Jackline Spasova-Bobeva

The Book - The Salt. Beinsa Douno The Two Masters "No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and the mammon."1 Two rational principles are functioning in the world. By saying that you cannot serve these two principles at the same time, Christ means that you cannot be twice more active than you can endure, i.e. greater pressure cannot be produced in a caldron than it can stand. These two principles cannot be placed on a single caldron. In the occult science these principles are called first and second, but in science they are termed as positive and negative. The positive principle is always stronger, and the negative - weaker. The creative force always manifests itself in the weaker principle. What builds in the world is not the strong, but the weak. That is why destructive people are always stronger than the good, the mild people. You have these two principles in yourself at the same time. For instance, when you get angry and cry out, "Put order here at once!" all the servants, women and children get frightened and obey. But this principle is not creative, it does not create anything. Only when you turn your attention inside yourself and get calm, everything acquires its natural state. The first principle, in which evil, hatred and lying originate, is not evil in itself. You have peculiar notions of hatred and falsehood. In order to be able to lie, one must be clever for a foolish person cannot lie. This is a great philosophy, but in contemporary society it is called "superior diplomacy." Women possess this kind of diplomacy as well. When the man is stronger in the first principle, his wife caresses him, calls him "darling" and by her softness, she tames him so as to assimilate this high principle. When these two principles are balanced, they begin to work together: the first principle gives of its surplus to the second one. Christ says, "You cannot serve the first and the second principle at the same time; you cannot serve hatred and love at the same time." These two things are mutually incompatible; they are diametrically opposed, as they do not move in the same direction. Take two merchants, for example - they can work together, for they are moving in the same direction having the same interests, but a merchant and a doctor cannot work together. The word Lord means the highest principle, the noblest principle which creates. This principle is soft and plastic, but this does not limit it. It is immortal - death does not exist in this second principle. There is death in the first principle only because the strong destroy themselves by the power they possess. Only strong people can commit suicide. Take for instance the scorpion - when it is surrounded by fire and has no escape it commits suicide by the sting of its poisonous tail. It prefers suicide to being burned alive. The first principle has created the cosmos; the material world together with your bodies, energies and forces necessary for their upbuilding. When you want to give up the first principle, you must give back everything it has given you. But when you return everything to it, what will remain of you? You will return to the second - become one with God. There will be no John or Dragan, angels or devils and a general state of peace and calm will reign in the world. No questions will be raised as to which side will win in the war or what will happen after the war ends. All questions will be solved. All these things will merge in the first principle, which will withdraw into itself. When a person wants to become energetic, they must be salted; evil in the world is salting and a person should become bad in order to be salted. When a person looses their saltiness, God sends the first principle to produce salt. But people should not serve this principle. Christ takes it as it is manifested on the earth, not as it is manifested above among the angels. One cannot be rich and pious at the same time. I do not believe in such piety. When a person's purse is full of gold and silver and they pretend to be a saint, I doubt in their sanctity. All riches in the world belong to the Lord; and the moment you think the power and influence you have are your own, you are serving the first principle. This principle is individual and disunites all beings, because it is not a master of uniting, but just the opposite. It can create thousands of people; but it cannot create conditions under which they can live. This principle is possessed of anger which leads to the trashing and killing of people. I shall tell you an anecdote as an example of this idea. A peasant had no children and often prayed to God to bless him with progeny. One day he filled a big sack with grains of wheat and prayed that God turn these grains of wheat into children. God answered his prayer and turned all the grains into children. When the peasant got up in the morning, all the children began crying and asking for food. That angered him very much and he said, "These children will eat my head off" and started killing them. One of the children, who had hidden behind a door, started crying and begging him not to kill it. This is the first principle in you - evil, which is active and when it comes, it says, "I shall destroy." But when the second principle - which people call love, the mother, the power of all things - comes into the world, it immediately softens the first principle and the two, joined together, give birth to the greatest and the highest in the world. When you serve the Lord, it is only through Him that you can influence the first principle. Only God has the power to save you from death. If you do not serve God, you will be swallowed up by the first principle for such is the law. Water returns to its original source; so does money and power. Everything returns, for all things have sprung up from the first principle. However, in Love, there is a manifestation in the world of the absolute God whom no one knows - the unknown God of whom people have no idea. "The God you will not know but worship is the one I am preaching to you about," says Paul. He is the only One who holds in Himself these two great principles through which He is manifested. Since one principle destroys, while the other builds; you cannot destroy and build at the same time. When you hate you destroy; but when you love you build and create. Some people think that the first principle has apparently the desire to build in some people; nevertheless it devours at the same time. "I shall love you. I love you but I shall eat you up." This is the way a cat plays with a mouse until finally it presses it down and swallows it up. This is what people call love! Some think that the Hindu idea of "Nirvana" is merely blending with God, not building. This is partly true - there is both blending and building. One must be in accord with the second principle and live with it. There is an eternal aspiration in the second principle to unite all beings into a whole. It is the aspiration of Christ that God should be manifested individually by every Soul. God wishes to create in the world small abodes in which He can live. He who can understand this profound principle is a great Soul. Many contemporary philosophers are tangled up in these two principles. The first principle has taken upper hand in all pessimists, anarchists and that kind of people both in the religious and social aspects of life. I am observing society and have many statistics of this fact. A woman marries a man and, in the course of two or three years, she exhausts him, tires and destroys him and marries a second time. She exhausts her second husband also. She marries a third time and does the same thing to her third husband. Then people say, "This woman brings bad luck to men." The same thing applies to some men. A man who cannot live with a woman is one in whom the first principle has taken the upper hand and when he marries a woman, he destroys her. For such a woman and such a man the second principle must be so strong that it will create balance with the first. In religious societies such disputes often arise in which the first principle comes to the fore. For instance the question as to who should take the first place nearest the altar arises. On the physical plane it is not possible to put many chairs by the altar and if all should want to sit up there, the priest will not be visible. The same questions arise among teachers as to who should be the principal. How many principals can there be? Only one. The question of superiority can be found among preachers, military men and so on. This is a natural struggle, it is a great divine process which all angels have undergone. Many angels have passed the test, they have passed through the first principle and have entered the second one and now they are serving God, while others have not passed the test, they have fallen and now they serve the first principle - mammon - that is why they are called demons. Among people there are also some who serve the first and some who serve the second principle. After some time when humanity ends its evolution, takes its wreath, everyone will go to their place. This is why Christ says, "Without Me - meaning the second principle - you can do nothing." There is deep meaning in these words: if you remain alone to struggle in the world, you will become servants of the first principle and then all negative qualities as tiredness, jealousy, repulsion, discontentment, which destroy you, will become manifested in you. In this principle you cannot find any benefit for the world or any sense in life. That is why Christ says, "You cannot serve both God and mammon." If you serve mammon, you will be on the bottom of hell in constant discontentment and you will never understand even why you are a man or a woman. You may pass through all forms of creation, but you will always be discontented, because people by themselves are never content. The word "discontentment" means that you cannot be content with your outside appearance since human spirit is much greater, requiring a much larger activity than the one we actually perform. You have a small body, but the spirit wants a greater one. An eternal struggle begins. And in this struggle you say, "Might is right", which is the first principle, but when you say, "The weak has the right," that is the second principle. Someone commits a crime and by giving the judge two or three thousand leva2, the latter acquits them. Just as during the Middle Ages by buying indulgences, one's sins were forgiven. However, in the building of your life, Christ does not tolerate division. If you are divided in yourself, you must rise above that state and work within God. Only then will you understand the deep meaning of those forces working in the universe. Those who have started on the Way, the initiated, have a greater experience. Why? They are suffering more than the worldly people because in Christianity, along with the first principle, the second one is growing stronger. Where Love is manifested, the first principle also manifests itself; though it remains as a mere shadow - a shadow of creation. By "a shadow" I mean a principle which causes death. The first principle in itself is dark and brings darkness, but the second principle always brings light to the mind. When the first principle acts, you feel great sorrow and have no sense in life, but as soon as the second principle comes, you become high-spirited and rise. In the first principle you grope for an exit and if you do not find one, the thought of the scorpion obsesses you - to commit suicide in order to get rid of the unfavorable conditions of life, which you have created yourself. Thus the first principle is extremely avaricious and insatiable; in it there is no end to desires. What life can there be in the insatiable? What meaning can there be in a life moving forever in a straightforward line? Supposing you travel through the universe with the speed of light - what meaning can that motion have for you? It makes no sense to enter one, two or three houses which are empty. There is meaning in getting acquainted with those who live there; to have communion with their minds and hearts. Acquaintance and friendship in the world is to be in accord with this divine principle which, here on earth, is expressed in Christ. The first principle has created many illusions in the human mind. Since it bears all the shadows, it is strong; it has created many combinations by which it gives Divine Love a chance to manifest itself. Thus, Love finds expression in it and the first principle is like its soil. Nevertheless, it is striving to conquer the second principle - Love - but Love cannot be conquered. It is a Law which regulates all things in the world. The first principle is afraid of the second for when it faces the latter, it comes into the Light and, seeing its image, is obsessed by fear. Just as when you go to someone who loves you, your heart begins to throb. It says, "You have come to your Master, I have swallowed quite a number like you." Men, women, children - the hearts of all quiver. A man and a woman who have a hidden thought - the first principle - want to dominate; but when they realize that this principle does not yield, they say, "Here is my Master, here is the second principle, the Divine One, which gives expression to life and immortality." The Scripture says, "Love casts out fear," and in order to be happy, we must by all means be joined to Christ, otherwise our path is lost. If we do not serve God, we shall serve the mammon. If we serve God, we have torn down the mammon; but if we do not serve God, mammon will come and say, "You will serve me!" Every one of you must know this. Someone says, "I want to be free." You will be free if you serve Love, otherwise you will serve mammon and be a slave. You cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. It is impossible! People often say, "Let me beat them and they will have fear of me." You can beat them up or frighten them, but they will not love you. I would like to see someone among you who have gained a person's love through beating them. I have not yet met such a person. I am not the only person who says this: all great people and all saints have stated it. When the first principle gains the mastery over the human heart, the individual becomes dry, hard and begins to stiffen. Everything in them stiffens: their heart, their muscles, their hands, their legs, their arteries and so on. Then the doctors say that such a person is sick of arteriosclerosis. I say that this is due to the first principle, which has hardened the person and obsessed their heart. When God sees a person possessed of the first principle, He begins to bring in disunity, i.e. the second principle begins to act. When Love enters the first principle, it begins to organize it within itself. This is a struggle which acts mechanically in the world. It takes place in all social strata; in the minds of philosophers; in religious societies; everywhere. It acts until the second principle takes predominance and organizes our hearts, our bodies and we become immortal. Christ and the second principle wish to have predominance in our cells and in the monads in order to render them indestructible, immortal. Only then shall we pass from the transitory to the unchangeable and enter the region of Eternal Unity - the Eternal Divine Harmony. That is why the world was created, so that the human hearts and minds should pass from the first principle into the second. The process is from left to right. For instance, how do you work? You move to the left so the right hand may exert greater pressure. There are exceptions as some people are left handed, but generally when one works, one moves from left to right. This principle is the reason why the heart has moved a little to the left. Physiologists today say it is because of the way a child has lain in the womb of their mother but this is not the reason. In time, the heart must move to the middle between the two lungs; only then will there be harmony between Wisdom and Love. Now, speaking about your heart, I imply the idea of harmony between your thoughts and desires. Your desires always dominate your mind. You think well and say, "I shall do this, I shall do that," but you get angry and destroy everything. A man and a woman are in love, but one day the woman meets another man, handsomer than her own husband; one who has a fine moustache, black hair and eyes and she says, "I found him at last!" And the home, built for twenty years, is destroyed. This woman is unfortunate for she has found the first principle. The same thing applies to men and children. A child thinks their father is foolish and bad and says, "That other father is better than mine." Children often compare their mother with other mothers and say, "Those other children's mother is more beautiful and better than ours," and at once disharmony arises in their home. The first principle has sneaked in again. I am not speaking of the depth of this philosophy, but only to point out how weak you are. As I see you, you are still weak, you are like nails which must be pounded in by the hammer. When the hammer comes, it will ask you, "Do you know me?" "I know you." You will be pounded in so well that you will even come out on the other side. You will realize that you are nails and that the strength is not in you, but in the hammer. The hammer says, "Do you see where you go when I pound you?" The force, however, is not in the hammer, but in its handle. It is not there, either; but in the hand. The hand says, "The force is in the brain, not in the hand." If the brain does not give an order to the hand to be raised, what will become of it? It is the same with people. Two friends, two nails get together and start talking. One says, "I was pounded in twenty centimeters, do you know what weight they hang on me? No one can pull me out, I do the greatest work." This is the reasoning of nails. A Christian enters a church and says, "I did this for the Lord, I turned a person to Him!" You are like a thief who robs someone's purse and opens it: you have stolen the heart of this person and carried it away, leaving the person to complain all his life. Some mothers think they have given life to a child and then leave the child at a children’s ward. Why do you deceive the child that you have given it life! The second principle does not tolerate falsehood. Lying, violence, hatred, jealousy - all these things are compatible in a society of evil people. Those traits seem natural to them and when two bad men fight, they feel a satisfaction for a time. It is the same with a wolf and a lion after they tear up a sheep and eat it up. They feel; however, in a few hours' time, they feel the need of tearing up another victim. In the contemporary civilization we can find many similar examples. A similar thing took place in America in the city of New York where a court case was brought up. A doctor felt great satisfaction in killing people and in a short period of time, he actually killed twenty-five persons. He hired a woman secretary and killed her first by cutting her piece by piece, watching the effect of his action. He did the same to 24 other persons and burned them all up in a stove. That man was obsessed with animalistic hatred when he was slaughtering his victims. He was examined phrenologically in a New York prison and they found that his eyes and jaw were deformed. He had been under the influence of the first principle. Often such criminals have a desire to have long beards. The big beard is a sign of the presence of the first principle. I do not wish that you go to another extreme and understand me wrongly. The big beard provides more energies, but a criminal has a rude and hard hair. When your hair becomes hard, the first principle has dominance in you. In order to know how good you are test your hair and skin every morning. When your skin becomes dry and thickens, the first principle is in you. This principle will swallow you up as a snake swallows up a frog. It catches you by the foot and if you do not turn to God, you will go to the bottom of hell and find out about the other philosophy of life: what it means to serve mammon. No one can escape this eternal judgement of things. That is why Christ says, "Turn to Me." Life in our present state manifests itself in two directions: in contentment and discontentment, in ascending and descending. There are no other directions of thought. It is true that a rich person cannot be a saint; but a poor person cannot be a saint, either if they are discontented. By the word rich I mean a person dissatisfied with him/herself; and by the word poor - a person satisfied with him/herself. When a person gets rich, they become dissatisfied with their state; buys one house, then a second one, a third one, buys some furniture and tries to enlarge this circle. Discontentment shows a rich person; contentment shows a poor person. By saying content I do not mean that you should become indifferent like some fakirs in India who hypnotize themselves and fall asleep. There was one who, in the course of twenty years, concentrated his thoughts and lay so immobile that the birds took him for a tree and started building their nests on his head. I do not approve of such a state of contentment that birds should begin to inhabit your head. God has created trees for that purpose. In order to be content you must begin to work for God and serve Him. To be content means: if you earn three leva today, be happy and thank God. If on the next day you earn three, or four, or five leva, thank God again. Do not say, "How little have I earned!" "Enough for the day is the evil thereof." If you earn a copper penny, thank God for that; if you earn ten coppers, again give thanks to God. This is sufficient for you. The one makes a person happy. If two people love you, they cannot make you happy, you will be unhappy. Love can exist between two people; it does not exist among three persons. In order to give rise to a third element, the two must deposit an equal share and to them their child will be born. The father says, "They love me more." The mother says, "No, they love me more." Sometimes the father scowls at the child's love for the mother and vice versa. Why? Because this principle is not balanced in both parents. Your virtues, your forces will always correspond to your Inner State - neither more nor less. This is the whole truth. When people talk about me, I say, "I deserve it; that is my lot." I do not get angry at the person who speaks badly of me, they are working on me. They will do me good and I must thank them. That is why Christ says, "Love your enemies." You cannot overcome the enemy - the first principle - but by Love. Evil cannot be overcome by evil. To withdraw into yourself and look humble is not the means; you should love them with all your Soul. You will say, "This person has the right to hate me." Do not think that when a wolf catches a sheep, God says to him, "You did not do well." On the contrary, God says to him, "You are doing very well." When the sheep complains to God, He says to it, "It is good you are weeping, you are obliged to weep, but he is obliged to eat you up." The sheep goes out to the meadow and eats the grass. God says to it, "This is your work, you eat the grass, but one day a wolf will eat you up." This is the present evolution of life, but this is not life in the true deep sense of the word. To break stones for thousands of years to pave streets, or to carry water - this is no life. You may be a pack animal, such as a donkey, and carry ten tons of gold from one place to another during your life, but what of that? This is no life. You may have read much, gone to church to hear a sermon, but what of that, what do you know? You have carried 10,000 tons of gold on your back, but what is your knowledge? You may know how different elements combine, but what of that? If I know how may particles comprise the material world, of what use will that knowledge be to me? If I have much riches, but cannot use this wealth, of what use is it to me? If you have a wife who loves you, but your heart is hardened and when your children kiss you, you do not feel anything, of what benefit are your wife and children? The Philosophy in Love is to give and receive at the same time so that the exchange should be right. You say, "He does not love me," that is the first principle. You doubt - that is the first principle. There is no God - that is the first principle. When philosophers say that everything in the world moves, that is true, because the first principle is in eternal motion. Life manifests itself in the second principle, in the right construction of things. The second principle is active in you. Everyone must unite these two principles with Christ. Only in this way will you be useful everywhere - to society, the nation, to women and children and so on. This is what Christ told the Jews 2,000 years ago, but they accepted the first and rejected the second principle. That is why a great misfortune befell them. Today people test the first principle on their backs by this war; and it will go on until people get exhausted. When it finishes its work, Love will be manifested, i.e. God. People say, "He who hates much, loves much." This is half-true. God commits His energy to the second principle, and when it comes, His rational spirit begins to build. You cannot love and hate at the same time. Do not be deceived, this is a false philosophy, a false teaching. When the Divine Principle enters us only then can we love and say, "God is Love." Only then shall we understand the real meaning of the material world since Love is necessary for the development of our life. Just as the houses are necessary to people and as nests are to birds, this principle is vital to the world. Some ask, "Why did God make the world this way?" It is not your business - it could not be made in any other way. Others ask, "Why did not God create that?" Because He could not be untrue to His Nature. "Why did He not manifest Himself?" Because He could not be untrue to His Nature. "Why did He not make the world better and put us in the right way?" He has done that, but you do not understand Him since you think only of your own way, which is as different from His as the earth is from the sky. Two persons quarrel and say, "Why don't You come down, Lord, to reconcile us?" God is not in division. Someday when you grind one another to sand, God will look down from above (with His Eye) and see if anything can be made out of this sand. With a smile, God watches people today - those earthly philosophers and warring nations - and leaves these children to fight, hit one another and weep. Sometimes we want to sting God like a mosquito and bite Him so He would feel it. He, of course, is calm and does not care about all this. He only slightly flips us with his finger and we are carried off to the cemetery. Everyone who bites God goes to the cemetery - God sends them there. Regardless of who they may be - kings, princes, colonels, judges, priests, preachers and philosophers, God knocks them just the same. The same thing applies to you, if you philosophize much, you will fly off. You are like the mosquitoes, too, trying to sting someone. However, when you start on your way to God, you should not take your sting along - the sting of the mosquito - but rather stop, raise your eyes up and sigh. Do not think God is sleeping and does not see anything. God has been looking at you ever since you started from the earth. If you have started toward Him with Love, He will look at you, take pity and say, "You have understood the meaning of life - come to Me." Those who like to sting are pushed away by God until they learn their lesson. I am giving you these thoughts to make you think and start building your life; yet not as you have been building it until now. First of all give up biting. When a man complains that his wife bites, what will God do? He will knock her, she will die and he will be free from her. When a woman complains of her husband, what will God do? He will knock him and the man will die. A son using his sting will have the same fate. This is the way God acts. Some think that God acts like people act and does whatever comes to His mind. This is not true. He makes absolutely no mistakes: in this respect He is All Wise. His deep desire is to see us reconciled, living like brothers, using no violence, never stealing and so on. "What is the use of reconciliation? What have we eaten and drunk up in this world?" you ask. You meet someone who does not greet you and you get offended. Do they owe you anything? Both of you are small beetles moving on the earth. Another person says, "But you must be a gentleman, do not push me!" The force pushing you is a different one. If you take 100,000 small grains of sand and shake them in a bottle, they will ask one another, "Why are we pushing each other, why are we quarreling?" If you enter this first principle which shakes you up, you will ask, "Why are you tormenting us, Lord?" When the bottle breaks, you are spilled around - God liberates you. Thus, God has started to knock people today. He knocks them with the middle finger. The middle finger is the Law of Saturn - of Fate. In the Law of Divine Righteousness everyone must reap what they have sown. I want you to get rid of your old habits and the eyes of your mind must be open when God starts to knock. If your stinger is out, God will knock you. If He knocks you in the evening, you will not meet the day. When He pats you, you will rise from the dead. I wish for God to pat all people, i.e. all people might be touched by the second principle. This is the Christian philosophy which can explain all existing contradictions among people. The misunderstandings arise from the fact that we do not understand each other's language. You want me to give you facts. What facts can I give you? If I give you money, do not think I love you; I may be planning to steal your house. A man visits a poor man to help him. But the poor man's wife is beautiful. Do you know what hidden motives this benefactor has? How do you know he is sincere and would not carry the wife off? What are your arguments about this? There is only one argument: if from birth to death he does not do any harm to anyone, he is a sincere man, there is no deceit in him. There is no greater argument in a person's life than this one. This is how everyone should live. If I only philosophize and do not live as I should, this is deceit in my life. If I live in accord with this Great Law of Life, there is no deceit. You all know this. I notice some who look serious when they are outside, but when they come in, they put on a smile. This is an artificial act. Do you know how the Turkish men speak of a woman who smiles? They say, "She smiles in my face," thinking that she is already with them. Smiling is a bad sign for them, but we consider it a good sign. Yes, but if you get caught by the foot, you will be swallowed up like a frog. I am not alluding to your personal life, but simply state a fact which is taking place in me as well as in all of you. I feel cold and heat, light and darkness, but these things originate outside of us. They are not us, but things separate from us. Light and darkness do not represent our life, but when they are joined in a principle, life is manifested, i.e. the third principle. And this principle can manifest itself only on the equator of life. To sum it up, we cannot serve God and the mammon at the same time. If we serve God, we shall be happy, if we serve mammon, we shall be unhappy; if we serve God we shall be healthy, if we serve mammon, we shall be ill and poor; if we serve God, our stomach will be unimpaired, if we serve mammon it will be sick; if we serve God, we shall be respected in society, if we serve mammon, people will despise us; if a nation serves God, it will be noble, but if it serves mammon, it will become perverse and degenerate; if we serve God, our mind will develop normally, if we serve mammon, our mind will be perplexed and darkened. These are the two principles. When you get up in the morning with a disturbed mind, you should go to God. Turn your mind to Him and if He lays his Hand on you, He will create balance and change your disposition. That is why Christ says, "Come unto Me all you that suffer and are heavy laden, and I shall give you rest." In order to avoid the bad consequences of the first principle, which brings misfortune, walk daily with Christ. The first principle by its nature does not want to bear misfortunes, so it places them on the back of others. Today you learned how to protect yourself from the middle finger of God. When the priests pronounce Benediction, they join the thumb with the fourth finger and raise the other two fingers up; however, they have long ago lost the key. They have forgotten the meaning of the Science of God. In another sermon I shall speak to you about this. It is a whole philosophy which had existed 10,000 years before Christianity. But you will say, "The world was not created such a long time ago, what world was there before Adam?" Before Adam’s fall there was another Adam, another great culture. After Adam fell, people disintegrated and now we say, "We are the first Adam." Your first Adam is a wild vine - divine only at its tail-end and still evolving. Not having anything else, God took some soil and made Adam out of it, leaving him to live in a small paradise as a gardener. We say that our first father was naked. He was naked because a man who allows a woman to lead him by the nose is a silly man. A woman who leaves herself to be led by a snake is silly, too. The Adam you know is not the Son of God. Christ was before Adam and before Abraham. He is the one called the Son of the Living God. When Christ came He said, "I am the One who was before Adam and Abraham." He had lived in that great epoch, great culture when the angels had been singing in the Divine Dawn of Life, in the Golden Age of human life. When sin came into the world, then came the great father - the devil - who now lives within you. That is why you are children of the devil. If you do not realize that you are in sin, you will die, you will always serve mammon and you will never be happy. When I say "the second Adam," I mean Christ. He is second in relation to the Law of Love, but is the Primary of Origin in the manifestation of God. Now I believe that when you return home, you will begin to search for the third principle in yourselves. Those of you who have not studied mathematics much should start with the study of equations; and then as a result of an equation, you will find the third principle. You will place your mind in the first part of the equation, your heart in the second, your body will enter the third part and in these relations you will find what your life will be. Put it in your mind to become united with Christ. Life is in Unity and Harmony. Let every bitter word vanish from you! Let every discontentment and desire to sting your neighbor be done with. This is what serving God means. What serving it would be if I would expose your sins in a sermon and peck at you. This is a false teaching. Pecking is an easy thing, but if I hit you with a hammer, one day you will raise the same hammer over my head. "With whatever measure you mete, it will be meted unto you." Therefore, whatever you hear, do not think I am pecking you because I can keep silent too. I am revealing a Great Truth to you which, after many long years, you will learn yourselves. This is what I have learned during the long years I have spent in matter here on earth. You complain, "My husband is bad," but I shall say that the first principle works in him. The man says his wife is bad - the first principle works in her. The daughter is dissatisfied - the first principle works in her. "The Bulgarian nation is fighting," the first principle is in it. You must think about why people are fighting and why the world is bad. You must think of all this so that someday you will understand. "Let us be Good - that is the second principle. When everything is calmed down, when Peace sets in, then the third principle will come. Therefore, put in your mind the idea of serving God - therein is your salvation. May the blessing of the Love of the Living Lord be with you all. Sermon held on January 21, 1917 1 Luke 16:13 2 The Bulgarian monetary unit. (ed. note)

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova MARTHA AND MARY But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. 41. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.30 Much has been spoken about Martha and Mary. They represent two principles in the human soul— the active and the passive. In the person of Martha and Mary are presented two women, two opposite characters, two states of the human heart: the one state is calm and silent with a mind directed to an eternal principle, resting on an eternal foundation; the other state is like that of the waves in the sea, like the small branches in a tree—constant bubbling, constant swaying. Christ, however, points out to Martha what is essential by saying to her, "You are cumbered about many things which are not essential, which are outside of reality, but Mary chose something more essential." Many of you belong to these two characters—some are Martha and some—Mary. The Maries are generally noble women. They are good, of an excellent stature, beautiful face, soft look in the eyes, symmetrical forehead, regular nose; in the heart they are soft, delicate, responsive to others' sufferings and ready to help. In Jewish, Mary means salty water. Mary always salts the world and, thanks to her, it does not get spoiled, does not sour up or decay. When you have the principle of Mary in yourself, your heart is not decomposed. Martha comes from Mara, meaning bitter, sour, and turbulent. Therefore, the bitter principle in you is constantly embittered, angered, discontented. It does not do this out of an evil intention, or bad will, but because it is a very active principle which in its motion wants its path to be clear, open. When Martha gets up in the morning, all the servants are up and about, there is much bustling and noisy chatter. However, as soon as she takes the broom, everybody runs as far away from her as they can. She says, "Everything here must be in order." You will meet Martha in churches, in schools, in courts—everywhere. She is just as necessary as Mary is, but you should not give predominance to the one or the other—to the one or the other principle. I shall connect these two principles with two others which I shall formulate as: Principle of the Superior and Principle of the Inferior. The principle in the person of Mary expresses the superior showing us how to serve God and how to be in harmony with the higher beings—the saints and the angels— who know more than us: they know how to humble themselves and submit. We shall sit quietly and calmly at the feet of the Master to receive enlightenment. You will ask, "How many are the Masters?" There is One Master that I know of—the Master is One. He may have 250,000 hairs on His head, but it does not mean that they are 250,000 Masters. A tree may have many branches, but they are not trees. However, one and the same life flows in the tree and in its branches. This is the way you should conceive of unity. And when the Master comes, that is the Spirit, Who is in you, regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, you must listen deeply in yourself to the soft and tender voices of love. Love is not sour, it is a soft, tender power. What do you like in life? Imagine everything in the world in the likeness of Martha—all taking brooms, raising dust and noise. What music would that be? I believe that houses would be in perfect order, there would be fine furniture, fine clothes, we would have wonderful farms, but there would be no life. And conversely, if everything was in the likeness of Mary, all would be salt. But if there were no Marthas what would be salted? Mary has a relation to something else, to another principle, a different foundation. The Superior Principle, Mary, shows the way we should serve God individually. In this service we shall find the sense of our life. To the extent to which we understand the inner sense of our soul, to that extent shall we understand the other beings who live around us. As soon as we have learned the first—the Superior Principle—to submit to God, we shall learn the second principle—to submit all inferior elements, to conquer the Inferior Principle in people. And when contemporary science speaks of conquering Nature, I understand that it wants to conquer Martha who makes much noise. We must learn to be good Masters. Those who have not learned to submit to God and serve Him, cannot be masters. Those who want to be masters must first learn to be servants— to be servants of God and to be submitted to Him. They must learn the higher Law—to sit like Mary at the feet of Christ. Christ says, "That good part Mary chose shall not be taken away from her." I shall give you as an example of this idea a legend. It speaks about the great violinist Paganini. One day during his concert tour in Europe, Paganini came upon an old, around 60 years of age, violinist with shaking hands, blurred eyesight and a small dish beside him, his violin on the ground, since he could play no more. Paganini stopped before the old violinist, picked up his violin and started playing. In a short time a big crowd gathered around him, each one putting a gold or silver coin in the beggar's dish. He played until the dish was full. This is how Paganini paid his tribute to the poor old man. This old man sat at the feet of Paganini as Mary set at the feet of Christ, but he did not say, "Let us see what will come out of all this." He listened to his master's playing. "Yes," he said, "I see now my great Master—the Master of life." The dish is the vessel into which great and good thoughts are poured. When this great Master starts playing in you, your vessel will be filled with noble thoughts and desires and you will be weak and crippled no more, but become young, vigorous, good and strong. I would wish that in a given case you would do the same. This does not mean that you should devote all your life to serving, for when Christ commended Mary, He only wanted to say, "I do not want you to give me all your time in service, but only your spare time, no matter how little it may be. The rest of the time you are free to do your duties in life." The great teaching does not want in the least our neglecting the duties in life. Only that hour, set aside for Mary, must be given her. Paganini does not always stop, this is a rare moment. He takes the violin, plays for a while and passes on. In the same way, Christ will stop some day before you when you are burdened, tired of life, thinking your life has no sense, that you are of no use to anyone, that the art you are studying is of no value. Then He will stop before you and start playing on your violin. Therein is happiness—to hear how a great Master plays or paints, or to see a great artist. This is the teaching we should study, the teaching of revering God and submitting ourselves to Him; only by this submission we shall learn great Virtues. What does present day friction, or conflict, among people spring from? From the fact that people are sour, not soft and tender. If all people were soft and tender, life would be happy both outwardly and inwardly. If people would have mutual respect for one another and were pliant, there would be great harmony in life. I do not commend people who quarrel daily, they murmur every day against God. We hear murmuring everywhere—scientists, doctors, professors, priests, and preachers—all are murmuring. If someone is a shepherd, he will say that his sheepfold is small, he would want a bigger one—this is murmuring too. The learned person murmurs that few abilities have been given to them. Who is to blame? Always God is blamed. I am not speaking about you, who are here, but about those who are in the world—everybody is murmuring. The Law of the superior life requires of you that gratefulness and love of God should always spring from your heart. Some people ask, "Where is God? How can we find Him?" Even little children can find God. Already 2,000 years have passed since the philosophers have begun to prove by argumentation where God is—in the sky, on the stars, on the Earth or in the human heart. They are still looking for Him, but no one has found Him. The preachers say He is in the human heart; the astronomers say he is in the Universe as the Law of gravitation. Some say He exists, others deny His existence. I shall use a figure to show you on what these philosophers base themselves. Imagine that God, like the Sun, rises and sets every 24 hours from east to west. Moreover, imagine that when God rises, you fall asleep and sleep until He has set and after He has set, you wake up and look for Him all night. When you do not find Him, you fall asleep again when dawn breaks and after He has set again, you look for Him all night. A day, two days, a month, a year, ten or more years pass and you are seeking Him all the time and do not find Him anywhere. I say: only change the relation of things and you will find God—sleep at night and be awake in the morning when the Sun rises. I see Him every day: I sleep at night, but in the morning, when dawn breaks, I get up and meet Him. This is the philosophy of life. God rises as the Sun. What do people do at night at present? They go to concerts, balls, to theaters and when God rises, they are sleeping. They are aristocrats, of noble birth. All people who sleep in the morning and in the daytime are of the culture of the owls. That is why they suffer. But this night culture must be substituted by the culture of the day. As soon as day breaks, you will get up and stand waiting at least haft an hour, then God will appear before your face and you will draw from Him strength, energy and health and the whole day you will be bright and cheerful, working with vigor. Some philosophers say, "God is an aristocrat, He does not accept everybody, so we must appear dressed up before Him." Now, I shall use another figure as an objection. When the Sun rises, all animals—good and bad, beautiful and ugly— come our in their clothing such as it is. God shines upon everyone—the snakes and the lizards, the mosquitoes and the loathsome creatures who do so much harm. He does not say to them, "You must hide in your hole!" In the same way you can appear before God and bask in His Light and heat. This is the sense of life. We do not suffer from the fact that there are many snakes on the Earth; their number is determined, they are in their place, but when they become twice as many as they are, the extra number must be destroyed by all means. When the number of the wolves is within the determined bounds, they are in their place, but when they multiply too much, again the extra number must be destroyed. Thus, if you do not put to work every thought and every desire you have, i.e., if you have not learned to serve God, this thought and this desire will command you. And then by the same Law, as you oppose God, your desires and thoughts will oppose you. If you can apply in your life what I am telling you, you will see how efficient it is and what results you will have. Some say, "Let us educate the world, discipline the people!" In this sense, I do not believe in disciplining, because all people are individual cells of the Divine organism, of the Divine body and each one must discipline itself individually. I cannot command anyone. To command a person is sacrilege, lying to God. I do not want to command. Why? Because all people are God's and I have no right to command and misuse another's possessions, I have the right to be master only of my thoughts and desires—I can command them. However, I must be a servant to everything outside of me. You must do the same. Now we shall come down to the inferior elements—the irrational. What is said in the first chapter of Genesis? "God created heaven, the first day and then—the Earth." Heaven implies Mary, and earth—Martha. The Earth was not organized, or was sour. The people of learning say that when Martha appeared, there was storm, a hurricane, fire, steam rising and then God said, "Martha, Martha, you are making big noise, but progress does not lie in that. Mary chose the good part. Look up!" The Earth, Martha, looked up and started turning round itself and round the Sun. That way life appeared on it, many creatures were created and finally—humans. When God finished His work, He said, "Everything about Martha is good." And that was the first day, then came the second, to the seventh day. Now some of you are Martha—making a noise and flames coming out of their hearts and minds. Martha has no lakes or rivers, but the great Master says, "Martha, Martha, be not worried! Only one thing is necessary—heaven, the rational, the great thing in the world. Look up to heaven, it will give sense to your life." When you look up your spirit will immediately start moving regularly round its center and you will find the sense of your life. To find sense in life means to have a center around which to move and which center will daily supply what is necessary for your needs. Thus, God has created in us simultaneously both Martha and Mary—the two poles of the human soul. I could explain the inner meaning of these two principles active in the world, but when much knowledge is accumulated and is not applied, certain sediments are formed and people become confused, not knowing what to do. A student from an Evangelical school, who wanted to excuse himself for not knowing his lesson in Bulgarian grammar, said to his teacher, "There are many grammar textbooks in Bulgarian by Ikonomov, Grigorov and others, which one should I study from?" He excused himself this way once, twice, but finally the teacher said to him, "Listen, friend, I do not want to know what the grammar books of Ikonomov and Grigorov say, I want you to study my grammar!" When God comes to you, you say, "There are philosophers like Kant, Schopenhauer, Tolstoy who say so and so, but there is contradiction among them, who shall we follow?" God will say, "You will follow what I tell you." When you want to follow the Divine Truth, you must go deep into your soul, only then will you understand life in its deep sense. Different abilities will come to birth within you and you will see other, greater beings than you and then you will say, "How blind we have been!" I ask, if you were in the state of an ant and some philosopher would step on you and smash you, what would you think of his feet? You would say that a big rock fell on you and smashed you. But this rock is only a small part of this giant. Some day you say, "Fate is against me, it persecutes me." Fate is nothing other than the foot of some great philosopher who has stepped upon you. Do not stand in the path of the philosophers, of the learned people, they will not stop because of you, they march on their way and if you interfere, the foot of the philosopher will smash you. When you complain, I shall say, "Your place is not on this philosophical path, you are ants and must choose other paths." This is a philosophy of life. When I see the misfortune of a person, I look up and notice a giant who has stepped on them and smashed them. God has made the world and all other worlds. In the Milky Way, there are 18,000,000 suns and each one of them is moving along its definite orbit. There is a distance of 25 billion kilometers from one sun to another, so that collision should be avoided. God has drawn these orbits. He has drawn an orbit for your life as well, has given you a certain space and has said, "Never pass beyond the boundaries of your kingdom." You want to make a contract with some other kingdoms; the men and the women of two kingdoms made a contract to form one kingdom and quarreled in the end. Why should they quarrel? Let everyone reign in their kingdom. Someone says, "Come, let us put our money together in the same place to preserve it." Let everyone keep their money in their own purse! Do not entrust your money to anyone. On earth, no matter whom you may entrust it, it will be taken away anyhow. That is why Christ says, "Lay your treasures up above—this is the true sense of life." So we are wrong in that we want to distort the life God has ordered. I know of people who hate someone and carry them everywhere in their minds. Leave that person alone and hold only onto God! He lights up everything, allow Him in your holy of holies. People today are polytheists; they have Gods of labor, of glory, of power and burn incense to all of them. Take your hammer, throw all these idols out, or break them up, then sit at the feet of your Master and you will understand the deep sense of your life. This is what Christ means by the words, "The good part Mary has chosen shall not be taken away from her." You worry about many things, taking care of this and that thing, yet you are master of these things; so take them and throw them out. I have noticed how some masters sit in their chairs, like me now, and give orders. They want to be given something which they themselves can take, but they ring the bell once, twice and finally they go out and start scolding the servant. Their calmness and peace are of more value, however, than the fact that the servant has not brought their chosen shoes at once. Do not wait for others to do the things you can do yourself. Go and take your shoes and then moralize the servant to do their duties properly. This is what God wants of you, because this servant is not yours, but someone else's. When I say I am a servant, I do not have in mind you, the people; I am a servant of God. In London a Baptist preacher once went to see another preacher by the name of Spurgeon and to give himself more importance, he wrote on the visiting card, "One of your brothers in Christ is waiting outside, wishing to see you." Spurgeon wrote on the other side of the card, "Now, I have work with our Master." If anyone comes from outside and says a brother of yours in Christ is waiting for you, tell them you are speaking with their Master. Therefore, the servant you are calling from outside to bring you your shoes, has work with their Master and if you break their peace, their Master will take you by the ear. This is the greatest philosophy people today must learn. We must be servants of God. When we learn this great Law, our relations will be normalized. I see how this Law works: when you are in a good mood, all people seem pleasant, but if you are indisposed and have gotten up on the wrong side of bed, the whole day people will seem in the wrong and annoy you. This state may last a week, or a month, we call it a new philosophy— pessimism—and such people—pessimists. In order to justify the weakness of some person, you say they are pessimists. This is according to the words of Schopenhauer. In this sense, you are all philosophers. Bulgarians stand even higher than Schopenhauer, all have this pessimistic trait—the Bulgarian is easily discouraged and falls into despair and then comes Schopenhauer's philosophy, Martha comes. I say—you are obliged to submit to God! Since you do not serve God, all these misfortunes come to you. There is no other fate in the world! The day you submit to God, to your fate, all others submit to you. This is the teaching of Martha and Mary. Mary—this is heaven, Martha—the Earth. Mary this is the higher state of the heart, Martha—the lower state of the heart, Mary—this is the higher state of the mind, the Theosophists call it manas31 superior, Martha is the inferior manas. When you go to your homes, which I see as beautiful and splendid, say to yourself, "Come, Martha, come, Mary, you are two good sisters." Christ is the superior Spirit, the superior principle. If Mary would have answered Martha, she would have said, "Wait for a while, I want to listen and after that I shall help you." Christ was speaking, that is why Mary was not working. When you return home, if you get angry and start talking loudly, say to yourself, "Martha, do you know what the Master says? You must submit!" Mary should be noble, delicate, and speak kindly to her, saying, "Sister, wait a while, I shall be of service to you a little later," and when her sister speaks petulantly, she should say, "How nicely, how pleasantly you are speaking!" There is a certain harmony between the noble and the ignoble, as there is a relation between Love and hate. I know both sisters. Whoever comes between them, they stifle them out of love and when the person dies, they say, "What have we done?" Love says, "Come, let us raise them!" Hate says, "I shall bury them." "All right," says Love. They put some earth on the person, but then comes Love and after heating them up from above, she raises them up. Hate and Love work together in the world, but you have such a bad opinion of hate, of envy. They are really snakes and lizards, but in some cases they are pleasant. What would the world be like without snakes, lizards, flies, and so on? Point out such a world! How is your world better than this? No, the way this world is made is great in its intentions, in its expressions and manifestations. What you are constantly complaining of is the disharmony within you, it is Martha—the unorganized earth. The noise which is constantly taking place in you is namely what disturbs this harmony. God's Spirit must descend and say His word. And so the Spirit has come down, giving orders. He is working. You must have an indomitable faith in the principle, living in Mary. Have faith also in the principle, living in Martha. Have faith in Christ, for Christ, Who is above them, joins them. You also should join these three—your spirit, your Mary and your Martha—and should start the New Year with this act. I will not complete what I have said, but will leave a great interval, a gap, to see how you will solve the puzzle. I am a clairvoyant and when I look at your future, I see how some rise, others fall, some follow the spiritual path, while others twist and turn. In the end, all will be well, only that there will be swaying and loitering. When people get on a big ocean liner, some people throw up because of the constant swaying of the ship, but others do not. How interesting these aristocrats are on the ocean! The first day, they are in high spirits, well-dressed, decked with rings, and necklaces, all happy and content. When the ship starts swaying, everybody begins to look thoughtful like philosophers, listening to an important lecture. The second day, they begin to feel sick to the stomach, start eating lemons, laying on the floors and vomiting. When they land and are asked how they crossed the ocean, they say, "We arrived safe and sound." Yes, but when you cross this ocean from earth to heaven, how many times will you vomit! You will say, "Passing this ocean is serious business!" As soon as you reach the land, you will have good appetites, because you will be well cleaned up. This Martha in the ocean raises much noise around herself, shakes ships, creates weeping and wailing, but as soon as you step on the shore, and Mary comes, you say, "Thank God, we are safe and sound!" Fear not! Be always with your great Master that you may solve the problem of life. You have many complex problems in life: bringing up children, relations between men and women, relations to society and humanity. You have many obligations. How will you finish them? Some think that when they become Christians, they have no obligations. No, just the opposite—a Christian has more obligations and must fulfill them very well. When a day ends, they must feel a great inner calm that they have done what they should have done and if anything had been omitted, to put it in their program for the next day. One day you will be Martha, another day—Mary, but when you are at the feet of your Master, then let both Martha and Mary calm down, for an hour let all and everything calm down. This is the teaching and the thought Christ sets forth. Learn to serve the Superior that you may be masters of the inferior! Sermon held on January 14, 1917, in Sofia _____________________ 30. Luke 10:40-42. 31. Manas—(Sanskrit) the mind, all mental expression of the human psychological faculties (ed. note).

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova GROW IN GRACE ! But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?32 Growth is a process of development. What must grow? People often say, "An apple must grow, a tree, branches, leaves, blossoms—these things must grow and develop." But in the quoted verse, we understand that the human soul must grow. The human soul should grow, and the human spirit should attain the knowledge of grace. Which grace? God's. The word grace is broad, it implies the conditions under which a person must live up in heaven and down on earth. The Earth, which is so often mentioned in the sacred books, is so enormous that an innumerable number of people can live on it. In the Scriptures it is called The Promised Land. You are aspiring for this earth which God created originally. The Earth on which you live is so small, it is of microscopic size; compared in size it is not even as large as a small island like Cyprus. Paul and Peter say that heaven will be enflamed and the Earth will pass through fire. Many interpret fire as a destructive element. In fact it is destructive, but it also constructs. For the fire which came down from the Sun has constructed our earth, it has also built our bodies and created thoughts and feelings in us. Everything freezes without fire. Therefore, the word growth implies fire as well. The fire which destroys is the coarse fire. Present day science has made the following experiments: if someone is placed under 2-3,000 volts of electricity, they die and in some countries criminals are electrocuted by such a current. However, if 10-50,000 volts of electricity run through the human body, all illnesses will disappear, the face will become youthful and bright; in a word, one will be fully rejuvenated. According to the present ideas of logic, one should burn up by such a fire. The fire which destroys people is their passions. They destroy the body and the soul simultaneously. Being free of these passions means not warming oneself on destructive fire. When Paul says grow, he means a function under the influence of the Divine fire, or of these 10-50,000 volts that will purify and renew the people they pass through. The word knowledge implies an understanding of the Laws by which this growing may be effected. Growing is twofold: upward and downward. When you are looking yourself in the mirror, you have a reflection. If anyone asks you by what Laws this reflection is effected, you will answer readily, "There is a reflection." But I would like to know the basic Law by which this reflection is effected. The physicists explain the mechanical aspect of an object the way the astronomers explain the mechanical aspect of the universe, as for instance what the Sun is like, its elements, its temperature, but what the Sun actually is remains a secret. From the Earth we can suppose this and that, but when a person becomes spiritual, they will be able to test the truth about the growing Paul speaks about. If you want to know whether there is life on the moon or not, you will take your bag, buy a ticket and in a few hours you will verify this truth. The same way one can go to the Sun and test what it is like. Now we study things only by way of reflection, but the reflections are not always true. Every reflection has an inner and outer side; you access only the outer side, while the inner side remains concealed. You say, "I know this man." But you know only his shadow. "His eyes are black." This is, however, his shadow. "His beard is white." This is his shadow. "He is handsome." All this is a shadow. This man, who looks handsome to you in the daytime, is black at night. If the inner lamp changes its position, the inner Light of a person will change too. This is growth of the shadows, because the shadows can grow too—they can become smaller or bigger. For instance, when the Sun rises in the morning, the shadows are bigger; around noon they grow quite small and after sunset, they disappear. I am making this analogy, because you are people of the shadows—you study the creation of the cinematographer. If I speak differently, you will say, "Prove this!" In order to prove it, I must get you a ticket so you can come along with me to the Sun and then to the moon. You are people of the shadows, i.e. fictitious, not real beings. After fifty years, you will see yourself that you are fictitious. Where will you be then? In order not to be shadows, you must pass from the temporary to the eternal, to seek God, meaning to seek His Light and heat. This Light will introduce in you that ideal which you are longing for. A person is born as a small baby, gradually grows big, but is discontented all the time. He wants to marry and tries to find a beautiful girl and thinks until he finds her, but as soon as he finds her, he is discontented again—calls her evil as a snake. Then the two of them want children and have them, but find the children bad too. Then they hope when their children will marry to be materially well off, but nothing comes out of that. Thus, the life of people today consists only of shadows, but there is no reality whatsoever in these shadows. This is a pleasant life, but there is no growth in it, no Divine process. Therefore, by the word growing I understand that only the spirit can grow and develop; only the real, the changeless grows. This substance which is deposited in us can undergo millions of eternal changes; this is a great Divine Law. At times a bad thought attacks you—that is a shadow. You say, "I hate that person." How can you hate her when you do not know her? Or, how can you ask a person for money, if you have never given her any money? In the world the shadows exist by necessity in order that the genesis of things may stand out. The more shadows there are in the world, the more our mind will stand out and will be the basis of knowing things, because knowledge cannot exist without shadows. You say you are suffering—that is a shadow, in order that you may learn the conditions of the new life. Therefore, growth is the cause of all changes which take place inwardly and outwardly. If you understand life this way, you will come to reality itself, i.e. to the testing of things. When a teaching is in accord with the reality of genesis, or with the Laws God has created in the world, it can always be put to a test. A doctor comes and says, "I have a medicine which cures this illness." If this medicine is real, it must cure the patient as soon as he takes it; but if this does not happen, the medicine is not real and the doctor only deludes people. A man comes and says, "I bring you a teaching, if you accept it, you will raise yourself." If this teaching raises you, it is real. Thus, growth is a process necessary for the building of your spiritual body. The physical body is necessary as a scaffolding on the outside; if it is not raised, the spiritual body cannot be raised either. First of all, the physical world was created as scaffolding, while the spiritual world is constantly being constructed and organized to this day. In the Scriptures, there are verses which say that first heaven—the Divine World—was created and then the Earth—the physical world. The Earth is not organized yet, God is still organizing it. He created the world in six days: the sixth day He created human beings and on the seventh He rested. Now He is at work again. Moses says, "God rested." Christ says, "My Father is working." At the present time He is still working. God's rest implies His going out of His genesis and from there scrutinizing everything. He has created and then returned again to continue His work. His present work brings fire. He says, "This world lacks fire." When this fire comes, it will bring growth and knowledge of grace. When I speak of the world, I always mean human beings. The world is known to you to the extent you have a relation to it. All elements of the external world, of external Nature are connected with your body and with your mind, as a result of which all the changes taking place in you, the indisposition of your spirit, depend on the changes in Nature. If a wolf has been hungry for three or four days, or a week, he will pray to God for food. You respond to his thought and suffer along with him. All things in life are connected; that is why you experience equally both joys and sorrows. Someone says, "I cannot tolerate this man." Tolerate him, because he is part of you. If you ruin him, you will ruin yourself. Therefore, by growth, I understand the growth of our spiritual body which represents a unit of the Divine harmony. You say, "The world is not organized yet." It is not organized but work is necessary in order to organize it. We are the plants which must work; we receive and process the materials, then we give them to God. You eat a hen, a sheep, a lamb—that becomes a part of you which goes to the building of the world. From this point of view all sufferings will be justified. We have all suffered in the world that is why we shall live all together. Some day you will realize that the bugs are your brothers too. When a bug is biting you, or sucking blood from you, it is saying, "I must do this in order to build my house." In all beings conscious and unconscious processes are taking place. The conscious process is effected so powerfully that you must grow up in a short period, as wheat grows in May; and you must bear fruit in a short period of time, because growing has in view blossoming and blossoming—fruit bearing. Growing is a life in which blossoming, setting and ripening of the fruit take place. There is no setting and ripening without blossoming. Are you blossoming? "No." Then you will not manifest yourself. People, like the flowers, find their expression only when they blossom and bear fruit. Love is manifested only when plants are blossoming; it is the same with people. When there is blossoming in the physical world, the physical ripening comes, the physical love; when this process is over, a spiritual blossoming and ripening takes place in a person. One must blossom at least seven times, i.e. set seven fruit at least. We must blossom up at the same time in seven worlds, but this blossoming up is achieved consecutively. Therefore, when blossoming in the physical world loses its sense for you, this blossoming should be taken up above. Why do you die? Dying is nothing other than going to a higher world for growth. When you do not have conditions for growing in the physical world, you die; when you have conditions—you are born. Therefore, those who are not acquainted with the deep sense of life find that in the blossoming of the branches and growing of the roots there is a certain contraction. When water comes out of a spring, would it not flow in all directions? If you open a jar full of steam, would not these vapors spread in all directions at the same time? Thus, the life which has sprung up from a center sends its roots downward. And conversely, at night, when the Earth has turned, we are with our feet up. The same is true of a tree: in the course of 24 hours, first the branches are turned up, and then the roots are up. You will say that people are with their heads up. Human beings are double trees: they have roots up, which means the Divine World; also they have roots down in the stomach, which means the physical world. When the Earth turns, you also turn with your feet toward God, and then the roots of your stomach are turned to Him. So every 24 hours both the feet and the head turn toward God. Before God, the feet and the head have an equal meaning. Why? Because in the spiritual world, the feet are the ground on which you build your house. They are the soil on which your life may grow. Now in the process of growing, you should love all people, alive or dead, who have a reflection and live in you. You have a John inside and a John outside; you have an angel inside and one outside; you have a devil inside and one outside. Heaven and earth live at the same time in your soul. There are good and bad spirits in you who get along well. Some people who hate the evil spirits say that there is disputing between them and the angels, so they think they are quarrelling. There arises a dispute only when we meddle in their work. Otherwise a complete balance exists between them. As soon as we meddle in their work, a struggle begins. When there is a dispute between two spirits, you should only listen. The dispute is a conversation between them. The students are not allowed to meddle with the business of the teacher. The bad and good spirits are great teachers. You have no right to pass judgment, but only to listen; such is the Law. If you interfere in their work, they will beat you and say, "Listen, you are a small baby; you should not interfere, but listen." Often people complain of attacks by the evil spirits. I tell them that the evil spirits do not care at all about you; they are not interested in your existence. They have only stopped under the shadow of your tree to talk, but you have overheard them. People are babies not born yet. "The evil spirits tell me to do this or that," some say. They do not say this to you, but to themselves and you say, "Wait, let me do this!" The Apostle Paul says, "Grow in the grace of Christ, in order to know the spirits." Up till now the world has always used charms and conjurations against the evil spirits. In the church the Vassil Prayers are all conjurations against them, but evil spirits still exist. That is why Christ says, "Resist not evil." The evil spirits have their own work and when they are doing it, let them be free, do not interfere. I have heard how some Christians quarrel among themselves, "You are ignorant, but I have graduated university and have learned something." If you have graduated and have knowledge, you will keep silent, because there is conversation in silence, which brings power and growth. Those who do not know how to keep silent have no knowledge; they know only the rod. Silence is actually growth— this is how plants grow. They are silent, only at night a faint cracking can be heard—they are whispering to each other. They are not like people, who want the whole world to hear, if they have done some good. The hen acts the same way after laying an egg, she cackles so that everybody should hear her. What of it that she has laid an egg? That is her duty. It is a question whether she laid it, or it was laid for her. When an ass carries a burden of precious things, he says, "I carried the precious things." We must know that having come to earth, we are servants of God. Someone says, "Humans have free will." But I say that those who live in this essential, unchanging world where God lives and serve God, understand His Laws and orders, only they are free and only they can have a free will. We must find time to accelerate this growth of which I am speaking, i.e. the building of your body. Often your saying that you have no time for this, no time for that provides the occasions for disobedience. An English preacher once visited a poor boy—a sweeper—and asked him, "Does anyone come to see you?" "Yes, Mr. Gladstone."33 Who?" "The English statesman." How strange that in spite of his great tasks, he found time to visit a poor sweeper! Why? Who lives in this sweeper? Gladstone realizes that one of his brothers lives in him and says, "I must visit him!" When someone rises in life today, they do not recognize even their father and mother, thinking this will infringe on their greatness and high position. There is nothing greater than knowing our obligations. The greatest trait of God is that in spite of His numberless great tasks, He always finds time to visit some sinful soul, the way Gladstone acted. God always finds a few minutes free to visit someone, to leave a good thought, or render His help. And when everyone attacks you like swarms of mosquitoes, God appears and says, "Fear not! I am here; I am with you to help you." When God does this, say to Him, "Give us strength to grow and become free from transitory things, to know Your Will." Do not say, "They attacked me, but they will see who I am!" We often say in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy Will be done!" You do not know the Name of God, the Kingdom of God, and you want to fulfill the Will of God. You will be like that mother who sews skirts and pants for her child which has not been born yet. In the process of seeking the Name of God, the Kingdom of God and the Will of God, will come the Kingdom of Heaven. You must have the valor of that Russian king of whom Tolstoy tells a legend. The murder of King Peter I, in which Alexander I was also involved, cased great pangs of conscience in the latter and darkened his soul to the extent that nowhere could he find rest. The glamour of the throne and the vain pleasures had not the power to distract and calm him. He withdrew into himself more and more until finally he decided to abdicate and start living in Taganrog34 as an ordinary citizen. One day while walking in the environs of the city, he noticed that crowds were gathered round two rows of soldiers unarmed, but each holding a rod. An old soldier was brought with arms tied to a gun. They took off his shirt and while the drum was beating, he was subject to a horrid punishment, "passing under the rods." Alexander looked the soldier in the face and was amazed at the great likeness between them. He asked about the crime of the unhappy soldier. They told him that when the soldier heard his father was on the death-bed, he asked permission to go and part with him. After being denied that, the soldier tried to run away, but was caught. He tried to escape a second time but was caught once more and this time was severely punished to pass between the two rows of soldiers under the blows of 8,000 rods. This penalty meant certain death. Hearing the sounds of the blows and the groans of the dying man, who soon stopped groaning, Alexander was horrified. "My God," he thought, "all this only for a reason that he wanted to kiss his father's hand as a farewell and receive his blessing! That poor man is tortured so cruelly, in my name too!" He compared his attitude to his father with that of the soldier and seeing how much lower he stood than him, Alexander started weeping bitterly. After being informed by the doctors that the soldier would not live after the 4,000 blows, he made arrangements the soldier to be clothed secretly in his outfit and to be carried in Alexander's room. He, on his part, dressed in the soldier's uniform, submitted himself to the remaining 4,000 blows. These he bore to the end and survived because the soldiers, taking pity on the exhausted soldier, did not hit him hard anymore. The soldier, disguised in the Emperor's clothes, was carried to the palace, where he died. The great similarity between the two served for an official announcement that the emperor had died. In reality, the emperor wandered away, giving himself over to kindly deeds the rest of his life. Tolstoy ends the story with the death of Alexander in the following words, "What a moment of triumph must have been his death! What liberation of the soul!" I ask, how many of my listeners will be ready to bear at least ten blows for their brother? And after all this people are pretenders, preparing themselves for heaven! I say, the inner sense of growth is in learning to discriminate the shadows from the real things, to liberate one's soul by bearing all sufferings. When a pear and an apple are growing, that is done for the sole purpose to give fruit which will bear a new being. Some want to marry and have children. Why? They want to marry, because they are already tired and cannot do anything else. As soon as they marry and have a son or a daughter, they will finish their parents' work. Someone says, "I do not want to be married." That means you are strong. If you cannot finish your work yourself, you must get married. By the word development I understand that either we must finish the work God has assigned for us, or give our place to others to finish it. That is why people are born and reincarnate—descend and ascend—on this earth. Some day when you say you are tired, God will ask you, "Do you want to give your place to your brother who will finish your work?" The knowledge I give you now is elementary. In the future, you will learn something more. God has already started the reorganization of the world. In this epoch of growth, we are under the most favorable conditions, under the effect of the Divine fire. In this fire, the hard things will melt, matter will be refined and God will form out of it a world of a different order. Those who will not finish their development will be sent by God to another place. There is no perishing in the world, one is only deprived of the duty, or work, one is not doing. In our schools, they keep you two or three years in the same class until you can pass it. The same refers to life itself. Now it is desirable that this thought should become central in your mind. It is not important what work you are doing, whether you are a mathematician, or a doctor—these are shadows, forms in life. The essential thing is to sanctify the name of God and to implant the Will of God in your soul. Those who want to be strong must give first place to the following: the name of God, which is the supreme good; the Kingdom of God—in relation to the Earthly life. The spiritual world is connected with the physical world—humans are at the same time spiritual and physical beings. These two elements exist in us simultaneously: there is a bond between the two beings, which keeps them together and directs them. This bond is the soul which is semi-spiritual and semi-material. You can never change this state of things. By the words physical matter I understand the world of forms necessary for the manifestation and genesis of things; by the words Spiritual World I understand those forces which work for the creation of these forms; Soul, on the other hand, implies the conditions that prepare the construction of these forms. Therefore, life cannot be manifested without forms. Every Soul must have a body in the world in order to be manifested as an individual unit. She must have a body so that God can visit her. Can you invite guests, if you have no house? When a man wants to marry, he first has his house made, as the birds who want to lay their eggs first make their nests. Do not take my words in their literal meaning. Every person must have house, but where must it be built? In the spiritual world. They will not receive you in heaven, if you have no house; there you must have a house by all means. Growing implies the idea of having a garden around your house with flowers and fruit-trees to decorate it. In order to grow, you should forget your shadows, your misunderstandings. All things existing in the world today are shadows; when you fall asleep for a long time, everything will disappear: France, England, Germany will disappear in your mind; there will be no wars; you will forget all about sugar, rice, your debts, you will forget everything. Why? Because all these things are shadows. To know a person in the real sense of the word, you should love them. Only those who love know people. Someone may say, "I love, but I suffer and fear." Since you fear, you have no love. Love does not tolerate any fear. All contradictions, of one kind of another, cause unpleasant troubles for people. However, the human spirit cannot develop without hardships. This teaching should be preached to open-minded people today. Only then will your home be freed from the sufferings which are essentially fictitious. There are magnetizers who hypnotizing a person draw a line before them and tell them they can go only that far and meet a wall on their way and the hypnotized person actually cannot pass that line where the other people do not see any wall there. When the magnetizer blows, the wall disappears. Now the devil has raised such a wall in the minds of people. He has drawn a line and they see many obstacles and hardships which are in fact shadows, not reality. Everything in the world is possible. How is everything possible? For instance, if you have been hungry for several days and pray to God for a piece of bread, He will give it to you, but if you want from Him 7-8 loaves, He will not give them to you. These are true facts which you can test yourselves. People should give up their greed and not desire more than what is necessary to them. If you have one kilo of sugar, be content with that, do not want more. Can all people be millionaires at one and the same time? As the growth of a tree has its limits, so people have a limit of growth on the physical plane: when they come to the age of 21, they reach a height after which their body stops growing, but the mind, soul and spirit continue their development. These are great things which you will understand when your eyes are opened. You must pray to God to open your eyes as Elisha, one of Israel's prophets, did. One night the Syrian king sent a great army against Elisha to take him and bring him to the king. When Elisha's servant saw the great number of the enemy's army, he was scared and said, "What shall we do now, my master?" "Fear not for those who are with us are more than those who are against us." Elisha prayed that God might open the servant's eyes to see all. Then the servant saw the forest around Elisha full of horses and carriages. When the Syrians approached him, Elisha prayed to God, saying, "Smite these men with blindness." Then Elisha led them to Samaria and said, "God, open the eyes of these men that they may see." God opened their eyes and they saw they were in Samaria by the king of Israel. When Israel's king saw them, he asked Elisha, "My father, shall I smite them?" But he said, "Do not smite them but set bread and water before them and after they are fed, send them to their master." People today ask, "What will become of us?" Those who are with us are more than those who are against us. Who are against us? Our thoughts and feelings—our shadows which we have been creating for years! Say to yourself, "I have created these thoughts—these wolves and bears—and I am not afraid of them." Some say they have strong faith. They can test the power of their faith, if they were placed among wolves and bears in a menagerie. If you fear, if you are tempted and yield, if you hate—God is not with you. The Christians must be heroes. Heroes are necessary for this world. You must bear up all misfortunes and say, "May the name of God be sanctified and may God's grace come!" You will say that so many people have died. In my view they have not died, but have been raised up. I would wish to go with them. It is a glorious thing to go to Heaven! Some people are afraid of death. They love God, but when death comes they call the doctors. God is not with them. When death comes, say, "I am coming, Lord, prepare new work for me there." I do not want anyone listening to me today to fear. Enter the place of your lions, tigers, snakes and pat them. Until you learn to pat the snakes and the crocodiles, God cannot be with you. Take as an example Daniel who did not suffer among the lions, but said, "God, Who is with me, will tame the lions." When you are among your lions, I wish you would call to God to shut their mouths. Be resolute and not faint-hearted! Now equality and brotherhood should be preached everywhere, not only seemingly, but in practice. Scientists and great people must set an example of how we should live. You may be a chemist, an astronomer, a judge, a priest—harness all your forces for the good of humanity. We are not far from this—the fire is coming, there will be a great heating, but be unafraid: those who are with us are more than those who are against us. Let all people know that God is coming into the world to restore order, Lawfulness and justice. And you men and women who are given these lovely names by God, will submit to the new order. There is not better name in the world than man and woman. But now both men and women complain of their state. The men say, "Woe unto us who were born as men to go to war!" The women say, "Woe unto us who were born women that we should bear children!" It is not woe unto anyone; on the contrary, it is a great blessing that you were born such as you are, destined for so great a work! Reconcile yourselves inwardly. "How can we do that?" Do not say anything about anybody! Be reconciled in your soul with all your brothers, with all the subjects you have! Call to God that His name may be sanctified and His Spirit glorified in you and that you may grow up to fulfill what God has assigned to you! You will not die; from now on good conditions for gaining knowledge are coming, you will study astronomy, mathematics, and so on. Some say that mathematics is a very easy science; everything is implied in the numbers up to 10. But how many million relations there are among these ten numbers! Some say: "We should be good," that is 1; "we should be just," that is 2; "we should be loving," that is 3; "we should be wise," that is 4; "we should be truthful," that is 5. We have come to five. "Let us be good and just," it is 1 and 2; "let us be good, just and loving," it is 1 and 2 and 3; "in addition, let us be wise," it is 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. No, this is not any science. In the number 1 we must understand the Law of one, the soil, the elements; we must make use of chemistry and see what grows in the one and then say: there grow apples, cherries, grapes, wheat, rice, cabbage, carrots and so on. This one will determine what elements are needed for the apples, for the pears. In our mind we say, "Let us be good." To be good, we should work. We can be just too, but we must work. Good, Justice, Wisdom—everything comes from above. You say, "We want to be good." Come to me and I shall teach you how to be good. I shall take a nail and when I heat it up, it will become good. Where is the hearth? It is in your heart. Take the bellows and coal, start a fire and put the nail in it—your thoughts—and heat them up. This is the process by which we must work within ourselves. In this sense, Christianity is an alchemical science. You listen to me and say, "My heart is heavy, I am sad." Why? Because you have closed your windows and do not allow the Divine Light to pass through them. God can live in you, but you have not opened your windows to let Him in. If sometime He slaps you, say, "God, I thank You for visiting me." Interpret your husband's slap the same way. Why do you thrash the walnut tree? That the nuts may fall from it. So God comes to you and asks you, "Have you any fruit to give me?" If a brother slaps you, invite him to your house and set for him food and drink. What food? The food of the new spiritual teaching. If you teach him the new teaching, he will pick the walnuts by his hand; otherwise he will bring them down by throwing stones at them. It is like this everywhere today: men, women, teachers, students, priests, preachers—all are throwing stones at each other. The present sufferings are a great blessing for people. I thank God for many things: I thank Him for being the King, so I can be a servant. Since He is King, that is the greatest blessing for me and for others. Now you are servants, but if you want to be real kings and queens in the future, apply the Divine teaching. Every morning when you get up say, "God, I thank You that I am alive, so I can serve You today." How do you get up in the morning? Some get up with their face up, others with their back up. Take care of the children, how they get up in the morning. Never get up with your back up. What must be your first thought after rising? Say, "God, bless my soul. I thank Thee for waking me up today to finish my work the way I should, wherever I may be, and to be able to grow as much as it is necessary." This is the first basic teaching. But what do we do? If someone is a teacher, they say, "Oh, today I have to correct 40-50 notebooks!" If they are a judge, they say, "Today I have so many Law-suits!" If they are a preacher, they say, "I must hold a sermon today, but have not prepared anything yet." If one is a mother, she says, "Why are all these children crying now?" In such a case, God is not with them and their work does not go well the whole day. Blow and say, "Hwuu-u-u! God, purify me of all evil thoughts and bless my soul!" Try this. Some say, "God was so merciful that He shed His blood for us and was nailed to the cross." How was Christ nailed? With His head up. That is why when you get up in the morning, you must rise with your head up, not down. And when you go out, show your head to God, not your feet. Go out with your head first and thank God in your soul. If you observe these rules, all Spirits of Light will be around you, you will acquire power, Wisdom and grow. God makes things grow. Now, do you know why I am telling you all this? You must know that God does His work through people. And when I speak to you, you say, "Mr. Dounov says so." What I am saying to you has been said above, the whole heaven says it. I repeat that God is coming to purify the Earth by fire, to take off people's old rags and give them new bodies with love in their hearts, to uplift their minds and take away from them all malice and hatred. This is what the Divine teaching proclaims in the new epoch. When you rise in the morning, make an experiment, say, "I thank you, God, for the great grace You have for us. We know You as all-merciful, all-truthful, all-wise." Repeat this every morning for one month, then come to me and tell me what the temperature of your soul is. This is the whole secret. If you repeat this for ten months, it will be still better. This is the A—the beginning. In the past, when I was at your age and was learning this science, after rising in the morning, I started thus: "I thank You, God, for everything You have given me and taught me." You start the same way. This is a great teaching. If you do not start with it, you will be in eternal darkness, an eternal gloom around you. If you apply it, God, the angels and the saints—all will smile at you and help you to become Children of God. You will be ready to endure 4,000 blows on your back for your brother, so when Christ comes you will say, "Let Him take my place, I shall bear the rest myself." I understand this in a figurative sense and thus I speak. Spread this teaching among the nations! Only this way will every nation be able to ascend. Those who want to try, let them apply this teaching and see its results. It is a positive science. Every nation, every society, every home what works this way will be blessed. These are the good tidings Christ brought for the regeneration of humanity two thousand years ago. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear. Sermon held on January 7, 1917, in Sofia. ______________ 32. II Peter 3:18. 33. William Gladstone (1809-1898), an English politician Chair of the Labor Party. He supported the independence movement in Italy and took a rigorous stand against the 1876 Turkish massacres in the then dominated Bulgarian territories (ed. note). 34. A south-Russian city at the Azov Sea coast (ed. note).

from The Blossoming of the Human Soul THE BROTHER OF THE SMALLEST ONES “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” John 17:17 In the first language (the language of the Virgin Divine Spirit, which is the highest in the Angel hierarchy) God gave a different name to the human being, not the one we know now. This happened at the council of gods chaired by the Lord Jesus Christ, called the Savior of humankind. This council discussed the creation of man and defined his name. The word “man” has been incorrectly translated, but for the present, we will accept it as it is. By “man,” we understand a being who thinks. According to the contemporary ideas of evolution, the human mental process follows two directions: downward and upward. The downward direction of the thought contributes to the formation of the human personality and the human body with its seven layers. The Eastern and Western esoteric schools classify these layers in a different way, yet it refers only to the external, evident side of this teaching. In the core, there is no difference between the spiritual schools. According to the intrinsic meaning of Christ’s Teaching, the human being possesses three essential, unchanging bodies and seven layers. Theosophical literature mentions the seven layers of the human body while the three unchanging bodies are only vaguely discussed. The layers there are called “bodies,” but they are not exactly bodies. “Layers” is a more appropriate name for them. In reality, the human world is transient and the evolution of the world is a Divine process. From the Divine viewpoint, the aspiration of the human spirit is to attain the three unchanging bodies. This concept is so vast and boundless that even geniuses, the great minds of science and esotericism, the upper hierarchies of Angels, and also the upper hierarchy of gods are unable to comprehend it completely, both in the past and at present. By “gods” I do not mean the One and Only God, but the upper ranks of the Angelic hierarchy. Today, however, the word “God” has lost its original meaning and value as it is used for beings who deceive people that they are gods without being such. In fact, there is nothing Divine in them. Free yourselves of this misconception of God. In the archetypal language the word “God” had a special meaning, which has been distorted today. With the distortion of this concept, the human mind also has become twisted. In order to formulate the true concept and understanding of God, we need to return to our archetypal state. Many think of God as a being that changes itself several times a day, as humans do. Even some Western mystics think likewise. This is not meant to be a reproach. It comes as a result of the conflict existing between the groups of Light and of darkness. They have divided humankind into two opposing camps causing the discord and strife that exist in politics, societies, families, individuals, and even in religion and science. These two influences have split the human minds. However, wherever there is division or duality, the Divine Spirit is not there. As soon as you divide yourself and succumb to contradictions, you do not admit God within. This is a psychological law. When I speak of the human being, I am asking you to go deep within and visualize the genuine human being created in the image and likeness of God. This human being of Truth and Love has never desecrated the name of God. Moses, one of the great initiates, said, “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain.”[1] This is a commandment of the first mystic who sought to study the Great Divine Teachings. He strived to sanctify the name of God. This means to be a true human being. Until you begin to sanctify the name of God in its profound meaning, handed down by the Virgin Divine Spirits, you cannot rise higher than your present position. Often I see how people in Bulgaria and elsewhere separate themselves forming groups of great and small, open and narrow-minded, with positive and negative thinking. They say, “We are open-minded, we are not as limited in thinking as the others.” It is good to be open-minded, but be sure that at the same time you do not lack strength of character and sublime ideas. If you go abroad among the mystics or theosophists, you will find out that they are followers of the Brotherhood of Light as they are working for the renewal of the human mind and bringing a new impulse, a new wave of activity of the Divine Spirit in the future. Today theosophists are divided into followers of Besant and Steinerists, called also anthroposophists. In fact, both groups are anthroposophists. However, they do not get along with each other and separate into smaller groups of narrow and open-minded. The followers of Besant are mostly female, while the Steinerists are generally male. Both groups argue also among themselves. All spiritual movements of the Eastern esoteric tradition are led by women, while those of the Western esoteric tradition have men for leaders. This division is notable, but it is only an external aspect. Those who are not enlightened may be tempted and involved in such arguments, which would not allow them to comprehend Christ. Just as in the time of Christ some were tempted, people have similar temptations today. Ever since man erred and in this way distorted the name of God, he has always fallen into temptation. Those who are tempted cannot rise to the position of thinking people and cannot understand the inner, fundamental Laws governing the human spirit. One needs to understand the Great Laws of the Divine Plan in order to change one’s individual and social life, as well as that of the whole humankind. The theosophists call the higher mind “the higher manas.” The natural or lower mind they signify as “the lower manas.” However, there is no mention at all of the middle mind or the “middle manas,” which is the most important. The lower mind is the foundation upon which the human thought is based. This means that it is like a soil, a substance from the mental world. If you are familiar with the makeup of this soil, you will know what seeds to plant in it. Every thought contains a seed of action. Learning and good thinking means to know what seeds are to be planted in the different seasons of the year. It is said in the Scriptures, “Whatever you sow, that shall you reap.”[2] What is meant here is sowing of mind. There are so many false concepts and wrongdoings among people so that if they do not begin to listen to the Great Teacher, they will destroy each other. He says, “From now on, I will not permit anyone to take even a step forward. If they do not change their way of thinking, if they do not sanctify the name of God, they may knock at My door for thousands of years: pity on them! They will reap the fruits of their karma accumulated over thousands of years.” What is karma? It is the consequence of all the bad fruits you have planted in the past. Christ came to Earth with one purpose only - to redeem the humankind. By redeeming I mean teaching people how to sanctify the name of God within themselves and in the world. The foundation of our existence rests upon God’s name. Its sanctification is the greatest thing indeed representing a philosophy of the future. Some complain that no secret knowledge has been revealed to them. What do they want? A weapon to kill each other? In Western Europe, there are various teachings and societies whose members aspire to discover the secrets of Nature. In this respect, they resemble those women who avenge their partners using vitriol.[3] Why do these women avenge them? It is because they have been betrayed by them. Once they have scarred them, these women get satisfied and say, “Now that he cannot be mine, he cannot belong to any other woman either.” There are men who behave in the same way, as well as some religious people. Christ is grieved by people’s actions. God has decided to punish them, if they do not set right their behavior. According to the Divine Law, wrongdoing is no longer allowed. The old ways need to end because a new epoch, a revival is coming. The Virgin Divine Spirit is descending in a circular wave through seven planes; that is to say, through seven worlds. During the first period, or the Saturn period, the Virgin Divine Spirit descended to the mental world and created the mind or the human mental body. During the second period, that is the Sun period, the Spirit descended to the astral world, creating the body of desires. During the third period, the Moon period, the Spirit descended to the etheric field of the physical world, creating the human etheric layer. In the fourth period, the Earth period, the Spirit descended to the lower field of the physical world and created the physical body. In these periods of descent and ascension, the Spirit passed through a Spiritual day and night. In the first period, when the Divine Spirit worked to create the human being in the image and likeness of God, man was free of sin. In the second period, man began to fall. In the third period, man declined to a very low state. In the fourth, or the Earth period, the lowest period of descent, the fall of humankind reached to the end. Why is it necessary for humans to descend and sink into matter? So that they could clothe in all layers, becoming denser and denser one after the other. After that, from the last layer, ascending and clothing in higher and more sublime forms begins. During each period, there is a partial ascension and descent in a wavy line. The final movement will be ascending. All those who are not willing to connect with God will be tossed out of the Divine Day main flow. Then that person will need to wait for another period of descent and ascension, or for another Wave. All those who move upward toward God will enter Heaven, while those who do not, will remain outside of God. The gates will be closed before them and they will hear God’s Voice saying, “I do not know you.” One day, when Christ comes to knock at your door, those who tend only to their personal affairs and trivial things will remain outside without oil in their lamps. They may come to their senses afterward, but the Divine Ship has already set off - it is not waiting for anyone. Therefore, everyone should be ready to board the Ship on time. Talking like this, it is not my intent to moralize, only to explain the Law and what God speaks. God will not stop the Ship for anyone. Thus the Wave continues and especially now, you have the most favorable conditions for spiritual growth. When a negative thought passes through your mind, remember that it comes from your distant past, it is not from the present. It is like someone else’s child; it is a foundling. Do not accept it. I do not want you to send such foundlings, unwanted by their parents, to me either. As a Teacher, I was not sent to Earth to raise and educate such children. To raise a sinner is one thing, but to bring up a foundling is quite another. Sinners, who have come to their senses, repent their errors and make effort to do God’s Will can be saved. It is such people that Christ came to save. Everyone can be saved. A sinner can also be saved but not a foundling, not a child unwanted and ignored by parents, for it is like a serpent; the more it is fed, the stronger it grows. One day it will coil around the human being and crush its bones. For you personally and your future blessings, you should better nourish only the Great thoughts that God has originally imparted in you through the Holy Spirit. Do not nourish the negative thoughts imparted to you by those on the dark side of life. The mother says, “I have a hard time and much trouble with this child, but one day he will take care of me.” No, one day this child will, like a snake, crush your bones and throw you out of this Wave. “Sanctify them by Your Truth. Your Word is Truth.” No one can learn the Divine Law before they sanctify God’s name. When you sanctify God’s name, your thoughts become pure and positive. With them you will create these enveloping layers, where the body of Truth will be conceived and it will set you free. Truth is the first body that you need to work upon at present. The human soul abides in it. Without Truth, there is no freedom. No matter how many tears you shed, you cannot be free if Truth is not with you. Weeping cannot help you in this case. Sometimes it is good to weep, but sometimes it is bad. Weeping is like rain. If you have sown good seeds, they will grow to nourish and uplift you. If you have sown thistles, once they are grown, they will suffocate you. If you weep for God - this is a blessing; but if you cry for the world, it is a pity for you - in this case, you would better have drought. Positive and noble thoughts will uplift you. With their help you will enter the body of Truth and be free. This way you will come to know Christ and He will come to know you. Some people want to find Christ in me. No, you will find Christ in His Teachings. If you would like to know who I am, I will tell you: I am the brother of the smallest ones in the Kingdom of God. I, the smallest one, would like to fulfill God’s Will as due, to sanctify His name as He has sanctified me. God has been so good to me that I, the brother of the smallest ones, want to repay Him with all my gratitude. It is my wish for you to follow my example. Some of you might be tempted to be greater than me, to be ahead of everyone else. This truly is a temptation. Christ said, “It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher.”[4] I too do not want anything else. Just being a servant of Christ is enough for me; I would not exchange it for any other existence. The place you occupy is not as important as how you fulfill your obligations to God. You want to be kings. It is good for someone to be a king, but in some cases there is nothing worse than this. A king may accomplish thousands of good deeds; he may benefit an entire society or nation, but he can also bring it to ruin. This is why Christ said, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”[5] If you want to become great, this proves that you have pride and vanity within. Big businessmen operating with a capital of hundreds of millions usually run up huge debts and sometimes it is quite possible to bring many people to ruin. If you have 100 million and lose it all, you will experience great torment. I take the number 100 because it is a sign for one of the higher Angelic hierarchy. There are no words to describe the anguish and suffering of a businessman who has lost his 100 million. The opposite is true as well; there are no words to describe the joy of a person who has 100 million at his disposal and knows how to use them wisely. The latter is as great as the former is terrible. “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” The first thing to learn from Christ’s Teaching is humility. It is the mother of genuine, positive knowledge. Pride is the mother of temporary, transient knowledge. You may have great knowledge, but if you have also pride, you will be in the position of the deluded brothers who have embraced the darkness. If, on the other hand, you obey the Divine Laws, even if you are among the smallest ones, you will have progress. If you want Heaven to come to you and bless you, you need to be humble in the highest sense of the word, not in the common sense as it is being preached to you. Humility represents a Beautiful Angel and a Great Spirit. Whoever has seen it has come to love it. All Divine Virtues which the human soul and spirit long for are conceived in humility. The Angel of humility brings forth compassion, that is the child of Love, being the youngest daughter of God. Love abides among the Virgin Spirits and promises a bright future to the entire humankind and all who seek it. If you want Christ within you to be immortal and powerful in order to uplift you, you need to allow unconditional Love to flow from your soul. It means placing Christ in the highest place within your soul and sanctifying His name within your heart. Some think that they are close to Christ. Only the small one, in other words, whoever has learned the art of becoming small and humble, can be close to Christ. You say that you would like to be like Christ, but at the same time you want to command. In order to be like Christ and close to Him, you need to apply the Law of Selfless Service and to think rightly; you need to answer hatred with Love and wrongdoing with good. No matter whom you serve - this or that person, you are serving God. Names are important only if they correspond to their true meaning. The name Christ is not singular as it has a collective meaning. Christ is like the air and light and everyone has the right to benefit from it. Learn to think in a rational philosophical way. Do not be deluded by the external form of things or by superficial words. Seek the hidden behind the words. If I have thought like you, I would have descended from where I am standing now a long time ago. “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” Now I want you to advance moving upward in a straight line in order to sanctify the name of God within. God’s name will uplift you to be, as Christ has mentioned, His partners and inheritors. Today I would like to shed in your minds and hearts the Divine Light through which you can free yourselves from all negative tendencies. The sword of Spirit is raised and those who oppose the Truth will have a hard time. We need to fight with the weapons that are described in 2 Corinthians 10:4–5, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” This is theosophy, esotericism, spirituality, Divine Wisdom. I would like you to take the following verse as a motto, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God.” Only in this way can you free yourselves from the intentions of the lower manas, from the wrongdoings, which people continue to pay dues to even now. Christ said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”[6] The lower manas is the Caesar in man. This verse means that while you are paying dues to the lower manas, do not forget to pay your dues to the higher manas too. What does it mean to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s? It means to destroy the bad seeds so that they may no longer grow and get rid of all impure thoughts, saying, “Here you are, Caesar, take what is yours.” Then you will be able to embrace the Sublime Divine thoughts and store them in the Divine granary of your soul, saying, “Here you are, God, take what is Yours.” Afterward you may enter your inner secret sanctuary and say a prayer to God without mixing what is Caesar’s with what is God’s. Mixing them is not a genuine prayer. The prayer is powerful and effective only when the heart is pure and surrenders entirely to God. Only when the fire of the human heart burns vigorously does your prayer reach God. Can you imagine what an experience it will be to feel the Divine presence within your heart? An American once listened to Camila Russo, who was a student of Paganini, to play “The Dream of Life” and said, “At that moment I was ready to make peace with the whole world and to forgive all my enemies.” This American had listened to many prominent preachers, but no one had as deeply touched him as Camila Russo did. Therefore, when humility enters your hearts, then you say, “Lord, we are ready to forgive everyone.” I ask: Have you heard the voice of humility? As to me, I have. I do not know any other music to be more beautiful than the song of humility. What harmony exists in humility! What Love flows from the heart of humility! This Love radiates toward the hearts of all people. Every day it sends forth its kind thoughts and comfort to all suffering and burdened people, to the whole humankind. It says, “Be hopeful. I will help you sanctify the name of God in your minds and hearts. I will give you all my blessings.” At present, Christ wants to unite all spiritual societies and groups and religions all over the world. Therefore, you should refrain from judging people; you do not know the true reason hidden behind things. “Sanctify them by Your Truth.” How does God enhance our spiritual growth? Through sorrow and joy. I have walked the path of all human experience; I have listened to the Sublime Divine Spirits. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that all people need to walk the path of joy and sorrow. There is no better path than this. Who dares to doubt this? The path is not so difficult, but most people have served and still are serving the Caesar. A woman complained of her husband, saying, “I do not love him anymore; he has made me unhappy.” But when advised to leave him, she replied, “But who is going to support me?” No, this is no longer a marriage; this is concubinage. Marriage is something sacred and Divine. If you want to enter the Kingdom of God, you are not to complain that God gave you a seemingly bad husband. If you complain, God will tell you, “You have chosen this husband by yourself, it was not Me. You ask Me to improve your husband while you yourself have not improved.” When I mention this, I have in mind women as a whole and not definite or specific individuals. For me, every woman and man are individuals as well as a part of the whole. I use these concepts as real facts, from life itself. Thus, the path of joy and sorrow is the path for attaining patience. The patient person attains great experiences and inner richness. This is the only way for people to comprehend the Great Divine Path and Providence and also for the humankind’s future blessings. If you want to progress this year, never complain. When I say not to complain, I do not talk about the negativities around you, but I have in mind the fact that you should not take them deeply within. Your heart should always remain silent and calm. When someone throws stones and breaks windows, that is not really your fault. But when you, deep inside yourselves, begin to break the windows of your home and throw stones at your soul, I say: Friends, you have not yet learned how to pay Caesar and how to serve God. Anyone can ruin the lives of thousands of beings. Do you know how many centuries it will take to correct people’s mistakes? Sometimes the desire for revenge surges up within you. You tell yourself, “I will smash his head; I will step on him and he will learn who I am.” No, go deeper into yourself and say, “The spirit that has entered me is malevolent. I will acknowledge it and demand it to be silent; I will order it to leave my sanctuary. It must not desecrate the image of God.” You say to someone, “I cannot think well of you.” I am sorry for you. If you cannot think well of your fellow man, you cannot think well of God either. How then will you love God? There are three paths you can follow: the path of Love, the path of Wisdom, and the path of Truth. The last one is the narrow path of Life. Christ said, “There are only a few who follow the narrow path.”[7] However, everyone can walk the path of Love. If you cannot walk the path of Wisdom, take the path of Love. If you cannot walk the path of Love, then take the path of Truth. Therefore, the paths of Love, Wisdom, and Truth are the three paths you need to walk. Do not be upset if no one else is following your path; just go ahead and walk it. The result of all three paths is one and the same. The difference is only in the turns that each of them makes. This is what Christ taught when he was on Earth; this is what He is teaching now as well. If you cannot understand the earthly affairs, how can you comprehend the heavenly ones? If you are unable to understand the easy things, how can you cope with the difficult ones? You insist, “Tell us something great.” You say, “You are our brother.” If you think that I am your brother in flesh, you are mistaken. If you think that I am your brother in spirit, you are right. You say, “You do not love us.” If you speak of the earthly love, I do not love you. If you mean that I do not love you as your Angels do, you are mistaken. There is no other human being all over the Earth to love your souls as me. It is my wish that you love the human souls in the same way. This is the greatest thing that the brother of the smallest ones, the brother of your Angels guiding you in the right direction, can tell you. Do you understand? I know that your Angels are very glad for you today. Do you understand? It was my wish to do them a favor. I came to Earth to serve the Angels and to serve you. When I finish my work, you are going to say that I have gone away somewhere. Where will I go? No, I will go nowhere. I am going to return to the One Who has sent me here and will ask, “Did I fulfill the assignment that was given to me?” If there is still something that I have not finished, I will come again. If I do not finish my work the second time, I will return again until at last I hear, “You have done your work well.” This is the Law for the Small brother in Heaven: to fulfill what God wants from him. This is the great Teaching that you have not heard until now. What I am telling you now you have never heard before. Why not? It is because this Teaching is the teaching of the small angels who have come to Earth to uplift humankind. I am not going to bless you now; I am not going to do that. Why? If I send my blessing and there are still harmful weeds within you, they will flourish. I act wisely according to God’s Law. When the Heavenly brothers see you have sown good seeds, they will send you their blessings so that these good seeds may come to grow and bear good fruits. May God grow and resurrect in you with these fruits and may you sanctify His name! I will rejoice because you will then come closer to God. I proclaim this to you for the New Year, I have not finished yet; I have just begun and you will understand that. What I am telling you is just the beginning. There are many more things greater than this! If you listen to what these small ones are telling you, you are going to experience God’s Power. Wisdom will come upon you, your willpower will strengthen and all affairs in the world will improve. From now on, great work is awaiting the small ones. The Teaching for the Small ones is great. It is the most appropriate Teaching for you. It is the foundation of what the future holds in store for your soul. That is the Divine message for 1917. I do not have in mind the earthly, but the Divine year. I take into consideration several years: 1914, 1915, 1916, and 1917 setting the outline of the New epoch. These four Divine years form a cycle of Divine Blessing. The number 1 in 1917 implies the principle of Justice and 7 - the Law of Tranquility and Blessing. I will leave you now to think about humility, patience, and Love. Through these, try to smooth out the rough edges within you that interfere with the Divine harmony in your lives. Let every one of you, with the help of your Angels, call upon God and ask Him, “Lord, what shall I do for the triumph of the Kingdom of God on Earth and sanctification of Your name among people?” The first thing you will be told is, “Reconcile!” This was the Christ’s message. Read the Gospels by Matthew and Luke. It is said in them, “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled with your brother and then come and offer your gift.”[8] If he refuses to reconcile, take two more people and go back to him. That person who goes to the altar needs to reconcile with everyone. No one can go to the altar without reconciliation before that. You say in regard to some people, “Let’s go and try to reconcile with them.” How can you reconcile with them if they refuse to go to the altar? You need to reconcile! You will offer, “Brother, let us reconcile!” If he refuses, go with two more people. If he refuses again, bring two more. If he refuses once more, go with the whole community. If he still refuses to reconcile, let him be a non-believer and a tax collector. This is Christ’s Teaching. The squabbles that exist at present are not compatible with this Teaching. I do not want to judge anyone. To me, all of you are equal. I am telling you now: the results cannot be good unless you accept this Teaching. Why should unnecessary suffering be caused in this world? The suffering of the past is sufficient enough. Let joy and blessing come to humankind from now on. What I am telling you today is being spoken everywhere. God speaks of it, Angels are saying it too, all light-workers on Earth are preaching the same, and Christ announces it as well. I believe that this will come to pass. As it has been said, it will come to pass and there is not a shadow of doubt about it. We will all meet again one day; of course, not in the same situation as today, but ten times better and still here on Earth. After ten years it will be a hundred times better than now and after another ten years, a thousand times better. After another ten years, we are going to be ten thousand times better than now; after another ten years, one hundred thousand times better; after another ten years, one million times better; after ten more years, ten million times better; after another ten years, one hundred million times better. And at the end of this cosmic period or at the beginning of the next, we will be one with God. My peace be with you. Lecture given by the Master, January 1, 1917, Sofia. --------------------------------------------------- 1. See Deuteronomy 5:11. 2. See also Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” 3. Vitriol is another name for sulfuric acid. 4. See also Matthew 10:25. 5. See also Luke 12:48. 6. See Matthew 22:21. 7. See also Matthew 7:14, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to Life and there are few who find it.” 8. See Matthew 5:23–24.

Note 1 Render to God the things that are God’s And He said to them, “ Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left Him, and went their way. Mathew 22:21, 22. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Unintentionally, Jesus touched a social issue. Should tribute be paid? This is an issue which has been arousing strong feelings for centuries. It can be discussed both in general and in particular. People’s happiness depends on the proper solution of this issue. This is a very tough, complicated problem with ten unknown quantities. It is easy for students to do math problems with one, two or even three unknown quantities. However, when faced with a problem containing more unknown quantities, they give it up. Life, though, offers people problems with ten and even more unknown quantities. It takes thousands of years to solve these problems. All people are baffled and frightened by the unknown. They asked Jesus, “ Should we yield tribute to Caesar?’ His answer was explicit, “Yes, you should.” Throughout the chapter Jesus came up with great ideas, which need a long time to be explored, just like the botanist and the mineralogist will have to examine a plant or a pebble for years in order to study them inside out. It is not easy to come to the profound meaning of Jesus’ verse. There are many Christians who, while sitting in a chair, start contemplating over some issues. Solutions to problems do not come simply through contemplation. The key is hard work. A woman asks, “Do I have to cook for my husband?” Jesus answers, “Yes, you have.” The husband is your Caesar, so you will cook for him. If you cook him breakfast, he will go to work, and you will stay home alone, so you will have the chance to serve God. The woman says, “I wish I were a man.” – Even if you were a man, you would have to render Caesar’s wife the things that are hers. So, there is a Caesar and a Caesar’ wife. If you are a man, you will give Caesar's wife what is hers and to God the things that are God’s. One and the same thing is required of both men and women. In other words, as a human being, you have your duties both to this world and to God. If you go to a ball, you will have to consider the requirements for a ball. The woman has to dress up in accordance with the latest fashion; she should be wearing a white evening dress, special shoes, and make-up. The man will be in a dinner jacket, nice new shoes, and white gloves. – It is not my cup of tea. – Well, if you don’t like it, then you shouldn’t go. Even if you have to see God, you will have to put on a necklace, a tiara, and a bracelet. The necklace is Love. The tiara is Wisdom. The bracelet is Virtue. I have seen women in Romania wearing watches round their ankles. Then, to see the time the woman raises her foot. Many find this shocking. I say, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” You are here on earth – that is what life here wants from you. There are people who get angry or envious; they cannot get used to Life as it is. If you cannot accept it, go to heaven. Those who grumble that sugar is scarce or the bread ratio is insufficient should go to heaven. What are they doing here? Give Caesar what is his - pay him a tribute. This is what Caesar gives – nothing more. Man’s first task is to solve Life properly. It is the solving of this problem that gives meaning to Life itself. One who cannot realise what Life is is nothing but a pygmy, nobody, an insect. The point is not in putting on airs or strutting like a peacock. It is enough to come close to them, to make them look down on you. Do not take offence – this is how they see it. You should not get hurt either, when I am telling you the truth. I say: While here, you should think hard and work diligently to find the right solutions to problems in Life. When God expelled man from Eden, He appointed an Angel to guard it. – What did the Angel keep? – Man’s reason, i.e. the Divine beginning. Reasonability remained in Eden. The Serpent seduced Eve, who ate from the forbidden fruit. Then she gave Adam too eat from it too. So God expelled them from Eden and said, “As you do not deserve Life, you will leave Eden. One day, when you understand Life, you will come back to me.” People want to be happy. There is no happiness for people who squander their father’s wealth. I do not mean to expose you by saying this. I am just trying to make a principle clear. You needn’t take offence. All of you, who are attending this lecture, are not true human beings yet. I can see people dressed in clothes, having a certain appearance and weight, but this is far from being a true man. I think highly of man. There is something great hidden in you, which you are not aware of. There will come a day when the Divine in man will manifest itself, and then you will know what Life is and what man is. Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” By giving Caesar what belongs to him, you will find freedom. Each bad thought or desire is not yours, they belong to Caesar, so you should yield them to him. – Who is Caesar in man? – The devil. You will say, “I got angry today.” Did you render to Caesar what is his? Well, you should. Don’t just give Caesar what is his. You should also render to God the things that are God’s. What is Caesar’s is human. We owe much to humanity. Therefore, we should render to anybody what we owe to him. This means understanding the point in Life. A hermit lived in the desert for many years. Eventually, he decided to see a saint and ask him about the point in Life. The saint told him, “ Go to the nearest village and spend a whole day among the village people. You might learn something from them.” The hermit went to the village and visited the home of a man who was about to leave for work in the fields. The hermit decided to join him. On the way to the fields the villager said, “O God!” He then spent the day toiling the soil, ploughing and sowing and on coming back home for a rest, he said, “O God!’ The hermit came back to the saint to tell him what he had seen in the village. “What did you learn?” – “Not much. I saw a villager who uttered “God” twice during the whole day.” The saint gave the hermit an icon-lamp and told him to go round the whole village carrying the icon-lamp. He warned him to be careful not to spill a drop of oil. The hermit carried out the task quite well and came back to the saint, who asked him, “How many times did you remember God?” - “Not once.”- “Why?” – “All my attention was focused on not spilling a drop of oil from the icon-lamp.” Then the saint told him, “You see, the villager, who is providing for both his family and us, found the time to remember God at least twice during a day of hard work, while you, the hermit, could not remember God even once!” I would like to ask today’s philosophers and scholars how many times a day they remember God. The reason for people’s misfortunes is that they do not remember God. That is why Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s”. I say that you should think about yourselves, about your arms and feet, your heart and mind, about your progress. However, you should also think about what is lofty and noble, about how to improve life in store for you after death. Today’s life is ours; tomorrow’s life belongs to God. How can you be happy if you do not render to God the things that are God’s? People’s misfortunes come through giving only Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. He only takes; he does not give. God differs in that He both takes and gives. He will take the child from a mother, but in a year or two He will give her another better child. A husband abuses his wife. God will take this husband and give the poor wife another, better than the first one. So, you should not be sorry when God takes something from you. He is just, kind and compassionate. He will give you something better in return of what he has taken from you. In this respect God sets an example of giving. Jesus said that your deeds should be so enlightened that whoever saw you should glorify your Father. – Why hasn’t the world improved yet? – Because your deeds do not glorify God. It is the learned and spiritual people that bear the responsibility. There are many learned people here on earth that are far from knowledgeable when they go to heaven. There are many saints here on earth who are no saints in heaven. There are many noble people one earth who are not noble in heaven. Appearance and reality are two different things. One has to distinguish between what is important and not in order to take the right path. One should be free from ambitions and obsessions. So there are four things necessary for man to go straight: to distinguish between what is important and not, to get free from personal ambitions, to have a decent life, and to cherish Love in his soul. The Angel will not admit man to heaven until he builds up these four requirements. God says, “You know how to serve Caesar, but you do not know how to serve Me. Angry though you may be, I still cannot accept you as My servants.” Which musician will agree to teach your child, who still has not acquired basic skills? He will say, “I don’t have the time to deal with your backward child.” By ignoring ignorance, God let the ignorant grope about in their ignorance. Today, when people are better equipped to understand Him, He sends them His Son among them. What does the modern person do? He gets up in the morning, washes his face, combs his hair, puts on clean clothes and starts some other job. His first job is serving Caesar. Then he asks himself, “Should I serve Caesar?” – Yes, you should serve Caesar, because you are in his kingdom – you need to be just. Someone decides that he should not take care of his body. – Who told you this? If you live in a rented house, you should keep it clean and tidy. – I am a holy person. – No matter whether you are holy or not, you should do the cleaning. If you have come here to earth, even if you were a saint, you would have to do the cleaning. A teacher gives a student a poor mark. The student is displeased with the teacher and threatens to beat him. There are many teachers beaten by their students. My advice to the student is to do his lessons to avoid getting poor marks. My advice to the teacher is to check the student’s progress regularly before giving him a poor mark. The teacher should be sensible in all respects. By living properly, both the teacher and the student lay the foundations for better service. God is gracious and kind. If you serve Him, you will serve in Spirit and Truth. All this requires perfection. It is easy to serve God, but only if you have the deep inner striving to do it. Without that striving it will be difficult for you to serve God. You may say, “I want to see God and learn from Him.” – This is possible only if you are worthy of God. A wife gives her husband a hiding several times a day, and yet she is eager to see God. Well, she can’t. - Why? – Because she hasn’t coped with her husband yet. A husband bullies his wife, but he also wants to see God. His way to God is blocked. The husband and the wife stand for two principles that need to be reconciled. If you are a man, you should pay tribute to Caesar’s wife. If you are a woman, you should pay tribute to Caesar. What happens to the man and the woman on the outside occurs inside people too. Caesar and his wife exist both outside and inside man. Many claim that the world is evil. I don’t believe this. What I tend to believe is that it is people who are bad, so whether the world is good or bad is determined by people. The world is just as bad as people are. When speaking about the world, you should mean your personal world and not the world created by God. If you are indisposed, do not think that the same refers to all people. You have no right to infer from your disposition or indisposition about all people. As for the Caesar in you, you should be kind and gentle to him, ready to give him what rightly belongs to him. You will study his character to treat him properly. – He is a tax collector. – Never mind. You will apologise for being behind with the money and give it to him. You should not swear, nor grumble. You will be calm and quiet. If you are short-tempered here, you will be the same in heaven. People remain the same when in heaven. They will be extremely strict with you there. You can be expelled from there only for knitting your brows, or sulking. You can wear your sulky expression here as much as you want, but this is unacceptable in heaven. An Angel was sent back to earth for a thousand years for frowning just once. Caesar is more lenient in this respect. He fails to see the constant frowning and scowling of man. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” This means: Fulfill your duty to God. If you fail to perform your duty to God, you will be pretty much like the American whose chief priority in life was money, but in his death bed he became aware of his situation and told his sons, “Do not follow my example. I lived only for my wealth and now I cannot count on anybody in the other world. So, you should put in my coffin all kinds of money. I hope it helps me.” When he went to heaven, he soon felt hungry and thirsty and stopped at a refreshment stall where roast chicken, fish and fruit were sold. He asked how much the chicken was – “1 rupche1. Everything here costs 1 rupche.” – “Well, it is so cheap here! I can buy anything!” The rich man took out twenty levs and wanted to buy everything on the stall. – “We do not use such currency here. The coin of exchange here is the rupche.” The rich man called his sons to send him a bag full of rupches. On receiving the rupches, he went to the stall to buy something. – “We do not take such rupches here.” And this time they kicked him out. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” This is the only way man can get rid of suffering. Anyone leaving for heaven unprepared tends to suffer. It is important for everyone to live. – How should one live? – Sensibly. There are people who lose their temper at trifles. Learn from the Sun. When you see it in the morning, it greets you with a smile. On setting in the evening, it turns its back on you. Should you be angry at it? You are often cross at each other without a sound reason. You are often angry that someone has not given you a proper welcome. Once a writer visited a rich man’s home to ask for a loan. The rich man pretended not to be at home and told his servant, “Tell the visitor that I am not in.” Although the writer heard the man say this, he did not get angry. One day the rich man needed a favour from the writer. He went to his house and knocked at the door. The writer opened the front door and said, “I am not in.” – “How’s that? I can see and hear you. Don’t tell me you are not in.” – “How strange! I believed your servant’s words. Why don’t you believe me? I am here, but not for you. So, when in future, you go to God, He will say, “I am not here” – “How’s that? We can see you.” – “ I am here, but not for you.” Now that you know this, you should not be angry with the Sun. It neither rises, nor sets. The sunrise and the sunset are nothing but an illusion created by the rotation of the Earth round its axis. Your earth and my earth rotate in exactly the same way. When coming to me, you should know whether my earth is rotating or not; whether my sun is rising or not. If my sun is setting, you’d better not come. Misunderstandings and sufferings occur as a result of untimely visits. Someone died. He died because his sun set. So sorrow suggests the setting of the sun. The sun sets in some direction – it means that one grows old and dies. The sun rises from another direction – one is born. Old age is to the west and youth is to the east. You will say that this is an allegory. No, this is alchemy. One day, when you get to know this art, you will transform according to your desires: you will get old or young; you will become a man or a woman. The same happens at the theatre: the young man becomes old and the old man becomes young. Such is the law of illusions. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Is this the way people act? Is this the way Christians act? There are Christians who do not stick to this law, yet they criticise others. It shows that they have not learnt the laws of the world. The world and people of the world are in their right place; they have their great predestination. I have respect for people of the world. Most of them are sincere. If they have something to tell you, they will say it directly and not behind your back. Most people speak behind your back. If you have something unpleasant to tell someone, you’d better say it in a straightforward way yet politely and candidly. People of the world are fond of sincerity and cleanness. They regularly have a bath, change their clothes, use scents – they love the fragrance of flowers. Religious people avoid doing this as they find it improper. If they do not use scent, they’d better have a bath more often so that they will not stink. We have to change radically. This is what Jesus teaches us in His parables. “On hearing that those invited to the wedding refused to come, the king sent an army to destroy the killers and burn their town to ashes.”(-7) This is what I say: Forget about yourselves and think carefully. You will say that I am telling you off. I am not scolding anybody, as this is not my mission. I am not adept at this. Scolding is a dangerous job. It is quite similar to performing surgery, requiring Faith and Courage. What I am speaking about is calculus. It deals with the numbers from 1 to 10. When you grasp the inner sense of these numbers you will be able to determine your attitude to God and your fellow creatures. The biggest number is the unit. When you understand the unit, you will be able to comprehend all the remaining numbers and ratios. All the other numbers come as a result of the division of the unit into smaller numbers. So, the unit is the tree and the remaining numbers are the branches, the twigs, the leaves, the buds and the blossom of a tree. Not being aware of his worth, man grumbles and loses temper. He does not have the slightest notion of being just a twig, a leaf, or a bud from the tree. No matter how loud his cries are, they cannot be heard. If you are a leaf you should try to get as much sap of life as possible. If you are a small root, you should try to give the tree more nourishment. – I want to know what people think of me. – Being part of the tree means that you serve God. It does not matter whether you are beautiful or not. What counts is what you do as being part of the tree. Do not look down on the fallen leaves; do not judge them. Falling down is not their fault. There is some force that has prematurely torn them off the tree. Nevertheless, they will pay tribute to Caesar. Later they will appear on the tree again, able to render to God the things that are His. This is how you should think. Then you will suffer again, only that your awareness of suffering will be raised. There are two types of sufferings – conscious, when one is aware of the reasons, and unconscious, when one grumbles and complains, exaggerating them. Therefore a clever, religious and cultivated man is one who can cope with sufferings and use them reasonably. My understanding of culture is extensive application of religion. A truly religious person is one who does not live only with the mind and heart, but with the soul, too. Culture suggests thinning out of religion, while religion suggests thickening of culture. When saying that one has to be cultured, I mean that one should thin out by learning about all existent relationships among people and studying the structure of the state along with its regulations and institutions. This is Caesar’s culture. When one gets to the in-depth relations to God and Nature, discerning the insignificant from the significant, then he will be able to understand Christ properly and recognise Him. Jesus taught people to be interested in culture – how to show and apply it. Caesar stands for culture and Jesus represents religion. I say, “ Render to culture the things that rightly belong to it, and to religion the things that you owe it.” Religion is worthless without culture. One should start from the visible, moving step by step towards the invisible. The personality you can reveal as a cultured man will be just the same as the one you will have as a religious person. If you are short-tempered and fond of lying in your cultured life, you will be such in your religious life. Fondness for lying means concealing the Truth. You should be pure and sincere. Such a person can face God at any time. How will you look at a person who is infectious? You give him a friendly welcome, while he is bringing in your home the germs of some contagious disease. You will be utterly displeased with such a man. You should bear in mind that any visit you pay is an appearance in front of God. You should face God clean and pure. There are religious people who are cursed to bear malediction to the world – the most appalling bacillus. All that can be unintentional, yet they have to be wary of danger and clean themselves. Therefore, if you are not in the right frame of mind or angry, do not pay a visit to a friend. You should visit a friend only when God is with you. This is what Jesus taught people. What is Jesus’ teaching? It is a Divine book, from which anybody could read. I am looking through it every day. Some people say that they have spoken to God. It is possible but only if one has reached a high step on the ladder and purified himself. You will say that you are a learned person and you have access to God. You may be knowledgeable about your surroundings, but certainly not about Christ. Your knowledge does not open the path to Christ. One needs humility. Learned as you are, can you tell me how long you will live, how many children you will have and what they will be like? – I do not know how long I will live, nor how many children I will have. – You do not know about things that refer to you. How can you speak then about things that are far from you? You have to study. There is a teaching about the heart and a teaching about the mind. The heart belongs to Caesar, and the mind is God’s. Some times it is vice versa – the mind is Caesar’s and the heart belongs to God. Therefore, you should devote your mind to what belongs to it, and commit your heart to what is pertaining of it. Do not stop the springs. Do not stop the flow of rivers. Correct and clean their beds so that they can flow freely. Do not dry up your rivers. Do not cut down the forests. A lot has to be said to modern people so that they can understand matters according to their stage of development. Consciousness can be revealed in three aspects: mechanical, physiological and psychological. In mechanical consciousness processes run from the inside to the outside. These processes occur in Nature. Many rivers flow into one big muddy river. Processes in the mechanical consciousness are not Divine. The processes in the physiological and psychological consciousness run from the outside to the inside. You needn’t drop the bucket into the well to pull out water. The water flows naturally by itself. Thanks to this outward flow, the mud goes out and the spring gets pure. This is the spring on which Jesus works. It is this spring that He wants you to have. But as soon as you see Jesus’ desire, you block the spring in defiance to Him. In the end, you have to settle for the small rivers flowing into one big river, saying, “I am big enough.” – Yes, you are big but meddled. You’d better be a small and pure spring rather than a big and muddy river. This is the path leading to God’s Kingdom. You should make a free choice. It is up to you to decide whether to opt for the small and pure spring or for the big and muddy river. Your welfare depends on your decision. This is what rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s means. Lecture given by the Master on 31st December, 1916, Sofia 1 An old copper coin, five stotinki Source

Note 1 They Shall Be Taught “And they shall all be taught by God. Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” John 6:45 “They shall all be taught by God.” The implication is simple. To throw light on the essence of God a lengthy, detailed explanation is necessary, as well as profound analysis of the verse. The concept of God is abstract, accessible only to philosophers and learned people. This matter is not known to modern people. You will argue that you are bearers of culture. You are representatives of Aryan culture, the culture of Good and evil. People coming from this culture are not capable of comprehending this verse. If you tell a contemporary that he will be taught by God, he will be baffled, unable to understand how and from where God will come to teach him. What is God? He is the Prime Cause of things. The word cause is prichina in Bulgarian. It contains two parts: pri and china. “China” 1means do in Bulgarian. So God is the one Who does the first things. You, just as all people, are the first creation of God, only not in the same appearance you have now. I mean that your souls are God’s first deed. Your souls are hidden in the outer shell – the body. “They shall be taught.” To be taught one needs an impetus, inner motivation and aspiration after what he is going to learn. A motivated disciple will easily find his master. A lad, cherishing Love in his soul, will easily find his beloved. Therefore, if you have to find God, Who will teach you, He should first talk to your heart, mind, and soul. Then you will find me. What do I mean by “Me”? – the Son. You will say, “I want to be the Father’s Son.” This is the greatest thing. One who cannot serve reasonably to God cannot call himself a Father’s Son. Service is not just to one. You should first serve your soul, your people, your nation, and finally, humanity as a whole. These are duties one has to learn and carry out. This is a great teaching. If you want to become a musician, a good violin player, you need long practice of learning how to position the violin and the bow. You need a lot of practice before you start playing better. When learning to play the piano, you also have to learn how to position the fingers. This is not an easy matter. You might say that it is easy and you can manage, but it is easy to speak of things you have not tried. It is everybody’s task to ask himself whether he is Father’s Son or not. In other words, you should ask yourselves whether you have served God or not. If the answer is positive, the solution to all problems comes easily. It means that you have already learned how to position the bow, and now the next lesson is to learn how to pull the strings. You will say that it is even easier. What is a bow? – To the married woman the bow is her husband. If she has learnt her lesson, if she knows how to hold the bow, then she can get along well with her husband and run the home efficiently. If she starts chasing flies and beating the children with the bow, she is not capable of running the house. Just as the music teacher gives elementary lessons to his students, so God begins step by step with those who want to learn something from Him. He will teach them how to position the bow, then how to position the violin, and finally, he will start with elementary practice. He will say, “Take your violin! Stand still! Start now!” By starting with easy exercises, you pass onto more difficult ones, until finally, you master all positions. This is what being taught by God means. You have come to earth, which is a great school. Those who learn to play will become great artists. Those who do not learn will remain behind the stage. Such is the great law. – Why has man come to earth? - To learn the law of Mercy and Compassion. “They shall be taught by God.” I will explain this verse through the legend about the creation of the world. God made the Heaven and the earth, the plants and animals and decided to have a rest. Shortly, it occurred to Him to create man in order to serve Him as a connection between the Heaven and the earth. Learning about His decision, the Angels came one by one to advise Him what exactly His creation should be like. First came the Angel of Truth and said, “Lord, do not make this creature. It will conquer the world.” Next came the Angel of Justice and said, “Lord, do not make this creature. It will be cruel and merciless. It will think only of itself. It will never sympathise with those who suffer.” Then came the Angel of Peace and said, “Lord, do not make this creature! It will sink the world in blood. Appalling bloodshed will occur as a result of its appearance.” So God gave up His idea to create man. Eventually, the youngest daughter of Mercy came to God and said, “Lord, do as you have decided. Make that creature. Even if all the others turn away from him, I’ll show it how to love and care.” On hearing these words, God cheered up and said, “I will make this creature in My own image.” So, man was created thanks to the Love of Mercy’s youngest daughter. Even today, anyone who knows this daughter is able to keep the image of Who made him. Those who do not know the daughter are doomed to perish. The youngest daughter of Mercy is Christ. You will say, “How can Christ stand for the daughter of Mercy?” Can He be compared to a girl? Christ bears the two beginnings – the male and the female one. By man we mean a reasonable creature that bears one of the greatest God’s attributes – Mercy. It is said, “They will all be taught by God.” What will they be taught? – Mercy. This is a great teaching. It means to have learnt how to move the bow and play beautifully. There will come a day when you will grow from a disciple to a Master, teaching the others. So, you should study Jesus’ teaching as a teaching about the human soul. This is the only way one can know his attitude to God and find where he belongs. Someone will be willing to study astronomy. He should ask himself how astronomy relates to his soul. It tells us about the eternal conditions under which the soul can live in infinite space. Only one capable of mastering the bow can live in infinite space. – You want to adopt the Holy Spirit. - How can this be achieved? – By letting Mercy enter your life. If you fail to do that, the Angels of Truth, Justice and Peace will come to God and say that they were right when advising Him not to create man. When one of these Angels sees that man errs, he says, “I knew it.” Mercy and Good need to work on man hard and continuously in order to restore his initial image. Good in man exists in a ratio of 1: 3. 1 stands for Good, while 3 stands for the three adversaries opposing it. They are delusion, selfishness and bloodthirstiness. You will say that you have never shed blood. There is not a single person who has not shed blood. The last century was a century of bloodshed. However, Mercy, working for elevating humanity, is close. Another culture is to come to this world – the culture of Mercy, which will determine the relationship of man to God. This is the first relationship, the primary art. If this art is mastered, the others will come naturally; all secrets will be revealed easily. The bow stands for human will. If the will is not cultivated, one cannot express his thoughts and feelings correctly. When the will is not built up, life is disorganised and disharmonious. There is order and harmony in one’s life only if will is cultivated. The thoughts and feelings are the tones, which the player conveys through his violin. – Which violin player is admired by the audience? - The one that plays harmoniously. – Why is it so that some men and women cannot stand each other? – Because their violins are not set. – What has to be done so that they can get on well together? – They have to turn to Mercy. It hides the skill of bringing reconciliation to people. You will say, “I want to learn how man was created.” – I cannot tell you about it. I can show you how to hold your violin, how to use the bow, but you will have to practise by yourselves. The bow and the violin need to be of good quality, and your task is to try to accomplish your job. Each man is given a bow and a violin. Each has to ask himself, “Do I use the bow properly? Do I position the violin as I should?” Each of you will find the answer, and if you are not pleased, you will have to correct yourselves. You will position the violin horizontally, i.e. in a passive position of acceptance. – What is it you are going to accept? – The Divine tones. If you tilt the violin, you are in one of the active processes. The tones, produced by your hands are the light rays, which are in constant growth. “They shall be taught by God.” Once you get the aspiration, knowledge will come naturally. If the aspiration is directed upwards, one starts learning from God. Such a person is thought of as musical. The stronger the aspiration, the greater the cooperation. All good people assist such a person. There is not a person in this world that does not respond to the Divine. It manifests itself in the form of Mercy. Where Mercy exists, the soil is prepared. The desert is said to be barren. It is a childless woman. Those who have no children are believed to be cruel. If you are aware of this, you should be wary of cruelty, hindering human development. When Nabuccodonosor conquered Jerusalem, he decided to visit the Jewish temple. When he entered it, he saw that blood was spurting near it. Utterly amazed at what he saw, he called the priests to ask them where the blood was coming from. They answered him that the blood was coming from the victims the Jews sacrificed to God. So, it was animals’ blood. Nabuccodonosor took a goblet full of blood and compared it with the animals’ blood. It turned out that the blood round the altar was not from animals. He insisted on being told the truth. What did it turn out? He found out that years ago, in this region, there lived a pious priest, Zachariah, who often spoke to people that they did not live a decent life. They soon hated him and killed him in order to get rid of him. Angry at hearing this, Nabuccodonosor ordered his people to kill all the priests and put their bodies in the bubbling blood. However, the blood did not stop coming out. Then he ordered his men to kill many children and throw them in the blood spring. The blood did not stop pouring out, either. Nabucodonosor could not understand what kind of blood it should be that would not stop bubbling. In the end he ordered the murder of young boys and girls. The blood did not stop though. “How strange”, he thought, “this is the blood of just one person killed, but his blood cannot be satiated. How will then the blood of the thousands I killed be satiated?” He repented and started crying. A few tears fell on the spot from where the blood was coming out. To his great surprise, the blood stopped bubbling. Just a tear was enough to satiate the blood of the murdered Zachariah. You will ask, “Why does man cry?” What is the purpose of tears? A tear shed from the eye can save one from the crime he has committed. This is the tear of Mercy. Everyone who has learned from Father comes to Me. True culture and true Knowledge start from here. By culture, in broad sense, we understand the knowledge and art encompassing Life as a whole. It includes the manifestations of the mind, the heart, the soul, and the Spirit. Every creature has its place and purpose in this culture. Each creature is given the necessary conditions for its growth. The first reasonable creature that came into existence with this culture was the human being, i.e. man. By man we understand a reasonable creature, able to think. This was a culture in which only men lived. Women did not exist then. – How can life be possible without women? – I am not going into detail here, but I say that this culture can be considered to have been one of the most significant cultures in this world. It is a culture free from sufferings. Man was related to God. God was his mate. In this friendship man acquired much knowledge but became lazy. You will say that old people are lazy. What counts is that it was laziness that made man seek for a companion to help him. He asked God to give him a mate. His desire was satisfied. God sent him one – the woman. The woman came but soon was fed up with Adam. She found him too old and sought a younger companion. She found one in the snake – the black adept. From here the second culture began – the one knowing of Good and evil. The present culture belongs to women. Men do not have the say. A new culture is coming. It will join the two principles of thought and Life. This is the culture of Mercy, or the culture of Love. The first culture was of Wisdom, the second - of Justice, and the third - of Love. This culture will join man and the woman in one. You will say that the merge suggests losing one’s identity. No, it is not so. To merge means to expand, to find harmony and more strength. The Bulgarians keep the motto: “Union is strength.” One word is missing in this motto: “Union in Love makes strength.” You should all aspire after this union – men with women, women with men – union in the name of great God’s Love. You will say that it is one and the same union. No, there are two unions formed – one is with man in the first place and the woman in the second, according to the order of their descent to earth. The other is with the woman in the first place and man in the second. The two unions come together in one place and give Life. Nowadays all people, both men and women, want to live well. Women think of how best to dress up and put on jewellery – diamond necklaces and tiaras like crowns on their heads. That is all good, only that these necklaces and tiaras cannot be kept long – men will pawn them. How many men have ruined their wives! When a young man decides to get married, he is in search of a rich girl. When he marries her, he soon squanders her wealth and leaves her penniless. An American inherited a lot of money from his father, who spent all his life herding cattle. His inheritance amounted to 3 million levs. On seeing so much money, he indulged in eating and drinking and within six months he dissipated the wealth. When this happened, he had nothing to do but follow his father’s career – a herdsman. He tilted his cap, picked up the crook and took to herding. It means that he took up studying Life. Many of today’s women prefer men who possess a lot of money and indulge in eating and drinking. But they soon lose everything and become herdsmen. Being a shepherd means to keep your feelings and thoughts to yourself. Just as the shepherd guards his sheep from the wolves, so each man has to keep his thoughts and feelings pure. The wolves in man are the bad thoughts and feelings, which he sometimes has to keep off. He should keep them at a distance so that they cannot spoil his mood. His pen has to be very stable. God will teach Modern people how to live. He is teaching them now. – How? – Through His thoughts. A noble thought enters your mind, but you are too shy to fulfill it. You say, “A trifle, childish thought has come to my mind.” – It is not childish, it is a Divine thought. – It is for young people. – Let your thought come true and do not be so shy. Divine manifestations refer to young people. The Scripture says that if you seek Wisdom, you will find it in old people. If you seek Strength, you will find it in young people. Man is old; the woman is young. They have to unite in order to create harmony in Life. Man is the first violin in the orchestra, and the woman is the second. Man and the woman are the two principles, complementing each other. However, a human being can be a man and a woman at the same time, a woman and a man. The woman says, “Why am I not a man?” She does not know that a person bears the two principles. Therefore, man is prone to errors. – Why does one err? – Because of the free will. If one does not know how to use the bow, he will play out of tune. While listening to such a person, you will say, “Here is one who does not know how to play, and yet he wants to teach us.” Many of you ask, “How can we understand what the present culture is?” Go to the country to see how the peasants treat the cattle working for them. Go to the bakeries to see how bread is sold. Visit the families to hear their shouts and cries. This is the culture of bitterness and fierceness. Whoever you meet, you will see hollow eyes and a pale face, as he is demagnetised. What culture is this? Today Mercy teaches people how to apply Mercy and Strength. This is what Jesus’ teaching boils down to. This is what Christ does on descending to earth to teach people. Some expect Christ to descend to earth accompanied by a host of Angels. What is an Angel? Man has a physical body, a body of desires, and a mental body. The Angel, though, is deprived of a body of desire, as a result of which an Angel cannot err. Therefore, Christ is accompanied by Angels and saints, i.e. people without a body of desires. If you want to become an Angel or a saint, you have to give up you body of desires. It is preached in churches that Christ is coming to punish people. It is not the case. Christ will come to put everything in this world in order. This is the only way for the world to get instantly straight. What does instantly mean? - At the blink of an eye. When does one blink? - When shutting and opening one’s eyes quickly. So does the cat when it wants to show the mouse that it no longer has a body of desires, so the mouse should not be afraid of it. The mouse is misled to believe the cat and keeps entering and leaving the hole until it falls prey to the cat. People who pray do just the same. They shut their eyes pretending not to see anything and say, “O Lord, we do not have a body of desires. Give us what we need.” When they receive an answer to their prayers, they open their eyes and forget about everything. Man should get rid of the unnecessary desires and the constant complaints about not having this or that. Only then can God teach him what he needs. Man should get rid of the body of desires. If two lads happen to be in love with one the same girl, how will they solve the problem? Today the usual solution is murder. Would it not be better if one of them gave up the girl to the other and loved her at a distance? There are cases when a wife does not love her husband and falls in love with another man. Or just the opposite, a husband does not love his wife and falls in life with another woman. The one who considers himself abandoned finds this wrong. Well, it would be far better if both spouses loved each other, but Love does not obey human laws. It would be good if the wife loved her husband, but how could it be possible if he beat her every day? A prominent English reformist, John Wesley, got married. Since he communicated with many people, both man and women, his wife was really displeased with him and started beating him. On the third day of his marriage he told his friends, “It’s no use getting married.” Such are the relationships of the people of today’s culture. This comes as result of the desires of the physical body of man. When the child is small, he or she is placid and meek, without any desires. As soon as the child starts developing the body of desires he or she becomes recalcitrant and self-willed. This is especially noticeable at the age of 7 to 14. From then on children begin maturing. When they grow up they work more with the mind, become sensible and between the age of 28 and 30 they are already conscious – they are already in search of God and Jesus. Now I am offering you the new Teaching, which will lead you to Jesus. I have been observing people’s Life and what I see is disharmony reigning everywhere – at schools, in societies, at home. This gives me anguish. Nowadays people are constantly having rows – husbands and wives, students and teachers, vicars and parishioners. This makes all these people martyrs. – Why are they martyrs? - Because they have given priority to the body of desires over God. Nobody listens to God now. All people want to be happy, educated, clever and rich. If you distribute all the existing wealth, only a sum of 40 levs will go to each living person. Can you be happy and content with 40 lv.? You will say that what you need is at least 40,000 lv. per month. Where can all that money come from? You will have to take it from someone in order to make yourselves happy. That cannot be a solution to the problem. The key to the problem is hard work. If you work hard, you can have anything; if you do not, you get nothing. This law is true only in this physical world; it is not applicable to other worlds. Try this: Instill in your minds the idea that you should work only with Love for God. You will see that you will accumulate considerable wealth within a few years. If this attempt fails, come to me and I will pay all your debts back. I am ready to do anything to prove the validity of this law. If each nation were determined to serve God, there would not be any wars. By not serving God, today’s people destroy everything they have created. There will come a day when they will become aware of their fallacies. Now they have nothing to regret. They act in accordance with the law of necessity. What is important is to avoid such destruction in future. I would like the Bulgarians to be the first to set an example. Let the priests commit themselves to serving God with Love. If they want, they can approach me. I shall pass this Teaching onto them so that they can preach it. I am ready to go somewhere else, relinquishing to them all my rights and privileges. I find it important that the Bulgarian people be spiritually enlightened and able to take its due place among the other nations. If all adopt this Teaching, their ways will go straight; their schools and families will be improved. Then it will be a real pleasure to cross the country, which will be like a paradise. You will be walking across the country happy and content that you are in service to God. Wherever you pass the trees and flowers will blossom smiling at you, the fruit will readily and gladly welcome you. Boys and girls will be greeting you with Mirth and Joy. The air will be alive with songs and plays. I have nothing against playing. Everybody will be dressed up and groomed. I am not against decoration. You can wear jewellery, necklaces and tiaras; you can wear crowns, but everything has to be done with Love. This is what being taught by God is. Religious people today expect Jesus’ Second Advent on earth. This is impossible. He has already tried people’s love. A Russian governor said once that if Jesus ever happened to come again, he would arrest Him. Jesus knows this. If He enters a church, the priests will chase Him away, saying that any prophet or preacher who comes after Christ, will be Antichrist or a false prophet. You will say that Jesus might come as a king. Well, are the kings so few that Christ should come as a king? If He came as a king, He would raise turmoil among the nations. Jesus’ kingdom is not one of this world. The kings now take their proper places. If they, along with their subjects, followed God’s will, people would be happy. This is what the verse “They shall all be taught by God” means. “They shall be taught by God.” This is the basic principle in Life. – How will they be taught? – By serving God. Mercy has a bearing on service. You should set your hearts on serving God. This is the new Teaching anybody can apply. Before you take to serving, you should reconcile the man or woman in you. You will tell them, “You will either get reconciled to serve together, or you will leave my house. Just as the wife issues an ultimatum to her husband to give up having affairs or she will leave him, so you will embrace the new Teaching and serve God with Love. The female in man should obey the husband, but the male in the woman should obey the wife. Such is the Divine teaching. The left half of any human being is female and the right one is male. The left half is smaller than the right one, i.e. the male part. These two principles can be seen in the human hands, face and eyes. The left hand and the left side of the face are female, while the right hand and the right side of the face are male. That is why the left part of the face is more delicate than the right one. The light coming from the right eye is harsher than that of the left one. The lower lip is female and the upper one is male. The lower part of the nose is female and the upper part is male. A long nose is male and a short one is female. If there is something rough in the male or female part of the human body, it is a result of former cultures. The first culture formed the length of the nose, and the second culture – its length. This is how the cross was created. “You will be taught by God.” Those of you who are already taught by God should observe yourselves in order to note which part of you – the male or the female one is indisposed. If you get angry, you should know that the woman in you is to blame, because anger as a vice is pertaining of women. If you are proud, it is the man in you who is at fault, because pride is typical of men. If an anger-prone woman and a proud man gather, they can set a house on fire. We do not need such people. This cannot be judged, nor explained. By man and woman I mean services to humanity. When you enter the third culture, i.e. the culture of Love, then you will understand what man is and what a woman is. Then you will become aware of their origin. Now I would like to discuss Mercy. Although this word is of neuter gender, it actually represents a woman. Mercy is the noblest feature of man living on earth. I am speaking of the Mercy of today’s society, of modern Christians, the Mercy of you, who are listening to me now. I am speaking to those who have been seeking Christ for two thousand years. I am teaching you, because you all want to be happy. I want you to be happy, too, to be taught by God. You want to be strong, and I want the same for you. You cannot work unless you are strong. The Mercy I am talking about is not an abstract notion, nor is it dead. It is real and alive. It descends to earth every day. It is the first ray that awakens you in the morning. It is Mercy that first gives you the idea to work. If you do not take its advice, you will make a mistake. It whispers to you what to do, but you put it off. Mercy tells you, “There is no time to put things off.” If you put things off, you will miss the opportunity. New opportunities for work lie ahead. If you do not sow, you will have nothing to reap. “They shall be taught.” - By whom? – By God, by the Prime Principle, which is within you, teaching you. Then comes Jesus, the second principle, Which determines your relationships. Finally, it is I who teaches you. I suppose you think that I have come to proclaim some denomination. No, I have come to teach you how to work. Where are you going to work? In church, at school, at home, in society. Once you have learnt how to work, anything you achieve will be yours. When the master learns how to thank his servant for the work accomplished, then he can call himself a Father’s Son. Being a Father’s Son is not an exclusive privilege. You can all be Father’s Sons. If you do a small favour, you should not expect any reward. May you show Love and rise from the dead. I will write out from the book of Life all men and women, all teachers and judges, all priests and preachers with old-fashioned, conservative views. God bless the good preachers, the good mothers and fathers, the good daughters and sons, the good teachers who are eager to accept the new views. They will be taught by God. God bless you! Lecture given by the master on 24th December, 1916, Sofia 1 I in china is pronounced , not [ai] Source

Note 1 Save Us And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, and “Lord, save us We are perishing!” Mathew, 8: 24, 25 Now, you will ask yourselves what it was, after all, that the boat contained. Then, the Sea of Galilee is not that big – it is just an ordinary lake, though when Christ lived, it was one of the biggest ones. I would like you to focus on three elements in this verse, namely, the boat, the disciples, and Jesus. The boat is the human body, the disciples stand for the Astral world, and Jesus represents the highest principle in people, while the lake symbolises Life, it is the world. This is an analogy from which we want to infer a law, applicable in Life. In my opinion, anything that is not applicable to Life is a hypothesis, a conjecture. Anyone capable of comprehending this teaching will be able to apply it in Life. If you apply it at a time when the sea is stormy and you say, “It is over! We are perishing!” then you will have to wake up your Master, i.e. the highest principle, sleeping within you. When you chatter idly, your Master is asleep; when you are angry, your Master is asleep; when you are bored, your master is asleep. When your burden is so heavy that you cannot bear it, you awaken the highest principle, saying, “Get rid of that load.” Now, can you tell me in which part of Palestine all this happened? – In the Northeastern part, in Galilee. Palestine is divided into Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Jerusalem stands for the inferior principle in man; that is why, Christ was crucified there. Everybody bows before Jerusalem, especially when having chicken and wine on the kitchen-table. It is exactly in this Jerusalem where Christ was crucified. There are pilgrims who look upon it as a major honour to go to Jerusalem. It is the greatest pleasure in this world to be invited to lunch or dinner to high laces. Yes, but in this Jerusalem Christ will be crucified. Samaria stands for the psychological beginning, while Galilee symbolises the highest principle. In the semantics of the Scripture lakes and rivers stand for Life as they both move; therefore, there is an analogy. The lake is said to have been rough. It is quite acceptable that the lake is stormy, because it needs renewal, i.e. winds are most welcome, otherwise the waters will remain still. It is movement that brings Life. By the same token, human life also needs movement. It is not bad when your brain, stomach, or breasts surge, because it means renewal, proven by facts. Nowadays diseases come as a blessing. If people did not fall ill, they would fall to pieces and decay. Therefore, the storm has to occur in order to awaken Him, Who is sleeping in the boat. You all enjoy pleasures and are eager to have everything ready, without much effort. You want to have fifty maids and servants, all the money in this world and everything done without you lifting a finger. When I say you, I mean humanity. So, there will be turmoil and misunderstandings in real life. They exist in the state, in church, at home, at school, in trade – practically everywhere. I would like to see a person whose sea is not tempestuous, but if such a person existed, he would be a saint, and not one from this world. That is why, if someone said that he does not get excited, he would be lying. Every human being living in this world gets excited. No matter how elevated one is, he will always get excited, as such is Life. Some tend to believe that when they go to heaven, they will find peace. There will be agitation there, too, only it will be of a different kind. When you experience something pleasant, this is an excitement. When you experience grief, this is also an excitement, though unpleasant. So excitement can be pleasant and unpleasant. If you are clairvoyants observing light, you will see that it is a movement of waves. There would not be any light without the movement of these waves. Your brain responds to the ethereal waves, so without agitation, thinking would be impossible. When the energy coming from the Sun reaches your eyes, it diffracts, so you can perceive the light reaching your optic nerve. Light is an act from the psychological world. Movements are physical, but the concept of light is spiritual – it is an act of the Spirit. Therefore, we can see through the Spirit. Now, tell me why Christ was sleeping in the boat. Sleeping is a law. One has to sleep to relax. Tired by His daily work, Jesus got in the boat and fell asleep. However, the winds did not let Him sleep and told Him, “Wake up! You must help these people!” Generally, a storm occurs when one is asleep, i.e. when disasters occur, God is asleep. Jesus is sleeping in the boat, but the storm and the cries of the people will wake Him up. When He wakes up, wars will cease. When Christ raises His hands, the storm will subside, seas will calm down, and the boat will come safe ashore. I will give an example to clarify my thought. On conquering Jerusalem, the Roman military leader Titus entered the temple, looted all its wealth, removed the golden shroud from the ark, took out the parchment with the ten Commandments, and said, “Where is the Jewish god? Let him show his power now!” Loading all the riches on the ships, Titus set sail for Rome. Initially, the weather was fair, but half the way to Rome a severe squall broke out and the weltering sea began tossing the ships. Gritting his teeth, Titus said, “The Jewish god is mighty only at sea so the pharaoh’s servants perished there. I would like this god try his strength against me on land!” The storm abated, the weather changed for the better and Titus noticed the sky clear up. Then a voice was heard saying, “You mean worm, now you will know me!” Titus landed, and quite excited at the narrow escape, asked, “Where is the Jewish god now?” He led his army to Rome, but at some distance from the coast a mosquito entered his nose, wormed its way to the brain and started bothering him. This went on for seven years and though he saw many doctors, nobody could help him. Once, when passing by a smithy, he heard the smiths hammering so heavily on the anvils that the mosquito got startled and stopped bothering him. Titus called the smiths to work at his court, but soon the mosquito got used to the sound of their hammers and began torturing him again. What does this story mean? You may have your inner conflicts, you can loot the shroud, and you can try convincing yourselves that there is no God, but this mosquito will inevitably come sooner or later. While this war is going on, the mosquito will come to both teachers and preachers, no one being able to find a remedy. This mosquito will come to anyone who has violated God’s laws. Some listening to this lecture might say that all this is old wives’ tales, but believe me, you will all experience this. According to the scripture God cannot be desecrated. Jesus will not be crucified a second time. He was crucified once for people’s sake, and from then on it will be you who will be crucified without being helped if you have Titus’ temper and attitude. You have to wake up Jesus sleeping inside you. This is the only way for you to grasp the inner sense of your lives. Each of you has a Jesus inside, which is typical of every individual. But I would like to ask you what Christ is for you. This reminds me of those mothers boasting about their children. One mother will say, “Look at the beautiful eyes of my child! Isn’t my kid lovely!” – “No, mine is lovelier!” another will say. It is not the child’s appearance that matters. What counts is the mind, the wit, and the heart the child has. If you manage to wake up the Christ living in you, He will be able to calm your sea down. He is the God you are seeking. If the sea abates, you are on the right way, holding onto your God. A god that cannot establish peace in your soul cannot be a true god. He can be wearing a mantle and a gold crown, but he is just an idol. From time immemorial man has suffered from his idols. Be aware of them, as they bring on misfortune. So, you will know Christ, because He will bring peace to your heart and mind and will make you important in heaven. You want to be important here, on earth, but this is ridiculous. How important can a root be? The aspiration of a root is to shoot deep downward; therefore, the more important you are, the deeper you go. In other words, the more important you are on earth, the farther you are from God. There are four types of people: good people who do not do any good, bad people who do not do evil, good people who do good, and bad people who do evil. The last two types are constant and the first two are transitional. Which category would you prefer? Which are better than the first two types? These types have to be crossbred and mixed so that they can produce a good result. A woman will say, “I am a good person, but I can’t do good." Arrange it for her to marry a bad man and she will turn into a saint. If you let a bad woman who cannot do evil marry a good man, she will be elevated. This is how these two principles work. The first two types are weak-willed people, while the other two types are people of strong will. Jesus’ disciples are like those who are basically good but incapable of doing good, because they were impotent. “Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him.” Each rest is followed by active life. Since the storm gives rise to the conditions necessary for life to exist, it was crucial for the storm to break out, so that Jesus could appear. Such is the law: Jesus cannot appear without a storm. Some might say, “You are after God, but there is a chain of misfortunes befalling you!” This is the privilege. A farmer, growing a vine, will often check its progress, and prune it, while the vine will cry. Some will say, “I’ve cried my eyes out”. I feel sorry for people who have never cried – it means that they have not been pruned. If God prunes you, it means that He is awake and is going to help you. You will tell him, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” How will you greet God when he wakes up? You can greet Him just like the woman whose husband comes back home bringing something and she tells him off for having forgotten a certain item. When your God wakes up, you will start complaining about something that slipped His mind. He will say, “I should have slept longer, because these people want to sleep in their graves.” From the verse cited above the last line is more interesting: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” By perishing I understand the assimilation of the superior principle by the inferior one. When reasoning falls victim to your stomach, the inferior principle manifests itself. People nowadays are quite happy when they become obese, which, in fact, is the greatest misfortune. Then they turn into a fat pig that is going to be eaten by its master. When you become fat, you will be eaten by the Devil. You will be a mere turkey, while the devils will get together and say, “We have been feeding this person for years, but his meat is worth the effort.” This is death; that is why, you have to wake up Jesus. The disciples awoke Christ to avoid being eaten. This is true both metaphorically and literally. To all who understand religion, it means that an inferior principle can engulf a superior one, which means descending. If you want, you can call this “eating the pig”, but anyway, an inferior principle eats up a superior one. When a man eats up a pig or a hen, it is the superior principle that eats them, but at the same time man lowers himself. When I say that one should abstain from eating meat, it means that the forces of inferior life oppose our life. That is why vegetarian food is better. If one wants to be physically strong, he has to eat meat. If one wants to be spiritually strong, he has to eat fruit and vegetables. If one does not eat meat, it means that Jesus is awake inside him. Under meat I understand all inferior thoughts and desires, comparing them to hens, turkeys, etc. Someone will say that he does not like pork, but prefers poultry, lamb, etc. It makes no difference. You have never asked this lamb whether it wants to be eaten. How many times you have eaten the human lamb! The husband comes back home merry and cheerful, carrying a lamb, but his wife meets him brandishing a knife, spoils his good mood, and so, he loses his lamb. Do you remember how many times you have slaughtered lambs? Someone will say that he has never slaughtered a lamb. You are all lying. God says that whoever gets angry with his brother without a sound reason slaughters a lamb. God will look for these lambs. What I want you to learn from today’s lecture is not to slaughter lambs – this is what I think. When the husband or the wife carries that Lamb, you should greet him or her and give the lamb some feed or water. The Lamb is Jesus, bearing Joy. When Jesus awakes, the five principles are awakened, too – to keep to Truth, to stick to Justice, to learn Wisdom, to make friends with Virtue, and to enjoy Love. Some say that they stick to Justice, but they do not enjoy Love. You should by all means do the five things, as this is the highest principle. Some day, if we are still alive, as long as you do not slaughter me as a lamb, I will talk to you about Virtue, Love, and Justice. The love you have is made of potatoes, and I have heaps of books on it. The Love I am speaking about sustains the whole world and heaven – God and all the Angels live in it. It is immutable and is never in two minds. A man cherishing such Love can see deep. While you are like shallow marshes. I can see that the love some have is 15 to 20 cm deep. Actually, it needs to be 10 or 20 km in depth – or at least as deep as the oceans. Disasters are impossible to occur where there is depth. If our lives are as deep as that, no storm is capable of stirring their water. The Sea of Galilee was shallow, which made it possible for the storm to occur, but such phenomena are impossible in deep places. A person who worries much, no matter whether he is a philosopher or a preacher, has love not deeper than 15 cm. Although many have tried to lie to me, I cannot be misled in these matters. This is the measure I apply to my love. You should find it, too. When Jesus woke up, he said, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” According to the Scripture perfect Love chases away all fears. Disasters do not occur where there is depth. So, when getting married, you should test the person you have chosen. If he or she worries too much, their bottom is shallow and there will be many storms – do not swim in such a lake. Some girl will say, “When I marry him, I will change him.” No, you will find the bottom. Even if he promises you golden mountains, you should not get in his boat. No matter whether he is a preacher, a priest, a merchant, or a judge, you should never get in his boat. Jesus asks you why you do not have that Love. The one who sends you the storm wants to test how great your Love, Wisdom, and Truth are. For example, there are Christians who would not lie for a farthing, but would gladly do so for a shilling. I knew a gentleman who used to say, “I would not lie for 10 or 100 lv., but if I were offered more, perhaps I would.” I, however, would not lie even if I were offered the whole world and all the glory. I would not pluck a hair from my beard; I would not ever lie for all riches in this world. A hair from my beard is worth more than anything, and if I ever gave someone a hair from my beard, it would be because the man is worth it. There are about 250,000 hairs on the human head. By a hair I mean a law. That is why women have long hair. Now you all comb your hair without being aware of these laws. You just think that putting hair on your heads and face is just God’s whim. God knew His business when He gave you hair, but I would not dare reveal His intentions. I would reveal this to you, but before that I would examine you. Do you have an idea what was all that in aid of? Why did Jesus suffer crucifixion? Satan appeared, tempting Him and saying, “I have seen many like you here.” Then he showed Him how people would spit at him and do evil in His name. Then Jesus turned to God and asked him, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Then God spoke deep to His soul, so Jesus said, “It is finished.” Now, some of you have been listening to my lectures for weeks, saying, “We are not doing any good.” I consider you to be good people who do not do good. You say that you do not have the conditions to work and deal with it. God has imparted everything in you, so you should not waste your time. You get in a boat, saying, “We are going to rule the waves.” You need to wake up Jesus, sleeping in the boat. There are a lot of spirits in your mind, scaring you. But the time when God is going to judge you for each word uttered by you is near. At first, He will judge the righteous, and then the sinners. Everyone will appear in front of Him to say what has been done for thousands of years. You may have done just one good deed in your life, but the point is in quality, and not in quantity. When Jesus comes and opens the book, He will see how many lambs have been slaughtered. You do slaughter lambs every day, and as a result, there is no peace in your homes. God, Whom I am speaking about, said, “Let Jesus wake up in you!” Now I am speaking to you, but this is a voice crying in the wilderness. When Jesus wakes up, you will rise from the dead, finding yourselves not in Jerusalem but in Galilee, your sufferings will be over, turning into a pleasant agitation and you will find yourselves in a pleasant atmosphere, favourable for your growth. The inferior and the superior lives are connected; however, the inferior life should be subordinate to the superior one. Do not let your stomach, heart, and mind rule over you – they should be your servants. Lift any desire to serve the Divine Principle. You reckon that you will understand the Jesus I so often talk about, trying hard to see Him. I would like to ask you whether your sea calmed down, and whether you came ashore. No. What you have seen is mock Christ; you have yet to see true Christ. When He appears, you will stand firm on the rock of Virtue, in the frame of Justice, and amongst the true mother of Love, who does not judge and avert from anybody. Love does not divide people into righteous and sinful. It lives both in Heaven and on earth, in hell and above. It enjoys performing its duty wherever it is. You will say, “I can’t stand this fellow.” You are a good person, but you do not do good. Somebody will say, “It’s good giving alms, but really, that’s the limit! I’m not going to be the slave of it!” You are such, too. So, it is time you listened to what Your Jesus in the boat, tossed in the rough sea, is about to tell you. What He is going to tell you should be kept sacred and secret. When I tell you Titus’ story, you say, “I haven’t done it.” But remember the times you get angry, saying that God built the world badly. Then you remove the shroud and happen to be just this Titus who destroyed Jerusalem. You will say, “How cruel that man was!” Remember the times you have defied God, while He said, “You small worm, do you know how you will die?” Some give Him advice – God does not need any advice. If all people understand the world in this way, if they are all able to apply this teaching, Christ will come. I would like all preachers, priests and judges think in this way – to keep to Justice, enjoy Love, learn Wisdom, and follow Truth. This is the only way people can make some progress - everything else is vanity. Only then can everything become meaningful. There is sense in cooking and washing. Someone is doing the washing, complaining, “Why should it be my duty?” For example the daughter-in-law, is doing the washing, saying, “Can’t I get rid of these old folks? It’s one thing washing my own clothes, but why should I wash theirs, too?” No, while washing, you should say instead, “Just as I am going to wash this shirt, I want you, Lord, to clean me!” If I am doing the washing, I will say, “ God, those people stained me! Now, make me clean again!” If I start writing something, I will say, “Just as I am doing this, I want you, Lord, to give me some colour!” Someone will say that the book was stained. A book cannot be studied unless it gets stained. If you examine the word mercy, you will see that the letter M has four lines forming two mounts and a valley. Therefore, to be merciful, you need two peaks, among which the valley lies. Likewise, human life cannot be made up of peaks only; it needs its valleys. The valleys are the dark, shadowy places. Sometimes your eyes are not well. Some weeks ago a young lady came to me, complaining that her lower lids were darkened. She had got it into her head and the thought haunted her. The problem, actually, was that her eyes were a bit popped out and cast a shade at different angles in the light. Similarly, when you see some shade, you start thinking that you are great sinners and nothing good will come out of you. These are just hollows and bulges, casting shade. God has sent you to serve someone, for instance, to take care of some orphans, while your ambition is to become first, to be Prime Minister and run the country. Give me the name of a minister, who has solved the problems of Bulgaria, England, or Germany. When your God wakes up, then all storms will abate, and you, along with Him, will have the power. You cannot do anything without Christ. Christ has to wake up so that you can be strong. And He can wake up only in five possible ways – when you are with Virtue, Truth, Justice, Wisdom and Love. Now, will you be in two minds if you are offered 1, 5, or 10 million levs? Imagine you were given all the riches, would you hesitate then? You might remind me of that quarryman who lived at the dawn of Christianity in Egypt. At the time a pious hermit lived, who used to weave baskets and sell them in Alexandria. On the way back from Alexandria he always met a poor quarryman, who invited him to his house, washed his feet, and offered him food. The hermit felt sorry for the quarryman and decided to ask God how to help him. God allowed him to help the poor man but only if his life would change in some way. “Well, will his life change if I offer him some money?” asked the hermit. “Well, I’ll show you a place where there is some money buried. Find it and give it to the quarryman.” The hermit found the money and gave it to the quarryman. The latter rose in life, built a huge house and soon became a grand vizir. One day the hermit met the former quarryman, who had become so important that pretended not to see him. The hermit, who was deeply hurt, walked on, but soon, met an Angel who gave him a nice hiding, saying, “It is you that lost a soul!” Then the hermit started praying to God to help him save the Quarryman’s soul. There followed rumours and plotting against the vizir, who as a result, lost his fortune and ended up cutting stone again. One day he saw the hermit and talked to him, “You know, I recognised you the time when we met. I only was too proud to say Hello. Pray to your God to give me some money again.” The hermit answered, “I do not want to be given another hiding.” You are pretty much like the hermit as you tend to give priority to the inferior, but the Angels will come and beat you, so you will have to raise the superior in man then. I am telling you all this, because I want you to be as virtuous, just, true, and wise as is God Himself. In our lives we should do just as God does to us. We are often discontent, but he sends us His blessing. It is always we that are the reason for our misfortunes. I shall give the following example: Once Nessredin Hodja climbed a tree and started hewing the branch on which he was sitting. A passer-by saw him doing this and warned him, “Don’t do this, or you will fall.” – “How do you know?” asked Nessredin Hodja and went on sawing the branch. And, indeed, on cutting off the branch, he fell on the ground. Then the hodja rose and ran after the fellow to ask him, “You told me I was going to fall off the tree and you were right. Now, tell me when I will die.” The man answered, “You will die in three days. You should dig yourself a grave under a pear-tree. You’d better lie in it and wait to die.” Nessredin Hodja took leaves with his wife, found a tree, dug himself a grave, lay in it and started waiting to die. Pears were falling off the tree and he ate them. Three days passed when a caravan of camels came along. On seeing him, the animals got frightened and ran away. The angry herdsmen caught him and gave him a good hiding. So he came back home, where his wife asked him, “How did you find the other world?” – “It’s really nice there. Pears fall right into your mouth, but if you frighten the camels, then it’s a different story.” You too happen to frighten camels, have a mosquito in the nose, or cut the branch on which you sit. Wake up Jesus, and He will teach you how to live. The highest principle has to come and free you from slavery. You are all slaves to each other: the husband waits for salvation from his wife, the wife from her husband, the daughter from her mother. Do not trust in people; wake up Christ in the boat and you will get to grasp the inner sense of everything. When the disciples saw that Christ was capable of calming the sea down, they realised that He had the power to control the inferior principle. May your Christ wake up and lead you to your Peace, give you Wisdom and Knowledge so that you can carry out the mission God assigned to you. Lecture given by the Master on 17th December, 1916, Sofia Source

Note 4 Wisdom "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." Letter of James 3: 17 I will take this verse in reference to the foundation of life. How does Wisdom relate to human Life? The relation between Wisdom and human Life is as that of a mother towards her child. What would the child profit from if the mother was ignorant? We can never reach that profound, inner understanding of human Life. It has a double meaning - a wider and a narrow sense. In a narrow sense it is transient Life, in a wider sense it is eternal Life. We said that the relation between Wisdom and Life is like that of a mother to her child. Therefore, you would be incapable of beginning your life unless Wisdom takes the role of a mother. Apostle James defines Wisdom, defines one of its qualities, one of its attributes, which is namely - Purity. If there is no Purity, there is no Wisdom. The same way as a mother who does not love her child is not a mother. So, if we have Purity inside us, we have Wisdom. This is the first connection and all success in Life depends on this Purity and Clarity. Clarity and Purity are synonymous. That is, if our eyes do not possess purity and clarity, then what are we to do if we begin on a long journey? We would come upon many hindrances, of course. Therefore, if you have obstacles in your life, it shows that wisdom lacks its main attribute - Purity. So we should elevate Purity. It is also necessary in science. All Great teachers who have come to enlighten the world have had this Purity, i.e. have possessed Wisdom's main quality. Purity suggests that there should never be any desire and passion in the human soul. One of the main characteristics of Life are Passions. They stand like a hoop around our brain. Situated three fingers above the ear are the human feelings and emotions. People who love literature have emotions. Feelings make up the highest level of human life. By feeling I mean that a man is listening, i.e. to have feelings means to hear. In a Divine sense to feel means to hear, to experience the slightest nuances of feeling that a man is capable of. When eating, when reading, when writing we enjoy what we experience and feel. This is Life; beyond these experiences everything is invisible. James says that the main quality of Wisdom is Purity. And then, Wisdom is peaceful, its surface is still, calm and unruffled. What kind of people get unsettled? The people in whom passions prevail, people who exist at the base of their brains - above their ears. This area of the brain is connected with the olfactory centre, and when you pass by a restaurant you feel like eating some meat and having a drink. So you come down from a higher level and start thinking of having some chicken, beef, some wine and other stuff, and when all this fills your mind, your Wisdom is gone. Then woe to the cook who has not prepared a good meal! Half of all troubles stem from this little centre in the brain. This is Epicureanism. Such people could say that Life has no meaning. A person should be a scholar or a banker in order to feed that part of the brain. And after feeding it for fifty, sixty, one hundred or more years, it finally breaks, the watermill falls apart, loses its trade and people go to another watermill. Since we have come here on earth, we should aspire to reach our inner Divine life. Only within it can we be happy and blessed, that is, as far as we can follow the Divine law. Many people stumble from the words of this message. When James spoke, he had the Divine spirit, he had a revelation and that is why he spoke those words. Many have read the Bible, but do not understand it. In order to understand it, they should have experienced what the apostles had; they should have the apostle's spirit, soul and mind. Some say: "I want." Good, but there are three things that one needs: first - to search, second - to understand things, third - to apply them. This is equivalent to what Christ says: "Ask, seek and knock." If you do not seek, you will not find. These three elements should unite, in order for man to understand the main cause of things. A good gardener should first of all have knowledge of the soil, then plant a tree, plough its soil and after a few years it will give fruit. The same applies to Divine Life, we plant a thought and after a while it gives fruit. You will plant the Divine desire in your heart, and plant the Divine thought in your mind. But before you plant them, your mind and heart should be pure and peaceful. Man should exempt himself from the greed existing in the world. I will tell you a story, which originated thousands of years ago. This took place during the reign of the ancient king Harun On Rashid. He had the habit of disguising himself and visiting the city, in order to see how his people lived, and whether there was law and order. He was generous and performed good deeds. One day, he met a beggar and gave him a golden coin. The beggar told him: "My lord, if you slap me on the cheek, you will do me a lot of good." The king did not want to comply, but since the beggar insisted, he ordered one of his men to slap him. The king found it strange that the beggar would want to be slapped and invited him to the palace to inquire about the reasons behind his wish. The beggar began telling the story of his life. He had been the son of a rich merchant and after his father's death he had bought about eighty camels and thus became rich himself. On one of his journeys he had met a dervish, who had told him he knew of a great treasure and needed the camels to transport it, and in the end they would divide the treasure between themselves. The merchant agreed, they put the treasure on the camels' backs, but the dervish took a small box filled with some kind of oil, and hid it. They began dividing the treasure and the merchant asked the dervish to give more camels to him and keep less for himself, since the dervish, being a spiritual man would not need many material possessions. The dervish agreed, gave up most of his camels and kept only ten. After some thinking the merchant asked again: "Give me all the camels, keep only one." The dervish again agreed. Then the merchant asked for the last camel and got it, but had noticed the dervish hiding the little box and asked what was in it. The dervish replied that it contained an ointment which had the following effect: if you rub your left eye with it, you can see all the treasures in the world, if you were to rub your right eye, you would go blind. The merchant asked him to rub his left eye with the ointment and indeed saw the treasures of the world. Then he wanted to put ointment on his right eye, the dervish refused to do that, warning him that he would turn blind. Thinking that he would be given the ability to see even more, the merchant kept on insisting. Finally, the dervish put some of the oil on the merchant's right eye, and he became blind. He started yelling and crying and the dervish said to him: "Since you were so greedy, you should suffer all the consequences." So the beggar ended his story and said: "That is why I want you to slap me. And everyone else who wants to do me good I ask to do the same, i.e. to put ointment on my right eye." Thus God has rubbed one of your eyes. In men it is the left eye, in women the right one, however; they want both their eyes rubbed. This is how people go blind - this is the way they sin. The Knowledge and Wisdom that God gives us, we cannot obtain from Life. Life on earth is clearly determined - man has an inner striving to elevate his soul. By 'elevate' I mean to enter the other world and take the elements needed for his existence. For example, the human heart has desires, but some desires are poisonous, and when they enter the human soul, they destroy it. For instance, how insatiable is the desire to be rich. And the richer one gets, the harder his heart gets, in the end it gets so hard that it breaks. The extreme end of this condition is the body becomes fragile. In social life such greed leads to isolation from people and then ruins the person. A person lives while he is surrounded by relatives and friends, to live individually means to be outside God. If we live in disharmony with people, we live in disharmony with God. You say: "I hate him." - Thus you hate God too. You say: "I will steal his money." -Thus you steal from God too. These are negative states and vice versa-if you do good, you do good to God too, you work with Him. Wisdom comes from above, to teach us, the children of God, to seek true Knowledge. Many want to learn, but are dissatisfied and say: "Why has God done this?" I say, if you have started judging Him, then you do not understand God. If something bad happens to you, do not ask why it happened in that way, but say to yourself that it is for your own good. When we assume that things in the world are not harmonious, that means that we don't understand them. For instance, in America there are desert areas, where people walk, raise a lot of dust then think that everything around them is enveloped in dust, and they do not realize that they are the ones who raised it. The same happens with your thoughts and desires - you have raised a lot of dust around them. Let your Wisdom be pure and peaceful, let the dust settle and only then you will understand the profound meaning of your soul. For two thousand years now, people have preached about Wisdom, but it appears not to have influenced them. Rather, it has not influenced those who are here on earth, but has affected those who are in Heaven. Some say: "I want to live." Good, but try to utilize Life properly. Those who want to go to Heaven should understand the inner Divine Wisdom. What is the reason for that? I would like to see one church in the world, where the priest preaches out of Love. Now he preaches, because he has a wife and children, but says: "I preach in the name of God." You do not preach in the name of God, but because your wife pushes you to. A teacher says: "I preach in the name of God." You do not preach in the name of God, either, you do that for your wife and children. I do not mean to say that this is bad. For instance, a preacher gathered some ideas, put his lecture together well, hoping that he will make more money, but his audience did not give him as much as he thought he deserved, they put less value on his speech and in his next lecture he began reproaching those who did not give him money. A lecture in which money plays a great part is not pure. I speak of clergymen who claim to be servants of God. That title should match the person's purpose. Everyone should do their job so that it matches their title. For example, someone says that he sells clothes, and indeed that is what he does. We should be pure and sincere. And if I do not preach the Truth, I will say: "Pardon me, for I preach only half the Truth. Today I preach only for money, because I need it, one day I will preach for free." James uses the word wisdom in a wider sense. Many Christians say: "I want to understand the Divine Wisdom." Are you prepared to give everything for God? Christ said to deny yourself, which means to give all riches you have on earth to the poor, work together with them and teach them labour and perseverance. Some people point at Carnegie's achievements. Funny are those people who consider Carnegie to be an ideal. To be rich is a burden. There is the saying of the donkey, which was carrying icons and crucifixes on his back, wherever it went everyone was bowing, and it thought that they bowed at it. You might be in Carnegie's position and be a donkey. People's respect for you should be respect for your Spirit and Wisdom. Your head should not be filled with Biblical verse and sentences; they should be in your soul where they would form a Divine tissue. This is the purpose of true Christianity. Someone might tell me: "You do not preach well." I have nothing against the order of today; however, the pants of a five year old do not fit a ten year old child. And since humankind has grown up, we need new things, new order, and new thoughts. The little girl can play with dolls, and that will be fine, but when a grown up girl does the same I will tell her: "You need live dolls; you should view life in a different way." When a little boy plays with a toy horse, that is fine, but when a man does the same, I will tell him that he needs a real horse. The horse is the human mind, and the doll is the human heart. When the mother gives birth to her child, she gives birth to her heart in order to educate it again. And when an old man cannot educate his heart he should die. That is why God has said: "Until a man becomes a child, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Man should see his heart go through rebirth - it should become small. By "small" it is meant a flexible element, capable of evolving properly and not losing the elasticity of Life. A woman says: "I gave birth to five children." Good, but did you rear them? "No." Then you haven't learned the purpose of Life. Another would say: "I haven't given birth to a child." You should give birth. The Wisdom that comes from above says: You should give birth and your child should be peaceful. It is good that you have children, but sometimes you worry, get annoyed, then become red with anger, and your head aches, your stomach or your lungs too, and you say: "Hurry, call a doctor, I am going to die." How do you know that you are going to die? That means that we don't understand the relations and interconnections among which we exist. Everyone, in whom Wisdom is not pure and peaceful will die, will decay. That means that in the invisible world there are other laws, according to which hard matter should turn into soft matter, so that it becomes suitable for Life. Because of these new conditions our body should become subject to that law. Every one of us should sacrifice their body, as the flower sacrifices its petal, in order to produce its seeds. This means that we should let go of our petals. Nowadays people want to live in the physical world, but they do not consider that world to be the best one. In the Physical world, your view of the Invisible world is that of a child in its mother's womb - it lives in its small surroundings and to it that is the whole world but when the child is born, these surroundings, this body should be sacrificed, it should die. Therefore, in comparison with the Spiritual world, this world is only a womb and that is why man feels confined and uncomfortable. Some say: "I want to set the world straight." There is no need to set it straight, you should come out of your mother's womb. Sometimes the child moves inside the mother, but does not want to come out. Even when labour begins, he still refuses to, so they call for midwives to take him out, that is why the mother screams, and yells. In the same way, we don't want to come out, and God is pulling us. We should go out of the physical world and enter the Spiritual one, which offers better conditions for our evolution. Now you look at your body and say: "After some years I will lose all this." Or you look at yourself in the mirror and notice that you have grown old. I say: You will come out of your mother's womb. Christianity is a science, which shows how people should go out of this world. It is a narrow passage - narrow so that only one person (at a time) can go through it. So, one should remember, that Purity in the heart and in the mind is a quality and an essential attribute. Striving to be rich is right, but the fortune that we acquire must be placed where it won't be lost. We should not be poor. Some cite: "Blessed are the poor of spirit, because theirs is the Kingdom of heaven". That does not mean that man should be poor, rather it refers to the man that is immortal, who has understood Life. The Kingdom of God belongs not to the poor, but to those whose hearts bear no thought of robbing the world, who are always content, ready to sacrifice themselves, complain of nothing, and to whom everything is good. If you should send them to hell, they will feel good there, if you send them to heaven, they will be good there too. Such are the poor of spirit. Some say: "I want to be poor of spirit". Fine, you can be that right now. But if you say that with a smile, that would show that you still want to live a little. If you have lived a month in your mother's womb, then you have some more time to live, if you have lived there for two - three months, then you have some more to live, if you have lived there four, five, six, seven or eight months, you have more time to live. However, if you have lived there for nine months, you must immediately come out, and if you don't, you will die in your mother's womb. When a time comes for a person to die, he must come out. So when man dies, the soul is born. It should leave its physical body and remain with its ethereal one. After a few days, it will shed its second body too and will enter into its Astral body, i.e. the purgatory, until it is purified. When it has purged itself, it will leave its Astral body and will ascend to its Mental body - a much finer one and a garment that does not tear easily. And when it reaches Heaven, the soul arrives at the so called buddha state – that is: a man who is fully awakened and understands the Divine Wisdom and Love. In this state of awareness, there is no memory of any earthly suffering that man has gone through; there are only pleasant memories of what has happened on earth. And from this height, man will be able to see why things happened this way. The people of today do not understand themselves. Some say: "I, too, know Christ." I ask him: "Have you ever been out of your body?" - "No, I haven't." So you do not know Christ. And when Christ says: "I am the Way and the Truth", He means the ability of man to know how to exit his present surroundings and how to come back. If now a Christian starts to go out of his body, he faints, and doctors are called to help him. Let him come out of his mother's womb. For example, if someone is suffering, let him be, do not bother him, let him suffer. This is a great blessing, in suffering he experiences what nobody else, who is not in his position, could. Therefore, only to those who suffer, does God reveal Himself, to those who eat and drink, God remains an unknown being. Through the suffering people undergo today, God reveals Himself to them. Some are fighting at the warfront, others are recovering, i.e. two forces are simultaneously at work - one is destructive, and the other one heals. Thus, conditions are created for people to live well together. For instance, two people who previously did not agree, now meet at the warfront and become close. So, until he is born from his mother's womb, a man cannot understand the outside conditions. According to the same law, if we do not enter into the inner world, we would not discover what God thinks. This is definite. Passions are short lived - they might rise as a fire, but then die down and give way to tranquillity. Sometimes when you get angry, and you get mad at something, your face turns red, after half an hour you start feeling tired and say to yourself: "What a headache!" So, that passion produced an adverse reaction. Tomorrow, you will get angry again, and again a negative reaction will follow. A wolf catches a sheep, and is raging until it has eaten it, and knowing that after that he will suffer for it, he goes to sleep. Often, men too, after having a quarrel with their wives, go to the pub, in order to forget everything, and say: "The passions of my wife will not kill me." After they sober up, however, the suffering starts anew and they go back to the pub. Passions create drunkenness. Forces should be found, that will uproot them. Passions should be controlled, and then they will be removed. If you let a swine into a garden it will create a mess. But you can't blame it for that. Tame your passions! Nowadays, people say: "I want to free myself from my passions." Good, but when you free yourself from them, what will be left? You should get to work like an industrious woman, and solve the riddle of all such passions. Don't ask why they are given to you, but try to tame them. That is what people today do too. The Iskar River has caused a lot of trouble up to day, but people have now made it work for them, they have brought it into Sofia, where they use the power of its waters to generate electricity. In such a case you will not say: "God, rid us of the Iskar River!" if you want to rid yourself of your passions, you will become dry, because they are your springs. The basic law should be found to put passions to work, to give them mental diversity, to turn emotions into feelings, feelings into happiness, happiness into bliss, and bliss into harmony, and into merging with God. You cannot be happy, until you know what the relation between emotions and feelings is. When we say that a man cannot be happy, we mean that he doesn't know how things in the world work. However, there are happy people, too, who can take the sorrows of the unhappy. Many people come to me and I take their worries, take their passions and tell them: "Now get to work!" The swine should be restrained; passions should become noble and turned into sheep, i.e. into emotions, and then should be transformed into feelings. Then I am thankful to God that he has given me work to do, since even the happy people sometimes feel bored. And to be happy means to help people. Do not be sorry that there are people who suffer, but be thankful to God for everything. And in thanking we will come to that true understanding. Thank God for your money; be thankful for being robbed too. Now there are many examples of this. For instance, many people gain some weight and people say: "Look how much better he looks!" But the next day the same man suffers an apoplectic stroke and they say: "How is it possible that such a strong and healthy man died?" Don't be sorry for that, now he has become healthier. Another man is ill and then he recovers, that means that he has been reborn. You should not be worried by those minor things. Always say: "I have been sent with a mission", and you will feel instant joy. Now, I will relate this line of James' message with Christ's parable of the father who goes to his two sons. One of them had said that he would go to the field, but didn't; the other one said that he wouldn't go, but repented and went to the field. There are people who go to church but do not do God's will, and there are people who say that they do not want to serve God, but actually do. The latter are the real Christians. That is why Christ says: "The last on earth, will be first in heaven." The new teaching does not come for the church but for the great sinners, for the worldly people. Let those who belong to a church not presume and say to themselves, that we have Abraham as our ancestor. God says: "from these stones I can raise up children to Abraham." That shows that there should be no sectarianism, we should not claim, that we are this or that. You need to search and apply. How, someone will ask. - First of all Wisdom should be pure and peaceful; then it should be gentle, willing to yield. But everyone will ask: what is the way, through which we can enter and then exit. To a person who does not possess these qualities of Wisdom, I will not reply. You might say that this is cruel. It is not cruel, why talk to a deaf man when he will not hear me? Someone might say: "You are being haughty." By the word "I" I mean God. If you are pure, that Divine "I" will tell you everything. When a child says to me: "I will tell you", I will stop and answer: "Speak, Lord, I am listening." For instance, someone has planted a garden and I go into it, I notice whether it is rectangular or elliptic, what is the shape of its flowerbeds, what kind of flowers are planted there, are they white, red, yellow, what is their size and so on. After I have taken a look at all of that, I will tell you what kind of person planted the garden. If I have a letter, I will tell you about the culture of the person who has written it. Some exclaim: "Look at the hats women wear!" I like looking at the hats women wear, and at the clothes men are wearing, because all this is a sign of culture. The teaching of Christ is the teaching installed in you. Open your libraries and you will find your books. If you want to enter into the higher state of Life, you will have to find St. Peter - he will give you the keys, he will give you the book of Christ. If you want to move to the lower worlds, you should go down, and in hell you will find Christ. St. Peter has one key, Christ has the other. There are two Testaments, when you read both, you will understand them and will see what the Wisdom that comes from above is. Why doesn't wisdom remain above? There are reasons for that. It comes down, because of you, it is a mother and a father, and it is food and comes down for us. Only after you acquire this Wisdom, you will find your Father, you will see what God is. You will find Wisdom that is pure, peaceful and gentle, and then you will find the inner meaning of God, you will discover what He is. When you get in touch with the Angels, in your Spirit and in your mind a new Light will shine, you will hear such music, as you have never heard before, and you will say: "There is a meaning in life; this is the profound meaning of Life." Now all of you, who are listening to me, apply Purity. Stop assuming, you are pure and strive toward Purity. Someone says: "I am pure enough and peaceful enough." No, you should be absolutely pure and peaceful. By peaceful, I mean the most intense forces in power, in the world. The Light that comes from above is peaceful, but does the most amazing things. By peaceful I mean the force that will urge you to work and think. I will not teach you how to think, but I will give you an incentive, that will encourage you to work. I would like to take you for a walk sometime, so that you can see what a wonderful feeling one experiences in the midst of Nature. In it one senses the Divine Mind, Wisdom, Power, Love, which are at work., which come down and say: "God, how Great You are!" I always want to know more. I am not saying that I know a lot, because today we have one vision of things, the next day we have a different one, a different understanding. Therefore, in Life we should see the Divine harmony. Someone might say: "I am growing old." The earth is growing old too. If it wasn't growing old, it would not possess such beauty. The ravines, the valleys, the rivers, the mountains-these are her wrinkles. When a man has wrinkles, he has greater expression. Those lines going upward or downward, reveal what kind of person he has been, i.e. every line has its meaning. Today, the artists and photographers use the brush to smooth the lines. They do not know what is valuable. For example, such a book as the Bible, today you can buy at a very low price or you will see somebody wrapping various goods in it. We, today's people, take the Divine and wrap our cheese in it, then wonder at our lack of culture. With Divine Wisdom we should wrap our minds, hearts, and souls, and then we will be strong and powerful people. There comes a transformation in social life. Changes occur in today's science, various theories emerge. For instance, until some years ago, science considered the elements simple and indestructible, scientists thought they had reached the ultimate limit of division. However, nowadays science which advances faster than religion, succeeded in splitting atoms into ions.16 They say, for example, that in the hydrogen atom there are 700 ions some of which are positively charged and others negatively. So there too, exist men and women who quarrel, i.e. there are 350 men and 350 women. In an atom of oxygen there are 11 220 ions - that is 5 500 positive and 5 500 negative ions. An atom of natrium contains around 16000 ions, that of radium contains around 100 000 ions. Some day science might reach a point where the division of the ion will be possible. I will make the following comparison: if an atom was the size of the "St. Cyril and Methodius" church, then an ion would be as small as a hazelnut. There is great space between ions. When we talk of a fourth dimension, we mean in space. That is why Christ says: "Until you become a child, until you become small, you will remain a fool." The path of progress is, knowing how to become small, i.e. to know the forms through which one could pierce the world. Big people are not accepted above. Some think that at the second coming of Christ, they will be resurrected with their present bodies, which weigh 150 kilograms. No, man will be resurrected in a specific way he should have an insight, then a Divine body will come in man, which will be capable of becoming so small, that it would go through all worlds, or so big that it would fill all worlds. We should learn to become small, and we should not wish to rob the world. This world is for us, for as long as man wishes. Gradually man will go through all worlds, all planets and then again will start coming down. That is why they say, that Life is a movement from the centre to the periphery and from the periphery towards the centre. This is the inner meaning of Life, which is moving from Love to Wisdom and from Wisdom to Love, from Truth to Wisdom and from Wisdom to Truth, from Righteousness to Love and from Love to Righteousness, from Righteousness to Truth and from Truth to Righteousness, from Righteousness to Good and from Good to Righteousness. Do you understand the meaning of this? This is the space between whole worlds. When we say "Good" that is a whole new world. Righteousness and Love, these, too, are great worlds. Some ask what Wisdom is. Wisdom is to enter its world and live in it. Then you will discover how great it is to live there. Now, I want this Wisdom to be pure and peaceful for everyone and when you leave here, I want you to be able to share it not through words but by contact. One cannot share with others something that he doesn't have within himself. Wisdom is shared through Wisdom, Love is shared through Love. We should love everyone, without thought of ourselves. And then everybody will love you. If they do not want to love you, there will be a conflict; when all people start loving, there will be harmony. For example, one hundred musicians gather to form an orchestra, and they have to choose a conductor. If they start fighting over whom to choose they will come to no decision, and there will be no harmony in their work. In your soul turn to God, He is Life. He is in you and the insight that He will give you, you owe to Him. If Life is viewed thus, a great transformation will come in the world. The Wisdom that is coming into the world is God, it is Christ. Christ is coming down from Heaven. What a multitude of Great souls are following Him! They say to people: "Come witness the Divine!" They bring Purity, Peace, and Divinity. Some ask when this Peace will come. It is coming, I see in humankind a great procession - They come and sing. And when they arrive, there will be harmony in the world, and Peace and Love. This is the second coming of Christ. There will not be an end to the world, but the world will be purified. I wish that all of you greet Christ thus. With gladness and joy await Him! Let that Wisdom from now on be felt. Now the human soul would have to be examined. You have never studied it before. Now you will learn what a priest, clergyman and a teacher is. Now the Divine Wisdom is coming to teach us the language of things. And for us everything will transform into harmony. 29 Oct, 1916, Sofia 17 16 Ions-this most probably refers to the elementary particles, according to science of the first half of the twentieth century. 17 The lecture "Wisdom" was first published in the compilation "In the Beginning Was", Sofia, 2003 Source

Note 2 p Should I not drink it? The cup that the Father has given me, should I not by all means drink it? John 18:11 “Any people, national group or language that says anything wrong against the God of Shadrach, Mechach and Abed-nego should be dismembered, and his house should be turned into a public privy; for as much as there does not exist another god that is able to deliver like this one.” Daniel 3:29 “The cup that the Father gave me, should I not by all means drink it?” Everybody knows what this cup means. In the present Life the cup holds an important part. It is essential in all parties and enjoyments. It is filled with wine, rakia and a variety of alcoholic drinks. The doctors use the same cup. They dilute medicine there and give it to small children, who hesitate in taking it. Jesus says to his disciples: “The cup that the Father has given me, should I not drink it?” This cup means a process of a human’s development; it is a symbol of something valuable. It is observed that the flowers of all plants have a shape of a cup. Drinking from Jesus’ cup means to go through a certain process in your life, inner or outer - physical, sociable or mental. Three young men Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who were thrown into a burning hot furnace by command of Nebuchadnezzar, present the meaning of three different characters. On rare occasions we can find three men with the same character or the same intellect. These young men stood out of the crowd with their high intellectual, moral and spiritual growth, which was experienced in their lives. They had been faithful and loyal to their beliefs. When the people of Babylon wanted to impose their social and religious points of views to them, they did not yield. There are certain principles in life to which a man must stay loyal. This is the only way in which a man can progress in his life. The man that cannot stand up for these certain principles will experience the results of his digression. This testing is valid not only for a man, but also for a home, for a nation and for the entire human race. Do not be surprised that everybody has experienced this trial today - a person, a home, a nation and the entire human race. Where does this test come from? –Does it come from the new world or from God? Everybody will experience the same tests like those three young men. They represent three of the greatest principles in a man’s life. Nothing good can be achieved if harmony does not exist in the Spirit, the Soul, and the physical body of a man. Many priests have talked about this verse of three young men in a burning hot furnace, but they treated it with another meaning, different from my point of view. These three men mean three steady characters. A real man passes his exam with great success. A student or a pupil receives his certificate when he finishes his studies and passes all his exams. The same rule is valid for Social life and for Nature. All living beings, from smallest to the largest, have to take these exams, and after that they get their places in life. Unless difficult exams are experienced in life, people have airy points of view. They look for benefits, for happiness, but they do not find it. Only the person who knows what happiness means is able to find it and once having done this he can keep it. In the same way people look for Love. Do you know what Love is? You can say that you feel Love. A man feels pleasant and unpleasant things, however all this is not Love. Everything in the world is a manifestation of Love, but the minority of people know what exactly Love is. There is no scientist, philosopher or writer, who can define Love. You will say that God is Love. You say that God is Love without understanding what Love is. The answer of this question is in the future. A man will have a clear idea of Love in thousands of years. Till then stick to your present idea about Love. Let’s look at man’s character now. Character means stability, firmness. This is its main characteristic. A firm character is only the one which does not change during man’s life, which stays the same in all different situations. If a man changes his character when he experiences some problems we say that this man does not have any character. All living beings that do not have any character are without any personality, lay figures. In order to develop his main feature – stability, a man goes through four processes; it means four levels of his progress: a process of sub-consciousness, of consciousness, of self-consciousness and super-consciousness or so called cosmic, Divine consciousness. A contemporary man has reached the level of self-consciousness. In this consciousness the conditions of his downfall are hidden. A man has a desire to rule the world and says: Everybody must obey me and serve me because it is just me that lives. If something is good for me it is good for everybody; when I feel bad then everybody feels the same. This opinion has created the two philosophies: pessimism and optimism. When a man is ill, when his affairs do not go well he is a pessimist. When a man is healthy and his affairs go well he is an optimist. These opinions do not define the state of the universe. These are subjective opinions and they do not have anything in common with the great and permanent laws of God. What is the main goal in a man’s life? The main goal in a human’s life is to find out one’s own main feature of his character; to find out his main support in his life; to find out his Father and to return to father’s home; to find out his teacher and to carry out the work that has to be done[A1] . - What shall I do when finishing that job? Asking these questions means misunderstanding in the human’s final goal. The job never finishes. When you finish one job you must start doing the next one. Knowing that, do not ever ask what the final goal of life is. Tend to finish the work you have already started. Do not postpone your work. In that case only you are able to feel happy. Direct your mind and your heart to work given. Only after finishing the job started, can a man ask why he has come to the Earth. The answer is very simple: You have come to the Earth in order to learn and to work. Jesus said: “The cup that the Father has given me, should I not by all means drink it?” Every man has one bitter and one sweet cup that change one after another. Throughout an embittered cup man’s life purifies constantly. Why should it be purified? Man’s life is as spring water that has travelled a lot and has collected some mire, which has made him dirty. In order to be cleared the spring must go through different layers of sand. This way water filtrates and as a result gains its initial purity. On account of this God gives every now and then a bitter cup in order to purify our life. When you experience this bitter cup a few times, you will understand why you had to drink it. The bitter cup will purify your life from all mires and dirty things in your life. What do these mire and dirty things mean? They are man’s bad thoughts and desires. They are elements that pollute man’s life and his character, destroying it. This way a man loses his confidence in his Life and starts fearing for his health, for his age, for his wealth. Once he is afraid of being ill, losing his wealth and getting old all these bad things happens to him. The things he is afraid of happen. What is the philosophy of this? In his fear a man imagines situations that do not exist. A traveller arrived in a mountain area where he had to spend the night. As it was getting darker he got lost. Suddenly he slipped and felt that he was falling down an abyss. He managed to grasp a branch of a tree and hang on it a few hours. Finally, his hands were so tired that it was impossible for him to hold that branch anymore. Before releasing his hands from that branch he started shouting and saying goodbye to all his relatives. When he said goodbye to everybody he released his hands and was expecting his death. How big his surprise was when he realised that the precipice he was afraid of was only 15 centimetres deep. Very often you do the same; you hold to a branch and shout: “Good bye everyone, I am dying!” When you release your hands you realise the precipice is only 15 centimetres deep. This way a man himself enlarges his sufferings. The new teaching says that the abyss below you is just 15 centimetres deep. Let yourself down and you will see that my words are right. Unless he inspires to the Truth a man feels fear and says. What will happen to me? There is nothing fearful in life. Leave the branch you are holding and you will see that the precipice is just 15 centimetres deep. If I die? This is not fearful, too. One day you will become convinced that the fear, which has grasped you and does not allow you to think, is worthless. It is quiet and calm everywhere. Experience the new teaching where the Truth of life is hidden. You are able to experience Truth at any time, because it itself is Life. Jesus first understood the meaning of life, its final goal and as a result he drank his embittered cup and he did not regret drinking it at all. If Jesus had not drunk this bitter cup, the world would have been left without any of life’s bounties. What is hidden in the bitter cup? –God’s Love. You will say that it brings sufferings. Without suffering it cannot bring the fruit of life. Jesus is the live fruit on the tree of life. When the disciples of Jesus did not understand the laws of life they advised him: “Master, do not expose yourself to sufferings.” This implies: Master, do not blossom. Jesus knew that then it was time to blossom and to give fruit. If he had not blossomed he could not have given fruit. His fruit gave the blessing to all mankind. So, when the bitter cup comes to you it means that it is time for you to blossom and give fruit. Therefore, do not regret that you suffer. Only through suffering a person, a family, a community and all mankind ennoble. Jesus had first to blossom on the tree of life and to give fruit that can cure. In this fruit is the meaning of new Teaching, which brings elements of inner Peace and Calmness. This way only will man enter Cosmic consciousness of Life University in which all great creatures, all Angels and everything in Heaven serve God. A good man feels well wherever he is, in Paradise or in Hell, whereas a bad man will feel awful even in Paradise. The three men experienced a hot burning furnace and were not burnt. A fourth man looking like Jesus joined them. Only when a man goes through the fire, will he find the fourth element of life, the Spirit, named by philosophers “Supreme I”, heavenly source in a man. In terms of Christianity - when you unite with God, this means to live in harmony. It does not mean to hold someone’s hand, keep your hands together. If you sing some following tones you will defer very clear each of them. [A2] However, if you sing several musical tones in harmony you will create chord, consonance and harmony. I say: Enter a Divine Life in order to live in Its harmony. God does not need us, we need Him. He does not have a desire to take us in and to make us impersonals[A3] . His only trend is to show us the right direction of knowledge. He is a Master for the souls which want to understand Him. This way only a man can be clever, good, beautiful, healthy, and he can live in harmony. Why do we need sufferings then? They come as necessary obstacles in order to achieve harmony. Without obstacles harmony is not achievable. Is it possible for a train to move on a smooth surface and to reach its destination? When a track of the train is smooth it will move without going forward. Sand is an obstacle, but without it a train will stay at the same place. Do not ever think that you are going to be happy if you do not have any obstacles in your life. Sensible creatures, who understand laws, place in front of you some sand in order for your life to move forward. You will say that your happiness is destroyed. This is just outer distraction. When you move forward you will then understand the reason of obstacles, of sufferings. You will say: My hair turned grey from all these sufferings. Even this is for the best. It depends what you are preparing for. If you are material for clothes it is good to turn white. If you are soil it is good to turn black. The black soil gives the best fruit and wheat. In this meaning I wish all soil was black. Jesus says: “This is everlasting life, to know God, to know Love”. This is Divine fruit that brings harmony to mankind. The person, who is ready for suffering, will blossom and will give fruit. If I am fruit I will be eaten. Let you be eaten. You have a seed from which you will be reborn again. In this seed is the strength in your life. Unless a man experiences his strength he is not able to grow. Once you know that law do not feel afraid of sufferings and difficulties in your life. All people, all the living creatures go through them. Only that man will get over them, the one who releases his hands from the branch he is holding. He will find out that the precipice, from which he is afraid, is only 15 centimetres deep. All difficulties are surmountable. I have seen people that are not able to die easily. When that hour comes they start kicking, they cannot be separated from the body. I say: Relax, let your soul go out freely. Under you there is only 15 centimetres of deepness. The relatives of a dying man are afraid from death as well. They give him medicines, injections in order to extend his life a little bit more, but they cannot achieve anything. Loosen your hands from the branch you are holding as the precipice is only 15 centimetres deep. Stand on your feet and say: Thank God, I have avoided a big misery. People now are not able to understand that and say: poor man, he has passed away. I see that the dead man is alive and standing 15 centimetres away from his body. Now, whatever I say you find it very funny. When you have some difficulties you grab the branch again and do not dare to let it go. I say: loosen your hands from the brunch and stick to God. Only this way your life will change for the best, your way of looking at things will change. There are writers who after publishing a book are afraid of the reviews. They are anxious, worried and when the crisis is over, say: It is better that everything has finished. I say: write your book and loosen yourself down. This Jesus wanted to say about the cup, which his Father gave him. Peter said to him: “Master, do not drink from this cup.” However Jesus answered in reply: “The cup, that My Father has given me I must drink”. Each man holds in himself one Peter and one Jesus. Peter takes out the knife from the sheath and cut the ear of the servant. Jesus says to him: “Peter, put back your knife”. In order words it means: Drink the cup that your Father gives you in order to understand Divine harmony. The bitter cup comes to every one of you. I wish for you to drink this cup with certain dignity, like real Christians. After drinking the resurrection will come - the new Life. This is the outer meaning of that matter. There is some analogy between Jesus’ Life and those three young men which Nebuchadnezzar ordered to be thrown in a hot burning furnace. The furnace was so hot that the executioner who did this, burned to death. It is said that God is fire which burns out[A4] . However, the one who lives in harmony with God’s love and Jesus’ spirit is safe. God’s might manifests in difficult moments in our lives, not when a man is poor, but when he is rich. Wealth is getting fat from inside towards outside, whereas poverty is a process of development from inside towards outside. Wealth must turn into compost and poverty in honest labour. Without wealth it cannot be but without poverty as well. These are two processes that work together for man’s development. Unless a man loses everything in his life he is not able to find God, and cannot be happy. Happiness is an extract that is derived from all the acknowledgement and experience of thousands of generations of mankind; it is similar to rose oil obtained from the petals of roses. You need three-four thousand kilograms of rose petals in order to obtain only one kilogram of rose oil. This means to turn earthly happiness into heavenly happiness. In other words until earthly life has not turned to spiritual, a man cannot find real happiness. “The cup that the Father has given me, should I not by all means drink it?” Jesus drank this cup and has become a Great Spirit. He united with God and said: “Me and my Father are together”. In these words His might is hidden. He said: “I did not come to fulfil my will, but the will of the One Who sent me here.” If Jesus had not fulfilled God’s will he would have been similar to mankind. Very often religious people ask a question who among them is more religious, smarter than the others. These things are relative. Studying people at the present times, I see that they cannot love more than one person. If they love two persons at the same time they either will argue or will be forced to lie. You love in unison two people [A5] and start lying to one or the other, you become dishonest. Is this love? This is a display of a man’s egoism, a manifestation of man’s self-preservation. A man in his egoism manifests as a kind of small cruel god, in the shape of a son or a daughter, in a shape of a beloved one. Everybody has experienced that. I have seen how this kind of god beats his beloved. Sometimes a son beats his father, a daughter beats her mother. Unless this kind of god goes down a precipice, unless he loses everything earthly, he can not understand the inner side of a Divine Life. This kind of god in a man is what torments him, constantly makes him unhappy and unpleasant. If he becomes pleased then Jesus manifests in him. One day you are unhappy and angry - that day Peter has visited you. The next day you are happy and pleased - that day Jesus has visited you. He says to you: “This cup must be drunk up”. In the first case a man speaks about ideals, for the human good, but he cannot stand by what he says. An 80 year old black lady lived in an American city, beside the University. She was bored with the difficult life and prayed to God to come and to take her soul in order to be free from her sufferings. Passing her home, students heard her prayers and at once decided to play a trick on her. One night, two of them went closer to her house and knocked at the door. She replied from inside: “Who is there?” – “It is me Archangel Michael. God has heard your prayers and has sent me to take your soul.” – “Tell him that that woman is not here,” - answered the terrified old black lady. It is the same situation with contemporary people. They speak about ideals, about what is good and what is bad, but when Archangel Michael comes, they say: “Tell him that they are not here.” So, people speak about ideals, about great things, but when it comes to the manifestation of those great things they say: “Why must we just work? Let other people work as well”. Someone was told to carry a roasted chicken, wine and pears. He was carrying them and did not complain about his load. When he was asked to dig a vineyard he said: “Let somebody else go to dig; it is not only me who must work”. Remember this: While a man passes laws of his development he always will dig his vine yard, e.g. he will suffer in periods. Suffering leads to the Greatest Happiness in Life. While passing the law of development a man will drink from the bitter cup in life, which brings blessings for his soul. This cup brings suffering, but it brings happiness, too. When a man learns how to drink from this cup, only then will he understand the real meaning of Life. The Father gives this cup to everybody. It is important for a man to discover the main feature of his own character. Courage is the thing which a man needs for that, and as a result this discovery will bring Peace and Calmness in one’s soul. This is the only way for him to bring to an end his particular job. Every day one experiences anger for different, but not important things. A husband gets angry at his wife, and the wife gets angry at him. When does a man get angry? When does a man boil in anger? It happens when something is boiling in him. When a woman prepares jam, first it foams and after that it starts boiling. So, a woman must take away this foam with a spoon. When a woman is boiling with anger let a man take a spoon and clean away all her foam. The same action must be done by a woman when her husband is boiling with anger. Foam is the sediment of Life. When a man and a woman get rid of this sediment they become good, polite, loving. Today a man is boiling in anger, a woman, a daughter, a son -everybody is boiling in anger. What should we do in this case? Just take a spoon and clean up the foam. As much foam as you take away the cleaner and better you become. This is not an allegory, it is a reality of Life. This is why, when you come across the sediments in your life, do not worry about what will happen with you. Just take a spoon and clean the foam away. God, who has created the world has a special plan and knows what will happen to everybody. He has a path for everybody. Is God going to care about me? Yes, He is. He is going to care for you as He has done so far. He has already fixed your way, and it does not matter what is happening, just do not doubt in it and keep going your way, and have faith that God’s purpose will be exercised the way it was purposed. Be patient! One day Mohammed was running away from his enemies, who were chasing him because of his principles (teaching). He managed to hide behind a tree. He observed from there how an ant was trying to carry a big load. It picked it up 99 times and dropped it on the ground. Not until 100 times did it managed to bring it to the certain place. Astonished from the enormous patient and constancy of the ant, Mohammed thought to himself: If an ant can make its desires reality how much more I am able to do so. God helps all creatures. When He sees sufferings and efforts of a man, God blesses him. He turns his bitter cup into a sweet one and gives him His blessing. God cares for everybody - righteous and sinful, well educated and uneducated, animals and human beings. It is a different story what scholars and scientists speak about God. Stick to the thought that God does not have any disloyalty. It is spoken about God’s anger. God gets angry when He puts you on a fire. His anger is a fire; it is that flammable active power that cleans up. You cry and pray to Him, but he says. Only a little bit more and I will clear you up. How long will he keep us on fire? We will be kept there until we become clean and stop foaming. Then God will take us off the fire, will smile and will say: I am happy that you are clean now. Cleanliness is a compulsory quality of Life. Life in which we are entering now, insists on right, bright thoughts, which sustain all mankind. Right thought excludes any worries. While one worries, one is exposed to a variety of illnesses. Some people are not afraid of illnesses or Death. They do not believe in God, do not believe in the other Life and say: Let’s live well on the Earth, only this is important. Life is on the earth and we must take advantage of it. Some people live a shorter life than others. Everybody’s life is definite. Life on the Earth is good, but Life in Heaven is better. Some people say: “It is not for sure that another Life exists, it might be.” This means: Light in my mind either exists or not. God either exists or not. If you close the curtains on your windows, it will become dark in your room, but this does not mean that light does not exist, that God does not exist. God is at the same time in Light, in darkness, in joy and in sorrow, in Love and in hate. He exists in each manifestation of Life. Hate is something temporary, whereas Love is everlasting. Hate turns into Love, as Jesus says, “The bitter cup in a certain time will turn into great prosperity, because of that I must drink it”. If his disciples and followers manifested Love, the entire world would be in good working order. They spread hate in the world, which after a certain time will turn into Love. Then all scientists, philosophers and writers will start writing in a new way, in a way of the Spirit of a new Love. A new wave of Love is coming. It will turn sufferings from the past into fertile ground, “on which will grow, blossom, and ripen the prosperity of Love. Furthermore, the entire mankind will eat from them. Once you know that do not be afraid of death. Do not be afraid of the precipice over which you are hanging now. Who is guilty for that? People close to you like your mothers and fathers, your husband, or your wife. To feel pleased just release your hands from the branch you are hanging onto. If you become angry say to yourself: I will release my hands from the branch, I am holding. If you are not in a good mood do the same. If you cannot trust somebody, again do the same. Why don’t people succeed in their lives? Because they use negative statements. They say: Do not hate, do not lie. A negative statement does not have this power to influence people. So that I say: Love each other and speak Truth. Love each other and manifest good things in order to make your character. The man, who has a steady character, is not a bad influence to people that surround him. If a mother leaves her young daughter with a young man and he does not do any bad thing to her, this means that this man has a character. A young girl has a steady character as well if she is not a bad influence to the young man. Get free from each self-interested thought in your mind that brings hate in your heart. Keep yourself away from lie and theft that brings hate in one’s heart. Lie and theft shows unsteadiness in one’s character. Can we say that somebody has a steady character if he uses somebody else’s wealth and woman? The meaning of drinking your bitter cup is in the meaning to pay back to people everything you owe them, but at the same time to help them. The meaning of love is to help a man in all his needs. What does Love mean? Some people think that it is gentle touch, hugs and kisses. In my opinion this is not Love, this is not any Good. If a healthy man and a healthy woman hold their hands this still is not Love. Real Love raises weak and ill people, it helps those who suffer. If you have Love, kiss a sick person and help him to become healthy; kiss the weak one, kiss the person who has failed in his life and help him to stand up. If you are a loving father kiss your weak, disabled children. Do not give a kiss like the one Judas gave to Jesus. When you kiss a healthy person, you betray him. One must know who to kiss and who not to kiss. This means that one has a character. Telling you this statement, I do not want to expose to you what you have already done, but I want to tell you how to behave from now on. You do not love me. I do not love you because you are rich and healthy. Become poor and sick and I will love you. Give from the kisses of your Spirit. When people love each other their spirits must be close whereas their bodies must be far from each other. If a man and a woman do not live well then God separates them. He takes a man or a woman. When they separate, the one who stays on the Earth starts to idealise the one who has passed away. When they are far from each other they start to love each other and get on well. An American man wanted to invite to his house a friend who he had not seen for ten years. He phoned his wife to ask her to prepare the dinner, but she replied. “Do not bring this hypocritical man; I do not want to see him”. The American man thought, even on the telephone I was able to recognise that my wife was speaking. He knew her way of speaking. Now you speak about God, but at the end you say: Do not bring Him in our house. How many times has he come and only brought suffering. This is a wrong and bad understanding. You mislead yourself. When Freemasons approve a new member they test him to see whether he will pass these exams. The first test is about his courage. If he does not pass it they do not accept him as a member of their community. A man with a sword stands in front of him and this man is ready to pierce him. If he gets scared he fails the exam. The sword is made of paper. When he decides to stab him it bends. The same way God tests us using “paper swords”. Sufferings are paper swords, which on meeting our fear will bend and fall on the ground. You stay healthy and harmless. Even the biggest human sufferings cannot be compared with the glory that awaits you later. Start from now to prepare for that glory. Be aware that sufferings are exams which will lead you to future glory. What is going to happen with Bulgarian nation? –A great future is expected for this nation. They must have faith in the living God and say: once God is with us nobody can be against us. The living God will guide us. He will bring harmony and peace involving all the nations. He will forgive all mistakes and will destroy all crimes. He will sort out all the difficulties. Everything that I am preaching will happen. A great Goodness is coming for everybody. God carries this Good from the Heavens. One thing is required from everybody. Be real Bulgarians. If you do not think bad about others and if you experience the new teaching, God will be with you. He is almighty, all wise and all kind. Do not be scared from sufferings, because the precipice is only 15 cm deep. 2. A lecture from the Master, given on 22 October, 1916, in city of Sofia, Bulgaria. [A1][The main goal in a human’s life is to find out the main feature of one’s character; to find out what the main support in his life is; to find out who his Father is and to return to his father’s home; to find out who his teacher is and to carry out the work that has to be done.] or [The main goal in a human’s life is to find out the main feature of one’s character; to find the main support in his life; to find his Father and to return to his father’s home; to find his teacher and to carry out the work that has to be done.] [A2]This is unclear. The problem here is with the words [following] and [defer]. [A3]Unclear. Usage. [A4]The meaning is not clear. [A5]The word unison means harmonious agreement or union. I am not sure if this is the meaning intended, if not here are two examples. [You love two people at the same time] or [You love two people]

Note 2 p You Shall Love The Lord “You shall love the Lord your God; you shall love your neighbour, as well.” Mathew 22: 36-40 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Now, I would like you to pay attention to what I am going to talk about. The Teaching that I am delivering to you today is the basis for the development of the soul, the mind and the heart. It is a Teaching that brings Peace and Tranquility to the heart; it is a Teaching that brings Light to the mind, rejuvenation to the soul and Strength to the Spirit. This Teaching has the power to heal the legs of the lame, and open the eyes of the blind; this Teaching makes the deaf hear, restores health to the sick, and raises the dead. It brings harmony to everything. This Teaching knows no obstacles. It is the Teaching of the living God Who is among people, among stones, among plants and among animals alike. The living Lord Whom I am talking about is everywhere; He is known to all. This God is the only real and essential thing in this world. Some want to solve philosophically the question of God’s existence. I say, leave aside the philosophical speculations and the brain gymnastics, for this question can be solved only through experience. The important question is this: why do we need to love, why do we need to have one command. What is a command? It is a foundation; it is the soil on which one can build; it is a Force with which one can work; it is a point of support from which one can start. How can we tell if we have a point of support or not? You can tell by standing in one place and lifting a heavy object. If the soil under your feet is sturdy and you do not sink then I can tell you that you have a point of support; if your feet sink, then the soil is not sturdy, i.e. your point of support is not reliable. If, after having done certain work, you sink lower instead of rising higher then I can tell you that you do not have a foundation under your feet. If your mind becomes disturbed when you think about something, then you do not have a foundation under your feet; when you love and you doubt your Love, then you do not have foundation under your feet. You can give a number of philosophical explanations of the concept of “command”, but they will be pretty only on the outside and empty inside. These explanations are like sweets and pastries. If one eats sweets and pastries, one becomes very ethereal. A man needs healthy, high-quality food that contains all of the essential elements. Such food provides the necessary conditions for the development of the human mind, the human heart, the human soul and the human Spirit. The elements which man uses are all the same but the methods for their absorption are different. Every food is good for man. It is important, though, for man to know how to absorb it. I am not telling you what food you should eat and what food you should not, but I am advising you to eat with Love. It is of secondary importance what the hygienists, the physicists and the chemists have to say on this topic. What is most important is for you to use food that gives strength. Sometimes you feel week, but then you eat certain food and it makes you feel strong and energized. Such food is essential food. They asked Christ, “Teacher, which is the great law?” The great law is the law that can teach us how to live. This means to know God. For the past two thousand years philosophers have been trying to explain where God is: in Heaven or on Earth, but they cannot answer this question even for themselves. This causes a number of contradictions due to which some people accept God’s existence and others deny it. God just stands aside watching both sides and is amused with them for not knowing Him. Why is it that they do not know Him? It is so because they have put on glasses of different colour. Some say that their Father is red, others say that He is yellow, the third lot say that he is green and yet others say that he is black. Everyone sees Him one way or another according to the colour of his or her own glasses. “Could God be black?” some of you ask. Now, don’t be so literal, I say. The colour black has a few meanings. It can also stand for rest. The word “bad” also has two meanings. When we say “a bad person” we mean an energetic person. The bad, the evil carries a force in itself and this force should be applied correctly. If it is not used right then the evil can be destructive. Which is the great command? To love the Lord. This command teaches us to think right, feel right, and act right. This is an experiential philosophy; one needs a few years to understand it fully. A man needs to do a lot of work in order to learn to think right, to feel right, and to act right. A man needs a lot of time to get to know the Lord. To me God is Great reality. He is more real than you are as I see you standing before me here today. You may say that I am using strong words. If I could find stronger words, I would use them to explain what God is. God can be just as real to you as He is to me. You can know Him after years of searching, but you can also know Him in an instant. You know from physics that when two electric poles come in contact, they produce a spark, a light. Here’s what I say: turn to the opposite pole of Life in order to find the Light that you are looking for. This can happen in an instant; it depends on you. You are standing with your back to this Light, asking, “Where is God?” Many people, both learned and simple, stand before the Lord’s doors and ask themselves if the Lord will let them in or not; if they are worthy of Him or not. This is all idle chatter. You have come out of the Lord and you will return to Him. He will accept you because he is All-gracious and All-merciful. “Am I a good person”, you wonder. I have no doubt in your Goodness because it is my Goodness, too; your Wisdom is my Wisdom, too. “Is this true”, you ask. Yes, it is true. People are so interesting! Should a feverish person believe that not having an appetite is a normal condition? Today, being sick, he does not have an appetite and he does not enjoy his food, but this is not permanent. He used to enjoy his food before getting sick. Once he is healthy again, he will be able to enjoy his food again. There is a certain difference between how the nervous system is today and how it used to be in the past, but this state is temporary. Therefore, if you become ill, you should tell yourself, “Listen, do not succumb to your illness. It is here to visit you only temporarily. You are a healthy person; you can think right, feel right, and act right.” Often people discuss what sin is and they say about someone: This man is sinful. I do not know which people are sinful according to the way you understand sin. I do not know any sinful people but I know some people make mistakes. From the standpoint of the great law of Love my view of sin and those who sin is different. For example, a teacher gives his student a task to draw a picture. The student starts to draw, but smears the lines, then erases them, then smears them again and so on until one day he finishes the picture according to his teacher’s requirements. Would you call this student a sinner, because he smears and erases his lines? This student is not a sinner but simply has not worked hard enough and has not practiced enough. In the future, after having practiced enough he will draw the picture well, with no smearing and erasing. He will be able to avoid all mistakes. Do not slander the Lord in you by saying that He has made you sinners. If he sees that you are disheartened, God will say to you, “Do not despair, my son! You will become a good and just person in time.” Some philosophers, not understanding the laws, talk about the mistakes people make. They make mistakes themselves, but speak of the mistakes of those around them. Christ says, “We shall love the Lord!” People also talk about Love, but without knowing what It is. Someone says, “I’m dying for love.” After getting married, he says, “I’m dying of love.” Before getting married he was dying of love and after getting married he is dying of love again. You need to take the word “death” to mean something else. One is dying even while being born. To be born on Earth means to die in Heaven. To die on Earth is to be born in the other world: one is being born to a superior Life than the earthly one. In the greater sense of the word, both to die and to be born mean to go to work. Whether going up in Heaven or coming down to Earth you will be working regardless. Work and labour are two different concepts. This is why Christ says, “Come to Me, all you who labour and I will teach you to work.” When I talk about Christ I do not mean the man Who lived two thousand years ago. I have in mind this other Christ Who is among people even to this day. It is a different matter how He manifests Himself. The important thing is that everyone who is in need can go to Christ. Those who regard Christ as a man who lived two thousand years ago go to Him with black scarves on their heads. Those who can see Him in their midst go to Him with white scarves on. Why do you wear white clothes at weddings? You say that this is what the church advises. God has said, “Those who are going to get married and carry Love in their heart shall dress in white. Those who have lost their Love shall dress in black clothes. For how long should they wear black clothes? For as long as it takes them to find Love. You should wear white scarves on your heads, white scarves in your hearts and white scarves in your minds so that you can find the Lord. You can find the Lord right now, right at this moment - it all depends on you. As long as we love God we are in Heaven, in paradise. As soon as we start doubting Him we find ourselves in hell: at the place of suffering, darkness, and embitterment. “We shall love the Lord!” This is the great commandment on which our Life is based. How should we love the Lord? As our neighbour? The love of God and the love of one’s neighbour are two diametrically different things. If you are to understand the Love of God you need to forgo what you know and try what I know. You have tried your knowledge; now you can try mine. If yours is better I am ready to accept it. I am one of those people who can both give and take. That man who loves God is a man of great concentration and a great inner Life. On the outside he seems to keeping his distance from all other people and is regarded as an eccentric, but he isn’t that way, really. The love of God is like venous bloodstream that takes the impure blood to the heart and lungs to be purified and turned into arterial blood. Venous and arterial bloodstreams exist not only in man’s body but also in his feelings and thoughts. Hatred and jealousy, for example, are the venous blood in man, whereas Love and Joy are the arterial blood. The light and pure thoughts are the arterial blood, whereas the dark and negative thoughts are the venous blood. Therefore, by loving God man can transform the current of negative forces that runs in him into positive forces, and can transform the impure blood into pure blood. He goes to God, Who asks him, “Now, do you know me, son?” “I know you now, Father.” After this, like the arterial blood, man goes around the whole body to feed all its cells. This is the Love of one’s neighbour. By loving God you enter into His lungs and into His heart and you can purify yourself. Being thus purified and focused you leave to take the blood to the most remote cells of the body - to your neighbours - thus feeding them. Now that you know this, may you love God and may you take His blessing out to the whole world. As you spread the good among the people you may feel tired and you may feel the need to return again to that Life center, which purifies and restores the energy. Every twenty-four hours man goes back to God for rejuvenation and purification. Thus purified he leaves God again to go to his neighbour. After all this he finds himself wondering, “Where is God? Does He exist?” This shows lack of understanding of Life. And so, when you are on your way to God do not stop to converse with people. You should say to whomever you meet on your way, “I am going on important business. I will meet with you and talk with you after I am finished with my work. Then I will tell you about God: what He does and how He lives.” Let’s say that someone is ill and needs medical help. He goes to a few doctors but they cannot help him. What should he do then? He should turn to God with all his Trust and Hope and he should say this, “I put my faith in You, my Lord; I give my burden to You.” Once you have shed all human philosophies from yourself and have put your faith in God, He will help you. The stronger your faith is the sooner you will receive help. God helps the weak, the sick and the laboured alike. Man’s Love of God can make all ailments, both external and internal, go away. Both blindness and deafness will go away as soon as you turn your love to God. People today suffer from knowing too much. I do not mean to offend you, but I have decided to speak to you in an unusual way. Please, try to understand me right. You must cast aside the black clothes that you have donned. You must cast aside doubt and suspicion. They are like manure for Life. If there is the slightest shred of hatred left in your heart you must cast it aside. If you tend to become angry easily you must renounce your anger or take it to some factory where it belongs. If you are often visited by anger, why don’t you put it to work? When you put it to work, the anger says, “I have a clever master!” Is it possible to live without anger? Yes, it is possible. If you are visited by jealousy and hatred, you should put them to work, too. Through working they will connect with Love. Whatever negative thoughts and feelings might visit you, take them to God. Tell them, “I’m going to God. If you want to be with me, you should come along.” Take along with you all who are blind, deaf, lame, and maimed and take them to God. “But we are naked and we are embarrassed to show up before Him”, you might say. Go to God the way you are. He will clean you up and will dress you in new clothes. God does not need righteous people. Enter the Divine fire to cleanse yourself and then you can say, “We saw the Lord and we knew Him.” It says in the Old Testament that Moses ate with God. “Is this possible”, you may ask. It is possible. Eating is not only a physical process. One eats in the physical world, in the Mental world, and in the Heart world, as well. Thoughts and feelings are food just like bread is food in the physical world. Many want to be loved. Why should they be loved? They are hungry and they want to be fed. If someone says that he wants to be loved this means that he is hungry and that nobody thinks about him nor wants to feed him. Tell such a person, “Come to my home, brother, and I will feed you.” You will feed him and God will bless you. As long as they are in the realm of Love people sing and praise the Lord. They forget about the bad and wrong relationships they have with each other. As soon as they come down to Earth, they start quarreling. “We are sinful and that is why we have quarrels,” you say. Do not think that you are sinful or fallen people. You can be saved in any given moment. You say, “We will do good to propitiate God.” Put the good deeds aside. God loves you at all times; He is ready to help you at all times regardless of whether you are righteous or sinful. God loves us despite all our sins and wrongs. His Love has never faltered. Some people may say bad things about you: let them do it. In response, you should say to them, “Come to me, brother, and let’s go to together to the Lord.” No matter what difficulties you are enduring, just tell yourself, “I will love the Lord, Who is living in my soul.” Some may object to this, saying, “I cannot see the Lord.” This does not mean anything. If you cannot see Him today, you will be able to see Him tomorrow. Today even the simplest person knows that the friction from rubbing two pieces of wood together makes fire. A man and a woman are having a quarrel somewhere. Let them quarrel so that they can produce more Light for the two of them. Let them rub together and make fire. Once they have made fire, they will reconcile. It does not matter in what direction they will rub together: parallel or cross-wise; what matters is that they produce the necessary Light. And so, according to the language of the new Teaching, when there are frictions, you should say this, “Rub me, brother, until I produce Light for you.” This friction is necessary for the making of Divine Light. Even in the battlefield people rub on each other until they produce this Light. I see these people some of whom are blind, others, lame or maimed, and they are all going to Christ. He says to them, “It is better for you to be with one leg, with one hand, or with one eye, but to come to Me.” God greets these people, feeds them and asks them, “What are the rest of the people doing down on Earth?” “They are still rubbing on each other.” Then God says, “Let them rub. I will go down to Earth among them and they will all reconcile with each other.” I can see the ones who are up there with Christ. They are joyful and merry. When I say that they are up there, do not think that they are some place very far away. “I want to go to them.” “You should go to the battlefield first. From there they will send you up to your brothers.” “But I am afraid.” You need heroism, and not fear. You need to understand the deep meaning of Life. Remember this: there exists no evil in God. He makes everything right and fixes people’s mixed up deeds. He sets broken arms and legs. He puts in eyes that have been taken out. He brings order to everything. He is Father to all. Therefore, when you are ready to love you should go deep inside yourself and focus; feel neither doubt nor hesitation! Be certain that God will give you from His Love and will make you joyful and merry. If someone asks you how you know this, you should tell him, “Get away from me, don’t tempt me.” I say to you: each impulse you have comes from God. “When will I find God?” “When you fall upon difficult times.” “How will I find Love? What is it?” A disciple went to one of the great Teachers of India to ask him what Love is and how to find it. The Master was silent, saying nothing in response. On the second day the disciple asked the same question but the Master remained silent. The disciple visited his Teacher six days in a row looking for an answer to the same question, but the only response was silence. On the seventh day the Teacher took the disciple with him and took him to the Ganges River. He took him by the arms and pushed him under the water. The disciple kicked and struggled until, finally, the Teacher took him back to the shore and asked him, “What did you feel while you were in the water?” “I was suffocating. I needed air. I was about to burst for lack of air.” The Teacher told him, “You will understand Love and will really start looking for It when you feel such need for Love as you felt for air in the water. What the disciple felt in the water is what all those fighting in the battlefield feel. They feel the need for Freedom, for space. Now God has people by the scruff of their necks; He has dipped them into the water and will hold them there until they feel the need for Freedom. This is the Divine school that everyone needs to go through if he is to learn something. So many times our body parts have been strewn across the battlefields but God collects them every time and puts them back together. “Prove this”, you may demand. I will prove it. Say you are blind or lame. I open your eyes and you start seeing. I set your broken leg and you start walking. What other proof are you looking for? The proof is in restoring the harmony between all parts. Everyone needs to find proof for oneself; everyone needs to find Truth for oneself. One should go to God alone and one should come back alone. This is how one can acquire a deep inner Knowledge. This is how you will understand what temptation is. Sometimes you are happy, but all of a sudden your mood changes. You say, “I am unhappy in Life.” This is not your thought; you have been visited by some devil. Do not fight him but say, “Thank you, Lord, for sending me this brother to talk with.” You think that the devil is evil. I will speak well of him. Once he used to be good but then he fell and sinned. You may object, “The Scriptures say that we should resist the devil, the evil in the world.” This means: rub the devil until he opens his eyes and sees the Light before him. Once there is Light in his mind, he will renounce the wrong way. The second commandment is: “You should love your neighbour as yourself.” This Love is the way our heart and soul manifest themselves externally. It is through our neighbour that we can manifest our Love externally. The Love of one’s neighbour is also indicative of one’s Justice. Here is a story to explain this: one mother gave birth to two babies at once. She was able to nurse both of them at the same time, and so each baby was given its own natural pacifier. However, one of the babies had a bigger appetite and wanted to suck from both pacifiers. What did the just mother do? She spanked it to teach him a lesson. Not understanding the law, the baby decided that his mother was bad. God, too, allots one pacifier to each one of us that we should keep well. Christians today have each other by the hair and fight because everyone wants to take the other person’s pacifier. If you have one pacifier, do not be greedy for a second one. Those men, who have not yet produced fire, can have frictions. However, those, who have already made fire should return to God and bestow Him their gratitude. A woman told me once that she took care of her sick husband for twenty years, and she never got tired of this for a single moment. Why was that? She loved him. A man took care of his epileptic wife and never got tired of it. Every night he kept a close eye on her lest she should have a fit and he never said a word about it. He loved her and that is why he never got tired of taking care of her. Years and years ago an American ship had an accident and sank in the ocean. Most of the passengers were able to get into boats safely. There was only one space left in the last boat. A woman and her little boy were trying to climb into it, but there was no room for two people in the boat. Those people, who were in the boat looked at each other, trying to find a way to solve the situation, but then the mother quickly pushed her boy onto the boat, bid him goodbye and told him to send her love to his father. Which one of you can show such a spirit of selflessness and composure and can say like this mother, “Give my love to your father.” What do people do today? Most of them think about themselves and leave their children at the mercy of fate. People ask someone, “Where is your brother?” “I don’t know,” he says, “My brother is a big sinner; he must have gotten lost somewhere.” God tells this person, “You are not doing the right thing. You should extend your helping hand to your brother.” Once there was a great artist painted two beautiful pictures. Both paintings were of people who were drowning. The first picture was of a terrified woman who was reaching with both hands for a rock to hold onto for her own safety. The second paining was also of a woman, but she was holding onto the rock with one hand and was reaching out with her other hand so that someone else might be saved as well. I am telling you this: do not hold onto the saving rock of your life, Christ, with both hands. Hold onto Christ with one hand and help your neighbours with the other one. Do not think that people are sinful. Only God knows why people commit sins and suffer. If you follow the way of Christ you will understand why He loved people and how He showed His Love. Therefore, if you are feeling ill, say in yourself, “I love you, Lord.” As soon as you say this, you will be cured. He who goes to God will be cured if he is ill. If you are healthy, it means that you are with God already. If you are ill, it means that you have not gone to Him yet. Why haven’t you gone in to Him? Because you still need some more friction before you can produce Light. Once you have acquired Light, you will be saved by grace. This means: “We have come out of God and we shall return to Him.” “You shall love the Lord.” How? Not the way merchants associate and love. Two merchants liked each other and became friends. Because they shared common interests their families, too, lived well together and loved each other. This is the love of sinful people. It is said about them that the Lord will teach them the way. I also love sinful people: the blind, the lame, and the maimed. They need someone to show them how to live. They can be helped. If you are sinful, do not be afraid, for this is a test that you have failed. You may have a low grade today, but tomorrow when you learn your lesson you will earn the highest grade. Why are you afraid to receive a two for a grade?[1] The Scriptures say: “Love makes all fear go away.” Now I am here to preach about God’s positive forces. I am telling you this: go to God and love with no fear of hatred or jealousy. If hatred pays you a visit, tell it, “I love you, sister. I forgive you all that you’ve done, for this is your nature.” You need to say this from your heart, not just to say the words. If all you have is empty words you will be like that count from the story who fell in love with a young and beautiful woman and every time he saw her he would speak of his love for her. At the same time, the count’s servant was also in love with the young woman but he reverently kept his feelings to himself and did not talk about it to anyone. One night the count went out on a walk with his beloved. They climbed into a boat and rowed down the river. When they reached the other shore they were attacked by bandits who jumped out of the forest. The count was very scared, but managed to run away, leaving his beloved behind. At this moment the servant who accompanied them in a separate boat pulled his boat onto the shore and saved the young woman. He comforted her and took her safely home. The next day the count visited his beloved to make sure that she was all right, but she told him coldly and sternly, “You stay away from me. I do not want to see you any more.” The same happens today with God. You are in the boat with Him, but when the robbers attack you, you run away and leave Him alone. You say, “I don’t want to suffer because of the Lord.” And then, once the danger is over, you go looking for Him and you tell Him, “Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned.” He who loves the Lord must be brave! God is the only One Who knows how to Love and we, too, must learn to love. God is the only One Who knows how to work and we, too, must learn to work. Even in your hatred you can show Love of God. Once you have entered the realm of Love you will be able to see things the way they really are. Then you will be able to understand why some objects are hard and others are soft. In the light of Love you will be able to see clearly what you could not see in the dark. The diamond, for example, is the hardest mineral, but is very valuable despite its hardness. If one swallows a diamond, one will choke on it. It is valuable, but you will choke on it. Why is that? Because you did not use it wisely. Likewise, both hatred and jealousy are forces with a great purpose, but they need to be used in the right place. From the point of view of the Divine teaching everything in the world is Good, everything is harmonious only when it is applied correctly. Christ says, “The first and great commandment is this, ‘You shall love the Lord.’” When you love God you will be able to accept Life and death equally. Years pass and you grow old: your eyesight and hearing become weaker, your arteries are not so supple any more and you can see that the end is near. Your relatives call for the doctor hoping that he could help extend your life. I say this, “If one’s time is up, one should move along.” But one needs to realize this for oneself and one should tell oneself, “I have been called for now and I need to go. I am leaving my fortune to my smaller brothers, the worms. Let them have a meal and be happy.” The butterflies are beautiful. I converse with them very often. They tell me that they are sorry that sometimes they inadvertently do mischief. They say, “This is our job now. In the future, when we evolve to your position, we will be good, too.” I tell them, “It is all right. We forgive you. If we were you we would have been doing mischief, too.” And so, you must thank God that you are able to see the Good in the world from the situation in which you are now. The world is good but you need to be pure and holy. If you have not learned your lesson, do not make an excuse, but say this, “I love my teacher and I will learn my lesson for him.” You must say like David, “Anywhere you send me, Lord, I will gladly do Your will because I love You.” If you refuse to do God’s will then you do not love Him. We must love God and do His will. Why should we do that? Because everyone has been through losses and disappointments, but the Love of God will restore everything that has been lost; the Love of God will restore one’s health and will set all broken legs and arms. This Love will restore families’ broken lives. It will restore the disturbed balance in Nature. Now those who were killed are having a feast with Christ and those who were left down on Earth say, “Those poor people left before their time was up!” The great truth is that these people are with Christ in Heaven. They are happy. “Now we doubt this”, you say. He who doubts has no Love in his soul. Remember this: God is at work everywhere and among all people. When there is Peace among people it is God who is among them. God is among people even when they are having quarrels. He manifests Himself among all people. When one speaks good things or bad things to me, it is God Who speaks to me. According to me, there is no evil in the world. It is important that we should accept that everything comes out of the Lord in Whose presence we live and move. The Scriptures say, “God can make a new sky and a new earth.” Love brings the new in the world. God is already coming down to Earth and He is bringing the Love into the human hearts and souls. I can see the Lord; I can feel Him and I can understand all His acts. If there is bounty and fruit somewhere, this means that God is there. Will the uncultivated field yield any wheat? People look for the easy way. They wish that the apple could ripen without light and that the lentils could cook without boiling. No pain, no gain. It is through pain and suffering that God pours his Love onto you. If you find yourself wishing to commit suicide do not chase this feeling away but listen to it, and talk to it to find out what it brings for you. Do not realize this wish but look at it to find out why you are so disappointed and desperate. Committing suicide means leaving the confined world in which one lives so that one can work in some other, bigger world. Some young woman is desperate because her beloved left her and did not want to marry her. Why did he leave her? He found another young woman and says that he cannot love two young women at the same time. The young woman should not despair, but she should remember that there is Someone Who loves her through all times and ages. Be true to that Love, in which there is no change. Once you have started working in the name of this Love, do not give up until you see some results. If you grow tired after sowing your field, you should have a rest and continue on. When you rest, God works. While you are resting you can use the time to watch God working on your field. Work, rest and think when you have spare time. Think without worrying. Why would you worry about the food that you use? Accept this food with Love and do not worry about it any more. God will finish the work. If you have a headache, do not worry. Trust in God; say a prayer and He will help you. If you have doubts you will not be able to achieve anything; you will not be able to accept the new Teaching of Love. This Teaching is the Teaching of experience. The healthy accept the new Teaching and serve according to its principles. The thinker also accepts the new Teaching. All of you are required to think correctly. Do not say that your husband has taken to the stray path, but say that he has made a mistake that needs to be corrected. When the little child makes itself all dirty this does not mean that is has taken to the stray path. The child is not at fault for being dirty. Clean it up and wait for it to grow up and realize its mistake. A man from Varna once shared something that he went through. He had a son who was always unhappy with something. One day the man tied up his son’s arms and legs wanting to throw him into the well and get rid of him. When he realized his father’s intention the son said, “Father, you can do as you wish, but think about the consequences. You will be locked up and will not be able to provide for my mother and my sisters.” The father thought about it and then freed up his son, but would tell him from there on, “Nothing will ever come out of you.” One day I met this man’s son and after talking to him for a while, I said to him, “You will become a great person one day.” My words and the faith that I put into these words encouraged him and he really did become a great person. Therefore, if you want to live well then you should tell your wife that she is good and intelligent. Tell your husband that he is good, just, and loving. When he comes back from work, make sure you greet him well and with joy; then give him water to wash his feet. If you tell him that he is lazy, you will make your life worse. What is required of man? Man is required to elevate his consciousness each day by being aware that God works in him. When God goes up, you will go down to work. When God goes down you will go up to work. This is how Love works. Knowing this, you need to apply the Teaching of Love in your life. Think only about what is required of you, and not about what is required of those around you. Then I will welcome you even if you are a sinner. I am not interested in righteous people; I am interested in lame, blind, and maimed people: those are the ones I am taking with me to God, and there they will be welcomed with a feast. This is the new era: the era of renaissance. “You shall love the Lord.” This is the great commandment, on which the law and the prophets hang. Everything in our life will go well when we honor this commandment and when we apply Love to our lives. Everything will follow the law of eternal harmony. 1. Lecture by the Master held on October 15, 1916 in Sofia [1] Grading in the Bulgarian educational system uses the numbers 2 through 6: 2 being the lowest, failing grade, and 3 through 6 being passing grades with 6 being the highest one. Source

Note 3 Because Of The Joy “When a woman gives birth, it is through grief, because her hour has come; and when she bears the child she doesn’t remember her sadness because of the joy that a man has been borne into the world.” From Joan 16:21 This is one of the ordinary verses – verses from which all women are afraid; and because they are afraid, they often want to become men. It is like the son, when wants his father to pay him, he puts himself in the position of the servant and says: “Why does my father pay the servant but not to me, I work for him too.” There is the evil of the world, this means an understanding of their own position. It is like that not only between the women and sons but and between the people from all the professions: the sweeper wants to become a policeman, the policeman wants to become a police-officer, the police-officer wants to become a chief, the chief – a minister, the minister – prime minister etc. – eternal striving. It is not bad. Christ uses this verse to express one great idea; He says: “One woman, when she gives birth, it is on grief.” Why does this grief generate itself? Because of the man who was conceived in the woman – through the man who is conceived in her, she will become a man. As Adam bore woman, so and the woman bears a man; from the bone of Adam God made woman, and from one little embryo the woman bears a man; the law for the likeness exists – you were borne, you will bear. In you there has to appear one great idea. The contemporary century is a century of twaddle, speaking, etc. Every thing has to be put in its place; when the kid talks twaddle, it is in its place because it learns. When somebody learns to play the violin for example, he will creak on the strings for a long time and this is necessary, but if he appears to give a concert somewhere, they will throw him out – he has to creak somewhere outside till learns, and after that he may enter in the hall to play. The birth in this sense may compare to one piece of music because the conception itself starts from one little embryo. In the contemporary life it is hard to speak on these questions because the minds of the people are very distorted, we have lost the primary sense of things. Contemporary people say that when a woman gives birth, it’s all the same a she-ass gives birth; when Christ entered into Jerusalem he rode on the she-ass. The Donkey and pig are symbols of a distorted thing; why are the pig and the donkey such prosaic formulae? The donkey is one of the most modest animals, they beat it a lot and when it begins howling they say: “It brays like a donkey.” It is necessary to understand the primary, the inside sense of the things; we think that we understand things. For example, when a woman gives birth to, this is a Spirit of Life, this is one principle; when gave birth to, the woman is glad that a man has come into the world. In the Divine world the woman is the bearer of the Divine thoughts and from this point of view everyone may be pregnant. One Bulgarian how his turn has become: “In time of the Turkish war17 one sadness attacked me one day; I can’t gather in my skin, I shall burst. I started to walk. About one time I heard that in one tent they sang the song “The way in world is broad”. Suddenly one light came in my mind and then I understood the sense of life.” The soul of this young man had been pregnant, he was born in the tent and then in it the Joy had come. Christ says to his disciples: “You have grief because something is conceived in you.” And Christ had to die. In the world there is birth and death; when a man comes down from the Heaven to the Earth, he is born. The process of conception is interesting: when a man conceives, he is in the high circles of the Divine world, after that the soul starts to come down passing through nine circles for nine months, i.e. for every circle - one month. Thirty six weeks are needed for the child, which make nine months, or 362 880 minutes or 21772 800 seconds. Nine shows that when a man comes down, he has to fight for the Earth, has to go out on the war-path, has to be in movement – 9 is the number of Mars. Thirty six weeks is the number of the progress, of the evolution. These numbers shows how much time it was necessary in the past for man, to conceive. It was time when for a man, to born, deprived twenty one million years, after that the period decreased; the second period continued 962880 years, the third period – 6048 years, the fourth period – 252 years, the fifth 36 years, and the sixth, the present, continues until nine months. When she conceives, a woman contains in herself all these periods and if they observe, they may understand from which souls her child is, through which period it passed, what person it was in the past life, etc. Some people ask: “What is my child? “ If man observes he can define what his child will be. This may be familiar to the mother through the period of the pregnancy. For example some pregnant women suffer, want to steal something, they grow dispirited so, they want to kill themselves and etc. – these their conditions show that that sort was their child. Often the mother says to her child: “My angel” – it is not an Angel. The child and the mother are closely connected between themselves and because in the past she spoiled it, now it comes to her to correct it: the child says: “I shall be born from you and you will correct me.” Often people lie that they marry with love, and after they conceive, miscarry their child and then the grief is eternal. When one live woman miscarries, the grief doesn’t get away from her, and when she bears, her grief is eliminated – this is law. Till one thought, one desire, one action isn’t realized, you can’t free yourself from their consequences, therefore whatever thought comes, i.e. whatever conception, has to be realized. No matter how the man philosophizes, this law reigns, it is a law of Freedom. God gave to the man the Freedom to do everything what he thinks, but for every thing he will experience the consequences. If God is weak, He even wouldn’t allow these things, but as power and all-powerful He in the end will repair everything Alone. Some ask how he will repair it. He will let the people bear; for example some man thinks something but starts to hide – this shows that he is a man from hell, from the place of the sufferings. Some will say: “I belong to so and so church, I believe in Christ.” What is faith? It is a symbol of the world, spring of the Life. If this water runs constantly and is not in harness in some water-mill, it will not bring any use. If this water falls from high woods and hills, it cascades down, carries away many things, digs up, with one word – it brings ground for one future life, but if it is used in a good sense, it will be useful. The soul firstly passes through the mineral kingdom, after that – through the steam and the waters, afterwards – through the area of the embryos and lastly God gives it to see by itself. First of all He gives it minerals, liquids, steams, waters and seeds; after that it passes through the area of the fire to purge; afterwards it passes through the reflection, afterwards – in the atomic area, after that it passes through the thick matter. In this way the soul passes through generally ten spheres and there why the child brings to its mother great wealth. In this sense the mother is one big laboratory in which enters one great wealth from that world. I want to think philosophically, to grasp the things sensibly, to understand the inside sense of Life. Some man says about another: “I outtalked him.” For example one Bulgarian did boast that he knew Turkish well; one day he met with one bey, began to speak with him and in the conversation he beat him. When they asked him why he did it, he answered “I outtalked him.” When the child comes we have to understand the high sense of this coming, and now for what the mother is glad? He is glad that her son will become eminent. The question is if the mother acted the Divine Will to bear one child, and what will become from it is question of secondary importance. Christ says: “When this child conceives the mother will grieve, but when it is born, she will be glad because God will bring it up.” The mother says that she brought her child up but I haven’t seen either one mother die for it. For example the brood-hen breeds its chicks, feeds them till they are yet completely unable to care for the living by themselves, but after they grow up she abandons them and starts to peck them; It means that in this hen there was one creature which let it breed these chicks. Thus, what forces the mother to bring up her child, it is God who is in her. One father said to his son: “If he was not my son, till now I would throw him out.” The truth is that God loves the kids and He forces their parents to bring them up. In the verse Christ takes the image of one normal woman, who is conceived, goes on the Divine law in which she has grief. But Christ says: “I shall go and you will be pleased.” I shall give you one example which will explain the diversions which happen in the world. From one eminent German preacher one young girl was interested; she visited all his sermons regularly, became a very zealous adherent of his teaching when in the end the preacher married her and said: “I found one woman-worker who will help me.” But after they married she said: “Till now I played a role, from now on you will play a role”; in this way she started to want pleasures of all kinds and refused to take part in the previous activities. The preacher started to feel discouraged; in fact, when he married, he conceived and started to suffer. He turned to God with a request to rescue him and one day, when he read the Writing, he met the verse: “You, women, subordinate to your men.” The preacher had been pleased, started to quarrel with his wife, beat her, and she also started to beat him; and when they beat mutually, they were both borne. Many people go to Christ till they marry, and after that they say to Him: “Now we want money, wealth, houses.” Then Christ opens the other door and says: “You, women, subordinate to the God, because God is head and to the man, and to the woman.” Now, as I observe you, I see that sometimes the man gives birth, and sometimes – the women; one grieves, and the other is glad. Let all bear, but to bear on time, but not prematurely born children; let every started thing, when it is born, when it happens, to carry Joy. That is why in the religious life man has to make a choice. Some people think that after they turn to religion they will become saints. A young man called Joan fell in love in one religious girl, but one English reformist advised him not to take her for wife and said: “She may be good with Christ, but not with you.” The young man listened to him and after sometime he got married to another woman who through his whole life tormented him; but then Joan said: “I shall execute the will of God, even if this woman pull me for my hairs in home hundred times.” In this way many of you are pulled Christ for the hair in home and when you go to the Heaven, Christ will say: “This is my good, excellent woman who pulls me for the hair.” I would like Christ not to be only one by name and to expect to see Him in Heaven. Where is Heaven? In the beginning God made the Heaven and the Earth. “When a woman gives birth, it is through grief.” This is the law of purging of the human soul. The scrub is the Earth, and the Joy is the Heaven; the grief always brings Joy after itself, and Joy always brings grief after itself – this law is unchangeable, the grief is a shadow of Joy. Christ in the Heaven is great with the fact that he bears the sins of all people; He bore the sins of the whole humanity not only of His time but and today He bore human sufferings. A man who cannot bear sufferings is one fly, amoeba, microbe, but a man who suffers consciously is a great man, maker and to be stupid. Every one who suffers and bears like a man his sufferings is Christ on the Earth; woman or man who suffers most and bears his suffer lightest, is Christ. The Heaven and the Earth is in our mind and heart; when our mind is spoiled, there is no Heaven and Earth. They say that God made Heaven, and the Earth was indeterminate and destroyed. And that is why God built the world in six periods to create this big land – the woman; how much she had chattered, how much fire she had thrown till she calmed down! Man has to give birth, and the birth becomes only in one Divine organized world. “Woman gives birth, it is through grief” says Christ. When it comes to birth there is no man and woman. One time the man gave birth and today namely after Christ, the woman gives birth– that is why she has to give birth well. The law of the birth understands the following: when it lands in the ground, this little embryo starts to gather all thoughts and feelings and to form a number of bodies, a number of worlds on which the man becomes master. When she conceives, the mother has to follow how God works, the birth looks like to one great painter who works and after he finishes his work, he displays his picture to present to the people this great idea. Because every day, every hour, every minute and second man has to bring in new thoughts, and when we don’t accept anything new, we start to be bored. Therefore the mother, together with her son, passes through the high worlds. There are mothers who are joyful in conception because they feel the connection between themselves and the child. Now, the oculists present different theories for the birth of a man but many of them may be wrong. Some maintain that as one soul drops, a mother immediately is being found for this child; after that three of its leaders round the world, afterwards they sink the soul of the child in the water of oblivion and in the end they bring it to the mother. This going about in Heaven is not so easy, in every step there are hindrances and this is why man has to find the way. The three leaders who bring the child to stay with the mother and if she keeps it, they tell her many secrets, teach her many things. In the same way, if a man keeps his thought, he will be able to bear some great soul after time. A man can’t conceive simultaneously many desires but has to give effect to only one desire, and the others to join in one and to serve to the main desire; it is the same and with the thoughts: all little thoughts have to join and to form one big one. A man has to have one big thought, a bit to be good; for example a man breeds many pigs, but it is better if there is only one but good. The pig is a symbol of desire; if it is one it is noble and sensibly desired. They say for someone that he is one pig in the Astral world; after some time, he will bear in your hearts and minds, you will see him in yourselves and then you will be pleased because he will carry in you and the Heaven, and the Earth. Together with him and Angels will enter, and Archangels, and Cherubs and other great creatures. In the Christian church the law is such that ones are on the Earth, and others are on Heaven. When the windows of Heaven are open, from the Earth it may be heard what it is talking about there; and may from Heaven be heard what it is talking about on the Earth. Your grief is that you have conceived one child and let this grief translate into Joy. Man may suffer intensively, man may even be discouraged but let him say: “Because of this Divine child, who I bring with myself, man has to suffer!” In the Writing, it is said: “When we, the dead men, resurrect”, and I say: “When we, the live men, bear” – this means a man has to live in his desires, in his thoughts, in his ideas. And every thought which comes, is one Angel sent from the God. Man should not be angry to the thought and the desire which causes grief, because it will bear Joy and then a man will say: “Life has sense.” When Christ gives birth He drops His spirit and in the world it is set in darkness – His Glory was so great, His Light was so big that the world darkened. And our world will darken, and we will enter into that world where we will see what in reality the world is. Man has to know this experience and only with this we will be acquainted with the inside sense of Life. Some will ask how they will recognize them in Heaven. Man has to have features. Once the famous singer Adeline Patty18 went to New York but it happened in a way that her money was used up and one acquaintance of her sent her remittance to the New York bank; the director of the bank asked her with what she will certify her personal identity. She hadn’t any other document except her voice, and started to sing. After he heard her, the director gave an order to grant her the adduced sum. When he goes to Heaven a man has to take his Divine thought. 8th of October, 1916, Sofia Source

Note 5 You Know „And he said to me: you, son of mankind, can these bones come back to life? And I said: God Jehovah, you know.” Ezekiel 37: 3 „Can these bones come back to life?” You may ask yourselves what secret is hidden in this sentence. You will say: „We know those bones, we have boiled them many times, we have seen them many times at the cemetery – it is a bone.” But the bones that I will tell you about you have never seen. What you think you see in the world, is as real as the state when someone is dreaming that he is rich for example and when he wakes up, there is nothing left from his wealth. God asked the prophet: „Can these bones come back to life?” the bones in this sense represent an obscene life, a life in a potential state; in the religious sense the dead bones mean life without motion. You will ask if life without motion is possible; in the metaphysical sense this means non-conscious life. Each bone lives a separate life and if someone moves it or sets it in motion, it will say: „Thanks God, that there is someone to move me.” The bones represent the Israeli people, disunited by the bad life and since there is no unity between the separate individuals, they are dead. The bones represent the man after his death. They are the only thing that is left unchanged; according to the occultists a new Life is hidden inside the bones and when the man returns to Earth, he will take what is hidden inside the bones – that is why we keep the bones of our friends and relatives. Some people say: „For me it doesn’t matter what will happen after my death”, but outside his bones man is nothing. Now the man has to learn to think philosophically, to look at everything as something inevitable, necessary, and not just a mere chance. For example from geometry we know that the shortest distance between two points is the straight line, which is a movement in one direction; it is a sum of many points, i.e. of many movements that form it. Therefore our thought can move only along one straight line. If we imagine that we live in one point and our thought moves only in a straight line, then we would not have any notion of the world – the man would say that beyond the straight line nothing exists; therefore there are creatures on Earth that have the imagination for one thing only. But when the point moves, it forms a straight line, which is alive and if one day it decides to change its direction along its perpendicular, it will form a plane; the plane is formed of millions of straight lines. So, there are other creatures that understand that the world moves not only in one direction – along the length, but it also moves along its width; the snail for example, has the notion that only two dimensions exist. Of course, the plane is alive, too, because everything in Nature is alive; and if it moves it will find another dimension – height and in that way a cube will be formed. You are three-dimensional creatures and the philosophers think that beyond the three dimensions nothing exists. However there are creatures that move in even higher dimensions. If the cube moves into another, fourth direction, then the whole world will move and a tessaract will be formed; this fourth perpendicular moves in a direction that we cannot imagine. So, before the man is able to understand things, he is like a dead bone, i.e. he is a one-dimension creature; God asks: „Can these creatures change and form creatures of two or three dimensions?” And God said: „Prophesy! – only when the man starts talking, does he begins to understand things. The first man was without bones, but the present creature has bones. Every man is one bone, the word bone means something that is essential and unchangeable in man, that can be put in action, to be organized. Moses said that initially God had made the man from soil – then the man was able to move only in one line; when the man was made of bones, he was given the ability to move in three dimensions, but then he was still dead; just after God breathed in his nose, then the man started to think – therefore today we breathe through the nose and only then we can think. For example a thought comes in the head of a woman that her husband does not love her, which means that she moves along a straight line; in this case she has to stop and form a plane in her thoughts – only then she will get along with her husband. Otherwise both the man and the woman will move along a straight line and they will not meet. When Moses wanted to see God, he told him: „My face you cannot see, but you will see only one piece of My clothing, otherwise you will burn out”; philosophically this means: since the man lives in the world, he cannot understand things; therefore he sees only one part of it. So, to change their state, the bones must be destroyed. These bones were dead, but only God knows if they can acquire higher life. When someone starts to talk to them, they begin to fuse together, muscles and nerves are formed, but still they cannot think; in order to start thinking a Spirit of the four winds, of the four sides, must come, i.e. there must be a fourth dimension. Until man lives in three dimensions, he cannot understand the meaning of a spiritual life; the contemporary people think that the world ends with death – this is what the frog, the snail and the man think, too. If I go to the vineyard to dig, if I work a day or two and I do the work, this does not mean that the world will end. The world comes to an end means that Life comes to an end; these are the thoughts of a snail, of a dead bone – this is the contemporary philosophy. When these bones start moving, they say: „Our job is done”, i.e. our role in the field like bones is finished; but after that they deliberately start moving. The contemporary people can compare themselves to the character in the following joke: a Bulgarian, named Stoyan, started out to a town to sell a donkey; the town was far and he stopped to have a rest; he tied the halter of the donkey to his wrist and fell asleep. Some naughty kids saw that he was asleep and untied the halter from the donkey’s head and took the animal. When he woke up with the halter in his hand and saw that the donkey was missing, the Bulgarian said to himself: „If I am Stoyan, I have lost the donkey; if I am not Stoyan, I have won the halter.” Life is the donkey, but if I am not, it is just a halter. The halter means that a man lives with a thought, inside which there is no existence. God says: „These bones will come back to life.” When the Prophet speaks, this is the Spirit of Christ. Sometimes you might fall in such a state of stiffness, as when a man thinks, feels, but cannot give a sign that he is alive; the mind can exist outside the world, but to move means to live. When a man wakes up in the morning, he moves and starts living, but when a man talks discursively and absent-mindedly, he is a dead bone. This is a small analogy: our thoughts can be discursive like these bones, we can cry and say: „What is the sense of life?” – The man is in a position of the prophet, whose thoughts are like dead bones. And God says: „You son of mankind, can your thoughts live in the field?” – Then the man starts thinking about the sense of Life and answers: „You know, God!” When the man thinks that God knows, then He says: „Speak!” When God sent Moses to the Pharaoh, he did not want to talk, because he stammered; then God got angry and ordered his brother Aaron to come; and to make Moses talk, Aaron gave up his place to Moses. Everyone is Moses and Aaron, i.e. a soul and a Spirit – in that way man will save himself. Sometimes the soul gets discouraged; for example a young maid gets disappointed with a man, she falls into despair, throws away everything, becomes gloomy and says: „That is the end of my life”. Every one of us is a deceived maid or lad – this is the original sin. When the devil came, the people became infatuated with him and then the man stayed neither with the devil, nor with God. God asked the prophet: „Can these dead thoughts, desires and actions come back to life?” – The prophet answered: „You know, God.” And after the Spirit came, the bones turned into a great army. Now, to make it possible to determine the things, they must possess certain features. The contemporary physicians say that electricity has two flows – though air and through earth: when there is a movement above, there must be a movement below. Hence, God’s thought cannot work in a man who has no bones. And since this is power is a Life in a hidden state, this movement must come from outside the bones. The human thought does not belong to the three-dimensional things; the feelings belong to the fourth dimension, the thoughts belong to the fifth dimension, and the mind – to the sixth dimension. One day when we will be among the Angels, they will teach us about these dimensions. We live in three worlds, and according to the cabalists there are ten worlds in total – the man lives in the third world, and God – in the tenth world; this is a great philosophical thought. After we have lived millions of years, we have come only to the third world, and still many years are necessary for us to come to the tenth world. The charm of the world is that it is unlimited and there will never come a day when the man can say that he knows everything. From this point of view there is consciousness in everything; for example in a stone there is consciousness of a stone; a flower, a snail, an Angel – everything lives with its consciousness. The man understands this, but let’s try to communicate with a tree, for example; for us it is just a tree, but it has its own life – it stays still, does not talk, but it knows everything because it has learnt it when it was up in Heaven. That is why the trees point upwards – when a man goes up there, he will learn everything. The contemporary scientists investigate an apple, what chemical elements it is composed of, but there is something in it, which they cannot find out. Life does not consist only of these elements, but there is something else that has to be learnt. For example in the past people thought that electricity could be transferred only through wires, and today we know that this is possible without them. There are two worlds – a physical and a Spiritual one; the man is in the Spiritual world, as he is in the physical life. People move from above downward. Today it is considered that culture goes from below upward, but I contest this and I say that the apple is nourished from the Sun, rather than from the saps; for example in the course of several years a tree grows in weight by twenty kilograms and all it has taken is from above, not from the Earth. We take everything from above, i.e. from inside – from a world much wider than the external one. We can compare it to a cone with the point down – the point is the external, and the base is the internal world; if the man is placed on the top, he would say that the internal world is smaller, but in fact it is not like that. Those who have decided to study the religious matters philosophically must be very calm. At the time of one of the Turkish sultans there were a lot of sluggards; one day the sultan decided to see who is the laziest sluggard of all and ordered the building they were in to be set on fire. Frightened by the fire, all sluggards started running, but only two of them remained inside. When one of them saw the fire becoming bigger, he turned to his friend and asked him what to do; the other one answered: „How aren’t you lazy to talk?” When it is destined for a man to die, he will die wherever he is. For example a rich Frenchman wanted to free his son from the front and by means of much money he managed to place him at the rear, but there too, although protected from the bullets, his son was killed by a shell that fell nearby. Very often people are afraid of epidemic outbreaks. The man must not be afraid of anything, because he may die of fear. For example, the plague started one day for Baghdad; a man met it and asked where it was going. – „I am going to Baghdad to take a thousand people.” The Plague arrived in Baghdad and twenty thousand people died. When it was on its way back, the same person met it again and asked it how many people it had taken. – „Twenty thousand” – replied the plague. – „And why did you tell me that you would take only a thousand?” – „The other nineteen thousand died of fear.” The man must be careful in his life. A traveller was buying a train ticket to the town of Gorna Oriahovitsa, but he was short of thirty silver coins; he asked a lawyer to help him, but the lawyer refused and saw that the man had no choice but to walk. One day the same lawyer was in London and when he was on his way back he noticed that he was short of thirty silver coins and he could not buy a ticket - he was repaid in the same way. This is to show that whatever you do, it will come back to you. In this case the man is a dry bone and you have to open your purse widely and help everyone who needs help. And today, as many people are killed, some lay up wealth; God holds us responsible for that and says the money must enliven. Money means everything we can use to help – it is knowledge, it is a feeling, it is a desire. Our thoughts and feelings must enliven us, therefore God says: „Talk to yourself, talk to your dead thoughts, desires and actions!” – In that way gradually you can notice some kind of a movement, some kind of life. Is there a mother, carrying her child and not suffering? She suffers, but a new life is formed in her. When the Spirit comes, then the man will understand why he is here, on Earth, and he will see how good it is to live, to suffer and to die, to come out of this world and to live in another, where the people will live on good terms. We, the present-day people, are of first, second and third dimension, because in us we do not have eternal Love, it is only temporary. The Love in us must enliven our soul, must strengthen our heart and Soul. So says Christ: „If I am with God, I will feel well in hell, but if I am without Him in Heaven, then why do I need to be in Heaven?” Let God be with us; and He is in us and with us. When God says: „Talk!”, we have to talk. We want to set the world straight, as we set ourselves straight, but only the Reasonable Life can straighten man. Every thought, even if it is a good one, is a bad thought if it cannot be used in a reasonable way, and vice versa. In the contemporary science there are many examples like that: for instance the carbon dioxide, which suffocates people, is pleasant and necessary for the plants – it gives them carbon for food, and oxygen is released. So, if one thing is harmful for us, for other things it is useful. Give your sins to the plants, and take the purity from them. Therefore the man should not complain. So says the Scripture: „Give your sins to God”; when God takes our sins, He asks: „Can these bones come back to life?” So, everyone must say to himself: „God Jehovah says that all our thoughts and desires, all our purses must be open for our fellow-men.”(retranslated fragment!) 1st October 1916, Sofia Source

Note 4 Compassion He saw in a vision evidently, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said unto him, "Thy prayers and thine alms are coming up for a memorial before God." The Acts of the Apostles 10: 3-4 You can ask yourselves the question: what connection exists between Cornelius with his vision and us, who live in the 20th century - people with modern ideas; men sophisticated, with critical minds; men who claim to have mastered the forces of nature. We have to constantly bear in mind the following thought: our outlook and theories, our explanation of Life do not represent the actual world as it is in reality – these are only our concepts of the world. What the world is in reality is an enigma which even if we were given a million years of life we wouldn’t be able to solve it. The quoted verse relates to the individual life of man. On the Earth, in the present state of his development, man has a threefold relation and does three jobs: to himself, to his neighbour, and to God. When we speak about man, we have to ask ourselves the question whether we are referring to his individual life, or to the life he manifests in his relations with his neighbours, or to the Life which manifests itself when we are connected to God, because in any of these three viewpoints, the world takes a different perspective. If we decide to find out how modern science views Life we will see that it has the following concept: personal or individual life cannot continue after death; life is contained inside the body and is solely a product of the body; thinking is a product of the brain and consequently, when these organs are destroyed, both life and thinking perish forever. So modern science says; such are its concepts. According to it, thinking is a product of the brain, but from a purely philosophical point of view in the world there are organs that exist with a function other than the energy-producing one. If Life originated from the cells of the body and if thinking were in truth a product of the brain, as science states, then its conclusions are correct. But we have three types of organs and three types of functions: organs producing energy, organs releasing energy, and organs transmitting energy. If we take for an example a shell of a modern military gun and the tiny fuse igniting the explosive, I want to ask you, ''Does the gun generate energy in any form?'' No, it only passes and directs the energy. The gun has not produced the explosive, its function is only to release that energy which through a certain transformation of the molecules inside the substance expands their volume and thus produces an explosion. There are also other organs which release energy. Let’s say we have a prism exposed to sunlight, which refracts the sunrays and due to that, certain colours become visible; and I ask you, is it the prism that creates the colours? No, it only refracts the rays, and even if the prism breaks, the colours will continue to exist. In the same way, the energy of human thought exists even after the brain is destroyed. In that sense we can say, that the brain is a device through which the Divine Thought; the initial Divine Energy is refracted and manifested in the form of mind and thought. Therefore, the brain is not a source of thinking; it is only an organ transmitting thought; while the Divine Thought continues to exist even after this organ perishes. In this way, we live in a Divine world, where certain organs exist, which are imperishable. We know that in the physical field there exists certain compounds which undergo transformations, but in the higher worlds, and in the initial higher conditions of matter there exists unchangeable compounds. I call them stable compounds – initial types, out of which the world of today is built. This world in its physical manifestation we call a physical world, i.e. it does not possess the higher consciousness, which exists in the Spiritual World. For instance, your fingers do not have the sensitivity your brain has, and your ears do not have the sensitivity to perceive light, as your eyes do. What is this sensitivity of the eyes due to? Quite naturally, we can give various answers to this question, but we have to first adopt one statement as a starting point of our reasoning. In Mathematics, there is an axiom stating: any two lines equaling a third line equal each other; in other words, we always have to have one condition, one measure, as a starting point. This sensitivity is a function of the human soul. Now, I have no time to tell you what the soul is like. The human soul is something large; it manifests itself both individually, in man and collectively. In truth, the soul is one; Life is one; but those who do not comprehend this philosophical concept may come up with very wrong views when I say one and many souls. Just the same, as they talk, for instance, about the acorn: the acorn is one, but when we plant this acorn, first it builds up one branched sprig with three branches; then three more are formed above; till it ramifies more and more and forms thousands of individual leaves and acorns. Someone, who has no idea of the acorn’s nature, while looking at the tree, will consider the leaves as separate individuals; however, they all come from and are contained within the acorn – within this seed. This seed is God. Create the conditions and plant that seed within yourselves and it will unfold all talents, all secrets, and wonders. This seed, this acorn can shrink; it can grow; it can transform itself into a beech, a bear, a whale, a man, an Angel. This seed is within – it is one, and at the same time, many. Therefore, things can unite or disperse depending on the viewpoint: if we look from above, things will seem numerous; if we reach downwards, we will see that all things are sustained by the one trunk. We should apply the same point of view to all people: for me, some of them are like leaves; others – like branches, like roots, like seeds, like unripe fruit. Quite naturally those of you, who belong to the leaves, will not understand my philosophy, because your lifespan is short – it is a six-month’s life. When spring comes, you become beautiful, wonderful; yet when autumn comes and frost falls, you wither and say, “Our time has gone.” Some day a storm may break the branches of your tree in two and eventually your whole tree may fall. But even then and there, in the soil, one acorn will remain, which contains Life and says, ''I have the power to bring you back to Life,'' – and it falls down to the soil, drinks up its sap of life and restores all things back to life. Where, then, is the end of all things? This is a constant process, as infinity has no end. When the leaves fall on the Earth, do not think that the entire world has come to an end. Do not think like Nastradin Hodza,1 who said, ''When my wife dies, that will be the end of half the world. When I die, the whole world will end.'' This world may die, but the other, the Divine World will not – not at all. Why do we experience death, why is our world imperfect? When we reach a certain point, we have to transform ourselves into new flesh in order to receive a new impulse for work of the soul. Cornelius was not an uneducated man, in my belief he should have possessed deep knowledge; he was initiated, because God shall not appear before foolish people. It will be foolish for a great musician to play before a man who cannot hear and then ask him what he makes of the music; such a man will answer, ''I can only see how you are moving your fingers to and fro.'' And the musician will say, ''You are stupid,'' meanwhile both are stupid. Or, imagine a painter who has painted a beautiful picture, and shows it to a man who cannot see, and asks, "How do you see it?" and that man answers, "There is a canvass before me, but this canvass is a little bit silly here and there, you must have bought it some place," and the artist will say, ''What a simpleton you are, you don’t understand anything.'' They are both simpletons – the one for not seeing and the other, the painter, for not understanding that the other man is in no condition to understand. In the same way, when a Higher Being comes to us, we have to be able to understand the inner nature of all things. I have read many works of philosophy, I go through them every day and at times I burst my sides with laughter; some philosophers resemble men who cannot see – they work gropingly and write, "This world is a canvass with imperfections; with too little suffering; and all men are fools." You are right, I say, but these conclusions are valid for you only. This world is more than a canvass, more than these up and downturns; there should be Light in the eyes, ears, in the mind, in all the brain centres of the man, in all his strengths and abilities; so that he may understand things. And the one who understands the world must have lived a long life – one life only is not enough for a man to understand the world. What can you comprehend within a life-span of twenty, thirty, fifty, or one hundred years – under the present conditions in the world, what philosophy can you learn? You will constantly read in the papers which army2 is the prevailing one; how many people the Romanians killed; how many prisoners-of-war the Bulgarians have captured; what inventions the Germans have made. For example, the Germans have devised 42-cm guns; the French are developing a 52-cm gun; the Americans – a 54 cm gun; the Germans had so-and-so zeppelins, the French – so-and-so airplanes; I ask you – what philosophy will you learn from all that? Laws exist that regulate things. Wars break out for a reason. What are the reasons when a storm arises and dust swirls in the air? The scientists say that someplace the air has been heated more; someplace – less; and currents have originated. Why should air be heated and why should it be cooled; can't we do without that? No, we cannot. You may say it’s something bad, because there are storms which destroy houses. Yes, but at the same time the storms will bring you moisture, will clear the air, etc., i.e. to the vegetable kingdom they will do more good than harm. What are the reasons for a war to break out? It is a storm in the Spiritual World, which comes to refresh people. After that storm, the people will become very intelligent; writers will appear who will reason very intelligently. Now we can only see the harm but in fifty years we shall return to see the outcome. In the Divine World everything comes into use and nothing happens by chance. The one killed on the battle field was meant to be killed; the one who had his house burned, he had to have his house burnt; if one had a leg cut, it was because this leg had to be cut. Statistics exist, proving the natural course of events; there are laws, regulating the events in Life which only seem to occur by chance – for example, how many ships shall sink and how many should be built for ten years; when will the period of the greatest number of sinking set in and then – the period of the least number of sinking; or let us take for example fires: how many houses should burn every year; then let us take for example births and deaths – how many people have to be born and how many have to die each year. And more: I have, for example, the study of a mathematician, who is also an astrologer; and he did calculations in the following way: for ten towns in England he studied the number of the boys and girls born in the course of ten years; and afterwards he succeeded to mathematically establish with an error of one percent only how many boys and girls will be born in each of these towns in the course of the following ten years. Some reach even farther with their calculations and foretell, let us say which tickets will be the winning ones in the next draw of a lottery, which is drawn four times in a year. Therefore, a law exists, that regulates things. This is a new science, which has deep roots and a rational foundation. Now, you are starting to scratch the backs of your heads; this scratching might seem, at first glance, to have no meaning at all, but I know why it is happening. Or, someone has confused his work and puts his index finger on his forehead above his eyebrows; to such a man we say, "You have not judged right, and that is why you have confused your work," – you should judge carefully. In this laboratory above the eyebrows everything is stored that you need; there is your library where you can find the book; this and that page or this and that article of the law, which will enlighten you. Some have the habit of pressing their head but with pressing you cannot open a door; this is the way to crush nuts only. To be able to open the door of learning, men should have the key. Hence, we have to live mindfully. Many books are written on the issue of what Mindful Life is. It is your task – you have to live according to the way you comprehend things because a student with no comprehension of his own will never understand the subject matter his teacher is teaching. Now we are placed in the following contradiction. There is a legend, that God originally created two men on the Earth, but they could not get on well together; they started hating each other; and that is why God placed them in the two most distant places in space, so that they could not see each other. But they began to miss each other; started to love each other and in order to join, these two souls built a bridge and this bridge is the Milky Way. Therefore there is a way through which people can get on well together – and it is the Milky Way of Harmony, of Love. Christ descended via this way, too. Some want to know what an Angel is; while what I want to know is what man is. The old Indians have defined man as a thinking being; then, what is an Angel? Angel in Sanskrit means servant, but it also means glowing fire, and also love. If you love, you are an Angel; if you do not love, you are a man. But I say to someone, "You are not an Angel, you are one of those souls, who have not agreed with their neighbour, and for that reason God has nailed you somewhere in space and you have no bridge to join you." Peter in Sanskrit means spirit (Pitar); in fact, they told Cornelius, "Go to the Spirit, It will tell you all." Peter in Old Greek means stone. There exist living stones – only the Spirit can be a living stone. By stone Christ means things unchangeable within, Divine, mindful. Cornelius had to pray – here is a task. Many still do not know how to pray; some say, "What am I expected to tell God, doesn’t He know?" And others ask how they should pray. If you ask a theosophist, he will tell you, "I am God, I have nothing to pray for, I will only reason." While the philosopher will say, ‘I will think.’ But prayer is necessary – it is the breathing of the human soul; it is communication between God and the human soul. When God speaks, you shall keep silent and listen carefully as a student and when He stops, He will tell you, "I want you to repeat what I have told you." The word prayer means to ascend and descend. There are people who talk incessantly; they are chatterboxes – even when they sleep at night, they talk, while they should keep silent. What is sleep? I will tell you; when you sleep, God teaches you lessons – because you are isolated from the external world, from family, house, etc., this is the time when God can speak to you. When man wakes up, God would tell him, "Repeat what I have told you." And what will this man repeat, if he has not heard and comprehended well God’s commandments? He will beat his wife, will spank his children and will live the whole day indisposed, because he has not comprehended the lesson, and has not understood the meaning of Life for this day. When a Divine Messenger descends from Heaven to us, he wants to tell us that without Purity we will never see God; that without Holiness we will never comprehend Him; that without Kindness and Love, without Compassion and without Justice we will not feel Him. We have to understand what Love is. Some say, "We understand what Love is," some of you, I believe, do understand what Love is; but you have to understand it deeper. Love is always the stepping-stone to hatred; if you love Good - you will hate evil; if you love evil - you will hate Good. Consequently, Love alone cannot solve the question and bring deliverance to man, if it is not accompanied with a constant evasion of its antipode. Who, then, will save the world? - The Angel of Love, accompanied by the Angel of Compassion. Only in Compassion there is no shadow, only in the Mercy of God there is no division – we have to study the law of Compassion. For this reason this Angel came to Cornelius – to teach him the law of Compassion. And when the people of the world learn to be compassionate and apply Compassion everywhere, then all will live in peace. Truth makes men free, teaches him what is Good and what is wrong; who is foolish and who is wise; but it does not contain within itself the element to reconcile people; Love, too, alone can not bring about peace. Divine Compassion is the key that reconciles Justice with injustice, Wisdom with foolishness, Good with evil, so that they shall not fight within us. They say about someone, "He is good, I cannot stand him; he is foolish, I cannot stand him; he is bad, I cannot stand him." The World is not bad, what is bad is our understanding of things; we are bad within ourselves, and the world is very good. The soul which you hate agonizes, it suffers, it is chained somewhere in Heaven. Some people now say, "You will never save your soul; you will eternally live in hell." And I ask, who among those philosophers is the advisor to God to know what He thinks? They are like the man who could not hear but listened to the great musician; and like the man who could not see and touched the canvass of the great artist. Are they the men who will show us the way to Deliverance, the way of the new civilization? No, they are not. He is the Angel who descended to teach us Compassion – Christ; in the soul of Christ there is Compassion and self-sacrifice. Sometimes you say, "We are very educated, that is why we shall hide, so that they will not demagnetize us, or rob us," no, open your safes, open your hearts, open everything! Do not shrink into yourselves like the snail, which protrudes its antennas and then draws them in again – you have to leave your shells. I do not talk to snails or shells – I talk to people who ask themselves the questions, "What is the meaning of my life, what is my purpose, what shall I do?" I answer: you have to learn Divine Compassion. Whenever I have spoken about Compassion, they have, every time, been angry with me, saying, "You wish us ill, you do not understand us." I understand you, I understand that you love Truth, Justice, but I have not met a compassionate person among men yet. Yet, deliverance is in Compassion – this is the teaching of Christ, this is the culture of the future. After this war Compassion will come. The disabled, who will be in the millions, with their thought will create a new movement – they will ask, "What was all that about, for what reason we fought if not to correct our previous mistakes?" The people of today who are fighting are civilized, they are not barbarians, and they will contemplate on this issue. They are now only quarrelsome men and women. The woman cannot stand her husband, because he cast a glance at another woman – how could he possibly look at another woman? Well, he should be blind not to look. The man, on his part, quarrels with his wife, too, when she casts a glance at another man. Some say that Christ on his coming will put the world right. Christ is coming now to introduce the New Teaching of reconciliation between people, the teaching of Compassion towards everyone without making any differentiation – as with Cornelius. And when we start to pray and do good deeds, then God will send us to this Peter – to the Spirit. And the Spirit will bring us Joy and Rejoicing and will reveal to us the great tasks. The Spirit will create the Milky Way in our soul and we shall travel from one sun to another; from one planet to another and we shall see how great God is. Firstly, we shall head to the nearest star; then, after having lived there, we shall proceed to other stars. For each and every one of you there are great goods in store, a great future there, if only you embrace Compassion. What are you expecting now? - That Christ shall come to save you. I know that Christ has at least a hundred times lifted you from the earth; you have many times thrown yourselves into the water and Christ has saved you. It is very clear what is happening in the world today – it is the arm of God at work; God is forming a new world. What will happen with Bulgaria? The situation of Bulgaria and of all people in Europe will be much better than it is now. When a corpulent man with a fat belly weighing one hundred and fifty kilos catches typhus and slims down to fifty kilos, they say, "Poor man!" While actually, he has now become a man, before this he was not a man. This war is healing us from a similar disease – all people are ill and God will heal them. Those who are dying now will revive again, like the leaves which fall – the new acorn will raise them from the dead and will bring them back to life. Nothing perishes in the world, the outer form is not the reason for the inner Life – as God lives so will we live with Him. Even in this world we have to make an effort to be good servants and good sons; to work honestly, so that when we return to Him, He could say that we have fulfilled His will. Now some say, "I will not see God" – everyone shall see Him. When we join Him, he will say, "Why did you disgrace your name, why did you kill your brother, why did you dishonour your sister? You will return again." God will not talk sharply; I can imagine what He will say. He will give you a serious look and will say gently, "I am very sorry, son, that you have not yet understood My Compassion. Now, go back to the Earth to learn Compassion, return there to show men what I Am like. I Am the God of Compassion. They think I Am cruel, unmerciful, everybody is complaining about Me and discredits Me, and this is not good." And when people see the compassionate man, they will say, "Here is one, who is walking the ways of God." And now people say, "Even those, the religious people, are quarrelling." And that is why I am not asking you if you are religious; I am asking you whether you are compassionate. We can say about someone that he is a learned man, but has no Compassion – he is supposed to be an intelligent person, but says to his neighbour, "You are stupid, I cannot stand you." About another person we can say that he is a good person, has love, but does not have Compassion. I want you to keep within you this morning one word only – the word Compassion. In 1875, in Chicago, a gentleman was milking his cow by the light of a candle; the animal kicked the candle, the straw was set on fire and most of the city burned down. The cost of the damage was billions of dollars. When the fire approached his house, a wealthy man told someone who was there, "I will give you two hundred thousand dollars if you take my safe out." "Dash!" - said the other man running to save his life, as the fire was following on his heels. Thus, the wealthy American had to run away without his wealth. Now someone may say, "If only I had been there to take the two hundred thousand dollars – what a stroke of luck it would have been!" Yes, but the fire is following on your heels. It is not money that decorates Life. And Chicago, having lost so much after the big fire, has now an even more magnificent outlook. Now, likewise, the war introduces the same into the world – on its ruins a greater culture will be built. Now, if you understand the Spirit of Compassion, which God is sending to you, you will comprehend His teaching. September 17, 1916, Sofia 1 Nastradin Hodza, or Hoca which means teacher in Turkish was a wise, witty man with a good sense of humour, whose stories have been told almost everywhere in the World. The year 1996 was proclaimed Nasreddin Hoca year by UNESCO. 2 The Master refers to the First World War, 1914-1918 Source

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE TRUTH The truth shall make you free29. Pilate put a question to Christ, "What is Truth?" This is a profound philosophical question. It is easy to ask this question, but difficult to answer it. The Truth in itself is something concrete, real, unchanging. It is eternal Light, eternal Wisdom, eternal Love, eternal Righteousness, and eternal Life. However, this definition requires a more concrete determination of what Truth is. I shall stop on the thought, "The Truth gives freedom." Freedom is an aspiration of the human mind, heart, soul, spirit; freedom is life and life is destined to our seeking the Truth and to seek it not as Tolstoy speaks in his book, My Conversion. There he speaks of one of his dreams, which clearly describes his psychic state before his conversion. I shall tell you briefly his story. "In my dream I find myself," says Tolstoy, "lying in a bed, but I feel neither comfortable, nor in a pleasant state; I start moving to find out what kind of a bed it is, what it is made of— iron or wood. At once I noticed that the bars of my bed started to fall one by one, starting at my head-side until only one bar remained just below my waist. At this moment I heard a voice crying, "Do not move either your head or your feet anymore! Keep balance!" I saw below me a large post and a bottomless chasm." I say, there are such philosophers who are lying on their back, investigating the Divine World, but only one bar remains under their waist and God says to them, "Keep the balance!" So as soon as you pronounce the word balance, the catastrophe is avoided. When you investigate the Truth, you should stand up straight on your feet, not lie on your back. I take the word dead in a figurative sense—a limited person who does not think. You must be turned to the East so when Christ appears, you should meet Him. Many act as Tolstoy did, but Christ says to them, "Balance!" "The Truth shall make you free." The Truth is real, it is real life. Do not think the Truth is something imaginary. No. It is a world which has its beauty, its colors, tones, music—a world which has always existed and will always exist. Christ says, "Those who understand this world, these Laws and forces, will be free." In another place He says, "To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I would bear witness unto the truth." Then Pilate asked Him, "What is Truth?" People today have strange ideas of God. God is the Truth. When you feel joyful and happy and start singing, the Truth— the living God—is in you. Think well, do a good deed—God is in you. The Truth is movement, impulse. And when Christ says, "I am the Way," He means a person must move and not stay in one place like a tied animal. In this world all things are strictly mathematically determined; there is nothing unforeseen, accidental. Your life, your sufferings, tortures and anguish—all is foreseen. These things are plus and minus. Within the Truth enter the four rules of arithmetic: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Those who have much—they add, those who have little—they also add, but the addition in both cases is different. For instance, you have two thousand leva but with a minus or a plus—that is, you either have to give or to take. If you say, "I have two thousand years" and put a minus; this means that in the past you have lived two thousand years of vicious life. If you say "Two thousand years plus"—that means you have lived two thousand years of excellent life; therefore, you are truly a rich person. Christ says, "The Truth shall make you free." Freedom is a necessity for the man as well as for the woman. The whole social structure rests on the Truth. Everyone is striving for freedom. Actually, everyone has the right to live in freedom, but this freedom will be given to us to the extent that we can benefit by the blessings of the Truth. Sufferings are necessary for every nation, as well as for each individual. Torment and torture are human contrivances. Let us say a man gets a monthly salary of 50 leva which is barely enough for a month. The wife says, "Easter is coming! There is no money for Easter bread, the sugar and eggs are expensive; there is no money for shoes and a hat. Only a hat costs 50—70 leva. Why don't we have now 150—200 leva?" I say, in order that there may be peace, leave the Easter bread for next year. Easter is not only once in a lifetime! "No, now or never!" If God has allowed you only 50 leva, be satisfied with what you have and do not spoil your Easter! In this case the wife must give freedom to the husband and he—to his wife. Down with the Easter bread! This is freedom! This is the Truth! That is why the Scriptures say, "Be thankful for everything!" Do not think that God has not given you riches. You are all rich, but you must discover this wealth. In the perception of the Divine orders, you must have inner freedom and not be biased. The Truth is independent of your and my conceptions: whether you think one way or another, whether you approach it or draw away from it, will not change its relations. In this world, which is wisely created, the Truth always exists such as it is. The illumination one has proceeds from the Light of the Truth. Love comes from above—from the Truth. And when the Truth conquers the world, it will make you free. Love always aspires for the Truth—what beauty is in relation to a person such is Truth in relation to the Divine World. It is the one face of this world which is a world of harmony and beauty. And when you ask why you are unhappy, the Truth answers, "You are unhappy because you are ignorant, because you violate God's Law." In Varna in the past days Gagaouz women would fall in love with Bulgarian men and would marry them. They thought the Greeks were drunkards while Bulgarian men were as gentle and nice as little donkeys. No, this is not a conception of the Truth. The Truth is a science of the mutual, sensible relations of people. Before a person has achieved balance in their mind, their heart and their will in accord with the Truth, they cannot be free. As soon as they attain this, they will make contact with the Divine World. Many ask, "Can we live without suffering?" You can. "Without torment and torture?" You can; why not? But sufferings are necessary for the evolution of humankind. A person wants to learn about the world; that is why they must suffer by all means. The Earth is a place of suffering. You say, "How should we know?" Why did you not ask the rational beings what the Earth is like before coming down? One time a little angel who had heard much about people said to a bid angel, "I want to see the people very much. Why don't you take me to the Earth so I can see them?" The angel brought him to the Earth. Then the little angel said, "I wanted you to take me to the people, but you took me to hell." "Hell—that is people on this earth," answered the big angel. Indeed, hell—that is us. By the word hell, people in our country understand something boiling from underneath, bubbling up, people taking each other by the throat, brother fighting with brother because one has taken a larger part of the inheritance, and so on. Today everybody says, "Equality is necessary!" I ask you, what is wrong in taking a larger part? One of the brothers is older, let him take more. Thus, people on the Earth have just such relations as God has ordered and of which His Laws witness. If you apply them according to the Truth, their result will be freedom. Those who want to study the Truth must study the quality of freedom. If you ask me what is music in reality, I cannot define it, but I can describe what music gives expression to. The result is harmony—relations between the tones. Sit at a piano, or play any other instrument, and you will see what music is. Three things are necessary for the expression of music: first, an idea in your mind of a song; second, an instrument and third—an artist. Therefore, a musical ability of the mind is necessary, a sensitive ear and an artist who can play. If you ask me what a teacher is, I can tell you only what a teacher produces. A teacher gives knowledge. When you learn what knowledge is, you will be near the teacher. You ask, "What is Virtue?" Better ask what it gives birth to. Before going into a study of the essence of things, study their results. What is the distinguishing feature of freedom? It gives a large scope to action. In necessity you have only one way; you are harnessed. Your reigns may be golden, but you must go only one way—forward; in case you stop, the whip will lash your back. In freedom it is just the opposite—you have a choice. You have a choice to climb a mountain top from any side, but when you are rolling downwards, you have only one direction. "But why does a person think that way?" They are free to think. "But he is an atheist." This is a temporary delusion. "She is a bad person." Her consciousness for good is not developed in her yet. "He makes mistakes." His will is not regulated yet. "A woman has an unlawful child." Settle the relationships between the sexes. I consider humans free. Only the fearful are not free and it is they who commit crimes, they have not the heroism to assume responsibility. Which people are strong? Those who are free and who can bear hardships, sufferings, getting spitted on, being dishonored. These are trials for people and those who can bear them are considered heroes. Sufferings are given to people to test them—who are heroes and who are cowards. Those who do not want to suffer, but want to be served by others, are enlisted in the catalogue of the cowards. If you suffer, you are a hero. Whom does the Bulgarian nation glorify: the cowards who betrayed the country during Turkish times, or those who suffered for the liberation of this country? How much will those who suffer for the Truth be glorified? The principle is one and the same. That is why the science of the Truth is a science of social life. The Truth always makes people free. Those who die for others make them free. If the martyr Stephen had not died, Paul would not have been born. When Stephen died, his spirit entered Paul. Then both started working together for God. Stephen taught Paul to suffer and to bear three times thirty nine blows with the whip. Paul became famous namely for this patience. Do you know why they lashed Paul thirty nine times? The numbers 3+9 equal 12. The number 12 is the Law of rounding up the evolution of all the days of human life. And whoever undergoes so many blows with a whip on the Earth will not be beaten any more in the next life. If you ask why Christ was beaten, He will answer you "I suffered that you might be made free." When people beat you on the Earth, it shows you that a cord that holds you tight to your evil fate is torn. That is why Christ says, "If they hit you on the one side, give the other one also." Only the strong one can beat and when the strong one beats you, it is a blessing. What do the peasants do? When they want the field to yield more produce, they let the sheep thread on it. They know this Law about the fields, but do not know it about themselves. Let the sheep of the world thread on you a little. Christ says, "For this cause I was born." The birth that Christ speaks about is not an external, but an inner process. It takes place in every heart and mind, in order that this Truth may be witnessed. When the Truth is born in you, you will feel freedom. When a woman marries, she wants to have children, because she is aware of the Truth that this is the only way the Law can be observed—that she may have an inheritance. It is the same in the spiritual world: if you have not the Truth in yourself, you cannot inherit the Divine riches. Therefore, the Truth must be born in you. Then you will have riches and spend your life more easily. A legend tells the story of Moses. When he was going up the Sinai mountain, he saw a shepherd who was very happy, and he asked him, "Why are you so happy?" "I am happy because today the Lord will come down to visit me, so I killed a lamb to give Him a feast." "The Lord does not eat lambs, you are deceiving your mind!" answered Moses and went away. However, the shepherd was saddened and lost his joy. When Moses reached the Sinai Mountain, he noticed that God is displeased with him for having made such a big mistake. He returned to the shepherd to tell him that God would visit him and eat of his lamb. After telling this the shepherd, he hid in a nearby bush to see what would happen. At one time he noticed that the shepherd fell asleep and fire came from heaven burning up the lamb. When the shepherd woke up, he said, "I am very happy that the Lord came down and ate up the lamb!" So, when the Truth enters us, its fire—Love—will make a sacrifice pleasing to God. This is the real world of the Truth. For some people it is not real, but a great number of people—thousands on this earth know this world—the world of Truth. I say, much time will pass before the Truth is planted and understood by all. See how beautiful the flowers are! They are yellow, red, and blue. You pick them, but have you understood their meaning? You say, "This flower smells very sweetly," but what does this fragrance mean? It shows the great sorrow of the flower. Out of its grief is formed a nectar necessary for your life. There are people who, in the midst of their wealth, say, "There is no God!" As soon as they lose their wealth, health, or social position, and God takes them in hand, they begin to emit fragrance, "There is a God." The wealth would have stunted their mind if God had not taken it away from them. Thanks to that, they began to take a right view of things. What takes place on the Earth is something transitory, not a reality. You see beautiful, little girls, but as soon as they come of age, their faces begin to wrinkle and in time they become old women. I ask: where are those little girls gone whom you admired so much at one time? The same thing happens to the boys. You do not know yourselves yet. When you learn the Law of the Truth, it will give you power over matter that you may understand its inner combinations and perfect your life. This is the Law of motion—that a person should constantly undergo a change and pass from the temporary to the eternal, in order to understand the unchanging essence of the Truth. People say that Christ was born to preach the Truth. What is this Truth? Christ wants to invigorate your mind and give you an impulse for right thinking that you may make contact with the Divine World. You are eternally bound to God. In the world you have many friends; however, if at times these friends are insensitive to you, it is due to your relations which spring from ignorance. Paul says, "God despises human ignorance and has let people follow their way, but now He is calling them that the Law may be fulfilled." What should a mother who is called upon to fulfill the same Law do? First of all, she should bear good and sensible children. This is her first task. Some women complain of their state and say, "Why are we women?" I ask—who should have been in their place? The man should prepare material for thought, will and character. He should pass all this on, but the woman should give birth. People today are looking for comforts in the world, but they must understand that essential Law, also expressed in the music—in the minor and major scales. God has placed some people in the minor scale, in the flats—sorrow, grief, depth of the feelings; He has placed others in the major scale, in the sharps, on the surface of life, since they have no depth of feelings. In a dance, or a march, what can one see? Dancing, marching and finally—fatigue. In a sad song you cannot move—there you will keep still and reason. God has placed you under a minor tone that you may think of the other world, while in a major tone you will think of this world. At times you want to play another's part and say, "Can religious people dance?" They can, but what kind of dance? When David was carrying the tabernacle, he was jumping and dancing but his wife rebuked him saying, "Look how you are contorting your body in the presence of the whole nation of Israel!" "Why should I not hop before the Lord?" he objected. God does not limit us, He gives us great freedom to do good and evil, but in certain cases good may be evil. You will say, "How can this be?" Here is an example. A man and wife are leading a good life. Christ says, "Give away your goods." In his desire to fulfill the teaching of the Savior, the man wants to give his property away, but his wife says, "Are you crazy? You want to make your wife and children unhappy?" "No, I want to fulfill God's Law." "But I do not need this Law." I say to the man, "You have no right to give away the property of your wife and children, for it is theirs! If you have 100,000 leva divide them as a brother among your wife, children and yourself equally, and you have right to give away your share. You have no right to serve God with another person's money. This is Christ's Law. "But I have the right to do this." "You have not! Who gave you this right? Where did you take this woman from? God did not make woman your mate out of your feet, but out of your rib and you have no right to torture her!" Now this appeals to the women and they say, "That's right, let the men know this!" No. You should never consider a question from your own point of view. In the universal life there are many possibilities: in this life you are a man, but in another life they may make you a woman. And the opposite is true. If in this life you write, "I give no freedom to woman!" in the other life when you are made a woman, you will taste the benefits of this provision of the Law. Then you will say, "This is not a good Law," but it was you who wrote it in the past. Men, make good Laws, because when you come a second time on earth as women, you will be placed under their power of course, not only men, but women also write Laws and as a result they create limitations of each other. Many women have written bad Laws in their sons and daughters; for instance they have written that they should hate their father. They say, "Your father is a good-for-nothing, a vagabond." Do not write such Laws, because one is your Father. This man or this woman whom you call father and mother have become an instrument of the Divine Spirit in order that an idea should be clothed in form. And when you complain of your state, you murmur against God. You must not change the basic features of the incarnated idea in a form. You can make some changes in the shades—to make them lighter or darker—but the main substance, which personifies the Divine idea, must be preserved. Sermon held on April 24, 1916, in Sofia. _________________ 29. John 8:32

The Book - The Salt. Beinsa Douno Birth "For there has been born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."1 "Has been born" is the most promising word in the life on earth. What does this word contain? Birth contains the sublime, the dynamic and powerful impulse, urging all humanity to perfection. People often ask, "How can one enter the kingdom of God? How can we be freed from the limitations of the laws of nature, and can we master them?" I answer, "When you are born." I am speaking of the word birth, not of reincarnation. People have been reincarnated thousands and millions of times. They first started their life as microbes, enlarging and reforming until finally they were born as people in the full sense of the word. Reincarnation is a process, while birth is a completed cycle of this process. When it says in the Scriptures, "Today has been born," we should understand that he, who was conceived millions of years ago, was finally born. Who was born? Christ the Lord was born. The word birth contains a great idea, which God has deposited in the Spirit. And when each one of you realizes that you have been born, you will be saved and then comprehend the meaning of life. For many years you have not yet been born. You are in the process of reincarnation and in this process you must be born someday. Then, the angels will say about you, "In the city of David has been born." Christ must be born in every heart and in every soul. People say, "He was born in Jerusalem,"2 and make pilgrimages there to worship Him, yet they do not understand the sense of this birth and they do not aspire to live like Christ. He was born among the Jews who were the chosen nation, but they also did not understand the deep meaning of His birth and what He was bringing to all humanity - the Love of God. Every birth is accompanied by suffering; therefore, in order for Christ to be born in the human soul; by all means, this suffering should be experienced. It is the same with a mother giving birth to her child - she must experience certain sufferings and take all the necessary care of the child. According to the same law every nation or the whole humanity in which Christ must be born, must make provisions and prepare the conditions in which this child is to be born and grow up. This idea may, perhaps, be somewhat dim, but this should not worry you: it depends on how near or far and in what light you consider things. Every person understands things according to the degree of Light they have. When the Angels proclaim "this day a Savior has been born" they mean the Joy He brings to humanity - Peace, the highest manifestation of God. The Lord manifests Himself as Peace which is the Law of Harmony, of the Unity of the Mind, of the Sublime Character, of Love, of Wisdom, of Truth, of Goodness and Righteousness - that is what Peace means. Only those who brings Peace can be born. You can not be born until you understand these deep Truths, until you achieve Peace in yourselves. Now let me consider psychologically the word birth. This word has a relation to mysticism. A Christian who wants to become a mystic and studies the Divine Nature in order to deserve the name "human" must understand well the word birth. You have read in Genesis that "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." At that time, the process of breathing took place, while at the present time the process of birth is to take place. I would have explained the word breathed to you, but my explanation would have been incomprehensible, for in this word there is something unexplainable for people today. However, a day will come when you will understand it. Now I will consider the opposite which the Law of Birth requires, as it is a Law of Internal Development. By this Law, God is manifest fully in your Soul and the Spirit works positively through it. All your aspirations are under the Law of Birth and through it the Supreme Divine Consciousness in a person is manifested and perfected. The ordinary human consciousness is an obscure idea. There are different conceptions of birth. If you are asked what this word means, you would say, "Birth means the conception and birth of a child." We should not perceive birth in regard to the body, but to the human Soul - the conception of that Divine Germ and its birth. So that when we say, "a man has been born", we mean that process of knowledge and wisdom in addition to that of conception and growth. A person cannot say that they were born until they obtain knowledge. Animals, fish and microbes are reincarnated time after time in their effort to complete this cycle of reincarnation. In the Bulgarian language the word rebirth means ‘processing of things’. Chewing the cud or ruminating like the ox is not different from processing. That means that, here on earth, we are merely processing certain experiences acquired during millions of years. Some ask, "Where do we come from?" “From the Big Sea.” You may ask, "How many years have we been there and how has our exit taken place?" After the Sun of Life had been shining on you for thousands of years it raised you up, and by the Law of the Cooling of Bodies, you have come down. Therefore, the Spirit has raised you as the Sun raises the vapors of the sea and has sent you to the earth. Do not think it is a great misfortune for you to be here. On the contrary, this is of great benefit to you. I tell you there is no greater knowledge in the world than to know how to suffer. Suffering is the highest manifestation of Love. They who have not understood the sense of suffering are still animals, microbes that have to be reincarnated many more times. And the contrary is true: those who have understood the sense of suffering have been born and are human. Suffering is the lot of human beings only. Animals do not suffer the way people do - blows are only a massage for them. A dog yelps when being beaten, but as soon as the beating stops, its suffering passes away. The deep sense of life - the so called ‘Cosmic Grief’ - is hidden in suffering; the secret in life is concealed in suffering. If you want to acquire the Divine Wisdom and the Secrets of Nature, I tell you - there is no other way than that of suffering. When a person asks God to be sent to the earth, God asks them, "Do you want to pass through the Law of Suffering? If you do, I shall send you down." If they should answer, "I do not want to," He will say to them: "Stay by Me in the Great Sea because as soon as you leave here, you will be a worker who must labor and suffer on earth.” But what is the earth? It is the Great Woman - your Mother - who bears and raises up human beings. Once having accepted you, She will hold you for millions of years and cultivate you until finally you are ready and She will say, "Here is my child who can now speak to you of things with the Divine Language." I shall make a small digression. In birth lies a great power of motion, it is the most powerful impulse that a person can be given. If you could visit the Sun with the Eye of a clairvoyant, you wouldl understand the magnitude of the energy with which it sends out its rays. You say that a cannon is very powerful because it shoots out a shell at a distance of 120 km. But imagine the power and speed of the light waves emitted by the Sun every second and the distance they pass before stopping at a place! According to the physicians, light travels at 300,000 km/sec. Can you imagine this power? These rays gradually weaken and their brightness decreases since light depends on the rate of velocity. The greater the velocity, the more powerful the light until this wave reaches the final limit; stops and turns into darkness. Do you know what darkness is? It is the opposite process: the discharge of light is from below upwards; while that of darkness which reaches the final limit is movement from above downwards, i.e. from the periphery toward the center. It is the weakest movement. Thus light is down while darkness is above. But you will say, "We know that the dark place is hell." What is hell? Some think that hell is a special place of torture. What is a place of torture? A woman wishing to bear a child passes through torture. The same way the earth has conceived and millions and billions of creatures on it want to bear children. This is hell. Some do not want to be there, wishing to be in heaven and say, "I do not want such a hell." If you do not pass through hell, you cannot become a human being. That is why birth means such a hell. It is not so terrible, however. A person who is born and sins digresses from the law, so a terrible fall awaits them. They will be placed in the cannon of the Sun again, powerfully shot out and will travel through space for millions of years. Where they will stop will depend on the power they were thrown out with by God. If they are discharged with great force and travel for 100 million years, they will need that many years to return. The greater their velocity through space, the slower their movement back to God. But when they draw nearer Him, God will attract them to Himself with greater speed. Therefore, being born means that a person has reached the final limit of which their Soul was thrown in space. There they will stop and start their evolution anew. When they thus end their reincarnations, they will be born. Humanity lost hope by the sin of Adam and Eve. Two children were born to them, but death captured them. There was no one to comfort them and they complained like the rich who have no children: "We have no heirs so all our possessions will go into the hands of strangers." They are discouraged by this. Humanity also found itself in such a state, but God gave it an immortal child to save it - that is Christ. New thoughts are often born to your minds. Once I heard a renowned preacher say, "I have so many ideas that 10 or 20 years will not suffice for their expression." But after no more than 10 sermons he confessed that he had exhausted all his material. When you think you have many ideas, you are under the Law of Reincarnation. Were not the lower creatures created first - bugs, flies, etc.? Your numerous thoughts are of such a small value that if you cannot harness them in some useful work for you, they cannot help you in perfecting your life. However, when that basic Divine Thought comes, it will be alive and one with you, developing as a newborn child. What in Christianity is called the visitation of the Spirit is this Divine Thought which some call subconsciousness; others – consciousness; still others – superconsciousness; the theorists - the awakening of the higher self; the occultists - the emergence of the sublime and so on. When you achieve this state, you will feel peace and constant joy which does not change. Someone may say, "I have this joy," but half an hour has not passed before this "joy" has evaporated. That joy is transitory and inconsistent with the Law. How can a precious stone disappear? You deceive yourself. That is not a joy, but a short-lived fly which dies and you begin to cry. Someone says, "I have peace and I am calm," but on the morrow a trouble comes to them and they start wrinkling the muscles of their eyes. Where has their peace gone? It has not been real peace. Someone says, "I am a Christian and for ten years I have been reading such and such writers: Spencer, the Epistles of St Paul, etc." All these writers speak very well, but what do you say? For when you go to the Lord, He will not ask you what St Paul has said, or what Spencer has done, but what you have done. You will not take the Apostle Paul, nor Spencer to Him; they will go themselves. But whom will you go with? Therefore, this is the basic idea about which we should think today. I know that some of you have wrong conceptions about the Holy Spirit; thinking that the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit are one and the same thing. The good and the evil spirit are diametrically opposed. There is no such law where out of the same source should flow both sweet and bitter water. Bitter water is always bitter and sweet water is always sweet; so the good is always good and evil is always evil. What good and evil are is a profound question and if you think you can learn about them in five, ten or a hundred years, you are deceiving yourself. It is necessary for Christ to teach you at least 1,000 years until you acquire a somewhat right conception of the one and the other. I do not wish to discourage you, but I want to tell you what the Laws which direct our lives are and help you get rid of some of your illusions. Every day and every hour of life has its program. Our progress depends on our completing this basic work of the day. You should not worry, therefore, whether you will develop or not, for I tell you positively that you will develop. Some ask, "Shall we develop?" When you are cast onto the earth, by all means you will develop. "How long would it take?" “A thousand years.” "That is too long." But 1,000 is not a big number, it is a human number. 100 years is much more than 1,000, while 10 years is still more. In this process things are reversed: 1,000 years is the smallest number, 100 years is a greater number. You are perplexed. The number 1,000 has three zeroes showing the three conditions, the three stages though which you will pass. You must form three bodies in 1,000 years - in the last zero you will form your physical body; in the second - you will form your heart; and when you enter the third zero, you will form your mind. When you come to the number 1, you will be born, you will ascend and say to the Lord, "Here we stand before you, Father, now we can work for You." This is birth. A great epoch was marked by the birth of Christ - the appearance of the Son of God. That is why we all should triumph. The temporary sufferings you pass through are the greatest blessing for you. There is nothing better than suffering, for only through suffering will the Lord give you His Blessing. When someone complains to me about their sufferings, I say to them, "Give me of your sufferings, I will give you my Joy," and I add, "now I feel how pleasant life is." They say to themselves, "This man is very good," but I also say to myself, "I thank you because you gave me more than you received since sorrow is more precious to me." The Lord also preferred to leave His Greatness, His glory and descend on earth and suffer. There are reasons for this - the greatest Love which God manifested. When we begin to perceive and comprehend suffering inwardly, we shall come to the true process which Christians call salvation. We cannot be saved if we do not admit that sufferings are a Blessing. Stop and say, "Suffering, I need you that I may be born." If you suffer more, it shows you are nearer to God. When suffering reaches its extreme point, joy is born immediately. A mother feels the greatest suffering when giving birth. At that moment all run away from her, but when the child is born, all rejoice. In order that the child may be born, all must cry - both the woman and the man. Once I was told a story of an incident which had taken place in the village of Nicolaevka about 50 or 60 years ago. The wife of an eminent Turk had a toothache. There was a Bulgarian man in the village who pulled teeth out. The Turk took her to that person to have her tooth pulled out. The house had two stories and the Turkish woman went upstairs while her husband remained downstairs, on guard. At one moment the woman started yelling, and the man downstairs started yelling too. The dentist began to wonder saying, "I am pulling out the woman’s tooth here, why is the man downstairs yelling?" We are bound to one another the same way and when a person’s tooth is being pulled out, we should cry out as well. I am telling you all this, because you are living in an epoch of great sufferings. You should regard suffering as do Mystics and not as do ordinary observers, with indifference. Know that sufferings are the greatest Blessings the Lord is giving us. Some day you will test this. People are killed; there is famine and pestilence; fathers and mothers lose their children; sisters are dishonoured; families get disgraced. You should draw some benefit from all these sufferings and send joy to the sufferers by saying, "Give us of your sorrows." You sit and say. "How good that we are not on the battlefield or starving." But what experience do you have and what will you gain? On the contrary, try to put yourselves in the position of the suffering souls and go and help them; then you will get a blessing. "But how can we help them?" It is the easiest thing to do: if you cannot help people directly, you can help them spiritually. Every person is obliged to take at least half of their friend’s sorrows and to give them their Joy. You say, "Let God bless you." God blesses people through you. But you say, "Let Him find someone else, not me." The electric current passing through an iron rod magnetizes it. If the divine current does not pass through you, how do you expect to be raised? Now you all think your ideas have been destroyed. Many different flies, bugs, fish, birds and mammals have come to birth in you and when you clean yourselves of all of them, you will become wise. When you gradually build up your temple, the Lord will be born in it. You do not benefit in the least by the fact that 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ was born in Jerusalem. You may sing this song for 4,000 years more of no avail. You will be raised only when the Angels enter your Soul and say, "Today a Savior has been born in the house of David." And when Christ comes to birth, there will be Herod, Pilate and the high priest Caiaphas. Now you may say, "This child is dangerous, let us get rid of Him," and give Him to Pilate to have Him crucified - then the child will go to others. Just as Christ left the Jews and went to the gentiles, the same way your child will go to others - to those who will give Him shelter. And you will be a chosen, but forsaken people! And when you are asked why you suffer, you will answer, "Because we delivered our child to Herod and Pilate to be crucified." That is why I say you should stand by your Lord saying: "I shall live with the Lord. If He lives, I too shall live; and if He dies, I too shall die." And just as Christ rose after the sufferings, you will rise the same way and learn the Law of Immortality. There are people who are close to the Resurrection. The Apostles have risen and are working on the earth. You will say, "Why do we not see them?" The Risen can see the Risen, just as a musician can understand a musician; as a doctor can understand another doctor and so on. You must have the ability to understand that this is why you are staying on earth. Christ, therefore, has appeared. He lives and is among you, working within all of you. What people call "resurrection" is birth in reality. What Christians mean by resurrection is the coming out of the tomb. You are all tombs to me: some bigger, others - smaller. I see different inscriptions on your monuments: John lived so many years; Helen - so many years; and someone after dying was buried in the grave of another and so on. How many times this Helen has died bearing her monument with the inscriptions of all her relatives! You are asking, "When shall we rise?" You can rise today, but your tombstones are very heavy. An Angel must come down to remove them. If an Angel had to come down to remove the stone of Christ’s tomb, how much more necessary this is for you! In 33 years Christ underwent a great Transformation which, in the end is called "Resurrection". By the word "resurrection" I mean the struggle and the victory of a child over death. This is the significance of being born - to fight and overcome death. When you conquer death, the day of the resurrection will come. Some say, "When Christ was born and the Angels from above proclaimed peace on earth, why did not people correct their lives?" Because they have not learned the teaching of Christ as they should. Christ will preach in this world again. “You will see Him”, I state this positively. Some of you will not see Him. Why? Naturally, because you are blind. You will cry a long time like that blind man, "Son of David, have mercy on me, touch my eyes with your hand!" When He touches your eyes, He will ask you, "Do you see?" "Lord, I see people as trees." He will touch you again asking, "What do you see now?" "People are moving." What does this mean? It means that your thoughts and desires are static at first like the trees, but when you begin to see, things become alive like people. Then you will understand what Virtue is. Christ has come to show us that we must fight death, conquer it and rise. This is the meaning of birth. Sermon held on Christmas, 1915 1 Luke 2:11 2 As it is Bethlehem that is usually considered the birthplace of Christ, here ‘birth’ refers to His resurrection, (proofreader’s note)

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova LIBERTY OF THE SPIRIT Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.21 The condition of liberty is the Spirit. By the word liberty we understand a free life, i.e. the inner meaning of things and their relations—the relations of the thoughts, feelings and incentives of the will power which are manifested in the world. Where there is a living soul, there is motion which is the result of the will. This motion may have a definitive direction, or take different directions. The New Testament says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Another place states, "The Son of God will set you free." The Son and the Spirit are one and the same thing. The Son is the expression of the Father and the Mother. The intelligence of the Son is an expression of the intelligence of the Father and the Mother, as the Sunlight is the expression of the inner state of the Sun. How can we know a person? By the Light of their thoughts, desires and acts. Now I am speaking about the liberty of the Spirit, because the religious people are exposed to the great danger of becoming worse than the worldly people. In this sense a person cannot be happy by becoming religious. By the word religious I understand a person tied to something, the way a horse, a cow, or some other animals are tied with a rope. To be tied to a house is religion; to be tied to some political party, or some philosophical teaching is religion too. What kind of religion is it? A religion that ties or limits the liberty of person, or of society. If you are tied to a teaching which debases you, or deprives you of your liberty, this is an obsolete religion, an old skin. All people who seek the liberty which gives sense to life and which philosophers today call higher consciousness, but political people—citizenship, are sensible people. How would you know you have the Spirit in yourself? If you are sensible, if your thoughts, feelings and acts are free and wherever you go, you leave a blessing, the Spirit is present in you. In life today the word liberty may be understood as Light. If you travel at night, you are not free as in the daylight for the simple reason that the path is not clear. In the same way when the religious and worldly people delude themselves, they also have something hazy in their notions. People today do not know God, they do not know what the Lord is, but they know their kings and rulers. They say, "As the kings and rulers punish us, so God punishes us also." Because of these wrong ideas of God, life is full of contradictions springing from such false views. We can all see the results of these contradictions. However, you must be set free from this inner slavery. How can you be freed? A basic change must happen in your brain, or a thorough transformation. What is the structure of your brain and what changes should take place is not clear to you. Every morning you pray, you seek the Lord calling to Him, and He does not listen to you. God hears only those people whose ears are open. He does not hear the deaf22 and does not speak to them. If you want the Lord to hear and answer you, your ear must be delicate and perceptive so that little would be necessary for it to understand much. The Lord likes to watch and hear those people who work and do not busy themselves with vain and foolish things. If you consider the religions of today, you will see on what level of development they are. In every religion there are certain delusions. One of the reasons for these delusions is due to the fact that when a person wants to understand a religion, they enter one or another society and in this way get more confused. A young man wanted to join a village dance, but had no strong boots. He borrowed a pair of boots and started to dance. The one who had given him the boots seeing him stamping his feet vigorously, said to him when he got near enough to hear him, "Listen, do not stamp your feet so hard, I have not given you my boots that you should stamp your feet so!" A friend of his, after hearing these words, said to him, "Since this fellow put you to shame, I shall give you my boots." The young man put on his friend's boots and continued dancing. When he was passing by the second man who gave him his boots, the latter cried to him, "Stamp your feet, my friend, do not worry if you tear the boots; if you tear them, I shall give you a new pair!" I say, it does not matter whether you say to a person "Stamp" or "Don't stamp" your feet, it is all the same, for he is not free already. It does not matter whether you have stamped you feet much or little. Why? Because you are already deprived of your freedom. Therefore, our mind should be elucidated as to the question of real liberty. Christ has given a definition of liberty. He says, "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you." Everyone must accept this rule as an inner Law. One must speak and do that which gives liberty to others also. Someone says, "I wonder at people today how they gossip. You see them in the church praying so nicely, but as soon as they stop praying, they start gossiping about each other: this man does not live right, that woman does not speak the truth, and so on." Those who gossip do not have liberty and do not give liberty to others. I say, if you are not tolerant to people and do not give them freedom, you do not understand Christ's teaching. And in reality, most people today have a perverted idea of the teaching of Christ. They must throw out of their minds these caricatures and think of God and Christ in an entirely different way. And so what is religion? Religion is a science of the forms as well as of the Divine Love. If you study only the external form of religion and not its inner content, you will find yourself in a delusion and begin to change religions as a lady often changes her clothes. If she lives fifty or sixty years, she can change many suits of different cuts and colors, but these suits do not represent the lady. Therefore, the form is not yet religion. Actually the forms are necessary to religion, as the suits for the lady, but they do not represent the body of the lady. When people die, their kinfolks say, "We shall wear only black, not white clothes." No, you may wear white, black, red and blue clothes—any clothes you wish. The sin is not in the colored clothes, but you should have in mind the following—when you go to a dead person, do not dress in white, as when a street is muddy, you will not wear white shoes. Thus, everything requires its time, its season. In this respect, the worldly people are wiser than the religious ones. They stand ten times higher than the religious people. God has decided to set the world right by the worldly people. The politicians and the socialists will rectify the world because they want freedom. You will say, "How is that? These people destroy, they do not build." I ask, when you build a new house on the place of the old, do you not first destroy the old house and then build the new one? If you do not throw out of your mind an old idea, a new thought cannot be born. Many want to teach people how to think, so they say to them, "seven stories up, seven stories down," or "keep silent and do not reason," this is their true science. Everything else is of the devil. What was written in the times of Moses, in the Old Testament? "This is of God; the rest is of the devil." And today, many are preaching that their ideas are of God and those of other people—of the devil. This is what it means to be strong with your posterior brain. This is not right. Every teaching should be judged by its results. If a given teaching can be applied in the private life of people and give good results, it is good; if it cannot be applied, it is not good. One thing is important for a person—to apply the liberty of the Spirit. Everyone must ask themselves, "Am I free? Do I have this Spirit in me?" When the Spirit comes, He will produce Light in the mind and heat in the heart. This is the sign by which you will know the appearance of the Spirit. If you begin to limit the human spirit, forcing a person to think, feel and act the way you do, the Spirit will withdraw from you immediately, as a teacher leaves the class when the students are making noise and obstruct the teaching of the lesson. When the students do not obey their teacher, their parents and guardians will come and punish them. In this sense, Moses was the guardian of the Jews. He came to them to tell them that they should obey their Teacher and when they were disobedient, he punished them. And if you ask now why so many misfortunes assailed you, I say, "The misfortunes and sufferings came to you because you did not obey the Spirit. You should have obeyed the Spirit as your Teacher." Now I shall explain the meaning of liberty and how it manifests itself. Suppose you meet a person with bound hands and feet and you begin to comfort him that the Lord is good and if he has patience, He will untie him, and so on. I ask, if you yourself can untie this man, do you manifest liberty? No. You must take out your knife, cut the cords binding the man's hands and feet and set him free. What does your comforting do to him? You tie him faster so he cannot run away. People must untie one another; they must set one another free. Christ says, "Go and preach among people!" By these words, He means exactly this untying, this liberating. This liberty should be inner and not external. All misunderstandings among people are due to the lack of freedom. If it is a question of anxiety and worries, how much more should God worry for He has created this world and sees what is happening? It is good when the Lord is angry, but of what use is human anger? There is no profit in human anger. But God also does not get angry. The Old Testament says, "The wrath of the Lord," but these words must be understood in their inner sense. The words of Christ: "Why do you call me good Master? Only God is good," confirm the idea that God cannot be angry. Therefore, the good and the kind people cannot get angry. Some prophets have spoken of the wrath of God, but I object to this. Has God said anywhere about Himself being angry? In one place Jeremiah says, "Lord, you deceived me, I was deceived." How can you explain this contradiction? This is a delusion. You should not have any delusions about God. Everyone must admit that these are their own delusions. The right thought lies in this—we should say, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." This is what God said. Love cannot be manifested without liberty. I say, while a person is blind, no one can love them. A person who tortures others cannot be loved. What brings destruction cannot bring freedom. Several people pray together to God, but if one of them makes a mistake, another one nudges them for the small mistake. This is no prayer; this is no freedom, but acting. To nudge one another when you are standing before God is not praying. Down with these masks! When one is praying, they must forget about what is around them and be alone, then enter their secret chamber—their soul—and not be disturbed by anything outside of themselves. All of you who are listening to me are not free. Some of you are tied to one post, others to two, still others to three, to four, to five, to ten posts. I can prove this to you not only theoretically, but practically as well. Now since all of you are preparing yourselves for the Kingdom of God, for the Kingdom of Christ, which is a world of liberty, you must know that with these old forms, with these old skins, you cannot enter It. With these old forms you will barely come to the gate of the Kingdom of God, but you cannot enter it by any means. By this I do not judge you and say you are deluded, but I am showing you the way. You are seeking freedom. The cause of human slavery is neither the man nor the woman. Slavery, sin came into the world after the first people ate of the forbidden apple which had in itself corruption, death. Therefore, if you want to understand Christ, your spirit must be free. In the Hebrew language there are two words for the notion of liberty. One of them is ruha which signifies the higher manifestation of God. The other word is nefesh which signifies the inferior manifestation of the soul. The small child, for instance, manifests the inferior state of his or her soul. While we are babies, we cry, make faces and in this way impose our will and want to submit our mother. Finally the mother gives her breast for the baby to suck and it thinks, "This is what I want, and you should always obey me!" And the mother is constantly fulfilling the child's wishes. I ask, why was this child sent to earth—should it make its mother submit, or the mother should submit it to her will? Whoever is free and has the Spirit, they will learn the relations of things and know whom they should submit themselves to and whom they should serve. You will ask how you can acquire inner freedom. When people have common prayer that also has two sides—a good and a bad one. Why? Because people are not on the same level of development, so that a regular interchange of their magnetic forces may take place. Since the spirit of freedom is predominant in all people, but their views are different, as a result of this arise many disputes and misunderstandings. That is why before going to God, Christianity recommends purification. One of the purifying processes is that of deposition.23 How can this deposition be effected? Before praying with others, one should pray alone and prepare themselves. First, you should pray alone, then with one other person, then with two more people and so on. In this way you will learn to contemplate. Only then the Spirit will come and teach you certain lessons. When the Divine Spirit comes between two souls, He will immediately restore peace and mutual understanding between them. When the one is speaking, the other will be listening with great attention and feel pleasure in what their friend is telling them. If these two people are not at peace mutually, they will get bored with each other, "Are you the one to teach me now, I have no time to listen to your nonsense." This shows that the Spirit is not between them. The making of common prayers is not done by order, but by a disposition of the spirit; if the spirit wants you will pray, if not—you will not pray, but keep quiet. The first thing required of all is to give one another this freedom and have the patience of listening to one another. When someone is speaking, we should think that God is speaking. If you enter a religious society and become more nervous than you had been before, you have not gained anything. You have sooner lost than gained. Many doctors, many specialists know human physiology, they know which foods are useful and which are harmful, but in spite of that, they live the old way. They say it is harmful to smoke, but they smoke themselves. They say that drinking of alcoholic beverages is harmful, yet they drink; that eating meat is harmful, yet they eat meat. They have knowledge, but when it comes to applying it to build, they do not do what they say and preach to others. I ask—where is their liberty of spirit? Christ wants this freedom for all people. Many people today want liberty only for themselves, thinking that the other people should be submitted to them. Many people will submit themselves, but they will do it out of fear, not out of love. I shall cite the following anecdote for clarification of this thought. Once, a Bulgarian tailor was invited by a rich family to sow a pair of full-bottomed tight-legged breeches and a doublet for the bridegroom. The tailor took along his instruments—scissors, a thimble, called his servant and both went to the house. They arrived about noon, so they were invited to a lunch. A roast chicken was served and the tailor, wishing to eat the whole chicken alone, told the housewife that his servant does not eat chicken, he preferred beans. When the servant heard this, he started thinking of some way to revenge his master. After lunch, he told the hosts secretly that if they saw his master turning this way and that, they should know something was happening to him, because at times he went out of his mind. In order to succeed with the revenge, the servant hid his master's thimble. When the tailor started working, he began turning this way and that, looking for his thimble. When the hosts noticed this, they immediately caught him and bound him. On going back, the servant said to his master, "Your servant does not eat roast chicken, only beans. Is that so?" You also should not say your servant does not eat roast chicken, because some day, when you start looking for your thimble, he will become the cause of your being bound. The first thing required of our relations is mutual respect. In my observations during a number of years, I have noticed that some people have a strong desire to study, that is why at first they begin with a feeling of veneration and reverence, but later they slack it and say, "We know all this!" In this respect, they are like some young brides who are very gentle and shy before everybody at first. However, in a few months time, they get over their shyness, open their mouth and spoil the home. While they are in church as brides they are calm and quiet, as soon as they are married, it is as if they receive civil rights and begin to show their naughtiness. They will want to marry a second time, but the man who has married them once will not even think of marrying a second time. No. A person must not grieve God by violating His Spirit of freedom, even when they are provoked at times. Whole books have been scratched full of the scribble of human thoughts like the dashes of telegrams. A whole pile of such telegrams are written by your thoughts. By these telegrams one can see how free you are. Some day when you can go to the other world all these telegrams will be presented before God. There is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. Everything in the world is apparent. Nothing can be hid from the Eye of God. This should not frighten you, but you must know that in His genesis God is a Spirit Who always wants to teach and correct people and not to punish and revenge. The sufferings and punishments in the world have a relation only to the forms. And if in this sense we say that God punishes us, this shows that He wants to liberate us from our slavery. If you set out to free a sheep out of a wolf s mouth, would she not be hurt by the time she is pulled out? Therefore, God wants our freedom, our inner peace, which will bring us calmness, joy and happiness and raise our spirit high. Now I shall refer again to religion. What does religion, by which we want to serve God, consist in? Christ says, "For I was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was stranger and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not" (Matt. 25:42,43). Here is the reason why God will judge the world. If you do not fulfill what Christ is talking about, if you pray ten times a day, like the Pharisees in the streets, you will not attain anything. You will be like that housewife who prayed all morning and her cooking all burned up. What did she attain by her long prayer? Nothing. Such a prayer is like drunkenness. There is physical drunkenness, but psychical as well. Do you know what psychic drunkenness is like? It is not religion. When a young maiden likes to meet young men, she does not acquire anything by that, but only some pleasant feelings. This pleasure, however, does not show that the maiden has a Divine disposition. At these meetings she wastes her energy in vain. However, when God approaches us, we feel His effect not only for a moment, but for a long time. The pleasant state we are in when God is drawing near us and unnoticeably penetrates deeply in our soul. When some people are quarreling, I do not tell them to keep silent, or preach moral to them, but I turn my gaze to God and pray for them. In order that they should keep silent, I must keep silent first. This means that first, I must pray for them that God may bring them to their senses. Years ago, there was a priest called Gancho in Varna whom people called orman papaz24. He often blamed those who made him a priest. One day he saw a Gagaouz25 beat his wife. In order to save the woman from her husband's hands, he took a whip and started lashing the man, but immediately the wife and her husband jumped at him. The woman said, "What right do you have to beat my husband? We shall settle our affairs alone." Now I say to you, who are like this priest: do not meddle in other people's affairs, trying to settle their accounts. You can do this only if the husband and wife call you to help them. As soon as you are called, show them a way how to determine their relations according to the Law of freedom. And so religion should bring liberty to people, peace and joy. If a persecution rises against a religion, or against some teaching as in old times, that will not set the world right. How many doubts may be raised against some forms of a religion! Some will say, "This teaching is Satan's." But of whom is your teaching? Those who preach a Devine Teaching should serve humanity selflessly, out of love for people and be ready for all sacrifices. Those who want a reward, or the first place, or want to set the world right, they do not fulfill the Law of liberty and the Spirit is not in them. You must be the last in the world, if you want to be the first before God. Instead of wishing human glory, it is preferable for God to think well of you. This is what I know and wish for myself. When I preach this, many people say, "This does not concern me, I am not such a person, these words are about so- and-so, she is such a person." No, this is wrong reasoning. Everyone should forget what the others are like and consider themselves more sinful than these others, and start correcting themselves. If you are in the state of sinful people, I do not judge you, but want you to come out of that state by showing you a way out. Follow the spirit in yourselves! You want freedom for yourself—give freedom to others as well. It is Law that like attracts the like. If you like people sincerely and open- heartedly, they will like you too. The Bulgarian proverb says, "What you call, the same will be echoed back to you." If you are beautiful and look yourself in the mirror, the image in the mirror will be beautiful too. When you meet a person you love, do not tell them you love them; do not speak to them about love. Why? Because as soon as you tell a person you love them, Love vanishes. Those that speak most about Love have the least Love in themselves. Those who speak most about freedom of the spirit, they give it least to others. If my relations to you are not such as they should be, no matter how pleasing and musical my sermon may be it cannot change this. Only the music which creates noble incentives in you is profitable to you. Every other kind of music, which evokes only pleasant feelings and moods in you without ennobling you, is of no benefit to you. Now, put an end to all friction and separation into left- wing and right-wing socialists, i.e. those who have the Spirit and those who don't have the Spirit. Those who bear the spirit of liberty in themselves will be given a white stone on which I shall write my name so that when the Lord comes, He will see the inscription. When I see the eyes of a person, I already know whether they have the spirit or not. When the spirit is present in a person, their eyes are neither very dark nor very bright. If a person's eyes glisten as those of a snake, this bespeaks their desire to swallow up, to eat up somebody. You have noticed how a cat's eyes glisten at night. Why do they glisten? The cat is looking for mice. However, there is a big difference between one kind of light and another. There is a light which robs and kills, but there is a Light which invigorates and brings one to life. The Spirit is sensitive, responsive to the human weaknesses, as a result of which He enters those who want to walk in the Way. I say, when you get together for a prayer meeting next time, by your telegrams it will be evident whether you have been nudging among yourselves or not. If there have been nudgings, you must know that the Lord does not want such meetings. In order that your prayers may be accepted by God, I shall give you the following method: when you meet a sorrowful, burdened soul, pray together with her to God; when you meet a poor person, help them as much and with whatever you can. God does not want rich people to get together only with the rich and learned only with the learned, but the rich must get together with the poor and the learned with the ignorant. Prayer does not consist only in saying prayers, singing and playing at concerts. If it were a question of music, one may go and listen to a worldly concert. That, too, will be of benefit to them and give them some satisfaction. By this I want to say that as the religions of the church do not pray correctly, so those who want to pass for spiritual people do not pray as they should. Get none of the old things! Chase the old devil away! Pray secretly in your soul and do not gossip about other people! Have reverence and respect for others as for yourselves. What do women of today do? When two or three women get together, they at once start talking about this and that man or this and that woman. What profit do you have in gossiping? Those who gossip hinder their right development and put psychic obstacles on their own way. Therefore, those that have such a weakness should give it up. If a thought enters your mind to speak evil of someone, stop for a moment, concentrate your attention and do not give way to the evil in you, do not become its town-crier. Shut your "telephone" and do not do service to evil. The evil in the world, as a living being, likes to attack people, to entice them to get its work done, after which it deserts them. Much time has not elapsed before the sufferings come. Then God says to people, "Be careful not to yield a second time to evil." Therefore, anger, jealousy, hatred, suspicion, lying—all these negative things are peculiar to the devil, to evil. Cast this old father out and you will be free, you will be with the Lord Who is all wise, good, just, condescending and loving; Who forgives and helps the suffering and the poor. If you do wrong a hundred times a day and turn to Him, He will again forgive you. He punishes only those who break His Laws. He has created a big fire for them. Those who don't want to make contact with these evil beings must be merciful, considerate, quick-witted and careful with God's orders and Laws. And now, begin to apply this teaching of Christ without demonstrating before the world that you are religious people. Let your piety be concealed even from you, but before the world, you can be like the beautiful ladies who shade their faces to protect them against getting sun-burnt or against the dust the in streets. Hide your beauty deep in yourselves; do not parade with it externally. If you do not want to become a laughingstock to people, do not speak about yourself that you are good, magnanimous, religious, and ready for giving alms, and so on. Christ says, "Be wise as the serpents and gentle as the doves." The worldly people are not foolish. They are not wise in regard to the higher spiritual life, but in regard to the mind, they stand higher than many religious people. Give an example of a good deed to the worldly people that they may give you a piece of their mind. Some say we must be straightforward, others say we must not be very generous. I ask you, how will the world be set right then? So if someone looks askance at you, or tells you an offensive word, you should get angry? Have you ever given yourself an account of how often you have looked at people askance? No, God has not given us eyes to look askance at others. The true religious life is namely in having freedom and giving freedom to people and forgiving their mistakes, as well as in looking for every possibility to unite with them in spirit. Now, desire deeply to apply Christ's teaching to yourself as well as for the sake of others. From now on no gossiping! Give yourself word not to gossip a whole year. Keep a small notebook and every night before going to bed write down how well you have kept your promise. If you have not said a bad word about anybody, write down the mark seven and the words: "Thank you, God, today I did not say any bad word about anyone." If you have said something bad, write down one. Then at the end of the year make an account how many ones you have written and to what extent you have succeeded to abstain from gossip. When several people get together, everyone gets excited and wants to say something and show what they know. One begins to speak, then a second, a third one and unnoticeably someone becomes the object of gossip. On the next day the same story is repeated. When a young man wants to get married, all the girls praise him and each one tries to surpass the others in eulogies. They praise his qualities, his noble family, and so on. As soon as he selects a bride, all those who had praised him begin to say, "He is a wild cat, a simpleton," and so on. In reality, these young maidens should say: "We are glad this young man picked his wife from our company." Do you know what this can be compared to? In a big European town a prince was to arrive, so twelve beautiful women were chosen as a committee for the welcoming. When they were asked to vote which one of them should give a bouquet to the prince, each of the twelve voted for herself. Now you, although not quite prepared yet, are trying to see which one of you will come out and offer a bouquet to Christ. Everyone says, "I, I!" Do not vote for yourself. Without your voting, Christ knows who the worthy ones are. Christ's teaching requires of us to be considerate and not speak about others what we know, or what we do not know. The occultists say—if you want to be strong, do not talk about people. The moment you start talking badly about someone, you get in contact with their spirit and are affected by bad thoughts. In this sense, in order not to harm yourself, it is better to think good of people than to entertain evil thoughts of them. When you gossip about someone, this person benefits psychologically. When you speak well about a person, God asks them, "How much did you gain?" "Twenty." "Give then half of it to them who think well of you." This means that the rich person should give half of their riches to those who have nothing. When we speak well of people, we gain, but when we speak badly, they gain. Such is the Law. If you speak badly of people on purpose so that they should profit by it, I shall be glad for your self-denial. But then you must not complain. If one of your sisters has a defect, pray ten times a day for her to be freed from this defect. When you pray for her you can tell her in a kindly and sisterly manner, "Sister, you have a small defect and you should work to get free from it. Do not get angry with me for telling you this truth." Now all of you try to get rid of this defect—gossiping. This year God has decided to bind evil. Those who get bound should not get angry. God will bind them and put them to work. Either you or evil will be harnessed. In order to harness evil to work, the Spirit must be in you that you may be strong and powerful. Today I spoke about liberty, but I shall speak another time about it again. Some day I shall make an experiment to find out how well you have understood and applied today's sermon. Religious liberty should be absolute. God is a God of Love, of liberty. Those who live in this liberty will find their place, whether they plough or dig, or whatever work they do, they will do everything with thankfulness. Such must be the life on earth according to the liberty of the Spirit, according to the liberty by which many great people were distinguished, as Socrates had been. Socrates was among the "last" people, but many of the "first," many kings, were forgotten; yet his name remained. A person may take a high post and not be noble. The Spirit requires of us as kings and as the "last" people on earth to be equally free. This is the teaching of Christ which I am preaching—to have and to give liberty; to have and to give liberty and again to have and to give liberty: of the mind, of the heart, of the home, religious and civil freedom. Freedom everywhere! Sermon held on August 23, 1915, in Sofia. ______________________ 21. II Cor. 3:17 22. deaf in the figurative sense (ed. note). 23. Deposition in the sense of leaving a layer of something, e.g. mud (ed. note). 24. Orman Papaz—(old Turkish) A rebellious priest, often referring to Bulgarian nationalist priests (ed. note). 25. A member of a Bulgarian minority group, living in the Varna district, who speaks Turkish, yet is Eastern Orthodox Christian (ed. note).

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE OLD AND NEW WINE-SKINS And no man putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will hurst the skins, and itself will he spiffed […] But new wine must he put into fresh wineskins.18 This small parable is classical in form and substance. Christ makes a great generalization of the ideas. He says that no one must put new wine into old wine-skins; else the wine will burst the skins. Should these words be taken in their literal sense? They are true only in the figurative sense. Here is an analogy made of the new teaching with the new wine and of the old people with the old wine-skins. When the wine has ceased fermenting, it can stay in an old wine-skin, but if it is poured into an old skin before that, it will burst it. This parable contains a hidden thought, a great Law, namely that the Divine ideas, coming down into this world, need new skins, more elastic ones, which will hold out against the pressure of the fermentation, i.e. they need people whose minds and hearts are receptive of the new truth. When the mind is preoccupied with old ideas, thoughts and feelings, the new cannot penetrate it. Or on other words—the old forms hinder the manifestation of power for some great heroic deed. It is true that you must ask at least 90 times a ninety-year old person, if you want anything from them, until you receive it. Why do they not give readily? Because they have an inborn fear of remaining alone and helpless, or without means of existence; they feel too feeble and weak to dispose of their strength and means as the young people. In this respect the young are generous. That is why Christ says that the new wine must be put in new wineskins. When the new teaching is introduced in the world, reaction is born in the old people. They think that the new teaching is not good and it will spoil the world. In spite of this, no father in the world wants his son to be born with old ideas. Thus, wine itself represents power. Therefore, power is necessary as an impulse to human evolution. This power is no other than the human spirit, considered in a broad sense as a rational force which works and builds correspondingly to the Divine Laws. God's purpose is to make all things grow and develop. God does not like the old wine-skins. He puts them down the cellar as the wine-makers do. There will be people who would drink of the old wine. If you accept the new teaching and think it will not ferment in you, you are wrong. It is impossible for one to accept the new teaching and not change under its influence. As it is impossible for a sculptor to work with a hammer on a piece of marble without breaking a piece off it, so it is impossible for the new teaching not to change a person. Many pieces will fly right and left, but if old people are afraid that a piece might hit their head, they better stay a little farther away. The sculptor is not to blame, but the old people who do not draw away in time. The sculptor says, "I am molding a statue for the future generation, those who pass by me should protect themselves." An artist may work with a brush, with a violin bow, or with a hammer—it depends on what they are doing and what manner they are working. Yet, it is important that they work in accord with the Divine order of things. When some discord arises during some work, we should not complain and say it gives us a headache. Eternal calm exists only in the graveyard. Those who want to go forward, who aspire for God and want to grow in the Divine World, must struggle and work. It is in this endeavor wherein lies the good of the individual, the good of society and the good of the whole of humanity. Those who want to rest must remain with their old views on life. They cannot understand the active life of the new ideas, expressed by the parable of the new wine. Do you know how long it has taken a wine branch to gather all this sap in itself? Do you know the power of this sap? At first the wine juice is sweet, then it becomes so powerfully intoxicating that if you drink a larger quantity of it than you should, you lose your normal condition. Thus, whoever wants to accept the new teaching must get rid of the old wine-skins. If you do not have new wine-skins, better stay away. New people will come and the new teaching will be poured into them. The new teaching may be poured into you as well, but first you must sell the old wine-skins, i.e. to get rid of all desires and vices which prevent you from accepting the new teaching. In India there are famous snake-tamers who tame all kinds of snakes and send them to Europe. They keep these snakes of all sizes in big barrels where they tame them. One night one of these tamers did not notice that he had not shut the barrel well and went to bed. During the night all the snakes crept out of the barrel and wound themselves around the sleeping man. Upon waking up he saw his terrible condition and did not move at all retaining his presence of mind. The slightest movement might cost him his life. His servant began to worry why his master did not come out of his room at such a late hour in the morning. He carefully approached his room and opened the door, but what did he see? All the snakes wound around his master who kept still. The servant was very quick-witted and at once filled a big kettle to boil milk and put it in the middle of the room. The smell of milk attracted the snakes that, leaving the man, crept to the kettle. The Hindu man got out of bed and carefully shut the snakes in the barrel again, saying to himself, "I should shut this barrel well, so the same incident would not happen a second time. I am grateful that this time I escaped death so successfully." Sometime you may find yourself in this man's condition and you must keep your presence of mind and have milk. Milk represents rational life. Christ says, "No man must put new wine in old wineskins." Why? Because it will burst the old wine-skins. If a religious person gets upset, it shows they are an old skin that cannot endure the new wine, i.e. cannot accept the new teaching. Two ideas colliding cannot be reconciled. The Law of Moses says, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Christ's Law is just the opposite: "If they hit you on the one side, turn the other side also." This teaching requires us to love our enemies as well. I ask you, "How can these two teachings be reconciled?" The Law of Moses is for an old skin. Since the old people cannot fight against the new, they want to catch their adversary and according to the Law of Moses, take their eyes out so they cannot see and find them. Christ teaches exactly the opposite, "You can make your enemies your friends; you can disarm them and make them even serve you." Now let us consider the inner psychological sense of Christ's words. Do not think that you have understood the truth completely and there is nothing more to study in your life! If you think you know everything, you are old skins that have stopped their development on the Earth. You say, "We are learned people." What does your knowledge consist in? "We have read the books of many writers." What of that? You must be imbued with that philosophy which can rectify your life and give you the happiness you are seeking. What is the meaning of the word "happiness"? The word "штастие"19 is made up of several letters, each of which has its own sense and meaning. The letter "Ш" is made of three vertical lines connected by a horizontal line, which represents the human hand working. The letter "Т" shows the power which gives an impulse to the work. The letter "А" signifies the human nose. It is not enough for a person only to work, they should have a mind which knows how to work. The letter "C" represents the human heart. When it is turned with the concave side up, it turns into a boat which shows that all we gain must be stored up. The letter "И" is descending and ascending—it outlines a downward and an upward movement. These movements outline two angles that, placed next to each other, represent the diameters of the circle, i.e. the wheel which moves the carriage forward. And finally, the letter "e" shows the center you must hold on to. Therefore, you need a hand, power, a mind, a heart and a purpose to stimulate you upward. I shall cite an anecdote out of Bulgarian life about the fever. Bulgarians have a myth that the fever is alive. A shepherd once stopped on a bridge to rest and overheard the conversation of two fevers. One of the two said, "Do you know where I am bound for? Up the mountain there is a shepherd I want to catch." "How can you catch him?" "I shall enter the first spoonful of milk which he will drink in the spring." When he heard that they were speaking of him, the shepherd decided to take precautions against the fever. It happened that on that day one of his sheep died. He took off its skin and made a water- skin out of it. When the set time came for the fever to catch him, he poured the first spoonful of milk into the skin. Once it hid there, the shepherd fastened the water-skin well. The skin swelled up and shivered everyday at noon as the fever shook it. In the fall the shepherd untied the skin and let the fever out. Under the same bridge, the two sisters got together again to talk things over: "What did you do with that shepherd?" "It was sheer bad luck; I got into the empty water skin instead of into the shepherd." I say, if you want to use the old skins, you will be like this fever and when they let you out, you will say, "We learned to shake the empty skins." I meet such people everywhere and when they are let out in life, they say, "We learned to shake the skins." Such are the dogmatists of today who only shake skins. They say, "We are squeezed for room." There is plenty of room for them, but there is no food near them. According to their beliefs, a nation has a whole philosophy which it applies in all situations in life. For instance, people say, "The cadi20 must be brought to his senses, for he does not decide the fate of people rightly." As soon as he is brought to his senses, a new fate will be allotted to the world. On the same grounds we say that the new wine should be deposited in our children for it is the power for their growth. The mothers who want to have good children should be imbued with new ideas. If they hold the old ideas, it is better for them not to bear children. What kind of people will such mothers bear? People unfit for life as we see thousands in the world. It says in the Scripture, "Bear and multiply," but it does not say that half-baked people should be born but such as are in the image and likeness of God. This is the new teaching of Christ and it is understood and applied, the world will be rectified. Both the vine and the juice are in us. Some day, when our vine bears grapes, the juice of these grapes will start to ferment. This is an implacable and inevitable Law in the world. Those who think they can live without fermenting do not understand life. Christ says, "He who wants to acquire Eternal Life must take up his cross and follow me." The cross is the new wine. The cross holds power for those who understand. There are different crosses in the world, but people complain of them all the time. Here is what Paul says about the cross: "I shall glory in the cross of Christ." Many complain of their sufferings and say they are extraordinary and unbearable. In this respect they are like that man who always complained of the burden of his cross until one day God said, "Take the cross from this man and let him choose one himself." He was led into a room where all kinds of crosses were found: big and small, golden, silver, iron and stone crosses and he was told to choose anyone he wanted. He looked them over and finally picked out a small cross saying, "This is the cross I want." God said to him, "This is the cross you have been bearing till now. This is your cross." You often exaggerate your sufferings and want to change your fate, but cannot. You cannot cast off the burden you are carrying. You say, "When we rise in life, my wife, my children and I will start on the spiritual path. Then the new wine will also ferment in us." I say, "If you wait first to rise in life and then start on the spiritual path of Christ, you are deceiving yourselves. Good upbringing is something which should be effected at the same time for the father, the mother and the children. When the father and mother are well bred, the children will be well bred also. I shall cite the following example as a clarification of my thought. One day while the American preacher Moody was speaking, a child who was listening to him noticed that the whole congregation was singing except his father. He asked his father, "Daddy, why aren't you singing?" "I am already confirmed in the faith. Singing is for you, young people. We, elder people, have sung enough, now it's your turn." One day the father harnessed his horse in his small cab, took his child and went for a drive. When the horse started going up the hill, he stopped and did not want to go any further up. The child said, "Daddy, the horse is confirmed." Therefore, as soon as you stop, you are confirmed, i.e. you are old skins in which new wine cannot be poured, in order not to ferment and burst them. And after all this you are preparing yourselves for heaven, thinking you will enter paradise and live like the angels with an understanding of God's truths! How can you understand God's truths when you live in dark and cold cellars?! That is why Christ says, "New skins are needed!" The old people are old skins, the young are new skins. The old people are quite undisturbed and nothing can move them. The young say to them, "Let us put new wine in you too." No. New wine should not be given to the old. They have completed their evolution. The new wine must be poured in the arteries and veins of the new people. People today come against many contradictions, as a result of which they struggle, suffer, complain of their sufferings, fall, rise and so on. Why does all of this happen? Because the old and the new wine are in conflict fighting with each other. That is namely why Christ says, "Do not put new wine in old skins," i.e. do not put the new wine in yourself until you are prepared. How will you prepare yourselves? By purifying yourselves. Every teaching, every philosophy can be useful to us only when we are pure. The new teaching requires plasticity in the progress and spiritual upsurge in the life of all humanity. If we look at the old and the young from an esoteric standpoint, we shall see in the consciousness of the old a barely flickering candle, while in the consciousness of the young, we shall see a candle burning brightly and its light constantly increasing. We can compare the old person with the Earth lighted by the moon and the young—with the Earth lit by the Sun. However, the spiritual development of both old and young has need of the new wine. I am asking, "Have they this wine?" Those who seek it sincerely and earnestly, will find it. Those who have drunk only old wine and have not tasted the new, say that the old is better than the new wine. When the new, the sweet wine ferments, it becomes settled old wine and cannot ferment any more. The old wine can only intoxicate people and make them merry, but it cannot make them work and progress. If people are unhappy and suffer, the reason is that their old life ferments, it is not preserved as it should; the alcohol in the old wine turns into vinegar and it becomes sour, tart and looses its stability. I have often watched what the Bulgarians do when they leave church on Sunday. This is especially true in the villages. They get together two by two, drop in at some public house and say to the tavern keeper, "Bring a pint of the old wine! Cheers!" Then they sit by three and four at the tables, order one or two more glasses of wine, cling them, drink to their health and the conversation becomes more animated. By and by the whole tavern becomes very noisy, every body is talking. All of a sudden a great uproar is raised, they start beating someone. Why are they beating him? He has not placed a hedge around his field. This sort of thing does not happen only in the public houses. Visit the stock exchange where commercial transactions are carried on and you will think you are at a mental asylum. A woman once asked her husband to take her to the stock exchange to see what that institution looks like. One day her husband took her straight to the place, not telling her he was taking her there. When she entered the hall, she exclaimed, "Why did you take me to this asylum! I wanted you to take me to the stock exchange, to the noble people." Her husband answered her, "This is the stock exchange." When the husband, the wife and the children in a family begin to quarrel and separate from each other, it is a sign that the wine in them has begun to ferment. As they cannot create anything new, they want to lay hand on what belongs to another. They act the same way as a woman who cannot bear children and adopts another woman's child. Therefore, new skins are necessary for the new wine. It will give you a new life which will teach you how to live and work and how to form right relations among yourselves. This is Christ's teaching which people consider inapplicable. No. Christ's teaching is applicable. If you want to apply it and see its results, read this parable and meditate on the idea of the new wine at least five minutes every day. Spare five minutes every day to meditate on God, on the good people on earth who are working tirelessly; on the good mothers who raise their children patiently; on the good fathers who take care of their families and you will see what a process the new wine will effect in you. A wife says, "I married but my husband is no good." Who made you marry an old skin? Do you know that in such a case you are like a man who stole a donkey during Turkish times and said to the judge, "I was on the pear tree, and by chance fell on the donkey which carried me away." No, you must say, "I need new wine in my ideas as well as in my actions." A man of seventy or eighty years of age wants to marry and have children! I understand this too, there are exceptions in life, as Abraham who had sons at an advanced age, but he was a man of new ideas and had not grown old. People today get old at the age of forty. They say, "May our children be alive, it is finished with us." Such a person is an old skin and must be put in the cellar. They are sluggards who do not want to understand the will of God. They should say, "God, now I understand you and want to work for you like a young person." I say, "Down with your old age!" Put your old skins away now! People with old skins and old wine are not fit for the kingdom of God. I do not want them to pour out their old wine, but I want them to put the new wine in new skins. When this Divine capital thought is comprehended, it will raise them with its power. Today, everybody is wondering how to educate people. The method is very easy. When a hole appears on a boat at sea, it is plugged up by a peg. If a peg is not plugged in the hole, the boat will sink. See that your boat is not leaking, in case it is, plug it up and be in safety. Someday you are discontented—you have a hole in your boat, your skin is split. In this case nothing good expects you if you do not plug up the hole. There are moments when people must be absolutely obedient, as the child of an engine driver whose house was by a railroad: the child was playing when the express train drew near him and his father called to him, "Lie down!" The child immediately lay down and was saved. Sometimes they call to you, "Lie down!" "Why?" you ask. Lie down and do not ask why. When the express passes, you will know why you had to lie down. There are dangerous moments in life when we must kneel and when the danger has passed, we should thank God we are saved. Someone says, "I do not want to adapt myself to the existing conditions, I do not want to be flexible." You must adapt yourself. The rain will not take into consideration whether you have a coat on or not; the Sun also does not want to know whether you can bear its light: you must adapt yourself to all changes and be able to bear them. The rain and sun are doing their work very well. Let the Sun shine, let the sea be rough, let the old skins burst—this should not disturb you. Why? Because God has decided to burst the old skins and to put the new wine in new skins. If people of old ideas and feelings want to live under the new conditions, they sadly deceive themselves. Such is fate, such is the Divine Law. God wants you to be rejuvenated and to be born again. How can we be born again? You will be reborn by forming new forms in which to deposit your life. These forms will be real, not fictitious ones. If you understood the Law under which you are living now, you would be rejuvenated. "When will this be?" When you learn the Law of inner renovation—in your soul. When we speak of the resurrection, we have in view those forms with which God is working within you. For this purpose you should prepare the new skins. Then God will say, "Bring the new skins into which we shall put the new wine!" Some ask, "What is God doing to the world?" "He is preparing new skins and making new wine." That is why Christ says, "My Father is working and I am working for you." You, too, should be ready and not spoil these skins, for it is easy to spoil the minds and hearts of people, but difficult to repair them. Let God see that you have made something. You are asking yourselves, "Why is life such as it is?" I see in the eyes of many that you are intoxicated by the old wine, you are out of sorts, dopey, you have over-drunk. You should all become sober and joy should fill your hearts because this world was created for you with all good conditions for your development. "But wars come, misfortunes assail us." Never mind—"nitchevo", as the Russians say. "But so many people are dying!" "Nitchevo!- nothing can be lost." Perhaps thousands of houses will be torn down, thousands of skins will burst, but new ones will be created. Now God is putting new wine into new skins. Today only the intoxicated are fighting. If men and women fight, they are intoxicated. Where there is new wine, there is music, singing, harmony. This is Christ's teaching. For five minutes every day think about Eternal Life, about God, the good people, about the good mothers and fathers, the good friends—think about noble things that will uplift you. And in this way you will understand the deeper things in life. You have great things to learn! But before that you should prepare yourselves for this understanding. You say, "What will the future life be?" "Excellent—such as you have neither seen, nor heard of, nor dreamt of." How can people see the beautiful things in life when they are sleeping? Your sleeping souls must awake! You must put the kettle with milk in your room to stow away all evils. Be bearers of the new wine, of the new teaching! Preach joy and gladness to the world! And when you suffer, say that you are suffering because you have not fulfilled God's Law. You often say that conditions create life. Yes, but people also create the conditions. I have told you the story of the English lord, who started on a journey with his daughter and servant and they suffered shipwreck. In the same way you can be master and servant in your life. If you know how to apply the Divine Laws, you are a master; if you do not know how to apply them, you are a servant. Those who want to be masters should be imbued with the new teaching which solves the riddles of life. If the lord had not been cast on the desert island, he would not have learned how to cultivate life—there he learned this art. We, too, may find ourselves in unfortunate conditions and another person may be our master. When we learn to serve, God will lead us out of the desert island to learn how to cultivate wheat, i.e. life. So far you have not learned how to cultivate your heart and your mind, as a result of which there is hunger and discontentment in you. You eat four or five times a day, and grow fat and groan, you are not satisfied. Such fattening takes place in your mind as well. This fat must be turned into energy! Have you noticed that people, who work hard with their mind, or do spiritual work, never grow fat? Therefore, if you store up in yourselves more fat than necessary, put it in the engine of your spiritual life and proceed with the realization of your noble dreams and desires. Therein is your profit. Sermon held on July 12, 1915, in Sofia. _________________________ 18. Luke 5: 37-38. 19. happiness—щастие [´shtastie] in Bulgarian (tr. note). 20. Cadi, also spelled kadi, in Moslem communities denotes a chief judge or magistrate, whose decisions are based on Moslem Law (ed. note).

Note 4 The Good Samaritan He then turned specifically to his students and said: "Blessed the eyes, which see what you see. Because I am telling you that many prophets and kings wished to see what you see and did not see, and to hear what you hear and did not hear." And he said: "The one who showed compassion." Then Jesus told him: "Go and also do so." Lucas 10: 23-37 My lecture this morning will be on the Good Samaritan. I will take the verses from 23 to 37. This Good Samaritan has become very commonplace, i.e. we think that we understand him. We could say that we understand his meaning in a certain practical sense, but I will look at this matter from a different angle. So, there begins a conversation with a lawmaker – a very educated person, a philosopher for his time, devotedly following the teaching of Moses. This person, interested in one very important question, approached Jesus, and asked Him, “Master, what do I have to do to attain an eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “What does it say in the law? How do you read it?” The man answered, “To love your God with all your heart and all your soul, and all your power, and all your mind, and to love your fellow man like yourself.” But, it seems, Jesus wanted to explain further to that man who our fellow man is. This story is a drama, where the main part is played by the gentleman, who left Jerusalem and headed over to Jerihon – you have read the story. Those, who write dramas, want to build characters. Another character in this drama is the Samaritan. There was a priest in the story before the Samaritan, but the priest passed by without stopping because he was busy, saying, “This is none of my business.” The priest was walking on the right side of the street and when he noticed the gentleman, who had fallen on the ground, the priest went by on the left side of the street. After that, a Levite went by on the left side of the street, but he did not stop either. Lastly, a Samaritan went by and he stopped. Now, we have the following characters: the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan with his mule (you can call it a donkey because there are many such animals in Palestine). The Samaritan stopped, covered the wounds of the robbed gentleman with wine and butter, put him on the mule, brought him to the town of Jerihon, settled him in an inn, and the next day gave him two dinars*. You will say that this is a simple thing, and so what if a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan went by and the last one covered the wounds of the robbed man. Yes, but when you read the novel of any writer, you study the characters (because every writer wants to highlight the characters). Jesus presents four types to us: the first one is a traveller, who is going to Jerihon to make some profit, but luck is not on his side; the second one is a priest, the third one is a Levite, and the last one is the Samaritan. Jesus says, “From these three who do you think is the fellow man of the robbed man?” The Samaritan, of course. Keep these characters in your mind because you could play the role of either of them; the priest, or the Levite, or the Samaritan – there are four roles you could play in the world. Everyone plays them because the world is a stage where people play these roles. When you are reading a novel, you always pay attention to the main character in the story; in this story the main character is the Samaritan. He was not thinking that his deed would be narrated word by word and become emblematic for the whole world. Some interpreters say that this is just a saying, but we know that Jesus used only real life examples. The drama, which Jesus presents, takes place in Heaven and on Earth. The traveller left (Jerihon)† Jerusalem – this is Heaven, the supreme world, where people come from; (Jerusalem) Jerihon on the other hand is Earth – hence, people come from above – from Heaven to Earth. But there are robbers in Heaven; even Apostle Paul says that there are bad spirits above us. But let us leave this deeper meaning and get back to the social life. Who is this Samaritan? The priest and the Levite are the woman and the man: the man is the Levite, the woman is the priest, and the Samaritan is an unrelated child, who has done a good deed. But you will object to this and ask whether it is possible for a father or a mother to be so cruel to their children? I know of mothers and fathers who abandon their children. I know a young lady from Varna‡ who was abandoned by her father, became a dissolute woman and married a “Samaritan” now living in Sofia§. When your daughters feel a burden, they say, “I want to get out of the house,” – because the parents are preachers and cannot put themselves in their daughters’ shoes. Every soul that has come down from the Invisible world has a certain pain, a certain wound. For example, there needs to be a certain deep reason for someone to be nervous. They say about someone that he is nervous; nervousness is not a disease, but the nerves are the life of the mind, and when they do not work in harmony, they lead to diseases. Those four types of characters from the story represent the four bodies of a person. People are wrapped in four bodies, through which they develop: physical, Living, Astral, and Spiritual body.** There are three other bodies, but they are forms that do not change; we will talk only about the forms that change. The word “body” stands for an organized world; consequently, in that sense the mind is organized, the human heart is organized, life is organized. Now, Jesus is talking with the educated lawmaker and tells him, “Go and also do so.” i.e. take the role of the Samaritan. The Samaritan always shows the progress in the world – this is the science, while the priest and the Levite are just actors, who make some money but do nothing for the world. And when people have excess money, they say, “Let us have a show, laugh a little – we have excess time and we can now make a theatre.” Life is a theatre, a show; children can play it, but I say that this is just a break, and it is no time for a break when we have to develop ourselves. In this story there is a drama and a show. I am asking why the two did not stop to help that man. Because there was no similarity between them and the robbed man. The law is such that you cannot help someone you do not love and this is the only reason they passed by without stopping. The Samaritan had this Love in his heart, so he stopped and took out his wine and his butter; the butter is the soul and the wine is the Power, which needs to be passed on – the Samaritan needs to be interpreted in a broad sense. Do you not think that many of you are in a state similar to that of the robbed man? Your wounds demand butter and wine, not words, philosophies, and wisdoms. In order for the wounds to be covered, fresh vigor has to be poured into the human mind and the human heart. And when the butter and the wine are poured, this is the Samaritan. I would like for all Bulgarians to be Samaritans. We want all priests and all teachers to become Samaritans; we want all lawyers and judges to become Samaritans; because these are honourable positions. In the U.S., they give the honourable D.D. degree.†† For us, “D.D.” does not mean much, but doctors in the U.S. need to be awarded such a “D.D.” degree. After that they give a L.L.D.D. degree – a doctor’s degree in law, a doctor’s degree in theology. The priest and the Levite from the story were doctors of theology, i.e. they had “L.L.D.D”, but they did nothing. Then a Samaritan passed by, who did not have a “D.D” degree, he just had a mule, butter and wine. He said, “I know nothing of ‘D.D.’” got off his mule and asked, “How did you get here?” Now, Jesus provided this example to be used in our time, i.e. for you and for me. There are Samaritans in Bulgaria too. I am glad that there are women - Samaritans in Bulgaria. In that sense, the Samaritan is Jesus, who came from above, and the robbed man is the human race that has fallen in the hands of robbers – men, women, and children. Jesus too came from above. The story can be interpreted in a narrow and in a broad sense. Jesus says, “You also do so.” Have the state of your Spirit, the frame of your mind, and the predisposition of your will like those of the Samaritan. If we have the frame of mind, but not the state of Spirit, this is not enough. The priest had the frame of mind and said, “I have very important things to do and do not have the time to deal with this.” The Levite said so as well. We are here to serve God – Jesus says, “To love your God.” Your fellow – this word has a lot of content in our world. You can cry for a fellow, but you can also look at them like the priest or the Levite and say, “It is not time.” I know many unmarried women, who, when their fellow comes along, say, “He is not for me if he makes only three hundred leva‡‡” – this is everyone’s philosophy. In the times we live in, and in the future, we have to apply the law of the Samaritan. Now, some want to be acquainted with ministers. It is not bad to be acquainted with ministers, but the reason to want this is self-interest – to have patrons. Friendship never changes; it is a great law connecting people. If you have a friend, they are ready to always serve God and to sacrifice themselves for you if they see you have fallen on the street. With that story, Jesus illustrates how the world will improve. Some say, “We have to choose political representatives, to appoint priests.” There are both official and unofficial priests. Some only say that they do not want to wear the priest’s official clothes, while Jesus represents exactly those, who have been designated by God – I am not talking about official priests. Like father, like priest; like mother, like teacher – priest and teacher are synonymous to me. When the fathers fulfil their duties, then the priests will fulfil theirs, for they were all born to fathers. We say, “The priests are bad; the Levites are bad,” – why are they bad? Because their mothers and fathers are bad. Consequently, all contemporary people will perish and turn into a fertilizer for the Earth. And when God comes with a new plough, he will put a new culture in place and sow new saplings, which will give wonderful fruits. Thus, we should not judge the consequences, but the causes. So, the Samaritan is the father, and the robbed man is the mother – the man found his wife and covered her wound. He found his lost Dulcinea, put her on his mule, took her to Jerihon and gave her two dinars. These two dinars symbolize two Divine laws. Some say, “I give you two leva,” – if with these two leva you mean Divine Love and love for your fellow men, you can give them to me. But if you want to bribe me with these two leva, no, thank you! How many men are there now who carry their women like this? A certain statistic from London says that out of twenty six million families there, only three hundred are happy. In Bulgaria, there are only two hundred such families – these are the men and women of Bulgaria; they are only two hundred people§§. Let God help the other three thousand.*** They are the masters of “emptying the sack” it is not their fault, such is their nature. Mice infested a barn. The owner of the barn did not know what else to do, but to let a cat in the barn. The mice got scared and said, “What else can we do now, we will have to pay with our lives?” Then a mouse came forward and said that it had a bright idea: to put a bell on the cat in order to be able to hear it coming and hide. All the mice started applauding, but one old mouse asked, “So who is going to put the bell on the cat?” This is what contemporary life is – one “bright idea.” Jesus also put a bell on the cat but the world did not reform itself. Butter and wine are needed, and the mules also have their duty. When a mother gives birth and the child is weak in the beginning, does she not play the role of the Samaritan? She is ashamed from the opinion of the world and says, “They will laugh at me,” the philosophy of contemporary women is to give birth to a ninety-year old. All women who give birth are young, and while people are young, they can do stupid things. Jesus says that in this aspect the Samaritan is older than the priest and the Levite. These are the working people, who exist, and they are at the core of things. Consequently, Jesus wants to show us that we all have to have this Love in our mind and in our will. Some ask me how to do Good; I say: buy a mule and go look for a good spring. Everyday I meet people who are sick in their minds and their hearts. Jesus said, “Go and do so if you want to attain a heavenly life. If you do not do so, you will not attain a heavenly life.” Jesus would have made that Samaritan a priest; I would make him a priest too because he did well. Thus, the future world will be inherited only by such priests, for God does not want people like us. You will say that Mr. Dunov preaches against priests; I am not talking about them, I am talking about the mothers and fathers – these mothers and fathers have to know the Samaritan. And when a mother gives birth, she has to do it with Joy; the mother is always blessed when she gives birth and this should not be seen as a disgrace. The mother has given birth in the past, and will do so in the future. In the old times it was always the men who gave birth, while in the new times, it is the women. But these men have to start giving birth again; the women have been giving birth enough. Contemporary men miscarry; I see men who carry their offspring for twenty years, but they have to learn to give birth. God says, “Because they do not follow My law, I will give their souls to the civilized people to suffer,” for this reason we have been sent in the world to eat and drink. When we fulfil our desire to eat and drink, there will come a blessing. Now, you will ask which ones you are – the priests, the Levites, or the Samaritans. Ask yourselves whether you have butter, wine, and a mule. Because this mule is an extra body – on which you will put the robbed man, and when you go to this world, you need to have two coins. Consequently, you need a mule and wine. And when he went to Jerusalem, do you know what happened? Jerusalem was surrounded by a big wall, but Moses demolished it; the same way Jesus destroyed that wall with His arrival, because… Now, I clearly present the question: which role do you want to play in this drama? The actors in a theatre often argue who will take the main role. Jesus immortalized the name of that Samaritan; many kings did great deeds, but there is not a single trace left from their deeds, while this Samaritan did a simple (when looked from the outside) deed, but his name remained written in Heaven. You can play the role of the priest and the Levite, but you will remain mediocre. The robbed man prayed for a long time, stretched his arms towards the priest and the Levite, but they said, “I cannot,” – only the Samaritan helped him. Now, suppose you have a daughter and you are taking care of her upbringing. One day, she wishes to go into the world for a while to earn money. You introduce her at some social occasion, until one day you find her on the street hurt, dishonoured, and crying, “Help me!” – she has fallen in the hands of the robbers. There are (also) women who are terrifying robbers. The best people are men and women, but the worst people are also men and women. The first we call people of Love, the second – people of egoism. I would like all of you to be people of Divine Love and to serve God. The whole world is for you; as long as you have a heart and a mind, everyone will applaud you and say, “We saw what you have done.” Everyone can do a good deed and God sees these good brothers. Consequently, I would like everyone’s name to be written up in Heaven, for you to be the bringers of this new humanity, for you to be cheerful and joyous. Let someone else think about your food – there is wealth for everyone; God has prepared a lot of food. Some say they have enemies, but you have friends too. The devil also has enemies. Apostle Paul says, “The higher the charity, the higher the virtue,” where hate strengthens, Love strengthens. Our actors should go to the devil, for he can play all roles. Do not be fooled by the philosophical deception when you study all these philosophies; do not put such a mask on your face. Do not present yourselves as bigger saints than what you are – present yourselves as more sinful rather than as more righteous because otherwise there is a risk that you put a mask on your face. I know people, dressed in silk, who eat nettle at home, and when someone comes in, they hide the plate. I am asking you, is your soul dressed like this? So, cover the wound of whoever it is, and you will attain eternal Life. Sofia, July 11, 1915 * The local currency † To the editor: Here the original text says “The traveler left Jerihon”. However, this contradicts the story as told earlier in the next where the traveller left Jerusalem and was going to Jerihon to make some profit. Please check where this discrepancy in the original text of the lecture comes from. ‡ One of the big cities in Bulgaria § Bulgaria’s capital ** Assure coherence of translation of these terms with other translators †† Degree given at the time of the lecture – year 1915 ‡‡ Leva – multiple from “Lev”, the Bulgarian currency §§ The previous sentence says two hundred families, while this sentence says two hundred people. Both statements address the same group of people. Is this an accurate transcript of the original lecture? Or is it meant to imply that two people forming a family form one soul, and in that sense “dushi” means not people (kato dvama dushi), but souls (kato dve dushi)? This sentence should be edited as appropriate. *** The text states that there are only three thousand other families in Bulgaria. Is this an accurate notation in the text of the original lecture? Could it be three hundred thousand (“3 hilyadi” vs. “3sta hilyadi”) other families? The foreign reader may be confused by the small number of families in Bulgaria. Source

Note 5 Prayer Mathew: Ch. 6 My lecture this morning will be on prayer. There is a lot of controversy over prayer from purely philosophical and scientific perspectives; in the church there is also controversy on how to pray. Religious people argue over the form and the way – should we pray standing or on our knees. Scientists examine whether there is a need for prayer, i.e. whether prayer is something normal in people’s life, or something abnormal. I have to explain this matter to you from a religious standpoint: prayer is an act of the soul; this is a state (I express myself this way for a lack of a better word) of the soul, an aspiration, which determines human speech. Because in order to articulate a prayer, one needs a certain form*; hence speech has been created so that people pray. Now, I will take the word prayer in the broad sense in order for us to understand what it is. There are four types of prayer: firstly, prayer can be purely physical; secondly, prayer can come from the heart; thirdly, prayer can be simply a form of the mind; fourthly, prayer can be an aspiration of the soul, an act of Spirit. Consequently, it depends with what you pray. For example, when the need is yours, the prayer comes from the aspiration of your body, i.e. your body is praying regarding your body; such relationship exists when the body is sick – there is a certain awakening and an aspiration for communication. From the standpoint of embryology, when a baby is conceived in the womb of the mother, the baby’s organs begin forming. The baby does not move in the beginning. The limbs develop first – the arms followed by the legs; then the intestines develop; then the brain, and lastly, the lungs. After that the child begins moving and shows that it needs a higher act. The human soul also goes through such an experience – it also awakens, it is also born. A person can be very educated, very strong, but when the time comes for them “to be born”, they feel weakness and need – they feel a need for God. Consequently, prayer is an indication that the soul needs to enter the Spiritual World, it needs to be embraced by Divinity – this is prayer. So, prayer springs from self-consciousness, and together with the Spirit holds a person’s consciousness. The human soul has to pray for a long time in order to reach this Divine spring; therefore, a person has to pray in order to purify the soul. You would ask why. Just like people need the respiratory system to breathe and produce the needed energy, so does our Soul body need prayer to feed itself. Hence, prayer has power in so far as people pray consciously. Many miscomprehensions exist on the subject of prayer. They stem from our own misunderstandings, which is why we often bother God with petty things. We do to God as little children do to their mother when they kick and scream if they want something. God does not consider our sins when the soul is born and while it lives on Earth, but once it joins Spirit, a person has to pray – the soul can not want just anything. When the blessings come, a person just has to have a pure heart and a strong mind. Therefore, it should not be a question of whether God shall grant us food and knowledge – if we know how to pray, God is ready to grant us anything we want, He shall not deny us any good. Now, those, who begin to pray, often torture themselves with the question whether God will hear their prayer. In order to be heard, you have to be a nine-month-old child; if you are a big child, God will not pay attention to you. Hence, prayer is not for everyone; there are people who wake up prematurely and become damaged. Some say, “Let us wake up this person;” that is good, but the person will be damaged. Why? Because the person becomes exposed to certain elements, for which the person does not have a tolerance. Scientists know this from experience and never give children tasks that are beyond the children’s limits. A desire to become a being with wings should not grow within you; you should rather have a relationship with God. You have to have a relationship with your mother for her to give you food; then you will gradually leave your mother’s embrace, and when you grow up some more, she will lead you into the world. All, who become Christian, ask whether they are not late; you are late, if your mother has given birth to you, but if you are not born yet, wait, should it be you who catches up with the others – everybody when their time comes. There are many examples of prayer in the Bible. There are various prayers in the Psalms: a prayer for sins, a prayer for help, a prayer for grace. There is one such example in Psalm 51, another in the sixth chapter of Daniel, when he prays and confesses his sins; there is an example by Abraham, and by all prophets, who have prayed. But now, let us get to the understanding of prayer, for the prophets and David have understood very well how to pray. Most of all, prayer demands a complete confidence and trust in God. The mind should not be wandering; God, who foresees our hardships in life, has created suffering for us, so that we concentrate our thoughts on ourselves. When the soul comes into this world, there is a danger that it gets absorbed in certain impressions; hence, suffering comes to us in various ways, so that we return to God. Prayer is a force in Life, and a person cannot grow without prayer. Jesus recommends the secret prayer, “When you pray, you have to be alone.”† Some say, “Let us get together a few of us;” the benefit for two or three people is a different thing, but the prayer that serves the development of the soul has to always be individual – to unite with God – with the image of each Love, Virtue, Purity, and Intelligence. He is the only Being, who knows the needs of your soul, and shall act so delicately, so gently, like no other. And this is why everyone, who wakes up prematurely, becomes damaged. Turn to God, turn to Jesus; Jesus – this is God, His relationship to us is fatherly. When you comprehend Jesus like this within yourself, you will feel Peace, Joy, which will ease your hardship. Because if you enter the Spiritual World, you will encounter such hardships as the hardship a newborn encounters when they are born into this world. When all of your enemies come together to hinder your growth, this is the experience of saints, of good people, of all those who begin to pray. Thus, all who come into the Spiritual World have to start with God. And when they do not take this path, there is tension with God. Hold on to God, believe in yourself, love Him, hold Him dear in your heart – whatever difficulties you encounter, hold on to Him! Just like when the child says, “Mom!”, so does God always respond to us when we turn to Him by the name we know Him – this is a law of every development. Some people could come along telling you that things are so and so, showing you different teachings; those of you, who have a lot of time, could sample all the teachings, but let those, who do not have a lot of time, turn to God. Hold on tightly to God with your soul, believe that He is in front of you; believe that He embraces you with His powers, with His arms. Now, philosophers have certain views on God, and of course they are right in an intellectual sense. When we talk about God, it depends on how we view the following question: when we look at God with respect to prayer, we mean these words from the Scripture, “Call Him in a day of sorrow”‡; other places ask you to repent for your sins. If you go to God with hidden sins, you are not born; before all else you have to confess in front of God, and if He tells you to confess in front of your brothers as well, only then you will do this in front of those you have insulted. This is a confession to people – this is the path for everyone, who wants to become Christian. Now you are coming with the question on how to find an appropriate confessor: first, you will find the souls who live in Heaven, i.e. when you find God, you will go to the spirits and confess your sins there; and then their Angels will let you confess, if necessary, in front of the physical world as well. Only through this process the development unfolds smoothly and correctly. When we unite with God in this manner and are in agreement with all righteous souls, then there will not be obstacles in our actions; if you have loved a soul, this thought is passed on to the spirits. No one can acquire wealth, true Knowledge and true Virtue if they have not confessed their sins with a prayer. You would say, “Once we become stronger, we will coerce God” – you cannot coerce Him; God will not listen to you. I am speaking to you with the wisdom of all past and all current generations. Prayer is aligned with our lives, and the more developed a person is, the bigger the degree to which they communicate with God. Prayer is a conversation with God, and through that conversation we begin to affect the world. There should be no agitation during prayer, no offence – you have to put all this aside. And when you enter that small secret room, you have to feel that you are in the presence of the Angels. For this reason Jesus says, “God shall smoothen your relationships with people.”§ And once He blesses you, then the material blessing shall come. When the breathing goes right, the body is healthy; if the respiratory system is not developed correctly, breathing is not right and children are unhealthy. The same law applies to your soul: many souls are sick because their development has not progressed in the right way. Just like we need to improve our breathing through artificial methods in this world, so we need to pray in the Spiritual World – this law is correct. So, according to the same law, feelings have to flow easily in regards to our heart, and if we begin to make an effort in order to love and to think, then this shows that there is a certain abnormality in our soul. I will now talk to you about the power of prayer. At some point Jesus hints to that and says that bad spirits do not leave unless there is fast and prayer. You should also notice that when the Jewish people prayed, they always won. This is also true for the Egyptian people: for as long as the Egyptians prayed, their culture thrived and lasted for thousands of years, but once the crude materialism came, all misfortunes hit Egypt at once. This is also true for contemporary peoples; follow their history and you will see that the downfall of a country begins when its people stop praying. Commotions are starting to appear in the family and in society nowadays as well, but I say: the only reason for this is either that we have stopped communicating with God, or that we have stopped living according to God’s will. They say that the English had won the battle for Waterloo because of the rain that got in the way of Napoleon’s artillery; those of you, who want to, can check the history for whether this was what happened or not… There are many examples for the power of prayer. In 1899, during the big hunger in Russia, described also by Tolstoy, a family that lived far away from the city remained without food for three or four days. One of the children began to pray and said to its parents, “We will have food soon, but once we get it, I will leave.” So it happened that a citizen of Saint Petersburg got lost in the area, looked for shelter, and found the house, where the family had been hungry for four days. He gave them food and money for the future, but a little while after that the child left this world as it predicted… I will also give you the example of Dr. Tailer, a preacher in China. Thirty or forty years ago, when he decided to go preach in China, he calculated that he needed about twenty or thirty thousand leva**; when his friends heard about this, they decided that he had gone out of his mind, but Dr. Tailer began praying and received twenty thousand leva. He is the only missionary, who financially supported himself through prayer, and by 1870 supported around six hundred thousand preachers. However, his faith was suddenly disturbed, the power of his prayer lessened, and so it happened that his dependents also had to pray to God. What came out of this? Some rich American merchant, who moved to Australia, made a promise to himself that if he won such and such amount of money, he would allocate a portion of it to God’s work. His business went well, he met Dr. Tailer and gave him the money to use as he finds best… But you have to always be in need for what you pray: if you pray to God for something in excess, He will never give it to you; you can pray and He can listen, but if you want something that comes in excess for you, He will not give it to you. Pray for the Bulgarian people – when all Bulgarians are doing well, your affairs will go well too. In a right sense, we have to pray for everyone, and when God blesses everyone, then He comes. Today we pray, “God give me a buck††!” – no, ask for two hundred thousand bucks and then take one; otherwise pray like the following, “God, give me some!” – then God says, “Go to a person to receive it.” Do you indeed intend to pray for a piece of bread? We have to always ask God for what people cannot give us; thus, do not settle for bucks, rather ask God for great deeds. Today, many ask themselves why our priests do not pray. You can not force someone to pray; you pray instead, and turn to God for them. We say that they are such and such; do not do that, but pray secretly for them. The salvation is in collective prayer. Why exactly in collective prayer? Imagine that you are the head of an army with one hundred thousand people in it. Let us suppose that the army is exposed to severe cold and your soldiers are threatened by death. I am asking you, what does it matter how many soldiers you have if each of them has frozen to death. By the same law we are all dead individually, but when people pray together, they become a powerful force. Consequently, in order to be accepted by all hearts, the road to salvation is through prayer. So, prayer is necessary in our current living conditions – with the power of prayer you could set your homes and your children right, and you could do great things. Jesus says, “Whatever you ask for in My name, you shall receive, and if two or three of you ask, you shall receive.”‡‡ What do we have to do in this important moment of our lives, of our development? How will we be able to fulfil our duties in the face of all of the confusion that has taken over the world? We all have to start communicating with God and to call Him – this is the only salvation. As the prophets say, “When you look for Me, you shall find Me”§§; our salvation will come when, through prayer, we look for God to manifest in us and for ourselves to manifest in Him. Some say that they have debts – our debts are a group of bad spirits, which corrupt our hearts, our soul. And so, the communication with God has to be personal. If you do not follow this path, you will face many misfortunes; those who follow this path, and develop correctly, but do not really understand this Life, they will have many changes of heart. This is because the development of the individual impacts society and the church, i.e. whatever the aspiration and the direction of this individual, such will be the aspiration of all people. I will give you an example for a prayer from life in Bulgaria, an example taken from the current war between Greeks and Bulgarians.*** One Bulgarian soldier, a teacher by profession, remained behind in enemy territory after his army withdrew from Thessalonike (Dr. Dukov gave me this example). He was hiding in a cave for a long time. When he got hungry, he began praying, and noticed that a turtle carrying a piece of bread came to him, left the piece of bread and walked away. He took the piece of bread and his hunger was satisfied. When he got home, he told his children, “Children, there is God.” During that war many Bulgarians believed that there is God because of what they experienced. If you, who are here this morning, know how to ask, God will help you too. Some say, “Pray for me!” I say: turn to God, pray to Him, and do not turn to anyone else. In case God is not listening to you, then you can turn to other people. There lies the big obstacle. When that Bulgarian prayed, God helped him, while you are that turtle. If you only turn to God, He understands the need of your soul from its depth and he will respond to you. And once we reach such life, we have to forget our relationships on Earth and to see ourselves as sons of God. When we accept God’s blessing, we shall then serve Earth – be it among Bulgarians, among Greeks, or among any tribe, i.e. we will join certain people when we serve God. All people have their calling; all people need to accomplish some mission. Before it was Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, English, Germans, Americans, and now it is turn for the Slavs. All people have to serve God and in front of Him they all stand as one individual. And when we acquire that prayer, then the new philosophy will arrive and the new science will clarify the meaning of things – then Nature will understand our language. Initially, before the fall of man, when one passed by a tree with fruits, the tree itself bent towards the person; now not only don't the trees bend towards people, but they raise their branches higher. When we reach that state, we will realize that those animals, which we now think do not understand anything, are intelligent. Make an experiment with your dog: for example, sometimes you come home in a good mood and your dog comes to you, but sometimes you come home furious and your dog walks away with a tucked tail because your dog understand your state. For this reason Jesus says, “Always look for your God and His truth”††† – then we will have that Knowledge. I know that many of you have hardships; the faces of many of you show that you are disturbed, that you are in need of something, that you all have a burden – individuals, families, society, all have a burden and we wonder what to do with these burdens. We have to turn to God – He will relieve us of our burden; we have to return to our Father, who can love us, care for us. And then our faces will glow, our minds will awaken, our hearts will become joyous. So, turn to God. When you pray, make an attempt to feel that God is present within your soul. And when God is present, He will give you outside proof as well, because when He comes to us, He shall bring us a blessing. Ivan Kronshtadski‡‡‡ was not as smart initially, but he prayed so sincerely at one time that his life changed and he became John Kronshtadski. When did Tolstoy become Tolstoy? When he planed to kill himself and made his confession. He prayed then, “God, please deliver me from this evil.” This is happening with you too. Turn to God, unite with Him, devote yourself to Him and He will teach you. You shall know that all people, who bring good, secretly pray. Gladston§§§ too was a man of prayer. All the great people of antiquity secretly prayed, but we, contemporary people, stand in a dry place and complain that we are poor. Get back to your God, for He is calling you. He wants to bless you. He is now telling everyone, “Let all my children come back.” This is why there is all this noise in the world now – the children began to reunite, our souls began to reunite, and we will understand one another. Then the language of the Father will be spoken; and when He begins to speak, we shall see that the Nature outside will also start speaking. When we meet someone on the street now, we think what it is that they are thinking about us and we have fear. Let us turn to God. Now, I will tell you one thing: the Truth is not told through a lot of talking. If I could tell you everything in ten words, this would have been really good for me, while now I had to use thousands of unnecessary words. The unnecessary words are like a warming massage – like the warming massages people get when they are sick. Jesus says, “When you pray, come into the secret room, and God shall give you out in the open”**** – how perfect these words are! Thus, those in communion with God are a blessing for their people; in this sense, I would like the Bulgarian people to pray in this manner – this is the only way these people could arise. The time will come when people will understand. Now, you have to turn to God, as that Bulgarian in the cave did, and ask for live bread from above. Back in the day when Elijah prayed, God sent him a crow; to that Bulgarian He sent a turtle – this shows that God is taking care of us. Have faith in this, and pray for all conflict and all misunderstandings to stop. Pray that God enlightens us, that we become servants of our people†††† for their good, so that all individuals can benefit from this. This is my lecture this morning, and I think that you will not misunderstand me because I am talking about a law: always pray. Pray by yourself and God shall bless you. July 4, 1915, Sofia * Speech as a form of articulating prayer † A translated quote from the Bible, not a direct quote from an English-language version of the Bible ‡ A translated quote § A translated quote ** Leva – multiple for lev – the Bulgarian currency †† From Bulgarian “grosh” ‡‡ A translated quote §§ A translated quote *** This sentence comes with a footnote (“belejka” number 14) in the original text. The footnote reads: “The war of year 1913 between Bulgaria and its former allies from the Balkan War – Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Romania.” ††† A translated quote ‡‡‡ This sentence comes with a footnote (“belejka” number 15) in the original text. The footnote reads: “Ivan Kronshtadski – or John Kronshtadski (1829-1908) – Russian Orthodox priest with the civil name Ivan Ilich Sergiev.” §§§ This sentence comes with a footnote (“belejka” number 16) in the original text. The footnote reads: “William Gladston (1809-1898) – English statesman from the Labour Party, who energetically protested against the massacre of Bulgarians from the Turks during the year 1876.” **** A translated quote †††† Meaning “our nation” Source

Note 1 The Prodigal Son „And he said: a certain man had two sons.” Luke 15: 11 I shall take only verse eleven. Christ gives unique examples. The prodigal son is a magnificent subject on which great preachers in the world have read notable sermons and drawn lessons on how generations should live. As far as I know, all the preachers from the time of Christ till the present time have only confined to the prodigal son after his transgression and return home; however, Christ meant something more profound by this example. The transgression of the prodigal son is a consequence and we should know the reason why the younger son left his father. Everyone says the younger son was prodigal; one could suffer in this world but we may not know the reasons. Let me give you an analogy about these two brothers: a gentleman came to a famous priest in Russia to confess his sins; this gentleman was a criminal who had committed a murder. He confessed his crime and the confessor advised him how to absolve of his sins. As you know there are certain rules that oblige confessors not to disclose the secrets revealed to them; however, the murderer went out of the church and met a policeman whom he told who had committed this crime. Having in mind the present law, people may ask: “If he has committed a crime, does he deserve to be pardoned?” This is how people who have superficial understanding of the world think. However, those who understand will tell really whom to blame. Then what are the reasons? I see the young son was gallant minded because he had the valour to say to his father: “Father, I want to study so I shall let my elder brother succeed to your throne. For you do not need me that much in your home, give me my portion of the patrimony.” I see what this son did was much better than what your sons did: after sending them abroad they spend forty-fifty thousand leva. This young man was noble because he put the question before his father and we see the father raised no objection but gave him the respective part of the property, and later the son squandered it living lecherous life with women, eating and drinking. Is it possible a crime to be committed in this world, evil to be done or intrigue made without the participation of a woman! They say that after wasting everything the son went to a man and asked to work for him: “I am accustomed to hard working; when I was at my father `s house I used to work.” The man sent him to feed swine. The young man preferred feeding swine rather than committing suicide; preferred feeding swine rather than going out stealing; preferred feeding swine rather than cheating people. I ask: in the modern society, how many people follow the example of the prodigal son; in the church, how many people follow the example of the prodigal son? That is why Christ in His parable gives the prodigal as an excellent example. They say that after grazing swine the son came to his senses and went back to his father; the father realized his son` s good quality and killed a calf in his honour. Christ knows from the Jewish history that Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau; unlike his brother, Jacob liked to tell fibs and because of a lie he went abroad and served for fourteen years for lentils and two women; they cheated him when he was given his first wife. Therefore, you can also try to tell a lie but you will be a servant for fourteen years, i.e. you will expiate your crime in some way or another. Christ says in the parable that the elder brother became angry that his father had killed a calf for a man who was prodigal. He went to his father and told him: “Yet you never gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends.” So, all the people who sin in the world are the younger brother; all publicans are the younger brother, and the cabinet ministers, bishops, chiefs, judges and teachers are the elder brother; they teach the people and say: “We always rule wisely.” In fact, the young son left his father` s home because of the elder brother, since the latter was very envious and quick-tempered; the young one said: “I am afraid you could lie to me the way Jacob lied to his brother.” The law says that debauchery always comes from the big people: if the woman is wrong, the man is to blame; if the man is wrong, the woman is to blame. For the one who is wrong is the smaller: children are always wrong, and the smarter and the older, even if they go wrong, law does not catch them; they may steal but they do in such a way not to be caught, and the fool who steals will certainly be caught because he does not understand the “supreme” law on which modern society lies. It is said in the parable that when the son came back, his father was filled with joy. Why? Because this young man brought a noble feeling to his father` s house. He came back with humbleness and said: “Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and I do not deserve your home.” – he showed real Love. And when Christ says we should become servants he means we must be humble. And now, you have never fornicated but you know how to be angry. Yes, I know a lot of preachers and bishops who are saints; however, hatred will inevitably appear in their hearts; they will want the calf killed for them saying: “Only we, the holy people, can teach the world.” The woman often says to her husband: “You will serve me!” and the husband says to his wife: “You will serve me!” Some other time the man says: “I command you and you will serve me”, but the woman will not serve like a sinner. The characteristic on which Christ emphasizes is the deep humbleness every human soul should have. It has a deeper meaning but I do not want to touch it because it is a controversial point. Now, we know how to blacken people with smoke; do you know what tobacco is for? The devil blackens people with tobacco and all the people who smoke cense the devil and he becomes tame; therefore, if your wife is angry burn tobacco at her. One night a priest had no tobacco left and became very angry; all people began to ask themselves: “What happened to the priest?” but as soon as they burned tobacco at him he became tame. In the same way, the young son who knew how greedy his brother was gave him some “tobacco”. Let us say that someone is angry at you; burn some tobacco at him. For example, a priest is angry at you; burn some tobacco at him, give him something; if you put in his pocket five, ten, twenty, hundred leva, he will smile; burn tobacco at all priests and bishops. Some people say they do not want to give money; give in order to get rid of it! The situation with the bigger brother is the same; his father comforts him by saying: “All I have is yours”, i.e. he censes him. And when someone asks me how the world will get better I tell him this is the way: become a servant and tell your father to give everything to the other brothers; the bigger sinner you are in their minds, the better for you. Contemporary people preach about culture; I am not afraid of the word culture but I notice the clergy is not contented with it because the clergy asserts that culture debauches people. Culture means to cultivate something: a field, fruit, strawberries, cherries. However, the present-time clergymen think that if people become a little cleverer the world will go bad; they say: “Let us keep them ignorant in order to know they do not have rights.” And when Christ came to Earth he went to his elder brother and said: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve the world.” However, they did not believe Him, frowned again and said to the father: “Get him out of here! If he enters he will ruin everything we have.” So, where all this could find application? All of us love such Christians as today’s sons or daughters who are cavaliers and tell their fathers to give them their due; after finishing their studies they will feed their fathers in their old ages. But when the son graduates from the university do you know what he does to his father? He feels ashamed to call himself his son and keeps his father at a distance. The false understanding of Christianity lies exactly here: all people who have property are righteous; there is no exception: give the rascal ten-twenty thousand leva and he will start loving order. Therefore, the anarchists in the world who want to destroy present-time order are the elder brothers; however, Christ recommends the younger brother. For no matter how we reorganize modern society, if we do not transform our own thoughts and wishes, the system will always protect those who have money and they will always be powerful. Now the servant wants to become a master. The woman looks for a man who is rich, erudite, and skilful at some art; she is a gentlewoman who wants to live opulently, she does not want to be a servant. The man is the elder brother: he is looking for a rich woman and says it is indecent for a man to work in the world. The husband leaves his wife because another one takes her place; however, Christ gives us an example what to do: to allow the younger brother enter our family. Therefore, we can accept another woman at home only if she says like this son says: “Father, I have sinned”. Christ says that a man does not have the right to leave his wife except for benevolence; however, if the wife comes to the humbleness of becoming his servant, he must accept her; if he accepts her, this will be God` s Will. This is the teaching of Christ. And what are you doing now? A man sins and his wife is looking for another more righteous husband; she finds another and he also sins; then she looks for a third husband, etc. But a married woman is not allowed to have two husbands; neither a man is allowed to have two wives; if contemporary people allow themselves that … Using the two sons from the parable, Christ shows what relations should be like: He shows the deep Love that the little son had for his father; and the little son also knew that his father understood him. People often ask me how a man could be saved. I have heard preachers say that people are saved through the blood of Christ. In contemporary medicine, there is a physiological fact that if an anaemic person` s vein is opened and blood is transfused then his ill body recovers. Well, if the blood of Christ saves is this blood running in your veins, are you ready to receive this blood? If one is ready to receive this blood in his veins, he can be helped. If you have never given from your blood you have saved no one. Christ has been saving for two thousand years: He sends this blood through the mother of each newborn child; that is why Christ says that if a man is not born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, one should accept this blood. I would like us to test all the preachers from all the churches how much they love the world; if we hang them on four nails they will curse. Yes, it is very nice to preach Christianity when you have two thousand, ten thousand, twenty thousand leva! This is how it is in America: there are preachers there who are paid a hundred thousand leva each. Christ says: “You cannot serve both God and Mammon at the same time.” You cannot preach the Word of God for money; priests do not have the right to preach for money. Those of them who are heralds of Truth let them preach for free; let everyone have his own occupation and work for his living. And now, when the prodigal sons begin to come back, the preachers are indignant. If we take from the blood of Christ that runs in the modern preachers and test it, we shall see that there are impure thoughts, impure desires in it. I shall kiss those of them whose blood is pure. And when we boast we shall be taken some blood for test; every preacher or priest before becoming a bishop should be blood tested as a touchstone, and then he shall be told: “You have Christ` s blood.” This blood of Christ should be in the veins of all of us; only this blood will save us, only this blood will generate the Love that Christ preaches. I wish no one ill; whatever I have I shall give it; my rule is to serve. I do not want to rule over people but you cannot get rid of this law. Your blood will yield fruit in you; when you acquire this blood it will yield all the fruits your soul needs to feed on. And this blood runs on Heaven in all the heavenly fruit-bearing plants; therefore, we send sap to these fruits and when we enter the Kingdom of God we shall feed on them; those who preach something else do not understand the Teaching of Christ. We speak of what we have experienced. And now, does the example of the young son coming back to his father live in us? Some people will say: “How is it possible a prodigal son to live in us?” Yes, I wish there were ten sons like this living in us; I wish I could have this great virtue of being humble. Humbleness gives birth to culture, the humble man gives birth to culture; show me a supercilious man who has done something great. The elder brothers have invented war; they have ruled. And all the little brothers will inherit the Kingdom of God; they say:”We shall give everything”. I am telling you: it will make good of a son who says: “Father, give me my share.” You may say such a man could surrender to the vice; let him fall but he will come back to you; and the other son who stays with you will torment you and be angry at you that you have not paid a kid for him. There are Christians who sit on two chairs at one and the same time. And now, there are people in the church who disagree with me. Let anyone of them prove to me the contrary and I will give him a blessing. No, he should have the courage to go to the priests and say: “Give me this.” – give the man the freedom to try this Divine world. The woman does not want to live with her husband: give her share; the man does not want to live with his wife: give him his share, set him free and let him go. You may say this is not a Christian teaching; if your wife wants give her own place /space / the due place; if your son wants give him the portion that belongs to him. The teaching I preach to you is not for feeble-minded people; those of you who are feeble-minded, who cannot think, let them forget what I have said; but those of you who can think, think on this subject. And those of you, who do not have spines, should not put this rucksack on their backs because this is a heavy teaching. The woman renounces you and wants freedom: give her own place /space / the due place. But you will say: “If we act like this, what will happen?” as if the social order is favourable the way you act now! Gentlemen, this is not an order, this is not a teaching! We must be born from one father and one mother. Eve gave birth from two men and sinned; every woman who gives birth from two men commits a sin. So when coming back home the prodigal son said: “I have sinned because of deep lying reasons in Life; I will fornicate no more so make me a servant and I will serve with the greatest of pleasure.” And now, let us go back to our Father. He is in the world; some people say that God is in Heaven; in my opinion, God is on Earth, in your homes. Some people preach that the one who dies will see God - this is a whopping lie; the one who lives will see God. I say that people do not die; I want them to rise from the dead. Now people say: “All of us will die; therefore, let us save some money to prepare shirts /to be buried with/”. Those of you, who prepare shirts this way, will never see God; this is not how the prodigal son came back. And what are you doing? “Let us dress up for a party and go to God this way.” You cannot to go to Him this way. How did Christ go back to God? The Father put him on the cross to be baptized with a pledge; this is the Divine law of Love. And now you, as Christians, say: “Which priest is going to bury me?” When these priests start not burying you but raising you from the dead, then they will lead you into the Kingdom of God; otherwise any priest would perform a funeral service over you for money; what a pity for such a buried sinner! Therefore, when we prepare ourselves we should live; do not put in your minds the idea to be buried and performed a requiem by priests. You should leave the body as property and say: “I am leaving you my body as legacy; put it in a grave; I am going to my Father, He will give me a new one” I would like God` s Angels to sing for me and God to rest my soul only when I go to my Father and say: “Father, I have sinned.” Thus, I will set an example to the whole society, and Christ will say: “Today this man has humbled himself; this son was dead and came back to live.” I would like to kill a calf for such a son and call all my friends to eat for him. Of course, I shall not make a feast like the American whose relative died and left him a legacy of thirty million dollars; he was a cowherd and after receiving the legacy he feasted the citizens of San Francisco who ate and drank for three days; and what happened: they started tumbling down the streets; and when this man spent all the money he became a cowherd again and said to himself: “It is better for me to be a servant.” Now you may say: “If I have thirty million leva, I will buy a car, house, and piano, I shall take a teacher”; you will even give a hundred thousand leva to talk about you. I wish the real Bulgarian would come back like this son and say to his father: “Father, I have sinned; I want to be your servant”. I wish I could see more priests like this and my heart will fill with joy for them; I would rejoice as I have never done it before! And now everybody says: “What, we cannot stand this son!” Christ is not in us, yet. Not to bear any hatred in us: this is a great Divine law, this is the prodigal son. Now, I am asking you: are you ready to let your husband go if he wants to leave you? If I started to explain the law of inheritance, you would understand why Christ preached this way. Christ preached for the present times and gave the parable of the prodigal son because of us. And when we construct this prodigal son in the next culture, we should put up his bust; this is our opinion. I am asking you who is capable of examining the Divine books? When a man dies he does not become a saint; he is saint when he lives; I do not believe people have become saints after their death because one who lives, who does not die, is a saint, and one who dies is not a saint. I love Christ because He came back to life; and all those who are like Christ are saints. When we begin to understand things this way, then we shall become saints; if you are capable of renouncing yourselves you are saints. When the saint enters a certain society he gives Joy all over the place; this is a saint! Speaking of the dead, there are lots of saints is Bulgaria. Stambolov is a saint for the stambolovists, Karavelov is a saint for the democrats, etc. Of course, all these people have their right... So do not think that after death you will become a saint; no, you will die and suffer. We fight against the process of dying with the process of Resurrection: “Father, I have sinned”. And this son resurrects: his father put a ring on his hand, dressed him and he rose from the dead. Therefore, the slaughter of the calf is an allegory: the calf is a child; the prodigal son is the child coming back. It is true both in the physical and the spiritual world, and when a man is born he becomes a victim. Now, I want you to keep two things in your minds. First, put in you the conviction not to sit on two chairs at one and the same time. If you are Christian believers say that you are. What kind of Christian are you? “I am Orthodox.” What do you believe in? “I believe the blood of Christ is in you, and the Spirit of Christ is in you”. And second, we should be humble; each one of you is in torment because he lacks humbleness, e.g. somebody looks askance at you and you take offence. You should know you are a servant and ask to receive the grace of God. We should have the courage of that gentleman who was told by a friend: “You are a scoundrel and a thief”, and he passed him by and thanked for not telling everything: this is the prodigal son. And what are modern people doing now? When the devil bribes us, we bring people to trial instead of bringing the devil to trial. This is the teaching of Christ: we should go back to our fathers and Love should reign in our minds; to become warm-hearted and sincere. What is Good before God is Good for all mankind; I believe only in the blood of Christ that bears good fruit. I believe in a church that has such fruit; I believe in the church that bears the fruit of Christ: Love, humbleness, forbearance. And I do not believe in people who do not have such fruit in them. Let us say that you are rich, you have a thousand leva; we should come back like the prodigal son and know that we have nothing in us. All those who preach you about the Truth are poor men; and who says he does not know Christ is a liar. Christ established a church of Love. It is our duty to love the priests because of God since they are our brothers; I know they have certain weak points; I take all these things into consideration. I wish there were heroes in every church; then we shall be a Christian people living in the Christian tradition. And if the world says something on your behalf … In this world, you will have no other welcome. I wish I was in the place of the prodigal son. I play the part of the little brother because I am among the sinful people in the world; I am not more righteous. Yes, I may seem righteous to you but I am not righteous before God; much water will flow under the bridge before I become the one God wants me to be. I do not want you to think anything more about me; I want you to try, then you will say: “We have tried”. If something is not right, tell me; do not talk behind my back that it is not right, as we should preach a teaching based on experience. Like the little son, I would like to play the part of being humble. It is not easy; it is hard to be tormented by your wife. There is no struggle bigger than the one when a man becomes humble and comes to his inner self - awareness. It is very hard, it is an act of heroism, for only the great souls are capable of playing this part; only the little brothers can play this part. And Christ was one of the little brothers; He was the first to serve people for all their sins but God raised Him because the Divine blood was running in him. He said: “Father lives in Me.” I and all of us should have the blood of Christ; only then this blood will give birth to priests, teachers, men and women; only then you will have the children you want to have. Try to hand down to the young people only when you have the blood that Christ has; if you do not have such pure blood open your arteries to receive it. Then, you will feel such Joy that no one is able to erase from your soul. Then, you will be connected to the Invisible world and will talk to people by seeing not by touching. I am asking you: what part do you want to play? Some will say it is very hard. Try and God will bless you. 27 June 1915, Sofia Source

Note 3 The temptation And the tempter came to him and said: If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread… Then the devil left him alone and here are angels stepped up and served to him.” From Mathew 4: 3-11 I shall take the verses from the third to the eleventh where it is talking upon the temptation. Many of you had read this chapter and thought upon the three temptations. At first sight it looks that the temptations which the devil offers are very simple. But in these three temptations there is a threefold understanding, i.e. in the Gospel the fall is not given. The great truth which is hidden in the three temptations is an enigma. Why namely did the devil have to offer to Christ to turn the stones into bread? These are three psychological moments in the life of every man. All that Christ experienced in the temptations and every one of us will pass; some men have not reached this stage but the day will come and they will pass it. That is why you have to elucidate upon the difficulties which you will meet then. Don’t think that immortality may be obtained easily; whoever preaches teaching like this, doesn’t preach the truth. When we talk for the immortality, for the execution of the will of God, we understand something else. Therefore we have to understand these three great falls in every soul. The devil says to Christ: “If you are son of the God tell these stones to become bread.” The word ‘if’ supposes one condition: “If you are son of the God…” But was there something wrong if Christ could transform the stones into flour? There was something tempting for the devil in this that he could see the process how Christ transforms one stone into plant. But Christ who did understand the orders of God very well, did you know that every thing has its purpose, i.e. that and the stones have their purpose. Now I shall not stop myself upon the esoteric side; one day, when you come to the position to be clear in your mind and heart, only then this truth will be revealed to you. Everyone of your exams proves how very clear you are… Do you know what would happen with Christ if He was succumbed to this temptation? The devil appears in a moment in which Christ is infirm and says: “Here is one case – if you are the son of God you can apply this knowledge and these laws.” But Christ answers him: “Not only with bread will man live but with every Speech which originates from the mouth of God.” These stones are sinful spirits, fallen people, in them the devil is hidden; if Christ was try to transform the stones into bread, do you know what it means to transform one evil spirit to bread? Christ says: “If one man accepts the Speech of the God…” – this has practical meaning, every one of you tries to turn stones into bread. Some men say: “Why doesn’t the bread grow, not to have the need to knead it?” In Germany and England try to think of a method with which to transform the inorganic substances into organic ones, but if the contemporary science failed in this diversion, it would develop the biggest lewdness. That which saved contemporary people is the labour and the work, and if stones could be transformed into bread all of you would start to feast. I know that often people want to transform stones into bread; for example you meet one bad man, lewd in mind and heart and say: “Why can’t we transform this stone to bread? But if you transform it…In this way man doesn’t correct himself. Some men say: “Let’s marry this loose man to correct him” – this is not allowed. Christ says: “You are live stones”, but there are dead stones. Therefore one girl who understands the laws never has to marry for one sinner or some lewd woman to marry to find one good man. What will happen from this? They will bring criminals into the world. This is the first teaching that the devil preaches to Christ – to transform these stones to bread, i.e. the pleasure to exist. Christ says that people improve only then when their heart accepts the Speech of God. Now, some men say to me: “You come to put the world to rights, you will have followers.” – Yes, there will be such lewd followers but in this way the world will not reform. The world will reform with every Speech which comes out from the mouth of God. And when the human soul accepts it, it will be alive. Of course this principle touches and one other side – for example eating which for now is one of the lowest principles in the world. Eating is an important process in Life. But do you know how much hidden powers are hiding in the stones; do you know what is closed inside in these little vials? Christ says: “Who may come out from the mouth of God has the right to unseal these little vials.” I often hear people say: “Why didn’t God give me such power to put the world to rights?” This looks like that queen who said to her husband: “Give me three days to rule to put the world to rights.” She reigned for three days and do you know what she did first of all? First she hanged her husband. These men who interpret the Writing say that with the first temptation the devil tested Christ to see if he would be scared from joy. But Christ says: “For Me it makes no difference if the stones will become bread or not – I have food which is always given to Me upwards. Farther the devil takes him on the wind of the temple and says: “If you are the son of God throw yourself down.” At first sight this is a very flagrant temptation but in it other things are hidden – this temple is the man who stays on the highest place in his head and thinks how the Divine things are arranged. And the devil says to him: “Come down to your subjects and start to live like them, come down and drink like they drink; since you have Knowledge and Power don’t be afraid that you will fall, do it and know that your virtue will not be wounded from this.” Christ answers him: “Not to tempt the God of yours because I have got no need to meet with these subjects.” You think so father, who brought into the world ten kids, has to give an education to them? The father may know his son; the mother may know her daughter when they go the all time on the same way. This temptation has relation to the contemporary Christians – for a man to run away in the desert and there to rest means to enter a little in Life but not to stay as one policeman. And so, you are always are on the wing of the temple – the second temptation understands that we tempt God into ourselves. This is the passing from one position to the other, from one church to the other, from one teaching to the other. If you come down, you will use your powers. In the principle of the second temptation slyness touches a man, but in the opposite sense. It is not allowed for you to do as David; before making him king, God gave him power and what did David do? One day he was on the top of the temple, saw one beautiful woman and came down; but after that one prophet appeared and said to him: “You became the reason this teaching was broken and from now there will not be order.” And this is the way it happened – his son fornicates with his wife, with his sisters. Yes, David came down from the top of the temple to show that he is the son of God, but after that he had to run away. Now many of you will come down but they will be like Davis: if you are woman your husband will fornicate; if you are man your wife will fornicate – that will be the result if you come down from the roof of this temple. That is why Christ says: “Not to tempt the God of yours because I have all things and I have got no need to come down.” At last the strongest temptation comes, which has a direct relation to this sly spirit. The devil takes Christ to one very high mountain, shows him all the worldly kingdoms and their glory and says to him: “If you stoop to bow to me I shall give you everything.” Then Christ answers: “Get away, Satan, go back into your kingdoms, I can’t come and have got no need to go into your kingdoms.” What relation does the third temptation have to social life? After one woman or one man had passed through the first or the second temptation, one prince will come, will say that they are clean and innocent, and will tell them: “If you love me, I shall give you all the wealth”, then all the relatives decide: “He is a rich prince, has a fortune, quickly call the pope here!” and they bow. How many American women had married such princes but after that they burned; the devil promises but doesn’t give, he is one procurer. Christ says: “Get away, go into your kingdom, to your wealth, I have got no need of your knowledge, I have got enough in myself, which God gave me.” There are contemporary young men who succumb to the third temptation – for example the youth marries but in fact he sells himself out for profit which the girl has in the bank. I read one book soon named “For the love”, written from one colonel in which it is describing how you may lie to one rich girl. And Christ says: “Go away, you have to bow only to God!” Do you know what the bowing means? To make a bow, that means to adopt something in yourself, to come back, to limit yourself, to become a slave, to lose your Freedom. And when you bow to such a spirit you lose your freedom. Christ says: “Go away!” Now in the newspapers it is written that so and so girl had so and so much money and you ask if these marriages become successful after that – this is lewdness in contemporary society, lewdness everywhere. The whole world has fallen into this third temptation; there is no man in our country who hasn’t bowed. It is good that you bow but do you know what result this will have? When one woman bows to such a man, she is like a procurer to him; as a result of it she will violate herself and after that through the whole of her life she will live to regret it. Today mothers and fathers sell their daughters for money – to these lewd youths they give on top of that and money! I say: it is better your daughter to stay unmarried than to give her away and to bow to such a spirit. You say: “Two thousand years ago the devil tempted a lot ”; I want to know how the devil acts today in your houses, in your hearts, in your souls. Yes, you became his friends, ransom yourself, mask yourself, but you have to say once forever: “Go away, leave my soul alone!” And after that it is said that the Angels of the God did come to serve Christ. After you pass these three temptations the Angels will come to rescue you from the fourth. When some youth offers to some girl wealth, and glory, and honour, and she refuses him, he decides to kill her; so and the devil decided to kill Christ. You say for the girl: “But he will kill her!” – let him kill her, it is better to die than to fornicate. In this case death is one advantage – to die for one idea, for one Divine thought, this is a privilege. Of course, I don’t want to discourage yourselves. And so, when some man doesn’t want to break these connections, then we will say: “Go away, go into your kingdom!” This is Divine law – with God must remain only those men who can live one clean and holy life. Contemporary people say: “If we live like this, what can we transform on?” But now what did you transform on, you think that these people who die now in the war, die for the teaching of Christ? There is the false philosophy of contemporary society. If we accept the teaching of Christ we will have families and society which will stay a thousand times higher, and we will create music, much more beautiful than the present, we will create social order a thousand times better than the present. Some man will say: “Then we will live in the woods”; animals live in the woods because they had never bowed to the devil and if you decide to bow to him, you will become four-footed too. This is the theory of Darwin – if one ox repents for its sins and doesn’t listen to the teaching of the devil, may become a man. One time in Heaven a man was a beautiful creature, but when he hadn’t listened to God, He gave him bear hide. Now, in the contemporaries there is some guilt. When we become Christians we think that we understand Christianity, and start to go to church, to listen to great sermons, but if we become Christians from that it is still a question. There is something more essential. One of the disciples of Socrates, after he listened for a long time that man has to be subdued, start to go with torn pants, and Socrates said him: “Your pride shows and through the torn pants.” I am shamed much more by people with ripped pants than people with cylinders. Dress well but after you dress thank God and live in a way that He wants. Look that bird, with what clothes is – for them God had given two hundred thousand leva; if God dresses in this way the bird in this way, how more will you. The devil said to Christ: “If you are the son of the God, turn the stones into bread! Throw yourself down from the temple!” Years ago, in Sliven, one pious woman, in order to show the people that there is a God, went on to one roof, and said: “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost” and throw herself down. Really nothing happened with her but did she convince the people that there is a God? They charged her that she is crazy. The devil appears and says: “All these I shall give you” but after years, as the prodigal son, you come back with ripped pants. And now it is time when all of you are with ripped moral pants. Leave this stage to come back to that Life in which you have lived before; and you will say: “We are not worthy neither to call ourselves sons, nor your daughters.” This is the act which everyone of you has to do. In the way of Christianity there is one danger: the second temptation fixes like a wooden plough into people and they start to think that they will put the world to rights, that they will give new ideas; in the third temptation but man goes into business, becomes “clever”. The father says to his son: “Son, you have to be a clever man – look, that man stole and made a house, be you like him” – this is the third temptation and with it you bow. Not only is there a law-court on the Earth but and God will judge you. And this man who preaches another teaching, it is from the sly. Contemporary people have to part from the teaching which devastates their minds and hearts. We have to destroy it. And if somebody dies, let him die for the love of God and to become power for the advancement of the world. And so, these are three great temptations which will come to your head. Some of you are in the first temptation, some are in the second, and some are in the third. Stand them to stand and the fourth, after which the Resurrection is to come – then God will give you Power. And when you sacrifice your life for the Glory of the God, then God will resurrect you as a reward. That is why we have to be in love with God, no one else. Do not connect your hearts with lewd people. I knew one rich American young lady who married one lewd man to transform him but she could not. Don’t try, such a man will beat you and torture you. God bless you with good men and good women, God bless you with good sons and good daughters! God keep you from evil sons and evil daughters! Down with the evil men and the evil women, down with the evil sons, the evil daughters! Gore the good sons and the good daughters! This is the Speech of God which we have to make. Sofia, June 20th, 1915 Source

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE But thhe very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not: ye are of more value than many sparrows.26 People today want many arguments, facts and logical inferences to be convinced that there is a Divine Providence which directs human life by certain Laws. All thoughts, desires and acts are determined by certain Laws. At times some things which happen in life are strange to you and you give them a wrong interpretation, in result of which in the course of many generations you have created the odd philosophy that everything is arbitrary in life, i.e. there is no Law and order, that might is right and only the prudent, the shrewd, succeed, and so on. Is there any need of proving that this is a great delusion? As we observe Christ's life, we see that Christ always paid attention to little things. He said to His disciples, "Fear not, your life is insured," and as an example He points out that out of five sparrows not a single one falls to the ground without the will of the Father. Why did not Christ take one, but five sparrows? Here is a Law and everyone who is under the influence of number five, does not fall without the will of the Father. In the second comparison Christ says, "You are insured, the hairs on your head are all numbered," and there He stops. You may say, "Of what importance is it that the hairs of our head are all numbered? That is namely the important thing. If these hairs are numbered by God and He keeps account of them, they must have some significance by all means. Do you know the number of your hairs? Many have counted them. Some people have 250,000, others have 320,000 hairs. And God keeps an account of all these hairs as a gardener of his fruit-trees by putting a number on every tree. You may pull out a hair and throw it away, but this hair is doing some service on your head. If I start discussing the meaning of the hairs27, I shall digress from my subject, so I shall refer to the comparison of the sparrows, which means that our spiritual life is under the protection of the Divine Providence. The comparison of the hairs of the head implies on its part that our physical life is also under the protection of the Divine Providence. Now it is necessary for you to have faith in this Providence. If you believe in It, you can develop rightly. Every doubt, which enters your minds and hearts that there is no Providence in the world, draws you away from a right understanding of things and makes you create another order and other rules according to your own views. When a man and a woman get married, they think that God has given them a certain authority. The man says, "You have lived freely with your mother, but in my house you will be under a new Law. I am a bit quick-tempered and touchy, you must be careful with me, or I shall apply a strict Law if you offend me." The woman on her part says to her husband, "I am very sensitive, delicate, not used to heavy work. If you violate this Law, things will change immediately." As you see, all people work out their own Laws. What happens in the end? Both begin to quarrel. Why? Because the stand they have taken is false in its very foundation. I say, real marriage was not created on the Earth. There are three kinds of marriages: some are contracted in heaven, others on the Earth; some are contracted by God, others by people, and still others by the devil. Every marriage established by God will bring Love, peace, joy, a bad word will not be heard and the spouses will live a blissful life. Every marriage established by people has the purpose of perfecting the couple: there will be frictions until the relations start running smoothly because two sharp stones do not grind flour. Such a marriage is not a creation of God, but of people and as the mind is, such will be your human deeds. When God creates something, as all- wise, He orders everything perfectly; but when people create something, there will be friction among them. This is necessary for their self-perfection and for polishing their characters. But when the devil marries people, then there is discord and lewdness in a home and all the worst things in life. In a home where there is such life, the marriage has been established by the devil. Thus, you must give a right definition to everything exactly and must not mix the acts of God with the human, or the devil's acts. Therefore, to think rightly, logically, we must understand the source of things. If there is anything rational in the present day sciences, it is the fact that they establish the existence of certain Laws in the world, which regulate the relations of things, and no one can violate these Laws without bearing their consequences in one sense or another. Therefore, there are three kinds of people: some who perceive things in a Divine way; others in a human way, and a third category who perceive things in a devil's way. The first state is when a person perceives things as they were ordered in the beginning by God; the second state is when a person thinks that God does not take part in everything, therefore we must interfere and smooth things up a bit. That is why when God does something you say, "God has not been able to do it as He should, wait till we correct it." The third state is when a person wants to become God themselves. Thousands of years ago, humankind perceived things in a Divine way, but they lost this perception in the process of their decline. You, too, when in a good mood, believe in God and when things go smoothly you say, "Thank God, He takes care of us." But as soon as misfortunes come, you say, "God has forgotten us." I ask you, on what grounds do you maintain that God has forgotten you and He is the cause of all your sufferings? God says, since you forget me, I too shall forget you." If you draw away from Him, He, too, will draw away from you. Some think that God, Who is changeless, in His Love, when they begin to draw away from Him, He must start after them as a mother after her child and cry, "Wait, my son, so not draw away from Me!" No. God keeps His place and when you say He is drawing away from you, I understand that you are drawing away from Him and not vice versa. The path of the movement of some people around God is right with insignificant changes—they draw away a little and approach Him again, as the course of the Earth round the Sun; while others' path is like a wandering comet which at times gets very near the Sun and then for centuries it does not get close to it. So when you draw away from God, you say, "God forgot us," but I say that in 75 years when you get close to Him like Halley's Comet, God will remember you again. This depends on the orbit on which you move around God. When your path gets close to Him, He will be reminded of you again. Now you are all moving a certain way, but you cannot understand me equally. Why? Because you are not moving along the same orbit. But I am not judging you for that, because I look at things objectively, philosophically. You will answer, "Such is our way." It is a question of whether your way is such or you have made it such. I maintain that your way is not such. There is a railroad line between Sofia and Varna which is very often damaged and consumes much money for repairs—has God made this railway? If God has constructed it, it would have been made very wisely, but since people have made it, it is such as it is. If in constructing a railway line you would act according to the Laws of the Divine Providence, no accidents whatever would occur. And yet the technicians have a better conception of what is needed in a construction than Christian believers have of life. They say, "We must make mathematical calculations of the curves and declivities a train would make on its way, in order to regulate the power of the movement; if this is not done, many collisions will occur." The Christians, however, say, "God is good, He provides for us, no matter what slopes we take, it's all the same, He will help us." When the carriage turns over, they say, "Things are not going well." Of course they will not go well, because you act unwisely. Your train turns over because in establishing the Laws of railway lines, you have not taken into consideration the Laws of the Divine Providence. That is why in some cases the spiritual people must use the experience of the worldly people and become their students. There is nothing shameful in being a student. When it comes to spiritual things unknown to the worldly people, then the latter must become students of the spiritual people. One cannot be a teacher in all cases—sometimes one will be a teacher and other times a student. The Divine Providence has determined strictly all things and all phenomena—nothing in the world happens by chance. All events of whatever nature they may be—physical, psychic or social—are determined by a Higher Being, Who watches over their course. As an engine-driver is obliged to drive the train and be responsible for the life of the travelers inside, in the same way the Earth, which moves in space, has its engine-driver who at times puts more fuel in the engine and less at other times. In its movement the Earth makes certain curves by means of which sometimes it approaches a bigger planet which affects it. These are distant things which you will study and understand in the future. Now to clarify the Divine Providence, Which is necessary to you, I shall tell you a story which you may take as a pre-historical legend, since the events it describes are allegorical. Some consider this story from the time of Solomon, but in my opinion the things spoken about refer to a much earlier epoch. The story goes that once upon a time lived a learned and wise king who understood the language of all animals. He summoned them every year to a congress where he taught them and in the end always concluded his speech with the words, "No one can spoil what God has made." At one of the Congresses two big eagles called Roka were present. One of them said, "I can spoil what God has made." The king said, "Very well, prove this by facts," and dismissed the Congress. The same year the daughter of another king was married to a prince. On returning from the temple the couple was happy in each other's company when one of the eagles swooped down, grabbed the bride and carried her off to his nest on top of a big tree on a desert island. The groom, after finding himself alone, in his despair started on a long voyage. This young man got on a ship, which after a few months' travel suffered shipwreck and the waves washed the unfortunate groom ashore the same desert island where his bride was carried. He began to complain to God, "Was not my misfortune of losing my bride enough for me, oh, God, that I should be cast away on this desert island besides that? It were better for me not to have been born!" His wife, who was in the nest of the same tree beneath which the groom was bewailing his fate, heard that a man was weeping, came down of the tree and saw her groom. She then hid him in the nest. When the time for the next Congress came, the two eagles came, took the nest with the bride and carried it off to the Congress. The king made his speech again, ending it with the words, "No one can spoil what God has made." Then the eagle spoke up, "I spoiled one of God's deeds!" "Prove this," said the king. The eagle told the story of the marriage. The king wanted to see the bride. The eagle called the bride to come out of the nest. What was the amazement of the eagle, when along with her came her groom! When he saw he could not spoil what God had made, the eagle burst its sides with rage. By eagle in this story, we must understand the human mind. We say sometimes that we can spoil what God has made, to spoil the form of things, but in the end things remain such as God made them. And then we, as the proud eagle, remain deceived. Teachers today preach all the time, "Mind your step! The world cannot be run by foolishness." I say, thank to the foolish for God keeps the world for their sake. There are not more clever spirits than the devils. Have you ever visited their kingdom to see how they live? You speak of human intelligence, but if you go down to these fallen spirits, you will see that they have knowledge of physics, chemistry, and psychic activities as well. They have much knowledge by which they may deceive you, or do anything, but their knowledge cannot introduce Law and order into the world because it does not rest on those elements which can cement life. Knowledge of all kinds must be cemented by the Divine Love. Therefore, when one speaks of knowledge and facts, I ask, "Have you got cement to cement these things? If you have this cement, you actually have Divine knowledge. However, if you have only bare facts without cement, they cannot be of use to you." I ask if you should collect 200,000 or a million hairs of a sheep and do not know how to consolidate them, of what profit will they be to you? Only when you spin and weave them in a definite way can you make yourself a garment out of them. By the same Law, when you can cement your thoughts and desires by the Divine cement—the Divine Providence—you will be able to make yourself a garment and clothe your inner nakedness. This Providence is necessary to all, so that you may live and develop. That is why Christ says, "Fear not, ye are of more value than many sparrows." You are better than many sparrows. Here you have the number five—five sparrows, five senses, and five fingers. The number five is an emblem symbolizing the human being on earth. This number signifies the sensible, the wise person. It says that this wise person does not fall until they sin. So long as you are wise and do the will of God, you will not fall; however, the day you sin, God will allow one of the sparrows to fall to the ground. As soon as a sparrow falls, the hairs of your head will begin to fall, which means that your life will begin to be destroyed. Thus, always keep in mind that the Divine Providence watches over you so long as you walk steadily by God's Laws. As soon as you draw away from Him, your life begins to disintegrate. Turn to the Sun of this Providence again in order to start growing anew. Sermon held on May 24, 1915, in Sofia. ______________________ 26. Luke 12:7. 27. According to the Master, human hairs serve as antennae through which we receive thoughts from the Spiritual World in the very same way a radio picks up different frequencies. Our task is to learn to distinguish among the sources of the different types of messages we get this way (ed. note).

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE NEW FOUNDATION For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.2 I am the way, the truth and the life?3 There is a certain relation between these two verses. What must we understand by the words, "For other foundation can no man lay"? I shall consider this verse in its broad sense. Foundation is a prosaic word: Who does not speak about one foundation or another? You start building a house and say, "I am laying the foundation." When you set the warp for weaving, you say, "I am setting the warp in the loom." In geometry, by the word foundation we understand the point of support of something. Therefore, such a foundation, or point of support, is necessary for the existence of life as well. What does this foundation really consist of? It is said that no man can lay other foundation, or we cannot change human thoughts, human desires and human acts. That is we cannot change them essentially. You cannot change the nature of thought, so that it will not be thought anymore; you can make it good, bad, or neutral, but no more than this. Therefore, you can change its external form, but never its essence. Now I am speaking about a fundamental Law, namely that "No man can change the foundation which Christ has laid." This foundation is that we are under the power of a great Law, under the influence of good and evil. We stand upon a foundation, which at one and the same time causes joy and suffering, rising and falling, enrichment and impoverishment, health and illness. This is the foundation that Christ has laid. For this reason He came to earth—to set these two points of support as a foundation of life. This is a principle. When you are building a bridge over a river, you can build it only on two points of support at both ends, but the weight will fall mainly on one of the two points of support. In this sense, heaven and earth are the two points of support on which human life is built. The deepest thoughts to which we penetrate comprise the first base, the first point of support in life; the desires are the second base, the second point of support, while actions, which we call an expression of the will, are the process of building. When someone speaks of the human will, we understand that two points of support are necessary for its expression. As soon as we start building on them, our will power shall be expressed. Therefore, according to this principle, the human will can be manifested only provided there are two points of support. Where building takes place, there is will power. Therefore, you must understand well the deep meaning of Christ's Teaching. It is not sufficient for people only to think they understand it, when they do not. Once I was told an anecdote about a young woman in Sofia, who studied everything but cooking. When she married, she wanted to cook her husband beans, but did not know how. She went to ask a neighbor how to cook it, but did not tell her that she could not cook. The neighbor said, "First, I boil the beans, then I fry some chopped onions in butter." "That is just as we cook it," said the young woman. After a week again she asked her neighbor how she cooks meat. And the neighbor told her. "That is just as we cook it," said the young woman. One day the neighbor woman wanted to test her and see if she knew how to cook, so she played a joke on her. The husband of the inexperienced woman brought home some snails for her to cook. She went again to ask her neighbor how to cook the snails. "Pound up the whole snails in the mortar, put rice and water and boil them." "We cook them the same way," said the young woman. She went home and cooked the snails just as her neighbor told her. When her husband came home for dinner and when he saw how his wife had cooked up the snails, he found out how well she could cook. There are similarly cooked snails in contemporary religious beliefs as well. No, the world has no need of such snails. A fundamental understanding of things is necessary. What is human thought? Thought is one of the basic great Laws which create. First of all, we are all thinking beings; secondly, beings who feel; and thirdly—beings who act and build. I say that you cannot lay any other foundation than this, you cannot act any other way; if you do, you may degrade yourself. You can go only in two directions—upward and downward—there is no middle path in this world. Since everything is moving, you cannot stand on only one point of support. The two points of support give stability to the bodies, while everything around them is in motion. Now, in order for you to see what your illusions in life are, I shall use an example from contemporary science. If we pass an electric current through a pile of iron filings, the filing nearest to the electric current will be magnetized first and will attract the other filings. This filing turns to the others with the words, "Do you see how I attracted you with my own power? If I were not here, you would not be around me either." But if we change the place of the current, another filing will be magnetized first and become a center around which all the other filings will gather. Therefore, when you say, "I can do everything, or people gather around me because I am influential," it means that the current is near you. The moment this current changes direction, you will move towards the periphery. Thus, you should know that the foundation is not within you, nor in what you think or feel at a given moment. In order to know whether you have reached the foundation, at the moment of finding your points of support, you must feel a deep peace within you. Many philosophers teach the whole world, but they themselves have not found their points of support—they are not calm, possessing inner peace. When Christ said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," he pointed out the two points of support. Life is a process, springing from the spiritual path and the Truth. We cannot build without this foundation. I ask you what aspiration is. The aspiration of a spirit in space is to be reincarnated, to grow. In growing, the child starts from one point, reaches a certain height from which it starts to descend forming a curved line that ends at the other point of support. Youth and old age are the two points of support of human life. When you pass the path from childhood to old age, you will find the two points of support in your life. After that when you return a second time, you will build upon these points, if you have not forgotten them; but if you have, you will start from the beginning. There are people who only traverse and never build. A curved line must be placed on the two points of support. This is a Law of motion. This motion is expressed by the human thought. What does human thought consist in? Human thought is a Law of laying, or piling material on the two bases of life. We must build according to a certain plan. Let us come now to the building of the human body. When a child is conceived in its mother's womb, first, the limbs and extremities of the body are formed and then the other organs. The lungs are the last to be formed. As soon as the respiratory system is formed, the child must be born at once. The hands are the product of the human will; the nose, the mouth, the lungs, the stomach—those are the human desires. By these organs we test things. The brain is the organ of human thought. By the brain we test thought. On the thickness and quality of the grey matter in the brain depends the productivity of the human thought. The greater the convolutions in the grey matter, the stronger the thought. Some say that the brain itself produces thought, but this is not right. The human brain is similar to the Earth, which does not bear anything of itself. The creative power of the Earth comes from space, from the impact of the Sun on its surface. Because the Earth has a base, it is on this base that the Sun builds, produces and creates. The human spirit is the human sun which, by shining on the brain, engenders thoughts. Every being thinks. You assume the ox does not think. The ox also thinks, but in an oxen way, in a limited way; the snake, the lizard, the fly: every creature thinks, but according to its thought it, creates its house—or its body, its organism—in order to live. Our present organism is the fruit of our thought. Humans build according to their thought. They can expand their lungs as much as they want by their thought. If the human spirit makes efforts, it can make the human head very large, but it is not sufficient for the head only to be large, the important thing is whether a person will be able to cultivate it. The Earth is large, too, but when God sent human beings to earth, he told them, "Go and conquer the Earth, conquer all elements!" And since they could not conquer the Earth, God gave them a small earth inside their head—their brain. If you know how to conquer your brain, you will find out the Laws by which you will conquer the Earth. If you cannot control your brain centers and your feelings; if you cannot focus your will power in the right direction, how will you control things outside of you? Thus, we cannot lay any other foundation except Christ's. There is a certain Law which limits our activity; only in a definite direction within this Law can we do everything and be all-powerful. And our happiness will rest on this great thought—to what extent we are going in the right direction on the spiritual path. By this talk I want to inspire you with the idea of starting to build your life. I shall use an example to clarify my thought. An explorer who went to explore the East came across a wild bull that started chasing him. The man jumped into a dry well on his way and got hold of a branch of a small tree, growing in the well. The bull came to the well and looked at the man inside. At the same time the man saw a snake waiting for him in the bottom of the well. He started wondering what to do—he could not go up because of the bull, he could not go down either, so he kept holding to the branch with all his strength. At one time he noticed that there was some honey on the tree and forgetting about the bull he started calmly to lick the honey and enjoy it. But soon he saw a mouse that, coming out of a side hole, started to gnaw the tree. Then the traveler said, "This honey will not save me either. Some day the tree will be gnawed and I shall fall into the well where the snake is." I say, the bull is fate, which tosses a person up and down, and the snake is death, which is lying in wait for them. Actually, the bull is birth, youth. The snake is death, old age. They are not dangerous things. Why is the bull chasing you? To make you work. You are indolent and he wants to make you run. What are the sufferings in the world? They are the bull, chasing people—kings, generals, ministers, judges—all are running and preaching freedom. All these people are eminent philosophers. They reason that the world is badly made, but they themselves have no foundation. How can they reason, when they have no foundation? Can a person argue, when they are running? It is not bad that the bull is chasing you. He is chasing you to make you strong. If you are strong, you can turn around, catch him by the horns and he will stop. In Hebrew history there is a hero—Samson—who was attacked by a lion, but who took hold of the lion's mouth and tore it apart. The fear of the bull is due to the fact that you have not found the two points of support in your life. "No man can lay other foundation than that which Christ laid." What foundation did Christ lay? How did he live on the Earth? In the nine categories of blessed people, Christ has given nine rules by which a person must live. He has also given two great Laws: Love of God and Love of one's fellow brother. These are the nine points of support on which you must build your life. Contemporary social and family life must also be build upon them. A woman who does not love God and her husband cannot keep a household going. A man who does not love his fellow brother—his wife—cannot keep a household going. Naturally, when I am speaking about a man and a woman, I do not mean your houses, i.e. your bodies, because I see they are quite modest. I mean the human soul in its supreme manifestation. In the future this soul will be able to build for itself a much better house than the present one. This soul that appears ignorant today will have much greater knowledge some day and will be much more enlightened. Now, in order to find the two points of support on which you must build your life, you must effect the curved line and start building. Do not grope about like contemporary philosophers. Some scientists that are examining the Sun say that its heat is about five million degrees of heat; others say that it is two million while still others consider it 100,000 degrees. A scientist had the courage to say that it is only 32 degrees of heat; another—that it is below zero; and some say that the Sun is in the liquid state that is why it sends out heat. However, today there are new scientists who object to these affirmations and say, "If all this is true, then the whole space must be warm, but it is a fact that the higher we go, the colder it becomes." That is why these scientists say that the Sun sends only energy, which is transformed on earth into heat and light. Actually, when you go very high, you will see that the sky is dark and cold. The scientists argue among themselves, but the facts show that both sides are right—yet for both sides there is something misunderstood. I say, if you are very sensitive to heat, the Sun has heat; if you are not—the Sun has no heat for you. Heat is something relative. Some people put five lumps of sugar in their tea, others put only one and still their tea is sweet for them. That is why you must free yourself from the illusion of thinking that you know everything. See that you are not like that young wife who thought she knew how to cook snails and pounded them up. No, this is not the way to cook. Europe is cooking the snails in the same way now4, but the European nations will cook them a different way next time. Now, let us go back to the essential thought of this talk. We must create! Some of you who are listening to me this morning are unhappy; others are dissatisfied with life; still others have big ambitions and a high opinion of themselves. Some days ago one of our friends told me that before starting to study palmistry he had a high opinion of himself, but after examining the lines on his hand, he discovered that he was proud and vain and began to be ashamed of himself. You also think you know much, but when you enter life you do not know how to deal with things. A young girl before marrying dreams, "When I get married this is how I will furnish my house; this is how I shall dress and live with my husband"—she makes a plan the same way projects for Law bills are made. After the second month of marriage you will see her and her husband disheveled. Thus, the Law bill was not passed and enacted as planned. In the same way the Laws adopted by the Parliament often remain unapplied because they were not suited to our conditions of life. And when one of your thoughts is not put into action, you say, "We are unhappy, fate is against us!" No fate whatsoever is against you, it is your foolishness which is against you in all you do. We must learn to think right. When someone comes to you, you should form a right opinion of them and act in a given case as you would wish others to deal with you. We must act well, because whatever we do the same will be done to us. About 45 years ago a man from Varna graduated in Europe in music. On returning, he became a teacher and started teaching the children of some rich people in Varna how to play music and how to dance. However, one day he quarreled with some city men and was dismissed. He was an extremely proud and touchy man and after spending his money, he had to go hungry. A priest who knew him met him once and invited him to dinner. After hearing the sad story of the man, the priest gave him two gold coins saying, "Take this now and when you are in need, come to me again. I am ready to help you until you find a job." A month or two after that the man was employed as a secretary to the Turkish vali5 at the time because he knew Turkish. After a year the priest was accused of being a revolutionary and some illegal letters and books were found in his house. These letters were given to the secretary of the vali to examine them. He looked them over and separated the suspicious letters from the others, so that the priest was acquitted much to his amazement. He asked the secretary how that happened and the latter said to him, "The two gold coins you gave me when I was hungry for three days saved your head." If this young man had known how to behave with the students, the citizens would not have dismissed him from the school. If the priest had not given him dinner when he strolled the streets hungry and had not helped him with the two gold coins, the young man, being the secretary of the vali, would have put the rope around his neck. In the same way you should deal correctly with every thought, every feeling and act in your life and ask for the causes of your unhappiness. If you are unhappy, proud or cruel what are the causes for your pride, cruelty and greed for gold and riches? Therefore, you should think right! You are cruel—that is not your own trait, but a false capital left over by your ancestors. To clarify my thought, I shall give you an example. Some years ago an Armenian visited a Jewish man carrying a whole bag of sample diamonds. He wanted to sell them to the Jew very cheaply—for only 20,000 levs,6 because he had managed not to pay any duty on them. The Jewish man was very happy and both agreed on the day and place where the Armenian would bring the diamonds and receive the 20,000 levs. The Jewish man took the bag satisfied to be the owner of such a great wealth. Reaching his house he immediately opened the bag and what did he see? Only one diamond was real, but the rest were glass pieces. You, too, may be carrying this bag thinking you are rich but when you open it you see that it is full with ordinary glass pieces. According to the Law of heredity your ancestors leave you some wealth, but only a part of it is real virtue, and the rest of it is glass—evil in a person. Therefore, we have a false conception of life. We think we are good when we are not, or we think we have capital, but have none in reality. This means we have a false foundation for life. The Apostle Paul, addressing the Christians of his time, said, "No man can lay another foundation than that which Christ has laid." But Christ says, "I have not come to do my will, but the will of God"—the first point of support. And, actually, Christ came to give us life. He preached and realized the Love for our fellow person, because Christianity is Love for our fellows, it is the science of Love. Those who learn this science can build. This science does not consist of sweet words, gentle kisses and presents—I doubt that when a person starts making gifts to someone they wish him or her well. A fly once stopped near a spider and he began to praise her, "How beautiful you are! What nice eyes you have! And your wings! How colorful they are! I have never seen such a beauty!" "Is all this really true?" asked the fly. "Yes, there are no more beautiful creatures than you. I have a mirror—come closer, I shall give it as a gift to you so that you can see yourself." The fly went to him and began to look herself in the mirror, but she never came out. So when someone tells you that you are very beautiful, that he will do this and that for you, do not believe it for if you enter his place, you will never go out again. This is what gifts and promises mean. I am not telling you not to give or receive gifts, but the mouth, the thought and the heart must participate in making the gift; the human wisdom, knowledge and Love must be deposited in the gift. Many men and women have been ruined by gifts. The woman may receive a watch, a ring or a hat, but she looses once and for all her virginity and purity- she is already dishonored. Many have been in high places of power, but have come down dishonored, stained and have lost their purity. Society praises them, "This is a famous man!" Yes, he is famous but once he was a diamond and now he is a mere piece of ordinary glass. Thus, we can lay no other foundation than that of Christ. If we can fulfill our duties in the world as the great Laws require according to which we move and develop, it is good, but if we can not, it is better not to fulfill them. Do not take a position of power to rule the people when you will be dishonored and when you will sell yourself. Do everything selflessly as Christ has said. Someone says, "I cannot be selfless." How is that possible? You can gossip about people, you can hate them, but those who can praise can love also—as the one is possible, so is the other. Those who cannot hate cannot love either. The Law is the same. If you have only one point of support, find the other. And when hate and love unite, they will give you what is necessary for you. They will give you the right direction in life. I do not recommend you to be saints in the ordinary sense of the word. To be a real saint implies the knowledge of the two principles of life in such a way as to be able to use them for your uplifting. As you can tame a lion or a snake, in the same way you can tame the devil. You cannot make the devil good, but you can at least render him harmless. Begin with your thoughts. A thought which tortures you is a lion or a snake. Do not try to chase them away or kill them, but tame and conquer them. Have the courage of those black people in Africa who know the lion psychology and when they meet a lion on their way, they do not turn aside, because the least turning aside or back will cause the lion to jump at them and to rend them asunder. On the contrary, the black people walk straight towards the lion and start speaking to him, "Since I am the master here and you the servant, you should step aside so that I can pass." When the lion comes three or four steps away from the person, it steps aside and lets them pass. You must do the same. When you meet a lion on your path, do not turn back, to the left or to the right, but look it straight into the eyes and say, "Make way for me to pass! You know I am the master, you are the servant." You ask, "Is this possible?" Those who are skillful can do it, but the cowardly will fall victims to the lion. When a house is collapsing, even if we try to run away, we may be covered up. If someday the Earth starts collapsing and we are people of faith, we shall rise and lift ourselves skyward—to the other point of support, or the other end of the bridge. If there is any danger at the one end, we shall go to the other to withstand our position. Therefore, as long as you have this bridge, the enemy will never be able to harm you, since you will be strong enough to raise the bridge. And then there will be a chasm between you and your enemy which they will not be able to cross. Your enemy must know the Laws very well to attack you at that position. That is why the good people can never be conquered. They have two points of support and as soon as they find themselves in great danger at one point, they pass over to the other and from there they defend their position. This is the foundation we must lay. The two words Jesus Christ signify the two points of support. Jesus is the suffering person on earth, i.e. the human soul that suffers, working out its salvation. Christ is the person who has conquered, who is serving God and is ready for self-sacrifice. Therefore, you too should be Jesus and Christ. Those who suffer and bear their sufferings as heroes can be Jesus. If you put a cross on Him, He will bear it without grumbling. He will be like Socrates, who married the worst woman in Greece and, asked why he married such a woman, he would answer, "If I can conquer this woman, if I can cope with her, all other hardships will mean nothing for me." Therefore, if men and women can come to terms, they will have solved one of the greatest problems in life. If they cannot come to terms, they cannot solve any other problem. Some ask why people marry. They marry in order to come to terms. The man and the woman are the two points of support on which life is built. You say, "Why did Adam need a woman to cause him trouble?" It is not right—God did not give a woman to Adam for trouble, but for work. Eve had initiative and mind. She was a sensitive woman, more sensitive than many women who consider themselves wise. Contemporary knowledge and culture are due to her. She committed a sin, but later on she realized it and said to Adam, "I brought you down, but I shall raise you up. Now I shall save you. You had to go down to learn your lesson, for you had not enough sensibility; if you were wise, you would not have asked God to bring me to earth." I say, if women understood this Law as their old mother did, they would have been wiser. However, they do not understand it; that is why they only grumble. Women of today are bad daughters; their mother was wiser than they are. For eight thousand years she has been working in the world and at that—quite skillfully. Do not think that Eve is not working. This present civilization is due to her. Adam only fulfills her commands. He knows how to fight, how to take out the knife and when he returns to his wife, she asks him, "Did you finish your work well?" "Yes, I finished it." It is here that we must lay the foundation. Give up your illusions that when you go up to heaven you will be taught. In order to be taught in heaven, you should take along some light and soft material; but what are you carrying now in yourselves? I would rent a train to take you to heaven, but how many days could you stay there? Some of you would hardly have money for one or two days; others will spend their money in ten days and say, "Let us return to earth to earn more money." Therefore, when we understand wherein the sense of Christian life lies, we must lay a new foundation. I shall not speak to you about salvation, as others have talked to you until this day. These are elementary things. A sensible, constructive work on the present social order is what is required today. You should ask yourselves, "How should we bring up our young generation, what kind of people should be our judges, teachers, priests, fathers, mothers, sisters, friends, merchants, mechanics and so on?" Some say that time creates the new people. Yes, but time does not ask us what we want it to create for us. As the serpent appeared to Eve asking her why does she not eat the fruit of the tree of knowing good and evil, in the same way Christ will appear before her and ask her, "Why have you not eaten of the fruit of the tree of life for so many thousands of years?" "Because we are forbidden to eat of it," Eve would answer. "Why is it forbidden to you?" Eve would wish at first to lie to Him, but then she would decide to speak the Truth, "We sinned; that is why we cannot eat of the tree of life." Christ will answer her, "As soon as you correct your sin and cast it out of you, you will be allowed to eat of the tree of life. You experienced the infection when you ate of the fruit of knowing good and evil; now the same way you will taste the fruit of the tree of life, and you will acquire a different science, a different social order diametrically opposite to the present order." These things may seem allegorical to you, but they are actual. These trees are in our brain: the tree of knowing good and evil is at the back of the head, the other one—the tree of life—is in the front part of the head. The Russians say, "Руский человек живёт задным умом."7 Now the Russians are beginning to live with the fore part of their brain. They gave up drunkenness. No one in Russia thought that those people who like to drink can live temperately. Drunkenness was abolished by a Royal decree. Therefore, the same Law which created evil until now will create good from now on. Christ is asking us, "Are you ready to think right and not to live with your posterior brain? Are you ready to start building as I shall tell you?" You answer as today's neutral nations, "What guarantee will you give us that we shall succeed?" Everybody wants a guarantee—Italy, Serbia, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. They all say, "We cannot abandon neutrality without a guarantee." The same way you say to Christ, "We ate of the tree of knowing good and evil and saw all the evil that assailed us, let us think a little now, lest the same evil will come to us, if we taste of the tree of life." Grandpa Radoslavov8 says, "We keep neutrality." But only with neutrality the work cannot be done. Neutrality is one point of support. Now we must find the other point of support and start weaving. In the Christian life also we can be neutral to a certain point after which we must start fighting. You have a bad thought—that is war; you are born and die—that is war; you get rich and then impoverished—that is war. From one end to the other, life is nothing but war and fighting, but this Law must be based on the principle of gain, not loss. The Triple Entente gave guarantees to Italy, but are they in a state to fulfill their promises to an end? How can we know that in time they will not give up their promises? Once, while a wolf was eating a sheep, a bone got stuck in his throat. He started to howl and a stork came to his aid and took the bone out of his throat. After that the stork wanted the wolf to remunerate him for his service. "You must be thankful," said the wolf, "that I did not bite your throat." This is what a guarantee means. Now we, who are building by the same Law, are solving the great problem in life. Not only is Bulgaria lacking a resolution to fight or not, but we are also making a decision together with the invisible world. Christ is placing an important problem for all of us to solve, "With or against us?" And we must decide now, "With or against Christ?" There is no neutrality. A great competition is on in the world. All people are fighting and everyone must take this or that side, so that the great problem may be solved. What is going on in the world is taking place within us as well. Now I wish to save you from the illusion of thinking that you can gain something without suffering. Know that the gain is always conditioned by the loss and joy is always conditioned by suffering. If a mother does not love her beauty, she will never have children. If the young maiden does not love her virginity, she would never become a mother. Such is the great Law in Nature. You must know how to digest and cultivate your thoughts. Let's assume a bad thought comes to your mind to do a crime or steal something. In order to get rid of this thought, your mind must take another direction. Turn your gaze to the soul of the person you want to rob, begin to love them and say to yourself, "If I were in their place, would I like to be robbed?" Anytime a bad thought of doing evil to someone comes into your head, think at once, "If I were in the place of that person, would I like people to act with me the same way?" You, women and men, how do you solve these questions? Sometimes you are angry with your husband, bad thoughts obsess you and you say, "Away with these men! I shall find another with whom I shall live better." Sometimes a man says, "I want this woman out of my sight! I shall find a better one." But I say that whatever woman you find, she is a woman made of the same stuff. This is why neither women, nor men should be deceived by the external aspect of things, by their forms. When a man or a woman gets angry, let them ask themselves, "If I were in the place of my wife, how would I like my husband to treat me?" And whatever answer they receive, let them solve the question thus. If a woman says that her husband is bad and she cannot tolerate him, she is not a woman, she does not think right. There are cases in life when a son and a daughter want to kill their father for being bad. How do they know that he is bad? What is badness? He who is bad today may become good on the very next day. Today a woman may hate her husband, but in a day or two she says she loves him. How is that, can you love a man who is not good? You cannot. Therefore, there is a fictitious appearance of things which obstructs people to think right. Thus, Christ's foundation must be applied in life! This is not a difficult thing. Whenever a thought comes to you to do something bad, say to yourself, "I am a servant, or a son of God, Who has sent me to earth, and this moment my Father is watching me." If you say this, your thought will be changed immediately. Your Father cannot praise you for your bad thoughts and feelings. What will a father say when he sees his daughter torturing her husband? A story has it that there are three kinds of women and three kinds of men in this world. I shall speak only about the women for as the women are, so are the men. According to this story Noah had three sons and only one daughter. One day three candidates came for Noah's daughter, who was very beautiful. All three loved her greatly, but none wanted to leave her to the others. Noah found himself in difficult position. In order to satisfy all three he turned his donkey and his cat into beautiful women like his daughter and married them to the three candidates. After a year he went to visit them and see how they were getting along. He asked a son- in-Law, "How do you like my daughter?" "She is nice, but at times she scratches me." "Well" Noah replied, "Such is her nature." He went to his second son-in-Law and asked him, "How do you like my daughter?" "She is nice, but sometimes she kicks me." "Such is her nature." He went to his third son- in-Law and asked him, "How do you like my daughter?" "She is an angel." Noah thought, "This is my real daughter." Therefore, to be a real daughter of God, you should neither kick nor bite. Hence, the basic Teaching of Christ lies in this: neither bite nor kick, but meditate like a human being and fulfill your duties on the Earth. Wherever you go, bestow joy and gladness on people; whenever you meet a sad person, comfort them and illuminate their mind. Knowledge is necessary for this, however. To study your heads and hands is real science. As soon as you begin to study them, you will form a correct idea about yourself, about your development; you will see how several generations have lived before you; on what level of development you are and after that you will be able to work in the right way. The hand never lies. By only touching a person you can get a right impression of them; by shaking hands you can find out what their heart, character and disposition are. They call some foolish. These people are foolish because on their hand they do not have many ganglions of receiving sensations and impressions. It is has been noticed that on the hands of the foolish, of the bad people there are fewer knots of this kind. Why? Because they say that they have no need of this or that, and they think only of eating and drinking. People need real culture, the culture in which the foundation is the ideas Christ has introduced: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." "Love of God and Love of one's fellows." If you can apply these two Laws—Love of God and Love of one's fellow person—as a foundation of your life, there will be no force in life which could oppose you, neither any thought which would not submit to you and would not serve your ideal. The Law of Love stands behind you. If you apply it, you will love people. If you are not directed by this Law; the other Law—Love to your fellow person—will lead you the wrong way. Only the Divine Law can regulate and ennoble human love, because we can destroy a person we love out of our great love of that person. How? By sucking up the saps of their emotions and stealing their heart. This is not Love, it is parasitism. The octopus does the same thing—when it catches its victim, out of love it sucks its blood with its suckers, and the victim goes weak and tame. Many men tame their wives in the same way. To take your wife's strength and then say that your wife has become tamer, more sensible, is neither science, nor taming. Today you will destroy a woman, but tomorrow a woman will destroy you. Christ says, "I came to give life to people, not to take it from them." Can you give life to your husband, i.e. make him think for himself? You can make your husband the kind you want him to be, but you must not put him between the hammer and the anvil. Rather, put him between these two forces, or these two great Laws, which will heat him up and change him. Human beauty depends on this heating up. The farther away you are from the center of these two Laws, the uglier you will be. Iron is black, but when you heat it up, it turns red; it passes through the red rays. After that it grows yellow and finally it turns bright. You say, "Iron becomes beautiful." Yes, while it is near the fire, it is beautiful. If you draw it away from the heat of the fire, it becomes ugly again. Therefore, you can be beautiful, wise, and bright to the extent that these two Laws are working on you. This is not only a hypothesis, but a verified and proved theory. If your posterior and front parts of the brain work in accord and have one point of support, you will immediately acquire what you want. You will have good children as well as good and loyal friends. For this purpose you must work consciously on yourself, applying the two Laws Christ preached—Love of God and Love of your fellow person. Someone says, "I cannot apply these Laws." When it concerns something good, the word cannot must be erased in you and be substituted by the word can. When it is a question of sin, you must say, "I cannot sin." If a good thought comes to your mind, say "I can;" to any bad thought that comes to you say "I cannot." Just as a woman weaves her cloth by moving the shuttle from one hand to the other and back again, in the same way she must weave her thoughts, feelings, desires, her character by moving to the negative pole when a bad thought comes to her and then to the positive pole, when a good thought occurs. As soon as she has woven, i.e. completed her character building, Christ will send a master tailor to cut out a suit for her in which everything will be in its place. And then everybody will love her. This concerns the man as well. This is the new foundation which Christ wants to lay in the world—that we may know how to work. Do not doubt in God! Some ask, "Is there a God?" Leave this thought aside. The only proof of the existence of God is the following: I exist, therefore God also exists. There is no stronger proof than this. I think, therefore God also thinks. My thought implies God's thought, my action implies God's action. Those who think otherwise, have no logic. They do no understand the fundamental rules of logic. I love means God Loves. God is a perfect great Being Who moves and directs all people on their spiritual path. When some begin to doubt in God, they already have doubted in themselves and in their fellows. Do not think we shall disturb God by this. God is glad when we do not obey Him. Why? Because our work increases. When the devil sinned, God put him to burn on a fire until he avows and comes to understand Who is his master. The same holds true for those who philosophize too much. God says about such people, "Bring this person to me and put them on the fire!" As soon as they get heated up, God asks them, "What forces are working on you?" "I am suffering." "Think of the causes of your suffering." "But this is hell!" "Why is it hell, what are the causes of your suffering?" I say: hell is a place where God teaches people to reason. Some ask, "Where is hell?" Hell is on the Earth, which is considered the thirteenth sphere. God will put us on this fire and if we are good, we shall come out of it without burning out, as it happened with the three men in the fiery furnace. They walked, sang and praised God in the flames. Some tremble at the thought of hell. But hell is not a bad place. Whether something is good or bad is a relative fact. If God is with you, there are no hardships in life, there are no bad places—it is good everywhere. If God is not with you, if you do not understand His Laws, it is bad everywhere. Thus, you are the first point of support; the second point of support is Christ. Unite with Christ as a man unites with his wife, as a brother with his sister, because power is in unity. In unity there is work, building, thoughts, feelings, aspirations and culture. This is the thought I leave with you, "No man can lay another foundation." The foundation is in this that the life you are passing now is the best God has given you. By no means can a better life than the present be given to us. It is excellent, full of such benefits out of which we can do wonders. You even do not suspect what great riches are stored in your life. You do not even suspect what forces it bears for your future, for your achievements. While in the mother's womb, the child is microscopic, but in the ninth month, it becomes an independent organism. Then the mother bears it and gives it conditions for development and growth. After twenty years it becomes a man or a woman and begins to think. By the same Law, humans are microscopic beings compared to God. But one day when they are developed and born again, by rising they will understand the great things in life. But in order to rise they must change their head, their minds, their hearts, their character and come to feel the great harmony in life. Only in this way people will join the ranks of the angels and come close to God. This is the new foundation of human beings. Sermon held on May 10, 1915, in Sofia. _____________________________________ 2. I Cor. 5:11. 3. John 14:6. 4. A reference to WWI (ed. note). 5. (hist) District governor in the Ottoman Empire (ed. note). 6. Bulgarian monetary unit (ed. note). 7. Russian, "The Russians live with their posterior (hind) brain." (tr. note) 8. Dr Vassil Radoslavov, a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1913 through 1918 (ed. note).

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova EASTER Go ye therefore, and teach aff nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Hofy Spirit 9 In the whole Christian world today the preachers are speaking on the text of Christ's resurrection. Only in the USA there are 80,000--100,000 preachers and in Bulgaria about 3,300 priests preaching today about the Resurrection— they are speaking about it everywhere. Since so many people are speaking about the resurrection, I shall make a slight digression. Many people consider this question from a historical or philosophical point of view—is the resurrection possible? There is a disputation on this question from a purely physiological standpoint—is it possible for a person to resurrect? Theoreticians and theologians write and try to prove the possibility of resurrection, but they also cannot prove it. I shall stop on the words "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Deep is the Teaching of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What is this Teaching? You often repeat the words Father, Son and Holy Spirit but what sense do they have for you? They have sense only when they can produce a certain effect on you. If you hold a match in you hand, you cannot test its force until you light it; as soon as you light it, you will realize its force. And the resurrection will be an unknown object for you up to the time when you will light this word like a match that it may produce light in your mind and heat in your heart, or until you sow it as a seed in the Earth to grow and see its fruit. It is enough for people during their life to have only one such word, which they would understand as they should, so that they will become geniuses; if they understood two such words, they would become saints; but if they should understand three—they will become one with Christ. Therefore, in every human language there are words which if we understand will acquire magic powers for us. When Moses raised his scepter by the Red Sea, he pronounced a word and the sea parted in two. When Christ was at the tomb of Lazarus, He raised His eyes to heaven and said only one word, "Lazarus, come forth!" and Lazarus rose. God pronounced only one word at the beginning of creation and the world was formed. You speak and write grammatically correctly using points and commas, question marks and exclamation marks; you discuss important philosophical matters, but you do not know how to arrange your life. You are like that philosopher who went rowing a boat with a boatman in the sea and started a conversation with the boatman. "Have you studied? Do you know anything about astronomy?" he asked. "Nothing at all," was the answer. "You have lost a quarter of your life. Do you know anything about geology?" "I do not know anything." "You have lost two quarters of your life. Do you know anything about mathematics?" "I do not." "You have lost three quarters of your life." At once a terrible storm started to rage and threatened to capsize the boat. On his part the boatman asked the philosopher, "Do you know how to swim?" "I do not know and have never learned to." "You can lose four fourths of your life," i.e. all your life. Now you sit like this philosopher discussing the question how Christ was born and came to earth, but as soon as a storm comes to your life, or you meet some obstacle or suffering, you do not know how to swim and begin to sink in the water. Where is your philosophy of life? Where did your mathematics, geology and astronomy remain? What is the purpose of these sciences if they cannot help you in such critical moments? Mathematics should be a science to teach people how to construct their life correctly. Biology is a science which must teach people how to put Law and order in their cells. Geology must teach people right relations to the Earth. In the life of Christ there are three main phases: birth, death and resurrection. These phases must be intrinsic to every ordinary person. When Christ was born, angels in heaven proclaimed peace to people. Therefore, the birth of Christ was triumphant, but this same Christ became subject to a disgraceful death. People ask to this day why Christ had to die this way. There are a number of reasons for this. Christ was exposed to a disgraceful death, but in the end he rose from the dead. People today die too, but so far no one has risen. There are reasons for this too. Now I shall make a comparison between life and death. When Adam was in paradise, God presented life to him in the form of two fruit-trees one of which He called The Tree of Life and the other The Tree of Knowing Good and Evil. In the occult sense The Tree of Life implies the aspiration of all living beings in Nature toward the Divine. This aspiration has an upward movement. It is a high tide in Nature, which gradually increases, grows. By The Tree of Knowing Good and Evil is implied the endeavor of the beings to go out of the center of life and move towards the periphery. This endeavor has a downward movement and represents a low tide in Nature. Since these two currents exist in Nature, it is easy enough to explain the origin of death. If two trains start moving from two opposite points toward one and the same point what will happen to them? A catastrophe is inevitable. Adam found himself between two such trains and, not being able to avoid the catastrophe, he died. Those who eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree will end their life like Adam. This means that the day a person eats of the fruit of the forbidden tree, they enter the low tide of life, i.e. the tide which has a downward movement toward the center of the Earth. God alone is able to save people from this low tide. Christ came to earth namely to take people out of this tide and place them in the opposite tide, in the high tide of life, which we call resurrection. In order for you to receive the life which leads to the resurrection, you should understand the Teaching of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What is meant by the Father? The Teaching of Divine Wisdom. By the Son? The Teaching of Divine Love. By the Holy Spirit? The Teaching of raising and evolution of people. It says in the Scripture, "He who believes in this Teaching will be saved." Everyone should understand the Laws of this Teaching. What is required of you? Many of you are fathers, but do you understand your calling as a father? Many of you have been sons, but do you understand what should be the relations of the son to the father? You have not yet been in the state of the Spirit, but you will be. Now you are preparing yourselves to pass through the Spirit, Who raises people, raises Christ in them. In order to understand Christ's Teaching correctly, you must be freed from some ties with the world. This does not mean that you must deny the world. No, this is a wrong view. The world has two faces—one is an inner face, pure and bright, a Divine face; the other is an external face, subject to constant changes. So that when we speak of denying the world, you must understand a denial of its external face, of those elements which have a transitory and deceitful character. These elements do not give any essential thing to the life of a person. However, everything else which serves your uplifting should be preserved, for it is said, "God so Loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believeth in Him should not perish." The Apostle Paul said, "The face of this world passes," which confirms the idea that the world has two faces. Therefore, the one face of the world which changes, passes away. The face which does not change, remains. People are born, grow and think that they can set the world right and conquer it, but when they become 45-50 years of age, they notice a certain weakening of strength and give up this idea. They become kind, careful and make the young work for them. They begin to think only of their old age and that they might become ill and die. I am asking you: why do old people always direct their look to the center of the Earth? Why do not they keep in their mind thoughts full of Light, which refresh their spirit, renew them and lead to resurrection? People today are infected by the thought that we cannot resurrect, come to life and be born again. This is the greatest delusion in the world. People can rise just as they can die. Death and life are two relative things. If you come into contradiction with the Laws and forces functioning in rational Nature, you will be smashed and ruined. But if you are in accord with the Laws and forces of rational Nature, you will be raised and rise from the grave. In order to come to the resurrection you must free yourself from certain obstacles and drawbacks, which your souls have inherited from your ancestors. I shall cite an example to explain a great Law which regulates life. Several English sailors left one day the ship where they worked to visit a European city. They walked around the city visiting different drinking houses until they got drunk. In the evening they returned to the port, got into their boats and started rowing, forgetting to untie the boats from the posts. They rowed all night thinking they have neared the ship, but what was their surprise in the morning when they saw they were still on shore! Why did they not reach the ship? They saw their mistake that their boats were still tied. The rope by which their boats were tied to the posts prevented them from leaving the place in spite of their night efforts. That rope was their obstacle. And if people today cannot rise, the reason is the same—they are tied by a small rope to some post. Small children do the same thing. A child catches a bird and ties one of its legs to a string and then lets it fly. The bird flies up to a place and then falls on the ground. Why? Because it is tied by a string. In the same way people today are tied. They must have a high ideal! What kind? Such as would pull them up to heaven. Someone says, "I tried to fly, but soon I fell down to earth. Why? "I myself don't know." But I say, "You were tied. You have had some doubts in your mind, or have wanted to solve some important questions, but have not succeeded." "What shall I do then?" "Untie your boat from the post, row with your oars and start forward and upward to your purpose." No matter what a person does, they cannot escape the consequences of their life. Do not think that your thoughts and feelings do not exert an influence on you. Every thought and every feeling, however small they may be, exert an influence not only on you but also on those around you as well. Moses, I think, says in the Deuteronomy that God recompenses people for every crime down to the fourth generation. It follows from this that in one hundred years at the most every crime must be liquidated with. Those who know this Law have noticed the following: if a woman of the black race has intercourse with a man of the white race, in the first generation the child may be white. However, in the second, third and fourth generation a black child will be born by all means. If in the first generation a black child is born, that ends the karma. However, this Law has a contrary effect as well. If a woman of the white race has intercourse with a man on the black race, in one of the four generations a black child will be born by all means. If a black child is born to a husband and wife of the white race, they will wonder where this child came from. They even do not suspect that one of their grandmothers has had intercourse with a black man some hundred years ago. Do not take this illustration in a literal sense; it is highly metaphorical! I say, the same Law functions in the feelings and thoughts of a person. Someone sits calmly and all of a sudden a bad thought enters his or her mind. Where did this bad thought come from? One hundred years ago your soul has had relations with a negative thought, a "dark one." The "dark one" represents the temptation in the world. Every bad thought or every bad feeling is a child of the person that nurtures them. This is done according to the Law of karma. The karmic Law is strict. You must keep yourselves from it, because you cannot avoid its consequences. Do not give place of bad thoughts in your mind. If you admit them in your mind, they will create their own forms, which will handicap you in the future. It is not a question of whether you are born of a father or mother of the white race, the important thing is that the vibrations of the people of the black race are considerably different from those of the white race, as a result of which much work and effort is necessary in order to reconcile those vibrations. The aspirations of the black race are towards the Earth, not toward heaven. They are the people of that tree from which Eve, the first mother of humanity ate. The aspiration of the people of the white race is toward heaven. This aspiration is very strongly expressed at the present time. They want to be people of the Tree of Life and eat its fruit. Therefore, we become one or another kind of people according to the tree we eat of. The Tree of Life is Christ. When this great thought penetrates your mind, salvation will come. You should not dwell on the abstract thought that Christ is sitting on the right sight of God, but rather consider Christ as a power penetrating the whole earth. When this power passes through all beings from the smallest to the greatest, then the liberation of the whole humanity will be realized. When they crucified Christ, i.e. when they interrupted the course of this power, of this current, darkness overwhelmed the Earth. All people felt this darkness. The Scripture says that after that Christ descended to hell to preach his Teaching there. All who obeyed him left hell and went to live on the Earth. Were you not also there when Christ preached? You were, but you have forgotten this. What did Christ say when He went down to hell to bring you out of the darkness there? "Go and sin no more!" Now I also say to you that if you sin, you will bear "dark children" and sufferings will come one after the other. Since Christ is already on the Earth, He has decided to save humanity and will save it. There is no power on earth, however strong it might be, that can counteract the power of Christ. Christ says, "No one can take from my hands the sheep God has given Me, for there is no greater than Him." And if ever any doubt should possess your soul, know that this is your "dark father." Break your ties with him! The pure should not tie themselves to the impure. When a mother sees her children soiled, does she embrace them immediately? No, first she will punish them a little, then she will bathe them and put clean clothes on them and after that she will embrace and kiss them. This is the simplest philosophy of life. Someone says, "Nobody loves me." "Your clothes are muddy, my friend." If you want people to love you, go and bathe yourself and clean your body as you should. After that, clean your heart and your mind and see then if people will love you or not. Thus cleansed and bathed, a person is ready for resurrection. Christ rose, but before he came to the resurrection, He passed through the crucifixion. What is the meaning of the cross? It is the net of squares after a cube has been spread out—the cube on one plane. At the same time the cube represents a person's house. Christ was crucified on the cross— on this open (spread out) cube by which God wanted to tell people to open the doors and windows of their houses, wash them and thoroughly clean them, thus preparing them for the day of the resurrection. Someone hands a cross to a person and says, "Kiss this cross!" But I say that before you kiss the cross it must be cleaned. The cross is in a person's mind and heart. Therefore, you cannot kiss this human cross until it is absolutely purified, i.e. until the person's mind and heart are not perfectly pure. All people are living crosses that must be raised. As soon as this is done a circle, which signifies eternity, will be formed around the cross. Thus, the cross will be turned into a wheel which will be in constant motion. By His Teaching Christ wants to reveal to people the basic Laws by which they can change the human order of things. To change this order, people should first have an idea, which they should put as a foundation of their lives, and after that they should try to attain this idea. People today cannot attain this idea for the simple reason that they are victims of their implacable egoism. Everyone thinks only of him or herself alone wishing to have the first place. In one of his pictures an artist presented human egoism very well. He painted a high mountain peak on which an idol stood tall. Millions of people had their eyes fixed on this peak, everyone trying to reach it and bow to the idol. Yet, whoever would start first for the peak was immediately held back by the others for fear he would reach the peak before them. In this way they handicapped one another, in result of which no one has reached the peak yet. What do we see in life? Until this day people continue to struggle and pull each other back lest anyone should reach the peak and receive the wreath of merit. In ancient Greece during the races of the Olympic Games whoever reached the goal first received the wreath. However, in our efforts for Christ's exploit, everyone who fulfils His Teaching can receive a wreath. Thus, there are three important things, three important words in Christ's Teaching: the Father,; the Son and the Holy Spirit. If you can pronounce these words in their profound sense and in their fullness, you have already entered the Teaching of Christ. When you pronounce the word Father, you should feel the pulse of your Father, Who moves the world. You should feel it the way a mother feels the pulse of her child. To feel God's thought implies to understand it and to know it. If you have acquired all this, you will understand the verse which says, "Before you have asked for something of the Father, He will fulfill your desires." You must all have filial relations to God and fulfill your duties to Him as to your own father. He did not come down to earth, but sent His Son as a sacrifice that no one who believes in Him should perish. On the same basis once we have come to earth, we too should sacrifice ourselves. Many are afraid of sacrifice, saying that there is no life in it. They cannot make out the words, "If you do not eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you." We eat daily in order to live. Do not the grains of the wheat and the fruit we eat die and sacrifice themselves for us? We must justify their sacrifice! They say, "We are ready to die and be sacrificed for you, if only you become more humane." Billions of creatures serve people, but what do we do in exchange for this? We are engaged in scholastic problems as the theologians of the Middle Ages who philosophized how many devils can dance at the point of the knife. I say, Christ's Teaching contains the sense of life. There is always a lowland between two great epochs. If we observe the human brain, we shall see that it, too, has grooves and elevations. The human thought can function due to these grooves and elevations in the brain. The Earth, too, has grooves and elevations thanks to which we live. Someone says, "I do not want to live in a valley." Where do you want to live? "On a high mountain peak." I ask you, how many people can live on a high mountain peak? All people cannot live on the peaks. Some will live in the valleys, others—on the summits. Everyone lives on their own land—once they will be in the valley, another time—on the summit; a third time they will go down the valley again; a fourth time they will climb the peak. This way they will constantly ascend and descend until they finally learn that the evolutionary Law is movement along a broken line in which there are lowlands and heights. When people learn the Teaching of Christ, which is related to the circular motion of eternity, they will enter another kind of evolution in which there are no ups and downs but only circular movement. "Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit." The Teaching of the Spirit is a real Teaching which people today deny. The Father is the Creator of things. The Spirit implies the unity; it implies the multiplicity of things as well. Christ, the Son, represents the sap constantly flowing in The Tree of Life. The Spirit represents also the conditions in which we live. Astrologers today state that a person is in communications with the whole universe, i.e. all beings are in a certain relation among themselves. The heart, the brain, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, as organs through which forces pass, correspond to certain beings in space. When a conflict arises among some of them, a person feels some change in the corresponding part of their body. And in fact they begin to complain of pains in their arm, leg or some other part of the body. This is due to some external influence which, according to the erudite, comes either from Jupiter, from Saturn, Mars or some other planet. Some may object, "How is it possible for Mars to influence people?" But I ask you, if a nation can exert an influence by its thoughts on another nation, why should not a planet be able to do the same? We see that England, France, Germany, Russia and the other nations mutually influence each other, on the same grounds the beings living on Mars by their thoughts exert a certain influence on people. Their thoughts pass across space forming a current. Those who fall under the influence of this current become belligerent. People today are under the influence of Mars as a result of which they are fighting and are at war until this current or influence attains its purpose. You will say that Christ's Teaching is about peace, however, when this peace, or this balance of Nature, is disturbed, war will inevitably come. The present views of people impose a restoration of the disturbed balance only by means of war. We see this Law in practical life as well. When a housekeeper wants to take the butter out of the milk, she puts the milk in the churn- tub and churns it. Therefore, the war in the world will end only when people derive butter. Christ says, "I want people to have butter which, when applied, will make them softer and more delicate." Present-day people are hard and callous to a greater extent than is necessary. That they are in need of oil is obvious in the parable of the five foolish virgins who forgot to take oil for their vessels and remained outside. Those who want to enter the Kingdom of God must by all means have oil for their vessels. This is the Teaching of the Spirit. Now I am speaking allegorically, but if you think deeply about this question, you will see that there are forces which exert a softening influence on people and you will understand their relations to you. You ask, "Why did God create the world?" That you may study. The spirits which were created first became crystals. After them the Earth had to be created with new cells in a circular not a geometrical form. In order to develop and turn in to a plant, the crystal must become a living cell. By the force of this Law, the noblest of plants must turn its "wooden" immovable cells into muscles and nerves, in order to be able, like the animals, to feel and to be able to move from one place to another. In the same way we also must pay up everything, in order to form in ourselves that cell which creates the saints. People are dead at present and in heaven they are planted with their heads down. We must sacrifice ourselves and become a sensible cell one with Christ and after passing through His body, through His mind and through His heart, become tuned up to understand the deep sense of things. Now I shall not explain these abstract truths, lest I deviate from the main subject. The first thing in life is obedience. In antiquity a Greek disciple wanted to study the secret sciences and for that reason he went to Egypt, to the so called school of the Brotherhood of Light. The high priest in the temple of Isis took him to many places and finally to a statue and said to him, "This is the Truth." "Why did you not first take me to the Truth, but to all these other places? You should have lead me to this statue at the very first," objected the disciple. "This cannot be for such is the path of the Truth. Be careful not to raise the veil of this statue and not to touch it. Study it only on the outside." The disciple burned with a desire to see what is beneath this veil. He thought he would find the Truth if he lifted the veil and after returning to Greece he would possess great power. One night he quietly walked out, entered the temple and raised the veil. However, they found him dead in front of the statue the next morning. What did he learn? Nothing. Someone says, "Raise the curtain; I want to see the Truth!" It is dangerous to raise the veil of the Truth prematurely. A person must be ready for this moment. Christ has come to earth to prepare us to meet this moment without fear. First of all we must understand which life leads to salvation. After that you must pass through another process of which it is said, "If you are not born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God." And Nicodemus was told that if he were not born of water and of the spirit, he would not enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore, there are two births, but not reincarnations, for reincarnation implies a process of cutting life short, of interruption. Reincarnation is a process of disharmony. To be reincarnated is to begin anew the work which you have left. You are caught and imprisoned and after staying in prison for 10 years, 15 more years remain; one day you escape from the prison, but they catch you again and imprison you for 10 more years, which makes again 25 years. After five years you escape again. They catch you and imprison you for the third time, imposing a greater punishment on you. Thus, the person who does not want to serve their sentence is reincarnated. Or in another sense—the person who is sent to earth, but does not want to live according to the order of God, passes through reincarnation. Such people want to live an easy life, to escape from prison, then they will be caught, put in prison again and if they always escape, this prison will never end. The Law of the new birth implies the fulfillment of the Will of God. It is not difficult for a person to fulfill the Will of God. The difficulty lies in our misunderstanding of life. People today have the tendency to criticize. Everyone sees the mistakes of others, "So and so does not live as they should." But do you live as you should? "They are not a good person." But are you good? A person should first know themselves. They should study their constitution. Do you know why God has given you one nose, two eyes and two ears? Do you know why some eyes are black, others blue or green and what are the eyebrows for? The eyes form the symbol of the number eight. What does the number eight mean? It is the number of work. The nose is the plough of a person. When you lay a person horizontally, it shows that they should plough. Thus, God's grace will descend on us and cause everything we have sown to grow. I ask you, what does thinking lie in? What process is thinking? Someone may say that thinking is a process of concentration. What is concentration? Years ago in Varna I met a Bulgarian man who told me he earned eight thousand leva which he lent a merchant to help him, but the merchant went bankrupt and the man lost his money too. He said, "I lost too, but God is good, I shall earn money again." I say, here is a man who has understood the Law. He is not an occultist, but knows a Law that will teach him what to do in order to earn money again. He says, "God gives, God takes away." Riches, knowledge and power are transitory things in the life of a person. God tests us by them, as a mother tests her children. Often the mothers call their children angels. A mother calls her child "my little angel!" I say, test them and see if they become an angel. Give the child an apple and then ask it back again. If the child gives you back the apple without getting angry, they will become an angel. If they do not give it back, they will not become an angel. In the same way, God gives you a blessing and says, "Give your blessing to others!" "I shall not do it." Here is an unknown quantity you have not solved. "But I do not believe in life!" This is a second unknown quantity you have not solved. "I shall escape from life"—a third unknown quantity. You often solve problems with solving unknown quantities, you find what they are equal to, but when you come to life, you cannot solve them. Every unknown quantity has its value which can be solved only when a person works. Therefore, in order to define what every unknown quantity is equal to, you must put to work your thoughts and feelings. When people cannot solve the unknown quantities in their lives, they weep and feel unhappy. The world is a school in which only those who want to study can be enrolled. If you do not want to study and to concentrate, who has forced you to enter this school? If you do not want to study, you better enter a plant or a mineral. Only by hard concentration you can understand the Teaching of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and begin to love God. Many people say that only a foolish person can love. No. Love is an unknown quantity which must be calculated in order to determine its real value. The problem of love can be solved only from the standpoint of the Teaching of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Teacher of this Teaching visits you every morning and sows a thought in your souls, but in spite of that you grow poor. Why do you become poor? Because you cannot evaluate the thought which Christ gives you. Someone says, "I want glory, wealth, knowledge." The blessings Christ gives you are more essential than the ones you want. The glory of God is far more valuable than the glory of people. Christ wants to make you all powerful, masters of life and death. Do you know who creates death? Those billions of spirits who are constantly doing destructive work. Every day you are filled with doubt, envy, and you want to be people of progress at that! There are even such people who speak of occultism, but their thought is not free— they do not understand life. Christ rose from the dead and showed the spiritual path we must pass—by the process of birth. What is birth? Tolstoy speaks of one of his dreams. One night he dreamt he was pregnant trying to bear a child and feeling awful pains. On wakening in the morning he asked, "Are the pains women feel at birth very strong?" When he received an affirmative answer, he said, "It is no easy matter to be a woman!" Your mind conceives a thought, but what sufferings it will cause you until you give it birth! Do not think that sufferings are a bad sign. As a mother gives something of herself, in the same way you must give something to your child. You must give life and power to a noble thought in your mind. Finally, you must have the courage to roll the stone off your tomb and not sit like present-day philosophers reasoning if Christ has risen or not. There are people who have been present when Christ rose. You will say, "Prove it!" I can prove that to you, but you must assume the same relations, an important Law must be observed. What is proving? You will lead a person a certain path and show them the way by which they must test the truth themselves. The last hour has come and we must all rise. We must and we will rise from the dead! When we have come to the question of the resurrection, you must not ask whether Christ has risen, but whether the time for your resurrection is near. Many ask to this day the question, "Did Christ lie for three days in the tomb?" Leave this question aside. For eight thousand years you have been lying in this tomb. Is not this time enough? It is. The angel, coming down to roll the stone off the tomb, is Christ's call, announcing the coming of the Last Judgement. How will Christ find you? If the stone is not rolled off your tomb, can Christ say, "Lazarus, come forth!"? Your relatives and friends must at least do you the favor of rolling the stone off your tombs. Then Christ will say, "Rise!" And you will rise from the dead. To all of you who are listening to me this morning, I roll off your tomb-stones and say, "Christ is coming!" He will stand before your open tombs and say, "Come out!" Sermon of the Master held on March 22, 1915, in Sofia. ___________________ 9 Matt 29:19.

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova THE MASTERS But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.11 Christ views these words somewhat differently than society. From a purely organic view, there are several institutions in the world which are Divine. One of them consists of the father and the mother—it is the home. This is the first institution on earth. There is no nobler and brighter institution than the home, as there is no higher rank than that of father and mother. Actually there are many fathers and mothers on earth, but in reality they behave as step-mothers and step­fathers. The father and mother play an important role in the organic world, for through their blood they impart the qualities of their souls to their children. The education of the children is conditioned by the qualities the mother imparts to the child at his or her earlier age. By the word blood I do not mean the ordinary blood, but that which remains changeless under all conditions of life. Now I shall not stop to explain the difference between these two kinds of blood, but I can tell you only that this blood is not of a temporary, changeful type; it is like the attar of roses which comes to the surface of rose water and which has real value. The noble germs which the mother deposits in the blood of the child, are a valuable essence which further on spreads and emits fragrance among those around. If this essence is not deposited on time, nothing can be sown in the child later. What people today call upbringing,, is nothing but training, or taming. In the real upbringing achieved by the mother, the process is effected in the root, where the mind and the heart are transformed and undergo different changes for the better. The taming leaves only an external polish. You may train a monkey or a pigeon, but the moment you put them in their natural conditions, they will start living their previous life. In the United States of America the government has made the following experiment: large sums of money were granted for the education of Native Indians, some of whom graduated from different colleges and universities. However, as soon as they returned to their tribe, they forgot what they had learned and became pagan as before. Only if any of them were converted to Christianity and adopted it, a certain change took place. In the spiritual life of a person, the Master's task resembles that of the mother. To be a Master is to give birth to a person. Christ does not say, "Do not teach," but He says, "Do not take the post of a Master, if you are not ready for it," which means not to become a mother who is sick, because such a mother will give birth to a sickly child. If a mother has certain organic, mental or psychic weaknesses; the child will not make an exception, she or he will be like her. Can teachers today teach their students how to combine, for instance oxygen and hydrogen, if they themselves do not know the properties of these elements? Such teachers can make a number of experiments; however, if they do not know the properties of a chemical element, it will not obey them, since they are not its master. Others may know many things about the rotation of the celestial bodies in space, but if you should ask them to calculate this movement mathematically with the exactness of one meter, not with thousands of meters and kilometers, they will not be able to do it. Everyone can make such calculations, but they will not be exact. If the difference is only some centimeters, I can understand that, but when it is kilometers, it is out of the question. These are hypotheses and suppositions only. You often say, "Why did not things happen as we thought?" Who is to blame that you make wrong calculations? All people make mistakes. You want to build a house for which reason you call an architect to draw a plan and to calculate how much and what materials are necessary. Then you buy these materials—stones, beams, iron bars, nails, sand, lime and so on—but if you do not make exact combinations of them, your house will be torn down and you will remain under its ruins. Now I shall explain my thought with an anecdote out of Bulgarian life. This happened a long time ago, around the beginning of the liberation from the Turkish yoke. A young Bulgarian man from the southern parts of the Balkan Peninsula, around the town of Salonika, went with his father to learn gardening. He became 20 years of age, but still he could not make any money out of his job. Finally he decided to take some handicraft which would suit him. He went as an apprentice to a tailor and thought he would only sit there and tack—an easy thing to do. After a week a Turkish bey12 came to the shop and invited the tailor to sew for him a pair of full-bottomed trousers at his home. However, the tailor was not quite well, so he decided to send his apprentice who had already worked for a week at his shop, saying to him, "You go now and I shall come after you." The apprentice went with the bey and waited for an hour or two for his master to come, but he did not turn up. Then the bey turned to the apprentice, saying, "As I see you are a grown-up man, you must surely know this handicraft. Can you cut out a pair of trousers for me?" "I can." The bey brought a big bale of broad cloth and said, "I want you to cut out for me a pair of large full-bottomed pants." The apprentice started turning the cloth this way and that, cutting out what he thought might look like pants, but nothing came out of it. The bey, seeing that what the apprentice was cutting out did not look like such trousers, said to him, "This will not do for trousers, but cut out a doublet for me." The apprentice started to take measures and cut out a doublet, but again nothing came out of it. When the Turkish bey saw that he cannot cut a doublet, he said, "Well then, cut out at least a tobacco purse, if you cannot do that, I shall thrash you." The same way many of you, after staying with a master for a week, take the scissors and the measuring tape and, like this young Bulgarian man start cutting out—they become teachers. Christ says, "Do not become such teachers." In order to be a teacher, one should have positive knowledge and a way of understanding things without any exceptions. To heal and at the same time to kill by a certain means does not imply the possession of positive knowledge. If you make an operation with a knife to cut out the sick part of a person and cut a person's throat with the same knife, you cannot say that you have made proper use of that knife. In the second case you are committing a crime. Some will say, "We have not done such a thing." I know many teachers who have cut the throats of their students. They have cut the legs, the arms, the ears of quite a number of them. I understand cutting in the moral sense of the word. God has not appointed those teachers, they are self- proclaimed. In every church there are such teachers, who have stayed like that Bulgarian man only one week in school and have gone out to preach. Now, what must we understand by the word master? This word has a relation to the spiritual world. Teaching does not consist in telling people how to build churches, sow flowers, vegetables and so on. Teaching in the right sense of the word, is an act of supreme self-consciousness, a purely spiritual process; the teacher and the student must be fully conscious of the task they have to fulfill; a complete interchange must be effected between them such as exists between a mother and her child; the teacher should impart certain truths to the student who must apply them properly. To explain my thoughts I shall give you an example. An Englishman often went to India on hunting trips. One day as he was walking along a path, he felt a strong blow on his left arm by a tigress. She had aimed only at breaking his left arm so that he could not shoot with the gun hanging over his right arm. She carried him to the den to her little ones, then putting him on the ground and pressing down his head, she said, "Now you must lie still, because I shall teach my little ones." She tried to make her cubs choke him, but they jumped around him and were afraid to get very close to him. At one time the hunter tried to raise his head and see what was going on around him. But the tigress pressed his head again repeating, "I told you to lie still, for I am teaching my little ones." As you see the tigress was a teacher. The hunter was saved one way or another, but he said he felt worse when the tigress pressed his head so her cubs could choke him. I say, everybody can tear down, but teaching requires a person who can teach people to build in their mind and heart and who understands the deep sense of the elements which renew and build a new abode, a spiritual body by means of which, according to the Scripture, they will rise. God is waiting for this body to be built. How are children born? They must be born the ninth month in order to live. In certain cases they might be born the seventh month, but by no means any month the mother wants. Such is the Law—the nine-month period must be fulfilled for the formation of the body. How does this formation begin? First, the extremities are shaped—the legs and the arms, then the brain, the stomach and finally the lungs. As soon as the lungs are formed, breathing begins and if the child is not born right after that, it may die. Thus, Nature creates first the limbs—the legs and arms, then the lungs. In the same way the higher organs are formed in you. The human spirit studies also in the womb of the mother, it is not in a dormant state, but works with the spirit of the mother, so both work for the creation of the body. By the same Law the master and the disciple must work simultaneously but with the help of the Spirit. That is why Christ says, "One is your Master." Why do people love Christ? Because He has given something to the world. "I gave abundant life to those who did not have it." Many want to become teachers. I ask, what are you ready to give to that person you want to teach? If you have taught some who have become worse, I understand that you have not taught them anything. In the churches among the Christians today there is a big weakness to teach others. This aspiration is not bad, but one should know the Laws of teaching. The state Laws require of people to pass certain examinations before a committee, before they are appointed teachers officially. In the spiritual world it is the same. You should wait for the visitation of the Divine Spirit, Who will direct you. Those who have not had the visitation of God's Spirit have no right to be a master, because they will violate the Divine Law. When we perceive the deep sense of these words of Christ which have an inner and external expression (now I am speaking of inner Christianity which can connect us with all regions of the invisible world) then we shall understand the sense of teaching. If you want to be a teacher you will be asked the first thing, "Where have you studied? Which school have you graduated from?" "But I have read the Bible." "That is not enough." "I know the Christian faith." "That is not enough." "I belong to this or that church." "Have you studied in heaven in that high institution where the angels study? Do you understand the inner Laws of Nature, how a person is organized, their mind, heart, or what the relation of the soul is to their spirit? "I have read these things." What have you understood? That the soul is an abstract idea, an idea of combination. "A combination of what?" The human mind is a combination of abilities. How are these things combined? This person thinks that they know something. No, the soul is not the kind of combination as you think, my friend. It is actually a combination but not of separate parts. Because of the darkness in you, you speak so incoherently of the mind and the heart, not knowing the place of the heart and of the mind. The heart has three places—one is physical and you know that place. But where is the heart of your feelings and of your mind? You meet somebody and say that person is bad. Why are they bad? Years ago in the USA a buffalo went mad and frightened all the people around. Some wanted to kill it, but a boy who could read the thoughts of the animals was found. When they called him, the boy put his hand on the head of the buffalo and asked it, "What is the matter?" "A thorn is stuck in my back foot and tortures me." The people pulled the thorn out and the buffalo became calm. In the same way a person sometimes becomes mad and people begin to pour cold water on him or her. I say, in the back of your foot there is a thorn, pull the thorn out and the matter will be settled, there is no need of cold water. How funny the learned people are—professors, doctors—when they speak how the human brain is harmed and make the diagnosis: this person has such and such illness and must have an operation. I do not see anything else but some heating of the brain. About four or five months ago people came to tell me that a doctor's son had a running nose which later gave him complications as puss in the brain and had to be operated on. I told them not to allow him to be operated by any means. If they made a brain operation the certainty of the child's death was 99 %, otherwise he would be healed. They made the operation and the son died. Of course for the doctors the operation was "successful." I say, people make operations in regard to the spiritual as well—they cut certain parts to be healed, but this is no healing. People say that to correct a person, you must call them all kinds of bad names—thief, scoundrel. No, this must not be done. People should not be beaten as they were in the past. Do you think that when these harsh sounds enter a person's ear, you will change him or her? Not in the least. The Law is different. In order to educate a person, you must first educate yourself. If you are bad, all those around you are bad. When a mother conceives a child and starts to get nervous and gossip, I can foretell the kind of child she will bear, I can describe exactly the character and fate of this child. A mother who frets nervously should not think that the child she will bear will be a saint and look after her in her old age. One day this child will have revenge on the mother and say to her it were better she had not born him or her. The same way the disciples will say to their teacher, "It would have been better if you had not taught me." The teacher, in the full sense of the word, should be pure as crystal water, she should be a model in everything; there must not be even any shadow of wavering, double-mindedness or lack of faith. By giving these instructions Christ wants to point out to people the great danger they are exposed to and the great responsibility they assume before Him, if they cripple any souls. Every mother, every teacher who do not know how to bring up children and educate, will be punished. Contemporary people have vague and wrong ideas of God's Laws, of heaven and of the angels. In fact they have no conception of these Laws and of heaven. In the first place, heaven is wisely organized and knows what to do. Between the angels and people there are such interrelations as exist between people, plants and animals. Since you do not know how to teach, you goad the animal that ploughs your field 40-50 times and, by doing that, you think you are fulfilling your duty. God says, "Some day I shall teach you how oxen are driven and how a field is ploughed." Some think that God cannot degrade them, cannot turn them back. I say, if He has turned some angels into snakes and horned animals, He can also put people in a condition of having horns and hoofs. He can turn them into angels, or into devils. He can change the human form. Since forms are of great importance in the world—they regulate our life—we must pay special attention to them. If someone should build you an unsanitary house, without any window to the south, but only to the north, and build it deep in the Earth, do you know how you will feel after living in it for six or seven years? A host of doctors will have to visit your house. The same applies for those teachers who say that you must not have windows in the spiritual world. These teachers are first class liars. In a spiritual sense the Sun is the origin of life. I would even say that your roofs should be made of glass so that the Sunlight should enter from above. If your houses were sun­lit, your forms would change and you would become very beautiful. I can put to an experiment what I am preaching to you, but you also can make an experiment and see what the results will be in four or five years. I am not teaching you to run away from life. The world is very good and people are good, but according to my opinion, I find that people have a thorn in their heels. Even the Apostle Paul says that this is so and prays to God to pull his thorn out. This thorn may be in another place, but it is usually found in the heel, because we are grounded on this earth by our feet. You must try to take this thorn out scientifically because Christianity in my view is a deep science. A young woman wants to marry. She chooses a young man of a nice appearance—a handsome man. She asks, "Can he feed me?" Yes, he can for he has a monthly salary of four or five hundred leva. "What has he studied?" Such and such science. "Well then." Yes, but these things are not essential, this man may be dismissed on the morrow and his money will vanish. If the woman understands this, she must get informed and observe like clairvoyant this heart and mind, to enter his house and see the rooms, his library, see how his books are arranged, then she should see his kitchen and visit the garden of his love, of his compassion, of his justice, see what flowers he has planted and if all this is in order, only then can she say, "Well, I shall marry this man." This is real marriage. The man must do the same. Men and women of today want to exchange their state and discuss the problem who should be man and who a woman; why God has made woman this way, but man a different way. What is wrong with this? In the far past both men and women could bear, but in consequence man lost the ability to bear and this was left only to woman to do. The Bible says, "Abraham bore Isaac." It does not say there that Sarah gave birth. When man gave birth, the world was in an excellent state, but when he stopped bearing, the world went bad. Man must bear and be a good teacher. The mother may bear a child and deposit all the best and noblest qualities in his or her soul, but if the teacher does not cultivate these noble qualities, nothing good can come out of that. Therefore it is necessary for the teacher to give birth. The teacher must not be like that priest who baptized children and they all died. Why? He baptized them when he was not in a fully normal state. He would put the child in the water of the basin and would keep it there longer than necessary, then the child would die. He would say, "Give me another child, this one cannot be baptized." When you baptize as teachers, your mind should be in its place. Baptizing implies depositing the Divine Spirit in the child you are teaching. As a teacher the priest should know the Divine Laws. "But this is what the church says." To baptize a child in water is not baptism yet. Contemporary priests, teachers and judges are professionals working for money, for a pay. According to the true Teaching of Christ, these people are not servants of God, but ordinary workers. The first thing a spiritual teacher should do is to reveal to the student the invisible world, as a mother who conceives must say to the child, "Wait for nine months, if you want me to lead you into a new world, and show you its wonders. By that time you must not move and jump". After nine months when she bears the child, she becomes its first teacher. Later on other teachers will take up the education of that child. They will start from the point which the mother has reached. She leaves her work because the child enters a new region where she or he must have a new teacher. This is what the Scripture means by "a man must be born again." By this sermon I want to make you think about yourselves and not to aspire to be teachers. Why? Because a person suffers of great ignorance. Sit like the merchants to see what funds your inner cash-box disposes of, whether you have an acquaintance in heaven, or if you have sent someone there a letter. You say, "We believe in Christ." Do you know Him? Do you know Paul? Do you know Peter? The church says that we can have no communication with the other world, that it is a sinful thing to do. This is great ignorance. To have communication with the spirits of hell is permissible, but it is sinful to do that with heaven! What an idea! To be in communication with the devil is right, but to be in communication with the saints and talk with them is wrong for it disturbs them! Then why do you disturb the devil? What kind of logic is this? This is a teaching which does not rest on any Laws. As far as I know the first Christians had direct contact with heaven. They had talked with God and the saints that is why they died with such readiness and self-sacrificing spirit. They were not like the present people who say, "Let me die then I shall see it all." When you die you will not see anything. What will you see when a house is torn down and you are buried under it? You will not see anything, but you will wait for people to dig you out of the debris. Christ describes to his disciples the false teachers. Dressed in long robes and wide sleeves, these preached to people, but in reality they had deceived them for which He blamed them. The same thing applies to our times. If Christ should come today, He would say the same thing. He has not changed His mind. Christ is silent, but when He begins to speak and says the Truth, you will be touched so deeply that it will hurt. He will raise the curtain and you will see all delusions. I shall give you two examples out of Greek history. Two sculptors started a competition to prove which one of them was better. One of them made a bunch of grapes which looked just like natural grapes and the birds flew down to peck them. The other sculptured the statue of a beautiful woman and threw a stone veil over her so artistically that the first artist said, "Raise the veil, so I can see the statue!" Thus, the first sculptor deceived the birds, but the second one—a man. I ask you, whom do you want to imitate—the first, or the second? I would prefer the second. You want to appropriate the whole world, but how can you appropriate it without the necessary knowledge for doing that? Knowledge must rest on a spiritual basis. In the spiritual world knowledge is like the steam in a kettle. It has great power. In the spiritual world knowledge is in the same relation to a person as the physical forces. You walk along the streets on Sofia and you see trams, moving here and there, but how is that done? By the help of a rod—an electric current collector. If it drops from the electric wire—the transmitter of electricity—the tram stops at once. Therefore, there must be a certain contact by means of which the tram moves. Have your teachers put the trolley on the wire, have they connected you with the electricity? The mechanism of the human tram may be excellent, but if it is not in contact with the energy, there is no motion in it. In order that your thoughts may act as a moving power, you must contact the spiritual world. Certain abilities are required for this. By the word ability, I understand the form in which certain spiritual power is limited. When the form is spoiled or disjointed, the power may not be manifested anymore. In the central part of the human brain there are regions in which certain abilities are deposited. These abilities are connected with the powers of the spiritual world and are operating. If your trolley is out of place, these forces do not operate. Besides, certain other conditions are required—rails and a tram-driver who understands his or her work. Therefore, many combinations are necessary. And you, as masters, must often make the rounds in your state13 to see if all the workers are in their place and how they are doing their work. You often find fault with the governing body that they are not ruling well. I ask, how is your own government? You call this or that person unwise, but what are you inside? Your judgements on life will be true to the extent you are inwardly right. We say about a person that they are good. In what does their goodness lie? They are polite with you and good to you. No, this does not mean goodness in the least. The day that person is impolite with you, you will call them bad. The good person is always good and the bad person is always bad. Such a one cannot be a saint one day and a rascal on the other. This is unthinkable! You say that the bad person can repent, but do you know how many thousands of years are necessary for that? Does a new-born child become a professor at once? The baby must study at least twelve years before his or her consciousness gradually starts to develop. When the inner spiritual world is well-investigated, then the Laws of Christianity will be understood. Its purpose is to set families right, to create harmony between man and woman, brother and sister, master and servant. People of today do not suffer from the fact that at times they must be a servant, but from the fact that they don't know how to be masters. Dr Mirkovitch, a friend of ours, used to say, "A second time I do not wish to be rich, but to be a servant of some good master." You want to be masters, to have millions, but then you will be the most unhappy people—prisoners in the confines of your money. A million leva on your back is a big burden. You call the rich people lucky and want to deprive them of their burden by putting it on your back. This is a wrong teaching. Would you be compared to that ass carrying icons on its back? When everybody bowed to the icons, it began to kick thinking people were bowing to it. Therefore, if people respect and admire you, that is for the crosses and icons you are carrying. What are these crosses? The virtues. Thank God for putting them on your back. Christ addresses His disciples with the words, "Be not ye called Rabbi." You will say about someone, "I turned her to God." You have done well. If you have taught that person to do good, God will bless you, but if you have crippled her, if you have distorted her mind and heart, what will God say? There will be judgement in heaven—you will be held responsible. How many people have you crippled in this world! Your flock will appear in the other world—some lame, some with sprained arms—they will all tell God what teachers you have been. That will be the actual state of things. Then God will say, "I will fine this teacher ten thousand talents; shut him in prison until he pays the fine." God means what He says. He is kind, good, just, but also serious and strict. He will take hold of the self- appointed teachers, fine them ten thousand talents and add, "Shut them in prison, so they will learn how to teach." And when they have paid their debt, they will become learned and good teachers. Do you know how many years will have passed by that time? This is the way the fallen angels and people are studying now. Now we say that the church does not go well, we want to give it a good example. If this is so, I want you to have the power to change things. Moses took the rod and it turned into a snake. When he took the snake by the tail, it turned into a rod again. You will say, "Well, but that was Moses!" So what? Moses studied with the greatest teachers in Egypt. He was not an unwise man, because God never chooses foolish people as leaders of humanity, or of a nation. Moses had studied for a long time and had passed certain schooling. See how many wonders he performed in front of the Pharaoh! Moses had two wishes: to become a teacher and a savior of the Jewish people. At first he thought that this work was not for him and went into the wilderness where he spent 4o years feeding sheep, in order to expiate for the sin of killing the Egyptian. Do you know what he did in the wilderness? He devoted himself to deep meditations, since he was initiated in all the mysteries of Egypt. For one crime of killing a man, he had to study whole forty years. And during this time he passed a second initiation. I ask, how many years have you fed sheep? Being a shepherd is a great thing. It means being a teacher. Have you come to know your Master? Two thousand years ago your mother, father and grandfather were Christians, but did they know Christ? If you know Him, give the password He has given you. The military people do the same. To admit someone, they should know the password. What is your password, your slogan? The learned people must have some slogan; what is your slogan? "To serve Christ." How do you serve Him? By studying. How will you study? Are you friends of the school? To walk around the school on the outside is one thing, but to be inside the school is quite another thing. Where are your school notebooks, your school certificates? You have no certificates, but you want to be teachers! The same applies to some priests and bishops—they have no certificates either. By living in such delusions you want the Kingdom of God to come to earth! The Kingdom of God is coming now and reveals all the muddy things of humanity! Contemporary nations want to defend their cause by war. Defend the Justice of God's Kingdom! Every nation must have as much land as it deserves. The same thing applies to every person. Now ask yourselves earnestly: Do you know Christ? I do not want your answer now, if you can give it up to one year, it will be a blessing for you. You may say, "We saw Christ." Paul saw Him and heard His voice, "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?" He said, "Who are you, Lord?" Have you heard your Master? When you raise a dispute or a scandal in the temple of God, do you not persecute Christ like Saul? Then Christ will say to you, as He did to Paul, "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me? It is not easy to kick against the pricks." Paul realized his mistake and God said to him, since you did this in your ignorance, I shall send you to the pagans to learn your lesson." There he received three times 39 blows on his back. This is the way God beats only those who are of mature age. He never beats the children, only those who are thirty-three years old—the age of Christ. After you receive thirty-nine blows, you will rise. You must endure these blows. When a blacksmith wants to make a knife, or some other instrument, he also uses blows. You are on the anvil and God is forging you. In reality, He does not beat you, but says, "I want to make a knife out of this material, or a plough or a pen." If you are a bad person, He will make a knife out of you to kill the bad people, but if you are good, He will make a pen out of you that some writer may hold you in their hand. The pen a writer is writing with has greater intelligence than the plough by which people plough the Earth. You will say that there is no intelligence in iron. Yes, but it also gets tired. Take a shaving knife, for instance after it is sharpened, it works, but after some work, it also gets tired, i.e. it gets blunt. Everything gets tired. An Englishman, after some observation, noticed that the machines also get tired— everything in the world gets tired. When a machine gets exhausted, it begins to emit a special sound and the machine operator says, "The machine must rest!" In people also, according to the same Law, the same reaction takes place—they get weary and want to rest for at least a week, after which they can start work again. Everything requires its time for work and for rest. Notice how plants develop, how caterpillars are hatched and you will understand the Law. Your thought may have the form of a caterpillar or of a butterfly. In order to succeed in life a person should only have one idea. This is partly true and partly untrue. One may have more ideas as well, but these ideas must be noble. People put blinkers on the side of the horses' eyes that they should look only forward and not be frightened by side influences. In this sense it is good for one to have such blinkers, i.e. to be looking forward to a single idea, but to a noble one. If you cannot have many noble ideas, have at least one and let it be your target, which can uplift and save you. You say, "Christ saved us." He did not only save us, but what is more, He atoned for our sins. Atonement has its bad side, however. Why? Because when an evil person wants to take advantage of the benefits given them, they can always draw a wrong conclusion about things. This is why knowledge should not be entrusted into the hands of ignorant people. When I say this, I have reincarnation in view. It contains a great danger for those who interpret it in the wrong way. For instance, a caterpillar, which has about a hundred legs and creeps on the trees, may say, "I do not need a philosophy and a green leaf is enough for me." However, one day it makes a cocoon and hides in it; after some time it comes out as a butterfly and says, "Now I do not need any leaves, I need flowers to suck their nectar and fragrance." Therefore, in order to enter the spiritual world, you should take off the skin you are covered by like caterpillars. In case you do not take it off, in the spiritual world you will occupy the space of a single leaf and you will understand that world as much as a caterpillar does. I want you to enter the spiritual world, but I ask you, "Are you hatched?" When you enter the spiritual world, you will understand the meaning of the ox, the ass, the wolf, the dove, the fox, and so on. A great idea is deposited in every form, existing in the physical world, and those who make out this idea will understand the meaning of things in the world. You wonder why the wolf has sharp teeth, but that does not mean anything— they are in place. The porcupine has prickles, but they were created only for strategic purposes—so it defends itself from the snake, or from some other creature that wants to harm it. It takes the snake by the tail and starts eating it slowly, until it is all swallowed up during which time it protects itself by its prickles. After some time the porcupine will change too. You may ask how it will be changed. Do you know your form in the spiritual world? In the Bible there is a verse in which God calls Jacob a worm. You will say it is used in a figurative sense. Christ on His part calls his followers sheep. Do you know what the word sheep means? The sheep represent all those souls in whom the spirits live and as the sheep in this world provide us with milk and wool, by the same Law, the souls provide a person with the necessary milk and wool. Try this Teaching! Why are you in this world? Put your mind to action. The first thing you must learn is to cast out all doubt from your mind so that you can make contact with the spiritual world. If you can project your mind, your friends will come to your aid immediately. What is your heart? If you make it very hot, you will be able to bake on it any thought you want. If your heart does not have the necessary beat, it will fail of itself. It depends on the heart how you can send your petition, or your prayer. Someone says, "I prayed." Yes, but I see that your prayer has remained some forty centimeters above your head. You will pray five, ten, or a hundred times from the depth of your heart, until you succeed in sending your petition to God. And when it comes into His ears, He will answer you. How can He answer a petition which has not reached Him? When you pray, you must be so concentrated that you should forget everything around yourself; you must rise in your thought so high that nothing should engage it except your prayer. I ask you, is the hearth of your heart and your mind so hot that they may send the prayers up high? "But there are naughty children around me." That does not matter—God has sent them to the Earth to be taught good behavior, since they had not lived peacefully in heaven, they were degraded.14 God does not want people to make noise in heaven. On the Earth they will learn to plough, to dig to make shoes and after a time, when they learn their lesson, they may become even royal sons and daughters. Before you enter heaven, you will pass before an examining committee which will ask you what your feelings and ideas are, what is your compassion, your love for your fellows, for God and a number of other questions. Christ is already coming to earth. The books of life will be opened and people will be judged. The verdict will determine whether they deserve to pass to an upper class, i.e. to enter heaven. Everyone will be given what they are worthy of. Christ turns to you also and says, "One is your Master." Who is He? Christ. I want all of you to remember this Master, Who came two thousand years ago to redeem you from your sins. And you are still looking for Him! Has Christ written down His name in your soul, in your heart at least once? If He has, you are blessed; but if He has not, try to meet Him and ask Him to write down His name. And when He writes it down, do not blow a trumpet and boast about it saying, "Christ signed His name in our notebook." No, this is not necessary for the Earth, but for heaven. When you go there, the angels will stop you and say, "Take out your notebook!" If the Lord has put His signature in it, they will say, "You are free to enter." Then Christ, the saints and your older and younger siblings will meet you with palm branches. Great will be their joy that you have gone to them. In the Pythagorean school there was a rule that every new disciple should pass through the test of mockery the first year and those who endured the mockery were admitted as disciples. Christ also has sent people to earth to mock you, saying, "This person wants to become a saint—they are off their mind; they are somewhat crazy," and so on. This is the system of Pythagoras for admitting disciples. If you can endure these mockeries, know that you have passed the test. Only in this way will you be accepted as disciple. However, if the attacks make you flare up and say, "Are you going to mock me? I shall show you who I am!"—that is the end of you! "My husband is bad." How do you know that he is not placed there by the commission on purpose, to test you? Endure a year, pass the test and then God will say to your husband, "You must no longer mock and obstruct your wife." Much time will not pass until he becomes soft as a lamb. When? When you have endured all. I am speaking about the outer side of Christ's Teaching. I am giving you these thoughts to help you distinguish the false things from the noble ones. When the Teaching of Christ enters you, it will raise you and you will begin to know people and see their souls. Two people meet and start talking, "I am a Christian. Do you believe in Christ?" If you are Christians, you need not ask each other about it. The mere asking of this question shows that there is not any Christianity in this person. I need not ask what a flower is; if I smell it I shall know whether it is a rose or a carnation. My nose is in its place. If your sense of smell is dull or paralyzed, or if you are blind and you cannot see, you may ask then. But if all you senses are sound, it is enough for you to smell or to see a flower and tell what it is. The same way every soul expresses itself outwardly by its acts. I see many of you as carnations that are in bud yet. These buds promise a blossoming in the future. I do not want you only to blossom, but to go to seed and to ripen as well. The angels will come to you as bees and fructify the blossoms in your soul. If you blossomed up, you will be in contact with them. This is a deep science and how many more things you have to study! Not a single, but ten lectures at least are necessary for me to tell you all about these things. They are very tiring and you will say in the end that they are not interesting and will fall asleep. You are right, for you are not yet ready for this knowledge. A time will come when you will be ready. If you eat too much honey and overeat, you will be fed up with it. Why? Because you will be satiated with it. You are friends with a good person, constantly drawing (knowledge and inspiration) from them, but all of a sudden you say, "Away with this person, I cannot bear to see them any longer!" Why? You have overeaten. You should have been given less honey and stayed friends with this person such a long time as would be pleasant to you. The same way you should not give a dish-full of honey to a person, but a spoonful so that they will not overeat. A Bulgarian proverb says, "It is too much of a good thing" or "being too saintly is not pleasant to God either." You read the same book until you get tired of it. Read a single verse instead and stop on it in meditation. You read, "God is Love"—start thinking in what way God is Love and try to feel this Love in yourself. It must not be as when we eat an apple, or the cat eats up a mouse. For me, to love you means to enter you and for you to love me is to enter me. What do you do with your loved friend? You take their picture and put it at a prominent place. I say, a person's heart represents the astral world, their mind—the spiritual world. If you raise your mind to a certain height—that is the spiritual world. What takes place in the brain is a reflection of the spiritual world. Every noble thought is a form in the spiritual world. Thoughts differ in form and content. When a noble thought visits you, it creates joy and happiness. And when you raise your mind and heart to Christ, He will take you by the hand and lead you into the Divine garden to the spring of Love that you may taste of it. This will be the happiest moment in your life. When you enter there, you should not say, "Let my husband come along with me." No, everyone must enter that place alone and not intercede for anyone else. Everyone must have a deep desire to enter alone into this garden. The capable will be assisted to enter, but those who are incapable, crippled, should stay out of it until they are healed. This world is for the people of infirmities, but those who will enter the school must be pure—purity in thinking and feeling is necessary, also complete selflessness, self-denial is essential. This is the highest state one can reach which means you have passed the test. Now, the first thing required of you is purity in thoughts and desires and unwavering faith that what God has said will be. When you put God in front of everything you do, you should not ask if you would succeed. You may be a teacher, a judge, a priest or a farmer, but if you are fulfilling your duty, there is no power in the world that can obstruct you. You will have many hindrances, many troubles and trials, but they are necessary for your growth. The sufferings sent to you are a blessing for you. Now, I want the thought of knowing your Master, Christ, to remain with you. When you come to know your real Father, then the angels and the world will be your siblings—not one or two, but thousands. For thousands of years they will take you around their abodes in heaven. There are pleasant things, long walks, model schools, new suns, new beings. And how many more things there are in heaven! Then you will say, "Now we understand the deep sense of life, why we must live." This will happen when you have only one Master, in case you have many teachers, you will not learn anything. A child cannot have two mothers. The same way, a person cannot have more than one real Master. If you should say you have two masters, I shall think that you are deceiving both me and God. In the physical world there is one mother, in the spiritual world—one Master, in the Divine—one Father, Who is the Lord. Therefore, you have three in all. On the Earth—the Mother, among angels—the Master and among gods—God. When you pass through these three, only then each one of you will understand the deep sense of life, i.e. the inner side of present life, and you will bear with joy and singing all sufferings; there will be no troubles in life for you and all matters between men and women, between parents and children, between all nations will be set right. Then you will not ask one another, "What will happen with the Bulgarian nation?" If all Bulgarians turn to God, I can guarantee that everything will be in complete order. But if they still have their present heads, they will receive thirty-nine whips with the rod. The same is true for Germany, France, and England—for all nations. God beats all in turn without exception. All people, societies and nations on earth must fulfill the will of our Master, of our Father! I believe that you will all desire to fulfill it and have started on a clean slate, saying like the prodigal son, "Father, forgive us for eating and drinking up all you gave us, but from now on we shall not do this, receive us as servants in your house." Be sure that your Father will cross out everything, clothe you in a new garb and kill the fatted calf for the feast at His home, because His prodigal child has returned. He will put a new ring on your hand, bless you and say, "Come one, my child, go to school and start studying anew!" Sermon held on December 7, 1914 in Sofia. ____________________________ 11 Matt. 23:8 12. (hist.) a title of high military and civic rank in the Ottoman Empire (ed. note). 13. Metaphorical reference to our mastery over the cells and organs in our body as well as over our thoughts and feelings (ed. note). 14. Degraded in the meaning of reduced in rank (ed. note).