Ani

I. Calmness and a Good Disposition Create the Best Condition to Accept the Benefits of the Air Man, at the time of breathing exercises, must be free of any disturbances, fears, excitement or worry. The Master gives the following: When man begins to do breathing exercises, he must be calm. He must think that everything in the world is well and that the correct rational thinking is in the air. Never let your mind be possessed by negative thoughts and feelings. Before you go to bed in the evening, breathe fifteen minutes with thankfulness. Then when you go to bed you will have a very restful sleep. When you are breathing, keep in your mind the best thoughts you can. During the breathing do not occupy yourself with the faults of others. Keep in your mind the best people you have met during life. Think about the trees, the flowers, the pure fountains that bubble as sources for the brooks and then you will accept the best benefits of the air. If you see a very beautiful plant, immediately photograph it in your mind. If you see a brook a mountain or a rock, also photograph it in your mind. Retain these pictures in your memory and they will bring nice thoughts and actions. Don't keep thoughts in your mind about some broken instrument or quarrelling people. If you keep negative pictures in your mind, your breathing will not be correct. It requires the best disposition of your spirit and the best thinking. If you inhale air and your mind is full of negative thoughts, you are poisoning yourself and you are not able to accept vital energies from Nature. Every bad disposition, feeling, desire or action destroys the breathing process. Then man loses the intimate contact with the benefits which penetrate the air.

HELMHOLZ’ LAW If we hang a guitar on the wall and sing the tone "la" opposite it, the air waves which are generated from our singing will strike all the strings of the guitar, but only one will respond with the tone "la." This is Helmholz’ Law. This law is important for all areas of life. It also has application to breathing. As the other strings of the guitar are responsive to overtones of the tone "la," they go higher and higher. This is important because we resonate with the higher waves of the overtones. If we are in harmony with them then we can absorb them. This idea may be made clear by the example of the antenna of a radio station. We tend to accept those waves with a definite length, for example 350 meters, then our station will receive only the wave which is 350 meters and will not respond to other waves which are also present. If you arrange your thoughts, you can receive the higher waves of Nature. How must we adjust our personal apparatus (our brain) to receive the higher energies which penetrate the air? If you are thinking negatively, you will attract from the air corresponding negative thoughts. How can you adjust your reception? Man needs to be conscious of the breathing process to know that he is absorbing all the vital energies of the air, including highly elevated thoughts. According to this law, if we use our consciousness, everything is much better, and our understanding and acceptance much fuller.

The Psychic Condition and Its Importance at Breathing Exercises The Golden Rule All our attention and concentration should be brought to participate during the breathing exercise. Otherwise it becomes very mechanical and we are not connected with the vital energies of the air. Conscious breathing during our exercise is most important. Our conscious mind must take part. This is the golden rule. Only in this way do we benefit. Participation of our consciousness means involvement of our thinking, our feeling, our will and our love. Through our thinking we are accepting more light in the process because the air is infused with the light which represents God's thoughts. Light is food for man. Feelings and emotions also create the condition for the absorption and to be as a food for man's organism. The will is also necessary because it activates man and gives him self-confidence. But through love we reach to know God. In the presence of love our consciousness is raised and is open to accept the benefits from the air.

Methods for Fortifying Spring Breathing Through all seasons you should practice deep breathing, but especially in the springtime when the air is rich with prana or vital energy. At this time of the year if you miss the flow of prana it cannot be recaptured in other seasons. Of the four seasons, the peak of the flow is in the spring, in the morning time. Here is advice from the teacher: To apply deep breathing, use the early morning hours when the air is full of prana. As I observe the walking pace of young people, I see they seem prematurely old because they don't apply correct breathing. While man is on this earth he has to think feel, move and act with deep breathing. As soon as spring arrives, he has to go out and take a walk every morning as early as possible. In fresh air, far away from the city's dust and smog, he should devote one hour of full breathing and exercise and gymnastics before resuming his daily work It is better to do this out-of-doors than in your room. First prepare your body, then begin your work. If you want to cure yourself in a natural way you have to use the months of April, May and June when Nature is rich in vital energy. When people don't use this natural way of curing themselves, they fall down in a situation like this they walk through water, but they are thirsty. If man knew how to use the energy of Nature, he could save himself from suffering. Wherever he goes he will bring something to refresh others and into whatever home he goes they will wait for him with impatience and with joy. Man must absorb magnetic energy from Nature and give it to his neighbors. Man breathes not only through his lungs, but through his skin. Therefore it is important that his pores be open. This is possible through bathing. (Summertime you can use the sun's water at noontime.) This can also be done through drinking boiled water. Here is what the Master gives. The first thing a disciple must do is to open his pores. This can be done by drinking hot water, causing him to perspire. One whose pores of the skin are open feels a very pleasant coolness. A magic power is hidden in the water and without it no culture can exist. Contemporary people drink water as their grandparents did. What is the meaning of drinking water for the whole organism? When we drink boiled water the residues in the organism are dissolved and a process of purification occurs. Second, water is a good channel of magnetism, about which contemporary man knows nothing. To improve the digestive system and to open the pores, it is good for you in the spring to perspire freely twice a week by drinking several cups of hot water in which you have put several drops of lemon juice. As you perspire well, take a wet towel and rub the body, then pat yourself with a dry towel and dress with clean clothes. Then drink another cup of hot water to replace the heat lost during perspiration.

Springtime Deep Breathing Make the springtime useful for deep breathing.

Breathing Through One or Both Nostrils Electromagnetic currents radiate from the whole body of man. The rays emitting from the eyes, ears, nose and fingers are much longer and are different in color and character on the right side of the body than the left side. The left nostril accepts more magnetic (or negative) current, which is connected with the solar plexus, and the right nostril is predominently electric (or positive) current, which is connected with the frontal brain. The first, magnetic current, is connected with the heart and the second, with the intellect. There is an ebb and flow of the two currents. In some cases, man has more flow in the intellect, and sometimes there is a bigger flow in the heart. The Master said the following: When there is flow in the intellect, there is an ebb in the flow to the heart, and vice versa. When you say, "I am dumb, my brain doesn't work any more," no, this doesn't show that your brain is dumb; just that at this time there is more flow in the heart. When you say there is no flow in the brain you experience anemptiness. Other times you say, "I am a very intelligent man. My intellect is working very hard, but my heart is very weak." This is because you have a flow in the brain and an ebb in the heart. This is why you are insensible. When you have one side predominating, either your intellect or your heart, then you can bring balance between the two through regulation of these two currents by breathing through one or the other nostril If you inhale air through the left nostril, the right one has to be closed with your finger. Then change and inhale through the right and exhale through the left. Inhaling air through the left nostril has a connection with the development of the heart. Then we exhale through the right nostril. But if we inhale the air through the right nostril, connected with the intellect, then the exhalation has to be done through the left nostril. This exercise is necessary to renew the balance between the intellect and the heart, or between the electric and magnetic currents. If one of these currents becomes overwhelming, it breaks the regular breathing and then breathing is not full. Then you have to breathe through one nostril. Inhaling through the right nostril activates the intellect and breathing through the left nostril activates the emotions and the heart. But natural breathing is through the two nostrils. The Master gives the following exercises: When you are nervous or angry, do this exercise. Cover with your thumb the right nostril and inhale through the left nostril to the count of seven. Then retain the air to the count of ten. Then close the left nostril and exhale slowly and rhythmically to the count of nine. This exercise is helpful to regulate nervous agitation, to calm the brain and also to reinforce the memory. It is very important when you are studying some subject. Morning and noon before eating inhale through the left nostril and exhale through the right. In the evening you inhale through the right nostril and exhale through the left. This exercise should be done twenty-one times through the day, seven times each in the morning, noon and evening. When this exercise is correctly done you will experience a very pleasant disposition. Another similar exercise by the Master it is good to inhale air first through the left nostril as you count mentally ten to fifteen, then to close the left nostril, retaining the air in the lungs for thirty to forty seconds, then slowly and rhythmically to exhale through the right nostril. This exercise should be done three or four times a day. It is useful for those who are occupied with an intellectual work. These exercises preferably should be done outside in the fresh air and not indoors. In the mental world, when you construct a building you always make two doors, one for the entrance and another for exiting. The same is true for our body, our nose. When we want to take a deep breath of air, close your right nostril with your hand, inhale through the left, retain the air for a certain time, then open your right nostril and slowly exhale. In this way you form two opposite currents. When you are sick or disturbed, do this exercise while thinking positive thoughts. For thirteen days you can do the following exercise: Inhale air through the left nostril, with the right closed, and mentally pronounce this formula: "Only God's love is love." Retain the air in your lungs and then open your right nostril, closing your left, and slowly exhale the air, pronouncing the same formula. Do this three times a day, morning, noon and evening when you have time and are in a good disposition. Each time you do this, repeat it ten times. Another similar exercise from the Master: Inhale air through the left nostril, slow and deep, retaining, then exhale slowly through the right nostril. Then reverse, inhaling through the right nostril, retaining and exhaling through the left nostril. This is to be done ten times a day.

Position of the Spinal Cord During Breathing Exercises The position of the spinal cord is very important during breathing exercises - it should be straight. This has two meanings: First, it has a direct touch to the energy of the sun and absorbs it easier, and second, a straight spinal cord makes possible deep breathing. If the spinal cord is curved, then breathing is shallow.

Position of the Body During Breathing Exercises One can do breathing exercises in three positions of the body laying down, sitting, or standing, with a straight body. When one is prone, one is more connected with the Earth's energy of the physical world. When one is sitting, one is connected with the spiritual world through one's sympathetic nervous system, and when one is breathing standing up one is involving the front lobes of the brain.

How Many Times Daily Must We Do Breathing Exercises? Special breathing exercises should be done three times a day - morning, noon and evening. For the beginner, it is good to begin with six exercises three times a day. Later he can increase the number of breaths. It is also advisable to stop for a minute during the day and take one deep breath. In this way the breathing process becomes gradually more regular, deep and rhythmical. Don't neglect the morning hours - at the rising of the sun at dawn there is a new flow of prana. In the summer time the breathing exercises are better done in the open air and in the fall and winter it is better in a well-ventilated room with an open window. This should also be done before eating. If you are unable to do them until after eating, wait an hour or two.

PREPARATORY EXERCISES FOR DEEP, RHYTHMICAL BREATHING When a you begin doing systematic exercises of deep, rhythmical breathing it is advisable to do several preparatory breathing exercises. For example: Take one deep breath and then exhale while pronouncing a short sentence. In the beginning, start with a very short sentence, but gradually you can increase it. After several deep breaths, you should pronounce parts of the whole sentence without taking air in between. One practical rule: It is good before beginning breathing exercises for a man to take a deep breath while relaxing all his organs, including his arms, hands and legs. This facilitates the following breathing exercises.

TWO BASIC RULES FOR BREATHING In breathing, we must observe the following two basic rules: 1. Exhaling must always be done with the lungs full of air. This rule is very important for the health of man. 2. Breathing must always be through the nose; never through the mouth. The Master says: Man must inhale and exhale the air through the nose, not through the mouth. God inhales life through the nostrils and not through the mouth. When man breathes through the nose he thinks well and when he breathes well he is healthy. Guard your nose against the cold so the nostrils will not get congested. What does this rule mean? Inhaling and exhaling should be through the nose. The air which passes through the nasal cavities becomes warm. The moisture of the tissue in the cavities filters out the dust that is in the air. In this way the air is purified and warmed as it enters the lungs. People who breathe through the nose are less sick from colds in their throat and lungs. But breathing through the nose has another meaning, a deeper meaning, in connection with the mental and spiritual development of man. It is obvious that people who breathe through their mouth delay their mental development. If one is accustomed to breathing through his mouth, he must change and free himself of this bad habit. If he breathes through his mouth because of a cold, he has to restore nasal breathing. There is a connection between the breathing system of man and the width of the nose. The way of breathing affects the width of the nose. The Master says: As much as we develop our breathing system and our blood circulation, the nostrils will be healthy and have a healthy width. If the breathing system is not well developed, that much we are nervous and irritable, and the nose and nostrils are narrow. This is explained as follows. When your lungs are welldeveloped, you accept a larger quantity of air which passes through the nose and gradually increases its width. If you notice that your nose is becoming thinner, begin immediately to breathe deeply. A healthy man has a nose three centimeters wide. If this measurement becomes smaller, it is a bad sign. When I say three centimeters, I consider the following condition: We have to take into account one's stature and age. This measurement is only for a man sixty-five centimeters tall, healthy and twenty-one years of age.

THE RHYTHM OF BREATHING The rhythm of breathing means repeating the same intervals of inhaling, retaining and exhaling of air. Everything done rhythmically is not tiring. When work is done with rhythm, it obtains a musical character and becomes more effective and more powerful in influence. For example, some German physicists, Schredinger, Kaisenberg and Jordan, succeeded in bringing down the stone stairs through playing a special music for a long time. Using rhythm we can overcome the greatest obstacles spending less energy. When deep breathing is practiced rhythmically it becomes much easier, especially when man practices several times a day. When we exercise deep, rhythmical breathing for a long time, it becomes automatic and subconscious. The muscles in the nerve centers which direct the breathing process become accustomed to the deep breathing and day and night the organism breathes this way.

THE TEMPO OF BREATHING With deep, rhythmical breathing, we have to consider the following: Inhaling must be slow and deep, retaining. When man begins to learn deep breathing, he must not retain the air a long time. He can gradually increase the retention time. Exhaling must also be done slowly. The Master gives this instruction: Breathe deeply, calmly and slowly if you want your affairs to go well. If you breathe fast as if an enemy is chasing you, this speed will not help you to arrange your affairs. Retaining the air is of importance. It must be done slowly so the lungs can utilize the necessary elements of the air. While you retain air, the organism must have enough time to receive not only the oxygen, but the prana, and time to absorb the even more refined energies which penetrate the air. Those who do not appreciate the importance of retaining the air should make his own experiment and he will see the rejuvenating and rehabilitating effects. Experimenting is the best method for verification. Here is some light the Master gives regarding this: In general, man must have some sensible conduct in everything he does. /4s he breathes correctly, he has a conscious relationship with air. If he doesn't breathe correctly, he doesn't have it. How often does man inhale in a minute? The ordinary man who does not breathe properly inhales twenty times a minute. Whoever is interested can calculate how many times a man inhales in an hour, in twenty-four hours, and he will see how much is expended by Nature for you. When you study the breathing of man and the breathing of animals, you will see they have a different tempo. Man breathes with one tempo and animals with another. If man loses the tempo and his breathing falls into the tempo of the animals, he will have bestial qualities. If he breathes as the animals, man can never have superior thoughts. He can never think as a man if he breathes as an animal. When you study the tempo of man's breathing, you have to observe the breathing of the ordinary man, of the talented man, of the genius and of the saint. A good man breathes in a different way from a bad one. You have to know the different ways in which man breathes. If you want to be a good person, you have to breathe as a good person. Breathing is a measure to define the level of development. Proper breathing depends on the quantity of air and its retention. As much as man retains the air in his lungs, that much he is strong. If man wants to know how strong he is, he must look to the length of time of his retention of air. On this depends his health and longevity. Do you know what kinds of achievements a man could enjoy if his lungs contained pure air? He will achieve more if he learns to retain air in his lungs longer. Some Hindus can retain air in their lungs for half an hour. But for a man to achieve certain success through exercises, he must start gradually by retaining the air for twenty seconds and each day increase by one or two seconds. If he can achieve prolonging the time of retaining the air, man could easily resolve all his difficulties and contradictions. They will melt as ice. He who can retain air a long time is a rich man. Wealth comes to him and he is able to open and close the doors of his life. He who does not exercise in deep breathing can begin to retain the air for only two or three seconds and increase one or two seconds every day. In one month he will be able to retain the air for thirty seconds. If he could retain the air for thirty seconds, this man will be able to improve his well-being. Headaches, sicknesses of the chest and stomach problems, all these will disappear. The Master gives the following exercises: If man makes three inhalations in one minute, it is healthy. As he increases the depth of his breathing, he increases his chances to be healthy. To be healthy he must make one inhalation in twenty seconds, retain the breath for twenty seconds and one exhalation in twenty seconds - a total of sixty seconds. The breathing of all impatient people is irregular. The breathing of patient people is deep. When man begins to breathe fast it is not a good sign. It is good for him to learn how to retain the air for more time. As man becomes more calm, his breathing becomes more deep and with more ease. For the ordinary man one inhalation takes three seconds - one to inhale, one to retain and one to exhale. This makes twenty breaths in one minute. If he takes three inhalations per minute or even two inhalations per minute, this is only for those who are very advanced in their breathing. In general, it is desirable for man to do breathing exercises and try to retain the air longer. If a man wants to progress in his deep breathing, he has to work toward five or even three or two inhalations per minute. The man advanced in deep breathing could even make one inhalation per minute. The breathing must be done in a flowing line, which means with ease and not abruptly. When he lessens the count of inhalations per minute, his life is prolonged, and vice versa. He who breathes fast lives a short life. Animals live a short life because their breathing is fast. Those who inhale twentytwo to twenty-five times a minute will live to twenty-five to thirty years, and those who breathe slowly and with ease could reach seventy-five to one hundred and twenty years. Through constant exercise, man has to strive to reach the following during the day, if he doesn't practice special breathing exercises, he must strive to breathe deeply, slowly and rhythmically.

WHAT IS DEEP BREATHING? Contemporary people breathe shallowly and fast. We know that the lungs contain more than 3,500 cubic inches, and in some cases as much as 4,200 cubic inches. Even in deep breathing there are about 800 cubic inches of air retained in the lungs. In this way the new air that is inhaled which is cold is mixed with the old warm air and thereby the lungs are protected from the cold air. During man's ordinary breathing, since it is very shallow and fast, he inhales and exhales about 300-500 cubic inches of air and the lungs retain much more of the "old" air. How is it thus possible for man to be healthy, vigorous and have an alert mind? With this shallow breathing, the amount of prana is deficient and he ages prematurely. With shallow breathing, very often the old air remains in the lung and the lung loses its optimum life and function and is susceptible to illness. Fast and shallow breathing affects not only the man's physical health, but his psychic health. He loses the good conditions for the correct development of his mind, emotions and will. During shallow breathing, some impurities remain in the lung and this is a good basis for sickness. When we breathe deeply the air penetrates much deeper into the lungs and pushes out the impure air. As long as we breathe deeply we absorb and retain air which penetrates into the lungs and we derive more prana. When we breathe slowly the lungs are infused with the new air and the blood penetrates into the capillaries, supplying them with the new air. It is known that when we exhale, we can never exhale all of the old air. Some of it always remains. But with deep and slow breathing, the absorbed air has enough time to penetrate into all parts, even to the ends of the lungs, and push out a great part of the old air so that all unnecessary unclean particles are exhaled. Despite the fact that we cannot empty our lungs of all air, we have to make an effort to expel as much as possible. This enables us to inhale a greater quantity of air, and the exchange will be more fulfilling. There are three kinds of breathing: upper, middle and lower. We don't recommend them as separate because the lungs do not participate fully. We recommend the deep, full breath because the whole lung, upper, middle and lower can participate. This is how deep breathing is done. We mentioned before that the diaphragm in its natural form is convex and extends a little upward. When we exhale it becomes concave and a little flatter in order to liberate space for the chest. When it goes down it presses on the intestines and other organs of the abdomen causing them to come forward. This is what happens in the process of deep breathing. First the abdomen comes forward and then the chest expands to fill the lungs with fresh air. Then the diaphragm relaxes, comes upward, the abdomen flattens and the lungs are squeezed as we exhale. Therefore, in deep breathing, we have to feel the contraction and expansion of the diaphragm. The Master says when you begin to breathe deeply, in order to facilitate it, you must free yourself from all clothes which constrict, because it will prevent the expansion.

THE INTERNAL SIDE OF BREATHING Up to now we have spoken of the external side of breathing. New research speaks of the processes of the organism, explaining that it cannot be spoken of only in a mechanical way. It is known that the organism penetrates the etheric body, which is the place of the vital life force. Even in ancient times it was known that this life force - or "Prana" - penetrates the air and the organism. Maxwell explained this point of view in Medicina Magnetica, printed in 1679. His book explains the basic precepts of Prana in twelve points. Later, the nature scientist Mesmer used these twelve points of Maxwell's. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the existence of prana is already a scientific fact. Prana is called by various names. Mesmer called it living magnetism. Someone else called it living rays. Raichenbach called it OD, or OD rays. Lakovsky called it radiation. Gurvich called it Mitogen rays. Prana is the architect and the builder of all forms. On its quantity depends the health of the organism. If an organism which has a tendency to sickness will accept a greater quantity of prana, it will feel refreshed, and even be healed. That prana is a great health factor is proven by Dr. Gaston Durville. He made experiments with a plant "Rosesanca" (Fraxinella). Every day he put his hands upon this plant with his fingers toward it, and after a certain time he saw that its growth exceeded that of the other plants. In this way the doctor concluded that the radiation from his fingers had increased the life force of the plant. Gurvich put the top of an onion root facing another onion root and observed that the plant exposed to the radiation began to increase its growth. It was noticed that the division of the cells was much faster. This means that through the air the mitogen rays pass from one to another. If a child falls down and is hurt, the mother comes and caresses the painful spot with her hand. Similarly, if a man hurts himself, he instinctively touches the hurt with his hand so the pain will begin to subside. The healthy condition of the organs involves many things. One is the quantity of life force or prana. We receive prana from food, water, air, light, etc. We will especially look for the connection with breathing. A single-minded mechanical approach to breathing becomes difficult when we have to speak about the prana which penetrates the air. Here is what the Master has to say about the life force in the air: Man needs to breathe, not only to accept air, but to feed his etheric body. The air consists of a special energy, called by the Hindus, prana. Other scientists call it life-giving electricity or life-giving magnetism. You go to the mountain not only for fresh air, but for prana and lifegiving electricity and magnetism. The lungs best accept prana from the air in the early morning. When man absorbs the prana into his lungs, it spreads throughout the whole body and brings strength, life, health and renewal to all organs. In conclusion, the strength of man comes through breathing, not only because he absorbs oxygen, which is necessaiy for oxygenating the tissues, but because he accepts and absorbs life-giving energies. This is very wellexplained by two points: 1) Strength comes from the lungs. A strong man is one who can breath correctly. If a man cannot breathe correctly, he cannot be a strong man. Healthy people have broad lungs and breathe deeply from the chest to the back, filling the entire chest cavity. There is a relationship between the digestive system and breathing. When the stomach is healthy, the lungs are healthy. When a person eats correctly, he breathes correctly. As he breathes correctly, his thinking is correct. Thus there is a relationship between eating, breathing and thinking. As the processes of digestion and breathing are, so will the process of thinking be. This means that the strength of a man comes not only from eating food. To be strong he must know how to utilize the air which he breathes. 2) To study breathing in depth, we have to know that the air is not only penetrated by life force, but with psychic energies. Thoughts of a low character are emitted through the air, but spiritual thoughts are emitted through the etheric waves which penetrate the air. Even thoughts of a superior character penetrate the more refined mediums which exist in the air. Let us take a few words to explain this. We know that a man's thoughts can be immediately broadcast psychically, like radio waves. This explains telepathic broadcasting. Through different scientific experiments telepathy has been explained. It must be accepted that radio waves come through the air, and therefore we conclude that thoughts of a more superior nature, as God's thoughts, can be received when our frequencies are on the same wave length. This is even mentioned in the Bible passage, "God inhaled and gave life and man became a living soul." This is to speak about life-creating rational forces which man accepts by breathing the air. This is the interior side of breathing.

MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN BREATHING What do we know about the structure of the lungs and the mechanics of breathing? The lungs have two wings, of which the left one has two sections and the right one has three. Below the epiglottis, the trachea divides into two tubes called bronchi. The bronchi spread out into many branches whose endings contain small balloon-like structures called alveoli. There are between 1,700 and 1,800 million alveoli in the lungs. Their purpose is to increase the surface area through which air enters into the blood. Indeed, since the lung has such a small area, these alveoli help it to expand to an area of 150 to 200 square meters. The lungs and heart are situated in the chest, which is divided from the abdomen by a muscle called the diaphragm. The lung is covered with double tissues called pleura, one of which covers the inside surface of the chest and the other the lungs. Between these two pleura there is liquid which prevents friction between the lung tissue and the surrounding tissue during inhalation and exhalation. The diaphragm expands forward and slightly upward on inhalation, and contracts downward on exhalation, which then liberates the space for further expansion of the lung during the next breath. It is known that air is a mixture of 20% oxygen, 79% nitrogen, a small amount of water vapor, carbon dioxide, argon, a few microbes and dust, etc. Surrounding each alveolus is a mesh of capillaries, which are the tiniest branches of the arteries. Because the alveoli and the capillaries have very thin walls, they allow an exchange of gases between the inhaled air and the blood in the capillaries. We know from physiology that the red blood cells absorb the oxygen and nitrogen from the air, thus oxygenating the hemoglobin. The blood which comes into the lungs through the tissues of the capillaries and the alveoli, then throws off in the space of the lungs carbon dioxide and water vapor. There are continuously two processes of destruction and construction in the organism. The carbon dioxide and water vapor are the end products of destruction. When the blood of the lungs goes to the cells of the body, it brings its oxygenated hemoglobin to the tissues. There the red blood cells release the oxygen so the tissues become oxidized. This oxidation produces burning which destroys the organic substance in the tissue. In this process of destruction, heat and different kinds of energies necessary for the organism are released. We have two processes of breathing. First the oxygen is absorbed into the organism through the cells, and then it is released and absorbed by the tissues.

BREATHING INTRODUCTION For many years the Master Peter Dounov taught in Bulgaria, and during this time was able to publish over five hundred books. His purpose was in essence to teach people how they could live a happy life in harmony with Nature's laws. This knowledge throws light on all aspects of life, from the physical to the spiritual. Every aspect of life presented by the Master in his lectures is an analysis of form, content and meaning. Addressing the problems of life, he explained in detail the methods, laws and principles governing Nature. This knowledge is of capital importance if we are to understand our relationship to nature and our true place in contemporary life. In one Sunday lecture, the Master says: Nature endowed us with richness, which she gives to (ill her children. I'he goodness of light, of air. of water, of food, have great benefits if we acknowledge this generosity of Nature and cooperate with her laws. The Master gives us principles about breathing so we can derive more of the energies of the air for our benefit. Breathing is a universal process. In the broad sense of the word, according to ancient spiritual science, when the Supreme Intelligence of the Unbounded exhales, he gives birth to a new world. When He inhales, it is the end of the evolutionary cycle of this particular world. In the same broad sense of the word, the earth is a living organism: she breathes. When she inhales, the etlieric energies of the air penetrate deep into her womb. And when she exhales, part of this energy fills the surrounding space. In this book, however, we are going to speak about the ordinary meaning of breathing. Today the science of breathing has become very popular. As a result of new knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, breathing has become highly developed. But official science takes the position of treating only the mechanical side of breathing. If we would treat breathing as a primary factor in the physical improvement and spiritual uplifting of man, we have to have an understanding of its inner spiritual side as well, because Nature as a living organism is composed of physical and spiritual realities. In Europe and America, the Hindu methods of breathing are very well known. We would like to emphasize that in some eras, when nations were in an involutionaiy (downward) trend of development, they used methods which we cannot use in our time because we are in an evolutionary (upward) trend. This is why the ancient Hindu methods of breathing are not suitable for the European or American organism. Here is some enlightenment from the Master regarding this problem: When I speak about deep breathing, I have no intention of recommending the breathing exercises of the ancient Hindus. They have their own special exercises, but they are not applicable to our European organisms. If Europeans apply the old Hindu method of breathing, they will encounter some difficulty. My advice is to try to breathe deeply with rhythm and ease. Whatever is written in these pages is only an introduction to the Master's teaching about breathing. Our purpose is to introduce to our readers the elementary, basic principles of breathing. We think they are sufficient for everybody to benefit.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR BOY AN BOEV Viola Jordanoff Bowman Boyan Boev was born in 1863 in Burgas, Bulgaria. As a young man he studied Natural Sciences in Munich, Germany. Later on he finished at Sofia's University of Sciences, specializing in Natural Sciences. Boyan Boev was endowed with a strong and inquiring intellect, and was well-disciplined by diligent schooling and studies. His knowledge of the German, French and Russian languages allowed him to follow with scrutiny the scientific and philosophical progress in Europe. He was well acquainted with the new scientific theories and familiar with such famous scientific and cultural personalities as Haisenberger, Jordan, Lakovsky, Rudolf Steiner, etc. Around 1911, Boyan Boev returned to Sofia where he met the Bulgarian philosopher, musician, teacher and preacher of Esoteric Christianity, Peter Dounov. Peter Dounov obtained his higher education in Theology and Medicine at Drew and Boston Universities in the United States. Peter Dounov expressed the view that he valued the new scientific theories but found them limited, as they recognized only the physical, mechanical side of all phenomena. He insisted that behind every mechanical activity stands a Rational Intelligence which directs the processes in every physical form. Peter Dounov also taught that it was time for humanity to begin creating a new culture based upon Wisdom, Love and Truth, the three attributes of One Living Omnipresent God. He expressed the need for educating a new balanced man, one with an intellect shining with Knowledge, a heart radiating unconditional Love and a noble, strong will acting with Justice. For the realization of these high goals, Peter Dounov offered, among other alternatives, one practical, exceptionally innovative educational method, called PANEURHYTHMY. He incorporated deep breathing, music, poetry and body movements to express everlasting thoughts. Deeply impressed by this teaching, Boyan Boev became a devout disciple of Peter Dounov. He moved to Izgrev (Sunrise), the spiritual community established by the followers of Peter Dounov. Now I would like to add my personal memory, despite fifty years passing, still vividly fresh. Whenever I saw Boyan Boev walking on the streets of Sofia, or in Izgrev, or standing close to Peter Dounov taking shorthand notes, he was always impressive with his demure posture and sunbronzed, goodhearted face with its striking expression making it appear that he was intently listening to his superconsciousness whispering to him: serve, serve, serve. Indeed, until his last day, July 7, 1963, his whole life was a total service, helping everybody who needed him and wholeheartedly engaging in the activities, problems and spiritual growth of the Brotherhood. But the highlight of his unselfish service remains the preservation in writing of the supreme knowledge of the Master, Peter Dounov. In this sense his literary work is paramount. In tliis small, but very useful book, the author, Boyan Boev, shares with us his rich knowledge of Breathing, based upon the scientific facts and new spiritual methods of Peter Dounov.

TABLE OF CONTENTS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR BOYAN BOEV INTRODUCTION MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN BREATHING THE INTERNAL SIDE OF BREATHING WHAT IS DEEP BREATHING? THE TEMPO OF BREATHING THE RHYTHM OF BREATHING TWO BASIC RULES FOR BREATHING PREPARATORY EXERCISES FOR DEEP, RHYTHMICAL BREATHING How Many Times Daily Must We Do Breathing Exercises? Position of the Body During Breathing Exercises. Position of the Spinal Cord During Breathing Exercises Relationship Between the Inner Psychic Life of Man and Breathing Breathing Through One or Both Nostrils Springtime Deep Breathing Methods for Fortifying Spring Breathing The Psychic Condition and Its Importance at Breathing Exercises The Golden Rule HELMHOLZ’ LAW I. Calmness and a Good Disposition Create the Best Condition to Accept the Benefits of the Air II. Awakening the Human Consciousness III. Gratitude STRAIGHT THOUGHTS AND RIGHT EMOTION - REATHING WITH LOVE Relationship Between the Inner Psychic Life of Man and Breathing BREATHING AND PHYSICAL HEALTH BREATHING AND RELAXATION BREATHING AND REJUVENATION DEEP BREATHING AND PSYCHIC UPLIFTING DEEP BREATHING ENNOBLES THE EMOTIONS DEEP BREATHING UPLIFTS THOUGHT DEEP BREATHING STRENGTHENS THE WILL EXPERIMENTS BREATHING AND MEMORY ONE USEFUL RULE BREATHING AND DEVELOPING OUR ABILITIES BREATHING AND THE ASCENDING PART OF MAN BREATHING AND DIVINE THOUGHT BREATHING AND DIVINE LOVE BREATHING AND PRAYER BREATHING WITH BODY MOVEMENTS The Six Basic Gymnastic Exercises Given By the Master BREATHING AND WALKING BREATHING WITH ELECTRIC/MAGNETIC CURRENT BREATHING AND BEAUTY BREATHING AND SINGING BREATHING AND EDUCATION SCIENCE OF BREATHING AND THE CONTEMPORARY AGE EVOLUTION AND BREATHING ENLIGHTENMENT GIVEN BY THE MASTER PETER DOUNOV APPENDIX I: BREATHING EXERCISE AND SINGING

http://en-petardanov.com/index.php?/files/file/17-%7B?%7D/ BREATHING A New Scientific Method for Mind/Body Healing and Spiritual Growth by Boyan Boev Translated from the Bulgarian by Viola Jordanoff Bowman 1995 First Edition published in 1942 in Bulgaria Copyright ® 1995 Viola Jordanoff Bowman All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the translator, Viola Jordanoff Bowman Printed in the U.S.A. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS An undertaking such as this cannot be successfully brought to fruition without expert help. My sincere thanks and gratitude is extended to Nancy Cassetta, who typed the manuscript, and to J. Christopher Schwab, who edited and formatted the final copy. Their contributions have been invaluable. Viola Jordanoff Bowman 15 January, 1995 Greenwich, Connecticut

References 1. Zhivot sled smartta na fizicheskoto tyalo (Life after the Death of the Physical Body), Vlad Pashov, Bialo Bratstvo, Sofia, 2007. 2. Fizicheski, duhoven i umstven svyat (Physical, Spiritual, and Mental World). 31st lecture of the Youth Esoteric Class, June 21, 1949, Izgrev. 3. Domostroitelyat (The Builder), 23rd Sunday lecture, April 23, 1933. 4. Radvayte se (Rejoice!), Lecture held on April 15, 1917 on Easter. 5. Dadeno i ustanoveno (Given and Established). Lecture held on November 4, 1932, Sofia, Izgrev. 6. Izlizane, rabota, molitva (Going out, Work, and Prayer), 24th Lecture of the Youth Esoteric Class, XVII year, held on March 15, 1938, Sofia, Izgrev. 7. Deteto rasteshe (The Child was Growing up), Lecture held on March 30, 1919. 8. Skritite talanti (The Hidden Talents), Lecture held on May 22, 1931, Sofia, Izgrev. 9. Kniga na zakonite (Book of the Divine Laws), collection, Astrala, Sofia, 2004: 234-236, 556. 10. Protivorechiya v suzvuchieto (Contradictions in the Harmony), Sunday lecture, February 6, 1919, Sofia. 70 71 11. Razumnoto sartse (The Sentient Heart), Zahariy Stoyanov Publisher, Sofia, 2003: 360-361. 12. Enziklopedichen rechnik (Peter Deunov’s Encyclopedia Dictionary), vol. 2, Astrala, Sofia, 1997: 183. 13. Bratut na nay-malkite (The Brother of the Smallest Ones), Lecture held on January 1, 1917, Sofia. 14. Svetilo za tyaloto (Light for the Body), Lecture held on May 11, 1919. 15. Dvama Gospodari (The Two Masters), 2nd Sunday lecture held on October 1, 1939, Sofia, Izgrev. 16. Edin Den (One Day), 15th Sunday morning lecture held on January 28, 1940. 17. The Wellsping of Good. Last Words of the Master Peter Deunov, Kibea, Sofia, 2002: 238-243. 18. Upatvane (Guidance), Lecture of the General Esoteric Class, July 8, 1923, Sofia. 19. Subirane i izvazhdane (Adding and Subtracting), Lecture held on December 18, 1925, Sofia. 20. Slizane i kachvane (Descent and Ascent), Morning lecture, held on July 3, 1938. 21. Badete razumni (Be Wise!), Lecture held on September 16, 1923. 22. Trite rodosloviya (The Three Genealogies), Morning lecture held on September 22, 1935, Izgrev, Sofia. 23. Choveshka, angelska i Bozhestvena Lyubov (Human, Angelic, and Divine Love), Morning lecture, held on December 24, 1942, Sofia, Izgrev. 24. Oshte po-blazheni sa (They are even more Blessed), Lecture held on December 4, 1921, Sofia. 25. Poradi radostta (Because of the Joy), Sunday lecture held on October 8, 1916, Sofia. 26. Seyatelyat (The Sower), Morning Lecture, held on December 18, 1932, Sofia, Izgrev. 27. Klyuchat na zhivota (The Key of Life), Lecture of the Master for the General Esoteric Class, held on August 22, 1928, Sofia, Izgrev. 28. Znanie i opitnosti (Knowledge and Experience), 10th year, 33rd lecture of the 1st Youth Esoteric Class, held on April 24, 1931, Sofia, Izgrev. © Bialo Bratstvo Publishers Sofia, Bulgaria [email protected] www.bialobratstvo.info Gen. Shterio Atanasov 6, Izgrev, Sofia 1113 BULGARIA tel.: +359 2 9634313; +359 2 8668355

The people that identify themselves with their bodies during their earthly lives are not interested in any higher ideals but occupy themselves with issues related to the body and its existence. Indeed, they may be honest and just but because they do not possess more sublime interests than their material activities, they remain in the fourth realm. For these souls life in the spiritual world is a state of a terrible monotony. As they do not have more sublime interests, they do not have anything to occupy themselves with and they undergo a very difficult experience. The same is valid for those who thought that life is over with the death of the body. They have expected that the consciousness would be destroyed and cannot come to terms with the fact that having died they are still alive. Usually no help can reach them because they have fenced themselves in the fortress of their superiority complex and their suffering is worst of all. And because these souls led a totally material life, they hardly possess any conscious life in the more sublime realms of the spiritual world and even less so in the mental world where souls learn the art of building bodies using the prototypes existing in the mental world. Therefore, the materialistically oriented people who reach at best the fourth realm of the spiritual world, build bodies pre-disposed to tuberculosis. Thus, they will become aware of the transient character of the earthly life and will turn toward God. The benefit of passing through the Purgatory is that when man experiences the suffering he has caused to the others as a result of his dishonesty, cruelty, intolerance, and other weaknesses, he develops the virtues to be manifested in the next life. If a person, while still on Earth, strives to set right one's wrongdoings every day, such a person will pass through the purgatory while still on Earth and after leaving the body will go directly to the Heavenly World. In this relation the Master gives the following advice: every night before going to bed, a disciple should go over his deeds throughout the day, should mentally correct the mistakes, and should be willing not to repeat them. Thus, a person gets purified gradually and at death will go directly to Heaven without experiencing the suffering of the Purgatory. While evaluating the deeds throughout the day we should also note the good and should be willing to expand it on the following day. So, through repentance and correction of the mistakes during the physical life, having acknowledged our mistakes, we eradicate the images of the mistakes we made from our subconscious memory and they will not be impressed in the astral body of the panorama of the past life. The fifth realm in the world of the soul is that of the spiritual Light. There compassion for others is prominent. Souls come in contact with this realm provided that during their earthly lives they did not put up with satisfying only their inferior needs, they did not find joy only in the surrounding world, but aspired to a more Sublime World and Life. The feelings of love for nature and for other people, feelings still permeated with egotistic elements, are getting purified here. One should not confuse this kind of love for nature with the Sublime Life as part of Nature, which is spiritual in essence and which can be seen in the objects and phenomena in Nature as revelation of the Spirit. In this respect, it has nothing to do with the feeling of pleasure which some people cherish for nature. The soul needs to purify itself from such a feeling as well as from all other feelings and tendencies based on the physical existence. The intensity of the compassion reigning in the fifth realm of the spiritual world and for which there are no means to be satisfied, needs to be remedied here as well. Here the soul will recognize the need to search for new ways to satisfy the compassion it has. Similarly, souls following various religious rituals, while still on Earth, with the purpose to improve their physical condition of life, will be purified here, because their ideal was merely mundane, but was disguised in the form of some heavenly paradise. They will find this paradise in the fifth and in the next two realms but only to see its vanity. The sixth realm of the spiritual life is that of the strength of the soul. Here the soul's natural thirst for activity is purified. Though deprived of egoism, the soul seeks to experience the feeling of satisfaction delivered by the very activity. People inspired with similar enthusiasm for activity look like idealists, like people ready to sacrifice themselves. Actually, what is of interest to them is to increase the sensual delight they derive from their activity. Many artists and people deriving pleasure from doing scientific research are to be found here as well. What connects these souls with the physical world is the belief that art and science provide meaning to their existence only because art and science deliver certain pleasures to them. The seventh realm of the spiritual world is that of the personal life of the soul. Here one liberates oneself from the last proclivities and inclinations to the physical world. In each one of the higher realms the element specific for this realm is purified or removed from the soul. In the seventh realm souls learn that it is not necessary to dedicate their entire activity to the world of the senses. Otherwise, there are talented individuals who, however, focus only on the phenomena of the physical world. The destruction of this inclination takes place in the seventh realm. Depending on the life-forces developed while on Earth, a soul remains for a longer or shorter period in the various realms of the spiritual world. A soul remains in any realm for as long as it feels a certain affinity to it. When this affinity disappears, it passes into another realm. A soul will pass through the realms to which it has no affinity without experiencing any influence. In the esoteric Christianity these three higher realms are called the First Heaven. Here the results of the suffering experienced by the souls in the Purgatory are inscribed into the seed atom of the astral body, thus imparting into it the qualities of proper feeling which in turn acts as an impulse directing it to the good and distracting it from the wrongdoings in the future. The panorama of the past is re-lived again here but this time the good deeds serve as a foundation of the experiences. When the soul contemplates the images showing how it helped the others, it experiences anew all the joy it derived from doing those acts of kindness. Yet, now the soul experiences and re-lives also the full gratitude directed to it by those it has helped. When the soul contemplates the images showing how it received help from others, it feels a profound gratitude to those who have helped it, but much stronger than what the soul experienced on Earth. However, gratitude fosters spiritual growth. When man does good to others on Earth without any vested interest, he experiences certain bliss in the First Heaven. The First Heaven is the place of joy without any bitterness. All the noble aspirations of the soul on Earth are fulfilled here. In a sense this is a place of rest. The First Heaven is a place of bliss for children. They do not have a Purgatory life but go directly from Earth to the First Heaven, because the astral body is not yet born in them. The astral body is born at about the age of fourteen and is a carrier of passions, desires, and pleasures. Here children play with toys and study according to their age. In the First Heaven scientists, artists, painters, and altruists find broad prospects for work. Scientists here have access to all the libraries in the world; painters here create wonderful paintings in lively colors by employing their thoughts. Music belongs to the Second Heaven which is situated in the mental world. The First Heaven is the realm of shades, of colors; while the world of thought where the Second and Third Heavens are, is the realm of tones, music, and poetry. Divine Music is a reality and not a figure of speech. It is from this world that musicians bring music down to Earth, yet the earthly music is just a faded copy of the Divine. In the First Heaven scientists will collect material for their scientific works; philanthropists will make plans for elevating and improving humankind, and so on. When the soul reaches the upper limit of the spiritual world-the seventh realm-and the results of the suffering and pain experienced in the Purgatory together with the joy experienced from the acts of kindness in the previous lives pass through it, all these get inscribed in the seed atom of the astral body. Together they form what is called "conscience" the power, safeguarding us against wrongdoing, as a bearer of suffering, and gives us an impulse to the good, as a bearer of happiness and joy. Then man leaves his astral body to be destroyed in the way the etheric and the physical bodies are destroyed. He takes with himself only the life-forces of the seed atom which will be used to form the future astral body. After leaving the First Heaven, the human spirit enters the Second Heaven dressed in the body of "self" or the mind, and carrying the three seed atoms-the quintessence of the three abandoned bodies: the physical, the etheric, and the astral. While one's astral body is within the physical and etheric bodies, it is still unorganized and in different colors resembling an ellipse of a cloud. Having left the physical and etheric bodies, the soul remains only in the astral body; the latter changes its shape from an ellipse into a shape similar to the abandoned physical body. When passing from the etheric into the astral world, one is in a dormant state-in a condition of unconsciousness. Later on the soul awakes and begins to perceive the surrounding world. However, here it is often the case that on waking up, people wonder what has happened to them-they have no awareness that they are dead and they have no idea what has happened to them either. This is not the case with the passing from the First Heaven into the Second Heaven, the latter encompassing the four lower levels of the mental world or the world of concrete thoughts. After leaving the astral body and after entering the Second Heaven in the mental body, or in the body of "self," man's consciousness is already in a special state. He is awake but not able to think; he feels completely alone; yet, filled with inner peace. Afterwards comes the awakening in this world. Here, after awakening, the spirit begins to hear the music of the spheres. Everything is music in this world and each tone produces a specific color. And it is these tones, this music that build all the forms of the physical world because this music is an expression of the creative Cosmic Word manifested in this world as music. However, in the Third Heaven-the three upper realms of the mental world-it is manifested as sound, as speech. That is why the Master says that poetry is of a higher origin than music. All the forms we see around us in the physical world are crystallized sound forms of the original life-forces working within our prototypes in the mental world. The stay in this world is an active period of preparation for a new reincarnation. Here the human spirit assimilates the experiences of the three bodies that have disappeared and the seed atoms in order to create better conditions for the future reincarnation. The Master says, "There is a huge difference between a poet on Earth and a poet in Heaven. In the Heavenly World you will sit in reverence by him and you will see how the words flow. And when you read this poetry life will stream out of it. I have tried several times to translate the Angels' language into the earthly one and so far I failed to translate it in such a way that the accent and the rhymes coincide - this is not to be attained. When you read a poem by an Angel, it can remove all the troubles from your soul. It brings to you such an enormous power that you can lift the Earth on your palm." The purified astral body within the seed atom will serve as a foundation for the creation of the new astral body where all the feelings and impulses are inscribed. That part of the astral body, which the spirit, so to say, has reawaken and rescued from decomposition and disappearance, will provide a better physical body and a better temperament for the next reincarnation. The quintessence of the physical body, resulting from its actions, included in the seed atom, will serve as a foundation of the future physical body and will prepare more favorable conditions in life. In the Second Heaven man works for the preparation of his future reincarnation. Here he assimilates the fruits of his previous earthly life and prepares the conditions for a new physical existence. All the inhabitants of this world work to change the conditions on Earth. Under the guidance of Sublime Beings they change the physical forms on Earth and implement gradual changes, so that the conditions can be different during their next reincarnation. Climate, flora, and fauna are being changed by the human beings under the guidance of the Sublime Beings. So, the world we see around us is exactly what we, as individuals and as a team, have shaped. Here one learns as well how to build, of course, again with the help of the Sublime Beings, a body more appropriate for manifestation. All the people contribute either consciously or unconsciously to the building of their bodies during the pre-natal period until the moment when the quintessence of the previous bodies is implanted in the new one. Then they begin to work consciously. Having assimilated all the fruits of one's previous life and having contributed to changing the conditions on Earth, after learning - from working on the bodies of the others - how to build an appropriate body for manifestation in the physical world, the human spirit ascends into the Third Heaven - the three upper realms of the mental world, mentioned by Apostle Paul. In the Master's words: "Paul said that he had been to the Third Heaven where he had seen things not seen or heard of. He left, departed from his body and this is how he reached the Third Heaven. The state in which Paul found himself is called 'awakening of the Cosmic Consciousness.' This consciousness stands out as a bright Light." Here the spirit is immersed in the world of eternal harmony where man receives impulses and life-forces for the next reincarnation. Here, in this world, a desire for new experiences arises and he reflects upon a new physical reincarnation. The major stages of the panorama of the future life on Earth are unfolded before the spirit. The spirit has freedom regarding the details during the lifetime. This panorama begins from the cradle and finishes with the grave. The mental world or the world of the spirit through which one passes after leaving the First Heaven, also has seven realms, the first four of which constitute the Second Heaven, and the upper three-the Third Heaven. In the first realm man finds himself surrounded by the prototypes of the earthly objects. During the physical life he has known only their shadows in his own thoughts. Because the human thought on Earth is only a shadow of a certain reality of the mental world. What is thought on Earth is lived in the world of the spirit, in the mental world. Here the soul moves among thoughts but those thoughts are real beings that create the corresponding objects on Earth. Here is, so to say, the mental workshop where the physical objects are designed and created, because everything in the world of the spirit is alive and active. This is a world of inspiration, of beings full of enthusiasm, of creators and builders of the earthly things. Here man studies how the objects that surround us on Earth are formed. Among the thought beings filling this world we can also find the thought that is the prototype of our own physical body. However, we feel it as if it is something separate from ourselves. Only the spiritual essence seems to be part of us. And when the body that man has left behind appears before him in its prototype similar to a memory, he realizes that it belongs to the external world. Subsequently, man no longer considers it a special attribute to his essence. Here he perceives the wholeness of the outside world and that the physical body is part of the wholeness of this world. Contemplating the prototype of the physical world as a whole, the soul feels that it, too, belongs to this whole. In this way, through observation man learns little by little to recognize the relation of this body to the outside world while considering himself something spiritual belonging to the world of the spirit. Then one learns to say, "Everything dispersed around me that I can see here is I myself." In this realm a person comes to know that one's true essence belongs to the world of the spirit. Man recognizes himself as a spirit among spirits, which belongs to the primary spirits; recognizes his unity with all the spirits and with the Primordial Spirit. As a result, a thought is formed within: I am one with the Primordial Spirit, I am part of the Eternal Spirit. This is why the Hindu call this world Devahan-meaning the world of the Devas, of the Angels, of the spirits. Here, in the world of the spirit, we live through the Truth which during the earthly life is only an abstract thought for us, this Truth which is the purpose of every piece of Wisdom. We think about this Truth during our earthly life because we recognized it as a fact when we were in the Kingdom of the Spirit. In this first realm some experience again all the relationships of love and friendship that they had on Earth but this time in their active, spiritual aspect. The love we nourished on Earth becomes vivid within our own depth and the ability to love expands and increases. Thus, we return perfected in this respect in the next reincarnation. The fruits of the everyday circumstances of the physical life mature here, in this realm. And this aspect of human nature that is totally immersed in the day-to-day existence will be felt during our stay in this first realm of the spiritual world. Here man finds again the people he used to live with in the physical world. All of our contacts and relationships, which were only of a physical nature during our earthly existence, are purified and burnt here. But all that was the heart center of our soul during our earthly life is immortalized in this realm of the spiritual world. Souls that belonged to each other in the physical world, find themselves again side by side in the spiritual world in order to immortalize their relationship. In the second realm the universal life becomes a thought being and moves in the spiritual world as a liquid element. This is the living wholeness penetrating everything as the blood in our body penetrates all the parts of the body. During the physical existence we perceive only a reflection of this Life and express it in all the forms of adoration. The personal religious life originates from this correlation. Here man learns that the universal meaning of life is not in what is transitory, in what stands on its own. The transitory appears only as a symbol, as an image of the eternal, universal life of the harmonious wholeness. It is to this wholeness that a soul looks up to, bows before it and adores it. In the Kingdom of the Spirit this is no longer a reflection but live essence of the thought now appearing in its true form. Here man can really merge with the whole, with the oneness he adored on Earth. The fruits of the religious life and everything connected with it are manifested in this realm. Through spiritual experiences man gets to know that his personal destiny should not be separated from the community he belongs to. The religious feeling and all the moral qualities man has put efforts to purify and ennoble are filled with the life-force of this realm during most of his stay in the spiritual world and he will return to Earth with reinforced abilities and feelings. Whereas in the first realm we reunite with the souls with which we were physically connected during the earthly life, in the second realm we meet all those with whom we were connected through common ideas and aspirations, through common faith and convictions. The experiences from the first realm continue as well when one moves to the next. We are not cut off the ties created within the family, friendship, and so on, when we enter the life of the second and the next realms. The third realm contains the prototypes of the world of the soul, the so called astral world. Here one can find the prototypes of passions, of desires, of feelings, and so on. However, in this realm of the spiritual world nothing egotistic is attached to these conditions of the soul. In the third realm, similarly to the second realm where everything alive is part of the wholeness, all these passions, desires, and feelings are also part of the wholeness so that ours are not different from those of the other beings. The sensations, the desires of all beings in this realm form one whole which envelops, embraces everything that exists in the way the physical atmosphere envelops the Earth. Therefore, this realm can be called an "atmosphere of the spiritual world." Here the fruits of all the actions, performed on Earth in service to a community and with a feeling of belonging to other beings, ripen. This is because while performing them on Earth, one lived under the influence of the third realm of the spiritual world. The great benefactors of humankind, the devoted ones, people who do great favors to society have acquired these qualities from this realm because they have developed an affinity to it in their past existences. The fourth realm contains the prototypes of the physical and soul conditions which we find when we arrive in the physical world. This is the realm where the fruits of scientific achievements, of ideas, of artistic works, of technical innovations and so on ripen. Thus, artists, scientists, and great inventors draw their inspiration from this realm and enhance their talents during their stay there in order to make a better contribution to the advancement of human culture and civilization in their future life. However, this realm is of significance and influence to all the people not only to the prominent ones. Each interest we manifest in our physical life in something that goes beyond the sphere of everyday life, of the usual feeling, or the usual willpower, has its source in this realm. Here the human spirit is not yet completely free of what it carries from Earth: the influence of the civilization, of the epoch, of the nation, of the race, of the country where one was reincarnated. In the further higher realms the spirit liberates itself from all earthly influence. It elevates to the world of the spirit where it recognizes the purposes and intentions that motivated it to take an earthly reincarnation. All that one can find materialized in the earthly world is nothing else but a better or worse copy of the sublime purposes of the spirit. Each crystal, plant, animal, or human being represents one whole image of the purposes which the spirit pursues. What the real spirit of man is can be seen when the latter elevates to the fifth realm of the world of the spirit. It is exactly this spirit that carries all the experiences of its past lives from one reincarnation to another. So, in the fifth realm the human spirit is in the area of purposes and intentions. In this realm the spirit sees its past existences defiled by the imperfection of the lower worlds and outlines the purposes revealed by the Kingdom of the Spirit through the gains from its past lives. Here man contemplates his past, feels that all of his experiences boost the purposes which needed to be accomplished in the future. A kind of recollection of the past existences and a kind of prophetical insight for the future awakens within. Mostly, those who were occupied not only with their ordinary life in their earthly existence, but searched for a more profound meaning and purpose of life, dwell in this realm. Here man comes to know his true homeland and is surrounded by all the Sublime Beings in whose Divine Wisdom his vision penetrates. In the sixth realm man organizes his deeds according to the real nature of the world. He is no longer looking for what is beneficial to himself but only for what the universal order requires. The seventh realm takes us to the border of the three worlds. Here a person finds oneself in the presence of the "grain of life," of the monads, which were brought from the sublime Divine Worlds into the three worlds, where the same evolution is in progress so that we can accomplish our assignment there. When man reaches the border of the three worlds, he becomes aware of his inner Self, the true essence. By this, all the mysteries of the three worlds are resolved and their full essence perceived. Having reached the border of the three Worlds, having seen the past, having foreseen the future in general, man is gradually getting ready for a new reincarnation. Here a desire for new experiences, for a new earthly life is born within and he starts descending gradually to the physical world. Before starting to sink into matter and having elevated to the seventh realm of the mental world, man is dressed in the finest layer of this world which is immortal and carries the life-forces of the seed atoms of the three bodies-the physical, etheric, and astral bodies, incorporated in the mental body. The life-forces of the mind of the past life awaken from their latency and begin attracting materials from the highest realm of the Second Heaven-the four realms in the Kingdom of the Spirit-as in the way a magnet attracts iron filings. Moreover, the mind attracts only the materials bearing similarity to it, at that only a certain quantity of them. Thus, a denser layer of the mental world is formed which the spirit puts on and which is an exact replica of the corresponding layer of the past life, purified from the misdeeds of the past and enriched with the essence of the good incorporated as quality in the new layer. The materials, collected by the spirit that make this layer, form one big bell-like figure, closed at the bottom, carrying the seed atoms of the three bodies. This figure gradually descends through the different realms of the mental world and on reaching the lower border of this world, the mental layer is already organized. Then the life-forces of the seed atom of the astral world from the past awaken. This seed atom is placed inside the top of the bell and it attracts little by little, and according to its vibrations, materials from the seven realms of the astral world. This is how the new astral layer is formed. Afterwards the seed atom of the etheric body is activated. However, the formation process here is not so simple as the formation processes of the mental and astral layers, which are relatively unorganized while the life-force and the physical bodies are much better organized and much more sophisticated. The materials from the different realms are attracted in the same way as in the upper layers. However, the building of the etheric layer and its placement under appropriate conditions is performed by four great, very wise Beings, called Angels-leaders of destiny. They attune the chemical ether-also called reflecting ether-of the life-force body in such a way that the images of the present life get reflected in it. In this way, the life body is built by the Angels of destiny and by the elemental spirits. However, the very spirit of the human being, that is returning, places the quintessence of the previous life-force body, performing at the same time a very complicated organizing work. This is done with the intention that original and personal manifestations, not pre-determined by the past, can find their place in the upcoming life. Human life is not the result only of past causes, but there is always an influx of new and innovative causes resulting from the free will of the human spirit at a particular moment. The life-force body as was shaped by the Angels of destiny will give form to the physical body, organ by organ. It represents the matrix by which the physical body is built. This matrix is placed in the womb of the future mother. The seed atom of the physical body from the past reincarnation is placed in the triangle-shaped head of one of the spermatozoids in the semen of the father. Only this makes insemination possible. And this can explain so many sterile sexual combinations. No physical body can be built unless there is a lifeforce body to serve as a matrix by which the physical body can be built. Moreover, the physical body needs a seed atom, which can, according to its vibrations, attract the relevant materials to be implanted into this physical body. The heredity is true only in regard of the materials that constitute the physical body, but these materials are influenced by the returning spirit, performing a certain qualitative work upon them, incorporating in the body the quintessence of its previous physical qualities hidden in the seed atom. So, the materials are taken from the mother and the father, but are shaped by the spirit through incorporating within features which the spirit carries from its past life. The arrangement of the materials while building the physical body is to a certain extent under the control of the returning spirit. The spirit is given the most freedom while building the astral body, less while building the pranic body, and even less while building the physical body. But even the small opportunity given to the spirit is enough to impart certain individuality into the physical body. When the egg is fertilized, the mother's astral body works over the fertilized egg for a period from the 18th until the 31st day, whereas the spirit remains outside, in its astral body, but nonetheless is in close contact with the mother. After this period is over, the spirit enters the body of the mother. The bell-shaped layer is mounted, so to say, over the head of the pranic body and the bell is closed at the bottom. From that time on the spirit works on its future instrument until the moment for the birth of the child comes and the new earthly life begins. The various layers of the newborn human being are not activated immediately. The physical body is helpless for a long time after birth. The various layers penetrate each other in the period after birth. Until the age of seven it is the physical body that develops predominantly. At about the age of seven the etheric body, formed at the descent of the spirit, is born and through it the spirit works on the building of the physical body, but after the age of seven the etheric body becomes more active. At about the age of fourteen the astral body is born, while the mental body is born at about the age of twenty one. In this way a human being is fully activated and begins its new physical life. The Master explains that when one is ready for a new reincarnation, three Angels take it, circle the Earth together, and find the mother and father through whom the spirit will enter the new earthly life. Afterwards they leave the human being and the above process of physical body formation takes place. Beinsa Douno says: "First two or three Angels from the Invisible world need to bring the human soul so that a human being can come to Earth. "They take down this soul; they make it so small that it cannot be seen. So that when they carry it in the space, nobody can see what they are carrying. When the Angels come to Earth, they circle it three times. There is a door there. They find the door and enter through it. This soul will reincarnate. They take it to the mother. On accepting the soul the mother signs the acknowledgement receipt. The soul is like a small seed. As the soil accepts the seed, so the mother accepts the soul. After that the Angels go back in the way they have come." "We create our nose, our eyes, and the other organs in our mother's womb. The mother provided us only with materials and we shaped them according to our spirit. This is how the spirit works within and it was the spirit, not our mother, who created us." The Master says as well: "Today people of esoteric science present various theories how a human being was born, but many of them could be mistaken. Some argue that when a soul comes down to Earth, a mother is immediately found for this child. After that three of the Guides of the child go around the world, then they immerse the soul of the child in the water of oblivion and finally they deliver it to the mother. This traveling around Heaven is not so easy-there are obstacles at every corner and for that reason one needs to find the way. The three Guides delivering the child remain with the mother and if she takes care of the child, they confide many secrets in her and teach her many things." "There is something in the human organism, that runs throughout all the stages of its development, it keeps gaining something-something is being built within. Something is added to this organism in every single life. While this very same organism is a temporary structure meant to last until what is called immortality is accomplished. Apostle Paul said, 'If the temporary dwelling is destroyed, we have an Eternal Home which one will enter and live in the future.'" Such is the path of man from death to a new birth. Thus life proceeds between two borders-birth on the one side, and death on the other. It can be seen from all of the above that his task after death is to purify his various layers and to extract the experiences he has accumulated as a result, and to implant them as qualities in the next reincarnation. The Master explains: "People have juxtaposed the physical life to the spiritual life. They say, 'One cannot be spiritual while on Earth.' However, life should be manifested in its wholeness. Only then the relation between the physical and spiritual lives will be understood. It will not be before long that people will comprehend this relation. "The physical life lasts only to the foot of the mountain - a person's carriage can reach only that far. Here man will leave the carriage because there is no path to travel further on. After that he will mount his horse and will continue up in the mountain. This means leaving the physical world and passing into the spiritual. Finally paths will open in front which even a horse cannot take. Then you will dismount the horse and will walk alone along the narrow paths - this is the Divine World. Many times will you use your carriage, many times will you ride your horse and many times will you be left alone on the narrow path until you find God. Thousands of times will you go up the mountain and come back. For how long will you be doing this? You will be doing this until you learn not to fall. You will get into your carriage and out of it without falling. "I ask: Does it make sense for a person to give up one's own carriage and horse? Without a carriage and without a horse you can get nowhere. The carriage represents the good in the world, the horse is the mind, and the 'self' is the human being that thinks. You cannot do without a carriage and a horse. These are necessary. However, you should learn to harness your carriage and ride your horse. With them you will reach the Divine World. Do not cry when the carriage leaves you at the foot of the mountain and you have to continue on horseback. Do not cry either when you need to leave the horse and continue on foot. Rejoice when you go up the mountain; rejoice when you come down as well. God is everywhere for those who comprehend Him." According to the Master, a disciple while still in the physical body performs this work of purification and organization of the layers so that this will not have to be done after leaving the body. In such a case, the disciple will not have any affinity with these realms and will go directly to the First Heaven or perhaps to the Second Heaven. Because, as was mentioned before, man enters a certain realm only if he has an affinity with it. In other words, if there is something within him that relates to this realm, in order to purify it so that one can advance further. Beinsa Douno emphasizes, "Work is required from all of you both in this world and in the World beyond! Some people think that when they pass to the World beyond, they will be greeted with garlands and songs; they will sit down with the Angels, and play harps. No, work awaits you there, too!"

Life after the Death of the Physical Body Human development takes place in three great worlds which the Master Beinsa Douno calls physical, spiritual or of the soul, and mental (of the spirit) or Divine. According to the Master there is a correlation among them where the physical world is the result, the mental world - the driving cause, and the spiritual world provides the substance from which this cause wants to create something. The Laws are in the spiritual world, while the results appear in the physical world. "However, I determine the physical world as an incomplete process. It contains results, it contains movements only. The physical world is a world where only simple movements exist. There is no feeling, no thought in the essence of the physical world. Let's say, you have a watch. There is no feeling, no thought in it, though it is made to measure the time. Therefore, in this aspect human bones belong to the physical world. After that there is the world of the soul, the world of the feelings. Not only there are movements, but feelings pervade the movements; there is no thought in the movements. You feel something but cannot explain it. You say, 'I can feel it.' And finally there comes the Divine or the mental world where the movements are pervaded with both feelings and thoughts. There are three qualities. The physical world has one quality - movement. The world of the soul has two qualities - movement and feeling. The mental world has movement, feeling and thought. This is the simplest explanation." "Life in its manifestations belongs to three worlds: life on the physical plane, life that exists among the Angels, and life in the Divine World. Joy belongs to the primary world, the Divine World, to the so called Sublime World and not to the phenomenal one." For this reason, the Master advises us: "Look upon the world as an object-oriented study. Another world - a real world that we all strive for - is hidden behind this world. Everyone can rely on this world. Thus you can rely on every Intelligent Light Being. It is enough for you to give a sigh and support will be immediately rendered to you." Some esoteric scientists refer to these worlds as the physical world, the world of the soul, and the world of the spirit. But whatever names the worlds are given, the point is that the human development takes place in these three great worlds. The Master states that the spiritual world is a hundred times more spacious than the physical, and the Divine - a thousand times more spacious than the spiritual. Thus, the physical world is the most limited, created from the coarsest matter. As the Master says, "There is a spiritual world. The true spiritual world is so firm that it is indivisible. The firmest world is the spiritual world - the particles are so small, they are infinitesimal. The solid bodies of the physical world are so big, infinitely big. Comparing one particle of the physical world to one solid particle of the spiritual world is like comparing one atom to the entire Earth." Beinsa Douno also explains: "Genesis reads that the Earth had been unorganized and desolate. Nothing is said, however, about the spiritual world. Hence, it must have been in existence before the physical. Man strives for the spiritual world but he cannot easily enter it. The soul will go through many obstacles before setting foot there. The spiritual world is an absolute reality by form, content and meaning. The physical world is real only by form. "Under 'spirit' I understand the Divine Life, which organizes and processes the materials for the human mind. In this way human beings attain the Divine Wisdom that paves the way to acquiring the Divine Blessing essential for all the people and nations." "What difference exists in the constructing of the three worlds: the physical, spiritual, and mental worlds? The difference lies in the methods these worlds work with and in the life-forces at work within them. The methods applied in the physical world are coarse while these applied in the other two worlds are gentle, delicate. You cannot apply the methods of the physical world to develop a feeling or a thought. The same is valid for the life-forces of the three worlds. The higher you rise up above the physical world, the finer and gentler the life-forces become." Beinsa Douno gave also another definition of the worlds. He named the physical world - material; the spiritual - substantial; and the Divine - essential. These are states and forms of manifestation of Reality. These three worlds the Master called also: human, Angelic, and Divine. We only have a certain picture about the physical world, but we have a very vague idea about the other two worlds. Man lives simultaneously in the three worlds, but is not aware of this. This is because he is a very complex being that, generally speaking, consists of spirit, soul, and body. The spirit dwells in the Divine World; the soul - in the spiritual world (also called the world of the soul): whereas the human personality that is manifested through the body dwells in the physical world. We are aware only of the personality; hence, we have a very limited perception about human beings. At the present stage of development, the soul, the spiritual world accordingly, is manifested through the feelings; whereas the spirit, the Divine World accordingly - through the thoughts. But this does not mean that the soul is to be identified with the heart which is related to the feelings, nor is the spirit to be identified with the mind through which we think. The heart is only the external side of the soul and the mind - of the spirit. In the Master's words: "Is the soul alive? The only thing in the world that is alive is the soul. The only thing that works, that thinks is the spirit, the human spirit. The servant of the human spirit is the human mind. At present there are plenty of limitations in philosophy. It is the spirit in a human being, in this sense that does the thinking. The mind originated from the spirit. The human heart originated from the soul. The entire spiritual world is based on the Law of the Human Soul. The entire mental and causal worlds are based on the Law of the Spirit. The entire physical world was created in the way the human body was created. Astrologically speaking, the entire physical world represents one human being resolved into its parts. "Where is the soul? Everyone can answer this question. It is said that the soul can be placed anywhere: in the human heart, in the brain, in the lungs, in the sympathetic nervous system. Wherever you place it, it is only temporarily there, it does not have a permanent dwelling. The soul has a Divine origin. It cannot assert itself in the temporary, transient human body. It stays in the body for only about one hundredth of a second and afterwards it leaves the body again, then it visits the body again, and leaves it again. "The mind and the heart are the garments of the soul - the external, whereas the essence is the soul - the Breath which originated from God. You should have an excellent mind and heart so that they help the soul. And what the mind and heart gain, will bring you blessings in the future." Human development in these three worlds follows the Laws of Reincarnation and of Karma. Reincarnation is a law of the successive passing of a human being from one world into others, a process which the Egyptians called "the transmigration or the wandering of souls." The Master says: "The Law of Heredity is not understood by all. The Egyptians believed in the transmigration of souls; the Hindu - in reincarnation; and the contemporary scientists - in heredity. These are three teachings with contradicting meanings. Heredity is a law relevant in the physical world; reincarnation is a law relevant for the soul, and the transmigration of souls - a law relevant for the spirit. In other words: the Egyptians studied the descent of the spirit, the Hindu - the evolution of the soul while the contemporary scientists - heredity." "The wandering of the souls is a great reality according to which the soul originates from God, descends into matter to improve and returns again to God. The Law of Reincarnation implies that souls keep descending into the material world in order to improve. The Law of Heredity implies that certain features, inclinations, and tendencies pass from father to son." In another lecture, "When speaking about the Law of Karma, one is to understand various types of relations. For example, servants and masters, students and teachers, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers - all these are karmic relations. Being mother or father is one of the attenuating situations in karma. According to this law all the people are in either close or distant relations in order to pay their debts. Contemporary people need to be aware of this law in order to eradicate their karma properly. Otherwise, if they are not aware of this law and of what it requires, people will create new karmic relations among themselves which will need to be eradicated in the future. For example, if a master abuses his servants, he will become a servant in the future and they - his masters. He will need to serve them for a long time in order to pay off his debt. Therefore, when man questions why he needs to be a servant, the answer is hidden in a past life when he wanted to subordinate the consciousness of some people and make them his servants. But this is absolutely forbidden! To subordinate someone's consciousness means to vanquish the Divine in this person to yourself, to make this person your servant. The only impossible thing in the world is to subordinate the Divine to the human. Beinsa Douno explains: "In order to eradicate his karma, man should work over himself, to transform his thoughts and feelings, to change them. The theosophists also talk about high 'manas'[1] and low 'manas', about high and low consciousness in human beings, about actions based on spirit or on flesh as the two poles in a human being. This is exactly where the soul needs to work - to be moving from one pole to the other and more importantly, from descending toward ascending." "Karma is eradicated through reincarnations. Reincarnation is a pre-condition for changing the human order into Divine. "Karma can be eradicated according to the Law of Love. As long as you live without Love you will keep reincarnating. As soon as Love comes, it interrupts reincarnation. Then you enter the Law of Incarnation as descending into matter by free choice. "By forgiving, you break the karmic bond. By not forgiving and by resisting, you allow karma to persist. "You should not only forgive the insult, but erase everything related to it, from your consciousness so that not a trace of memory about it remains in you. Replace the bad words addressed to you with the best about the person who insulted you." In each one of these worlds, a human being dwells in a body made of the matter of the corresponding world. In the physical world, a human being dwells in a body made of the matter of the physical world. In the spiritual world, a human being dwells in a spiritual body made of the matter of the spiritual world. And in the Divine World, a human being dwells in a body made of the matter of the Divine World. Beinsa Douno refers to these bodies also as "layers." However, the real body is the Divine one, which is immortal, whereas the physical and the spiritual ones are subject to disintegration. After being born on Earth, a human being will live in the physical body for 120 years at best, very seldom longer. After the death of the physical body, man passes into the spiritual world in his spiritual body. After having stayed for a certain period of time in the spiritual world in a spiritual body, he leaves this body as well and passes into the Divine World in a Divine Body, which is immortal. After going through the entire process from the physical world to the Divine and spending in each one a certain period of time, which varies for different people according to their stage of development, the soul returns again to Earth or, in other words, reincarnates. This process of passing through the worlds will be explained in more detail below. The three worlds where human development takes place consist of seven realms each. So, the physical world has: a realm of solid matter, a realm of liquid matter, and a realm of gaseous matter. The four etheric realms belonging also to the physical world are above the gaseous realm and are connected to the life-forces that are at work in the three lower realms. The same division into realms exists in the other two worlds as well. Another point that should be mentioned regarding the three worlds is that each one of these three worlds has one of the great Divine Principles in its foundation: Love, Wisdom, and Truth. Thus, the principle of Truth is laid as the foundation of the physical world; the principle of Love - as the foundation of the spiritual world; and the principle of Wisdom - as the foundation of the Divine World. However, the three principles are active in the three worlds, but in different realms and states of matter. There are also other classifications of "bodies" used by philosophers. The Master often uses this classification also, the so-called sevenfold classification based on the Eastern esoteric tradition. While the Western esoteric tradition uses the threefold classification. The Master states, "According to the contemporary evolution man's mental process follows two directions: downward and upward. The downward direction of the thought contributes to the formation of the human personality and human body with its seven layers. The Eastern and Western esoteric schools differ in the classification of those layers. Yet, these classifications refer only to the external, visible side of this teaching. In essence there is no difference between the two schools. According to the intrinsic meaning of Christ's Teaching a human being possesses three essential unchanging bodies, and seven layers. Theosophical literature refers to the seven layers of the human body while the three unchanging bodies are only vaguely discussed. There the layers are called 'bodies' but they are not exactly bodies. 'Layers' is a more appropriate name for them." In the present epoch Christ, too, desires to unite all esoteric schools and spiritual societies. Therefore, Beinsa Douno uses both classifications: the Eastern and the Western. In his own words, "The physical body of a human being is destroyed after death - this is a fact. Therefore, what is destroyed and vanishes cannot be the true dwelling place of man, of his soul, of his mind. The more delicate 'bodies': the etheric, the astral, and the mental bodies, which the esoteric science refers to, are not true dwelling places either. The esoteric science states that a human being has seven 'bodies.' These 'bodies,' through which the perfect human being is manifested, actually exist. But not all of these seven can be called 'bodies' in the true sense of the word 'bodies'. In reality, only three of them are bodies and the rest are layers. I suggest a new translation of the three essential bodies and call them: the body of Love, the body of Wisdom, and the body of Truth." The Master told us as well: "The 'body' of Love is the true 'body' of a human being that never dies; it is in a process of construction - only its foundations are laid. As for the other immortal bodies - the body of Wisdom and the body of Truth - they exist only as seeds. Special epochs will come for their development. The entire life of a human being in the physical, astral, mental, and causal worlds has only one purpose: to prepare only the input materials for the building of the body of Love." "Love is projected in these four worlds, in the four layers of a human being. These four layers are laboratories producing the materials required for the building of the body of Love. Yet, they provide only a certain potential for Love to manifest itself. Constant changes take place in these layers. They themselves come and go according to certain Laws of Periodicity. These layers are changeable, but there is something within them which does not disappear and remains as a constant physical, astral, and mental seed. The causal body is like an atmosphere for those seeds. It is connected with a world that contains the potential of the physical, astral, and mental worlds. But before descending to the World of Love, one needs to pass through the causal world where the contradictions are completely reconciled. "The causal world is a world of reconciliation, while the World of Love by itself is that unchanging world where everything is manifested. It is a great world where Life truly is manifested. All the desires of the people appearing in the physical, astral, and mental worlds are accomplished in the World of Love. But they are accomplished only when the body of Love is completely developed. When we refer to the Love within a human being, we mean the process of building the body of Love. Only then, will a human being resurrect and begin to live the eternal Life." Vlad Pashov added his own interpretation to clarify the above idea of the Master so that the correlation between the threefold and the sevenfold classifications of the bodies can be better understood. The concept of the physical world in the threefold classification encompasses mainly the physical and the etheric worlds. The concept of the spiritual world encompasses the astral and the mental worlds. The causal world is the highest manifestation of the spiritual world and the lowest manifestation of the Divine World. The Divine Worlds of Love, Wisdom, and Truth spread in the infinity above the causal world. These three sublime worlds are manifested in a reverse order in the lower worlds. For instance, the World of Truth is projected in the physical world; the World of Love - in the astral world; and the World of Wisdom - in the mental world. The concept of these worlds and of the three immortal "bodies" is so profound and immense that according to the Master it is not completely clear even to some of the Angelic hierarchies. Human development takes place in the four lower worlds: the physical, astral, mental, and causal ones. In the Scriptures, these worlds are esoterically referred to as Earth, while the sublime Divine Worlds are referred to as Heaven. However, in the present epoch human development, resulting from reincarnation, takes place in the four lower worlds that are referred to as Earth in the Scriptures. Man will enter the sublime Divine Worlds only after he has completed the body of Love. In his lectures Beinsa Douno clarifies: "What is death, indeed? You die on Earth, you are born in the World beyond. You are born on Earth, you die in the World beyond. Is this death? Just changing states. Hence, man dies and is born at the same time, in other words, he dies for one world and is born for another. Man is said to be born in order to die. This means - born on Earth, dead for Heaven; born in Heaven, dead for Earth. How is one supposed to look upon life? As upon an infinitely big wheel on which some descend and others ascend. Everything in life changes, nothing is static, unchanging. The spiritual world too, which is organized, is also changing outwardly, but inwardly, its substantial features are unchanging. '"And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.'[2] Christ uses the child as a symbol of an individual, of a nation. To grow in spirit and wisdom means not to be misled by the external changes in life. Cold and warmth, light and darkness, truth and lies, good and bad, are two necessary forces. All the contradictions also have two sides and these are indispensable. Necessity is a Law under which man does not have any choice. You need to descend to Earth, to study and suffer, to grow in bounty and be joyful. This is necessary both for an ordinary person and for a great spirit. One needs to die, in other words, to ascend to the World beyond in order to be born there. Death and birth are two inevitabilities which no one can deny. If a great spirit says that he cannot descend to Earth, everything will be lost for him. He must descend: leave the good conditions and fulfill the program assigned to him." "Some say, "We will die.' You will die and will come to life again. The walnut on the tree has many layers but when it gets ripe and falls down, it removes its outer layer. And when it is planted, it discards its other layers as well in order to sprout and come to life. The removal of these layers does not mean death but shows that you are getting closer to life. Therefore, I define life in two ways: the physical life keeps changing and transforming all the time, while the spiritual life keeps changing without transforming. One who changes and transforms is still in the bounds of the flesh, of the transient, while the one who changes but does not transform, is in the bounds of the spirit. You will say, 'How is it possible for a person to change but not to transform?' Imagine that I am a gentleman who needs to meet various people throughout the day. I will need to change my clothes many times a day depending on the people I meet. In the morning I put on black clothes, a black hat, and gloves - a formal suit. I return from this meeting and in the afternoon I have a less formal appointment therefore, I put on white clothes, a white hat, and gloves and go out. Everyone who meets me this day will wonder, 'Who is this gentleman who changes his clothes several times a day?' This is the gentleman with the many suits who keeps changing but does not transform. This is the quality of the human spirit to change without transforming." After the death of the physical body the soul passes consecutively through the etheric, astral, and mental worlds, reaching the outer bounds of the causal world bordering on the World of Love and from there it takes on its way back to a new reincarnation on Earth. In those four lower worlds, as the Master states, one gathers input materials to build the body of Love. In the physical world, one gathers experiences assimilated later in the astral and mental worlds and extracts from them materials to build the body of Love. Previously, people's stay in the spiritual world used to be much longer than today. In the past we used to stay in the invisible world for 500 to 1,000 years. Therefore, in a cycle of 2,160 years, which determines one epoch, man reincarnated twice at the most - once in a male body and once in a female body in order to pass through different experiences and gather different impressions which will provide the input material to build the body of Love. However, the Master explains that the evolution has accelerated ten times and subsequently the stay in the spiritual world is also reduced to a period of 50 to 100 years depending on the level of development of the individual human being. The more advanced the person, the longer the stay in the invisible worlds. As the person has gathered more impressions and has been through more life experiences; one has collected more input materials which need to be processed so that one can extract the essence that will be invested in the building of the body of Love. Among the other tasks human souls perform during their stay in the spiritual worlds is also the task to contribute, under the guidance of the Heavenly hierarchies, to the change of the conditions on Earth - both in the physical and in the social aspects. Thus, they can have different conditions and opportunities when they descend to Earth for their subsequent reincarnation in order to gain new experiences. The Earth is not a place for lasting happiness, but a school where one studies and collects input materials for the body of Love. At death, the physical body decomposes gradually. This indicates that beside the coarse physical matter, there must have been an organizing force bringing life into the body of the human organism. This organizing force must have come from the soul, which leaves the body after death. Like a magnet, the soul attracts all the cells around itself forming a living organism. And when it leaves the body, the cells gradually disperse into space. Each cell is a small soul, a small energy center, attracted by the central monad - the soul - in order to form the body. And these little souls have certain similarities with the central monad which, over many reincarnations, has attracted them like a magnet from space to form the new body. At death the etheric body goes out from the head together with the soul and the physical body remains lifeless. The etheric body goes out in a spiral movement carrying with itself the soul with one physical atom or, more exactly, not a physical atom but the life-force that has worked within this atom. The results, of the life experiences of the physical body during the life that has come to an end, are impressed on this special atom. While all the other atoms of the body are renewed during one's lifetime, this special atom does not transform. It remains constant not only throughout a person's lifetime, but has been part of each and every physical body taken previously by the human spirit. The experiences of a certain physical body are recorded into it after each earthly existence, thus the quality of the atom improves while the very atom itself does not transform at all. At death it is extracted and remains in a latent state - as a witness - in order to be awakened again at the beginning of another physical life, to serve again as a seed around which a new physical body is to be built. It is called a "seed atom." During one's lifetime the seed atom is in the left cavity of the heart, close to its top. At death this atom pours out into the brain by the pneumogastric nerve and leaves the physical body together with the etheric body and the soul through the connection between the back of the neck and the crown bone. When the etheric body together with the soul leaves the physical body, they are still connected with the physical body through a fine silver-white thread.[3] This last connection is not broken until the soul finishes watching the panorama of the past life that goes with the etheric body. For this reason, no burial or cremation should be performed until after the third day as during this time the soul is still connected with the etheric body through the silver-white thread. During these three days the soul is examining the panorama of its life impressed in the etheric body, while at the same time it is being impressed in the astral body. After the third day the silver thread breaks and the body is finally dead. Because of not observing this time period people have been buried alive - they have left the body only temporarily and come back to the body before the third day. An American scientist made experiments and established that when the last breath is released the body loses weight. He used very sensitive scales. This shows that something invisible leaves the body. This is the etheric body composed of the four types of ether: heat, light, chemical, and life-force; which is still physical, together with the soul and the astral body. In the Master's words, "If you weigh the human soul on Earth... But you do not have such sensitive scales to weigh it. The human soul does not contain as much matter as an atom does. It has so little matter, yet what a mighty power it possesses." As at death and during these three days the soul is examining its last life which is shown in front of it in images: from the moment of death back to the moment of birth, the soul should not be disturbed by weeping or mourning loudly so that it can concentrate and see clearly the images of its past life. The Master says: "When you go to the World beyond, you will find all the gifts you have offered to the Lord. Not only this, but there are movies as well. When you go to the World beyond you will not be reproached but you will be shown the movie of your live, you will see everything that you did from the beginning of your life, and life after life, you will examine three, four incarnations. You will not be told anything about your misdeeds whether they are big or small. You will only be asked, 'Well, how do you like it?' You will only be watching and swallowing your pride. "After watching the movie of your life, you will decide to come again to Earth to try to set right everything you did not like in the movie. When you go for a second time to Heaven, again you will be shown the film of the life you tried to set right so that you can see if you succeeded in accomplishing this. Those who can set right the film of their life have advanced." The proper impressions into the astral body and the right conclusion, which the soul will extract from those images, depend on the clarity of vision, and this in turn will influence its life in the future incarnation. Therefore, the people who want to do good to the dying person, should not weep or mourn loudly around the coffin. The best they can do is to say a prayer which has a calming effect over the dying one and directs the soul toward the images of the past life. While the soul is watching the panorama of its past life, it is listening to the Voice of the Cosmic Word talking to the soul and teaching it. This is a solemn moment for the soul and it should not be disturbed by any noises, sorrow, and weeping around the body. Also, when it is obvious that a person is departing, it is advisable not to attempt to bring the person back through medications. This harms also the invisible bodies and causes great suffering to the soul. One's life gets impressed in the etheric body, in the area of the negative pole of the chemical ether, which is the domain of the subconscious memory. In general, the etheric body is the carrier of the memory, the foundation of the mental capabilities. The display, as already mentioned, begins from the moment of death and finishes with the moment of birth. The panorama lasts from a few hours to three days, depending on the time a person can sustain his consciousness awake. Afterwards one loses consciousness in the old world and passes into the next world, called the world of the soul, or astral world, or spiritual world. When a person undergoes a great danger: drowning in water, falling from a great height, and so on, one sees a similar panorama of one's life. When the etheric body leaves the physical body and the consciousness is awake while the connection with the physical body is not broken, then the etheric body together with the soul returns to the physical body. After the third day of death the soul, together with the astral body, upon which the panorama of the physical life is impressed, leaves the etheric body. The latter remains as a second cadaver, sleeping above the grave in the shape of the person and it decomposes in parallel with the physical body. The process of the soul leaving the etheric body is identical with the process of the soul leaving the physical body. The life-forces of an atom of the etheric body are taken away to be used as a seed for the life body in the next incarnation. In such a way, on entering the astral world a person carries with oneself the seed atom of the physical and the etheric bodies. The etheric body resembles the physical body in shape because it is its architect while the physical body is only an impression of the etheric one. However, at the present stage of development of an ordinary person and while one is still on Earth, the astral body is not organized and is cloud-like in shape, and it is only when the soul leaves the etheric body and the panorama of the past life is impressed over the astral body, that the astral body assumes the image of the departed person. As the Master indicates, "The entire earthly life of man is recorded and when he goes to the World beyond, he will be shown his entire life as a movie - as a child, as an adult, as an old person. A bud blooms into a flower. A fragrance comes out of the flower. Then the flower chalice drops off, and only the small seed inside the fruit is left. Where are the bud and the flower? Everything is in the fruit. The bud is the first phase; the flower is the second phase; and the fruit is the third phase. The seed is inside the fruit. This is analogous to human life." Beinsa Douno explains that there is a dark zone of high temperature between the physical (respectively the etheric) and the spiritual worlds. For this reason he advises, "You should keep the idea about your true self, you should come to know yourselves in order to come out of this dark zone safely. It will be not before long that you will enter the spiritual world." He adds also, "This realm is different from the others because it receives no Light from outside. Each soul illuminates its path with as much light as it has. Everyone shines for oneself while the zone itself is dark. In this dark zone you will encounter many beings lagging behind in their evolution for thousands of years. They will jump over you as predators, they will try to take your light away, attacking you with their criticism, telling you, 'You are such and such' - for them the entire world is not good." Souls must pass through this zone before entering the spiritual world. There are many entities hostile toward a human being in this zone. Therefore, one needs to have light and presence of mind, and a guide as well who will lead and protect the soul. This dark zone represents the border between the heat ether which has its origin in the Saturn period, and it is without light because light appeared in the period of the Sun, and the lowest realm of the spiritual world which in the esoteric science is called the "realm of the burning desires." Here a person, who experienced strong inferior desires and passions on Earth, loses the opportunity to satisfy them any longer, and they burn like him a fire. This is why this zone is called the realm of the burning desires. This is the lowest realm of the spiritual world and here the coarsest, the lowest, and most egotistic passions and desires, related to the life of the physical body, are destroyed. As those passions and desires satisfied themselves through the physical body, they intensify even more after its death because they cannot be satisfied anymore. This makes the soul suffer, it sort of "burns" because it can no longer satisfy its desires. But these desires are exhausted gradually as a burning fire and the soul learns that the only way to liberate itself from the suffering, caused by the strong desires, is to extinguish them, to extinguish this thirst for pleasure. The souls, who did not have such burning desires during their lifetime, after death pass through this realm without noticing it, because they have no contact points with it. The more and stronger desires a soul had during its earthly life, the more it will need to purify. As a result the soul will stay longer in this realm of burning desires. Usually these are people who have left their earthly life in the peak of their lives and had many base and intense earthly desires binding them to the abandoned body. People who left their earthly life after a great and long suffering pass easily and quickly through this realm because they liquidated their inferior desires binding them to Earth while they were in their physical bodies. People who left their earthly life as a result of an accident, incident, or murder, and who have many unrealized desires, remain in this realm for a long time. Gravest of all is the situation of people who have committed suicide, as they wanted to liberate themselves from life but they see that they are still "alive," they become restless, and wander aimlessly in this low realm, experiencing great suffering until the time of their natural death comes. The period of purification from the passions and the desires depends on their intensity. Now a person will re-live with a great intensity all the crimes one has committed toward the others and the suffering they experienced so that this person can learn the lesson not to do harm to others. As previously mentioned, when someone leaves the physical body and makes a transition to the etheric world, one's life passes before the person in images. Observing the panorama of its life in the etheric world the soul experiences no feelings whatsoever. It is like an emotion-free witness as if none of this has to do with its own life. In this way the images are impressed into the astral body and when someone passes into the spiritual world these images are again presented. However, here the soul relives them with every feeling it is capable of. Now the person experiences all the suffering and sorrows one has caused to others and learns the lesson how difficult it is to bear sorrows and suffering. If at the moment of departing the physical body and passing into the etheric world, the soul is disturbed by the grieving and weeping of the relatives during the three-day period, the impression of the life coming to an end will be only vague and unclear in the spiritual body. However, when it is not disturbed by the grieving and weeping of the relatives, the spirit engraves a clear and profound impression in the spiritual body. Thus, when these images are shown in the astral world, one becomes conscious of all mistakes of the past life much more easily and distinctively than if the images are blurred as a result from the fact that one's attention was distracted by suffering and grieving. Personal emotions regarding things causing the present suffering will be much more distinctive if a clear panorama is presented. This clear and definite feeling is of great value for the future life. This feeling is impressed forever over the eternal atom of the spiritual body. The experience will be forgotten in the next life but the feeling will remain. And when an occasion comes up to repeat the mistake in a later life, this feeling will speak out clearly and unmistakably. It is this quiet inner voice that warns us even though we know not why and for what reason. The clearer and more definite the panorama of the past life is, the more clearly and strongly will the soul hear this inner voice. This shows us how important it is to leave the departing souls in an absolute silence at death and after death. By doing so, we help them benefit the most from the experienced life and avoid repeating the same mistakes in the next life. The weeping and grieving can deprive the soul to a great extent of the possibility to extract the right lesson from its past life. In the Master's words, "Someone has departed. The relatives give a luncheon in one's memory. To give a luncheon - this is all right; but nobody prays for the departed. Then the soul comes to me and says, 'They gave a luncheon for me, but no one prayed for me.' It is necessary to send good thoughts. Our prayers help the departed people. Our good thoughts to the departed - this is food for them. The juices contained within the very thoughts and feelings feed them." The passing of the soul through all the realms of the spiritual world is a process of purifying and liberation of the soul from all the earthly desires and bonds. It needs to overcome various desires, passions, and feelings in the different realms. This is because the various realms differ by the character of the life-forces which are at work within them and by the matter they are made of. In this spiritual world two great forces are at work, forces which originate from Love that, as previously mentioned, is the foundation of this world. This is the world of the lowest manifestations of Love. The forces, which are at work in this world and which originate from Love, are sympathy and antipathy. In the various realms they are in various relations, yet there is a tendency for sympathy to gradually take over antipathy. Finally, in the seventh realm antipathy is completely conquered and the soul is free of any ego. The three lower realms of the spiritual world constitute what is called "Purgatory" in religion because there the souls are being purified from all the earthly connections and desires. Sympathy and antipathy are in a constant struggle in the first realm of the burning desires where antipathy prevails, causing a great suffering for the soul. Sympathy and antipathy are in equilibrium in the second realm. Predominantly it is the souls, which had a keen interest in the news of the day, in all the gossip, in knowing what happened where, that fall to this realm-they stand out with their strongly developed curiosity and superficiality. As after death they are deprived of the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity, they experience suffering. Through this suffering the soul breaks free from the illusions surrounding it during its physical existence. Sympathy reigns in the third realm. This place is called the realm of desires. Here the soul experiences all kinds of desires and, as it is not able to satisfy them, it suffers and its suffering gradually attenuates and burns the desires. Hence, the three low realms of the spiritual world represent the Purgatory where the soul is purified from all the earthly passions, instincts, and desires. The three upper realms of the spiritual world form together what is called First Heaven in Christianity. The Master explained, "Why someone needs to die to see the World beyond? Is it not better to be aware of that World before one dies? After departing everyone will see the World beyond but how many people have seen it while still on Earth? Some say that I have been to the World beyond. I do not deny it but I only say that it is very expansive. On Earth we see only one sky. In the World beyond there are seven Heavens. In the First Heaven man sees only his own mistakes; in the Second Heaven, the relations he had with other people; in the Third Heaven, his mental life, in other words, the knowledge he had at his disposal. Thus, man will get to know what he needs to study and will become willing to descend again to Earth to gain new knowledge." "Those who depart to the World beyond, already have vibrations of a different nature. There is nothing dense in them as the water when heated in the cooking pot, transforms into vapor. A person departing to the World beyond has different vibrations. I was told that a brother was no longer among the living people. I performed some investigations. I compared his vibrations with the vibrations of another person whom I know had departed for the World beyond, and I saw that there was a difference. I said, 'This brother is alive; he has not departed.'" The forth realm is situated between the Purgatory and the First Heaven and is called "Middle Earth" by some-neither Purgatory nor Heaven. This realm is of the feelings and it offers the soul a specific trial. During his physical existence man feels his physical body as if it were he himself. What we call self-confidence is based on this feeling. The more ego-centered a person is, the more pronounced superiority complex he possesses. After death the body, serving as foundation of one's superiority complex ceases to exist, yet this complex remains. Then the soul feels empty as if it has lost itself. This feeling persists until the soul realizes that the true human being does not consist of the physical body. Therefore, in the fourth realm the illusion of the body-self is destroyed and the soul is cured from any attachment and no longer identifies itself with it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Manas—a Sanskrit term for a higher or abstract mind— the principle of creative intelligence. "Manas" is the root of the word "man" and means: entity that thinks. [2] See Luke 2:40. [3] See also Ecclesiastes 12:6.

Explanatory Note The Generic "Man" In previous publications the following sentence: "Man - a term used to denote an individual (male or female) of the human race" was included to explain the use of this word throughout. However, recent comments on the sexist language led to the decision to elaborate much more on the subject of the use of the generic "man," "he," and "his" in this book. In the Bulgarian language, there are different words for human being (both female and male) - chovek on the one hand, for a male - muzh and for a female - zhena on the other. When Peter Deunov became the enlightened spiritual Teacher Beinsa Douno and spoke the words of Wisdom, he often used chovek to address any human being; and because this word is in the masculine form, it led to the use of toj (he) throughout his lectures in case of substitutions. However, in English the word "man" is used with both meanings: as generic term for Homo sapiens and as a term denoting an adult male person. This has led to many controversial discussions regarding how to avoid the use of a word which could be considered sexist by some readers. Our purpose is to keep the language as close as possible to the original, but at the same time to make clear the exact meaning in order to avoid confusion. In Garner's Modern American Usage, University Press, Oxford, 2003, Bryan A. Garner writes on page 717, "But does avoiding sexism mean resorting to awkward devices such as he/she? Surely not, because that too would distract many readers. What you should strive for instead - if you want readers to focus on your ideas and not on the political subtext - is a style that doesn't even hint at the issue." And further on: "The traditional approach has been to use the masculine pronouns he and him to cover all people, male and female alike." In a similar line of thinking, we decided to include this note as an explanation in the hope that the readers will focus on the meaning and depth of the words of the Master Beinsa Douno, rather than be distracted by the words. We replaced in many places, where appropriate, man with person, someone, individual, but this was not possible to do everywhere without changing the meaning of the words spoken by the Master. And so, except where we specifically describe a female person, the generic masculine pronoun is mainly used throughout the book to include both sexes. In a similar manner, "Brotherhood" refers to Fellowship of brothers and sisters of a spiritual community. "Disciples should go through Purgatory while still on Earth in their physical bodies by working on the organization and purification of the layers that some call 'bodies.' This is achieved by applying the methods of the esoteric school for work on oneself." "At first, having liberated itself from the physical body, the soul feels it is enormous and as vast as the Universe. And yet, the enemies of the soul begin immediately to chase it, it begins to run, getting so small that it becomes invisible, vanishing into space. The soul then tells its relatives on Earth that there is no life after death, that nothing exists. This is how souls feel like until they find their way in the World beyond. Such souls are referred to as being 'dark.' For a 'dark' soul to escape from such a situation, it needs to remember that it abides in God, that God is Love, and will restore the soul's original form when it comes to love God." "After the soul leaves the body, the body disintegrates into thousands and millions of living particles, which do not die. The body consists of millions and billions of living cells. Each cell has a soul of itself, yet the soul of the primary cell - the primary 'monad' - is in the center. The primary monad is light by itself and has attracted all the other monads. One day, when this monad of light accomplishes its mission, it will tell the small monads, 'Now I am sending you off to be free.' Then all these cells will start dispersing in space. And when the soul returns in a new reincarnation, it will attract all of these cells to itself and will form its new body." Beinsa Douno

http://en-petardanov.com/index.php?/files/file/10-%7B?%7D/ LIFE AFTER THE DEATH OF THE PHYSICAL BODY (Words of Beinsa Douno and Vlad Pashov) This book is mostly a translation of a publication prepared by Vlad Pashov after the words of the Spiritual Teacher Beinsa Douno (1864-1944). Additional excerpts from lectures of the Master were included by Antoaneta Krushevska. Translated from the original Bulgarian into English by Antoaneta Krushevska and Maia Mitcheva Computer design by Ivan Djedjev Cover illustration by Daniela Todorova For more information visit: www.beinsadouno.org www.everabooks.com © 2009 by Bialo Bratstvo Publishers Printed in Sofia, Bulgaria All rights reserved