Ani

The Sixth Sense I shall read chapter three from the Gospel of Joan. One Bulgarian proverb says: “The repetition is a mother of the knowledge.” This is partly true. Old works to be repeated, it is not knowledge. Not all things which are being repeated are true. Absolutely true are those things in which there isn’t any exception. You say something but deliver it exaggerated, or watered down. When you don’t deliver it as it happened, in both cases, there is something false. Some people want to pass the false works for truth through the faith of people. Now you have entered the School with the aim of developing some gifts and abilities. If you don’t work as you have to, your entrance into the School is pointless. If the child manifests a gift for painting but doesn’t work, nothing will become of it. Firstly the mother is glad of its scribbling, of its pictures. But these are ordinary things. They don’t have any artistic value. These are ordinary lines. In order to acquire art lines on the arm, the child has to study, to work upon its gift. It is not easy to be drawn art one line. It is wanted an arm for it. Man has to work 20-30 years in the area of art to paint one line in order to recommend him as a painter. Outside one line may be correct, beautiful, but if you increase it and study it, you see that there is something wrong. The same refers to the human face, Outside it is beautiful but if you increase it, you see that there is something that you don’t like. Really, a human face is not as beautiful as it seems. – Why? – Because it is being watched from a short distance. Every object which is watched from afar, seems more beautiful than it actually is. For example, from afar Vitosha is more beautiful than from a short distance. The closer I come, the more it loses its beauty. Its lines are being drawn in detail and it starts to lose that beauty that it has from afar. The beauty has an attitude to the sensibility and the harmony. Only the sensible man is beautiful. If we compare man, as a sensible creature, with animals, we see the big difference which exists between them. Man, for example, makes from him a big, comfortable house in which to live freely, and also to have a place for guests. What is the house of birth? In its nest there is room only for a bird and for its offspring. If some guest comes to it, there is no room for it. Such are the houses and to the rest animals. By analogy of it, I say: The worldly man makes a home only for him and his children. In the house of the spiritual man, there is room and for outside people, but not for all. The hearts of the present people are not very wide. In them several people may enter. If one more than the defined enters, the state becomes oppressive. It is not easy to serve too many people. When I speak to you like this, you have to observe things scientifically, to treat everything what is said in a critical way. People say to me something for some man. I say: I can’t give my opinion for this man, I don’t know him, I haven’t tested it. Whatever they say to me – bad or good, if it is true, they have the right to speak, if it is not true, they don’t have the right to speak. All false things are written on account to that one who tells them. Every false thing is written on the back of that one who distributes it. And the interests are putting again at him. From the spiritual world, with the help of radio, listen to everything which is spoken on the earth, and they write it. If somebody delivers a lecture or talk, they listen to it too; - Is that true? – You may check it. The one, who has a well developed sixth sense, may see what is happening in the invisible world. Even and if the sixth sense is developed in the third stage, he can penetrate in the invisible world again, to see how beautiful it is. Between the physical and the spiritual world there is some resemblance but people still haven’t taken down everything which exists in the spiritual world. In future it may be reached. Then the Divine Kingdome will come to earth. And the animals have taken many things from people, but the difference between then and man is big. Look, what the clothes of the animals are! It is so natural! They live in extremely thick matter, in bad conditions. Their coat serves as self-defence against the bad conditions. Man had already left the most crude and hard conditions and gradually walks to more favourable conditions. The body of man is already exposed to Divine light. He accepts it and frames in himself. If you observe man with the eye of the clairvoyant, i.e. to that one who the sixth sense is developed in, you see that besides a physical body, as an outside cloth, man has and other bodies, one more fine than the other, from thinner matter. The essential in man is his Divine body. And so, study in order to acquire more knowledge. You may criticize yourself, I don’t have anything against criticism, but it has to be based on respect. Here, the present scientists make attempts to understand if another world exists, or not. They have come to the conclusion that in order to prove the existence of the other world, man has to have a respective sense. This is the sixth sense. You can’t penetrate into the other world without it. That world is real. But, in order to accept the reality, you have to have the respective sense, a special sense. How will you know one object if you don’t have touch, sense or striving to it? Without these things, the world will be closed to you. In this relation, the scientists are sincere when they say that with the senses which the present man has, any spiritual knowledge can’t be required. The physical world is three-dimensional. It is adapted for the fifth senses of man. Out of this world man needs one more sense – the sixth, i.e. a sense which answers from the four-dimensional world. Otherwise we couldn’t explain how between a thousand men he only one sees things which the others don’t see. You will say that it is hallucination, a shadow of life. – It is possible. I ask: How will you explain the prediction with which somebody forewarns something? Someone says to you that after ten days your house will burn down. Believe it, or not, it happens. The same man tells you that after time you will travel by train. In the way an accident will happen, the train will run off the rails and you will be injured. It happens too. The predictions don’t refer only to negative things. The same man predicts to one extremely run into debt trader, who finds at bankruptcy, that after two months his state will be improved. Money will come to him from somewhere. He will pay off his debts, he will improve his state and he will give his children the chance to finish school. Where these possibilities will come from, he doesn’t know either, but the fact is being near at hand. As he says, as it happens. You say: there is no reason why we listen to the spirits, they set our things right. I say too: Don’t wait for the spirits to set your things right. You have to care for your works alone, but if you don’t do anything, they will order you. If someone doesn’t pay his debts, he leaves other people to pay for him. When he doesn’t pay his accounts by himself, the invisible world will force him to pay. – How? – They will send some illness to him or some unhappiness and he will say: I had one debt, written off long ago, I shall pay it off. People are not obliged to pay my engagements. When he hasn’t remembered, the spirits have urged him to go and pay his debt. You say that you don’t have to listen to the spirits. – Sometimes you have to listen to them. Is it better to prosecute you for not executing an engagement? When you don’t pay, they will judge you. They will judge you for many things without you suspecting it. You gather stones from the mountain, make houses and don’t think that you will pay. You don’t have the right to take stones indiscriminately from the mountain. There is no case in life, when you make a stone house, and don’t pay for it. Far or close your relative or someone from your family man will pay with his life. When know this, people make an offering, they pay with the foreign life. Generally, it is paying from every undertaking. Voluntarily or by force, you will always pay something. As you know it, don’t look for the reason for unhappiness in life. Some unhappiness is due to the carelessness of people, others are cause by extra terrestrial creatures. They are like people. When they don’t like someone, they are ready to cause him some mischief. If they love him, they make him good. God serves and with the good, and with the bad spirits. He sends the good spirits to help those who prepare for the Divine Kingdom. It is true which you alone have to verify. Whatever I say to you, verify. Otherwise you will deliver my words without having any experience. If and that one, who listens to you, has got no experience, your words remains in vain. Everything which you say has to be informed and verified. Some people are indignant that one Turkish professor spoke the Turkish language in its original form. Understood or not, they deliver the words of the professor. In fact, he wanted to say other things but they understood him wrongly. People speak like that and for the new teaching. They say that it has gone beyond the borders of Bulgaria, that it has many followers and etc. They are deluding themselves. How many men followers it has they don’t know too. How many of them are real believers? How many of them may be relied on? I ask: How many men between you are real believers, who really may be relied on? I rely on everyone of you as you hope to God. Who doesn’t hope to God and lives out of Him, is similar to all people. You say that you have a high opinion of me, that you hope to God. – Till when do you hope to God? Till you have wealth, possessions, health. After you lose everything, you lose and your hope. Every thing which is being based on the material can be easily lost. You will say that you honour me. Why do you honour me? I am a poor man, I have got no anything for change. – You are a Divine man sent from Heaven. – I have to prove it. How I shall prove it? – You speak well, preach nicely. – Who can’t speak? – We believe in you. – What does your belief rests on? Peter said to Christ: “You are the living son of God.” Christ answered him: “You don’t uncover it by body and blood but by my Father Who is in Heaven.” If God has uncovered something to you, thanks. If you think that somebody else has whispered in your ear, you don’t speak truth. If you come to the reality, you can’t doubt it. You will believe in the reality as you believe in the light. – I don’t believe in the light. – You will start to believe. – How? – We will walk together on a way on one dark night. We will walk, will toil and moil without knowing where we go. I take out one candle from my pocket, light it and say: Do you see the way? – I see. – Do you believe in the light? – I believe. I blow out the candle and say: Go forward! – I can’t, I don’t see the way, I stumble. I light the candle. – Do you see? – I see. – Do you believe in air? – I believe. – In the water? – I believe. – In the bread? – I believe. – The light, the air, the water and the bread ARE real things which always may be tasted. Apply your faith in order to be increased. Taste the things in order to enter into the reality of life. You love to exaggerate and to decrease the things. Sometimes it is necessary in order to make things understood and accessible. You say: I saw God. – How did you see Him? – As an old man, in white clothes, with a white kalpak on the head. It is an ordinary man, not God. If God comes down to earth, even it will not withstand His face, it will melt. What will happen to you, the ordinary man, if you see God? You wouldn’t withstand even the face of one angel. The angels are light, powerful spirits. It is enough just to see the face of one angel to fall on the earth. Even the prophet Danail, one of the enlightened ones, when he saw an angel, fell to earth. I don’t say that nobody has seen an angel. Many people have seen angels but few have withstood their look. When the high priest Zachary saw an angel who told him that a son would be born to him, he didn’t believe it. Because of his disbelief he became dumb. After it Zachary wanted to say that he has a vision but he couldn’t speak. Now, let us leave aside the past and your old belief. – Sometimes God has spoken to man. – God speaks to him and today. – Sometimes man has seen God. – He sees Him and now. Today people dispute who sees more, who knows more and who can do more. All the people don’t see equally, don’t deliver things equally because the sixth sense is not developed equally in them. Two painters paint one picture from nature. They dispute which picture is more beautiful. The more beautiful and truer picture is that one which is closer to nature. Closer to nature means closer to reality. The good man paints the human face as it is in reality. This we call a real, true image. A Human face is hardly ever painted. – Why? – Because it is put under to constant outside and inside changes. Today you have one point of view, one opinion, on the other day you change. Sometimes the change is in a good sense, sometimes it is not good. You say: I had a good opinion of this man but I changed it, I already don’t think so well of him. – Why did you change your opinion? – I felt it like that. – The feeling is not something scientific. You have to base yourself in a scientific way why you have changed your opinion of this man. Your opinion, your point of view has to correspond to the reality. You say for someone that he is a good man. Have you tasted his goodness? You give him two hundred leva as a loan on condition that he gives them back to you after two months. It is not only that he doesn’t give them back after this term, but he doesn’t even apologize. The Bulgarian is not correct. In this relation, for example, the English man is an example of accuracy. Before the war I was wrote several English books. I sent the necessary sum, but it turned out that the books are cheaper with one shilling. I received an account for the books. On the account it was written that one shilling remained at my disposal. When the war started, the shilling had already gone. The accuracy has relation to nobility. The English man knows what accuracy is. He knows the laws of the spiritual world, he knows what accuracy represents in this world. From the spiritual world say to you: Get up and pray! – It is cold, I don’t want to get up. – Get up! – I don’t have a frame of mind. You wrap yourself up much better in the quilt and start to sleep again. You don’t know that if you don’t get up to pray, on this day some unhappiness will happen to you. One of our brothers related the following experience. He had a custom of praying every morning. Besides, when he had to go on his way, he always prayed. One day he had to travel by train but since he hurried a lot, he put off his prayer. He came back on the same day and what did he find at home? The children who played with stones, by accident hit one of his children in the eye. It nearly caused the loss of his eye. The brother connected this unhappiness with the postponement of his prayer. With it he interrupted his connection with god. After this case he never missed his time to pray. One day I was a guest in the house of the same brother. I found a serious condition there: the brother was ill, he was going to die. I came into the other room, I sat facing east and started to think. After a while, the comrade of the brother and said to me: Master, he leaves. I hope that God will help him to live ten years more to bring up the children. I came into the room of the ill man. I see that he had been transported somewhere but his mouth whispers prayers. I bowed closely, I hear to whisper: God, give me back my life. If I get well I promise to serve you, to execute Your will. When I heard that he prays I said to the sister: Don’t be afraid, tomorrow the ill man will be better. After he prays, he will not leave. Really, on the other day the brother was better. When he prays, the ill man connects with God and his prayer is being accepted. It is a fact. The sister will say that when the Master came, the ill man got well. I say: the ill man prayed well, sincerely, and that is why he got better. When I went to him and heard his prayer, I already knew that he would get well. If he hadn’t prayed, he would leave and in my presence. There was strong desire to live in him, to execute Divine will, that is why his prayer was accepted. And so, if you want your work to go well, don’t get carried away with material things, don’t succumb to false hearings. Every work which you start has to be pleasing to God, or in agreement with the laws of the sensible world. Work only what is defined for you from God, i.e. for what you have been born to do. If you have been born to be a painter, paint; if you have been born to be a musician, play; if you have been born to be a doctor, cure people. What you have been born for, you will work as. When you know it, don’t impede either yourself, nor your fellow-men. Everybody has to work in the way which he has been born to. Christ says: “What is borne from the Spirit, it is spirit; what is borne from the flesh, it is flesh.” Said with other words: What is borne from Spirit is sensible, unrestricted; what is borne from the flesh is unreasonable, restricted. Man is sensible, the animal – unreasonable. Man can think, man makes inferences and conclusions; the animal doesn’t think it doesn’t make any inferences. Besides practical, man has theoretical knowledge; the animal has only practical knowledge. For example, when one cat wants to jump from one place to another, it uses its experience, it knows how far the distance is between the two places, and jumps successfully. When it wants to catch its victim, it knows what jump to do. It is neither knowledge, neither success, nor progress. All the crack and criminals have long arms. If today they are not such, they were such in the past. When they have made attempts to steal, they have stretched out their arms and because of it they have become long. The thief constantly brings in him the thought to reach out his hand for something and stretch out his arms. That is why namely his arms are longer than to that one who never steals. It is proved scientifically. People who think more and feel less, have long noses; those who feel more and think less, have short and wide noses. They are healthier. Those ones, who have longer and narrow noses, are more hot-tempered. The irascibility and the nervousness of man are due to superfluous mental energy which accumulates in the nose. It means that the superfluous mental energy disorganizes the nervous system. When you know it, don’t overload your thought with superfluous cares. Some says: What should be done with this house? It is already old, tomorrow it may collapse; it is dark, it doesn’t absorb enough light into it. – Very simple. Prop it up with two-three beams, you will fix it a little. Open one-two bigger windows in order to absorb more light. Your house will be lighter and more hygienic, and you – healthier. Don’t worry about your houses. Really, they are appliances, object teaching but they are not an aim in life. Someone says: Why do I come here to waste my time? – Who let you come? Nobody forced you. You compare yourself to a trader who stays all day in the market-place, expects someone to come, to buy from his commodity. Two-three hours pass, nobody comes; lunch time passes, still nobody comes. He closes his work-shop dissatisfied that he hasn’t earned anything. But he always believes that his work will go forward. On another day he opens his shop again, expects clients. At last one of his friends, who is always lucky, comes and after him one after another a number of clients start to alternate. His faith increases and he is glad that his good friend took after many clients. It happens and the opposite: one mister comes into his shop, after that everything deteriorates. Nobody enters his shop now, and not only for one day but for several. This man has a bad step, he doesn’t lead clients after himself. Two firms exist in the world. They oppose themselves mutually. In order to manage this opposition, every firm has to apply its mind, to think. Only like that may they correct their life. If he doesn’t think correctly, man resembles that American, millionaire who paid 400 million dollars for the building of the railway line between Chicago and Buffalo. He built the line and after that he went to see what the real situation with the work was. What did he see? Another American, a multi-millionaire, has already built the same line parallel to his. It means that a concurrent appeared. He thought what to do for a long time. At last he decided to kill himself. His woman noticed that he was very thoughtful, decides to do something. She came into his room and asked him: Tell me, what is the problem? You think something is bad. Tell me what you are thinking of doing? How your material works are? – I am in a dead-end. I can’t stand the disgrace which expects me. My saving is in death. She said to him: You will give me the right to arrange your work. After one week everything will be ready, but you will promise to listen on me. What did this clever American woman do? She went into the office of one big multi-millionaire in Chicago and said to one of the officials: Please, call the director of the office. – it can’t, he is busy, his time is very expensive. - I want just five minutes of his time which I shall pay for. At last he accepted her. She said to him: We built one railway line from Chicago to Buffalo. I ask you only one thing: Let you be the first traveller who will travel on this line. We will pay the expenses. We don’t want anything else from you. He watched her, smiled and set the day of the journey. She thanked the director, paid him the time she took up, and went to home. On her way she turned aside in visited casually the office-building of one of the daily newspapers and left a message that so and so multi-millionaire would travel on the newly built line Chicago – Buffalo. The concurrent of her man, when he learned about it, said: I give 600,000,000 dollars for this line. In this way the clever wife of the American made a contract with the concurrent and saved the state of her man. What would have happened to this American if his wife wasn’t clever? Therefore, if your wife is clever and can save your wrong material state, give to her all your rights for it. She believes in her power. Man has to be sincere in himself – to acknowledge if he can complete one job, or not. And then you will know which things happen as you wish, and which can’t happen. When something doesn’t happen, you will try to find the reason for it. I say: Whatever happens in your life, don’t lose your faith but increase it. Your present faith is a base of the things but it has to grow. Everything is put under counts on growing. And your body grows. Every thing, which doesn’t grow, doesn’t develop. If the child doesn’t grow, it can’t develop. If the adult doesn’t grow, he can’t develop either. People say that man grows only to the age of 25 years and afterwards he stops. From 25 years old upwards he stops to grow in height, but he grows in width. If in height, or in width he grows, it is important that in the organism there is constant change. From the age of 25 years upwards it grows and develops the brain. It continuous to grow old, even and to the age of 120 years. Until it grows man may be useful. God has invested a large amount of capital in him, which has to be developed. From this capital and he, and his fellow-men will use it. As disciples, you have to work over your character: to remove the unclean, to work with the clean as if with hard cash capital. If you have a bad feature – to speak about people’s behind their backs, don’t you have to free yourself from it? If you want to point out one bad feature of one sister. Don’t speak behind her back. Call her and say: Sister, what you do is not in the interest of your spiritual development. You exaggerate some things, you said something bad about your friend. Before you speak and exaggerate the facts, verify how true they are. In this way you distort your character. Don’t speak badly about anybody. Be just to everyone. Now I say and to you: I want all of you to be sincere, just, good. Who wants to live only for his interests, let he go into the world. We will help him and there. If he wants to become rich, there is his place. You came here to study, not to quarrel. The School is not a place for trade. The rise is great teaching. Everything which comes from outside is an appliance for this school. Nobody has the right to appropriate the things. It is not allowed to have parties in School, to co-operate yourself. If you co-operate in the name of God, to execute His will, I understand it. To co-operate and to pull to you, it means to collapse alone. You are cashiers of god that is why you will be honest. If you are on the Rise, or in town, everybody has to work for God. I don’t want you to be poor. Be rich but use your wealth for God. In it your goodness hides. I wish your good too. Don’t criticize yourself. Only the brave and decisive may criticize because he knows how to criticize. From the one, who knows much, very much, is demanded; from the one, who knows little, little is demanded. Who has much, he gives much; he who has little, has little. Now, whatever I say to you, whatever advice I give you, you will act in your way again. Somebody asks me for something, wants my advice and after that he says: Why did you allow it to become like this? If I don’t give him any advice, it is bad; if I give some advice to him, it is bad again. I prefer to be bad but to advise him rather than not to tell him anything. If I haven’t given him any advice, his state would be worse. Who has decided to execute the will of God, puts his interest aside. One sister will go to preach my teaching. How she will preach? What will she say to people? Does she have some gift to prove to people that she predicts things? She will say that she knows one Master who sees everything. It is not enough. People want scientific evidence. It is not important who knows what and can; it is important what you know. Divine one always succeeds and humans pass and leave, without leaving deep traces. This is how I know things. For me it is like this, how you look at them I don’t know. Everything I speak about is tasted and verified from me. I haven’t got any doubt in it and I say: This is the truth because I have tasted it. What I haven’t tasted may be truth and false. Some says: Master gets down very low to us. – I don’t get down but I make attempts, I verify the teaching I preach. For me is important if I am able to get down and to raise myself; am I able to get down to people without being tempted and to be carried away from something. May I listen to offended words aimed to me without touching me? Everybody who says false things is already prosecuted. It is not only for me, it is for everyone. Soon the sentence of those who speak false things will be passed. It is what love demands. Crimes are no allowed to be committed in the name of love. It is already time for everybody to make a confession to him and to correct his mistakes. If it is me, or you, the law is the same. I am ready to correct and my littlest mistake. If I have made a mistake I shall say: I have made a mistake but I am ready to correct it. It is justice. It is chivalry. It is what human dignity demands. Reveal the things as they are really. A character is wanted from man. Why will you hide the truth? Somebody will come to praise me that I am a good man, that I do good. Why are these words? Afterwards he will say that he wants me to help him, to lend him money. He will praise and get me to Heaven in order to give him some money. I already think how to act with him. I say to him: I have money but it is not mine. I don’t lend money. Come after four-five days, I shall do something and will give you some from mine. I cure ill men from time to time, but I don’t take money. Some give me money to give to poor or ill men as I find. With this money I make good for their account. I say: When somebody gives you money, take them. Otherwise you will show your pride. One sister came to me, she needed money. She didn’t want anything but I knew that she needed money and I decided to help her. I gave her 6oo leva. She took the money but she gave them back on the other day. – Why did you give the money back? – I don’t want any money. Tomorrow the others will hear and they will say that you have given me money. I want to be independent, not to depend on anyone. She was afraid and from me, not to tell sometimes that I have helped her. It is her vanity. She wants everyone to think well of her. I took the money back and set her free. The reason for giving back the money may be some other. This sister may be poor, with little children, without work. When she looks for the money, she thinks that they are little. What will she do with 600 leva? On another day some man comes to me asking for money. – Why do you need money? – I have an ill wife and children, they have got no coal, they stay at home frozen and hungry. Afterwards he says that he himself is ill. One of his children fell ill from meningitis, he doesn’t know what to do. The doctors wanted to give him two injections. I say: I advise you not to give injections. Leave it to Nature. If it leaves, it is better to leave naturally. It may remain on Earth but it will be in height of the fellow-men by all means. If its illness is not meningitis, let them buy it milk to drink. I give 600 leva to the father for milk and bread of the child. These are material works which define the relations of people to God. Look to God as your father in order and I look to you as children of God. I tell you how you have to love and help each other. You say that you are children of God but you don’t love each other. Those who have blood connections love themselves more than those who have spiritual connections. Today the spiritual love works little between the people. Many feelings act into man. They interrupt and restore but in the end they change and interrupt. Love is the only power in man which never changes. It remains with man and always follows him. To love man, means never to interrupt your feelings for him. One feeling is strong till it doesn’t interrupt. It may change outside but never interrupts. If a man who you love speaks badly of you and causes you mischief, your feeling hasn’t to be interrupted again. If you see that he suffers, first you have to come to his assistance. It is love. If you don’t help him, you don’t love him. Love corrects all the mistakes. If you see one of your mistakes, don’t keep it to yourself for long. As soon you correct it, it is better for you. Now I advise all of you to confess your sins, not one to another, but to your soul. Open your hearts and minds and make a confession of your sins to the sensible world. Even one mistake hasn’t remained in you! Before you lie down open your heart to God and make a confession of your sins. Only in that way will you manage with the difficulties and the misfortunes in life. We live in a world full with trials. Don’t think that you are very strong. Every moment of your life hangs by a thread. Nobody knows how much time is defined for him to live on earth. Till you are here, look to win something, so that when you go to the other world to have what to bring with you. There is no greater thing than to enter into the new life, into the Divine Kingdom as its citizens. That is why it is said in the Writing: ”Search first for the Divine Kingdom and Its justice and everything else will be applied to you.” You have come on earth to develop the good and the beautiful which is put in you. Have you to put off this work for another regeneration? All the favourable conditions are being given to you to develop one thing – the sixth sense. It is not demanding more from you. From you demands to see things clearly, to feel them correctly and to develop them on place. The Sunrise has to be a model of cleanliness, of light thoughts, of elevated feelings and to noble actions. Help these people who suffer and have need. From the Sunrise has to come out people of the new! And when they see things clearly, to know how to help. We have to be a model in everything. Be models not in words but in actions. If you are not models your words will be a voice in the desert. Which thought has to remain in your mind from today’s lection? – Doubt, apply your critical mind, test the things but keep the good. It is said and in the Writing: “Test everything but keep the good!” I tell you too: Test everything but apply Love! Test everything but walk in the way of Truth! This God demands this from you. 4. Morning Speech from Master delivered on 18 October, 1936, Sofia – Sunrise The Sixth Sense

Good and Bad Way Meditation. I shall read the 26 Chapter of Mathew’s Gospel. While you are reading the Holy Writ, you say: We understand the Word of God, and when you read it once, you thought that it is enough. It is not so. — Why? —Because the understanding grows up. Your understanding is one kind today, tomorrow — another. Your understanding will be quite different after years. When you were small children, you had satisfied with little; as adults, you are not content with that little. Why the people of today are not pleased with their life? They were pleased with little in the old time. This is one question that is hard to be given a scientific answer. Any wants to be a master, to reign. This is impossible. This makes sense you to reign i.е. to master yourself, and not to govern other people. Moreover, you are not going to govern all your life. It is just as if to get issued title-deed every day that the field you work is yours. Then, you have worked it for 30 years and you got issued 30 title-deeds. It is not needed. You listen to the religious people saying: We understand the Lord. We have recognized Him already. — You have recognized Him, but you have not recognized the essential. — What is the essential? — The threads with which you are sewing the garment. It is just as if you have good wool you have spun and woven, but you have not threads, to sew the garment with. — Is not it possible without threads? — No, it is not possible, these threads are the way in which the man[1] walks. Without road you could go nowhere. It leads towards a certain purpose. You ask me: Why we encounter so many obstacles in our life? — Because you have many desires. Unless you get rid of your desires, you could not achieve the truth. For example, a young maid wants to serve the Lord and thinks to get married at the same time. It is not bad, but she could not get these two things in herself. By this reason she comes up against contradictions. Is it possible the school-girl to study and answer the love letters of her sweetheart at the same time? She will answer his letters but she will leave her lessons behind. In the long run, this school girl will finish a school but not the one she started. If he writes her ten letters a day, for a year she will reply to 3650 letters, but what she will gain? He had written her about many different things. For a house, for cornfields, for clothes, for shoes, for drives, for nice meals. And she had replied him the same way but she had gained nothing from these letters. If the young people could realize what they have gained from their letters, they would never write them. — Why? — Because from the letters only empty words and promises left. And the religious people did the same. And they say: We love the Lord, we shall do for Him everything; we shall serve Him with love. — Empty words! You say: I shall turn somebody towards the Lord at least. — How you will turn him? He is not a purse, to be turned inside out. You will try to turn him but it is impossible to turn him. Turning the people towards the Lord, it is not your business. You are required to do one thing: to find threads for sewing your garment. Otherwise, you will be left without a garment. — Why there are no threads? — Because the young man, in order to go out on a date with his beloved in time, he closed the shop earlier that the appointed time. You could not buy threads and you are sorry that your garment will leave uncompleted. The young man says: When I get married I will open my shop in time and I am going to satisfy the demands of my clients. — For him this reason is satisfactory, but is it satisfactory for you? You will be without new garment due to the personal happiness of this young man. I say: The personal happiness will not solve the issues. If you suffer all day and someone else is happy what do you achieve from this? Does it give meaning to your life? The personal happiness does not make the person happy. In the old ages, an adept studying the Jewish Kabala reached to number ten. For studying the laws of this number well, he decided to marry ten times. He had married a woman and left her soon. Like that, he had married another nine times and every time leaving his wives. When he left again alone he said to himself: I have learnt nothing from my marriages. Why I had to marry? And you will say that this adept have done a large foolish thing — he had married ten times. — But you get married every day. Either you get married yourself, or the other people marry you. Some day you understand the sense of the day but sometimes you do not understand it. The sun rises and sets, and you are displeased all the day and you think that the other people are happy and only you are not happy. You see that people have got what you have not. How you will reconcile yourself with that contradiction? The people have gone outside in the sun. They are glad but you are leaning against two crutches and hardly walking. People walk freely on both legs and you on four ones are not free and you feel like a disabled one. Under „a disabled person”, in the broadest sense of the word, I understand the one who has disorders in his soul. He was on the battlefield and returns wounded every time. After that you will say that you are healthy. The world is a battlefield and if you are not careful you might be wounded. Where is the Love there are no disorders. Everyone has possibility to display his love in accordance with his understanding. A priest told me: If I come once again to the Earth I am not going to be a priest again. As many as 30 years I have burnt incense on people and they remained the same. If you ask them to give you 5 — 10 Leva, theу answer they have not. I have burnt incense to hound the devil out of them but I have not hound out none. If you were me, what you will do? — And I will burn incense on them like you. This is said in figurative sense. In the candela there should be fire. Is it wise the priest to burn incense on one hundred dry trees? Do not burn incense on a dry thought or emotions. It is better to put them in the fire to burn out than to burn incense on them. Many people base their life on dry thoughts and emotions. It is one and the same to think that if you become rich then you will put your affairs in order. This is a wrong idea. You will say that you are not guilty for your dry thoughts and emotions. — You are not guilty! — The guilt is in you as well, as in those ones before you who have not solved their issues. Some solved them, and other could not. The fire in the candela should pass in the human heart — and it will start burning with the sacred fire. Incense should come out of human thought! It is required both from the young, and from the old man. The young differs from the old by this that he falls from height. Without thinking too much he rushes from some high place and injures himself, becomes a disabled person. Since he cannot come back home, he allows other people to carry him. For him people say that he is grown old untimely. And you say: We grow old. — In my opinion, old is that man, who in his young days has jumped from the height and become disabled. There is sense to jump from the height if you have achieved at least something — more strength, beauty and reasonableness. Why do you need old age which has added nothing to you? You will lean against crutches and will wonder how to cope with them. The young man has gone with crutches and thought that he has made life provision for himself. He says: If I do not need them today, some day I might need them. There is sense to use crutches but inside you. These are the Love and the Wisdom. Leaning on these two crutches means that you have comprehended your life. Until you use crutches outside everyone might beat you with your own crutches. A disabled man with two crutches under his arms had entered into an orchard to pick some fruit. Gardener caught him and told him: Have you asked anybody to enter the orchard? He took his crutches and beat him. You encounter your own difficulties often and you are afraid. I consider the sufferings from specific point of view. You complaint about your sufferings: I tell you: You are beaten with your own crutches. I think how to set free this man from the blows of his own crutches. I told him: You have made a mistake which you should correct. You have entered the orchard where the gardener used to beat. — How shall I avoid the beating? — You will come into the orchard intended for disabled persons where nobody is beaten. —I did not know, that there is such an orchard, I did see such sign. — Next time you will be careful: if there is no sign, there is beating; if there is a sign, there is no beating. Therefore, I told you: Be alert people in order to see the sign. And then, if you come into the orchard with a sign, you will solve your tasks. — Which orchards are with a sign and which are without? Where the person is received with love and where he is received without love? — You will give an answer to yourself. If you cannot answer to yourself, you will stay in your contradictions as if with crutches. You ask me: Why Christ had to suffer as well? — The sufferings are necessity. Without sufferings there are no achievements. — Is it possible without sufferings? — It possible without sufferings, too. Paganini was asked: Can you play on three strings. — I can. He appeared on the stage and played on three strings. — Can you play on two strings? — I can. — He played on two strings. — On one string? — I can on one string as well. — What about if there are no strings? — He has answered nothing, but he has not appeared any more. Hence, it is possible to live without sufferings, as well, but you will not come any more to the Earth. The life without sufferings is a life of the dried out fountains. You have started on a journey where all the fountains are dried out. This is the bad way in the life. As you want to drink water, you will change the direction you will set out the right way where all fountains are running. — But there will be sufferings. — It is not possible without sufferings. The right way is the way of living and running fountains. Since you have read the sign „Living fountains road”, you will know, that you are on the right way. Where there are no signs, there is no water. The monuments of dead and dried out fountains stood out there. So, coming down from the heaven, you will go to the right way where the fountains run. If you do not follow this way, you will suffer. This is called karma. The Hindu talked for the karma, but something left unexplained always. Somebody have beaten you, is it karma? If you have knowledge, you could foresee that they will beat you. In order not to be beaten, you should reconcile the facts. Without resignation, one will beat, after that the other will beat for revenging. This will continue without a break. Two persons do not love each other. One say to the other: You should admit your fault. — And you should admit yours. Both of them are touchy and they do not want to become reconciled. Each of them maintains his dignity. Actually, nobody has dignity. Both of them are servants, workers sent to the vineyard to work there. The dignity is in the work for taking the hoe and to dig with it. Only that man has dignity that has finished the school successfully and has acquired something. Dignity has the believer, the loving who makes way to his faith and love. However, to believe, it does not mean to be blind in the life. If you put your finger under the sewing machine needle, it will prick you. — Why you have put your finger under the needle? — For trying how does the machine sew. — Your fingers do not need such experience. — I want to try the evil. — Why you are going to try it? — I am going to try the love and dislike. — There is sense to try the Love, but not the dislike. It will not bring you anything. Do not make this attempt. To try the dislike and love, this is a big attempt. Enter a room and turn off the lamp, after that turn it on again. By trying the light and the dark, you will understand by yourself, what is the love and what is dislike. Where the light penetrates, there is the love; where is the dark, there is the dislike. If you close your windows alone, in order to stop penetrating the light inside; do not blame others for it. If you open them and you do not remember that have opened them; do not blame others for it. Thank God that He has inserted reasonableness in you and you know when to open and close the window. Thank that your heart is lit and the sacred fire of Love burns in it. Remember: Whatever is the life, it has some purpose. — What is its purpose? — To acquire the Divine essence and to come to that life that has no beginning and no end. As soon as you come to the beginning and end, you will always have some benefit. — I have big sufferings. — Be glad that there is an end of your sufferings. — What is their end? — Acquiring of reasonableness. In other words: the suffering is useful, if you have become more reasonable and sensible; if you have not become such person, the suffering is useless. — How I shall recognize the end of the things? — By the Love. If you love somebody, you are at the end. When somebody comes to love you, I know already, what will be the end — he will stop loving you. Then it will be your turn — you will love him. So, you will understand why he has loved you. The words I am talking for the love between the people, concerns both for teachers and for students. The teacher teaches his students during the class period — it means that he expresses his love to them. After that he leaves the class and goes home. Must the students cry that their teacher has left them? — No, they should love him now. — How? — By learning the taught lesson. The sufferings of people due to the fact they have not learnt the lessons taught by the teacher. The drunkard does not learn his lessons well and seeks the reason for his ill luck in other people. — No, the reason is in him. He goes to drink from a pub to another until one day he sobers up and understands that all his punishments and sufferings do not come from the God, but from the bartender. The world where we live is a great school. However, many people take the wrong way. — Why do they make a mistake? — Because they do not see any signs. Everywhere they enter — in orchards, in houses, in schools, nowhere is a sign. They start some work — again without any signs. And, at the end of the day, they do not know, who teaches them, what they study etc. Be alert to know where you were enrolled and what you study. I talk to you often for execution of God’s will. You ask me, what the God’s will is. — To warm yourselves in the sun. — May we warm ourselves in the fire? — You may in the fire as well, but only in the fire of your good friend who loves you. If you warm yourself in a fire of a person who does not love you, you will be in a contradiction. However, this concerns you[2] not the people in the world[3]. Only the sun of life, i.е. the Love solves the difficulties and contradictions. — And people could solve our difficulties. — No, only God in the people solves the contradictions and difficulties. Under „God” I understand the Love. Where is the Love, there no contradictions are possible. — I want to live without contradictions and sufferings; I want to be a learnt man, to know more than my close relatives. — And this is possible, but under other life conditions. There, the devil knows much, but he is unhappy. — Why the devil is unhappy? — Because he has broken his relation with the Divine World. You cannot live outside the God and to be happy. Since you are on the Earth, you will rely on the God and not on the people. The son relies on his father’s wealth. He does not learn and work anything. One day the father dies and does not leave anything to his son. The son is disappointed as he realizes that he has no money in his pocket and becomes a servant. Rely on the Divine in you, it will help you. If something comes from outside, from your father, thank for it, too. I do not say that you should not rely on the people. We are going to rely on them, too but we do not rely on their wrong views. To escape from the people, it is extremes. Relying on their right views this is a matter of course. Using the experience of other people, this is a common thing. Therefore, be friends with people, have a good look at their life and be taught by it. You should help each other. I have heard the talk between two disabled persons. One said: I was on the battlefield; I fought for my fatherland but I was hard hit; I was injured in the arm and I become disabled. The other said: And I have fought for the people but I was injured in the leg. Both are disabled persons and they ask each other why they have to fight. It is not bad that they have fought. It is bad that they suffer now and they cannot realize their suffering. Today they are said to be heroes, but they are not. They feel sorry that they have been on the battlefield and that they have become disabled for the life. One father told his child: Son, go to light the fire in the fireplace, all is ready: and the fire wood, and kindling wood. Only strike a match and the fire would be lit. The child took the box of matches but he goes to the barn and he lights the hay. The fire spread the neighbouring barns and causes big fire. Many of present people are such children —instead to light the fire in their fireside, they light the barns of other people. When they realize what they have done, they ask for help other people to extinguish the fire. A sister told me: I do not know, what to do, there is fire burning on my head. I cannot live among the people any more. — You cannot, because you have lit their barns. You se the fire and you do not know what to do. You do not do right. There is something that you do not understand. You get into bad ways in the life, but you think that you are into the right ways. Go back and take the right path. — Am I the biggest sinner? — That is not the issue. Sometimes the small faults produce bad effects. One young sister asked me what are the life’s joy and sorrows like. For understanding me I gave her the following example. The joy and the sorrow are two lakes. If you enter the Sorrow Lake you will suffer. If you come out of it, you will feel small joy. If you enter the Joy Lake, you will feel big joy. Coming out of it, you will feel small sorrow. Therefore, stay far from the Sorrow Lake for feeling small joy. If you are looking for big joy, do not come out of Joy Lake. When people have not succeeded in their life they will always find something to be an excuse for this failure. The old man says: Well now, if I were a young man, it will be different! The young man says: I am still young; I have to have the time of my life. When I grew old I will think for the next world. — There is no need to think for the next world, but either as a young, or as an old man, you have to lead a good life. The law is one and the same for both of them – for the young and for the old man. This is incorrect understanding of life to think that the old should lead one type of life and the young – another type. If the old man enters the Sorrow Lake he will suffer the same way as the young man. If he enters the Joy Lake, he will be glad as the young man.; the moments of suffering and joy are inevitable equally, both for the young and for the old. Why do Sorrow Lake and Joy Lake exist, do not ask. Why do wealth and poverty exist, do not ask as well. If you do not want to be a poor person, stay far from the poverty. — But it will come to me. — No, the man goes by himself to the poverty; it never comes to the person. If you do not want to become an ignoramus, stay far from the ignorance. The man goes by himself to the ignorance, and ignorance does not come to him. An eminent learned man married for a young and beautiful girl but they did not live well. He has taken to drink with sorrow and he has sold all the books in his library in order to have money for wine. Soon he has lost his knowledge and has become an ignoramus. And contrary, the ignoramus could become a learned man. — How? — He is hard-working, he saves money and buys books. He reads long hours, self-educates and acquires knowledge. It depends on the man if he will become a learned man or ignoramus. You say: I could easily become rich or learnt man, but how I will acquire the love? — And the love could not be acquired at once. It is like the light. It easy to turn the key of the light, but how long it was worked since that light was achieved. — But the Love comes from the God. — Right, it comes from the God, but time is needed to create in yourself the conditions for Love’s coming. As little is your Love today, thank for it. As little knowledge you have, again thank. Some people come to me to complain that they are not beautiful ones. You are right. In the past you were beautiful, but you have fallen into a deep sleep, and during this time somebody has painted you, he has put such colours on you that have lost your beauty. Now nothing is left but you have to work on you for changing these colours. God has inserted in you cosmetic means and you could recover your beauty with these means. Working on you, you will remove those conditions that make you ugly. The human soul is beautiful. The things that make you ugly are the shadows of the life. Love the Truth with all your heart and you will become beautiful. The beauty is a sign that you beloved the truth. He who applies the beauty for his development, he will be blessed by the God. This means he will become rich, learnt and strong man. Remember: You have to learn many things still. You want to go in the sky, but the way you are made now, even you go there, you do not understand anything. — What are you going to do there? — We shell be thought by the angels. — Yes, but they do not like people who think that know all. Angles like people with dawning consciousness looking for the truth. They will not come as preachers, to persuade you. There are people appointed for preachers. When the angel came to Zachary to announce him that he will have a son, he does not believe it. The angel did not convince him but told him: You will be dumb until the birth of your son. Until you have faults and flaws, the angels will not take care with you. They are severe, categorical. If they see a dead person, they give orders to bury him; they do not take care for dead. The dead person will pass through sufferings in order to become clean and after that he could rise in the heavens. And Christ had passed through sufferings, because he understood their sense. He was affected for the mankind and he stood their surety. Christ had drunk up the bitter cup, but he understood the deep meaning of suffering. The mankind could not be saved without Christ. Knowing this, do not become again slaves to the world. You look for happiness on the earth but you cannot find it. There is no happiness on the earth. If you look for happiness, you will find it only in the God. There is no happiness without God, without light. I have heard priests to say: We feel like to take our leaves to the forest and to run away from the people. — No, you will serve the God and you will do His will. There is a beautiful world. The happiness is there. He, who wants to become a member of this world, he should be a hero. Suffering many hardships and passing through all storms, he will reach the harbour and his life will be joy. If you live under the best conditions you will suffer some hardships. Keep the God’s law. God have not stopped loving you. Apparently He might move away from you. His purpose is to make you to think. — Isn’t it possible God to be all our life with us? — The sun does not shine all 24 hours. Despite, it rises in the East and sets in West. The God’s Love is displayed at dawn, but human love at sunset. Then you will light your candle and you will read. This is your love to the God. In the morning the sun will rise again and the God’s love will be displayed again. If you want to live in uninterrupted love, you have to rise in the highest sky, where there is no sunset and where the sun shines all the time. But on the earth, the sun rises and sets; as soon as it sets, the moon appears. The sun light is one type, and the moon light is another. Now you want to be happy. Since you could not obtain the happiness, you think that the people do not love you. You say: Why the people do not love me? Why I cannot achieve my wishes? — You are not the only man who has not achieved his wished. A day will come when you will achieve them. Do not lie yourself that you will achieve all your wishes and will be happy. Now it is time for work. After finishing your work you will be happy. You work suffering and being glad. He who wants to be happy earlier, he will lose even what he has. Christ said to Peter: „Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Not only Peter had denied Christ. And also Judas had denied Him, selling Him for thirty pieces of silver. And the other disciples fled. At the end, both Peter and Judas were sorry and remorseful. Judas even hanged himself. And today many of the Christians give up on Christ. They say: We do not want to follow Christ’s Teaching. — This is Judas’s life. — Yes, but after that, misfortune will come also for them. A day will come when even they, like the Christ’s disciples will be remorseful. Until that time, it is required everybody to work on themselves. Get down all your talents and abilities to work. And whatever you do, God will turn it into Good. Be grateful that your eyes and ears are open. Be grateful that you have the possibility to achieve the great aim of the Life. What is the great aim you will understand it when you climb up the high peak. Whichever way you were described the Light Future, you could not imagine it. It will atone for all your sufferings you have passed through. Open your windows so that more light to enter. Light your fire and prepare yourself sop[4]. Wash yourself properly, have a bite to eat and thank for all given to you. — Will the world come right soon? — If all people act this way, the world will become all right easily. Let everyone lights his fire, puts on his clothes and goes outside into the light and everything will be all right. When you listen to me talking this way, you ask yourself: Who is going to rise into the heaven? — Everywhere, in all countries all over the world, there are candidates for the heaven. You want to know if all of you will enter the God’s kingdom. I shall express figuratively: I am sitting near the fire. The trees are asking me what will happen with them. — It is very simple, all of you will burn. — We are not moving from here. — You will be put into the fire and will turn to wood ash, nobody will ask you whether you want or not. And I am telling you: All of you will transform and not to wood ash. The frozen water will turn to liquid; the cold air will turn to warm air; the seed that did not come up will germinate; the blind will start seeing; the deaf will start hearing; the dumb will start talking; the lame will start walking; the sick will get up from the bed, and the uneducated will acquire knowledge. Let us thank that we are at a school, where the all goods and blessings expect us. What it was until now? You have gone to school, you were given poor marks, D marks, C marks, and you almost have not obtained excellent marks. These are temporary works. F marks and poor marks could be mended. F mark is a horse, get on its back. Poor marks are a pair of harnessed oxen, get on the cart. D mark is a free horse - let it run in the forest. C marks are two pairs of oxen, and the excellent marks – three pairs of oxen that plough up the soil deeper. Then the field bears more. This means, the heart and the mind to start bearing, the ugly sights to be eliminated in the world. You have to free yourself from many things. When you enter the reasonable world you will unite and you will be set free from your faults. One day when you meet on the Earth, you do not see your faults. This means to become beautiful, your faces to start shining. — The displayed love of the Spirit, the displayed wisdom pf the Spirit, the displayed truth of the Spirit brings the complete life of God, of the United, Eternal God of the life. (25) Twenty fifth Morning Lecture given by the Master Beinsa Douno, on 19 March, 1933. Sofia, — Izgrev. [1] Man – the Bulgarian word chovek signifies a thinking and conscious human, without reference to gender. The current translation uses English equivalents such as person and one wherever possible. In certain instances the word man is used instead. The use of man, he, his, him in reference to chovek are used to facilitate the reading of the text, however they should be interpreted as an indication of both the feminine and masculine genders. [2] disciples –translator’s note [3] People who are not disciples, not included in Master’s School [4] sop – (Bulgarian word - popara) bread and cheese sopped in hot water Good and Bad Way

Note 1 Unique Things XIX lecture from the youth class 10th November, 1944, Friday, 5:00 h. a.m., Sunrise – Sofia The Lord’s Prayer. He read the resume of the last lecture. Read five pages from the lecture “Right relations” from the book „Path to Life” (A brother read the five pages) Imagine that a man makes a garden near a mountain peak, where there us plenty of water. Another one makes a garden in the desert where there is no water. Will both gardeners be happy? Who of them will be favoured? The one in the mountain where there is water. Or who is in the desert? Imagine that the gardener in the desert says: God has placed him there. Is it God that has [placed him there, or he has placed himself alone? Sometimes bad things in the world are dressed better, and the good things are dressed worse. As a result of this people make mistakes. To make a crime – you will be paid a big salary. To kill a man, you will receive quite a lot of money in the particular case. Sometimes the state values the heads at a high price. Now, imagine that you buy a pig; imagine that you give one thousand levs. Now the pigs are more expensive. In the past they cost one thousand levs. Imagine that this pig is yours. How many years can the pig live with you? You wonder why you need this pig. You have a thought, which is in deed a pig that only roots about, prods you and makes you uneasy. You are busy with this, you go from neighbour to neighbour to see what this pig is doing. It can be a wish. This wish roots about everywhere. Your neighbours will start complaining about it. You go in a house next door, the pig has rummaged everywhere around. Why do you give it freedom? Wherever you go, you take the pig with you. Leave it there to root about. You say, “Let the people clatter, leave the pig root about.” For example, sometimes someone of you may wish to see how rich somebody is. You may wish to see his case, to open it for you to see the money, the gold. He is a rather good man – he opens the case and shows it to you with the arranged money inside. Having seen the case what else would come to your mind? A number of temptations will come. First, you will tell him “How lucky you are! How much money you have had in this case.” First of all, this money is not blessed. It all has criminal names. He has earned it by selling animals, by selling fruits, by selling hides. He has betrayed somebody for a certain sum of money. Now you think he is lucky. The money that has been earned by sacrificing a life should not be considered lucky. In the contemporary life the money that people have are smirched. Therefore, in order to clean that money, the Providence has hidden it in the case. It has put there paper money. Paper money is cleaner. Now you are solving the question, saying, “I want to have money. The first thing is to have money. When you have money, everything is possible. When you have no money, nothing is possible.” You cannot do without money, because if money was not useful the nature would not create it. Nature created money and put it as a value in life. A man does not like working, you will overload him a little with some money. Just stick a golden coin on the blind eyes, he will work. If he is a musician, he will play. If he is a singer, he will sing. If it is for something else, put money and he will immediately do it. When you show the gold, in this respect the gold does a good job. The gold is a stimulus. Sometimes I say that it is possible without money. There is a way of payment that is more precious than gold. A sweet word is worth more than an English pound in coins. What do you think, if a king gives a golden coin or says a good word, which is worth more in this case – the coin that he has given, or the word he has said? The king’s word is worth more. Let’s say that the king has said a young man to study in all universities free, to study in all universities for nothing. How many words are these? – Five words. If he gives you five golden coins, or five golden words, which is better. Note a singer, who has a rather good voice, an excellent voice; he makes friends and starts drinking cognac, absinth, then anisette. You see his voice has spoiled. He says, “I have caught a cold” But when a man drinks Rakia, he often catches a cold. The Rakia chills the man, it takes more energy. I ask this singer why he drinks Rakia, what has made him drink Rakia. I will explain to you an analogy. Always when a man has eaten many sweet things, he has the desire to eat something sore. The sweet breeds in him a mood for sore. The final taste of sweetness breeds a desire for something sore. And the final sore taste breeds desire for sweetness. If on earth you have been gentle for a long time and you give way to this person, or another, finally a desire appears in you to beat somebody, a desire to show that you are not so gentle, that giving way is not the only way. Why is it so? I don’t know. You can find a philosopher to solve it. Nobody has solved the question up to now. Always you are a victim of such desires. Sometimes you want to be very good. You are doing very well, but you slip. Sometimes you are doing badly, very badly and you come to the utmost limit and you want to be good. Therefore, in both cases it can be changed. The good one must take care not to slip. What should the bad one beware of? The bad person is like a rich man who has spent all his wealth for drinks and now he has two levs, saying “There is nothing left than to buy a Gospel. I have no more money left, I will buy a Gospel to see what is written inside; I have not read it.” He buys the Gospel with the two levs. When he started reading it, he saw that there was a reason to read it. From that moment on another desire arose in him: he was sorry that he had spent all his money. But it was very good that he had spent everything and he had only these two levs and the good desire to go in the right way came to him. It is not bad sometimes a man to spend all his money, to have only two levs, to buy the Gospel and to go in the right way. Now you cannot explain why it is so. Take for example the strong man, who has strength, he has beaten that man or another. One day he has his ankle wrenched or his arm sprained and he sits down on the road. Then a different thought comes to his mind. He starts begging someone to do him a favour and set his leg. So I say, “When a man losses the relations of the right way of living in his life, a desire is born in him to have conscience. When a man has his ankle wrenched, he becomes good; when a man sprains his arm, he becomes good. When a man sprains his mind, he becomes good. There are sprained minds. There are rich people that sprain their minds when they become rich; they acquire dignity that a man should live well. They do not pay attention to the people. When they lose their money and get down to people, they start again their old life. Much of the contemporary knowledge that we have will cost nothing to us. What we study at university is like a piece of clothe that we are wearing now. When it becomes old, it is worn out, they will take it out, but it is worth nothing. We will try to make a new piece of clothing. If now you are a revered biologist and you come to earth after one hundred years, what biology you will teach the people. Even the children will know what you have taught. Or if you have been an astronomic, in one hundred years people will laugh at your present astronomy. We say, “We must be erudite.” There is one doctrine in nature. There was an ignorant saint, who didn’t know many things; an ignorant saint who did not know much, he knew only two things, to squeeze the stone. All other saints squabbled. He said that he did not know this philosophy but he knew two things. He took a stone and when he squeezed it, fire went out from above, and water ran from below. He said, “This is what I can do”. You can always make fire and you can always make water when you squeeze it. I say, “It’s better when a man squeezes the stone, fire and water to come out of it.” So that is what I say. Application is necessary. The stone is the man to be able to squeeze his nature and take out water. If he squeezes his nature, to take out fire. I will give you an example. A poor man, a rich man who has become poor, was passing by and a poor child begged at him. He said, “You should have come when I was rich. Now I have become poor and I have not a coin in my pocket. But as I look at you, you will become a clever boy, you will become an erudite, you will have luck in life, you will become a great man.” Is that so? He said this to the boy and took his name. Some years after this little boy met the poor rich man and said, “For the words that you told me then I will chase away your poverty. You had no money to give me, but you gave me an impulse. What you had said, it happened so. I will pay back to you for these nice words.” Sometimes you say, “I have no money”. You think that a man can pay back with money. If people would pay back only with words, what they have said to happen. Every word that is said in the right time, comes true [happens]. You say some where, “I will never make good.” And you will not make good. Whatever you say, it happens. If you say somewhere “I will make good” and it happens. Whatever you say, it comes true. You say that your will would increase, it comes true. You say that it will not increase, it happens again. Whatever you say, it comes true. Be careful about the words that you say, what they are meant for. There are words that make good. There are words that make evil. Do you know how many words are necessary to mend [correct] a good word? Have you ever tried? How many words do you need to mend a bad word? For example, imagine that you tell somebody “You are a toady.” How many words do you need to mend the word “toady”? It is not a very bad word. A toady, coated with cow’s butter. A toady, covered with butter, peering everywhere to see what is there to eat, to drink. By a toad we understand a rather clever man. You say “Toady Gana”. It is psychologically softer. The toady is in a descending line. If you call somebody a toady, this is a big insult. Toady Gana is famous Gana. How does toady Gana differ? How does famous Gana differ? Once in Varna I listened to two Gagaouz women (Turkish-speaking Christians of the Varna district), who were quarreling. They were neighbours, they quarreled and one of them held a speech for two hours. She showed out all stories as a lawyer. I said “Bravo!” She must have become a minister, to hold speeches, a famous voice. She spoke for two hours; the other woman only listened and could not open her mouth. She was holding her proposition. It is not bad for a man to hold a proposition. What is up? A prosecutor’s charge? When the prosecutor stands up, he will hold a prosecutor’s charge. And the woman, as a prosecutor, exposes all gathered facts. The other woman stays silent. After the first woman finished with her speech, she asked: “Can you say anything against this?” The second lady remained silent. She could not speak eloquently. She knew that if she opened her mouth, another two hours of speeches would follow. I have met only one Gagaouz woman to speak in that way; I have not seen a Bulgarian woman to speak like that. Come here to read again five pages from the same volume form the lecture “Reasonable changes” (The brother read five pages.) You have the numbers 1, 2 and you have 12. Why do you call this number happy? It is happy because it contains the number 1. One shows the border of numbers. The number 12 is a field. The number two shows the plane. The plane is fertile; whatever you sow, it grows out. In a particular case a man can be either a border or a plane. It cannot be a plane and someone to sow over it. In what respect can the plane be useful for you? The man on the plane has more fields. The man on the number one has only borders. Rich people are number two. The number two is a great brawler. There is no better number and there is no worse number than the number two. Always quarrels arise between two people. When two people are quarreling, who is making peace between them? Number three – it is a peace maker. Everywhere the number three makes peace. No one else can reconcile you than the number three. Take your hands and legs. There are two triangles in the legs. When the number three is up, it makes the legs walk. If you omit the number three, then you omit walking at once. Sometimes a man is in two minds. Sometimes a man has an excellent thought. He has the number three. When the thought is split, it loses its power. You all know that when your mind is split and you start choosing between two things, what do you do? You become weak, you start hesitating. Well, you are given two pitchers to go for water. Imagine now that you are a man who has graduated university; you have graduated two faculties, but you have no luck. Wherever you go, nobody wants you. There is a man who gives you two pitchers and tells you to go and fill them with water. What would you do if you are in that situation? You would say, “Am I in such a bad situation?” you have graduated two faculties and now you have to fill two pitchers. It is namely because you have graduated two facilities you have not drunk water, absinthe; you have drunk cognac; now you are sent with the pitchers for water to drink from the Divine spring, to make good. This is the explanation. You will go to fill up the two pitchers with the Divine wine, to drink from the others there. I say, many of you suffer because you do not have two pitchers. You have no water. A man has two pitchers: one is the head, the other – the heart. They must be full. The head must be full and the heart must be full with something. A man can use his pitchers for himself. If there is time, he can use the others, too. So, I say: in the contemporary world you all think that you are poor people, you have not much gifted. You are not gifted because your pitchers are empty. Go and fill your pitchers, and everything will have a run of luck. Now there are no arguments, there is no way to prove it. The strong man always proves, the weak man always accepts. What would the weak say? He cannot deny. The strong proves. How does he prove? The strong always proves in the world. He says, “You will do this, there is no other way to live.” The weak would accept this. Now is it bad? It is not bad. When you are weak, it is manifested in the same way. When the strong becomes weak, he accepts things, too. He says, “What’s the point in?” If the strong becomes weak, he accepts the things; if the weak becomes strong, he imposes the things. Which is better now: to impose or to accept. Both are necessary, but they cannot do without one another. In a certain case if you are not weak to accept an idea and in a certain case if you are not strong to impose an idea, you cannot understand life. The first thing: God has made people weak to accept ideas. Then He has made them strong to apply [use] the ideas. You will perceive an idea in you and you will apply it in you. This big discrepancy exists in the world. You say, “Why are we weak?” To take in an idea in you. Why do you become strong? To use [apply] it. Weakness is needed to perceive ideas, and strength is needed to apply the ideas. The weak man is pliable, he bends. He is a valley, he is a field. The strong man is e mountain peak up. Now you should not think that what exists in nature is needless. Do not solve the discrepancies that exist in nature; do not consider them needless. Everything that is allowed is in its place. We, who do not understand, think that things are useless. Everything that nature has allowed, it is in place. Nature has never allowed things that are useless. Everything, no matter how bad it is, is in place. You should consider everything that happens to you in life for something good. Be happy. Remember one thing: things never repeat [happen] twice. You are afraid of repeating. In nature there is no repetition. Everything can happen to you just once. You can eat something sweet once. If you eat it for a second time, it will be in a different way. All sweet dishes do not have the same value. You should not be afraid of what you are afraid. You are afraid that sufferings can repeat. Things never repeat. Valuable are those things that happen once in life. What has happened in life once is valuable. What you consider a repetition, it is of the other people. If a person has your experience, it is not a repetition of things. Sometimes you are deluded. You are afraid that you might become poor. You cannot become poor twice; you can get poor only once. You cannot be young twice and you cannot be old twice. You can be young only once and you can be old only once. Only once you can be erudite. Only once you can be good. This is a law. Now you are afraid that poverty will come. You will be poor once. Even if you want, poverty will not come for a second time. Wealth can come just once. It will not come again, even if you want. Now you do not agree with these things. You can try them. I explain this to you and it is indifferent if you agree. For me it is important whether the existing things exist in nature or not. If it exists in nature, I do not start and argument. There are things that are not in nature. They are not real. I am talking about real things that are in nature. Imagine that you have graduated two faculties and you become a servant somewhere. Won’t the people be satisfied with you? Let’s assume that contemporarily you can play, paint, you have knowledge of curing, of the doctor’s profession. When you become an ordinary servant, you start playing. Your masters wonder, saying “I have a servant, who can play, cure, paint. If the world was full of such servants, would it be so bad?” Now the world is full of servants, who are ignorant, they cannot play, they cannot paint, they cannot cure. For the future candidates for servants will be musicians, artists; candidates for servants will be doctors – three categories. The contemporary, who are not musicians are candidates for masters. Those who have no knowledge about life, they are candidates too. They will be those to serve to. They will be the material that you will use. They will say, “God did well by sending these good servants to us. Otherwise we would be lost.” They will elevate. There will be great love between the future servants and the future masters. Now you will chose what you would like to be, masters or servants. Because if you are an ignoramus, you will be a master, you will need a clever servant. If you are very skillful, you will be a servant, you need an ignorant master, you do not need a clever master. Take a modern fiddle that is silent. When a fiddler takes it, something nice comes out; if some ignoramus takes it, he cannot play anything. I say, “The good fiddle is understood only by the master; only the master understands life. For the future you must understand life. All people are created like instruments. You must use these Divine instruments. Now it is waste of time to think in the old way. Things do not repeat. Now for the new times that are coming for you, it will not be repeated, it will come just once. You have to know it will not happen twice, just once. Now I cannot encourage you; what is lost is already gone. Once profit and once loss. It is a law that comes periodically. It can come after some time, but in the particular case, in the particular system that the world has now, things will happen once. Therefore people must be ready, and accept well every thing that happens. Since goods and poverty will come just once, we should accept them in the Divine way. Wealth will come once, learning and ignorance will come once. The word ‘ignorance’ is not such a bad word. The ignorant man is weak; he has no load on his back. The erudite is loaded with a big rucksack. The rich man has a big rucksack; the poor man has no rucksack. Some people are discontented, saying “It’s better if there is a rucksack. Without a rucksack it is difficult.” The rucksack serves for a balance. The weights in life are put. Not to be afraid of poverty. It will not come for a second time. If you are poor, it will not come for a second time, even if you want. If you are rich, wealth will not come for a second time. Even if you want it, it runs away. When will you go to study at university, when you become 120 years old? Who has ever become younger? They say that people get younger. People who are not in one and the same system get younger. I at least have never met who had become younger. I have not met somebody, who has grown old twice. I have also not met a person, who has become younger twice. I have heard that there were such people, but I have not seen people who have become younger. In my mind I understand the young, who bears only seeds. God has given him different seeds. When he comes, he looks through the seeds. The old one is a gardener, who has sown the seeds; they have come out, they will grow and there will be fruit. The young bears the seeds, he cannot eat. He cannot eat apple fruits, because he does not have any. The old man has become rich, he has the chance to eat. But it happens so that the old man has his teeth fallen off; he has fruits but he cannot eat them. The young bears apple seeds, the old man calls the young man to him and says, “You give me the seeds, and I will give you the fruits; they will be tasty for you. When I get younger, you will give me the fruits.” The old man must bring the seeds, and come to the condition of the young to eat from the fruits. This is a law that people do not understand and find out that big discrepancies exist in life. You should apply little, not many things, but you should apply [use] them. If a man applied one word every day, do you know how much he would do? Many of you say that you have no work. Find some work to do. If I were in your place, I would plant 360 fruit trees for a year. If I have no work, I would plant trees. Now you can find and sow. Somebody says, “This place is not mine.” The Earth is a garden for you. Namely on earth you all have the conditions to sow whatever you want, a seed per day. If I make somebody sing a song, who is the best singer to sing it? To sing without trembling of his voice. To sing like the song “Kind flower, red flower”. You can sing in this way just once, a second time it is not possible. It cannot happen in another lecture. Now some of you would say, “We will sing internally”. Good, it is not bad. Others would say, “We are not ready”. It is good, too; it is not bad. You have not prepared, you have no time, you cannot prepare a second time. I want from you a song that even almost all children can sing. Which is the easiest song? In English it is “Yankee, do, do”, in Bulgarian is there an easier song than “Kind flower, red flower”? It is a modern song. There is the song “Walk, walk”. Who is walking? The morning dew. Have you seen the morning dew walking? I have not seen it till now, although there is a song about it. I am interested to see it. It hides a lot, it is very musical. May be it walks while I sleep. When I wake up, it has already brought its water. So, you would not sing for free. (A sister stood up and sang “Walk, walk”) It is not so difficult. Now, this sister sang the song soprano; who will sing it tenor? (A brother sang it). Good. (Another brother sang it.) You must be calm. You all have a lot of energy. (The Master sings quietly and calmly) Now let’s all of us sing “Walk, walk”. (We all sang the song.) You must have a stimulus for singing. A man must take into consideration an advantage when singing. There is a big obstacle in singing, there is a big obstacle in playing. There is a competition everywhere in nature. Sometimes you must gather to sing with love. The stimulating reason must be love. Love must be a stimulus. When you feel like singing, sing; do not sing when there are no conditions. If you have the least stimulus, sing; sing quietly. In this way your voices will develop very well. You must keep the rhythm of the songs. (The Master played the song “Walk, walk” with the fiddle), I will play, you listen. (The Master played “Grieves, sorrows”) The grieved walks fast. He has lost his money, he is walking fast. If he sings slowly, his loss is not big. (The Master plays “Shines, shines”, “It’s time to go”, and we sing.) Gods Love brings the profound full life. (Three times.)

Note 1 The Kind Look XI Lecture, held on 22nd October, 1944, Sunday, 10:00 a.m., Sunrise – Sofia The Secret prayer. „The Spirit of God“. I will talk about the motives that the people deal with. The people, the man always deals with something. The statesman is interested in what will happen with the state. The soldier at the battlefield is interested what the outcome of the war will be. The tradesman is interested of his profits, how they will come. During the housing shortage period you were interested in the apartments, what rooms would they have. Things have changed. There are many people who are looking for the new in the world, but in old ways. If you make the old man dance like a young person, he will dance in the old way. If you make the young man to dance an old song, he will dance as a young person. The old man dances in the old away, his legs do not hold him, therefore he dances like an old man. The young man dances as young. Now here you have a book of the past. In the Gospel it is written what Christ has told the people. But He has not stopped talking to them. He has been talking for two thousand years, he is talking now and he will be talking in the future. Some people acknowledge only the Old Testament, some people acknowledge the New Testament and say, “there is no new any more”. The sun does not rise once, it rises many times, it rises constantly. The trees do not bloom once, they bloom many times. The rivers do not run once, they run constantly. We must have a clear notion about life. It is important. You have to solve the life inside you. When you solve the internal life, you will understand the external life. „The young springs, the adult runs, the old flows into“. The young is born, the adult grows, the old one dies. Die, this word has two meanings. To die means to go to another world, he climbs higher, he does not deal with ordinary matters. He says, “these are child’s things”. He watches from above. A dead man is one who is watching from above. I do not understand a dead man, buried in the earth, this is not dead. „The young sings, the adult works, the old gathers money.” The young blooms and knits, the adult grows ripe, the old one sells fruits. The young sings to his mother, the adult consoles her, the old one puts up inscriptions and makes her famous.“ „The young is Love, the adult is Truth, the old one is Wisdom “. „Love gives, Truth distributes, Wisdom encloses “. These are sentences. Do you know how much time does it take the man to understand them? Do you know how much time does it take the man to paint a face and to put the most essential features? There are many artists, but few of them draw well. It is not that they don’t want to, but they cannot. It is not an easy thing to draw. If you draw the things in the morning, they look in one way, at noon they look in another way and in the evening they look entirely different. An artist who wants to draw something must choose the time. Now someone is interested if there is another life. How strange. Is there another life? There is no other life. There is one life. The life that you have, that’s it. We know this life. The other life we do not know. Once a person asked me the a question saying, “Tomorrow you will die." I say, This is a philosophical question”. I have never died, I do not know what it is. I know what living is, but what death is I don’t know. It is useless to deal with this now; when I die I will know it. Death can exist somewhere, people die, this is another question. The most important is that we live. The contemporary philosophy has cut the head of the man and has put it separately. It has cut the lungs and has put them separately. It has cut the stomach and has put it separately, too. Everything id dispersed. What is a head without a body, without lungs, without a stomach? What are the lungs without a head, without a stomach or what is the stomach without lungs, without a head? When you get confused, what is the reason for your confusion? Many people get confused of love. The only thing that does not confuse, this is Love; and people get confused mostly of Love. Why? Because this is not love. Always the fiddler is confused not of the piece, not of the music, but of the nonperformance of the piece. His heart is trembling not of love, but of fear that he could not express what had been written. Everybody talk about love. Love needs performance. People must do it now in the world. When the people learn to perform what love is talking, we will have another world. It will be the same, but there will be good music. Now the whole nature is a collection of thousands and millions forms and systems, with which it has tried. One whole book has been written. When I watch nature, it shows what it had done in the past, what it does now and what it will do in the future. Our life depends on that understanding of its tries. If we want to make new tries, it is lost business. Nobody can bring in the man some gift when he is born. The man that is born brings [has] everything in him. What he was born with, that must be developed. Someone says what new can the man gain [acquire}. Nothing new. If you want to acquire much, there is one way: You must learn to love your fellow-mates. The new is in the love. We have learnt to love ourselves, this is the little world. The whole contradiction in love comes from the fact that we love ourselves more than necessary and we suffer. We want to give certain beauty in life. The people wear nice clothes. The clothes bring nothing to the man. They are just a protection for him. Then we have to know when what to wear. When should we put on cotton clothes, when silk and when woolen clothes? The silk clothes are for the rich, the woolen – for the poor, and the cotton clothes are for those who rest after having worked. After a man has worked he is has made himself sweat, he has got warmed up and he has to cool down. The cotton clothes cool down. When a man has spent his money, this is cotton. When he gets rich, this is wool because the wool keeps warmth. All people who are rich have more warmth, they believe in what they have gained. All rich people like wearing woolen clothes. They consider the sheep to be very silly, but they like to put on the sheep’s wool. Because it is namely the sheep that give them the power to gather money. The sheep had known how to get rich, they are very rich. Do you know how long had it taken for them to learn how to spin? How much does a fleece cost? There are fleeces that weigh two kilograms. It costs three thousand levs. In the old time it cost less. You would say it is very expensive. Not the wool is expensive, but the money has devaluated. In the old times a pair of shoes cost 20 levs, but golden. Do you know how much do 20 golden levs cost now? 12 thousand. How has this changed now? They say it has changed. We eat in the same way as the people have eaten thousand years ago. The difference is in the kitchen utensils, in the spoons, in the tablecloths, in cooking. The meal goes to the same place. The food we eat now is less non-hygienic than the meal before. Now I am talking about these things because I relate them to the human concepts. They say, I have certain concepts in the world. In my opinion a man has concepts when he bears a right thought. A man has concepts when he bears a right feeling; a man has concepts when he bears a right thought. You cannot separate these three processes. You cannot separate your thoughts from the feelings, neither your feelings from your thoughts, neither your deeds from the thoughts and feelings. Hence the life of the man depends as an urge, as a principle on his thoughts, his feelings and his deeds. On the way you act depends your future life. Your present life will determine your future life. Now people often say, “Let God endow us.” No, we have to pray not God to endow us, but to develop the conditions He has given us. A new order is coming. One and the same thing is repeated for two thousand years. That Christ died, that he was crucified, it is repeated that he had died. Two thousand years are enough that he has died. An American priest once prayed for Joan and proved how the whale had eaten Joan, for a whole hour. Someone says, “Joan had a hard time until he went inside.” He had to convince them for a whole hour until they believed him. It is not easy to get into. What will you prove? The whale had swallowed him up and that is it. It cannot swallow him. If the whale cannot swallow him, that means that the throat is not big. If he had not swallowed him up, it is not like the cachalot. The throat is narrow. The throat of the cachalot is big, so a man can easily get in. You don’t need a big proof. If you want to prove that when the whale swallowed Joan, he could not get in and two hours were necessary, you have to make the throat wider, to make a new door. So I say that there is an experimental school in front of us. All plants, stones, the sunrise, the stars, then there are thousands of things that have remained form the generations, we have to study them. Read the Gospel what Christ has said. They have asked Him there, it is a speech, but this is not given. They preach that when we go to the other world shall we enter in heaven. What is heaven? Heaven is a place without any dirt, a place full of fragrances, with the nicest plants, the most diverse plants and flowers, with the best springs that exist in the Divine world; with the best music that has existed and with the best schools, with the best homes, the best meals; heaven is characterized that there are no toilets. Tell me, how many years do we need to get rid of our toilets. Some people say, “Very educated people”. Culture without dirt. Culture with dirt, experiments are made. It is not bad. An animal or a child sit down, they leave waste. The man has become more educated but he leaves his waste [refuse]. You would say, “This is the physical side.” Do you know how many impure thoughts, impure desires and deeds do we leave here in the space, they cannot be seen? Often you pass through a street and suddenly your mood changes. You have a pleasant feeling and at one, you feel sad. Some sad person has passed before you. You go somewhere and you become merry, some merry person has passed. The contemporary world shows in the way we think. In fact we still do not know what the Divine is. The people have to start thinking. Not only psychologists, not only to say that the man has a soul; this belief is good. If you believe in the sun and you stay in a cellar, what is your belief worth? It is a belief when you try the reality. What you believe in, to try that it is so and to gain knowledge. You cannot go out of your cellar without love. Love is the Divine urge [impulse] of the human mind, the Divine impulse of the human soul, the Divine impulse of the human spirit. If you do not give attention to that impulse, it is the least impulse. Love is not something grandiose. Sometimes you pass by a person who has looked with a love look and the whole day runs on wheels; another time someone has looked at you with a bad look, and your day is not a success. Do you know when a child is born, if the mother looks at him/her it with her knitted brows, his whole life will be like that? If the mother looks at him/her kindly, he/she will have luck. If the mother looks at him/her badly, his life will not go smoothly. If you look at somebody in the wrong way, you create the evil in the world. I often meet frowning people, discontented, discussing the Divine justice. You have thirty billion subjects in you and you want Justice. Do you treat your subjects as you should do, have you given them freedom. Have you given freedom to ten million cells in the stomach, making them work as oxen 12 hours. You have not given freedom to your lungs, to the thoughts that you have. You cannot breathe in the right way. You do not give food as you have to. You read books, you do not give food to your thoughts, what a person you will become? This is what out predecessors have done and the whole history is marked with wars from victories to victories, from monuments to monuments, great business, great countries. The people have disappeared. What does life stand in, then? You are deluded. The people are not in the other world, but in this one. The kings have become workers, the princes have become workers, the kings have become ordinary. The king has put off his clothes because he is ashamed, what will he praise with, with his deeds? He was sent not to judge the people but to be an educator. Prisons must have an educating role. In Bulgaria if you want me to give them an idea what the prisons should be. In the future if they sentence someone to 5 years in prison, to send this prisoner, a young man, to a Bulgarian villager to serve him without pay. The farmer will feed him, the prisoner will learn something from him. He will study farming for five years. Now in prison they will give him food, he will not read, he will do nothing, just wait for these five years to pass and to go out, not to do anything. Let them give him five hours a day for physical labour, five hours with the farmer to learn something else, to read books, to play some music, to teach him play the piano, play the mandolin, then Bulgarian rebec or a bagpipe. Who will guard him at the villager? They will try. You are sentenced, we forgive you, you will work five years for free, without money. If you like, make another mistake and you will have five years more. If you like it, five more years. Now he will be sentenced to life imprisonment or they will hang him, they will prove that he has committed a crime. In God’s books no one is hung, no one is mortified. The spirits that have committed sins are sent by God to hell to learn, to burn without burning out. God says, „does not deign in the death of the sinner“. We kill these people and suffer for that. You debate in your mind and tell that you want to put away one bad thought of yours, to make it disappear, you do not think in the right way. If you know that one thought of yours will become a noble thought after some time. Do not condemn a noble feeling to death, do not tell it to go away, it will become one noble feeling and will improve. A bad deed of yours will become better, it will turn into a noble deed. I do not want to prove to you these things. Not that it is a bad thing to prove, but there is no time. Who brings goodness to the world: the beautiful or the ugly? The ugly one. In the contemporary condition he does no mischief at least. The beautiful do a lot of mischief. The rich man will dress well, he will present himself as someone he is not, he will read someone else’s books, he will show himself as a very erudite man. He will take little pieces of music from different places, he will compile something and say, “This is a composition”. He has read Yessiah, he has read from here and there, he became devout; he would stretch out his face and say that he had become a saint. You cannot become a saint by reading books. The saint must work, he must learn. Now you say what I would tell you. You all are past prisoners, who are sent to earth for rectification. You have been prisoners in the past, now you are sent to rectify your life for five years. If you like it, there will be five more years. Now you like that prison. I like you in this respect. 30, 40, 50 years are little for you. In 120 years you will be called back to see what you have done. To tell you where your mistake is, why you have been sentenced. You have been sent to prison for a little mistake that you had not looked at somebody in a loving manner. A friend of ours dreamt one night that he was sentenced to death. He said, “I am convicted, but tell me why you convict me.” They say, “We shall tell you. We sentence you for that white book.” Moreover they sentenced him not to death by hanging, but to bury him alive. He said, “Isn’t there any humanity?” when they started burying him, he broke into perspiration and woke up. He said, “God, thanks that it was a dream, it’s an awful thing. If we, the contemporary people, do not come to love suffering, to help people, what are we then? You lift a person, you lift yourself, you lift the whole mankind. You divert a person from his way, you hinder a man, you hinder the whole mankind. Now you want morality. In the world there are two moralities. The man can never do the woman harm and the woman can never do the man harm. These are my statements and I will tell you why. A woman does harm to another woman and a man does harm to another man. If you are married, a man comes and hangs around [courts] your wife; he starts talking about her husband and draws away her attention. Well, if he is in the position of the husband what will he do? She will see that he is like him, too. When the woman goes to another place, what will she do? I listen her saying, “She is a slovenly woman, she is this and that”. When a woman enters a home she must tell good words for the woman and the man must tell good words for the man. When there is one man and one woman, the world comes right. When there are two women and two men, then the world spoils. Therefore love is united. You cannot love two people. You love One. When we talk about love, we understand the one in the world. How is a meal distinguished? By the nutritiousness that it contains. May be there is butter and it can be spoilt. May be it can contain Bulgarian red pepper and it can be spoilt, mouldy. It may contain little flour and it can be spoilt. Which is the well-cooked meal? Or you can eat a nice apple that the nature has cooked. The simple life, the pure thought. Do not eat thoughts cooked by the people. We worry what Christ will tell us. When you go to the other world Christ will give you to play a music piece or Christ will take you and you will come here on earth to an ill person and will tell you, “Could you play this piece of music” and when you play it He will tell you, “You will stay still longer on the earth.” The man has not been cured. Except that the man has not been cured, but he became even more ill. A man gave the following piece of advice to a woman, “Do not leave your husband, he has money. The one with whom you have fallen in love is a poor man. Hold this one; he has money, lie to him. Keep [hold] also the young one, now this is morality. Now we must be clear, but clear inside us. In the eyes of the whole world, in the eyes of the advanced creatures that read your thoughts, your desires. There is nothing hidden in the world. Do not delude yourselves. For us the ordinary people here there can be something hidden, but even the advanced people on earth, when look at you, say, “I don’t like it.” If we do not have a recommendation on our face, in our eyes, a recommendation on our ears, on our nose, on our mouth, on our hands, if we do not carry a recommendation with our legs, with what we say, what we write? Now when the new order of things came all those who were with the old got younger, put on red colour, the unbelievers became believers. Before they considered the communism to be conservatism, but when the communist influence came, they changed. They considered communism ugly, it wore a mask. When God gave it freedom, it put off its mask and they saw that it was a pretty maid. What has the contemporary age offered more as sacrifice? The contemporary Christians have not given as much sacrifices as communists have. You would say this was silly. No, no. Every person who can sacrifice is on a right way, even if he is in a delusion. Communists say, “We do not want a God that is in heaven, we want a God that is inside us. We have not seen that one. We preach the one that lives in us. These people are right. There is no sun, it has set down. The sun has risen, there is a God. They say for someone that he is a godless person. The sun has set down. Tomorrow the sun will rise, he will become a believer. Do not understand the religiousness in the wrong way. You take in life without love. To love, this is a sunrise. The zenith in your life, it must be your wisdom. The truth must be where the sun sets down, the final bound. If you go to the North Pole the sun does not set down, it spins for six months and then goes down. If you cannot be a man in the world, what are you? I do not mean you to love. In the world you must love only one person. Then this love will be a radio for you. All the people will announce themselves with your radio. Everyone who has a radio connects with London, Moscow, New York. You perceive the thoughts of the other people by your radio. So, I say, “Why don’t we now clean our radio, to accept these nice thoughts that come to the world. Here we are on a small island on the earth. We think that we are the most important in the solar system. If we study astrologically Mercury, it is a child’s planet, where people learn to walk, walking is a synonym with trade, giving-taking. It is Mercury. Then comes Venus. When the child goes to his/her mother, she nourishes him/her, hugs him/her, this is Venus. When he is on Earth, he goes to the water fountain to bring water, he serves himself – this is the Earth. Mars takes out the cattle to pasture them, this is Mars. Jupiter brings them back home, they are being milked. He is a religious person. Everyone who knows how to milk, he is a religious person. Every person, who knows how to milk you, he is religious. It is a wealth to get milked. You know how bad it is to remain unmilked. A king called a wiseman and asked him what was the best thing. He answered, “To go after yourself, this is the best thing.” How can this be? The king sent the wiseman to prison and convinced oneself that to go after oneself is the best thing. To get milked. You say that you have been robbed. Be grateful that you have been robbed. Why not be happy when we are given and when we are robbed? Let’s be happy when the sun rises and when the sun sets down. When the sun sets down we will go to rest and the cupidity in us disappears. The conditions on earth that we are situated in are like that, that it goes to shine on the others. What is suffering? It is the sunset of our sun in us. Joy is the sunrise. When suffering comes the sun goes to shine on those who have difficulties. This is what the words mean: And your sorrow will turn into joy. Christ says, “You will see me and your sorrow will turn into joy”. Let’s be happy when we suffer. Now it is not easy to say to be happy. The following joke is told. A man who has not learnt to count well, and a man who does not know to count well. A man went to a grocery and said, “Give me a kilogram of sugar”. How much is it – twenty five levs. The grocer said, “25 levs for the sugar and 50 levs how much is it – 75 levs, and I give you 25 more, they are already one hundred”, and he put it in the pocket. The man was an honest person, he did not think that he was cheated. He looked at the money and saw 25 levs and counted: 25 levs for the sugar and 25 levs more – 50 levs, where are the others? Where are the other 50 levs? Who is to be praised – the grocer? You would say the other man was stupid. The grocer lost the trust of the other man. This grocer ruined himself for his whole life. I was told another story about a man from the town of Burgas. He was hot-tempered and wanted to change. A poor man would come to ask something from him. He said, “What do you want?” The poor man said, “Effendi, give me something as a present.” “Go away!” the poor man would go out. Then he would take ten levs and go to find him on the street, where there was nobody and would tell him, “Take the “kera”, (which means it’s your gain). Find someone who speaks Turkish to translate for you the word “kera”. It is a very good word. He will translate it. “Ker”, i.e. “care” in English means “concern”, “stallion” means what you can ride. To ride a handsome horse, this is the ‘kera”. The new in the world. Now you say, “Fatherland Front”. There is only one fatherland front in the world. The whole nature is a fatherland front. We are this fatherland front. It exists and I am happy that it has come to Bulgaria. All Bulgarians who occupied the whole land, all of them to serve the fatherland front. Only with love you can serve this fatherland front. The man has four systems: cerebral or thinking, the other one is respiratory which serves for purifying the blood, the gastric system for receiving food and the motive system which includes the arms, legs and all muscles. Now the Bulgarians are smart enough, they have only four parties: the party of the head, the party of the lungs, the party of the stomach and the party of the arms and legs. I praise them, they are as one whole thing, they are not separate parties, but serve as one party. To serve the fatherland front with the head, with the lungs, with the stomach, with the arms and legs. To dignify [improve] it, they say, the party that is not right. The head is right, the lungs are right, too, the stomach is also right, the arms and legs are right. All people are on the right side; only like children they make mistakes. There are no sinners; there are people who make mistakes. We say, ‘This person is a big sinner.” We have given them such names. There are no big sinners in the world. What shall we do, where are these big sinners? A man cannot commit a crime if he is not allowed to. In the world God asks you three times. He says, “Have you considered this thing well, I will allow you to do it.” Because everything that we want to do, He will allow us but he will asks, “What you have decided to do, have you considered it well; after that there will be no repentance, but this mistake must be corrected.” Someone would apologize, saying, “Excuse me, that I have not put a comma.” There is nothing to excuse you for, come here and put it. Somebody missed to write the final letter “ъ”; there is nothing to excuse you for, come here and write it down. I do not want to correct human mistakes. You should not correct human mistakes, too. You mistake is repeated. When you see that someone has written something say, “What have you written, it is a mistake.” How do you want him to write it? In the Bulgarian language there are the letters „е“ and „ъ“ and „ь“. „E“ is a vowel that shows extension and raising. Things are expanded and raised. With double “e” there is an extension, but there is a straight line, a criterion with which you measure, it has value. Double “e” is written with one line. You cannot write double ‘e’ if you cannot bear suffering. Only a man who has learnt to bear suffering can write double ‘e’. Those who have not learnt to bear suffering, they can only write that line. You cannot pronounce “a” well. People are strange. Since philosophers know that the Jewish people will pass through great hardships, the Jews have only consonants, there are no vowels, the vowels are implied. We, the Bulgarians, have called the vowels. If you are not a hero to bear a great suffering, you could not write “a”. When the woman gets pregnant, she learns how to write “a”. When the man puts a haversack on his back, he learns how to write “a”. When you lift a heavy burden, you should enjoy it. If you know how to carry it, it becomes lighter. You can lift a ton very easily, with one finger, if you know how. You should tear apart the thousand fibers with which an object strives to the ground, you wold disunite these fibers, you would make them parallel, not to aim at one and the same place, like many springs that gather at one place; you will tear them apart. Then they become lighter. You load yourselves. When you blame a person more that you should, half of the punishment will be put on your back. Do not tell things that are not true, because in that way you will stumble yourself. You will stumble yourself in your thought, too. In each age at the fatherland front an excellent and clean thought is required, 28. An excellent feeling without any hesitation and an excellent deed. Three things you can count on. Your thought to be connected with love, your feelings to be connected with wisdom and your deeds to be connected with the truth. Then we connect truth with the material world; wisdom is connected with spiritual world, with the lungs, and the thought itself is connected with the human thought, it is love. Now we, the contemporary people study love form the point of view of the mind. What is love? We say, “She did not look at me well.” The pretty maid over there knows that she has not looked well. When you look at her well she says, “You looked at me in a good manner.” She finds that you have made an assessment, this angle has been formed very well, you are a master, and erudite man. Let’s learn to talk. You say, “Excuse me, I have a sore throat”. Everybody must have a clear, soft voice without any twisting. To be more clear. When a Bulgarian comes what would you play to Him? You’d better play a Bulgarian allegro according to all rules instead of playing something by Beethoven. It is for the society, not for that man. The music of Beethoven combines many musical themes. In a Bulgarian allegro there is one theme. His blood moves up. Play songs that are delight the human mind, play songs that delight the human heart and play songs that give good deeds. When you get up in the morning, you are melancholic, sing a song. Do not say, “The forest has started crying”, but say “The forest filled with joy when it saw Stoyan Penchev. We are saints and angels and the forest filled with joy. When you see a tree, smile, do not say, “This tree is an ignoramus.” Look how nice it blooms, its pretty leaves, look at it lovingly. Its heart would begin to quiver; it would say it in another way, „A man is passing by.” When a beetle passes, be glad. A beetle is struggling, greet it, look at it, it does s very good job. You would say, “Why God has made this beetle?” The beetle is a Brahmin. You have to know what a greatness it is. It has been sent in order to learn what the beetle is. When this Brahmin goes back he would tell God what he had learned. You visit a flower and say, “It is a flower.” There is wealth gathered in this flower. You cannot see, the flower sends its wealth far and calls these midgets to take the sweet saps and to take them home. How clever it is, waiting impatiently. When a midget comes, the flower is happy that a little angel has come to take from its wealth. You grieve, and on the radio it calls these midgets to come, God’s little beetles to come. Delight your sorrow. Where God is, there is no suffering. Where there is no God – there is suffering. When we estrange love in ourselves suffering will come. You say, “No one loves me”, you feel sad. You say, “He loves me” and you get merry. The only thing that does not change in the world is God’s Love. The only thing that does not change is Wisdom, the only thing that does not change is Truth. Put one base. There is One, who loves you. Be glad with this. When He loves you, everybody will love you. If He does not love you, you will disappear from the world. If He does not love you, you will disappear from the world and nothing of you will be left. When you live do not delude to say, “They don’t love me.” You live. All brothers that live on the earth – there are brothers who travel invisibly – they are material, they are not spirits, but they do so that they form no shadows. He passes and says, “Your thing will be settled”, you become merry. Where does this thought come from? This brother passes, looks at you, you do not see him, you see him as a sunray. In every sunray you will see an angel with a beautiful face. He says, “This will be set right, don’t worry.” If you do so, all your things will be set right very well. Then you will come back, God will be satisfied with you and you will correct the little mistake, you will know how to give a loving look. It is very important. When you look at the man do not say what you think. I say, “If you want to make a progress, be satisfied with what you are conscious of. The whole world is good for the entire humanity, and it is for you, too. I don’t know if you realize it, but it is so. Then Christ said, “I do not call you slaves, because the slave does not know what the master does, but I have called you friends.” „I can love“. „Only God’s Love brings the abundant full life “. /3 times/ Most of you have old concepts about the things. You are of different age. I say, “The young of you, what have you learned? The adults, what have you learned and the old, what have you learned? If in the world we cannot look and give a kind look, then what can we do? When you get up in the morning, cast a glance [have a look]. If you cannot do this, what will you do? When we wake up in the morning we have to know that the world is open for us, there is something to learn. There is nothing better than studies. Foster the best thoughts, feelings and deeds to whomever. Do not be taken up with the daily press, with this and that. The destiny in the world is the people to get right. People are judged to find the path of love. Master Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno) came back from the village of Marchaevo to Sofia on 19th October 1944, Thursday, where he continued to teach his Lectures. This information is provided by Boyan Boev from „Letters to friends“, 7th February 1951.

Note 1 Going and Return Now I shall give some explanations over the concept science. The first element of the science contains in the resignation of two opposites, of two contrasts or of two contradictions. In order these things to be reconciled, this understands to be found points of contact between them; if these two points of contact don’t be found, this amounts to the situation of a man who go about round one closed circle or round a house which door is closed, or round a book the language of it is incomprehensible for him. The second element of the science defines the way of the human movement; without this element of the science one man may lose his way very easily, so this element is in state to orientate the man in his way, to use as a compass in his movement. The contemporary people orientate by the stars. The sailors orientate mainly by the polar star; the fourth ways of the world show four ways which the man can move on. Sever is a direction or a way which leads to the Truth – the word Sever has to call in the mind of the man the idea for the Truth. When it is talk about east, it is transitional place – why? Because through the year the Sun doesn’t rise always from one point; it is saying that the Sun rises from east but where this east is not known – the Sun rises from many points, not from one. The people know mainly the way where the Sun rises but on which degree exactly it rises every day they don’t know. Who wants to define the points exactly where the Sun rises, he has to devote whole year of this studying; it is good every one for himself to describe the line curve which forms in the rising of the Sun during of one year. You will say: “We have little work that it remained to draw the way of the Sun; even if we draw, we will acquire nothing.” I say: you know that you will not acquire anything but don’t know what you will lose; it will be good if you know what you will lose and don’t know you what will win. Now you find in the situation of the lazy pupil who says: “What I shall acquire if I learn my lesson?” The good pupil must say: “I know what I shall lose if I don’t learn my lesson, but don’t know what I shall acquire if I learn it.” Who pupil doesn’t learn his lesson, he will receive one, for repairing of it he will have to work whole year; this one has to turn downwards, to form one little circle, to transform in six. It is not easy for man to transform one in six – in order to reach this thing his eyes have to open, to understand the things. The line curve represents the difficulties, the unhappiness in the Life. And so, it is not so important for the man to know where the Sun rises, as it is important to know the point from which he can orientate in his movement – this point represents the Truth. Till the man doesn’t attain to this True, he will be exhibit to number of sufferings and unhappiness; the unknowing of the True leads after itself unknowing as of the man himself, as and of the others. Some man goes to one teacher for who he thinks that is very learned man, and says: “This teacher is very learned, he graduated few faculties, he knows a lot of things.” I ask does this man positively know how far the teacher he talks about is learned. He doesn’t know this but just suppose; then he may asserts and the opposite for this teacher, he may say: “This teacher is big ignoramus, he doesn’t know anything.” I ask, is this assertion true? If and the first, and the second assertion are not true, this man supports two lies; what one man acquired if he gather two lies on one place? Imagine that this Teacher was sent from the Invisible world with big mission, he is connected with the Sensible creatures in the Heaven and in the Earth, was given big power to him and with this some ordinary man pronounce from him that he was big ignoramus – do you know what may happen between the Teacher and the ordinary man? The word Teacher symbolizes the Divine in the man; what one man can acquire if he get in clash with the Divine in himself, what happens when the trees quarrel with the fire. In this fight the fire beats and the trees perfectly disappear – which tree to put in the fire, in the end it will disappear, will become to ashes. Every tree becomes to ashes but with some conditions, and namely when it has got no Life in itself, i.e. when it doesn’t grow up, when it doesn’t develop; said with other words, when the tree doesn’t love the fire, it becomes to ashes. When I speak for the Teacher, I don’t have in mind to support his authority, but I support the authority of the Truth. Imagine that you go to the Market to buy one Bible – how much costs this book? It doesn’t cost much but its price concludes in its subject-matter, in what the people had written thousand years ago – it hasn’t loosed its meaning and till now. Therefore one man is precious till he represents a written book which the people want to read in anytime. Till one man is in the Truth, he is a written book which everybody may read; out of the Truth, he is an unwritten book, without subject-matter and sense – to be unwritten book, this understands not to have any achievements. There why everyone has to strive to be a written book, the Truth to imprint upon him. The life of the man is being meaning only when the Truth is imprinted on his book; then and for the man himself there are sense God, the Angels, the saints, the good and just people, as and all live creatures round him. The Truth is the wealth, the health, the power of the man; if he has wealth, health and power, all the people interest from him. The rich man interests the people with his wealth; the health man interests the people with his health; the powerful – with his power; the clever – with his mind and etc. – if man loses these qualities, he is already not interested for the people. If the man loses the Truth, all written on his book erases and he remains white, unwritten book; if he comes to this state, he discourages, comes to state of suicide and says: “My life is empty, I don’t see any sense in it.” But after one man discourages the Sensible creatures come to him, open his clean still unwritten book and start to write on it – they write through the hand of the sufferings. The first word that they write is bread; from this moment the man starts to go hungry – he torments day – two, three or more till he discourages, dispirits and says: “The life has got no sense, I shall kill myself, I shall not live.” If he says like that, after that the bread will come and he will say: “There is sense to live!” Afterwards the Sensible creatures will write the word water; yet with its writing the man starts to feel thirst which torments him, being consumed from it; it is not running much time. Somebody brings water and he allays his thirst, refreshes his throat; the bread and the water are the elements of the Life which support it, there why they uninterruptedly have to satisfy. The bread and the water are elements necessary for the real Life; if you don’t have these elements you discourage, dispirit and lose the sense of the Life. Some may say that there are and other elements for supporting of the Life – who tasted the lack of bread and water, he understood what necessity they represent for the Life. I say: all the people have bread and water but again they consider their selves for unhappy, they want and other things. Some girl for example says: How happy I would consider myself if I had one plume from ostrich on my hat” – this girl things that the whole happiness stays in this plume; some young man says: “If I have one patent leather shoes, all will starts to be better”; someone else wishes to have one nice watch and etc. Many people may laugh to the desires of these people but they always put some idea in them. Some people have higher desires – they want to find one friend in the world who they rely to in all cases in their life; after they search such a friend, they can find him, but they have to search him on the fourth ends of the Earth. The man can find his friend only if knows the True, if he has this main point for orientation; if you have this point, you will find your friend. Some preachers say that the lost souls have to be found; no, there are no lost souls – there are deluded souls in their way but there are not lost souls. The words “lost souls” have to be translated, the idea which contains in these words is not correct – it may be said for one soul that it is being diverted or deluded in its way, but can’t be said that it had been lost. There why the man of the Truth has to speak only true things. He absolutely has got no serve with white or black, with conscious or with unconscious lie – every word went out of his mouth has to contain in itself the Absolute truth. You say: “Is it possible to live without lie? Once man came on the Earth, he always will soil himself from the lie, always will succumb of its smell.” No, man can live and without lie; till he lives with the lie he will not have trust neither to the people, neither to the animals. When some bird comes close to some man who serves with lie, it has got no trust in him and fly off aside – he offers granules to it but it doesn’t come close to them and says: “You give me one good but it will cost me the life and the free – behind this good hides other thing.” I say: this bird is right, how you will convince it that you will not catch it and pen in cage – the bird doesn’t say that you lie it but has got no trust in you and fly off a long way. The same thing happens and between the people: often the people lose their trust one in other, avoid meeting, doubting and etc. Some man says: “I have full trust of the people” – this man doesn’t speak the truth – why? First of all he has got no trust in himself. After he has got no trust to himself, he can’t have trust and to the other people; who has got no trust in himself, he can’t believe and in the God. Some man doesn’t believe in the God and says that believes to the people – this is impossible, such faith is calling believing, but it is not those positive Faith which can make wonders. I reveal these things with aim to think, to grasp the essence of the ideas; there are ideas understanding of which is so necessary as the water is necessary for the thirsty traveller. Imagine that some man had traveled four-five days, his throat is dried up from thirst but he can’t find water anywhere; at least he sees one well with clear, nice water but without pail, without rope; he looks round here-there, doesn’t know how to draw water, to slake his thirst, to get down in the well – he can’t, the well is deep ten metres; he goes about round the well, torment from thirst but there is no anybody round him. In one time he sees that one man comes to the well and brings pail in his hand tied with rope. In the given case the most important things in the life of the thirst traveller are the pail and the rope, all other questions – for the depth of the well, for the way it had been made, for its form – remain aside as secondary, as unimportant. The essential things for the thirst traveller are the pail and the rope – through them he will permit one question which torments him. I say: if the man who brings the rope is your friend, you will be glad that you meet him, he will save you for the big thirst. But if he is your enemy, you will not be glad because he can wrap up the rope round your neck and to hang down to some tree as a pear – what will happen afterwards with you? You will become ripe – who taste you will say: “This pear is good”, but you will say: “Only I know through how much sufferings I passed till com to this state. What I reached from this, the people is being glad, taste me, but I suffer.” In a way that the pears are not else but people suspended on the trees from their enemies; These pears had been shed countless tears because they had been passed through the worst conditions of the Life – the bad conditions for the pears give good fruits for the people. The joy and the satisfaction for the people from the tasty fruits of the pear compare to the joy of the general for glory which he acquired on the battle field; there he did cut heads, cut people and became famous for these feats – everybody says for him: “Our general is a hero, he is a big hero, deserves to receive a military cross!” Even the history speaks for this general, but the preacher says: “This general is cruel.” There is no bigger cruelty from this to take down the heads of the people, the sufferings of the suffered men from the sword of the general are big; I ask in the end, what the general acquired who has cut much enemy heads – he has drawn number of sufferings as the consequence of the violence he served with. You say: “Such violence between us doesn’t exist, we can’t take down the heads of the people in any way.” I ask, when you take the place of somebody from his place with aim you to settle on his place, isn’t this amounts to taking down of heads; when you kill the lofty feelings of the man, don’t you take down his head; when you oppose to the good strives of the man, don’t you take down his head? In some relations the contemporary people support almost animal moral and say for someone: “This man is harmful for the society, let’s take down his head!” I ask do you know what represents the head of the man. The head is the capital where the Spirit of the man inhabits, therefore in the brain inhabits one creature, in the lungs – other, and in the heart – third. These creatures different one from other as a result of it the brain, the lungs and the heart are made by different ways. There why every organ in the human organism represents something special from the others, and the whole organism is in dependence from every organ separately – the man can’t either without a brain, either without lungs, neither without heart etc. And so, all that I speak to you represent truths, situations which one man has to understand; if he doesn’t understand them, it is better not to know them. For example what use one man if he knows that so and so is a saint and made thousand good things, and so and so is a sinner and made thousand evils. But, if you are hungry and I tell you where there is bread, this knowledge will use you much more than the knowledge that the saint made much good things, and the sinner – much evils. So some truths or some knowledge have to be given to the people only then when they need it and they may use it sensibly. Whom for example you have to show your money; if the herdsman shows his money to his cattle, will they understand something? First they will come close to the money, will smell them and when they see that they are not for eating, will be removed; but if this herdsman goes in some groceries and shows his money to the grocer, the last will become polite immediately, ready to all serves and will offer sugar, rice, flour, whatever the herdsman wishes – the grocer says: “Everything that I have in my shop is on your disposal!” The money are magic power, they open the hearts of the people; if you don’t have a purse with money, the grocer closes himself and says: “Mister, today I sell with money, tomorrow without money. ”Now I make a parallel between the Truth and the money: if you have the Truth in yourself, whenever you go, you will find yourself in the state of a man with money who the grocer meets with open heart – after you bring the Truth with you, whoever grocer you go, he will be on your disposal. What the word bacalin (grocer) means? It is Turkish word and means bac – look, al – take; so the grocer is a man who looks the things and afterwards he takes them – he is a smart man. Who has the Truth in himself, his way is open everywhere, all grocers, i.e. all clever people meet him well; for that one who doesn’t bring the Truth in himself, all the ways are closed. You say: “Isn’t there mercy for this man?” – no, for the man who doesn’t bring the Truth in himself, there is no any mercy. – “Can this man at least to be credited?” And this can’t. – “Why?” Who hasn’t the Truth in himself, he is similar to a leprous man; what you will do with this man, will you accept him between you – all the people keep their selves from the leprous man. You will say that the Love bears everything – in this way may talk only that one who hasn’t tasted the things. The leprous man brings such stench with himself that nobody can bear him – by all means he has to be separated from the health people; to accept him between you, this means to come down to the hell and to help to the devil, to co-operate to him – this is impossible. Can the hen go between the foxes to help them? This is impossible too; as much is possible for the man to come down in the hell and to help to the devil, as is possible of the hen to help to the fox – if the hen occupies with such work, everything is finished with it, nothing will remain from its cloth. Therefore without the Truth the Life doesn’t exist, there why in everybody has to appear a desire to acquire the Truth – if they acquire the Truth, they will become rich, will have conditions to learn. The Wealth, the Knowledge, the Power justify theirselves only when the man brings the Truth in himself; the Love, the Wisdom justify theirselves only when the man brings the Truth in himself; who doesn’t bring the Truth in himself, he hasn’t any Love, any Wisdom – these are maxims which verify every day in the Life. If you don’t have Truth in yourself, you haven’t got anything else – neither wealth, neither Knowledge, neither Power, neither Wisdom nor etc. Now did you understand what thing is the Truth? Some will say that they have understood, other will say that they haven’t understood, but and the ones and the others have to know the following: it can’t be philosophized for the Truth – it is thing which can’t and doesn’t have to be understood. One has to be known: the Truth is necessity for the soul, so if somebody says that the Life has got no sense, this understands that without the Truth the Life has got no sense. Who hasn’t the Truth in himself, he can’t become neither teacher, neither a disciple – from such man can’t be expected anything. Who has the Truth in himself, he can reach everything. There why the striving of the man to the Truth is eternal, uninterrupted process. When Christ had said that the Truth will make the people free, He had had in mind their striving to the Truth, to knowing of the God. Only the free man brings the Truth in himself, only the free man knows the God – this is the hided thought in the verse “The truth will make you free.” For the man of the Truth everything is possible; for the man who has got no the Truth in himself, everything is loosed; said with other words, the Truth makes the man young, handsome, powerful; without the Truth he easy gets old, loses his good looks, becomes weak. I say: all people have inside striving to the Truth, but when they can’t achieve it, they represent their selves in a way there are not. Whatever one man represents himself, till he hadn’t found the Truth, he is nothing; after he finds the Truth, he already may represents himself as he wants – why? Because the Truth itself is a holy thing and it adds to the man all most elevated and lofty. Who hadn’t found the Truth, he is an empty head which only tangs; this man may had graduated several faculties, may talk for the God, for the Angels, for the saints, but he alone can’t do anything – he is a kimval who just tangs. The fact that this is just like that you may make the following attempt: let this man to cure one boil on the arm of somebody; if he decided to advice you to go one or other doctor, you will understand how much his words are reliable, how much this man knows the Truth. Till the people search doctors, teachers only from outside, at the recommendation of this one, that one, they can’t attain to the Truth, neither they can be free. Now, when I say that you or the people can’t be free without the Truth, I have got no in mind their souls since they all have pseudonims; so, when I speak for you I don’t allude to these persons the names of who are written in the Divine world but have in mind your pseudonims – any man doesn’t bring his natural name with which he is written in the Divine book. Some says: “My name is Ivan Stoyanov.” I ask when did you bore as Ivan Stoyanov, do you know how much Ivan Stoyanovs there are in the Earth – Ivan Stoyanov I not only one. If really your natural name is Ivan Stoyanov, then just one Ivan Stoyanov had to be in the world – is it like that in fact? On the same reason somebody says: “I am a Christian” or “I am a believer”; I say: if you are really Christian there shouldn’t exist other Christians; or if you are really a believer, other believers shouldn’t exist. Let me clarify my thought: when I say that one Christian or one believer exist in the world, I understand that this Christian is or this believer is real interpreter of the Christ teaching, as a result of it all rest Christians will understand each other. Is it like that today? Today a Christian with Christian doesn’t understand, believer with believer – also; the contemporary people constantly ask their selves: “What is your creed?” – so every man has his special creed. I say: in the world exist one Christian, one creed, one Sun, one Truth. If the contemporary people are not free, this owes to the circumstance that they acknowledge different kinds Christians, different kinds of creed, much suns etc. No, the Sun of the Life is one, the Truth is one, and it is this one which makes the people free and gives keys for solution of the hardest questions. You say: “What thing is the Truth?”; the Truth is abstract idea, it can’t be explained with words – who wants to know what thing is the truth, I shall tell him: “Come and see.” Who goes to the Truth, he can’t go backwards between the people, he can’t have the same relations with them which they had with them earlier; as the tree which had fired in the fire and transformed in ashes, can’t come back between the trees and to have the previous relations with them, as and man who had came to the Truth and has saw it can’t came backwards between the people. In this sense the Truth is dangerous for everyone who comes to it not prepared – why? Because it will deprive him of what he need. I say: the Truth is terrible for the unprepared man; the contemporary culture afraid from the Truth because it will melt it, nothing will remain from it. All the people afraid from the Truth, they avoid it – why? Because they have ordinary understanding for the Life, i.e. all search easy way – a life without sufferings. But in whatever way they live, in the end they will go to the truth again. There is one way in which everyone will go to the Truth and will come back – the return of the man from the Truth is gloriously! This return will be full with Joy and Merriment – why? Because the man goes ill, old, and he returns health, young, powerful, rich, beautiful. Then he will say: “I was ill – now I am health, I was old – now I am young, I was ugly – now I am beautiful, I was poor – now I am rich” – this understands the verse which Christ had said: “I was blind but I see again”. In this case everybody will wish to go to the truth; and really there is one situation when man goes to the Truth and doesn’t go back. But there is other situation, when man goes to the Truth and comes back. One man to come back understands that he comes back on the same way which he already have passed; no, the truth doesn’t come back the man in the same way which he had passed because he will not acquire anything – the Truth comes back the man again on the Earth, but already with new acquisitions and let him to go forward. Since now and I want to take you to the Truth from which, when you come back on the Earth, to go consciously forward. After finds the Truth, the man has to come back on the Earth again to these people who he loves and who love him. Some people, when they find the Truth, don’t come back on the earth under the pretext of they have other mission; other people, when they find the Truth, come back to the earth to help to his brothers. I would wish and you to be from the last – to find the Truth and to come back to help to weaker people than you. The life on the Earth is beautiful when man lives consciously and sensibly! When somebody says that he already got sick and tired of living, he understands something else – with this he wants to say that he has got no money, has got no house, finds himself in big wants. If they give him money, house, he becomes joyful and says: “There is sense to live on the Earth”; tomorrow he loses the money and the house, says: “The life on the Earth has got no sense.” Till there is flour in one house, it is living easily – if there is no flour, it is living hard; till there is peace in one country, it is living merrily – if there is no peace, it is living sadly; till the school gives knowledge, the pupils visit it and learn – if he stops to give knowledge, the pupils leave it. Now when I talk like that, I want to have good frame of mind, not to feel you like accused. Many people feel like accused leaded from policemen in the law-court, where they will read them indictment. You have to be free, to feel in the state of a farmer who expects only to receive fruits from his labour; or you have to find in the state of a pupil who graduated his education, passed his exams with success and now expects to receive diploma. One man can acquire this Free only after he finds the Truth. Only the graduated his education pupil can understand the Truth, the accused can’t understand it. Till the man is on the dock or in the prison, he will understand the laws in the country which he lives in, he will know the restricted conditions of the Life, but will not understand the Truth; if they free the man from the prison, he already understands the Truth. Till the man is in the hell, he doesn’t understand the Truth; after he goes out from there, he goes in the heaven where he finds the truth. Till the man is out of the law of the Love, he still searches the Truth; after he lives in the law of the Love, he already is found the Truth. So the Truth exists in the law of the Love, of the Wisdom – out from them the Truth doesn’t exist. Many of you say: “I am old man, forty five years old, I have been experienced much things” – with this he wants to give to himself bigger weight; the young says: “I am young, powerful, full with life, with energy.” I say: in the way of the Truth neither the years, neither the power play a role. One man may bring forty five kilograms sand on his back, and nay bring just one kilogram gold – which is most important from the two? The gold. The man may bring one sack with money in the desert, and may bring and only one bread and one bottle with water – which is most important? The bread and the water in the desert are more important and necessary than the money. Therefore the moment decides the value of the things – there are moments which are valuable now, not in future. The value of the objects doesn’t express only in their weight, sometimes the very light objects are especially valuable and important. For example you bring one kilogram bread in your hand but it is pleasant to you, talk with it as alive creature – yet through the way in you appear a desire to try from this bread, to taste it, to satisfy a little your hunger. Now I don’t talk for the dry truth, for the truth without Love, without Wisdom, without Light, without Pravda, without gentleness, without forbearance – without virtues in general; I speak for Truth full with virtues, I speak for Truth which brings Free for everyone. All the people search a specific method for work, a specific method for achievements; I say: who executes the Will of God, he will find this method by himself and soon will finish his work; who doesn’t execute the Will of God, he will roam long time, will go about here – there till at last finds right way for work. If you want to have quick results, first of all you have to think, to feel and act correctly. When one man falls in hard, in bad state, in which his thought darkens, his feelings coarsen, let he make the following exercise: putting the palms of the hands one against other and the tops of the fingers touch; the left hand is pulling on the palm of the right to the end of the wrist, after that it sets up straight in the position of right angle towards the right hand without interrupting the movement. The right hand is putting upon the left one (in this situation and the two hands are horizontally) – now the right hand is pulling, slides over the left to the end of the middle finger. At last and the two hands is putting with their palms one against other as in the start of the exercise. The same exercise is making and with the right hand. If you make this exercise several times, all bad states will disappear from you – in it hides some life philosophy. When I give this exercise, I want to pay your attention to the following thing: the sliding, the setting up straight of the hand and the putting of it over the other has to be made without interrupting. Nature doesn’t like the interrupting – every interrupting in the movements leads after itself breaches, exceptions in the harmony of Nature; these breaches may correct, the harmony of Nature may restore, but for that demands long time. Everyone can tear one rope but not everyone can damage it – it is demanding time and a master till they damage the rope, till they restore it in its initial kind. When you make the exercise now with right hand, now with the left hand, you polarize yourself. If you keep the rules, you will see that Divine science disposes with number of formulas which, if correctly revealed, create big changes in the man. If the man applies these formulas, he easy will become young again; this may happen in one day but today it is not time for instantly rejuvenation – for every thing in Nature there is defined time. What the understanding is under the words “it is still not time for rejuvenation”? Imagine that through one heavy, severe winter, in somebody a desire appears to go in his garden, to tear ripe fruits from the trees; can he pick ripe fruits? He can’t. What he has to do then? He has to wait the summer to come, the fruits to ripen and then to pick how much he wants. For the man is important to have desires realizing of which becomes exactly in the defined time for them – this means man to live in the Divine world, to act accordingly with the Divine ways. Nobody can’t constrain the God to walk on his ways – God had thought and think before us and we walk after him. Therefore, who thinks and walks after the God, he can’t change His plan. A day will come when you will serve correctly with the Divine formula and they instantly will exercise its influence over you; if you use the formula of the youth, you instantly will become young; after that you will look yourself in the mirror and will be glad. If you come to the state to serve with these formulas, you will pass from childhood in complete age – this had understood apostle Pavel when he had said the verse: “Till I was a child, I acted by infantile, but when I became elderly man, I leaved the childhood.” Who leaves the childhood? Only this one leaves the childhood who walks in the Divine ways; till he is a child, man says: “This is impossible, that is impossible”, but when he becomes adult and enters in the Divine ways, the impossible things for him becomes possible and he becomes joyful and vessel. And so, a day will come, when every man will walk in the Divine ways, but after different period of time: one man needs two days, other man – three days, third – four days, etc. But it is important yet today everybody to understand what thing is the Truth. I preach that Truth which can give everything to the man, whatever his soul wishes; I preach that Truth which brings in Free, and not restrictions, and if one man goes to it once, he alone wishes to return, to help to his brothers. All Divine desires realize namely in this Truth – it gives possibility of the man to realize those his desires which are necessary to his soul; all other desires undeveloped from the centuries, it throw off them as useless, as somebody’s else for his soul. If you realize the desires of your soul, you will be joyful and blessed, your life will give a meaning and whatever you wish, you will be able to do it, it is enough this desire to be sensible. When the little child acts things which correspond to its age, they are sensible; if he acts things which don’t correspond to its age, they are stupid. When the elderly man acts things which correspond of his age, they are sensible – every thing which corresponds to the case is on its place. For this aim everyone has to think, feel and act right. Now, when I speak to you, I see that some worry, look to the watch, look not to late – they are officials, they find theirselves under a law. This confirms the thought that only that man can understand the Truth, who is free from the outside conditions of Life. Other people suffer from headache, from stomachache, from finance crisis, etc.; these people are not free too as a result of it and they can’t understand the Truth – they want to understand the Truth but are not free, they are being tormented by something. After it is like that, these people have to work consciously in order to free from the restricted conditions of the prison. And everybody has to free himself alone – if somebody else frees him, he will enter in the prison again; if he frees himself alone, he will not enter in the prison second time. Who enters in the prison? The weak. If the strong enters in the prison, with one waving of the arm he will break the doors, with one waving of the arm he will break the windows, only with one look he will lull to sleep the guard, it will throw away its weapon and everybody who is in the prison will go out; and then everybody will say: “Get out this strong man, he is not for the prison.” Why? “Because he did a number of harms.” A day will come when the doors of all prisons will open, the windows will break and to the prisoners will be said: “Get out, you all are free.” Who will do this? God will do it – He will give His orders to people who are in power to do it. When Bulgaria set free it was issued an order all Turkish strongholds to be destroyed – people came immediately to execute this order. All the orders issue from the Invisible man, and execute from the physical. It is already time all contemporary people to be bearers of the new ideas, they have to accept and to realize all new which comes from the Invisible world. From every man demands application, and not only theory – it is not important what one man knows, it is important what he applies. Many Americans had gone in India to look the wonderers which the Indian yogi had made, but they theirselves can’t make anything; what is the use that hey knows what the yogi can make, when they theirselves can’t make anything? If I can open the doors of the prison, here what I shall do: I shall call one man with me and together will go in the prison, even from far I shall wave with arm and the policemen on the entrance will get to sleep, afterwards we will enter inside and all the doors will open – the prisoners will be free and we will speak with them. After that they will go together with us out from the prison, and inside only the asleep policemen will remain; and when they wake up, they will say: “Where the prisoners remained, who opened the doors to them to go out?” – after us the doors will close again. Now this man may say to the people how the doors of the prisons open and close, how the prisoners set free, etc., but it is not enough only to be said, all this has to be did – otherwise all which is speaking will be like in the tales of “Thousand and one nights”. You say: God can do everything; what God can do this is one thing, and what you can do, it is other thing – the last is important for you. For this aim start with the most little things, which you can do even now; one of the little things is the following: you take for example the Bible, open it somewhere and read; in this time one fly alights on your nose and you lose the connection, you already don’t remember where you read. The art is not to lose the connection of your thought, to continue your thinking immediately; you may wave with hand, to expel the fly of your nose and immediately after that to continue your reading and thinking. Or, imagine that one scientist thinks over some idea but one fly alights on his nose and from this moment he forgets everything – what this man has to do? If the fly alights on his nose, he has got no to pay it attention, he has to show that nothing worry him; if he decided to wave with his hand, all his work damages. There why consider that on your nose you don’t have any fly; if you wave with your arm to expel the fly, with this waving you may spend so much energy that millions of flies would not be able to pay it. This energy doesn’t have to be expended on nothing, it is necessary and has to be used on place. Some reads one important book which shows him Truth; but in this moment in his mind one thought comes as a fly which alights on the nose and stops his farther work; this thought refers to some sum from five thousand leva which somebody owe to him – he starts to worry for this sum but with this he loses the possibility to find Truth. If you want not to lose, consider that nobody doesn’t owe to you anything; if you can calm down immediately, you will receive something more than the sum which somebody owes to you – what you acquire from the book is in position to pay up everything, it is invaluable by itself. If you wave with hand to expel this thought, you may receive the sum of five thousand leva but you will lose much more; and after that you will wonder why you don’t have success in your life. After you lose something precious you compare to a mother who loses her child – she cries long time after that but the lost is not coming back. And David made one crime, afterwards a child was bore to him; it wasn’t pass much time, the child fell ill and died; he cried whole night, prayed to God but he couldn’t save the child – it died, went for that world. If this child leaves, you will expect second; you will say that the first was Angel – even if it is like that, you will expect second Angel. The first Angel leaves since the cause of crime which you had made; if you want to hold the second Angel, you have to correct your mistake. Your children imagine your holy thoughts and feelings that you have keep carefully – don’t leave them die, i.e. to leave for the other world without give their fruit, they have to live! Here and Christ leaved for that world but didn’t die, He resurrected in order to give Life to the others – in this sense the death is justified. If one man dies in order to resurrect, to enliven again, this death is on place, but if one man dies but not resurrect, this death is not on its place. And so, the strong doesn’t die, he leaves and resurrects. There why keep yourself from the impotence, work and don’t expect only to the God! You have fields, gardens but haven’t learned for gardening, you don’t know how to cultivate your fields, as a result of it you look workers who to complete this work instead of you; you look for workers but don’t find and there why your fields, your vineyards, your gardens remain uncultivated. I say: the disciple, who wants to walk in the way of Truth, has to know that the first and the best worker of his fields and gardens, is he himself – in this concludes the secret of the Life. If one man thinks that the others have to work because of him, they to cultivate his fields, he is on wrong way. You say: “Don’t we have to help each other?” I say: if workers come voluntarily to help you, from love to you, this is other question, but the best worker for one field is its master – this master is you yourself. Notice, this law had applied and towards Christ: before Christ God sent on his field his servants – the prophets, the saints, but they couldn’t completed the work as it had to; at last God sent his Son – He to complete the work. After Christ got down in the Earth, the workers from the whole Heaven united in His name and completed the started work. The question for the coming of Christ represents deep question. Many people say that Christ came on the Earth to suffer; no, the coming of Christ on the Earth is not a question of sufferings, the suffering is an accident thing, it can’t be a question which to define this important question – the getting down of Christ on the Earth. Christ came on the Earth for manifestation of the Glory of the God. I ask where are these men that crucified Christ, where are Herod (the king), Pilate and Caesarea, where is the Roman empire? All disappeared and the results of the work of Christ remained – all became smaller and Christ rised. In a way that all useless in you, which represent Herod (the king), Pilate, Caesarea, the Roman empire, will became smaller and will disappear, and only the Divine will remain to grow and develop. After it is like that, the man has to rely on the Divine in himself – is it like that in fact? Today the people wait and rely to this one, to that one and in the end they become disappointed and the life stultifies for them. Their state is really hard, and harder is the state of religious and spiritual people – why? Because they are not either for this, neither for that world: they are not fit for this world, for that world they are not prepared and they say: “Nobody understands us.” It is truth that nobody doesn’t understand you, but is it necessary the people to understand you? If God understands you, have you to be confused that a few people don’t understand you. Why you don’t hold in your mind the thought that God understands you? After God understands you and after you execute His will, nothing has to confuse you. People will come to criticize you, to blame you, but they will break their heads alone. The Turks say: “Leave the drunk to fall down, to break his head, and after that go to bind it up – he to understand that he has work with sensible man.” Now in some people appear a desire to prove to the people who are they and what they can do. Who wants to represent himself to the people that he is something, we will send him in the prison to lull to sleep the guard, to open the doors of the prison and to let the prisoners on free. In a way that if you speak something, it has to apply first from you yourself; if you can’t do it, then don’t let these people to let prematurely from the prison; after you can’t help them, you will say: “Brothers, don’t hurry to get out, stay little more in the prison till the defined time expires.” Today all the people speak for the saving of the world; I ask in which way has the world be saved – in Divine or in human? If somebody wants to save the world in human way, first he has to save himself, to free himself – from what? From the dissatisfactions which torment him and destroy him: you get up in the morning – you are indisposed, watch somebody not to push you, you don’t want to do something, and do it; you don’t want to speak, and speak; why all this happens – you can’t give a account to yourself. I shall give you one example to see what owe this state of the man to. One sister has told me one her experience: she sits and think but immediately the thought to kill herself comes, to throw herself in some lake or from some high bridge, she doesn’t want to live. It is already ten years how she works in the spiritual way, but she finds that nothing can’t be done, nothing will become from her. I say: “This state is to some outside creature from the Invisible world which suggests to you these thoughts – in this way it wants to stop you in your development.” – “What to do then?” – “You will order to this creature to kneel, to pray to the God to correct its relations to Him, to the good people and to its brothers.” The sister applied this advice and after little time she comes to me and say: “I applied your advice and it became lighter to me, I set free myself from this outside influence.” I say: if you fall in similar state, you have to know that you are under the influence of some outside creature, which hadn’t executed the Will of God and when it can’t help itself, it searches ways to immediate effects on other souls, to trips up them in their way. If you want to set free from such creatures, you have to impose your will on them, to teach them as teachers – you have to do one of the two: or you to become their teacher, or they to become your teacher. To every your desire which trips up you, you will say: “You will kneel and will pray!” Why? Because behind every your desire stays one not advanced creature which you have to enlighten. It is not a decision to be rude, but have to be just – the justice is a language of Nature. Every virtue has its specific language: the language of Love is one, the language of Wisdom is other, the language of Truth is third and etc., in a way that according to the virtue which is talking to, such will be and its language. Therefore after man understands the laws of Love, Wisdom, Truth, Justice and Virtue, he will understand why one things become in one way, and others – in perfectly special way. And there why, when we say that God is powerful, that He alone will set the things right, this is truth, but it is wanting an effort and from your side, work, application of your will. In order to be able to apply his will, the man first has to set free from his inside fear – otherwise you will compare to the hare with the holsters. One hare armed himself with two holsters and went calmly in the wood as he said: “Whatever comes against me, I shall not afraid because I bring two holsters with myself.” He just said these words, he heard that something rustles in the wood – he threw the holsters aside and started to run. When the danger passed, he took the holsters again, girded them on its belt and went bravely in the wood. You say: we have to be brave, fearless, good. Yes, this is necessary because the present man outlives crisis for passing of it demands common help from everybody. Who searches the Truth, he has to refuse from any criticism, from any doubt; this understands, till you are out of the home of some man, you have right to interest what his father, mother are, what is his state, how he lives and etc. Through this time you have right to doubt if what is speaking for him is truth and etc., but if you enter into his home, every doubt, every criticism remains aside. You are already in front of the truth itself, there is no to search records from outside – here already are superfluous all kind of doubts and criticisms. In a way that if you find God, if you enter into his home, you have to define your relations to Him at once. If you were hungry, bare and without work, and God fed you, dressed and put on work, have you to doubt in Him? You say: “Dali and in future God will be the same to us?” God is unchanging – the Good is always Good, it doesn’t change, God always show Himself such as He is. I say: you already are entered into the Divine house and expect God to appear to you such as He is not such how the people paint Him. You alone, according to your understandings, will verify what God is like. Who judge for the God from his inside experiences, God opens the doors of the Divine Kingdome to him and say: “Come in”; who doesn’t trust to his inside experience, he finds himself in one hard state, constantly worried from the fly which alights now on his nose, now on the forehead, on the arm or on somewhere other place. After the fly alights from above of himself, he waves with hand to expel it, but with this he loses everything beautiful in himself. If the fly alights on your nose – this is the first mistake which you have allowed in yourself; if you wave with hand to expel the fly – this is the second mistake. Therefore don’t wave with your hand to expel the fly in order not to lose the beautiful in yourself! In a way that you have to understand the inside sense of the word fly; the fly represents the suffering which alights on your nose and if you wave to it to expel it, this shows that you haven’t understood the deep sense of this suffering. Who understands the sense of the suffering, he will remain the fly on his nose – to throw away alone, and through this time he will learn himself. So the fly represents the sufferings or the temptations in Life – the sensible man copes easy with them. One Russian saint was put on big temptation from one beautiful, but easy girl, also Russian; one day she made a bet with her companions and comrades that she can tempt this saint for the cleanliness of who spoke all the people from the place where he worked. One evening she went with company to the monastery where the saint lived; the night was dark, cold, with snow knee-deep. She came close to the window, softly knocked and said: “Please, I am a traveller, I confused the way, I can’t go back to my home; it is terrible storm and blizzard out, I am whole frozen to death, accept me in your cell because here I take a risk to die. In the name of God, help me!” He opened to her, but remained surprised – in front of him didn’t stay frozen to death unhappy traveller, but beautiful health girl. She immediately threw him on, started to embrace him, but he carefully deflected her and invited her to sit down, after that he lighted one candle and put one of his fingers on its flame. The girl followed all carefully which the saint acted and remained wonder and ashamed in her, when she heard how the finger of the saint fried and squirted in the flame of the candle. She immediately fell on knees at him and started to want excuse for her low action. From this moment in her became radical inside transformation and she decided to change her life; she went out and said to her friends: ”From this moment I finish with my easily, vicious life – one finger saved me.” When the saint put his finger in the flame of the candle, with this he wanted to tell her: “As my finger fires, as and your life will burn” – she understood this language and immediately refused from her evil life. And so, don’t tempt God, if you tempt Him, He will put His finger on the lighted candle and will burn it. Poor devil to you if you remain this finger to burn; if you collect yourself immediately, you are saved; with this God wants to say to the people: “As my finger burns and fries on the fire, as and your life will go, will burn, will transform on dust and ashes if you don’t collect yourself on time.” You say: “What happened with the finger of the saint?” After the beautiful girl came back in the right way, and the finger of the saint got well. He didn’t think for himself, but wished to give one good lesson to the beautiful girl; he said to himself: “Let one of my fingers burns, but at least I shall give on good lesson to one deluded soul to save, to come back on the way of the Truth.” I say: today is time for decision of the question of the Truth – will you find Truth, or not. If you find the Truth, it will make you inside absolute free; after you set free, you will help for the liberation and to the more little than you. As the saint saved one soul with the burning of his finger, as and you can help to the more little than you with the Truth. If the saint wasn’t put his finger on the lighted candle, he wouldn’t saved this soul; if Christ was afraid from the fourth nails and from the spear which they stuck in His chest, he wouldn’t saved and one soul and from His name wouldn’t remain even a memory. Christ was ready to bear much more than the fourth nails, the spear and the cross – He was ready to all for the Truth. Christ brought the cross only to one place and afterwards he said: “This is enough, you can bring it further” – with this he wanted to say: “As I bring this cross, as and you will bring it.” Many people thing that Christ has tired, has fell under the weight of the cross and there why he has gave to other people to bring it; no, Christ was strong, He could bring thee cross to the end, but He remained other to bring it in order to show to humanity what expects it. Hero is that one who can bear the fourth nails and the spear – namely from such heroes the world has need! In this sense the sufferings come to make the man strong – to bring the trials in the life easily and to say like Christ: “God, I deliver my Spirit in your hands.” If you say like that once, you don’t have to sorry anymore. The contemporary people wait Christ to save them, to rescue them from the sufferings, but if Christ comes between them, He will tell them: “And you will live like me, I suffered and you will suffer – such is the Will of our Father!” Christ was crucified on the cross, His sufferings was no continuously but intensive; as He stood, as and you have to be heroes, to stand – you may groan, to cry, but for you is important to stand the sufferings. Many people say that they have many sufferings, that they stand; it is not important what they speak, but how they bring the sufferings. If sufferings come to you, say as Christ: “God, I deliver my Spirit in your hands!” I ask, if God is with us, who may be against us? And if God tests us, He has in His mind some great aim, because of which we have to say: “To be blessed the Name of God!” Till Christ was on the Earth, and He was put under to big trials, as a result of it He couldn’t manifest all His power and all His knowledge. For example he couldn’t make money, but in one case when it was necessary, He said to Peter: “Throw the net in the sea and the first fish which suspends, draw it out and when you open its mouth, you will find one statir (Roman coin); take it and give it and for Me, and for you.” But when Christ entered in the Spiritual world, there he manifested bigger power – He pushed the door of Hell, lulled to sleep the guard, fused their weapons, opened the doors of the prisoners and said: “Everybody go out!” After that the new culture, which we have today, came. Christ will come once again on the Earth, will set free the prisoners, who are entered after Him in Hell, and will go back again – then the New culture, which all contemporary nations expect, will come. In a way that all good which happens today in the world, has only to happy us and we to co-operate to it – this shows that God works in the world. Therefore you all have to set free your mind, heart and will from those hindrances, chains which restrict you – only by this way you will come to the real relations of the brotherhood, to mutual relations of Love. I don’t speak for the love which you will disappoint tomorrow from, I don’t speak for the knowledge which your mind will darken tomorrow from, but I have in mind that Love, that Knowledge, those goods that God has given to the people. If the positive in the world comes, and the people from the sixth race will come; you may believe, and may not believe to my words, but one day you will verify all this. A day will come when the people will have children-angels; and then every day Angels and saints will get down from the Heaven to bring gifts to your children, the houses of the people will be full with the Divine blessings. What bigger joy for the parents from this to have children-angels? If this epoch comes, the children will help to their parents, and not the parents to the children, as it was to now. The parents will say: “One man deserves to bring the name father or mother”; the children will love their parents and will help them. I ask, what better from this one man to be loved – everybody strives to be loved. Who will love the people and how will love them? That one, who really loves the people, will not appear whole to them, but will appear or through the eyes of somebody, or only through his arms and etc. How the arms or eyes of the man will appear their love? The arms will make one favour with which will show their love. The eye will look nicely this one who they love – what better you want from the beautiful, from the sensible look? Some man discouraged, grew dispirited, but that one who loves him, comes and just look him, without saying anything – this look is in state to give courage to the man. The sensible look speaks to the man: “Forget all the difficulties, throw them aside, I am with you!” This look is in state to erase all difficulties and sufferings, and it itself doesn’t erases, remains memorable in the soul of man. To meet man who loves you, it means to acquire power which to set free from all difficulties and sufferings, and to come back in your home merry and happy; then everybody will say: “The day in which I met the man of Love, is blessed! To love and to be loved – this is the ideal which every man strives to; this ideal is in power to change the life of the man radically. Now I speak for the Angels, for the saints, for that world, but all these is a theory; in the given case for you is important the following: your life to change. What you will use if you know how Angels and saints live, and you torment and suffer – after you know how Angels live, and you have to live like them; what you use if you know how the Angels eat, and you are hungry, you haven’t eat several days – after you know how Angels eat, and you have to eat like them. After you know the things, you have to acquire them – this understands that you are acquired the Truth; the Truth brings conditions in which man acquires all this which in ordinary conditions he can’t acquire. What man has to acquire? He has to acquire what is defined to him for the present, and not for future life. There are things which you have to acquire now, till you are still in your bodies; if it remains to acquire them in future, they are already lost. In a way that it is not important for you how some saint had lived thousand years ago, for you is important how you live today. What Christ had made in his time is not important; what you can do today, this is important. Christ himself had said: “Who believes in me will make bigger miracles from these which I make now.” In his time Christ hadn’t conditions to make bigger miracles from these He made, but today He already has richer conditions; for example Christ couldn’t turn the minds of the rabbis to God, but today He can do this. But after Christ all the rabbis turned to God; Christ said to them: “You hold the keys of the Heaven Kingdom and either you come in, neither allow to the others to come in.” Man can’t correct himself till he holds the keys of the Heaven Kingdome in his arms, without use them for himself or to give them to the others; in order one man to correct himself, by all means the keys have to be taken from his arms. Now we don’t have to get back in the past, to be interested from this which Herod (the king), Pilate or Caesarea had made, but have to avoid them consciously with their mistakes and crimes. Man has to be strong – to cope with the fly which is alighted on his nose, without to wave with arm to expel it. If some sufferings comes to him, he has got no murmur against it, to wave with arm; if one bad thought comes in his mind, he has got no ask himself why it has came, but to work upon himself to transform it. For you the New life is important, the new rules which the Truth brings; the old life is precious only with its experiences, but it has got no to be continued any more. If you learn English language, you will use from the English, and not from the Bulgarian grammar – no matter how much the two grammar compare, for the case the English grammar is important; if you learn French language, you will use from the rules of the French grammar – every science has its rules. If you want to learn the Divine science, you have to cope with the contradictions, to have an aim in your life – only on this way you will acquire real happiness. The people of the old served with rifles, with swords, with holsters; the people of the new, of Truth replace these weapons with exercises, with light thoughts and elevated feelings. You still don’t know to use the exercise which I gave you, but it is enough for now just to get it out of the case. The dynamic power hides in the fingers of the arms, every finger is connected with one world – it means ten fingers, these are ten worlds. They are powerful powers which you have to connect with; if you enter in contact with them, from your fingers will go out so big Light and Power that the Earth will get loose. If there is no any doubt in your mind and there is no any hesitation in your heart and will, all these may be reached. For this aim you have to work for God – whatever work you start, work it from love to God. In this relation the girl who leaves mother, father, house for her sweetheart, gives an example what means one man to work for God; if she leaves the house for the transitional love of some young man, aren’t you in position to make at least such for God? You, who have received so many goods from God, have you still to afraid from the society opinion? The society opinion, the order in world are important to the moment they touch the Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth; if they touch them, we will kick them as Christ kicked the door of Hell. Now we live in world of disorder, and think that we live in world of some actual order and order. Contemporary people just now learn the Divine order and order; for the order and the order in this world in the writing is said that eye hasn’t saw and ear hasn’t heard what there is to happen to those who love God. Man has to work, to exercise in order to attain to the Divine world. One German, a famous boxer, went in one eating-house to eat; in the same eating-house and one Englishman, a famous boxer, came in, and sat at one table near to the German. When started to eat, he complained of his friend from the meat saying that the German mesa are not good. This offended the German and he wanted explanation from the Englishman; the last told him: “If you feel so insulted, I offer to box but with a condition You just to parry blows for which I shall give You one sum” – the Englishman was sure of his ability to box. The German agreed, accepted the invitation of the Englishman. When they finished the boxing, the Englishman said to the German: “Come in my home to give you some rules from boxing.” The German agreed to go in the house of the Englishman to give him few rules for boxing, after which he became to exercise hardly; during two years he reached so much that he outstripped his teacher. Today he is famous in Germany as one of the most eminent boxers. I say: if you are weak, you have to exercise on the same way in order to beat the famous boxer. Who is this boxer you will fight with? The devil. You wan to hit him but you can’t, he parries your blows. Till the devil beats you, you will never become famous man; said with other words, till man doesn’t acquire one science with which to copy with all outside and inside unfavourable conditions, with all bad thoughts, feelings and actions, he always will be depended man. But if he acquires this science, he will copy with all conditions of Life _ such man is free, independent. Therefore you have to see in everything God. After you come to some difficulty, you will know that God stays behind it, who follows how two men box; when He see that one of them loses the bas, i.e. he falls through, God says to him: “Come in my home to give you some rules; you fight well but there is something that is being an obstacle to you.” In first times many of you will lose the bet because the opponent is strong, but if they exercise according to the rules which God has given to them, after two years they will win the first premium – the first premium represents the developed gifts and abilities in the man. There are feelings in he man, like for example covetousness, miserliness, extravagance, development of which is dangerous; but there are feelings, gifts and abilities in the man which have to be developed by all means – their development is absolutely safety. For example, what better from this one man to develop in him the gift to sing – every man has to become excellent singer; real singer is this one who can win the heart of his lender. Imagine one famous but poor singer, who owes to someone ten thousand levs and doesn’t have a straw in his pocket to give them back to him; what this singer has to do? He has to go to his lender and to tell him: “I don’t have a straw in my pocket but I want to pay at least the interests of my debt.” – “How you will pay them?” – “I shall sing you a little.” – “Well, sing me something.” The singer starts to sing, but in a way that the lender forgets everything, carries away himself from the voice of his debtor; when he stops to sing, the creditor says to him: “Not only that you don’t owe to me any more but from above of it I give you thousand levs; I have never listened such a singer, now I understood what thing is the real singing.” In the same way and the painter may act with his creditor: after he is and can’t pay his debt, he has to offer to his creditor to paint him; if the last accepts this offer and remains satisfied from his portrait, he will not only remit his debt, but from above of it will give to him one little sum. In this way and the poet may act: if he has got no money to pay his debt, he will write one beautiful poem to his creditor and with that he will compensate his obligations. It means that real singer, painter, poet or orator is this one, who can touch his creditor, to put him in position to remit his debt. Now, when you look the fingers, you will know that every finger represents a world from which draw energies, powers. For example, the first finger, the thumb, represents the Divine world based on the Love, on the Venus. Sometimes Venus makes big harms – when? When her sweetheart is not to her and she has to search him; after she doesn’t search him, after he is on his place, there is no better from her. The first state the astrologists call bad aspects, and the second – good aspects. Venus is the sweetheart daughter of God; the rest four fingers are in love with Venus but keep silent, don’t reveal theirselves. From them Jupiter and Saturn are her favourites who quarrelled for her; the argument came to Sun which in the end it did success to reconcile them. After it comes for work, all join in one and complete the work, afterwards they separate again – everyone goes to its place. All the fingers strive to Venus, each want from her to give them one look. She directs to all one look with which she test them. Saturn, the middle finger, which has raised highest, wants to turn attention to Venus with its height saying: “I am the highest top” – Saturn is philosopher, he considers the things from the reasons to the consequences. Jupiter wants to turn her attention with its greatness – he is inimitable in the curtseys which he makes to Venus. Sun, the fourth finger is a musician, a painter who brings the Life; he is vessel, optimistic, rich, gives to all – with this he wants to turn attention to Venus. The more little finger, Mercury, is an experienced trader who turns trade, goes here-there; after the works of other Gods confused, all turn to Mercury – to correct them; not only Gods turn to Mercury but and the whole cosmos searches its help. The forefinger is mostly in loved in Venus – wherever he walks, he always searches her. I say: every man has to have clear image for his arm, to know what it contains in itself; after he looks his arm, he has to be glad as he sees God in it. It is a great thing for man to love, to pour out his Love; simultaneously he wants the others to accept this Love and to respond to it. Because every finger in the arm represents special world with defined relations to the other fingers, i.e. to the other worlds. For example Saturn is representative of the Causal world – through it man learns the reasons and the consequences of the things; Sun is representative of the abundance – it brings the joy and the merriness in Life; Mercury is a representative of the practicalness – he put the man in position to know what he does. In a way that if you look your hand, say: “I want to love God, to serve to Him – I want to love the daughters of God.” When you listen to be talk like that, some men will find theirselves in contradiction and will say: “The half humanity will love the daughters of God, but what the other half has to do?” I ask, have you thought on the question how God created the woman from Adam, how is possible from man to be beard a woman. According to the laws which you know, the man bears man, and the woman – woman; then how is possible from the rib of Adam to go out a woman? I say: when the people work in the world, they have to be separated on men and women, but when they work for God, they have to unit in one whole. When in people appear desires, thoughts and feelings, opposite of God, they separate from Him, and with this also they separate to men and women. Therefore, after the man searches the woman and the woman searches the man, they move away from God, from the Truth; when the man and the woman get to love and be ready to scarify one for other, they fuse in one and move to God. And then God is aim, sense for them – they already live in one flesh, in one body. Therefore if the mind and heart of man don’t unit in one, he can’t move to God. Till the mind of man wish one, and his heart – other, he finds in contradiction; till the mind and the heart of man are bifurcated, he can’t reach what he wish. The mind and the heart have to fuse in one in a way that man has to understand what thing is the man and what – the woman. When the girl meets one young man or when one young man meets one girl, they have to watch theirselves as creatures who have came on the Earth to work, to complete one work – if and the two value theirselves correctly and turn to God, their life will give a meaning. It is no bad when two young people love, the evil is in the bad cooking. You say: “How it has to cook?” It has to cook well. And the sense is not in much cooking; you will cook moderately and well, so everybody to be satisfied from the cooking – in this the real Love stays. And so, the love doesn’t stay in looks and caresses. If you go in Germany for example and stop your look upon some man for longer time, he will ask you immediately: “Why you look me like that, don’t you want to hypnotize me?”; in Bulgaria no matter how long you look the man, he will not ay anything. I ask how long you have to watch one man in order he to leave satisfied from your look? You have to watch the man in a way that he remains satisfied from your look, to wish to look him and second time; if you write him a letter, this letter has to be such that he wishes to write him a letter and second time. If our looks, movements, letters can’t wake the Divine in the people, what sense have they? In such case it will come that nobody has to watch anybody. No, you will watch but you will watch nicely: the men will watch the women, will be glad of the beautiful, of the handsome in them, will be glad of their children, of their wealth and etc.; and the women from their side will watch the men, will be glad of the handsome in them, will be glad of their gifts, abilities. All beautiful is Divine, in a way that the evil is not in the watching but in the bad watching, in the bad cooking – you will cook well! The contemporary people put restrictions, and their are wrong, when they say that the men haven’t watch the women, especially the somebody else’s – they should watch in the earth because they were made from earth; the woman had right to watch the man because was made from his rib. I say: if the woman is a mirror, every man has right to look at himself in a mirror in this mirror. The contemporary worldly and religious women have little mirrors which they look herself at; the worldly look theirselves freely at the people, and the religious is being ashamed. If man looks himself to know himself, he has right to looks himself, but the most hard thing for man is to know himself, to know his real image. And so, love everything which God has created, learn everything which God has created. Put this rules in application yet today because the today day is a day of The Divine daughter – a day of Love, when God has created the man. This day has to sanctify! Man is created in the day of Divine Love, he is His sweetheart child, there why man has to be image of the Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth. After you are interpreter of the Divine Love, you will be able to help to your brothers and sisters. You meet one sister or one brother, who is fell somewhere, gets muddy – you will direct to him where to clean himself; if he has broken his leg, you will bind him up, will take him in his home. Who has got no Love in himself will ask him: “Why you got muddy, where did you went, why did you break your leg?” – “I walked somewhere, I fell and I broke my leg.” In this state you will compare to those men who inquired Nasreddin Hodja how he has fell that has dislocated his leg. One day Nasreddin Hodja brought up to one pear to pick from its fruits; as he picked the pears he glided from the branch he has stepped on, fell on the earth and dislocated his leg. Everybody who met him after that always asked him: “How did you fall from the pear, how did you dislocate your leg?” He told to one, second, to third and at last, when he sick and tired to tell the same story, told: “Wonder thing, hasn’t found one between you who has fell from pear – to know how it is falling that to stop to inquire me!” Therefore the beautiful, the great in Life, is to help to one soul when you see that it prays; why you have came on the Earth if you can’t help to one your sister or one your brother when they are in need? Love demands deep inside attention one to other – to help each other when you are in need. You all have to understand that you are members of one Brotherhood and as such to have between yourself more inside than outside relations – only in this way God will show Himself through every one. If you apply what I have spoken to you, you will have big blessings this year. What you can bring from these blessings will be for you, and the rest, which you can’t bring, will be for us. It is wanted an application from everybody – take for a model Christ and act like Him! He suffered, they crucified Him on the cross and in the end He resurrected; after the resurrection He received big goods – it was given a power to Him and in the Heaven, and in the Earth. Then Christ appeared to His disciples and said: “Go through the world and preach as and I preached – what work I finished, such and you can finish.” And really, from the work for God depends and the improvement of your life. Now I wish to everybody to be free, as God has crested you. The Divine Free origins from the Truth and the human free bring slavery, restriction. If somebody brings Tovar, arnica on his back, let him put it aside, to free from it because today is the day of the Love which brings Joy and Merriness to the man – it gives a meaning and lengthen his life. The Love brings the full Life. It brings all goodness and gifts of the life. 21st August, 1931, 5a.m.

Note 1 The Highest Place I shall ask one question on which may be given many answers. The question is the following: what is the purpose of the school and what is the aim of the pupils who study in this school? If it is answered that the aim of the pupils is to study, it may be asked second question: what they will do after finish the school? They will work something. Why they will work? To arrange their works. What they will do when arrange their works? They will see life a little. Why they will see life? To be glad of what they have acquired. But if they don’t reach anything, if instead be glad of the acquired, they lose it? In the base of these and whole number more thinking some says: “I want to become rich.” I ask what will happen if you become impoverished instead to become rich? – “Then I want to be health.” But if you get ill? – “I want to go to the God.” But if you can’t go there? Therefore when one man wants something, he has to work hardly in this direction. Who wants to go in the Heaven, he has to serve to the Uniform God. There is no harder thing for the man from to find the Uniform God and to serve Him; today between the contemporary people there are so many gods that till the man goes to the Uniform God, his head will become white – the heads of all people today are became white always from searching of the Uniform God. This doesn’t show that God doesn’t exist, but except Him there are so many gods who are covered up the way to the Uniform God. You say: “Which is the reason for that?” This namely is important – to find the reason. You live in one house, on which somebody had closed the shutters of the windows, and you wait the Sun to rise, to become brightly and for you; outside the Sun had been rose a long time ago, but in the house where you are, is gloomy, dark – you sit on dark, you long for light, but you don’t know what to do, in order the sun rays to enter through your windows. The human soul has many longings: ones of the longings are positive – others negative, ones are attainable – others unattainable. For example some man longs to become an Angel – but in this life he can’t become an Angel; other longs to become handsome – and this is impossible in this life. The ox which turns its tail upwards – downwards, he also may have longing to become handsome but this longing is unattainable – in this life he will remain an ox, with the beauty of the ox, and will die such; he can’t become handsome as a man. I ask what contributes the longing to the man for one man to reach some longing, he has to have defined aim for this, to know why he longs and what will reach with the realizing of this longing; from other side he has to know the way and the laws on which one given longing reaches. On this reason is attainable only that thought which goes on its defined way of development; every thought which doesn’t go on defined way for its development, it is unattainable. The same thing may be said and for the feelings of the man; if one man knows this, he will not discourage that he haven’t reach anything but will wait to come the time and the conditions for reaching of his longings – knowledge, science is wanted. I say: according to the world which the science applies in, it divides to physical, spiritual and Divine. These three kinds science differ one from other, they have different laws which act in them, but in spite of this they are closely connected each other. If one man doesn’t understand the physical science, he can’t understand and the spiritual; if he doesn’t understand the spiritual, he can’t understand and the Divine – there how the question stays when one man gets up from below to upwards, i.e. from the physical world to the Divine world. But if the man gets down from above to downwards, i.e. from the Divine world to the physical world, then the situation is exactly the opposite: if the man doesn’t understand the Divine science, he can’t understand and the spiritual, he can’t understand and the physical. In the equal reason, when are asked questions, riddles and rebuses, man has to know how to answer – in them hide some symbol which has to be understood. I ask what the man wins when he decides some unknown question, one riddle or one rebus. He always will win something, will take if not everything, at least a part from this what hides in them; it is the same when you show to the man one box with some contents and say to him: “If you guess what there is in the box, you will receive something from it” – and this man strain himself, exert himself to guess what there is in the box because he will receive something. And really, it is interesting the man to guess the contents in the box; if there is one onions onion inside, he will sorry that he had strained himself so much his thought to hit, but if in the box there is one handsome diamond or some precious book which contains the secrets of the Nature, then it deserves the man to strain himself to guess what there is in the box. Who doesn’t understand the price of the things and it turns out that in the box there is one onions onion, he will say: “It doesn’t being worth to think so much”; if in the box there is a diamond or one good book, he will remain satisfied that he guessed. But this one who knows the price of all things, when he sees the onions in the box will remain equally satisfied, as and if he sees the diamond or the book because the onions will remind to him that one his friend suffers from malaria and will go to help him. How he will help him? He will bring the onions to his friend and will advice him to pound it a little and to put it on his feet – in this way his friend will get well from the malaria from which any doctor couldn’t cure. There why many questions in the world have to be decided, in order from one side the people to free from some their ailments, and from other side to acquire some virtues; every undecided question is in connection with the free of the man from one ailment and with the acquirement from it of one virtue. Some says: “Why the man has to think?” The man has to think in order to remove the ailments from him, and simultaneously with this and to acquire virtues. The same thing, said on contemporary political language, means: the man has to think in order to improve the conditions of his life. The man has to think in order to get out from the prison, to restore his political rights; only this man can restore his political rights who already had became a citizen of the Divine Kingdom – if he is not a citizen of this kingdom, his leg can’t step there. Till the man is on the Earth, he can go and in England, and in Germany, and in France without be English, German or French citizen, but in the Heaven it is not like that – in the Heaven they accept only these people who are its citizens. You say: “Why I have to be just?”; I say: The Pravda is right of citizenship in the world of the just – if one man is not just, he can’t enter in this world. – “Why I have to love?” If you don’t love, you can’t enter in the world of the Love, where it is right of citizenship. – “Why I have to be clever?” If you are not clever, you can’t enter in the world of the Sensibility – where it is right of citizenship. Therefore if one man doesn’t love, he can’t enter in the world of the Love; if he doesn’t think, he can’t enter in the World of the thought; if he is not true-loved he can’t enter in the world of the Free. The contemporary people have wrong notion for the Free; what they call free is nothing else but kasha from incoherently concepts. A free man is only the immortal; who dies, he is not free. Many want to convince and the other people, as and their selves, that one day God will free them; God always will free the people but it is important for them when He will free them – for you is important to be free today. Are you free? You are not free. You say: “We are free to talk and to think whatever we want.” No, you are being complacent, today almost there is no people who can think free; if could be found several men in the world who think free, this will be big blessing and for them, and for the other people – today the free people have to be searched with candle. You say for somebody: “This man is free thinking” – it is good one man to be free thinking but he has to make a choice in his thoughts and to give account to himself for every thought, except this every thought has to be right. For example right thought is that the man has to serve to the God; but many says that this thought is abstract because nobody hasn’t saw the God. Some people, in order to prove that God exists, reveal the fact that the world had been created from the God; these ones, who deny the existing of the God, says that the world had been created alone by itself and exists from times immemorial; these and number more questions create contradictions in the people. The contradictions of the contemporary people compare to these, on which one Bulgarian had come upon when he sent his son to study in foreign countries. When he came back from foreign countries, the son wanted to show to his father that he knows man things, there why he said to him: “Father, I can prove you in mathematical way that two is equal to three.” The father answered: “Son, this is a contradiction for me, I can’t accept such deep work. After you contend this situation, prove it but I am not agreed with it. When it comes to you, you can live according to your mathematics.” One day the father, the mother and the son sat to have a lunch, put on the table two roasted hens, the father said: “Son, I shall take the one hen, the other – your mother, and since you prove that two is equal to three, you will take the third hen.” I say: when somebody contends impossible things, I take for myself the possible and leave for him the impossible – after he contends the impossible, let it remain for him. No matter how big or little the third hen is, it remains for this one who proves that two is equal to three. Today the whole dispute between the people is for the third hen which doesn’t exist. Two can’t be equal to three in any way; from the two may come out three, but the three exists independently and without this. The one, the two, the three, the four, the five and the other numbers exist independently and in some cases they appear on the stage, but it can’t be said that the three originates from the two, and the two – from the one; it is the same as you see one watch which is closed in some covers, and to say that the watch originated from the covers. The Turks have such watches: you see some Turk that he takes out from his pocket a watch big as bone frog; he opens on cover, afterwards second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and in it – one little watch; he looks the watch, say how time is it and afterwards in the same way close it in the covers. Can be said that the watch had originated from the covers? No, these six covers are cover of the watch. Now, when I give these examples, I want to suggest you to the right thought through which to create right philosophy for the Life; right philosophy is this which brings Free for the man. Nobody can close the free man, nobody can restrict him, he is immortal – there is no better thing in the world from the Free. The contemporary people are not free, they influence ones from others; when it is about the spiritual life, they don’t believe in it, and when they say them ordinary things, they believe, succumb of influence to this one or that one. I ask how possible one man to influence from other is – he is not tied with rope to pull him. The contemporary scientists don’t believe in the God but believe in the influence, the suggestion, the hypnotism. When one man finds himself in front of a table, on which is put nice meal and he succumbs to this meal, who had influenced to him, does the meal influences to him? No, the meal hasn’t influenced to the man but the desire to eat, to satisfy his hunger is in position to influence to him; from other side, if the meal which the cook had cooked, correspond to the desire of the man to eat from it, it is also in position to influence to him and the he sits on the table and starts to eat. You go to some friend of yours for some work, but you hurry to go out because you have other work; but if your friend invites you to eat from a meal you like, it immediately influence to you, you give up from your work and remain to lunch from your favorite meal – so you started a work that haven’t foreseen earlier. Is there something bad in the eating? After the eating corresponds to your desire, you have finished one nice work – you have been gave something to your body; but if the eating doesn’t correspond to your desire and you succumb to the cook, eat from what he had cooked, in the beginning you may feel pleasure from the meal but afterwards you will remain dissatisfied – why? Because every meal which had entered in your stomach without your desire and love to it, upsets your stomach and together with this you lose and your frame of mind. Now, when I raise the question for the eating, I suggest you to the thought that every new idea is nothing more but new eating put on the trapeze of the man. Therefore if one man wants to attain to one new idea, this desire is on its place because it represents new food for the mind. In a way that the new ideas are food for the human mind and for the human soul, they are excellent lunch which raises the man, and opposite – every old idea is without freshness, the old ideas don’t feed the soul. Some says: “If we have old or new ideas, this is indifferently for us, we leave ourselves to the order which God had put, as God had arranged the things.” I ask is there a man in the world who to say with positiveness how God had arranged the things and to lead from this order? If you ask the eyes how God had arranged the world, they will answer to you through the eyesight; if you ask the ears how God had arranged the world, they will answer you through the hearing; if you ask the mouth how you have to eat, it will answer you through the eating; if you ask the legs how God had arranged the things, they will answer you through walking; if you ask the arms how God had arranged the world, they will answer you through work; if you ask the stomach how God had created the world, it will answer you through the digestion; if you ask the heart and the lungs how the world had been created, they will answer you through the circulation of the blood; if you ask the mind how the world had been created, it will answer you through the thought – every organ of the human organism is an authority, a professor on its specialty. Every organ can answer the question haw God had created the world, but this answer is just outside, it is not authoritative in every relation. If the authority is inside in the man, has he to ask the other people how the world had been created or what thing is the Love, etc? Who can define what thing is the Love when it is in the man himself – the man himself is authority for the Love. He can make comparisons only between the results of one and other love, but for the Love itself he can’t pronounce. I take the Love as a power which grows, develop and manifest in the man. It is similar to a fruit, for example to the fruit of the apple, there are results which are similar to it, as you start with the planting of the apple seed and finish with its becoming ripe. As the writer, the philosopher can be known by their productions, as and the Love recognizes through its fruits. The painter can be recognized through his pictures: if you observe his pictures you recognize what is he in physical, mental and spiritual relation; through the pictures of the painter can be recognized his temperament, his character as ant if he is materialist or idealist. This has to do not only with the painter but and with every ordinary man; if you enter in the room of some man, you will recognize what thoughts occupy him from the order in his room, from the clothes he dresses with. Between all outside and inside things in the man there is full correlation – every outside manifest in the man has its inside cause. Some man wear clothes with such a color that from very far takes the attention of the people and to justify himself he says: “My friends let me to sew such clothes; if it depended from me, I would never wear such a color.” No, he just justify himself, in fact he likes this color but hasn’t the boldness to make such clothes alone; the most weak opinion from his friends to sew such clothes is being accepted immediately from him. Now I want to suggest you to the thought that every idea, every feeling, every action remain some imprint in the man – this imprint is nothing else but a result, a fruit. For example you see that some man is handsome, has handsome features on his face as handsome fruits and you say: “And I want to be handsome”; but the beauty is a fruit for the producing or for growing to maturity of it the man had worked with years, with centuries – the Beauty is Divine idea. You want to be strong but you had to be worked with years and centuries in order to acquire this power – the Power is Divine idea. The handsome, the strong man is loved from everybody; when you meet one handsome man, you are being pleased, bring him in your mind and say: “Today I saw one handsome man, I will never forget his face”; you meet one strong or good man, you can’t forget and him – the Goodness is Divine idea. The handsome, the strong, the good man is Divine man – everybody enjoy to him, everybody wants to see him. I ask what the ideal man should be. According to the understandings of the contemporary people the ideal man have to be handsome, strong, good, etc. I say: ideal man is this one who expels from himself every violence, every lie and every evil – in this way one man can be handsome, strong and good, and only this man may serve to the God. You want to serve to the God but for this is wanted to be handsome, strong and good – this is the desire of the God. He wants all His children to be handsome, to compare to Him. When God meets some of His children unclean, soiled, He says to him: “You have to be clean, you have to be handsome, you have to be good!” – when He speaks to it on this way, in he originates a desire to clean himself, to become handsome and good, to compare to his father from who he had went out. If somebody starts to complain from the God for his unhappiness, He says to him: “If you want to become happy, you have to work upon the Beauty – this Beauty will throw imprint not only on your face, but and on your whole body, outside and inside.” There is no more desire thing for the man than the Beauty – it gives to the body plasticity, music; when the handsome man walks, his movements are musical. Imagine one world with handsome, with good people; if some Angel from the Heaven comes between such people, he will be pleased, will remain satisfied from this music and will wish to come down in the Earth for second time. But today it is not like that, the contemporary people still haven’t reached this Beauty and there why the Angels don’t stay between them for long. At the Beauty and the most bad man steps back, at the Beauty and the wild beast kneels – the Beauty is Divine power at which everybody steps back. In one Bulgarian legend yet from Turk time is speaking for the power of the Beauty, for its influence upon the man. One Turkish bay treated very cruelly with the Bulgarians who he called giaours, made big mischief to them, put them under big trials. One day he walked through the streets, mounted a horse, and met the handsome Bulgarian woman Mara. At the sight of her beauty he immediately got down from the horse and said to her: “I bow at your beauty, what you order to me, I shall do.” She said to him: “I want from you one thing – to change your relations to my brothers and sisters Bulgarians. Now you go, I shall meet you second time, I shall see what you have done.” He bowed, mounted to his horse and went on his way. From this moment he changed radically – he stopped to torture the giaours, stopped to mischief to them and always brought a bag with bread in order when he meets giaours on his way to give. All wondered to the change which happened with the bay, many people thought that he had became a Christian. I ask who let this bay to get down from his horse, to bow at this Bulgarian woman and to step back from the evil. The Beauty. Great, powerful power is the Beauty as the outside expression of the Love! If one man meets the Love in his life, he had been met the handsome virgin who hides in herself power, might; from this moment the man opens his house for everyone and then he says: “I have met the God and I have understood the sense of the Life.” Really, there is no greatest thing for the man from this to meet the Love, to meet the God – only the Love is in power to produce in the man inside coup, to change his life, to give new direction of his soul, to make him a real man. I say: strong influences exercised this handsome Bulgarian woman upon the bay, in her face he had saw the God. If all Bulgarians had the power of the handsome Mara, they would be in position to change whole Bulgaria. You say: “Who knows if this was like that, this is a legend.” No, all things that I tell you, are real cases. When the people want to keep some truth from distortion, they give in form of tail, of novel, of legend, etc., but there is no novel, there is no tail, there are no tales, myths or legends in which to describe incorrect facts – all that the poet, the novelists and the writers had wrote, is truth. It happened ever or will happen in future – one man can’t write something or to tell something which is not happened or will not happen. Some says: “It was, but thousand years ago.” After something happened thousand of years ago, it may happen and now. Every girl may have the power of Mara but not all have it; if the girl has got no the power of the handsome Mara, and ten bays may pass near her but they will not get down from their horses and to bow to her – they will pass away near her without notice her. If today one man looks some girl or a woman, they immediately ask their selves: “Why this man looks?”; the question is not that the man has looked some woman, but it is important can this girl to provoke inside coup in this man, can he say after that in the face of this woman he has saw the God? The Turks says: “It is blessing for the man to watch the handsome!” And so, it is not bad one man to look but he has to know how to look; there are two ways for watching: the man may watch and to see the ailments of the people, and may watch and to see the good in them; or the man may see in the people what God had made, and may see this what they had distorted in their selves. Therefore, when you meet somebody, you have to see only that which God had put into – this means one man to watch and to see, this is the sense of the view. If you had gathered here to see in me what God had put into, you will have the Divine blessing; if I watch to you with aim to see what God had put into, I shall have the Divine blessing. In a way that till you don’t find the Divine in the man, don’t hurry to make a connection with him – the connection, the friendship with the people has to rest on the Divine in them. If you don’t find the Divine in the man, any relations, any friendship can’t exist; out of the Divine all kinds of relations, all kind of friendship is not strong. The Divine you will find in the real handsome, the good and the sensible man – there why namely every one searches the Beauty, the Goodness, the Sensibility. The Beauty is a longing of the human soul; if in yourself or in the other people you will find the Beauty, this is indifferently – the man searches it everywhere. Time will come when all people will be handsome; if you enter in the world of the perfect Creatures, you will see that they all are handsome – outside they compare but inside they differ. If you fall into this world of Beauty – between Angels and Elevated creatures, you will indulge in reverie, will forget yourselves, will think only for them. And really, who had saw the beautiful, the great only once, he had never forgot it; when the man meets the Beauty, he constantly thinks for it and wonder from where it came, how it was acquired. It is not important from where the Beauty had come, it is important what it can make from the man. I say: you have to define your relations to the God - to be correct, natural. You say for somebody: “This man is still green” – I ask what the greenery means? Growing, a process of development. When I look the frog I see and in it the effort of the Divine Spirit to raise it; in it with great difficulty notice some features of higher life, but it will pass number forms of development till one day it reaches and the most perfect form – in all creatures there are embryos of higher forms. The same may be said and for the man – the man is not the last form of the life. Who knows the laws well, in the face of every man will see embryos from features of ordinary, talented and genius people as and such of saints and Angels who will develop sometimes; who doesn’t understand the laws of the development, when he looks some man will say: “This one purses the mouth, that one stays with open mouth” – what the compressed mouth means and what – the open, and he doesn’t know. When one man compresses, close his mouth, he controls his feelings – with this he wants to say: “You can push me everywhere, just don’t push my heart.” When one man opens his mouth, this shows that he wants to accept something – the mouth is antenna of the Sensual world. There why one man ha to know these things and not to succumb to the fashion; many people lead from some rules of the fashion how to stand their mouths. The mouth is antenna which doesn’t have to succumb to a fashion; the lips have to touch softly, nothing artificially has to be brought in the standing of the mouth. What I say for the mouth related and to the eyes: the angle of the eyesight has to be natural and not on the rules of the fashion. Keep your eyes so open that to perceive only the need light – not more, not less; if you look on some outside rules, you will bend you eyes; if you bend your eyes, you will distort and your soul. Therefore don’t look the people neither under angle, neither from right or left, neither on cross – if you look on cross, you will crucify by yourself; look the man under such angle that to see his beauty – look him and say to yourself: “Great is the God who had created this man; He had started to sculpture him, to work upon him, he had put into good things which will develop one day” – that is the way you have to look to the people. Some man looks his brother and says: “This man doesn’t cost, there is no good features.” I say: don’t hurry so much, you see one uncompleted picture and already pronounce; God had started this picture and one day will finish it, after you see it complete, only then you have right to pronounce – now just the shadows are threw about but when you see this picture completed, then you will understand what was put into it. It is art one man to see in the faces of his brothers or sisters that which God yet initially had put into them and which will develop in future; till doesn’t acquire this art the man can’t value and himself. There why namely don’t say that you don’t cost anything – know that you all are uncompleted pictures. When somebody gets angry or flare up too much, I say: “Your fire is blazing, take out little trees from it to decrease its power” – when you decrease the fire and the effervescence of the water will abate. And so, if one man wants to manage with the hard condition of the Life, he has to create a special philosophy, to know how to look to the things. If you find yourself in unfavourable conditions of the Life, search and there the hand of the God – everywhere search and see the God! When you make some mistake, it is not only yours, simultaneously with your responsibility stays and the responsibility of the previous generations – it is being imminent for you to correct as your mistakes, as and these of the past generations, of your ancestors. Sometimes the mistakes become reason one man to become famous: you will see some little child to play on soldiers, on wars whole day; it walks with rifle through the yard, march; one day this little child becomes a general, goes on war, kills hundred of people and comes back victoriously, awarded with a military cross. And really, this man became famous – with what he became famous? With murders. In other existence this general realized his mistake, understood what crimes he did and start to live clean life, becomes a saint – earlier he walked with sword girded on the waist, and now took a stick in the hand and went through the villages, through the cities to preach and to correct his mistake; he says: “Brothers, I am this one who once with sword in the hand did cut the heads of the people, but after big sufferings, after big chasings and pursuits from their side, I realized my mistake and today I decided to help to the people, to serve to the God and on this way to correct my mistake.” You say: “Till when the saint will preach to the people?” Till he finds all these who he made evil or some mischief to, and corrects his mistakes – after he expiates his sins, after he corrects his mistakes, he becomes handsome. Which is better for the man – to take down heads or to put heads, to destroy the lofty feelings of the people or to encourage them? It is not enough for the man just to think which is better but he has to do all which is good and beautiful – the beautiful, the elevated has to be the daily bread for the man! Today every man has to take his stick in arm and to go to preach till he restores the initial order of the things, i.e. till he restores all that he once destroyed. Who wants to serve with the sword and today, he is free, nothing is going to be said to him – after he wants to go to the battle field, let him go; one day, when he realize his mistake, and ask what to do, then I shall tell him: “Now take your stick and go to preach, to learn the people how to live.” In a way that in one life the man has to be a general with sword in hand – he will cut and slaughter, in other life he will be a saint with a stick in the hand – he will go to teach the people how to live according to the God. And the one is on its place, and the other is on its place: till one man doesn’t be a general and doesn’t receive military cross, he can’t be a saint – as a general he created a work for a saint. Can the saint to correct his mistakes which he made as a general, he has already the Divine blessing, the whole Heaven will speak for this man that he is really a hero, because he knows to make mistakes but knows and to correct his mistakes. If one man knows only to make mistakes, and can’t correct his mistakes, the Heaven doesn’t care for him and says: “This is one forgot man from everybody, since he can’t correct his mistakes” – everybody will take pity of him without help him. Why? Everybody alone has to correct his mistakes. And Christ said: “When one sinner decides to start to live clean life, big joy sets in between the angels in the Heaven.” When the saint takes his stick and goes in the world to preach, the whole Heaven joys that he decided to correct his mistakes and to forget his past – the past is a shadow of the Life. As the man had became a reason for bringing of the sin in the world, as he has to work for its removing. This doesn’t mean that every man has to occupy with the great idea to save the world – it is enough every man to correct one his mistake to be called great. Who is able to correct one his mistake, he passes for great man in the Heaven; if he can’t correct one his mistake, he is an ordinary man and as such is convicted to sufferings. Who people suffer? Only the ordinary people suffer, the great people don’t suffer. What bigger suffering for the man from to pass between the people and nobody to pay him attention – everybody passes away near him but doesn’t see him, he has got no even a friend, neither one close man, neither one close animal. One man understands from what meaning is the attention even of the animal when he leaves alone, without close men, without friends; then one little dog, for example, may come to him, to lick his hand and to turn its tail around him – with this it wants to say: “You are good man, tell me something.” In a way that if somebody comes to you, tell him something good; if you reject the man, who you may say something good, they will reject and you – it is said in the Writing: “With what measure you measure, with such it will be measured to you.” The contemporary religious people say: “We all had gone out from the God, we all are children of the God”, but if some their brother comes between them, they don’t act with him in a way how God demands. Act with the people as you want to be acted to you – as you act with the people, such they will act to you. For clarification of this idea, I shall give the following example: one villager from the villages around Gorna Oryahovitza went in the city of Gorna Oryahovitza to buy a ticket and to wait one of the trains with which he had to go to one near station. But when he went to the booking office where the tickets were sold, saw that he is only thirty stotinka short for the ticket; he looked around and saw one solid mister, lawyer in Gorna Oryahovitza, and wanted form him thirty stotinka. The lawyer refused to give him under the pretext of he had not money in himself. Then the villager took his stick in hand, put the bag on shoulder and set out for the village where he wanted to go by walking. After several years this lawyer was in England and one day he had to go with the train to one near station; he went to the station to buy a ticket but what was his wonder when he saw that he was only thirty pennies short for the ticket. He turned here-there to want thirty pennies but didn’t decide and was being forced to go by walking. When he fell in this situation, he immediately remembered for the villager from the station of Gorna Oryahovitza who he didn’t want to serve with thirty stotinka; then he said to himself: “What you do, it will come back to you.” This is the real philosophy of the Life and there why I say: if you want to have the Divine blessing, do what God demands from you – this is the way on which you can reach your happiness. If you act the Will of the God, you will sow your way with precious stones – then the people will come to help you. Only by this way you will be happy and whatever work you start, you will finish it with success – this is one inside key of the Life. In a way that if some man wants something from you, stop, think how to act, and then operate. Before years I was in USA where I had one special experience; I walk in one street, meet one mister, dressed poor, he stops me and start to tell his story: “I am family man, have children and woman who is ill from long time; I have got no post, I have got no any resources, I am in big misery, if you wish, help me.” I looked him, sympathized with him and gave him one help, which to serve with. If he speaks the truth, or no, I didn’t check this – I accepted the fact as he told it to me. He took the money which I gave to him, and went in one tavern to drink; after four hours I meet him again but he didn’t know me and became to tell the same story again. Then I said to him: “Listen, this what you do is not good, I can to help you and now but you serve with the lie which will not bring you out on right way – with this lie and your life will be always ill, and your children will go hunger. Come with me to go to some eating-house.” I took him to one eating-house, order eating to him to have his meal, buy bread for his wife and say: “When you have your meal well, take this bread for your wife and children, give to them to have their meal; but look not to sell it somewhere and don’t exaggerate your sufferings.” The contemporary people suffer form exaggeration of the things – they exaggerate their difficulties, their unhappiness, they want to pass for martyrs. Some says: “I am an unhappy man, there is no man with bigger sufferings than mine” – don’t exaggerate your unhappiness, you play role of some of the wretches in the world, but you are not biggest wretch. – “I haven’t seen white day!” No, you have saw thousands white days. – “Nobody loves me.” And this is not truth, your mother cradled you so much in the cradle, sang songs to you, gave you kisses, how many people other people have kissed you; and today there are people who love you – if nobody loved you, you couldn’t be able to live on the Earth. And we gathered here because God loves us; the Sun rises because God loves us; the starts rise because God loves us. For that one, who understands the things, this is correct; for that one, who doesn’t understand, this is not correct, he doesn’t believe in my words. Who doesn’t believe, he has to make attempts till he connect with the Elevated creatures; when one man connects with these Creatures, the Invisible world will reveal in front of him and he will check all which otherwise he can’t check. The Invisible world is in front of you, but is wanted organs through which to enter in connection with it. For example, in order to be realized one idea on the Earth, first of all the man has to have organs which to perceive it; after that it has to find favourable soil, in which to plant; in the end it is need to be found a man who to look it to develop, to give fruits – only then we may say that this idea is realized. Can one man see if he hasn’t eyes; can one man to hear if he hasn’t ears; can one man draws one line if he hasn’t arms? So, organs are wanted in order the Invisible world to manifest in one or other relation. Therefore the man has to become organ of the Divine body, but not a slave of the outside conditions; the man has to be a citizen of the Divine Kingdom, bearer of the Divine ideas. It is not enough just to talk for the God, for Divine things, but we have to give something from ourselves, to make something essentially. For example somebody says for his friend that he is good, sensible, handsome man but does nothing for him; other doesn’t speaks nothing for the qualities of his friend, but if his friend find himself in need, he immediately comes to the assistance. If one man just talks without execute, he will compare to this rich American, who just in words spoke for the God but did nothing for Him. One day he felt ill seriously and called their pastor to pray for his getting well. The pastor answered him: - How to pray from you when you haven’t made one good? - If you don’t pray for me, I shall leave for that world. - This is nothing, you can leave but I can’t pray for man who through whole his life had abused the church and had made nothing for the God. - Then what to do? - Give away your treasure to the poor and promise that you will serve to the God! - You first pray to the God and after that and I will execute my promise. - No, till you don’t make a contract, till you don’t sign that will execute your promise I shall not pray to the God, I don’t believe only to words., And so, if you want your prayer to be accepted from the God, first of all you have to put your sacrifice in front of His legs – if you are not ready to sacrifice all for the Divine Spirit who constantly leads you, you can’t do anything. In a way, what the man does for the God, it has to be made with free of his Spirit – God doesn’t demand anything by force. He doesn’t want from you big works, for example to save the world; the salvation of the world is a Divine work, and to you is being imminent work which only you can finish – this specific work defines your future. To every man is given specific work which he has to do alone – what is this work? To be a bearer of the Divine. No matter in which moment he starts to occupy with this work, all contradictions from the mind and his heart will disappear. God will remove the contradictions from the life everyone who voluntarily has accepted to serve Him. The good, the great can cure – the little can’t cure; in much water one man can opera his shirt to perfection – in little water he can’t opera it as it has to; the human soul can clean itself only in the Divine Love. From the long way of its development in the mind, in the heart and in the soul of the man gathered much mud which only the Love is in power to clean; when looks to this mud, he wonders what to do to free from it – the only saving for him is to get in the water of the Divine spring and to clean there. If he gets in once in this water, he has to keep all the rules of the washing, of the cleaning; the different nations have different methods for washing: somewhere, especially in foreign countries, wash with washerwoman’s, with machines or various chemical preparations; the Bulgarians wash, rub the clothes more with arms; no matter in which way the people wash the clothes, they soon tear – the clothes have to be washed easy, carefully to wear well at least ten years. The desire of the people to wash their clothes, to be clean is good, but their methods are not good; some says to his companion: “I shall opera you in a way that you will flash.” – “Wash me but look not to scrub me or to tear me” – in their desire to correct their selves, the contemporary people rub sore one other, tear their clothes. I ask how the people have to correct their selves. Imagine that you want to correct one your brother, how you going to act? If I am a painter but want to correct one my brother, also a painter, with high opinion for himself, here what I should do – I shall paint one picture with much mistakes: the nose – bent, the eyebrow – irregular, the mouth – put awry, etc. Then I shall turn to my brother, the painter, and will tell him: “Brother, please, come to help me to correct the picture which I have painted – I see there are many defects in it, help me to correct them.” I take the brush and he takes his and we two start to correct: he decided to correct the nose, he can’t – I take the brush, try little, he corrects the nose; he decided to correct the mouth, to put it on its place, he can’t again – I try, I put it where it has to. We work together but I don’t tell him anything; after he comes upon to something which he can’t correct, he sees his weak places alone and correct himself without to say him a word; if I make him notes, he will take offence since he is extremely ambitious man. So, if you want to correct some man, don’t indicate his mistakes at once, but start to work together with him – when you leave him to manifest, he will see where he makes mistakes and will correct himself alone. I say: when the Spirit comes to the man, He doesn’t change him at once but gradually. There why namely, when the sinful becomes just, he will leave the same on character as he was like a sinner, but he will make efforts to forbear; for example, if as a sinner he was nervous – he will be such and as just, but will forbear; if as a sinner he liked to fib occasionally, to slander to the people’s address – he will be the same and as a just but will forbear in his manifestations. So the sinner feels free in making of evils and the just man consciously forbears from it; the sin man is free in the evil and the just man is free in the Good – this is the difference between the sin man and just man. It demands forbearing from the contemporary people; it is not enough one man to say for him that is bad, but he has to forbear from evil thoughts, desires and actions. You will forbear, like and God forbears – with thousand of years He stays, waits, forbears His anger against the people, till they turn to Him and wish to teach them how to live. God teaches them, advice them but they don’t listen to Him; He bears all this and says: “It will come a day when these people will correct.” How will they correct? They will get down to the Earth, will get up to the Heaven, till one day they conclusively decide to start to live for the God and apply His teaching. This may happen and after eight thousand years, and may becomes and now – it depends from the man; if earlier, or later this thing will happen depends from the effort which the man makes, as and from the results of this effort. You say: “Who will wait whole eight thousand years?” Really, eight thousand years is long period, but and the length is relative size. When it comes to the evil, man wants the time to shorten soon; if it comes to the Good, he wants the time to continue; but if it comes to the suffering, don’t wish the time to shorten – why? Because to every suffering answers Joy, therefore how long the suffering continued, the same time will continue and the Joy – after the suffering continues longer time, and the joy will continue the same time, the law is such. Now, these things are secondary, the essential for all people is to be bearers of the Divine – only then they can be strong, sensible and good. If one man be strong, sensible and good, he will be in position to reach the longings of his soul. After he has these conditions in himself, he will not pray to this, to that to help him, but the people will come to the assistance to him alone. You all are bearers of the Divine and for the rest work don’t think – don’t think how to give your Love to the people or how to make them Good. From you demand to act Good, to love the people and nothing more. It is not easy one man to show his Love to the people, it is not easy for him to make one Good without carry in seduction in somebody – don’t carry for all these. Have in mind that every day you have to execute the Will of the God, without to put off. And so, let remain in your mind the idea that till you are an organ of the Divine body, you are on your place. Your hand had been created for your body; in this case it first has to execute its purpose to its body and afterwards and to the other people. Your mind, heart and will are created first for serving of your Spirit, of your soul, of the God; if you serve first to the God, you will be able to serve and to the other people. Who serves well to himself, he will serve well and to the God; after he serves well to the God, he will serve well and to his close men – this is one of the greatest laws of the Being. If you don’t go in this way, you will have number of disappointments, till one day you will leave for that world and will say: “I haven’t understood anything from the Life, I couldn’t do anything.” The contemporary religious people say: “We have to love each other, to live brotherly”; the people to love each other, to live brotherly – this is a result of serving of the God. If the hand of the man serves to his body, it will serve and to the other people; if the mind and the heart of the man serve to himself, they will serve and to the God, and from there and to the people. If they don’t subordinate to the man himself, they will not subordinate and to the God; if the mind and the heart of the man are not in agreement with the Divine thoughts and feelings, he will find in big contradiction with himself – the contradictions in the man owe to the bad thoughts and feelings which he feeds in himself. How he can free from these contradictions? One acquaintance has told me the following his experience – he met one his friend who told him: - I shall kill myself, I don’t want to live anymore, I don’t find a sense in the life. He hit two strong slaps in the face of him. - Why you fight me? - Because you want to kill yourself. Then his friend said to him: - From this moment I shall not think for self-killing anymore. With the two slaps you have gave me one good lesson which recovered myself – I pulled myself together, I understood that there is what to live for. I say: In the same way and the contemporary people go to the God and say that they want to kill their selves. God will hit to them two slaps and they will pull their selves together – the two slaps are nothing else but the destiny or, according to the Hindus, the karma. God has many hands through which he hits slaps to the people to sober. God doesn’t excuse the mistakes of the people – every mistake brings its consequences; on the equal reason God rewards the man and for the more little Good which he makes. He sees the microscopically Good and rewards it, but and the microscopically evil He doesn’t forget, but the difference from the consequences in making of evil and of Good is the following: every evil brings its consequences for four generations, and every Good brings its reward for thousand generations. Therefore with the evil liquidate in four generations, and the Good rewards in thousand generations. In a way that if you make Good, and if you make evil, know that God stalks you, He can catch you and through the more little hole – when he catches you once, you will bring the consequences. Neither the evil, neither the Good conceals – in this the beauty of the Life stays. There is one eye in the world which sees everything and from which nobody can hide; nobody can save from the eye of the Life which puts everything in equilibrium – this is one great truth in the Life. If the people knew that there is a control over them, from which they can’t save, they should correct their selves easily; they don’t believe that the Divine eye follows everything. Now, the whole Invisible world follow and say to the people to be good, sensible and just – if they stand to these conditions, they will receive one reward. You say: “Is that true?” You may not believe in many things but when it comes to the Divine words, there every doubt has to be impossible. The only creature in the world who constantly keeps us in his mind and think our Good, this is God – in the God there is no contradictions. Nobody can imagine that thing what God had prepared for these ones who love him; if we come to the God, from all is wanted irresistible Love to Him – all temptation have to vanish in this Love, everyone has to say to himself: “There is One who thinks for me and help me.” All direct their eyes to that One – there is no something more beautiful for the man than to direct his mind and heart upwards to the God! Several days ago, one sister came to me and asked me: “Tell me what to do, I am pretty embarrassed.” I say: “Don’t worry, everything will arrange – the works will set right.” With this I wan to tell her: “If you are good, sensible and strong, your work will set right.” The Goodness is an expression of the Love – who has Love in himself, his works will set right; one man always has to have something in himself from which to give and to the others. One mister meets me and asks me: - What is your credo? I take out immediately from my pocket one nice pear, hand it to him and say: - Have some, taste this pear! He takes the pear and starts to eat. I ask him: - Do you like this pear? - It is very delicious and aromatic. I say: it is important for now to taste the goods which the Nature had given to us. Through this pear was create a connection between us and we started to speak. After this he asked me again: - What can you tell me about the God? I keep silent, answer nothing to him, but after a minute asked him: - Would you like to give you such pear and tomorrow? - I would eat one more with pleasure. - As you see, the Nature is good cook – it had cooked such things, which and the most experienced cook can’t cook. After it is like this, we will meet tomorrow again near to this cook and will eat from this which he had made for the day. When we at, we will talk for questions which interest us. And so, the works of the people may be arranged completely, and may be arranged just partly; after the works of the people arrange, they will be and good, and sensible, and powerful. How their works may be arranged? When they pray one for other, when they help their selves and when they wish the good – if the people live by this way, they will be in power to improve the world. What we see today? Some says: “I have prayed for so and so but he hadn’t acquired anything from my pray” – why he couldn’t acquire something? There are reasons for this. For example, some ill man comes to me, I talk with him and say: “You will get well”; he goes in his home and after few years I meet him again, he hadn’t cured. Other ill man comes to me, I turn my back to him, say nothing; he comes back in his home, scares from his state, start to pray to the God and soon gets well. You say: why the first ill man who you said to that he will get well, didn’t get well, and the second who did give a back, got well? I say: when the first ill man came to me, I finished my work – prayed for him, gave him a way for treatment but he didn’t finish his work, didn’t treat himself, he said: “This is not the way how the works gets right”; the second ill man scared from the situation which he has found, started to pray to the God, and in this way he corrected his mistakes. The first ill man didn’t lie and get up on time, didn’t eat on time, did fight his wife and children, did speak badly for the people. Till one man don’t correct his life, he can’t improve and his health. Ina way that when I turn my back to someone, with this I want to say that this work is not mine, it is Divine work; then God says: “After this work is not yours, I shall occupy to correct it.” When the God say that the works of the man will be corrected, this man has to occupy to complete at least a part from his work; God assists to the people but and they have to work together with him, to take part in His work – if one man takes part in the Divine work, he connects with the God, becomes His associate. We have to be sincere in every relation, to know that the goods which He gives to us are common for everybody. Now, I want to consider this year as a new year, to be with new names. If you remain with your old names, it doesn’t cost; if you remain with your old clothes, with the old love, with the old knowledge, this doesn’t cost too. You have to bring in yourself the new, the clean Love of the child, the knowledge of the one hundred and twenty years old grandfather and the beauty of the young girl, who with her light lights up the whole world – only by this way you will be able to feel yourself inside powerful, and when number of difficulties and sufferings come over you, when you come upon to your bad past, to say: “Our past died, today we are so strong that we can manage with all difficulties and sufferings.” God easy erases the past of the man if he becomes a worker of His field. I wish to all through the next year to complete part of your defined work! Don’t start to occupy with unattainable things; if you complete the attainable works, in future are being imminent greater activities to you. If you don’t complete the little works, how you will complete the bigger? I say: you have mutually to love and respect – not outside but inside: plus, you mutually have to love, without to demand this love – if it remains to you to demand the love of the people, this is violence. The Love is a great law which goes in its defined way. The Love is not given with violence, neither as part of someone’s duty – nobody can’t love you because you want this; everyone can love you, without you to want it, even without to know it. The desire itself of the man to be by all means loved destroys the connections of the love. Somebody wants to be loved from other and he doubts in him – the doubt is the first condition for interrupting the connections of the love, the Love never changes. It is said: “God is love” – after God is love, have you doubt in His Love? There why by relation of the Divine Love, you have to hold positive thoughts, not to doubt in it. When it comes for the love between the people, this is other thing: you may not to love somebody – there are reasons for this; you don’t love somebody because this man is ill and can’t go to your field to work. Everyone loves the health man – he has lofty heart and may serve to you in all you wish. And so, if you want to be free and health, you have to set to work your body, heart and mind on work. If you remain without a work, you will wonder what to do – will purse your mouth, will close your eyes, will make various grimaces. You movements have to be natural; by the unnatural movements of the mouth, of the eyes, of the arms, one man loses his free and in this way he succumb to some contradictions. If you want to free from your inside contradictions, you have to let up your muscles perfectly, to relax all the connections of your body, to come to state as you have been arranged all and after that to bury to deep thinking – only in this way you will feel full rest. In this state you don’t have to interest what the people will say for you. One acquaintance have been told me for similar way when he had succumbed to such full contemplation: one day he decided to rest well, there why he sat comfortably to one chair, perfectly relaxed his muscles and spent in deep thinking whole twenty minutes. In this time his mother came in the room and when saw him in this position scared a lot – she started to push him from one, from other side and always asked him: “Son, what happened, are you ill or something?” He felt his pulse but when she saw that he is calm, went out in other room, left him alone. Many people act in the same way: when they see that some man changed, they touch him, push – if he became to feel bad, if he lost consciousness, etc. No, this man is thinking, he experiences something, don’t worry him. In a way that if they say that some girl or some young man is ill, I say: “They had walked somewhere on profit, now they had come at home, rest, they buried of contemplation.” After they say that they are health, I understand that they go on profit again, go out from their home. These are pictures which illustrate the state of the people. I say: every day use several minutes for contemplation, for rest of the body – direct your mind to all Sensible creatures to who all works are absolutely arranged. Free from all cares and anxieties and say: “We thanks to the God for everything which he made, we thanks that he sent us in the world!” When you contemplate, be so free that nobody to afraid from you – take the position of a saint, and who see you to stay with reverence to you. You may sit to chair, may lie in bed, but whatever position you took, nobody has to afraid from you. Make this exercise three times a day – morning, at lunch and evening, most for ten minutes; think over the Divine to free from all littleness. If your exercise was good and you will be satisfied from yourself. One man has to become deeply absorbed in himself in order to raise himself over the ordinary conditions of the life. I say: how you will reach this? Put the shirt in the water and don’t think how it will take up water in itself, put the pitcher under the fountain and don’t think how it will fill with water, open your heart for the Divine and don’t think what will happen with you, open your mind for the elevated and light thoughts and don’t care for tomorrow – in a way keep thinking over the Divine, give free to your mind, heart and will and don’t think for the consequences. The real Free brings good results. From all said till now, let the following thoughts remain in your mind: be organs of the Divine body in order the Divine thoughts, feelings and actions to manifest through you – after you are organs of the God, you will be bearers of all Divine. When you meet some man, search the Divine in himself and stop upon these features – in the same way search the Divine and in yourself; thanks to the God that you have possibility to see the nice. And every one has to be rich, not poor – said with other words, be poor from sins, rich with virtues; poor from violence, rich with Power; poor from lies, rich with Sensibility; poor from evil, rich with Good; Don’t stop in yourself, neither in the others, the gifts and the abilities which God had put into, give way to the Divine in yourself and don’t worry! Have faith that the Divine is in power to develop its ways – sow the seeds of the Good and don’t think for them, give chance to the gifts and the abilities in yourself to develop and don’t think for the outside conditions. The Divine in the man is the essential which he has to work over – through it you will connect with the good people, with the saints, with the Angels and with the God. If one man comes to this state, his thought corrects, his feelings ennoble and his actions become elevated – all his works start to go straight. Only by this way the man becomes younger again and whichever home he comes in, he brings the Divine blessing. Therefore the man has to be health, sensible and good; if he has these qualities, he will dispose of good feelings and with good, light thoughts. Without good feelings, without light thoughts, one man can’t do anything – why? Because if one man has got no good feelings, which to supply material of the thought to work, he can’t do anything; and if the man has got no health body, which to co-operate with the mind and the heart, he can’t do anything. You say: “If we can’t do something, then God will do it” – this is not right philosophy. From thousand of years to now God works namely through the mind, the heart and the will of the people – have this factors to be ignored today? After you know this, you have to keep in perfect clearness your mind, your heart and your will – they to be co-workers with the God, to be in full agreement with Him. In this relation the religions had for aim initially to develop the Divine in the man in order he to be able to serve correctly to the God, but later on they changed their mission, stopped over the outside forms of the things and today they expect the salvation of the humanity from somewhere outside. The outside is not essential, there why namely Christ says: “Don’t search the glory of the people but search the glory of the God!” The glory of the people represents shadows of the Life, which will come alone by their selves; it is enough the painter to put the main features of the picture in order the shadows come alone by their selves; there is no why one man to search the shadows – he alone, without wants will put them where is need. For example the contradictions in the life of the man are nothing else but shadows – these shadows could be little and big. Leave these shadows, i.e. these contradictions aside, don’t pay attention to them and search the essential in the Life – the essential is the Divine. Now, when I talk like this, don’t think that I have got no in mind your efforts, as and your achievements; I have in mind all this but I want to direct your attention to the future at which you stay. If you don’t work constantly, with these faces which you have now, they will not accept you in the Heaven; if you have the more little filth, they will not accept you to one Angel lunch – in the Heaven is not allowed any filth, any dissatisfaction. There is allowed only perfect creatures. And after all this you want to go to the God with your whole dissatisfaction. At the God you have to be in the position of the prodigal son, so when you go to him to say: “Father, I transgressed at You, all that you gave me I ate and drank; I am ready now to work for You as last servant just to accept me.” Big inside humbleness and deep consciousness demands from all contemporary people. Today there are many people, outside humble, pious, but the world doesn’t need from such humbleness – from everybody demands the humbleness and the consciousness of the prodigal son. All talented, genius and holy people are went out always from the prodigal son, from this scoundrel who the father slaughters the most fattened calf for; from the other son, who became angry at his father that he had accepted the prodigal son with love, went out all aristocrats, all dissatisfied people. From the inside humbleness of the man generate the nicest features, the best fruits, so it is already time the people as the prodigal son to come back to their Father – their Father will accept them, will slaughter the most well-fed calf for them and will bless them. Now I wish to you all, when come back home, to give you one big treat, to put you a ring in the arm, to dress you in new clean clothes, after which your Father to embrace you in his arms, to kiss you and to express his Love to you – the son has to feel that he has came back to his Father. If you want to come back to your Father, keep yourself from the old master, from the old teacher who can throw on the dressing-gown to you again and to start to teach you that the life stays only in eating and drinking. If you want, you may listen him, you are free; but afterwards you will eat only carobs and will think that all people are guilty for your state. No, take in arm your stick, which shows that you have to think right, and say the truth of your Father – go to Him as the prodigal son and tell Him: “Father, I ate and drank, I spent everything, I realize my mistakes and ask You to accept me as your servant.” I say: it is already time to come back to your Father. You grazed the pigs of the old master enough, you had eaten carobs enough – come back to your Father, who you went out from! Who still eats the carobs of his old master, he compares to so and so rich man who whole life had eaten only bean but had given money to different charity aims with the thought to become famous; and really still while still living they put his bust amid the town, as to an honorary citizen. As many times he passed near his bust, he said to himself: “I ate much bean till I come to this place” – said with other words, through how many sufferings, unhappiness and difficulties has one man to pass till he comes to the position of saint. To come up to such pedestal as this rich man, this understands to mount to some high mountain top and to thanks to the God that he had given strong legs to you, strong body to reach the top; and when you come back from the mountain, to thanks to the God again that you have came back safely. I wish to you all to come up to the highest place which God had defined to you. I wish to you all, when you reach the highest place of your life, to come down again and to thanks to the God that you was able to go to the highest top and to come back safely again. You have passed many tops, but when you reach the highest top, which is defined to you, there you will understand the sense of the Life – it is hided namely in this top, in this highest place. I wish this year to come up to the highest place! When you look to some high place, you will observe two main points on which are written three important words: the one point is the place where the Sun rises – there the word Good is written, on this place generate all good things; the second point is the zenith, the place where the Sun reaches its power, its biggest height – there the words Sensibility and Power are written, there accomplish the most sensible, the greatest works. So, in the morning man is glad because then generate the good, the sensible, the great things, and at lunch all this realizes – and really great things happens in the eating. In the morning the man still doesn’t work, neither eats, but just has a breakfast; the greatest work one man acts at lunch when he sits on the trapeze to eat, in a way that if you sit today on the trapeze to eat, put in your mind the new idea that in this moment you acts the greatest work – you come up to the highest place in your life. Now I wish to you all to put the Good as a base of your life, the Sensibility, the Wisdom – for construction, and the Power – as result. You bring in yourself good talents, many gifts and abilities which you have to develop – when you work with the Good, with the Sensibility and with the Power, you will reach all what you desire. One man can reach everything which he desires, but not to want a hair more than this which is defined to him; everything will be given to you as it is provided – neither a hair more, neither a hair less; if you desire more than the defined for you, you will damage the Divine plan. You have to compare to that Turkish dervish who met one bay and wanted from him one little help; the bay turned out his purse and said to the dervish: “Take how much you need.” The dervish looked in the purse, which was separated to three bars (in the one there was gold, in the other – silver, and in the third – coppers), and he took just one copper. – “Why you didn’t take from the gold coins?” – “I need such.” In the same way and God will meet you, will open his purse and will tell you: “Have some, take how much you need!” You have to have the nobility of the dervish to take only how much you need through the day; on the other day God will meet you again, will open his purse again and will offer you to take as you need – if you take more than you need, you will close your way alone. If one man fill whole tank with water, he will not go often to the fountain but and the water will not be fresh; if you go to the fountain every day with little pitcher, you will have fresh, clean water every day. The little, but made with Love, brings blessing; the big, made without Love, brings sufferings. Today I spoke more, but I believe that you haven’t bored. Who has tired to listen, I shall take him in my garden to rest and eat fruits – there are pears, apples, plums, cherries, etc. To that one, who hasn’t tired, we will give one apron and will send him on work – to prepare the lunch on which we will complete the greatest work. 20th August, 1931, 5a.m.

Note 2p Day of the Divine Statement “If I speak with human or angel language, but don’t have love, I shall be copper which rings or an organ which tangs (verse 1).” [A1] It means, if God is not in man, i.e. if man has no Love in him, all the rest of the things in his life are useless – they are of no use to him. “Love doesn’t search its[A2] (verse 5).” Actually, who searches himself, he is not in Love; only the egoism searches itself. “And now these three remain, faith, hope, love; but the greatest is love (verse 13).” Therefore in the Hope is the physical world, in the Faith – the Spiritual world, and in the Love – the Divine world. Everything goes out from Love, from the Divine world. When people speak between themselves about Love, this is only partial, and that which is partial will be interrupted. When the drop of water is left alone, it easily soils itself; when this drop enters in the whole, it becomes clean, becomes limpid. The same may be said about Love: when Love is partial, it soils and interrupts, that is why man has to strive to the Divine Love which is the whole and which never soils. Now, when the new teaching is taught, many people find that it is hard to execute – why? There are reasons for it. Whatever the ill man eats, he always feels unpleasant – even if you give him the best food, he says: “This thing doesn’t cost[A3] ”; but the healthy man likes everything. Therefore, till man is ill, he understands food, and is able to choose it alone. Who are ill people? Whoever commits sins and crimes, they are always ill people. While man makes mistakes, he can’t understand the Divine Love – Love brings Life, but the man of sin can’t understand Life. And the ill man can’t understand Life, as the man of the sin doesn’t understand it: they give the ill man one meal – he is dissatisfied, they give him another meal – he is dissatisfied again; he finds that all the people around him are guilty that they haven’t cooked it as it should be, others are careless toward him, they haven’t looked at him as they should etc. – the requirements of ill people are many. Said with one world[A4] , sin is a distressing state, and Love – a state of health; when man manifests Love correctly, then he understands the sense of Life. The correct manifestation of Love demands cleanness[A5] by all means. Someone says: “Give me a drink of water from your bottle!” I say: better go to some fountain or some spring, and to drink enough from there, than to drink water from my bottle; no matter how clean and fresh the water is in my bottle, it is not the same as the water of the spring. I ask, have you drunk water from your bottles too. I recommend to everybody: pour out the water of your bottles, go with them to the fountain or to the spring and fill them with clean, fresh water. To give water from your bottles to the other people, it means to show yourself as their teachers; that is why it is best for man to drink water directly from the spring. Protect yourself from teachings which corrupt the mind and the heart of man! Whoever wants to force his teaching on people, he gives them water from his bottle – no matter how clean this water is, it is not enough, it can’t satisfy man completely. All divisions between people are namely because of the water in their bottles, these divisions create the sufferings. There were such divisions in the first years of Christianity. Many people preach about God, but in these teachings there is always something missing – they start well, they end badly. For example some servant executes the will of his master well – what his master tells him he does, he does everything as it should be done; not even two years pass, and the servant robs his master and takes his place – the servant becomes a master and the master – a servant. The same happens and in the Spiritual world: someone preaches to people about God, but in the end he robs them – this is spiritual robbing. What does this show? When the master becomes impoverished, the servant is dishonourable; when the master grows rich, the servant is honest. And so, when man grows in Love and his thoughts, his feelings and actions are clean[A6] , he grows rich and expands in every direction; if Love starts to decrease, the thoughts, the feelings and the desires of man lose their Cleanness[A7] ; as a result he gradually becomes impoverished. Real growth is only in Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth; therefore man grows only in these three worlds. The same law refers to the physical world as well: where there is warmth, light, and freedom, only there is growth; out of these conditions no growth can exist. But not much time passes, and the opposite process occurs, the process of growing old; when does man grow old? When he passes through the life of his ancestors, in which there is a number of sins and crimes – this life is always contrary to Divine Love. If man wants to go to God, to his only Father, he has to refuse the life of his ancestors, and to begin to live in Love. His father, and grandfather come along and say: “Son, you have to listen me, I have borne you!” No, the father has to tell his son: “Son, you have to listen to God and to execute His will – you have come out from Heaven, He is your Father.” After that the grandmother goes to her granddaughter and says: “Don’t be scared, granddaughter, I shall tell you how you will become happy.” I say: the grandmother herself is not happy, but she will make her granddaughter happy! Today all people search and expect happiness from unhappy people. What may make man happy? Today you are rich – tomorrow you become impoverished, today you are healthy – tomorrow – ill. To expect contemporary health, it is the same as to be on a fool’s errand through the woods. Someone says: “I want to be free” – this man wants to be free but he forces his opinion on to others. The wolf says that he wants to be free, but it catches one lamb from the herd, throws it on its back and runs in the wood; I ask the wood[A8] : “On what grounds do you take away the freedom of the lamb, yet you want freedom from yourself?” It is not Freedom, in the old life there is no Freedom – whoever lives by the old teaching, he will always be a slave to himself and to the conditions. Such a man grows old more and more, becomes impoverished, till at last he dies and they bring him with a car to the graveyard – why does man die? Because he doesn’t believe in God – what God tells him, he doesn’t believe; what his ancestors tell him, he believes. You say: “When we die, our fellow-men will pray for us, they will expiate our sins.” If it remains for others to pray for you, your work is finished. If it remains to fill your bottle from outside, your work is finished – everything which is filled from outside, empties from inside; if it remains for man to fill with what goes out from people, his work is finished. What man gives to others, he takes it back again – what the father and the mother give, they take it back again. According to the law of regeneration the father gives a body to his son, but in another life he will become son or daughter of his present son who will pay back in this way to his father; in the third regeneration the son will become a father again and etc. But in the Divine world it doesn’t happen since there is no death; for the Creatures from the Divine world there is no death, there is no regeneration – Divine life is a life of perfection. And after all these people separate to black and white – they say: “This one is from the Black brotherhood, and that one – from the White brotherhood.” I say: who doesn’t walks by the laws of Love, Wisdom, and Truth, is from the Black brotherhood; who walks by the laws of Love, Wisdom, and Truth, is from the White brotherhood. Truth gives Freedom to man, Love also makes him free; I ask then: if you love somebody, do you have to enslave him; do you have to torment him? Does the master torment his servant? He sends him to cut trees, to hoe his vineyard, to plough the field, and in autumn he is glad of the barns full with wheat; for the master is good, but what will the state of the servant be – the servant remains poor and barefoot, and empty-handed. The same master today stripped the hide of one ox, tomorrow he strips the hide of another ox and in the end he is rich, becomes a trader of hides and has millions; it is good for the trader, but what is the state of the ox? And this man speaks of that world, of God, and the Angels, but when he goes there, it doesn’t happen as he had thought and preached. That world is in God and God is everywhere, there is no reason to search for God in that world. The whole world – this and that – is always the Divine world, but according to the level of their development, people defer three worlds: the physical or visible world, which they see around themselves, the Spiritual world or the world of Feelings, and the Mental world or Divine. And so, whoever doesn’t serve Love, Wisdom and Truth, serves the devil. The devil likes to flay the skins of people; every man who has some self-interested desire in himself serves the devil. If he decides to serve Truth, the devil says: “There is no reason to tell the Truth, there is no reason to uphold Divine laws, you have to be free!” After you hear this advice without or within you, know that it is devilish and say: “It is not your business, keep your teaching to yourself, I don’t want to hear the advice of a devil teacher.” Who listens to his advice, will see what the results of his life will be. A house, built by the advice and the teaching of the devil, is built on sand – for such a house Christ says that it can’t withstand the storms and rains. Therefore every thing which is not based on the laws of Love, Wisdom, and truth, will be destroyed – it is temporary, transitional. If the steamer which you have built doesn’t rest on the laws of the technique, the weakest waves will destroy it and it will sink in the depths of the ocean. If you get on this steamer, may the company of this steamer secure the life of the travelers? Do you know how terrible it is for man to lose his Life – if he loses his Life, simultaneously he is deprived of the conditions of development. Why do you hurry to get on this steamer? – “We want to go to America, to become rich, since there is much gold there.” Wait, let the company make one strong steamer; if you hurry, you may sink prematurely in the depths of the ocean, and find unhappiness there, not wealth. Such is the destiny of everyone who walks by the teaching of the devil. But, whoever walks according to Divine laws, he will hear the silent voice in himself, which will start to speak to him: “Come to me, blessed one, the Divine Kingdome belongs to you.” Follow this way! Christ says: “Go you, cursed ones, to the bottom of hell!” – who are these cursed ones? They are those who haven’t walked the way of the three great laws. Even if they are saints, even if they are Angels, after they deviate from this way, they will find the bottom of hell. There is not a more terrible punishment for man than to test Life in hell! And so, be careful on your way – follow, and observe who speaks what, in order to defer the black brother from the white one. Whoever says one thing and does another, he is a black brother. The white brother does what he says – he is the same from outside and from inside. This is the way God acts, there is no toadyism in Him – Love is always the same. When he speaks, the white brother always has in mind that he finds himself at the face of God who assesses each of his words according to the laws of Love, of Wisdom, and of Truth. If man acts like this, he always will have the approval of God. Someone says: “”God doesn’t love me”; I ask how do you want God to love you, in what way must God manifest His Love to man? When man is hungry, God will feed him; when man is naked, God will clothe him; when man is ill, God will cure him, and at last, when man has no house, God will give him a house – what more can man want? God may think only of four things in connection to man: if he is hungry, He will feed him; if he is naked, He will clothe him; if he is ill, He will cure him; if he is without a house, He will give him a house too. If man has these four things, nothing else remains for him but to learn. This man is happy, there is no reason for God to think of him [A9] – for the state of this man we may only be happy, nothing else. After all this, must God come especially to this man and begin to praise him that he is good, that he is learned? Not only he is good and learned, there are millions of people who are good and learned and who expect praise, and approval from God. If all good and learned people gather in one place, then God will come to them and will say: “You are very good and learned people.” I ask what need is there of this praise. If you are very good and learned and they praise you, do you become better and more learned, or if you are good and learned, but somebody says that you are not good and learned, do you lose your goodness and erudition? I say: with praise man doesn’t acquire something more than he already has; and when people blame him, he doesn’t lose anything again. But man has to ascertain the facts in the way they are – without exaggeration or decrease; if they give you one good fruit, you will say: “This fruit is good”; if they give you one bad fruit, you will say: “This fruit is bad”. Therefore if you give somebody one pear for example, you have to observe it from all sides and then to say: “Please, take one good pear!” In general, man has to have a defined moral for all things, to know what they are and what they represent in any given moment. Now, when you go out in the morning, you say: “I hope that the Sun will rise!” I say: it is not only the physical Sun which has to rise, besides it there are two other suns which also have to rise. The physical Sun is a servant of the other two; the last two suns are more important than the physical. After the physical Sun rises, after it the other two suns rise – in the rising of these suns is the sense of Life. If man could see the rising of these two suns, he will be humble, he will work consciously over himself, he will correct his mistakes. Such a man doesn’t take offence from the truth, and neither does he offend others – he is free but he doesn’t restrict others; he keeps his cleanness[A10] but simultaneously he keeps the cleanness[A11] of others. If one man doesn’t keep the cleanness[A12] of the other, no matter if it is a man or a woman, such a man has no creed, or moral; if you suck out the saps of one man, and afterwards you throw him away as a rag, this is not allowed – it is not allowed to play with the Spirit, with the soul, with the mind and with the heart of man! Remember the following rule of the Divine teaching: you may punish man for many things, but it is absolutely not allowed to play with the human Spirit, with the human soul, with the human mind and with the human heart; the feelings of man cannot be played with. When it comes to the clothes of man, you may undress him and take them, but you absolutely do not have the right to ruin, and corrupt in man what God has given him. For the first crime you will be judged by human laws, and for the second – human, and Divine laws. The same law refers to the man himself; nobody has the right to corrupt his heart, his mind, his soul and his Spirit! I say: man has to be sincere in himself – what he says, this has to be in his heart. That is why in the Scripture it is said: “These people come close to Me with their mouth and they honour Me with their lips, but their hearts vindicate Me. But they honour me in vain when they learn human teachings and orders.” Therefore God doesn’t need false teachings. Every Teacher has to preach Divine teaching; if he doesn’t preach this teaching, he is not from God. The Teacher has to know that what he preaches, he finds at the face of God; after it is like that, he always has to speak the Truth. What do the contemporary disciples do? They pay attention to show the biggest outside care and respect to their Teacher, but their hearts are far from him. If they invite him among them, they will serve him the best meal and best fruits, but afterwards they will say: “If we were Teachers, it would be the same with us” – it is already a temptation. The devil tempts the disciples, but fools the Teacher when he says to him: “Look how much your disciples love you, they serve you the best meals.” But the real Teacher answers this foolishness in the following way: he takes out of his pocket one pear or apple, takes a piece of bread and starts to eat and he doesn’t look at the meals served to him – he doesn’t lie. – “But there is no other Teacher like you in the world” – the Teacher knows that these praises are devilish. If some disciple wants to praise his Teacher, I shall tell him how he has to do it: let him go to some poor man and invite him in his house to warm up, feed and dress him; and after this to tell him: “This is the teaching of our Teacher!” In the way that praising is not in reading prayers and glorification. [A13] But, if this disciple meets somebody and from one insulted word said to him, fights him, he blames his Teacher with his behaviour. With these examples I turn your attention to your relations to God. What the relations of man to God are, such will be his relations to all people - this is the philosophy of Life; whatever else may be said, it is not the truth. If somebody wants to praise you, let him praise you through his good thoughts, feelings, and actions – if the son wants to praise the father, let he praise him in this way; if the daughter wants to praise her mother, let her praise her in this way too. I say: whoever praises somebody through his good thoughts, feelings, and actions, it doesn’t mean that he has no right to express his praise with words; he has the right because there are facts at hand. The good disciple says of his Teacher: “My Teacher is very good, he directed me in the Right way, he taught me to do the Will of God.” Therefore, only that disciple, who executes the teaching of the Teacher, may praise his Teacher; and only that Teacher has the right to praise his disciple, when the disciple has given him sufficient evidence that he understands and applies his teaching correctly. The Teacher gives such a disciple one good book and says: “Read this book and apply!”; when the Teacher sees that the disciple progresses in the knowledge, he gives him a second book, afterwards a third etc. The Teacher is pleased with such a disciple, and the disciple loves his Teacher and works zealously for the application of his teaching. From the Invisible world an account is made of the success and the behaviour of the disciples; they often ask the Teacher: “How are your disciples on the Earth?” If the Teacher answers: “They torment, they labour, they go so-so” – such an answer is not accepted. The language of the Teacher has to be defined – he has to answer exactly, defined, positive. If they ask me about you as students, I shall answer with such defined language which you haven’t heard till now – I shall not praise you, I shall not blame you either, but I shall tell the Truth how it is in fact. I have all the pictures of your actions from the first day of your apprenticeship till today; I shall present these pictures to the Sensible creatures from the Invisible world and I shall say: “Here is what my disciples have done throughout the time of their apprenticeship. If they ask me about you, I can’t pass over in silence, but I shall take out these pictures, shall arrange them in order and shall say: “Here, see for yourself and judge alone, don’t ask me anything else.” If they don’t ask me anything about you, I shall not take out these pictures, neither shall I say anything. It is said: “Their actions walk after them” – actually our actions walk after us, they throw an imprint over the whole nature of man. Is there something wrong in it? My actions and yours walk after us – it means that I will be photographed, and you will be photographed, it is completely fair in the world. And I am photographed but I take pictures too. Now I wish all people to come in unity, to acquire Divine freedom. Whoever lives in this Freedom, he has no fear of anything – the fact that somebody would photograph his actions, doesn’t confuse him – why? Because his actions are clean[A14] . Once the actions of people are clean[A15] , they will always be joyful and merry; if they don’t have this cleanness[A16] in themselves, they will be subject to a number of difficulties and sufferings. I wish people to be satisfied, joyful, and happy. And so, there are three ways in which man may reach real happiness: the way of love, the way of Wisdom, and the way of truth; besides these three ways there are no other ways. If you walk in these ways, wherever you go, in Paradise or in hell, in this or in the other world, Truth is the same everywhere. And Paradise and hell are based on Truth; and this, and the other world are based on Truth; and the devil loves Truth, as the Angel. One big devil teaches one little devil how to lie to people. Once, the little devil served with this lesson towards his teacher. The devil told him: “Listen, the lie I taught you, you will apply to all people, but not to me – you will always tell the Truth to me, I don’t like anyone to lie to me.” So this big devil who teaches lessons about the lie, realizes that Truth is necessary in Life. In the way that if somebody says that people have to speak the Truth to him, but to others they may lie, he doesn’t think good – you alone have to realize that, and from inside, and from outside you have to speak the Truth. I say: you will speak the Truth to me, and to all people. God is Love, Wisdom, and Truth; therefore, you will preach this teaching to me, and to everybody, not only to one person. As you express love to people, so you have to express it to the ants. Of course, love to man is expressed in one way, and to the ant – in another way. What do the ant or the little fly want from man? To be careful not to tread upon it and to give it a few scraps – nothing else. Now you all have to be true-loving, to be lighted candles, because you are preachers of the Divine teaching; this teaching is not bearing now, it has existed from the beginning of the Being. If somebody wants to know why the world is created, he has to know that the world is created to manifested Divine Love, Wisdom, and Truth. But if you go among people in the world, you will not speak of why the world is created, but you will be bearers of Divine Love, Wisdom, and Truth – from what you preach, people have to find alone the reasons for the creating of the world, only then your preaching has given fruit. Must the English man praise[A17] that he is an English man – when he manifests himself, everybody will guess that he is an English man; must the disciple praise[A18] that he is a disciple of the World White Brotherhood – people have to guess who he is by his actions. One English man drank a little and said to one foreigner: “Do you know, I am an English man – the law of England is the law of Nature!” What does the disciple have to say? He has to say: “The law of God is a law of the world; the laws of Love, Wisdom, and Truth are laws of the world, the laws of the whole cosmos! I am a subject of one country with laws common for the whole world, but not the opposite.” Many people say: “The laws of people are laws of God” – it is an absolute wrong conclusion. Divine laws in all their forms and expressions are laws of the whole world, for all countries, societies, and families, and for all sensible creatures – this is how the great Truth, which everybody has to strive for, stays. Whoever understands things in this way and applies them, he is in the Right way of Life. In one of the past lectures I spoke of the place of God, and today – of the expression of God. God expresses through Love, Wisdom, and Truth, therefore today is the day of Divine expression. This is the way in which everybody may attain the New life, the Resurrection, and become a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. If a man does not go this way he is exposed to bankruptcy, but in this way you may expect all kinds of achievements – Spirit, which leads all the souls, and will not let them fall down. I wish everybody Freedom, which gives conditions to achieve the longings of the soul. Someone says: “Does the Master see us when we make a mistake?” I say: for the mistakes, for the crimes of people I close my eyes; if it comes to their good actions, there I open my eyes on four[A19] . I know people in an opposite way – not by their mistakes and crimes, but by their Good; the method with which I use for knowing people, is positive, not negative. When people make a mistake, it is a science too, but it has to be put aside – as man is important if he has Love in himself, what this Love is and how much it weighs. When people tell me something about some man, I put him on scales, assess how much his Love is and already I know him; in this way I have come to many précis results. In the way that if you want to walk in this Way, study people through the positive method – only in this way you will keep the cleanness[A20] of your mind and of your heart; this way leads to Truth. In the same way God examines us, it means that God examines us in the way of Good – after He sees us, He already knows what we are. Love, Wisdom, and Truth define the place of man. And so, according to me, people have to define themselves by Love, Wisdom, and Truth which they have in themselves – I put everything out of them [A21] aside, they will cope alone with it. In this way you have to define people if you want to be free, brave, and to have the co-operation of all Advanced creatures. If you act like this, you will have the Divine blessing, and Divine approval. What can be better than for God to look at us, to smile, to express His approval that we walk in His way! Many people want to be directed in a specific way to walk on; no, there are no specific ways, the way is one for everybody. If it is a question of specificity, it may be talked of only in the application; there is a science or a school for specific methods for the application of Love, there are specific methods for the application of Wisdom and at last, there are specific methods for the application of Truth. But these methods can’t be told here, they apply in the inner laboratory of man, for the aim to work. As I work, so will you work too. When somebody wants specific methods, it means that he wants to know the way in which one tree may sprout quickly, grow and give fruit; and it may be achieved, but not here on the rock. For this you have to enter in the laboratory of nature, from there to study the methods it works with. You don’t believe in the Sensibility of Nature, in the fruits, in the rivers, in the animals, in the plants, in people which Sensible Nature create, but you search the ways for quick achievements; you don’t believe in the wonders which Sensible Nature does, but want yourself to do wonders. When somebody searches for a quick way for development, he wants to reach some wonder; I say: only this man may do some wonder, the one who has absolute, firm Faith in God, and in the possibilities of Sensible Nature. After you believe in God, you will believe in yourself, since God lives in the soul of every man; in the way that if man believes in God, he will believe in himself. Under the word himself I don’t mean the man of restrictions, and weaknesses. If you want to achieve something, say: “God, you, who has made and created the whole universe, give me a possibility to manifest Your power, to create something with which I can bring fame to You!” Therefore, if you say the word I, you will see in it the Divine presence – if man comes to this consciousness, he has turned to God; whoever doesn’t understand the meaning of this word, he still hasn’t turned himself to God. Those people who still don’t understand the meaning of the word I, in all its pronouncements think that they are authors, and creators of everything which surround them. The word I is holy and it has to be pronounced correctly. The word I is so holy in the Bulgarian language as the word Aum is holy for the Hindus, but even they can’t pronounce it correctly – only their adherents can pronounce it correctly, but they don’t say this to the uninitiated. The words om, am, aum, um have the same meaning; it is not known which word from these is the most correct, it is possible that all of them are correct, and it is possible that all of them are incorrect. When you study to love, to think correctly, and to speak the Truth, you will be able to pronounce the word I correctly. If your heart doesn’t begin to quiver, your mind doesn’t light[A22] , and you don’t acquire the necessary Freedom, you can’t pronounce this word correctly – it has to be pronounced in its breadth and sense. You say to somebody: “I love you” – you pronounce this word but your heart doesn’t vibrate, your mind doesn’t light[A23] , and your mouth doesn’t speak the Truth. If the words do not have this content, they go out from a violin which creaks; if they have this content, they are the clean crystal sounds of the violin. The tones of the violin have to be clean[A24] , the fiddlestick has to move correctly on it, the hand which holds the violin has to have Freedom! You say: “When the Truth is severely told to us, it is the same as to scold us.” It is not a science to scold – it is an old method which doesn’t contribute anything. What do you think when some man scolds? I don’t know what scolding is, I am a big ignoramus in this relation; I would like you to hold a lecture for me on scolding in order to understand what it means when two men start to scold – it is a special science. I hear that two men speak in an especially lively way: the one stays at the tent, and the other – behind the tent; I hear only “bur-bur-bur” – what is this? They say that two men have scolded something; according to me, these are two lawyers who plead two sides of one case. First the one starts – he speaks, convinces the others and stops; afterwards the second one starts – he speaks, thinks, he wants to convince his audience. I see the lawyers – the one is at the tent, the other – behind the tent, but where the judge is, I don’t see, it seems that the lawyers exercise themselves, plead; when the judge doesn’t come, they say that the case is reprieved. One day I listened to two lawyer women, it was in Varna: the one was a Greek woman, the other a Bulgarian woman; one of them was at the tent, the other – behind the tent. The Greek woman was very eloquent, she spoke an hour and a half without tiredness, but the Bulgarian woman was weak in eloquence; but the judge didn’t come in this case either. One work or one case is completed only when four men participate: two lawyers, a judge and the accused – only in this way Truth may be reached; if one of these persons is missing, the case will be reprieved by all means. And so, if you want to examine one case, you have to have at hand four factors: a public prosecutor who pronounces the prosecutor’s charge – he is the devil; Christ who appears as a lawyer in order to plead the case; the third factor is the man they judge, i.e. the accused; the fourth factor is God who pronounces a verdict at the end of the case – He gives the final resolution. Without these four factors every judgement is invalid. And when people gossip about somebody, again the same thing must be observed: on the one side of the accused will be Christ, on the other side – the devil and the accused will be a spectator and a listener. One day, when humanity progresses, there will be such a court of law – this court of law will decide all the difficult questions in Life. I say: behind Truth there are always these four factors, therefore, if you want to accuse whomever of something, call God as a chief justice, Christ – as a counsel for the defence of the accused, the devil – as accuser – public prosecutor, and the person who you judge – as accused. The devil starts: “You consider this man as a saint but I have completely other Danni, other facts” – he enumerates these facts one after another. The accused listens but he has no right to plead for himself – Christ will plead for him; if Christ discharges him, he will be saved; if the speech of Christ is not completely in use of the accused[A25] , he is judged and they force one or another kind of punishment on him. So, you will know: if you do not want to be judged, you have to live by the laws of Love, Wisdom, and Truth, through which God manifests. Now we will wash our hands, face, and legs in the lake in the name of the Great law which rules and regulates all the works on Earth. 7 August 1931, 5a.m. [A1]Verse 1 from which book? [A2]Unclear. It is best to quote exactly from the Bible. [itself] [A3]Unclear. [it is not worth it] [A4][word or world?] [A5][purity] [A6][pure] [A7][Purity] [A8][wolf] [A9]Check if this is the meaning. [A10][purity] [A11][purity] [A12][purity] [A13]Check this is the meaning intended. [A14][pure] [A15][pure] [A16][purity] [A17][say] [A18][say] [A19]Unclear. [A20][purity] [A21][not in them] [A22][enlighten] [A23][enlighten] [A24][pure] [A25][of use to the accused]

Note 1 The place of God Many people today are interested in God, but they hardly have any idea what exactly God is; what is the shape of God, they do not know. A man can have a clear idea of some shape if those things are clear in his mind. When an object or a body is not clear in your mind, you can not have a clear idea of its shape. You can say: “We can not understand what exactly God is, but we would like to know where His location is.” The location of God is where at the moment of waking up everybody directs their consciousness, mind and thought. All creatures from the smallest to the largest, everything directs their minds in one direction upwards-this direction exactly is the location of God. This happens in unison everywhere in the world-among all living creatures in all levels. There is not a greatest moment for a man and for all living creatures from that moment, when they wake up to address their conscience upwards-where all others have already directed their minds. Only this way can a man accept the Good, which comes from God; that man, who refuses to accept this Good will stay in darkness and loneliness. A person will say:” Why should I pray?” A prayer is necessary, because when praying a man directs his mind towards God, in order to derive something from Him-in this case a prayer can be compared with colours which are ready to accept light and warmth from the Sun. I say: if you want to develop yourself, always keep in your mind a thought of God as the only place, as the only focus where the consciousness of all Sensible creatures congregate together. What do other people think, it is not your business-you just keep your thought in that only direction, from where Light and Warmth of your life comes. If you redirect your mind from that direction you will lose your way of life and will stay in darkness. A man is a traveller in his life- if he decides to stop somewhere and enjoy himself he will lose his way and will not reach his mates any more. When all creatures address their minds in the direction of God, they move forward a step; not retreating to wait for that man who was late or who got lost. If these people on the second and on the third day do not address their minds towards God, they will stay behind all others, and one day their life will not have any value. Those people who think about God and address their minds in His direction will go ahead, this means big progress in their minds and progress is positive. Even in bed a man can address his mind towards God and think about Him, and this way he will go ahead- everything is there in man’s mind. If somebody who goes out very early in the morning for a prayer, but regrets about that and says: “Why did I get up so early, I have got tired, why should I do that. I could stay in bed longer instead.” This man, even he has come for a prayer, is behind the others, because his thought is not right. If you want to progress in your life, to advance in life perfectly, wherever you are, whatever situation, just spend a half an hour or so to think about God- if you want to achieve a Light in your consciousness, think about God. You can say:” What will happen if we look in God’s direction?” It is not important what will happen just do it without asking any questions!-“What I will see?” You do not have to know that, too- just stare at it”. You say:” We see that the day is clear.” Yes, the day is bright and everything around us is nice, but you have never seen how the Sun of Life rises- you have just seen a physical sunrise, but you have never seen the dawn of the Sun of Life. Sometimes you see a physical sun through the clouds and you enjoy it, but if you just once have the opportunity to see the Sun of Life, when it rises you will never forget it and nothing will be possible to cover its place. In the sun of Life you will see God, who will speak to you. How a physical sun rises is the same manner as the sun of the Life; the difference is just in location where those two suns are-in man’s consciousness these two locations are in completely different places. I declare that a physical sun affects a man one way while the sun of Life – in an entirely different way. When a physical sun rises a man is happy, he moves, works and he has an ambition to correct his lifestyle, to plough his fields, to plant his gardens, to build a house and etc. When the sun of Life rises he wants to get on well with all people; at the same time all living creatures from smallest to the largest become loved and dear to him. Only a man who has been warmed from the sun of Life can understand all people who suffer, he can understand all people who commit a sin and he will try to help them. For him, that man who has committed a sin is as a prisoner who wants to get free; he will stop and will give him the following advice. “My brother, get out of this prison, because you will starve here; if you remain in this place even a little bit more you will be left behind others-you will be late for the train in your life and nobody will come back for you, nobody will give you bread and water, even other people would not want to do this to you, but it will happen, on all your way problems will follow you one after another. It will happen because you are alone on your way, you are at a stand, and you are in a fog.” A man must go ahead, nobody must stay on the same level in his consciousness, and nobody can do this. For each day there is a certain limit which a man must walk in his mind; if a man does not walk it he will stay behind the others and all troubles will come to him. This is the meaning of a new philosophy of Life. A person can say: “What will happen if I travel a short distance in my mind, what I can achieve from it?” You can achieve a lot: it does not matter how small is the distance that one has travelled in his mind, if he goes every day forward he will draw closer and closer to God –even if a man travels every day 10 centimetres or he draws closer to God every day by 10 centimetres, this is equals to millions of kilometres in a physical world. You can say:” What will happen if I look at God and think about Him” To look at Him or to think about Him is much more valuable of all the material goods that one has on Earth- this one is of the greatest truth of the Life. If you know that then do not make them less valuable, do not devalue them! A person can say: have too many things to do and to think of where God is or to think about Him I am too busy. I have to work and to look after my material necessities!” I insist that the only place from where you can get all you need in your life is the place of God-if you start thinking about God, if you join your consciousness all other creatures that address theirs to Him, this is enough. I’ll ask you:” how much does it cost for a man to live for the sake of God- a man knows this knowledge. Imagine that you are staying at a dry artificial stream where is placed a water-wheel; a water-wheel wants to move, but the dry stream says to it: “How can I turn you around your axle if I do not have any water running” but after water comes a water-wheel starts moving and turning around. Water knows how and is able to move the water wheel, water does not have to learn how to do that; water then says to water-wheel: “Listen to me and follow that direction I will show you.” Water –wheel promises to obey that but it does not do it. When water reaches it first thing it produces is to rise up and then it goes down- its motion is up and down, it does not follow the motion of the water forwards. People do the same like water –wheel: they often promise:” I will go forwards; I will follow the motion of the water.” However, when water comes closer they immediately change their promise and go up and down while water goes forwards they stay at the same place. When water and water-wheel talk-water says” Why you are staying on the same place and do not work anything?”-“How can you say that I do not work anything, look how much flour I have grinded.” I compare water-wheel with a physical life of people-if they do not follow direction and action of water then they will stay at the same place Forever and they will just grind flour. People like water-wheel really do some work, but their work is not the same as water does; water has passed trough many places, it has irrigated countless plants and animals, it has given life to a million creatures; water-wheel has grinded millions of small grains, has turned them into flour and always boasts: “Do you know how much flour I have grinded?” However, if you compare that job with the job of water you will make a big difference. Not a few people today get a similar idea in their heads as water-wheel does, that they have done a big job. Their job is physical, while the job of water is the real one-it has irrigated many flowers, gardens, people and animals. It has improved conditions of all living creatures-everywhere it has passed it has left its blessing. Water means Life that all we must follow. We do not need water-mill, lets water-wheel stays in its place; water will not stop its action in order to talk to water –wheel, water will continue its way. Using this example I want to focus your attention in two type of consciousness that people have: the first one is a consciousness of a water-wheel, that turns around its axle-around the physical consciousness of a man; while the second is the consciousness of water, that turns not just one centre, but also goes up to a higher ideal and in a result it goes forward and does a good job. Addressing our thoughts to God is a stream upwards, while the opposite stream is downward, when water runs downward-the stream of water shows the Divine consciousness toward us, from up to down. When we think about God we move upward, after that He moves downward and sends us His thought. This way God always send us something from a higher level, but we also must send something to Him. So, every morning you should focus your thought upwards, to Him where all living creatures direct theirs-this way you will take part in common prosperity. Someone can say:” I do not want to think”; you do not have to think about one or another person or thing, for the small things in your Life, but about God you should think- you are obligated to direct your thought to Him, in that direction where all the living creatures address their thoughts. There is enough room there– it is not possible to appear any disagreement-this area will bring unity and a harmony among all people. When people address their thought in one direction, they draw closer to God, and their relationships get on with better; this way people will be healthy, cheerful and they will have Peace in their souls, they will become younger and will jump as young calf does. That man who addresses his thought toward God will get free from all illnesses. Illnesses are parasites in human’s aura, nothing else, and a man must break free from them; parasites are negative thoughts that pump out a man, and he must get rid of them. In conclusion we can say that if somebody says that, in his opinion, he does not have to think about God, he becomes in a situation of an orphan without mother and father; you know very well what the status of that child is –if nobody takes care of him he is down and out, dirty and hungry. If you look at his head, you will see that his head is full of parasites; his face is pale and exhausted from them. He walks in poverty, until somebody finds him and decides to bring him up. After that he gets over very fast-his clothes look washed and tidy, his head is clean, his hair well brushed. In very short time he strengthens, becomes cheerful and enjoys everything around him, everything that surrounds him. So, if a man gets into a situation of an orphan, he must know that he has already stopped to think about God-then parasites begin attacking him and he loses the meaning of Life. I say: there is just one right direction in life and everybody must follow it. A person can say:” What will we do if we go this direction? Isn’t it enough to read the bible and the new scripture?” You can read the bible, the new and the old scripture, but in reading these books there is a certain philosophy. When you read about Jesus, about the prophets and about good people, lived that time, you should make a spiritual connection with them and direct your thoughts in the same direction where they did. When you have this connection, you do not need to ask weather Jesus understand you or not, you do not have to ask whether God listens to your prayers or not-when you direct your mind in that only right direction where all sensible living creatures do you will gain something from that common goods, it does not mater whether you deserve or not. It is enough just to direct your mind upwards in order to gain “a loaf of bread “. In other words, if you do not direct your mind there you will not receive anything, no matter how hard or how long you will plead for something. God does not like to deal just with one person. To your prayer He will say: “You will wait until tomorrow.” On the next day you must wake up early and you must wait for the right moment when all souls direct their minds towards Him and do not ask is this the right direction or not, do not ask whether you will see God. These are miner issues, it is important for you to direct your mind there and to wait-you will receive something from common goods anyway. A blind man can not see, but when he rises his head upwards, always somebody else will come and will put in his hand a loaf of bread; He says:” I have not seen the Sun, but I have got a loaf of bread” –this is enough for him. These figures explain the idea very well. So, people must direct their minds towards God. Where is God? God is where all the sensible and good people direct their minds. Not just people, but all living beings, from the smallest to the Largest, direct their minds towards God. Somebody asks:” Where is God?” Do not ask; just rise your mind upwards! When I speak about the place of God, where all you must direct your minds, it does not mean, that you have to be in contradiction with your work-whatever you do everybody is in his place. In this meaning even the water-wheel is in its place, water is in its place as well: the difference between the water-wheel and the water is, that a water-wheel revolves around its own axel and thinks just about itself while the water goes forwards and thinks about everybody else. That man who thinks only about his own necessities is a water-wheel; this man all his life thinks just about himself-about money, he needs, about the clothes, he thinks that other people must respect him and look up to him. This is the philosophy of the water –wheel. However, it also does some work-it grinds wheat; when you go close to it you will hear “brr-brr-brr”-wheat is grinding, one after another bags are filled with fresh grinded flour, which is transported by traders in order to be sold. This job you also do in your life, but you are not satisfied. Can you give as an example even one worker in a water-mill who has become a philosopher, a writer or a poet; I have never met such a person who has written a book so far. Shepherds have written books, while water-mill workers-haven’t; water-mill workers grind wheat, they do not have time for anything else. How can this water-mill worker save himself? When he becomes a shepherd or a ploughman; it is not necessary to grind the -wheat –it is enough to bray it and eat it this way. Grinding wheat does not solve the problems in Life. If a man is able to understand what is the right way of eating wheat, that man will be able to understand the meaning of Life. These are secondary questions which just can be used to clear up the idea. A worker in a water-mill can solve his problems solely if people stop bringing him wheat for grinding. In this case they will be made him leave this job; when he stays one or two days without a job, he will say: “I can not go on this way” and eventually he will start a new job. For that reason you do not have to worry about what will happen with the outdated people or things; the outdated will leave by them and the new ones will come. Your tusk is to follow the new things and ideas. You can say:” Which is the new thought?” The new thought is the following one: Focus your mind, your heart and your will on God! Getting up in the morning, your first work is to direct your heart and mind in that direction where at that minute millions of minds and hearts direct theirs. These hearts and minds have dissimilar vibrations, different understanding, but all they are attracted by one thing-God or the place of God in there lives. And for the sake of this place all living creatures integrate: you can see a king, to whom everyone worship, but when this Moments comes he focuses his mind on God like a child does, nothing is able to disturb him. In that moment a child and a king are in unison; after that moment a king takes his sceptre, goes up to his throne, starts his daily routines. On the next day, the king again does the same thing in unison with all other creatures that are subservient to him, the king focuses his mind to God- on that place all people know each other. Therefore, true Love manifests in focusing thoughts of all living creatures in one direction. When the consciousness of all living creatures directs in one direction, then all they will have a lot of common points, whereas if a man starts going just around his own centre, around himself, everything is lost. Somebody says: “Life does not have any meaning for me”; I say: if you want to fulfil your life with meaning, then direct your mind upward! This is not so difficult job at all- what can be easier from that to focus in one direction only. In my opinion, it is much more difficult to focus your mind in two or three directions, which most of contemporary people do, instead of focusing in just one direction. Many times people have been focusing their minds upward-they know very well this direction, but they have never thought of the fact that there is one moment, when all living beings in unison focus their minds towards God. Whether they want or not, this happens as a result of an inner obstinate law; that man who does not want to obey this law will be forced to follow it. How? He will catch an illness and will look for God, then he will focus his mind towards Him and will thank for having this illness, because it made him think about God. It is not just an illness that can force a man to think about God, there are plenty of ways with the same result, to focus on God. One hour, one minute or just one second is necessary in order all living beings in unison to focus their minds toward God-how great this hour of the day is, how great this minute of the hour is, how great this second of the minute is! Now, I am going to read chapter eight from John, the Apostle, starting from verse 31. “And so Jesus went on to say to the Jews that had believed him: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples” (Verse 31). And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (Verse 32). These words, interpreted during the language of a new teaching, mean: “If you all focus your minds towards God, you are My disciples; and then you will know the Truth which will set you free.” It means that when a man focuses his mind towards God, he will be in touch with His Love; because God at the same time is Truth, a man will take in the Truth that will set him free. “They replied to him: “We are Abraham’s offspring and never have we been slaves to anybody; How is it you say, ‘you will become free?(verse 33). Jesus answered them: “Most truly I say to you, every doer of sin is a slave of sin (verse 34). Moreover, the slave does not remain in household forever; the son remains forever (verse 35). This mean: Everybody, who does not focus their mind in God’s direction is a slave of sin, and the slave does not remain in household forever, the Son remains forever” Therefore, the water-wheel can not stay forever; when it finishes certain work, it destroys itself and water carries it away-it can not stay for a long time on its place. “I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, but you are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no progress among you (verse 37)”. Jesus did not understand just killing the body, He meant inner killing. When a man sacrifices his own divine feelings for nothing it is as he kills it and after that becomes a son of a killer. “What thing I have seen with my father I speak and you, therefore, do the things that you have heard from /your/ father (verse 38). In answer they said to him: “Our father is Abraham.” A physical man speaks this way, water-wheel-man, and he does not know his Father. “Jesus said to them: If you are Abraham’s children do the work of Abraham (verse 39).” Abraham knew God-you believe in Abraham, but you do not believe in That, in whom he believed. “But now you are seeking to kill me, the man that has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this (verse 40). You do the works of your father (verse41).”If you do God’s work, why you blame His Words? That is why you come from father devil-everything that keep a man in a distance from the God comes from father devil; everything that depraves beautiful, high-descent and noble characters in a man and removes him from God comes from father devil. “You are from your father the Devil and, and you wish to do the desires of your father (verse 44). Because I, on the other hand, tell the truth, you do not believe me (verse 45).” “But I do know him and am observing His Word (verse 55). It is not enough for a man to know God, but he has to observe His word, he has to fulfil His will. “Therefore they picked up stones to hurl /them/ at him, but Jesus hid and went out of the temple.” Therefore, that man who throws stone at the Truth will remain in loneliness, because the truth will hide from him. Since Jewish People has thrown stones at Truth, they have wandered all over the world in disgrace. For 2000 years they have been rambling in the world like no one other nation, though today God’s mercy is on them. The same experience will have every man who throws stones against the Truth-weather a man or a nation will do this, the consequences will be the same. If you want to have God’s mercy you must focus your mind in His direction every morning, where all the living beings direct theirs. You say: “How we can understand the verse in which Jesus hid from the people?” Visualize that I was holding a candle and was directing hundreds people to go out of a tunnel, but they did not understand my mission and started arguing and fighting who of them would take the candle. In order to get rid off this argument I would put off the lighted candle, they would not be able to see me, for them I would have hidden. The same thing did Jesus-he blew the candle that was carrying and their minds went dark, they did not see anything. This is the meaning of the words” Jesus hid.” Strength of a man is in the Light of his mind; when somebody takes this Light, a man loses his strength. When a man stays in darkness, he walks clumsily, he is not confident in his steps; when darkness comes, the motion stoppage is a restriction in one’s progress. The same things are valid for a man’s mind and consciousness; as long as in man’s mind Light exists, he thinks correctly and behaves appropriately; when the Light in man’s mind dies away, he does not know how to behave; after that he stays without any direction in his motions, aimlessly. Turkish people have got the an old custom, which is: when somebody visits them they lock the door of the room at night where a guest sleeps and in the morning the guest must knock at that door, the guest must wait for the owner to come and to open his door. I say: The Light is the most important thing for a man who has been left into darkness; for the thirsty one the most important thing is to come closer to the spring of Life; for that who is ignorant, who is bad educated the most important thing is to get closer to the books of a library; for a man who prays to God the most important thing is a temple- a temple is the place where God is, everybody looks for this place. People look for that place here and there, but they can not find it-temple is on that place, where all living beings direct their minds in unison. Somebody says: “I think that having a silent prayer is sufficient”- this is the situation with water- wheel that turns round its axes. Having a silent prayer is a kind of consciousness, but it is not that great consciousness in which all souls take part in-when they at the same time derive and offer benefits from general goods. It is just enough for a man when directs his own mind towards God in order to get a piece from general goods-this is the law. When a man directs his mind towards God in unison with other people, just for half an hour he will receive the same quantity from general goods which he would obtain if he was knocking at God’s gate all day. Even if you are the last person in a queue it is sufficient when you arrive on time; if you just for one moment join collectively consciousness, you will receive God’s blessing-God does not make any difference whether somebody arrives first or last. Everybody will derive from general goods-that person who arrives first and that who arrives last - General good is for everybody. Everybody waits for the moment when God’s blessing will come upon them; it lasts just one moment, after that the door of Blessing shuts down. You say:” What shall we do after that?” Everybody should go and work on his own in order to progress. If God does not get down into the man and a man does not work on his own, he would not be able to do anything; if God does not get down into a man, whatever a man works he will be in a situation of a woman, that all day round works in her loom, but does not produce anything because there’s not any thread. That man, who had visited God, will work all day and will produce something valuable, because he has got enough yarn in his loom. Having this idea in your mind, you will form a clear picture of God’s place and what benefits a man will gain if focuses his consciousness in His direction. There are three moments during the day when a man focuses his mind towards God: in the morning, when the sun rises; at noon, when the sun is in his zenith and in the evening, at sunset. Sensible beings are in these three areas, in these three phases of the Sun, but when they congregate together, sunset does not exist for them anymore- for the living beings, which focus their minds towards God just Sunrise exists. When God comes out, everybody derives His blessing; this Sun remains shining for all the day long. When somebody says that he does not know where the place of God is, this mean that this man is behind, he has been lost; there’s not anything else for that man except to keep on walking along the stream of the river. So, that man who looks for God by himself has taken the wrong way. Hindu people say that a man must concentrate his mind in his inner world and he will find God; this philosophy is wrong. People have been looking for God this way so far, but they could not find Him there. When it is said that God is inside the man, you must know where exactly He is-somebody looks for God in man’s mind, other looks for Him in man’s heart, but they have not found Him there. A man will find God, when he pays attention at all other people who like him look for God at the same time; they must be like students who look up at their teacher. The teacher has got some materials which uses, and the disciple looks at these materials and learns, the disciple gains from master’s knowledge. His master looks up at another master, that one –at another and so on; the disciple must take in that knowledge from the same source where his master does- from that place where all creatures gain their knowledge. If a man focuses his mind in the place where all living beings do, he will derive as mush as he would have derived if he was knocking at God’s gates for thousands years. This is the only way for a man to take the knowledge of God; he will say after that:” I know what God is and what Love is”. I say: a man must focus his mind in the direction where his Master’s mind is focused –this is the idea of salvation of the world. If a disciple does not do the same as his Master does, nothing will be in a position to help him. Raise your mind upwards-there is your salvation! If people speak to you otherwise do not trust them-just focus your mind upwards, where gods, heruvims, Angels, Saints, mothers and fathers, righteous and wicked people and animals focus theirs! Observe a cricket and see how it in unison with others focuses its mind upwards; just watch at him and see how it is sitting in front of his small hole and is thinking of something special-what exactly it is thinking of? It is focusing its mind upwards. You can say: “Cricket is a mindless creature, it does not realise how it acts.” Cricket is not mindless; it thinks about God and speaks to itself:” Only the thought of God is in power to get me out of this hole”. It thinks about God one day and another day and eventually it will find itself out of that hole, turned into another form of life. Therefore, only the thought of God is in power to help the man to get out of restricted conditions in which he is at that moment; this thought will set him free from his debts, too. When God comes down to the people, He will do everything for them, He will salvage them, He will salvage the world-there is not another philosophy in the life than this one. Somebody can ask: “How can I understand this philosophy?” There is nothing for understanding here, when you focus your consciousness in the direction where all living beings direct theirs-the knowledge will come from higher level following by the blessing. When a traveller comes to your home, hungry thirsty and cold you do not ask him where he is from? First of all you invite him to come closer to the fire, to get warmth, after that you give him a cup of hot tea or hot water, next you give him some food to eat and later, when he gets relaxed well he starts talking about himself, where he is from and what he has experienced in his life. Let this thought-thought about the place of God in your life – be for you something very valuable, something without you would not be able to sustain, you would not be able to cope, you would not be able live, let it be for you as a talisman. If you have this talisman inside your mind, whatever situation you are you will survive, you will be safe, when only you think about God. Tomorrow morning we will climb up the new peak towards which we has cleaned the path where we will pray to God and will thank Him. Then we will go to the Babreka (Kidney - it is the name of a lake in Rila Mountain), the fifth lake in order to wash down our hands and feet after the long way. As long as a man looks for God his legs are always muddy; Once finding Him, a man washes his legs. Washing legs not outside but inside is a logo in a man’s life. When a man finds God he does not think about anything any longer, because he had already achieved everything-what will happen to dead, to poor, to those who suffer, he does not think about this. In God’s world there is not dead, there is not poor people, there is not people who suffer; everything is settled down. 5 August 1931, 5 a.m. Translated by Maria Ivanova

Note 2p Cleanliness of life I am going to read some verses from John the Apostle. Every man needs three important and essential things to maintain one’s life - and they are: Light, Life and Love. Light lightens the physical world and helps us to understand Life. If a man does not understand laws of Light then he would not understand Life’s laws; if one cannot understand laws of Life one could not understand laws of Love. If one does not understand laws of Light, Life and Love one will have inner disagreement and the result will lead to outer dissonance. In the organic world, Light is connected with food, which a man consumes - without light and warmth no food can be produced. It means that man’s stomach depends on the light and on the warmth. Food is used to supply the body with the elements through which life exists. Today everybody and all live creatures from the smallest to the biggest strive toward happiness and security. This striving exists in a family, too, in a community; in nations - all strive to organize their life. I am asking you who succeeds in it. More sensible families, community and nations who understand laws of Light, Life and Love can organize their life somewhat in order to live better. The rest, who do not understand these laws, get superstitious and achieve nothing. Why does this happen? It is this way, because these people look for their happiness at the beginning of their life, at the beginning of each work, whereas happiness is at the final result of each work, happiness appears at the final result of one’s life. All people today have in mind to advance in their careers, to get richer, and to become scholarly, to be strong, or all of this means that they want to be happy. Therefore, if happiness is an aim of life then everybody should be inclined to learn the way, which leads to it - without happiness life does not have outside expression. On the Earth a sign of happiness is our health - the first important thing for a man is man’s health. A man must be healthy, but man’s health depends on physical correlation between one’s organs. If the correlation between one’s brain, lungs and stomach is accurate then one’s health is good - these three organs form three great worlds. Many people mix up paunch with stomach and say: “A man should not eat much.” Paunch and stomach are completely different things. In the human’s stomach there are 10 millions workers – these are cells that digest food. If we paid each worker one lev[1] per day then we should pay 10 millions leva just for our digestion system daily; it is obvious from this example how great the job is that these cells do. This comes to show us what large quantity of energy nature spends in order to keep these cells in good condition. And after that huge job people do not value life. Why don’t they? Because they do not understand how many creatures work for them for nothing and what huge quantity of energy nature spends to sustain Life. People today – those who rule over the world, scholars and philosophers - are busy with an idea that is not real: they want to create in our life some rules, justice and happiness without understanding laws of happiness. Despite this trend almost nowhere can you see ideal families, community or states. This is a result of disharmony between three worlds - physical, spiritual and mental - when there is no harmony, there is no correct coordination. For example if the light that permeates our eyes is very strong then our eyes contract immediately, because they cannot suspend it - otherwise this strong light will cause big harm to them. If light is very weak then one’s eyes open wide like the eyes of night birds, they prepare to accept more light; but this extra opening of eyes affects another way. Man’s eyes should not be like those of night birds, open too wide or like eyes of day birds, too shrunken. People, whose eyes are opened wide, have understanding for life which can be compared with the night light; those, whose eyes are shrunken, have understanding about the life that can be compared with the day light. And they are two different categories of people who do not have and cannot have anything in common. What can be born in the dark night? During a dark night wheat does not grow and fruit does not ripen - night is created just for rest, real Life, real growing and ripening is during the day. I say that a Night can be compared with people’s sufferings in life, while a day - with delightfulness. You can ask me: “Why do sorrows and sufferings come to man’s life? There is some balance between sufferings and delightfulness: sorrows and sufferings are necessary for man’s rest, while delightfulness - for work. Outside Life there is no delightfulness or sorrow, but they cannot be separated from it as well. If you separate them from life then Life itself will become aimless. And there is not a more awful suffering for a man to have an aimless life; just in this case a man can see that sufferings and delightfulness are in their own place. But when a man cannot use them for his benefit, then they have not done their positive work; who has not benefited from the sufferings and delightfulness then this man is like a blind man and cannot see all the blessings running along with them. For example, I will ask you the following question. If you meet a wealthy man who lives in constant fear for his money, who is scared of being poor again and who is afraid of robbery, does that man benefit in any way from his money, does his money bring him any happiness? No, he does not benefit. This man lives in constant fear, in suffering, because he is afraid of losing his happiness, which he finds in having a huge amount of money. Consequently, his money makes him feel more miserable, than happy. When does wealth bring more sufferings to a man than delight? - When the people surrounding him want to become rich without making enough efforts for that. Misery of people nowadays is in unwillingness to work - everyone wants to work as less as possible. I agree with the opinion that hard work is not sensible. We have not come to Earth to be slaves of labour. Unreasonable hard work implicates people’s trend to become rich, to make provisions for all their life. Labour must be replaced by sensible work, and sensible work is possible only when good understanding exists between people for even only one point of view. If there is understanding only for one key thing in people’s life then they will be able to make sensible connections with Light, Life and Love. Light is a collection of the consciousness of all living creatures - from the smallest to the biggest, including Man. Life itself is an inner part of all life; this means that between all living creatures something exists generally, because everything alive lives, i.e. there is something universal in the life of everyone and everything. But Life of a man differs from life of other creatures with its sensibility - in this meaning only a man lives. Sensibility is the most valuable thing in man’s life. The word “Life” means sensibility. Where sensibility does not exist - then there is not a life; if there is even a small mark of sensibility then Life exists as well. Love is a divine world that is a foundation of all other worlds. People’s fault nowadays is when they separate God from Love, i.e. from the world that sustains everything. God does not exist outside Love; outside Love we cannot be recognize God.[A1] As we cannot know God without Love we cannot recognize a man outside a Sensible life. Therefore Love is an important and lofty part of our Life - a man’s life should be occupied with it. It is a symbol of a light of man’s life too - while a man is able to experience love, he can see everything in the right way; when a man stops to experience love, one’s life gets dim and he cannot see anything. Power, that maintains the entire life, comes from the three most important elements in it –from Light, from Life and from Love. The same statement is valid for a man: a man can gain energy to sustain his organism from Light itself, if a man knows Light’s laws[A2] , from Life, if one understands it and from Love if one trends towards it. These are three central sources from where a man can accept Strength, Vitality and Health - if one has these three things; one has achieved real happiness here on Earth. Jesus Christ says: “I am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd surrenders his soul on behalf of the sheep.” In the words fine shepherd Jesus Christ means the best possible material goods that must be given to all people; in the word sheep He means all sensible people. In the word shepherd He meant the divine beginnings in a man on which one can always rely. As a human body cannot live without a head, in the same way a herd cannot exist without a shepherd. The symbol of a shepherd in the human’s body is his head, sheep are his lungs, and Light - this is the human’s stomach, from where he should take his energy. I am saying: it does not matter how good or bad a man is if one does not understand Light’s laws[A3] ; in that case one cannot benefit from it. If one cannot catch real meaning of Light, he will not have the right understanding for the world and will watch it as he watches an art gallery. However, there are some rules and methods through which a man can benefit from Light. Sometimes the wrong acceptance of Light leads to sickness in a man, which is as a result of that anomaly. If we rely on information from science, Light is stored in a different way in different kinds of food. Depending on that, it has a different influence on a human body. Some food has a beneficial effect on man’s system whilst other – unfavorable. Those foods that have an adverse effect on a man’s body are very often the reason for his sickness. Therefore, food that people consume represents light that is stored in their different organs in a different way. Thus, each man who wants to be healthy must take that kind of food which is suitable for his system - this is the real hygiene of our Life. For this reason, the hygiene of our life should start from the exact way of using the benefits from the Light, which is stored in plants and vegetables. If light, that we accept cannot be transferred into living energy, we say that the food is not well digested. It means that between that food and your body there is not a good correlation. Some medical experts, who have studied the hygiene of food and some physiologies, recommend that kind of food nowadays that is not acceptable and does not achieve the most desired effect for keeping the body fit enough. Some specialists recommend meat food whereas the others - vegetarian. However, some vegetarian food contains certain oils, more than meat does and it can destroy the human’s stomach much worse than meat does. To avoid this misbalance in one’s system each person should discover which food is good for him - which food Mother Nature has prepared for him. This is one of the most important questions, which every sensible person must think about; it is not so important what exactly is written in books concerning this matter, but everybody must find his own food, like all animals do. Who has taught sheep to feed on grass, and what is more, who has taught them to choose the grass suitable just for sheep? Without reading from special books, sheep know what kind of grass to graze. Sheep choose their food themselves whereas a man must read lots of scholarly books in order to find out which food is fine for him and which is not. Regarding the choice of our food Nature placed in man an inner instinct or an inner feeling to recognize what is good for him. And if a man goes back to his first condition of cleanliness and purity he will find out which food is good and the most appropriate just for him. If a man relies on Nature to guide him, he will solve not only the problem with his food, but he will also be familiar with exactly what kind of life to live and how to live it. Contemporary people speak a lot about bringing up young persons today, they use many new rules and methods, and despite of that fact they still have very little achievement in that area - why? They have taken the other path from the initial Life’s way[A4] . The mother is teaching her daughter for many years how to maintain her life and that daughter still is incompetent. I will ask you how do little birds bring up their offspring, how do they teach them how to live? When a bird’s son is getting married does he ask his parents which wife to choose and how to live? The bird’s son does not take an advice from his parents, because knowledge is inside him. The bird’s mother and father do not even ask why he has chosen one or another wife - they completely agree with his choice. When bees hive then the mother and the father leave their home and sons and daughters stay. Parents of bees go to a new hive and leave the old one to their children. The same law is valid for the birds. Old birds leave their nest and start building a new one while young birds stay in the old nest. In man’s world the opposite rule is valid. Parents stay in their old house and children leave it and go to a new one. I am saying these facts in order to pay attention to the circumstances that since people have changed their right direction in their life, they have forgotten everything which had been given to them and now they are learning it again. They are in contradiction and often ask each other: “Who will teach us, who will bring us up?” They forget that that knowledge is placed inside them and they can very easily reverse it - when? When they go back to the primary life, to life of cleanliness – this is the answer to the question. If a bird can find its way in life, if a microbe knows how to live, then so much more can man as a sensible creature, made in God’s image, he could maintain his life by himself. I am saying that a man who wants to move forward in his life he must understand and follow the laws of Light, Life and Love. Today not just ordinary people, but also philosophers, scholars and writers do not know what Light requires from them, they do not understand what Life requires from them and what Love requires. They do not know what Light, Life and Love are. All people say that God is Love, but what is the relation between God’s love and them, they do not know. However, if people manifest God’s Love in their life in the right way then they will set up a beginning of a new Sensible Life - Sensible life is everlasting life; Life without sufferings and misery. With lack of God’s Love you will have a Life full with sufferings and restrictions. A man does not come to the Earth for sufferings, though. He came to the Earth to study, to develop one’s skills. If somebody asks a man why he has come to Earth, he does not know what the Earth looks like. They do not even know that. They do not know how to answer. Earth has a shape of a ship, which had a lot of chimneys. Today just 56 are left, 56 volcanoes that smoke all the time. It indicates that the Earth keeps on travelling in space. People are passengers in that ship and consider different topics while travelling in it. They discuss personal, domestic, public and national questions. One day The Earth will arrive at its destination, will honk its horn and will say: “All passengers must leave the ship Earth and go to the shore, leave the ship!” From the port all passengers will continue their life on the land, while the ship will go back to fetch other passengers at the same place. And when somebody says that he will leave this world, this is true if he means The Earth; scientists believe that one day the planet Earth will lose the possibility to nourish its population and they must look for another place to settle on. We believe in everlasting Life - Life is not single, but it lasts forever, it cannot be divided nor can it die. Outer forms are getting destroyed, but its inner form continues to live - nothing can destroy it, nothing can deaden it. Life is stronger than death, for it death does not exist, but people think they will die. They are like Nastradin Hodja who used to say: ”When my wife dies, half of Life dies, when I die the entire world dies with me.” And people today think the same - they say: ”As long as we live, the entire world lives, when we die, the world dies with us, too.” This is not any philosophy at all. Under the word death it is understood going from one form of life to another, from one life to another life. To go from a lower step in a life to a higher one makes sense, however if you die and go to a lower level of life - it does not make sense. When they said that with death everything ends, this is a misleading, this thought is wrong - ending concerns just inner forms, inner circumstances, in which a man had lived earlier. Childhood of a boy lasts 7 years - from one to seven; from seven to fourteen years of one’s life a man goes through his teen age, and from fourteen to twenty one he goes through his youth, he becomes a young man and starts his adult life. After that age a man is getting mature and gradually he is getting older and older. I am asking? Where is his youth? His youth has changed, but has not disappeared, the young man has not died, and the child has not died as well. These are periods of the same Life, which in the physical world reach his limit as an old man. An old man leaves this world and goes to another world and a baby is born somewhere instead of his life. Consequently that meaning which in the physical world is called death is nothing else than changing forms - an old man leaves, a baby comes. A man does not die, but changes his form and place - he goes out from one place and goes into another one. You will ask: “What happened with the old man?“ He left his old house which was not hygienic and went to a new one, clean and hygienic. If you look for him in his new house he might say: “Please, accept my apology to you but I cannot welcome you, because I have not yet settled in my new house. Wait for me until I settle down and in a couple of years you are welcome to be my guests.” This is a new way to understand Life. You can say: “The old man has passed away. Let God forgives all his sins.” Where has he gone? – “To the other world, to Heaven.” Who understands it this way he will be in the same contradiction like a religious man who listened to a sermon of an English preacher about “that world”. The daughter of the religious man had died a short time ago and he asked the preacher: “As you are preaching about “that world” could you tell me please, where is my daughter now?” The preacher answered: “She is in Heaven.” One of the men, sitting next to him, said: “Sir, your daughter is not in Heaven, but at the meeting here, with you.” The preacher says that the man’s daughter is in Heaven, but cannot see her, while the other man, who prays to God all the time, says that she is at the meeting and he can see her and he even describes her hair, height, says what colour her eyes are e.g. at the same time he tells her father what his daughter wants from him. Which of the two men speak the truth? The priest claims something that he does not see, while the man says what he sees and knows. Most of the people think that with death everything ends. If it is true, it is all right, but if a dead man can speak even when he is dead, what you would say about this? If you go closer to a dead man and start speaking with him, is he really dead? He is not. For somebody “to die”, it is understood a total disappearance of one’s conscience and absolutely forgetting about one existing. But it does not happen this way. Why? These kinds of things do not exist in the entirety of Nature. That, what we call death, is just a transaction from one place to another. When somebody dies, he is gradually forgotten by other people, disappears from their attention, but for oneself, consciously, he never stopped to exist. Note that in physical Life man’s attention often goes from one object to another depending on how interesting for a man the next object is. If one object makes a bigger impression, when one object attracts your attention much more than the other then one’s mind strays from the less attractive object. It is true that a man can be dead in regards to objects that make less of an impression to him and can be alive for objects that make a stronger impression. Therefore one’s mind strays away from one object to another object, from one place to another place and when an object or a person does not exist in somebody’s mind he says that this object or that person is dead for him. This object is dead just for him, but not for everybody. When you watch an old man you can see that he lives in the physical world, but very often passes to the Spiritual world. He lives in both worlds - physical and spiritual, when he is alive for the physical world, he is dead for the Spiritual and vice versa when he is alive for the Spiritual world he is dead for the physical one. With one’s inner feeling a man understands that everlasting life exists, and that is why he is preparing to pass from one state into another, e.g. born from a woman and mortal, from lack of love into eternal Life and into Love. Thus if a man understands life in its narrow and limited meaning and betrays Light, then a man will be dead for Light. He will not be interested whether or not the Sun shines, because he will concentrate his mind just on Life itself. If one understands just Love, then he will be interested only and just in it and will not pay any attention to the manifestations of Life. This concern is just for limited life; however one’s conscience can be in alert for Life, for Light and for Love. It means one’s mind can be concerned about the physical, Spiritual and Divine world. If a man in the physical world ignores Light then one will have a sick stomach, and as a result his body will become weak. If one ignores Life then one’s lungs will suffer and get weak; if one ignores Love as a result one’s mind will be affected. When one breaks the laws of Light this affects one’s stomach; if one ignores the laws of Life one’s lungs suffer, when one breaks the laws of Love then one’s mind, one’s head suffers. I am asking you, where is a man – in his stomach, in his lungs or in his mind? Now, when we know about the three things of vital importance - Life, Light and Love, we will meet three categories of people. Some of them devote themselves entirely to Life; they want to research it in all small details, as a result of that they go to extreme situations. Religious people have betrayed the physical world, they have betrayed Light, and as a result they lived in deserts, in monasteries and convents, but they did not find out the real meaning of Life - they betrayed the physical world in advantage[A5] for the spiritual. The third category of people have become mystics in order to understand Love, but even this way they did not find out the genuine meaning of their life. And all these ways are extremism. The way of a mystic person is not bad, but they should not pass their mystic mood to people who do not have the same background. If one wants to understand the true meaning of one’s life, if one wants to benefit themselves and other people one must start from the physical world, from Light and gradually to continue into the Spiritual and Divine world. The one, who wants to have the true understanding of Life, must learn equally about all aspects in it. Light in which we live is not something arbitrarily - it represents the source of good things of life, which must be used. If we are able to transform physical energy into spiritual and if we can convey this energy to a spiritual way, this means transferring physical goods into the Spiritual world. This Jesus conveyed in his words: “Rather, store up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Therefore people must learn and practice the laws of Life, of Light and of Love if they want to be happy. It is not enough for people just to be familiar with them; these laws must be accomplished as well. Many people say that the field must be ploughed very deep, but they do not do it. It is written that you must sow good seeds in your field, but you do not do it; it is written that you must do good, but you do not do good - and after all this you expect good results. No, knowledge that you do not practice in your life cannot bring you good results. I will ask you a question, which is: if a man cannot place in one’s mind the highest minded thoughts, in one’s heart the noblest feelings and in his will - the most decent behaviour and acts, how will one manifest one’s life? If he cannot manifest his life through his thoughts, feelings and acts then it does not matter how well and how much he will speak about Life, Light and Love. That man cannot benefit from life at all. You can get real achievements only when you are in a very close relation with Life, Light and Love - and this connection must not be a single act, but long lasting acts. For example, when a man was born he established this relation with life, but if he does not want to lose it he must uninterruptedly rehabilitate it; the same way he must rehabilitate his connection with Light and Love without breaking it. A connection with Love can be supported just by the thought of God. A link with Life can be supported by love to other people - the one, who does not love people, cannot have the support of life. A connection with Light is supported by love to the physical life - the person, who does not love physical life he or she cannot have any relation with Light. The most important, the highest things in physical world are warmth and Light, therefore we must love all the precious things in life. Without Light and warmth we cannot understand relationships, structure and manifestations of real Life. If we do not understand Life, we will not understand love, too. Jesus says: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” If a man understands the way and the life then he will understand the truth as well. The truth contains all understandable things while the lie all things that you cannot understand at all. The things that one can understand bring life whereas the things that cannot be understood bring death. It is said: “Truth will break you free” - it has all the circumstances in which Life, Light and Love reveal themselves in all their power. The words; “I am the way and the truth and the Life” can be transformed into words: I am The Light, The Life and The Love. The way means the physical world, The life means the man. And Life reveals only in The Truth, in the Wisdom and in the Love - this Jesus meant with the words: “I am the fine shepherd” consequently everybody can be a fine shepherd to his thoughts, a fine shepherd to his feelings and a fine shepherd to his acts. These things Jesus preached 2000 years ago and we can manifest them in our personal and community life today. 02.08.1931 10 o’clock in the morning [1] Bulgarian currency. [A1]Unclear. [outside Love we cannot be recognized by God] or [outside Love we cannot recognize God] [A2][the laws of Light] [A3][the laws of Light] [A4][way of Life] [A5]Usage. [exchange]

Note2p Love, Reason[1], Love for Truth Yesterday you read chapter 26 from Genesis. What did you understand from this chapter? (- God’s blessing passes from one person to another). That is right, where there are conditions, blessing passes from one person to another. So each river flows through such places where there are conditions for it; each tree grows where there are conditions for it; each person lives where there are conditions for his development, for awakening of his thought – such is the law. Some people say that their things[A1] are not going well; when their things[A2] are not going well, it shows that they have not got into conditions favourable to them. What must they do then? They have to change the conditions in which they are – once they change the conditions, things will also go well. Someone complains that his wheat did not grow – why? This is because he has sowed it on a stony place – if he changes the conditions, his wheat will grow. To sow your wheat on a stony place and wait for it to grow, it is just the same as to climb up a rock and say: “There is no one to bring me a piece of bread, no one loves me!” I say: climb down the rock, go to the valley among people – you will find bread there. – “How’s that – people should know that I have climbed the rock and they have to bring me some bread.” They should know, but they do not want to know – what will you do then? Nothing else remains but to climb down the rock and go to the valley to get as much bread as you like. How can you tell, maybe some people know that you are in the mountains, maybe they know that you need bread, but they have no possibility to come to you – maybe the conditions do not allow them to get in touch with you. Present people, when they do not understand each other, easily take offence. For example, when listening to someone talking, they say: “These and these words refer precisely to me”. I say: if indeed the words of a speaker refer to the distorted thought of one of the listeners, let him throw it away, let him eliminate this thought from himself; but if the words refer to his right thought, let him keep it within himself. Someone says: “I did a bad action”. This action was done also by your great-grand-father and your great-grand-mother, as well as your grand-father and grand-mother, but you also repeat it again. Most people today act exactly like their great-grand-fathers and great-grand-mothers, and many people act like animals, but they all have to grow out of these old habits. It is already time for people to give up the old habits, acquired from their ancestors, as well as the habits of animals. For instance, you enter someone else’s yard and the dog starts to bark at you right away. Even if you are a saint, when you enter another’s yard, the dog will bark by all means – with its barking it wants to say: “How dare you come into someone else’s yard without permission?” When you do not understand this law, you pick up a stone, throw it at the dog and say: “Who put you to guard this home?” In this case the dog bares its teeth against the person who has entered and tells him: “Do you know that there is a master here?” You throw the stone at the dog and say: “I acknowledge no master at all!” The dog acts like an animal, but you do not act better either. You should not throw a stone, but ask yourselves why the dog barks – there must be some reason for the dog to bark. If a bear appears against this dog, the latter will immediately retreat, hide somewhere and stop barking. An important question, that should be considered, is the question of the readings that are given to you during the day. From each reading, one has to draw at least one basic rule or one basic law, because there is a certain connection between him and what he has read. If there is no inner connection between yesterday and the present day, and also if there is no connection between today and tomorrow, then everything one does is useless. If there is no connection between the single facts and phenomena in Life, then the blessing cannot come either. By connecting the single facts and phenomena in their lives, people will learn to think rightly – the principal purpose in their life is to learn to think like God. For thousands of years now, people have lived in monasteries and in deserts, studied at universities and a series of other educational institutions, with the sole purpose of learning to think rightly as God does. If they cannot achieve this, then any efforts and any science will be useless. I am asking: which are the basic qualities of God’s thought? One of the essential qualities of God’s thought is incessancy – there is a close bond between all God’s thoughts. Nothing can separate one thought of God from another one – they are inextricably bound up with each other. However, this quality is missing in human thought. For instance, someone holds a high opinion of his friend; someone else comes and tells him something bad about his friend – he changes his opinion right away and no longer thinks as before. I am asking: can the friendly feeling change? Essentially, it is unchanging, because God has planted it in man; once friendship is a Divine feeling, nothing in the world is able to change it. Therefore, if the friendship of someone changes, it is not from God – you should always have this in mind. Someone says: “I used to have strong faith, but it has waned now.” If your faith is from God, nothing is able to change it – if it changes, it is not from God. Generally, faith that changes is not from God. Someone says: “Why does God not think of me?” Because you do not think of Him, either. – “Why does God not love me?” Because you do not love Him, either. You have shut yourself up, and you want to be loved. If a child shuts its mouth, how will the mother be able to manifest her love towards it – she brings it a cup of milk, a piece of bread, but it sits before her with its mouth shut, and does not open it; once it opens its mouth, then the mother will love it as well. Most of present people do the same in relation to God – they shut their hearts to Him, do not allow Him in, but at the same time they want from God to love them. How can He love them, should He come with a pair of tongs and open the hearts of people with them? No, this is violence, and Love does not use violence. God says to people: “Seek for Me in a day of sorrow.” They do not listen to Him, do not pray, nor acknowledge Him, until one day the Angel of death comes and takes them – you say, “A person named so-and-so has died.” This person was a pot for which the potter tells his servant: “Break this pot; it must not live any more!” You say: “We do not know why we have to pray”. The one, who wants to live and not be broken like an earthenware pot, should pray. – “I want to live, learn and rejoice at God’s world.” Once you want to live, you will pray to God, you will believe and you will study. Many would like to know what God is like. I say: Whoever wants to know what God is, first he has to know something about his own self – what he is like. – “Does God love me?” – First you should know whether you love God – if you know that you love Him, then you will know that He loves you, too. – “Is God just?” If you are just, you will know what God’s Justice is like; if you are not just, there is no way you can understand God’s Justice. It is said in the Scripture: “God’s anger will descend upon the sons of disobedience” – in human language, this verse means: “God’s anger will descend upon all pots which do not do His will, and will break them into thousands of pieces”. Is that possible? Of course it is possible – is there a potter who, seeing that some of his pots are not made as they should be, does not take a hammer and break them to thousand of pieces? Once he has broken them, he says: “I will make new, better pots!” Is there a person who has not broken bottles or pots – once he takes a pot or a bottle in his hands and notices that it smells, he immediately throws it on the ground to break it and says: “I will buy myself a new one.” So, out of this reasoning, I draw the following conclusion: throw aside every thought or feeling which does not serve you, let them be broken; throw aside every bad desire which you have once tried and seen that it is stinking; throw aside every bad act. Why would you need these old, stinking bottles and pots – let them be broken, they are useless. You will be better without them – you were not born with them, but they came later. Buy new, nice, clean pots! Once you free yourselves of the old and stinking ones, then only the Divine will remain in you – then God will know you and you will know Him. If God knows you, then you will be glad, cheerful and strong; if God knows you, then you will have a connection with Him. There is nothing greater for a man than to be connected with God! Someone says: “When I get connected with God, will I see Him?” What does “seeing something” mean? One can see an object or a face, only if he loves it; one can see things only when his consciousness is absolutely awake in the world of Love, which he lives in. If his consciousness is not awakened in this world, he sees as through a fog, and this is not seeing but peering. The one who can make use of the fruit of an apple, he sees and understands the apple; if he cannot use its fruit, he neither sees nor understands it. If you do not make use of the fruits of the apple, no matter how much you assure others that you see it, you delude yourselves as much as you want to delude others – you use food that ruins your stomach and you say that this food is not good. Is it necessary that someone from outside comes to persuade you that this food is good – your stomach is a specialist, it checks, tries out the food and then expresses an opinion. Every other persuasion, which comes from outside of you, is a delusion, and each delusion is an old teaching. I say: today all people need the right views, a right outlook on things. It is not enough for one only to think that he is doing God’s Will, but one ought to fulfill it in the right way – we have come here to comprehend God’s Will and fulfill it. The one, who is not ready for this work, must not come to the Lakes[2]any more. If he wants to come for his own pleasure, he is free - but coming here and deluding himself that he is doing God’s Will, is not allowed. You should serve God as I serve Him. There is no need for you to waste your time only in deluding that you will do this or that – Heaven has had enough of delusions and unfulfilled promises of people. What do people do today? They gather around some scientist and begin to flatter him, to glorify him, in order to wring something from him. What is this flattery, this praising? This is nothing else but halters on his head and packsaddles upon his back. No, throw aside all kinds of halters and packsaddles – one has to be free! It means nothing if these halters are gold or silver – they are halters nevertheless. A free person brooks no halters, no packsaddles, nor nails. He wants his hands and feet to be free from chains, his mind to be free from halters, his heart to be free from packsaddles, and his soul and Spirit to be free from all nails – this is the new philosophy of Life. And after all this, the ignorant ones will come to say that God spoke to them through some prophetess, or through their grand-mother or grand-father who have passed to the kingdom-come. What does God say to them? – That wheat should be offered for the sake of the one who has passed. I say: If your fellows, who have passed to the next world, would like to eat wheat, their situation is not very good – the one who wants to eat wheat, let him come to this world, for wheat cannot be offered from this world to the next one. The Holy Mother of God had said through some prophetess, that if people want to succeed in their matters, they should light candles and icon-lamps for her. What kind of a prophesy is this – the Holy Mother of God does not need your candles and icon-lamps, these are delusions. It is not a way to make prophesies. Someone thinks up something and he is reputed to be a prophet. There were prophets in the old times, and today there are many prophets, too, but a true prophet radically differs from a fake prophet. I am asking – what is the difference between the true prophet and the fake prophet? The fake prophet is like the boza[3]-seller – he walks along the street crying: “Boza, boza!” and once you drink up a glass of it, he immediately says: “Pay now!” You meet a religious, pious sister who says that she speaks with God, lives according to God, but visits this or that fortune-teller to tell her the future by wax. I say: if this sister believes in God and lives in conformity with His laws, then after having her meal of pure, healthy food, such as given by Nature, does she need to go to some prophet or prophetess and eat from their banitsa[4]? Once she has a bit of such banitsa, her stomach gets ruined. When someone’s stomach gets ruined from the banitsa of some prophet or prophetess, then these are fake prophets. Such a prophet is said to be a banker among people, and whoever asks from him anything, he says: “This is an easy job, we will settle everything.” And, indeed, he settles things easily: he takes forty or fifty per cent interest and does not think – he strips the skin[5] from people. I call these fake prophets, “dealers of human skins”. I pass by the shop of one of these dealers and I read the inscription: “Prophet’s shop” – I say: I do not enter such a shop! If a prophet becomes a grocer, he is a fake prophet – commerce is not for the prophet. And so, God’s blessing passes upon us, too, just as thoughts are transmitted from one person to another. One kind of thoughts go according to the law of Love, others go according to the law of Wisdom, while a third kind of thoughts go according to the law of Truth. However, no matter in which way thoughts go, their results are the same for erudite and simple people, for righteous and sinful ones. Water equally washes the righteous and the sinful one; the difference lies only in the following: from the sinful one, water becomes very unclean, very muddled, while from the righteous one, it becomes cleaner and clearer – this depends on the degree of Purity. When the water that someone washes with, is completely clean, this person is a saint. Some thoughts are able to stain someone just as water is stained by sinful people. Someone is in low spirits and is discontent– why? A bad thought has entered his mind and is torturing him. What must this person do? He must throw the stinking pot down on the earth and break it – the bad thought is an unclean pot that must be broken by all means. This pot has remained from your grandfather and grandmother, but today you do not need it any more. You say: “What are we going to do in the future?” You will work to make new pots which you will fill with new, pure thoughts. So, when coming to the Lakes, we have in mind to fulfill God’s Will. Once we do God’s Will, then Nature will be better disposed towards us as well. Once we do God’s Will, then God also takes interest in us and blesses us; if we do not do His Will and do not walk into His Path, then He takes no interest in us, either – such is the law. Don’t you do just the same with your servants – when you have a good servant, you take interest in him and raise his salary; if your servant is not good and does not do your will, you are not pleased with him and you take no interest in his state. The thoughts, feelings and acts of many people are not correct but yet they want Heaven to be interested in them – Heaven is interested in people inasmuch as they are interested in Heaven. Present people know this but still they are prone to think that even when they sin, God still forgives them. This thought is right but on several conditions, namely: God forgives the sins of people, if they have Love in them, if they are reasonable[6], and if they love Truth. Therefore, if someone loves God, if he is reasonable and truth-loving, then whatever sin he might commit, he will be forgiven. The one who does not have these three qualities in himself, he can’t be forgiven any sin. The verse “And I will wipe out their sins” refers to this very case – God will wipe out the sins of humans if they have Love, if they are reasonable and if they are truth-loving. I say: There is nothing more beautiful for a person than having Love within himself, being reasonable and loving Truth; whatever such a person says, it all happens. The one, who does not have these qualities in himself, can do nothing – if he decides to predict something, he will lie - his prophesy will never come true. This is not bad, either, but it must always be taken into consideration, so that one does not fall into delusion. Because even when someone lies, he still does some work. And the one who has worked has to be paid something for his labour – whether he will be paid more or less, depends on the nature of his work and the profit of it. How can you pay for the favour that someone has done for you? Three conditions are requested from a person so that he might be capable of repaying everyone who has done him some favour or some good – these are the following: he should love the person who does him the favour; he should be reasonable; and finally, he should be truth-loving. So, if you wish to uplift yourselves, to have achievements - apply Love, Reason and Truth in your life; once you apply them, then things will happen as you say. You say: “What can one say that can be implemented?” For instance, one can tell the fog and clouds to rise so that the weather clears up – if he says this, the weather will clear up. He can bring down all the peaks around us and raise an earthquake. But I am asking, in the condition we are now, what is the sense of bringing down peaks to raise an earthquake? If there are righteous people here and if a big army of soldiers comes against them to kill them, then it does make sense to raise an earthquake and bring down mountain peaks – in this way at least you will help the righteous people by making a way to save them. Some people say: “So this person who can raise an earthquake in Nature, is very strong”. I will explain with an example what the power of this person is: imagine that a scientist makes a bomb that contains a large quantity of explosive substance; this bomb has a small fuse that can be just clicked by the scientist, and the bomb will catch fire and detonate. This person is really strong because he was able to make the bomb and knows how to detonate it, but a little, weak child can also detonate the bomb so that it explodes. So the child can work the same miracle as the scientist does. The difference between the power of the scientist and that of the child lies in the following: when the bomb explodes, the child will be hurt while the scientist will not – why? Because the child is unwise, while the scientist is reasonable, he knows how to detonate the bomb. In the same way, many of the present people, when facing such bombs, detonate them just like little children would do, and the bombs explode. For this reason, the Invisible world has consciously placed people away from these bombs, so that they do not explode. There are such bombs in lots of places in Rila, so when walking and approaching one of them, one has to be attentive, and not touch their fuses so that they do not explode. Places with such bombs are very dangerous and must be avoided. The essential thought over which one has to work, is to find a way for purifying one’s consciousness. For that purpose he has to keep in contact with God, to be in unity with His thoughts, feelings and acts. Man lives and moves with Him in order not to interrupt his own thought – whatever is spoken to him from outside, he must have something constant in himself. Only in this way one can get younger – the first condition for getting younger is being in contact with God. If you did not break this connection, by now you should all have become saints – only this one can become a saint, the one who has uninterrupted Love towards God. I look at Love from a new point of view: Love is a force that gives equal goods and equal conditions for development to all people – it gives Freedom and expanse for humans to manifest in all directions of Life. You say: “Can everything be loved?” Only the reasonable thing can be loved. Humans are reasonable beings, therefore they deserve to be loved – when you love a person, you love God in him. The one, who has come out of God, can be loved; the one, who has not come out of God, does not deserve to be loved. And vice versa – all who have come out of God, have to love Him. In this respect Love should exist as an inner law in man – through Love, one keeps contact with God and with all living beings. So, Love is a boon for the person himself, in the first place, and then for others around him. The real thing in Love is the bond between thoughts, feelings and acts – these of the individual as well as those of all people. This Love is accessible to everyone – it is Love of the first grade. Is there a greater blessing for a person than having a bond between his mind, heart and will? I say: keep in your mind the thought “Love towards God” – through this thought you will solve all questions, it is a key in human Life. Without it you will come upon another principle in Life, which should not be spoken of much. This principle exists also in the very Nature; once a person comes across it, he gets sour, sullen and constantly dissatisfied. If you come to this principle, do not try to tame it, but move aside from it and do not touch it! Once someone touches this rough principle, he gets rough and sullen, too, and says: “Do not touch me, I am very cross” – and when you look at this person, you see that he has bristled up all over. The cross thing is not the person itself, but that rough principle he has got in touch with. Now all of you are interested in this question: what will happen to you. I will tell you what will happen to you: if you have a bond between your thoughts, feelings and acts, you will all become kings. I am asking, if you all become kings, then who will be the subjects? And beside this, when you are kings, there will be not enough room for all of you on the Earth, and you will consequently scatter – some of you will go to the Moon, others – to the various stars, and you will greet each other only from a distance. This is the outer, physical side of the question. However, from the word “king” in its inner sense, I understand “a free person”. Only the perfect one can be absolutely free. A free person says: “I am a king, nothing worries me”. – Why? – “This is because I am free in my thoughts, feelings and acts”. Freedom implies also harmony – once someone is free in one’s thoughts, feelings and acts, he is in harmony with himself, with Nature and with God, and then he says: “I am a king today!” Tomorrow he loses this bond and says: “I am dethroned today”; when he restores his bond, he becomes a king again. The same thing happens to you, too – at times you are ascended on the king’s throne, at others you are dethroned. Freedom, harmony and perfection are the qualities of a true king. The one, who takes this position only externally, is not a king – we see that the kings in the world are not free, but they are dependent on many things. When speaking of purifying the consciousness, one should be acquainted with the law of discernment – to discern Divine from human. Every thought, which does not change under all conditions, is Divine. Every feeling, which does not change even at the biggest perturbations, is Divine. Thoughts and feelings, which change under the conditions of Life and depend on them, are not Divine. Once you aspire to this philosophy of Life and reach it, you have to pass it on to the other people as well – how will you pass it on? Truth and Love are to be transmitted through contact and not in a mechanical way; one cannot pass something on to others if he does not have it in himself. Thinking that you can transmit something to others, without having it in yourself, is equivalent to lighting a fire without any spark – fire is lit by fire. Where do the sparks come from? They come from God – the lighting spark of fire is Love which comes from God. Since Love, Wisdom and Truth come from God, we can perceive them from Him and pass them on to other people. In this case we can all be bearers, vehicles[7] of God’s Love, Wisdom and Truth – to be vehicles means to be in touch with God. I say: the one, who wants to be a vehicle of God, should find Him and connect with Him. When you find God, what are you going to tell Him? You should all know this - there is no need to tell you. What do you do when you are hungry and you find a loaf of bread? You take the bread with both hands, embrace it close to you, press it and start to break pieces off it and eat; after this you feel content and well disposed. Now that I am breaking the bread to pieces, so it has already blossomed in my hands; if I am eating it, it has already become ripe; once I have finished my meal, it has already gone inside me and become one with me. After this, the bread and me take a walk, talk, go around to see God’s estates – we are both merry and content the whole day long. So, when you break the bread to pieces, it does not die, but goes inside you to live together with you. Until one clenches the bread between one’s hands, until one breaks it and chews it between one’s teeth, one cannot come to know the bread; said in other words: until one comes to love bread, until one comes to know the elements which constitute it, and until one comes in touch with the conditions of its life, one will not know what a thing bread is. It is already time for humans to free their consciousness from all layers of the past – all diseases and indispositions of people are due to these layers. Someone is sitting silently but meanwhile he is thinking of some of his sicknesses; another one is thinking of his house not being well arranged; a third one is thinking of new clothes and shoes. I do not say that these things are bad, but they take humans away from the Right path in which they should go. So, unity in thoughts, feelings and actions is required from everyone. You may forget all you heard here, but remember one thing: everyone must have unity in his thought, unity in his feelings and unity in his acts. If next year you come to the Lakes and you keep this unity in yourselves, you will attain great goods and wealth from Nature. If you do not have unity in yourselves, the enemy will be around you and fire at you with machine-guns. If you wish that the enemy does not fire at you, then work hard and consciously over cleansing and over liberating the consciousness from all sediments and layers of the past. 1 August 1931 [1] Here “reason” should be comprehended in the spiritual meaning of “rationality”, “sense”, “intelligence”, “wisdom” – the specific state of the awakened consciousness [2] “The Lakes” here stands for “The Seven Lakes” in the Rila mountain where Master Beinsa Douno used to take His followers on annual camp gatherings around 19 August [3] Boza (Turkish word)– sweet, slightly sour soft drink made from grain flour(usually millet or maize), which has the color of white coffee and the density of nectar [4] Banitsa – Bulgarian national baked dish made from thin sheets of dried dough, with filling of cheese, eggs and milk [5] „strips the skin” is used here in the meaning of “extortion” [6] “reasonable” in this whole lecture should be comprehended in connection to the above mentioned meaning of “reason” as explained in Note#1 [7] Here “vehicles” implies “instruments”, “wires”, “conductors”, “mediators” [A1][their life is not going well] or [matters/affairs] [A2]Same as above

Note 2p Unproved Truths[A1] Now, for thinking through the day you will take the verse: “Truth will make you free.” Today few have a clear, concrete idea of Truth. If for every given case man knows how to do something and can do it, this is a way, a relation to Truth. For man to know where the bread is and to be able to accept and enclose it in him, this is a relation to Truth. If man knows the place of the bread and if the organism knows to accept it, he will acquire Freedom – he will be free from hunger, which usually deprives the powers. In the case [A2] Truth represents a relation to something. If you don’t know what your relation to some man is, you don’t know him. Man shows himself through his thoughts, feelings and actions and if you don’t know what some man thinks, feels and acts, you don’t know him. The contemporary people want to know where God is and what He represents. I say: where there is Life, where there is thought, where there is feeling, there God is. You will say: “What is Life?” I shall answer this question only if you tell me where this thought came to you from. If you want to know what Life is, I want to know where this thought came from. You go to school, the teacher takes chalk and writes on the black board: “So and so had two hundred sheep”; I ask, do the pupils see these sheep on the board? There are no sheep on the board the teacher only writes. What does he have in mind by writing two hundred sheep on the blackboard? If in the schools the pictorial system of education was prevalent, then how ever many sheep the teacher writes on the board, all these sheep should be in front of the children – the teacher writes on the board ten sheep and immediately in the room, in front of the children, ten sheep come in. Why these sheep do not come in the classroom, is a question for reality, isn’t it? All people speak about real works, they don’t declare abstract things; in spite of this real things are not at hand. Someone says: “I want to pray to God.” How will you pray to God who you don’t see and for whom many people say doesn’t exist? – “I believe in God.” How you can believe in unreal things, it is impossible for man to believe in things which don’t exist. Once you believe in God, it means that God exists – the faith in something understands that it exists. Someone says: “I don’t believe in God.” If you don’t believe in God, you believe in something else. It is the same as a pupil who says to his teacher: “I don’t believe in the sheep”; if you don’t believe in the sheep, it still doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. The teacher takes his pupil by the hand and leads him to the sheep – the pupil sees that the sheep are herbivorous animals, covered with wool, bleat, give milk etc.; he convinces himself of their existence but nevertheless without this they still exist. Many want to find God in the same way as the pupil who saw and touched the sheep and then believed in their existence. God can’t be found only with the touching of a hand and with seeing; God can be found with touching, and with seeing, and with feeling, and with thought. Now let’s suppose that you stay and philosophize over Freedom, and one of you says: “I am a free man, nobody can order me around.” Imagine that a thick needle pierces your leg; the more you move the deeper the needle pierces into your leg and you feel a lot of pain. I ask, as you are a free man, why don’t you take the needle out from your leg, why don’t you set yourself free from the pain which the needle causes you? When I adduce this example, you will say: “What is hidden in this example? Something is hidden, but you have to understand it by yourself. Imagine that a young girl loves her mother, her father, all her close relatives, but one day she meets a young man who starts to go after her; the young girl thinks that this young man has fallen in love with her and she starts to be interested in him, becomes absent-minded, and wants to meet him too. This young man hasn’t fallen in love with the young girl at all, but he thought to marry and for this reason he searches for some young girl who can execute the post of a servant-girl. In a way this is still not love, or marriage – this young man likes the young girl, he sees that she is healthy, strong, he wants to marry her, to set her in work and after several years, when she already can’t work, he will leave her. I ask where is the love of this young man? This is happening not only with the young girl but also with the young man. The young man searches for a servant-girl, and the young girl – for a servant. This shows that either the young man or the young girl is not free. I say: if the young man comes to some young girl and says that he wants to marry her, she has to understand correctly the relations in Life and to decline this offer. The young girl has to tell him: “While I am under my paternal roof, with the love of my mother and father, I am good, I won’t become a servant-girl to anybody; while I have the possibility to be mistress, there is no reason to become a servant-girl. I know Love and nobody can lie to me, neither with his letters, nor with his words. God gave me Life and I shall serve Him; if I come to you, not only that you can’t support my Life, but from above of it you will deprive it[A3] .” The same thing the young man has to tell the young girl. In the life of contemporary people almost every man suspects his wife of some crime and almost every woman suspects her man in the same way – and this life they call marriage. After all this, the man, the woman, the children pretend that they don’t think anything bad. This is not a family, this is not marriage – these are partnerships based on fraud; they don’t think anything bad but their works don’t go well. I ask, the relations which exist among the contemporary people, are they in agreement with the Will of God? Nobody has a right to restrict anybody. Someone makes a mistake – he himself will answer to God for his sins; God will hold him responsible for his sins, and not the people. Someone does good – again he will experience the consequences of his actions, there is no reason for people to praise him. When somebody does evil, I can only be sorry; if he does Good, I can only be glad. Some man boasts that he is a good painter – this means that he searches for work, to paint some picture. If this painter doesn’t paint as it should be done, nobody will search for him. But, if he is a great master and can paint as it should be done, everybody will search for him. In a way, if somebody boasts that he is a good man, good painter or musician, it is understood that he wants to have friendship with you. This friendship will sustain such as will sustain the picture of one poor painter[A4] . It is the same as the poor disciple who goes to some teacher and says to him that he wants to become his disciple. This teacher will cause big troubles to such a disciple – why? Since he will not study but will want from the teacher only good marks and will be angry that he hasn’t been rewarded as he thought he should be. If the disciple doesn’t believe that his teacher gave him a poor mark justly, the teacher may call a commission to look at his picture and to pronounce a verdict. The nice, the beautiful, everybody likes and values correctly. The work praises the man but not what he thinks of himself. Now many of you act like the poor disciple – they say: “When we pray in the morning, we read the same prayers – The Good Prayer, “Father of us[A5] ”; we want new prayers, we want variety.” I ask, when you have read so many times the Good prayer, have you understood the meaning of the words “God, Father of us[A6] ” with which this prayer starts? To pronounce these prayers without understanding their sense is equal to pronouncing the words “I am hungry”, without understanding the sense of hunger. When does man understand the sense of hunger? When he eats until he is full. And the opposite – man understands the sense of eating when he becomes hungry. Therefore the hunger will give meaning to eating, and eating will give meaning to the hunger. If man doesn’t become hungry, he will lose the sense of Life. It means that between the hunger and the eating from one side, and between the suffering and the joys from the other, a parallel may be drawn. The suffering is hunger, the Joy is eating. If man isn’t sorrowful and isn’t glad, he will not understand the sense of Life – the grief and the Joy are inevitable fellow-travellers in the Life of man. And man will not be sorrowful and be glad only once but will be constantly sorrowful and constantly glad. In every grief he will understand the sense of eating and will imagine a rich table on which there will be beautiful cheese pasties, hens and other food. This awakens in him energy for work. The satisfied do not work, the hungry man works. What lets the people work? The hunger. And that is why I say: the people work thanks to the hunger, thanks to the sufferings, otherwise nothing could go out from them. The hunger and the suffering are impulses, stimuli which force the people to work, to develop. Someone says: “My head whitened from sufferings!” This man wants to be glad without having to suffer. This thing is impossible – it is impossible to have Joy without suffering and suffering without Joy. Since God allowed the sufferings, this life till now is best; after this life another will come, better – the better life doesn’t expel the sufferings but explains their deep sense. Today the people suffer and they are dissatisfied from the sufferings, they are glad and are dissatisfied from the joys. Whoever is dissatisfied from the suffering, is also dissatisfied from the Joy. Someone says: “I am glad but I don’t know for how long – I made a house but I don’t know how long it will be mine; I married a good woman but I don’t know how long she will be mine, tomorrow somebody else may like her.” This shows that in every human joy, in every human acquisition one worm hides, which torments the man. First of all God hasn’t sent the man on the Earth to have a woman, and neither was the woman created to have a man and children. You meet a Bulgarian dressed in European clothes – he threw his national dress away, he thinks that nobody will know what he is. No matter what clothes man dresses in, he will always remain the same – the clothes don’t make the man, they are fashions which have a temporary meaning. The European clothes are beautiful, modern cut, well sewed, but they don’t define the life of man. Today the French clothes are in fashion, tomorrow the English ones will come. When the Turks admire something that is very beautiful, clever, solid, they say: “ingiliz akul” (English mind); for things which are outside of beautiful, they say that they are made “a la france” (French’s model). When I speak about fashion, I find that it is not something essential – life could be lived with and without fashion. With equal reason I say that without religion of the forms life could be lived. Such religion is nothing else but exterior cloth, fashionably cut and sewed, which man made by himself. And without such religion life could be lived, as life could be lived without hens, without cheese pasties, without sweetmeats. But without bread life couldn’t be lived. This shows that in Life there are essential and inessential things. Some say: “Can bread go without cheese?” It can; you want to make the cheese companion to the bread but the bread says: “I don’t need a companion, I complete my work alone.” The cheese only distracts the people, it can’t give the necessary nutrition which the bread gives. Feed the people some time only with cheese and you will see the results of it – people can feed only with bread, but only with cheese – they can’t; if they feed only with cheese, after one week at the most they will throw it away and will say: “Give us bread!” Therefore the cheese is a supplement in life, an inessential thing. The essential from the inessential has to be differentiated. The essential is only what we can’t live without. Bread is an essential element for Life; Love is an essential element for Life because everything ensues from it – it is the spring of Life. Many people, when they listen to be spoken for Love, say that it had[A7] animal, human, angel and Divine love. These are forms of the Love which in the case are not in force[A8] . [A9] What is understood under the words human love? The human love is water closed in a bottle; if the bottle opens and turns with the mouth downwards, the water runs out, nothing remains of the love in the bottle. But, when speaking about Love generally, we understand what swarms[A10] , flows and never stops. From this Love one understands eternal Life, eternal good, eternal happiness, eternal Knowledge, eternal light, eternal power. If you have Love, all these things make sense; if you lose Love, everything loses its logic – why? The essential in Life disappears. The beginning of every manifestation in the world is Love. Behind the Light is Love, behind the Power is Love, behind the dissatisfaction, behind the sin again there is Love – the only power which directs and corrects everything in the world, is Love. You say: “Is it possible for Love to be behind the sin?” The Love is behind the sin because in this case the love hasn’t revealed itself yet but waits for a favourable moment to reveal itself. Who doesn’t know Love, always commits sins, crimes; after he knows Love, all kinds of sin, all kinds of crime will disappear. Therefore, till the people don’t know the Love, there will be sins, there will be crimes. Now, I shall explain how and from where crimes originate: you have one beautiful crystal bottle with the capacity of one liter, full with water; you keep this bottle as if it is of special value and say: “Nobody touches it!” But some friend comes and without knowing pours a glass of water from this bottle; a second one comes – he pours one glass of water too; a third and a fourth come along – they pour one glass of water too and you look – the bottle is drained. You come, see the bottle empty and say: “Who dared to commit this crime?” It means that when somebody takes from the little which man has, this is a crime. Imagine that this man has the means at hand not only to own one bottle, but a big spring, which constantly flows and gives everybody how much they want; in this case, will there be a reason to commit crime? In abundance, crimes are not committed. Often in the love between people jealousy emerges – why? Since their love is in bottles – when they drink from it one or two glasses, it ends. The difference in the love of people remains in the fact that the bottles of some are smaller, and others – bigger, but they are always bottles, they are not springs. Love, in which there is jealousy, it is not any kind of Love. Some says: “I have Love.” Where is it? – “In this bottle – I don’t want to open it!” If somebody takes one drop from this water, he immediately shouts: “Don’t take water from my bottle, every drop is costly.” I take one big vessel and invite this man to come with me to one big spring, I put the vessel under the cock, the water in it runs and overflows and I say: “Here this is Love!” While Love is filtered on drops, it still hasn’t come to the Divine spring. If you want Love, go to the Divine spring – from there scoop up how much you want. You say: “Where is God?” To the spring – if you want to find God, you have to go to the Eternal spring of Life. – “There is no reason to go so far when you can tell us something about this spring.” Go alone and see the spring, I don’t say anything about it. This Spring is a great thing; if I start to describe it, I shall make some mistake, I shall not describe it correctly – it doesn’t fall under any description, there is no language which it could be described with. If I describe it, you will not be satisfied – go to see it by yourselves. I went to this Spring alone, I understood it and now I can only advise you: go to this Spring as soon as you can, don’t put it off! For the long way which you will walk, don’t be sorry – everybody alone may go to this Spring. In a way, if you have human or angel love, one is important for you: and the human and the angel love are necessary, but the people and the Angels have always drawn and draw their Love from the Divine spring. I say: if you want to be set free from the torments of the human love – envy, doubt, suspicion, go to the Divine spring to scoop up water as much you wish. Even better – connect yourself with this Spring in order never to exhaust yourself. The negative manifestations of Love are the cause of its misunderstanding. Some say: “I don’t believe in your words”; you don’t believe in who you have to, so you will believe in me? Another says: “I believe in your words”; what need do I have for you to believe in me, what do I gain from it? The faith understands relations – for us, to believe in God, this is understood to make a connection, to create relations with God in order for His Love to be able to flow through us. When I believe in some man, I have to make a connection with him in order for my Love to be able to start to flow in his house and for everybody to benefit from it. According to me the notion of Faith is completely different from that of the contemporary people. To believe in some man, this means to have correct relations with him in order for the Divine Love to be able to reveal itself simultaneously in you, and in him. If man says that he believes in God, but he does not have correct relations with Him, of what use is this faith to him? You say that you believe in me, in my erudition, in my goodness. One day you believe – on the next day you don’t believe; what faith is this? One day you believe that I am a good man – on the next day you don’t believe, you change your opinion about me. This is not Faith, these are human conclusions. The real Faith saves – it understands to create an uninterrupted connection with God or with any given man. Such is the faith of the mother to the child, from this faith the child draws upon, and the mother as well – the child grows, develops and studies. With its coming on the Earth, the child helps the development of the feelings of the mother – if the mothers did not have children, their feelings could atrophy, and in these conditions the children couldn’t grow well and develop. I say: many people haven’t clearly imagined Love, as a result of it they say: “Nobody loves us.” I ask who you love. Those ones who consider that are disciples, who do they love? If the love of contemporary people was put to a test, some of them will pass, others will not pass this exam. Who is Love for? For the hungry. If somebody brings a bag, full with bread, who is this bread for? For that one who needs it. Therefore to love somebody, means to be ready to give him bread from your bag. Imagine that you, who bring a bag with bread, need it; what you are going to do then? First you will eat and afterwards you will give to the others. I ask, can you love that one who has need of bread? Gather at one place two men who have hungered ten days, give them a piece of bread and see how they understand Love. Whoever has understood Love, he will take one clear cloth, will cover the piece of bread with it, will put his hand above it and will wait some time; it will not be long before the piece will start to increase, it will become a big loaf; after this the two of them will start to eat brotherhood. These are the people of Love – they have everything in abundance. Someone takes a piece of bread from his bag and says: “This bread is dry, it can’t be eaten.” If this man can’t make the dry bread soft, he is from the ordinary people who know how to distract other people with their love. If I can’t transform the dry bread into soft bread, then I am from the ordinary people. When somebody speaks about Love, but can’t transform dry bread into soft bread, you don’t have to be tempted by him, but you will know that you have work with an ordinary man. The man of Love is neither tempted, nor tempts others. Who is tempted, he hasn’t a real notion about God; such a man can’t reach anything. This man is found in the state of a disciple who constantly changes his teachers – he goes to one teacher and says: “This teacher doesn’t cost [A11] anything”, he goes to another: “This one doesn’t cost[A12] anything either”. In the end this disciple will not learn; the disciple can’t be cleverer than his teacher. If such disciple comes to some teacher, the latter becomes closed to him, because he knows that he is an ignoramus and doesn’t want to study – in this case the teacher gives only the bran of his knowledge. Under the word bran I understand the false, the wrong situations in Life or the reminders of the things which don’t cost anything. Everybody has to know that if man lives in inner self-delusion, this already is not Truth. Man always feels where the Truth is, but he doesn’t acknowledge it. For example, some man is defined to do one good deed first, as a step forward, but he says: “Another will come instead of me.” That is how all the people put off doing Good, but in this way they enter into a contradiction with the great law which works in them. If they enter into a contradiction with this law, and God leaves them – where God is absent, nothing could happened there. Therefore, every work, every good action has to be looked at in its final results; the final results represent the coming of God, the manifestation of His Love, Wisdom and Truth. After the Love, the Wisdom and the Truth manifest, The Divine Spirit will be present among us and we will have the real Reality of things – with this the real Life begins. Till this Life comes, a year – two, ten, one hundred may pass but you have to wait out this period of time[A13] . I say: the sense[A14] of Life is in man to wait for the time of the arrival of Absolute reality. There are trees which flower once in one hundred years; what do these trees have to do? They have to wait for their time to flower. Some waited ninety nine years and say: “I can’t wait anymore, I lost my patience!” I say: you waited so many years, have a little more patience, only one hour remains until you flower. Such a situation represents the manifestation of the Divine Love in eternity. You waited years and years, now you are at the end of eternity – wait one hour more till the Divine Love reveals itself, look out not to lose this hour! Why? Since the Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth reveal themselves only once in eternity. The beautiful, the great works appears only one time in eternity. I say to you too: only one hour more remains till Love shows itself. You say: “There is more time.” There is not anymore time, you have to stay at your post and wait the arrival of Love. You will be awake, you will remain careful and will not deviate your thought to one or another side. If deviate your thought from the aim of your waiting, you will find yourself in the state of that man who decided to make a hole in the mountain in order to connect one kingdom with another; whoever passed near him always addressed him with something and he stopped his work, and paid attention to all that had been spoken to him; when he stopped and paid his attention to this one, to that one, the hole had become obstructed and he couldn’t reach his target. The same will happen with you – people will come from outside to pull you, to distract your attention, but you don’t have to deviate. Some will come to tell you what they think of your work. Whatever they think, it is for them – their thought is not essential to you. You have to stay at the hole and to work, to wait for that moment when the hole is made and you reach your target. It means that the hour, in which the two kingdoms will unite, has come. Many of you have come here feeling spiritually indisposed, since you think that God doesn’t love you, doesn’t think about you and doesn’t care for you. This is a big conclusion, a big self-delusion. In the Love of God there is no exception. Somebody is dissatisfied with himself that he did nothing; I say: don’t be confused, know that what is demanded from you, you will complete. If you are dissatisfied by your state, what you will say about the state of the little flies – God only now started to act over them. But ten – twenty million years more will pass till it will be seen what God has made from these flies. One thing is important – for Love to start to act. When a well is being dug, it is important for the first drop of water to appear – it is a sign that there is water in the soil. From the first drop a big spring will form, which will water all the gardens. And so, you don’t have to lose your faith in God – there is no philosophy in it. Man has to believe; to believe in God, this is understood to make a connection with Him, the Divine Love to reveal itself – this is the mystical side of the question. Said with other words, man has to make a connection between his mind and heart. When talking about love among people, this doesn’t mean that you have to love the man outside but to make a connection with him, to show complete trust to him – if you have faith in the man whom you love, then God will reveal Himself in you. The same refers to your love to God – if you love God, you will make a connection with Him. After you make this connection, all the darkness from your mind will disappear and every embarrassment from your heart will be removed. In your mind Light will manifest, in your heart – enlargement, Peace, and Joy, and you will understand that the Will of God visited you. This flashing of Light in your mind and of Joy in your heart is a symptom that you can work, to reach everything which your soul wishes. Now, you have to make one little effort, to restore your connection with God, to restore your Faith in Him. I call Faith a law of eating. Faith is understood by correct relations between the mind and the heart; after such relations between the mind and the heart exist, in your mind Light will appear, in your heart – enlargement. Then the dark things will become clear, and the misunderstood – understood; from this moment real Life will manifest. Now somebody says: “I love you” – in fact he doesn’t love. – “I believe in you” – in fact he doesn’t believe. To this one who loves me and says that he has faith in me, I say: “Lend me one thousand leva.” – “I don’t have” – he has money but he doesn’t want to give it to me because he has no faith in me. A young man says to some young girl: “Let us go for a walk.” – “I have work, I can’t go on walks.” In fact, the young girl has time to take for a walk with this young man but she doesn’t believe him, she is afraid to go out alone with him. Is this Love to be afraid of the man who loves you? It is not Love; Love is a holy thing, in it there is no fear. There isn’t anything more beautiful than to find a man with Divine Love in his heart – it is the same as to find one precious stone, to find one clean crystal spring which constantly flows, to enter a garden with the most beautiful fruit trees or at last to write yourself as a disciple in well-appointed school. I say: such your image has to be about Love. What the present understandings are about Love is not important for me, but if you enter the desert with your love, your mouth will become dry; if you enter the desert with Divine Love, it will transform it to a garden. If you enter the desert with your little bottles, full with water, the desert will remain a desert, its life will not change at all. It is already time for you to go to the Divine spring – from there to draw; the bottles with water can’t satisfy you today. Everybody has to go in the New way; the old way, the old understandings don’t give anything, they are already tested. Now new understandings are demanded, new Light. Some say: “I want to serve God.” How will you serve him? – “As I love Him, as I believe in Him.” I say: if some man constantly troubles God with his love, is this love to God; if the love of the disciple constantly troubles the teacher, what is the value of this love? Such love is nothing else but noise and dust. This thing exists in the present schools: the pupils say that they love their teacher, but till he comes in class, they play, jump in the room, on the desks, they raise so much dust that they oppress the teacher, and themselves; they breathe with great difficulty. The work of the teacher then consists of opening the widows and to see how to get the dust out of the room as soon as possible. If the pupils say that they love their teacher, but behind his back they speak badly, is this Love? The one and the other is fraud. The pupils have to be satisfied by the knowledge of their teacher, and the teacher has to be satisfied by his pupils – there must be complete faith between teachers and pupils. The Divine law can’t reveal itself among the people if their faith is not absolute. Therefore every disciple has to be not only diligent but also capable. Some say: “I am already old.” You became old from indolence – man becomes old from indolence, from laziness. The lazy people become old, but the industrious ones – never. Some say: “I am already sick and tired of work!” – Only the lazy man says that. Man has to work with pleasantness, with Love, never to be bored. The painter paints, observes, paints again till at last he completes his picture – he does all of this with Love. What do the people do? While they are young, they work a lot; after they start to become old, they say: “Here comes old age, we already have to rest.” This is the wrong understanding – in old age man has to work more than the young. Little children for example don’t work in anything; if man becomes one hundred and twenty years, then namely God will set him to work in His field. God doesn’t want children to plough and reap for Him, for this work He will set the grandfathers to work. You say: “In old age man has to rest, and then all kind of work has to stop – this we verify every day and in society.” For which society do you speak of – the society of the lazy people or the society of the industrious, of the working men? If you speak of the society of the lazy people, put it aside. Some men will come to speak to me that so and so was very learned; if you speak of scientists who distract people with pasties with cheese, we don’t need their pasties. If they offer us bread from fresh wheat, well kneaded and baked, we will accept it immediately, but when it comes to their cheese pasties, we refuse. Bread is a necessity, the cheese pasty is not a necessity – life can be lived with and without cheese pasties, but without bread it can’t. And so, in all the trials you will pass in your Life, look to keep the essential. One day, when all people leave you and you remain alone, you have to know that there is somebody in Life who is always with you. Actually a day will come when man will remain perfectly alone – and the mother, and father, and brothers, and sisters, and friends will leave him; when he sees himself in this loneliness, he will shout, he will pray till God comes to him and asks him: “What is the problem?” – “Everybody left, they left me alone.” – “You are not alone, don’t worry, I am with you.” Many think that they have passed this experience; no, you haven’t had the experience of enduring this terrible loneliness, you still haven’t seen yourself in the hands of the black friend, to know what suffering means. Have you gone down to hell to see what the eternal fire represents? Some of you only burned themselves a little from this fire. Have you gone down to the bottom of hell to see the terrible fire which burns and never burns out? Some say: “What is hell?” – I don’t like to speak about hell but say: “Come in and see!” – “What is Heaven?” and about Heaven I don’t like to speak but I say: “Go and see!” There is meaning in the one and the other state to be experienced. Who hasn’t gone down to the bottom of hell, can’t go up to Heaven; who hasn’t gone up to Heaven, he can’t go down to the bottom of hell. What you will understand from this? Even if I speak five hundred years more, you still will not understand what hell is and what Heaven is till you visit them alone. If you don’t understand me, I shall be glad – why? I am glad when some man doesn’t want to eat a cheese pasty – after he doesn’t want to eat a cheese pasty, he sets me free from the unnecessary labour to mix the flour with the cheese in order to make a cheese pasty. After all this, some preacher will speak about what hell presents – he will say that hell is a place of eternal torment, of eternal fire where they poke, and torture people etc. This is mere talk. If you want to know what hell is, what torment is, you will go down to hell. You still don’t know what torment is, but I don’t want to speak to you about it. You still don’t know torment or suffering. You say: How is it possible for us not to know suffering and torment – we tasted sufferings, and torments. After that, I shall make another assertion: you know sufferings and torments but you don’t have Love in yourselves. And to this assertion you retort again: “We love, we know Love.” I ask then have you gone to hell? – “We haven’t, we haven’t even come close to the door of the hell.” I say: who has gone in hell and the fire of the hell couldn’t destroy him, he is a hero, he is already dressed in the cloth of Love; who hasn’t gone to hell, he can’t go to Heaven, and he can’t speak about Love. If you go by some way to Heaven, they immediately will ask if you have you gone to hell. If you say that you have gone, they will accept you immediately with esteem and respect. Some people think that in hell there are only stupid people. No, in hell there are no herdsmen, butchers, or publicans – there everything that is similar burns; if you bring brandy and wine into hell, it will evaporate, will disappear. You say: “Then what life is there in hell?” Who has gone to hell, has learned the great law of Love. Christ hid this thought in the verse in which it says about the Angels: “Go in the eternal fire, prepared for you, to learn the laws of the great Love and Pravda!” It means that these Angels who haven’t understood Love, God sends to the eternal fire as a place of teaching. After they pass through hell, they will understand these laws and will take the opposite way. Therefore, we don’t have to meddle in the Divine works and to ask why hell is created, why Heaven is created. Why hell is created only God knows; why Heaven is created only God knows – and hell is in its place, and Heaven is in its place. Such is how it is spoken from a human point of view, but from a philosophical view the question goes in another way. Someone says to God: “I don’t want to go to hell.” – “And I don’t send you.” I say: who wants to understand Divine Love, he has to go down to hell by all means. Now I speak only for those of you, who are candidates for hell, but not for Heaven. You say: we think that we will go to Heaven and you send us to hell. These are new views over Life, but as you understand things, there is not any philosophy in them, any Life. David says: “Even to go to hell, you will admonish me there.” I don’t have in mind your childish grasping about hell, or the medieval grasping according to which hell is the most terrible place in the world. You have to know one thing: if God is in the hell, I shall go there too, otherwise my leg will not step in there. If the Life of God, if Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth penetrate into hell and rule it, I shall go there too; but if the Life of God, Divine Love, Wisdom and Truth are not there, my foot will not cross the threshold of hell. I wish to you all to have sober thoughts and feelings – you may doubt in everything, but in God – never! If you come to God, you must have sober thoughts and sober feelings, not to be shaken by anything. Your thought and your feeling to God don’t have to be shaken by anything – if you are in hell, or in Heaven, your thought and feeling for God mustn’t be shaken by anything. The thought and feeling of man may get lost in Heaven, and in hell – wherever you are; otherwise the falling of the Angels couldn’t be explained. What is the reason that they left their holy place? I shall not explain the reasons for the fall of the Angels, but I say: man may doubt in Heaven and in hell – doubt penetrates everywhere. That is why only the spirit who can’t doubt is perfect in Heaven and in hell. Only that man can accept Divine Love, who in hell and in Heaven remains the same – this man remains the same in the sorrows, and in the joys; the law is the same in the two cases. Does man doubt when sorrows and sufferings come? If you suffer a lot, God wins nothing; and if you are very glad, He doesn’t win anything again – God has everything, there is nothing more to win but man loses. Why? Since he dispenses with one good. And in the sufferings, and in the joys, God has foreseen one good for man – the grief is good and the Joy is good. God leaves these goods to man, to gather and use them. He demands from the people to make a connection, to create relations between Joy and grief and in this way to reconcile them. I say: to every man is given a task to reconcile Joy with grief – Life is full with such tasks. Who can juxtapose correctly, to reconcile the Joy with the grief in him, he passes for a disciple and already goes in the Correct way. This is the great task of Life – to conciliate our grievances with the sufferings (it seems it was joys **). And so, the main thought of this lecture is, if you are in hell, and if you are in Heaven and it doesn’t generate any doubt in you, but to remain the same and to thank God that He is in hell, and in Paradise. The moment, in which you find yourself in hell and come to the correct decision of the relations between grief and Joy, you will go to Heaven immediately; if you are in Heaven and you can’t understand this relation, you immediately will find yourself in hell. For example you are in a good, happy frame of mind, as you are in Heaven, but if you find yourself in some contradiction, you lose your place immediately and go down to hell - you become dissatisfied, sour and say: “Everything is lost!” It doesn’t pass and one day, you find yourself with one light idea and come back to Heaven again. Man constantly goes up, and then goes down. The angels from hell, when they see you among themselves, catch you as an apple and say: “We don’t need this apple here” – and they throw you out. You have this experience. In one given moment you have a happy state; something from outside comes, it confuses your spirit and the whole of Heaven is destroyed for you – then you get out from your Heaven and get down in hell. After, a little something flashes in your mind and again you are in Heaven; if you doubt whether they will accept you in Heaven, or not, you go down to hell again – the Angels play with you, which shows that you are an inconstant man. They have to stop playing with you as with an apple. If you understand the essence of this question, you will know that God is present in hell, and in Heaven. Then you will be in harmony with yourself and with others and will say: “Let the Will of God be!” Regardless of the situation you find yourself, there must not be a shadow of any fear in you. In the world there may be a number of perturbations, among the people there may be countless falls and getting up, but God always keeps the same relations to us and says: “I wrote you in my palm” – it shows that He always has us in His sight, He will never forget us. This thought has to remain in the minds of everybody not only for encouragement, but as a great Truth. For these men who don’t want to go to hell and are afraid, I have the opinion that they are cowards. Somebody is afraid to go to hell because there is eternal fire; I ask, if he goes to Heaven, what he will do? In a way that now there are no candidates either for Heaven or hell. And I don’t want to send you either to Heaven, or hell, because I shall remain without disciples. Therefore, all of you have to have strong, sober thought, which doesn’t weaken from anything. After the trials come, nobody will avoid them. If you believe in God, you will acquire everything; if you don’t believe, you will lose everything. But, the sense of Life remains in the eternal reaching of Love. 22nd July, 1931, 5a.m. [A1]Whenever so many corrections are made in a text, it is important to check that the original meaning has not changed. [A2]Unclear – maybe [in each situation] or [in this case] [A3]Unclear – maybe [but on top of it all, you will deprive it] or [but above all, you will deprive it] [A4]Unclear. [This friendship will sustain in the same way as the picture of one poor painter] [A5][The Lord’s Prayer] [A6][Our Father] [A7]Unclear. [to how someone talks about Love, say that he/she had] [A8]Unclear. [A9]This should be revised. [A10]You should consult a thesaurus to find the exact meaning of what you are trying to say, this could mean a few things. [A11]Unclear what is meant, it could mean two different things. [doesn’t charge] or [is not worth] [A12]Same as A6 [A13] [A14]Consult a thesaurus for the correct meaning, maybe you want the word [intelligence]

Note 2p IMPRINTS Today you will think over the 17th verse of the Message of Jacob: “Every good giving and every perfect gift from above is and gets down from Father of the lights in who there is no alteration or a shadow of change.”[A1] Today is Tuesday. We called this day a day of Good; therefore, today you have to do only good. Mars is connected with this day, this is why you have to be at war; with what will you be at war? With work around your tents, with cleaning, with washing of your clothes. As the planets exercise influence over the palms, so do people influence each other. This influence is noticed especially when people gather a lot in one place – some of their dispositions and indispositions are a result of the mutual communication between them. For example, if you throw filth on some clean place, it will start to smell by all means. In a way that what the results are in the physical world, such will be in the Spiritual. That is why all the preachers of the past and of the present have recommended and recommend now Absolute cleanness – without Cleanness, personal or common, there can’t be any development. The Cleanness is the first and necessary condition for the correct development of man. I say: everybody has to work over himself and after he works over himself, simultaneously he works over others. You see that somebody made some mistake – if you can, correct this mistake. After you correct the mistake of some man close to you, you do good to yourself, and to him. The bad thoughts and feelings produce in the Mental and in the Astral world such filth as produced in the physical world. The thoughts, good or bad, turn around the man from whom they originated as around a center. Often man wonders from where some bad or good thoughts came into his mind, without suspecting that it is that very thought which he once sent into space. As you know this, you have to be careful, to keep all in utmost Cleanness. From everybody, physical, heart[A2] and mental Cleanness is demanded. When the body of man is clean, he will be physically health; when the heart of man is clean, he has a fresh face and clear eyes; when the mind of man is clean his face emits a pleasant, soft light. If the mind of man is unclean, he is compared to a smouldering fire, which smokes so much that nobody can come close to it for warmth. Often such a fire can be found in some village houses where the fireplace is in the middle of the room and smokes – the whole house is so smoky that one can’t look calmly, his eyes begin to hurt from the large amount of smoke. I say: man has to clean himself constantly, for which there are a number of rules and methods. Someone says that he is unclean and is ashamed of himself; there is no reason for him to say that he is unclean, it may be understood by itself. In the physical world man represents a seed which goes out from the earth; as a result of it the seed which goes out from the earth is unclean, because the earth is unclean. But however much it grows, it already cleans itself and creates its aura; when it sends rootlets and stem, it goes out over the earth and sets free from the black, unclean earth. The one who is clairvoyant, he will see this little seed as a young girl who takes the broom every morning and cleans the house – the health of the seed depends on its cleanness. Some gardeners dig manure into the earth in order for the plants and the fruit trees to be able to grow well – from the manure the seed takes the elements which are necessary for its development and in this way it acquires power to clean itself better. In a way that man must not be ashamed from his uncleanness but to take from it the necessary elements for himself and to clean himself. The uncleanness is manure, dung from which man may use some elements, necessary for his growing and reinforcement. Many of you have the desire to be clean, light as Angels, as saints. I say: one time man was in God, he lived among the Angels – why did he go out from there, why did he leave Heaven and come on the Earth? Man alone wished to go out from God, to leave Heaven and to go down on the Earth, to learn himself. Man alone wished to go down on the Earth, and then today he complains about his state! There is nothing bad in the fact that man went out of God and came on the Earth to learn, but the bad remains in the fact that the hands of the contemporary man are very delicate and he can’t work. He searches for other people to work for him but he doesn’t find anyone and finds himself in trouble. Therefore, the real reason for the dissatisfaction of man is not in his coming down on the Earth, but in the impossibility to find people to work for him. Man wants to be master, to have some servants; he says: “I need just to have one true servant to sweep, to clean my house”; if he doesn’t have such a servant, he is dissatisfied with his state. These days I observed how one sister treated one brother: the sister wanted to pick up one big stone but she couldn’t; at this time one brother passed by her, she stops him and very softly, carefully says to him: “Brother, please, pick up this stone because it is heavy, I can’t do this.” When the brother was ready to help her, she immediately became serious, changed her tone – her tone was commanding. This tone provoked a reaction in the brother and he was ready to refuse; he thought for a moment and said to himself: “It is nothing, I shall serve her; her work is simultaneously mine.” He took the stone, brought it where it had to be and left. I say: sometimes one work may be completed only with the left hand, sometimes – only with the right; there are cases when the two hands simultaneously take part in some work. You have to know one thing: man has to treat all his organs with Love if he wants his work to go well. And so, when the world has Love, they are always clean; if there is no Love in every work, it is dictated by interest, from some self-interest. For example some brothers brought their photographic cameras here to take pictures; once their desire is clean, it is good – they want to have a memory of their time spent on Rila. I had the chance to see some man walking thoughtfully, thinking about something and suddenly some photographer clicks with the camera, photographs him; this is already theft with a self-interested aim – to sell this portrait, to earn from it. Now I take out this fact for clarification of one question which many people come upon. It is said in the Writing[A3] : “The robber doesn’t come except to rob, destroy and jugulate[A4] .” From this verse I want to take out the following analogy: as some photographers stalk one man to photograph him and afterwards to sell his photo, as the devil does. The devil is nothing else but a sensible creature which tempts just, and sinful people and he lets them commit some crime, to make some mistake. After this he stalks to catch the moment of the crime, to photograph it with his camera; in a way that the devil constantly walks after people and photographs their all actions, good or bad. When the man sees his actions published in the world, he wonders who saw what he did, who published it and starts to suffer, to be tormented; he wants to buy this photographic table, to keep it for himself, but the devil doesn’t give it back. And that is why man prays now to the devil, now to God to buy from them the tables of his crimes; after great requests in the end he succeeds in buying these tables. He is already calm, and thinks that nobody will know his mistakes and crimes, that it is already finished. Before long the devil starts to go after him again, follows him and all of a sudden clicks again with his camera. This shows that the consciousness of man has to be awake – to think about what he does. The devil loves to photograph mainly the bad actions of man since they are in his interest – he constantly stalks him and after he finds him in good disposition, he shows him one of the tables of his mistakes. The disposition of this man darkens immediately and he says: “I have done so many good deeds, so why do the bad ones stay in my mind?” Devil smiles satisfied and says: “I need the bad, not the good.” The psychologists explain this phenomenon in other way – they say: “Every action, good or bad, has its reverberation, its echo.” In a way that one mistake or one crime committed once, will repeat till they disappear finally. Therefore man has to be awake, to know that there is somebody who follows him from morning to evening monitoring what he does and constantly clicks with his camera. Whoever does not want to be photographed by the devil, let him do only good deeds – the devil is not interested in the Good. You say: “Isn’t there some good creature to photograph the good actions?” There are good Creatures called Angels who in the same way as the devil, walk after people to photograph their good actions. An Angel meets some discouraged, dispirited man who has decided to kill himself; he immediately takes out his camera, clicks with it and presents to the dispirited man one of his good actions. This man looks at the photograph, smiles, sighs calmly and says: “So in me there was something good – as it is like that, there is sense to live!” Every man passes through good and bad states till in the end he understands the sense of Life. And so, the people have to understand the deep sense of Life. If they come to this state, they will not be offended by anything, nor will they succumb to praise. Often people take offence from things which don’t apply to them; for example some man passes near you and says: “You are a bad man” – you immediately take offence or become discouraged and say: “I will not become a man.” I ask why are you concerned with this, why are you discouraged? This doesn’t apply only to you – everyone could be “you”. You have to say to yourself: “This doesn’t apply to me, I am not a number you[A5] .” This pronoun may be used in a plural number – for many people it may be said “you”; every man individually is “you” again. Someone says about himself: “I am a bad man” and the pronoun “I” again covers all people. One thing you have to have in mind: there is sense in man saying something bad about himself, i.e. to ascertain one fact, as it is in reality, when he may correct himself. But if man is not ready to correct his mistake, then there is no sense to say that the picture he painted, or the letter he wrote, is not good. It is not enough for the man to tear the letter which he wrote but he has to rewrite it several times until he is satisfied. If man says about himself that he is not good, it is understood that the work he did is not good; if he says that he is good, it means that the work which he did is good and done on the right place. So, we have to speak to ourselves only the truth about things; if we say something which is not true, we have to correct it. You say: “How we will guess if what we ascertain in ourselves is truth?” The true things are easily known. For example, if you write one letter and after you read it several times, and remain satisfied with it, this letter contains true facts; if you are not satisfied with your letter, this shows that there are incorrect facts in it, that is why you have to correct it. From the one to the other end Life is only corrections – you undertake something which doesn’t go out as it has to, and you start to correct. We are sent on the Earth to complete our work as it should be; to every man a special work is given, which he has to complete alone. If he doesn’t complete his work as God demands, he can’t be free – he will come to the Earth a thousand times till he completes his work as God demands. It is necessary for man to come many times to the Earth to learn its laws, to conform to them and to apply them in his Life. And man doesn’t live only on the Earth, he doesn’t live only for the present day. The present day depends on yesterday, and the future – on the present, therefore the present is a base of the future. On the base of it every thought and every feeling which excite man today, serve as a base for the thoughts and feelings which will come in him in the future. And that is why, when we have an interest in our thoughts and feelings, we have to know that also the Invisible world is interested in them. And when the Sensible creatures which are higher than us, see that we can’t complete our work alone, they immediately come to our assistance – after they come, the mistakes are corrected easily. For example some pupil is capable but lazy and doesn’t study regularly; the teacher examines him and when he doesn’t know, he assigns a poor mark to him. The pupil is startled by the poor results and starts to study; after he wishes to study, immediately creatures from the Invisible world come to assist him, after which all the teachers pronounce that this pupil is gifted. From his side, he alone wonders from where this inspiration and disposition to study came. When the pupil has help from the Invisible world, all his works go forward. After you know this, you don’t have to be confused – if you have striving for work, if you make efforts, the Invisible world will help you. If you have its help, you will become gifted. Now I want to pay attention to the baths which you take in the lakes. If you want to have a cold bath, dip yourself in the water and quickly get out – don’t stay a long time in the cold water. You may dive and dip ten times in the water but immediately after go to the shore. What sense is there to get in cold water, to stay there some time and afterwards to get out all frozen and shivering? And man has to bathe in defined hours of the day when there are calm, harmonious draughts in the atmosphere, which make the water so – if you dip in such water, you will feel some pleasantness, will feel brisk, joyful, well disposed; such bathing already makes sense. When you want to bathe in cold water, observe if you come near it, whether it attracts you or not – if it attracts you, enter the water. Therefore, there are some conditions for bathing in cold water, which have to be kept: the time has to be kept, the atmosphere, draughts and a number of other conditions. If these conditions are kept, man will feel satisfied, disposed that he has had a cold bath; otherwise he will remain dissatisfied, will feel pins on his body and will think that he caught a cold. I say: from my personal experiences, as from [A6] the experiences of other people, man will attain positive results on the question of bathing in cold water. Without testing nothing can be reached; the acrobats who we see in the circus, have they reached these results suddenly? No, they made exercises for a long time until they reached some results. With the same reason every man has to make exercises in the field that he wants to acquire something in – Life represents an uninterrupted system of exercises. In the field of Good a number of exercises is also demanded – it is not enough for just one Good to be done, but it has to be done on time and on place. The farmer for example never throws the seed on stony ground; and the soil he sows on has to be well ploughed. For the bad developed soil is not demanded but for the Good the soil has to be always well developed. When I speak of developed soil, I understand it to be free from all useless substances and adding to it new elements. The same applies to the Life of man: in the complete Life of man, expressed in the family, in the society, in the religion and in the science, there are remainders from the past which today are useless for the new life – man has to set himself free from them and from every kind of atavism. For example, in the religious life of people there are many atavistic manifestations: it is in the prayers, in the rituals, in the forms of serving; all of this has to be set free. Some of them are useful, some are already old and have to be renewed, or completely thrown away. Many of the convictions and beliefs of the people are also old clothes which have to be changed with new. For example, on an old habit, someone throws forward his chest, wants to be brave, decisive, to strike the people with respect [A7] – this is an old cloth which has to be changed with new. The new cloth in this case is the correct, the light thought of man – only it is in the state to make him brave, decided. The light thought is a lit candle – if you go to God, your candle has to be lighted; if you go out in the evening, your candle has to be lighted. And it has to burn well, not to smoke, no smoke should go out from the candle. And the feelings of man have to be lofty, elevated – any bitterness is not allowed in the feelings. You say: “What we have to do when some suffering comes?” Your sorrow, the sufferings are in their place; if some grief or suffering comes, say: “Not only I suffer, in this moment with me many other people suffer.” If some joy comes, say: “I am glad now but with me many other people are glad.” Therefore the grief and the joy, are personal and common. Someone says: “What interests me is that together with me other people suffered – for me is important that I suffer.” I say: as important it is that you suffer, so is it important that other people suffer – why? Because the grief, the suffering is work which has to be completed – the more people that suffer simultaneously, the bigger the possibility for the successful completing of the work. In a way the grief and the suffering are not arbitrary things but since the understanding of people about the sufferings are not correct, they suffer more than need be. For these people, who understand the sufferings, they have God’s blessing. I don’t have in mind the unnecessary sufferings which people create by themselves, but I speak about these sufferings which appear as a necessary condition in the development of humanity. In the joys, as well as in the sufferings, man tests, verifies and tempers himself. One day we speak with one of our friends about generosity; he says: - I have learned this lesson, I showed my generosity many times and may say bravely for myself that I am generous. - Can you manifest your generosity now? - I can, of course. - Then help one of our friends with five thousand leva because he is in big difficulty. - I shall think a little. I say: - As I see you, your hands tremble, you can’t reach in your pocket to take out at once five thousand leva. - Can’t I give less than five thousand leva? - No, it has to be exactly five thousand. I say: when man has learnt the law of generosity, he has to be ready to reach immediately into his pocket and to take out how much they want. If the question is to help one man, to help him out of his big difficulties, help him to the end; if you say that you can help, reach in your purse, take out the money, give it to your friend and start to walk with him – don’t think about the consequences. Only in this way you will receive the Divine blessing. Not much time will pass by and you will see that the same money will come from another place. You say: “According to our understandings this is impossible – it is not easy for some man to come to you wanting a sum of money and right away you reach in your purse and to give it to him.” This is impossible for people who are like a bucket with water, since in some of them the water is at the bottom, in others – a little more. One day, when all people become springs, fountains, then whoever comes to them, they will give abundantly. Some man wants five thousand leva from you, you will give him ten – this is generosity. You will give everyone how much he wants because the water anyway runs out. Only God is absolutely generous, since He is an inexhaustible spring. If some man is generous and gives to everybody, this means that God has defined him as a steward of His goods. Today people have closed their purse, they forgot that they are appointed as stewards of the Divine goods and don’t give anything to anybody. Someone wants five leva from them but they say: “We don’t have even five coins, we can’t help you.” I ask what does it cost you to give the man five leva. It is noticed that when they want money from somebody in the name of God and he refuses to give, he always loses. The same applies to that man who wants money: if somebody wants money for some pleasure, and not needed, he will suffer in something by all means – some misfortune will happen to him. If somebody wants five leva for some good book or to eat, don’t refuse this man – the impulse in him is correct and it has to be satisfied. This man will thank you and will justify the little sacrifice, made for him. A big consciousness is demanded from the one who gives, and from the one who takes. The one who gives, he has to be sensitive, responsive, to understand the needs of the man and to help him before he is asked. If you serve in this way, you will execute the task of the day of the Good. Now, I take out a number of practical rules, and not only theory; the sense of everything is in the application. We have come on the Earth to apply, to deliver the Divine goods, and not to set things right. If it is a question of who will set things right, God thought about this, there are specialists for this work. The same may be said for the life of the individual man: if someone encounters hard tasks in his life, there are defined people, specialists who will come to assist him. If some of the screws of his machine don’t move, there are specialists for this – they will come, will grease these screws and the machine will go; till this time the machine of this man will creak a little but afterwards it will be corrected. He thought to do a lot of work but the specialist comes and the planned work stops; he says: “My work stopped.” Nothing happened from this, after the screws are greased, the work will go better. If some of you have unscrewed screws, let him not be afraid, they will be turned. It is important who has unscrewed them – if it is the saints or the devil. Whoever unscrewed them, when the specialists come, they will correct them. “Every good giving and every perfect gift from above is and gets down from the Father of the lights in who there is no alteration, either a shadow of change.”[A8] 21 July 1931, 5a.m. [A1]The exact quote should be used. [A2][spiritual] [A3][scriptures] [A4][kill] [A5]Unclear. [A6]Unclear. [compared to] or [as well as] [A7]Unclear what it is you are trying to say. Maybe [with a detailed plan/particular plan] [A8]Same as A1

Note 2p Theory and Application Now, as you have come here, you have to be well disposed, to use all the conditions which Nature offers. The disposition of man is similar to the stream of the river – when one river passes through its boundaries, it is being useful. On the base of it and every good thought [M1] which passes through the mind of man, is also useful. Therefore the power of thought stays in the good thoughts, and not in much thinking. Man to think much, this understands to care, and the care bring nothing [M2] . When a man gets up in the morning, he starts to think what he will eat; afterwards, when he has had enough to eat, what will he think about? After man has his meal, he starts to think what he will do throughout the day, but when he becomes hungry, he starts to think about eating again. I ask what people have acquired from thousands years to now after they have thought only about eating. They have created the kitchen. After thinking a long time about eating, the animals have created their kitchen. The main point in the time of eating and after it is the work which the workers in the human organism do. If they don’t come, to put every element of the food in its place, man will fall ill by all means. In order to avoid illness, he has to be in agreement with all these workers. I say: man has to be in agreement with the workers in his organism, this means for him to be in agreement with the Divine world. But sometimes man finds himself in contradiction with the Divine world, and from there – in contradiction with himself. To be in contradiction with the Divine world, this means to be in the position of a disciple who hears what his teacher teaches but his attention is deviated to the other side. Man is strong only when his mind and heart are in their place. If the mind and heart are not in their place, i.e. if they are stolen by somebody, he is compared to an empty car. If man comes to this state, his life stultifies – there is no man on the Earth who hasn’t felt such stultifying of Life. While the mind and heart of man are with him, he has a connection with the First Reason, with the whole Invisible world. Often some of you say: “We don’t understand what sense our early rising has up here and our climbing on peaks. When the Sun rises, sleep is most sweet, and we have to get up early, to climb up on the mountain.” I say: when the Sun rises, exactly then sleep is not the sweetest as some of you say. If man sleeps after the Sunrise, it is the same as putting him under the pounding water of some waterfall, which beats down on him from above – the energy of the Sun has such an effect over the nervous system of man. Sleep has sense for man only as rest, and as rest it is a big blessing. If in time of sleep workers come, who work for man, to clean his body, to air it, in the morning he will fell calm and rested; if these workers don’t come to work in man, in the morning he will wake up again tired, not rested. Therefore, if man wants to understand the deep sense of the holy books and to live a correct life, first of all he has to be in agreement with Divine laws – the power of man is in the application of these laws. Everyone may speak about God but this is still not application; application is one of the great sciences. It is not the same if somebody will speak about the theory of Love or will apply it. You say: “It is easy to apply Love.” For one who knows, it is easy, but for the one who doesn’t know, this is hard work. The difficulty is in the fact that between theory and application there is always a difference, a lack of coincidence [M3] . If man comes to the application of things, he always comes upon on some contradiction, which from its side gives rise to a number of doubts. In the application of Truth man turns obstinate, becomes so tenacious that it takes ten levers to move him from where he has become stuck. This doesn’t means that he doesn’t want to go out from this place, but he finds a contradiction with himself and somebody has to come to help him by all means. Besides himself, man may get in contradiction with the surroundings, and with God. In the application of the Truth, man has to guard not to get in contradiction with the great Truth. When the contradictions spring up alone by themselves, this is another question, but man alone hasn’t given rise to any sufferings, any contradictions. Someone asks what the reason is for the contradictions of Life. I shall give you one example to explain the contradictions which you create by yourselves: imagine that you have one good friend or benefactor who always was good to you, and did all kinds of favours and goodness to you. One day he turns to you to serve him in something but you immediately refuse with the explanation that you have work. With this refusal you alone come upon contradiction – it will not long and he will act with you as you acted with him. In the same way people act with the Spirit from which they receive all the goods; as a result of it they come upon big contradictions. The Spirit comes in them, wants some favour but they immediately refuse with the explanation that they have got no time, or the conditions don’t allow this work, or they have got no disposition and etc. Many people think that they have to serve God only in good disposition of the spirit. No, man can serve God always. If he is indisposed but he decides to serve God, his indisposition disappears immediately – in this way man verifies that between the Divine and the physical world there is an uninterrupted connection. For example the smallest contradiction in the Divine world produces the biggest breach in the physical. The Divine world is a world of perfection, a world of harmony; if man enters there, he has only to learn. If you want to reach this perfection, your thoughts and feelings have to be absolutely harmonious. After the harmony is in the Divine world, and [M4] in the physical world the consequences will be harmonious. Contemporary people want to be strong, to be esteemed and respected, and want everybody to make way to them, to yield to them. I say: who has such desires, is not a strong man. Imagine that a man, who passes for a strong man, walks along and meets one little child; in the mind of this man passes the thought: “Step aside from your way, make way for this child to pass!” But he says: “Really I, the big, the strong man, have to yield to this little child to pass first – this child is little, let it step aside from its way!” If this man says that, he doesn’t understand the laws of the Divine world. The question is not in yielding to the little children but in the disobedience – this man didn’t listen and didn’t execute what was whispered to him from the Invisible world. And afterwards he wonders where the unhappiness over his head comes from. If somebody says to you to make way for some child, or some poor, prost [M5] man, don’t ask why you have to do this – step aside from the way, afterwards you will understand why you shouldn’t do this. Now, when you meet some man on your way, you don’t know how to treat him, what to do. Every man, whom you meet, represents a task for you which you have to decide correctly. He is one good which you will acquire or will lose – it depends on you. If you act with him as God ordered, you will win by all means; if you don’t act like this, you will lose. In relations with people you have to apply the Divine measure as the soldier of the battle field serves with the sight of the rifle to fire accurately in his aim. If he directs the sight accurately, then the results will be good. But human thought defines the direction, the aim and the distance of the objects more precisely than the sight of the rifle. Therefore if man doesn’t act accordingly to the laws of Divine thought, he can’t reach anything. And after that this man will say like the soldier that his rifle doesn’t measure distance well, or his hands tremble and etc. No, it doesn’t have to be fired without sight – man has to direct his thought right on its place, as the soldier directs the bullet exactly at the target. If man doesn’t know where and how to direct his thought in order for it to work for him, he can’t do anything – the thought works for man. The same law is active in the plants: notice, the colours in the plants appear before the leaves – this shows that the colours represent the thoughts of the plants, which work for them. With its fragrance the colours attract the bees, the butterflies and the insects to help their fertilization. As thoughts and feelings, man directs his fragrance to the Sensible creatures, they attract this fragrance and work in his use [M6] . If man wants to keep the fragrance of his thoughts and feelings, he has to devote his Life to serving God. Serving shouldn’t be under constraint, constraint is not the Divine method. Serving God is not by law, or violence, but voluntarily, from Love. There is not a more beautiful or better thing for man than to get up every morning early, to pray to God and to communicate with Him. Often people search for one another, want to meet, to speak. I ask who is the most important one that you have to meet every day? There is no more important moment in the Life of man than this, only to catch a glimpse of the face of God. But if you get up in the morning with the desire to meet God but you have doubt in this and say that God will not be interested in you, you really will not meet Him. How is it possible for God not to be interested in you, in your work, after He alone created you and ever since your creation He has been interested in you? Once He created you, He already cares about you but you don’t care about Him. Whoever doesn’t care for God, gradually loses his powers and remains backward in his development, he doesn’t progress. Not to be interested in God means the same as not to be interested in what the teachers teach you. A father sends his son to school but he doesn’t learn his lessons, shirks school and in the end remains ignoramus – such is the state of everyone who doesn’t care about God. Therefore the contradictions in Life are due to the fact that man has deviated from the correct way. As a result of this people complain that they don’t understand many things. Actually, when they had to learn, they had shirked school that is why today many people don’t understand music, art and a number of branches of science. Many contemporary people don’t know how to eat correctly as a result their stomach doesn’t work well. People shirked in many works that is why they have become backwards in their development. For this purpose the Invisible world prepared a plan with which it wants to help humanity return to the right way, to continue its development. I say: Till now God sent ambassadors from the Invisible world to work over people as He asked them if they want it or not. But today God sends ambassadors, from the Invisible world, who don’t ask anybody for anything – they take their hammers and start to work over the houses of people. It is already time to get out from their houses and be under the open sky, in clear air. This state people call unfavourable conditions. With the good weather which we have today, the Invisible world turns attention to all people that if they execute the Will of God, in the future the sky will be so clear as today, and the Sun will shine and be pleasantly warm as today. But if between people the smallest disharmony appears, the conditions change, and together with them – Nature. Living Nature is nothing else except a combination of the activity of countless Sensible creatures; that is why namely the sin has a harmful effect over people, and over Nature. Notice, if you do the smallest evil to some man, he already reacts against you, sends his bad feelings to you; if you do the smallest good, he start to love you and sends to you his good feelings and dispositions. Therefore, the good life of people is the first condition for improvement of humanity, for the correcting of the world. And so, in order to avoid the bad conditions of Life, people have to be careful in the application of their knowledge. But they have to know that yesterday’s knowledge can’t help them – today people need new knowledge, new science. You say: “Why can’t yesterday’s knowledge help us?” The past has already given its results, the present is important. Has the three which has grown one centimeter yesterday for example, to say today that it doesn’t need to grow more? Yesterday was for yesterday – today is demanding something new, one little appendage to the old. The little appendage namely I call new knowledge, new science. What you acquire today, it will benefit you. Someone says: “I got up early yesterday, climbed to the top, today I can rest a little, and sleep a while.” No, yesterday has passed, it has already entered in the building of your building, but do you have to stop this building? Every day it has to be built a little, every day something has to be added to the building. If man builds uninterrupted, he executes the Will of God and takes part in His work. Now, if you want to build correctly, you have to keep in your mind only harmonious, correct thoughts. These thoughts will be delivered to the surroundings – the thought is a power which moves things. If man thinks a long time over one question, he will make wonders in this direction; if he thinks a long time over one object to move it in some direction, he may do this. When the thought of man is uninterrupted, it may change the whole situation, it may change the surroundings. But if man thinks one day in one way, and on another day thinks another way, or if he thinks for five years in one way, and another five years in another way, he will not reach anything. The thoughts of man over one given question, has to have a common connection, absolutely uninterrupted. Contemporary people put a barrier between the physical and the spiritual life as they say that between the physical and the spiritual there is no connection. Since they think like that, they often say: “This man lives only a physical life, he is a big materialist”; for the other man they say that he is a spiritual man, that he is a big idealist. I say: the physical and the spiritual life are deeply connected – they are parts of one whole, of the complete, of the Divine world. The physical life is on the surface of the water, a life of the sea waves. When you observe the sea, its surface may be calm or rough. If the sea ruffles, the movement of the water gives a depth mostly from ten-fifteen metres; the life of water till this depth represents the physical life. The deeper one goes down in the sea, the quieter and calmer it becomes; this life represents the spiritual. I ask, in this situation of the things may appear a border of between the physical and the spiritual life and to be said that there is difference between materialism and idealism? In fact between materialism and idealism there is no difference. The matter is matter, the Spirit is Spirit, the thought is a thought, the feeling is a feeling, but matter without Spirit could be, or Spirit without matter; feeling without thought could be, or thought without feeling. Many people think that materialists don’t believe in God, that they are unbelievers. This can’t be taken as a common rule because you will meet in your life materialists who are pious people, and idealists who don’t believe in God. You meet one materialist, looking at him from head to foot, you say: “This man doesn’t believe in God, he thinks only for his belly”, but exactly this man will invite you in his house and will treat you. You meet after that one idealist, a spiritual man who prays several times a day, reads prayers but in case of need will not give you either a piece of bread, or money. I ask what do you benefit from the faith of this man? The man who will serve you has real faith, and will help you in case of need. The power of man is in application, and not in theory. God is satisfied with us when we apply, and not when we just have theories. Application is demanded from contemporary people – the one who is not ready to apply, he doesn’t have to convict himself, but every day he has to add something new in his life. Some think that the old people are more spiritual that the young; to think like this, is the wrong conclusion. The young man may be more spiritual than the old person, as the old person may be a bigger materialist than the young person. The young man is ready to do all kind of favours; the old man doesn’t love to serve. If you let the old man serve you with something, he immediately starts to draw back with the explanation that his legs don’t carry him, that he is indisposed and etc. The young people apply. Someone says: “I am tired already!” Yes, you are tired because you don’t apply. Tiredness is in connection with the law of application – who applies correctly, he rests; who applies incorrectly, he tires. Someone hammers the whole day but when he doesn’t know how to hammer, he becomes weak, tires and gives up working any farther; the one who knows how to hammer, he can complete his work in five minutes. The application wants ability, and not effort. Someone takes a nail, he wants to knock it in some board: he hits once – he can’t knock it in, he hits a second time – he doesn’t succeed again, he hits a third time but masterly – and the nail goes in the board. Therefore everything is in the ability to apply. Some man wants to complete some work but when he doesn’t succeed, he starts to cry, to pray to God to help him. There is no need for this man to cry, he has to work, to persevere. When he works, he will attain the most correct way of application. Some man thinks that when he exhausts his body, when he eats little, he will become a spiritual man. I say: most important thing in eating is to eat with gratitude; the most important thing in trade is to sell and buy honestly. Every work which is done with Love is respectable – if you work in the physical or in the Spiritual world, it is important to work with Love. And so, put in your mind the thought not to get old, but to become young eternally. The old man wants to be esteemed and respected but on what above. [M7] If he has Love in his heart, everybody will esteem and respect him. If he wants to be loved, let him takes on his back one bag with fruits and to go in some village to give away: to one child – one apple, to another – a pear, to a third – a nut. Won’t the children love him – all the children will run after him, will want to see him because he will give something to everybody. But if this old man comes in the village and instead of fruit gives to every child a slap, will they love him? No, all the children will avoid this old man and will point at him from far. Therefore the Divine Love manifests in the physical world with a bag full with fruits; the Divine Love manifests in the physical world in correct relations between the people. You meet some man discouraged, thoughtful; you will tell him some encouraging words, will invite him in your home, will treat him, you will walk with him and in this way his state will change. Whoever can understand the need of man and help him on time, he is a clever man. I shall deliver one short example in order to see what a favour is, or timely help; one traveler goes with his cart but the cart stops at a point in time, it can’t go farther. The carter gets down from the cart, looks here and there – nothing can be seen, he doesn’t know where the damage is, he is thoughtful, he can’t continue on his way. One, two, three men pass near him, all of them ask him why he is thoughtful and leave. The fourth man passes, stops at the cart, looks on one side, on the other side and finds that on one of the wheels a nail has fallen out; he picks up a stick from the ground, puts it in the place of the nail and the cart start to move. The carter thanks him and goes on his way. I say: don’t ask the man why and what for he thinks and suffers but put one stick in his wheel and leave – this is the real application. I say to all the people, one stick has fallen from their car and by all means somebody has to come to put it in its place. I meet some man who is thoughtful about something, I say: one stick has fallen from the cart of this man. Who is sharp-witted, after he sees one sister or one brother thoughtful, without speaking, he will take one stick, will put it in his cart and will leave. This is the correct way of application of the law of Love; if you act like this, your Life will develop correctly. In this way the Invisible world helps people. Now, we will go to the Kidney, the fifth lake where we will do some gymnastic exercises and will warm ourselves in the Sun for a while. After that we will go down to the bivouac to have lunch and to give thanks for the beautiful day. What will happen with us, don’t think about that, it is already defined from time immemorial. What will happen with you is what God defined and it is something very nice and unexpected for everybody. 20th July 1931, 5a.m. --------------------------------------------------------- [M1] Unclear. On the base of what? Maybe the following is meant - [On the base of it, every good thought…] [M2] Unclear. [if man thinks much, this means to worry, and worry brings nothing.] [M3] Unclear. [concurrence] [M4] [then] [M5] There is no word like this. [M6] [for his benefit] [M7] Unclear. [but on what grounds]

Note 5 A Day for Divine Work I'll read chapter 54 of Isaiah, which I call the head of the human soul. Whoever believes that his soul came from God, he will never be deprived of His Love. A man is not in the external form we see - dressed in flesh and blood, but he is in the soul that came from God. The soul is the Divine in human beings, exactly what Isaiah is writing about. Throughout the book of Isaiah we see his great consciousness, even though he had lived before Christ. He juxtaposes things justly by comparing the soul to a woman and comparing the relation of the soul to God to the one between the Earth and the Sun. If the Earth was inexistent the rising Sun itself would still shine. For the Earth revolving around however, the Sun is rising and setting. The sun rises and sunsets have their meaning on Earth. What the Sun is for our Earth, so is the idea of God for the human soul. Only the idea of God is capable of bringing life into the human soul, to help her growth and development. The Sun for the human soul is God - when this Sun gives light, the soul is growing, when It is not shining, the soul stops its progress. If somebody asks: “Why believe in God?” this is equivalent to asking why the Sun has to rise. Faith in this sense is a motion – when the man believes, he is moving near God. Similarly the Earth in its motion is turning around the Sun. We shall name today a day for divine work. You shall consecrate it to work around our camp. Where there are twisted paths, they should be straightened; where the paths are bushy with grass or pine-scrub, they should be cleaned. Whatever changes you perform outside, whatever you clean outside, the same happens inside you. How many hours shall you dedicate to the work for God? (– Three hours.) So everybody shall dedicate three hours from his time to cleaning. You shall be content looking around the site, and the outsiders coming here shall be content as well. Whoever comes from the outside shall see that the people who live here possess great ideas. You shall clean as if God is going to visit you. Whenever you work with love, you shall be joyful and merry. Many are sitting thinking about their affairs and worrying that they are messy. You must know that today contains all the goodness in itself. If today was a good day, tomorrow will be good too; if today is bad, tomorrow will be the same – this is the Divine law. If the tree is good, the fruit shall be good too. In the Divine World what is the beginning, so is the end. The opposite is also true – what is the end, so was the beginning; in the human world however it is not so. Often people are not successful in life because they collide with two ideas. For instance they start a task and immediately think what shall be its ending – they think about the stuff they shouldn’t. After getting up in the morning, and seeing that the weather is good, they say: “What shall tomorrow be?” Tomorrow should be what today is – if today is good, tomorrow should be better. When we reach tomorrow, it should be good, and the day after should be better. The word better means comparison and good means something realizable. For that reason today is always good because it is giving us the possibility to achieve. I say: everybody who came here to the Rila Mountains must free himself from a shortcoming or from an evil habit. For instance, one is walking too stooped. If you come here, you should not have any hunches, pains, or faults. You must leave all pains, all ailments in the water and return home liberated. The fresh mountain air can heal anybody. You have to breathe pure air and bathe several times a day. For instance, you should wash your hands five, six, or ten times every day each time saying a beautiful verse. A quality of water is: no matter where you pour it, it flows down and nothing remains. When you wash your face with water, it falls down without remaining on it. Therefore, “the water of Life” meaning is twofold, as clarified in the verses Christ had said a long time ago: “If you are not born from water and Spirit, you could not enter the kingdom of God. Whoever is born from water and Spirit is always pure”. Hence the water is a symbol of spotlessness. Could the fish have mud on his back? This is impossible. However, when the fish gets out of the water and begins to roll on the ground, it could get dirty. Similarly to this, one sometimes makes assumptions without any logic. For instance, it is impossible to stumble while watching the sun rising, or if the sunlight enters into one’s soul. Why? Because the person can see through his eyes. Whoever has eyes could not and should not stumble. If he is stumbling, this signifies a defect in his eyes or somewhere else. If the man is stumbling and falling down, this is evidence that two elements, Peace and Light - are missing in this soul. The same appears on the physical plane too – if a negative thought enters one’s mind, he/she either stumbles, or falls down. Hence all discouragements are like stumbling sticks in Life. Whenever one is being discouraged, the invisible word tells him: “The Sun of Life is high, it is day outdoors. There is Light, and nothing to worry about.” Therefore the discouragement is a temporary process. Isaiah the prophet says: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper”. The human soul is invincible – it could be besieged or attacked, but no weapon is capable of defeating it. Somebody walks alone in the forest thinking: “What if a bear appeared now from somewhere; what could I do alone, where could I hide?” And God tells him from inside: “There is no weapon or a killer able to harm your soul”. The bear then would ask him: “Do you know who created me?” - “The Lord.” – “Because you recognized that God made me, even if I like to slay horses and donkeys, I shall not touch you.” If a burglar meets you, he would ask you: “Do you know who created me?” – “The Lord.” – “If you know that God created me, even though I am robbing and cheating people all the time, I’ll do nothing bad to you. You are free.” The Black Death or another illness would come to him and ask: “Do you know who created me?” – “The Lord.” – “Because you know this, I’ll go around without injuring you.” So God said through Isaiah the prophet: “No killer or a weapon is able to damage the human soul.” I ask: why the diseases are coming into Life? Suppose a man has some impurities inside him, and then the malady as a garbage collector would come with its chariot to throw away these impurities. After the healing, he would weigh himself and see that the disease had taken about ten kilograms of his weight. When he was healthy, he was quarrelling with one or with another, but since he has fallen ill, everything had been taken away. And he says “Glory to the Lord that I am free from this great disaster!” In this sense, all the diseases, sufferings and miseries are nothing but blessings sent by God and which are to be grateful for. After each difficulty like this the mind and the heart are put in order. And a man is joyful and content that all his affairs are moving forward – he gained in his consciousness an internal Peace and Light. Now apply yourselves to clean the place around your tents, to dig around well, to remove all the sticks. After that, pour three buckets of water on every tent to clear the dust from it. Do not wait for the rain to do the job. The water is a life blessing - taken symbolically, it washes, dissolves and carries the dirt away. Whenever you are worried or sad, experiment different ways to transform your condition. A consecrated man is capable of gaining an income from everything. Take the moss for example: the stones are still a good soil for it, while unable to serve as such for higher plants. Being able to live on the rocks, the moss is somehow fed from them. Therefore, when you feel sad and worried about something, do the following experiment: Take a bucket full of water and pour from it ten times onto some big stone, while saying to yourself: “As the water is washing this stone, so let it wash and take away my sadness.” You would say that such an experiment is ridiculous, because it could not give any result. Just try it - as the stone is able to give food to the moss, it could give something to you as well. I ask: if you bake stones aren’t they giving something? You would again say that it is impossible to bake a stone. Then what would you say about limestone? When the limestone is baked, it brings lime and carbon dioxide. After that, when the lime has slackened it has a good application into life. Therefore, when the stone is washed with water there would be a reaction similar to slackening the lime. The wise would use this reaction, and the unwise would abandon any effort. Not every stone indeed would give something new when washed with water and baked on the fire, but the aspirant must search and perform experiments. For only research and experimenting will bring results. Once, a Turk was engaged to dig and to clean a vineyard from the grass and the weeds. There was a lot of couch grass in the vineyard, which was extremely difficult to eradicate. The man had worked all day long and was totally exhausted. When leaving at dusk, he took some of the couch in his pocket (he did not know the herb’s name), to avoid working at such a place again. The next day, he went again to the marketplace looking for a job. A gentleman approached him to engage him to clean his vineyard. The Turk took the grass out of his pocked and asked, “Is there a herb like this in your vineyard?” – “Yes.” – “Then I am not taking the job.” And so, we shall begin the day with work and we should give thanks for all the good days we have.

Note 3 Adding and Deducting Lighting and Extinguishing the Candle „And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again." Luke 10:6 A Secret Prayer Faithful, true, pure and kind you should always be! It is interesting why Christ tells his disciples never to greet when walking along the road. Nowadays it is considered good manners to greet somebody, but Christ says not to greet people when walking along the road. The line is clear by itself: Christ says that He sends them as sheep among wolves. I ask, when a sheep meets a wolf, how will the sheep greet the wolf? The word greeting implies that only two intelligent persons who love each other can greet each other. Only intelligent people can greet one another. People who do not have any intelligence cannot greet each other, cannot talk to each other. Often too much talking does not achieve the goal it was intended for. There is no point dwelling on evidence that such is life; you yourselves know this. Those who talk a lot, accomplish little. Now, what is the objective of your meetings? Is it to talk to one another? You say, ‘Let’s gather together![1]’ Well, there is nothing unusual in this! Which people do not gather together? People gather together in pubs, people gather together in the streets, people gather together in cinemas, people gather together in churches – people gather together everywhere, so you were saying, ‘Let’s gather together!’ Well, when was it that you did not gather together? I find this gathering together of yours rather usual. It would be more unusual not to gather together, and for one of you to go to one place in the forest, while another one goes to another place in the forest, a third one – to some place one kilometer away from the other two, so that no one knows who is where. Of course you should not understand it in the direct sense, but I am just giving a hint, because we often try to find the meaning of life where it is not. If the gathering together is done consciously, under the influence of the Divine Love, then such a meeting makes sense, but when the gathering together is the result of thoroughly different considerations, then the results are thoroughly different too. Now, let’s come to the substantial issue: what are the features of the gathering together? You have all been first year school children, and I even believe that you have graduated elementary school. In such a case, what are the features of a gathering, what makes it different? There is an increase in gathering together; this is what makes it different. Hence, when things gathering together they increase. The opposite process is to be found in deduction: when we deduct, things decrease. So, the real point of your gathering together is to increase. Well, now that you gather together, do you increase? Only gathering together is not enough, but does each one of you, on leaving the gathering, feel that one has become bigger than what one used to be? At every meeting one’s body should increase organically at least by one 1/10000th of the millimetre. When one goes to a gathering, particularly to praying meetings as is ours, one must have increased at least a little according to the law of gathering together . Now let’s assume that one of you goes to a first class dining place, having the best of chefs, who has prepared ten of the very best pastries, which you like a lot: one with cabbage, another with onion, a third one with carrots, a fourth one with spinach, a fifth one with cheese etc. If you eat from all those pastries, what would you gain? If I enter the same dining place and if I take a sweet pastry made with milk and dashed with sugar, and you eat from the ten pastries, who has gained more? You who have eaten from these ten pastries will decrease, because these pastries are very expensive. You were of a bigger weight before getting into the dining place, because you had more money in your pocket, but when you left, you already weigh less, you have decreased. Subsequently the first rule on entering a dining place is to act in accordance with the law on gathering: you gather pieces of the pastries together. But when you leave the dining place, you act in accordance with the law on deducting, and as a result a neutralisation takes place, i.e. the acquisition is neutralised. Do you now get wind of where I am driving you at? You are all smart people; well, I will give you a task to see how you will solve it: you have one unit; can you divide it into more than 10 parts? No, a unit can only be divided into ten parts. It cannot be divided into more than ten parts, without repeating numbers. For instance, if you divide into twelve or thirteen parts, you will have the sum of the numbers 1 and 2 or 1 and 3 and so on. So, the same figures up to nine are repeated again, but are not something new. Subsequently an apple can be divided only into ten parts; it cannot be divided into more than ten parts. This is the law; this is how things are in the Divine world: a unit can only be divided into ten parts. As soon as we come to the human world, the unit there can be divided into many parts. Now, we are moving to the important issue. In general all people strive to attain Divine Love, don’t they? What are the features of Divine Love? You have been searching for Divine Love for so many years, but are you aware of at least one of the features of Divine Love? Can someone among you read a paragraph from chapter thirteen of the First Epistle to the Corinthians? As soon as Love appears on the physical level, you all know already that it deals with material stuff. A child says to his or her mother, ‘Mummy, if you love me, give me some bread!’; that is all there is to it. A student says to a teacher, ‘If you love me, give me knowledge!’; this is a slightly higher condition of Love. So, as long as we associate material stuff with Love, Divine Love cannot be manifested, because there will always be competition. If you have one benefactor who supports you, but supports ten other persons at the same time, and one of them is sponsored more lavishly, discontent will arouse within you, although this person supports you as well. There is discontent also in studying: those who progress in their studies are discontent. Hence, real Love begins when one comes to the borderline where discontent disappears. I see that a mother loves her child, but the child dies. She weeps; she suffers and tells herself, ‘I cannot do without this child; why did God take my child away from me?’ God gives her another child, she also loves the child very much and she says again that she cannot do without this child; but before long the child grows up and a rupture appears between the mother and the child. I ask what happened that this love faded. Where has it disappeared? It is actually our understanding that the mother cannot do without the child. Mothers hold their children in their arms; they raise their children and they think that they cannot live without their children. Children also think that they cannot live without their mothers but due to one reason or another, this mother had to give her child to the servant or to another woman to raise the child, and we see that in ten years or so the child of this woman actually started resembling the [foster] mother[A1] . So, the idea that she cannot live without the child, is right only in respect of God. Let me explain to you what is implied in the thought that she cannot live without this child: imagine that you have a small lamp and you say, ‘I cannot live without the lamp.’ What is it exactly that you cannot live without – the lamp itself, the bulb of the lamp or is it something else that you cannot live without? You cannot live without Light. The light of the lamp is actually the substantial issue that you cannot live without, while the bulb is merely a conductor of this Love. As long as Divine Love flows through this child, I cannot live without the child, but as soon as it stops flowing through the child, it no longer makes sense. Hence this form is meaningful only because it contains Light. Light, however, is not the utmost limit of Divine Love. Behind this light, which we see in the form of rays, there is another more substantial thing. It is not Light that can satisfy us. We open the book of Life, this Light falls on the book and we read; so, this Light is necessary for you to read the book of Life. But the meaning is not in reading itself; this reading shows us the Path to God. So the Lamp is needed for the manifestation of Light; Light is needed for the manifestation of the book and for us to read; the book shows Life, discloses its hidden meaning, and Life shows us the Path to God. Once we accomplish all this, we are glad and we start with Light towards this Path. The important thing that you should know is that all those things that exist are aids, instructions to the Great and Divine in the world. The love existing among people, the relations existing among them, these are all things that direct us to God. If one knows how to watch, one will find something nice anyway in every other person, in every being, no matter how small they may be. If one is able to grasp this nice feature one will add something to one’s life. Now, I see that you all have started doing it backwards: you meet on the physical level, but on the spiritual level you have started deducting and keep finding only negative features in one another. What are you deducting? You say that sister so and so has a negative feature. Do you know what happens when you say so? One ray of this lamp goes out. Then you say about some woman, ‘Do you know what disability this sister has?’; and a second ray of the lamp goes out. You say about a third person, ‘She has brought only discord since she joined the meeting!’ and see a third ray goes out. ‘Well, this one, the fourth one, ever since she joined us, we have been inflicted by all the misfortunes!’; and again a fourth and a fifth ray of the lamp goes out. You talk in the same negative way about the fifth, about the sixth, about the seventh, about the eighth etc. sister and before you realise the rays of light in the lamp go out one after another, until in the end the whole lamp is out. You deduct, and deduct and darkness falls after all this. This is a psychological law, which causes the Light in our mind, in our consciousness, to go out. You deduct and you deduct until in the end you find yourself in complete darkness. Everything has gone out in your mind and finally you say, ‘God, why did you make the world like this?’ God says, ‘Those who extinguish the Light in their mind, as you do, will remain to live in darkness and obscurity.’ What do you have to do? You will start the reverse process and you will say, ‘That sister over there has started improving, she has become an excellent piano player let her come and play for us.’; she comes, sits at the piano and starts playing. And she plays well! The lamp is lit immediately. Then you say about some other sister, ’Do you know that sister so and so is a writer, she writes very well, let’s invite her to read something to us!’’ she comes, reads a poem of hers, everybody is pleased, everybody is glad and the Lamp increases its light. ‘Well, that sister over there is an artist, let her bring in her paintings for us to see!’; she brings in her paintings, everybody looks at them, everybody is glad. The Lamp increases her Light even more. It is said about another sister, ‘This sister has attended training in sewing and works well, let’s ask her to deliver a training course for us!’ The Lamp increases its Light even more. It is said about some other sister, ‘Do you know what delicious pastries this sister makes, come on, let’s ask her to make a pastry for us!’; she makes a pastry, everybody is glad, pleased, and the Lamp keeps increasing its light even more. The more you emphasise the positive features of one another, the stronger the light in the Lamp will be, until finally it is lit to its fullest capacity. And since you aim at the positive side of Life, this is the only way to cultivate your character. This is the Divine in man. Otherwise, looking only for the negative features in one’s character, you are becoming banal. Today I was explaining a great law in Life: there are two types of men in the world and two types of women: women of the first type are heroes, while of the other one – cowards; men of the one type are heroes, while of the other one – cowards. God tells both of them, ‘There will be suffering!’ You are asked from the Invisible world whether you want to suffer like heroes or like cowards. We, contemporary people, want to avoid suffering. No one can avoid suffering. I say that suffering in the present century is a condition for one’s development. Both cowards and heroes suffer, but I am asking you whether you want to suffer like heroes or like cowards? Which is better for you? Like heroes! If I tell you that you have to suffer like heroes, you say that this is not suitable for you. If you say that you have to suffer like cowards, this is absolutely not suitable for you. The Scripture reads, ‘Cowards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.’ What does this line mean? This means that Love cannot permeate the soul of a coward. Fear is a negative feature. Cowards represent a stony soil, where nothing can grow; therefore a coward cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. I would translate this line in another way, ‘Springs cannot flow in deserts, fruit cannot be born, death reins everywhere there.’ This is to say that the desert cannot be inherited by people. In order for the desert to be inherited by people, there must be springs flowing, while Life can spring only from Love. Rivers, springs, and trees – all these are an emblem of a Power which is derived from Love. Each one of you should stop and think things over well; to have a positive thought in respect of the Divine Providence and to know where exactly one can find this Divine Providence. Each good thought which is imprinted into your mind, is a good echo of the Divine thought. When a good thought visits you, when you experience a good urge, when a good friend visits you, when you read a good book, when the sky is clear or when a beautiful star catches your attention, do not miss these. All this is a speech coming from Heaven. If this star has caught your attention, you will stop and see what it wants to let you know. Now, I will present a picture to you, for you to see how Heaven speaks: imagine that you are in a dark stormy night, you cannot find your way around, you have lost the path, you do not know where you are; a wind blows for a while and you see the Polar Star. What does it show you? It shows the direction, it shows where East is, where West is, where North and South are. This star wants to show you that you have taken the westerly direction, and you have to return and take the easterly direction; this is the direction of your path. As soon as it has communicated this to you, shortly afterwards the sky gets clouded over again and the star is not to be seen. Has this star communicated anything to you? Yes, it determines your path… Further on along the path you see that a candle is lit in a lodge somewhere far away in the distance. You have to understand the voice of this lit candle… I will present another picture to you: imagine that you are travelling on a dark stormy night, there is a violent blizzard and you lose your way. At one moment you see that a small candle not far away from you is lit. What does this candle want to communicate to you? It wants to communicate to you, ‘Come and be my guest! This is the only way that you can be saved from death! Our Lord [Master] is very good; therefore we opened the window.’ So sometimes it will be dark, stormy and unpleasant in your life and you will tell yourselves, ‘I do not want to live! Let’s hope that a disease of some kind will send me to the other world.’ But exactly at this time a Light will appear from somewhere, which will tell you, ‘Come to our home!’ So, God speaks to the soul through this Light and He says, ‘Have no fear, there is a shelter for you!’ This is what this Light in the dark gloomy night communicates. This Light is an expression of Love. And we love God, through this Light He sends His Love to the worlds. And everybody who understands the language of this Light will see that Divine Love lies behind each of its rays. This is what it means to understand the true meaning of Light. Or put in a mystic language, you will feel a sacred tribulation within your soul and if you have been desperate, you will immediately feel an internal gentleness, you will cheer up, you will feel elevated and you will start doing your work. So, now I am telling all of you: when you gather together, do not start putting the rays of Light out. You have already mastered the art of finding fault with other people even little children can do this. Even animals too, when they gather together, they look at each other and they tell themselves, ‘You are no good, we know you, we can’t trust you!’ A bird meets you, it looks at you and it says, ‘I know you.’ It has no faith in you either; it also puts a ray of Light out. I am just praying in the forest and all of a sudden a hare passes by me; when I stump my foot, the hare sets off in among the trees, hides there and says, ‘I do not believe in your prayer.’ The hare puts out a ray of the lamp’s Light. I am writing poetry of some sort and a bird passes by me and all of a sudden it flies far away; and it says, ‘I do not believe in you, I have tested poets like you.’ And it wipes out another ray of Light. Birds too are faithless; they too apply this negative thought in respect of you. I have tested birds: some bird flies, comes towards me and I tell the bird, ‘Come here to my hand!’ It enquires, ‘What guarantee can you give me that you won’t hurt me? I’d better sing in the tree, rather than perch on your hand.’ It does not trust me; it does not perch on my hand. So far I have known only one bird that has perched on my hand, a bird which trusted me. All of the others have flown away, they do not trust me. But if one manifests the Love of God, birds will trust such a person too. In 1917 when I was in Varna there was a closet in my hotel, where I kept coal. Two blackbirds came in once – a female and a male. I took them upstairs into my room, as the winter was freezing cold, there were many blizzards and it was very cold in the closet. I said to myself, ‘I will pay as much as it takes for the birds.’ I took a bucket of grain in the morning, lit the brazier and sat there to warm myself. The male blackbird got scared, flew away and sat by the window, but the female came to the brazier, climbed on my legs and afterwards it went to the window. In a short while it came to the brazier again, climbed on my shoulder and then went again to the window. Finally it came to me and sat on my hand. I am asking you how you could interpret this; why did it climb on my leg, then my shoulder and finally my hand. The male blackbird told her, ‘You, woman, see this man, I have tried men, and I know what they are like!’ She is looking at me with her sad eyes and I am looking at her, then she flew away from my shoulder, she went to the window and said to me, ‘Mister, you are very kind, you made a fire, you gave us water, you gave us grains, but would you now open the window so that we can fly outside to carry on with our work.’ I talk to her in a birdie language, ‘The weather outside is foul, stormy; when it gets warmer I myself will open the windows for you to fly away.’ She went to the male blackbird, spoke to him and then they became quiet. They went to bed very calm in the evening… This is the only bird which trusted me completely. This is to say that they have consciousness. The male blackbird does not trust people and you resemble the male blackbird now. God does Good to you, but you say, ‘God does Good to us, but there is no knowing?...’ How many of you are like the female blackbird? I say that this is a praiseworthy example; every person has to have such faith in God and has to know that even in the darkest and stormiest night, one may find oneself in the closet, from where God will pick him or her into His room. God will have providence for you too. One shall not conquer the Kingdom of God by looking outside. The outside world shall not alter for our sake. When we talk about the Divine world, we mean an internal change, this internal softening of the human heart. I consider a stormy dark night something very beautiful and I will tell you why: a night like this can be a blessing for me. Imagine that I am a person who has been travelling aimlessly here and there all my life, I haven’t done anything good and by going round in this dark stormy night I lose my way in the forest and all of a sudden I see a small window opening and a small candle lighting. I take the direction of this small light and I enter the lodge of a good, noble person who opens the book of Life and directs me to God. Wasn’t this night a great blessing for me? This night saved me. Sometimes the good day can bring ruin to a person. Imagine that I go to this person who will show me the path to God, by passing by a pub I see friends of mine sitting in front of it at the tables, drinking and having fun. It is a fine, beautiful day, the Sun is shining brightly. Looking at them I ask myself, ‘Who is going to go to this person right now? Isn’t it better to stop by and to have some fun?’ I stop by and I miss my Good, this beautiful day succeeded in tempting me. Do not think that the external environment is something real! No, it is not something reliable and do not think that your good is hidden in it. Do not think that your health always hides your happiness. Tolstoy himself said that a good idea dawned upon him after each illness and after each recovery; he came out of these having acquired something Divine. Sometimes it seems that one is neither here nor in Heaven, but afterwards a person moves to a new phase. So that true health lies in the fact that one should be in agreement with God, in agreement with righteous and good people on the surface of the earth or with those people who live up there in Heaven. Now, you all have to aspire to be a paragon of pure Life. I see that now you have certain peculiar habits which I explain in an absolutely different way: all of you have descended to an area of the enchanted world. Almost all people from religious societies go through this area. It is known about this area that no Light from the outside is given to it, and every one lights one’s path with as much Light as one has; each one lights one’s own path, but the area itself is dark. In this dark area you will meet many beings, lagging behind in their evolution for thousands of years and they will fly at you like predators, they will avail of your Light, they will attack you with their criticism, they will tell you, ‘You are a good person, you are a bad person’, the whole world is considered bad by them. At last when you lose your faith, they will attack you fiercely and they tell you, ‘You are not a saint either, there is no worse sinner than you in the world, don’t you think you have taken the right Path! Once we also started along this Path like you, but nothing came out of it. Stay with us, we shall show you what we do!’ If you believe them, you will remain a resident of this enchanted area to be their servant. Right now there is no need for you to listen to other people’s advice. Those who pass through this area will close their ears not to hear them. When you get out of this area you will take the wadding out of your ears and you will hear the best of stories. One has to be deaf when passing through this area. The world may improve, but we need methods. God has all the ways and methods to improve the world. He will transform it. In order to be able to help yourselves, in order to be able to help your neighbours, you have to learn God’s methods. You often read the Gospel and you cannot understand it. Why? Because the Spiritual cannot not be conveyed by books. For instance, let’s take a picture of a lamp, but does it represent Light? No, it is only a small representation of Light. Can Light stream out of it? No Light can stream out of it. So, the first condition when the Divine comes into a human being is that at least a small change should take place in one’s mind and one should be pleased with everything that God gives to him or her; to do the smallest jobs and to try to realise each good thought or each good desire, no matter how small it might be. Because the thousand, the million drops form the springs, the many rivers on their part form the sea. The power of man lies in these small impulses, in these small goods that one can do. You understood everything I told you, didn’t you? (The Master draws a minaret.) You know that the imam speaks the same no matter to which step of the minaret he has climbed. Likewise you too, no matter how high you will climb, you speak the same. A sister says, ‘You do not understand what it means when the Spirit talks.’ And the other one says the same. No, this is like the imam speaking from the minaret. If a sister talks like this, I will tell her, ‘Yes, sister, you speak very well, but let us now go and visit a sick person, to say a prayer. Since you know better, you will lead it while I will only say amen to it all, and let’s hope that you will be able to help. You have been serving God for a long time, you do what you think fit, and I will bring water and will say amen to it.’ But you say, ‘No, sister, I do not deal in such affairs. The karma of this sick person has not as yet flown out; there is nothing to help him about.’ The issue about karma has another aspect: you try to be of help and do not think about other people’s karma. I take another perspective to the issue: the evil that is manifested in God is not evil; it is only a trial, because there must be something in one’s life, which can test one’s power [strength]. The evil in a person is the positive side of one’s life. If one is intelligent one will know how to cope with those strong movements in one’s life. If one thought or one feeling is strong within a person or if one’s speech is strong, one will utilise all of these to one’s benefit. It’s not bad for one to be angry. One will take one’s anger and will tell it, ‘Listen, it has been many years since I gave birth to you! I fed you; you ate and drank; now it’s time for me to make you work and for you to listen to me!’ You will show it the stick and you will ask it, ‘Will you listen to me? You will first learn to stay put, then you will wait, you will be good and only when I tell you to capture somebody, you will do so! Until I tell you what to do, you will listen to my commands!’ It will respond, ‘I will, Your Excellency!’ It will only sit and ask, ‘Is it time to capture him or her?’ It sits, sharpens the knife for a day or two, or three, it waits, but I take it with the axe to the forest everyday and I tell it, ‘Get down to work!’ When we return I ask it, ‘Are you pleased?’ – ‘Yes, I am.’ Make your anger chop wood, make it whitewash; this is its business, it will do it perfectly well. Now, let’s go back to the main point; you all need to do internal work in Life, but whatever you have to start, keep it silent, do not say a word to anybody. There is one rule in Esoteric science: you should not let anybody know what you do, only the fruit should be shown externally. This is how musicians, artists, poets, and anybody else should work. If people listen to the practicing of music, they will be bored. Therefore, a musician should play and practice alone. When should he play before people? When he completes his studies or when he completes his picture or when he completes his poetry. So now, you all have to keep silent, but not to be silent about everything. No, you shall be silent about the substantial issues! If you understand it literally, you will fall silent and a sister will ask you something and you will keep silent. Again you will be asked to say something, and again you keep silent. No, this is the letter of the law. I mean the substantial, only it should be kept silent! A woman says, ‘But the Master told us to be silent!’ No, this is an understanding by the letter; you shall be silent about the substantial. I may tell you to speak on another occasion and this sister who understands me literally will start talking making no break at that. Others tell her, ‘It’s time to shut up!’, but she carries on for five, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, even for half an hour, she can’t help talking. – ‘But it is the Spirit talking within me!’ If Spirit talks within you, you will say something intelligent and will fall silent. Later on you will talk again and will fall silent again. If I take part in twenty meetings, what do I have to do? I will talk for five minutes here and I will go to the other meeting; I will talk for a while there and I will move on to the third meeting; I will talk for a while there too. So that, when the Spirit tells me to speak, this means that I will be silent at one place and I will talk at another. And you understand that when you start talking at one place you have to keep talking throughout the whole time. You shall talk a little. Somebody may ask me, ‘Do you believe in God and how do you believe?’ I will reply to such a person, ‘Come visit me tomorrow at my place!’ He will come, I will treat him to good dishes, I will take him around my garden, I will chat with him. – ‘Well, but tell me something about God!’ I will respond to him, ‘Come visit me at my place tomorrow again!’ This is the resolution of the issue and there is no point telling him how I believe in God. When he asks me I will tell him, ‘Come visit me at my place tomorrow!’, nothing more than this. What are candles? What is the Light of a candle? What are books? What is the content of a book? What are men; what is the soul; what is the thought of man? – This is the Life of man. What is Spirit? – This is one’s Power. What is God? – He is everything. These are philosophical answers to these questions. Now, when you go out and when you are asked what I was talking about, what would you say? Some will say that they understood nothing, but others will say that I was talking about very great things. I am asking you why you need Light? To read the book of Life. This book is the very human being and by reading the book one will understand oneself. Now, I will leave you to think on your own, not to get confused, and let each one of you apply what each one of you has understood; do not demand a lot. Even the smallest application will be all right. Make this lamp light! Power is contained in the small. Let each of you find a method within oneself, to apply the smallest, to do one very small good. You have heard a lot about your mind, your heart, your will, but I want you to draw a small application from this lecture. I will explain the word application. Imagine that you have separate parts out of which a bridge should be formed. Apart from the support pillars needed for the bridge, what else is required? A joining thread on the top is required. Consequently, one person cannot impose oneself upon another. If you think that you can impose yourself, this is a wrong understanding. Only joining threads can there be between two persons. You have to do your best not to break these threads, but to form as many such threads as possible. The more such threads there are, the better, the more beautiful Life becomes or put in other words – the more elevated spirits love you and send their thoughts to you, the more meaningful, more beautiful your life will be. And the less you are thought about, the more ordinary your life will be. When mountains are being broken up, people resort not to gold but to iron; when people sail rivers and seas, people resort not to stones but to wood. Consequently, a spear can be transformed into a writing quill in the hand of an intelligent person, so that one can write something nice with it. And those who are smarter will transform the spear into a language and will sing with it. So that, those who do not understand will have spears; those who understand better will have writing quills to write with; and those who understand even better will have a gentle, fine language to articulate the best of God’s Words. So now, I want your spear to soften and to transform from iron into a writing quill; the writing quill should transform into a gentle fine language for you to articulate the most beautiful, the best in the world. But you do not have only to articulate it; you have to apply it as well. Master’s lecture, Delivered on 18 December 1925 at 16:00h [1] In Bulgarian there is one word ‘sabiram’ that has a very general meaning of congregating = collecting into a group: a) for people congregating; B) for putting things together and c) for the mathematical operation of adding. As the Master uses one and the same word throughout the text for all three meanings in Bulgarian, for consistency sake it is translated into English with one and the same word = gather together, meaning in this lecture both congregating and adding. [A1]Check this part of the sentence again as it is confusing and not clear

Note 2p The Old Ornaments FAIR LECTURES The seventh Rila lakes[A1] 12th July – 10th August 1931 Contemporary people have to keep themselves from one weakness – from holy laziness. You meet some poor man and you admire him – he is industrious, diligent, he doesn’t expect to anyone[A2] . But if this man becomes rich, he immediately eases off, succumbs to laziness – the laziness forces its way in the spiritual life of man. When some man enters the spiritual way, at first he prays to God, works, helps his fellow men. If he becomes rich, he stops to pray, he doesn’t work much and says: “Now let others pray, I have prayed and worked enough.” This state namely is most dangerous for man. According to me, the spiritual man has to work more than others; it means – the rich man has to work more than the poor man, the healthy man has to work more than the ill man. The rich man represents the healthy man, the poor man – the ill man. That is why the rich man, i.e. the healthy man has to work more than the poor man, i.e. the ill man. What happens now? Exactly the opposite – the poor, the ill man works more, and the rich, the healthy man works less. I ask what is the reason for this abnormality in Life? Laziness. When laziness catches the rich man, he puts some weight on, which affects his leg, has some injection on his back or in another place and says: “Don’t you see that your leg has swollen, how will you work with such a leg, it is better to lay down, to rest till you get better completely. There is a time for everything, you will work after that.” But some other person says: “Look what shooting pains you have in your back, do you know what consequences may arise from those shooting pains, look after yourself, don’t work, rest till your shooting pains pass, then you will work.” These are inventions of the devil who wants to create conveniences in the house of man. If man doesn’t acquire wealth, if he becomes spiritual, he has to rely on his health, to trust in God and not to be afraid of anything. If in the physical life man is afraid, he has to know that in the spiritual life there are bigger difficulties. It is said in Genesis: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Therefore before the creation of Heaven and Earth everything was chaos, not arranged, unorganized. Before the Sun, Moon, and the stars were created, there was only darkness everywhere. That is why, when man meets the rising of the Sun and is glad from its light, let him have in mind that he hasn’t finished his work on Earth – why? Because, before the creation of the Sun had many not arranged works, as and its creating there are many more works not arranged and desert[A3] . Today the Sun shines namely for this - to show us what work is left to do. Man has to move back in his consciousness to the past, to come to the Real world in order to see what had happened sometime in the physical world. If he doesn’t come to this Real world, he can’t understand anything from the Spiritual. Now you will read chapter four from the “First message to the Corinthians” in which Apostle Paul speaks about what is wanted from the builders of the Divine secrets. One of the qualities of the builder is to be devoted. The question is not for the pear tree to be very big, very branchy, or with many leaves, but it is important for it to give fruit, good-quality fruit. It means that we interest from the fruit of the pear[A4] . And man is interesting for us since the fruit which he gives[A5] . A quality of the real man is the Good, and the Good is a fruit of Love. The good man is not sugar – if he is sugar, they will eat him; the good man is not gold – if he is gold, they will steal him; the good man is not a lit candle – if he is a lit candle, he will burn out. These are a number of contrasts which force man to think. May man go without sugar? He may. Without gold? He may. Without a candle? He may go without gold and a candle. The sugar, the gold, the candle are human productions which one may live without. You say: “How may one walk without a candle in the darkness?” Yes, contemporary people can’t walk in the evening without a candle, but there are Creatures which walk in the darkness without a candle – they have their own Light which orientates them in the darkness. Now, let us come to the inner part of the question. When man depends on conditions, he places his trust on the candle; after his candle burns out, he can’t walk in the darkness. What may the candle be compared to? Someone has two hundred thousand leva deposited in bank – he relies, and trusts in it and says: “I always have something in the bank which I rely on.” This money represents his candle which burns and helps him to go out in the evening in the darkness. One day the bank goes bankrupt, i.e. the candle of this man burns out; what is his state then? He finds himself in the state of a bankrupt trader and he doesn’t know what to do – the candle he relied on is burned out, and now he can’t go in the darkness. Some other man relies on his house, but a fire breaks out and the house is gone. This man remains thoughtful, sad – his candle has burned out and he can’t walk in darkness, he stumbles and falls with every step. I don’t say that he could live without a house, but this man has deposited all his hopes in it and now his life stultifies. You say: “Why has God allowed the candle to burn out?” God says: “If you don’t want your candle to burn out, you have to make it from material which doesn’t get destroyed in burning – occupy yourself with making a new candle.” – “But it needs a lot of time, and work.” Yes, if man wants to make a candle, which doesn’t burn out, it demands at least fifteen-twenty years of hard work. How do they make candles today? They take some cylindrical moulds, put candle-wicks in them, and from above they pour tallow. The more tallow they pour in, the thicker the candle becomes. One thing is important for man: no matter what changes he passes through, he has to keep in himself the good qualities, which follow him in this world, and the other world. The Good goes everywhere with man, the Divine always goes with man. What goes with man is his; what doesn’t go with him in every kind of condition in his Life, it is not his, it is somebody else’s. Everybody can take somebody else’s. Therefore Good is only what always goes with man. Nobody can deprive the good of man – it is his true friend, it is his eternal fellow-traveller in Life. I say: as you have come on the mountain, you have to use sensibly the goods which are given to you. Some say: “What will we do when, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we have to go down from the mountain?” To speak like that, this means for man to rely on the conditions. While we speak of “today, tomorrow”, we are people of the conditions. In a way, when you say that the day will come to go down from the mountain, it may be compared to getting down from the back of the horse. In this sense some say: “What shall I do when I get down from the horse?” When you get down from the horse, you will not be better but at least you will rely on yourself. Man doesn’t have to hope on the conditions, on the days and etc. – In God there is only one day. Therefore, when we speak about the days, we have to understand one day – only the Divine day. For example you see one branch and you say: “This branch is from such and such a tree.” It is not correct thinking – this branch is from the Divine tree, because there is only one tree in world, and all the rest of the trees are organs of this big, Divine tree. The Divine day, when it can’t be projected completely in one day, it distributes in many days, which gathered together, contains the material of the Divine day. Therefore all the days together, and the Divine day separately, express the whole Truth. We say day and night because we have the rising and setting of the Sun. If we wouldn’t see the Sun, could a day exist for us? What would the state of man be if he would see the Sun in the evening, when it has already set for all the creatures? Then man would live in a constant day – for him night would not exist, for him there wouldn’t be evening, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and etc. Wherever man turns, he will see the Sun everywhere. Many people say: “We believe.” The belief of some people is contemporary, changeable, since they believe in things which they always have seen or which they see today. I ask: what is the need of faith here. The real faith refers to things which you haven’t ever seen, or seen today. Someone says that he lost his faith; what does it mean for man to lose his faith? The loss of faith means that man has lost the conditions to see things. For example somebody goes to foreign lands where he spends several years far from his fellow men; he loses faith that a day will come where he will see his fellow men again. If he thinks that he will see them, his faith will come back – seeing is a process which restores faith. Therefore faith is a power which leads man in his way. Till man doesn’t see things, he has to go with faith; after he sees things, he will go with Knowledge. As we have come on the mountain, we get up early to pray and thank God for all the goods. Some men don’t want to get up early, they want to lie in bed and find a number of justifications for this; that they are not well-disposed or that they are tired, etc. I ask what will you do if you are a servant of some hot-tempered master who wants you to start early in the morning and on time; will he take in consideration your indisposition? If you oversleep, he will shout, will be angry and at last he will chase away you, saying: “I don’t need such a servant, come on, good luck!” You think that in the mountain there are no masters – there are masters here too, and what masters! Do you know what these masters may do when they become angry? They will send thunder, lighting, rain, and hailstorm immediately and you will wonder what to do, where to hide. The rain will wet you thoroughly and the hailstorm may tear up your tents. These masters will say to you: “Come on, get yourself up from here, we don’t want such servants!” The brothers, who came here first, experienced what the masters of the mountain may do – they sent thunder, lighting, rain, and said to the brothers: “Get up?” With such masters man has to be very humble. These masters said: “When your brothers and sisters come here, you will warn them to be careful in their duties because we will wet them.” Tomorrow morning we will go to the Fifth Lake (Mahabur), the Kidney, in order to see if there is a difference in the water from the past year. In the morning at 4 o’clock you all have to be standing. Put aside all the decorations, all the ornaments! Under the word ornaments, I understand the ailments in man. A leg hurts you – say to yourself: “I don’t need this ornament”; an ear hurts you – say to yourself: “I don’t need this ornament”; you have some indisposition – say to yourself: “I don’t need this ornament”. Leave all your ornaments at home and go out to the clean air without any ornaments. – “I can’t think.” Leave this ornament aside too. When you set yourself apart from the ornaments gradually, throw them away from you and leave only with the Divine which follows you everywhere. After you are indisposed, you wait for the servants to come to improve your state, but until they come, the whole day will go by. If you fall in some heavy state, indisposition of the spirit, say to yourself: “My servants will hardly be able to come today, it is better to occupy myself with changing my state, i.e. to change my ornaments; here, the morning already went by and in the same way the rest part of the day will go.” After man starts some work, his state changes. And so, in order for man to set himself free from holy laziness, he has to make efforts to work. There is no better thing for man than serving. Here you have favourable conditions for work, for serving, for yourself, and for others. You will divide your time in a way that you will work for yourself, for your fellow men and for God. Said in another way, part of your time you will use for your mind, part of the time – for your heart and part of the time – for your body. Or one part of your time you will use for your Spirit, a part – for your soul and a part – for you yourself. Let everyone divide his time as he understands. Every work, which you do, has to have a relation to the physical, to the Spiritual and to the Divine world. Today I shall give you, for reading, chapter 55 of Isaiah, 5th verse: “Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.” 13th July 1931, 5a.m. [A1][The seven Rila Lakes] or [The seventh Rila Lake] [A2]Unclear. [expect anything from anyone] [A3]UNCLEAR. [there were many unarranged works, and in its creation there are still many works that are not arranged and void or barren] [A4]Unclear. [it means that we benefit from the fruit of the pear tree.] [A5]Unclear. [And man interests us in the fruit that he bears.] or [And man benefits us in the fruit he bears.]

Note 1 The Spirit and the Flesh. High and Low Tides in Life "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other...But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law." Gal.: 5:17, 22 - 23 In general, people have very foggy concept about those deep laws upon which life is based. The world in which we live is governed by laws and rules which God set down long ago when He constructed the universe. When He introduced the first man into the world, (about this the scriptures say nothing) God taught him for a long time and instructed him in the Divine knowledge. God acquainted man with all the basic laws of the great building in which He placed man to live. He instructed man about the properties of the herbs, acquainted him with the qualities and functions of the elements and, as He made man master over all these, He said to him: "If you obey the laws which I have laid down, you will always be joyous, blissful and you will succeed in all that you will do; but on the day on which you break My commandment, everything will turn against you." The two trees of which it is written in the Scripture, "The Tree of Life" and "The Tree of Knowledge", witness that this was true. If I should pause now and explain what these trees are, I would digress from the main subject. I will give the explanations in one other lecture. These two trees in Paradise were living, intelligent, and possessed certain power, certain qualities. And God said to the first man: "In the Tree of Knowledge is hidden great danger and on the day when you touch it you will lose everything. The elements which are hidden in this tree are not for you yet; you are not strong enough to be able to govern them. You may explore them in the future, but for the time being you will make use of all the other trees, of everything in life, but not of the Tree of Knowledge." I will not stop now to explain the deep cause which instigated Adam to break God's law. Some people preach that we must have faith. It is true that either positive or negative faith is necessary; this is the basis of life, and without faith life could not exist. All beings, as small as they may be, beginning from the microscopic ones up to the most advanced ones, all have faith. What is their faith? A disbeliever says, "I do not believe in God." At the same time his assertion indicates that he must believe in something and this is that there is not a God. This indicates that he has some faith. I would like to see how a man could remain without faith, not even to believe in himself. If he believes in himself this indicates that he has faith, yet he believes in his own mind. When we say that someone is a disbeliever, this is not correct. This is only half of the truth, he has dropped the faith in God but he still has faith in himself. Therefore, faith can be positive and negative. Adam and Eve manifested this principle of disbelief in God when Lucifer came to the garden of Eden and they believed in him instead of in God. As a result of this came the original sin. Saint Paul says in his letter to the Romans: "To whom you submit, his servant you become." This morning my lecture will be on the two great laws which I formulate as follows: "Law of opposites" and "Law of similarity." These are laws which we can verify every day. They are not abstract philosophy, they are not complex as reincarnation or transmigration of the souls, but rather things which we can check in ourselves. From this view of the laws, even the darker sides can become to a certain degree clearer to you. For example, you find yourselves at the sea shore. You see the sea calm and peaceful; but suddenly you notice that it gradually starts to be agitated, and towards the shore a flow rises - that which the scientists call "high tide". There are places where the sea rises as much as 60 feet high. In such cases, you must flee as soon as possible. Only in this way you can save yourselves, otherwise you will be caught and swallowed by the waves.. This influx, this rising of tide, continues for twelve hours; after this, one can see, for the next 12 hours, the waves receding back to the see. You can observe this phenomenon often, sometimes every day; in 24 hours, once towards and once away from the sea shores. Such a high and low tide occurs also in you. Where? Naturally not in the high mountainous places, not at the peaks of life, but in the low places. Perhaps once it has happened to you, that while going out in clear weather to the sea shore to sing some beautiful song, a wave has come and carried you off together with your nice song before you have even realized what has happened to you; or at least it has splashed you well. Or perhaps you were sitting in a boat in the calm sea, when suddenly a storm came up and turns your boat upside down and you found yourself afloat in the raging sea. Someone may think that this is a slight exaggeration of the facts, but this is true for life. How often people disappear without a trace in this sea of life, with their songs, dreams, and ideals! You say: Misfortune! and search for the reasons without knowing the laws of nature. When the old philosophers were saying "Come to know yourself!" They had in mind the knowledge of these two laws of measured movements of high and low tides. In your mind these expressions may be foggy, but I will try to explain them. In modern science, this phenomenon is called the law of "rhythmic movement". In all things, there exists a flow from the center to the periphery and from the periphery toward the center; in all things there is a high and low tide, a rising and a sinking, a generation and degeneration. In chemistry, there exists "action" and "reaction". Action is flood; after that follows reaction, which is reflux. If sometime you observe your wristwatch, you will notice that its sound becomes at one time stronger, then gradually it becomes weaker, to die, as if it may stop at any minute; and then it starts picking up again and weakens again. The same happens also with the human heart. If you place your hand on your heart you will notice that sometimes it starts to beat faster and you are afraid. The doctor will say that this person has an increased heart beat. This flood in your organism is reflected in the beat of the heart. This law works everywhere. When the doctors say that someone has had a heart attack, i say that this man has a certain flood of his mind, of his heart, of his soul and after 12 hours this flood will recede and the heart beat will slow down. These twelve hours can be twelve seconds, twelve minutes, 12 hours, 12 days, 12 weeks, 12 months, 12 years, 12 centuries, 12 thousand years, 12 million years, etc.; there is no difference, the relation of things remains the same. This is how this law works. In the chapter which I have read, St. Paul speaks about the law of the flesh - this is the law of reflux and about the law of the Spirit which is the law of influx. The law of opposites includes in itself the law of reflux, and the law of similarity - the law of influx. In same places miasma are formed and their evaporations propagate microbes from which diseases are spread. This law works in our brain, in our heart and in our soul. Often residue remains in the body which brings about diseases. We call these rheumatism of the joints, of the feet, of the head. We feel pains and begin to complain. If we were smart and knew the laws when there was high tide we could build a barrier, a big wall. If we are foolish, we start singing on the shores of the stormy sea. People constantly say: the world is evil. What is evil about it? What about the war? It is an influx of powers and in this influx there are some collisions and all people rush away and say that high tide is approaching. This rushing and running they call war. They ask what will happen with the world? I say: after 12 hours, or after 12 weeks, or after 12 years everything will calm down; the places which are covered with blood will dry out. Then the people will ask themselves: what was this all about, what was the reason, why did the sea rise against us? The sea has not become mad, it only breathes, and when its chest upheaves to take in the air it rises 60 feet. When the sea rises 60 feet, you must be 60 miles away from the shores standing on a high peak, this is what matters. When it exhales you can go to the shores and enjoy it; but when you see it inhaling, run to the high peak. If we could only understand that the two laws of opposites and similarity are two great things in this world. The law of similarity is the law of heaven; the other law - of opposites - is the law of the earth, of the organic world, of the flesh. You rise in the morning ill-disposed, the whole world seems to be against you, you do not feel like working, your mind is troubled. You say: God has not created the world properly. All the devils are within your mind; you are ready to quarrel with anyone, you ride roughshod and wait to start a fight with somebody - this is acting according to the law of opposites. On such a day the wife sees that her husband is riding roughshod. If she understands the law of the opposites she must run at least two miles from her husband and say to herself; today me husband has low tide of his spirit and high tide of his flesh. Do not laugh because the next day the wife will do the same. This is a law. All people do not ride roughshod at the same time. Ten years ago I lived with a family. It consisted of seven members: the father, the mother, one son and four daughters. I made some minor observations and checked the functioning of this law; it worked like a clock. All members of this family took turns each day of the week. On Monday the father was ill-disposed. They all said: today our father is not well disposed, he is serious, shouts, and scolds. All the others were quiet and tried to understand the reason. On Tuesday the father was cheerful, but they saw that the mother was ill-disposed. The father only smiled and said: Today is your mother's turn. It is very interesting that the older son was ill-disposed on Wednesday. They all laughed and in this way they all took turns. I knew well who's turn it was, and the schedule worked inviolably. It was to acertain extent pleasant. If one is ill-disposed, it is easy, but when two have their turns, or said in a scientific way - if both are in low tide, then it is bad. In the chapter that I read, St. Paul says that the flesh counteracts the spirit, and the spirit, the flesh. It is impossible to reconcile these two laws because they move in opposite directions: one moves forward and the other backwards. The law of opposites destructs, it ruins happiness, harmony. When it comes to you, it robs you of all your belongings. If you are subject for a long time to the law of the opposites, it can influence your mind for 12 minutes, 12 hours, 12 years. There exists certain periods of life which influence the character of a man right from the beginning. If a child is conceived and born in the period of opposites, it will inevitably become a criminal and will not be able to escape the consequences, because the parents have given him those elements which stimulate his life in a different direction. If both the father and the mother are under the influence of the law of similarity, they will give rise to a noble son or daughter with a good and well developed mind. This is the way in which these great laws work. The first people before the great sin knew the laws and understood them, but after the great sin they forgot them. People want to have their priest preach to them after the service, but it may happen that he is under the influence of the law of opposites; his vibrations, his mood, his sermon on such a day cannot bring a blessing to the people. He may serve because he is forced to do so. If he were free, he would take his hat and go somewhere else. But the people expect him to preach to them. What can he tell them? He will judge them: you are such and such, you are bad people, and he will send them to hell. On that day, he will have spoken a lie, for he has spoken about himself. The people in this case were serving as a mirror in which he was seeing himself; he was under the influence of the law of opposites. People talk about a well known American preacher in New York who was preaching for a long time under the influence of the law of opposites and voiced such terrible things that all his parishioners were afraid of him. Since he was under the influence of the law of opposites, deposits remained in his stomach which hindered proper digestion and harmed the whole organism. They caught the priest one day and took him to the hospital to clean all the impurities from his stomach. In the hospital, they pushed a hose into his stomach and flushed it out with 4-5 quarts of warm water, cleaning it once, and then a second time, ridding it of all the deposits. A week later, the preacher appeared in the church and preached about the Kingdom of God, about the second coming of Christ, about love, etc. The people said to each other: Do you see how our preacher has become a new man! I say: When a priest or a speaker speaks in a church or in congress, he must first throw out all the deposits from his stomach, his heart, and his mind. Only then should he speak to the people. Let's assume that you rise in the morning from sleep slightly ill-disposed and you do not know why this is. After five or ten minutes your mind begins to clear up and you say to yourself: Thank God I fell better now. Some time passes and you are attacked again by evil thoughts and you say: Where did this devil come from? People cannot understand that there is a law that periodically and systematically functions in this world. There is no devil to catch people in a trap, this is a divine law. God says: "I have provided you with a mind so that you may contemplate upon the order of the world. At one time I instructed you about this law but you have forgotten it and now the law itself will teach you." When modern societies understand the deep meaning of these two laws the world then will change fundamentally. Some people ask: How can the world be changed? When we start to act according to this law, the world will be arranged the way that God originally ordered it. Similar causes produce similar results: opposite causes produce opposite actions. The Hindu explain these two laws with the word "karma" - the law of cause and effect. The karma can be karma in high tide and karma in low tide, or also good and bad karma. In commercial language this means: to give and to receive. When you give, this is a low tide; when you receive this is influx. He to whom you are indebted will come to you exactly on the day of payment and will ask you to pay your debt. The day of payment indicates a law that regulates all things. this law is conditioned by debtors and by the person who is to receive. Therefore, when God sends us into the world He places upon us certain conditions; we have signed an obligation to accomplish this and that. But now we tell Him: "We owe nothing." Is that so? I will apply the law upon you, I will apply the law of the opposites. You are hurting someone and he, too, will hurt you; you love him, he too, will love you; what you do to another the same will be done to you. These two laws rule and function on earth. The like is repulsed by the like. A rooster climbs on the compost heap, another, a stronger one, comes and chases him away. Why don't they both crow on the dungpile? The law says that on one dungpile only one rooster can crow. Therefore only good or evil can exist in the world. Two evils can not tolerate one another in the same place; two goodnesses cannot stay in one place either. A saint cannot stand another saint, one scientist the other. This is how a Turkish saying goes: "The cotton merchant is not afraid of a white dog." And so, on earth these two laws work: the law of opposites and of similarity. The good strives toward the evil and the evil - toward the good. This is why he who wants to live on earth inevitably must have evil people as friends; the evil ones on the other hand must have good people as friends. The good person that wants to communicate only with good people will be unhappy. Why? There must be an exchange between the good and the evil people. For example, a merchant has produced fabrics for millions, but his neighbor also has just the same fabrics. Who will be the customer in this case? Their interests do not match. The one will say to the other: "Go away from here! Go somewhere else, go to the other end of the earth, I will sell here." Therefore, the law of the opposites is working here. Christ, who knew this law, speaks about self-renunciation. When a man is self-denying, he becomes a servant and then God tells him: "I love you." If someone says that he, too will be a master, God will tell him that two people cannot be masters at the same time, one must be the master, and the other, the servant. Evil comes about when both want to be masters at the same time. If they want to be masters and insist on this, God says: "Two masters cannot exist here with me. If they insist in this, I will send them to the other side of the world." Which is the other side of the world? - The earth. This is why God has sent men to earth. Within all of you who want to understand the law of the similarities works the law of the opposites and because of that you are unhappy. You must leave the law of the opposites and enter into the law of the similarity, and the law of similarity is self-denial. To deny oneself does not mean that one must lose ones life, but only to change one service for another. Let's assume that two candidates want to become high school principals. If one of them acts according to the law of the similarity, he will say to the other: "You become the principal and I will be a teacher." But if both of them insist on becoming principals, there will be some plotting in the Board of Education; each of them will say; "I am more capable." Who rules them in this case? The law of the opposites. Christ's teaching is on the side of the law of similarity. Christ came to this world to install the law of similarity. He says: "I do not want to rule over you but want to teach you how to be happy: if you love me and obey my law you will be blessed." If you are ill-disposed, hateful, critical, unhappy; you re under the law of opposites. You must leave it, or stated in the scientific way, you must emerge out of the law of the opposites and enter into the law of similarity. Or placed in other words - you must change the conditions and the environment. Start to love. - How shall I love? It is true, that you cannot love if you do not go where love is. It is the same as if you were locked in a dark room and someone tells you: "Look!" What can you look at? A dark room, but this is not the place of similarity. You must go out from this room. If you had a candle you could strike a match and light it. Therefore, when Christ said that we must deny ourselves, He wants to imply that we must leave this dark room of self-seeking and enter into the law of similarity, of love. You can see how rational this is. Go out and find the places where you can find the elements which will make you happy, which will please your heart. You cannot do this as long as you are in the law of the opposites. In this way, many people will fight for one position as a professor. Once in France, an opening was announced for a professors job and fifteen thousand candidates applied for it. How many people can receive this appointment? One candidate for one position. In modern society such desires often occur. Why? Because every one is a candidate for the same position. You hate someone and want to do away with him. Why do you hate him? Because either you or he are candidates for the same position. The law of the opposites in life is merciless. This law works also in the world of our thoughts, of our desires, and of our will. During certain periods of time, the myriads of cells of which our bones, our nervous system, stomach, lungs, heart and brain are composed are under the influence of both the law of the opposites and of similarity, and therefore there are also high and low tides in them. A man is angry, ill-disposed, which indicates that he is in a period of low tide. After that inevitably there must come in him a period of high tide. How? He will concentrate, direct his thoughts toward God, he will climb to the high mountain where God abides and speak for a while with Him and when the low tide passes by he will return to earth. By influx I do not imply only the phenomenon that happens with the sea but also in the plant kingdom which always comes when there is humidity in the air. As soon as the fruit ripens it start to wither.Here we have the law of opposites which prepares the soil for he next year. The law of the opposites takes off the old clothes, and the law of similarity provides the new clothes. When you undress, this is the law of opposites; you got dressed - the law of similarity. Your body gets soiled, and this indicates that you are under the law of opposites; you take a bath, you are in the law of similarity. Every morning you rise from sleep and wash your face. Why? - Because of habit. Today you must go to visit God because there is a low tide in you. You wash your face and say: "I will take a load off my heart, I will rinse away the dust from my mind and this way I will go to see God's face. The washing of the face is exactly this act. Yet since you cannot explain this, you wash your face and after that, you stir the mud all day long again. And then your affairs do not work out as they should. How should they if you are stirring up the mud which is in you. In order not to be soiled, one must be in a high mountainous place. According to St. Paul, the law of similarity has application in the following verse: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Love is the father, joy is the matter, and peace is their child. Therefore, they form a triangle which belongs to the Divine world. He who wants to be blissful must have these qualities. Then he is in heaven. After that follows the second category of virtues which belong to the angelic world: long-suffering - the father, gentleness - the mother, goodness - their child. Attain these and you will be among the angels. The third category: faith - the father, meekness - the mother, temperance - their child. Thus I say: "According to the law of similarity you must first have a father." Who is your father? Faith. But I have no faith. Friend, I have a bad idea about you. If you do not have a father, you are born of lawless parents; your mother has not born you in a divine way. This is what I understand when someone says that he has no faith. If he says that he has faith then I say to him: "I congratulate you, because you have a noble father, who comes from a royal family." But I do not believe in this father. In such a case, you are the lowest scoundrel. Let's come back to the word meekness. We said that meekness is the mother; she. too, is of royal family. If you believe in meekness this indicates that you have a mother. - But I do not want to be meek. - Then you have no mother. Therefore, every Christian must have a father and a mother - faith and meekness, and he himself is temperance. When we say "temperance" we must understand that this is us - the child of our father - faith, and of our mother - meekness. Someone says that he wants to go among the angels. - You can go, but you must be born of a father - long-suffering and your mother - gentleness - must have conceived you and bore you in her womb. When you are born what will you be? Goodness, an angel, a saint. If you have mercy, you are an angel, among the angels you have a father - long-suffering and a mother - gentleness. This is the law that regulates the human life. It is the base on a philosophy which can be proven every day. Do not deceive yourselves nor should you deceive others. Only he who lives in the law of opposites can deceive himself. For my self I exclude the law of opposites. If I am in low tide I go to God; when I am in high tide then I come to earth to work. If I stay with God, who can deceive me? This is why I have said in a previous lecture: Where God is the devil cannot enter. Where God is absent the devil is there. If someone says that the devil is riding his back, I understand what he wants to imply. If God is in your heart, then the devil cannot step on you. According to the law of similarity, the evil can never change into good, nor the good into evil. An old white bearded man appeared one day in front of a saint who was living in the desert for twenty years. He said to the saint: "I am a great sinner, please pray to God for forgiveness of my sins." When the old man left, the saint started to pray to God for him. An angel appeared to the saint and said to him; "Your prayer is not accepted by God because this old man is the devil himself. In order to try him and see if he speaks the truth, say to him: "I will pray for you but you must confess all your sins. Climb this rock and say; "God have mercy upon me because I am a great sinner. This you should repeat for a whole year." After some time the old man came back again and the saint told him as he was advised by the angel. "What?" - screamed the devil. "I can't do that! I, who am ruling the whole world, do not want to pray, you must pray." The saint said to him: "An old hatred cannot become a new virtue." Those who preach the Gospel must realize that they never can change the law of opposites into a law of similarity. They cannot draw a man to God who lives constantly in the law of the opposites. They cannot make him happy, nor can they change a woman into a man. The woman wants her husband to make her happy. How can he make her happy when she does not love him. He purchases a nice suit for her - she is dissatisfied; he brings some groceries - they were not good; the house was not built the way it should have been, this or that is not in place. How can you satisfy her when she is in the sphere of the opposites of her mind and when all the things which her husband would do for her would not be in the state to change her nature. Neither can a woman change her husband if he has such a disposition. She can cook, clean the house, but he will still be dissatisfied because he lives within the law of the opposites. A woman says: "I do not know what to do with my husband, he has become so impossible." I contemplate calmly and say: "Unfortunately, he is under the law of the opposites, in law tide; put him in your wagon, harness the horses, take him to a high mountain to rest - this is what your husband needs. When the wife wants to take her husband to church, she takes a coach and says to him: "Let's go to God, in the church a famous man will preach and we will learn something new." Now we say: The world must change! How will the world change? If for millions of years the pig has been grunting beneath the tree and after it has eaten all the pears, it starts to dig the roots of the pear tree, I ask: How can the pear tree bear new pears next year? The pig will ruin the whole tree. You, too, in the same way when there are no pears on the tree start to dig the roots and say: The money which we search for is buried in the ground. This way you become gold-diggers. I say: you are in the sphere of the law of the opposites. In the roots of the tree, there are no pears, nor gold. Do not dig constantly in one place, put your bag on your shoulder, take your cane and go somewhere else. Why? Because when the master comes and finds that you are still digging at his tree, he will punish you well. This is what God does to this world now. You dig and search for pears and God says: Strike every one of these men, twenty-five times. Therefore, apply this law in your life. The wife should not dig around the roots of her husband; if there are no pears on his tree, let her wait. The husband, too, should not dig around the roots of his wife's pear tree; the priests - their parishioner's tree, the students - their professors' tree. Let all apply the law and they will understand life as God has created it. This is a philosophy which can be applied in this world. It is so simple that everyone can understand it. If you say that you cannot do this, then I will tell you that you are sunken in the swamp, in the mud of opposites. If you say that you can, you are in the law of similarity. Make a step forward and you will find yourselves on the path of salvation. Some people say that they cannot love. I am sorry, I cannot help you, because you are in the realm of the opposites where you collect the scum, the mud. I can love. You are in the law of similarity and God is with you. If you rise in the morning, ill-disposed, say to yourself: Today I am in a low tide, I will harness the wagon, I will take the yoke of the horse and go on a trip. Do not go near the tree to pick some pears when the time is not right. You may find pears somewhere else. Get up and start to pray if you know how. In prayer you will become strong. The most sublime and noble occupation which one can do on earth is to pray. This is the only way for human hearth to be uplifted. I do not speak about the external aspect of praying, in which only the tongue participates, but about the conscious impulse of the soul toward God - The Highest Love. Not all people have the same outlook. Some say: I can not pray. Someone else says mockingly: "It is a delusion; I am a learned man, I have education, how can I pray to God!" The men of science are inconsistent. They apply for a job and write the following way: I have completed my education and herewith I am applying most humbly for a position promising to fulfill my duties in the most accurate way. Is this not a prayer? Yes, quite a prominent prayer. yet praying to God is a shame. As long as there will exist people that pray only to their equals and not to God, the world will remain the same as it is. These people live in the law of the opposites. I ask: How can we be good when lies are at our sides wherever we go? We deceive ourselves, our neighbors and God, too. Unconsciously we have granted citizenship to lies. We act under fear. Let us free ourselves from fear, let us decide to be honest at least in front of God. If you make a mistake, say: Pardon me God, I have made a mistake! Do not say that such and such was the person who made you err, that you are better than he is. Do not act like the Pharisee who has a high esteem of himself. If you are acting this way you find yourselves in the sphere of the law of the opposites, of darkness. Be honest and say: "I have made this mistake." When you admit that you have made a mistake you will be able to improve. Read the confession of Tolstoy where you can find a good example about self-confession. Tolstoy became great after his confession. There exist in history only a few such examples. You, too. aren't you able to do the same? If you wish to become a noble man, an angel, a saint, this is the easiest way for you. In one day you can become ten times an angel or a devil. Many people do not believe in reincarnation but nevertheless they can reincarnate in one day ten times. When you want to kill a person you are an reincarnated devil, you are in the sphere of the law of the opposites and are able to commit any evil. If you are in the sphere of the law of similarity you are an angel. If you are ready to self-sacrifice, or to do a noble deed, you are a saint. One thing is sad in this case; that you are not able to keep this state for a longer period of time. It was said that man is created in the image and after the likeness of God. Here is what I understand by "image and likeness of God." When you hear it said that some man has been elected as a governor or judge, I ask: did this person exist before the election or not? He existed earlier, but as a common citizen. And when God said: Let us make man in our image and after our likeness". He wanted to promote man to a higher rank, to make him a general, to adorn him in the uniform of a general with all the signs of dignity. But man did not fulfill the will of God and God took him down from this high rank, took away his adornments and clothes. This is the great sin of man. "Take off his full-dress" said God, "because he did not perform his duties as a general properly." When you turn to God, He will say: "Today you have the image and are after the likeness of a general, enter Paradise!" If after five, ten minutes you seek to fulfill the law, again He says: "Take off the full-dress of this general!" If you are angry, or ill-disposed you are outside Paradise. After one or two years you repent and God says again: "Bring him here, I will promote him to a general." Many times before now God has been promoting and discharging you. Today you are OK, you are angels in heaven; tomorrow you are bad, you are sent down to earth. If you do not pray, if you do not obey the divine law, you will serve the evil. The two laws of the opposites and of similarity regulate the world. The spirits that live under the law of opposites don't have the desire to return under the law of similarity and for this reason God cannot transfer them from one sphere to the other. The first thing in Christianity is the border line which exist between these two laws. When you come to this frontier, you must leave all your baggage - thoughts and desires that are under the law of opposites - and then enter the law of similarity, free and purified. Then God will give you new clothes and will promote you to generals. Because of disobedience to the order of God - not to eat from the tree of Knowledge - man become naked. God took off his full-dress as a general and man had to prepare clothes for himself out of leaves. God said: "Quickly make him clothes of skin!" This is why today you have clothes of skin called flesh. How and when can you free yourself of this skin? When you enter the law of similarity. This skin will fall off you and God will give you full-dress of a general with epaulets. Such is the Christian philosophy which you can apply in your life. This is not a philosophy of the past, it is a philosophy of the present. You reincarnate every day by serving once the good and another time the evil. This means reincarnation. Modern Christians say: Whoever believes in the law of reincarnation will be expelled from the Church. Why should you expel me? Because I believe in the laws of opposites and similarity and live according to them? If I live according to God's law it doesn't matter to my soul if you expel me from the church or keep me in it. When I live in God, when I do not hate antibody, when I try to love all people, would it be possible to expel me? Only God can expel me. This is the teaching which I am preaching. I say: In the day when you fail, you will be expelled from the Divine church, from Paradise. What are modern churches? They are only a remote remembrance of a great past. Do you know what secretes are hidden in these churches? There is a deep philosophy in the church: the stones of which it is built, the meaning of the priest's vestment, the candles. Upon the vestments of the priest are written God's law. They put on these vestments every day but they cannot read what has been written on them. Do you know what is the meaning of the vestments, the crown, the scepter of the cardinal? And of the censer and the incense? We have closed the Divine book of life and say: Do not touch this book, for it is sacred! God says: "Watch out not to soil this book from without, keep it clean; open it carefully and read of it every day a little and take notes about the valuable things which it contains." The church, the vestments, the icons, the candles, the censer, the books, everything is in its place. You must keep the contents of the sacred book. From it you will study the laws of opposites and similarity. When you accomplish this, then you will put Christ's cross on your back and will be ready to be crucified. Then God will say: "This man will be with Me in Paradise" and you will be saved. This happens in one moment. In this moment I will be in heaven, and in the moment when I have a doubt about God and think evil about Him, I am already at the bottom of hell. In the moment when I come to love God in my soul and say: "God, forgive me!", I am with Him. He stretches out His right arm and takes me with Him. Now I will give an example and I will finish with it. A man died and was sent to hell where he remained for a long time, for centuries. He suffered and prayed to God to forgive him. At last God said: Open the book of life and see if he has done at least one good deed during his entire life. When the book was opened, it was found out that once this man had given a carrot to a poor man. God said: This man can be freed. He gave the order to one of his angels: Reach out with a carrot so that he may hold on to it and this way you will be able to pull him out from hell. Yet together with him, other sinners kept holding to the carrot and to each one's feet and the angel took them all up to heaven. The man whose carrot it was said to the others: This is my carrot! As soon as he spoke these words the chain broke and they all fell back into hell. Let your carrot serve to save other people also, let it help to raise them up to heaven because if you say, "This is my carrot"; you will fall down again. Let others hold on to your clothes, to your feet; keep quiet, say nothing. As soon as you say, "This is my carrot" you are far from God. Unselfishness lives always according to the law of similarity. Sacrifice and renunciation - this is Christianity. (II. ser., 1st lecture of the Master given in Sofia on Nov. 2, 1914) Source

Note 2p GUIDANCE 33rd Lecture of the General Class of the Occult (July 8, 1923) We will now do a short exercise: to begin, your arms are stretched forward parallel to the ground, palms down. The right hand is placed over the left and slowly slides up the arm to the left shoulder, then in front of the face and above the head to complete a circle and then again forward coming back parallel with the left. After that, the left hand is placed over the right and the same movement is repeated with the left hand. After that, the arms slowly move to the side, then rise and then down again. Now, the left arm is stretched out to the front and the right hand is placed on the left shoulder then glides from the shoulder over the arm to the fingers and in the end, comes down to the side of the body. The same is repeated with the left hand. Several of the students writing were red(? read) of the assigned theme "The purpose of the brothers and sisters" Sing the song "The Spirit of God". 2nd exercise: The right arm is brought forward. The thumb touches the little finger and releases, after that the thumb and the ring finger touch and then release, after that the thumb and the middle finger touch and release and lastly the thumb and the forefinger touch and then release. The palm opens wide. The thumb, the little finger and the index join, then the ring finger joins, only the middle finger remains straight, after that it too joins. After that, the index loosens, after that the middle, the ring and the little finger loosen. The arm then returns to your side ? The same exercise is repeated with the left hand. When you do these exercises, your mind must concentrate on the fingers. At first, this exercise will look childish but in this case, when you concentrate your mind you will realize that it has good results. Every single finger is connected with certain currents. For example, if you want to cultivate in yourself dijents and kindness. If you wish to work on your mind join the thumb with the index very slowly, while the other fingers remain flexed. Concentrate your mind on this group of fingers (the thumb and index when are touching affect). Or if you wish to develop your conscious awareness, unite the thumb with the middle finger and you will receive the energy which will work on your consciousness. If you want to develop the arts, or love of nature unite the thumb with the ring finger. Lastly if you wish to be tactful? unite the thumb with the little finger, because sometimes you are short tempered. Do this exercise in the morning and at noon and observe how it works. These are elementary exercises. Remember the following: if you go and share these things with others, you loose the key. Do you know why? That person will try the exercise and think of what are you doing. Thinking like this about you, the connection will be lost. When you share this exercise with someone else he says that this is childish and he does not wish to occupy himself with stupid things. You will come home with a broken heart. You should not act this way. First you will prove these things yourself. You will do the exercise once or twice and when you see that it works then you can share it with others. You can use these exercises also in your childregoing(?). You will say to your child: "Come dear, lets try an exercise." Sometimes the mother has a hard time calming down her child. Let her try this exercise and the child will calm down. Sometimes there is a fight in the family. Do these exercises with the fingers, it is like playing an instrument and the conflict will be resolved. It is an excellent exercise. Sometimes if you are despondent, do this exercise and you will see that within five or ten minutes you will be in excellent disposition of Spirit, otherwise you will sit and contemplate why the world was created this way and who knows what other questions will disturb you. This way you will move a little with your fingers and that which you need you will receive. There may be sometimes some exceptions but you must be sure that your mind is present while you do the exercise, and to believe with certainty and not only a superficial faith. You must try a law to see if there will be a result or not. Persistence is necessary and nature has created the hands for some purpose. Now exercise 3 Hands in front fingers laced together and palms facing out thumbs together. The little fingers separate, after that the ring finger, then the middle fingers and at the end the index fingers, only the thumbs remain touching. The hands turn together like a bouquet with the fingers touching. After that the right hand glides along the left, passes in front of the face above the head, passed down to the right side, comes down, reaches forward the thumbs touch, after that the index, after that the middle fingers, the ring fingers, and the little fingers. This way the hands pass over the head, then in front over the head and in this position the following formula is pronounced: "In the unity of God's Love (the hands come down to the heart, fingers still joined) and Wisdom (hands go up to the same position over the head), Truth (down) accomplishes her (it's) purpose (hands up). In the name of God's Wisdom (hands down) and God's Love (up), Truth (down) achieves her sacred purpose (up)" and after that slowly the hands glide down. The remaining themes were read. The resume on the theme: "The difference between good and righteousness" was read. The theme for next week will be "The Relationship between the air and the water". The mind of the student of the Occult must learn to differentiate, to know how to distinguish things. I would like you to know in any given moment without self-criticism, in what category the state in which you find yourselves belongs and to see what the results are. For example, at one time during the day you experience melancholy. This should not worry you, it is normal. Or, sometimes you may be in a state of cheerfulness. This should not make you glad, because you do not know which is better, which of the two states will produce a better result! A pleasant state my be good but the possibility in both cases is equal to 50%. The students of the Occult must constantly be aware of his states. You still tend to wonder about your states. Sometimes you find yourself in a position as if you are absent, you feel as if you are emptied, your mind does not work, not only this, but you come to a state as if you loose your consciousness, as if another power has the upper hand over you. Even if you should loose your consciousness do not be disturbed because it is evening, when you fall asleep you loose consciousness. yet the student of the Occult must always have awakened consciousness. You do not know at present how to fall asleep in this lies all the evil - you fall asleep unconsciously, but when you become disciples you will fall asleep and will awake up consciously. therefore you will have an excellent experience in respect to your states. A good deal of exercises are needed to achieve such an awakened consciousness. For example let some of you try to fall asleep consciously - to know that they are falling asleep. I will give you a small explanation of what will happen to you when you are falling asleep. Let's say you sit, your consciousness calm and tranquil. Suddenly inside your brain you feel a murmur as if something takes hold of you and you cannot return and you are feeling an inner fear. In such cases some people feel a certain torture and start screaming. Remain calm and peaceful, because you become frightened a moment of darkening comes about, you loose consciousness and in this darkness you will find yourselves in a dark zone. You must guard the thought and? yourselves, to recognize yourself so that you may emerge safely from this dark zone. Not too long after that you will enter the spiritual world, you will know the difference, you will know when you sleep, when you dream, when you walk, you will differentiate things. Then, upon returning from the Spiritual world you will be able in the same way to awaken. However when this murmur comes the dense magnetic states interfere whereby one looses his consciousness, does not recognize himself, for him everything is confused, all circumstances, situations, which he sees all this represent phantasmagoria but as soon as he enters his consciousness, he will see that there exist an inner connection between all things. In order to overcome a great deal of effort is required, because some of you while concentrating fall asleep. Falling asleep is nature's method. There is nothing easier than falling asleep but man can learn nothing from easy things. Sometimes even while asleep ones consciousness awakens. This happens when one is to be made aware and protected of some future event. Those who guide you will awaken your consciousness by giving you a vivid dream. Be aware and remember this dream. Sometimes one remembers a dream that has deeply engraved itself in one's mind and this is forewarned of a misfortune. Understanding this represents one part of the science of the occult, one of the difficult questions is how one can regulate one's energies. These energies come from the centre of the earth pass through the spinal cord and in the form of a strong flow rushes into the central brain system. The modern world has lost its control over these currents. There is also another flow which comes from the Sun. It moves in the opposite direction from the brain to the sympathetic nervous system or to the stomach. Thus today we find ourselves between two waves which splash us constantly. We are like an eggshell thrown into the water and pulled about by the waves. First to one side and then on the other. When we have the benevolence that God has shown us we do not know how to benefit from it and when suffering comes again we do not know how to use it and thus we meander. These sufferings are needed because when you enter the spiritual world, when you are free of the body you will need to know how to control your spiritual body. This you need to learn still now. You can do small experiments. I have made such observation of your present state. For example you meet a person to whom you take a disliking to because his magnetic and electric flows are dense, you don't wish to lift your eyes and meet his since to look at some one always creates a connection. The evil is not in your objection to look at him but because fear and repulsion arise within you. These are harmful to man. Therefore imagine that God is between you and this man who you do not want to see. Or imagine that your instructor, or your Master, or someone of great kindness is between you and him. Try to become reconciled with this state. In order to erase your karma you must reconcile with everyone. As long as they are alive, it is easier to become reconciled with them. Once they pass on the conditions change and as a result it is more difficult to erase karma. You must try to resolve all your relationships, very quickly if possible. If you cannot do that why do we need this school. When you enter the other world it should only be for the resting of your soul. He who has not worked in this world when he passes on he will have to stay in a dreamlike state or he will have to wait for his karma to ripen in purgatory. It is not necessary to wait for years in purgatory, to be tormented. Here in this school within half a year you can pass through purgatory and beyond, it will take four or five years. Why wait four or five years until you pass through purgatory here on earth you can complete this course in 6 months. Someone says what is the achievement of a student of the Occult school? The benefit is in saving three and a half years. Do you know what these three and a half years are equal to? They compare to many years. The best thing of all in the school of the Occult which follow the methods of the White Brotherhood is that they prepare their students to be ready for the new conditions under which life can manifest. This is the purpose of the school. Knowledge can be achieved when the conditions are favourable. It is not attained on the physical plain. Knowledge is a mixture of all worlds. Man must understand the properties and qualities of matter on the physical plain, in addition he must also understands the properties, the qualities of the astral matter, of the matter with which the mind operates and lastly of the matter with which the soul operates - all this is Knowledge. These are laws which are so interconnected that there is much for man to learn. There exist many things to learn for the student and for those who are children for them there is plenty to learn in the physical world. Those who are more advanced will occupy themselves with the other worlds, the more ratified matters. If I wished to improve your intelligence, I would choose Wednesday for meetings at the school. If I wished to convey noble qualities to you, I would choose Thursdays. If I wished to increase Love in the school, I would choose Friday. If I wished to develop the sober mind of the students I would choose Saturday, if I wished to develop their imagination I would choose Monday. If I wished their marcial character to develop, I would choose Tuesdays. If I wished them to individualize - the Sunday. Each method has its application. Some students ask me why we are holding the meetings on Sunday evening. There is a purpose for that it is not arbitrary. We have changed them from Thursday to Sunday evening. One thing is missing in the school: a good disposition of the feelings must be created. In you, the students, is lacking good disposition of feelings. In order to attain this disposition you must dedicate a whole year of hard work to improve your feelings to act harmoniously. This is true art. But now because you don't have this art, the energy which you gain from outings you loose. You waste with one stroke the wealth which you possess and after that you suffer. You must have a good disposition of feelings. You must train yourself in that. I will give you an exercise for disposition of feelings. Exercise: In the morning when you rise kneel on your left leg, knee on the floor, while the? of the right foot is up. Place the elbow of your right arm on top of the right knee, while the index and the middle fingers support the head from the side. The left arm is at ease at your side. This is an excellent position for contemplation. Guide your mind up forward the eternal, towards God and at the same time think of a place where harmony is reigning. True life can be found there. This exercise you can do at noon and in the evening but at last once in the morning before prayer. It will bring disposition of the feeling and you will be in a good mood during the entire day. You can do this exercise for four weeks in a row for 5 min. at a time. This is an excellent position for contemplation. Now remember that every pose has its meaning within nature. This is true science. Each position of the muscles, tae eyebrows, every pose in general in the given moment comes about in alphabetical, geometrical order. Therefore when we come to the position to control ourselves, right away we will? our muscles geometrically. This is an assignment. There exist people who cannot control their eyes, their ears, eyebrows, mouth. For the disciple everything has to make sense. Many movements in man are due to great torment. Someone who has suffered much becomes nervous, someone else who has been reprimanded a lot certain spasms occur in him. When children have been regard? well or when a person is in a religious mood, or has a good disposition of the soul, the muscle of the face become plastic. As soon as he is placed in abnormal conditions it is expected of him to control himself with the power of his will. For example, in the case of an offence or fear a man winces and runs. No, when your heart flinches immediately you must control yourself. It is good to run too, because if a man does not run some misfortune can come on him and so when he runs he goes to safety. Yet, the mind must always be aware because one may be surprised. When a man winces, when he jumps and runs this is a means of safety. Take for an example a soldier. If he is alert he must keep his presence of mind and will not be harmed. It is good to have such presence of mind. There are students from India who have been sent to Europe purposely to take part in the fight so as to learn how to? fear with their mind. Often some adepts create war purposely in order to give real lessons to their students. They purposely create a war between two nations to put their students to the test. What do you think. You fight and the? disciples learn, the bullets fly around them but they sit calmly and learn. This cannot be considered sacred egoism, this is heroism. You must now take advantage of the conditions. People bring about wars, they are responsible for them but in this case you will pass the exams. Take for example a nurse. She goes into the battlefield to pick up a wounded soldier and bring him to safety. This is a trial for her. Consciously or not. Soon there may be war within ten years at the latest or even sooner. Some of you will be sent to be tried in the battlefield. We will make use of every situation. We do not make wars but as disciples you must be tried. Some people ask if it is possible without wars? - There exists only one way. When the people accept Love in their hearts wars will be done away with. There will be one more war and after that the people will come to their senses. Thus war is being enforced. The conditions for it exist for someone to ignite it. The great law which rules the world does not concern us. There are other Rational Beings which guide the destiny of humanity. We will make use of the conditions. Whatever the results will be, the responsibility falls upon others. We are observers of that which happens and make the best use of the conditions in which God has placed us.

Note 4p THE LIVE POWERS IN NATURE Twenty - first lection from the Teacher, delivered at the common occult class on 20th of July, 1922, Thursday, Chamcoria (The forest school) Do you have a theme for next week? (- No) The best method for educating the will is for will to be your theme. What method will you present? The live powers in Nature. We will separate them into four categories: unconscious, subconscious, conscious, and self-conscious. Unconscious is in the minerals, subconscious – in the plants, conscious – in the animals, and self-conscious – in man. The unconscious powers in Nature act through the precious stones – in all of you one desire arises, one love to bring these stones, to use their powers, to know the important reasons why and for what. When we talk about the unconscious powers, we understand that their relations are distant, i.e. they do have some direct connections with human life, – one mineral stays far away from Life. Sometimes you use it to wear on your hand as a precious stone, i.e. we may say that it, like an accident, is inside Life. Now, of course, the Live Nature wants to act upon man’s consciousness – for these stones to act upon man with its powers. And we may say that these powers, these unconscious powers bring bigger reserves of energy, they spend (consume, use up) less??(unclear). [M1] In the mountain places, in these crags is enormous energy for the future development of the Earth. These crags have to break into little pieces through rubbing, to become radiating and then to come to the second phase – to enter into the plant life. These unconscious powers have a connection with our skeletal system. And often[M2] , it may be in the future that the precious stones will be used in some relation as an educational instrument to the human mind. We see, in the Revelation it was said that one town was made from precious stones, from many precious stones. This is to act upon the human imagination, because these crystals serve, more correctly, the refraction of Light and its bringing it into the human mind. That is why it is good for some of you to study precious stones. Precious stones, of course, have influence in the Spiritual world they are connected with it. The crystallizing of these precious stones in different forms shows that upon them works one sensible principle. For example, if one famous writer has some diamond, when he looks at it, it will put his thoughts in one way; if he has one precious stone with greenish colour – emerald or with bluish – sapphire – and it, at some stage, will exercise influence upon his thought. Now, of course the occult view of the precious stones is not like contemporary science. Occult science maintains that the precious stones are fruits – they grow and develop in a way as the fruits on Earth. And we may say that they are the highest presentation of the Mental field on the Earth, or they are creatures which live in the Mental field and show its activity on Earth through the precious stones. And those who can read will find in them a lot of knowledge. There is a lot of knowledge put in there, in these precious stones there are many things written, but whoever wants to and is interested, has to control the Akashic Records, they have to develop centres of clairvoyance, to understand the combination of these stones. Therefore, the practical putting into practice of these powers is their influence upon the skeletal system. If you have some ailment in the skeletal system, learn about the precious stones, transport them through your mind, transport the different kinds of Light through your mind – they will exercise the most curative influence on your organism, especially to your bones. This is practising and in the population: they put these pebbles on children’s heads so as not to catch the evil eye or not to lose themselves they will put some pebbles in his hat. The precious stones always attract these unconscious powers, they control it. Under the world unconscious powers, I understand these powers, which have no moral, because in the world there are some occult powers in which there is no moral. They are life powers too and when you get under their influence, they may do everything with you. For example if some of you pour out a little sulphuric acid on your body, it will not ask you if is it correct to break down, to attack – it will show its reaction. The subconscious powers are connected with the plant life, with the plants. And there begins the present life of man – with the subconscious life begins its sense – the body, the contemporary physical body has formed by it. Therefore, now in the world the plants exercise the biggest influence upon us. What is the practical application of the plants? – You always have to love the woods, this is the first thing. After you love the woods they are in connection with these subconscious powers, and they are necessary for your physical body. All the plants are one store in Nature where a man can draw from. It is not necessary for a man to be only among the trees but he has to learn to love them – this is one of the instruments in education. Love to the trees – this is one connection with them, to let them help us. When we enter in the conscious powers now, we go to the animals. We have to be more careful there. From the animals we have been taught many good things, but also many bad things – from the ox we have been taught industry, from the wolf we have been taught ferocity, from sheep we have been taught meekness and humbleness, from the bear we have been taught the irreconcilability in Life. The bear is very irreconcilable in Life – all tamers of animals declare that if the bear is insulted once, it doesn’t forget, it will always seek revenge, it is irreconcilable, it remembers for a long time, in the bear astral feelings are strongly developed. Now, the love of plants, for example, an occult disciple has to show [M3] when he starts to cultivate some fruits – the pear tree, the apple, the cherry, the plum, or some others. In general, they exercise a strong influence that is why in your yard you have to have fruits. Afterwards, it is nice when you are in Chamkoria among the pine-trees; they exercise an excellent influence upon the spiritual strivings of man. Go out often, speak with the pine-trees to give you this striving. When it grows uphill (upwards)??(unclear), the pine-tree is sharp, disinterested. Take some other tree – beech-tree or sycamore: when they are among pine-trees, they grow up the same, they adapt themselves, but when they exit, they immediately want to possess it. The pine-tree always takes the least space – there is no egoism in it. And afterwards, other characteristic in pine-trees: when its top is broken once, it does not grow any more – in that way the pine-tree shows us all the spiritual strivings in man. These are the spiritual feelings – if they [M4] spoil everything else plants[M5] in a man stops. That is why the occult disciples have to give priority to his spiritual feelings, to grow up – then everything in them can grow. It’s nice to go in these places, to look at the pine-trees, to examine them, to accept a little energy and good-will from them, which serve you through the year, to give you impulse, because in our present life we demagnetize ourselves. Every day anxieties, anxieties until the man demagnetizes himself, can’t think and has no good-will. Now, many of you have lived here for so long but haven’t made any attempts to speak with the pine-trees. But the sick may go to some pine-tree, to rest on it with his back, to think about it. The pine-trees exercise an excellent influence, the animals – too. Whatever animal a man likes, he is in position to perceive its qualities – it influences him because the conscious powers, when they pass through the animals, introduce good and bad qualities too. For example, from the cat, you can learn cleanliness, but simultaneously you can learn this greed – it has no patience to clean its victim, it is very unclean, from gluttony, it eats its victim with the coat. So from the cat you can learn clearness and to be quick but you can have the opposite qualities too – to eat unclean. There are spiritual people who don’t need much clearness[M6] , they say, “Let’s fill our stomachs, no matter what the food is.” The cat says the same. No, take for an example the donkey, from it you can learn one very good feature – how to choose water. You can’t let the donkey drink unclean water – it knows what water to choose, but when it comes to food, it eats unclean too. Now, all the animals like the dog, the cat, the fox, the bear, the wolf, etc. always exercise influence on people. And from the Astral world these forms are used often – when you sleep, throughout the time you sleep they present them to you. For example, you want to know what some man is like, want to trade with him – you dream of a wolf; it means that the man, who wants trade with you, has the character of the wolf. Or if you dream of an ox, or a horse, this shows the character of the man and you will judge from this – from the Invisible world people are always likened with famous symbols. One symbol of an animal is not bad, it means some Divine idea in a positive, or a negative form. Now when you think about the wolf, you may take it in a negative sense – to be as irreconcilable to the evil as the wolf is irreconcilable to the sheep, i.e. as it has cruel disgust to the sheep, as you are disgusted with evil??(unclear – Now?). In that way you can understand the power of the wolf in this relation and in a negative sense you can use its power. If you don’t know this law, immediately the power of the wolf will introduce in you cruelty and rudeness. All the animals and birds exercise some influence, strong enough influence, but you don’t have to reach the extreme. They influence collectively. For example a whole tribe of cats exercise influence. So, if you want to know what powers act you will see which animal or bird you think about and you will diagnose what powers function in you. And in the occult science there are some systems: let’s say that you have some of the conscious powers, i.e. these from the animal species; then you will transport other forms as the forms of any sheep, ox, or horse, to oppose the bad influence of the first forms – you will put the forms of animals with positive features, to oppose those with negative features. The powers of the animals can be separated into two camps: positive and negative, or destroying and building. That is why in the future when they teach about animals, it will be very interesting when a teacher, who teaches his pupils zoology, will explain to them what powers and influence it exercises upon people. He will have to know all this, so when he talks about the wolf he has to talk about the sheep, and when he talks about the bear, to see what the opposite of its nature is – in that way in the minds of the children, it will remain as two opposite forms. And now the teacher teaches only about the wolf and as a result can’t have this occult education. In future, that will change, then it will have contrasts; in teaching about plants, there will also be contrasts like these. When we come to the self-conscious powers, we understand a man in all his manifestations. With the self-conscious and the hyperconscious the human kingdom begins. When you meet a man, you have to distinguish what predominates in him – the physical, the astral, or the mental, does the mind in him exceed the heart or the will. If you have ten friends in whom the physique predominates, they are in position to maim you; you may almost pervert yourselves. Therefore, if you have one friend in whom the physical predominates, it will certainly put him in counterbalance with the mental – he will have one mental principle with which to oppose the physical. And that is why in the grouping of friends you have to put them in order like this: one, in who the body predominates, in the others – the heart, and in third – the mind, afterwards again – the body, the heart, the mind. If you have friends like these then the work goes harmoniously – because monotony is not good, for all to be only mental is not good. I do not want all of you to transform only to mental types because if you become a mental type you could become thin and get old, only the nerve system will remain and you will remain quite dry. If the physical predominates in you, you will to transform to bones and extensors. If the feelings predominate in you, you will begin to be compared to casks, because when the feelings predominate in somebody??(unclear – Now?), they develop in themselves an appetite which may be conveyed in eating and drinking – this is clearly an astral desire. But the physical life expresses itself with activity – this is the life of man and all the people who have a physical nature, they are in constant movement. The man, in whom the heart predominates in its low manifestations, subordinates to desires for eating and drinking, his entire life will be occupied with what to eat and what to drink – from the one end of life to the other only for eating will there be a question. That is why our manifestations have to change. If you do two hours of physical work, it immediately has to make work for the heart, afterwards for the mind – this is a rule, in that way it has to be educational. For now, almost unconscious, this energy balances itself but doesn't give good results – famous people become only mental types, we have different types for the heart or for the will but there are also balanced types. A man has to balance the energy in himself consciously: the physical – in astral, the astral – in mental and afterwards back. Laziness is one sign for work of the physical powers. Gluttony is one sign for superiority of the cordial powers – he may not eat but his mind is occupied only with thoughts about eating, in his mind are only the thoughts of eating and drinking, sweetmeats, syrups, and others, and that man whatever he does, nothing comes of it. Now when we come to the occult science it will join the eating. The eating has a form – in it there is a science too. Through eating, they educate people: if you feed a man for one week only with kasha, the second week – with apples, the third with plums, and the fourth – with cherries and if you know how to rob[M7] them from the trees, you will act upon in one rational way [M8] on his[M9] nature. Now vegetarian food is in use but there are no occult results. I will show you, first here in Chamkoria, a way to be acquainted with the crags – to look at them, to examine them; with how many crags there are to be acquainted with! After that, I shall show you to teach the pine-trees[M10] , to occupy[M11] and to examine the blueberry. Do you know what the blueberry represents for those who have weak stomachs? When they use them, in this way their stomach will be corrected. Mostly, afterwards, do your best to find which is the most beautiful place in Chamkoria – it will produce handsome combinations, it will concerns[M12] your mind in a way that you will deduce from the resort one blessing. Only in this way will you have it, if you will go only to a resort, and whatever you acquire, you will spend and after three-four months will be poured again[M13] . Can our walks be used in a way to enter Nature gradually? Many works have to be forgotten, many formalities have to be forgotten – when you come to a health resort(?? - health) like this, you have to forget about people for a while. Now you will create one diversion in your mind: you will learn about the pine-trees alone, its nature, its extent – you have to visit forty – fifty pine-trees in a day, to look at them, to examine, to make one acquaintance with them, to consider them as friends with whom you have met as living people. And when they enter in your mind, they will give you one new temper and when you come back into the city, you will be renewed. Do not be afraid that you may be estranged from Life. Afterwards, in Chamkoria, you may be interested in what animals live here – squirrels, roes, wild goats. It’s good to have the desire to see one wild goat and to give it mobility in your mind. If you meet a bear, this is good too – the bear is not so bad, it is good, the bear walks friendly but it’s frightful when you meet it. It is necessary for the pupils of the Occult school, because life is such that we lose the most important powers, which may come along with it, thus losing our balance. For example, if we talk about the spiritual constantly, there is danger of our life becoming monotonous. There is one law in Life that if the nicest things are repeated many times, they become spoiled. Many evangelic songs have been spoiled only because of this – somebody dies, they sing this song and it is spoiled. Do not sing songs to dead people – bury them without songs and when two – three weeks pass, sing that song far away from the grave. But how many times do you sing that song at the grave, afterwards, when you sing, it will be remembered in connection with the grave again, this must not happen. When somebody among us leaves, let some of the friends accompany him to the grave and nothing more. I don’t allow any one of my songs to be sung at the grave of some friends and whoever sings one song at the grave of some dead man, he is out of the School. No, with us, there will not be a song – we will bring him to the grave without a word, will wish him a good way, but will sing only after one month. We will not think about the grave, there is no reason to sing at the graveyard. In this way, you will not use even one of our songs for dead men – other songs you may use but to sing, “Dawn beautiful is dawns”…No dawn is dawns.[M14] (When somebody is ill, do not sing to the sick?) When somebody is ill – prayer, prayer, (by the original text) but the sick has to sing by him[M15] . If he sings a song and you are with him; if the sick does not sing, you don’t sing either. We will be distinguished from the others: here we don’t make a memorial service for dead people; we will do it for living people, but for dead men we will not – we will mention living people every day. And most of all, firstly, when some dying man calls us and starts to give instructions with what clothes to dress him in when he dies, we will call people from the world: “Come on bury him, he goes to God.” He gives instructions about which grave to put him in but he will not go anywhere, he will stay here, on Earth. And I say, You will bury the body but will know that the soul is not the body, the soul is free. And that man who leaves, has to know that he is alive, he will not stay in the grave – maybe he will stay there for forty days, his body will hang around for a while and afterwards will be set free, but may leave after a few days. But when somebody leaves, make one secret prayer, all can wish him a good way but not to sing any songs. The dead is something official – that life is dead, there is no reason to sing, he wants peace and calm. Whoever leaves, the first thing is that he wants peace and calm. Let God give him Light of the mind and Peace to the soul because when he looks at his life he may use the mistakes of the past. This you will keep from occult viewing[M16] ??(unclear – OK?), there is no reason to sing to the dead people. If some of our friends want to sing to him, then we will call some preacher – evangelist and will tell him, “You know how to sing to dead men, be so good to bury him and to sing to him and we will pay you.” If somebody wants to sing to him then the Orthodox or the evangelicals will bury him because they sing to dead people. But if he wants to be with us, we will make only one secret prayer – for God to give him Light to understand the deep sense of Heaven. When we send him on his way we will not sing, but those who meet him there, they will sing better to him. Let the angels sing to him, but there is no reason for us to send him on his way with songs, we don’t know what his work is. It doesn’t come, it doesn’t go to send with songs from this world, it’s better there to meet you with songs[M17] . And so, if some of you are ready to leave for that world, know that after they want to sing songs for you, we will tell them to choose an evangelic preacher or Orthodox priest who will want to sing to them. But as occult disciples you will leave without songs from this world, but upwards you will be met with songs, there they will sing to you. Last night I did you a little notice[M18] , didn’t I? The Occult disciple must have something mystical in his character – if this mysticism is lost, life becomes too empty and senseless. If we all become occult disciples we have to be blind to the mistakes. I perceive that after I make you notice[M19] , all the notices[M20] that I make are very expensive for me. Why do I make you notices[M21] ? I can let others make you notices[M22] because you don’t always have mystical tempers in your soul. And as disciples of one Occult school you will keep one rule if you want to finish your relations correctly: everyone will find one good feature in the other and will keep you in his mind – and then he will love you; and if he finds in you one good feature, you will love him too. Now you, when you meet, you look for the worst features and keep them in your mind. And then you start to pray, and go into the Occult school. But because you have selected the worst feature, after you have finished the prayer, you as if [M23] you think good about Ivan, Dragan, Petko, but it’s notable his bad feature that immediately spoils your temper acquired from the thought of the good feature. You, the occult disciples, to keep your character you have to know one rule for a law: to find in yourself one good feature. Every one of you has one good feature – find these good features among yourselves and keep it in your mind. Only in that way you will be able to help yourselves – and God will help you, and the Angels will help you, and the saints will help you. I shall adduce one example. I said to one sister, to one of the disciples, “Tell that sister this and this.” This sister said it to her and she answered, “Why doesn’t the teacher say it to me directly, but says it to the other?” What I said, she doesn’t want to do, but is occupied with small-minded works – no matter through who it was said, it has to be done. I say to her, “Don’t stay in this place!” Don’t ask why, don’t stay and don’t think because where I live is a very good place to live - for you my place is very dangerous, the person who lives with me has to be a hero. – “But shall not the Teacher keep us safe?” I am on the battlefield and the person who comes there must have the bravery to sustain these shells. I want to put you on the home front – at the back, far away. With all that, keep away from one delusion: it is not physical intimacy, which brings people together – the bringing together is in their souls. When their souls vibrate equally and when God’s Love penetrates us equally, these souls can understand it themselves. For example, I see how some of the disciples spoil the good temper in the others when they quarrel. Does the Sun mourn to us? It shines but sometimes a cloud will come and will distort its light. For example I came among you, I spoke from some objective; exactly[M24] you have a good temper along come two men, who start to quarrel, making clouds. And at the end, these two who quarrel stay – all the disciples leave and talk, “Petko, Dragan, and Stoyan said it correctly.” What education could there be?(or,could there be?)[M25] So the first thing: the disciples of the Occult school have to be obedient, absolutely obedient – if something is said, to do it. But he will say, “The spirit said to him.” Which spirit? The Divine Spirit is a Spirit of humbleness, Wisdom, Pravda, Truth; it is a Spirit that always takes the last place, it doesn’t order – wherever it goes, it will be last, it is ready to do a good turn to the poor. And this man in whom the Spirit works, will sit last at the table; if he sits first, God’s Spirit is not there, this is the way I know it. So when we come to the occult powers you will keep[M26] if you want to renew yourself. You will see that self-consciousness to execute the Will of God correctly. Afterwards, you have to verify how your influence acts upon those around. When I do notices to somebody [M27] every one of my notices[M28] not only has to dress the wound but I want to see if my dressing brought an advantage. If I make dressings for ten men and make the situation worse, it’s better for the wounds to stay undressed – if you can’t do Good, let somebody else do it. So I want these rules that I give you now to be executed constantly. I shall give you other rules. You will not suddenly become saints, because for a saint not one life, but many lives are necessary – it is perfection, it is not a law for salvation. Man has to start to vibrate in a way that in any given moment he will guess alone how to do the Will of God. Under the title holy man I understand a man with experience, consciousness, who knows how to help, but not only to take the name of holy man. A man like this is full with Knowledge, with all the virtues, and he always does the Will of God. Now we prepare to be strong, to help the great act. I say, the sixth race is coming. When the sixth race comes, you must have Knowledge and this Knowledge you will have now. So now the first thing: you will find one good feature in yourself – only for yourself, you will find one good feature, which God puts in you. To say that we are very bad, this is extreme, and to say that we are very good, this is extreme too. If we say that we are bad it means that we are not executed[M29] . God in us is good and that we will understand well and will thank God for what we are. You make one mistake but after that the consciousness in you cries, it pray, it repents; you say, “I thank God that I have that good feature – the consciousness; if I did not have that feature what would be my situation?” So when I make one mistake, I have one good feature that I understand and soon I correct my mistake. Afterwards, some man meets some poor person and his heart immediately feels pity – and with this one can guess that there is something good in him. When I say, to find our good feature this is a way we may have space of [M30] the Spirit. We have to subordinate to the Divine Spirit. And when you use these powers in Nature and when you come to the man, if you want to create friendly relations in the future, you will search inside friends and enemies for one good feature in which to put in your mind. It is quite a hard art, but an excellent art. Now you will be occult pupils – you will learn everything, you will be brave and decisive. When there are notices[M31] for you, you will not anger; when exposed, you will stand with patience; when you meet with whatever disaster, you will see only the good side in everything. Blessed is the man for whom you make notices[M32] – does God leave him? And the Scripture says: “Those who God does not expose and does not punish, they walk on a wrong way.” Don’t think that is something pleasant that can make a notice [M33] to one man. If you expose one man, do you win something? – Nothing – when you come back to your home will have anxiety within you, nothing more. Somebody says to expose. To expose whoever I always think that is the same as to make an operation – when you come back you always will have stench and for a long time you have to wash your hands to lose the smell. In the future when you enter into the School you will not see your mistakes. In the high classes it is absolute forbidden to think about the mistakes of people – people do not exist for you and the mistakes do not exist either, you will work upon yourself. One Hindu teacher says how one disciple goes to him and he shows him three methods. Three men moved in the forest; The Teacher said him, “You will go and will deliver to the three of them one slap in the face.” The disciple when he gave the first one a slap in the face, that man gave him two slaps in the face; he goes to the second, and gives him one slap in the face, that man raised his arm but put it down again, didn’t hit him; when he slapped the third one in the face he doesn’t even pay any attention, and continues thinking. The Teacher asked him: “What did you do?” – “I gave the first one a slap in the face, he gave me two.” That is the man, who lives by the law an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – the Mosaic Law. The second one, who raised his arm and quickly put it down, lives in the Salvation, he saves – it comes to his mind to execute the law but says, “It haven’t to”, [M34] it comes to his mind not to execute the law. But that man, who didn’t pay attention to the slap in the face, he lives in the Love. So now, some live by Mosaic Law, others – in the salvation and the third – in the Love. Who lives by the law will hit you twice; who lives in the salvation will raise his arm and will say, “Let it go away from me,” but the third one, who lives in Love, will feel nothing. Now the occult disciple has to live by the law of Love – somebody will come to hit you but you will feel nothing, you will not even know what hit you. What a consciousness you must have! Secret prayer [M1]They consume less of what? Example – {…they consume less energy.} [M2]Is this needed for the sentence as it doesn't connect to the sentence. [M3]Usage – unclear. What does he have to show? [M4]It is not clear who "they" are. [M5]Shouldn't this read {growth}. If it is not growth, then revise the sentence as "plants" does not make sense. [M6]Shouldn't this be {cleanliness}. [M7]Usage - rob means to steal. Perhaps the word should be {pick}. [M8] [M8]{…act in a rational way…} [M9]It is not clear who {his} refers to. [M10]Unclear. I understand this to mean - {…show you how to teach the pine-trees…} Maybe it should be – {…show you how to learn from the pine-trees…} [M11]Unclear – usage. {…to occupy yourselves in examining the blueberry.} [M12]Usage. {occupy] [M13]Unclear. {will be renewed.} or {will be filled up again.} [M14]{"Beautiful dawn is dawning"…No, dawn is dawn.} [M15]{…but the sick person has to sing by himself or herself.} [M16]Unclear. [M17] [M17]Unclear. What doesn't come and go? Example – {It isn't fitting to send dead people on their way with songs from this world, it's better that they will be met there with songs.} [M18]Unclear. Usage. The word "notice" is not used correctly in this sentence or in the ones below. {…made a little observation for you…} [M19]Unclear. Usage.Notice what? Example – {…make you notice something…} or {…make you notice your mistakes…} or {brought your attention to a certain issue} [M20]Usage – {observations} [M21]Unclear. Usage. Example - {…notice certain things.} or {…observe certain things.} or {bring your attention to certain issues.} [M22]Same – {notice things} or {observe things} [M23]A word missing here – {you act as if…} [M24]Usage. Example – {exactly when} [M25]{What education could there be in this?} [M26]Keep what? Example – {keep the rules} [M27]Unclear. Usage. {When I bring a persons attention to a certain issue…} [M28]Usage. {observations} [M29]Unclear. [M30]Unclear. {space in} [M31]Unclear. Usage. {When certain things are brought to your attention…} or {When there are certain observations made about you…} or {When there are certain issues for you to deal with} [M32]Usage. {observations} [M33]Unclear. Usage. {make an observation} [M34]Unclear. Example – {"It doesn't have to come to this."} or {"I don't have to do this."}

Note 4 THE THREE MAIN LAWS: LOVE, WISDOM, AND TRUTH Nineteenth Lecture delivered by Master Beinsa Douno to the General Esoteric Class on July 7, 1922, Friday, 8:15 - 9 p.m., Sofia Silent Prayer We just heard the disciples’ essays on the topic of the wheat grain. The second time I will appoint an essay topic only to some of you. You will need to write clearly; there is no need to write too much, but to write clearly on the topic of Why God Created Man. If I were to give you another topic, for example: What is the Distinctive Characteristic of the Disciple, what would you answer? My answer would be: the desire to learn. Now, the Esoteric School is not a place for playing or for musings; rather, it is a place for learning. You have come to the Esoteric School with certain preconceptions - you think that you know things. Outside of the Esoteric School you know a lot, but inside the Esoteric School you know nothing. I want to state the following now: you may have graduated from University, you may know a lot on the subject of philosophy but if you go to a technician in some workshop, you will find yourself in trouble; he will make you feel like a child, so you will have to pay attention. If you go to a laboratory, you will find out that you know nothing about chemistry. You may be a philosopher, thinking that you know a lot about chemistry, but no, you should admit to yourselves the fact that you don’t know much about that. When you enter the workshop, too, you should admit that you know nothing. You need to do the same when you are in the Esoteric School. Now you enter the Esoteric School thinking that God will enlighten you and will teach you everything. God does not teach those who do not want to learn. When you are here, in the Esoteric School, you need to pull yourself together and work, do you understand? Some of you have entered the Esoteric School with the intention to acquire everything with only little work; I will clean out the Esoteric School of disciples who do not learn. I do not need those who do not learn. There is a lot to do outside of the Esoteric School, but if you are here, in the School, do not waste your time, for it’s a shame; you will fall into the temptation of imagining that you are learning and what will come next is hypocrisy, because you will be fooling yourselves. Please, be fair to yourselves and correct yourselves. Then only ten people may be left but they will learn; if they stay but have not corrected themselves, then I do not want them either. Those who think that they know everything may leave; I do not need them. Those who only know how to criticize may also leave, please; it is pointless for me to deal with them. Only those shall remain in the Esoteric School for whom it is said in the Scriptures: “If you don’t become as the little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of God is a science, a great science. The Church may be willing to tolerate anything, but the Kingdom of God will not tolerate ignorance, crime, gossip, or evil. The Kingdom of God tolerates only eternal harmony - this is the Kingdom of God on Earth, on the real Earth. I’m speaking to you openly here, and you need to know that. Many of you are on the wrong path and if you keep following it the sole of your foot will become deformed. There are some who enter the path of Wisdom and then do not follow its laws - I do not mean to be rude to those, but, rather, to be honest with them. There are three Laws. The first Law is: The Truth in the Kingdom of God tolerates absolutely no deception in any form or shape, not a shred of deception, absolutely none, do you understand this? You might say, “It is in our nature.” No, there is no nature in this; lying is not in one’s nature; lying is something that was subsequently grafted into man. And if a philosopher or a theosophist or a teacher tries to convince you that it is in human nature to sin, then that teacher himself knows nothing, for it is not in human nature to sin. When I use the word “man”, I refer to that living Divine soul that originated from God; it is not in its nature to sin. If it does sin, then there are other reasons for that; you should be aware of this. And if one of you sins, he should not blame his nature for it; no, he should look for the reason outside of his nature. If I trip somewhere and fall onto my face, I won’t say, “It is in my nature to fall”; what I will do instead is look for the reason for my fall outside of myself, not in me. The second Law is: God wants from all of us to learn and learn constantly, at that. As long as we learn, we can live - Life is in the sublime Divine consciousness and nothing else; Life is in the process of Knowledge, because the Divine Wisdom gives Knowledge; Truth gives Freedom; Love gives Life; Life gives Joy; Knowledge gives Power and Freedom gives expanse - this is how these things work. Then you have Truth and Freedom; you have vast expanse, the expanse of the whole Universe. If you have Wisdom, you have Knowledge; if you have Knowledge, you will have Power; Power stems from Knowledge, but Knowledge does not stem from Power. If you have Love, you have Life; if you have Life, then you also have Joy. Now, I have said many times that we need to learn to bear the sorrows in Life. But one of Life’s characteristics is Joy - he who lives, should rejoice and only he who learns can rejoice. And only he who is free can learn; he who is not free cannot learn. I tell you all of this because there are old preconceptions, morals of the past. There are spirits from the Astral world who have entered some of you and are whispering in your ear, “You don’t need knowledge.” No, we do not want to have anything to do with these beings from the Astral level, with these ignorant spirits; we know more than they do, we don’t need their advice; they may keep what they know to themselves. They say, “We don’t need knowledge.” Well then, what do we need? To eat, to drink, to get dressed, to fight, to get married, to leave each other, to butcher animals, to write articles for the papers, to criticize each other, to create religions… - is this what we need? We need neither their rules, nor their advice, for all these influences are coming from the Astral level; they are not manifestations of the Divine Wisdom. The Divine Wisdom reveals that one true path where people can live mindfully and grow up to be something other than foot-tall pygmies: to be like a God in their mind and grandeur. And then there will be one Sun, not a small one that cannot sprout a single grain of wheat, but a Sun that is big enough to improve the wheat in the whole world. Therefore, all of you are required to be servants of the Absolute Truth; there must not be even a trace of a lie in you, do you understand! I’m saying that what you should do is not preach Truth outside but when you face your consciousness, God, your soul, you should realize the fact that there must be absolutely no change, absolutely no lie in your soul. My soul’s sky should be clear, with no clouds in it. Now I’m referring not to the outside world, but to the inner one; I’m talking about reaching a certain state of mind and only at this state can we think right. The second thing is that all of you should maintain a thirst for learning. What I see now is that some of you sit there and say, “I’m 45 years old.” Forty-five years is nothing; why do you think you are old? Do you know what the age limit is that defines one as old? One turns 60 years and says, “I’m an old man.” What codex states that at this age one can claim, “I’m old”. You say, “I’m old.” - The criterion that defines one as old, is wrong. God is referred to as the Ancient One, no one knows His years, but when we turn 60 we assume a label that says that we are old, now this is a shame. There is no standard for old people it is a shame to think that there is. What you should say instead is, “I have been around for 60 years, but I’m not old at all, nor have I become wiser at all - the Earth rotated 60 times, but I was sleeping the whole time.” Now you say, “I’m old”. Very well, if you say that you are old, tell me what you know then? Because the meaning of “old” in Sanskrit is “one who has Knowledge”. If you are that old, tell me what the Earth was like when God created it? Tell me about when God created the Earth. You might say, “Well, I don’t know about this.” Well then, you are not one of the old ones, why do you claim so? Now, here’s someone with his hair and beard all white, but so what if your beard is white, does that make you old; where did that assumption come from? When trees are all covered with snow in winter, does that make them old? Those with white heads say, “My hair is white, I’m old.” No, don’t link these things to your age. The first thing you need to do is tell yourselves that you are disciples; if you are 60 it means that it is your perfect time to be a disciple, to learn. Why? I will tell you why: the young woman walking outside will not tempt you, no woman will give you any trouble, and no children will make a ruckus. Exactly because your mind is where it should be and your heart and willpower are where they should be - that’s the perfect time when you can learn, i.e. you will be a disciple who is able to understand every single subject. And now you sit here and I often hear both the young and the old of you say, “We’ve grown old.” I would like to know how many of you are old so that I can ask them about how God created the world: that is how I will test you to see if you are old or not. First, as soon as you enter the Esoteric School, you will put one main thought in your mind - you need to forget about the world. What I see happening now is that you enter and say, “Let’s see what the Master will tell us tonight.” Here is what I’m telling you tonight: you must throw your old idea out the window, because it is worth nothing. All of you are young; even if you are 60 years of age, you are still young. The fact that the Earth has turned 60 times has nothing to do with you; when it turns, it does not affect your growth at all. Let’s say someone puts you into a magnetic dream at the time when you are born and while you are in that state the Earth turns 60 times; when you wake up, you will not be old. What ages on Earth, is not the years, the turning of the Earth is something accidental. We say, “At 12 o’clock there was a murder”, that murder is an accidental measure. These are all accidental measures in the world, because the Absolute measure is the expansion of the soul, not the turning of the Earth: that is something impermanent. I want you all to have the desire to learn, do you understand; I want you to learn, not only to feel. You want to be in pleasant spirits, right? However, there are better things than spirits and those better things are brought about by what one can create through the Law of Wisdom. Without the Law of Wisdom, you cannot serve God. You cannot make use of Love, either. You need to know that true Love in the world can be manifested only when the great Law of Wisdom is at work, only when Knowledge comes. In order for you to love someone, you need to know his distinctive characteristic. You say, “This person has dark eyes.” All right, I see this differently and I’ll make the following analogy to explain how I see it: when the farmer says dark soil, he implies something else; what he means to say is that this dark soil is rich and provides more of the elements that are favourable for the growth of the wheat grain. That is why he says, “This dark soil is excellent; it produces excellent wheat!” And when we see someone with dark eyes, why do we like that person; why do we like people with dark eyes? Because such people are more consistent in their feelings - if a person like that falls in love with you, he is ready to give everything for you, you can rely on him. A person with dark eyes will not deceive you - he is true to his character no matter if he loves you or if he hates you. That is why we say that dark eyes have energy. A person with dark eyes may hate or may be rude, but such a person has one characteristic feature - he is always honest; he will tell you directly if he hates you or if he loves you, he plays no games. Such people are not agitated, but are true to their character. Therefore, only Wisdom will show us the qualities that are inside us, the properties and qualities that are hidden in our consciousness. This is the goal of the Esoteric School. If, in the Esoteric School, we do not learn what causes all the misfortunes in our lives, and if, in the Esoteric School, we cannot improve our future life, then why do we even need this School? I can talk to you about Heaven, about how the Angels and the saints live there, about their houses and so on. I can describe to you many things and you will say, “This is very interesting!” It is very interesting, indeed, but it is not the smart thing to do. Why is it not smart? Imagine that you are ill in bed, you are feeling sick and I come to visit you and start describing to you my travels in America; I start telling you how the Americans live, but your stomach hurts. You will not get better by my stories about America! In that case you will tell me, “Before you tell me the first thing about America, tell me about a cure for my stick stomach!” Similarly, is it not smarter for me to describe to you the ways in which you can improve your life first and then tell you about the Superior Life? Here is the first thing about the Esoteric School: its goal is to help you get rid of all your flaws that have remained in you from all kinds of cultures from times immemorial and you still carry them in you. Some of you say, “I don’t need to know much, I can get by even with little knowledge.” No, you need a lot of Knowledge in order to save yourselves. You need Knowledge to understand Love, to understand Wisdom, to understand Truth. You need to apply things in the present real Life. Do not think that you understand Love. If you really understood Love, you would have been immortal; if you really understood the Divine Wisdom, you would have had eternal harmony, i.e. you would have had Knowledge, you would have been strong, you would have been able to understand Truth in its entirety, and you would have had eternal Freedom - the great expanse of Life. You would not have been in the dark then, we would not have been limited in this room talking about these things; instead, we would have been travelling incredibly fast. Do you know how fast we would have been travelling - at least fifty thousand kilometres per second. What would we have done then? We would have gone up to Vitosha, blow once and be past the Moon in a second and be on the Sun in five minutes. We would stop at the first station where they would greet us; we would visit for three-four days and, because they are polite, they would show us around; we would see their schools, their meetings, we would take notes and afterwards we would head for the next station, Alfa Centauri*. Now you say, “What a wonderful voyage!” It is wonderful, of course but it also contains some ideas. The advanced students of the Esoteric School go on voyages like this. You may not be able to make such a voyage in your present condition, but you need to get ready for it in some future existence. You should think on Earth, you should descend to the physical level and make voyages like this from that level. Once you are on the Astral level, you will make other voyages there; when you enter the Mental level you will find that it is organized differently, because the structures in these worlds are based on different foundations. So here is the first thing: a true thirst for Knowledge should be born in you; I want from all of you to think. I am happy with your thought but it should be an original thought, it should be such that when it enters your mind, it will beget humility. You all have met young women like that one who behaves like an aristocrat before she gets married; she does not like placing her hands just anywhere, but has a specific way of holding her hands, because she doesn’t know where to put them. However, once she gets married and has her first child, she can find where to put her hands - she lifts their child, then puts it down or holds it. The first idea that comes to one’s mind is the greatest; then one’s hand, the willpower, has something to do. Someone says, “What should we do?” Give birth to a great Divine idea in yourself and then your hands and everything will find what to do - this is why we have the Esoteric School. Now when you come here you say, “Aren’t we going to learn some prayer?” Do you know what is the true prayer, how you should pray - Lord, enlighten our mind, give us Light because the ignorance is so great that we do not understand You at all and we have sunk in sins up to our ears. We pray to you, give us Knowledge and Wisdom to do your Will. Here is a prayer: Give us Knowledge! Give us Knowledge so that we can serve You with all our heart and be happy and so that You can be filled with Joy that we are learning. What you say now, instead, is, “Lord, forgive our trespasses.” Well, your trespasses and your sins are a result of your ignorance, of your lack of Wisdom. Therefore, the disciples and all of us should pray in the Esoteric School; we need Wisdom and Knowledge. Some of you who are more advanced and well-read know that there are books about these levels. I don’t have the time now to talk about the levels. Make sure you look into these things; those of you who know more on the subject, should tell you in a private conversation. We have no time to go over things that are written in books; our time is valuable; you can read it and mull over it and I will talk about things that you cannot find in books. Now if someone tries to say something, you interrupt, “Wait, let’s ask the Master, he will tell us.” It is written in the book and you don’t need to ask if it is right; just read it, and if you like it, then accept it; if you do not like it, use your head to make up your mind. And when it comes to me to talk about these things, I will touch on them briefly and will talk about them only inasmuch as they are connected to our subject. Because my goal is to make you learn how to think by showing you how I think and then we will be able to study things. But until you learn how to think, I will use this hoe, I will dig and you will dig; I will dig and you will dig and so on until we learn how to think. And what will happen then? We will play and sing and when the wheat is ripe, we will put it in the barn and will have brotherly discussions about the eternal Laws and the future Fraternity. We have decided that we will not allow for anyone to lie to us anymore. Woe to those disciples who enter the Esoteric School intending to mock God’s Name! They will see what a Divine School means. The one who enters the Divine School needs to know that the great Divine Righteousness is behind this School. This is a Divine School - you are absolutely free but you are absolutely responsible for your deeds, as well. I need to show you and I will repeat again: the only unforgivable crime in the Esoteric School is lying! You should know this - lying is unpardonable. Do not think that you have common morals, pretend morals, such understanding… In the future we will have such high morals! I am not talking about how I treat you on the outside; I am not talking about those morals but about the inner morals in every given moment. If all I think about is how to use you, this is not morals. My relation to God - this is morals. There must not exist, even a shadow in my mind, soul, heart, or will of the thought of using you in any way. Absolute purity, absolute selflessness! Do you know what selflessness is? This is what is understood, these are the morals of the Esoteric School. And if all of you enter the Esoteric School, you need to have these morals in your soul so when you face yourselves in a given moment, you will know that you are pure. You can trespass thousands of times on the outside, but what is important is the motive, the inner motivation that causes you to do something. You may say, “But this is a school!” Yes, but this is one of the best rules. When you apply this rule as disciples, your things will improve in every aspect: mentally, spiritually and materially. Your things will improve in every aspect with no exception; if not now, in the future; if not for you, for your children. This is so and so does Jesus say, “There is no one who has left mother and father who shall not receive many times more in the present time and in the age to come – eternal life.” Therefore, you should have no fear. Then there is this irritability in you that I will start testing. Someone says, “I’m in a bad mood.” We know the reason and the source of all bad moods. If you fall asleep at night and a vampire puts his mouth on you and sucks your blood, what do you think you will feel when you wake up in the morning? You will feel a great weakness. Why? - Because this vampire has sucked out your blood. You have good intentions but some vampire comes along and sucks out your blood. Therefore, when you go to bed, you should close your door so the vampire does not come, do you understand? Someone may say, “It was my Karma that he should suck out my blood.” This is no philosophy; if you hadn’t opened the windows, it would not have been your Karma. If someone trips, they say, “It is Karma”; but if you hadn’t fallen, would it have been Karma? Someone is nervous, restless and says, “My father and mother were of a nervous disposition, and I have inherited it from them.” But if there were no father and mother what would you have said? We explain Karma a little bit differently. Do not blame your mistakes and foolishness on Karma. No, what you should say is, “I wasn’t careful in my step and I fell.” That’s all. Then there is another thing: in our Esoteric School we need to create a favourable atmosphere for learning. The first thing is to create this pure, holy, pious atmosphere so that you feel an impulse for knowledge as soon as you enter the building where these subjects are taught; this is necessary for all of you. You will create this atmosphere yourself. I have nothing against you, you are all good and I do not question your goodness. Now when I talk, you may say, “Master probably can see something bad in us.” No, I look at the matter objectively: if you are a musician and play badly, I will say, “There is no harmony.” I’m saying that not to judge your moral character but to say that the performance is not good and you don’t understand music; this has nothing to do with your moral character. You may say, “I have not developed this centre in me, but I will develop it in a day or a couple of days, or a month, a year, or longer.” When you say this, the sense for music in you will become activated. When I say that these senses are not developed in you, I mean that the Divine Curiosity is not awake in many of you. Now, I want to appoint a task to the three most capable disciples of you who know a lot on different subjects; I want one of them to write a summary on the Physical world, another one to write a summary on the Astral world and define it, and the third one to write on the subject of the Mental world. And I want this description to be ready in three weeks starting from today. Are there three volunteers here? They will write an essay and then read aloud what they wrote in front of all other disciples so that first, we can obtain a clear idea about the physical world; then a clear idea about the Astral world and then a clear idea about the world of Wisdom, the Mental level. (Now, you choose these three people.) This is how it is, then: Ruschev will write about the physical world, Ilia Stojchev will write about the Astral world and Veliko Grablashev will write about the Mental world. We will keep the rest of the capable disciples for more difficult subjects; if they are sorry that they haven’t been chosen this time, we will choose them next time. When does the third week from now fall? - On July 27th. Those of our friends who are writing this time, should write the main things. You may use books on the subject and take notes. So, I want all disciples to be always young, never old. When you enter the Esoteric School, we make no difference between how and when you have entered; here you are disciples and nothing else. In the Esoteric School you are all only disciples; outside of the School there are many professions, but when you enter the School you will be only disciples. When you are outside the Esoteric School, then you can have various professions. You need to observe one main rule: when you enter here, you will discard any other profession. If you are a professor, you will say, “I’m a student now, a disciple.” Here is how you should discipline your will and your mind: if, for one hour, you can release a burden, or forget about a difficulty and think about yourself as a disciple, now, that’s willpower. When you leave after that and go outside, you will feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Someone may ask: “How can I train my willpower?” You should spend one hour during the week thinking about yourself as a disciple: this is another experiment for you to see how well you are able to focus your mind. You might think that you cannot do that - all is allowed. We will follow the same rule as in a battlefield: those who are fighting do not stop; they keep going even when people are falling down around them; there is a medical unit which will come afterwards to take care of the wounded. Now, if one of the disciples falls down, the rest need to keep going and let the medical unit take care of the one who fell. You are not to stop and inquire, ”What happened to him?” No, onward you go, there are no sick people here. We will not stop for the sick ones; everyone must be healthy. We welcome the healthy ones and we offer our cooperation to the sick ones. Therefore, we will not discuss sick people in the Esoteric School. One’s flaws and inabilities are but sicknesses of the Astral world. When someone does not learn, it is a sickness; if someone else gets offended easily, it is also a sickness; there is an astral medicine that studies the symptoms of the sickness. The disciples in an Esoteric School first need to study Love and the subject of Life - how it originated and what its purpose is for the earth forces and the way they connect to produce these elements. The first thing that a disciple should study when he enters the Esoteric School is Life’s joys and bounties. After that he will go on to study Wisdom, then he will continue with Truth and in this way he will finally get prepared for his higher purpose in the world. Silent Prayer * Alfa Centauri is the star closest to our Sun. It is 4.3 light years away from the Sun.

Note 2p THE LITTLE ACQUISITIONS IN LIFE Thirty second lecture of the Youth Occult Class, given by the Master Beinsa Douno on 25th May 1924 in Sofia “God of Love is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Secret prayer I am going to tell you a few words on the little acquisitions of Life. As you see, the number one is written on the board; what relation does it have to you? In order to determine itself the number one should grow. All right, look, with straight lines I will draw the nose, the mouth, the eyebrows and the eyes of the human face; what can you conclude from this face? In the middle of the face is the number one – the human nose. In order to give a meaning to the number one, we put will the number two above – the eyebrows. They represent branches – dynamic acts – this is the way the number one has been growing. I ask: why the number one makes these two branches one going to the left and the other – to the right? This shows that there are two currents in the number one itself. These currents exist in the human organism itself: if you divide a person in a direction perpendicular to the earth, the two halves represent these two currents – there is minus and plus (-/+) in the left half and plus and minus (+/-) in the right one. Positive forces in Nature do not act as you think. If you have a friend who is merry, fresh, in good spirits at a certain moment and you put another plus on their right side, their mood will change at once – they will turn sour. You ask, “Why does one turn sour?” Assume that you are carrying the rucksack of a friend of yours weighing about ten kilograms; you are carrying it easily, you are fresh on the path and you say to yourself, “I am very pleased, I will carry it for my friend’s sake, for my love to them.” But another friend of yours comes and puts their rucksack of ten kilograms on your back too – you turn sour at once. Hence, adding does not always bring a good mood. And so, if you want to spoil someone’s humour, add something to their right side - from the left side it is usually taken away. Opposite is the situation when someone is sad, sorrowful, indisposed: if we add something to their left side – a plus, we will thus take away their sorrow and he or she will become merry. You say, “Why does one become merry?” Assume that while going on the way, someone falls into a pot[A1] three-four metres deep and cannot get out of it; that one is in a worried, sorrowful condition. You are passing this place; you hear someone groaning, drop a rope and pull the person out – that one grips the rope, gets out and brightens up. In general, the currents in the left side of the human head show that people are lacking in something; the currents in the right side of their head show that they are connected with the Sun. Once you are joyful, do not wish to be given anything more because your joy will be spoiled. If you are joyful and someone wishes to give you some more, tell that one, “Give this joy to someone who is sorrowful!” For example, you are merry, fresh, but someone comes to you and expresses their love to you, you say, “How much this one loves me!” No, these people do not love you – if you think they love you, you will lose your joy. They just feel your joy, your mirth in this case and this means that you are giving them a feast. When you have guests at your home all are joyful, are they not? Why are they joyful? Because you are hosting them. So, if they are kind to you, it is for the party you are giving to them. Do not think that the guests give you something; if you think like this, you will be under a delusion. If you perceive something from them, it will be a negative load – the guests will surely take something away from you and your humour will change. That is why when you are content want nothing more from your fellow men. Let us say that some of you or some people of the world are very ambitious; what would they want? – To become famous and to be the only talk of the world. This is impossible. According to the laws of Nature, at the most fifty people out of a hundred would be on your side, twenty five would be both pro and con and twenty five would be absolutely against you. The last twenty five people spoil everything wherever they go, that is why you cannot and should not rely on these people. You will ask me, “Why can I not be reputed to be good by all people?” I will explain: you want that these hundred people glorify you but imagine that these hundred people want to be glorified too. What would happen with you then? It is the same as if you faced the following dilemma: you have one hundred levs[1] and each of these hundred people wants to possess these one hundred levs. What would come of it? – You would have to duel and who would turn out to be the greatest hero and to beat the rest would take the hundred levs. I ask: would that one be happy in that case? – No. In this case your happiness is the one lev, not the hundred levs. If you strive for the hundred levs, they will be your unhappiness. Let us come back to the number one. In the present case the number one represents the beginning of the human mind – it represents the mind of man with which man works. Eyebrows show the intensity of the feelings. They can be arched, straight or bent upwards. If eyebrows are arched, they show that there is more mellowness in the feelings; if they are straight, there is more energy and quickness of mind in the feelings. And if they are bent upwards, what do they show? In order to have the eyebrows bent to one or another direction, there is a reason for that acting out of man – they show what the environment in which man has lived was. If someone has arched eyebrows, this shows that they have lived in an environment where people, maybe somewhere in the past, have been very sensible. But if the eyebrows are straight, this shows that these people are more energetic and often materialists – people of not so much feelings as mind. As the straight lines in Nature are lines of the mind and the round, the curved lines in Nature are always lines of the feelings – you shall take this as symbols. So, when creating the nose, all dynamic, positive forces have acted and when the feelings started acting, the curved lines were formed. Feelings make the spiral lines as well. Note that when you meet someone you love, you do not go to them in a straight line, but you go around a little and then you meet them. Sometimes you go about – you cannot realize why this happens. – Such is the law of your feelings. If you act consciously, of your free will and if you are highly raised[A2] , you will go straight on. Such are the manifestations of the mind and of your feelings. This is a law of the past and a law of the future that acts now. And so, you should utilize the little acquisitions. Often your thoughts and feelings exercise certain influence on your actions. When your feelings act, you always like to put off things, to quibble concerning the matter; when the mind acts, it likes the sudden changes – it does everything immediately, it says, “There is no need to prolong this matter”. When the feelings act, then one says, “Wait, let my mind start working and then I will see what to do, there is no need to be in a hurry.” I say: in one case the heart works, in other – the mind. And for this reason Nature has put a curved line for a nose. And you, being mathematicians, should judge the dynamic forces, acting in you, by the length of these lines. These forces act in your heart, too, and leave imprints on your face. You should study these lines. If your nose is wide and the curved lines prevail, you shall know that your heart takes more part in your life. And whatever your philosophy is, your heart will give its colouring; and if your mind takes more part, it will give something hard. The heart will make you soft like a mess; and if you listen to your mind, it will make you hard like a flint. Someone says, “I am not going to be soft like a mess.” And if you are hard like a flint, is it better? Which is better? There are circumstances in which the flint is in its place – for example, the flint is used to thresh by flint-studded threshing-boards[2] but if the dough you are kneading becomes hard like a flint, what will you do? Consequently, there are circumstances in Life in which feelings should prevail and there are circumstances in Life in which the mind should prevail. You shall observe the following law: if you are indisposed, stroke the left side of your head for a while – you shall consciously run your left hand through the left side of the head with the wish to balance your state of mind. As soon as you are indisposed, do this experiment and say, “As a disciple of this spiritual School, I should be always in high feather! In the name of God’s Love I have this mood!” Disciples are not allowed to scowl! It is allowed to scowl for one-two minutes only and at that if they are alone; but if they are among people, they should not show their discontent, for people are not to blame for that. And if you are too merry, run your right hand through the right side of your head. Once you turn sour, put the left hand on your head and say, “Wait, wait!” This law works only if you put it in action and consciously at that. You should know that, if your hand fulfils the command of your consciousness, of your mind, of your soul, there will be results from the law, but if you do them mechanically, you will not have results and it will be the same as when all stroke themselves on the head. For example, someone puts their hands to their head and shakes it; we know what this means, we will not ask them why they are shaking their head but we comprehend the laws. If we ask them, they would say, “I do not know; this is how I feel.” There are reasons for this – the high consciousness wants to tell them, “Your things have muddled as you did an injustice and that is why you suffer.” Others shake their heads; the high consciousness wants to say to them too, “You shall not look downwards, you shall look upwards!” They shake their heads up and down because there is a fight between the mind and the heart. The high consciousness says that the lower energy should be transferred into a high energy; for this reason, in order to solve the matter rightly, they should look upwards. Now, the little acquisitions in Life lie in to be, in any case, content in your soul with a little thought, with a little feeling. One of the best qualities of the disciple is to be content with the least act – with the least thought causing a little joy and with the least feeling bringing happiness to them. Each little thought and each little feeling are a little seed which is barely coming out from the earth and is enjoying the wide world. This little thought will bring you a great good, a great joy after a time. Many of your mistakes are because you are not content with the little things. You say, “I want something great. It’s neck or nothing!” No, there is no such a law in Nature, in Nature all things begin with microscopic acts. And note students in school, who have been very good, capable in the primary-school classes, finish the senior-school classes poorly. There are opposite case too – some students start very poorly but gradually do better and better and finish school with excellent marks. Human energy should be developed consecutively. Mothers and fathers constantly vaunt those children who are good, capable; indeed, they have many resources in the beginning but there is a danger for them that they may stop suddenly – such a development is premature and these children usually come to a bad end. Be careful when people speak favourably of you because when someone speaks favourably of you for being very talented as a poet or a writer and you accept this and rejoice, you may collapse. In order to check this, make the following trial: write an article without putting your name and look what people will say about you. They may say, “What a foolish person!” If they say so, do not lose heart, write again – do not listen to what people would say. You will see that you are not the kind of a man they judge because others would say that you are genius. Then, writing an article in which people will be pleased, do not put your name again, and let it be a little inner joy for you – say within yourself, “I know who this poet is.” Keep this little joy that may come to you within your heart, let it rejoice you internally – it will give one addition [A3] to your character. Do not appear in Life with all your resources at the same time. Show yourself little by little and as you are going farther your resources will increase in a natural way until the entire spiritual life reveals within yourself so that you be in full harmony with it. Then you will know the laws how to act in your life in general. At present, many of you have started with your big trumps. One, who understands the play[A4] , plays first the weak trumps and holds the good ones – in the end they show their good trumps and win suddenly, all the others give up. Why? Because it is possible to win with good trumps only. When the good trumps come, the battle is won at once. So, you should act in the same way – leave your strong feelings and thoughts last, do not expose them at once, lay them aside, send your least resources ahead. These are practical directions helpful for your life. Many philosophical works that you know will not help you, but these little understandings will help you. When you look at your eyebrows and see that they are arched tell your friend, “I am an emotional character, I know no bounds, but when I speak come and jog me from time to time.” One American preacher liked to overstate things – he had such a weakness; he was reading a sermon on the force of Samson – how he used to catch foxes by their three metre long brushes. This preacher had a good friend who used to advise him against overstating things. One day they agreed that when the preacher overstated something, his friend would move his finger from a distance and he would correct himself. So, when the preacher began to talk that the brushes of foxes were three metres long, his friend moved his hand and the preacher corrected himself saying, “It seems to me the three metre brushes are too long, this is almost incredibly but I suppose they were at least two and a half metres long.” His friend moved his hand again – he corrected himself, “It seems to me that this length is impossible at the present circumstances but according to some other author they were two metres long.” His friend moved his hand again while the audience was listening to him. Finally the preacher shortened to half a meter, his friend moved his finger again, but the preacher told him, “I am not going to shorten any more”, i.e., “I accept to consider that these foxes had half metre long brushes.” So, you should always have a friend to move their finger in front of you so that you could shorten the length of the brushes of foxes. You should know that the tail of animals shows their intelligence. For example, a lion has a long tail, it is aware that the tail represents its intelligence – it is its pride. Hence, your mind should not make the brushes of foxes so long – you are not able to do everything. Someone says, “I am a strong person, I can do everything.” It is a debatable point what you are able to do. I ask them, “Since you are so strong, are you able to lift the whole earth? As you are not able to lift the earth, do not say that you are strong.” This is a measure for the strength. Say, “Really, my mind can catch something, I comprehend things to a certain extent and I can lift a load up to twenty, fifty or a hundred kilograms, but I cannot more.” Then, in the mental respect you say similarly, “I know a lot of things.” What do you know, what can you solve, can you solve the higher problems in mathematics? Then, can you transform the states of heart? Do you know what your mother and your father think about you, and what do your friends think? Everyone who thinks that they know much should know things concretely. And what will they see? – That their knowledge is a mere long fox brush that has to be shortened – nothing more. So, be pleased with every little fact. If you know, there should be a norm to determine what you know. You should know, for example, why your character is such or such and to be able to explain everything to yourself. I have said earlier, too, that human intelligence cannot be put into the head of a fly. In Nature, there are particular forms for particular manifestations – particular curved lines, particular straight lines with particular lengths at that. For example, we say that the human nose should be long but it should have a certain proportion with the entire face. If this proportion is proper, the nose will be shapely. If the nose is too long and is not in a certain proportion with the entire face, then its shapeliness is lost and the intelligence of this person will be abnormal. Therefore, the proportion between the parts of our face shows that Nature likes harmony in the thoughts, in the feelings and in the actions. One thought has no right to take the place of some other thought; you may put it in the place of some other thought but it will be of no use to you. Nature has determined the place of each thought, has given it a specific form, a specific scale of development and it should be distinguished from the others. If you distinguish it more than needed, you will cause a real misfortune to yourself – that is why you should not be in a hurry in your development. For example, many children would like to grow quickly – being little children they are in a hurry to grow up like their father, to grow moustaches etc., and this idea wrinkles them all. Do not think about when you will grow up and when you will become like your father. Do want to rise to greatness in the world but do not fix time in a certain amount of years; do want to become a musical person, but do not set a time-limit when exactly; you may achieve a certain development, but do not define when, because it will be to your disadvantage. If Nature had put feelings for the music in you when creating you, it has exactly determined a certain period – in what time you will be musical. And you will follow its plan. Also, your mind will develop in accordance with the laws in Nature. While people of today make various plans by themselves – they do not listen to the voice of Nature and for this reason they do not succeed. Twenty years ago a teacher from Razgrad came to me and told me the following: “I should like to study music, mainly to learn violin.” I looked at him and asked, “Was this desire born together with you or did it come later?” – “It came later – four years ago I listened an orchestra and then the thought that I could become musician and learn to play came to me.” I told him, “You will not make a good violinist; you might make a good merchant whereas you would only scrape on a violin.” That is exactly what happened. If a thought to play the violin has appeared in you from before just four years, it is not a gift of yours; if the thought, the wish of music was born together with you, only then you may make a musician. So, in order to be a musician, you should be born musical – this impulse to music should be in you still from your birth. If you start to develop later, this means that these are talents of secondary importance. For this reason you should start with those talents which Nature has put in you right at the beginning and on their shoulders you should develop your weaker resources. Some of you are good at mathematics; others have a good memory, the third have great powers of imagination, the fourth are poets, musicians, writers, etc.; everyone has a certain little talent which should be developed in this life. Be happy with the little you have. Look to be happy for yourself with what you have, do not pause on the praises of people. If you, being a small poet, go to a first-class poet, a poet of genius and you boast of your work, he would look at you, would just smile faintly but would not speak favourably of you neither would encourage you much but would only say, “This is a good thing.” While one who does not comprehend poetry, would tell you, “This is an excellent thing”, but this praise is of no use to you. People with big lips are rich in feelings: they speak much, they have feelings but their minds are not so imbued with ideas - there are more forms but not content in them. Why has the mouth of such people become so big? (- From many exercises). They have been in close contact with the physical world; the needs of the world have forced them to speak more. The thick substance in which man lives has created the big mouth. In the same way we can examine the rest parts of the human body as well. What do you think, which man is healthiest? If someone is hollow-chested, there are certain mental reasons – this hollowing of the chest is a bad sign. Never let your chest become hollow – the chest should be upright in front. They should not be too bosomy either but only a little bulging ahead. To not have your chest hollowed you should regulate your feelings. Keep harmony in your feelings and you will regulate your respiratory system – if you regulate your respiratory system, you will regulate the displays of your feelings too. And some of you are square-shouldered; in others the shoulders are starting to bend, but this is a bad sign – this bending shows that your feelings prevail over the mind. Curved lines in man show that the feelings, the magnetic forces prevail in them. And when the shoulders become too narrow, this is not a good sign – this shows a distortion of feelings. Curved lines are not bad but they should be beautiful. Nature likes harmony everywhere and you shall aim at that. While walking, do keep in your mind the idea for your organism to have beautiful shapes, i.e. shapes that Nature requires. Your shoulders, your face, and your eyes – everything should be regular and beautiful. Set yourself an ideal in Life which you want to realize. This ideal is to be found in Nature but you should work for its realization. If your mind works, you will form your forehead; if your feelings work, you will form your nose; if your will works, you will form your chin, the lower part mainly. If you project all your feelings into work, you will develop your body normally; if you are very active, you will develop your lungs normally; if you act rightly in your material matters, your digestive system will be normal as well. Nature registers all our acts. Right feelings and physical acts are being created in the stomach, right thoughts are being created in the brain. So, we form our lines and organs according to how we act. You either build or demolish – according to how you act. That is why I say, “Each act of yours, each feeling of yours will put a small stone in the building of your construction. And if some day you have a beautiful feeling, be pleased all day that you have the opportunity to put a nice stone in your construction – be satisfied that you have placed this nice stone. As soon as there is an idea of something beautiful in you, of something great, you should work perfectly. Now, this science, which I am speaking to you about, is very complicated and you should be very careful when studying it. You should spend at least ten years in studying what the relation between the lines and the energies being generated between them is. Also, you shall study the relationships between people – this is a very complicated process. At present, for example, you guess things. You like someone and you say, “I like this person, he is good”, but you cannot define why and for what reason you like him. But you can and should define why you like him. Nature has strictly defined all lines of eyes, of eyebrows, of nose, etc. – they all are mathematical quantities, strictly defined, precisely measured by a tape-measure. Regular faces have precisely defined dimensions, you can check these things. I have been checking this truth as many as eleven years and have met no exclusion. Moral people have always precisely defined features: their face, their arms, their eyes, their ears – everything differs in them. If you come across a type having no moral principles, the centimeters will differ now. There are measures in Nature by which a moral person differs from the other types; in immoral types, there is a different combination of numbers and sizes – the features of these people are disharmonious. In Living Nature, everything is in harmony but a deep understanding is required. So, in all your actions you shall strive for the elevated, for the little manifestations that are being met in Nature. If the thought whether you are from the moral types or not occurs in you, you should know that an immoral type is one who has all the time opposing the good desire of Nature – they had abused all those good conditions which Nature has been giving. Therefore, each one may know very well by oneself to which type they belong – Nature registers everything. The mistakes of people are not hidden in Nature but in their malice – they have not wanted to take advantage of its good conditions. That is why still in their present life, once people admit their mistakes, they can easily turn over to the next page and change their immoral actions into moral ones – this is a karmic law. Once you admit that what you have been doing so far is unjust to Nature and begin to gradually correct your actions, not long after that your life will change, will mend. Now, as the summer vacation is coming up, I am going to stop my lectures for the time being but you may still meet. Meet for a half an hour and spend in [A5] meditation; then have a word with each other and go home. You may do the next meetings in this way until we begin the new school year. Start with a meditation for twenty – twenty five minutes at most, direct your mind to everything elevated and perfect. I am not going to give you any topics. This will be a respite for you and a little variety to your meetings at the same time. When I talk about these lines, there is some danger for you, while looking at yourself, to say by any chance, “My chin is such and such, my nose is strange” and to despair. You have not measured how many centimeters your eyebrows and your nose are. You have a nose but do not know how many centimeters it is length and width; you have a head but do not know how many centimeters the circumference of your head is; how long your fingers are, you know not either; why the fourth finger is long that much you do not know either. So, you have a body and do not know the structure and the proportions of its parts, yet you should turn all this into quantities. How long your arms are you do not know either. Of course, for one who knows, these are important laws. If you want to know what your height should be, you have to measure the length of the arms open[A6] . Sometimes arms are longer – this shows that in the past the forefathers of that person liked to pilfer; if arms are shorter than the standard measure, their forefathers liked to kill. Hence, their desire for pilfering or killing has continued further. This has been ascertained in life: in all killers arms are short and thick while in all thieves arms are long. I explain this with the following fact: while a thief is planning in their mind to reach in some pocket, blood starts circulating more intensely in their arm and it grows more. This is true only one third, because long arms show also skillfulness, vigour. So, if the head of that person is normally developed, their desire to pilfer has been transformed into skillfulness and work. In general, long arms show activity, vigour. When the head is not normally developed, then such a person likes to pilfer, as his grandfather did. A thick arm speaks for propensity to killing – all ferocious animals have strongly developed muscles. However, not every thick arm is criminal, we consider criminal the deformed arm – it is not proportionate with the other parts of the body. When an arm is disproportionately long, it is deformed; when an arm is harmonious and proportionate with the other parts of the body, it shows good feelings. So now, most important for you, is to utilize the little acquisitions in Life. For example, in certain cases you consider that you have no feelings, have no heart or it is not well developed, but one day you reach the fact that shows you have heart – this is a little acquisition and you should be pleased with it. Or, you may consider that you have no intelligence, but one day you come to know that your nose shows that you are intelligent and you establish this in you – this should make you pleased too. Therefore, you should be pleased with your little acquisitions. These little thoughts or feelings which make you stronger in Life are just the scientific information that is fortifying you towards the elevated in Life. And so, the visible life is a formula in the human Life. I consider man as the most complicated formula in the living mathematics and geometry. And there is not a more complicated creature than man on Earth – man is the most complicated creature in an organic respect and the most complicated formula in a geometric respect. A number of years are needed to study man and this is a matter of the future. So, strive now for the nice, for the beautiful, for the elevated. I can see many beautiful features put in all of you. You all should develop, should work not for the present only, but also for the distant future, which is connected with the present. And the little failures, which you may meet in your life, should not discourage you – a failure in one respect is a success in another respect. I will give you advice: draw lessons from plants which in their striving to grow up and to develop, have always been waiting for the Sun. There is a beautiful desire and waiting in them – for the Sun to come! There are no other creatures on Earth waiting for the Sun with such an intensive desire like plants. That is why, when we are waiting for the Divine in us, we should be like plants waiting for the Sun every day. This desire for the Sun raises them and the Sun itself attracts them towards itself. And when we are waiting for the God of Love with the same desire, in this way we will obtain the same goods as plants do as well. As only this intensive feeling to God may raise us up. Do have the same desire to God as plants have to the Sun. As soon as you go to bed in the evening, strongly desire for the Divine to come to raise you. In the morning, when you get up, desire the Divine again. Thus, do intensively want the intimacy of God, i.e. the Divine to come within you. And, as soon as the Divine comes, each of you to take what they need. “God of Love is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” [1] Bulgarian currency [2] Timbered farm tool, dragged by a horse, used in the past to thresh on a threshing-floor [A1][pothole] [A2][elevated] [A3][add] [A4][game] [A5][spend time in] or [spend it in] [A6][arms opened out]

Note 2p Contradictions as Necessary for Any Growth 31st lecture given by the Master to the Youth Occult Class 18th May, 1924, Sofia The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. Ten assignments on the topic “The differences and similarities in the personalities and philosophies of Augustan and Tolstoy” were read. For next time – topic Nr 26 “Distinctive features of the Human Spirit, the human soul and the human body”. Let one of you come to the blackboard and write four figures, namely the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and give the mathematical indication that the number 2 is twice as weak as the number 1, that the number 3 is three times as weak as the number 2, and that the number 4 is four times as weak as the number 3. A student: We shall indicate the strength of the unity with f. Then we will have 1, 2, 3, 4 – f/f, f/2, f/6, f/24 Where are the conditions most favourable? A student: with the unity. So the unity stands for spring. The energy in spring is at its strongest, because assimilation in plants is most intense. In summer their energy decreases – it is twice as weak, in autumn it is three times as weak, and in winter it becomes four times as weak as it is in spring – that is a law. The physical world is the strongest in quality within the unity. Feelings gain strength with the number two, while the physical world loses its intensity. Therefore, when the physical world decreases, the Sensuous world increases. The law acts further: when the Sensuous world decreases the Mental world intensifies; on the other hand, when the emotions are extremely intense, one cannot demonstrate mental activity - he is weak there. If you flood a plant, it cannot grow properly, but if you do not water it, the plant won’t grow either. Thus, when the conditions for the emotions are not favourable, the more difficulties one experiences in his feelings, the better the mental conditions are. Therefore, in order for it to be possible for one to develop mentally, he needs to undergo intense feelings. It often happens that if one is unable to physically resolve the gravest matters, he tends to become mystical or religious – some attribute this to the Causal world. People within the unity tend to boast about their body – they are born materialists, military people or others. In the second case, within the number two, they are born artistic, committed to variable emotions and rather untrustworthy. The number three suggests people of the mental activity, scholars, followed by mystical and wise people. Fig. 1 Imagine that A (Ж) is the world of animals and P (Ч) is the world of people. The world of animals is at 90 degrees to the ground, the axis O being horizontal. They are horizontally positioned against the sunrays at a 180-degree angle; thus perceiving the sun rays through their spinal chord. They perceive all thoughts and desires through the spinal chord; as a result they are not given propitious conditions to develop. The axis with people is vertical. Sometimes there are deviations. You can judge about one’s proper development by the position of his head. If he keeps his head straight up while solving a tough problem, you can be sure that he will manage successfully. However, if he bends the head, you should know that things are not good for him. The bent head can be indicative of the extent to which a job can be done – the more one bends his head, the more difficult it will be for him to solve the problem. Observe the position of your head while solving a problem and remember that it is quite meaningful. To solve a problem correctly one has to keep the head vertically or at least at a one-degree angle. The moment one bends the head too much, the solution of the problem will be hindered. Now you can ask yourselves what is the reason for all this. It comes as a result of your animal nature, which becomes dominant at a point. You can carry out plenty of observations. When the beastly nature gets the upper hand you do not see any light, your awareness is darkened and you feel an utter emptiness. Then one is half human and half an animal and has to fight the beastly habits dominating his nature. This beastly culture has its positive aspects, too – it is rich in material waiting to be cultivated. Imagine now that you feel like having some honey. Such a desire is quite natural – it is understandable that you should want to have some honey. You pass by a house full of honey, which is not yours – what will this engender? – At least you will wish to taste the honey. Once a child went to buy some honey, but forgot the word for it. They asked him, “What is it you need?” – “Mummy sent me to buy something, but I forgot what it was.” The child started looking around and on seeing the honey, he dipped his finger in it, took it out and licked it, ”This is what I want.” Can you tell me which category such a deed falls into? The child sent by his mother was not attentive enough to what the mother told him. He was thinking of something else and forgot the word for honey. The child was thinking of having some fun on the way to the shop, his mind totally unfocused on what his mother had told him. Can such a child be considered intelligent? The child faced a difficulty – before seeing the honey, he was sure his mother would beat him – fear starts working, he remembers the humming of bees and a beastly habit is awakened in him, as a result he seeks a way to find the object of his mother’s desire. So, sufferings and difficulties in this world make you find the honey just as the child did. If you cannot find something in the natural way, you take the reverse way, which is full of more sufferings and troubles. Assume something else: let us say that the child was not so clever and failed to find the honey; do you think that on coming back home he would tell his mother the truth? – No, he would lie to her. Why should he lie to her? The psychological aspect is of some interest here – what urges the child to lie? His mother has raised him, so why should he be afraid of her? Generally children tend to lie most to their parents. Why? Here is the reason – a teacher with a wrong method of teaching conveys it to his students, doesn’t he? – Yes, he does. By the same law, the mother relates the false ways of her states to the child, and this teaching when applied to life will affect her first, so that she should see the negative consequences of her approach. Generally, the upper part of the head with children who lie tends to be narrower as their conscience is not well developed. You should know that with each impulse to tell the truth a certain area of the head is developed. For example, if you want to be brave, a small part at the back of the skull will develop. All aspirations one has, develop different parts of the head. Imagination, for instance, makes the forehead larger. Each class needs to have students with various skills and abilities. Variety is necessary. Students need to exchange both negative and positive features. Skilful students give their impulses to weaker ones. Some students need more moral attributes; so in each class there should be students possessing well-developed moral attributes. Nothing is worse than uniformity, that’s why some should be mentally strong, others musical; some should be brave, others should be Truth loving, etc. They should all complement one another. For the time being, the great collective human being works through his units. There will come a day when man will unite them all in one whole; there will come a day when he will put them together to form an excellent, beautiful body. You should get used to analysing yourselves better. For instance, some of you tend to lie. There are people who have graduated from more than one university, but when you assign them the task to study some scientific fact, they will exaggerate it so that their theories become distorted truths. Many learned people distort scientific data. Take a theologian as an example: in order to prove some spiritual truth, he will distort it first. You should not abuse a fact in order to prove another – facts are interrelated and mutually supportive. The first problem is that people are lacking in sincerity. Learned and spiritual people should have conscience and never lie. However, they are not brave enough – they are intrinsically intimidated. There are many learned people, mainly theologians who are afraid to tell a truth bluntly – they will falter and tell half of it. There can be a judge who will think hard before he comes up with a resolution. But the truth will be half revealed. The first thing you should know is that everybody has frailties. That’s why you should try to think correctly. What you build up should be for your own sake. If you make a mistake it will be you who will bear the consequences, not I. If you do some good, you will benefit from it. Any of you can benefit or cause damage to yourselves, and indirectly your mistake can harm others. The same refers to the good one does – others can benefit indirectly from it, too. For example, if I call any of you to the blackboard and ask a tough question you cannot answer, you will feel embarrassed or humiliated, and if you do not answer, the other students will laugh at you. The point is neither whether they know more than you do, nor whether you know. The point is to reveal the truth. The first thing is that you should build up the habit of explaining the truth in its minutest manifestations. Do not try to explain the great problems in Life as this is an immense capital. Search for the minutest facts and hold onto them – small quantities are excellent. If one is too lazy to thrust his hand in the pocket to take out five cents, he will never get used to giving, while by giving the five cents, he will get used to giving much more. The subject matter you are studying now does not yet include those occult issues you can apply in Life. However you are to apply them! For example, you should know whether someone is telling the truth or not, to a point. Then, you should distinguish between faith and credulousness. You should not be too gullible and credulous. For example, you are going along the way and someone tells you, ‘That’s not the right way! You’ve taken the wrong way!” You immediately lose faith. Why? – You take what you have been told for granted, without making sure it is true - that is gullibility. Fig. 2 What is the reason for the deviation of these two lines? How was the angle of the deviation formed? A student: There is a device in physics – an electroscope used to determine the angle of the deviation. If an electric current is conveyed through the strips, the electricity in either strip – negative in the one and positive in the other – will cancel the strips out, thus forming an angle. If you examine the work of these four people – 1, 2, 3 and 4, (the way the direction of their work has taken according to the scheme), will they accomplish the work together? (- Each of them can do the job by himself, but there is no agreement among them.) fig. 3 Now we will refer to a law existing in Nature. Which law is this? Let us say that we have a seed; what are its opportunities? – To grow down and up. In its growth downward it will encounter a clash – the soil hinders it although it is necessary for its roots to develop. The branches form in the same way. So, these counteractive forces, up and down, form the whole tree. Likewise, the counteractive forces in our organism help our growth. When a counteraction or a conflict occurs in you, you should know that it is absolutely normal. Thus, there should be contradictions, as any growth will be hindered without them. When a tree dies, it means that there are no longer contradictions in it. You might ask why a contradiction should be necessary. – The contradiction lies in the law of our development. It is necessary for a while. If someone decides to eliminate contradictions, he will stop his development as well. A dead tree speaks of former contradictions. The fruit of the tree speaks of reconciled contradictions – all the forces have gathered in the fruit. Therefore, one will be able to reconcile all his contradictions in the fruit of his spiritual Life. One should not try to reconcile the contradictions while growing because they are necessary then. That is a philosophy. Now people belong to different parties. You should not worry that some people do not accept your convictions. These people are just a small branch of the tree that will grow three or four metres away, but will soon come back. When the wind blows it will bring this small branch to another one, which will ask, "What is it that you want?” – “I don’t want anything! It was the wind that brought me close to you. We just clashed – nothing more.” So, contradictions can be reconciled only in a tree’s fruit. Therefore, you should not worry about the way the external world is developing now. You should know that you couldn’t change the order of events. You can reconcile contradictions only in the fruit of the tree. That’s why, you should aspire after an ideal, spiritual life. Each tree in you should give fruit. The Gospel says that you will recognise them by the fruit. Anyone who has given fruit is one who has reconciled discrepancies. Anyone who has not given fruit is barren – it shows that the person has not discovered the law of reconciliation. It means that in the fruit, or the good you do in this world, you can reconcile all the contradictions of your physical, sensuous and mental life and go to the Causal World. It is so because the contradictions in the physical world are not the contradictions of the Mental world. The lines 1, 2, 3, 4 in the diagram show the movement of the tesseract. When the angles become bigger or smaller, they show the movement and the direction of the tesseract. Remember the following rule: people with the greatest contradictions are the strongest. The strongest people face greatest difficulties. The bigger the impediments in your life, the more lenient Nature is to you. This does not require any mathematical proof. Imagine a gifted child who is severely controlled by his mother – she does not let the child go to the cinema or play out in the street. She forces him to stay at home and study; is it a bad thing? – No, it isn’t. The child might complain of the limiting constraints, but he studies. Therefore, Nature can sometimes act as this mother – It keeps you under control, shuts you in a room and tells you to study. It is essential for you that you should try to reconcile the contradictions through the fruits of your life. If you do this, you are on the right way. Apply the following rule: as soon as you make a mistake, correct it. Each evening on coming back home, make an account of the way you have spent the day, what mistakes you have made and mark them – in this way you will find a way to correct them. The whole teaching is about correcting your mistakes if you want to be successful in Life. You can be very lenient to yourselves, saying, “Such are the conditions.” Or “I am not the only one who errs – others make mistakes, too.” If you find such excuses, sooner or later you will find yourselves in a dead-end street. Certainly, it is human to err, but mistakes have to be rectified. If someone tells you that mistakes can be avoided, he lies. You will err despite all your knowledge – no matter how much you know, you will make certain mistakes. If you are faultless, other people’s mistakes will be blamed on you. All the same, you should keep to the rule: each evening you should act both as a teacher and as a student. You should summon yourself as a student to the teacher and will ask, “Tell me, do you know what you did today?” Have you ever tested yourselves like this? The student will start making excuses; however, the teacher will remain just and fair and ask, "Why did you do this?” And you, as a student will have to give a full straightforward account – to find the reasons and the incentives for your wrongdoing. If you are not strict enough, you will fail because it will be hypocrisy. The physical being is like a child. Why do children not have respect for their mothers? – Because when they catch the mother lying, she loses respect. Similarly, when the objective mind spots a weakness, it says, “I can see through you.” - This is a constant law in Nature. For instance, would it be right if I put a bag full of gold weighing 50kg on your back and told you to cross a deep river? Are you sure you would be able to cross the river safely with such a heavy load? – No, you would drown. You would sink to the river bottom and stay there. Such a river should be crossed without any load. Each mistake in Life is a burden. If you do not get rid of it, you will sink laden with it. You can carry the load when you are on firm ground. Only then you are safe enough – the ground will not slit open. Danger is in water – when you get to a less dense matter, you will fail. You should know that you are to cross such a deep river in your Life – there will be no bridge. You will say, “I’ll cross the river by boat.” – No, there will be no boat. What then? Imagine carrying a bag full of sand and you are to cross a river; what would it cost you to leave the sand on the bank, cross the river and take as much sand from the other bank? When you come to another river you could proceed in the same way. The law is: you should be very demanding to your personal mistakes. If you do not correct your mistakes, they will later present problems and sufferings you have never heard of. Mind that it is not fear that is of paramount importance to the correct cultivation of the soul, but justice. Justice is unique. We do not say, “Why should these things happen?” – They will happen; only they have to be done correctly. If they are done incorrectly, they have to be rectified. Let us say that some fibers in the brain have to grow in length; besides, the size of particular cells needs to grow – this has to be done. This is the budget provided by Nature itself – the energy needed will be sent to your brain to work there. Assume that the brain cannot withstand the pressure, just as a wire cannot resist the current in some electric installation – what would happen then? The wire expires. Is there anyone among you who is an electrician and is able to say when the wire will expire? (- When the current exceeds a certain amount and the tension is greater than the wire can resist.) Therefore the human brain has to be installed correctly; it needs the best possible wire, capable of resisting any tension. The law is as follows: whatever you do, it must be done well; this well-done thing has to affect the structure of the body first. So it is a budget provided by Nature itself. Sometimes you need to deliberately challenge yourselves through difficulties. It is known that children who suffer from a number of diseases at an early age do not die if they fall ill with some serious disease later in life – their organism has become tougher. While, there are children who have never been ill with something, and if they happen to fall ill with some disease at the age of 21, they rarely survive. One who is constantly suffering is likely to recover more quickly than one who has never been ill. So sufferings make one fitter and stronger. Do you understand the law? This is a law you cannot obviate. As long as you think in accordance with these laws, your thoughts will be in compliance with Nature. This agreement will enhance your correct thinking and will save you from mental torture. Ignorance engenders sufferings. Take, for instance, a tiny spark – it is not dangerous with wood, but it becomes extremely dangerous with inflammable substances. It depends where you will put it. So, every evening you will make an account of everything you have done during the day. You will also need to set yourself a goal to attain. You have to work on yourselves. Now everybody, especially fatalists, tend to say, “Come what may!” This reminds me of the deadwood floating along the river – the river rumbles it through its waters until finally it throws the wood out on its banks. This, however, cannot be a solution to our common problems. So, what is the main idea of this lecture? (- To rectify mistakes well in time.) In the beginning there were no mistakes. Anything else? (- Contradictions should be reconciled with the fruits we are going to produce.) Contradictions stem initially from the forces of Nature. Now I would assign to you the following topic: “Which is the best way of getting acquainted?” Which in your opinion is the most practical way of getting introduced to someone? When do people usually get acquainted to each other? (- When we do good to someone.) Imagine that two people are travelling together. The bag of one of the travellers gets empty and he stays hungry for three days on end until finally, he finds the courage to ask his companion, “Have you got some food? I haven’t had a bite for three days.” – “Yes, I have some.” They strike up a conversation, the second traveller gives some food to the first one, and finally they shake hands, saying, “Have a nice trip!” Then either of them hits the road. How do students get acquainted? One of them is not ready for the lesson in math, so he asks someone to explain the lesson to him. They both get together – one is listening while the other is explaining, and as a result, they get acquainted. Would they get acquainted if they were both good at math? – Of course, they wouldn’t. However, if they both faced one and the same danger – for instance, if they both were hungry in a strange city, they would get to know each other. Then we can infer the following law: common needs that occur in Life bring people close to each other. These needs can be of physical, mental or spiritual nature, yet they always bring people together. So, each time a necessity occurs, you should know that it is most welcome, as it will bring you close to someone. Do not miss the opportunity then – any natural closeness is Divine and you can benefit from it. Two people who do not need each other cannot become close. I am going to explain it to you, why there should be gentility between any two people in Life. Imagine that two people are enclosed in a case full of some water – the case is well sealed and loaded on a train. Do you think that they will get out from it safe and sound after floundering in it? Wouldn’t it be necessary to put some straw inside the case if these two were bottles? When we say that we have to be gentle we mean that we are travelling in that case. If we were not travelling, then we would easily do without any gentility. An only bottle does not need any straw for cushioning in the case, but if you transport it together with some other bottles there should be some straw in the case. When we say that we should be gentle and merciful, we mean that there should be something between us that will avoid friction. (- If they put you in milk, they will churn butter.) So, butter will be churned. Let us say that whoever made the milk-can left an opening through which the butter tries to get out but cannot and clogs it. What would you do then? - The opening should be made larger. That’s why one has to be generous and big-mouthed. Therefore, generosity means a big mouth through which we can get plenty of butter. Now you know what gentility is and why it is necessary in your life. Do not think that you can do without the straw cushioning you and do not say, “Put this straw away!” Any two people who are soft cannot have friction because they are cancelled out. Then whenever you feel like arguing with someone, or whenever you encounter some contradiction in life, just say, “I am in a cage. Let me see if there is enough straw for cushioning me so that I can avoid an accident.” What’s more you should see whether your mouth is big enough – if you were crystallized honey, how could you get out through that narrow opening? People have found a subtle way to solve the problem – they pour boiling water into the vessel to melt the honey. In Life, however, when the mouth is small, the honey is hard to extract, because the process is very complicated. The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living

Note 2p YOUNG AND OLD 30th lecture given by the Master to the Youth Occult Class 11th May, 1924, SofiaA secret prayer The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.A summary on the topic: “The best method of self-restraint” was read. A few works on the topic: “The least Love we can apply in our everyday life” were read.What is the difference between the theoretical study of an idea and its implementation? Under theory we understand studying matters in their condensed form without understanding them, while under application or practice we mean studying matters in their rarefied form. If you study the water of the ocean, it is theory. If you try just a drop of this water with your tongue, it is practice – dilution of the water. Similarly, ideas have their theory and practice. Now I would like to say a few words about our forthcoming convention. An idea is being formed among you, young people. This idea is as follows: There is going to be a convention for young people, which should be attended exclusively by young people. There is no idea whatsoever in this, because a young person does not represent any idea. This is a process in Nature – today you are young and tomorrow you will be old. What idea can possibly be seen in this? You say, “I am young.” Well how long will you be young?” When you come to the age of 33, you will be middle-aged and from then on you will start descending. Another will say, “I am old.” What does being old suggest? Let us interpret the word young – youth is a symbol or in geometry a figure showing the opportunities for a young person. This symbol stands for movement upward, to the left, to the right, or downward. The important thing in this case is when the movement is directed to the left or to the right. You might get the notion that we should always go right and never left. Such an idea does not refer to the material world; it is not a material idea. If you look upon it as a material idea, I would object to this: You are going somewhere until you reach a crossroads – the way to the left goes to Plovdiv and the way to the right is the way to Sofia. You want to go to Plovdiv; how will you take the right way? Therefore, while you are on Earth you have to take both directions. Right and left are directions, which should not be mistaken for the principle. There are left-wing and right-wing movements, which should not be mixed up with the left and right directions. Well, let us give now a clearer definition of young: At point C we have a seed which is planted in the soil; it starts growing up, shooting roots to the left and to the right and going round the whole circle. It is a true pilgrim working downwards. The young person is just like that – he grows up, sending up shoots and leaves, but without giving blossoms and fruit. He grows up to the age of 33, expanding to the left and right and saying, “Do you know who I am? I have put forth branches and leaves!” What are you? – You have thick green leaves. He speaks only of his branches and leaves. While the old person has reached the limits of his growth. When his branches grow beyond these limits they start bending down. When you look at the young person, he is smooth, while the old one is indented, i.e. he has blossoms and fruit. Do you know why this indentation is formed? – Because of the fruit. Therefore, young and old are two phases of one and the same life. These are the two semi-spheres of the sphere, each one having its quarters. So, when saying young, you should have a basic idea. You should not look upon this matter lightly. The young person should have one basic idea in Life, after which to aspire. What is your basic idea? Why are some of you smiling? You look at something, then you smile faintly, and look down on the ground. Some of you look down and then look up. Have you ever asked yourselves why people smile? I will explain it to you. When Sarah was told she was going to have a son, she was ninety years old. She did not believe it, hid behind the door and smiled. When they told her that she had smiled she denied it because she got scared. Why did she smile? (- Because she doubted it). These are very specific psychological moments. When a lot of energy is accumulated in certain areas of the brain, laughter is triggered. Sometimes the smile occurs involuntarily, against our will. There are cases when it is voluntary. There are several kinds of smiles, engendered by a certain kind of energy, which has to be released and find its outward expression. Back to the question. What is your basic idea in this particular case? We can indicate the unity with a point in geometry. When we transfer the mathematical unity in a geometrical form we have the point. Then, the potentialities of the point are the formation of a line, which we mark with the number 2. The movement of the point gives a straight line. We mark the triangle with the number 3 and the square with 4. So, we have the first movement of the unity – a movement in a given direction. When one is born, his initial desire is to grow up in a straight line – this is the movement of the point, which determines one’s height. Then the potentialities of his mind, heart and will are determined, which forms the triangle. Finally, the rectangle is formed. The triangle shows the direction of one’s Reasonable life. We already know the movements of the point, the line and the plane. What, however, is the movement of the square, i.e. of the number 4? What is its direction? – It is in the fourth dimension. All lines of force move in opposite directions to one another. The movement in the fourth dimension is a movement towards the inside. Up to the third dimension all movements are directed outward, because they expand. When a body reaches its limits of expansion, it starts a process of bending inward, at which point all forces are directed to the centre, from where they initially started. When a tree reaches its final point of growth, it starts giving fruit. The ripening of fruit belongs to the fourth dimension. Then all the lines of force are directed towards the seed from where they started – it means that the object becomes smaller. Now you are to try this law out on yourselves. Most young people lose heart. You will keep losing heart if you do not understand the law. At first when you are planted, you are expansive enough to grow up to a certain age, you expand, you form strange views, you think that you are capable of achieving anything, but when you reach your limit, a reverse process of emptying starts. Actually, this is not exactly emptying, but rather bending inward – towards the core of Life, where the best fruit should be formed in order to give your Life a different course. If you fail to comprehend this basic idea, this process of bending inward, you will face disappointment, uncertainty and lack of focus in Life. Sometimes you will think that nobody loves you, that everybody is suspicious of you and loads of nonsense can enter your head. Why should people hate you? Every person is busy thinking about oneself. Everyone has his own hardships and sorrows. You pass by and you think that someone does not want to hear of you, or has something against you. The question is thoroughly different. Everyone is busy with his own unfulfilled intentions, diseases, hardships and sufferings. However, each of us will go through such stages, only you should know that some of your thoughts will come true perhaps in thousands of years. Some of your wishes might happen today or tomorrow but for others it will take thousands of years to come true. You have a thought and you say, “I want it to happen right now.” No, you should bear in mind that such a thought cannot be fulfilled today. Therefore, it is up to you to determine which of your ideas should be fulfilled in this present life and which will remain for your future life. Then again, each of you tends to give advice. Very often you say, “You shouldn’t do this!” However, you do not tell the person what he should do. Sometimes you say, “You have to be very generous!” Well you should give a criterion for being generous – to what extent should one be such? If I give you five, ten, or a hundred levs, it is not an act of generosity. It might be out of shame, necessity or other circumstances, but it does not mean this is exactly generosity. The reason I gave this money is not generosity. Then how can we recognise generosity? Some other time you will say, “We need self-control.” What does self-control mean? Can you name at least one characteristic feature of self-restraint you wrote about in your assignments? If I leave you at sea, will you be able to demonstrate self-control? Or if I leave you standing on a plate and heat it, will you show self-restraint? A man of self-restraint is one who controls all his powers so that he does not suffer any consequences. One who is capable of self-restraint is isolated – he cannot catch any disease, poverty cannot strike him, no doubt can nudge at his mind, neither loss of faith nor anger can perturb him. If anger worms its way into you, and you preserve composure and believe that you control yourself, that is far from self-control. You should remember that presence of mind, or self-restraint, is a power that helps the individual remain screened off from all external influences. All you foes will remain outside and you will deal with them the way you choose. They will not have the say in this case. It is of vital importance to you to comprehend the law of similarity, of semblance if you want to be capable of working. Two people come together but they are unable to cooperate. Why? – There are two controversial ideas, so they argue. Then you, young people, will find yourselves in the following ridiculous situation: When people started building a public bath in a small town they started quarrelling over whether it should be built of timber or of stone. Finally, they decided on timber, but they did not specify whether the planks should be planed or not. They had been quarrelling for eight years, the matter stayed unsettled and the bath unfinished. Eventually, an architect came to solve the problem. How? – His idea was to lay alternating planks – one planed down and the one next to it coarse. This is how they laid the floor of the public bath. Then he told the people, “Those who are in favour of the planed boards should step on them, those who are for the rough ones can choose to step there.” This was a very wise decision for both sides. Planed boards are very dangerous. Although they have their advantages, they can cause inconvenience. Just as rough boards can, on the one hand, be of some advantage, but on the other hand, they have some drawbacks. You should all turn to music to study how tones harmonise. Each of you has a tone typical of you. The characteristic tone for some of you is C, for others D, E, etc. If your basic tone is C, which tones will be in harmony with it? A student: There are three groups of tones that can be in harmony: At the beginning C, E, and G, in the middle A, C and E, and at the end F, A, and C. Therefore, if you are A, you need to find a person whose basic tone is E, so that you can make a good match. If you want another compatible friend, you should search for someone with G. These are the tones in the first octave, then there is a second, third, up to an eighth one. The present structure of your brain suggests musical development. We should first see to which octave you belong. Let us say that you fall into the first octave – it means that you stay closer to the material world. So the changes will not be too abrupt. What is your method of choosing a friend? Which are your criteria? Are any of you able to tell me how you use your former knowledge when choosing a friend? Which are the attributes by which you judge? What brings you close to each other? (- We do not choose each other by features). How do you get close? (-By intuition, by common ideas, or by complementing each other).) You need to study the tones so that when choosing a friend, you can place yourselves in a passive state and free you mind from all interfering thoughts disturbing your balance. Take the tone C or D and see what you will feel, because all tones in Nature are alive. In higher worlds you will not find music written on paper. Each tone is alive there, just as a book is alive. Each note there gives off a tone without being pressed by the fingers of a musician. The note sounds by itself, then another and another, etc. The tones there are as intelligent as are our greatest musicians here. What’s more, each note knows perfectly well when to sound its tone. This is similar to the phonograph – the moment you turn it on, the record starts playing. Each tone is connected with the accumulation of certain forces. Usually two people with the same type of energy cannot stand each other. For example, when a person has curly hair at the forehead, it shows that he has a lot of positive energy at the back of the brain. If another person has the same hair, these two will not stand each other. They will not be able to stay in one and the same place – they will cancel each other out. Generally, you are attracted by a person having the energy you need. Therefore, the energy from the back of the head is in balance with the energy from the front part of the head. The front part is more magnetic, while the back is more dynamic, or electric. When you are deeply offended you will feel a kind of heating at the back of the head. When you experience a gentle feeling, you will feel a slight expansion at the front – in the centre of your imagination and meanwhile at the pit of you stomach you will feel comfort. So the pit of the stomach is connected with the front part of the head. People with long faces (not bulb-like) are of a more dynamic nature. Round faces have more negative magnetic energies; they are active but more aerial – they are agile, but this agility is not on the Earth – it does not do any harm. While people with bulb-like, pear-like faces possess more nervous, intellectual energy. Examine first your hair – it is one of the conditions necessary to improve your character. If your hair tends to become coarse and wiry, it is indicative of the dominance of the dynamic forces. If your hair grows thick, it shows that your energies apart from being dynamic have grown coarser. Generally, all people who are not capable of self-control have thick hair. It is not a great disaster if your hair becomes thick, but you will notice the negative consequences in the organism – this dynamic energy will cause you great sufferings. It would be good if you thought for half an hour about some lofty, noble people, in this way you would understand whether the person is really great. Try to perceive his positive features – the best part of him. You tend to grasp great people’s negative features more easily. I have come across people who while reading Shakespeare, are looking for some eccentric features of his personality, for some shortcomings, and then they say, “I have shortcomings, too!” Do not focus on people’s negative features. You should all have a positive outlook on Life. What is negative comes unwarranted. It is essential for you to find the positive. Let us say that you have a friend whom you cannot stand. When he comes to you, show some restraint and do not say that you cannot tolerate him. Tell yourselves that you can bear his presence – that is self-restraint. There is a law in Nature that what you cannot do willingly and readily will be imposed on you. Nature first gives you the absolute freedom of action and if you break the laws, it starts constraining you. You will say, “Well, if I were an officer and someone hit me, shouldn’t I draw my sword to show him that I am not an animal, but a human being?” Well, what if you were a general or a colonel, captured as a prisoner of war, beaten by enemy soldiers, would you draw your sword then? Everybody will say, “You have to show dignity.” Very well, how will you show dignity? – In two ways. The first way is to knock him down with such a blow that he will lose consciousness. The second way is to pull him by the legs and lift him from the ground holding him like a candle, look at him in the eyes and say, “Do you think I am a coward?” If you held him in the air for about ten minutes, wouldn’t he change his opinion of you and would he ever dare treat you like this again? No, if he happens to meet you again, he will nod and say, “I know you, sir.” What is better – to beat him or raise him in the air? (- To lift him in the air). Let us interpret this idea. To lift him in the air, suggests influencing the person through your thought – he should acknowledge that you are right and that you are guided in your life by a great principle. If you do not draw your sword, it is not because you are afraid, indecisive or weak but because you are guided by a great principle, to which Existence as a whole conforms. He should know that you observe this principle. If he becomes aware of all this, he will follow suit. This method should be applied among you – each of you should influence others by living according to the principle and not be guided by personal views or considerations. We have studied this law and you know that you will be faced with many difficulties if you opt for that method. I know that it is difficult, but it is not impossible to transform the surplus energy. If you succeed in transforming it, you will make use of it while working. If you work in accordance with the principle, you will be able to accomplish anything you initiate. But if you choose to work in accordance with some personal considerations while you are still young, your work will be typical of young people. Your work will correspondingly look like the work done by old people if you choose to work like old people. However, if though young, you are determined to follow the principle, guided by one basic idea, you will be successful in everything. What should your idea be? – This morning I spoke about two important things for you: Love should be the soil and basis for such opportunities. Your will should work on this Love so that the opportunities of Love can be used. When you enter Love, do everything it bids you – do not philosophise, do not choose. What would you do if you entered Love? If you live in Love there will no longer be any controversy. There are no sick or disabled people in Love – you are at the healthiest and best possible conditions. You join Creatures with whom you can get on along. You might encounter a person who is not learned, but do not dismiss him as ignorant – he might not have graduated from university, but living in Love, he is wise enough. A person who does not live in Love can be knowledgeable, but all that knowledge is a heavy burden. People who live in Love live in agreement. For example, for two people in Love it is not important who should play – one will start playing while the other is listening. “Wonderful”, he will say. Then they will take turns. If there is not Love between them, they will argue over who should play first. It is important that you keep an open mind. You should avoid being petty-minded. If at a point you become jealous of someone, you should try to transform that feeling. Do the following thing: Choose a committee with a chairperson, councillors, a treasurer and members. After the election some of you will be of a different opinion and say, “The chairman wasn’t rightfully elected. We should have chosen another.” They will comment on the treasurer that he is a dishonest person. To avoid this discontent and envy, you should do the following: you are eighty people, so you can organise a new election each week to try many options. When the week is over the old board will be changed by a new one. You can do this if there happen to be serious quarrels, but if you all agree on the elected board, you can have new elections monthly or yearly - a year being the most. In my opinion the best system is to be a chairman for one day only – it works perfectly, because it boosts the spirit of independence and initiatives. So you should all work towards a common end. All discrepancies and differences should disappear for the sake of this common goal. You cannot be identical as Nature has given you different tempers, minds and aspirations – every human being is unique, which is great. There is a law in Nature – in the course of Existence you are given the opportunity to become whatever you wish; in eternity you can gain and lose everything. You understand what I mean by “Gaining everything”, but I am sure you do not understand what “losing everything” means. Don’t you think that it would be nice to lose all your sins? The word “loss” is ambiguous. You will say, “I don’t want to lose everything!” But it will be great happiness to lose all sins. What is there to gain? – All virtues. One never gains in sins. Can anybody say that he has gained one hundred thousand sins? In such a case you should use the word “burdened”, because sins are not committed as a result of free will. It can be a folly, an ignorance, etc. Many factors are involved when man loses. People say, “He is burdened with many debts.” While when one acquires virtues, he gains. You should all learn to think and speak correctly. When I am speaking about music you should study it in order to be able to harmonise. Music introduces balance in the forces acting within you. I do not recommend music as a career, but you should be able to sing to yourselves. When you get up in the morning, sing a song to lift your spirits for the whole day. Sing it quietly to yourselves without anybody hearing it – that is music. When you master this skill and if you happen to have some surplus energy, you can give an outward expression of your emotions. At first, your musical feeling should be kept to yourselves, but when you gain some experience, you can show it to the others. But now when I listen to you I have the impression that your throats are like old people’s. I see you as prematurely aged. You have begun to behave and think like the elderly do and you say, “We are having a hard time.” Be wary of the delusion to think that sufferings are evil – sufferings are the greatest advantage in this world. Remember this: sufferings bring in benefits. Whenever you face a suffering, smile and rejoice inwardly. This is something you can check yourselves – each suffering is a benediction. Do not age prematurely. When the suffering comes along, it means that God has remembered you. However, you cannot accept His consideration and you experience some inner struggle. When Love comes to you, you doubt it. God tells you, “Hug and kiss this old woman” – and you say, “No, I can’t. She is disgusting.” You have second thoughts and here sufferings come. – “Hug this mucky little child” – and you sulk. – “Do this!” – you step back and the sufferings come. The Spirit tells you, “Read this book” – but you lose heart and say, “No, it’s not for me” and you step back again. So, you are in a constant state of controversy because you opt for the easier things. No, you should scrub the floor, read the book, kiss the old woman, do everything the Spirit bids you. Now you will face another controversy – you will say, “What will happen to us if we do all these things?” Well, the world has been doing just the opposite. What has happened to it so far?” The right and reasonable methods in Life should be applied. Divine thoughts are distinguished by the following quality: when you enact a Divine thought, not a single creature in this world will judge you. But I would like to ask you if you have ever done a Divine deed. Believe me, the day when you fulfil a Divine thought the way I understand it, everything will smile at you – the trees, the beasts, the smallest beetles, the people – and they will say, “How nice!” Someone will say, “Let the Spirit tell me what I have to do. I am ready to do anything.” But this is just in the sphere of ideas. You should apply Good in practice to see the results. It is great happiness for one to be dawned by a Divine idea and to make it happen. If one fulfils at least one Divine idea, I think that he will have acquired the greatest wealth – each Divine idea is a jewel of immeasurable worth. So, above all, you should be cheerful and merry and never dejected. An old person can be in low spirits, but it is a sin and disgrace for a young man. Sometimes the elderly are merrier than the young are. The first and most important thing is to be in high spirits so that the conflicts among you should not hinder you. If you happen to fall out, here is what you should do: hold your hands and tell one another, “Thank you for the nice words.” And the other should respond, “Thank you, too, for telling me the truth.” What is it you are doing now? At first, an acquaintance of yours praises you, “I am very pleased with you.” This, however, is not true – shortly he tells you, “You are so selfish! You are such and such.” You feel hurt. Why? Is there any of you generous enough to offer his bed to a friend who has come to visit you? There might be some of you but certainly few. Is there any of you with an income of a thousand levs who has offered half of it to a friend? If any of you has ever done such a thing, it is an exception. What you all have in common is that everyone lives for himself. That is not spiritual. If you thought of the others as much as you think of yourselves, you would be people of ideas. This should be your common idea that should guide you in the future. This should happen out of free will, through an inner principle and not come as imposed from outside. If a friend gives you something you should ask him, “Are you giving this out of Love or because of some other idea? If you do this for Love, I don’t want you to mention it later.” If you lend him some money, and then send somebody to ask him when he will pay it back, you’d better not give him anything. You should give and forget about it as if you have not given anything – let him remember you for the favour you have done. Now you want to have a convention, but there should be a principle in this. You ask who should attend the convention. It is strange that you should attend the convention of your elder brothers and sisters but when it comes to your convention, you do not want them. You will grow old, so you should welcome them to yours and vice versa – as the elderly will become young they should join you. In this way there will be people on both sides. How can you decide who should attend the convention and who shouldn’t. You will say, “Anybody who is not older than 45 can join the convention.” No, it is wrong. The world outside might think this way, but you are not expected to have such an attitude. You should be led by the principle in your reasoning. Anyone who should join you has to be a man of ideas, ready for a sacrifice. If he is not ready to sacrifice anything, he will leave the place. The person who comes should be ready to sacrifice anything – this is one of the conditions. He should be a man of living ideas, of practice, ready to self-sacrifice, one who has applied the law of Love and avoids to’ing and fro’ing of judgement. You can differ in appearance but you should be united round a common principle: Love should be the basis and your will the dynamic force to make things happen. Now I would like to ask you whether you got the message. That is not moralising, this is the good method of action to make you free. You will gather at the convention to speak and discuss, which is excellent, but you should also start implementing ideas. Last year you spoke about a magazine and it came out. The elderly spoke about a newspaper and it also came out. Very well, “the grain of wheat” [The word is about the magazine A Grain of Wheat published between 1924 and 1944considered to be the official publication of the White Brotherhood] has already been planted, but it has to grow. My wish is for this grain of wheat to give rich fruit. This has to be made. There should be a spirit of ideas and cohesion among you! This idea should be conveyed to the youth in the country, otherwise you will be set apart. There is just one way to apply ideas: what is said should be done! You will say and do beyond time and space – nothing more! This is what will distinguish you. If you follow this principle, nobody will judge you. All young people have to be brave and determined in the small matters. A secret prayer The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

Note 2p PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCRETIONSTHE LAW OF RESIGNATION 29th lecture given by the Master to the Youth Occult Class 4th May, 1924, Sofia The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. For next time – topic Nr 24: “The least Love we can apply in our everyday life.” When writing on this topic you should reveal something you have already applied in practice. All of you have certain accretions. I call them unnatural accretions, which prevent you from understanding properly the right manifestations of Nature. Of course, there are appropriate human deeds. There are days in the year when you think correctly and loftily and act accordingly; however, such fortunate moments are very rare. For instance, something that is typical of water melons might happen to you: it often happens that small worms appear in the roots of water melons; they eat through the roots; as a result, the leaves of water melons grow well, but later they wilt and fail to give any fruit. You reveal your Love in a similar way: you come out, but then the worm gets in to gnaw your root and everything withers. Then you say, “Well, such is life, such is Nature. Nothing can be done.” No, Nature is not such. You should get rid of the accretions in a sensible way. For example, you can watch your complexion to study yourselves. You are well-educated people, after all. This is meant for your own sake. You need to choose for a criterion a natural disposition you have had when healthy or after having done someone a kindness. Take a mirror, look at yourselves and try to remember you facial expression. Then you should examine your hands from both sides to see what the skin is – whether soft or dry. Pay special attention to your eyes and complexion. You need to make another experiment when you feel indisposed or displeased: take the mirror again, look at it and you will notice an abrupt change in your face. Such changes occur as part of the natural course of events. If one has gone into the mine digging, he will smudge his face, but he will also know how to clean it with warm water and a bar of soap so that he can go out of the mine with a white, clean face. You get dirty. Some particles from the outside deposit on you. You think that there are no remnants from the outside; on the contrary, things leave traces every day. These traces are not that considerable, yet they harm your soul and hinder your mental development. There are many learned people, as well as youngsters, who were very promising at an early age but instead of showing their talent and skills they were engulfed by the silt and dragged to the bottom of society. Sometimes Nature is benevolent to such a person: it places him in poor conditions, i.e. it puts him in the water so that he gets clean. You will ask, “How’s that?” Yes, Nature purifies man through sufferings – it does not let him indulge in pleasures, but makes him earn his bread through hard work. There is no help whatsoever from his friends so one toils thinking of today’s survival. With this intensity of thought the dust fallen on him bounces off, thus he remains clean. Do not think that you have many ideas when you have everything. In fact, you have plenty of accretions. These accretions exist because you do not experience natural dispositions of the spirit. As a result of these accretions one suffers indigestion, stale breath, irregular breathing and blood circulation[A1] , etc. When one gets angry, the blood surges to the back of the head, his personal emotions change and he looks like a wasp – whoever touches him, hurts him. By hurting many people, one makes enemies, or at least there will come a nonstop barrage from two sides. Now you cannot say that you have ideas, because these are not ideas. These are personal emotions. Then the two groups will split into two more, and will become four, thus the formation of unnatural groups will occur - the brothers on the one side, and the sisters on the other. This cannot be a brotherhood. The brotherhood follows thoroughly different laws. There are brothers in blood and not in semblance. In order to be brothers in spirit, two people need to have similar ideas, to be like-minded and to aspire after a common end. As for your accretions, if you do not try to get rid of them, they will sever your bonds with Living Nature. Here is the following explanation: What would happen to your nose, if it did not provide that liquid able to filter the dust? – All the dust would enter your lungs and clog the bronchi. But it happened so that Nature provided you with this mucus to filter dust. Likewise, all people have a kind of an inner filter. Sometimes you say, “I don’t need this. I can easily do without it.” - It means, “I don’t need the mucus in my nose.” Yes, but if that moisture dries up, people get ill. That’s why you should know how to release these psychological accretions and treat yourselves reasonably. The other day I asked you how you generally overcome your bad moods. What were your methods? I would like to hear some of you explain how you release the tension and get rid of the bad mood. A student: The bad mood is actually certain energies that have to be revealed somehow - whether through physical labour, or through mental activity. I will explain the psychological reasons for bad moods: each bad mood comes as a result of small reasons. Let us say that you have a trustworthy friend; while you trust him and he trusts you there cannot be a bad mood. (I mean a clever friend, able to understand your heart, your mind and emotions, and who is as interested in your success as in his own.) You get on well and love each other; while you love each other, there cannot be a bad mood. But from the day the slightest doubt in your friend is aroused, you cannot avoid the bad mood any longer. How can you correct that bad mood then? You will dismiss all your doubts and the harmony will be restored. Therefore, you should regard this as a law, which you should not ever break. You cannot live as an entity. Intense individualisation comes as a result of strongly developed personal feelings. When people want to exist just as an entity, living only for themselves, they become too individualised and they themselves bring on the greatest evil, the worst poison. It is because the only entity in this world is God – the Reasonable principle that created everything and lives for everyone. While, if you individualise yourself, you start looking down on all God’s creatures. Then a bad mood is engendered, which makes you feel unhappy. What does it mean? - It means banging your head against a brick wall or trying to dig a tunnel or a well with a pin. That is a fact we can witness everywhere in Life. A knowledgeable person will think, philosophise and criticise until finally he will get clean. It is of paramount importance that you apply the law I am showing you. It is my wish that you improve your relationships - no more parties! If you do not change things here, I warn you that I will give up lecturing your class until you straighten things up. Otherwise, lecturing you will be pointless. I want you to settle this matter. Next time I come to your class, I want to see your relationships improved – that is the basis on which we can continue our work. Your hearts and minds should be in harmony. The forces of the mind and the forces of the heart should interact properly. You are in a sphere, where it is crucial to understand the basic principles of the law, otherwise you will encounter great difficulties later, which you will overcome, but the harder way. The first thing you should do is to improve your behaviour. If you do this, a healthy state of mind, of will, and of heart will occur. All these forces will be working in harmony, so you will feel more balanced and confident to overcome difficulties. You should bear in mind that in such a class as you are, you have certain relationships, and if your relationships are not appropriate, just one of you will be enough to inflict great sufferings on the whole class. The opposite is also true: Just one of you can bring in a great Goodness to all. The predestination you are given in the great life can show in many ways, but you can hinder your development for some time. Besides, don’t you all want to finish this class well in time so that you can be useful to yourselves and society as a whole? However, if you are not well aware of the law, you will not be able to get rid of the accretions; as a result, you might stumble. Now let’s see your mathematics. If we raise to a square the figure a, how will it change? I want one of you to answer this. A student: Its dimension will increase. If a is a line, а2 will be a plane. So а2 shows increase, which can be in an ascending order, but it can also be in a descending order. Let us say that a stands for a reasonable being that moves along a straight line – it means that it has just one dimension, or lives just on one line. At а2 it lives on a plane, in a square. What does this being obtain in the square? A student: Its awareness expands. While moving along a straight line, it could see only one point ahead. Now it can see the whole line. Fig. 1 Now I am going to explain the movement of the bodies in the first dimension. You have the circle C, along which two beings A and B move. Can they pass each other when they meet? - No, they cannot. A will tell B, “You will have to step back.” B will tell A, “No, it will be you that will step back.” What will they do next? – They will fall out. This, however, will not solve the problem. Such is the situation when you have an argument and you do not want to step back. Then I say: you are people from the first dimension, as you do not concede. But let us say that these two beings have to pass each other. How will this happen? They need a teacher, who will help them solve the problem. I will explain: These two beings meet face to face and the one tells the other, “I want to get across. Step back!” – “No, I can’t!” What then? – Let B goes back. – They cannot turn. The only way is to move backwards – then they will meet on the opposite side back to back and will fall out again (II). This circle has to be bent so that a bridge can be formed (I) – then the one will go beneath the bridge (2) and the other will get across the bridge (3). When they pass each other this way, the first will have to go down. It means that the circle will have to change its nature – one of the beings has to concede and go beneath the bridge so that they can pass each other. Most of your arguments are of the same nature – you confront each other and no one is willing to step back. You should make a bridge: one will go along the bridge, and the other beneath it. It doesn’t really matter which way you will go. Fig. 2 Fig. 3 This concept is not very clear to you yet – the circle will open, one of the beings will get inside it, and then the circle will close (I), while the other being will get above (II). This is the only way if they want to live sensibly. Such a bending of the circle is absolutely necessary for the two ways to form – one above and the other beneath. So, the orbit of your life sometimes has to alter – this is a necessity. The circle will open, so that one of you can enter it; then the circle will close and you will pass each other. When you meet again the circle will open again. So, with the motion of the circle the concept of the second dimension is gradually formed in the minds of these two beings. This will be a kind of revelation to them. It will make them think that a change has occurred in their world. Therefore, when a change occurs in your life, consider yourselves to be under the bridge. Or you might assume that a being is in darkness. I am going to explain the law from a psychological perspective. What does darkness show? – That the being B has entered the circle and is now in a deadlock. But this will last only until A gets across. Then B will get above and will be in light. Sometimes you feel that your mind is clouded – that is temporary, only until you pass beneath. All your bad moods stem from the changes in the circle. If you feel gloom cast upon you, you should know at that time another being is getting above. One should go beneath, and the other above. The one who experiences sufferings is getting beneath, while the one who rejoices is getting above. So, when you feel glad you should remember that someone else suffers. You are glad, but beneath you there is a human being that tells you sighing, “Come on, hurry up!” So you should try to get across this point as fast as you can so that the other being can get above. That’s why people who grieve and suffer make way for those who rejoice. My word was about psychological accretions. As soon as you improve your attitude towards people, the accretion formed through the dense matter and all the accumulations within you rise up. The first rule is that you should stick to the law of resignation. The dark hue in your complexion shows that there is a negative current in you. If we examine the black colour the way it is regarded in physics, it is the colour that absorbs everything. Therefore, everything sinks in it, which makes it negative. The white colour is also negative, only that it cancels everything out. The one receives everything, while the other rejects everything. That’s why, if you want to affect the black colour, the only thing you need to do is to put it in contrast with the white colour. Which feeling can be juxtaposed to altruism? – (Selfishness). No, you should not consider selfishness here. Selfishness exists on purely individual grounds. Man says, “I am a human being and as such I have the right of a personal opinion.” That is selfishness – exceeding one’s rights. Greed stays in one’s desire to be loved by everybody. Half of the class might love him, three quarters, too, but it is absolutely out of the question that the whole class can love him. In a class of one hundred people there will always be at least ten who will be at the other extreme. And when all are glad and merry, these ten people will be displeased enough to say, “What class can this be?” These ten people are indisposed and dissatisfied. Why? Because they are under the bridge. The others will be merry and cheerful. Why? - Because they are getting across the bridge. However, the law changes: when the ninety people get beneath the bridge, the other ten will be happy and joyous. What has to be done to introduce some balance? When these ninety people are happy they should put aside one tenth of their happiness and give it to their unhappy brothers so that they can be also happy. They are dissatisfied because they are in a state of dire inadequacy. You might have experienced this: you apply yourselves to your schoolwork, but your mind is distracted; you try to concentrate, but it will not be until two or three hours pass that you will be able to focus. That’s why, in order to build up your character you have to be aware of the laws of Living Nature. One cannot study all the time, just as one cannot always sow. In Egypt, there are propitious conditions for sowing twice a year, while here we can do it once a year. You should be able to understand the laws of thought; likewise, you should understand the laws of emotions. There are people among you who want to be always well disposed. There are laws for everything. When you are in the physical world, there are laws that determine your thought, your feelings and your disposition. I do not mind that there is a kind of a natural division among you - it is most welcome. What I mind is another kind of division. Taxonomists classify animals, although such a division does not exist in Nature. Which natural characteristic feature distinguishes one species from another? I would like to ask you which features are necessary to establish harmony between two people. For instance, if you want to have a friend, how will you make him[A2] ? (- We should take a passive attitude towards him and become the soil for him, on which he can grow.) But how can we recognise the right person? You cannot make anybody a friend. How do you decide who is suitable? All the same, you have a way, which you cannot remember now. I will tell you: you feel at ease in the presence of a person who is likely to become your friend. You feel free at heart, mind and will. If he feels the same, you will become better friends with time and nothing can set you apart. Whatever difficulties you face, you will overcome them together. This is a rule. But if some frictions or misunderstandings occur, this can be a friendship that will last only for a year or two and then it will expire. According to this law, two people can be friends and if they both are men, one should be in the male line and the other in the female line. If they are sisters, one should be on the father’s side and the other on the mother’s side. If they both are on the father’s side, there can be acquaintance, but there will also be arguments; however, there will not be a friendship – such is the law. In this case the figure of eight - (∞) is active: the upper line is female and the lower line is male. We can compare this to the human brain, which has two hemispheres –right and left. The energies from the left hemisphere manifest themselves through the right part of the body. A human being is divided into two poles: the left side goes in the female line and the right side goes in the male line. Anyone who understands the law should consider these two currents. Let us say that someone goes in the male line; through which half of your brain will you establish contact with him? – Through the left hemisphere. So, he will place you on his left side and in such a case you will communicate with him mainly through your emotions. If you are on the right side, you will communicate mainly through your mind. If someone goes in the female line, he will contact you through his right side. Do you think that it is purely accidental that some of your friends walk on your right and others on your left? No, it is not by chance – the energies from the right hemisphere come out through your left arm. This is a very complicated law. That’s why when you come to the Occult Teaching, you should know how to control your brain and how to polarise it. You should know when to act with your left hemisphere and when with the right one. If you do not understand the laws, you will encounter many difficulties. If you understand the laws, you will know when to be in the left and when to be in the right hemisphere. You should alternate the states of your brain. Through research I have come to the conclusion that this is one of the reasons why people cannot live well. All of you complain that there is no harmony. How do you expect to have harmony, when you accumulate surplus energies you do not know how to release? Then this surplus energy is released in the form of doubt, anger, uncontrollable passion, or boxing. The energy has to be wasted somehow. Nature is very demanding – it does not like it when the energies are restrained – it gives us as much as we need, taking the surplus and transforming it into some trouble. This is a true law. Rich people want to feel secure by putting aside a million, two or more levs. Not only are they unable to ensure themselves, but their lives deteriorate as well. The idea to ensure themselves is good, but this is a property of the human Spirit – one can ensure himself only if they understand the laws of the Spirit. For example, it happens that some of your classmates get ill, yet you remain indifferent. You do not tend to help one another – this is not a positive feature. When someone falls ill you should examine the reasons for his disease and then decide how to help him. It would be enough if you managed to improve his condition a little. It could be you who might get ill tomorrow, as everyone is prone to diseases. Now you should learn not only to be polite, but also to cultivate your altruism. Isolation suggests struggle. For example, it often happens that someone cannot fit in; what happens then? – Classmates start speaking behind his back about his being weird or uncommunicative. The person starts feeling isolated and lonely. The majority want to impress it on him that he should follow the same code of behaviour and rules. The poor fellow has a hard time but tries to follow suit and soon, as a result, sets up his own party. Then they will find another victim, as there will always be one. Then the new one becomes the scapegoat that is blamed for everything. The person might be faultless, and yet he bears the brunt. If he ever tries to do good, they will say, “He is such a hypocrite.” So the person is at a loss. He has either to find a way out, or escape. Such things happen at all schools. A teacher is always picking on a student. No matter how well the student answers, the teacher gives him a poor mark. That is a law in psychology. The teacher sees that the student is too proud and wants to teach him humility. That is a wrong method because the student becomes embittered. Let us say that a student thinks he knows much – that is not a sin, because all students believe they know a lot. What should the teacher do in such a case? If he is a math teacher, he should call the student to the blackboard and assign him a very difficult problem to do. Then the student will see that there is something he does not know. He will say, “I couldn’t solve the problem.” And if he really wants to know a lot, he will get the motivation to study harder. At this early stage you should not only be aware of your faults, but also you should try to correct them. Nothing is worse than not being aware of one’s faults and not knowing how to correct them. I could make you love one another the way you have never been able to love before. Do you know how? – I could send all of you to jail where you can be given a severe whipping the way the first Christians were punished and then be brought together in one place. Wouldn’t you love each other then? I am sure you would. If only you were brought together, what a sweet conversation you would have! While now, as you are not in prison there is not much love lost among you. Do not wait to be jailed. Nature has such methods at hand. It waits patiently lurking until one day it picks you in its tweezers and puts you in its retort. No matter how angrily you protest, it will remain imperturbable. Do you know in how many retorts it will place you? If you study the lives of great people – musicians, poets, even the prophets, you will see through how many retorts they have passed. There is not a single person who has not gone through the rigid discipline of Nature. You should be ready to face this. Now I can see your great Mother Nature approach you with its tweezers, pick you up and drop you in the retort. Then it tells you, “I am working on you now. I want something to come out of you after you’ve been in this retort.” It happens so that some of you instead of purifying burn to ashes. Nature looks amazed at the results wondering how to rekindle life to these ashes. So, it would be better for you if you melted and came out of the retort safely – this is the law of rejuvenation, or at least I call it so. When one succeeds in getting rid of all negative, destructive thoughts and desires, he is given a new lease of life. What attribute do you want to acquire in this class? Which in your opinion is the small virtue you need? – (Forgiveness). But you should ask one another’s forgiveness. What if you didn’t? Imagine that one of you entered an inn and the innkeeper told you, “One of your friends didn’t pay his bill.” You should say, “My sincere apologies. My friend asked me to do this for him but I simply forgot.” And if you have some money with you, you should pay right there and then. Wouldn’t this be a lie? – No, it’s your friend’s fault. The law is true – if the innkeeper claims my friend has not paid, I am already obliged to correct his mistake without saying anything. It is humane if I tell the innkeeper, “Well I’ll pay for him.” It will be a noble gesture if I give the money without telling my friend what I have done for him. This is what I call solidarity in eating and drinking. You will say, “Yes, but what will remain in my pocket if I keep paying innkeepers?” Don’t worry because such a thing might happen once in a lifetime. Yet I insist that you do it because this is the only way you should act. You should be willing to make such a gesture. If you are not ready, ask somebody else, “Would you please, pay for a friend of ours?” This will be enough. You needn’t lecture him. You shouldn’t tell him, “Do you know what he did?” You should only ask him discreetly. If he cannot pay either, you should see what money you both have and try to settle the bill together. That is character! When your friend learns that you have paid for him, he will conceive a noble desire to do the same for others. Here is a method of moralising. We can apply the same method. I know that all of you face difficulties, so it is essential to help each other. If any of the sisters is short of money, then the sisters should help. If the sisters cannot solve her problems, then the brothers should try; anyway, you need to find a way out – this is the Divine principle. If you proceed in this way you will have the assistance of the Living Nature, the Invisible world, the saints, the Angels and all the Advanced creatures. If they assist you, you will lose nothing; on the contrary, you will gain. You need this for your comfort, which will make it possible for you to study. Indigence and isolation deprive one of the chances to study; he needs support. It is only God that can live alone. All God’s creatures need assistance. One needs to know that there is someone who cherishes tender and noble feelings for him. One needs to know that there is someone who is ready to sacrifice something for him. This is what gives one the courage to live. If one has moral support, he can study and do anything. If one loses faith, he looks like a plucked turkey. This law works everywhere – no matter where you are, you need faith. The relationships that keep you together work towards your future. Naturally, I give this example, because I want you to act out of free will and in accordance with the law of Love. Because if you look upon it as a mechanical law, you will not be able to make use of it. If all this adds to the impulse of the great God’s Love, then you can expect good results. This is where you can apply the Divine teaching. After that we will apply ourselves to studying other issues. For the time being, although I have not taught you that much of the Occult teaching, we have arrived at a dangerous area. For instance, you have grown more suspicious of each other now than you were before. You have not become worse; on the contrary, you are better, but you do not make use of your goodness. You remember one of my lectures, where I divided people into two categories: good and bad – good people who do good, and good people who do evil. Now you belong to the group of the good people who do evil. You are doing something but in a descending order. If all of you are moving towards the centre of the Earth, then who is moving towards the Sun? The people surrounding you are simply waiting to spot a weakness in you and say, “They gathered in this class, but what came out of it?” And whenever you feel unwell or indisposed, they will say, “Here are the consequences of this course – one who thinks too much becomes unfit for life.” No, you will be fit for Life. Those who follow the previous line of thought do not know the laws of Nature. Nature has laws, which it will not change for our sake. The smith will do nothing unless he heats the iron. That’s why, if Nature wants to make something out of you, it will put you in the furnace, heat you there, and when you become aware of your needs, it will chill you in water to temper you. But I warn you that you will undergo stages. Sometimes you will feel weak; sometimes you will feel strong. Do not count on that. Strength is neither in softness, nor in hardness – these are just transitory stages in your growth. What did you learn by passing each other? How many ways are there to clean the house? (- With a broom) Is the broom a good method? (- No, because the dust falls back again.) Now, I will help you decide what you need to do. Let us say that you have a servant: What does he need to work well in the fields? - You need to give him food. Will he be able to work unless you provide him with food? – No, he won’t. So you need to give him substantial meals. Then, will somebody work for you if you do not pay him? – No, he won’t. However, money is not as important as food is. Food is the most necessary condition for one to work. Yes, but who will provide you? (- Some friend of yours). The law is true in this case. Then you should observe the following law: If you cherish a positive feeling for someone you should not be divided in this feeling. You should not be in two minds about it. You should always be clear whether you love or not. The feeling should be strictly definite. If you love someone, you should be sure of your feelings. If you do not love, you should be aware of it. You have to be explicit in your feelings. There is nothing worse than not being clear about your feelings – taking your hatred for Love, and your Love for hatred. I take the word Love as a necessary force in Life. For instance, I take the glass, go to the spring, clean the glass well, fill it with water and take it to my friend. In this case I know that the water is as pure as if I have poured it for myself – this means that I know what my feeling for someone are. Your relationships should be such. The same law refers to bread. I should feel happy about giving the best of it to my friend. This is how good habits and good human thoughts are cultivated. What is water similar to? – To Life. So it means that in a particular case Life as a force is similar to water. What we can give someone as part of our good life is this glass of pure water. If someone visits you, you can tell him, “I think highly of you.” But when he leaves and another comes, you say, “He is not that gifted.” No, you should tell your friend the truth, no matter who he is, you should neither exaggerate, nor belittle it. You should not say anything behind his back. This is the only way you can make good friends. There is nothing worse than speaking behind the back. If you cannot say anything good about someone, you’d better remain silent – this should remain between you two. If you want to say something unpleasant, you’d better say it directly, but most tactfully, “I would like to tell you something, but please, do not take offence.” Do not be afraid to tell him the truth. If you find it necessary, you will find the most polite way to tell the truth, and then it will be useful. This is the way to form intimate and noble relationships that can be enduring. Now I want something from you. There are eighty-seven of you in this class. I want you to form eight groups of about ten and each group to start a correspondence with people from some town in the country. Now, you are dealing only with yourselves, concentrating, contemplating, etc. I am glad that you focus on yourselves, but you think too much about yourselves, and the others complain that they receive nothing from Sofia. You say, “We have entitled some sister to this.” What can one sister possibly achieve? You will have to cover all towns – Varna, Sliven, Rousse, etc. You need to form a network for constant exchange. Start working in this way for a month or two, and then you will work out some practical rules. You want practice, don’t you? Later you can expand your activity – you will write to some of the circles in the country to exchange ideas. Do not look upon this as a waste of time – these letters are valuable, so you will lose nothing - you can only benefit from this. Besides, this will encourage the disciples in the country. Most of the ideas from the lectures will be refreshed through this correspondence. You, as citizens of Sofia are most in number, but you are also given the most. You should bear in mind that if you are given a lot, a lot will be required of you. You will have to get together every month and write regularly meanwhile. When the month is over you will be free of duty, but you will have to choose another town for another month. You also have to keep your promise. This work will be for free. If you are paid, you can be all made to work. If I told you “You will write to Varna and you will be paid two thousand levs a month”, wouldn’t you be diligent? – You would write not just one lecture, but ten. You will write, but why? - There will be money. Now there is money – whatever good one does it is for money. There are so many people from the country who complain that you do not write to them! What is more, some of you should go to the country and observe the classes there. They are rather irregular there. A female disciple told me once that they joked most of the time, had fun and did little work. You can have fun outside, but it is not allowed here. Two or three of you should visit the country and have a refreshing effect on our colleagues there. Each of you should go, mix with them, talk to them and then come back. You will be most welcome. Now, you should think over my suggestion and divide in groups. Each of you is to write a letter of encouragement. It would be nice if you inserted some extracts from a lecture. Take the essence and send it to your colleagues, for which they will be most grateful. They have nothing better to do now. They are not doing any serious work and are playing pranks on each other instead. There used to be a teacher in Varna, whose students left a few frogs in his desk, knowing that he was afraid of them. The teacher entered the classroom and opened his drawer. The frogs jumped out and the teacher got very frightened. He ran out of the room, which made his students laugh their heads off. Although the teacher punished the whole class, they did not give the mischief-makers away out of solidarity. So, you should work more for the country. I do not mean that you should devote all your free time, just part of it. But first of all, you are to practise music and musical harmony. A secret prayer The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. [A1][poor blood circulation] [A2][how will you make friends with him?]

Note 2p PUTTING UP THE EDIFICE OF GOOD 28th lecture given by the Master to the Youth Occult Class 27th April, 1924, Sofia The God of love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living Reflection Five essays on “The adaptation of the human soul” were read. A few works on the topic “The best method of self-restraint” were read. The Master presented the following diagram: Fig. 1 Let one of you come to the blackboard. We will try to elaborate on the topic presented in this figure. Tell me who is stronger – one who causes evil or one who does good, one who ascends the mountains or one who descends it? A student: One who climbs the mountain. Give this thought its mathematical expression. Mark the climbing with the arrow I. Can you explain how you understand this? A student: The law in physics is as follows: There is a final point that can be reached by a moving body. When the body reaches the final point in its motion upwards, it has already lost its kinetic energy. Its energy transforms in potential energy. From this point the body starts descending and accumulating energy again. The following coordinates can offer a geometrical presentation of these movements. The coordinates consist of two perpendicular axes, which cross at point O. Point O is considered to be the beginning of the coordinates. The beginning determines the direction of the two axes. To the right of point O along the horizontal are the positive quantities (+X). The ones to the left along the horizontal are negative (-X). Up along the axis the direction is positive (+Y), and down the axis it is negative (-Y) Can we define how much energy is wasted when ascending and descending? Or how much energy do we need to do a good deed? A student: Energy is proportional to the height – a higher good requires more force and vice-versa. Let us say that from +Y falls a body. The body moves along a straight line, but if it meets resistance, the body will deviate. A student: It depends on the body’s weight. If we drop a feather in the air, it starts falling not in a straight line but in a curved line. Let us say that we drop two objects from point +Y - the first object weighs 10 kg and the second is 1 kg. What will happen? A student: There is the following physical law: all objects fall at equal speed when in vacuum, but in the air the lighter objects fall more slowly and the heavier objects fall more quickly. Well, having in mind that a body makes a bigger deviation when going through denser matter, you should apply this law in your Life. Let us say that you are in excellent mood today. You are joyful and merry – this means a motion upwards. Tomorrow, however, this motion changes, and you feel low – this is the motion downwards. You forget about your former position and take a move back[A1] . From all this you can infer that the surroundings you move in are stronger than your will. Therefore, they make you get back.[A2] Fig. 2 A student: If there is a highest point one can reach in his ascent and a lowest point reached in one's descent, then the change of these two states – ascent and descent can be presented in the following diagram: Let us assume that a point M moves along the circle; there is no joy yet at point A, only the necessary conditions for joy to appear (OA – I) – that is cosinus. When point M starts moving along the circle, the projection of the radius vector OM upon the axis OX decreases and the projection upon the axis OY increases. When the point reaches B, then cosinus = 0, and sinus has reached its highest quantity - =1. From now on the reverse process starts: joy decreases, sinus decreases, while cosinus increases. Hence the rule: when sinus increases, cosinus increases and vice versa – when cosinus increases, sinus decreases. How do you think your states occur? Do they come on their own? A student: I think that man travels through various media and absorbs different influences; as a result different states occur. Let some of you answer how the states of man are determined in psychology. A student: It depends on what dominates the consciousness – whether it is something material, or an emotion, a thought, or an impulse. Accordingly, the state of mind receives a certain tone, shade or force. Very often people ask what the physical state of a person is. We need to start from the visible to the invisible. What do I mean? A student: Whether a man is healthy, sick or what his well being is. I mean whether one has money, land, etc. One’s wealth depends on what property he has – land, estate, etc. If the person has 100 decares, two houses and a steady income, you can say that his property status is good. Then you ask about one’s health, body, mental sate, and finally, about one’s spiritual status. So, the physical status is determined by the organic forces, the mental state is determined by the wealth of the thoughts, and the spiritual status is determined by the wealth of one’s emotions. Each state can be changed. How? Let us say that you have one thousand levs – this is your wealth; you also have a partner who does not have a penny, but is very clever; so you give him a share of the profit. However, after trading for a year, you lose fifty thousand levs; your status has changed, hasn’t it? (-Yes, it has). How much? (- By 50%). You have lost 50,000; besides, you have lost 5,000 levs from the profit. A student: The loss is 50% plus 5,000 levs. How will you define the status of your partner? He did not have anything; therefore, has his status changed if referred to the fixed capital? A student: By 2,500 levs from the loss of the expected profit. The next year you lose the other 50,000 levs of the fixed capital plus another 5,000 levs from the profit; then your wealth will change totally, as you will lose your disposal[A3] . How much will your partner’s disposal[A4] change? – It will change with 5,000 levs. So, the wealth of both of you has changed. One who has lost 100,000 will not have a wink of sleep; he will pace nervously round the room, while the partner, who has not invested anything in the stock, will be calm and relaxed. Why? Because he has not lost anything – he has lost only part of the expected profit. The first one loses 100%, while the second loses only part of the perspective profit. This is a physical law of descent. The opposite law is of ascent. Let us say that the first year they have 100,000 levs fixed capital and 10,000 levs profit. The next year they get another 10,000 levs profit – their wealth is on the increase. This law applies to everybody. On entering some society, you will invest some capital, i.e. under the present conditions you will be someone’s partner – either with your capital or your labour; nobody can be free under the present conditions. If you are poor, yet clever, they will tell you, “Join me, you are a clever guy. I have the money. You have the ideas. Let’s start a business together.” You can either win or lose. Such is the karmic law: you were born at a definite time, you have committed sins and crimes without thinking much that sooner or later you will have to pay. Do not think that as you have come here, you will avoid paying. What about this loss? Do you know how much energy is wasted for your heart, your mind, your will and body to be created? All this energy has been estimated to a nicety. Therefore, the loss you suffer in this span will be estimated and five thousand years later you will be found somewhere as an Englishman, a Frenchman or whatever and you will be told, “You, as a Bulgarian owe 500,000 levs.” You have a karmic debt; what will happen while you are paying it off? You will be born blind, weak or handicapped, so you will have to pay it off all your life. Now, I would like to make you think of the best method of self-restraint. You will stop and say, “I will have to pay!” You are wrong to think that you will not pay. No, you have to stop for a while and consider this law. After thinking it over, you will have a profit of at least 50%. But if you do not dwell on this law, when a misfortune befalls you, you say, “I am hurt.” You have to stop and say, “No, I have more important things to consider. I am liable for my debts.” Is it worth stopping half way thinking of my dignity, while I have a more important job to do? Do you know what feeling hurt is? – The mistress of the house sent her servant on an errand – to buy some milk in a copper pot; another boy started throwing stones at him, so the boy left the pot on the ground and rushed after the bad boy. Other children passed by, kicked the pot, and the milk spilt. When the boy came back home the mistress gave him a good hiding. I say - This boy could not have caught up with the boy who threw stones at him, because the latter was rather long-legged. The errand boy came back home and it was he again who was beaten. Anyone in this world who stops to defend his dignity among immoral people will always find his milk spilt - his comrades will beat him and his mistress will beat him, too. This is a true law. As you started a quarrel about yourself, your mistress asked you, “Why did you leave the milk unattended?” Fig. 3 Now, you seem to think that as you have joined the Occult teaching, it will free you from all your fallacies. No, this teaching can offer you an excellent method of having a better life. Refer to the diagram: One semi-circle stands for the joys, which are on the increase; the other semi-circle shows the sorrows, which are also on the increase. Point B represents an ascent, which has come from the basis AC. The points B and A can stand for two friends – the friend A invests the capital, so he is the basis AO, while B makes a profit without having invested any capital. A is the soil and B grows in it. Consequently, you should bear in mind that in a joint venture one of you will be the soil and the other the plant, i.e. one is passive, the soil, the base, and the other will be the active one. In a while, the B energy will reach its maximum and will pass to the opposite side, thus the activity of B will transform into passivity, on which A will start growing. When one does not follow the Divine law, he has to come back to the bottom part of the circle and start ascending from there. For instance, if some of you have encountered any misfortunes, or you have unfulfilled intentions and ideas – you are given the part of the soil – somebody else is successful, while you have to wait for the circle to be over. With time the conditions will change: there will come the time for you to rise – then he will become the soil, while you will be growing. These changes occur all the time. If you experience some grief, you should know that this time you are the soil. The following law exists in Nature: A great desire rises somewhere in the Spiritual world on the basis of any sorrow. It means that your sorrow at the moment helps the emergence of some noble feeling somewhere. So you should enjoy that great thought, desire or feeling, which is being built on the basis of your sorrow. Later this great thought, built on the basis of your sorrow, will pay back – it will recognise you and will help you. Then your sorrow will turn into joy. Jesus said that there is a lot of sorrow in the world. It means that, “Now you are the soil, but I will see you, and your sorrow will turn into Joy.” I have noticed that you make a mistake, or rather you do not understand the law properly – you always want to be great people, to grow up. It is impossible – your growth stops at a point. The same refers to Nature – everything grows until 25th June, then all growth stops, which means that the energies cease to work. Take your body for example: when you are children, you grow up, but you cannot reach the Sun – you grow up to a metre and a half or two. Then this growth stops and transfers to other fields – your brains, your heart, your soul and your spirit. When the physical growth stops, a person who does not understand the laws ends up eating and drinking and says, “I’ve grown old. Let me indulge in eating and drinking at least – that’s the most I can do.” Whereas, one who understands the law, starts learning. That is why the elderly tend to read more, while, generally, young people lack focus unless some were born genius. So, feeling sad in Nature is a merit. There are cases when it can mean evil. At a certain period of time evil is a plus – it is dominant, while there are times when Good is a plus – then Good dominates. (Isn’t it true that man has a lot of friends?) – No, it isn’t. In a particular case man can have just one friend, while the others simply have some influence on him. For example, the planets exert just a certain influence on the Earth. Which is the Earth’s only friend? (-The Sun). Yes, the only friend of the Earth is the Sun. It is a law – at a point you can have only one friend; the others simply have some influence on you. Each of them, in turn, has only one friend. Friendship is an aim – you already belong to a given planetary system. Different individuals belong to various psychological systems. The law I would like to infer from everything said up to now, or an idea that should stay engraved in your mind, is that each suffering is the basis for the occurrence of something great. Each suffering you experience does not refer to you only. In your case there are others who experience the same suffering even more intensely than you do. Therefore, thousands and millions of people are the basis on which The Spiritual World is being built as a great benefit from which you can take your share. Fig. 4 Let us examine the triangle ACB. Who is the person who does good? – The best person is the one who represents the triangle ACB. In this case the triangle DOE represents the worst person. These two people are active, indicative of motion – they belong to one and the same category. Apart from them we have more – the best bad person and the best good person – they are both active and also form one category. Finally, we have a third category, namely - the worst bad person, who does not do evil and the worst good person, who does not do good – these two people are negative. Only that the one who does not do evil is the better one as he restrains from evil while the one who does not do good is the worse person in this case. A student: This we can signify as: a good one who does not do good – G. N. G; (+/-); he is good, thus (+), but he does not do good – (-). The other one we define as: a bad one who does not do evil – B.N. E. (-/+); it means that he is bad – (-). However, he does not do evil, thus (+). Let us apply the law now. Let us say that in this case you are doing good; then your states change and you say, “I don’t want to do good.” Sometimes just the opposite happens: For example, we have a criminal who has murdered someone’s son and is given the death penalty, because he is a bad person who has done an evil deed. My question is: Can his fate be changed? – Yes, it can. Here is the case: This criminal escapes from prison, crosses a river and sees that a princess is drowning – so he plunges into the river to rescue her, but he gets caught at the same time. My question is: Will they execute him? – (No, they won’t). He will not be executed, because he has saved the princess – so he will be acquitted. The same happens in life. That’s why one who has committed a crime has to do something good, i.e. to rescue the princess so that he can avoid capital punishment. First, he has committed a crime – (-). Then, he has done a good deed – (+), which makes up for the previous deed. If you rescue the princess, you will be acquitted. Each suffering is like the death penalty – something dies in you and you suffer. That’s why you should strive to exploit for good purposes everything you are given – it will come as your pluses. If the criminal says, “Let her drown! I’m not going to give her a hand!" he will be executed. So, all of you have to apply this in practice. It is still a theory. That’s why, while you are examining your states, you have to be very careful, because they might change. You often happen to notice that some of your classmates are indisposed, but you say, “Why should I care?” so you do not show any concern and just pass by. However, it will not be long before this state comes back onto you. That’s why as disciples in a class you should try to help if you see that someone is morally unstable. Not all of you, only one has to offer help. (What exactly is this moral support?) Most of you have the feeling (which I call lovingness) to wish somebody good and send him nice thoughts without knowing him. Lovingness can be compared to the qualities of a plant growing by the water. For the time being you recognise each other by saying, “He is one of the brotherhood!” You cannot show the same lovingness and affection to one another. You think of yourselves most of the time. Wherever you go, you think of yourselves, of your own good. However, one has to have other thoughts as well. The maximum is to think only fifty per cent of yourselves and the other fifty you should devote to the others if you want to keep to the Divine law. One should not neglect himself, but one should not ignore the others either – as a result diseases can crop up. When the mother and the father have quarrels, the children fall ill. Very often the mother will say, “I don’t want these children.” The father might say the same. And it happens that if there is not a relative to offer support, a child can be gone[A5] , followed by another one. The children are healthy when there is love between the parents. The same law refers to a class of students. There should be always love among you. I do not mean your temporary changes of feelings, but the proper feelings of supreme Love, which you should cherish for one another. You should reveal the Divine principle - anything that is noble and lofty. It you show it, you will feel a kind of inner satisfaction. In the days and months to pass you will feel a profound joy; no one will know about this, only you will know. First, you should be heroes in the small matters. Sometimes you will tell someone, “He has karma. Let him live with it!” No, that boil should mature and burst – there is impure blood in it. I can heal it, relieving one’s sufferings. The person might have a wound, which he does not treat or heal properly, and you say, “That is karma!” No, it is my human duty to help this man, to ease his karma, to make things easier for him. You should observe this law. If you do not aspire up, you will go back[A6] . Someone will say, “Up, till I get to B!” Mind that the aspiration after Good cannot be stopped; the process towards Good is endless. If someone is stopped in his way towards Good, there should be some other reason – Good is infinite, the reason is beyond it. Assume that one wanted first to become a philanthropist, to help humanity – this is one’s way up towards Good. However, another thought beyond him is affecting him – the desire to become Prime Minister of Bulgaria – this will stop his philanthropy and he will come back[A7] . This man cannot aspire after God once he has become a statesman. All public figures move downwards. If you become a politician, you will by all means come back[A8] . Yet even if you came back[A9] , i.e. in your descent, you have to understand the laws. It is necessary because you can descend sensibly or not sensibly. For example, I see anger as diplomacy. One who is anger-prone is a Prime Minister. The moment he gets angry, everybody is afraid of him. When the mother gets angry, everybody is intimidated – both the father and the children are scared. An hour or two later she collapses, she gets sick, she has descended from her superior position of a minister, she has resigned. Is there any of you who has not been a tzar for at least five minutes? Do you know the story about the gypsy who was carrying a pot of milk? He was imagining that he was a tzar who ruled the world. While he was imagining this, he jumped for joy and dropped the pot. It crashed on the ground and the milk spilt all over. Sometimes you say, “We want to become ministers or tzars.” It often happens that you start imagining things – you have your small pots of milk, you have your skills and opportunities, but you imagine bigger worldly goods and blessings. At a point you jump for joy, but you fall on the ground and find yourselves in harsh reality. There are a number of laws regulating Life. We can try to estimate the chances of becoming a tzar. Let us say that there are four million people in Bulgaria who need a tzar. So, the chance for each one of these four million people is one to four million. One’s nearest objectives have been set so far. All people can be good but not everybody can get rich. It is impossible. If everybody wants to become rich, it will fuel a competition, which will breed evil. However, if everybody decides to do good, there will not be rivalry, as it is an equal opportunity. Now I am going to infer another rule: if you happen to have a kind of negative desire, it will indicate that you aspire after things that make an exception. In such a case you will feel hatred, doubt or discontent – which accompany unfulfilled wishes. That’s why you should aspire after Love – it is attainable to everybody. You will aspire after Wisdom – it is also achievable by everybody. You will also aspire after Virtue – it is possible for everyone. You will aspire after Justice – it is also easy to achieve. These are the things that can be achieved in this Life. To be wise does not necessarily mean to be learned. Everybody can be wise, but few can be learned. That’s why you should all try to be wise. You needn’t aspire after being learned. Wisdom is within everybody’s reach. You cannot be all beautiful. Beauty can be easily lost, so it is not achievable to everybody. Being beautiful is beyond you, but all of you can cherish Love – it depends on you. All of you can attain Love. These things take centuries to acquire. They cannot come overnight. The wise person is very perceptive and thoughtful. He always knows what to do without showing off. He is also very practical – if he is at university, he will make his way to the hearts of his tutors, by taking the initiative for this or that. All professors and tutors are willing to assist him – he understands them, and they in turn, show understanding too. One who is not wise is shown the way out and told, “This is not a place for servants.” There are cases when servants have ousted professors, they have studied the subject profoundly and when it happens that the professor fails to turn up for the lecture, the servant takes his place. So when the professor comes after all, the servant says, “I am sorry, but I delivered the lecture for you.” The professor answers, “Very well, you have become my substitute.” The servant is devoid of ambition, and the professor falls into disrepute. That is a wise person – he can become learned with time. One has to be wise in the first place – if one is wise, he can achieve anything. Getting knowledge is the source of Wisdom. A secret prayer The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living [A1]Example – [take a step back] or [move back] [A2]Example - [they make you return to your former position] [A3][good disposition] [A4][disposition] [A5]Unclear. Does it mean – [a child can die] [A6]Example - [go backwards] [A7]Example - [return to his previous position] [A8]Example - [move back to your former position] [A9]Example - [returned to your former position]