been someone to give me a piece of bread, I would have given him half of all my wealth.” If it happens one day that you are locked up in the subterranean vault of your noble ancestors like that rich man, just a little piece of bread can save you. That is why Christ says, “The bread can save you, but it is not true for all these material things which you are striving for.”[5] Do you know that many people pass away like this - locked up in themselves? Some desperate people commit suicide. Who are these people? They are not the tax collectors but the Pharisees. Poets, artists, and politicians say, “The world does not value us and cannot appreciate our works, our writings, our paintings.” That is why they commit suicide. Always those Pharisees, who are noble thinkers with the finely formed faces and red beards, commit suicide. The Pharisees in Bulgaria do not have red beards; I am speaking of the Jewish Pharisees. I would describe our Bulgarian Pharisees in another way. They look like the Jewish Pharisees, but there is something in which they differ. But as I am not describing the Bulgarian but the Jewish Pharisees, you can make your own conclusion about the Bulgarian ones and search for these types. How do you search for them? The purpose of my lecture is for you to apply these practical concepts in your life. People of today profess that one needs willpower to be successful in life. The willpower has three ways of expression: first, not taking into account the rights and feelings of others; second, regarding only our own interests and those of our nation; and third, considering the interests of the society and nation, of the humankind and God. The last expression of willpower, which includes all obligations that we have toward this world, is good. When we have such willpower there is no force that could divert us from our duty. The true willpower acts for the glory of God and the humankind, for the sake of your nation and home, and for the uplifting of your character; this is willpower indeed. People say, “You should have a noble mind.” A mind that realizes its attitude to God and makes efforts to apply the sublime thoughts in Life, this is a noble mind indeed. You all have the potential for this. “But my nose is not as I want it to be.” It will develop. Look at those little birds in the nests that have no feathers yet. Observe how they are waiting for their mother and as soon as she appears, they open their beaks, saying, “Chirrrp!”, and instantly their mother pushes little worms in. Even twenty times a day, “Chirrrp!” and again they open their beaks. The more these little birds pray “chirrrp,” the more worms fall into their beaks. And soon their wings strengthen and they will finally be able to fly away. You too should comply with the same Law: Open your mouth to pray. If you do not open it, you are Pharisees and Christ will tell you, “The world is not for you, the Kingdom of God is not for you, the future is not for you.” This is what Christ intends to say. There are people who do not want to open their mouths. They keep silent. It is good to be silent, but in which cases: when you are angry, when you want to offend someone, or when you are envious. But whenever you are joyous, whenever you need to say a comforting word, open your mouth and say it. Do you open your mouth and speak when you bring up your children? This is an impending issue for you. You bring up your children in a Pharisaic way: you do not permit them to touch the dishes not to soil themselves, even not to wet their hands by themselves. Their mother will wash their hands instead; their father will buy them new shoes, watches, jewelry, and so on. The father is in the position of a slave of these Pharisees. When he comes back from work in the evening, they first sulk and then say, “We want this and that, we want it right now!” and so he cowers. Why did Christ say, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”?[6] At home with the children and in the church as well - everywhere we manifest the Pharisee’s features and why then we wonder that the Kingdom of God is not coming. On top of this, the Pharisee complains that the world is bad, that society is bad, the priests are such and such, the teachers are not good and the statesmen too, but he himself is a saint. You are just the same as those you are criticizing. Stop and let go of these things because your Mother is here with you. Whenever you say “chirrrp,” right then you will receive food. You may find these things funny, but they are great truths. They seem to be small things, but we need to learn from this example. Compared to the Divine Life we are still paupers and God is constantly sending us the Mother with the worms. Greet your Mother because she brings you food. How many places had she to overfly to find at least one worm? How could we thank God Who thinks of us every day and provides us with food? Every morning we should say “chirrrp,” that is, pray to Him. Do you know what it means? It has a very deep meaning. What does this “chirrrp” mean? It you know this, you will get the words spoken by Heaven. It is a short word “chirrrp,” yet very rich in content. And now you are in the temple. Christ addresses you asking about the way you are praying: is it as the Pharisee or as the tax collector; and how will you enter the world and begin working: is it as the Pharisee or as the tax collector? You are made of the same dust. Yet, Christ wants to tell us not to be like the Pharisees. My head is about ready to burst from these Pharisees. If there is something disturbing in the world it is these Pharisees. “Well, that person has such and such qualities.” I know, but what should I do? Let me clean up myself first and then others. Let me clean up my own lice and then those of others. Otherwise, if I would go to someone who has fewer lice than me, he will catch more from me. “But we should educate him.” Wait, I need to educate myself first. “But we should preach.” If I begin to preach too soon, I will mislead people. “Go out and say this and that.” What shall I say? Shall I lie to people? When you go out, you are to express the great Truth both in words and through your actions. This is what Christ means. When we begin to teach, we should do it both by words and actions. I like very much the teachers of today, who, while teaching a subject like physics or chemistry, begin right away with the experiments: oxygen can be obtained this way, something else results from that. When you enter a carpenter ’s shop, the teacher there teaches both theory and practice; when you go to a tailor ’s shop, it is the same. Christ says, “Enter and pick up your yardstick and scissors.” Some need to start with a needle and after that with scissors. What are the scissors? They represent your tongue. When you begin to cut and sew, there exists no better scissors than your tongue. However, when you begin cutting left and right without thinking, your scissors are not used properly. “Should we not speak?” You should speak, but in the right time and place. Otherwise you will cut without thinking and the cloth will be wasted. I do not say all this to discourage you. I do not want to claim that you were born Pharisees, but you have the inclination of the Pharisee. Everyone has it. It is good to have it to a certain degree. But when you begin to say, “God, I thank You that I am not like others,” the Pharisee is alive in you and it is difficult to free yourselves from him. He resides in the back of your neck, in your crown, ears, head, nose, and in the inner side of your eyes. In conclusion, where is this Pharisee to be found? In all your features and actions. And so, Christ is now asking us about the most proper way to offer our prayer to God. He is implying that prayer in its broadest sense is for the benefit of society. Some think that a true prayer can be offered only in church. See if your prayer, which is delivered in the church, has some connection with your family life and if so, whether it will help you. If there is such a church, you should find where it is. The teacher first teaches the students certain things. Then he gives them the opportunity to solve problems and find the connections to certain laws. It is said in the Scriptures, “You are a temple of God.”[7] If we are a temple of God, when we enter our inner sacred sanctuary before God, how should we enter? If we enter as the Pharisee, Christ will tell us, “You have not achieved your purpose.” If we enter as the tax collector and confess our mistakes, if we promise that we will correct them, we are going to succeed and hear Christ’s answer, “You are acquitted; there is a hope for you for a better future.” When the teacher finds some mistakes in the student’s notebook, the student should not say, “How petty-minded my teacher is, I had only three mistakes!” The teacher may smudge it, he may cross out four to five words and the student will say then, “He ruined my notebook.” Yes, but if you want to be perfect, you are to be thankful that the teacher has pointed out these mistakes to you because otherwise these three mistakes could have become more. Just correct them, do not ignore them! Mistakes are like louses: if you leave them, in a week they can reproduce into thousands. One mistake is enough to bring someone to the pillory. Based on the same Law, one virtue can uplift you to Heaven and place you among the Angels. Under certain conditions a wrong action will pull you down, while a virtuous one will uplift you. Therefore, pay attention to each virtue and to each mistake of yours. If there is one virtue left in a person who has lived a depraved life, it can serve as a rope tossed in the stormy sea of life, which (if he grabs it) can bring him to safety. Therefore, the remaining mistake is very detrimental and can ruin a person. Similarly, the last virtue is very strong and can save a person. The last mistake or virtue can transform our life. It is a Law. That is why Christ says, “Do not be negligent.” The Pharisee had more noble features than the tax collector. He was in many respects in a higher position, but he had one last mistake - pride, which had the power to pull him down. The tax collector was a big sinner, but he had one remaining virtue - humility; and he was determined to work for his salvation. For this reason God gave him His Blessing because there was hope that in the future he would evolve. I ask you this morning about your current position: are you with your last mistake or with your last virtue? If you are with your last mistake, I feel sorry for you: be aware that you are at a dangerous place in life. If you are with your last virtue, you are at a safe place and I congratulate you: you are on a solid rock. Hold on to this last virtue and Christ will walk with you. Lecture of the Master, held on October 5, 1914, Sofia. ----------------------------------------------------------- 1. See also Luke 18:11, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.’” 2. Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and dramatist. 3. See also Matthew 7:1–3. 4. See also Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 5. See also John 6:35, “And Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” 6. See Luke 11:44. 7. See also 1Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

Note 4 The Dreams Of Joseph „And Joseph saw a dream and told it to his brothers: and they despised him even deeper...” Genesis 37: 5-11, 39: 1-23 Often we ask ourselves the question why sometimes in life misfortune comes to us. In general, it is considered that people suffer and pay for sins from the present or the past and try to find out the reason for that. We can see that Joseph’s life happened so because of two night-dreams, which he told to his brothers. Of course, they interpreted these dreams in the wrong way, accusing him of having secret plots and ulterior purposes. And in order to prevent him from becoming their leader, the thought of eliminating him comes to their minds. Moreover, as you see, these are not strangers, but Joseph's own brothers. So at the first chance, they caught him and sold him to the Ishmaelites, whom on their turn re-sold him to an Egyptian. Thus started the period of trials for Joseph – God tried out his character. Human life is nothing but a series of trials – they are the touchstone used to test human character. The most valuable thing in the soul of a man is his character that must pass through the fire – the trials. And just after he has gone through the fire and resisted every test, only then can we say that the man’s character is valuable, firm, eternal – he has an eternal home to live in. Character – this is man’s home. As we see, scourges came to Joseph one after the other; after those that followed the two night-dreams, more and more came, which are narrated in Chapter 39, namely: since he was a handsome young man, the wife of his master fell in love with him; she wanted to make love to him, but he said, „No, my master has given everything into my hands, except you, you are his property, his right, and I cannot commit this sin before God.” We see that God reigns in the soul of this young man – everything he wants to do first he weighs it to that measure - whether it is right, whether it would comfort God, or not. Although he knew that troubles would follow for his refusal to fulfil the desire of a woman like that, he preferred to suffer rather than to commit a sin. After this test he really found himself in prison. But God helped him there, too – if you review the whole story in this Chapter, you will see that God never leaves him, but takes him out of prison by interpreting two other night-dreams of the king of Egypt. When we pass through different tests, we don’t know what God’s aim is. You want to go to Heaven, but if anyone asks you what the words Heaven or Paradise mean to you, you wouldn’t know what exactly to answer. You have a certain idea about Heaven, but it is so obscure to you, as were the two dreams in the mind of Joseph. And indeed how would the sheaves, the Sun, and the Moon relate to him? But they implied certain future events – his selling, the temptation by the woman, his imprisoning, his saving, and his exaltation. Now, which is that kingdom and who is the woman? Egypt is the kingdom where we live, and the wife of the courtier that tries to tempt us is the world. You are slaves that have been sold and chased away by your own brothers, you are in Egypt and the wife of the courtier is trying to seduce you – the world offers you some goods and is tempting you. It is not so bad for a man to have pleasures, but there are things that are forbidden. When Adam was in Paradise, God told him to taste everything, with the exception of one fruit that was forbidden and for his disobedience came all the suffering that followed. Also in this world, there are forbidden things and if you try to eat the forbidden fruit, suffering will surely come. There are people who would take the money of others – they need it to build houses, for pleasure, for trips abroad. However Joseph looked at this in a different way, he could have the goodwill of the courtier’s wife, but he thought, “I prefer to have the goodwill of God rather than the goodwill of a woman.” The world is a woman, who doesn’t belong to us; tomorrow, after she satisfies her lust for pleasure, she can discard you. It is your external beauty that attracts her. The present-day delusion is based on the following: when people hold us in esteem due to our outer appearance, we are wrong to think that it is because of our merits. There is a well-known, famous singer, but everyone respects only his talent to sing, his throat; if his larynx is ruined, he will be thrown out like a rag – all the respect he receives is only because of a little membrane in his throat. There is also a great fiddler: everybody respects him as long as he can use the bow; but if his arm is paralyzed, no one wants to hear of him. You can be a good preacher, but everyone will listen to you only as long as your voice is soft; but if your voice cracks and grows hoarse, you will hear the words, “We don’t want a preacher with no voice.” The woman has many suitors when she is beautiful, but if her beauty dims, they will say, “Let another woman take her place.” Joseph knew that self-delusion above all things and he practiced only things internal, stable, and eternal which can always give peace to the man and in that way he can have the goodwill of God. We should be careful of the little causes that bring the misfortunes. If Joseph had not told his brothers about the dream he had, this misfortune wouldn’t have come to him. Then the following question rises: wouldn’t it come in other cases too? There are tests that cannot be avoided. I will not talk about these internal laws, but I will say that there are things absolutely determined by God – if we try to avoid the little ones, bigger ones would come. In order to nullify suffering, we must learn a lesson from the behaviour of Joseph. We should not be under the delusion that if today our life is okay, the next day no misfortune will come, which we never expected. The Destiny or the Providence has determined the tests through which human life has to pass; and those tests are necessary. Why are they necessary? I will give you just one comparison: in order to cross a deep river you need a boat; to cross the ocean, you need a ship; so, to pass from one world into another you need the ship, called Faith. The tests and misfortunes are also necessary – they are the fuel, your ticket for the trip. Everyone, who wants to change the path of the needed law, is stupid. Everyone, who says, “Why has God sent me such sufferings?” and mutters, is a stupid man in the full sense of the word. However, those who say, “I want to learn the meaning,” and is grateful for that, is a clever person. Note: when misfortunes came upon Joseph he did not mutter, but faced them with joy in his soul and thanked God, and when in the court of his master he reached a position of having everything, he did not become conceited. When his master offered him greater goods, he was not tempted by what the woman offered, because he said to himself, “I must follow one law – I must not sin.” So in that sense pleasure is a sin. And what is sin? Anything that does not give birth, has no fruit or an embryo in itself, is a sin. A woman, who procures, fornicates, without giving birth to a child, commits a sin. The Conception redeems the sin. Any activity that does not bear Life in it is a maleficent waste of God’s power. When someone urges you to commit a sin, he wants you to waste God’s energy that is given to you. You drink a glass of wine – and on the next day, you have a headache; what have you achieved, have you become nobler – no, you haven’t. Why should we wish to do things that do not add anything to our character? We all have to restrict ourselves only to those pleasures that are allowed, rightful, and natural. Let’s take as an example a boy and a girl, who play with horses and dolls – on one side these things, bring them some pleasure, but on the other they have an educating role – they prepare them for other activities. In the same way for adults, there are certain pleasures in life, which can also be useful for them; however, there are pleasures that always bring destruction of human feelings, of human power, of human salvation. The unnatural life, the so-called hidden, illegal love, that some men and women practice, has a destructive effect on their hearts and on their minds. You love somebody; ask yourself if that is pleasing to God, is it useful for the one that you love, don’t deprave his soul, his mind. Joseph was young and pure; a lecherous woman wanted to desecrate him, but he resisted her temptation to stain his name, which would mean nothing if he had fallen to the temptation. Note that it was first the woman, Eve, who was put on trial, and she did not resist, then it was her man; now is the turn of the man to be put on trial. It was the same snake that tempted Eve in the garden, „Look, if you taste the fruit of that tree, what knowledge and power you will have – you will become like God!” Eve could not resist and said, „For glory I can do it,” – because it was a definite betrayal. The same snake appeared to Joseph in the shape of a woman and said, „Come with me,” but his reply was, „No!” And then the sufferings followed, but also the elevation. The man and the woman represent two principles, two great reasonable powers that are active: the first power we call active, and the other – passive; one is – active, and the other – perceiving; they are two processes in Nature that interchange. God does not always give, sometimes He takes – in one respect He gives, but in another, He takes. On one hand, the ocean sends moisture to the land, but on the other –this moisture goes back to the ocean again through the rivers. In that sense, the man and the woman are two principles that work: one of the principles is – creative, called man; God the other – passive, called woman or God – it is the same. Therefore, in both moments of Life we have to be faithful to these principles. If the world wants us to obtain goods, we will obtain them only if we follow this supreme principle of God's. If you are faithful to Him, all dreams and desires of your mind and your heart can be achieved. You will achieve them only in one way – by God, only He can satisfy your thoughts and desires. The mother brings up the child, the teacher educates the student, therefore, as the child cannot be brought up and cannot grow without the mother, so the student cannot learn without his teacher. Joseph listened to the voice of his Teacher, who was inside him – the voice of God, who taught him to follow the great law of the motion and movement of Life. All our striving in Life must be directed to the following – to develop our character. How? Character is constructed of thoughts and feelings, of positive power. We should not interpret Life in the way some people presently do – in the limited frames as it is interpreted by a scientist, a doctor, and a philosopher. No, we must understand Life in the way God has restricted it. All people see things partially: contemporary science shows only one side of things, the genius of a talented musician reveals just one little part of space, the mind of a philosopher – also, the strength of a healthy person is limited only to his muscles. But some people say, „Strong in the mind.” Strong in mind man can be, only when his power is in connection with all laws of God and when he is in harmony with all creatures around him – from the lowest to the highest. Then his strong, powerful character can do everything, because all creatures help him. When we are in contradiction with God’s laws, then this discrepancy comes to our mind as well as all misfortunes that we encounter in Life. Why don't we ever succeed? We hesitate, we want to do good, but we don’t realize that what we are doing is not good. We think that what we plan is clever and that it will be realized – we turn it on all sides, but it doesn’t happen. Sometimes we wonder why we do not progress and why our memory gets weak, why it is dull. We alone constantly disturb our life to its very depth. It is normal to roil the water when you fish, but to roil it constantly – when you have caught all the fish, this is not right. Often the woman gets angry with the man and roils his water. – What do you want? – A dress. – All right, there is a dress for you – says the man. And the lake clears up. On the next day the woman wants to catch another fish, she roils the water again – now she wants a silk dress, a watch, to go for a walk. – Here it is – replies the man. But one day this man fails, he has no money and what does he do? – He decides to run away. So the lake gets dry and there is no more fish, there is no more water. What will the woman roil then? To roil Life constantly, to upset ourselves, this does not mean that we understand Life. We will roil, we’ll roil again and finally we’ll die. Have you ever thought about what death is? It has been painted in pictures as a human being made of bones with a scythe in hand. Have you checked if it is so? – „No, my mother and my grandmother have told me it was so.” This may be true, but have you thought what the meaning of the bones is, why death is represented as a human without muscles? You have to be pure like the bones, which are white in colour – this means that you have to be virtuous. Anything that is not clean will be discarded; only Virtue will remain untouched. So you have a pattern not to be touched; if you violate God’s law, you will always be affected. Man should have fear of punishment before and not after committing a sin, crying will not save him. Salvation is based on organizing our mind, our heart and our body – this is our task on Earth. And for this there is an excellent example in the Old Testament – the greatest character in the person of Joseph. When reading these chapters from Genesis, we have to study Joseph’s character thoroughly. We should not think he is stupid; he was very clever and therefore, as you see, his father loved him – love is always due to wisdom. Joseph also had a noble heart. His father realized that but his brothers thought that he was loved by their father for external qualities and they sold him. Whatever circumstances he would have been placed in, his character would again have elevated him, as it elevated him before. Due to his valuable qualities, his master places him in a high position. Another test sent him to prison, but there he was also elevated. Finally, God takes him out of prison, where he has spent two years – the time determined for the test. And what is your prison? Your present body. One day you must leave that prison, dirty and unhealthy. Until now, you have received Holy Communion, but you don’t know what model the wine presents: the baker had to be beheaded, and the cupbearer – restored to his service. One of the principles in Life – the active one – always must be sacrificed, and the wine must come in to cool Life. The wine has enormous power, but since the contemporary people are not prepared in advance, they get excited from it – they have no organism to use it. When the wine goes into the bottle and starts to ferment the bottle cracks up. But let’s go back to Joseph’s character. We see that he had a sober, reasonable mind and understood the basic laws of Life. He had a noble heart and didn’t want in any way to be untrue to the promise he had given to God. – „I have promised upon my heart to my master and also to serve Him faithfully and I cannot betray Him.” So, he was not a young man who would float down the stream of bad intentions and desires, and in all cases he followed noble impulses and had a well-balanced heart and mind. If we want God to live in us, our minds and our hearts must be in harmony, and must be balanced. If dissension occurs between them, God would not live in us. There are places in a state of anarchy, as it is in Serbia now and all over the world, since the minds and hearts of the people are not in unison, because they want to take more, and nobody gives. Everyone aims to rob his fellow man and for that reason there are always conflicts between people – it is a common law for the small, as well as for the bigger creatures. Many people want to live: some are still with their fathers and tell what dreams they had; others are in the second category – sold by their brothers in Egypt, in the courtyard of this elevated courtier, where they are exposed to the temptations of his wife; a third group is in prison. The best position is to come out to the Pharaoh. But to meet the Pharaoh you have to pass through three stages – these are three schools, three courses: the first one – with the father, the second – with the woman, who examines how virtuous he is. And Joseph performed a very good test – he left his garment and ran away. What does it mean to leave your garment? It means to leave the cloak of your soul – the flesh. Like that woman, the world says to you, „Come with me, I am very pretty, or you will be sent to prison,” – she is testing you to see if you would be tempted, or you would follow God’s law. And what you have to do is to dispense with all goods that allure you, overcome the temptations and follow God’s law. Believe in God, have faith in Him and you will surely have a great future like Joseph. There are no two ways about it. Here I show you a young man who follows the road that God shows him, he rises from the position of an ordinary shepherd to the highest position in Egypt – not by means of theft, lies or murders, but by means of self-denial to sufferings and following God’s law. Therefore, the Wisdom and Knowledge, that you may have in your mind, the Goodness that you may have in your heart – only they can help you. Never delude yourself with external things, which can attract your sight, whatever they might be – black or blond. What your hands or face would be, depends on your heart – whatever your mind and heart are, the same will be the house you’ll create and the same will be the windows in it. By his mind and his heart, man can always change his external social position – from a poor man he can become rich, but he will change it only if he follows God’s Laws. If we proceed to review the second part of Joseph’s character – when the brothers came to him, we will see that he did not take revenge, but he cried together with them and poured all his love to them. Therefore, if someone has harmed us in our life, we should not answer back in the same way. To wish someone ill, to revenge, to gossip about people – this is not a character. Character is to forgive – only in that way can you rise to the level of nobility. This example we can also see in Christ, when he was crucified and He was mocked, He said, „Forgive them, God!” The time will come and you will be asked, „Did you forgive those who have offended you, who have sold you?” A father said to his son, „You’ll never make good.” The son went abroad to study, came back, rose in society, became a governor and what he did first was to send several guards to bring his father, to him and the son asked, „Well, what do you think, will I never make good?” Then his father replied, “Was what you did very clever? Was that the way to bring me here – by threatening me? You are an unwise man who doesn’t know what he is doing. You had to send a carriage to bring me here.” This is also the way we do things – we want to threaten people: „If God gives me power, I know how to rule – I’ll send all to the gallows,” for thousands of years people have used this method – everyone is fighting and every house is crying. And how much has the world improved? Not a bit. Only Love can bring noble elements into the human soul. And punishment is used as far as it is imposed by Love – to root out the bad things. The one, who in his operation cuts healthy flesh, is not a clever surgeon, but a stupid one. Therefore, when you come to Life, this is what you have to do: to follow the basic Law – there must be a balance between your mind and your heart. Many people doubt the existence of God. Some of you will say, „We believe He exists.” But if you were placed in Joseph’s boots, you would say, „If God existed, he wouldn’t put me in prison. He wouldn’t take me from my father, my mother, my brothers wouldn’t have sold me – is that God, I don’t believe!” You must accept all sufferings given by God’s hand, and when they come, you have to be happy – sufferings are the stones that you will use to build the stairs of your house, they will form your character. They are the connecting threads between man and God – only by means of which you can go from one world into another, a better one. And there is nothing better than the suffering in this world for your elevation. Indeed, you hate suffering, but in fact, it is the greatest blessing. When a soul has suffered for a long time, the suffering will give its fruits and the soul will be delighted. If the roots of the trees did not suck out the sap, would it be possible for us to taste the sweet fruits; if the mother did not suffer, if she did not carry a child in her womb, would she have a child to be happy with; if the father did not deny his individual life, would he be happy; can a teacher who does not make efforts have students that respect him? Who of those that have done nothing in life have been brought to Heaven and placed in a high position there? From one to the other end of the world Life is made only of sufferings – they are like the carvings of the sculptor, using them to create a statue. When we learn the deep sense of suffering, we will understand that this is a process that forms our character. And when we hammer down the last stroke for finishing our character, then the suffering will cease and the great statue of our Life will come out. We prepare to go to Heaven. What shall we bring there? – Our character – it is our wealth. You would like to be a man or a woman – beautiful, slender, with noble behaviour, but when you enter the world, what would people say if you were not noble in character? Would they say that in you they see a person possessing virtues? When a person is not good looking, but has a sound mind and good heart, people say, „This is a man of character.” And this is not the best praise that the world can give us. If we have such a mind and heart, the world will need us. In Egypt in the time of the Pharaoh, there were many noble Egyptians; why didn't Pharaoh put them in first place, but instead chose a foreigner? Was it for his good looks? No, it was for his mind and for his goodness. If we all are like him, the world will determine the same place for us, if we are stupid, the world will reject us. Contemporary people rely on the opposite – they say, „The man must not be virtuous, because virtue is nonsense.” They do not understand what they are saying. The external things, those we do not possess are taken from us even at Easter; however, character will always remain in us – namely it is the most valuable thing. Today you are in the same tests: you are worried as the Egyptians were in the time when Joseph lived – you do not know what could happen on the next day, the destiny, the future is not in your hands, you cannot predict how the events would turn. However, destiny could be in your hands, if you have faith and trust God in the way that Joseph did. Then you will surely change your destiny, wherever you are, whatever position you are placed in – like butter you will come to the surface of the water. The first condition to achieve this is not to be afraid and not to worry. You have to possess courage and determination, not to be cowardly – fear must give way to prudence. You should hesitate only if you have not decided whether a certain question is right or not; but after you decide that it is right, you must surely state it and stand up for it. Joseph put the problem to the woman frankly „I cannot do that with you.” The bad consequences really followed – he was caught and put in prison, but God was with him. When a character is formed it is necessary to have patience – it is the basis of things. And we definitely see great patience in Joseph’s character – in prison he did not worry at all, he worked, studied; he was ready to endure anything. Patience is a feature of the character that the human being does not have at his birth, but which he can acquire with efforts. All sufferings in the world only have the purpose to build patience in us – to learn to be patient, to be calm, to look towards the future with faith and whatever hardships and disappointments we have, never to lose heart. The young woman may say, „I dream to get married to a man according to my ideal,” and after she gets married, she says, „My life stops.” No, she is at the beginning of Life. Some people say, „I’ve lost my money.” What does it matter, you are at the beginning of your Life – you have lost nothing. – „I’ve lost my health,” – you are at the beginning of your Life; you will have new health. Whatever position we are placed in, we have to be patient and to set our faith in God even to the last minute. This Faith must be very deep in everything we do. Some people want to have a good society, to be surrounded by good people. Joseph, as a foreigner, lived among strangers, but he managed with his heart and with his mind to make these people good friends. – „But," some people say, "People are sinful.” You should make friends exactly with these sinners – they have noble souls in them. The contemporary Christian says, „He is not faithful, he is still green.” And can he become mature if he is not green? The things that grow out from the earth are first green, they do not mature immediately; the state of being green is a process, in which the saps are sucked out and when they are gathered, then it starts maturing. – „I feel insulted that I was called green.” It is very good that you are green; he does not insult you by calling you green – if you are a noble person, by hard work one day you will mature. The man who is not green cannot become mature; if he is not green, he will be dry, and in the dryness, there is no process of development. If you are green, I am happy about you – it is a noble feature to be green, and when you become mature, you will turn yellow like gold. Everyone loves money – maturing. There are some people, who have not matured. Do you know what money is? – To be mature. Life consists of a gradual development of greenness to maturing – this gradual process is called in science evolution, development. It is necessary until all people finish the process of development and acquire all Knowledge and all Goodness in their hearts. When they get all these saps, God will send His Blessing and the fruits in you will mature. Then God will appear. When you are still green, He watches you from a distance, when you become mature he will surely come and pick your mature fruits, because He needs them. When you begin to realize, to distinguish the essential things from the inessential, the temporary things - from the permanent, when your character is formed and becomes firm, when these fruits in the trees of your garden begin to mature, then you will be taken out of prison and presented to the Master of this world to tell the interpretation of the two dreams of Life. And you will bear the Truth not like prisoners, but as free people. Then the Truth will be a wreath on the head, and the sheaves in the field will bow to you and the Sun, the Moon, and the eleven stars in the Sky will greet you. And then you will understand the deep meaning of the earthly life. Then God will appear and the Kingdom of God will be established on Earth. 20 July (2 August) 1914, Sofia Source

From Dawning of a New Epoch, Beinsa Duno Love “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, but have not Love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”[1] The word “love” has become very mundane in the world today. It has become so prosaic nowadays that it has lost its meaning. When a word loses its meaning, it becomes lifeless; and everything that becomes lifeless lacks inner power and so declines. In the organic world when a certain food enters the stomach, but cannot be properly digested, it creates a condition that doctors call “indigestion” and that produces an unpleasant feeling in the body. This law is true not only in the physical, but also in the mental world: When a thought comes to one’s mind, which cannot be digested with one’s mind because the mind cannot understand it, a similar condition occurs. The same happens with the human heart. When a desire enters, which it cannot connect with, a similar condition results. Human nature gets to know things around us in three stages. When you take a fruit, an apple for example—red, colorful, and beautiful—first its form appeals to your eyes, then you take it, turn it around, and through your eyes you will form an impression of the apple from its outer form and color. After your eyes have finished this process, you bring the apple closer to your nose to check its smell and determine the quality of its smell. When your sense of smell has done its job, then your tongue and teeth taste the apple and perform the last operation on the fruit, thereby destroying its beautiful garment until nothing is left of it; and the tongue says, “This apple is tasty.” Similarly, Love manifests in three stages in human lives, and because we do not understand this, we often have an inaccurate understanding of Love. Some say that Love is a feeling, others a power, still others an illusion, and so on. It is said that whatever condition your mind is in, you are in the same condition, so your understanding of Love will depend on the condition of your mind. In order to come to know someone’s opinion on a certain subject, observe how that person speaks and writes; to come to know a woman, visit her, see her home and how it looks; to come to know a cook, enter her kitchen and observe what and how she cooks; to come to know a soldier, see his action on the battlefield; to come to know a teacher, see him at school, and a preacher or a priest in his church; and so on. Everything should be tested in its own environment. When we come to discuss the meaning of Love in general, as not all of you may be ready to understand what I can share, I will present it in a simpler way. I may speak in a language incomprehensible to you, not because I do not want to be understood, but because there are some reasons why my talk might not be clear to you. When a child is born, the mother first gives the baby some milk and then some liquid food when it is a little older. Later she prepares soft food by first chewing it. The children enjoy the milk and the liquid food, but in order to be able to eat solid food, their teeth first need to grow; otherwise they will have stomach problems. During the teething process, the child may become ill. The mother worries, “My baby has a temperature. I need to call a doctor. Will my child survive?” Yet, when the teeth come through, all that is forgotten. A similar situation happens in human life as well: when people are given “solid food,” Love, they undergo suffering. Therefore, when we say, “Sufferings are necessary,” we imply that it is necessary to pass through them, “to undergo teething” in order to be able to eat solid food. I could explain later what these “teeth” are, but for the moment I can tell you that when sufferings come, this shows that you are “teething.” Once you have passed through this process, you will have a complete set of 32 teeth; and you will have reached the age of Christ, 32 years old. Let me offer you an explanation of how the Apostle Paul perceived Love. In order to understand Love, we need to compare it to its opposite, as when people try to describe an object, they need to find its distinctive features. For instance, to describe a horse, cow, sheep, wolf, and so on, we need to find those features that distinguish these animals from one another. In the description we make an analysis, usually based on the external characteristics, but we can do the same with the inner differences between them too. In the modern world many people desire to be eloquent speakers, as everyone knows that in this way they can influence an audience by the power of their words. However, the Apostle Paul says that, though he may have all the eloquence of human language and even that of the Angels, without love this would profit him nothing—this would be rather like trying to understand an apple by looking at it only from the outside. At present, many people would like to find out what their future is going to be and that of Bulgaria as well. If you were able to make such a prophecy, many would rush to you asking questions, and you would receive much honor, if your predictions came true. Yet, the Apostle Paul says, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”2 He is saying that in the world today people are not concerned with the inner meaning of life: even if they were able to move mountains and cities, and be able to divide kingdoms, they would only be dealing with the outer aspects of life. The Apostle Paul goes on to say, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not Love, it profits me nothing.”[2] This means that even if we have all the good qualities mentioned by the Apostle Paul, but we lack Love, we would be lacking in the most important one. It is not that all these gifts are without value, but they represent only the external side of a person’s life and fail to transform the inner side. The Apostle Paul goes on further to describe all the qualities of Love.[3] Its first quality is longsuffering. Do you know the meaning of longsuffering? It is the essential pillar of life. If you have endurance, you can achieve everything in life; if you do not have it, you will not. A person with endurance is like a ship with an anchor; a person without it is like a ship without an anchor. This is precisely the distinguishing quality of Love. It is because God is longsuffering that it is said in the Scriptures, “God is Love.”[4]. Longsuffering is a sign of the sublime Love of God toward us. If He did not have this Love, He would not have tolerated us all this time; He would not have tolerated our ignorance and wrongdoings; and would have rid the universe of us a long time ago. Therefore, whatever work we begin, whatever results we want to get in life, endurance is absolutely necessary. Many say, “Endurance means strong will-power.” No, endurance is a great quality and there is nothing more noble than this in the human character. However, endurance does not come at birth; it needs to be acquired. Love can come to us as a gift, but endurance we need to achieve by ourselves. Suffering is a process by which we can learn endurance; it is a method for acquiring endurance. To be able to endure, we need to have three essential qualities: Wisdom, Truth, and Virtue. Why does a mother tolerate certain faults in her child and try to bring him or her up well? She foresees that, in spite of its weaknesses, the child will become a great individual and bring benefit to many. Foreseeing this, the mother thinks, “I will face all difficulties and will endure my child’s faults,” and she is right. Those who bear all things in life are wise and foresee the future. When a young woman is not yet married, she keeps her hands very clean, avoids even water, and uses perfumes instead. Yet, when she gets married, she is eager to dirty them with the “perfumes” of her baby and even enjoys it. What does she find in this small child? If you weigh the child, it is only a few kilograms, but there is a Divine Spark within the baby that attracts the mother’s love to the point that with her longsuffering attitude she is ready to put up with the child by taking care of it in every way. If it were left to fathers, many of them would say, “This is not for me.” In the same way, to accomplish any work in life, we need to have Love, which is an essential quality in the hearts of those who possess it. I am talking about Love in its general sense, not about its essence. Some people consider Love as a feeling, as a pleasant feeling in the heart. This is not Love because one can experience a pleasant feeling after drinking some wine or finding a relief from body aches. However, this is not the feeling produced by Love. When someone loves you, that person may sometimes also cause you pain. Love can cause pain and joy at the same time. Love is like a two-edged sword: it caresses all, but also punishes all. How does it punish you? When Love is away from you, you become sorrowful and say, “I am unhappy.” Why are you unhappy? It is because Love is absent, because you are only happy when Love is present in you. Love also tells us something else: Longsuffering creates conditions for Love to manifest. Endurance is the way it enters the human heart. Without endurance Love cannot manifest in us. Endurance is a pre-requisite, the vanguard of its coming. When a degree of endurance has been acquired, you will understand that in brave, decisive people it is a mighty power that gives them a bright future. Let us consider now the word “benevolence.” This is the positive, active side of Love, while longsuffering is the passive, protective side, which one needs in order to endure certain burdens. Benevolence is Love that is ready to build, to help someone, no matter whom. When you encounter a beggar, who asks you for a favor, help him! When a friend of yours, who has a noble character, asks you for a favor, help him, even if his convictions and faith are different from yours. We desire that people love us and address us politely, yet we often violate this rule and not only do we not show patience, but often we do not even show the normally expected politeness. Some people may say that they love a person, yet they badmouth about him to others. The echo of this will be heard in time because whatever one sows, one will also reap. If you plant an apple, you will harvest apples; if you sow thorns, you will reap thorns. I am not talking about my relationships with you. I am always paying attention to what my relationships are with God, with Love, in other words, what my actions should be toward my brethren. It is less important how I judge my actions; it is more important for me to be ready to fulfill the fundamental Law required by Love: To be patient the way Love requires, and to be benevolent as it desires. This is necessary for everyone, for the entire world, for those who have a warm heart. I am not talking about those who do not understand these things. Some ask, “What will happen to the bad people?” The same as will happen to stones, to ants, to little insects. Probably you think that the ants’ situation is worse than yours? They are a thousand times happier than you, as they do not experience the sufferings that you do. It is toward those in whom Divine consciousness is awakened that we need to feel compassion, toward those who understand Love, God, and evil, who suffer and are in torment. Some people complain that they are unhappy and their life is a disaster. The answer is: they are unhappy because Love has not yet visited them. “Why has Love not come?” “It is because you are impatient.” “I am trying to become patient.” “It is good that you are already trying.” “Yes, but my life is still is disarray.” “This is because you are not yet benevolent.” Some people say that all this is very good and easy to achieve, but they fail to act on it. As a doctor I am telling you that none of you are healthy because I have not met a person who is healthy in the full meaning of the word. Only the saints and the Angels who are in Heaven are completely healthy. People, of course, are unhealthy, but not all in the same way. When a doctor enters your home, he may tell you, “Your room is not hygienic, as it is facing north. You need to leave this room and move to another one facing south; and you should keep your windows open as much as possible to allow fresh air and light to enter. You need to change all your bedding and begin paying attention to what you eat, and so on.” Love tells you the same, “Your room is facing north and it is not hygienic; you need to move to a southern one where the sun’s rays can enter.” In other words, Love wants to advise you to be patient and benevolent. Love also tells us that it constantly uses its hands for all work to be done. Do you know the immeasurable riches of these two hands? When you have these hands, you can do anything. I repeat: In order for your spiritual hands to appear, you need to possess endurance and benevolence. If you reject these two qualities, not only will your external organs fail to react, but neither can your internal ones develop properly in order to manifest the necessary virtues. Why do you need to have virtues? It is because virtues will bring you all the necessary elements for the building of your house and all the juices needed for your growth. Virtue is not something abstract, but real. It is always ready to build. Therefore, those of you who can understand need to grasp the full meaning of endurance. It is not only the endurance of bearing insults; this is not the fullness of endurance. The secret of endurance is, when someone insults you, to find the good side in it and use it. An insult is like a hard walnut, which someone has given you; you should break it, take its contents and eat it. If you can get nourishment in this way, you will become completely healthy. Those who speak badly about you and who blacken you are giving you food, and if you can use this food, you will be well satisfied. People may throw hard stones at you, but you need to break them because inside these stones treasures are hidden, which you can use to enrich yourselves. When you go home, contemplate and pray to God to understand endurance. Many people occupy themselves with mediocre things; many desire to become famous and learned. That is fine, knowledge will come in due course, but, if you are true human beings, you need to be able to receive and apply that knowledge. Knowledge is a power that can benefit you and your brethren, if used properly. However, knowledge can also be like a heavy load on your back. Love does not envy. In order to be sure that Love has visited you, you should ask yourselves if you are envious. If you are, it means that you do not have the fullness of Love. Love should exist eternally in our hearts; it is needed both in our present life and in the next life, and in yet further lives. The further we rise, the more profound will we find the meaning of Love to be. We need to follow this path from now on; there is no other way to Heaven. You may ask, “This path is difficult, is there no alternative?” No. We can enter everywhere else without following this path, but not into the Kingdom of God. Love does not envy, does not respond to injustice with injustice, to evil with evil, and bears everything. Of course, I am not saying that envy and pride will never visit your hearts. They will visit you, but we will not be judged for that, as long as we do not befriend them. However, sometimes we embrace envy and say, “This person is not good. Beware!” and we make someone’s life miserable. Envy is not something abstract, but is in reality a being with negative features; and even on Earth there are people who are personifications of envy. Only after we have learned these two qualities, endurance and benevolence, will we learn the history of our life, and learn why we came down to live on Earth. I will again give you the example of the grain of wheat. There is no better example among all existing fruits than the grain of wheat, and if you want to study the process of endurance, observe the endurance of the grain of wheat. Without endurance you will have disappointments. Many people will not believe you. Some may say, “People do not follow me.” Why should people follow you? They do not have to follow you. They will listen to your teaching; but to follow you? No, they have no obligation to do so. You often ask, “Whom should I follow?” You could follow people, of course, but at times you may be deceived. However, if you are followers of God alone, you will never be deceived. The Path is one. As Christ says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” If people do not follow you, this indicates that you are not on the Path. Some may say, “I do not believe,” and try to follo[5]w another path. However, at some point that person will find, without doubt, the true Path, thanks to life’s tests. You may insist, “Convince me then!” I am not trying to convince you. I simply say that the bread I am offering will feed you. You may ask, “Could you tell me its ingredients and what water is used?” but I would reply, “There is no point in answering such question. Just tell me if you are interested in taking and eating this bread?” You refuse, so I put the bread back in my bag and go away. You may ask further, “What is Love, what is it made of?” If you ask too many questions, again I will place Love in my bag and continue on my way, telling you that I do not have time for discussion on the subject. Love is something concrete, and you need to try it, take it, and find satisfaction from eating this bread. By doing so, you will realize that Love is the food of life. Without Love one cannot exist or accomplish anything in the world. Some people see very little connection between Love and commerce, or study, or war. We need to have Love everywhere, as it is a mighty power. The force I use to lift this glass is also Love. The same power can be placed in a cannon to throw a grenade and kill many people; it can manifest in an earthquake; it can even destroy the entire Earth or it can create an entire new world. There are rules about how to use certain powers. Love is a power that needs to be applied with consciousness. People are selfish and when Love visits them, they want to keep it for themselves. However, if Love is locked in us, it will destroy our walls and break out. It cannot remain in this dwelling, in which we want to trap Love, and so this results in death. Death is a process for destroying every selfish thought and desire; through Love God destroys all the places where evil spirits hide. Our heart and our mind need to have all the necessary conditions for receiving Love, for Love is silent and calm, but at the same time a frightening force in its effects. If we are in harmony with Love, the world around becomes a blessing; if we are not in harmony, there is no more dangerous force in Nature than Love. For this reason, people with experience say, “Those who love a lot, hate a lot as well.” As powerful as Love is on the positive side, it is equally powerful on the negative; therefore, we need to be very careful with it. When we have Love, we should not act negatively because then it acts destructively, and illnesses, sufferings, and destruction for the whole of society may result. Many say that God is Love and being Love He should not punish. The Lord, although merciful, is also very demanding. When He sees us discontented, He says, “Place one kilogram on their backs.” We may ask, “Why is this load placed on my back?” Without answering, God asks for another kilogram to be added. When you answer, “I cannot carry that,” God says to add one more kilogram. When we are pressed to the wall to the point that we cannot move, then we begin to plead, “God, forgive me!” The Lord answers by saying, “Remove a kilogram.” We repeat our plea, and He answers by removing another kilogram. The more we pray, the more weight is removed from our back. And when the entire weight is removed, the Lord asks us, “Have you learned your lesson?” “Yes,” we say, “I have learned it well.” “If you want Me not to burden you anymore, you need to be benevolent to all the world around you, to everyone around you, and they should be benevolent and bearing toward you as well. Your little brethren may make mistakes, but you need to show tolerance, just as I do; and in the day you violate My Law, I will start to put another load on you again.” “I cannot carry such load.” “You shall carry it.” I will tell you how we can release ourselves from burdens. We need to address God sincerely, “I am thankful with all my heart for everything You are giving me.” God has given every person thousands of blessings, but people do not know how to use them. The proverb says, “He is swimming in water, but is still feeling thirsty.” Many merchants are dissatisfied. Why? They have 10,000 leva, but this is not enough. You give them 20,000, but it is still not enough; you give them 50,000, then 100,000 leva, but they are still dissatisfied. Do you know what modern humankind resembles? Probably you have read about that fisherman who found a beautiful eye. He was asked, “How much do you want for this eye?” “As much as it weighs.” They placed 10 grams on the scales, but the eye was not satisfied; 20 grams were placed on the scales, but it was still unhappy; 100 grams, still unhappy; 1 kilogram, 100 kilograms, 1,000 kilograms, 10,000 kilograms… Finally all the gold they had was offered, but still the eye remained unsatisfied. “What we should do because we cannot pay it off?” they asked themselves. Finally they asked a wise old man what to do. “It is very easy,” he replied, “Take some dirt and cover the eye.” The people did as he advised and the eye closed. In the same way, when God sees us discontented, He will say, “Place dirt on the eyes,” and we become content. Just as we like to add salt and black pepper to our food, so God uses these spices to transform our discontent into contentment. The meaning of life is not in the abundance we have, but in what we can use at any given moment. You should be thankful to God for what He has given us, and then He will give us even more bounties. We need to apply the words of the Apostle Paul in everyday life, to begin to work and to be useful to our brethren. We are studying as in school and not as in a nursery. Church is like a big nursery and you can sow anything there. However, school is like a garden where you can sow only things that are useful. In the school we need to learn how to work the soil and sow beautiful and useful things. There is also something more to do in the school, as there is a connection between heart and mind. We should not only plant seedlings, but also cultivate them and thereby fulfill the fundamental Laws that should govern our life. You may ask, “Why has God not given us more talents, more power, and more money?” I can see many reasons for that. It is because whenever God sent you, your fathers and forefathers, to work in the field, instead of making efforts to cultivate your minds and hearts, you have been considering the taste of the forbidden fruit and again and again trying to taste it, and all these attempts have cost you all your capital. All the times you have come to this field, instead of working you have cut school and returned to Him, begging Him to give you yet more for free. You are like students whose fathers and mothers want to make them scholars, but who do not study. Many of you have cut classes in the Divine School. You say, “We cannot do this work, so let us throw all propriety to the wind.” You have talked like that and are doing this now, but this is not a wise attitude. Those who desire to learn the Divine Law and attain a higher realm such as that of the saints, from where they can get clear perspective on life and receive the blessings of God, need to graduate from the Divine School on Earth and pass its final exam. In this graduation lie blessings for everyone. If unprepared for this life, you shall lead horses and plow fields, and break stones to make roads, until you learn what horses, plowing, stones, and roads can teach you, and so prepare yourselves for the Kingdom of God. God sets disobedient children to cut stones and gives to the obedient ones noble occupations. You may complain, “This teaching is difficult.” Yes, for the lazy ones I agree that it is difficult, but for the humble and hardworking students it has hidden treasures. Do you know why the worm is in the earth, the frog in the water, the bird in the air, and the human being among all of them? These are the four great situations in life. You may say, “These are abstract things.” They are not abstract, but four great truths that will show you the “narrow path”—the Path of the Divine. It is true that the Divine Path is narrow, but there are profound reasons for that which I cannot explain at the moment, as they are beyond the limits of this world. I would like to return to the word “Love,” which people have diminished, blemished, and rendered lifeless. They have smashed its goodness and beauty and have destroyed the melodious harmony of its sounds to the point that its sounds have become hoarse and irritating. We often say, “Love is just an illusion of life, the empty dreams of young men and women who are chasing the elusive shadows of life.” Yes, it is a shadow, but there is a reality behind it, which produces the water of life. The soul constantly satisfies its thirst from this water, as a tired traveler will do at the crystal-pure and refreshing mountain wellspring. What valuable wealth, what knowledge is hidden in this one word! If people knew how to pronounce it correctly, the way it was originally pronounced by the Divine mouth, everything around them would smile at them and listen to this heavenly sound. They would have the magic wand of the wise men of old, through which everything turns to good. Many may say, “It would be a blessing to have such a wand!” Yes, this is the highest blessing one can achieve on Earth. Everyone can attain this as long as one strives constantly toward it. For now, I will just tell you this: If first you learn patience in life, meaning enduring everything all the time with humility and joy, then you will find Truth. With your impatience and negative thoughts, you create a heavy atmosphere in your home. The wife is unhappy because her husband brings home only 150 leva, and she wants this and that. All these desires, desires, desires, but who will work for you? Who will fulfill them, if not you yourself? For instance, if people desire to have full barns without working, where will it all come from? Riches are acquired not easily, but through hard work. Therefore, we should be content with what God in His Great Wisdom is kind enough to give us. I am not advising you never to listen to other people’s advice. You could draw some lessons from them, but each person needs to listen to the advice God has planted in his own consciousness. Listen to what people say, and if this is in tune with what God tells you from within, then follow their advice; if not, do not follow other people’s advice. If you want to be free of error, you must listen to God. Those who do not listen to God are not wise, but are slaves of their external impulses, of people, of everything. You are searching for God, but where? He is inside you, in your mind, and in your heart. He manifests in both of these. Listen well to your mind and your heart because God is speaking through them. Some may say that mind and heart are corrupt, but this is not true. If our mind and heart were bad, how would we come to know God? There are things in us that are corrupt, but not everything. I am telling you: If you do not trust your mind and heart, in what could you? If my mind and hear were corrupt, and yours also, why would I trust you? In whom do we need to trust? In God Who abides in us. If we can trust in ourselves, we will also trust our brethren. Those who do not trust in God abiding in them cannot trust other people either; and those who are not compassionate toward their brethren are not pleasing to God. Therefore, God asks us to love our neighbors. And your neighbor is wounded, crucified, and nailed to the cross. Your Lord is not in Heaven, you have nailed Him and you can find the truth about this in the Scriptures. Your salvation will not happen in any other way, but through this “nailing”: endurance and benevolence. Only then will your salvation come. You may say, “This is very difficult.” It is not difficult, so do not be afraid. It is not without purpose to be nailed to the cross. The Lord endures thousands of years of being nailed. “But will we suffer?” You will not suffer. People who are afraid of suffering are not welcome in our school. You need to thank God for these sufferings: they are sent by Him. The sufferings given to you now are deserved; you are worthy of them. If Christ had not worn the crown of thorns and had not been nailed to the cross, how could He have manifested this Love? Would you love him today, if He had wanted to live like a king? You love Him because He was nailed to the cross for your salvation. Therefore, from now on, be heroes! Do not be afraid of suffering, but show the world that you have courage and that you are ready to bear not one but ten crosses. One man complained that the cross he carried was very heavy. The Lord ordered his cross to be removed and brought him to a big hall, and told him, “In this hall there are many crosses: big and small, made of gold, iron, or stone. Choose one of them.” The man looked around, looked around, and finally found a small cross and said, “I want this cross.” God replied, “This is the same cross you were carrying so far, the cross I gave you.” As you see, we often exaggerate our sufferings, yet they are the way we can ascend toward God. When someone suffers, we should know that he is redeeming his errors and is on the path of salvation. I congratulate him and say “Brother, you are closer to Heaven; I wish I were in your place.” When someone says, “I have not experienced any suffering,” I tell that person, “You are still ‘green.’” Green is pleasant, but when it begins to ripen, suffering comes. Now, keep this thought in mind, I am giving it to you for contemplation as it comes from the Lord: When suffering befalls you, rejoice and thank God that He sends it to you because He loves you. Sufferings are a sign of Divine Love, so let us all carry this cross. For this reason God gave the Bulgarian nation as a whole, as a soul, these sufferings so that it may attain these two qualities: longsuffering and benevolence. You may say that the Serbian and the Greeks are such and such. It does not matter, do not pay attention; just try to learn the lessons for your salvation. What the others are, leave them alone. They have not gained anything and for them also the time will come to learn this lesson. This lesson was given earlier to you and for this you should give thanks and not protest. If you say, “We are being crucified,” God replies, “No problem! In this way you are closer to Me, while the others are further away, but they too will come into this state later on.” When you are crucified, only then shall you enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore, let us rejoice that we have more opportunities in this world. Let us be true Christians, devout followers of Christ. Let us not pay attention to what others may say. Let us be longsuffering and compassionate and fulfill our obligations toward God through our pure thoughts and desires. Let us not stumble on this sublime Path, but act with courage and decisiveness, encouraging everyone who stands together with us. This is the power that will help us to overcome the present difficulties.[6] Lecture delivered on July 6 (19), 1914, Sofia. _____________________________________________ [1] 1 Corinthians 13:1 [2] See 1 Corinthians 13:2–3 [3] See also 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, “Love suffers long and is kind; Love does not envy; Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” [4] See also 1 John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the Love that God has for us. God is Love, and he who abides in Love abides in God, and God in him.” [5] See John 14:6. [6] The Master refers to the second Balkan War in 1913, which brought about the defeat of Bulgaria through the combined attacks of her neighboring countries. Bulgaria was then left in despair after losing peoples and territories.

Note 3 The talents “And to one He gave five talents, to other two, and to other one – for everyone according to his power.” Mathew 25:15 I shall speak you upon the15th verse from the 25th chapter from the Gospel of Mathew. There is no doubt, you have read this chapter many times, you have been stopped to the talents to think; you maybe did and some conclusions, some of them were closer to the truth, other – further. I shall take this verse in its ordinary sense. When Jesus expressed one sentence or proverb, He had in mind the main Divine thought, the Divine law, i.e. He didn’t speak only to find reason to speak but expressed some truths. Now we may ask the question to ourselves why He gave to the one five talents, to the other – two, and to the last – one. Is this accidentally or deliberately? In Nature all the things that God created are not accidental – there is nothing accidental. We say for many things that they happened “accidentally” when we can’t explain them. We meet one man and we say that we meet him accidentally; one of the laws of Life says that our meeting determines from some preceding reasons which made us meet; when we don’t know the law, we say that we meet accidentally, without any reason, but it is not like that. What we have to understand under the words five talents, two talents, one talent? There are three kinds of people: ones who correspond to the five, other – to the two, and a third – to one talent. Now who are those to one talent? They are those who live only for themselves. – “To eat three times a day, to drink, to lie down for a while until our body becomes more fattened, and to dress more nicely – that is why – they say – we came to this world.” They are egoists, fruitless, seedless – people with one talent. And who are those with two? A man who married, he is one talent, and his wife – the other; two men get together and win two talents more; kids are born to them, they become fourth and say: “God, we used the two talents – reared kids and won two more.” It is in the first sense; in the second sense they are people who live for their home, for the society, for the nation. These men, with the five talents, they already have something more – the five talents correspond to our five feelings; it means people in who all the feelings – eyesight, hearing, the sense of smell, taste and the sense of touch – are in their places. They are people with the right reasoning and conclusions for everything what God created – they understand Nature, understand the things, understand the causes and the consequences; they are teachers of the world, they live for the whole of humanity. Now, let’s make one little calculation of the given talents: we have 1+2+5=8 talents. Is the number 8 accidental? No, it is a number of labour. The Writing says that God made the world in six days and on the seventh He had a rest. After every rest a new working day is coming. We are on the eighth day. And God said to the people: “Here, I made the world, now your day is beginning, work and one day I shall come to see you revise your work.” We live on the eighth day and since we don’t know how to work we make mistakes, but God says: “Work, go ahead, mistakes, of course, you will do.” Which teacher doesn’t expect his disciples to tear books and to make much noise in the school; which woman who does the housework, doesn’t make much noise; which dyer will not soil when he paints?; which man who works will not dirty and reduce his clothes to rags? In the process of our development we don’t have to want the impossible, we constantly have to expect change and disappointment. Are you afraid of death but what is death? Death is growing old, the rupturing of our cloth. This is the law – the body changes gradually. The Writing says: “God made the man in his image and likeness”. Yes, the Divine plan is this, but because he left us to work, to create mind and heart, character to educate in execution of this Divine plan, the fact that we will make much noise, with soil around, doesn’t mean anything. When a house is building upon the place there are stones, bricks, and sand scattered– many things but after the house is built, all these things are cleaned and then the people enter to live in it. Therefore we are now in the period of the eighth day and we build. And in this building three categories of people work: ones who have one talent, other – two, third – five. Now let’s come to gather these talents: to that man who won from the fifth, five more – it becomes ten; from the two – two more – four, they all become fourteen and with one buried in the earth – fifteen. Well, from this number when we take eight, how many are the won ones? Seven. What does the number seven mean? We said – rest. Now we have the law, the thought which Christ has hided there, which thought captures only he who knows the Writing – namely those who want to rest have to be worked and those who don’t work, must not take a rest. Because God worked six days he had a rest on the seventh. We often say: “When shall I take a rest! “ You still didn’t start to work, so what rest you are looking for – you just raised the hoe on your shoulder and you want a rest; after you dig the whole vineyard, then you have to want and the rest will come. We have to understand the main Divine law that the rest is as a result of the work. Only these men will be joyful, happy, who worked; and Christ says it: “These men who worked, will enter in the joy of Grace; all the goods which I have they will have too.” And what did He say to that man who didn’t work but has hided the talent on the earth? – “Take from him the one talent and give it to this man who has five and turn him out, into the darkness, to learn to work there.” Which is this outside darkness? The worms which work downwards in the earth. If you don’t learn to work, God will turn you into worms and will put you in the earth to work in darkness till you learn to do it. All these men who want to philosophize upon the Divine law will taste if these words are right or not. I speak to you this morning upon this main law; we have to work. And only when we work for the God, it is work; when we work for our selves, it is labour. The work understands Knowledge. That man who took five talents has five feelings – God gave to him all the abilities and necessary knowledge; and that man who has two talents, he possesses abilities too, accordingly with his knowledge. I shall make one comparison more: With the one talent – this is a man who is like one mineral which can’t multiply, it always stays one. In it the sun light may refracts very well but it can’t be a sensible being. When your heart hardens like mineral, you are a man who has only one talent. And there the danger is hiding because the Writing says: “And I shall deprive the stone heart from you.” And this one talent has to overturn and to begin to produce and develop. The other talents understand – the wheat grain, the plant life, which stay little higher than the minerals and which multiply and earn. What the beautiful minerals can deliver in our Life; we all should die if it remained to live from them. Thanks to the wheat grain which brings two talents, thanks to the industry and thanks to these five talents (abilities which our mind possesses for a higher spiritual life, which shows how we have to work out the goods which God gives us) we may be rescued from many misfortunes in this world. We have to ask the question what this means “for everyone his power”; it means that every one of us has to know his power. The people often say: “I want to have bigger gifts, bigger abilities.” Good, if you didn’t use these gifts that you have, don’t know how to work them out, who will give you more? Every one of us has so many gifts that if we would work them out, they are enough to create a base for five talents. But just a few have five talents. I believe that the majority of you, who listen to me here, have two talents; even positively I may say that you all have two talents. But if you transform these two talents in four it will be other thing. And what does the number four mean? It means that you have to find the process of purifying your life. You need water but it is turbid; you have to find the means to purify it, haven’t you – if you drink it with mud, it will damage you. So, the number four is the Divine process, through which our desires and thoughts in this world filtrate. That man who has two talents has to work to the moment until he makes one filter. But do you know how much it costs? Ask one dairyman, go to one dairy and ask that man who makes cheese what remain in the filter. Through it only the whey may be filtered out. Your filter is your critical mind which you must have for the things of Life. When you say about somebody that he is critical, you have to understand that he has a filter, in which when he puts something in to filter, the precious remains and the useless is filtered out. It depends what you filter – if you filter cheese, it remains in the filter, but if you filter water, the clean, the limpid water, will exit the filter, and the turbidity will remain. Your filter has to have two essential qualities, it means two talents: when you use the one talent the precious has to remain in the filter; when you use the second talent, the precious has to be eliminated. I’ll make another comparison: The filter with the cheese – it is your wheat garner; the water out of the filter – it is your wheat sown outside, in the field – in Life. The first talent has to exercise from the fruit which God gave you, and the second talent you have to sow – to work with it. In the world you have different purposes: some time in your initiatives you succeed, in other ways – no; this shouldn’t discourage you not in the least because those who have little talent and want to acquire more, have to work more – this is the law. It is dangerous for that man who has one talent and who didn’t work with it at all. The first thing which is required from us is to know how to work. I said to you that you have two talents; you will ask which are they? Your mind and your heart – these are two talents. But you will say: “For what can I use my mind? “ – To some man’s car breaks down in the street; you go by there, you have knowledge, repair his car; he will be grateful to you, and sometime, when it is his turn, he will help you – in the case you win too. The second talent – it is your heart. Some man is ill; your heart has to get you to drop in to see him and to serve. The two talents – these are the roots of our Life. From our heart we have to understand the roots of our Life, and from our mind – the branches and the leaves outside. You know that in Nature there exists one correlation between the roots and the twigs – to every twig there corresponds one little rootlet down in the earth and when down some root withers dome, dries and the respective branch. The law you have to observe is this: to know that if in you one desire dries up, and one thought will certainly dry up; if two your desires dry up, two thoughts will dry up; if three desires dry, three thoughts will dry and one day, when your feelings atrophy perfectly all the twigs will dry up and you will transform into men who have only one talent. Let’s take a man who has five feelings – eyesight, hearing, sense of smell, taste and sense of touch; what role have these feelings in our life? They are the five doors through which man enters in this world, through which we experience Nature – five areas from which we may obtain wealth. A man deprived, in the full sense of the word, from hearing, is a stupid man; to be deprived psychically from eyesight means to be deprived from the possibility to see the truth; to be deprived from a sense of smell in psychical relation means to be deprived from your intellect; to be deprived from taste means to be deprived from love etc., we may enumerate plenty of things like these. Every one of our senses corresponds to one great Divine virtue and every one of us has to observe if his feelings are in harmony with his heart, if they are in connection with the Truth. If we look to this world, he is a clothing of the Truth; the visible world is in expression of the Truth; in every leaf, stone, spring, rock there are great lessons, great knowledge is hidden. Oh, what truths Nature can reveal to us! We take one stone, we roll it a little and throw it away and we say that it doesn’t cost anything – we didn’t understand the sense of this stone. Or we take one flower, tear its leaves and throw it away – it doesn’t cost anything; we didn’t understand the sense of this flower. Let’s come now to our ear; we hear the word love – it is one flower; did we understand the sense of this word – what does it means? No. “What is it, we ask, - nothing” - and we throw it away. But we hear the word truth and say: “It is an empty word.” What is then most important for us? – “Man to have a bite and after he has a bite to drink one glass of wine” – say some men. When it comes to the satisfaction of the taste, it is right, but not everything is concluded in eating. Really man has to eat, but under this law for the five talents he has to eat with five kinds of food – every feeling has to feed with its respective food; if we don’t feed it like this, it atrophies. You see that Christianity is one science, it is not amusement. And do you know what science is Christianity? It is one great School with its departments, classes, universities, academies, and everyone who comes to listen to it has to understand what he listens to. I don’t want people with one talent who are buried in it; in the school I teach that I want people with two talents. Why? Because I don’t want to waste my time with vain work. Would you like to breed lice or fleas? These are the creatures with one talent. All the parasites are people with one talent – spongers, lazy beggars who live only on the back of others, big punishment awaits them. Test the spirits – when one spirit comes first take it and study it: if it is with two talents, take it and feast it; if it is with one buried talent, don’t receive it, if it is with one talent – out, it is louse, flea, it is one wolf which you can’t ennoble. But some people say: “This man may be ennobled”; I say that he may only breed lice. How the master acted with that man who had one talent? He took him and turned him out, to teach him to work. We never have to give courage to the man with one buried talent, we have to tell him: “You, my friend, the biggest danger in Life waits for you” – we don’t have to lie to him, but we have to tell him the truth. We often say: “No problem”. You have a child; if you see that he has one talent, turn him out and let him go to roam in the world. You will say: “Isn’t this cruelly?” Take his talent because he didn’t know how to make use of it. You have son with one talent, you send him into foreign parts to study philosophy or medicine or some art; he writes you: “Father, send me four–five thousand leva because I need so and so”, and actually he takes the money and feasts on the public houses. It passes two-three-seven-ten years, the son doesn’t graduate; the father says to himself: “O, it is very deep science”, spend twenty-thirty thousand levs on him and expect many things from him. After seven or ten years the son comes back, but except that he didn’t earn knowledge, except that he spent so many funds, he comes back with ten degrees further down, completely decomposed, lewd in the thoughts and the desires and then the father says: “Why, my God, did you give him to me?” Did God give him to you or did you take him by yourself? When one thief steals a farthing which doesn’t cost, is that man who had it guilty? No, the thief himself who stole it is guilty. Often, when some man steals from God, he steals this which doesn’t cost. Of course, with my lecture I don’t want to scare you, because my aim is not like this. When one disciple is in a school, when he is in the lead in the laboratory for experimental attempts, the teacher has to explain to him the characteristics of the different things and to tell him that if he is not careful one attempt may cost to him dearly. Because many people from carelessness lost their eyesight and the other their senses. Let’s apply Christ’s rule in the social life. They often ask me why Bulgaria suffers. But you proposed to the government for prime minister a man with one talent and you want him to set Bulgaria right; how will it happen? This man, as Christ says, has to be pulled down and to be turned out. For the post of prime minister a man with five talents is wanted, not even with two – people with two talents should be policemen, soldiers. The officers must have four talents, the generals and the ministers – five, and for the kings who take the highest position in the country, ten talents are necessary. Bulgaria suffers because in relation to its government it’s not putting forward people with five talents – often people with one are put and after that they call them and judge; as you see they judge them and now. These men who stole are stupid, but and these men who put them to rule are even more stupid. One man appoints an unfit servant and expects from him good work, and after that he wonders why the work hasn’t been finished. We have to wonder as soon as possible to the master. And now in Bulgaria we need people with two, four, five, ten talents. If we have them, we will be the first nation in the world, there will not be difficulties and hindrances for us there – even all the countries who plot against the Bulgarian nation, will not succeed. Then, I assure you, any unhappiness can’t befall us. That is why, you pray for these people to be created. They will come. Let’s put these talents – two, four, five, ten - to work. And in the end I ask why did God give this mind to us? Firstly it is one filter. Did you filter the milk, do you know how to curdle and turn it into cheese? Let’s apply in the Life this law for filtering. They often complain: “I have got no friends in the world.” Why have you got no friends? When you tell me: “I haven’t got even one friend”, I already may doubt and to tell that you are a man with one talent. If you say: “Nobody loves me” I shall make a conclusion that you are man with one talent, who is buried all Divine in the earth; man-egoist who lives for himself deserves to be without friends, to be out, in the darkness. This is what Christ says with these talents. You will ask: “Well, what is this ferment we have to work with?” You have it but you have to know how to curdle it, to turn it into cheese the milk. If the milk is too cold can it curdle? It can’t. If it is too hot, can it? Again it can’t. You have to observe one main law in the curdling process: you must have good feelings, good wishes – to curdle the man with good yeast, to curdle him in the way that he is not going to go sour, to moisten him with the Truth. And if you moisten him with it you are people with two talents – then you will have four. And when you have four talents, you are already people who are saved, it means that you have passed through the law of Jesus, through the process of the self-perfection, the purging from evil desires. These are the two talents which you have to apply in your life. You may have listened to other sermons upon the talents. They mean money, abilities, power; they are something objectively, not subjectively. Talent is always power which is introduced outside which could be given to us and to be taken again. The talents never could be in possession of the man, they are belonged and belong only to God and He gives and takes them, according to how we act. You are born on the Earth – He gives you two talents and says: “Work! If you win two more I shall multiply them, I shall give you five, and you will enter in My joy.” And even if He gave you only one talent, again there is a place in the world: if such a man says that he wants to win one more talent, he will save himself. And when we see that such a man makes efforts and suffers, this shows that he wants to win one talent more; because when one man suffers, in him suffers this originally sinful being who has only one talent. Such a man has to pass from the one, from his me first attitude, from his egoism to the Divine Love and the self-sacrifice – a man who has only one talent has to sacrifice him to win two. To work out your heart and mind, this means to have two talents, and five – to develop all your feelings in perfection. Do you know what thing is to the development of all these feelings? Many people look but don’t see; listen but don’t hear; taste but don’t understand the good. For example when man tastes bread, is he sometimes saying?: “God, thank you for the bread which You gave to me, thank you for the life which You introduce in me through it!” If you don’t thank, it shows that you not only did you not understand what thing is taste, but didn’t understand what this mouth is made for. It is necessary to enter in it first the life of the Love which is the basis of everything. Keep these thoughts in yourself: if God gave you one talent, pray to Him to be with you and to give you two – there is the salvation. Christ came to save the world, to save more of those men who have one talent. But do you know how many sorrows these sluggards cost Him? A lot. If a man has one talent, leave it to God; I tell you: turn him out. Why? Because only God is in a position to cure him, to save him, you are not in a position to do it. When I tell you: “Turn him out”, I want with this to make him good, to find God. Because when he holds onto you he will never work; when he finds himself abandoned, he will turn to God and will be saved. Don’t give him anything to eat, let him starve for two-three-five days, let him torment a little, what there is! What is this? How many times in a day does the kid cry? If it doesn’t cry, the mother will not feed it. People with one talent – there is no Life in them; it is just the same as a dead body works, just as a man with one talent; it just like a miser sacrifices, just as a man with one talent is able to help. I say to all of you, who are here, who have two talents: if you begin to look like that kind of man and you transform into one talent, you will commit a great crime. You are people that can have four. And when God finds that you work, and you say to him: “With the two talents that you gave me, God, I earned two more”, He will say: “Good servant, enter to My joy!” 10th of May, 1914, Sofia Source

From Peace be with you The Appearance of the Spirit "But to each the appearance of the Spirit is given for benefit." (1 Corinthians 12:7) There are many questions that occupy the human mind, many questions that humanity has been occupied with in the past; there will also be such questions in the future. I will give you a short definition of the notion {poniatie} [1] "Spirit". Many minds have a vague conception {poniatie} of the Spirit. This notion is vague even in the minds of people who possess vast knowledge. You will ask: "How is it possible for a man to be learned and his conceptions of the Spirit to be vague?" I answer: quite naturally. If you were deprived of vision and had a painting in front of you, you would have quite a vague conception of it. Consequently, for the learned man, too, the conception of the Spirit can be vague. When we examine this question, we should take into account whether we have the appropriate feelings and abilities to come into contact with the true reality of things; because we can have a conception of the world and its regulations directly or indirectly, but these conceptions of ours will differ from one case to the other. I will give you a short translation of the word "ДУXЪ"[spirit]. In Bulgarian this word has four letters [2]. If we take the letter "Д" [D], it makes three angles and underneath [it] the letter "П" [P]; the three angles show the triunity of God, the three forces which manifest. The letter "У" - two fingers, the index finger and the middle finger raised up - show that man's hand is working [on something] [3]. The letter "X" [H], the cross - this is the manifestation of the force that acts in four ways: the line that goes up and the other line that crosses it show man's manifestation, that is, the two forces which are not in accord, which cross. When we raise a finger upwards, this shows that we point to God, while when a man comes into opposition, this is the other line of the cross, which means, that the Spirit descends and defines this contradiction between God and His children. The letter "Ъ" [EU] [4] denotes the balance of the human mind which wants to give people understanding of the basic laws [5]. I derive this interpretation from the very letters of the word. Now, the other interpretation of the Spirit is: the manifestation of Its essence. Take, for example, the light which descends from above - this is the Spirit. We do not know what the Sun is; the scientists say that it is situated 92 million kilometers away from the Earth; it may be so - we do not know; there can be a difference of a few million kilometers in this calculation. If we decide to check, it is questionable whether we will find it at the point defined by the scientists. And what is the internal state of the Sun - a profound philosophy. Some say that it is liquid, some say - solid. It may be that either is true. But of the light which descends we already have a real conception, because we see what comes down from the Sun and reveals the whole Earth before our eyes with all the objects upon it. The Light is Spirit, Which comes down from the Sun and has direct contact with our life. To this Sun we can also liken the Spirit. He will not descend otherwise, for if He descends, He will melt, like the Sun, everything we see around us; everything will become dust and ashes or it will be turned into a gaseous state. This is why God says: "I will not come down, but will send My Spirit through space to bring people My blessing". This is why God does not want to come down to us but sends His Spirit - the Light. This Spirit, this creative capability, is exactly what builds within us. We owe everything we have to Him. This rational force which is manifested by God is defined by the learned people in terms of laws, of force, of relations between the elements etc - they give it different names. But this is a rational essence, which works [6]; this is [a] Spirit, Which creates laws. The Spirit has direct communion with our soul. We gain a conception of His origin precisely through the changes which occur in our soul world. Without the soul we would not have any conception of the Spirit. The soul, with its way of thinking, [re]presents the Divine world within us. And if there is anything Divine within us, it is the luminous soul, which thinks. That is why, when we speak about man, we need to understand her [the soul] [7]. Separate from man the rational soul - what is left is a regular animal on four legs; there is no other difference: he eats, sleeps and has all the needs and weaknesses of the animal. The Spirit manifests in the human soul. Because of this, man, in contrast to the other creatures, walks upright. Why is it that the other animals do not walk upright? Because they are at variance with the Lord. Where they walk on all four legs, it shows that their will is in contrast to the manifestation of God. There will pass, perhaps, thousands of years, and they will achieve that stage of man - to rise and stand upright. We have elevated ourselves relatively, and we are striving to elevate ourselves more, for we want to come nearer to God and to be in accord with Him - there is a desire in us to follow the Divine path. And if we make mistakes, we do not do them out of ill will, but for other reasons that lie in our past. Now, it is said that this Spirit is given to everyone for benefit; in what exactly does this benefit consist? The word "benefit" itself has a certain content, because everyone works for [some sort of] benefit. The worker hoes a vineyard, but expects to be paid a wage of 2-3 levs. The wife does something for the husband, but she also expects something for Easter, for Christmas, for the festive occasions, for the summer season - everyone is always working for benefit. Some think that life is quite ideal; but what do they consider an ideal life? I understand the ideal life thus: to have harmony, accord in all our relations. Some wish to live in Heaven; but where is Heaven? Under the word "Heaven" we understand a state where complete order exists, where people keep their rights and responsibilities {zadaljenia} to each other. A man wishes to advance, but you hamper him, you delay his advancement by imposing your rights on him, whereas you should to realize that you have obligations {zadaljenia} toward him. The chapter from the Gospel I have read shows what our relations should be. "But there are some meaningless things there" - you will say. A Russian proverb says: "Even in disorder there is order" [8] - even in the unseemly there is seemliness, I will say. I will give an analogy, in order for you to understand where the distorted conceptions of things stem from. For example, I give to someone a walnut and tell him to do research on it. Someone will do research on its taste, he will try the external green shell, he will bite it and will throw it away. I give the walnut to another person, he, [being] quite sensible already, peels off its external green shell, but when he tries the second shell he breaks his teeth, and also throws it away. I give the walnut to a third person, he, however, [being] even more sensible, peels off the external shell, breaks the hard nutshell with a stone, takes out the kernel and eats it. If we gather these three together and ask them what [sort of thing] a walnut is, one will say that the walnut is an astringent, pungent and poisonous fruit; the second - that it is a hard fruit that breaks people's teeth, the third - that it is something delicious and pleasant. This analogy can be adapted to our errors: all things in the world are wrapped in shells, and if we do not have enough knowledge, we will not find the essence. Food is necessary for the body, but also necessary is food for the mind and the soul; that is, we have to eat in two ways. And when we say that it is not good for a man to overeat, we understand that the body, the mind and the soul have to be equally fed. It is a whole triple circle, which forms the man. This is why those three people who pronounced themselves on the walnut are not sufficiently clever. The one who ate the walnut thinks he is the cleverest. No! I give the walnut to a fourth person, he takes it, but instead of eating it, plants it and in 10 or 15 years this single walnut gives thousands of walnuts. So, we have four categories of people in the world who philosophize: some say: "The world is no good, lecherous, it is not worth living"; others say: "In it [the world] egoism rules, it cannot be worse"; the third: "The world is good, pleasant"; they are closer to the truth. And who are the fourth? Those who have entered the Divine school and have started studying i.e. started planting the good things. The best conception for man is to know that the Earth is a Divine school in which he is set to study, to learn to peel off the upper and the lower shell of the walnut, and not to eat the walnut but to plant it. And when he learns the properties of all things, he will understand the true meaning of earthly life. And as a master sends his servants to the vineyard to work and gives them bread and tools necessary for the work, so God has given man the brain as a tool for work. What is it given for? To break stones or to try the bitter shell of the walnut? No, but to learn to plant the walnut. "Would I feel any better, if I only plant walnuts" someone will say, "I will not feel better". Under the word "walnut" we should understand the good thoughts, wishes [9] and acts which we can plant in others. This work will bring you prosperity. When you meet a certain resistance in achieving some wish, do not despair and do not give up: God has dressed a certain thought in three or four garments - one may not be favorable, but the other will be favorable. If you take off the bad garment, if you plant your thoughts in good soil, regardless of anything else, they will give good fruit. This is how I view the world. Evil is illusory {prividno}; these are the external shells of things. And people are only seemingly {prividno} bad. Not that they are not bad, they are bad, but in essence again they are not bad, because evil cannot proceed from God. The evil originates from certain relations that we have in the world. Two families live in one house, with four rooms; one family has more children, the other less, they start arguing first about the rooms, who will take how many rooms, and look - suddenly they have quarreled. I ask: why this quarrel about rooms? This is quite a negligible cause. And one of the families starts speaking about the other family: "They are unreasonable people", while the second one speaks about the other [(first) family] - the same. But in reality both families are unreasonable, because a reasonable man never quarrels. This word "{kara}" ["quarrel" in Bulgarian] originates from a Sanskrit root: to quarrel means to be in darkness. People, who are in [the] light, do not quarrel. A certain manifestation in our brain darkens {pomrachava} our thoughts and then bad wishes follow. When we have enlightened thoughts we are ready to live in peace and accord; when, however, a small cloud {pomrachenie} comes, we are ready to change our relations. So, evil originates from the darkening {pomrachenieto} of the human mind. Now, because God knows that a certain darkness which causes harm exists on the Earth - darkness always causes harm: if we were living permanently in darkness, it would cause an atrophy to all our feelings, eyes, ears etc., just as there are certain fish, which have lived in the underwater caves for years and have lost the ability to see - He has sent precisely this Spirit to react upon us, upon our thoughts and feelings, upon the body, in order for us to think correctly about things and to establish true conceptions about them. In the first place we need to establish a right conception about ourselves, i.e. what our relation to God should be. According to my understanding, the Earth is only a school for the individual human soul. If there is something real in the world, it is the human soul. Some ask themselves: "What am I?" - I am that which thinks, that which feels and desires. But every thought, every feeling and every desire has its own form. When you want to make a weapon, with which to kill people, how do you adapt it? You take certain practical considerations [into account] about what it should be like – it has to be sharp, it has to be able to destroy. You make a ball for children to play with: do you make it sharp? No. You make it round, smooth, in order it not to cause harm to the child, because all things that are sharp are harmful. They say about someone that he has a refined mind; yes, if it is necessary to [wage] battle, he should have a very refined mind and explosive powers - to shatter wherever they hit. But, when a man lives in a peaceful society, what need and what benefit does he have from such a sharp and refined mind? And if during the time of battling you put a man with a blunt mind at the helm, he is out of place as well. We have changed the order of things: we have put the blunt things with the sharp ones or vice versa. I am not saying that there should not be battling on the Earth; battling in Nature has two principles: one which destroys and one which builds-up. But in both one and the other there is a constant exhaustion. We exhaust ourselves not only when we love, but also when we hate, because the one who hates breaks stones, and when we exhaust our life by breaking thousands of tonnes of stones, what meaning will life have for us? When we constantly think evil, we constantly break stones. But God, incidentally, needs this material as well: He will use our labor to make smooth roads, and people will indirectly thanks us that we have crushed the stones necessary for their road. Whatever we do in the world, our labor will be useful, if not for us, then for others. In one case, if we love, we perform conscious work, in the other case unconscious [work], and, consequently, the reward cannot be one and the same. Thus, if you wish Divine Love to manifest itself, the Spirit must be in you, you have to give Him room to manifest Himself. But the Spirit is a very delicate being; do not think that He will come to knock strongly on your door, no; he will knock quietly on the door of your heart and if you open, immediately your life will change completely, He will show you how to live; if He knocks on the door of your will, He will show you what to do and do it consciously. But if you do not open, you will soon understand what you have lost. When you meet an idiot, you have to know that in the past, when the Spirit had knocked on his door, he did not open [the door] for Him. You say of somebody that he is foolish. Why? Because when the Spirit once knocked on the door of his mind, he rejected Him. If anyone is violent, you should know that when the Spirit knocked on his heart, he also did not accept Him. Violence is like a crystal that does not have softness. But you should no think that among the violent people there are not occasionally good people; but in general they are not suitable for an organized human society. And so, we must always be ready to give the Spirit place to penetrate [10] and to manifest in each one of us. Some say: "We want to see the Spirit". But the only thing you see is the Spirit. He speaks, but because your ears are blunt, you cannot hear, just as when you speak to deaf people, they do not hear. You want to hear; good then! Adjust your ear to comprehend what the Spirit speaks to it. "I want to see the Spirit". Excellent, but if your eye is veiled, how will you see Him? The only thing that we see in the world, I repeat, is the Spirit. This flower here, which I hold in my hand - it is Spirit, and if you were able to see, you would observe a whole human figure in it. Now, why are you not able to see? Because your vision is restricted, you see only the dense parts, but the rarefied parts you do not see. For example, some things seem round to you - the walnut; but if you plant it, will it grow a round stem? It will immediately express its essence . In order to recognize things, you need to plant them in their soil. And if you could plant this flower in this way, you will immediately see that it is an intelligent being. And what does this flower convey to you? Why has this color been applied to it? It is has been applied to show that life without love does not have meaning. And for thousands of years the flower has been speaking to people what they should do - that they should love, that the mind should be neither too sharp, nor too blunt. In some cases it has to be sharp, but when you are among clever people, you do not need wit [11]. When you are among enemies, the heart has to be hard, among friends - soft. You must know how to love [12]. When you take a rose and smell it, two things are manifested: one - the tender aroma, the other - thorns. Every man has his thorns, but of course, they are not the man. The thorns are for those conditions in life when man has to wage battle, to defend himself, when he does not have to be very soft. You should not make rendezvous with the devils; against them you have to have spikes. But among friends your gunpowder has to be moist. There are times when it has to be dry and times when it has to be moist. What will the husband [13] do when his gunpowder is dry and his wife [14] teases him every day? When they get married, both of them have to make the gunpowder moist. In the world, your gunpowder has to be dry, just in case . . . This is an allegory, which I give so that you may learn all these relations that exist in the world. You have friends and say that you know them, but until you learn both the dark and the bright side of your friends, you do not know them well. You want to be good always; you should be good under certain conditions and bad under others. When you anger your friend you already have to defend yourselves, and, in order to defend yourselves, you have to know how to wage battle. If you fight with an enemy you are doing your duty; if you wage battle with peaceful or unarmed people, you are doing a foolish thing. They say: "Life is a battle {borba} [15]". And man, when he gets married, says: "Life is a battle". But against whom does he battle? Against his wife, and the wife against her husband. They give birth to children, and the children also read the motto: "Life is a battle" and say to themselves: "So, who do we fight with - brothers with sisters". And a fight starts, they pull each other's hair and bursting into tears, off they go to mum and dad. People have a motto! When they do not have a real opponent, they create one - the husband with the wife, the brother with the sister, the priest with his parishers, the teacher with his pupils. Here we have people who do not understand life. Battles have to exist, but with that nature which has to be subjugated. I understand if we were to act like this when we are about to shatter a certain rock in the mountain, so as to bore a tunnel, but to apply these means in an organized society, this I do not understand. It shows that people do not understand the relation that exists between them and their spirit, the tasks that the latter sets to them. Apostle Paul describes in the chapter [we] read what this relation should be. You may ask me the question: "Are there not in existence thousands of relations in the world?" - But we should choose only those which are favorable for us. We should know, for example, the relations of the water towards us. If we put it in the stomach, there will be favorable consequences; if, however, we put it in the lungs, it will produce entirely different consequences. If we bring air in the lungs, it will be favorable for us, but if we put it in the stomach, it will have exactly the opposite result and so on. Things have relations to certain organs. We should know what the right place is for the water, the air, the light, the sound and the smell. You will say: "But we know these things - that the light is necessary for the eyes and the sound - for the ear". Just so. But do you understand the internal meaning of this light? In the morning, when the Sun rises, what do you say to yourself? "Right, the Sun has risen". But when somebody says: "The Teacher is coming", what do the students infer? They all shuffle, take their books and sit at the desks. When the Sun rises, each of us should take his book and say: "The Teacher-Spirit is coming" and sit at his desk and ask himself what he should do on this day. The Sun says: "I will listen [16] to you, you will answer me, I will impart to you and you will impart to me". This is what the sunrise means. If we can study the program which our Spirit sets every day, life would proceed [17] very favorably. "But", you will say, "today's Sun looks like yesterday's, it rises in the same way". - No! I have not seen two days alike in my life and the Sun to rise in the same way on both of them; every day differs from every other and each has its own program. And the light which comes is not the same: it differs from the light which came several days ago. Here exactly is the greatness of the Divine Spirit, Who brings countless riches, invisible worlds and reveals what God is in Himself. He is something majestic. You meet a friend of yours and say: "[About] Ivan, how do you appraise him?" - "He is 1 1/2, or 165 cm tall, he has dense eyebrows, thickish lips, enjoys his food and loves to have a drink". But this is not important. A day comes [when] you come to love him and for you his thick lips, his external invisible defects already disappear - you begin to see something else in him. So, you take off the first shell of the walnut, you see his mind. If you plant him, half of the walnuts he will bear will be for you, the other half for him. If you eat him, what will you benefit? Neither you, nor Ivan will benefit. For when the Spirit comes, He says that every day you should plant better thoughts, better wishes. You meet a friend of yours and sometimes you say: "I do not know what to speak [about]". You see people chatting a lot, but you do not know what to say, or you speak many things, but not that which you need. First, you have to plant the walnut and then talk as much as you want. Before you plant the walnut, do not speak. Whoever has worked comes back home and says: "I have worked, I am tired, I am hungry". Speech shows certain relations that exist between us and our actions. The first thing you should do every day is to ask yourself the question: "What fruit should I plant today?" If you plant a walnut, after time it will bring [forth] its riches in abundance. You will only understand this parable when you return, as you will, to the other world, from where you have come; then you will notice what benefit was brought by those good wishes and thoughts which you have planted, the good deeds, which you have done for your neighbors, friends, wife, children. Now these things are still dark for you. - Another example. You say to yourself: "This son, I feed him now, but who knows if he will look after me one day?" "Now I educate him, so that he will look after me when I get old". Do not expect him to look after you, when you get old. You may not even get old, you may pass away earlier without the need occurring for him to look after you. The mother says: "I wish I had a daughter to look after me in [my] old age". This is a very distorted understanding of life. Give an upbringing to your children and do not expect anything for yourselves. If you have planted a good walnut in them, not only will they look after you, but they will also love you. When a mother is not loved by her children, it shows that she was unable to bring them up [well]. Hence, the first thing to do, so that your children would love you, is to teach your children to love you under the guidance of this Spirit. I will conclude my lecture with a comparison. There are three relations that we must keep. In the world God exists, we exist and a certain society exists; some put themselves in the first place by saying: "I, then the society, and last of all the Lord". This is a completely distorted solution of the issue. Others say: "First society: I live for the people, for the society, then I come next, while last comes the Lord". This is also a bad solution. Still others say: "First God, the Lord, my Spirit, then I, the rational soul, which should serve Him first, and afterwards society, and at last of all myself". Here is the right solution. Any other solution will not be a correct solution. All errors originate in the following. We want to know what the head is: the society or us. If we put three heads on a single body, it will not accomplish anything! There will never be agreement on which way to go. Sometimes you struggle what to decide - this shows you have three heads: chop off the two others, let it be so that the Lord is the head. Every thing should be in its place. Now, ask yourself: who is your head. If you say it is the Lord, I would be glad. Put the Lord at the head. And do you know what your state will be then? There will not be any hesitation, fear or tremblings in you, you will have willpower, you will be courageous, decisive, clever, good people. You will be rich in every respect - whatever you grasp with your hand will become gold. Some are afraid of money; only the foolish are afraid. Why? Because they are weak in spirit. You know what the scriptures say about the righteous Job - that he had worms and whenever he gave them away to some beggar, the worms would turn into gold coins. If you are like Job, the worm which you give [away] will turn into gold. Often you do injustice to the worms, but they also do an excellent job in the world, the present-day world owes much to them. When the Lord takes them with one hand and gives them to you, they turn into gold coins. And what is this gold, this coin, which the Lord gives you? You acquire knowledge and experience. A clever woman, when she takes [some] {seriava}, dirty wool, what does she do with it? She washes it, cleans it, spins it and weaves a fabric; the foolish one, on the contrary, when she sees it is so dirty, will throw it away. How many times the Lord has given you [the] Spirit, and you have rejected Him! What does the rule require [18]? When you come back from work in the evening, to take off the rucksack from your back and to leave it at the entrance; all dealings [19] that you have, leave them at the entrance, too; to enter your room free as though there are no dealings for you in the world, and to say: "I thank the Lord for what He has given me"; eat well, thank Him again; and in the morning when you get up, take your rucksack or notebooks again and go to work. What do we do? We come in the evening and go to bed with the full rucksack on our back and toss in bed the whole night. The Spirit says: "Take off your rucksack, its place is not here." We sit down to eat - we feel a certain heaviness, because we have a rucksack on our back. We have to take it off and have the meal. This is it, the message of the Spirit. "But some people have erred"; leave this question out, at the entrance: does the Lord not know that people err; are we [those who are] going to fix the world? There is someone to fix it. In the evening, when we come back, we should thank God that He has sent us among these sinful people, so that they may teach us good lessons. When you meet someone like this, you should say to him: "You are carrying your rucksack very well" He is a sinner and in this state he is a man with a rucksack. One day it will come off his back. Someone is vulgar, sour; why? Because he has not taken off his rucksack from his heart. Someone else cannot think: why? Let him take off his rucksack from his mind, and then he will think well. Now, I will give one more example and will conclude. There are two extremes, two opposites in real life that we should always take into account; these are: good and evil - two [opposing] poles, the touching endpoints of the earthly human life. Once upon a time, a king had two daughters: the older one was very beautiful and slender, but had a very sharp tongue; the younger one was with a very good soul but with a very ugly face. Because of these external and internal defects not one of the princes from the surrounding area wanted to ask for their hand. Anxious about the future of his daughters, the father, because he did not have any heirs, decided to convene a counsel of the wisest people in his kingdom so that they would show him a way out of this desperate situation. Among the many good counsels {seuveti} that everyone offered, the oldest man and, incidentally, the wisest, gave the following advice {seuvet}: "You" - he said to the king - "will make an inn for everybody and the first two young men to enter will be your sons in law, which destiny {seudbata} allots to you". The good father thought that maybe fate {seudbata} will smile upon his greyed [20] hairs and will send some illustrious persons from kingly homes. When the inn was completed and opened, the first visitors were indeed two young lads. However, much to the father's astonishment, one of them was blind and the other - deaf. Surprised by this, the king summoned the old wise man and said to him: "What is the matter - the one is blind, the other is deaf? How are we going to settle this, I cannot see". - "I will tell you" - replied the wise man - "the deaf one you will marry to your beautiful daughter, and the blind - to the ugly one". Thus did the king. And truly, both marriages came out to be happy: the daughters lived well. At some stage the sons in law started to feel uneasy about their defects. The deaf one, when his wife yelled and poured over him all curses, shrugged his shoulders and thought to himself: "That's how it is when one is lacking one [of his] senses. I believe she is saying Divine things, but since I cannot perceive [21] them, this is my misfortune. I would give everything in the world to be able to hear just a single one of her sweet words". The blind son in law, in turn, when he listened to the clever and sweat speech of his wife, the outpouring of her soul, thought to himself: "What a splendid being she is! How pretty she must be! But as I am blind - this is my big misfortune in this life. I would give everything just to be able to see for a moment the external appearance of this Divine treasure". This reached the king's ears and he summoned the old wise man and entreated him [the wise man] to tell him [the king] whether it is somehow possible for the fate of his two sons in law to change, so that they may rescue themselves from their defects. "It is possible" - said the venerable old man - "but this will destroy their happiness and bliss on the Earth". If God has connected you with the beautiful princess and has deprived you of hearing, do not be sorry that you cannot hear her voice. Delight in her appearance and give thanks. Do not wish to hear her words so that you do not become embittered and come into contradiction with your own self. Two good things cannot be gathered in one place on the earth . If God has connected you with the ugly princess and has deprived you of vision, of the temporary illusions of the earthly life, again give thanks. Delight in her kind speech, in her sweet tongue; do not wish to see her external appearance and image, because you will lose even that which you [already] have. Goodness is not always dressed in a king's mantle. Goodness and beauty live together only in Heaven. Here, in this world, it is thus - good and evil alternate in man's life. If in one life God connects you with the evil, thank Him. Do not worry. You do not know the deep causes [of] why this has been done. Know, that the aim is for good. In time, you will understand the great Love of Heaven. If in another life you are connected with the good, thank Him and do not desire to put on a king's mantle and to admire your looks. Do not seek to reconcile good and evil within yourself: it is impossible. This is given to you so that you may learn to know the profound deeds of the life of the Spirit. Your defects will depart when your heart opens, the Spirit comes and your soul unites with Him. --==[][][]==-- ______________________________________ Notes: [1] In Bulgarian, the same word can mean both notion or idea and understanding or comprehension. Throughout this translation the word "conception" is used in an attempt to encompass both aspects, however, the reader should be aware of the subtle nuance between when it is used to mean "notion/idea", and when "understanding". [2] The word "Duh%" in Bulgarian - pronounced "dooh" with a clearly audiable "h" - is spelt here in the old spelling with the added "%" at the end (which is the 26th letter in the Bulgarian alphabet, "") and means "Spirit". After the reform of the orthography finalized during 27 Feb 1945, this word has "lost" the last letter "". [3] literally: "doing something" [4] This letter is not pronounced when at the end of the word. After the reform of the orthography finalized during 27 Feb 1945, this letter ("") is not used any more at the end of words. [5] i.e. to give people the ability to be able to come to an understanding of the great laws. [6] i.e. the action of working [7] In Bulgarian "soul" has a feminine gender "she, the soul". [8] I v besporiadke est poriadok (Russian), literally means "And in chaos there is order" [9] or "desires" [10] or "permeate" [11] literally: "sharp-mindedness" [12] obichate, as opposed to the other Bulgarian word for love liubov, can also mean: to have affection, ardour etc. This distinction is sometimes of importance in the Master's lectures. [13], [14] In Bulgarian, there is a single word for "husband", "male" and "man", and similarly for "wife", "female" and "woman". [15] This is a popular Bulgarian saying. [16] prislusham, but the Master could have said proslusham, which means to test out, to try, examine. [17] literally: "flow" [18] This is a Bulgarian expression; the rule is determined according to what follows. [19] An idiom derived from the Turkish "aleush-verish", which literally means "takings-givings", making business. [20] literally: "whietened (from age)" [21] literally: "understand"

From Dawning of a New Epoch, Beinsa Duno Come to Know the Truth and the Truth Shall Make You Free “And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 Freedom is what every living being in Creation strives for. By the word “freedom” we are to understand the full range of all those actions, thoughts, and wishes that are hidden within us and the removal of all conditions that may limit them. Freedom is a quality of the Spirit. To be deprived of freedom implies a fall or regression from the ideal of Creation. Freedom becomes limited when favorable conditions are lost. Losing some part of the physical body, for example a limb, leads to partial limitation of one's freedom; while losing one's mind or ability to think would be a more complete limitation, as also losing one's vision or hearing, or any of one's senses. Truth is a prerequisite for restoring Freedom of Spirit. Freedom has three components: first, freedom of the body; second, freedom of the will-power; and third, freedom of the heart to express feelings and thoughts. Christ said, “Truth shall make you free,” meaning that Truth will show us the way to Freedom. However, not every thought, desire, or act of the will makes us free. Any word, as a combination of thoughts, can be like a ticking bomb that can explode. In other words, one negative word or thought could deprive us of Freedom because an insulting word will produce its destructive effect. We should always possess a measure for testing and assessing our thoughts and desires. This measure, this touchstone is Christ. He should always be before us and in our mind. When we are always with Christ, our thoughts, desires, and impulses for action come mainly from within our being; and this is a positive sign. However, not all of them are of one and the same quality, and we need to know which one of them to select. Thoughts and desires are like the stones in a quarry. They serve to build the future human body, the Spiritual Light body. They may come from different directions and we need to be able to select the necessary stones for the building. To build our house we need not only stones, but also steel, wood, and other materials. There are spirits that sell us all these materials at higher or lower prices. When they sell them to us more expensively than their real value, they deceive us. Christ wants to make us free. Yet, we are bound by thousands of obligations: first, to our parents, then to our siblings; later, when we get married, to our spouse and children; then we have obligations to society and much more. The art is to know how to deal with any one of them, as Freedom not only implies rights, but also obligations. Society cannot exist if people have only rights or only obligations, as both of these go together. Rights get limited according to the requirements of our needs. For example, if we desire more than we need, the opposite reaction will take place and our rights will become limited. Wherever there is more honey, more bees will come to consume it. Wherever there is more wealth, all malevolent spirits will come to profit by it. Wealth is necessary for freedom, yet it could bring not only blessings, but also negative attributes, such as laziness, pride, and so on. In Christ's Teaching the value of the human soul is determined by its inner qualities: being connected with God, or in other words, being armored with Truth, which implies being clothed in Love. We recognize the Sun by its light and warmth; in the same way we recognize God by Truth and Love. When Truth comes into our minds, we think; when Love becomes part of us, we begin to act. Truth is the inner essence of the soul. If we have Truth, we will always experience a forward impulse, and there will be no old age, but an everlasting youthfulness, so we will feel energetic at all times and at all ages. Obstacles are a blessing for us: they are conditions for our uplifting, for we need to make efforts to overcome them and thus attain the blessings. All our organs and body parts are serving, but at the same time limiting us. We should know their role so that they can function properly. Now the creation of the Spiritual Light body is our responsibility. Up till now in our evolution, most of the time it leaves us and we get separated from it. We should enter into relationship with all the entities that compose our body, that live in it and support our life. This means, as Christ says, to be united with Heaven, and this is our obligation. Christ Himself became one with all the entities. He sacrificed Himself not only on the cross, but the existence of everything we are living on now, comes from Christ, and for this reason, we love Him. He has left a treasure for us to use, not to become attached to. He has given it for us to benefit from, not to take and divide. Christ sacrificed Himself for this treasure, and if we do not use it properly, He will take it back. He has given it to us so that we may develop spiritually and prepare ourselves for the Angelic Life, in other words, after this earthly life to be able to make the transition to a higher life in the World of the Angels. Christ wants us to use the touchstone that is our Divine soul; and when we find it, we will become free. Christ taught people in this world how to find their forgotten soul or hidden treasure. Many of our souls are pawned and we need to get them back. When we came down from Heaven to Earth as human beings, we put our souls in a pawnshop and so now we need to buy them back. All civilizations that lived before us cultivated the Earth's surface and have piled soil on it; so we need to work with our souls with the same soil. Therefore, it is important to have favorable conditions, in other words, to have the touchstone that means transformation, repentance, and more. This is how the process of rebirth happens. We need to be free so that we may find the touchstone and, in order to be free, we should be thankful for everything that happens to us: both good and bad. This is the meaning of Christ's dwelling within us. Then all situations in life will be equally acceptable to us. We will not be given a higher position if we have not fulfilled the lesser job well. God also sends Angels to serve and help with the redemption of troubled souls. We need to always begin with the smaller things and then move toward the bigger ones, instead of saying that, when we are free, we are no longer obliged to work. God has created the Earth and one day when it fulfills its mission, its particles will expand and it will disappear. Each of our acts is a collective effort because we are connected with many spiritual beings. Each of our thoughts is an obligation, a promissory note that is held by the Spirit that guides and supervises us. Therefore, we should not look for big things in life because by desiring them, we might get them as our right, but the Spirit will tell us later, “Now, you need to pay for them.” If we do not have a way to pay for our debts, suffering, poverty, illness, or other limitations could come upon us. Every person in a state of anger is being robbed because when the physical body is abandoned, the spirits rob it. Therefore, we need to stay balanced and protect our “home,” our body, as this is our Freedom. If we inhabit other people’s homes, we are not free because we can be evicted at any time. The most important thing now is to be discerning only our beneficial desires and thoughts so that only they may be fulfilled. Only then may we say that God has assigned them for us. Sunday lecture held on April 13 (26), 1914, Sofia.

Note 4 The Four Basic Elements „Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, have eternal life and I will raise them from the dead in the final day.” John 6: 54 There are four elements for building spiritual life: God’s Love, God’s Life, God’s Thought, and God’s Will. When children study arithmetic, they have four basic operations. When a chemist studies chemistry, he will also come across four elements. When God’s Love is restricted within its boundaries, it manifests God’s Life that bears God’s thought. From God’s Thought, God’s Will is born and from God’s Will – our life. If God’s life is not produced in us, we are not able to think. When we want God to come alive in us, we have to create His Love – we must love Him, otherwise He will not live in us. To create these four elements, there are six more things that we have to know. There are three things that lie to us: first, the taste wants to test the stomach to see what it needs. Some food may be cooked from bad meat but can be well seasoned and can deceive the taste, but when it goes into the stomach, the food is rejected. Second, our heart lies to us; that’s why we have to listen to our soul – it never lies because the heart accepts what the soul rejects. Third, the intellect; just as the relationship between the heart and the soul, so is the relationship between the intellect and the mind – the Spirit controls them. To re-educate the taste, the heart, and the intellect, we have to listen to the advice of the stomach, the soul, and the Spirit, and to do that we have to know how to nourish our stomach, soul, and mind. If we know that, we will be healthy. Where is the food we need? Our lungs do not search for the air – when we open our mouth, air penetrates the lungs. There are thousands of objects around us for intellectual food and we accept it with our eyes and ears. How do we apply these four basic elements? – Through Love. People are unhappy because they search for Love. And what is Love? It means to be ready for self-sacrifice. We love someone because they give us something. We love Christ, because he gives us food, because he sacrificed himself for us – he is in the corn grain that we eat. That’s why it is said: “To eat My flesh and drink My blood”. If you want to be loved you have to be ready for self-sacrifice; to love means to sacrifice oneself, i.e. to sow – we have to sow Love in order to reap Love. Our life is valuable as long as it is useful to our fellow men. Life is a power that God has given to us; it can be taken as it was given. Now we have no Life – we groan, lie down, turn over in bed and so on. The Man must have three things that are necessary for Life: strong and deep Peace and self-sacrifice for God. Christ has shown us the way of Life. First is self-sacrifice and it means to sacrifice our mind, heart, and property for our fellow men. Christ has put His Life where it can grow. The first condition for our life is to give up a lot of our desires and dirt. The river flows pure into the sea, but when it runs out it brings also filth. We should not come back with the filthy, bad desires. To get closer to God, we have to turn to God’s Love, life, thought, and will. After we let them inside us, we will have them in our life and God will send His Spirit and we will be healthy and intelligent. Let’s leave our sins and not constantly repeat them, “God will use them for fresh soil to sow wheat”. The Sun shines everyday, and God is before us every day. God lives above us as the Sun is above the Earth. It sends us the warmth and light we need to grow, removing the cold that reigns in the Universe and hinders any progress. In the same way, by His spirit, God lights up, warms and helps us grow. When we are healthy, intelligent and lively, the Spirit is with us and God is with us. For that life and world there is no need for a special programme; it is enough to follow what is given to us by God’s original plan and we will be rich. We suffer because we alter God’s plan. We have to get free of false notions and external influence and to consult God within us. Let’s listen to our internal voice – to consult God inside us; let’s listen to our internal voice – our soul. If God is in the soul – I can do anything; and if the devil is in the soul – I can’t do anything; i.e. to each of God’s deeds we have to say “I can”, and to each deed not of God there is sense to say “I can’t”. After we say, “I can”, God will come and help us with the most difficult things – when we say, “I can”, we surely will do it. The devil has power because we say, “I can”, when he urges us to lie and do similar things. The woman does wrong by saying: “I can’t please my husband”, as well as the mother when she says, “I can’t educate my children.” Christ wants us to use two phrases: I can and I can’t. – I can love, I can’t hate, I can tell the truth, I can’t lie and so on. In that way both spirits appear and they are with us every day – the good one tells us something and we reject it, but we are not free because the spirit of evil is waiting for us. Christ is here to teach us to say, “I can” when Good comes, and to say, “I can’t“ when the Evil is here. A corn-field cannot be owned by two proprietors – it should be owned either by the Good or by the Evil. It is the same situation with the man. God teaches us everything, which is Good. Be faithful to God who lives inside of you. We must have the four basic elements – God’s Love, God’s Life, God’s Thought, and God’s Will – to plant in us taste, heart, mind, and intellect and to develop our heart, soul, and Spirit. Never to say, “I didn’t understand” but only say, “I understood”. Then God will let us understand everything in practice. Let us be faithful to God, to Christ. Christ – that is Life and Love – the vivid thoughts that teach people to love. He is unification of the Sublime spirits, teaching people how to live, giving them the laws and ruling them. Christ is the one who frees us from the chains we get voluntarily entangled in. If now we do not see Him, He will show up one day and will demand the tithe. He is our oldest brother. The day of His appearance is soon. It is too late for those who have not searched for Him. There is already light everywhere, the way of life is changing. Let us be faithful to our God, to our Christ who we already know. He has given us Life and health and He will always be with us and in us. 19th April 1914, Burgas Source