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Беседата на български Note 6 Distinctive Qualities of the Will Year 2, Lecture 2 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) given by the Master Beinsa Douno on October 11, 1922, Sofia Without fear! Without darkness! Secret prayer For next time, please write on the following topic: "Distinctive features of Life". What are the distinctive qualities of the will? The first quality of the will is firmness. Firmness is the supporting pillar of the will. So the will has to be as firm and unwavering as a crag. The second quality of the will is bravery and fearlessness. The third quality of the will is the ability to apply things in practice, to bring them to realization, but without procrastination. Often a negative thought would come to a person's mind. Can't the manifestation of will stop the person in his act? When we talk about will, we have its positive manifestations in mind. The negative displays of will are accidents. If a train stops in the middle of the track, this is an accident. Its stops are pre-determined - from one station to another. Every stop which is different from the specified ones isn't part of the timetable of the train. Therefore firmness, bravery, fearlessness, and ability to apply things in practice are necessary qualities for the will to manifest itself in the physical world. In addition to the physical world, the will manifests in the mental world as well. The distinctive qualities of the will in the mental world are understanding, realizing, grasping, and sensing. What you have understood, you will realize; what you have realized, you will grasp, what you have grasped, you will sense. Can you go from the stage of grasping to that of understanding? No, you will walk in a consecutive fashion. One of the distinctive qualities of the will in the Divine world is its nobility - the will must be noble and be motivated a noble impulse, a noble stimulus. When you know the distinctive qualities of the will in three different worlds, you will be able to influence your body, your heart, and your brain. For example, understanding, realizing, grasping and sensing are methods through which you can influence the front part of your brain. The closer a certain brain centre is to the physical world, the bigger the influence it is subjected to from the physical qualities of the will - firmness, bravery, fearlessness without procrastination. The development of the upper part of the brain, i.e. the development of moral feelings can be achieved through noble stimulus, which is brought about by compassion, truthfulness, love of God and love of the fellow men. The human body serves as a tool for exercising the will. In order to come into contact, into direct communication or proper exchange with the powers of Nature, by all means you need to know how to control your body. The organs in the body have to be under the control of the will. People make volitional and non-volitional movements, their bodies have volitional and non-volitional functions which shows that many things don't depend on their will. For example palpitation, thoughts, feelings are outside of the control of human will. The science of the occult offers a number of methods for controlling human thoughts and feelings. As much as people may deny the fact that thoughts and feelings are out of the control of the will, this can be proved easily: it is enough for somebody to pierce you with a needle and you would jump immediately and change your mental state, even reach a point of explosion. Exploding, getting angry are processes which are out of the will's control. They are processes of fermentation. Each fermentation process is due to a special kind of bacteria which causes souring. Many similar bacteria exist in the physical, as well as in other words. In order to free yourselves from the influence of these bacteria, you need to exercise your will and thus affect the brain, especially the power of imagination. The brain must be under the will's control. Imagination represents the opening in the dark room, the camera obscura, which needs to have light-sensitive photography glass in it. It is up to the photographer whether he will open or close this camera obscura. When he is about to take a photograph, he opens the camera. When imagination is not under the will's control, the lense of this camera is continuously open. As a result timely and untimely, conscious and unconscious imprints are made in the brain. If you understand the laws of Nature, you will know when to open and close this camera. There are situations when you don't need any external impressions at all. For example, two people are arguing, you stop, open your camera, and take impressions. These impressions are passed on to the brain and two or three hours later they are still being played out in your mind. Some time needs to pass before these impressions wear off and the brain returns to its normal state. Take another scenario: you are passing by a restaurant at 12pm - it is time for lunch. You want to go in and have a meal. You feel your pockets and it turns out that you don't have any money. You start walking down the streets dissatisfied and indisposed as you keep bringing to mind the image of all these people eating. You pass by a second restaurant, then a third one and you see everybody eating. Your mood keeps deteriorating and you wonder why you have to fast today. Through this fast mindful beings have put you through a test to examine your will. On that specific day you shouldn't walk by restaurants. Of course that is exactly when you have the desire to walk around all the restaurants hoping that you will meet some friend who will invite you for lunch. On that day you should stay home and philosophize about it, "So many years I have been eating and drinking. What have I gained from this? Can't I not eat and fast for at least one day?" That is how an occult disciple should think. Fasting for a day doesn't mean torturing oneself with hunger. Staying hungry for a day is incidental, it is something temporary in life which should be perceived in a positive way. As you can see, Nature's methods are completely different from man's. Things in Nature aren't as systematic as people would have them be. At first sight, everything in Nature seems disorderly. When you climb onto mountain tops, you see valleys, forests and fields where everything is in a big state of disorder - here you see big trees and right next to them - some small ones; there you see big and small flowers all mixed up; somewhere else you see big and small stones next to each other or they are scattered around. You watch and you wonder at this disorder. When a human arranges a garden, in the first rows he puts the smaller flowers, then the bigger ones and arranges everything in this consecutive order. If he arranges stones, he will first place the smaller ones, then the bigger ones, etc. However, someone who understands the laws will be able to see through the external disorder and understand the sensibility, the intelligence of Nature. When moving in Nature it is important to think and to study Nature's methods and laws. Learn about the development of one tree and you will see what harmony exists in its different parts. You see that one tree has bent a little. This is not accidental. The bending of the tree shows that it has met some kind of obstacle on its way. In order to overcome this obstacle the tree has bent a little. It means that some intelligence has supervised the development of this tree. Therefore, when we see warping or some kind of disorder in Nature this hints at the unfavourable conditions which exist on Earth. If these conditions have been overcome, this shows that great intelligence exists in Nature. Similarly, human thoughts and feelings are scattered and disharmonious. Why? Because the conditions you live in aren't optimal. What do you need to do? You need to rebuild your brain and your heart. How will you rebuild them? By putting new content in them - new thoughts and feelings. Rebuilding your brain doesn't mean ruling over it. People often say that they need to take rule over Nature. No, nobody can ever rule over Nature. Nature represents the body of God. God will never let anybody rule over His body and do with it as he pleases. By wanting to impose their rule on Nature, contemporary people get into big misfortunes and evil. Thus Nature gives them a good lesson and shows them that they can't rule over it. They need to obey her and listen to her. Do you think that the father will let his son put a strap on his mouth and play with him as if he were a toy-horse? Ruling over Nature means ruling over our thoughts, feelings, and desires. Another distortion that can be observed in contemporary people is their belief that they need to influence and control each other. This is easy but it isn't allowed. The Dark Brotherhood has a number of methods for that. If you tie the legs and arms of a sleeping person, you have already taken over him. After he wakes up you will tell him: "Now you have to obey my orders." What do you gain by doing that? You can take control over the person's body but never over his mind and his heart. After he frees himself from the rope, he will do the same with you. While someone is sleeping you can tie him up, and once he is tied up, you can exert an influence on him, but after he wakes up the influence will remain only over his body, not his mind, heart, soul or Spirit – these can never be tied up or obey someone else's orders. Thus exercising the will of The White Brotherhood requires every thought to be pure, frank, proper and noble. A strong will expresses itself in conciliatory deeds, not in rough physical action as contemporary people see it. Imagine that one day you are given one hundred opportunities to do evil and one opportunity to do good. Your willpower will show in these hundred cases if you use it in a conciliatory way. However, if you commit a hundred evil deeds, the one good deed won't be able to compensate for all the crimes you have committed. Therefore, everybody needs to exercise self-control and use his will to understand his relation to Nature and to his fellow men. In order to study the manifestations of the will you need to watch the plants. If you go into a pine wood, for example, you will see that pines grow near to each other and take on the shape of a cone. By growing close to each other they save space. Pines transfer this quality to elms, as well as to other trees that grow around them. For example, elms that grow near pines take on a conical shape, but if they are far from them, they grow both upwards sideways. Pines, however, always keep their conical shape. This shows that pines have spiritual discipline, they aren't materialist. Therefore, when it expands sideways, the will has materialistic aspirations; when it keeps its conical shape and its constant desire to grow upwards, its aspirations are spiritual. I will now give you a method for the development of the will. This is the so called conciliatory method. It is only for people who have a strong will. The method is as follows. Imagine that you are a student, you have 25 000 leva in savings for your allowance but somebody accidentally gets into the room and steals your money. This sets off a number of trials: your landlady throws you out of her house, the restaurant owner doesn’t allow you to eat in his place, your friends leave you and you remain on the street alone, without accommodation, wandering through the streets without any help. When you imagine this, watch yourself to see what feelings awaken in you. If you get scared and say to yourself that you hope such a trial never comes to you, you will have failed. Irrespective of how much you pray to be spared such a trial, there is a possibility of it happening to you, and there is a possibility of it not happening to you. Both are possible. Do you think that when you enter a musical school you won't be given difficult exercises? If the student says to his teacher that he only wants easy exercises, the teacher will say, "Go and find another teacher!" Those who want to learn must be ready to do all exercises - both the easy and the difficult ones. If you go to a painter, you will experience the same. If you say that you want easy exercises only, the teacher will say, "Go and find another teacher!" Therefore, once you enter the occult School, you should expect difficult tasks. If you are under the illusion that you will be given easy tasks only, the teacher will say, "Go and find another teacher! This school isn't for you!" Therefore, just as exercises are necessary in science, music and art, methods are necessary in occult science too. If you don't apply in practice the methods that are given to you, you will not reach the intended aim and will not gain the necessary knowledge. There are people in the world with a strong, firm will. When the time comes for an operation, such a person gives his arm for an incision to be made without any anaesthetic. He remains calm, not a single muscle quivers on his face and when the operation ends, he says, "Have you finished already?" How did he develop that will? He did it with the help of exercises, by applying different methods in practice. I would like you to have that kind of will as well. When the knife reaches the bone, to be able to put your hand upon the wound and in twenty minutes for it to be healed. A person with a strong will can do that. Why? Because he can concentrate the prana in the air and aim it at his wound. In order to achieve that kind of willpower, you need to be merciless about your mistakes - not to criticize yourself but to state things the way a seismograph registers earthquakes or the way the light-sensitive slab in photography imprints images. Don't be blind to your mistakes, but correct them! How will you correct your mistakes? Visit any musical school and you will see how the teacher corrects his student. They play together and if the student makes a mistake somewhere, the teacher says, "You don't play correctly, start again". And they both start again. After the disciple corrects his mistake, the teacher says, "Now let's move on, take the next position!" When making a mistake, should the student put the bow down, start crying and say, "Teacher, forgive me, I made a mistake"? There is no reason to cry or to interrupt the process of playing. He needs to move on. And so when you make a mistake, don't put the violin and the bow to the side but go on making one attempt after the other until in the end the tones of your violin blend with the tones of your teacher's violin. After that continue forward.What is the violin for a human? The violin represents the human body. What do music students do? When things don't go well, they sell their violin. Keep the following rule sacred: even in the hardest conditions in life do not sell your violin! A violinist who sells his violin because of difficult circumstances in Life is doomed to great suffering. - "He had debts, which he had to pay for." - If he has debts he should play. In this way he will pay for his debts more easily than if he sells his violin. From an occult point of view, it is not allowed for a disciple to sell his violin. If he sells his violin, he will find himself out of the school. Every disciple must have his own violin; the school doesn't loan violins. Therefore, no matter what your body is like, or what kind of deformities it has, you are able fix it. How? You can fix it through exercises. Just as the sound of a violin gets better and better with playing, in the same way a human body can be improved and developed through exercises and effort. For example, this year I may give you the task of working on your nose - of elongating it or to widening it by 1-2 millimetres. It is easier to widen the nose than to elongate it. In order to make your will steady and positive, you need to change the thumb and the lower part of your chin. The lower part of the chin needs to jut out a little and have a small hollow. This shapes the chin, gives it a nicer form. The thumb has to widen and elongate. If you are unable to achieve that, what kind of will do you have? You say that people influence each other. I am asking, when you were students what influence did you render at university? You have convictions but you are afraid of people getting to know you, and try to pass unnoticed. You want to be like the rich tradesman who tries to pass unnoticed by the robbers, so that they don't rob him. That is the way a cowardly man acts. Whoever has a positive creed, a positive conviction, should be ready to defend his creed not with words but with actions. A man with conviction is like a current that passes through wires - wherever it passes it produces light and warmth. The minds of most secular people function mainly around the ears, near the temples, and as a result of this their thought can't move to the upper part of the brain. The experienced gardener sends the water there in order to moisturize these parts and induce higher thoughts in them. That is the way Nature works. How does it educate the materialist villager? As long as the harvest is rich, he goes around the taverns, drinks, says cheers to friends, doesn't think about anything. In order to make him think, Nature starts educating him. How? It sends drought. The villager sows but the harvest is small and the drought is big. The villager sits and thinks, "What is this about? How have I sinned before God?'' He thinks and raises his eyes upward. If no rain comes in the next two to three years, all that was planted will dry up. The villager becomes more reflective and more humble. Therefore when Nature wants to educate someone, she takes away from him the objects that divert his attention and prevent him from thinking. Another method which Nature uses with materialists is placing wedges. This method doesn’t need too much talking. You pass by any materialist and say to him quietly, "Do you think that matter is something real?" or "Do you think that our present life is permanent?'' You say these words and walk away, they are like wedges in a person's thought process. Then the person starts thinking. Nature aims to compel man to think, not to convince him. After his thought starts operating, he will search for you, he will want to speak with you upon the matter. But in this case too don't talk to him for too long, let him talk. When he expresses his thoughts, ask him: "Do you think that your views are right?" This will offend him and he will go on speaking and trying to prove that his views are right. When he talks you should listen to him carefully. It's enough to awaken his interest once and he will start looking for other opportunities to speak with you. He doesn't succumb, he even fights back consciously, but his thought starts working. Once his thought starts working, the energy of the new thought penetrates him and starts watering the upper centres of the brain. This method is called the method of plugging up. Through this method you will plug up the person in one place, so that he will search for an exit from somewhere else. You should make small experiments of this kind and see what results you will have. Reflection Without fear in boundless Love!

Беседата на български Note 5p MANIFESTATIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS Year 1, Lecture 18 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On June 28, 1922, Wednesday Sofia Secret prayer There was a presentation of the disciples' essays on the topic: “The most powerful virtue of the disciple”. Next time please write on the topic: “The most powerful feature of Light”. When you write on this topic, take into consideration the feature of Light which one notices first. Any other features which come to mind after the first one are weaker. When you go to a vineyard, notice that the first grapes, which are the ripest and the sweetest ones, show the strength of the vine itself. A vine that gives only sour and unripe fruit is weak. It has no inner ability to develop its fruit. Therefore, each thing that is revealed first, and in a complete and well developed form, is the strongest of its kind. If it comes last, in an incomplete form, it is the weakest one. You should observe the same law in respect to virtues. Each thing that appears first in someone’s soul has the greatest power. Each thing that appears last is the weakest one. Therefore, when you write on a topic, first pay attention to its real aspect, which sticks out first, and then to its abstract aspect which is the weakest one. Now, being still young people, you should be cautious not to fall into certain traps in your Life, which may hamper you. There are certain decoys in the world, similar to the ones that inventors create for people. When they want to attract the attention of the audience to their inventions, they say the following, ‘Do you know how useful our inventions are? If applied in life they will generate great reforms. They will contribute to culture and so on.’ The invention might not yet be available, but they already advertise it. I am asking, how can you recommend an invention that has not been created yet? Each invention can be evaluated only after its implementation. This is the reason why you should consider things well. For example, reflect on the most outstanding feature of water, of fire and so on. Which is the strongest feature of fire in your view? – Fire gives warmth. Which is the strongest feature of Love? Often people fall into contradictions which they cannot solve. You have such contradictions as well. If you are asked, for example, about the strongest feature of the tongue, you will come to a contradiction, and you will not know how to respond. Why? – Because the tongue has several functions. The first one is to facilitate the passage of food and water into the stomach, the second one is to taste – with the tongue you taste food, the third function of the tongue is to speak. Which function is given first to the tongue? - The first one. Actually, in order to maintain life, a human being uses the tongue first to send food into the stomach. Therefore, one should be satiated first in order to be able to speak. First you take food, then you taste it and finally you speak, i.e. you voice your opinion about it. These three physical functions of the tongue correspond to other functions in the higher worlds: the first function of the tongue in eating is in the physical world, the second function – tasting - is related to the Spiritual world and the third function – speech – is related to the Divine world. Love also has different manifestations. It is said that Love requires sacrifices. Which world does sacrifice and self-sacrifice relate to? Who is able to sacrifice himself? It is the wise person who can sacrifice himself, not the foolish one. Consequently, sacrifice relates to the Angelic world. When a fool sacrifices himself, he is like a butterfly that flies around a lamp in the evening and gets burnt up. Its sacrifice is unconscious. A reasonable sacrifice may belong only to a wise person. Consequently, only an intelligent and wise person is able to sacrifice himself. If such a person sees someone drowning in the sea, he will jump into the water, thus risking his life, but he will try to save the one in need. Only a clever person, who has been gifted with intuition, will go into the water to save someone. Do you know what the most powerful feature of Love in the physical world is? It is motion. Therefore, if there is great motion somewhere, there is also great Love there. Which is the most powerful feature of Love in the Astral world? – Feeling. Which is the most powerful feature of Love in the Mental world? – Thought, the process of thinking. Which is the most powerful feature of Love in the Causal world? – Causes. The love of someone who lives in the Causal world is solid and never changing. The proverb: “A word spoken is past recalling” is true for such a person. Sacrifice refers to the Causal world. Only such a person lives or at least sometimes penetrates the Causal world - the one who can sacrifice himself. And only such a person who has something to sacrifice is able to sacrifice. Only those who live in the Causal world have something to sacrifice. As long as someone lives in the physical world only, he has nothing at his disposal and can sacrifice nothing. The wealth of a human being lies in the Causal world. That is why there are things there that can be sacrificed. You should all have notebooks to write your essays in. Each topic has a distinctive feature. After you have written the essay, it will introduce a new idea into your mind. Each topic represents a note of a given scale. If you connect all essays into one piece, you will form a whole musical piece. You should note the following: if your limited consciousness prevails over everything in you, it will hamper your progress and your entire development. You could easily verify this. How? If you observe the development of a child, you will see that it grows and develops properly due to the fact that its mind is not busy with the thought of its growth, whether and how it grows, etc. But if you manage to occupy its mind with the thought that it should grow and develop fast, its growth will cease. Therefore, if you begin to live with the thought of your growth, you will be hampered like the little child. One thing is required of you: to have an aspiration towards growing, but then you shouldn't think about it any more. Why? Growth is a Divine process which doesn't depend on you. You cannot make yourself grow. If you want to grow, put aside your temporary limited consciousness and allow your soul to freely develop. Introduce into your sub-consciousness and into your higher consciousness your wish to grow and don't think about it any more. You will see that you will achieve a positive result after some time. Contemporary people are hampered in their development due to certain manifestations that take place too early in their life, before they have come to the relevant stage of development. For example, many have seen visions, dreams or lights before entering the School, so they say to themselves, ‘Let us join the School to attain more knowledge.’ However, until they continue to be guided by such limited consciousness, they will lose even the knowledge they had before. The right thing for them is to preserve the knowledge they acquired from the outside world, because it is not in contradiction with the knowledge they will acquire in the School. Inside or outside, it is the same School. First of all, you should aspire to Freedom – to be free in spirit, soul, mind and heart. If you fail in something, you shouldn't be discouraged. Failure is a good sign. You know how difficult it is to achieve things under the law of evolution. Do you know what trials an ox needs to go through in order to become a human being? If the ox decides to describe its story and calls its path “golden and royal”, it will not tell the truth. How many times it was skinned, how many fields it had to plough, how many times it was goaded! It has gone and will go through great trials and great suffering before it reaches the human status. If you want to move from your present position to a higher one, you will also endure great misfortunes and suffering. It is law. Do not deceive yourself with the idea that you could evolve easily. If someone tells you that you could reach the royal path without trials and suffering, they don't tell the truth. This doesn't mean that you should create suffering yourself, but once you have been put on a trial, you cannot escape it. Be bold and resolute and accept suffering in the way it is given to you. Many of you want to have visions and spiritual experiences. This is an appropriate wish but specific conditions are necessary for it to be fulfilled. If you plant a small flower in a pot, you have to put good soil and water it regularly so that it may grow well. Otherwise it will dry up in a while. The centres needed for contact with the Spiritual world have a similar role. Spiritual experiences require relevant conditions for their manifestation. For example, in order to be a clairvoyant, one needs to have a broad forehead, e.g. well developed imagination skills. If you want to develop clairvoyance, you should communicate with people who have already developed this ability. Thus the energy that emanates from someone's well developed brain centres influence the corresponding underdeveloped centres in someone else. A disciple with an aspiration for music should seek people who have advanced musical abilities. Whoever likes drawing should make friends with artists. Writers should communicate with writers, priests - with priests, disciples - with disciples. As occult disciples, you should seek the company of learned people who know more than you. Before you wish for visions, you should develop inner courage, but not insolence. Some people behave impertinently, they intrude and think that they are courageous. Courage is a quality of a wise person. I will give you now a small exercise for a week: read in the morning and in the evening the third chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, from the first to the thirteenth verse, and reflect on the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. During the reflection, try to remember this talk not only as it was written, but with all those details which are missing but could be read between the lines. Reflecting on these verses will bring new images, new thoughts and ideas into your mind. Nicodemus was with Christ for many hours and they had a long conversation. If you could rebuild even a hundredth part of this discussion, you would attain a lot. If your consciousness is awakened, you will easily link with the past and recollect the conversation between Christ and Nicodemus. If you don't succeed in recollecting this conversation, you will still gain something. If you fail, don't be discouraged. Those who have lived during the time of Christ can easily return to the past and recollect the whole conversation. If you haven't lived in that age, you consciousness will be closed and you won't be able to remember anything. If you reflect on these verses for ten minutes every morning and every evening, you will feel peace and inner calm in your soul. Disciples complain of difficulties and hardships. You will always have difficulties until you create a magnetic atmosphere between you. Such an atmosphere, such an aura has not yet been established among you. You will feel it once it has been created. How? You will feel enthusiasm, enlightenment and an influx of new thoughts and ideas. You will go to bed well-disposed and content in the evening and get up fresh and full of new aspirations, thoughts and wishes for the Great and the High in the morning. And now you go to bed exhausted, you get up worn out with the words: ‘I have lost what I have.’ Why does this happen? - Because you invest all your capital in goods just like traders do, without putting any amount aside. You have goods, but you cannot sell them, you cannot meet your daily needs. This situation darkens your consciousness, so you suffer, doubt and say: ‘Why did I have to enter this enterprise? It would have been better if I had stood aside.’ If things go well, you will be content that you have entered the enterprise. Others prefer not to enter, although they don't gain anything in this way. They are content that at least they don't lose anything either. In my opinion, this is not good philosophy. While you are alive you have to either win or lose. Gains and losses go together in Life. Each gain is followed by a loss and each loss – by a gain. Losses and gains can come accidentally, but they can be conscious too. Next time please write on the topic: “The function of the human thumb”. Find books on this topic and read what has been written about the thumb. You should study your thumb – if it sticks up or down; if it is short or long; if it is well-shaped or not. When you research this question, write no more than twenty lines. Learn to write briefly, clearly, and conceptually. What you write should represent a small sketch. Each idea represents a seed. Collect such seeds in your bags and when the time comes, sow them. Many of you study and work but still think that they haven't achieved anything. As long as they think this way, they have conditions for achievements - this shows that they want to study. When someone comes to school with the idea that he knows nothing, he has possibilities to study and advance. He says: “I am aware now that I know nothing yet. I am glad that I joined the School.” This is the awakening of consciousness. Then the disciple will want to fill his gaps of missing knowledge. Therefore, when someone is aware that he has lost something, he begins to strive for gain. The next homework that I will give you will be on the topic: “Tall and short people and their distinctive features”. You may know nothing about it, but when you think on the topic during the week as well as on the topic of the thumb, some ideas will emerge in your mind and you will write something. Tall people introduce one idea into the human mind, short people – another idea. Turks say that short people are a mischief for God. Short people are troublesome. There is also a saying that tall people are like wasps. But these sayings concern only the extreme types – the very tall and the very short people. If a tall man has narrow shoulders, then his height should correspond to all other parts of his body. The same is true for a short man who has broad shoulders. I will make an analogy to explain why some people are tall and others are short. I often observe the flowers in the garden and I have noticed that some of them, the hollyhock for example, grow higher when planted to the north than those planted to the south. That hollyhock, which is planted to the north, grows higher because it strives to see the Sun. In the same way we could explain why some people are tall and others – short. Tall people live in the north, where there is not so much sunlight. They strive to grow higher, so that they may see the Sun. This is the reason why pine trees grow in height. Thus, tall people develop in unfavourable conditions with a lack of sunlight but an abundance of moisture. Short people have grown in width - with a lot of sunlight but without moisture. This is a material, external, but not a conceptual difference between tall and short people. However there are also other physiological reasons that influence the growth of a human being. As disciples of the Great School do not think that this School comes into contradiction with common universal life. On the contrary, it solves all contradictions in life. Contradictions will vanish, but you should also work, not just wait for their solution without making any effort. Your progress depends on your karma. Whoever has more serious karma will encounter greater difficulties and obstacles and will evolve at a slower rate. Some day you are happy and self-content that you have gained something, but then a creditor of yours comes and robs you of it. Then once again you have to acquire materials and tools in order to work and achieve the same result. Those who have better karma will advance faster. In order to develop well, everyone should know his weakest point, so that he or she can work on it and transform it, because it is like a door through which one’s enemies enter. For example, someone likes boasting. He is given something or told something with the request to keep it secret, but he can't stand being silent and says to a friend: “I am going to tell you something, but don't tell anyone”. His friend tells it to another friend, the latter – to someone else and thus it spreads everywhere. If you are asked to remain silent, you should do so until you are allowed to speak. Someone has many desires, as a result he becomes absent-minded. He wants to be a philosopher, a scientist, a poet, a musician, an artist, a statesman, but he doesn't succeed in any of these fields. If you have many desires, put them aside and start implementing one of them only. When you implement it, then start with the second one, the third one and so on. If you intend to implement all your wishes at once, your thoughts will get scattered, you will exhaust your feelings, waste your time and won't achieve anything. You need to know the following: no matter how much you think about these issues, you will not have the same results as some of you lack well developed imagination skills, others – well developed reasoning, some lack faith, others – hope, observation abilities, reverence, self respect, friendliness and so on. As disciples of this School, it would be good to measure your foreheads in width and height as well as your noses and chins. After you have worked for a year upon your mental abilities or upon your chin as an expression of your will, measure them again and see if there is at least a microscopic change. Even the slightest increase indicates that you have succeeded in your work. Otherwise you will conclude that you have not worked well all year long. It is good for everyone to draw his forehead, nose and chin in exact sizes and to measure them again in a year, so that he can see how much he has achieved. If you worry about it, however, you won't achieve anything. You need to be able to concentrate your thought if you want to attain something and achieve certain results. For this purpose, you need to study the law of concentration in order to transform the occult forces and develop your mental and spiritual centres. That is the only way to achieve any results. If you have failures, don't get discouraged. You are capable of achieving everything – making your foreheads higher, prolonging your noses, re-modelling your chins. There is nothing you can't achieve or improve about yourself. A disciple should work and develop patience. How will he or she develop patience? Here is a method: when you are in low spirits and see a disharmonious feature on your face, take a mirror and look at it for ten minutes until you define the location of this feature on your face. Do not look into your eyes for more than ten minutes because you could fall asleep. While looking at your image in the mirror, you may say to yourself: “You need to be corrected!” Hold your negative feature in your mind and in a while you will see that it has been transformed under your suggestion. This method is not easy, but many of you can use it and achieve good results. If your eyes become watery when you look into the mirror, it is a sign that your nervous system is weak. If your eyes stop getting teary or never did, this indicates that your nervous system begins to strengthen or doesn't need strengthening. To begin with, look into your eyes for a minute or two without winking and forget that you want to influence yourself. Thus you will see that everything comes in its own time, unexpectedly for you, but gradually, not at once. Secret prayer

Беседата на български Note 5p REQUIREMENTS TO THE DISCIPLE Year 1, Lecture 16 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On June 14, 1922, Wednesday Sofia Secret prayer Next time please write on the following topic: “Gemstones”. Now, I am taking the word “disciple” in its narrow meaning. One is a disciple as long as he studies, as long as he attends school. Discipleship is a specific state of mind. In the occult sense of the word, one can be a disciple as long as he keeps contact or connection with the Master. If one breaks or loses this connection, he or she is not a disciple any more. One needs obedience and attention in order to maintain constant contact. A human being can only be obedient towards the Higher Essence, towards the Divine. Absolute obedience is required here. Lower levels of consciousness need to be obedient and attentive towards higher levels of consciousness. Therefore, the disciple should have absolute obedience towards his Master. This obedience should come out of his or her consciousness. Before the disciple goes to the Master, he or she should know him and be obedient towards Him; if the disciple doesn't know the Master, he or she should make an effort to know Him. The disciple should have the necessary feelings and abilities that will make it possible for him to know his Master. The link between the Master and the disciple is not instantaneous – it did not take shape at a given moment nor is it temporary. It is eternal and has existed for thousands of years. The disciple should not become hesitant because of the failures he may experience at the very beginning of his discipleship. The world in which the Master lives and acts is absolute and does not accept any ignorance. The atmosphere in which the Master lives and acts is alive and whoever tries to enter it unprepared will subject himself to death. When I say that the disciple will be subjected to death, I have in mind the situation that a fish finds itself in when it is taken out of the water. When you take a fish out of the water and leave it on the ground, it will certainly die. The fish goes out of its natural environment and enters another one, which it cannot live in. Therefore, disciples should have obedience and attention towards their Master, so that they may gradually develop new feelings and abilities as a favourable foundation for the perception of the new ideas. So, if you go unprepared into the atmosphere of the Master, you will inevitably die. If you want to know why, look to the fish to see why it dies in the air. It has not adapted itself to the new conditions, as a result of which it suffocates. Observe how electricians work with electricity. They touch the wires very carefully to avoid an electric shock that may throw them on the ground in a second. Knowledge is required from those who work with electricity. Irrespective of who you are, if you don't understand the laws of electricity, it will throw you to the ground. And if you ask why, electricity will answer: “I like to have people around me who know more than me – I like learned people. I will kick out all those who know less than me, who are ignorant.” Furthermore, you should know that human bodies conduct either electricity or magnetism. At the same time human organisms can also conduct the so called black electricity or black magnetism. Black electricity and black magnetism come from darkness. This indicates that there is white electricity and white magnetism too, which come from the white light. Take a magnet and hold it towards a needle: the magnet attracts the needle. Is the magnet itself the reason for this attraction? No, a certain force, a certain current is hidden in the magnet, which attracts metals. If this current or force disappears, the iron itself is worth nothing. You should observe yourself too in order to see what currents flow and what forces act in your soul. If you play some instrument, if you play the piano, for example, you will be satisfied when all the keys give out precise and harmonious tones. But even if only a few keys do not generate the right tones, your playing will be disharmonious. Your first work will be to harmonize these keys in order to sound harmoniously. Therefore, if the slightest disharmony appears in your soul, you should harmonize the strings that sound incorrect. These tones, these strings have deviated from the common harmony, from the harmony of the whole. Your soul plays an instrument, consisting of three main octaves: the octave of the mind, the octave of the heart and the octave of the body. Each of these three octaves is also divided into three. So, your task is to see which of the octaves the deviation has occurred in. I will give you the following exercise for controlling the will: take a pin and pierce some thick part of your body up to a depth of two or three milimetres. Try to do it and see how you feel. Monitor your reactions to see the hesitations of your will. You will be brave in the first moment: you will take the pin, ready to stick it somewhere in your arm. But when the pin touches your skin, you will lift it at once – you have decided not to stick it in. You will try again and again you will take it away. It is interesting to count the number of hesitations you will have until you finally decide to stick it in. With this experiment you will test the strength of your will and your ability to concentrate. The number of your hesitations is a mathematical value which indicates your organism's condition and the time required for its tuning. Children do a similar experiment. When they see a river, they want to jump over it. They look at the river, it seems deep to them, so they make a few steps back. They dash towards the river, then go back, dash again and step back again. Finally they get new courage, dash once more and say to themselves: “I will try a jump, come what may – fall in the river or reach the other bank.” Once they make a dash, they overcome the obstacle. I am saying, there are many obstacles in your minds and in your hearts which you need to remove by all means. Thus you will tone the forces of your organism. This requires will, knowledge and strength. With the help of this new, positive knowledge you will transform and improve your character, so that you may easily overcome the difficulties that come your way. So if you use your knowledge in the right way, your character will improve; if you use it in the wrong way, your character will deteriorate. In that case you will say: “I used to be nobler and better earlier in life.” Nobility is always nobility, diamonds are always diamonds; gold is always gold. Why? Once you have succeeded in the transformation of a low element into a high one, according to the existing laws, there is no force in the world that can alter the results. Only the person who has transformed a low element into gold can reverse the process. Now that you know this, try to introduce into your bodies, brains and hearts those high and sustainable forces, which Nature uses for the development of humans. Only these forces are able to tune and regulate the energies of your solar plexus. Your sympathetic nervous system should be in perfect condition too. It there are unpleasant, bitter feelings in your heart, try to eliminate them. They will have a bad influence on your liver and cause a certain disorder in it. How many of you intend to complete the task that I gave you last time? I will also give you a formula to use while doing the task. The words you will pronounce will substitute the money that you used until now. You should say: “I am beginning to work with the Divine virtues that live inside me.” Use this formula every day, until you finish your task. It will act as a password for you. When you get up in the morning and undertake your task, pronounce this formula in your mind quietly, so that no one can hear you. When you refuse to use money for some time, you leave the weapon which you have used until today. Therefore you need to replace it with a new one. This formula will be your new weapon. Thus when you renounce money, you begin to work with the Divine virtues as keys for unlocking the human heart. You will gain your victories in this way. For the physical person money represents the same type of key: you will pay to this person or that person and you pave your way. You should be clever and witty like the worldly people, so that you may not miss any occasion for the application of the Divine virtues. I will give you an example with a worker, who was an occultist and was following God's orders in a certain way. He was looking for a job, so he knocked at a door, but got rejected; he knocked at a second door – again it was a rejection. The story repeated itself the next day. Two or three days, even a week passed by in the very same way and with the same result – no job for him. Finally this person fell into despair: his wife and children were waiting for him at home, but he had earned nothing for them. However, while he was walking in the streets, he saw a little girl who fell on the ground and broke her leg. He ran to her immediately, took her into his arms and carried her to her home. The child told him her address and the name of her father, who was a famous factory owner. When the child was brought home, her father thanked the poor worker and gave him a job in his factory as a sign of gratitude. What does this indicate? The child of the factory owner was the last lucky chance for the worker to find a job. If he hadn't been cautious, he would have missed this chance. A disciple should be awake, because if he is not careful enough and neglects a small task, the disciple may miss a favourable opportunity. This chance was the last one for the worker to find a job, but the first of the favourable occasions for him. It was only through this incident that he could find a job, i.e. that he could realize his idea. Many of you think that when they join the School, all paths for the implementation of their ideas will be open. They deceive themselves. Sometimes such great difficulties are created for the disciples that they get into a quandary, they don't know what to do. If they don't know the laws they will become discouraged and fall into despair over and over again. Their situation is similar to that of passengers traveling through seas and oceans; when they become sea-sick, they fall into despair and regret that they have taken the ship, but when they recover, their despair also disappears. I am saying to you too: do not regret that you have joined the School! Be brave and resolute, and go ahead! This is meant for those who are ready to follow the School. Those who are not ready may leave whenever they want to. As disciples of an occult school, you should comply with the processes of Nature and not limit them. You may come to the processes of cleansing, growing or awakening of consciousness. You should pay attention to these processes and see what they generate in you. You should be self-possessed to endure anything that Nature might bring to you. For example, when Nature subjects you to the process of cleansing, you have very unpleasant feelings and as a reaction you want to fight with Her. You should know one thing: Nature does not stand any impurity. So She submits everyone who comes into contact with her to a thorough cleansing. When you come to such a process, you start philosophizing: “What does Nature intend to do with this?” Nature intends one thing – to purify you. What does a hungry person intend to do? He intends to find food and help himself. The difference between hungry people consists only in the images they hold in their minds: one wants just bread, another one wants bread and meat, a third one wants fried chicken and so on. The hungry differ among themselves only in their thoughts and wishes. If you watch someone who likes meat, you will notice a peculiar colour on his face. A few years ago, I met a lady in the street who was from high society and exceptionally beautiful. Her face was veiled, but her appearance was very pleasant. As she was walking down the street, she stopped in front of a butcher’s shop. Right away her face took on a specific expression, something unpleasant and disgusting appeared on it as her animal nature was awakened. She went into the butcher’s, bought something, and as she was coming out I saw on her face the previous mask, which produced a good and pleasant impression. However at the sight of the meat she couldn't master her lower nature. Having bought some meat, she had satisfied it and then her face regained its initial beautiful and pleasant look. Therefore, the inner thoughts and feelings hidden in you can influence your image at any moment. And each thought, on its turn, is complex; it contains possibilities for compound processes that are also reflected on one’s face. For example, the thought of food causes a number of processes in the human organism. Especially if one is hungry, he may see different pictures in his mind. He imagines a nice soup made of turkey or chicken with rice, or with pasta. He may also imagine roasted pork, cooked with mustard or horse-radish, together with several glasses of six-year-old wine instead of water. All this exhilarates someone who is hungry. He walks, visualizing this and that and if he passes by an inn where his wishes could be fulfilled, he only sighs and continues his way as he has no money to pay. Some years ago in Varna I met a secondary school teacher who had been fired. He was walking with me and philosophizing on various issues. At some point we passed by a small inn where steaks, spits of meat and grilled rissoles were being prepared for lunch. When the unemployed teacher smelled this, he said: “This is what happiness in life is about – having money in your pocket and being able to enter the inn and taste these things whenever you wish to. Now I am passing by, but I can't enter and take a grilled rissole.” I am saying: the whole philosophy of this teacher came to nothing because of these grilled rissoles. All he had said broke to pieces at the smell of the grilled rissoles. After that I told him: “Your unhappiness now is a stroke of luck for me. If I find myself in this inn, I will feel unhappy.” Why did this teacher lose his philosophy at the sight of a grilled rissole? This indicates that the old habits of a person can emerge again; they are alive, not dead. You meet an occult disciple who is known to have reached a high level of personal development. He speaks about abstention and about achievements, but when he passes by an inn or a coffee-house, at once his wish to eat some meat or to drink a cup of coffee, to smoke a cigarette and to play cards, awakens in him. These are the old habits which re-emerge in one’s mind as a temptation. One should be cautious so that he may get over the old images of the past and clear them off. It is enough to put someone in certain conditions and the old images will reappear in his mind. How is it possible that an occult disciple could encounter such contradictions? I will answer this question with the following example: take a caterpillar that has just been transformed into a butterfly but has forgotten to throw away its old thinking of a caterpillar, so it lives simultaneously in both states. When it is in the state of a caterpillar, it looks for leaves and comes to a contradiction – it cannot eat leaves. Then it comes to its senses, returns to its second state of a butterfly and starts flying from flower to flower, sucking from their sweet nectar. It doesn't need leaves since it has a proboscis. Similarly, an occult disciple could be hampered by his old life. He could wish to return to the past and he may fall into temptation. The past means a return to the old forms. If you come to the past, say to yourself: “I don't need it. I have already passed through these states; now I am looking for the new conditions.” Imagine that being a disciple of the School, you are put through the test not to lie. You carry this weakness of lying from your past. First you used white lies, then black lies. In this way, gradually and imperceptibly to yourself, you got used to lying. You have a very strict master now. When you make a mistake, you hesitate: should you tell him the truth, or should you lie. After an inner struggle about what to do, you decide to lie, to hide your mistake, so that you may keep your job. In this respect you may find yourself in the position of a servant who once told his master the truth, but was punished. In certain circumstances he was forced to tell his master the truth, but the latter got cross and punished him without any understanding. Then the servant told him: “Master, you make me feel confused! I have lied to you several times, but you have never punished me. Today I told you the truth for the first time and you punished me. I am wondering why you punished me – for the truth I told you or for the fact that I had always lied to you previously.” I am saying, the same may happen to you too. If you tell the truth once, you will be punished. This punishment comes from the Invisible world. You don't get punished because you have told the truth, but because you haven't spoken the Truth previously. This doesn't mean that you should expect to be punished each time you tell the Truth. The opposite may also happen: if you have always told the Truth and you told a lie only once, you will be rewarded not for the lie, but for the Truth that you have served by that time. The punishments and the rewards which the Invisible world lays on humans are very specific. For example, material enrichment is a sort of punishment given by the Invisible world. Indeed, when someone becomes rich, he begins to gradually lose his inner peace and calmness. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't be rich. One should be rich but at the same time possess a strong and resistant character. A disciple should have a broad outlook on life; he shouldn't think that all things in existence are meant just for him. For example, when you walk by a garden with fruit trees, irrespective of how much you want to take some fruit, you don't have the right to do it if the master is not there. However everything belongs to God, doesn't it? Everything belongs to God, not to us. If you were meant to taste from the fruit, the master would have been there and he himself would have offered you some fruit. Some years ago, we were traveling with a friend from Varna to Burgas. I was walking on foot and he was riding a bicycle slowly. At some point it started to pour down with rain. We reached the Kamchia River somehow, but it overflowed due to the rain over a distance of several kilometres. My friend started carrying the bicycle on his back. But how could we continue further? We had to take our shoes off and walked into the water up to our knees. At that time we saw an inn nearby and stopped there for a while. The inn-keeper told us: “See, a cart driver is coming from over there, his horse is very strong and his cart is solid, but he is a headstrong man, he has not done a favour to anyone up to now, he will not agree to carry you in his cart.” – “We’ll try.” I went to the cart driver and told him: “My friend, will you help us? As you can see, our journey needs to continue across the river, but the water has risen a lot; we can cross the river, but we cannot carry the bicycle. Would you please take the bicycle in your cart and we will walk on foot.” – “I will help you with pleasure. Put the bicycle into the cart. But you may also get in the cart, I will easily carry you across the river.” I am saying, whoever is ready to take the bicycle into his cart will also take people. Whoever is not ready to take the bicycle, will not want to take people either. You should take the following into consideration: when one works with the Divine laws, one will see that there are absolutely no exceptions from them. Act according to these laws and don't worry about anything. We had decided to cross the river at any cost, we couldn't go back. We didn't rely on external help either, we were ready to carry the bicycle by ourselves. The Invisible world saw our readiness to help ourselves and the cart came. Then even the bad man became good and helpful. You should rely on yourselves. If a cart comes, it will be a privilege for you. If a cart doesn't come, you should go ahead. You may walk into deep water, but there is no way back. As disciples of this Great School, you should do many experiments in order to temper your character. However no one should know about them; no one should even suspect what you intend to do. Your experiments and actions should be natural, without any eccentricity. In this respect, Englishmen are free: they walk barefoot in snow early in the morning or in May, and no one pays attention to this. If such things happened in Bulgaria, people would criticize them and label them as eccentric. Therefore, it is better to do each exercise without bothering other people. The important thing is that each exercise has the purpose to temper you, to bring you out of the trivial order of things. For this purpose, the occult school offers to the disciples completely new methods for work which are expressed in beautiful and pleasant forms. Great sincerity is required of the disciple in order for him to succeed in his work. One should be sincere to oneself – never hide one’s mistakes, never exaggerate or diminish them. If one has made a slip, he could forgive himself for it, but should not find an excuse. Self-forgiveness means a conscious attitude to the slip. One forgives oneself but with the awareness that he should not repeat the mistake. Finding excuses for yourself - that the conditions were bad, that your karma was such – is not allowed. An error is an error, it doesn't need any excuses. You should state it as a fact and look for a method for its rectification. In some time, when you grow up and your mind gets visited by brighter and higher thoughts, then you will consider the problems from another point of view. Next time please write on the following topic: “The most powerful virtue of the disciple”. Everyone should reflect on this topic and write about a disciple's virtue that he considers most powerful. Some people compare virtues to gemstones. So, in the same way that you describe the properties of gemstones, you should describe the distinctive characteristics of virtues. We describe the properties and characteristics of all simple and compound chemical substances in the same way. For example, a specific property of water is its mobility or instability. Water is unstable, so that we might be stable. When we say that water is unstable, this means that it adapts to all conditions, good or bad. Another property of water is its dissolving ability – it is a good solvent. It cleans and washes bodies, due to its dissolving ability. At the same time, water has a cooling property. Everyone has experienced its cooling action in warm and hot days. Even uneducated people know these several properties of water. Ask a shepherd what water is – he will tell you immediately. Then come the other characteristics of water, known by scientists only, i.e. water is a compound substance, consisting of two volumes of hydrogen and one volume of oxygen. Water has other properties also, but understanding these properties requires more in-depth knowledge. In the same way we can describe the properties of light, for example. Light has the ability to illuminate adjacent objects. It lightens the Path of humans. Water makes life easier. There is no life without water. When people want to establish a settlement, they look for a place rich in water. Sometimes there are torrents that may carry off houses, animals and people, but nevertheless water is a valuable asset, a carrier of Life. As disciples you should think properly, so you can write good essays about gemstones. You should bring to mind several gemstones that you know better and describe their characteristics. Write in general terms, but underline the reason why they are called gemstones. Then write the reason why some precious stones have a higher price than others. Precious stones educate us, that is why everyone wants to have them. They contain fine energy in a condensed, i.e. compressed state. Sometimes they may lose their brightness and strength, but then they recover them again. People are often the cause for such a loss. Precious stones lose their brightness because of some people and get it back owing to others. Since you know some of the properties of gemstones, think if it is possible for a person to be a precious stone. What precious stone would you like to be? Someone wants to be a diamond, another one – a ruby, someone else – a sapphire and so on. Think well on the topic and write as briefly as possible. You would say: “What connection do precious stones have with us?” You should know one thing: each thought and each feeling – the object of your reflection - exercises a certain influence on you. Thus you connect with it. This is true from an occult point of view. Each topic or issue you reflect on exercises a certain influence on you and is useful to you to the extent that you have succeeded in making a connection with it. It exercises a certain influence on your development. For example, when you reflect on the most powerful virtue of the disciple, even if you could not attain it, you will benefit a lot. What will be the benefit? Making a connection with virtues. Someone will write that the strongest virtue of a disciple is Love, another one will mention Faith, a third one – Mercy, a fourth one – his learning ability and so on. When you think about a specific virtue, you connect with it, even without suspecting it. This is namely the benefit of doing these writing tasks which are given to you in class. All virtues are equally significant and powerful but for a given period of time a certain virtue exercises the greatest influence over the character of a particular disciple. The main virtue of a soldier going to the battlefield is courage; for those who look after patients it is mercy; for disciples it is obedience; for workers – diligence, for servants – wit and resourcefulness. This trait is especially necessary for a servant who has a bad master. He should be sufficiently witty and resourceful to be able to foresee the wishes of his master early enough. The servant should know his master in order to be able to behave in the most appropriate way. Some days ago I happened to observe the conduct of a little dog. It was very intelligent and witty. Its masters threw a bone for the dog to gnaw at. At that time a big dog came from the neighbouring yard and rushed to the bone. Right away the little dog abandoned the bone to the big dog, walking around quietly, satisfied that it had given up the bone. If the little dog had not reckoned that in this case it would be better to give up the bone, there would have been a great fight between the two dogs and the little one would have suffered. A bad man or a bad master is like the big dog. If you come into a relationship that leads to struggle, you’d better give up your bone, let him gnaw at it. This bone could be a job or an article – give it up, so that you may not suffer. A bad man disposes with physical power. Since he is strong physically, he is ready to do everything. In this case taking a step back is common sense. This is not fear, it’s a saving of time and energy. Those who want to be in class should maintain harmonious relationships with each other. Remember that everyone who disrupts the harmony harms himself and the others too. Whatever harm you cause to others, it will come back and will first be reflected in your consciousness. Each wrong thought, feeling or action represents a bad, ugly image which is imprinted first in the consciousness of the person who has sent it or created it. Therefore, evil is cast out in disharmonious and irregular forms or images. Good is expressed in harmonious and regular images. Humans create both kinds of images. You see two pear trees in a garden: you taste a pear from the first tree – it is sweet, and you taste a pear from the second tree – it is bitter. Why is it bitter? Bitterness shows its egoistic character. That tree gave bitter fruit, so that no one could use it. Thus the tree wants to show that it doesn't give its fruit to anyone. There are bitter cucumbers too. However clever people are able to use bitter fruit towards some purpose too. It is important for disciples to know the following: each of their actions gets chronicled. Each disciple is followed by detectives from the two lodges who note everything: the first chronicles the good thoughts, feelings and actions of the disciple, whereas the second one notes the bad ones. Both will use your deeds at the right time and place. While noting your bad deeds, the dark detectives study your character, in order to attract you to their side in the easiest way which is also most imperceptible to you. Both lodges want to attract you to their side, this is why they try to convince you that the path they offer to you is the right and proper one. The best path for the disciple is the path which releases his soul from those links that have hampered him from the past all the way to the present. In your free time I would like each of you to summarize the main ideas in this lecture and to draw out for yourself those important, basic conclusions, which you have best understood and which you will be able to use. When I say that obedience is required of the disciples, I mean obedience in the smallest extent. I want you to use only one hour out of the twenty four hours of the day for obedience – half an hour during the day, when you are awake, and half an hour at night, when you are in the Astral world during your sleep. However in these 30 minutes you should be absolutely obedient. This would be the basic measure for your obedience. So you will be obedient for half an hour or thirty minutes during the day, all the while reflecting on obedience. These thirty minutes could be divided into parts: ten minutes in the morning, ten minutes at lunch time and ten minutes in the evening. After that – ten minutes before you go to bed, ten minutes when you wake up during the night and ten minutes before getting up – one hour in total. If you wake up in a cheerful and happy mood, this shows that you were obedient. If you wake up tired and depressed, this shows that you were not obedient, you were not at school but somewhere outside. Such instants should not discourage you. One goes through all the phases of the flour until it becomes bread. Flour is light. If you leave it outside, even the slightest wind could blow it away. You take some warm water, put the flour in it and make a mess. You put more flour until the mess becomes denser and denser, ready for processing. You collect the flour from here and there and begin to knead this mess. It becomes elastic, easily worked up and you say that the dough is already well done. Then you shape it into bread and put it in the oven. Therefore, the human being is flour in the beginning, later it turns into mess, after that – into dough and finally it becomes bread. So you should know that if you are flour, you have just come from the mill; if you are mess, you are still in the kneading-troughs; if you are dough, you are still being worked up; once you become bread, you are taken to the oven and you are joyful that you can serve humanity. These are situations or states that a human goes through in his life. They will lead you to new images, new ideas and thoughts, which will bring you an impulse and an incentive for work. You will replace the old solutions, the old ideas with new ones which will make you young. It has been written in the Scriptures: “Those who wait for God will recover their strength. Those who seek the Path of Wisdom, will improve their way.” Bringing out something good out of good people doesn't require great skill, but bringing something good out of bad people is an art. Now that you know this, do not be discouraged, but work upon yourself bravely and resolutely. You should complete the tasks given to you without doubt or hesitation. Even the slightest doubt is an obstacle. It is enough to just think that you can do without this task and you will hamper yourselves. If you are given a task, it should be accomplished without any contemplation. When you fulfill the task and observe the result you get from it, then you can contemplate as much as you want. Whoever wants to be a disciple should first of all apply their mindful will. Why? Such is the law of the Divine world. In that world first you act, then you think. In the human world it is just the opposite – first you should think, then act. According to intuition, which is a law of the Divine world, when you feel, when you perceive something from the High world, you should act right away and then think of the consequences. Therefore, if you are in the Divine world, you will first act and then think; if you are in the human world, you will first think and then act. As you can see, these two methods are diametrically opposed to each other. This is why when I say that disciples should not think, I have the Divine world in mind. If you are in the Divine world, you will first act and then think; when you come down into the human world, you will first think and then act. Why? When we act, God thinks; when we think, God acts. What does an engineer do? First he thinks over the design of the house, taking a number of things into consideration – finances, materials, location – then he makes a plan and after that he will already apply it in practice and act in accordance with it. So if you say that you think first, you are in the human world. When you say that you act first, you are in the Divine world. You can guess which world you are in by the method you apply. If you interchange the methods, you will make a mistake. If you enter into the Divine world and think before acting, you will make a mistake. If you enter into the human world and act before thinking, you will make a mistake again. The methods of these two worlds are completely different. They are strictly determined, therefore interchanging them is impossible. So you should think and act, and you should act and think. Secret prayer

Беседата на български Note 5p LINKS OF KNOWLEDGE Year 1, Lecture 14 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno May 31, 1922, Wednesday 19.30h, Sofia Reflection The disciple's essays were read on the topic: “Why Should We Love and Why Should We Be Loved?” Your essays are well written, but only in form, not in content and meaning. Have you experienced what you have written? The way of thinking you exhibit in your essays is involutionary. In order to free yourselves from such thinking, you need to turn your attention to Nature and find the proper answers to the questions there. In your understanding those who love always give. I am asking, does one give anything while eating? Not only does he not give anything, but he takes also. Now you need to answer the following question: “Why should humans eat?” The one who loves gives everything, and the one who is loved receives everything. In addition, when someone loves somebody else, he tries to appropriate them. If a master loves his servant, he doesn't allow him to express himself, which is a kind of appropriation. When you love your horse, you don't give it freedom. What does Love give then? Love gives nothing. As you can see, the conceptual basis of your thinking is wrong. You can apply these concepts in real Life and observe the results. If you decide to do this, you will arrive at a number of contradictions. In your view, the one who is loved receives and the one who loves gives only. I will give you an example to clarify to you the questions of giving and receiving love. When a young man goes into an inn, the inn-keeper likes him from the very first instant. He expresses his love by offering him wine. He fills glass after glass with wine and the young man accepts them all, thus receiving his love all the time.The young man gets filled up and so does inn-keeper. However there is a difference: nothing will remain for the drunkard of what he receives from the inn-keeper, but what the inn-keeper receives from the drunkard - all will be his. He will take the drunkard’s money, houses and lands – depriving him of all his material possessions and of his health too. Therefore, the love that people speak of is like the love that occurs between the inn-keeper and the drunkard. Is such love ideal? No, it isn't, yet people say that there is something Divine in Love. What kind of love has Divine manifestations? If you were put to the test now, none of you would be able to prove your love. This means that you say one thing, but do quite another. Is what you have written true? Someone has written that Love requires sacrifices. Do you know what sacrifice means? Above all, sacrifices should be voluntary, not forced. Have you sacrificed yourself voluntarily? As you can see, we have made a short analysis of the topic you wrote about for today. I am asking, why should you love and be loved? Do you need it? You need none of it. Love is beyond any law. Therefore, if you need to love, this indicates that some law forces you to do it. If there is a law, there is limitation too. How will you explain this contradiction? If an external necessity or a law makes you love, it is not Love anymore. Then, after having loved, what have you attained or lost? What kind of experience have you gained? When I am asking these questions I want you to think soundly and correctly, so that you can come to Reality. I am not denying things in any way, but I am saying that you have old ideas. For example, to be in love or to be loved – these are old ideas, ideas of males and females. Males want to love, females – to be loved. These ideas have existed since time immemorial and contemporary people take them and paint them on the outside in different colours, decorate them with coloured beads and bright shining gems until they become like a village beauty. Thus they present them as something new. If you don't agree with this, show me a couple who, having lived in compliance with this kind of love, have completed their life in an ideal way. How has the relationship between two friends ended who have harboured the same kind of love towards each other? If you trace the whole history of human development, you will not find any two people who, having lived in accordance with this kind of love, have completed their lives well. When I am talking in this way, I have no intention of saying that your reasoning is wrong. Your reasoning is right from your point of view and wrong from an occult point of view. When you come to Love, there is no place for discussion. Love excludes all questions. Love excludes all contradictions. Love excludes all violence. Love excludes all limitations. Now that you know all this, how will you define Love? Your love lacks an element that you should find out for yourself. Can you find out which element is missing in your love? Now I am going to ask you a question: “Why do you look at people and why do people look at you?” Both sides – those who look and those who are an object of observation – perform the same process. A person asks: “Why are you looking at me?” The other person answers: “Aren't you looking at me too?” So, both of them look at each other at the same time. Is there any difference between these two processes? The difference is slight and hardly perceptible. I will give you the following example in order to clarify the difference: two camps of hostile troops are at war. One of them is attacking – it is active, the other one is in defense – it is passive. Both troops – the attacking and the defending one – act in the same way. Both of them use gunfire. The only difference is that the attackers move, while the others stay in one place. The first group changes its position, while the second one keeps it. Otherwise, they don'tt differ significantly from each other. The difference between the two situations which we examined before – to love and to be beloved, is the same. When you examine Love from a conceptual point of view, you have to consider the smallest expression of love. The smallest expression of love is finite. If the question is raised why we should receive love and why we should love, this is finite love, i.e. love with limits. You confuse finite love with Infinite Love, but they are completely different. When you need money, you go to the bank to take out a loan. In this case the banker is giving and you are receiving. The banker is the passive side and you, coming from outside, are the active side. You attack your enemy and he either gives something or pushes back. This example illustrates the extent and the nature of your feelings. As disciples of an occult school, you should analyze your feelings in order to know the material you have at your disposal, and hence to foresee the results you will achieve. One may find himself in funny situations until one understands these things. Someone will meet him and ask: “Why do you not look at me?” How can this person look at you if he is blind? And if you are also blind, how will you look at each other? First of all, you should ask yourself if you have Love in you and if your love is unfailing. It is not enough to speak about Love only, but you have to apply it in Life also. If it is just a matter of speaking, the blind can also speak about Light without having any idea of it. They have their own understanding of Light, but it is not absolute. In the same way, you also have something similar to Love, but that is not real Love. This is why people often ask themselves the question why they should love. Someone says that it is better to receive love than to love, but have you met anyone who loves you in the full sense of word? You say that your soul grows and develops when you are loved. Have you tested this? Some famous writers support this idea, but have they tested this truth? I don't deny this fact but I want to draw your attention to The One who really loves you. Do you feel in a definite and concrete way that Someone loves you? You will answer that a boyfriend or a girlfriend is in love with you. How long will this love last? It only lasts an instant. It is not Love yet, only a fleeting manifestation of Love. Even if someone has given you a present or has invited you for lunch – it is a temporary manifestation of Love. Therefore, when you say that your soul will grow in someone’s love, you deceive yourself. This growth is an outer polishing, a temporary taming in my view. If you are put through a test, this polishing will vanish. When Love enters you, it creates a number of alchemic processes, under the influence of which your whole being and your entire existence change. It could happen instantly or gradually – this depends on the person. Under the influence of Love your views are changed and reshaped in the same way that carbon is changed and transformed into a diamond. Think of Love as a Power and as a principle, so that you can arrive at positive knowledge. You are moving now in the right direction, but you are using old methods that cannot help you. For example, a husband and a wife love each other, converse, read the Gospel together and everything goes well. However the man says: “My dear, I want you to cook something good for me!” – “All right, but what will you buy for me?” They speak about Love but do things the old way. Then they will say that God has determined it to be this way. They themselves spoil things and put the blame on God. This is not love but looking in a mirror. One loves another person for being able to look at this person as if they were a mirror. In reality what they love is their own image in the mirror. Thus they harm themselves too, because they deceive themselves. Someone who loves himself loves others too. The Lodge of darkness has created a lot of theories and concepts about Love which confuse everybody - scientists, philosophers, writers – and everyone sinks deeper and deeper into this confusing mess. It has been written in the Scriptures too: “The whole world lies in the sly one.” When writing on a topic, the disciple needs to concentrate deeply, to see what has been written inside by his own experiences and to bring that knowledge to the surface. If he decides to describe what other people have said on this issue, he will drift away from the Truth. I am going to speak about the manifestation of Love in form, not in principle, in another lecture. For the time being what you need is the form of things, they are what you should understand. Love can be manifested in a form that is appropriate for its nature. So we need to find the right forms and this involves the greatest difficulties. Love has visited everybody but for a brief time only. E.g., someone gets inspired, finds himself in a good mood and says: “I will give away all my possessions, I want to serve God.” Two or three hours later this positive mood goes away, the person calms down and says: “It is not the right time for this, I shall not hurry.” In five or six months he will get inspired again and will be ready to give everything. All of a sudden he will get startled again and postpone it. And if you open the book of his life, you will see that it is full of decisions that were taken but not acted upon. This is the kind of love that most people exhibit. It doesn't mean that they have no Love. All people have Love in them, but their Love has not been applied in practice yet. What I am saying now concerns you as disciples. You should not say anything to others until you create new forms for the manifestation of Love. If you talk without having acquired these new forms, you will encounter greater difficulties and contradictions. Everything I said about why you should love and why you should receive love does not exhaust the topic of Love. These are just ideas to awaken your thought, however everyone needs to find an answer to the question about Love on their own. I will now give you an image for reflection. You have a pot with a cover that fits well. At some point you leave the pot somewhere and everyone who passes by stumbles on it and kicks it. You throw the cover of the pot as well and so the pot remains open. Suppose that the pot represents a woman, the cover – a man. What should they do? The pot should find its cover. Who should love whom – should the pot love its cover or the cover - its pot? I am giving you these examples for reflection in class only; I do not want to affect your feelings. These are theoretical questions; I am leaving your feelings aside. If your pot is open, if it is without a cover, you should find its cover and put it in its place. This means: if your feelings are in the open, they could become dusty and injured by someone. In order to avoid this, find the cover of your feelings, i.e. find those thoughts that can fit them well. Then the cover will be solid and the pot will be whole and undamaged. This is a method by which you can regulate your feelings in the right way. Did you understand this idea? It is even better if you didn't. Why is that? Because things which have been understood often get distorted. According to occult science, what has been understood actually hasn't, and the other way round. When you think that you have understood something, in reality you haven't; when you think that you have not grasped it, then you have. Love is metaphysical so it cannot be comprehended easily. You would ask: “Why are you talking about Love, if we cannot comprehend it?” I will give you an example in order to explain to you my purpose in speaking about Love. Each one of you represents a small plant that has just started to grow. Its stem and branches are very tender and cannot endure big trials. When it starts snowing, the snow covers the young branches and leaves and without external help they will brake. The Word that I deliver to you represents a soft wind which comes to help your branches. It blows the snow away and frees your branches. This wind is necessary so that the wind can fall down to the ground. The snow represents your old ideas which are not in your roots, but on your branches. If the snow doesn't fall down, your branches will be broken. Many of your branches get broken under the weight of your old ideas. The old ideas should be in the roots, not on the branches. I have nothing against your ideas, but they represent a danger for the branches of your life that could be broken under their weight. This is why at least some soft wind is necessary for you. Some of you are afraid that the snow, i.e. their ideas will fall. This is not dangerous at all – the snow should anyway fall down towards the roots of the plants. When Love is awakened in a person, this person wishes that no one would notice and know about it. This is an aspiration of the person’s soul. For as long as no one has noticed his/her Love, this person is joyful and content. If his/her Love gets noticed, then the joy disappears. Do the following experiment to put my words to the test. When passing by a poor man, put twenty or thirty leva in front of him without anyone noticing. As you go away, you will feel great joy. The next day, when you go by the same place, give this man twenty or thirty leva personally. He will thank you, but after knowing you he will expect you to give him money every time you pass by him. In this case, you will not be joyful. Why? Something has spoiled Love. Therefore, Love is a tender flower that grows and develops far from human eyes. No one should know about it. In the first instant, you manifested your love for the poor man in secret, no one saw it and knew about it, that is why you were joyful, and the poor man was joyful too. In the second instant, you manifested your Love openly in daytime and the poor man saw you – this time you lost and he won. With this example I introduced you to a new measure for Love. When compared to this measure, your current understanding of Love appears really antique, archaic. However this new formula of Love cannot be applied in practice, because there are no proper conditions for it in your present life – there is form, but no content yet. The content needs to come from you. In the future, when the conditions are more favourable, I will give you a task on Love that you should accomplish without pen and paper, directly. Until then it will be a secret, no one will know about it. Then you will test your own theory about why we should love and receive love. These are important ideas and they should remain for the class. Even if you think about these issues at home, you will imagine that you are in class. Try not to mix these ideas with the ideas of the world. If you mix them, you will make a mistake. Imagine that you put half a litre of water in a one-litre bottle. If this water stays in the bottle for four days, it will lose its freshness. Later I will give you a small bottle full of clean mountain water, just filled from the spring. You will take this bottle and pour its content into the big bottle. Will you do the right thing? No, you will make a big mistake. You should keep the bottle I gave you separately. Next time please write on the topic: “Designation of the Hands”.

Беседата на български Note 5p CONTRADICTIONS IN LIFE Year 1, Lecture 13 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On May 24, 1922, Wednesday 17.00h, Vitosha Mountain Secret Prayer I am going to speak now about the contradictions in Life or the contradictions in the life of a disciple. The sign “V” is considered a symbol of contradiction. Generally speaking all disciples often succumb to fear and doubt which usually go together. Have you asked yourself why you feel fear? What is the origin of fear? For example, when I give you the task to write an essay or a lesson, you feel some fear that you could not accomplish this work. Where has this fear come from? Fear is a negative feature of the low human mind, of the low manas. If one has no possessions, will one ever be scared? Suppose that you have only a consciousness, but not a physical form at your disposal. This means that you are aware of yourself as a human being – you think, you contemplate, but you have absolutely no form. In this case would you feel fear? Therefore, fear is a consequence of the awareness that you could lose what you have or that you could not attain what you want. Fear will appear when one’s conscience is occupied with the thought that one may lose what they want - for example, one is afraid not to lose one’s life. And when someone thinks that they will not achieve what they want, then doubt comes. Now I would like to explain the psychological reason why doubt finds a reason to emerge in the human soul. When fear appears in you, your will is weak; fear is always a sign of a weak will. This is encoded in human nature. Doubt shows that your intellect is not strong enough. For example, some work is assigned to you and you start doubting if you could do it or not. Why is that? You feel that your intellect is not able to fulfill the assigned task, but if your mind is bright and capable, you will not feel any doubt. Doubt should give you an impulse, it should not be protected as a precious object, but should stimulate and increase your mental activity. How could your mind become stronger? If your mind is weak, you should absorb the blue[1] vibrations of Light. The colour green in Nature is materialistic. When someone deals mostly with the colour green, he becomes materialistic - he starts thinking about houses, fields, money and riches. That is why materialists are fond of the green colour – it is their favourite colour. Contemporary evolution is immersed in this colour; green is the prevailing colour in it. Fear comes as a result of the absence of strength. When fear is strongly manifest in someone, it is good for this person to receive the vibrations of the colour orange as a means of balancing the energies; orange is the colour of healing. If you are afraid of darkness, try to assimilate the orange rays of the Sun during the day and your fear will be balanced out, it will be transformed into prudence. For example, you think that you are not fearful, that you have faith, and you can think and philosophize, but if there is an earthquake, you stop thinking and you suddenly find yourself in the street. When you realize you are in the street, you start thinking about how this could have happened. This means that you possess no self-control, and your will does not control your mind. For example when you get burnt, you do not think. There was a time when fear, a sense of caution, was appropriate, but today fear is abnormal and has become a painful feeling. Attention, caution and prudence come in contrast to fear. You should know that you live in a world where certain forces are opposed to evolution and the path that you are following. When fear predominates in someone, this person has convulsions and irregular movements of the arms and legs. In such cases you can regulate fear with the orange rays. Fear enhances people's negative traits. For example, if some unpleasant event has happened to someone, he will magnify it at least tenfold. If someone has suffered, he will not describe the suffering naturally, but in a rather exaggerated manner. There is a certain analogy between fear and doubt. For example, doubt leads to exaggeration of people's errors. You can draw big conclusions from a small occasion. Let’s assume that you have read an author who doubts the existence of life after death and God - this shows that this author's mind hasn't developed yet. He may be a scientist and have a sharp intellect, but his mind is weak. Under “mind” we mean all its constituting abilities, feelings, intellect and powers. Intellect represents the low human mind or the low manas, whereas reason represents the high human mind or the high manas. Therefore, there are people with highly developed reasoning, but a weak intellect, as well as people of strong intellect, who are weak in reasoning. Both of them make mistakes. Some philosophers have excellent systems of thinking, but they are so ignorant about Nature that even little children possess more knowledge than them. For example, an Englishman who was a famous preacher and a great philosopher said in one of his speeches that sheep drank water only when they were ill. What does this show? This preacher's philosophy was far removed from the reality which surrounded him. He had a well-developed mind, but a weak intellect. In fact, sheep do not drink water when they are ill, but when they are healthy only. Similarly to this preacher, many contemporary people now say that God does not exist, i.e. that sheep drink water when they are ill. The preacher is weak in his proof, because he wants to give evidence of the existence of God while providing wrong information, such as the fact that sheep drink water only when they are ill. God is an essence that cannot be proved. He exceeds any proof. God is a Being beyond time and space, beyond consciousness, beyond Life, beyond any human intelligence, etc. God is beyond time and space, but simultaneously God contains time and space in Himself. He is beyond Life, but He contains Life in Himself. He is beyond consciousness, but He contains consciousness in Himself. He is beyond intelligence, but He contains intelligence in Himself. How do you understand this? It means that God, the Infinite One, cannot be proved. This is why everything that cannot be proved in the physical world provokes doubt in the human mind. Actually only what cannot be proved is real, whereas anything that can be proved is just a shadow of Reality. When I say that certain things cannot be proved, I do not mean that you cannot think and contemplate about them. You can think about them for as long as you like, but you cannot prove them in time and space. Therefore, when doubt penetrates your mind, you should know that you are close to Reality. I will give you an example in order to explain this idea to you. Suppose that you don’t have a friend in Life. In this case, can you doubt him? Of course you can'tt, but when you do have a friend, you already have the opportunity to doubt - you could doubt, for example, whether your friend loves you, whether he thinks of you etc. Therefore doubt is an expression of the negative side of Reality. The same can be said about fear. Can one be afraid, if one does not see anything? Therefore one can only be afraid of the things one can see. He can be afraid of what he doesn't understand and cannot explain to himself - only what has remained unexplained and secret creates fear in human beings. If someone takes you out of your room at night while you are asleep and leaves you somewhere in Nature in an unknown place where you cannot define even where East and West are, will you not get scared? You will certainly be scared and in panic. You cannot explain what has happened and how it has turned out that you are outside. You remember that you were in your room and in your bed, but you do not know who took you out and why. The reality you are in now awakes fear in you and in order to release it you need to start thinking about how your removal took place. Once you find out the reason and explain this phenomenon to yourself, your fear will disappear. Imagine now another situation that can awaken fear in you. You are in your room, sitting in contemplation. All of a sudden a bear comes in through the open door and appears in front of you. You get scared and start running away. It is good that in this case you have a second door through which you go out immediately. You tell everyone you meet in the street that a bear entered your room and nearly attacked you. If you didn't have a second door in your room, you would have had to defend yourself, i.e. fight with the bear. However if you had self-control, you would have started thinking. First you would have asked yourself: “How is it possible for a bear to enter my room?” Then you would have looked at it closely and seen that it was not a real bear, but a person dressed in a bear skin. You would have find out that it was your friend who pulled a joke on you. Therefore, when fear enters your mind, you can escape through the door of the heart. This means that no matter what danger may threaten you, you always have an exit to go through and save yourself. When fear enters your heart, ask yourself if all that you see, feel and experience is real. Someone with self-control can sit calmly on a stone in the forest in the presence of the wildest of beasts – tigers and lions - and they won't cause him any harm at all. They will pass him by without even touching him. If he is afraid, however, they will inevitably attack him. Even the most ferocious of animals step back before a brave and fearless person. They feel this person’s strength and are afraid of it. Indeed a brave person has a strong will and a strong thought; he is able to concentrate. Can you tell me now what the dog which just passed by was thinking about? As you could see, it stopped, looked at you for a while and moved on. Did it realize that you are disciples in a spiritual school? It understood that you had gathered here for some important work, but it did not grasp the nature of this work. If you had frightened the dog, it would have barked, but your thoughts gave it an impulse to continue on its way instead. It understood that its place was not with us. It had good observational skills and a well developed lower mind, that is why it didn't stop with us, but continued on its way. It had observed its master and concluded that just as its master is often occupied with his own work, we also have some work to do here. Fear and doubt come naturally in the physical world but in occult schools they get created artificially. This was the case in occult schools in India, Egypt etc. For example, a disciple went to one of the masters in an occult school, but the Master didn't speak to him. The disciple said something, but the Master stayed silent; the disciple was shocked and didn't know what to do. Two or three days passed, but the Master remained silent. The disciple began to think that he may have joined the school too early. After that the Master put the disciple through a test, causing him great fear. Thus the Master could observe whether the disciple’s mind and will were well developed. He watched the reactions of the disciple in order to find out his positive and negative traits. Spiritual disciples need to possess positive traits. If they have any negative traits, they cannot be real disciples. Someone who has weaknesses cannot be a disciple. Therefore, you should know that the difficulties you face in Life are strictly and mathematically defined as they are necessary for your development. You cannot avoid them whatever you do. If you avoid them in one form, they will come to you in a second form, in a third one and so on. If you avoid them in a form which is easy to manage, they will come back to you in a form which is more difficult to handle. It has been noticed that one encounters exactly what one is most afraid of and the other way round - one achieves what one wishes for the most. From the viewpoint of the School of the Brotherhood of Light, fear and doubt in human beings are negative traits which show that higher Love has not yet entered the human heart. Fear and doubt show also that higher Wisdom has not yet entered the human mind. In order to overcome fear you should work on doubt and other negative traits of your character. In this respect, the occult school offers a number of methods to its disciples, so that they can work on themselves. The first characteristic of a disciple is the ability to work. One should like one’s work and should always be ready to work. Once a young person who had graduated from university went to a master of an occult school and asked him to become his disciple. At that time the master was digging in the vineyard and didn't give him an answer. The young person asked questions on several issues, but didn't take a hoe to dig with the master. Was he ready to be a disciple in this situation? No, a disciple should be diligent and quick-minded. He should work jointly with his master. He will ask questions and his master will answer to him while they are working. Their conversation will start in a natural way. They will work and talk at the same time. That young person, however, expected that the master would leave his work to converse with him. The master will not interrupt his work. In such a situation it is the disciple that needs to adapt to the master. Contemporary people doubt the existence God because they want Him to interrupt His work and ask them about their problems and material circumstances. In other words, they expect Him to give them the kind of attention that little children need. This is where their mistake lies. They should know that God will never discontinue His work. He is able to extend or reduce time and space, in order to give humans the possibility to study, work and develop, but He will never stop working. When someone is about to get hanged, time contracts and the days pass quickly. When someone owes something to somebody, time also goes fast. In both cases people wish for time to be prolonged. In this respect contemporary people have no precise criterion or measure which they can apply to determine what the real time is, i.e. to define the length of a given time. When I speak to you about the duration of time, it is an issue that relates to consciousness. If you move with the speed of a normal train, you will reach the Sun in two hundred and fifty years, but if you move with the speed of Light, you will be there in eight minutes. Therefore, your consciousness could move with the speed of a normal train or with the speed of Light, or even faster. This means that time and space depend on consciousness. Consciousness is outside of time and space, outside of any contradictions, outside of fear and doubt. Space produces fear, time produces doubt. If you fall into a well, you will feel fear. When the time approaches for you to pay a bill, you will feel doubt. When you see that your creditor is coming, you will ask yourself: “Has he not made a mistake, has he not come earlier for the payment?” When two disharmonious objects are placed together in time, they will produce doubt in the human mind. When these two objects are separated in space, they will produce fear. For example, if you say a bad word to your friend, you will feel fear in this very moment that you could lose him. Fear indicates that you are in space and you worry that your friendship can be broken. I will ask you some questions now. Is it better to love or to be loved? – To love. Is it better to give or to receive? – To give. What will happen then if all of you love and give? You will repel each other. Loving is one thing, being loved is another; these are completely different states of the soul, originating from two different processes in Existence. Loving is a process of Love whereby you develop your strength; being loved is a process of Wisdom whereby you gain knowledge. Is there any contradiction here? So when God works on your soul with His Love, you want to love; and when God works on your soul with His Wisdom, you want to be loved. However you need to create the necessary conditions in order to be loved. No one can love you if these conditions haven't been created. For example, in a dark room with closed shutters you want to see Light and to be joyful. Is it possible in this situation for Light to reach your eyes? You should open the shutters of the windows, so that Light may come into the room, touch your eyes and love you. Under these circumstances you will enjoy the Light too. Therefore, to love means to connect with the First Principle – Divine Love. To be loved means to connect with the Second Principle – Divine Wisdom. And it is true that after someone has loved for two or three days, for months, for a year or two, or more, this person comes finally to a passive state, wishing to be loved. In this way an alternation of processes occurs and the wheel of life starts turning in the opposite direction. During this alternation a change takes place in the role of human bodies as well: at first human activity was concentrated in the Astral body or in the World of the human heart; later with the change of processes it moved into the Mental body or the World of the human mind. If the activity in that world ceases as well, the human being comes down to work in the physical world. Consequently, when human activity in the physical world stops, it goes to the Mental world; when it stops in the Mental world, then it passes to the Astral world and everything starts from the beginning. This means that in human Life in its entirety a continuous circular movement takes place. This shows that one cannot remain at the same point in life forever - this would mean remaining in eternal stagnation which is impossible. You cannot love and be loved all the time. If these processes continue for too long, you will become indifferent. You cannot think and feel all the time either. If you find yourself in one of these situations, you should consciously look for some work to do, so that you can change your mental state. For example, if you have loved until now, find some books to read. While reading them, you will feel the author’s love, and if you read your works to someone else, you will give them your love as well. Loving and being loved are equally powerful processes. Why? The soul that expects to be loved creates an impulse for the other soul which is giving its love at that time. Loving and being loved present two poles of Life. Those who give love create the subjective side of Life; those who receive love create the objective side of Life. Because of that the person who loves wants to see their image in their beloved. You like mirrors, because your image is reflected there. If you have a mirror in your pocket and somehow you break it or lose it, you are very regretful, because you cannot maintain a clear vision of your image anymore. You see your image in the mirror much better than you can imagine it. Therefore, the person you love is always an expression of your love. This is the reason why you love him. If your mirror is a bit smudged you don't like it, because it doesn't give a clear reflection of your image. You love only the one who is able to inspire you, to give you an impulse and an incentive for something. It has been written in the Scriptures: “Love God the Lord with all your heart.” This means that the Divine should be reflected in you. And when the Divine sees Itself reflected in the human soul, God rejoices, as He knows that this person has worked on himself. When God rejoices, the person is also joyful. When one loses joy, this indicates that God is not satisfied with this person. This is why you shouldn't think that the Love you manifest is yours. Humans are only instruments for the manifestation of Divine Love and Intelligence. Writers, poets and scientists know this. Sometimes they have great ideas and write with inspiration, beautifully; at other times they cannot write anything and feel poor, as if they don't know or comprehend anything. If Intelligence and high reasoning were their innate nature, they would always have it at their disposal, but that isn't the case - they are creative only when someone brings something to them. So if someone fills their basket with cherries, they go around, share it with others and write. In the present conditions of life, the Invisible world expresses Its Love in the form of Intelligence. Humans are interpreters of this Intelligence. This doesn't in the least mean that humans are automatons - they just need to be aware that they are interpreters of this Intelligence. Having realized this, humans should be happy that they have received something from the Divine world which they should use mindfully. For next Wednesday please prepare an answer to the following questions: “Why should I love?" and "Why should I be beloved?” It is not so important for me if you answer these questions correctly, but that you think about them. What is important is what you will gain after contemplating this topic for some time. This topic is a very important one and you need to think about it. The power of a human being lies in its thought. If you think, you will always acquire something which may not find an external expression today, but in a year or two or maybe more, it definitely will. Irrespective of how correct your answer to these questions will be, you cannot be on the right path yet. It is not enough to only write about Love, one needs to experience it. Therefore, whoever writes about Love definitely needs to love and feel loved as well. This shows how difficult it is to write about the essence of things. As I am giving you this topic, I would like to point out to you the fact that you will be writing about things which you don't know much about. Why is that? You have not loved nor have you been loved until now. What you call love is a shadow of Love. Therefore, neither your love nor the love of your kin can be called reality. You would ask: “Is it possible for our love to be a shadow of Love?” This could be tested. If your love were to be tried, you would fail right away. You have love, but not the one I am talking about. I have Divine Love in mind in which no polarization exists. If it penetrates the human soul only for an instant, it will be enough to bring enlightenment to your mind and make you feel one with all creatures all over planet Earth and the entire Cosmos. It can be experienced by anyone who loves and who is loved. This is what understanding the inner meaning of Love means. You will study Love for thousands of years until you understand what it actually is. You need to pass through many levels of existence in order to perceive the Reality of things at least partially. If Love would visit someone right now, this person wouldn't stand its vibrations – he would lose consciousness and fall to the ground, his breathing and pulse would cease. He would have no alternative but to ask to be returned to his initial state. Contemporary people's nervous systems and their whole organisms are not ready to endure the strong vibrations and the currents of Love. That is why spiritual science recommends to its disciples a number of methods and exercises for strengthening of the mind, the heart and the will, so that the forces of their organism can get in tune with the natural forces and currents. When I say that your love is a shadow of Real Love, I mean that you have not yet experienced such Love, you have not had such an opportunity, so it is unknown to you. If you ask a young man to describe his love, he will say: “I told her about my love, but she didn't understand me.” And the young woman will say: “I loved him, but he was unfaithful.” One could be unfaithful even without being beloved. Precisely in a situation in which you love someone the possibility for infidelity is minimal. It is impossible for the one you love to be unfaithful to you. This does not happen anywhere in Life. If there are exceptions they are outside of Divine Love, outside of Divine Wisdom. There are absolutely no conditions for infidelity in Divine Love and Wisdom. When we talk about infidelity, we should understand human love, i.e. love between human beings on Earth. If there is infidelity, we cannot speak of Love. Therefore, you should know the following: if you have doubts, Intelligence is absent from your mind; if you have fears, Love is absent from your heart. This says it all. You all need to know this as disciples of an occult school. If you are not guided by these precepts in Life, you will only study the shadows of Reality and in the end you will fall into despair and discourage and say to yourself: “It was all for nothing!” In order to avoid reaching such a state, put your love to the test and see how much you can stand. I will now give you two rules to always have in mind: you should not be afraid when you want to love; you should not doubt when you want to be loved. Apply these rules in your life to see if and to what extent they are true. When you have free time, think about them. When you watch the reactions of people or read philosophical books, or study the works of some writers and poets, put their thoughts through your sieves and keep only what remains on the surface. That is what is most valuable and useful to you; whatever falls down is not meant for you. Rely on the sieve of your heart and of your mind and do not be discouraged! Do you know how to sift? All of you have sifted flour so you are familiar with this art, but there are things which do not pass through your sieve and which are still not useful to you. What will you do with them? You will bend down, take them with the pincers of your will and put them aside. Therefore, you can separate the usable from the unusable in your life with the help of your thought, your feelings and your will. Did you understand everything I told you this evening? – We understood a tenth of everything you said. Keep this tenth then! It will be the unit of measurement which you should use. Indeed, the human being represents a tenth of the Divine Truth. By “one tenth” I mean the unit which is used by every human being to measure things according to the level of his or her intellectual development. Currently the task of all humans, of all humanity, is to prove that human beings represent one tenth of the whole. Secret prayer [1] The colours mentioned in this lecture carry symbolic significance as the Master Beinsa Douno had previously written a book in which he grouped quotations from the Bible and designated a colour to each of these groups. The book s is called “The Legacy of the Coloured Rays of Light” and all participants in the Youth Occult Class were quite familiar with it.

Беседата на български Note 5p BEAUTY IN NATURE Year 1, Lecture 10 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On 3 May, 1992 Wednesday, Sofia Secret Prayer There was a presentation of the disciple's essays on Beauty. I am asking you, what is Beauty? Can Beauty be seen or felt? How will you draw a beautiful face? When you look at some people, you like them when they strike a certain pose. For example, they are beautiful when they stand still in silence, but when they laugh, they become ugly. For others, it is just the opposite – they are beautiful when they laugh, and ugly when they are silent. How will you explain this: imagine a round, ball-shaped face with small eyes situated close to the nose. Is this face beautiful? It is not. Is a face beautiful, if the eyes are placed at a big distance from the nose? It is not beautiful either. What will you say then about a big, round face with big or small ears? Again, you will say that it is not beautiful. What should the size of the ears be? Your likes and dislikes show that you have a certain inner measure or a scale for estimating things. Therefore, what is important in each case is not what different authors have said about Beauty, but what your inner understanding is. Different authors' views will only serve as an explanation and a supplementation to your view. People long for Beauty, they perceive Beauty, but if you ask them what Beauty is, what its outer features are, they will not tell you anything in particular. A beautiful face is one that will maintain its basic features in all conditions of Life. Whether sad or unhappy, serious or joyful, the basic features will always remain the same. If one’s eyes are small and close to the nose, this is an indication of low impressionability. Small eyes are a sign of parsimony. Large eyes are a sign of wastefulness. In other words, people with small eyes are poor and people with large eyes are rich and capable of squandering their wealth. As a general rule, a beautiful face is a face in which all parts are placed proportionally to each other. For example, the forehead, the nose and the chin should each take up a third of the whole face. In addition, the facial form should not be completely round but somewhat pear-shaped and pointed. When you see a very round face, it is due to a certain quantity of fat accumulated around the chin. A face loses its beauty as a result of this excess fat. Everyone today longs for Beauty, but outer beauty has caused great evil in the world. Beauty should exist on the inside, not on the outside. Inner beauty expresses itself in a flexible lively face. A beautiful face also indicates inner depth, great sensitivity and a nobleness of the soul. In a beautiful face curved lines should prevail over straight ones. Straight lines show that electricity prevails in a certain person; curved lines are an indication of magnetism. Some people have beautiful foreheads, but their ears and chins are not beautiful. In order to determine which forehead, nose, mouth, chin, beard and ears are correct in size and beautiful in form, one needs to apply Nature' measure which uses strict mathematical and geometric rules. Those who try to lead beautiful inner lives will also acquire Beauty on their faces. For example nobleness, purity and tenderness give softness and clearness to one’s eyes. If personal feelings are predominant in someone, it will give serenity to his eyes, but this serenity will lack softness. The look in their eyes will be coarse and rigid. In general, the eyes play an important role in one’s life. That is why if a negative thought enters your mind, if a bitter or rough feeling enters your heart, do your best as disciples to get rid of it. Take the hammer in your hand, cut and chisel them like a mastered sculptor, process them until they are fully softened. You need great self-control for this. Not only students, but teachers too need self-control. Contemporary teachers in music are cross when their students sing out of tune. If teachers could keep their self-control and presence of spirit, they would easily correct their students. Under the influence of such serenity, even the worst student would be able to improve their voice and start singing beautifully. If a teacher gets angry, the tones that the students produce get shortened and they start singing out of tune. When I am speaking about Beauty now, I have in mind the human soul which is beautiful by itself. The beauty of the soul always needs to take some form or another and the more beautiful a certain form is, the closer it is to Truth. For example, your essays on Beauty were beautiful but only when it comes to external expression. However they weren't as good internally, i.e. in content and meaning because they didn't contain Truth in them. The first thing which is required of disciples is to make place for Truth in their lives. Every single thing which contains the Truth as it is, without any additions, exaggerations or understatements, is beautiful. I will give you a few rules for writing your essays. Calm down completely before you start writing. When your work is ready, read it out loud to see how it sounds to you. In addition, observe the effect it has on your mind and your sympathetic nervous system. It is well done if it affects both of these systems in a harmonious way. Read your essay two or three times to make sure that it sounds good. If it sounds good to you, it will sound good to others too. And the other way round – if it does not sound good to you, it will not satisfy others either. Disciples need to present works which sound good and which are pleasant to listen to. Each text that is pleasant and sounds good to you will be good for us to listen to as well. You should also learn to write concisely, but clearly and conceptually. When we have time, I will give you an example with an idea which has been expressed in three different ways, so that you may see which form is the best one. It will also be the most beautiful one. Therefore, each idea could be expressed in three different ways. It is good for you to read beautiful descriptions, so that your sense of the beautiful and the delicate can develop. The Bible story of Joseph is beautiful and it would be good for everyone to read it. Now, I will give you an example with an idea which has been expressed in three different ways. This is the idea of Life. I say, Light brings Life, Love brings Life, Truth brings Life. In this case, what kind of Life does Light bring? What kind of Life does Love bring? What kind of Life does Truth bring? Can Truth bring Life directly? Certainly, there is some difference between Life which has been brought by Light, Love and Truth respectively. Therefore the object of Truth is Freedom, the object of Light is Knowledge and the object of Love is Life. When we say that Light brings Life, we consider Light to be a prerequisite for humans to be able study. They need to have Love as well in order to be able to study. Therefore Light brings Life to Knowledge, in order to give Freedom to humans. Truth brings Life in the same way. So when you write your essays in the future, you should read them out loud several times and correct them if there is something you dislike. When you read your work out loud and it sounds good to you, you will see that it will be appreciated in class too. Write slowly, patiently, without haste. Spiritual science demands geometrical accuracy from disciples. The sheets of paper you will use can be small or big according to your preference, but regular in form. They can be triangular, rectangular or anything else, but by all means regular in form. Your handwriting should be neat and beautiful. It is not enough to speak about Beauty only, but to act in beautiful ways as well. Many of you will start writing beautifully and legibly, but at the end their handwriting will become nervous and unreadable. This shows that they are not in agreement with themselves and that they have some weaknesses. Fight against your shortcomings until you overcome. I am saying, remember all the writing rules I gave you and apply them. You should know that each thought, feeling and action of yours, good or bad, are imprinted in your consciousness and have their influence on it. Thus what is ugly and negative will help you realize what is beautiful, noble and positive in Life. Secret Prayer

Беседата на български Note 5p THE LAW OF KARMA Year 1, Lecture 9 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno April 26, 1922 – Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer Next time please write on the following topic: “The Place of Beauty in Nature”. I am going to speak now about the law of karma. If you want to learn more, you can read about it in all the books written in foreign languages – German, French, English, Italian. I will treat this topic from the viewpoint of Divine science. Karmic law originates from the very moment a human being starts its journey away from God. The action or manifestation of this law begins with the polarization of the human being, i.e. with the emergence of two poles in the world. Polarization means a division of human consciousness into positive and negative, ascending and descending, or at the highest level: awareness of Love and awareness of Wisdom. These are the two poles in a human being. You would ask, “What is the reason for the division of human consciousness?” It happened because the wish to appropriate and master things was introduced into each individual, into each human self. These two poles, which developed separately from one another, went in two different directions and forgot that they were sides of one whole. Therefore, once they were divided, they felt the inner impulse to possess one another in a mechanical way. And wherever mechanical possession of things exists, violence is born. In contrast, Nature only requires voluntary sacrifice from human beings. Nature says, “Humans are brothers and they should sacrifice themselves for one another voluntarily, out of Love.” I will give you now a definition of the word “sacrifice” from a spiritual point of view. Sacrifice means a “law of proper growth and development”. Why? Because only entities that grow, blossom and give fruit are able to make sacrifices. Let us return to the question of karma. How did this law appear? When the first consciousness in the world limited the second one, conditions for karma were created. I will clarify this idea with the following example: suppose that Nature has placed two people, equally rich and intelligent, in a position to trade with each other. They need one another, yet each of them wants to take possession of the wealth of the other one. At last one of them succeeds and the other one is left without means. What should he do? He should become a servant to the person who managed to take everything. So one of them will be a master and the other one – a servant. In that sense, the masters in the world represent the first consciousness that gained supremacy over the second consciousness. Servants represent the category of those people, whose consciousness was subdued by the first consciousness. However servants have still preserved their wish to become masters and to rule over others. So when a master has many servants, soon they begin to unite and organize themselves in an attempt to overthrow him. One day they will catch him and beat him up really well. After that they will become masters and he will become a servant. Thus the two sides of human consciousness exchange their places and their roles. When I am speaking about the karmic law now, do not think that you will comprehend it at once in its fullness. I am asking you, how can evil appear among the disciples of a spiritual school? It will emerge if one of them decides that he wants to become a master, to dispose оf everyone else's knowledge. Evil will also emerge if one of them decides to impose one’s own will on others: i.e. if he has an idea which he insists that everyone should accept. Or someone may have a certain habitual behaviour or certain powers, which he may want to impose on others at any cost. However disciples should be aware of the existence of a law which regulates the actions and manifestatoions of all living creatures. Nature has placed each force within certain limits or frames of development. Once a certain force reaches its possible level of expansion, it will start working in the opposite direction. As long as people don't know your inner private intentions, they are inclined to listen to you and obey you. Once they understand what your hidden intentions are, they start opposing you. This counteraction is a result of the law of self-preservation, of maintaining one’s freedom. Therefore, the law of karma can be balanced out only when humans are ready to make sacrifices for others, to become their servants and to acknowledge the rights of every living creature. You should give others the rights you want for yourselves; you should send others the blessings you wish for yourselves. Everyone has the right to develop one’s mind and heart, to work towards the strengthening of their will, irrespective of whether they are educated or not, rich or poor, servants or masters. One person's riches are everyone's riches; one person's rights are everyone's rights. The difference is only in the way of using and applying these riches and rights in everyone’s Life. Disciples may be subject to a certain danger, a so-called vampirism, i.e. ability to suck one’s vital energies out. Only those who understand the laws of the occult are able to do it, but it is absolutely forbidden. In the School you have joined, parasitism is absolutely prohibited. Sponging one’s vital energies is nothing other than parasitism. Those who dare to do it will bear the consequences of their disobedience. Disciples should be highly conscious in order not to misuse the inner powers they have acquired. Many spiritual schools maintain the belief in their disciples that the power of human beings is hidden in their thought. It is temporarily true, but in reality the power of a human being is neither in its thought nor in its feelings, nor in its will. These are just human expressions but they are not yet the source that brings power. It is the same as to think that each expression of love is real love, manifest in its completeness. Sometimes Love is expressed in form, at other times – in content or in meaning, but these separate expressions of love do not yet represent Love in its fullness. I will give you some examples so you can get a clear idea of Love which has been manifest in form, content and meaning. For example, when a worker who is passing by a river sees a drowning person, he goes into the water, grabs this person by the hand and pulls him out of the water onto the bank. Then he says to him: “Come, go home now!” This is an example of a physical manifestation of love – love which has been manifested in form. A second example: a person who has not touched food for several days is walking down the street. A stranger meets this person and reads on his face that he is very hungry. The stranger stops and invites the hungry person to his home for a refreshment. He gives him enough food and after satisfying his hunger, says: “Now you may go home.” It is a manifestation of the content of Love. A third example: you meet a young and studious person who wants to study and acquire knowledge. You are a teacher of several subjects, so you offer him lessons. You teach him for one or two years and when you see that he has acquired some knowledge, you say to him: “Now you are able to continue your studies alone. Keep making efforts and you will succeed.” It is a manifestation of the meaning of Love. I am asking you, do you think that if you help a drowning person or feed a hungry one or give knowledge to an uneducated one, you will manifest Life completely? No, Life and Love can be expressed in its entirety only if you live in the Causal world, where all live for one and one lives for all. In that world the well being of each person is common well being, and common well being is the well being of each and everyone. Based on this law, the joys and the grief of every creature, irrespective of how small it may be, should be sacred to you. It could be a fly, for example, but you should treat it in the way you treat a human being. That is the only way to bring joy to God. But only God is capable of directing His attention to small things. Humans pay much more attention to things of greater scale. Now since you have come to this School to study, you need to exclude lying from your life completely – not the slightest trace shall remain of it. It is the only thing that is not forgiven to the disciples of this School. All other mistakes may be excused, but lying – never! If a lie enters your mind, protect yourself from it as if it was fire! Falsehood is a principle that will lead you to the contradictions of Life, which you can hardly free yourselves from. When someone falls into a difficult or helpless situation, he immediately resorts to lying and says: “It is impossible to live without lying!” No, it is impossible to live without Truth, but you can certainly live without lies. Therefore, write the following sentences, which are valuable rules in life: It is impossible to live without Love, but one can live without hatred. It is impossible to live without Wisdom, but one can live without foolishness. It is impossible to live without Truth, but one can live without lies. If you say the opposite – that it is impossible not to tell lies, it turns out that falsehood generates Truth, which it is not true. If you say that it is impossible to live without foolishness, it appears as if foolishness generates Wisdom, which is not true either. When we speak about the law of karma, we have different types of relationships in mind. For example, relationships between servants and masters, students and teachers, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers - all these are karmic relationships. Mothers and fathers represent one of the moderating circumstances of the karmic law. According to this law, all beings are placed in close or distant relationships to one another so that they can pay their debts. Contemporary people should understand this law, so that they are able do away with their karmic debts properly. Otherwise, if they do not understand this law and its requirements, they will create new karmic relationships between themselves that will need to be settled in the future. For example, if a master treats his servants badly, he will become a servant in some future life and his present servants will be his masters. He will have to serve them for a long time until he pays his debt off. So if you ask yourself why you should serve someone, the reason is hidden in your past when you tried to subdue someone's will and make him your servant. This, however, is absolutely forbidden! To subdue someone’s consciousness means to subdue the Divine element in someone to yourself, thus trying to make it your servant. However this is the single impossible thing in the world - subjugation of the Divine to human will. The liquidation of karmic debts needs inner work towards the transformation of one’s thoughts and feelings. Theosophists speak about high and low manas, high and low mind, spiritual and material nature, or the two poles in each human being. Your work on yourself expresses itself mainly in the following: moving from one pole to the other, mostly from the lower pole to the ascending one. And it is true that if you want to appropriate something in an emotional way, by way of your feelings, you will create negative karma for yourself, and you will clear this negative karma when you set people free. If you demand from a friend of yours to love you and to show you his love, he will put a halter on your head, goad you from behind and ask you if you agree to be loved in this way. This is the way karma between two people is created. The law of karma is an awful thing! A karmic relationship may start with a single bitter word which was said to someone in some unfavourable circumstances. This word could be pronounced in a fictitious way, kindly, with a smile, but if it is bitter it will produce its negative effect. Irrespective of how a word is said, if it is bitter, it will bring thousands of negative consequences. Therefore, be cautious about each feeling and thought of yours. Before you let them out, filter them carefully to avoid impurities coming out at the same time. How will you do it? By using suitable filters. From a spiritual point of view, the human heart, mind and will are like filters which purify human feelings, thoughts and actions. Each thought, feeling and action should pass through the human mind, heart and will, in order to be filtered. Only after this filtration has occurred should they be planted in the garden of the soul. One doesn't need to be clairvoyant at all in order to see how karma between two people has been created. Without any use of clairvoyance you can understand how and when a karmic relationship has emerged. Even the slightest violations of the law of Love lead to the polarization of the human brain: it happens when more energy is gathered in one of the hemispheres of the brain compared to the other, as a result of which a person gets angry and starts offending his friends. If more energy is gathered in the left hemisphere of the brain, a person becomes very kind and polite, but not as a natural expression of kindness. It can be noticed in such cases that the muscles on the right side of one’s face begin to contract and shrink, and then you see certain disharmonious tics on the face of that person, caused by his disharmonious thoughts, feelings and actions. If these unconscious facial motions continue for a longer time, it may happen that the mouth becomes warped, because the muscles on one side of the face shrink, while on the other side they expand. The law of karma will leave its mark on one’s face, eyes or some other part of the body within a short period of time. For example, if a person often tells lies, some of his muscles shrink and the ray coming from his eyes starts pointing down towards the centre of the Earth. If such person looked himself in a mirror and saw this ray pointing towards the Earth, he wouldn't like his own appearance. Now, when you write about Beauty, you should know that Beauty originates from the inner harmony inside a human being. One needs to be absolutely pure in order to attain and maintain this beauty within oneself! Now, write down one more of the rules of life which is the following: Introduce Truth into your souls, Light into your minds, Purity into your hearts. So, write this rule down and every time you go to bed ask yourself whether Truth is in your soul, Light – in your mind and Purity – in your heart. How will you know this? If Truth is in your soul, it will set you free. If Truth is in your soul, you will do things with vigour, thus giving freedom to yourself and those around you. If Light is in your mind, it will bring you knowledge. Light is the conductor of knowledge. If Purity is in your heart, you will be strong in every way. Sometimes when you notice mistakes and negative feelings in your fellow men, you are ready to judge them. No, according to the law of karma you should correct whatever mistake you have found in your fellow man yourself. Try to correct even the smallest mistake that you observe in your friend. You would ask, “How can we correct the mistakes of others?” I will give you an example that will show you how. A young person from the town of Varna went to an Evangelical bookstore owner to buy some books. When the bookstore owner saw him, he said, “A few weeks ago a friend of yours borrowed some money from me. I did him a favour, but he has not come to return his loan yet. This is what your friends are like!” – “How much is his loan?” – “Such and such an amount.” – “Here you are, take this money and consider the account settled. I am one with my friend.” With this act the young person proved that he and his friend were honest people. This is what I call noble character. Therefore, if you hear negative talk about your friends, pay for them and say: “I am one with my friends!” How would someone behave who doesn't have such morals? Upon hearing bad words about his friend, he would say: “Yes, it is true that my friend has this weakness, he is somehow neglectful, but I will talk to him and tell him to pay.” There is no need to talk. The School you have joined does not allow talking in such cases. Disciples are required to pay for their friends and to settle their debts. And when you meet your friends later on, do not mention anything to them. If you apply this method, you will come to experience its positive effect. The above mentioned method is for those who are ready to pay for their good friends, but not for those who have the possibility to pay, yet they leave their friends to settle their debts on their own. This is violence and misuse of people’s conscience and it will result in negative karma. One day such people will lose their good friends and will have to pay for themselves. If you have good friends and you rely on them to settle your debts, you are on the wrong path. One day Providence will place you in the same position – you will need to pay double with the interest. Those who think that they can outwit the law of karma are mistaken. The Bulgarian proverb, “The old fox walks straight into the trap”, fits such people perfectly. You should not play with your karma. It is the creditor. It does not allow any delay, even for half a day. It does not accept any excuses – you will pay the precise amount of your debt, together with the interest. It does not remit even the interest. The law of karma is strict. It will grant you your freedom only after you have settled everything. You should know that all good thoughts and wishes that humans generate get polarized in one direction or another. When you understand the law of polarization you will be able to see that everything in Life is polarized. You say, for example, that there are new teachings and old ones. Let the old teachings function in the roots of the tree and the new teachings - in the branches. The old teachings will serve to fertilize the tree which will grow and bear fruit, and the new tree – the New teachings - will develop from there. According to the New teachings, the law of karma will not be a cause for fear in humans. Why? Because you will know that karma likes brave people. Be brave enough to receive your karma well – as a dear guest who is paying a visit to you. If you try to escape from it, it will reach you with the stick and beat you up. Karma possesses some nobleness of character - it will beat you up, spit on you, but in the end will pass you by without doing you any harm. Karma possesses the character of a bear. When it wants to attack someone, it goes around him, strokes its hair, pretending that it does not see him. Its hair becomes soft while this person’s hair stands on end. If karma does not want to attack someone, it walks around him, bristles, stands up on its back legs, spits on him and goes away. In this case the person gets away with his skin intact, but he has experienced a real fright. Karma is like a bristled bear for brave people: it will walk to them, stand up on its back legs and spit on them, but then it will go away with the words: “All right, I will let this one pass.” You should thank karma that it has not touched your skin. The fact that it has spat on you and given you a fright is nothing, the main thing is that you you were left to live. When you know this, you will solve the problems of your life accordingly. If you come to a big disaster, say to yourself, “My beloved karma has bristled up, it is spitting on me, but it can't do more than that.” You would ask, “What shall we do and how shall we live so as to avoid the creation of karmic relationships between people?” I will give you an example and you will draw your own conclusions. Visualize two parallel railways with trains going in two opposite directions – East and West. Suppose that a hundred trains go East and they are located along one of the rail tracks at an equal distance from each other. If the trains maintain the same speed, there is no danger of clashing. If their speed differs, however, clashes will be inevitable. Therefore, according to the law of karma, it is not important if trains go East or West, but their speed is of vital importance. Trains need to move with the same speed. Consequently, when two people move in the same direction with a different speed, they will surely face a collision. If the speed of a train is a hundred kilometres per hour and the speed of another train is eighty kilometres per hour, no danger of collision exists, but if the speed of the first train is eighty kilometres per hour and that of the second train is a hundred kilometres per hour, there is a probability of collision, especially at night. In order to avoid the collision, the second train should reduce its speed to become at least equal to the speed of the first train and by all means it should keep some distance from the first train. Now, for as long as you live among people, you should be neither too smart nor too foolish. Why? Both foolishness and smartness are karmic laws. If you are too smart, you will go very fast and you will collide whit those who are slow. If you are too foolish, you will go very slowly and clash with those who are fast. You will have the same results in both cases. How should you behave then? You should be as intelligent or foolish as those around you. You would ask, “When and how should we manifest our intelligence?” You should save your power to be used in better times. For example, if a slow train goes before you, you should reduce your speed. If your way is clear, i.e. if there is no other train before you, you can release your full speed. In two weeks from now, make a summary of everything that was said until now. Next time write on the topic: “Application of Karma in Life”. Today I outlined some ideas about karma which can help you prepare your essays and I am going to talk about this later on again. When your essays are ready, everyone can read his essay out to the class and the rest of you will discuss it. Any critical remarks should comply with the rules of the New teachings. Criticizing means saying only things which are true and which you are absolutely sure about. Criticizing implies presenting things as they are in Nature. You should spend no more than an hour daily for your work on the lectures and for writing your essays. As far as the essays are concerned, ten minutes are sufficient. When you write your essays on karma, consider the following thoughts: 'If you are in front, move faster! If you are at the back, move slower!' This topic comes as a response to some ideas from the new philosophy. However these ideas solve the problems only partially. Why? The situation will be different if there is a second train behind you as well as a third one. In this case you will take into consideration the following rules: if someone moves in front of you, give way and let him go as fast as he wants! If you are behind, go slower! These are four significant positions in Life that should always be observed. Therefore, I am saying that when disciples want to go faster, the Master cannot give them the right to go with a higher speed. While you are disciples in this School, go slowly! After you have finished this School, activate all your powers and go as fast as you can. If there is someone ahead of you, do not hurry but reduce your speed. Whoever is at the back should go slower. These are symbols which you need to turn into actual deeds. What does fast speed correspond to? It corresponds to Virtue. Therefore be fast, stay in front when you do Good, and keep it slow, i.e. stay at the back when you do evil. This is a translation of phenomena that can be observed in Life and in Nature. In other words, the phenomena of the physical world should be translated into the language of the Spiritual world and the other way round – the phenomena of the Spiritual world should be translated into the language of the physical world. Only then will things become clear. Therefore high speed represents Good and low speed – evil. If you get angry often, you should know that you will move to the rear and will advance slowly. In the future, if any issues of importance arise between you, you can write them down and we can spend some of our time discussing them. Secret Prayer

Беседата на български Note 5p THE LAW OF MOTION Year 1, Lecture 7 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno April 12, 1922, Wednesday Sofia Secret Prayer The disciples read the words they had to write in the following order: “come”, “harmony”, “absolute”, ‘nature”, “to hope”, “symphony”, “persistence”, “beginning”, “disciple”, “peace”, “height”, “crystal”, ‘to build up”, “the hero”, “diligence”, “can”, “nice”, “star”, “light”, “child”, “silence”, “to sacrifice oneself”, “aspiration”, “magnificent”, “God”, “comes”, “mutual aid”, “lotus”, “affection”, “wisdom of humbleness”, “warmth”, “perfection”, “wellspring”, “purity”, “bread”, “serenity”, “daylight”, “to love” and “enlightenment”. The first word which we read was “Come!” - the imperative form of the verb “to come”. This verb is related to motion. Therefore, you should study the law of motion. Motion refers to the first wish which puts all other wishes and aspirations in action. Can you remember your first idea or wish, when you were a child? The first impulse in the newly born is to breathe. Humans start breathing from the moment of their birth, because the law of motion originates from the Astral world. Babies start crying with their first in breath of air. It is an indication that the physical world they are entering is not very harmonious. Both children and adults cry, because the environment they live in is not very harmonious. This time however we will direct our attention to conscious Life which is manifest today. Human beings come down to Earth to understand Life. Consequently, the souls leave God in order to study Life and each soul wants to know itself. This is the first impulse or the first motion in consciousness. Knowing oneself means knowing God. Knowing God means entering Infinity in the frames or boundaries of the Finite. It is nothing other than self-determination. Each limitation creates forms and each form contains a direction of development or a path of evolution that should be taken by the Self, the personality or the human soul for the purpose of reaching perfection. Therefore, human souls come down to Earth to become strong. The words “strong” (“силен”{silen} in Bulgarian) and “weak” (“слаб” {slab} in Bulgarian) begin with the same letter (“s”) in all Slavic languages. The word “weak” relates to the law of changes; the word “strong” – to the law of constant values, i.e. values, which do not change. In other words, strength means expansion while weakness means contraction. I am asking you, what do you think about your coming to Earth? From your individual point of view, why have you come to Earth? You will give different answers. You may say that you have come to Earth to become strong, to be saved, to get to know God, etc. You will know God when you become strong not only physically but spiritually as well. If a child has no power to hug its mother and to suck milk from her, will it get to know her? - It will not. Human thoughts, feelings and motions, no matter how small they are, hide inexhaustible powers in them. According to the law of contrasts, weakness means strength. “A weak person” in our understanding is someone who has gotten to know the smallest values, the smallest manifestations of Life. For example, babies are aware of their helplessness from the moment of their birth, but their power lies precisely in their helplessness. I am pointing this law out to you because many people feel morally weak and so they say: “We are weak, we have many vices, that is the reason why we cannot follow the spiritual path.” This shows that from a spiritual point of view you are like little children and your mothers have to bathe you in bath tubs, while you often do immoral deeds. Your mothers need to take care of you for years on end by bathing you, feeding you, dressing you and educating you until you grow up and become mature enough to make your own living. Little chickens, for example, are able to make their own living two or three days after they hatch. It doesn't mean that humans are weaker than birds, but that the matter which they find themselves enveloped in is denser than that of chickens, and they cannot overcome the limitations that this matter has imposed on them. Keep the idea in your mind that you can overcome any difficulty you encounter. The science of the spiritual gives two explanations why humans cannot cope with their problems and consider themselves weak. After they come down into dense matter some people forget that they have come from Infinity; thus they do not know that they possess hidden inner powers which they should develop. Others who have come from the Finite have deluded themselves that they can do anything as if they were all powerful, and as a result they have fallen and have lost what they possess. Today both types of people think that they are weak, feeble and unable to deal with the present conditions of Life, and consequently they are in low spirits. If you want to get rid of your mental delusions, of the idea that you know everything, ask yourself: “What is happening on the Sun today?”, and try to give an answer. Then ask yourself some more questions: “What is happening on the Moon? What is going on in the entire Universe? What is a human being?” If someone considers oneself to be a deity, he or she should be able to answer such questions. A deity knows everything. If you are not able to answer these and many other questions, you should know that as a human being you represent just a small part of universal consciousness, of the consciousness of Being. I am saying, as you follow this train of thought you will come to the question about the moral development of people. From a spiritual point of view, the moral powers of human beings depend on the primal energy of the human organism. The Hindus called this energy “prana”. That is why it is good for you to study the pranic laws. A good disciple always makes more errors than a poor and unlearned one. The form that contemporary people have is nothing other than prana in action. When the amount of prana is not equally distributed in the human organism, this leads to disease. When it is not equally distributed in the human feelings, it leads to discontent. When it is not equally distributed in the human thoughts, it leads to senselessness. I will give you an exercise now which you should do three times a day – in the morning, at noon and at night, before you go to bed: bring your arms forward in a horizontal position with your palms facing down. Form a beautiful triangle by bringing the thumbs and the forefingers of your hands together. Then slowly open your arms to the side, forming a semi-circle. Turn your palms upwards. Bend your arms slowly at the elbows and catch the top of your ears with the first three fingers of your hands (thumbs touch the front side, the other fingers – the back side of the ears). Move these three fingers of each hand along the edges of the ears, the thumb in the middle, the forefinger – along the back part and the third finger – along the front part of the ears. After that, raise your arms and bring them forward to a horizontal position. Do this exercise ten times in a row and finally put your arms down in the following position: the top of the thumb of each hand should touch the top of the forefinger. When you catch the top of your ears, it will invoke a small moral impulse inside you. The lower part of the ears is related to the human stomach. After you perform the exercise, you will observe the results. You should perform it without philosophizing and nit-picking, but while observing yourself and the effects it will produce in your thoughts, feelings and actions. Unless something is applied in practice, it can be of no use for you. You should perform the exercises I am giving to you until you feel a positive effect. Consider these exercises sacred and do not talk about them until you have experienced them and achieved some results. When I ask you to keep these exercises secret, I warn you not to fall into the position of Adam and Eve who ate from the forbidden fruit just because it was forbidden. You should observe the following rules when performing the exercise: you should sit down, keep calm and expand your chest. You should stay concentrated the whole time and follow the movement of your arms. The main aim of the exercise is namely to keep your mind concentrated on the movement of your arms. This concentration is easy, because the mind only goes from the physical to the Astral world and no further. If it reaches a more abstract world than the Astral one, it will not be able to cope with it. It will be good for you to note the states that you will pass through during this exercise and during all other exercises. So, you will do this exercise three times a day: before or after praying in the morning, when you are well disposed; at noon; and finally at night, before you go to bed. No one is supposed to see you doing this exercise. If some of your neighbours ask you what you are doing, tell them that you have an exercise to do. If they insist on knowing details, keep silent. If they continue asking still, tell them the the following: “I have read in some book that the best thing for humans is silence. So, I want to do my best – to keep silent.” The exercises you are given in class are microscopic. In order not to become disappointed afterwards, you should not expect great results. These exercises are as insignificant as the first lines in an artist’s sketches. If an artist wants to draw a nose, he will first put a vertical line, thus creating an illusion of a nose. Then he will put some curved lines and after that he will draw the shadows of the nose. In this respect, the exercise I gave you is like the straight line that will later need some curving, some shading and so on. This exercise will teach you to concentrate your mind and to be obedient. In order to achieve this you need to be on the one hand lively and joyful, and on the other hand - honest, sincere enough to yourself. These are specific states of prana. The first state concerns the Mental world, the second one – the physical world, and the motion that runs through the middle, between the first two, is related to the Astral world or the World of emotions. Do this exercise as soon as tonight, before you go to bed. Breathe deeply while you are doing it in order to receive more vital prana. Prana has various states: physical, emotional and intellectual or mental. Without prana thoughts cannot be formed, feelings cannot be expressed and actions cannot be manifested. So, when I say that prana causes the creation and manifestation of thoughts, feelings and actions of human beings, this does not mean that all humans should have uniform thoughts and feelings. Each one will receive what he needs and will manifest what he is able to, according to the level of one’s development. For example, if you put your fingers on the lower part of your earlobe, some of you will wish to drink milk, others – to eat boiled wheat or nuts, or something else. Different foods will pass through your mind. You would say: these are foolish things. In our opinion, only the unattainable is foolish. For example, we consider that the wish of a poor simple person to become a king is foolish. In the remote future, after a long process of growth, this person could really become a king, which is impossible today. Therefore, when you say that something is foolish we think it is something impossible to achieve today, but some day in the infinite future this foolish thing could become reality. The first letter of the word “foolish” in Bulgarian (“глупав” {glupav}) has a line above it, which signifies infinity “-”. Contemporary people have lost a great part of the primal vital energy of their organisms; as a result their internal movement is weak. In order for people to understand each other, to love each other and to be able to learn, the vibrations of their internal movement need to be uniform, i.e. homogeneous. Heterogeneous vibrations result in mutual misunderstanding and alienation between people. The exercises you are given create uniformity in you. Therefore nowadays you need to busy yourselves less with philosophy and more with exercises. Later on you will reach a state in which more philosophy and less exercises will be appropriate. When we were reading the words you had to write for homework, you noticed that the first half of the words was more harmonious than the second half. This is due to a feature typical of Bulgarians – they start things well until they reach a certain point of difficulty, and then they end up badly. The disharmony in the second part of your words is an indication that knowledge has not yet become the object of your mind's interest. You study for the sole purpose of being able to say that you know something. Therefore, there is a part of your mind that has not been awakened yet. What hasn't been awakened yet is in your consciousness, i.e. you are not aware yet that you have the possibility to know and to be strong. Being strong does not yet mean that you are allowed to be violent towards each other. A strong person, in the full sense of the word, is someone who can elevate himelf without being violent to others. It is a rule: if you are violent towards yourself, you will also be violent towards others; if you elevate yourself, you will also elevate others. Secret Prayer

Беседата на български Note 5p THE TWO DIRECTIONS Year 1, Lecture 6 of the Youth Occult Class (Special class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno April 5, 1922 – Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer If you go to Nature and watch the trees, you will notice that the sprouts grow perpendicular to the Earth and the branches stand upright. How long will this state last? - While the trees are young. When they get old, the branches will bend down. What is the reason for this? The reason is that they strive for the centre of the Sun in their youth and it makes the branches go upward and stand upright. As they get old, the trees turn their eyes downward, to the centre of the Earth, and as a result the branches droop and stoop. In the process of ageing the trees also become heavier. This law can be observed in human life as well. Young people are always upright. But after a certain age they become materialists like the old trees and start stooping. Then they begin to think about the centre of the Earth, i.e. now they expect their death. Death is but the directing of one’s mind to the centre of the Earth. Therefore, there are two directions or currents that human beings can follow: upwards – towards the centre of the Sun, and downwards – towards the centre of the Earth. The School you attend has methods by which you can convert these currents into one another. You cannot be disciples if you do not learn how to transform these currents. For example, discontent and low spirits are characteristic of old people, while a good temper is characteristic of young people. When we talk about old and young people, take the word “old” in its symbolic meaning which is “habit”. Old people are those who continue exhibiting habits which are directed towards the centre of the Earth. Evil does not lie in this, but in the fact that the aspiration of humans towards the centre of the Earth is unconscious. Miners go into their mines with a definite purpose: to take out gold and precious stones and bring them to the surface of the Earth. The position of those who slip and fall into a hole due to carelessness is not the same. They do it unwillingly and suffer because they have hurt themselves badly, while miners go down under the ground consciously. Now, after you have joined this School, give a thought to every event in your daily life and learn from it. For example, ask yourself why your mood changes so quickly. Make a weekly account of the number of daily changes in your mood, in order to get a true picture of yourself and write it down in your notebook. During the first week note down only the abrupt changes of your mood. In the next week note down what your mood is in the morning when you get up, at noon and in the evening, before you go to bed. Write down the hour, the minute and the weather (if it is good or bad, sunny or foggy) during your morning mood and the same again if a change in your mood has occurred. Begin your first observation on Sunday, noting down only the changes of your mood without looking for the reasons for them. The reasons are usually far away from you. You are aware only of the changes happening to you, but you do not know their reasons and purpose. Therefore, there is something deeper than what is changeable in you. You will study the changeable, not the unchangeable in you. Why? - Because the observations will be made by the unchangeable in you. Through these observations you will come to your inner state, which is unchangeable. It observes the other conditions but itself remains unchanged. In this way – through a series of observations – you will get a lot of experience. So, you should make your observations in a calm manner, not allowing any disturbances. If you are in low spirits, you will note that your state is “left, below zero”; if you are well-disposed, then you are “right, above zero.” All unpleasant moods are on the left – they represent a movement towards the roots or downwards, to the centre of the Earth. All pleasant moods are on the right – they represent a movement towards the branches or upwards, to the centre of the Sun. It is good to note also the weather in order to see its influence on the human moods. You are to make observations on yourself without criticism. Criticism is nothing but gnawing, and gnawing is characteristic of caterpillars. In this sense, critics may be called “psychological caterpillars.” You will explore yourself, stating the changes of your mood and exposing them without criticism. If you see a mistake of yours and say that you are a bad person, you will make another mistake. The first mistake is in your wrong doing, which you have not corrected; the second mistake is in your criticism. Therefore, if you have made a mistake, take it upon yourself to correct it. You can do it without the comment that you are a bad person, which is like a hood. If you say that you are a good person, that is another hood. A disciple of the Spiritual school should work without expecting any praise. It is not helpful for anyone to be praised by some and reprimanded by others. Praises and reprimands are for children. They are suitable for them. When are disciples praised and reprimanded? Regarding praises and reprimands, I have a firm opinion: you are not supposed to give your opinion about a picture that is not finished. When you look at a canvas with only few lines on it drawn by the artist, you may laugh and say: “It is a childish piece of work.” But if you see the same picture already completed, you will say: “An excellent work of art!” In these two cases you will have two different views on this same picture. That is why you should be patient and wait for the time when the picture will be finished, and then you may give your opinion. Do not give your opinion about anyone before this person has completed their work! Do not criticize anyone. Criticism is to be excluded from impartial human thinking and speaking. I am asking you, which words did human speech begin with? Conjunctions came first, then verbs, pronouns, and finally – nouns. This truth is confirmed by some medical cases of lost speech after a strong hit. These patients first lost their ability to pronounce nouns, then – pronouns, verbs and in the end – conjunctions. The pronunciation of conjunctions is usually not lost – even in the worst cases. Conjunctions are available also in the world of speechless animals. For example, we say that snakes hiss. They produce the sound “sss…” [M1] Thus they give a hint to people that speech began with conjunctions. Next time, each one of you should write a word; not any word, but a harmonious one which you love and which will leave a pleasant feeling in you as you pronounce it. It is desirable not to repeat the same words. Do not write overused words like “love”, “good”, “evil”, “right”, “beauty”, which have become trivial in your language. You can choose whatever parts of speech you like – verbs, nouns, adjectives or pronouns. The aim is to find words which are carriers of ideas. Then we are going to compose a sentence with the words written by you. In this way, we can see the extent of your harmonization as a class and also your position – left or right. It will be the first test to determine the direction of your development. The direction of your thought can be defined by any pronounced or written word. Everything left by humans may vanish, but what is written will remain as a symbol of one’s life. Words are signs similar to all existing forms in Nature. Any curve of a tree branch, for example, reveals a certain idea. The human eyebrows also express a certain idea. The eyebrows of many people are like the branches of a young tree; but the eyebrows of some others are drooped like the branches of an old tree. We can judge the forces acting in someone by the form and direction of his eyebrows. Consequently, when you read something written by a person, you can say right away not only what he has said, but also what was the original that he has used. You can also understand the way in which he has come to a definite idea. Ideas pass through many human brains; as a result they take different forms. So, if you study well, you will get familiar with the language of Nature, and start paying attention to its elements: rivers, valleys, rocks and mountains. It is a difficult task but if you proceed step by step with the symbols of Nature, you will enrich your mind with a number of new higher ideas. And when you start understanding the symbols of Nature, you will read them and enrich yourselves with knowledge. When you go to the mountain without bringing a book with you, if you do not know how to read from the book of Nature, you will be bored. If you know how to read it, however, you will have something to do – you will take a look at a cliff, then at a spring and you will learn from them. Those who do not comprehend Life and Nature will be bored by anything, any place they go. Therefore, it is better for them to study the works of the great poets, musicians and artists. Secret Prayer The Master greeted the disciples with the words: “Without fear!” They answered: “Without darkness!” --------------------------------------- [M1] The Bulgarian word for the conjunction ‘with’ is ‘s’

Беседата на български Note 5 STRENGTH OF WILL Year 1, Lecture 3 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno March 8, 1922, Wednesday 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer A summary of the theme “The Best Method for Work” was presented. Next time please write on the topic “The Place of Will in Life”. Think well on this topic and write no more than a page. This topic is important for you, for Will has not found its place in Life yet. Most contemporary people are weak-willed. Why? Because the expression of Will begins with Intelligent life which excludes any destruction. I will give you now several rules on how to distinguish conscious from unconscious volitional acts. And when you come to conscious will, then you will consider it as the highest manifestation in human life. Therefore, when you write your essays, be free to express your point of view according to your understanding. Write without fear, without doubt or hesitation. Do not be afraid if what you write is right or wrong. If you are afraid, it shows that you do not have the will to manifest yourself. Present your views, manifest your will, notwithstanding that you may write something foolish. How will you know that it is foolish? Many of you think that if they do not quote a famous author but give their own opinion instead, it will be foolish. In my view, using someone else’s thoughts without understanding and experiencing them is more foolish than presenting one’s own thoughts, which have been experienced and tested by the speaker. There is no rule in the world which defines what is wise and what is foolish. Something which is considered wise today may become foolish tomorrow. For example, people in one of the past cultures greeted one another with their tongues, which is characteristic of animals today. If nowadays two people greeted each other in this way, it would be an atavism. The contemporary way of greeting each other is by shaking hands. Some day it may be replaced by another one. I will give you several rules which should be observed by all disciples. So, being at the threshold of the Spiritual school, no matter if he is a full time student or a listener, the disciple should know the following: 1. If someone tries to correct the Absolute or the Divine even one single time, he will be expelled from class. 2. If someone is absent from class without an excuse, without an important and urgent reason, he will be expelled from class. Each disciple should know deep in one’s heart and before one’s conscience if the reason for absence is important or not. The evaluation of the reasons is delegated entirely to the conscience of the disciple. A disciple should never deceive himself. If someone deceives himself, this means that he is out of the class. 3. If someone does not complete the tasks given in the School, he will be expelled from class. 4. If two disciples offend each other, both of them will be expelled from class. It is absolutely forbidden for disciples to be angry and to quarrel with each other. 5. What happens and what is spoken about in class should be kept a secret. If someone tries to spread this out of the School, he will be expelled from class. There are things that should remain here only. Now I would like to point out to you the following phenomenon in Nature: all young tree shoots and all sprouting plants strive to grow in height. And once they reach the greatest possible height, they start growing in width. Artists use the same method of work. First they draw the general lines of the object on the canvas, i.e. its height, the idea hidden in it, and after that they put the shadows showing the width and the thickness of the object. This indicates that one should catch the general lines first, i.e. the important ideas. For instance, if you draw a person, which features will you first pay attention to? First you will pay attention to the form of the body, the eyes, the ears, the eyebrows, the nose, the forehead and the mouth. Then you will draw the shadows. If there are more shadows on one’s face, it shows that this person is in a difficult situation. As a whole, if the background of the human image is dark, it indicates the unfavorable conditions in which one lives and shadows under the eyes show many sleepless nights in one’s life. Sleeping is very important in life. That is why a disciple is supposed to sleep in the right way. He has to determine his time of going to bed. Moreover, it is necessary for him to fall asleep immediately or within five to ten minutes of going to bed. In this respect you should do experiments and exercise your will to see whether you will go to bed exactly at the right time and fall asleep within ten minutes. If you can fall asleep on time, your will is strong. If you cannot fall asleep within half an hour or more, your will is weak. This exercise will be a test of your will's power . Otherwise, you will deceive yourself that you are strong-willed. The power of will is tested only through exercises. When you go to bed in the evening, in order to strengthen your will say to yourself that you want to sleep on your right side for the whole night. If you find yourself on your right side in the morning, your will is strong; if you find yourself turned to the left, your will is weak. This, however, should not discourage you. Make efforts in this direction until you get positive results. Sleeping has its deep purpose from a spiritual point of view. When you sleep, you go to school into the Astral world and you apply the next day what you have learned at night. If you don't sleep properly, you cannot study well in the Astral world; but if you study well in the Astral world, you will be able to study well on Earth too. Therefore, sleeping is of great importance for you. When you sleep well, you wake up refreshed, with a clear mind renewed energy, so whatever work you take up during the day will be successful. But if you have not slept well, you have not worked well in the Astral world, so you will wake up indisposed and tired and your work throughout the day will be the same as it was in the Astral world. That is why, when you go to bed in the evening, say to yourself, ‘Now I am going to attend the School of the Astral world and I want to complete well the work that will be given to me there.’ I am asking you, what do you think about sleeping? You consider sleeping to be a repose only, that is why you cannot find those who want to teach you. In this respect you are like children who escape from school and go to play in the forest. If they have escaped from school, whom will the teacher instruct? In this case, those who go to bed with the idea that they will just take a rest at night, escape from school and go to the forest. And when they wake up in the morning, they say, ‘I didn't learn anything.’ That is why, when you go to bed, say to yourself, “I will go to the School of the Astral world to learn something new and to apply it on Earth the next day.” There are trips in the Astral world just like the ones on Earth. Those who study well are allowed to go to a mountain peak or to a beautiful spring, from where they will return refreshed and enriched with lovely impressions. Therefore, one of the important rules for the disciple is to learn to sleep in the right way. When you go to bed, you should fall asleep within five to ten minutes. This exercise is necessary for the strengthening of your will. If you cannot fall asleep in such a short period of time, you may extend it with a few minutes. You should fall asleep within half an hour or an hour at most. If you cannot succeed in one hour, you should look for the reason of your sleeplessness and when you find it, you should try to remove it. Now, I will give you a natural exercise – meditation on the rainbow. You have to meditate on the rainbow until you create a beautiful mental image of it. It may take you one, two or three years until you create a beautiful picture of the rainbow in your minds, but you have to work in this direction. Some of you can succeed in a shorter time – it all depends on your ability to concentrate. So, you have to meditate daily on the rainbow until you receive a living clear picture in your minds. You will visualize the rainbow as you have observed it in Nature in all its colours. This exercise will stimulate the development of your imagination. Spiritual disciples need imagination, as imagination is the mother of ideas. You may visualize the following pictures in your meditations on the rainbow: the Sun is in the West, there is a dark black cloud in the East and after a spring drizzle the rainbow has appeared from the North to the South. Or another one: the sky is clear in the East and the rainbow appears in the West. Whatever picture you have of the rainbow in your minds, one day the rainbow should rise in your souls in the same way that it rises in Nature. If you meditate between five and ten minutes daily, you will see the image of the rainbow appearing in your minds in a natural, unforced way. Close your eyes during the meditation in order to receive a clear and distinct mental vision of the rainbow. At first your vision will be vague, but with time it will clear up and become so living and real as it is in Nature. The best time for meditation is in the morning or whenever you are in high spirits. Do not think about the outcome of the exercise. When you disregard the outcome, you will always win and never lose anything. You may meditate not only in the morning, but also before noon – a few hours before lunch, as well as in the evening before you go to bed. You are free to choose the most convenient time for you to meditate. It is also good if you draw a rainbow and have it always in sight. It is even better to watch the rainbow after each rainfall, to remember the circumstances and the conditions of its appearance. The rainbow will introduce a new element into your minds. I will give you a rule how to overcome your anger and irritation. When you are angry, sing ten times in a row: do, mi, sol, do (upper do). Use this rule and see how music will tune you. Not only students but teachers also should use music as a method of tuning. When a teacher of music gets angry, he usually forgets to use this method and hits the students with his bow instead. No, when the teacher is cross with something, he should take the bow and play do, mi, sol, do on the violin. He would do a much better job this way rather than if he hit the students with the bow. When we have time I will disclose to you the meaning of these four tones. So, the main thing in your life as disciples should be the desire to harmonize yourselves. This should be achieved in a natural way, not by force. It does not mean that all should come to one and the same level of development. If so, it would lead to monotony and in my opinion monotony is a bad thing and diversity is good. Each one of you has to aspire to diversity. Diversity is a quality of the Spirit. If the Spirit is present, there is always diversity there. Diversity means abundance, wealth, while monotony is poverty and deficit. From a spiritual point of view, troubles indicate the presence of monotony in life. In order to liberate human beings from such monotony, the Invisible world has admitted evil into the world. Evil creates diversity in Life. Consequently, all suffering, difficulties and troubles indicate that one’s life is monotonous. However all this is necessary in order to introduce the element of diversity in humans. Diversity represents a value which is necessary for the development of the human spirit. In that sense suffering and difficulties are transitory states or transitory scales in human life. One of the rules was: “One who tries to correct the Absolute Divine Source, cannot be a disciple.” This means: Do not correct Nature in yourself! Those who have ever tried to correct their Nature have always met with a fatal end. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you do not trust me, do the following experiment to convince yourselves in the truthfulness of my words: if you start feeding some herbivorous animals meat, soon you will see the consequences of this change, for you would have tried to correct the nature of these animals. In my view, meat eating is bad, while nourishment with fruit, not just vegetarianism, is good. That is why when the Astral world wants to show you that your actions are not good, it will send you a dream that you are eating meat. If you are eating meat in your dream, it is a sign that you are following an unnatural path. When I speak about human beings, I have in mind the spiritual rational source in them. Two beings live simultaneously in the human body. Their lives move in different directions; as a result there is always conflict between them. This conflict is due to the fact that some cells of the human organism are of a carnivorous origin, while others are of a herbivorous origin. The cells that have been carnivorous for thousands of years up to now will oppose you if you want to become a vegetarian. If the appropriate food is not supplied to them, they start eating one another. The cells of the white corpuscles, for example, go into war against one another, destroying themselves. So, war exists in the human organism itself. Because of that one people are vegetarian in theory only. But inside one’s body the cells eat one another. So, if you wish to feed on fruit some day, you need to place the idea of fruit nourishment in your mind. This idea will be working in your mind for years and one day you will unexpectedly see that you are ready to feed on fruit which represent the purest form of food of today. Reaching the state of vegetarianism in the full sense of this word and in all worlds – physical, emotional and mental – is going to take centuries. Write separately the rules that I gave you before – they will serve you as a guidance in Life. Further on I will speak in detail about each one of these rules. When I come to class, I will greet you with the motto “Without fear!” You will answer, “Without darkness!” I want you to determine for yourselves whether you are ready to attend this class regularly, so that you do not hesitate later on. Fifty disciples in the class are enough for the present moment. After you have made the decision, you will receive the inner meaning of the formula “Fir-fűr-fen tao bi aumen.” This formula is dangerous for those who are not determined. The first words “Fir-fűr-fen” purify, while the word “tao” builds up. The remaining words of the formula have the same meaning. First you have to pass through purification, and then you will be able to build up. The last words are strong, because power is also required for building up. I say, those of you who are going to attend the class should not be afraid of lacking time for School or spending too much time in it. No, this class does not require much time – only the time that you don't know how to spend. It has been written in the Law of Moses, ‘Work six days for you, but the seventh day consecrate to God!’ As disciples of the Spiritual Occult school, you need to observe the rule for sleeping. Sleeping will solve many issues in your life. Seven hours of sleep are necessary for you at present. Five hours could also satisfy you, but if you sleep without waking up and turning from side to side. The best time to go to bed is 10.00 p.m., but it cannot be taken as a rule. If someone is busy with important work, he may go to bed at 11.00 or 12.00p.m., but he should fall sleep within five to ten minutes. If you work after 10.00 o’clock, you will lose sleep. You will be able to fall asleep only after 12.00. And then you have to go to bed immediately, so that you do not manage to fully wake up. The earlier you go to bed, the better. Why? Those who go to bed earlier, receive the whole amount of prana, i.e. vital energy which has been accumulated in the atmosphere. Those who go to bed later have difficulty falling asleep, as there is not enough prana which is required by their organisms. They should wait for some time until those who are sleeping wake up and after that sleep will come to them as well. That is why rich people usually go to sleep around 4.00 o’clock in the morning, when poor people go to work. At about 4.00 a.m. new amounts of prana are created in the atmosphere which are used by rich people for their sleep. Therefore, if you can get into the habit of going to bed earlier, you can supply your organism with the necessary quantity of prana. Do not go to bed later than 12.00 p.m. If you feel tired, go to bed earlier, even at 8 p.m., in order to receive more energy that is needed by your organism. If you have surplus energy, you may go to bed later. In conclusion, the advisable time for going to bed is 8.00, 10.00 or 12.00 p.m. We began our lecture with a secret prayer. What is its purpose? Its purpose lies in disconnecting your telephone or link to the world. When praying in secret to yourself, you should take a free position, being fully isolated from the world and deaf to any noises or sounds outside and inside of you. When you pray secretly, lock all the keys, stop all communication with the world - nothing should disturb you. And in this position stay alone in thought. Meditation and secret praying are not one and the same thing. They differ from one another. However I will let you find the difference by yourselves. A secret prayer is the ascending of one’s mind to God. In other words, directing one’s eyes to the Sun or to the Source of Life. The most beautiful prayer is when you think of God as a Source of Life. Now you have nothing left to do but to contemplate on the issues covered in this lecture and to make efforts to strengthen your will, so that you may become masters of yourselves. Secret Prayer

Беседата на български Note 5 FEAR AND FEARLESSNESS Year 1, Lecture 2 of the Youth Occult Class (Special Class) Given by the Master Beinsa Douno March 1, 1922, Wednesday, 19.00h, Sofia Secret Prayer There was a presentation of the essays of the disciples on the topic “The Most Rational Method for Work”. It is advisable to make a summary of the presented works, i.e. to extract the essential ideas from them. You all should know one thing: you should commence each work with the least amount of obstructions. I will write the following few numbers: sum them up and draw a conclusion from their total[1]. It is better to reflect on these numbers in solitude. I will now write the sentence ‘Fir-fűr-fen tao bi aumen.’ It's meaning is: ‘With the least amount of fear and the least amount of darkness.’ So, you have to follow the Divine Path with the least amount of fear and darkness. Why? Less fear and darkness cause less harm and deviation. Those who are too fearful cannot follow this Path. Therefore, one should master the art of maintaining only the least amount fear and darkness in his consciousness in order to enter this Path. The sentence “Fir-fűr-fen tao bi aumen” can also be translated in the following way:“Without fear and without darkness!” Fear comes from human sin and at the same time it produces darkness. But do not confuse fear with caution. Whoever acknowledges the existence of the Primal Cause in the world, but nevertheless is fearful, has not understood the essence of this Cause. So, you should follow the New Path as disciples - without fear and without darkness. Whoever is fearful will lose his Light and the darkness will come as a natural result of this. And the opposite is also true – when darkness comes, fear will follow. Fear and darkness are two senses in human consciousness, which should be regulated by all means. By what tools? By fearlessness and Light. Otherwise, on entering into the School, a disciple will continuously ask oneself questions such as: ‘Can I manage my studies in the School, shall I succeed? Is it time to follow this Teaching? Do I possess the skills required? What if I fail some time, if I go backwards in development?’ No, the disciple needs to ask himself a different kind of question : ‘Do I want to study or not?’ If the answer is positive, this very aspiration will be powerful enough for him to be able to overcome all difficulties in Life. But if you are fearful, you will experience the following verse from the Scriptures: ‘Those who are fearful will not enter the Kingdom of God.’ It is true that a fearful person cannot become a scientist, a philosopher or a statesman. Actually, a fearful person cannot succeed in any field, because he resembles a hare. However, there are animals which are even more cowardly than hares . For example, frogs are more cowardly than hares; they can be considered a symbol of extreme materialism. Materialists are full of fears. If a rich man, who is also a great materialist, is deprived of his money, he will immediately lose his courage. As long as this man is rich he behaves like a hare, but when he gets robbed he becomes like a frog. There fore, when you think of a hare, visualize a rich materialist who hasn't been robbed of everything yet, so he is running away in order to save some of his riches. And a frog is a symbol of someone who has been robbed of everything and there is no other way out for him except to jump into the water and find salvation there. I will take now three animals that symbolize fear: a hare, a frog and a bird. If you scare a hare, it will run away into the forest; if you scare a frog, it will jump into the water; and if you scare a bird, it will fly up in the sky. Finally, if you scare a person, he should say to himself, ‘Without fear and without darkness!’ Write these words down clearly, neatly, without making any comments about them. I am asking you: when you plan to go to an excursion, what goal do you want to achieve? Your purpose is to climb up a high mountain peak. During the climb you take rests from time to time, so that you can reach the peak. You should use the same method in your spiritual studies: aiming at the high peak, you will take rests to refresh yourselves at many places in order to restore your forces. Many people say that esoteric-ism is dangerous. Spiritual science is really dangerous but only for those who are fearful and it is safe for those who are fearless. When it is said that spiritual science is dangerous, this indicates that some fearful people are subjectd to an examination and it will become clear whether they will pass or not. When fearful people are instructed to go onto the Path without darkness, they ask, “How can we go without darkness, when Light is not enough for us?” It is an indication that they are afraid of Light even. A robber, for example, works in the darkness to rob a cash-box; if Light comes from somewhere, he will immediately give him a heart-beat. Therefore, two testing methods exist for the disciples of the two schools – the School of Light and that of darkness. The disciples of the first school go without fear and without darkness, while the disciples of the second school - with fear and with darkness. So, the disciples of the Brotherhood of Light will follow the path without fear and without darkness, while the disciples of the opposite brotherhood will proceed with fear and with darkness. Young people should know which path to follow. If you go on a long journey, you may send someone before you to see the conditions of the road: if it has been cleaned; if there are bridges; what is the best way to travel: on foot or by horse, etc. And when you have this background information, you will be fearless. You have taken this Path many times and then you turned back, but this time, when you take the Path, you should stay with it. We see a similar situation in ordinary schools: many students join them, but some of them after finishing first grade leave school, others complete only the second or the third grade, etc. Few of them graduate from all the grades. And the best students continue at some university. But in life just the opposite may happen: students who are good at school may lag behind in Life, or students who are very good, even excellent in the first grades may become less successful in the next grades. On the other hand, students who are weak in the beginning may improve their results in the next grades and finish school with excellent marks. It is due to a specific psychological reason: parents and teachers who praise their children often and too much, make them conceited. As a result the centre of vainglory develops in their brains, attracting more blood to the back part of the head, so the front part of the brain receives less blood and gets gradually weakened. If people praise you too much, they will unconsciously stop your mental development. This is why teachers should restrain from praising their talented students. The centre of vainglory, located in the back part of the head, is like a thief that steals a great amount of the blood which otherwise goes to the front part of the brain. That is why the brain of vainglorious persons cannot develop very well. The same phenomena is referred to in the Bible in the following verse: “God mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble.”/Proverbs 3:34/ Therefore, those who want to work on their brains and improve theim should not be conceited. It has been noticed that those who were often mocked and laughed at, later became famous scientists, poets, musicians, and those who were praised too much and people had expectations from them became mediocre. Why? Their brain was not nourished well and consequently it could not develop properly. So, be deaf to both praises and reprimands while you are alive. When you die, then you may listen to what people say about you in the graveyards. Someone may ask you, for example, “Are you a disciple of the Spiritual School? Do you know that nothing will come out of you?” Do not pay attention to such words. Another one may tell you, “You are an excellent disciple, there is no one like you.” Do not be concerned with such words either. Go on working on your growth irrespective of what you are told. Apply this method to see what results it will bring to you. Apply this method but not out of fear. Many people are brave in Life under the influence of their fears. This is not courage. One has to be brave, but consciously, not out of fear. Even a cat, when scared, huddles first, but then it becomes brave due to its instinct of self-preservation, so that it gets ready to attack its enemy. This is not fearlessness, but bravery out of fear for losing life. True courage means fearlessness in all situations in Life, at any given moment. To put it in spiritual terms, brave people hesitate outside, but not within themselves. Only Divine Love, being perfect, can inspire courage. No other love is able to make someone behave bravely and fearlessly. You cannot know Love in the physical world until you have become fearless. If your heart is full of fear, whatever you say about love, it is not Divine Love. When you get scared, your heart will quiver in a specific way. The energies of fear cause peculiar psychological effects: a specific quiver of the heart and a simultaneous paling of the face. When frightened, first you get pale due to the withdrawal of your blood to the heart; then you get reddish due to the appearance of anger in you and stirring of your blood. Cowardly people are actually afraid of public opinion, so they get insulted easily; when they are discredited before people, they get angry and they become cross. For example, an adept of the other Lodge may come to tempt you and to cheat you. You will succumb to his words, trust him and commit a crime. Then he will come again as your benefactor offering you a method to hide your crime. This will lead to falsehood which is even worse. I say, brave and fearless people will never succumb to temptations. Disciples should know this, because they will encounter many temptations after they enter the School. I mentioned the hare and the frog in this lecture as symbols. So I wish to direct you, as disciples, to reflect on all phenomena in Life and Nature, on all objects, and to make translations. What will be your translation, for example, of the following words: a river, a tree and a mountain? What translation will you give for these animals: a wolf, a fox and a frog? What do flies and mosquitoes symbolize? All these things are symbols that make up the language of Nature. A disciple should study this language and know why Nature has created animals, plants and minerals. Nature has used them as letters in its alphabet in the same way as we use letters and syllables to form our thoughts. Therefore, if we put all minerals, plants and animals in their places, we will get the intelligent Word and Thought of Living Nature. Those who want to study the language of Nature should begin with the simplest images and gradually proceed to more complex ones. Secret Prayer [1] *The actual total of the listed eighteen numbers is 218 (editor’s note)

Note 2p THE GOOD SEED The Good Prayer I shall read Chapter 13, line twenty-four, from Mathew, ‘Another parable put He forth before them, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field.’ Learn Psalm 93 for next week. Something new must enter your life. I consider all your viewpoints out-dated, old clothes. You need new clothes for Easter, these are worn out here and there, there are holes, the colours faded, at places the holes are big, patches are needed. One has to study from the cradle to the grave. One has to dedicate one’s entire life to studying. One should not think that in a year, two or three years, one will learn everything and one will go visiting places ever after, sleeping in soft beds and eating delicious meals. These things are possible but one has to pay through the nose. If you take the entire human history, you will see that those who lived quite an opulent life - the kings – paid dearly. Even Solomon, who was one of the wisest kings of Israel, had to pay through the nose. The Scripture does not say anything about this, but there is one internal aspect, which he himself called ‘vanity of vanities’ and ‘all is vanity’. A great wise man who lived to see great disappointments, wanted to say that what one lived with is nonsense. You would sacrifice anything for this nonsense. If you were invited to become a queen you would accept on the spot. When one becomes king, one does not go to church. If one tries to go to church an entire envoy will escort him. Earlier on one used to go on foot, now – by car. Do you know what I believe the behaviour of such people, riding in cars, resembles? Children who cannot walk also ride in baby-carriages[1] and are attended by servants. In the spiritual aspect, all those who ride in automobiles and carriages are children; horses and coachmen drive them, while they think they are big shots. These are children. They have to step down and walk. Children, when they grow up, get out of the baby-carriage and walk on foot. And you sometimes regret that you do not have a carriage. It’s nice to have a carriage while one is a child, but when one grows up it’s nice to walk on foot. Because if an adult person does not practice walking his legs will atrophy. As soon as one’s leg atrophies, one cannot be virtuous. Legs correspond to virtues; arms – to Justice; eyes – to the Truth, ears – to Wisdom; the mouth – to Love. Carriages are for children, adults should walk on foot. And you will pray that your arms, your legs – every part of your body are healthy. You will know a person by one’s house. You will know that the host is tidy by his house. In a spiritual respect there is a bond between the physical and the spiritual life. There are no separate spiritual and secular lives; these are only separated in our understanding. We call spiritual the life of higher aspirations, while secular we call the life of lower aspirations. Christ says, ‘the Good seed’. In parallel with the seed something opposite might grow, which should not worry you. For instance, a bad thought may get its way into you alongside some good thought. This happens when your consciousness is not awake. Some bad thought enters and when you delve into your consciousness, you will see that an image has come from somewhere. One should always keep one’s consciousness awake. For example you are in town, you wash your garment and hang it on the washing line, but it gets dirty from the soot in the air. But an intelligent person will hang it where it won’t get dirty. Good things should be kept tucked away at such places where there is no soot. People often say that God will do this and that for us. God attends to His business very well, but our business is lagging behind. We have to get down to work and each one should have a task. Each should ask oneself what one has to do. Often we stop in the world and say, ‘The world is not what we would like it be.’ This statement should not be an obstacle to us. That the world is bad is just a subjective understanding, and another person can have exactly the opposite opinion. The world is good when we are good; the world is bad, when we are bad. It is often the case when you are feverish that your taste is a bit off – whatever you are given, as soon as you taste it you say that it is bitter and tasteless. Actually the dish is not tasteless and when you overcome your fever, it becomes tasty. Sometimes even water seems to taste bitter. You have to move to a new condition. You have to understand Life as science, as art. Life is an art by itself. Each one of you has to study one, two, three, four, five kinds of art. A person has about forty abilities and each one of them can develop art. Hence, a person has room for forty kinds of art. A person has as many feelings within, which can facilitate the development of certain virtues. And now religious people are in the habit of saying a prayer or two; twice a day they address God and regard themselves as very religious. Someone is said to pray three times a day. Wonderful, but he eats three times a day, sleeps eight hours a day. What has one attained from sleeping when asleep; what has one attained from the food by eating three times a day or when praying three times a day; what has one attained? One is supposed to attain something from each prayer. I shall tell you something that you have to remember: if you go to a clean spring of water, you will fill a vessel and will bring it back; if you go to a certain location where there are diamonds and emeralds, which one of you would not indulge in taking a stone. People often go to God, but come back from this fine area without bringing back anything. What is the worth then of such a walk? When a person is going around like this for ten-twenty years, one finally starts getting older, starts doubting. It goes without saying, when a person is getting poorer one starts asking oneself whether one has ever been rich. Also when a person grows older, one thinks that there was a time one was young, but that now he is old and even he himself does not believe that he has been young – he has changed without taking any notice of it, as if he has always been old. This is why such a person has to rejuvenate his outlook all the time. One meal or three meals a day won’t do it; three times a day is rather insufficient. Nowadays it is compulsory not to eat a lot, as it takes a lot of resources. Some people eat once every twenty-four hours, others – twice, three times, four times. But from a spiritual point of view one must nourish one’s mind. There are ordinary situations in this respect which only amuse people. Of course this depends on one’s feelings. There are cases when an idea, a feeling imposes itself upon a man without one really having any intention of doing so. An idle thought [feeling] may keep his mind busy for many years and not allow space for anything inspiring and noble within him. For example, somebody would like to become rich and he keeps thinking about this from morning till night. He keeps making money, for days and for weeks on end, believing that he would have enough wealth to live on, but suddenly the Invisible world takes it away. Not that one’s desire to be rich is bad; one has to be rich, but one has to be looking for one’s wealth in the right direction. One has to have the wealth that nobody else can take away from him. If a man is rich and used one’s wealth to develop one’s virtues, to serve the people close to him – this is good; but if the wealth is an obstacle to his good, it transforms into a trap. For example, if you talk in a room, your speech cannot be heard outside; if you pray in a golden house, your prayer will reach the golden ceiling and will not go to God. If your thought is not warm, and if your heart is not warm, this prayer has no effect. Consciousness should be very awake in every prayer and what you are praying for should be a necessity for you. The Scripture reads, ‘Let it be all that you want![2]’ What you want in your prayers should be the most substantial, most significant, and everything else will come on its own accord. The most important should come first. If Life comes, it brings all of its blessing with itself; if the Holy Spirit comes, then Freedom comes on its own accord; if Light comes, knowledge will be acquired. Where there is Love, there is Light too. The ‘good seed’ is understood to mean what a human being is endowed with. For example, a man is old and is expecting to die, to go to the other world. Why should the other world need old people? The other world does not need old people, nor does it need ignorant, sinful, feeble or poor people. There are no hospitals there. The Scripture says that nothing impure will enter the other world. As long as you enter the other world pure, you will not be subjected to the changes that are going on here on the earth – there will be no evil, there will be no poverty, there will be no diseases. You want a certain life, but you expect it to be automatically given to you, you do not want to work for it. For instance, what part of your day and night do you dedicate to visiting God? You use your time exclusively for yourselves. Few were those that I met who used their time for God. Everyone prays to God for one’s children, for one’s husband, for a hat, for clothes. At other time one prays to become good, but to work for God few have I seen! First you have to acquire that condition when no needs of yours will be a concern for you. If a person serves God with understanding, all of his needs will be gratified. But if one wants to satisfy one’s own needs first and then to give away from the abundance one has, this is also possible. A discontent is born in the former case, however: no matter how pure and holy one tries to be, one sees that one still needs something and is constantly discontented. One waits to become pure and holy first and only then to do something, but sometimes one leaves this world while waiting. One thinks and thinks and says, ‘This is not going to happen now.’ And one departs with this thought. But this may happen because one should not rely on the good one does, but has to allow the good within to work. The good is common for all the people; it is nobody’s private property. The Good is the Divine that works within everybody. Some are better as they allow more room for the Divine to work in them; others are not so good, as they allow less room for the Divine to work within them. If I put it figuratively, some of you have houses with more windows, others with fewer windows. This issue depends to a certain extent on your viewpoints. You want to live among perfect people above all. This would be ideal, but what can be done now that there are no such perfect people?! Now that you live among people who are not perfect, what should you do? People are resourceful. Sometimes the good people have to be as resourceful as the drunkards. A drunkard drank but his hand started trembling. When he took the glass his hand trembled and he couldn’t drink wine. He was aggrieved that he could no longer drink and was constantly trying to figure out a way to sip wine from the glass. One day he made a gadget: he took a piece of wood and a rope, he ran it through his neck and started pulling, he drank wine and everything ended. Thus God finally tied both his hands and he stopped drinking… A strong man should place a glass of wine in front of himself and should say, ‘I am the master of the glass; I am the one giving orders! I now order you to stay outside and to stay put!’ He places the glass on the table and goes out to take a walk; then he comes back and says the same. Let’s assume that you are displeased with a sister and when you see her, your heart trembles, you are annoyed; what should you do? Commission a picture of hers to be drawn, buy it and keep it in your room. You will tell the picture, ‘You shall not annoy me, I am your master!’ You will see that your heart will start beating differently. The first days when you see the portrait, you will be uneasy, you won’t even be able to pray, but persevere in this, keep her picture until you succeed. In time you will notice that the portrait of this sister has started changing. If you keep looking at this sister for two or three months you will see that alongside the change in the portrait the sister herself will change. When she meets you she will look at you in a more benign way. You live in a world, in a school and all of these issues that you face are assignments that you have to resolve properly. Some day the teacher in this subject will call you and will ask you how you will resolve this problem. This is the way to look upon your life. You ask why God has assigned this to you. You know why? Even the pupils at school know why they are taught geometry, geography, mathematics etc. These are subjects to study. For example, some of you have fears; this is not a subject. Fears are bad, but it’s even worse without fears. If a person had no sense of fear, on coming into Sofia, the carriages will run him over while otherwise he takes care of himself, walks on the pavement and thus safeguards his life. The sense of prudence must be added to this fear. When God sees that we can use the gifts He granted to us, and that we develop them, He is pleased. The teacher is pleased when the pupil studies. When the pupil plays an instrument properly, draws or paints properly, when the pupil recites something nice, the teacher is pleased. When you enter Heaven, the Invisible world, when you go to the King’s Gates, you will be asked to recite a poem. Which poem will you recite? You do not know even a single poem as yet, but you are wondering which one to choose. There you will be asked first to sing a song. Which song will you sing? If you sing the song properly the door will open on its own accord; if you do not sing it properly, the door will remain closed. If you recite the poem properly the door will open on its own accord; if you do not recite it properly, the door will remain closed. Someone will ask whether this is to be understood literally or allegorically. Understand it as you like, but this will happen. The Scripture reads, ‘The cowards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God’. Because when the cowards leave for the Invisible world, they will be tested with the worst fictitious trials. They will get frightened and they shall not enter; even if they want to make them enter, they won’t be able to. A Bulgarian teacher was riding in a carriage, but she was afraid of buffalos. She saw buffalos about half a kilometer ahead, she jumped out of the carriage and took to her heels. Which is safer – to stay in the carriage or to be running? If a buffalo is chasing you, running will not be of help, and it would be much safer in the carriage. And lastly this buffalo does not think of her; the buffalo can only raise its head to see who is passing by. We all have a buffalo. There is nobody among you having no such buffalo, that when the buffalo comes your heart starts beating. One fears one thing, somebody else fears another; but each one of us fears something. There comes a disease, your legs swell and you say, ‘What if it affects my heart!?’ One is brave while one is healthy, but one’s strength can be seen when one is sick. One has to fall sick to find out how strong one is. This is a test. Diseases, indispositions and hardships that afflict us are conditions only on the physical level. Every one of you has had such indispositions without being aware of the underlying reason. You sometimes feel sad, it seems that the whole world has become bad; some other time you are discontented, you do not want to meet anybody, you want to escape in the forest. As soon as all this passes over, your condition changes. This indisposition is not the person himself or herself; it is a strange tenant. You are often harnessed like a horse and you pull the carriage all day long. The one who harnessed you lets you free in the evening but the whole day you have been working for the master. There is another aspect to it: it is often the case that out of ignorance we inflict misfortunes upon us. A little calf enters the yard of a farmer, finds a pot of barley and eats it up, his head being stuck in the pot at the end. The calf raises its head but cannot see, and the people have no explanation as to how the pot happened to be on its head. This calf did not know the consequences, but sometime a man can stick one’s head into such a pot. The farmer comes and wonders how to free the calf. They start pulling the pot, but they fail to pull it off. They suggest slaying the calf. Some say that the calf is not theirs and others say that the pot is nice. Finally they decide to break the pot… Indeed, sometimes a man has to place one’s head into a pot to get things straightened. Good pots can make flower pots, but they should not be on one’s head. Or put in other words, one should never allow a thought to wrap one’s mind in such a way that it becomes like a pot. Never get attached to any object to an extent that it blinds you. This calf thought that it will solve all the problems by putting its head into the pot. These thoughts that I am telling you show what a man must be aware of. One has to know which the substantial issues in the world are. There are substantial issues that will come on their own accord, and there are issues that are not substantial. They are a burden to the person. There are differences among women. One woman is stronger; another one is more intelligent, another one is apprehensive. All this has its reasons. The strong woman is strong because she practiced; the apprehensive one has become apprehensive because she practiced apprehensiveness; a person becomes what one practices. Through practice a person can equally acquire a negative and a positive feeling. Only that one has to persevere along the Path. Sometimes things do not happen overnight. For example, somebody says, ‘I will pray to God.’ When you pray to God, He will send you to a person who has been along your Path so that he or she can teach you. Sooner or later you will meet the person who can teach you. Don’t be looking for happiness, never want to be happy, because it is impossible to be happy. Look at Heaven and see that everything there is nice: God is there, happiness is there. Happiness is where God is. As soon as you find where God is, there you will find happiness. There is no fine day without the Sun. As soon as the Sun sets, the fine day is over. When you leave for somewhere in a dark night, you will be happy as long as you have a burning candle, but when the candle goes away[A1] , you will be unhappy. And true happiness, derived from the presence of God, never goes away. You should not be looking for ways to be good; you should be looking for the good, because a man cannot be good. Somebody, whom you love, comes; you give him a clean towel; somebody else comes, whom you do not love, you speak slightingly to him. Where is your good? If you are treated like this, you will take offence right away, but according to our existing understanding, we consider ourselves to be very good, like the one who cannot sing, but considers himself a good singer. I was told that somebody was a very good violinist; I let him play the violin and found out that he was an ordinary performer. I have an explanation why people think he plays well: they like the songs he plays; while I consider the songs he played to me ordinary. Subsequently he is a good violinist according to some and according to others – he is not. A violinist, playing well to the dead, who plays the same pieces to the alive, will be beaten. A violinist, playing well to the alive, who plays the same pieces to the dead, will also be beaten. Why is it that very sad songs are played to the dead? If these souls go to God, why should gloomy songs be sung to them? The songs played to them are fit for escorting somebody to the scaffold. There is no logic in all of this and subsequently such songs are out of place. Such a song isn’t for Heaven, which means that such a person does not go to God, but to the place of suffering. If you leave for the other world, what song should be played to you?... You need an absolutely new vision: when a person is born you will sing a song halfway, and when the person dies you will sing the end of the song. You will sing the same song – half of it at birth, and the other half on leaving for the other world. You shall not sing different songs. If the song consists of four stanzas, you will sing the first two stanzas at birth, and the other two stanzas – on leaving. If a child is born to you, you would like to sing the first half of a nice song that brings in happiness; when leaving for the other world you will sing the other half of the song. I will now tell you half of the truth and when you are leaving for the other world I will tell you the other half of the truth. It is impossible to say everything now. There are things that if disclosed to you now, you will say, ‘Time does not allow this, time does not allow that…’ But when you are dying and when are being born time allows it. So, I was saying, that when the good seed grows the fruit is gathered in the Divine granary. This is going into the other world. Do not understand it in the bad sense, I do not mean the physical world. When a man changes fundamentally, he will pass from one life into another. If you ask the one leaving one’s body, he is ready to sacrifice everything. So far he has been a miser, but when dying he says, ‘I give this much to this person and that much to that person!’ He gives away everything, only that it is too late. One has to give away but not when dying, but while still living. And his heirs will quarrel over what one leaves as legacy after one’s death, they will call him, and he will talk to them not to quarrel. Thus they will create an entire misfortune for him. You want to find the right Path now. No, find it when you are leaving for the other world. Then you have to have a guide-book to Heaven, so that you know where the Path is and how you can start along it. Along this Path you will walk in Life. I am not saying that you are not convinced. One has to know things well so that one can be of help to the others. Because sometimes a person places oneself to a test before clarifying the truth in advance. However, one should not have any uncertainties as to the final truth one believes in. There are two issues that a person should not hesitate about: first of all one should never have any doubts as to the Truth; and secondly, one should never have any doubts as to the power of one’s knowledge. I am not talking about Love, because the slightest doubt in Love always leads to death. Doubting the Divine Wisdom leads to great suffering; and doubting love leads to death. Those who doubt Love die; death is the consequence of uncertainties in Love. And suffering is the result of any hesitation in the Truth or in the Divine Wisdom. Then suffering comes to show you that there is one who knows. After suffering for a long time, you will go to God and he will tell you that you are suffering because you have doubts. I am now asking which one of you does not have doubts. Not that this is a sin, not that you do it intentionally, but I am telling you that there is an internal law. There is one law in the world, similar to the one that sows the wheat and puts it in the sieve. When wheat grains become flour, it remains at the bottom, and the other stuff is on top. Not that a housewife minds, but she places aside what is on top, and elsewhere what is at the bottom. Every person will come to this sieve. You will first find yourself sown in the Divine field; you will follow the path of the wheat grain. You have to find a way to grow, to endure the winter, the wind, the cold, until you understand the Divine ways. Not that God has anything against you, but this is to your advantage, this is the only way for you to develop. Otherwise you will keep staying in the barn. When God wants to grant us freedom, He passes us from one condition into another. The external suffering comes as a process of the consciousness. Suffering shows that we are along the right Path. As long as you suffer you can be sure that you are on the right Path. But as soon as you no longer suffer on the earth, then you may start having doubts. Now, you have to study this profound science of self-education. You have to educate yourselves. One has to work upon oneself in order for one to become strong. A man has to work for one’s Freedom, but he also has to acquire knowledge. And in order to acquire knowledge, a man has to have a broad mind, has to study. I would like all of you to be very diligent, to study and to make small experiments all the time. You are in an Occult School. I see a striving in you to serve God. I can create as much as work as you like. I can give you the following experiment: to walk ten to twenty kilometres along a road and to give water to any passers-by; you will be walking and giving water till noon. You will say that this does not become you. You want an experiment, don’t you? Who will be put to test? Will you or the passers-by be put to test, if you are assigned such an experiment? You can do it! Do you think it will be an experience? This is a teaching. Now, I am not sending you to sell something, but to be on the road for about four to five hours and offer water from the pot. It is a science to know which one is thirsty. You shall not treat everybody to water; you will stand and try to guess which one is thirsty and you will offer a glass of water to a thirsty passer-by. Then you will sit by the road, you will count and take notice how many thirsty people there are. This will be your profit. You will take a new pot and you will see how many glasses of water it can hold. You shall not measure it in advance; you will count the glasses while giving water. You shall not waste a single drop. You shall take a notebook and if somebody says something you will note it down. After coming back you will count how many glasses of water you gave away and what the people said. This will be your salary. When you finish with this I will ask you what you learnt and how many sentences have you written down. You will have four stanzas of poetry. If I can assign this task to you some day, you will have an experience that rarely happens. But a person has to be inspired by the law of Divine Love in order to do this. Similarly God sometimes puts man in a strange situation. When Christ came to the earth, He was put in a strange situation: he was sent to serve the people who were much lower than Him. Therefore you should not be fed up with life. You will take as example the great souls who lived a humble life on the earth. You have to know that humility is the line along which Divine Blessing runs. A man who is not humble cannot receive the Divine Blessing. If you are proud, you are a high peak and the Divine Blessing cannot run toward it. You have to be humble, meek, kind-hearted, good for the Divine Blessing to come to you. Why do you have to be good? So that the Divine Blessing can reach you. This is the good seed that is sown. Other people have sown weed, but good is only what God put in man. The rule is: only what God put in us is good, and what all other people have put afterwards in us is weed. Nothing put in us afterwards by anybody shall bear fruit, but the Divine will bear fruit. ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ Lecture delivered by the Master On 21 April 1932 Sofia, Izgreva [1] There is one word in Bulgarian, translating as ‘car’, that is used for ‘automobile’ and ‘pram’ [2] To Editor: this is certainly a quotation – sorry, I can’t quote precisely. [A1][blows out]

Note 2p NATURAL RULES[1] I shall give you some necessary rules, and you should note that these are natural rules and exist on their own in Nature. When I say ‘Nature’ I mean the intelligent Life. There can be no intelligent Life without rules outside nature. Outside these rules is the foolish life, while the intelligent Life is within the framework of these rules. Make the following experiment: when you go to a mountainous area, trouble[A1] a mountain spring, keep troubling[A2] it for ten to fifteen minutes and see what will happen. The spring will start cleaning itself from the centre, to get rid of all the muddy stuff and it will finally start running clear. If you have a watch please note how long it will take the spring to become clear again. Whatever the spring does, you should do it, too. An excursionist comes to your mountain and troubles[A3] you in a similar way; but another being from the external world will come and do to you what you can do to the spring – it will stir you within to clean you as if you were a spring. You ask what you should do. Do what the spring does. You will start doing what the spring does. This is the first rule. You use the expression a ‘free thought’. Under ‘free thought’ I understand a thought functioning according to the laws of Truth. You cannot have free thoughts if you are not in the sphere of Truth. You speak about free desires and free deeds. Bear in mind that your desires can be free only if you are in the sphere of Truth. Your deeds are likewise free, if you are in the sphere of Truth. Then you say a ‘love desire, a love thought’. Your understanding of a ‘love thought’ should be the same as your understanding about the free thought. In order for you to have a love thought, you should be in the sphere of Truth. Then your love thought will follow not your personal desire, but the laws of Love. If you have a loving light thought, your condition is supposed to immediately change. The law of Love rules the love thoughts, the love desires and the love deeds. You will tone yourselves according to it. Afterwards you will come to the area of the Divine Wisdom; then the thoughts will be light, the desires will be light and the deeds will be light. You often go to God and tell Him of all your misfortunes, insults: or say, you have lost something or your child died or you are cast out of society, or have a temptation. You come to complain and speak to Him as if He does not know. And what a special attention you pay[A4] ! God tells you, ‘Tell me the story once again.’ You will have to start telling anew. If God got your point, you will feel light as a feather, if He did not, you will keep the burden on your shoulders, because you failed to recite your lesson. If you performed your lesson well before God, you will feel as light as a feather right away. But you have to do this according to the first method or according to the law of free thought. You have to be aware what method you apply. When you go to God, you will start either with the law of Love or with the law of Wisdom, or with the law of Truth. If you do not speak according to the law of Love, you will speak according to the law of Wisdom or of Truth; you shall not mix these. First you will speak according to the law of Truth and Freedom; if we assume in a human way, that God did not understand you, you will speak according to the law of Love and finally when you speak according to the law of Wisdom, God will instantly understand you and you will feel light as a feather. So, I say that you have to have to learn to cope with your grievances and suffering. Grief can be a servant to you; can be your son or daughter from the past. You have lived many times on the earth; you have many sons and daughters. They find you, grab you and say, ‘I am having difficulties, I am broke, you will help me!" You are having difficulties, you don’t have anything, but they keep asking from you, ‘You will give us!’ And you start – you ask here and you ask there. As soon as you fix one of your sons, there comes another one; as soon as you fix your second son, there comes the third one, the fourth one, the fifth one, the tenth one – everybody want you to give them something. You say, ‘These desires are very bad!’ It’s not them that are bad, but when such a son of yours comes, he wants you to satisfy him, to send him to study abroad at a university. You first teach him to bend one’s knee, to bow. People used to pray standing on their feet years ago. You will now kneel and tell your desires, ‘You will do as I do!’ By praying you will make your desires pray with you too. This son of yours is an allegory. What do you have to do with this thought of yours, with this desire of yours? This thought has to be implemented. You cannot drive away a thought, because it will enter somebody else, it will travel the world and it will implement what it wants. If you are the first one through whom this thought passes, you are along the right path. If you are the last one, you cannot get rid of it. If you are in the middle you can get rid of it; if you are the first one, you can get rid of it, but if you are the last one – there is no getting rid of it. Be grateful that it is not always that you are the last one, and you are in the middle or in the beginning, because if you are in the end, you will have to implement it. You will apply the three laws in the end. A thought comes to you and you say, ‘A very bad thought!’ If a thought to steal comes to you, you will steal something, you will rob a safe; you will pinch a bag. This has been proven. If you do not know what to do with this thought, a banker’s safe will suffer and you will suffer together with it. You say, ‘This is impossible to happen to me!’ If this can happen to somebody else, it can happen to you too. A very pious person passes along the house of a rich banker in America and sees a bag of money forgotten at the window sill. The pious poor person takes the bag, hides it under his coat, goes home and says, ‘The Lord gave me this money. This banker has a lot; it’s no harm to him that I took the bag.’ Afterwards he prepares to pray but as soon as he attempts praying the bag pops up between him and the Lord. His prayer goes to the bag and bounces back. The poor one keeps holding the bag, does not want to return it and tells himself, ‘The Lord is testing me whether I am pleased with the bag or not. I am pleased, my Lord, but allow me to spend the money!’ He prays on the second day too, but the prayer again goes to the bag and bounces back; the same happens on the third and on the fourth day. On the tenth day he feels that he starts losing his enthusiasm and joy and decides to return it. He goes to the banker and says, ‘I was passing along your house, I saw this bag on the window sill and I picked it. Here it is, I am giving it back to you, because I lost my faith in God. As soon as I try praying, the bag pops up between me and God. Forgive me! I do not want to have a bag like yours. If you are prepared to give it to me, I shall see what the Lord will say.’ The banker answers, ‘Come tomorrow!’ He went on the following day and the banker gave him two bags. The poor one tells himself, ‘The Lord puts me through a great test!’ He takes the two bags, but when he starts praying, something within tells him, ‘You won’t spend even a fiver on yourself!’ He goes out and starts giving the money away to the poor. He prays in advance for everything that he has to give away, so that he can be told where exactly to give it. When he gave away the two bags for a year, he went to the banker and said, ‘Brother, you will release me! You won’t give another two bags to me; you will find somebody else, because I have to pray for each coin and to ask where I should give it.’ Events, that have once happened, cannot happen in the same way to you. In Nature things cannot happen twice in the same way. We often talk about abstinence. This is what I understand the word abstinence to mean: when a person applies the Law on Freedom, the Law on Love and the Law on Wisdom, a person must refrain from those thoughts and desires that can infringe upon one’s freedom. Put in other words, you should never take in food that is difficult to digest. The food in the stomach has to be good. I say, ‘You should implement each one of your thoughts that serves to raise you! The same is valid about food: you should eat food that maintains your health; while food that damages your health you should not take in! Each desire that expands your soul brings Freedom or Love into it, you should implement without asking anyone for permission! Each desire that limits your Freedom, that limits Love, you should leave aside! These are internal rules. There are certain things that you do not know how to implement in a particular case. There is no rule valid about every desire, nor are there any rules about the thoughts. There are general rules, but there are no specific rules as to how to behave in each particular case. An intelligent person stands out in a particular case. If intelligent people act properly, they will progress. At times one may act exactly the way one should not. Whichever way one acts, this does not mean that one commits a sin. If a man eats certain food and then vomits, does he commit a sin or not? There is no sin whatsoever. But if you are given the same food for a second time, you won’t want to take it in or you will be indisposed after eating it. You may eat less than necessary or you may eat more than necessary. No, in respect to eating you shall take in as much as you should! Moreover, the food has to be of good quality. The same law is valid in respect of [A5] the desires: you should select your wishes; you should know whether all these desires reaching your soul are desires for you. In a particular case a desire may be sent to you only for you to forward it elsewhere. This is similar to the case when a letter is addressed to you, it is posted to you, but you hand it in to another person without reading it. In the Spiritual world a letter may pass though ten-fifteen persons. One of your letters may have passed through ten people and each of the recipients might have contributed something. If these people are advanced and good, your letter will arrive studded with gems. If they are not very elevated, they may open it, read it and close it again, in order to get to know what’s written in it. There are such predicaments along the Path you are walking along, just like the predicaments disciples encounter while learning their lessons. For instance, take the issue about praying, contemplation or meditation; For example, eastern people determine a certain time for this purpose and when it approaches, they will leave their work. Even if he is a clerk, he will leave his job; this is the eastern understanding. And you may be a clerk and meditate nonetheless: take the pen, write slowly, then stop for a while, as if you are thinking and meditate for a minute or two; then write a little again. Because the old master on the earth is not entitled to all of your time. You say that you are an official. Tell me, if somebody is an official, how long does one have to work? Eight hours. Which one is the internal law that makes people committed? Let’s say that you make a transcript of a court ruling; is there any law regulating for how long you have to have made the copy? Each one of you who is a clerk must train the other bank officers to meditate. In this way they will be in a special mood, while now they work in the old way. An evangelist was telling me the following, ‘Before I learned the Gospel I used to beat the oxen with a prod for no particular reason and I used to say, ‘You have to work!’ But when I read the Gospel I left the prod behind, I no longer stab or beat the oxen. I give them a little bread; I pat them on the horns and on the muffle. When I converted a change took place, even the oxen were wondering what the reason was. This was the power of the Gospel!...’ When the Truth starts taking effect, a change must take place and one should throw away the prod. The oxen will keep going without a prod, ploughing shall not be intervened[A6] . Many thoughts and many desires accumulate in life. For example, a lecture is being discussed two or three times, information amasses and things become commonplace, the way love letters become commonplace. The first love letters are written in a tremulous hand; you already omit something in the second one, you are not so zealous, ardent, or enthusiastic. Only one love letter can one write in the world, there is something missing in the other love letters. Out of all the letters that I have read the first one has always been written best of all, while there have been mistakes in the other letters. When I find a mistake in any letter I know that it wasn’t the first one. There is one mistake in the second letter, there are two mistakes in the third letter, then four, five and in the end, when everything is a mistake, I understand that this is the last letter. Why does one lose one’s interest? One loses one’s interest in Love as well: in the beginning you will consider somebody an angel. The Turks have a saying ‘prince of princes’ about a person who is still free. Afterwards he desires to develop higher, gets engaged and then such a person is referred to as ‘close to the people’. Later on he decides to get married, and the Turks refer to this by the phrase ‘together with the people’. When he cannot live together with his wife and decides to get divorced, he is referred to as a laughing stock to people. In the beginning he is the prince of princes, then he comes close to the people, afterwards he is together with the people and finally is a laughingstock. Therefore in the beginning a sacred idea shows that we think. One should not get to the last condition. The experiments of the human Spirit to provide a clear idea what should the attitude of man to Life be are actually put in Life[A7] . In the end after applying all the methods you will become perfect like the angels, you won’t get married nor will you deliver children. You will be perfectly free; you will have one Life preconditioned by the entire intelligence. Marriage is a Divine school which you should attend and graduate with honours. Some want to break free. You cannot break free unless you are given sixes[2] in all the subjects and in the graduation exams. When the woman and the man graduate, they will say, ‘We finished school.’ When you elevate to a higher level of development, you will gain strength and you will go and teach the other people. Now, those students that do not know how to study will find fault with the surrounding environment. One may find fault with one’s father that one’s father was not rich, did not have resources or that he himself is not healthy enough. One may find many reasons, but the reason rests with the person himself / herself. Lagging behind is due to another reason. There is one law in the Spiritual world: Everyone must be tested whether one can become the greatest saint. You will be subjected to a test, you will come out last; you will be with the people. If you fail the exam, you will have to sit for it again. The one sent to redo the exam has not passed the exams for saints. He is only the holy second lieutenant and from there will one climb the step upwards. In this respect when suffering is sent to you, do not consider it unhappiness, but a privilege. When you go to God, you shall not complain. Be grateful for the suffering bestowed upon you; be grateful that you have the opportunity to learn! Suffering is an absolute mystery, it is alive. The suffering you are experiencing is related with the development of thousand beings[A8] . You have to understand the internal meaning of suffering and to remain cheerful. As soon as suffering comes, you should become cheerful, smile, sing a little! When suffering comes, don’t you ever ask for how long it will stay! You refresh [A9] under a great grievance. You should be able to refresh for five minutes, five minutes is time enough! Keep a sacred rule within yourself: do not go to God to complain, to worry, to condemn yourself. When you go to God, when He sees you from a distance, you will feel relieved. God is very well aware of your suffering. You want to be cheerful, you cannot, and you ask, ‘Why should I be cheerful; how can I be cheerful?’ To be cheerful in grief does not mean to laugh externally, but to be cheerful within. This is the first rule. Such were the saints: for instance, a knife is stabbed in a saint, but the saint remains calm; the knife is driven even deeper, he is bleeding, but he does not move. It has happened that the person stabbing the knife into the saint cannot bear it anymore, drops down and starts begging forgiveness. How many people like this are there in Bulgaria now? If there is one, he will be an example to follow! It’s not easy to become an example, an ideal, it’s a great art. Knives come, they keep stabbing you, you jump and at times you say, ‘I went to the bottom of hell!’ A being that is taught by God cannot go to the bottom of hell. This is an impression. Impressions are terrible! When a certain condition is suggested by an impression, you may experience what is going on in somebody else’s soul. This is the worst condition. Somebody else’s thought waylays you all around and may talk to you, ‘Nothing will come out of you!’ You should say like a deep spring, ‘In the name of God, let all these imposed limits go where they belong!’ You all suffer the law of impressions: you say that a sister, what’s-her-name, shall not last long. You are not speaking well. The least you can say about her is, ‘May God comes to her aid and let it be what will be; this is God’s business!’ And you say that she is in trouble. Do not say so, because tomorrow somebody else will say the same about you. God has placed this sister or brother to a test, it is meant for their good. You may think about the brother whatever you like, but he may become a saint. A person was telling me that he started drinking at the age of thirty. He returned one evening and someone asked him: - Why are you drunk? - This is none of your business. But the other one started beating and hitting him. Later on the person continued his confession. ‘This friend gave me such a sound thrashing, that I developed repulsion to drinking. As soon as I think of going to a place for a drink, a thought comes up into my mind, ‘No drinking whatsoever!’ This person put fear into me, so much fear that I am grateful to him for beating me. He did save me. I prayed many times to God to help me give up drinking, to rescue me in any way. But I thought that a preacher would come and tell me, ‘Brother, stop drinking!...’ There isn’t anybody among you who has not been thrashed. You are also sometimes given the thrashing by the book. If as a result of such thrashing (whichever way it might have been done) you acquire an internal freedom, the suffering was worth it. Now, there is such a rule: never use the negative, apply the positive! If you don’t know what some work is about, say, ‘This work is for the better!’ What do you gain when you say that nothing will come out of some effort and that nothing will come out of you? Say, ‘Nothing will come out of me the person I am now, but God is stronger that everything in the world!’ You shall start applying these rules! Start with the freedom of your thoughts, so that they can start purifying gradually so that you can acquire this internal freedom. There should be no ambition in you that it is obligatory for you to raise in this life. You should not covet this, but you have to be the masters of yourselves. Good persons should not be afraid of anything. I would like you not to fear anything! You are afraid of the devil, you are afraid of evil people. I will tell you what a young woman can do, what one, who loves, can do: a person is about to do mischief, he meets a young woman, she takes him by the hand, speaks to him, and afterwards the desire not to do any mischief is born within him. You will ask what the young woman did, whether she enchanted him. You have to be brave during any ordeal you experience in your life. God put you through suffering in order to gain experience, in order to know. You will experiment with a certain person, with animals. And sometimes you may experiment with yourself and you may lay hands on yourself. This is self-training. Go to a brother, look at him, take him by the nose and he will be thankful to you. If this person was not in a position to listen to the lecture, even if he were rich, what use is it? If a person is rich and cannot use his wealth, what use is it to him? I call a rich person a person who can make railways, factories, who can plough, who can employ all of his wealth. This is wealth. Now you want to make an experiment, don’t you? For example, you are often absent-minded, you are inclined to forget; you do not remember where you placed things. There are a number of methods to improve your memory. Do you know what absent-mindedness is due to? Everyone may become absent-minded when any uncertainty, about what one can do, gains the upper hand in him or her. When one is overconfident, one becomes tense and when one feels unconfident, one is absent-minded. When I see that some people are arrogant, I know the laws; when others are absent-minded I again know the laws. Many would say, ‘The Spirit talked to me, but I do not remember.’ They demand from other people to remember while they themselves do not remember. The reason lies in their sub-consciousness and actually all should admit that they are not interested. When the Spirit starts talking, you will hear it first of all within yourself. It is impossible for the Spirit to talk to others before talking to me. The Truth must come directly into my soul; if it comes from other souls, it is not a Divine manifestation. Consequently you must know whether or not what you talk about is correct; whether it is good or not. I feel bound to familiarize you exactly with the way the Spirit talks. When God sends a prophet, He tells him, ‘You will go and you will say this and that!’ There is an example in the Bible: David was a great prophet, but he wanted to live like a man. When he sinned God asked Nathan to tell him: - You know who you were – a little shepherd, but God took you and made you King to guide people. Is this the way you guide them? God told Nathan what parable to deliver to him: - There was a rich man and a poor man. The poor one had one lamb and the rich one – a thousand. Visitors came to the rich man but he did not take from his lambs; instead, he took the only lamb of the poor man and feasted his guests with it, Nathan said. - Sentenced to death! said David. Nathan told him: - You did this. Thus spoke God, You did it secretly, but I will make it come out in the open, so that in thousands of years people would know when reading.’ Then David wrote Psalm 51. So that when God starts talking, He will talk clearly. Divine things are accurately determined. You should not be absent-minded, you should have a memory to remember things; if you do not remember, you will learn to remember; if you cannot think, you will learn to think; if you are not a believer, you will learn to believe; if you do not know how to talk, you will learn to talk since every word has its own effect. Do an exercise for a week. This lecture is for the sisters, but let the brother do it as well. When you get up in the morning, place one of your fingers on the centre of memory. You may place one, two or three of your fingers there, you may place all of your fingers on the spot of human memory in the middle of the forehead. If you are absent-minded you will then concentrate your mind for your memory to return so that you can remember instances dating several reincarnations back. You will keep your finger on this spot for five to ten minutes, you shall not think. You may sit down on your knee or a-la-Turkish style[3], you may sit on a chair too, but you have to be calm, nobody should disturb you. Within a week you will accomplish at least one infinitesimal improvement – to remember a word more than previously. I notice that many of you are dissatisfied with life. The older one grows, the more satisfied with life one should be, not ever more dissatisfied. You are pleased that you met another man, he dies tomorrow and you are left without him and you weep. You have met a mirror image that talks to you from within, ‘Is this so or not?’ These are human contemplations that everyone has experienced. The conviction that you have started working in another reincarnation is not faith but a superstition. You start working in every reincarnation, but who started when? Two reincarnations ago Simeon[4] was walking the path along which he is now, but he got stuck at an early age. Therefore he comes early now so that he can continue along this path; he starts working from where he broke off. One starts continuing from the age at which one left this world. One might have left this world at the age of fifty-six years; when that person becomes fifty-six of age, then will he start working. Until then one lives without a single worry in the world, eats and drinks, but once this person reaches the particular age, he says, ‘I got completely stuck up, it can’t go on like this!’ Everywhere you link one of your lives with another; you start from where you have finished your previous life. The beings from the Invisible world always use all the conditions, but sometimes they only hint at these. The Invisible world never forces people, but it provides these conditions, if you have the good will. Similarly they tell Simeon, ‘Come on!’, and he replies, ‘Gladly, hopefully I can improve now! Thanks for telling me!’ Simeon takes the violin and starts. When I saw him in Tarnovo, I even told myself, ‘Who could have made him come here?’ I now take Simeon as an example about the links between the separate lives. As you have entered this Path, make use of all the favourable conditions! You should never be disconcerted with a muddy spring. Perhaps somebody muddled it, or something else happened, but in five, ten, fifteen minutes the spring will be clean. A favourable atmosphere must be created, this is the new aspect. Only in this way the gifts that are hidden in the human soul can develop. Each one has to receive and develop one gift. One should not only pray, one should also prepare to work in a certain area. In this world each one is destined to do something that no one else can do. There is a lot to tell you, but I will do this later on. First of all you should improve your memory! Remember that your thoughts have to be free, your desires have to be free, and your deeds have to be free! Moreover, your thoughts have to be loving thoughts; all the desires have to be loving wishes and your deeds have to be loving deeds! And then the thoughts have to be light, your desires have to be light and your deeds have to be light! This is Divine! Do not think a lot as to how you will do it or what somebody else would say; do it; fear not! Somebody comes to you and wants something from you; you should give him the coin you grabbed when you slipped your hand into your pocket; do not slip your hand again to grab a smaller coin. The man says, ‘Slip your hand into your pocket!’; you slip your hand into your pocket, you grab a big coin, you leave it, and then you grab a smaller one. Whatever you grab, you should give, do not look at it! When you do not look at it, you will grab the devil by the tail. I shall give you an example about John of Kronstadt[5]: a poor widow goes to him and asks him for help. He said to her, ‘I will pray and it will be what the Lord says. Come after a week.’ During this time a distinguished earl died, one of whose heirs was John of Kronstadt. His relative left him eight thousand roubles in an envelope. When the woman came again, John of Kronstadt told her: - This is what the Lord granted. He called the earl who left this. When the woman opened the envelop, she got scared and said, - Brother, you are mistaken; I do not need that much money! - But this is what the Lord sent through me; take it, use it! When the time to implement God’s Will comes, we have to implement it properly. When the time to work according to the laws of Freedom comes, whatever we might meet, we have to implement God’s Will. Not to think along human lines, not to allow the vainglorious thought and desire to be blessed by the Lord. When the water fountain comes up, it does not think that it has to come up, because there is an internal pressure. It does not invest any efforts because the water that comes creates pressure. First, you start along the Path you abandoned. You are not bad, but you have to know where you abandoned the good, you have to find the internal bond. You have to immediately find the place where you left the good; you have to make a bond and to start working. And you should not ask instead what you were in the past. Somebody comes and asks what he was in the past. And I tell him, ‘You interrupted this work and that work, get down and do it!’ Somebody became forty-five years of age and wanted to continue his studies at the university. A reincarnation back he had to leave the university, because he could not graduate by the age of forty-five. Now he comes at an old age and says, ‘I will graduate the university!’ There are grandmothers who sit for their graduation exams at the age of sixty. A desire that they could not implement at the age of twenty-two is coming to life now: they could not finish their secondary education because of love affairs – they had a love affair with this one, and with that one, and they could not finish school. They tricked this lad, they duped that lad, but they did not think of completing their studies. In another case a young lassie obtains a certificate for secondary education, but she leaves for the other world; then she comes back in her third reincarnation as a young woman of envious social standing… These aspects will become clear to you. Read books and novels of similar contents. The novels for you have been written and are kept at various libraries. You have to possess the printed version of the whole novel where you are the main character. Which one of you doesn’t have a novel? There is no person among you who doesn’t have a novel; you all have novels. Some day when you complete your development, you will go to libraries to read your novel from the beginning to the end and to study your life. You will read how you existed in one of your incarnations, in another, in the third, the fourth, the fifth, the tenth incarnation and after reading your entire life, you will then start reading the lives of the others, of your friends. But this will happen in the future. Now, I want you all to become like little children. You have become very much adults. Christ says, ‘If you do not become like little children, you won’t enter the Kingdom of God.’ You have to be like children internally, at your heart – you should believe even if you were lied to ten times. When I was carrying out my research around Bulgaria, I came across a very interesting case: two children were left in baby-carriages – the one was three years old, and the other one – four or five years old. As they were sitting in their baby-carriages, the older one grabbed the younger one by the hair and shook him. The second child started crying, while the one was looking at him very seriously like a professor. Then I saw the younger child grab the older one by the hair and shook him in turn. Now, the older child started crying. Then again the first child grabbed the second one. Thus these children grabbed each other several times and finally they became wiser, they smiled, hugged each other and started kissing each other. This is a performance. I ask what its meaning is. Somebody comes, grabs you by the hair, shakes you; the Divine Will in the world is that when somebody grabs you and shakes you, you are supposed to learn something. The first thing you have to learn is that God loves you. The second thing you have to learn is that you love thy neighbours. The third thing you have to learn is that thy neighbours love you. The first one is that God loves you, and then you love. When the time for you to love comes, you start feeling that people love you. Sometimes someone comes to you and you feel that you do not love him; then another one comes, whose presence is pleasurable to you… The first thing you have to know is that God loves you, that you love thy neighbours and that thy neighbours love you. This is a program! If you are successful at implementing it, you will resolve your problem. Now, sing ‘In the beginning was the Word’. Master’s lecture Delivered on 7 April 1932 (Annunciation) Sofia, Izgreva [1] The lecture was attended by brothers as well (editor’s notes) [2] Six is ‘excellent’, the top mark [3] A-la-Turkish style – this is a sitting position with knees bent and feet crossed under opposite thighs. [4] Simeon – brother Simeon Simeonov is meant here, amateur violinist who conducted the Brotherly choir at Izgreva for many years (notes of the editor of the Bulgarian edition) [5] John of Kronstadt – a Russian Orthodox priest, (1829-1908); known for his proverbial mercy and captivating eloquence (notes of the editor) [A1][agitate or disturb] [A2][agitating} [A3][disturbs] [A4][And what special attention you pay to this} [A5][concerning] [A6]Usage – maybe [interrupted] [A7][The experiments of the human Spirit are actually put in Life to provide a clear idea of what the attitude of man to Life should be.] [A8][a thousand beings] or [thousands of beings] [A9][You should/must refresh]

Note 2p Faith as Law The good prayer ‘The Divine Spirit’ Read John: 1; 1-10. Do you know what an object teaching is? I call an object teaching everything that studies what God created. While now you do not study what God created. This is not an object teaching. For instance the black board is not an object teaching. I call objects the living objects while this blackboard is an object inasmuch as an intelligent human being can write on it, so that it serves as a mirror for him. Figure 1 What is this on the first drawing? – A window… You are like little children and this is good. Until one becomes a little child, one cannot enter God’s Kingdom, i.e. one cannot study. What is the purpose of a window? The larger the window, the nicer and lighter the house becomes. Such a house is fully hygienic and one does not fall ill in it. The narrower this window gets, the less light penetrates, and the objects in the room become darker and vaguer. In the end it gets dark and you start bumping into one another. Can one study in a dark room? Does the window stand for letting light come in? Its second function is to let air in. A house having a window, always has a door too; a house having a door, always has a window, too. The door should always be kept closed, while not only light but air as well should come through the window. And when it is stuffy inside, you open the door to let more air in. A human being is a house – the best house that has ever been built. There is no better house on Earth than the human being. One has two windows and one entrance door, two ventilators, two head-phones to communicate with the external world, there is one inspector verifying things and one tongue checking whether what has come in is good or not. When it is not, this inspector does not allow it inside. There are also two servants in this house – these are the hands. When somebody from the outside comes in, the hands say, ‘Welcome.’ So, a human being has five senses. The five senses are alive. You have to know whether your senses are normal, whether your smell and eye-sight function normally. There is eyesight in the world that can see a human being not only from the outside. A human being cannot be known from the outside only. You have to know a human being both internally and externally. One can put on a very beautiful mask and all the traits of an excellent and kind human being may be inscribed upon it. How will you know if a person is good or bad; how will you know if a person has a mask or not? You will tell the person who came to visit you wearing a mask, ‘There is a rule at home requiring that everybody visiting us should take a bath!’ This mask will melt in the water. One cannot take a bath in a mask. One will start sweating, and all the people who sweat, wear masks. There is some space between the mask and the body. Hence, if somebody comes, how will you know it? You will tell him that he has to wash, to take his mask off. He will say, ‘I’m all in sweat, I’m so hot inside, I tend to sweat.’ When does a person sweat? When one is sick. After sweating, one’s health improves and the person says, ‘Excuse me, I put on a mask when I was outside, I will take it off now.’ He will take his mask off and you will see him. This is an object teaching. You will ask, how can one be in a mask? When you pretend to be what you are not, what are you wearing then? If you present yourself for what you are not, then you are not free, you have a mask. So, you have to take this mask off! People wearing masks are distinguished by two traits: they are either infinitely soft and good, or utterly rude. One who is infinitely soft wears a mask. You cannot count on him only, because he gives in: the Turks have a saying, ‘One makes peace with seven ends’. Wherever such a person enters, he plays all the roles. Because his mask is big, when walking he tires easily and he says, ‘I’m at the end of my tether.’ His mask is heavy; this is why he is soft. While the mask of the one who is rude is rather light, therefore one is strong. You have to dispose of this softness and rudeness that result from your masks. I am not talking about you now. The animal and floral kingdoms are presented in this way in everybody. This is a rule and rarely will you meet a person whom you will like on seeing. Figure 2 What can you see in the second drawing? – A cup. But it is such a big cup, which looks like a plate, is this possible? In a house, you have to be a plate or a cup, which one is more important? One has to be a cup in a certain aspect, while one has to be a plate in another aspect. It resembles also a watering pot. A cup is a symbol. Do not get embarrassed, I do not want to upset your concepts, but I want to show you that symbols can transform. Thus the symbol (see Figure 3) can transform itself into the symbol (see Figure 4). It forms the letter ‘a’. So, if you draw a line across the root of the symbol (see Figure 3) or if you connect the two letters ‘г’ and ‘с’ at a place, the letter ‘a’ is formed. When these two letters cross, you have learnt the first letter. What do you have to do in order to learn the second letter? Figure 3 Figure 4. The second letter ‘б’ means that you have to place a base, a foundation; there must be a place for you to find support. The first letter shows that you have a seed, and the second one that you have sown the seed and it has grown in the ground. We deviated from the topic of the object teaching. So, the cup became a plate, it became a watering pot too. If we take the handle off the cup, it becomes a pot. What can the pot become? These are functions, offices that the pot can take; these are, certainly, high offices. What is the function of the cup? The function of the cup is to scoop up and to hold. You can hold it, you can fill your plate with it and you can pour out. So, a cup can have several functions: to scoop and retain hot water. With plates there is a certain progress; plates are meant for human beings only. And the watering pot’s function is to spread water to plants. Man made the cup; man takes it and fills it with water. Man always imitates God. Then, where are the plates in Nature? Now, let’s go back to the idea about the house. For a house to be hygienic, its windows have to be large, its door has to be reliable and not to squeak; there must be sufficient light, sufficient air in the room. Well, where is the cup of man? This is his hand. God gave him a cup and if a man drinks only from his hand, he will never fall ill. A man going to a fountain should not place his mouth, but his hand, below the spout. If people do not use their Divine cup, if they place their mouths at the spout, a worm or a leech may enter them and they may suffer for years because of this. If a man uses one’s hand, he will first see whether the water in one’s cupped hand is clean and only then will he drink. The one doing things like this is a master. You must have the best window panes and the best doors. In conclusion, the eyes of man are one’s windows through which one understands things. A man who makes his own house learns from it. You open and close the windows all year long – so, you have learnt how to. The windows are made to teach man and to serve man, and the window panes have to be clean. If the window panes are not clean inside or outside, very little light will come in. Do you invite light or does it come in uninvited? It comes to visit you without any invitation. The air that comes in through the window also comes in uninvited. What can you then realistically learn from this object? Why does light come in uninvited? In case people can do you some harm, you will close the window. When a good man comes over, you have to open all the windows, and when an evil man comes in, you have to close all the windows. I now talk about your conditions: each condition that holds back your abilities, feelings and actions through which you can manifest it, is not good. For example, you say, ‘I do not need much learning, much feeling!’ One does not suffer because of too much learning, from too many feelings or from too much good or from too much Love. I haven’t seen a person suffering from too much Love. From lovelessness I have seen people suffering; the whole world suffers from lovelessness, not from too much Love. And if at times there is suffering in the name of Love, this is something fictitious that is only labeled ‘Love’. What should you understand under Love? Love is the greatest power in the world that delivers to man what a man’s soul needs. Love is when you are given what you need in Life. Only Life delivered through Love can be called Life. This is Life, while the external manifestations and caresses are not Love. These are frills, these are red, blue and green embellishments, but this is not Love. Moreover when these embellishments are not present, Love does not change. Somebody may do something for you without loving you, while somebody else may speak to you in endearing terms, without doing anything for you. In the second case these are only labels. What is a lie then? Lies indicate that Love is absent. A man must imitate God. And a man has one stove. It is the heart where certain energy develops. Only that this stove, in order to produce better flames, needs a blower. These are the lungs. They function constantly, and the stove burns, gives out warmth and the blood spreads all over the body. The heart has valves. If a person enters your home, brings in love and closes all the valves, what will happen? There is smoke in a house with clogged pipes and the stove cannot burn. As there is smoke, the valves of the heart are closed. First you will open the valves for ventilation! On becoming friends with somebody, you should watch out for him/her not to close the valves of your heart. Because only two persons live in the world – the one called Man, and the other one called Woman. There is nobody else apart from them. The thousands of women are a reflection of the One Woman. Sometimes they cooperate and form the big Woman. On the other hand this big woman has the capacity to radiate out of herself similar ones and thus the women in the world become many. Isn’t it a funny situation when you want to be the master of your Mother? As early as her birth the daughter starts ordering her mother, saying, ‘Our Mother is so well educated, but she is not modern, she belongs to the old type of women.’ I will explain to you why you came to the earth as women. When you initially took over this service, what declaration did you make, were you made women against your will? A woman is distinguished on the earth by one characteristic feature; faith must be a law to her. If we believe only in what happened, this is not faith. Faith is to believe in everything that can happen, because what did not happen to you, happened to somebody else. Someone is rich, while someone else is not, but the One who made the first person rich, will make you so too. You are not educated, but you believe that you can become educated. Everybody can become educated. A woman has to believe that everything can happen. Someone will say that this is gullibility. You will believe in everything! Precisely the one who does not believe in everything is gullible. He believes what cannot be believed in. For instance, you women, think that you have faith, don’t you? Many of you set up homes and believe that they will live happily with their spouses all their life long. Then you say, ‘It did not turn out the way we believed it would.’ You are not in a complete world on the earth, but in a world which is in progress, which is currently developing. You have entered a give-and-take relationship with your spouse; this person has capital somewhere, but it takes ten-fifteen years for him to gather this capital. Although he might be very rich, he does not have money at his disposal and you start doubting and you say, ‘I thought he was rich, but he isn’t.’ If the slightest obstacles can shake your faith, what will you believe in, then? I want to tell you where women’s suffering comes from. The beginning of all the suffering of women is their present weak faith. For instance, a young maid is told by her father and mother, ‘You cannot live with this lad’, but she replies, ‘I cannot live without him, if I do not marry him, I will die!’ This is what she believes in. Having married him, after two years she says, ‘Life with him is like death!’ Why, she married him having faith and being completely aware [of his character], didn’t she? No, she was misguided by his mask - his pointed moustaches, his gloves, his patent leather shoes, his courteous bows. He tells her, ‘You are very cruel to me, I cannot be without you!’ When a woman is told that she is like a goddess, she opens up like a snail. When he tells her, ‘You are an angel, you are a goddess’, she opens up, but afterwards, after they get married, he tells her, ‘I thought you were an angel, but certain instances in your life show that you do not act like the angels do; I notice that some words of your vocabulary are not from the world of angels and started doubting a little bit whether you can speak the language of the angels.’ Figure 5. Figure 6. This is an object teaching. I show you the relations that are generated. When two persons unite in any relationship, they form two poles A and B (Fig. 5). A straight line is formed between two friends. As long as the minds of these two beings function properly, as long as they think properly, this ellipsis is very regular, it moves, it improves. As soon as some disharmony enters between these beings, this ellipsis loses its form (Fig. 6), until so much smoke is generated that they decide to make a chimney in order to get rid of these misfortunes. You say that a house cannot be without a chimney. As soon as a chimney gets into a house, the angelic life cannot go on and you already have an ordinary human life. You see that the inhabitants of this house are sick and how can they not be sick as there is smoke? The house of the quarrelsome people cannot be without smoke, while the house of the amiable people needs windows and doors, not chimneys. Factories also have chimneys. Now, you feel a desire growing within you and you say, ‘What does the Master want to say?’ I do not want to say anything, I am simply talking about windows and doors, I want to know whether there is smoke in your house or not. You will say, ‘Our eyes are sore from a lot of smoke.’ What God created we have to place above everything else. One should not disturb one’s feelings, one’s thoughts, one’s actions and one’s physical body. For example you say, ‘I should not have trusted him so much!’ Nobody has suffered so far because of faith; one can suffer because of trust, because of believing, but not because of faith. Faith can be put in a man, believing in what God gave him. Believe that he has a soul and your faith should not be shaken! This person may talk evil or good, may be good or bad, but this should not guide your faith. Because if you are trustworthy, if you find some person unpleasant from your point of view and if this were actually correct, in such a case God would have eliminated him from the world. But since God has not eliminated him, this means you are not right. Somebody who is bad for one person is good for another. You have some knowledge by which you show your ignorance and instead of believing, you say, ‘This person is bad.’ This is not faith, this is knowledge. What do you base your knowledge on, why is he bad? The first requirement to you as women is to have an absolute faith. Even when you are aware that you are being lied to, you have to be like the spring of water: not to get bewildered by whoever comes to drink, even if he is a rogue; even if a wolf, a bear, a serpent or a spider comes, you should say, ‘It’s all right’; even if your water goes to some thorn or to some impurity, you should say, ‘It’s all right’. You should not get bewildered that what goes out of you is soiled. If the water had the same line of reasoning like yours, if it gave up helping people, what would happen to the people then? Then all of you will be dead. You have one aspiration – you all want to become happy. However, happiness rests on an internal spiritual law. It is impossible for the entire society to be happy, do not entertain illusions. Each one, when one has faith, can be happy. This is a specific law that is a function of one’s faith. If one has an absolute faith in God, one thinks that everything that happens in the world is meant for the better. Such a person says, ‘If God, who sent me in the world, had allowed certain suffering, these are meant for the better!’ Therefore one must believe in God and one’s faith should never be shaken. You want to manage your affairs properly. How can you manage your affairs? Can you manage the affairs of the Sun, can you manage the affairs of the water, can you manage the affairs of all the people? You can hardly manage your own affairs, and you want to manage everybody’s affairs. A man from the village of Nikolaevka used to wear a warm hat even in the hottest day. He used to explain, ‘I am ashamed to take my warm hat off, because a person came to do a hair-cut for me and he made me look funny; I am waiting for my hair to grow a little before I take off my hat…’ Similarly, you too want to manage people, but then you cut them so badly that they have to wear a hat for a whole year. A sister wants to teach the other sisters and she says, ‘You should be very generous!’ You should set an example to her, as if you were a professor, how can you demonstrate in any other way to someone how to be generous? Then, generous people must possess another trait too: a generous person must be like that one who has been giving for twenty years, but still nobody knows that he has ever given something. You may be generous, but everybody knows about it. Well, this is good, it’s not a sin, it’s not a crime, but I ask, how will you teach the lesson of generosity? All of you should remember the following: you cannot teach any teaching, any virtue to anybody, if this virtue is not within you. This is a law. You cannot ever light a fire, though you might have a box of matches, if the latter is wet. So, if you have one virtue, you can hand it over and I would do a piece of good in the following way: a beggar comes; I shall not give him money, but I will put him to test, and I will ask ten of my friends to give me one lev[1] each, I will also contribute one lev and I will afterwards buy with this money some flour and salt. I will return and sieve the flour, I will knead it, I will make a fire and I will bake some bread. At the same time I will watch the beggar. Then I will tell him, ‘Chop some wood to get it done faster!’ I will then buy some beans and will cook them. In this way I will teach him patience and I will see whether he is poor. If he feels uneasy, he is not poor. If he stays and takes part, he learns with me and rejoices with me that I knead bread and cook beans for him. He too is involved and feels happy. He is poor, but if he suffers, he is not a poor man and then I know why God made him poor. Consequently, when a poor man comes, collect ten leva, buy flour and knead some bread, make him wait. A man begging here and there is a trader; let him wait for three hours to have the bread baked, to have the beans cook and you will see if he will come to your place again. In this way you have an advertisement, because he will tell everybody in town that you wasted three hours of his time. Thus you will try at the same time both yourself and the poor person, and the work will be pleasing for God. Imagine that you live in the old times, when women used to take food to the saints: a woman would knead bread herself, and would take the pot and the warm bread to the saint. The saint is sitting and says, ‘God bless you!’ This beggar is a saint; all the saints are beggars in the woods. A woman would bake some bread and take it to them, because they are very busy, they pray. And the invisible world puts into a soul the thought to take something to them. A beggar does not have to be a stupid man. If the beggar is a saint, receive him at your home, and if a blockhead comes, give him the hoe to dig in the vineyard. I consider it humiliating to give somebody one lev. I haven’t worked for this lev, and by giving it to him, I am doing him no good. This is no good, this is no favour whatsoever. I give him one lev and he looks at it and says, ‘How little you spared from your heart, I’d rather you told me you did not have money.’ No, I prefer kneading some bread for him. You want a method according to which to work for God. You want to work in the old way. You all know the old ways. The new Teaching is incompatible with the old habits. If, to a person coming to your home, you cannot do a good that you would do for your son or daughter whom you love, such a good is not accepted by God. And if the mother does not serve her children out of love, she is no mother and her good is no good before God. What a mother does must be agreeable before God. God lives in every human being, doesn’t He, as you argue and as you try to believe? You say that God lives in everyone and if a man, in whom God lives, comes to me and if I want to get rid of him, then do I believe in this One God who lives everywhere? So, I do not believe in the God who lives everywhere, but then I pray to Him, ‘God, show me Your Will?’ Another person, who is poor, comes to you and you give him one lev; how can you pray to God then? If we change our views radically, we shall give an impulse then, a new understanding of the world. If we pity the poor people, as we do now, we cannot help them. If we pity our children, as we do now, we shall not achieve what we want. Because the home is a divine unit. Your son having departed for the other world, must be tied to your home and must help it. He has to write letters to his mother and father. When the father departs, he also has to write letters to his folks. As soon as you stop writing, you have no home. If it is a home, be it here on the earth, or in the other world, it is all the same – home is home. Home is based on Love. So I was saying: I want you to form one big family. You are all sisters in a bigger family. You all come from one Father and one Mother, but you still do not know one another as sisters. So, you come from one father and your family started two thousand generations ago. If you allot ninety-five years to a generation, then a bond among you started forming at least fifty thousand years ago. You still do not know that you come from one family. You say that you are sisters, but you are not prepared to sacrifice something for one another. You are very good, but you haven’t come to the science to sacrifice for each other. You say, ‘Why should I sacrifice myself for this sister?’ If she is a Divine sister, you have to sacrifice yourself. I shall deliver an interpretation on the difference between a young man and a young woman [in Bulgarian „момъкъ” и „мома”]. The word „мома” has four letters, and the word „момъкъ” – six letters. Four plus six equals ten. A woman would always come back to her right senses at the end, while a young man would have a thought. A young woman, after finishing her work, learns; while a young man would add two more letters. Why should he add two more letters to the work? A young woman is supposed to make only two sacrifices: first she would have to leave her native home in the material world and the second one is to die. A young man too would have to leave his native home; therefore he makes a boat „К” in which they can settle in Heaven. The letter „К” is a boat, and the letter „Ъ” is the steering wheel (Fig. 7). I will give a clarification now: I mean the human mind and the human heart when talking about the young man and the young woman. Such is the relationship between the human soul and the human spirit. And when talking about a man and a woman, this is the lowest level of comparison. The human heart is a young woman. When your Love is true, your heart functions properly; when your Love is not true, your heart pounds fast at times and slowly at other times. Women must inevitably have faith; if you have no faith, you are not a woman. If you are a woman, you have the highest rank that God can give you in the world. This is what being a woman is about. Figure 7 .You do not want to Be a woman. Then what do you want to be? — A man. You become a man, but you do not want to be a man either. What do you have to become then? — A human being. A human being you have to become! This is the third option. Becoming a human being means to harmonise these poles in one. Both poles have to be identical – both the man and the woman. All the disgrace for the last eight thousand years that man has been through is placed upon the shoulders of the woman. All this has to be cleaned, until we discover the woman as a precious stone. A lot of awful stuff has been written about women; all the authors have written all things bad about them, but this is fiction. According to them the woman is the worst and in spite of all this nothing in the world happens without her. The world cannot develop without women. What should be done? Someone will say, ‘There is no person more sinful than the woman.’ If this were true, the woman should not exist in the world, but she does exist. God assigned her a task – to correct the world, and you have to correct yourselves too. In order to correct yourselves, you have to have one basic law: you should not regret the fact that you are women. God, who has been so thoughtful, made you women; this is the greatest happiness for you. If a person did not have a heart and if a person did not have a soul, what would a person have looked like? Then there would have been no event in the world. A person without a heart or without a soul would be a cruel person. Hence God gave you a task to develop your heart and to serve the soul. In this life you elevate and prepare not on the earth. You want to please your husband, to raise and please your daughter and your son. You won’t be able to please your husband, your daughter and your son. In order to please him, this man will ask a lot from you, while millions you do not have. Your husband will become poor tomorrow, he will start drinking, will take up indecent ways; what will you do? You will say, ‘I will divorce him!’ Then where has your faith gone; why did you get married now that you are going to get divorced? Divorces do not resolve any issues. Years ago a Bulgarian who was studying occult sciences came to visit me, displeased with his wife, and he said, ‘My wife is impossible to live with, I am already considering leaving her.’ I said to him, ‘You may leave her, but are you considering taking another one?’ – ‘Yes.’ – I replied to him, ‘Then, you cannot find a woman better than her. If you leave her you will be in the worst misfortune, but if you carry on, you will raise in your next incarnation.’ Similarly the woman, enduring all the troubles of her present husband, will be granted a high position by God in her next life. If you do something, that God does not want, you place an obstacle in your evolution. There is a sort of fear from the decision about what you have to do. You are afraid of your husband; your husband is not apprehensive, but you are. You have to say, ‘Fear is a blessed feeling given by God!’ Human conscience is created upon human fear, human justice. If there was no fear, you would not have been just; justice takes its roots from fear. What are you most afraid of? You are robbed and you are afraid. You will say, ‘It’s all right, it’s all right!’ You will be generous and when you give away the fear will stop. Fear is not a misfortune, but when you think that you will die, that you can be killed, you beguile yourself and then you live without faith. Fear tells you, ‘Go get God’s Will implemented![A1] ’ And there is a danger if you do not implement God’s Will, you will have to go through a lot of trouble. This is the fear that you have to heed; you will tell yourself, ‘I will implement God’s Will!’ As soon as you implement God’s Will, you will feel no fear. You get scared from a bear in the woods and start running away; God is trying[A2] you whether you are trained in running and says, ‘My child is good at running.’ A man running away from a bear, will never make a scandal, while the one not running away from a bear, may make a scandal. The one not running away represents another danger. Define what an old man is. If you call a sister old because she cannot walk and she needs somebody to accompany her, this is not right. She is an invalid or she is disabled. If she cannot think, she is stupid; if she cannot hear, she is deaf; if she cannot see, she is blind. Why do you call her old then? If a sister cannot walk, if her ears are where they should be; if her eyes are where they should be, why do you call her old? I want to free you now from the understanding that she is old. I should have found you when you were young dancing horo[2]! But out of decorum I did not come, not to spoil your horo. It felt nice when you danced at the horo, didn’t it? There was stamping, leaping, you were clad in nice clothes! All of this was fine, excellent it was, while now you have to leave the horo. When at the horo you were told, ‘You cannot dance; we do not want you here!’ You have come to me now to learn how to dance at the horo. The wheel of horo is Life. One leaps and raises one’s feet, which means doing good. This is not only the good thought. You start with your right foot – you do one good; then with the left foot – you do another good. Then you move your hands. Each movement in you should be a pure thought. Why do you have to walk? In order to be shown how to do good. Why did God give you feet? To do good. You will say, ‘Blessed be my feet, God gave me feet for me to do good! Blessed be my hands, God gave me hands for me to do good! God loves the intelligent people, he has been waiting for them for so long. He has been watching you while you were dancing and leaping. He has been watching you and has been waiting for you while you were saying, ‘I found a spouse.’ – ‘Very well!’ – ‘We have a child!’ God says again, ‘Very well!’ – ‘We are hungry.’ He says, ‘Very well!’ – ‘We are thirsty.’ He says, ‘Very well!’ God never says that it is bad. Both hunger and thirst and everything happening in the world, is good all the same. These are the conditions that create the future Culture to which man is aspiring. All these thoughts and feelings that torment man, will be transformed for your personal good. Your entire future life, your strengths, your future depends on what you experience. Rejoice that you experience this suffering! Trees and animals do not have your experiences, but they whither and die fast. How many trees would have liked to be in your place, but they are not allowed to. If you are not pleased with Life, God will make you happy by giving you a form. If you feel that there is no happiness, he will place you in another form, but if you want to develop, he will make you a human being. You will have to have faith in God! It need not be proved. If you believe in what you do not know, others know it. Wider windows you have to have. Purify your heart. You have to have more faith, to help each other as sisters. The sister is within. You cannot love a sister externally, if you do not love her internally. Each sister you have to find internally, in order to get to know her externally. If sisterhood is not born in the relations between the souls, you will die without learning anything, and the inscription on your tomb stone will be, ‘A sister lived and departed for the other world, but she is not prepared even there. This sister will inevitably have to return to the earth.’ Thus you will redo your first school year until you learn to pronounce the letter and when you learn it, you will be strong. Live, but allow absolutely no mistakes! Whatever the mistake is about, you will return to the earth, there are no exceptions for anybody. You say, ‘But I do not know.’ No, everybody has to be perfect! It is said, ‘Be perfect, the way Your Father is perfect.’ You have to have a powerful belief. For instance, one of the sisters among you is suffering, she cannot live, she does not get along with her husband; let all of you get together, send good thoughts to her and to her spouse. Tell her spouse, in your mind, ‘You are very good; we love you very much!’ When you keep sending these thoughts for five minutes everyday, you will see that the man will start thinking that she too is an angel. And you say, ‘She actually is just like this!’ You will send good thoughts to one another; to one sister, to two, to three, to four, to as many sisters as you want will you send such thoughts! It is experience you want, don’t you! First you pray for a home where there is no agreement, send good thoughts to it. Pray for God to send blessing to this home. Did you learn the lines by heart? A line reads, ‘If you have Love for me, heed my commandments.’ The first commandment is to have absolute faith! As long as you have faith, the difficult issues will be resolved. When you lift up the stone, the dead will come back to life. A person with whom you cannot get along with is dead. The dead will rise, which means that Love will come, the meaning of Life will come. The modern people live among the dead. The Scripture reads, ‘Without faith God cannot be pleased.’ You cannot serve God without faith. Serving is serving, only when offered in an absolutely complete faith. It is said, ‘God will take us over.’ Well, if God is taking you, He is with you. If you start alone, you won’t be a success. This is about the four lines. The fifth line is about the Spirit. The Spirit is the Divine Light, the Powerful one. The spirit is the one that maintains the lives of all the living creatures, and not only that one that speaks to man. ‘The Spirit is the thing that gives life: the flesh is no use; the words I am saying to you are Spirit and Life.’ We shall apply the lines that I gave you. A number of small experiments shall have to be done in order for you to have faith. Someone will say, ‘We cannot make the poor people rich.’ It is not necessary to make the world rich. There is a lot of richness in the world. This is God’s richness, but richness is not evenly distributed. If everybody becomes rich, they will have a bad life. Under the current understanding not everybody can be rich. And those who are rich do not live according to God. Poverty is of more help, it has excellent features. There is a blessed poverty and blessed richness. There is unreasonable richness and unreasonable poverty. When the rich and the poor are pleased, then there is a blessed richness and blessed poverty, and when they grumble neither richness nor poverty is blessed. Nobody can be rich, if he has not been poor; and nobody can be poor, if he has not been rich. You will say, ‘How come?’ Never can a being love a man, who has not been a woman. Never can a being love a woman, who has not been a man. Because a woman cannot love a woman. If this is so let all the women gather then to live one human life on the earth! So, the law is: in order for a woman to be loved, she must be loved by a man; but never can a being love a woman, who has not been a man; hence, a being that is supposed to love a woman, must have been a man; and every being that is supposed to love a man must have been a woman. You want to be loved. Who should love you? A man. What does man stand for? The reasonable, the Spirit. Only the Spirit can love a woman, only the Soul can love a man. Then, what you expect must be the Spirit. Do not expect your happiness to come where it won’t come from. The present life is just a phase where you are given all the conditions only to elevate a step above. For each one of you, no matter under what circumstances you are placed, this is just one phase. Do not be sorry, do not say, ‘Why am I not like that sister?’ No, this sister has to be pleased and grateful for the situation she is placed in. Each one of you is given the conditions necessary for the elevation of one’s soul. And if any man can coax you, you are not a woman. One woman can love only one man. One woman cannot love two men; there is no such law in Nature. Neither can a man love two women. These are illusions and all sinful situations are born from them. Or put in other words, there exists only one Spirit in the world, who gives all the goods. A man is the image of the Divine Spirit. If the man who is coming carries the Divine Principle in order to help you, this is the man you have to love. If a man comes who wants to distance you from the purpose of Life, he is an enemy of yours. If you want to have one ideal, this is it, towards it you have to strive! Whatever the mistakes of the man you have may be, you will insist on this ideal, until he rectifies all his mistakes. A man has a number of mistakes made not under his will. These infirmities have come from somewhere both in men and in women. The Divine Spirit must come to liberate you from these infirmities. These are the habits, the practices. When one liberates oneself from all of these impurities and when one finds oneself in a world of Love, then one will say, ‘Blind was I, but now I can see.’ You want to know what the New Teaching rests upon. The way you have lived so far – you should put aside. So far you have not lived, you have been suffering so far. I call Life a condition under which the Kingdom of Love, Wisdom, Truth, where Life is manifested in its completeness, where Light is manifested in its completeness and, where Freedom is manifested in its completeness. You have a friend, a companion; you should have no doubts whatsoever in her! Whenever you look at her, you should always trust her; when you see her, your heart should tremble and you should be glad that you have a friend! This should be your ideal! You say, ‘We do not live according to God now’; this is nonsense. Not that we have to live according to God, but God has to live within us. So far we keep living without God within us. Nobody lives outside God, but God has to live inside us, in order for us to acquire this understanding. Similarly the idea about the man should not be an external idea, but an internal one. The man has to be inside you, to carry him in your soul and wherever he might be, you should be glad for him. A woman, suspecting her husband in any crime, is not a woman. She must not suspect him of any crime, if she wants to be a woman. If you have some bitter stuff in a glass made of precious stones, worth millions, do you have to smash it against the ground in order to free it from the bitter stuff? Pour out the bitter stuff, wash the glass once, twice; it’s the fault of the glass, you will place something nice in it. Consider a man to be a precious glass; if something bitter is placed in it, pour out the bitter stuff, but do not smash your husband. No, the man is not the bitter contents, but the precious glass. He is the soul. And when this glass comes to life, it will say, ‘Thank you so much that you saved me from this poison that was going to kill me!’ „Our Lord" Master’s Lecture, Delivered on 31 March 1932, 16 h, Sofia, Izgreva [1] Lev – the Bulgarian national currency [2] Horo – is a national folk dance usually in public, the central square place, people dancing in a line hand in hand with one another [A1][Go and implement God’s will.] [A2][testing]

Note 3 It Constrains Us „For the love of Christ constraineth us” Corinthians: 5; 14 The good prayer Chapter Five of the second Epistle to the Corinthians was read. Love constrains the bare-footed to put on shoes, the hungry to eat, the naked to put on clothes, the ignorant to acquire knowledge, the rich to open their hearts and give. Love constrains us to everything. You will do any good you want to do only if Love constrains you. This word is strong. The most capable Christians have completed their studies long ago and have been conferred diplomas in Heaven and have taken assignments to serve at various offices. The mediocre ones were left here. You are some of those mediocre ones; you are not lagging behind; you are not from the very capable either; because if you had been from the very capable ones, you would have completed your studies. While some of you repeat the same class for two or three years and say that they do not remember. Well, when they have to give - they do not remember, but when they have to take - they remember. You will say now, “Why do I repeat the class?” If I tell you why you dropped, we shall waste time. You know why sometimes your sons and daughters repeat a class at school, don’t you? The same reasons are valid for you too. Some want to have an easy life. Who has stayed to study for four-five hours in the evening? Such people say, “I’ll study in my old age”, but such people are sorry for not studying when they become old. This is one of the reasons, but there are also external reasons: some people will talk you out of it, “Why do you have to walk along this Path?” You do not have to repeat a class at least now. What’s gone is gone; it’s all the same whether you do or don’t know the reasons. But what one can do under the present circumstances – this is what is important. The main point is to complete your studies, to prepare yourself to work, not to talk only. I want to take you to an actual, a real thought. For example, you do not know how to make experiments. Read the Bible! When Christ was talking – people then were like you – they did not understand what He wanted to tell them. So one day the disciples told Him, “Why do you talk to them like this?” Christ answered, “They are not granted.” Because His listeners were not from the capable ones, but were ignorant, lagging behind. Jews in the time of Christ were backward, while the most capable, the prophets were His disciples. John says that out of all the Jewish people one hundred and forty-four thousand were capable. However, there is no Bulgarian prophet to say how many Bulgarians are capable. I do not want to write about this, if a Bulgarian John comes, he may write and prophesy. A disciple can be incapable for a period of time and may later on become capable; it is possible for a student to be very capable for some time and to become incapable afterwards. It is possible for somebody not to be beautiful until a certain age and then to become beautiful. In “The Miserables” Cosette was not beautiful in the beginning and then she became beautiful. And when she became beautiful, what did she acquire alongside this? Who is the main hero in this novel? A voice from the audience: Jean Valjean. Cosette was a huge trial for Jean Valjean, so that it could be seen how he would act. He was put to a test, he made a sacrifice and he elevated. Every human being has one’s Cosette, she will become beautiful and she will leave this person. So such a person must sacrifice something from oneself. In this book Hugo wanted to put forward the idea that there is no elevating in the world without sacrifice. You cannot elevate yourself without sacrificing. If you do not work, you can’t become rich. If one does not put clothes on, one cannot be dressed; if one does not put shoes on, one cannot walk in shoes. In the quoted line Paul says, “The Love of Christ constrains us”. There were cases when you felt Love, which one of you has not felt Love? Whenever people felt that Love constrained them, they have acted foolishly. When a child does something out of Love, the mother tells the child that the child is silly. The child has to put up with reproaches and derision everywhere. But if the child is persistent in the constraint of this Love, the child will in the end be elevated. At first Love will start with the less important issues. It will be laughed at in the beginning. Love that is not laughed at is no Love. When Love comes, one forgets the laughter of people, they laugh while one is thinking of completely different things. People may say whatever they feel like, but one does not pay any attention either to their laughter or to their reproach. One has an idea and keeps smiling. But when Love is lost, one becomes very clever, starts clenching one’s lips, narrowing one’s eyes, anointing one’s face, putting on clothes, putting on this or that. One realizes oneself that all of this does not add up to anything. You eat in order to anoint yourself internally, to put on weight, to grow muscles. You eat and drink but there is no Love, there is nothing to constrain you. In the end you become fat and start suffering. When Love comes, eating is different: people of Love do not store fat, but they store muscles, they have a body of muscles. These people of Love are very enduring. A person within whom Love acts can endure any suffering. A person who has Love can endure fasts as well. I have seen a person suffering and laughing at the illness, saying to it, ‘Now that there is nothing for you to do, you are dealing with me!’ If it were somebody else, he or she would have shouted, while he was laughing and saying, ‘The disease will pass away, at a wrong door is the disease knocking.’ And indeed, the disease passes away. Or put in other words, there is suffering caused by beings lower than the human beings. Any suffering that embitters one is coming from a lower being. Well, there is also suffering caused by Higher Beings. For example, your teacher can assign to you a problem or work difficult to do. You will get tired of doing the work, but anyway you will acquire something. Do mothers not work; do teachers not work; do artists or architects not work? All of them work. Sculptors carve with their chisel, they have their ideas; they will carve statues to educate people. Then there will be the moral reward that one has contributed an idea, so that people can see the good that was invested in it. Or [imagine] a writer who had been writing a book for years, so that people can read and benefit. I mean good writers. You have come to school to study, not to listen to me talking about salvation; you know this. Salvation is the easiest of jobs. When Love constraints you, this is the easiest job, when it does not constrain you – then it is the most difficult of jobs. When Love acts within you, even the King will visit you. When Love acts all doors are open to you – wherever you may knock, you will be received. There is a Magic Power in Love. It resembles the hungry one, when a hungry person sees somebody carrying bread, the hungry one says, ‘Do come in!’ Because such a person, no matter where he enters, will anyway give something. One has to have something in one’s mind. Sometimes the human heart is empty. Why should people love if there is nothing planted in this soul? The soul is the person himself. Somebody asks if a human being has a soul or not. The soul is the one that feels, that is conscious. If you have no soul you cannot live. Therefore, any being that has a soul, lives, has life. These souls, however, differ: there are smaller, bigger, more advanced, less advanced souls. Out of all the souls the human souls are most advanced, while animal souls are not advanced. If you leave an animal at home, you know what it can do. No matter how you train it you can’t expect it to make much progress. But you have to thank animals that they have plowed and worked for us so far. If it were not for the horses to transport the required goods, if it were not for the plants too, who sacrifice for us, to help us, to deliver fruit to us! If it were not for the wheat! These are all souls – plant souls. All these souls came to our aid; they came to help human beings. Somebody asks what we have to do. I tell such a person: do what wheat does; do what pears do; do what trees do; do what oxen do; do what horses do; do what good people do! If the issue is not comprehended in this way, it can’t be understood properly. Some have a superficial understanding of Christianity, of the New Teaching. A student wants to be given a high grade. High grades should correspond to knowledge. In certain subjects where students recite what they have learned, they may memorise it by heart, but such learning is no help in life. For instance, when one digs the vineyard, does one recite poetry? There one has to raise and place the hoe; one has to be able to dig. When one has to build a house, one needs to have certain understanding of this art. Some other time one is required to have understanding of weaving. What I am telling you is supposed to be an incentive for you, because your advanced brothers from the Invisible world who have completed their course of development assess you according to the efforts you make. When a Light brother comes in, he watches your efforts and is interested in inasmuch as you make efforts. If you are willing, he will teach you, if you are slumbering and awaiting things to happen on their own accord, he will come and pass away. Since you have awoken in life, you will start encountering obstacles from now on. Because it is alive people who suffer, not dead ones. Stones suffer less, plants suffer more, and animals suffer still more, while human beings, as their consciousness is most advanced, suffer most of all. And with the believers, with those who have Love, suffering is still greater. A suffering person is a living person. Some suffer, but they feel pity for suffering. This is no suffering. Suffering cannot produce pity. The one who feels pity for a suffering person, is healthy; such a person does not suffer, such a person wants to save the suffering person, wants to eliminate the conditions that cause suffering. While somebody wants to eliminate these conditions with you or with others, there is something that darkens your mind. You sometimes worry; for instance, a thought gets into somebody that he/she will die and he/she cannot get rid of it. He comes home and thinks that the house will fall apart over him; he gets into his car and thinks that it will capsize; he does not dare cross the river, not to get drowned. The poor person, he is in a very awful situation, looking around and thinks that life has no meaning. Why is this person afraid that he will die? There is something that scares him a great deal, but he cannot explain it to himself. There is an internal fear within him that causes him suffering. This soul must be liberated. What is the fear in this case generated by? Somebody has mounted on horseback and keeps spurring the horse on. This horse is afraid. Whom from? From the person mounted on his back. Somebody has got into your mind and keeps spurring you; you ride at full speed, you gallop, you traverse around, you seek somebody to let you free. Finally a good person appears and says, ‘Get down from this horse!’ Sin is a condition riding the human soul. It is taken around as a horse all day long. Where does salvation reside? To be saved from the one who is on top of you. How can this be done? He [the one on top] will be taken off your back and they will say, ‘Off you go to the forest, stay there and graze!’ And if you are offered a bag of barley, do not take it, you need no corn. Graze only the grass in the forest, drink water there. Whatever heavenly words they may tell you, do not pay any attention. Haven’t you received very polite letters which you carry with you for years like a horse-rider? You still keep the hope that what will happen, will happen in years, and the one riding on your back does not do you any good, he takes care of his one interest, he is a thief. Having ridden the horse for several years, he will sell it and will go away. You will be changing masters and in the end nothing will remain of you. When talking about Love we understand one being freed from the miseries of Life. As long as there is somebody to love, you are already in the kingdom of salvation. This is the day of salvation. As soon as Love is talked about, it has come to free the human being. This is an entire science. A person not only has to free oneself, but has also to correct the mischief one generates within oneself. There is mischief in the human mind, in the human heart; all of this should be changed. For example, a doubt starts growing in you. What is this doubt due to? To the horse-rider. Then hatred starts growing. It is also due to the horse-rider. Then bitterness, vindictiveness starts growing. All the bad qualities have come from the one who tortured you. The one who had ridden you, who has imparted all his bad qualities into you. When an evil spirit enters a human being, it will mar the human being, it will make all sorts of bad injections like a doctor, and the human being will have to clean oneself for years to come. For example, somebody tells you that death is the end of everything for human beings and you immediately believe it. Do you know what this looks like? Imagine that you live in the evening, and there comes a philosopher, turns on the switch and says, ‘We form this light, I make light.’ This is true only for twelve hours. After twelve hours you may stay waiting for the light from the philosopher, but when it comes close to the Sunrise, he says, ‘Come on, go to bed, and tonight I will again talk to you about this teaching.’ You sleep during the whole day and in the evening he talks to you again. No, you have to make another experiment: there is light that does not come out as a result of turning on the switch, and this light does not shine for one only human being, it shines upon the entire earth; wait for six hours and see that great light looms in the East, the Sun rises. And if somebody comes to you again in the evening to tell you that he makes the light, will you believe him? The earth resembles this philosophical love, the love of electric switches: somebody comes and turns on the switch. This love may appear when a lamp or a candle is lit. But the moment the gas in the lamp burns out, the moment the candle burns down, love finishes. Wires may get torn with electricity and the light goes out. This is ordinary life about which people say, ‘When a person dies, everything is over.’ A human being on entering the other world will enter into an area much more beautiful than the earth. But one has to be prepared for it. It is sometimes not useful to think about the other world, because we will forget this world and won’t finish our work here. Human beings have to develop new organs. Somebody says, ‘My elder brother and my mother left for the other world.’ But if you do not have organs you won’t be able to communicate with them. It is just like you shouting loudly at a deaf person so that the deaf person can hear you. When you yell, he will try to read your lips, but chances are that he may or may not understand you. So I say that some of you have developed organs for those people close to you who have left for the other world and you can communicate with them. You have not made experiments. You will make an experiment to transfer thoughts: sisters who love each other should sit at two opposite sides and at 12 o’clock one of them should send a thought and the other one should receive it. On the following morning she should say what she received or should write the thought down and place it into an envelop. Such experiments have been made. If you develop your apparatus in this way, then people close to you who have left for the other world will be able to tell you something. For example, some of them see that there is a great trial ahead of you and they will tell you take care of yourself. For example, a thief will come to your place; they will tell you to take care, not to receive him. Or to be aware of something else: for example your child is naughty; the child can set the house on fire. The beings from the other world will tell you favourable conditions: that whoever will help you, that there is no reason for you to lose heart, that things will shortly come back to normal. If any you, the sisters, has such a gift, then she will be the communications stations. This will happen practically – a link between the visible and the Invisible worlds. Some people live for themselves, for the sake of their stomachs. The head, the stomach, the lungs etc., have to live for the whole body. I have seen educated people not only in Bulgaria but also abroad who do not understand this. A child has to have a gift; if the child has no gift, the issue is solved.[A1] So now, some of you try your best to transmit thoughts to each other. You now communicate telepathically, but you understand each other in a distorted way. Someone says, ‘Sister what’s-her-name does not love me.’ This is no telepathy. Or you say, ‘Sister what’s-her-name loves me.’ This is no telepathy. You make your conclusion from a movement of this sister or from her narrowing her eyes or pursing her lips, or from a word she mentioned. This is no telepathy; this is distorted understanding. Telepathy is when you know that a sister whom you have not met loves you and you love her. This sister writes letters to you without seeing you. She has not seen even your portrait. Now, good relations have to be formed, but you are afraid of forming love relations between the souls. You are afraid of Love. You have only one small love, the macaroni love. I call the earthly love a macaroni love. It is nice, goes without saying, it’s quite nice this love: when you boil the macaroni, you grate some cheese and pour butter lavishly on top, very delicious the dish is! I now make a comparison. Can you compare the macaroni to nice apples, pears, grapes or with any tropical fruit, or with nice boiled wheat? Love: you have to understand what it is. Love is what makes human beings, what introduces Life, Light, Joy, knowledge, wealth – all of this. You have to first pass through the love of the world, until you finally arrive at that Divine Love, at the unattainable Love. One has to first start with the small love, until one reaches the great Love. How much water does the small insect have to drink? The bigger the fly, the more and more water it drinks, until we reach the human beings. Only the human beings know how to drink water. The animals, the mammals often die out of drinking too much water. This is not the way to drink water. Sometimes birds, hens drink water more appropriately: they take a gulp, raise their heads upwards and drink again. I find the way hens drink water best of all. I have also noticed how some people do not know how to eat. A swine, after digging its snout into the trough, does not rise any more; this the worst of eating habits. When swallowing a bite, you will thank God; then you take a second bite, you will chew it and you will be thankful etc. And now, when you eat, your ears flap. This friction creates diseases. Eating is supposed to be an educational method. As God is hidden in the wheat, when you express your gratitude, God will open to you and will grant you His blessing. God is in bread. You pray constantly for Christ to come and reveal Himself to you to see, but when he comes in the bread, you try to get rid of Him as soon as possible and you throw the remains. People renounce Christ from where he will come; while people seek Christ where He is not. Christ will never come to the place where people seek Him. It is said, ‘I am the living bread and the one who eats from it will have life within oneself’. You will keep this thought in your mind for one, two, three days, for a month and then this thought will grow in you, this bread will grow up within you. You say, ‘What is Love? Not to find somebody who will love me and whom I will love!’ What does loving mean, what does it mean to love somebody and to be loved? When the Lord comes to love you, this will be the death of you. A bear when it meets you and when it starts loving you, it will eat you up. God will never punish a bear for eating you. If a bear eats up only one person and nobody else, this eating is OK. If it wants to eat a person per day, then it’s another matter. These are comparisons. When you examine the words of Christ and of the prophets, they have to be impressed into you. And the whole world will acquire different dimensions for you. Whatever object you may touch, you will be receptive, sensitive to things. If a sensitive child who loves his/her mother, touches an object that has been touched by her, this child will know that his/her mother has touched it. If we love God, He has to come to us, and if God loves us, we have to go to Him. If God has forsaken you, He is waiting for you to love Him, so that He can come to you. When a certain disease comes to you, then God wants to call you to the other world. But you say that you are not ready yet. He wants to love you, but the sick person says, ‘Tell God that I’m not ready yet, tell Him to postpone this job.’ I say: it can be postponed, God says, ‘It’s either you love me or I love you.’ There is no middle ground, there isn’t much freedom here. I now have an understanding and I will tell you how I look upon things: when a scoundrel robs me, I am glad that God granted him the freedom to rob me, but I do not approve of the deed of the scoundrel. The freedom of the scoundrel is from god, but his deed is not from god. Because a better master will come tomorrow and he will rob the scoundrel. How good God is! I see that God has granted you freedom, and I sometimes see that you are not willing to study. Now, let’s leave the homes and let’s start studying! Christ will never come by force, if you do not love Him. The maiden, when she sits down thinking, she attracts the young lad in a telepathic way. She puts something into her mind and she starts imagining him and she says, ‘Come here, I grew older, people are already laughing at me, I want to get married!’ Finally a thought dawns upon the young lad that he must go and find her and he says, ‘I found your address with the greatest difficulty.’ This law is valid for the Spiritual world as well: if you do not think about God for a long time, you won’t accomplish anything. In the Orthodox Church people cross themselves. What does crossing mean? You start first with the life that is on the head. When you place your three fingers on the head, this means that you have to think; you will place your hand on the head and you will think. Then you will place your hand on the heart and you will think; you will make experiments. In the end you will place your hand on both your shoulders and you will say, ‘I will go to work!’ This is what crossing is. For example, some suffering comes; suffering is crossing. You have to think about why you are suffering. Place suffering in your mind, think about it – why and what for it has come. Then place it on your heart, then – on your shoulders. Think, keep thinking and Light will come into you and the suffering will disappear! When you have had it for three days in your head, three days in your heart and three days on your shoulders, will become friends. You will say, ‘I have been a nagger so far, but not any longer.’ While the suffering will say, ‘What is it that you want? I have some money for rainy days.’ ‘The Love of Christ compels us.’ Now is the time when all of you have to be bearers [A2] of the Divine, the Divine within you should be gushing! I go to a water fountain; I stop there; I have a rest at a water spring; I sit down and talk with the water. It tells me a story – how it visited the grass blades; what it did there; how it entered a garden, how it went to see somebody who was sick and how it helped him, how it quenched somebody’s thirst, how it gave consolation to somebody – a whole story. You say, ‘Water is just murmuring.’ It does not murmur; it talks. If only we could work like it! The saints went to the springs. Water can never be marred; Life can never be marred. The heart may only suffer a little, when certain things disturb you. The soul suffers sometime, but it never becomes ordinary, because it is not from the material world. It is temporarily bonded with the body; some day it will leave the body and get free. It can always get free. No prisons, no shackles can be in its way; when the right time comes it leaves, it is free. Human beings are also free, suffice it they love the Good. Once Love comes, you will break free from the prison. Certainly the one who knows will leave one’s body. In the early times of Christianity those, who helped in the church, prayed and an angel came. The elevated spirits have power; they rule the laws; there is no barrier for them. You have not prayed long enough to make an angel come. One hundred and twenty people prayed and the angel came and told Peter, ‘Go and preach, tell them that wherever there is Love, shackles go off!’ You have to unite into one in the new direction. We shall show you the Path! Do not think that a lot can be accomplished in a short time. This Path is difficult. But I would recommend an experiment to you: every sister should take a notebook and should first start with John’s Gospel. If a doubt comes to your mind all of sudden, select a line. Take out the ten most important lines from John’s Gospel. To make sure that you have found the most important lines that you need, try to heal yourself when a disease comes to you. You have ten lines; you will read them, you will want to turn the disease to God. It is a living being. You will read the first line, the second one, the third one etc. – you will read these lines for three days on end. If they influence you, they are for you, if they do not – they are not for you. Then select other ten lines, then again, until the disease goes away. When you select ten lines for a third time, as soon as you say the line, the disease will be there. I shall tell you what happened once: fifteen years ago a brother from Vidin[1], who was very much into spiritism, took me to a séance of his. His séances were said to be very successful, so he took me to enjoy them. I went there. In one house there were as many people as there are here. They lined in the form of a big chain. There were people of different view points – believers and non-believers. They laugh. One of the masters laughs saying, ‘Non-sense.’ A sister was obsessed by a spirit, while they were laughing. She hit with her hand and fainted. She was obsessed by a spirit, a Bulgarian one. They want to send him to school, but wouldn’t go out. It is already 12 o’clock at midnight, but he did not come out. My friend came to me and told me, ‘What shall we do? What a pity for the mistress!’ I say, ‘Let’s have a second séance now. Everybody line up, kneel down and read the Lord’s Prayer! You will read the Lord’s Prayer the way you have never read it before!’ All were interested and elevated. The brother was holding the mistress by the hand and when we were saying the words ‘Because Thine is the Kingdom and the power, and the Glory for ever and ever. Amen!’ She awoke and came round. The brother was convinced that this is no hypnosis, but there is an external power. Thus the spirit was sent to study at last. Those who do not understand the laws will say, ‘Why do we need such séances, one can go crazy!’ but in fact the whole world has gone crazy nowadays. These murders, these thefts that take place, are caused by such ‘advanced’ beings that obsess people and spend their lives doing nonsense. People should now learn the right Path, the Divine Path, they have to arrive at the true Path that gives meaning to Life. ‘Love compels us.’ When one suffering comes, we have to transform it. Everything assists for the better those people who love God. Sometimes both hatred and doubt are living beings; you are full of tenants, you are rented. I myself do not object to tenants, but let them be good tenants who pay for their expenses. But they come and destroy the house. One has to be in good shape! The opposite is also true. The Scripture reads, ‘I shall send my Spirit – the Spirit of the Truth’. These light Spirits, on coming, will impart something to the human being and it will become a man of arts, it will start working, helping. When the Divine Spirit comes to a human being, the human being gets out of the stagnation and gets down to work. Apply John’s lines not only to diseases, but to other contradictions as well that you might have. For example, you experience a certain indisposition of spirit; try to find a line, another line, still a third line, and place at a special place with the line that removes the indisposition and brings Light into you, so that you can see the power of God. Christ says, ‘I am the path, the Truth and the Life’. The Path is the material life with all of its goods, the Truth is the knowledge, and the Life – this is the heart, all that which you desire. Only when you come to know God all the material goods will come. When you come to know the Truth, it will bring Light into you. God not only created man, but He breathed a living soul into man. This is the living Christ. The heart will renovate; then you will understand what the Truth is. When Life on the Earth starts becoming clear to you, a desire to help people will be born within you. Then you are in the Path of the Truth. When you have Love to everything, then you are in Life. This is a whole science that you have to start studying from now on. Sometimes you feel indisposed. After an hour or two it disappears. This must be within you like an art; if you take the violin you should be able to play. When a person can play well, inspiration is sure to come. The Scripture reads, ‘The Spirit that I will send to you, who will instruct you to any Truth’. Love must compel us to everything. Next time bring your notebooks where you wrote the selected ten lines. Well, I will point them out to you: Chapter 14; pp. 15,16: „If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever." Chapter 11; p. 42: „And I knew that Thou hearest Me always, but because of the people who stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Chapter 12; p. 26: „If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be. If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor." Chapter 8; p.29: „29And He that sent Me is with Me. The Father hath not left Me alone, for I do always those things that please Him." Chapter 6; p.63: „63It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Chapter З; p.33: „He that hath received His testimony hath set his seal to this: that God is true." Chapter З; p.З: „Jesus answered and said unto him, "Verily, verily I say unto thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Chapter 20; p.22: „And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Chapter 21; p. 5: „5Then Jesus said unto them, "Children, have ye any meat?" And they answered Him, "No." Chapter 15; p.26: „But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth who proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me." Test the power of these lines when you feel indisposed. Learn them for next time. If any of you cannot learn them all, let her learn at least some of them. Learn them for two weeks. We shall recite them in the evening after 10 o’clock and in the morning when we have the best of dispositions. The Lord’s Prayer Master’s lecture, Delivered on 24 March 1932, Sofia, Izgreva [1] Vidin - the most North-western town in Bulgaria along the Danube River. [A1][if the child has no gift, the issue is {not} solved.] [A2][when all of you should be bearers] or [for all of you to be bearers]

Note 6 May Christ Descend to Explain to You Life has two sides: one side is the actor’s life and the other side is the worker’s life. The actor works at night while the worker works during the day. The first one uses the night and the second one, the day. Therefore, the result will not be the same because life develops under different conditions. At night, the actor doesn’t have the light, and the worker, who works during the day, has conditions for a righteous life. And so, I divide you into two kinds: actors and workers. Here, in the Esoteric School of the Brotherhood of Light, we need no actors. The Brotherhood of Light excludes the life of the actor but accepts workers. I regard those of you who are married as workers on God’s field, but some of you want to play the part of the actor. You do not yet know what Divine Righteousness means. In this Esoteric School the laws for the workers are just as strict as the laws for the actors. Now, I ask you, have you fulfilled your duties as workers? I want of you, the married ones, to take a look at your work, your fields, your gardens, your springs, your cattle, your sheep; to take a look at your houses to see if they are painted, to check your homes and see if they are cleaned out. What is the condition of these co-workers of yours? You need to know this because you are workers. Many of you, the married ones, want to have more privileges but fewer duties. You want to postpone the payment of your debts but in the Divine book there are no postponements of debt payments. This can only happen by Grace. One needs to be patient and wait for some greater Being to help, but don’t think that you will be granted help just like that. You pass as married and, consequently, you want to preach to the young ones. You think that when you leave these fields, the young ones will come onto them after you. What will they find? I speak both in literal and figurative terms. These are some reflections that you need to think over. The Brotherhood of Light suggested that it is my duty to tell you these things tonight. And they, the Brothers of Light, will hold you liable for your fields, for your sheep, for your houses and so on, and so forth. You, who are doubtful (and there are such among you), will know for sure within a year if we are from the Brotherhood of Light or not. Christ is at the head of the Brotherhood of Light. And when he decided upon this injunction, he asked the head and the head gave its consent. God is this head. Thus, all aspects of this matter have been covered. Therefore, you, the married ones, are required to willingly fulfil God’s Law. I do not need to tell you what to do; you will do your work according to your own understanding and as you wish, as your souls wish. When someone’s soul makes a wish, it creates an imprint in this person’s consciousness for the future fulfilment of this wish. This consciousness comprises three great forces: the mind, the heart and the will. Our going into the other world always means a transformation in our consciousness from one form into another. This is the expanding of one’s consciousness. You will understand things differently on different levels. Therefore, Christ descends into the souls only when the consciousness of people expands. For example, when I speak to the married ones, you say, “When the Master said such and such words; he must have had me in mind.” If you say that, it means that you have not understood my words. I am trying to explain the external side of things; I, being a worker, am trying to clean up as a worker because only then will Christ descend. I want your consciousness to expand so that Christ can descend upon you and clarify the things that no human mind or thought can explain. I ask you, married ones, when it comes to your consciousness, what role models are you for the young ones, for your children? Are you doing your part in expanding the young ones’ consciousness so that Christ can come to live in them and to explain to them what Life is and how they should live? You say, “God can do anything.” This is not a philosophy; this means nothing. A father’s blood only runs strong when it enters the veins of the son and flows according the same laws. If it does not flow, the results will be different. Now, many of you are a part of the Brotherhood and come to these lectures only so that your problems can be fixed. You come here as if you were coming to a theatre; you come here expecting a treat after which you leave and say, ”You are not what you are.” You have not understood yet what we are. Thousands of years shall pass before you understand what we are. We are those who expand every man’s consciousness so that Christ can descend and explain the Truth of Life. And this Truth has to be such as to allow for the coming of the Divine Consciousness so that the Law of God’s Love can be manifested throughout the Universe. What could be better than this! With this Truth we can do our work. However, you say, “Lord, have mercy!” How can God have mercy on you if you have not expanded and elevated your consciousness so that Christ can come down and explain to you what you are doing wrong? The mistakes and the temptations are inevitable and if Christ does not come down into your consciousness, these mistakes will create a life of disharmony and all of you suffer from this disharmony. Is there anyone who is not suffering? I always use the following example to explain the methods of the Brotherhood of Darkness and the methods of the Brotherhood of Light. The Brotherhood of Darkness has dark adepts who come down to earth and say, “I’m a shoemaker. I have a special mould for shoes. If you buy my shoes you will remember me forever.” This reminds me of something that happened to me once when I was in Yambol. I was visiting a shoemaker who told me that he loved listening to my lectures. He wanted to make me a pair of shoes so that I would remember him. Indeed, I remember him to this day. If you put your feet in the shoe moulds of the Brotherhood of Darkness, they will make you special shoes that you will never forget. First, they will maim all of your virtues. If you put your foot in that mould, your virtues will inevitably get crippled and you will suffer a lot unless the Brotherhood of Light comes to help you pull your foot out of the mould. Do not offer your feet to the dark brothers to put them in their shoe mould. I am not explaining everything to you now but I will dedicate a special lecture to explain to you everything about this mould. Furthermore, you, the married men and women, do not live the way you should. This is not acceptable to the Brotherhood of Light. Now, if the married ones want to live the way the world lives they can do this out there, in the world, but once they have committed to the Brotherhood of Light, then they will see that there are excellent rules here. You do not yet know how to live. But you can learn these rules. Men and women, all should live according to the Law of Love! Every work done according to the Law of Love is sacred, and without Love it is a crime. If you ask me what is right, I will tell you, right is what is done by Love. I call Love that feeling, which is above all other feelings. When this feeling enters you, you will never frown. Love should be perceived as Man, but not one that is vested in flesh. This is how Love should be perceived. Men should perceive it that way too. I say this to you, the women whom Christ has wed; and to those who Christ has not wed, I have nothing to say. What I mean when I say, married by Christ, is that your consciousness should expand so that Christ can come in and explain everything to you. If this doesn’t happen, you will have such a rigid understanding of things that you will make me wonder from where you get your ideas. Paul once said, “Compete in paying respect to each other!” How? In order to compete in this, you will need to experience a change in your consciousness. You will need someone to learn from. If our mother doesn’t teach us, then how are we going to know? This law is true: one consciousness gets expanded by another consciousness. If your consciousness does not get in contact with another consciousness, it cannot expand; if a mind does not commune with the Divine Mind, it cannot expand. I have noticed a great disharmony in our Brotherhood. I can put up with these things, but you can be sure that this disharmony is not pleasant to me. Now, you may cry, but I don’t want your tears. What I want is for Christ to come into your consciousness and expand it. What I want is for Christ to manifest himself through you. My wish is for Christ to live in you. The happiest day for me will be the day when I see that Christ lives in your consciousness. You can be certain that this will be the happiest day of my life! You might ask, “How will this happen?” There are two ways: some fish are caught during the day, and other fish, at night. Is there any difference? Christ has defined this law: you shall love while it is day! A night is coming when no one will be able to work. Therefore, in order to expand your consciousness, you will need to work, not act but work, during the day. I have decided that in our Esoteric School you should work through experiments. We will begin with the smallest ones and they will gradually follow one after another. But in order for you to progress through the experiments, you need an expansion of your consciousness; you need to experience a change from within. Only then will these rays of spiritual consciousness come to you and create favourable conditions for the seeds that have been planted in you for thousands of years so that you can achieve good results. Have you achieved good results with your present thoughts? You are unhappy because you are missing the most essential thing: your consciousness has not yet expanded and Christ has not yet entered your mind to explain everything to you. He is making efforts to get to you but because you are not ready, all you can get out of his efforts is temporary moods where you feel elevated but then you are down. When you, in turn, make efforts, they will be futile unless you let Christ into your consciousness and unless you let the Divine Love into your consciousness. It will not be easy to achieve the expected results. Don’t think that the transformation of one life into another is easy. So much artistry and knowledge is needed in order to transform a plant into the form of an animal! If you only knew that, you would have pondered upon it seriously, but right now, you reckon that this transformation happens easily. No, it does not happen easily. The Spirit of God that is working within you will accomplish everything; my talking to you alone won’t do it. Christ needs to come in and then the Resurrection will come - the Resurrection that implies a New Life in new forms. “You will rise from the graves.” But not if you are the same way as you are now; if you eat and drink the way you do now. Don’t think that these things will continue the same way as they are now. No, there won’t be even a trace left of what is now, of this present form! Certain principles may remain, reminding one of, reminiscent of the old, but we will be completely transformed. Someone may say, “The present conditions of life are in my way.” No, they cannot be in your way! I talk about those disciples who are dedicated. But you are not yet completely dedicated disciples. There are several categories of disciples: listenerproselyte-disciples, believer-disciples and disciple-disciples. The first kind of disciple has certain duties and rights; the second one, too, has certain duties and rights, but the third one is above all the rest. What the disciple does, the listener proselyte doesn’t have to do and vice versa. And everyone should look at Life according to his level. If he is a listenerproselyte, he has certain duties and certain rights and you cannot ask him why he does what he does. And if the listener proselyte asks the believer, “Why are you doing this?” the latter will respond, “When you get to where I’m at, you will know why I live and work this way.” God does not have to inform us why He does this or that. He will say, “When you pass through these seven fires, so that I can purify you, you will know.” He will give you absolutely no other explanation. Job, too, asked the Lord but He said nothing. But after Job passed through the fire seven times, then God called and said, “Come, talk to me now.” And Job said, “I have heard of You from others and I have committed many sins, but because I saw You now, I will not speak nonsense.” One of you may be in Job’s situation to ask, “Lord, how much longer will I have to suffer and for how much longer will I be in debt?” God says nothing. Do not think that your deliverance will come from your friends, nor from your enemies. If you think that, you are wrong. Your deliverance is in the following: you need to expand your consciousness and let Christ in so that he can explain to you the fact. If this happens, you will be delivered; if this does not happen, this fact will haunt you all the time, like some demon causing you mischief. Now, some people come to me and ask me why this and that happens. Today someone came to me and asked me, “Do you know what these disciples of yours are doing? Why don’t you correct them?” I told him, “I cannot tell them anything because we all live according to the Law of Freedom.” “Well”, he said, “How about discipline? Is there no such thing?” “No, there isn’t.” “But you can enforce some discipline”, he said. Afterwards, he invited me to visit him at home. Then I told him, “I will not come to your home.” “Why?” he asked. “If you want me to come to your home”, I told him, ”You need to expand your consciousness and let Christ in, i.e. let the Love in. You are just like my disciples; you, people, are the same: you want to lure me into your trap. Neither you nor they are disciples of Christ. Here is what I say, we have one great law - we want to live and understand Life in a different way and we want to make it right. You may say, “Do you know what our Master is doing?” But you are not responsible for me. Other times you say, “Is it fitting for him to wear yellow shoes and a white hat? And then, white coats are for children, he needs a black one.” But what is it all to you? You care about insignificant things when what should really matter to you is what is in my mind, my heart and my will. You can wear whatever clothes and shoes you want to but what matters to me is your mind, your heart, your will and, most of all, your soul and the presence of Christ in your soul. I know that you need to work on these things until your life acquires a true meaning. Only then will we understand each other properly! Sometimes it is a blessing to be a teacher, and other times, it is a blessing to be a student. A day will come when you will understand the relationship between the Master and the disciple. God will explain this relationship to you. And my wish is for you to be one of those blessed disciples. Some of you are seeking deliverance, you want for the Divine Sun to open up so that you can enter. The deliverance will not happen that way. Your deliverance will come when you open your consciousness to let Christ in. Then you will be truly delivered. Then all external circumstances, which are binding you now - poverty and everything else - all of this will become harmonized and you will see Life in a new light. Now, there is another thought in your mind; you think, “If we don’t finish this work today, we can do it some other day.” No, you must work now! Let’s say, for example, that you are an owner and I am a worker. You hire me to cultivate hoe your vineyard but, instead, I spend the day counting the posts dead vines and in the evening I tell you how many of them there are in the vineyard. On the second day, I go out in the vineyard again, but, instead of cultivatinghoeing, I count how many canes there are and I calculate how much fruit they will yield. On the third day I count how many leaves of grass there are and so on. In the end, I tell you, the owner, that I have finished the job. You think that the vineyard has been cultivated hoed and you pay me, but when you go out to the vineyard and take a look at it, what will you think? I’m sorry to tell you this, but this is how you are working on God’s field right now: instead of cultivating hoeing the vineyard, you are counting the posts dead vines and the vine stickscanes. I do not mind your counting the posts dead vines and the sticks canes and the leaves of grass, as long as you cultivate hoe around the vines, as well. Acting is one way to work, the second way requires that you cultivate hoe the vineyard first and, once that is done, you can count the postsdead vines, the sticks canes and the leaves of grass. What you do now is you come to me and say, “Our vines won’t grow.” Yes, they won’t grow because you, my disciples, won’t dighoe. So, here is my solution to the problem, you have the statistics, you have counted the postsdead vines, the sticks canes and the leaves of grass. Then I will get the hoe, and will cultivate hoe the vineyard. If you have cultivatedhoed, then I will do the counting. There are Masters out there who only count the posts dead vines and the vine stickscanes. If you cultivate hoe the vineyard, things will even themselves out. This is a method, an allegory you can use for future work. (Note to the editors, explaining all the corrections I did on this paragraph: I have thought about this paragraph a lot, because I felt like I did not have the exact English words to correctly convey the meaning. Recently I worked in a neighbour’s vineyard and that helped me find a better English rendition of the Bulgarian text.) I tell you this so that you will know how to expand your consciousness into which Christ has not yet come. Christ is working and making all the effort. You have the desire but you need patience. You will be put to the test on the operating table. When they operate on you in the White Brotherhood, they will not anaesthetize you and that is why you need to stay completely still because if you move, the knife will go in deeper. Now all of you are undergoing such operations. Those operations where you are awake are the best and the ones where you are anaesthetized are the worst. I have reverted to the former ones only rarely and only a disciple who is a true believer can go through those. If you realize that this is performed according to the Law of Love, you would be ready to go through it, otherwise you would be kicking and fighting and the knife would only go deeper, the operation would fail and such people would remain sickly in a spiritual sense. I will go no further, because I do not want to disturb your mind and make you think that you have nothing in you. What is truly essential has not arrived yet. This field is not ripe, yet you still have not filled the barn with wheat. When the barn starts to overflow, then the new direction of Life will manifest itself. With this lecture I want to assign work to all of you. And, just like with real workers, I want to create work for all married ones. I will start with the smallest experiment again. The task I will give you will be to work for me, for Christ, for Love for only five minutes. You could work miracles in only five minutes. I don’t want one hour, but only five minutes. Does anyone mind? If someone misuses these five minutes, he is not a disciple. If he cannot work for Christ for only five minutes, he is done with. No discussions and no philosophizing are needed; just get to it right away! You will forget your wife and your children and everything else in these five minutes! You will work for Christ mindfully and only after that can you philosophize and discuss and ask if this matter is done and over with. Note this: it’s only five minutes! How much is a hundred days by five minutes? You will continue this exercise for ten years. It is a microscopic exercise but in one year, this makes thirty hours and twenty-five minutes; in ten years, it is three hundred and four hours or twenty-five days and four hours. In these ten years, you, as workers, will dedicate twenty-five days to Christ according to the Law of Love. Five minutes every day! There is no other philosophy for the way this can be done. I will not explain it to anyone. I will give you two weeks from now to think about the five minutes or about the twenty-five days for Christ for these ten years. Those of you who are ready to work will come in to work. When your five minutes begin, you will forget that you are married, that you are a clerk or something else, and you will feel like a newborn in the Kingdom of God, who will do the Will of God. And then you will understand the meaning of my words from the very first day of your working for Christ. The second experiment is the following: I will appoint a day when, at a specific hour, you will work for Christ for five minutes. I will appoint it specifically and then I will send all the bears your way. You should know this. Then, if you keep walking bravely, they will make way for you and will say, “It is possible to work for Christ for five minutes.” The bears, too, understand this law. I will keep going, as well. You will wait for the most important exercise to come along: five minutes for Christ! And make sure you clean your home well! He who does not clean well… This is what I was told to say to you, do you understand that? And if you are faithful, then you will know the Truth and the Truth will know you. I will leave this question unanswered, because others are waiting outside. You, married ones, now is the time when we want to wed you! And so… If it is unfinished, you will mark it with three dots. You have two weeks to think about the five minutes. You will free your mind, your heart and your will. I want you to think freely at last! The experiment will begin soon. These experiments are minute, but when you start doing them, they will lead to bigger things. We will start off with the little things, which are for the children. And when the children are busy, God is happy. Therefore, we will create happiness for God when He sees that we work for Him mindfully and without being forced to do so. If the young ones ask you about the things that I told you today, you can tell them in two weeks. After two weeks you will tell my words to the young ones. June 2, 1922, Veliko Turnovo27 May Christ Descend to Explain to You Life has two sides: one side is the actor’s life and the other side is the worker’s life. The actor works at night while the worker works during the day. The first one uses the night and the second one, the day. Therefore, the result will not be the same because life develops under different conditions. At night, the actor doesn’t have the light, and the worker, who works during the day, has conditions for a righteous life. And so, I divide you into two kinds: actors and workers. Here, in the Esoteric School of the Brotherhood of Light, we need no actors. The Brotherhood of Light excludes the life of the actor but accepts workers. I regard those of you who are married as workers on God’s field, but some of you want to play the part of the actor. You do not yet know what Divine Righteousness means. In this Esoteric School the laws for the workers are just as strict as the laws for the actors. Now, I ask you, have you fulfilled your duties as workers? I want of you, the married ones, to take a look at your work, your fields, your gardens, your springs, your cattle, your sheep; to take a look at your houses to see if they are painted, to check your homes and see if they are cleaned out. What is the condition of these co-workers of yours? You need to know this because you are workers. Many of you, the married ones, want to have more privileges but fewer duties. You want to postpone the payment of your debts but in the Divine book there are no postponements of debt payments. This can only happen by Grace. One needs to be patient and wait for some greater Being to help, but don’t think that you will be granted help just like that. You pass as married and, consequently, you want to preach to the young ones. You think that when you leave these fields, the young ones will come onto them after you. What will they find? I speak both in literal and figurative terms. These are some reflections that you need to think over. The Brotherhood of Light suggested that it is my duty to tell you these things tonight. And they, the Brothers of Light, will hold you liable for your fields, for your sheep, for your houses and so on, and so forth. You, who are doubtful (and there are such among you), will know for sure within a year if we are from the Brotherhood of Light or not. Christ is at the head of the Brotherhood of Light. And when he decided upon this injunction, he asked the head and the head gave its consent. God is this head. Thus, all aspects of this matter have been covered. Therefore, you, the married ones, are required to willingly fulfil God’s Law. I do not need to tell you what to do; you will do your work according to your own understanding and as you wish, as your souls wish. When someone’s soul makes a wish, it creates an imprint in this person’s consciousness for the future fulfilment of this wish. This consciousness comprises three great forces: the mind, the heart and the will. Our going into the other world always means a transformation in our consciousness from one form into another. This is the expanding of one’s consciousness. You will understand things differently on different levels. Therefore, Christ descends into the souls only when the consciousness of people expands. For example, when I speak to the married ones, you say, “When the Master said such and such words; he must have had me in mind.” If you say that, it means that you have not understood my words. I am trying to explain the external side of things; I, being a worker, am trying to clean up as a worker because only then will Christ descend. I want your consciousness to expand so that Christ can descend upon you and clarify the things that no human mind or thought can explain. I ask you, married ones, when it comes to your consciousness, what role models are you for the young ones, for your children? Are you doing your part in expanding the young ones’ consciousness so that Christ can come to live in them and to explain to them what Life is and how they should live? You say, “God can do anything.” This is not a philosophy; this means nothing. A father’s blood only runs strong when it enters the veins of the son and flows according the same laws. If it does not flow, the results will be different. Now, many of you are a part of the Brotherhood and come to these lectures only so that your problems can be fixed. You come here as if you were coming to a theatre; you come here expecting a treat after which you leave and say, ”You are not what you are.” You have not understood yet what we are. Thousands of years shall pass before you understand what we are. We are those who expand every man’s consciousness so that Christ can descend and explain the Truth of Life. And this Truth has to be such as to allow for the coming of the Divine Consciousness so that the Law of God’s Love can be manifested throughout the Universe. What could be better than this! With this Truth we can do our work. However, you say, “Lord, have mercy!” How can God have mercy on you if you have not expanded and elevated your consciousness so that Christ can come down and explain to you what you are doing wrong? The mistakes and the temptations are inevitable and if Christ does not come down into your consciousness, these mistakes will create a life of disharmony and all of you suffer from this disharmony. Is there anyone who is not suffering? I always use the following example to explain the methods of the Brotherhood of Darkness and the methods of the Brotherhood of Light. The Brotherhood of Darkness has dark adepts who come down to earth and say, “I’m a shoemaker. I have a special mould for shoes. If you buy my shoes you will remember me forever.” This reminds me of something that happened to me once when I was in Yambol. I was visiting a shoemaker who told me that he loved listening to my lectures. He wanted to make me a pair of shoes so that I would remember him. Indeed, I remember him to this day. If you put your feet in the shoe moulds of the Brotherhood of Darkness, they will make you special shoes that you will never forget. First, they will maim all of your virtues. If you put your foot in that mould, your virtues will inevitably get crippled and you will suffer a lot unless the Brotherhood of Light comes to help you pull your foot out of the mould. Do not offer your feet to the dark brothers to put them in their shoe mould. I am not explaining everything to you now but I will dedicate a special lecture to explain to you everything about this mould. Furthermore, you, the married men and women, do not live the way you should. This is not acceptable to the Brotherhood of Light. Now, if the married ones want to live the way the world lives they can do this out there, in the world, but once they have committed to the Brotherhood of Light, then they will see that there are excellent rules here. You do not yet know how to live. But you can learn these rules. Men and women, all should live according to the Law of Love! Every work done according to the Law of Love is sacred, and without Love it is a crime. If you ask me what is right, I will tell you, right is what is done by Love. I call Love that feeling, which is above all other feelings. When this feeling enters you, you will never frown. Love should be perceived as Man, but not one that is vested in flesh. This is how Love should be perceived. Men should perceive it that way too. I say this to you, the women whom Christ has wed; and to those who Christ has not wed, I have nothing to say. What I mean when I say, married by Christ, is that your consciousness should expand so that Christ can come in and explain everything to you. If this doesn’t happen, you will have such a rigid understanding of things that you will make me wonder from where you get your ideas. Paul once said, “Compete in paying respect to each other!” How? In order to compete in this, you will need to experience a change in your consciousness. You will need someone to learn from. If our mother doesn’t teach us, then how are we going to know? This law is true: one consciousness gets expanded by another consciousness. If your consciousness does not get in contact with another consciousness, it cannot expand; if a mind does not commune with the Divine Mind, it cannot expand. I have noticed a great disharmony in our Brotherhood. I can put up with these things, but you can be sure that this disharmony is not pleasant to me. Now, you may cry, but I don’t want your tears. What I want is for Christ to come into your consciousness and expand it. What I want is for Christ to manifest himself through you. My wish is for Christ to live in you. The happiest day for me will be the day when I see that Christ lives in your consciousness. You can be certain that this will be the happiest day of my life! You might ask, “How will this happen?” There are two ways: some fish are caught during the day, and other fish, at night. Is there any difference? Christ has defined this law: you shall love while it is day! A night is coming when no one will be able to work. Therefore, in order to expand your consciousness, you will need to work, not act but work, during the day. I have decided that in our Esoteric School you should work through experiments. We will begin with the smallest ones and they will gradually follow one after another. But in order for you to progress through the experiments, you need an expansion of your consciousness; you need to experience a change from within. Only then will these rays of spiritual consciousness come to you and create favourable conditions for the seeds that have been planted in you for thousands of years so that you can achieve good results. Have you achieved good results with your present thoughts? You are unhappy because you are missing the most essential thing: your consciousness has not yet expanded and Christ has not yet entered your mind to explain everything to you. He is making efforts to get to you but because you are not ready, all you can get out of his efforts is temporary moods where you feel elevated but then you are down. When you, in turn, make efforts, they will be futile unless you let Christ into your consciousness and unless you let the Divine Love into your consciousness. It will not be easy to achieve the expected results. Don’t think that the transformation of one life into another is easy. So much artistry and knowledge is needed in order to transform a plant into the form of an animal! If you only knew that, you would have pondered upon it seriously, but right now, you reckon that this transformation happens easily. No, it does not happen easily. The Spirit of God that is working within you will accomplish everything; my talking to you alone won’t do it. Christ needs to come in and then the Resurrection will come - the Resurrection that implies a New Life in new forms. “You will rise from the graves.” But not if you are the same way as you are now; if you eat and drink the way you do now. Don’t think that these things will continue the same way as they are now. No, there won’t be even a trace left of what is now, of this present form! Certain principles may remain, reminding one of, reminiscent of the old, but we will be completely transformed. Someone may say, “The present conditions of life are in my way.” No, they cannot be in your way! I talk about those disciples who are dedicated. But you are not yet completely dedicated disciples. There are several categories of disciples: listenerproselyte-disciples, believer-disciples and disciple-disciples. The first kind of disciple has certain duties and rights; the second one, too, has certain duties and rights, but the third one is above all the rest. What the disciple does, the listener proselyte doesn’t have to do and vice versa. And everyone should look at Life according to his level. If he is a listenerproselyte, he has certain duties and certain rights and you cannot ask him why he does what he does. And if the listener proselyte asks the believer, “Why are you doing this?” the latter will respond, “When you get to where I’m at, you will know why I live and work this way.” God does not have to inform us why He does this or that. He will say, “When you pass through these seven fires, so that I can purify you, you will know.” He will give you absolutely no other explanation. Job, too, asked the Lord but He said nothing. But after Job passed through the fire seven times, then God called and said, “Come, talk to me now.” And Job said, “I have heard of You from others and I have committed many sins, but because I saw You now, I will not speak nonsense.” One of you may be in Job’s situation to ask, “Lord, how much longer will I have to suffer and for how much longer will I be in debt?” God says nothing. Do not think that your deliverance will come from your friends, nor from your enemies. If you think that, you are wrong. Your deliverance is in the following: you need to expand your consciousness and let Christ in so that he can explain to you the fact. If this happens, you will be delivered; if this does not happen, this fact will haunt you all the time, like some demon causing you mischief. Now, some people come to me and ask me why this and that happens. Today someone came to me and asked me, “Do you know what these disciples of yours are doing? Why don’t you correct them?” I told him, “I cannot tell them anything because we all live according to the Law of Freedom.” “Well”, he said, “How about discipline? Is there no such thing?” “No, there isn’t.” “But you can enforce some discipline”, he said. Afterwards, he invited me to visit him at home. Then I told him, “I will not come to your home.” “Why?” he asked. “If you want me to come to your home”, I told him, ”You need to expand your consciousness and let Christ in, i.e. let the Love in. You are just like my disciples; you, people, are the same: you want to lure me into your trap. Neither you nor they are disciples of Christ. Here is what I say, we have one great law - we want to live and understand Life in a different way and we want to make it right. You may say, “Do you know what our Master is doing?” But you are not responsible for me. Other times you say, “Is it fitting for him to wear yellow shoes and a white hat? And then, white coats are for children, he needs a black one.” But what is it all to you? You care about insignificant things when what should really matter to you is what is in my mind, my heart and my will. You can wear whatever clothes and shoes you want to but what matters to me is your mind, your heart, your will and, most of all, your soul and the presence of Christ in your soul. I know that you need to work on these things until your life acquires a true meaning. Only then will we understand each other properly! Sometimes it is a blessing to be a teacher, and other times, it is a blessing to be a student. A day will come when you will understand the relationship between the Master and the disciple. God will explain this relationship to you. And my wish is for you to be one of those blessed disciples. Some of you are seeking deliverance, you want for the Divine Sun to open up so that you can enter. The deliverance will not happen that way. Your deliverance will come when you open your consciousness to let Christ in. Then you will be truly delivered. Then all external circumstances, which are binding you now - poverty and everything else - all of this will become harmonized and you will see Life in a new light. Now, there is another thought in your mind; you think, “If we don’t finish this work today, we can do it some other day.” No, you must work now! Let’s say, for example, that you are an owner and I am a worker. You hire me to cultivate hoe your vineyard but, instead, I spend the day counting the posts dead vines and in the evening I tell you how many of them there are in the vineyard. On the second day, I go out in the vineyard again, but, instead of cultivatinghoeing, I count how many canes there are and I calculate how much fruit they will yield. On the third day I count how many leaves of grass there are and so on. In the end, I tell you, the owner, that I have finished the job. You think that the vineyard has been cultivated hoed and you pay me, but when you go out to the vineyard and take a look at it, what will you think? I’m sorry to tell you this, but this is how you are working on God’s field right now: instead of cultivating hoeing the vineyard, you are counting the posts dead vines and the vine stickscanes. I do not mind your counting the posts dead vines and the sticks canes and the leaves of grass, as long as you cultivate hoe around the vines, as well. Acting is one way to work, the second way requires that you cultivate hoe the vineyard first and, once that is done, you can count the postsdead vines, the sticks canes and the leaves of grass. What you do now is you come to me and say, “Our vines won’t grow.” Yes, they won’t grow because you, my disciples, won’t dighoe. So, here is my solution to the problem, you have the statistics, you have counted the postsdead vines, the sticks canes and the leaves of grass. Then I will get the hoe, and will cultivate hoe the vineyard. If you have cultivatedhoed, then I will do the counting. There are Masters out there who only count the posts dead vines and the vine stickscanes. If you cultivate hoe the vineyard, things will even themselves out. This is a method, an allegory you can use for future work. (Note to the editors, explaining all the corrections I did on this paragraph: I have thought about this paragraph a lot, because I felt like I did not have the exact English words to correctly convey the meaning. Recently I worked in a neighbour’s vineyard and that helped me find a better English rendition of the Bulgarian text.) I tell you this so that you will know how to expand your consciousness into which Christ has not yet come. Christ is working and making all the effort. You have the desire but you need patience. You will be put to the test on the operating table. When they operate on you in the White Brotherhood, they will not anaesthetize you and that is why you need to stay completely still because if you move, the knife will go in deeper. Now all of you are undergoing such operations. Those operations where you are awake are the best and the ones where you are anaesthetized are the worst. I have reverted to the former ones only rarely and only a disciple who is a true believer can go through those. If you realize that this is performed according to the Law of Love, you would be ready to go through it, otherwise you would be kicking and fighting and the knife would only go deeper, the operation would fail and such people would remain sickly in a spiritual sense. I will go no further, because I do not want to disturb your mind and make you think that you have nothing in you. What is truly essential has not arrived yet. This field is not ripe, yet you still have not filled the barn with wheat. When the barn starts to overflow, then the new direction of Life will manifest itself. With this lecture I want to assign work to all of you. And, just like with real workers, I want to create work for all married ones. I will start with the smallest experiment again. The task I will give you will be to work for me, for Christ, for Love for only five minutes. You could work miracles in only five minutes. I don’t want one hour, but only five minutes. Does anyone mind? If someone misuses these five minutes, he is not a disciple. If he cannot work for Christ for only five minutes, he is done with. No discussions and no philosophizing are needed; just get to it right away! You will forget your wife and your children and everything else in these five minutes! You will work for Christ mindfully and only after that can you philosophize and discuss and ask if this matter is done and over with. Note this: it’s only five minutes! How much is a hundred days by five minutes? You will continue this exercise for ten years. It is a microscopic exercise but in one year, this makes thirty hours and twenty-five minutes; in ten years, it is three hundred and four hours or twenty-five days and four hours. In these ten years, you, as workers, will dedicate twenty-five days to Christ according to the Law of Love. Five minutes every day! There is no other philosophy for the way this can be done. I will not explain it to anyone. I will give you two weeks from now to think about the five minutes or about the twenty-five days for Christ for these ten years. Those of you who are ready to work will come in to work. When your five minutes begin, you will forget that you are married, that you are a clerk or something else, and you will feel like a newborn in the Kingdom of God, who will do the Will of God. And then you will understand the meaning of my words from the very first day of your working for Christ. The second experiment is the following: I will appoint a day when, at a specific hour, you will work for Christ for five minutes. I will appoint it specifically and then I will send all the bears your way. You should know this. Then, if you keep walking bravely, they will make way for you and will say, “It is possible to work for Christ for five minutes.” The bears, too, understand this law. I will keep going, as well. You will wait for the most important exercise to come along: five minutes for Christ! And make sure you clean your home well! He who does not clean well… This is what I was told to say to you, do you understand that? And if you are faithful, then you will know the Truth and the Truth will know you. I will leave this question unanswered, because others are waiting outside. You, married ones, now is the time when we want to wed you! And so… If it is unfinished, you will mark it with three dots. You have two weeks to think about the five minutes. You will free your mind, your heart and your will. I want you to think freely at last! The experiment will begin soon. These experiments are minute, but when you start doing them, they will lead to bigger things. We will start off with the little things, which are for the children. And when the children are busy, God is happy. Therefore, we will create happiness for God when He sees that we work for Him mindfully and without being forced to do so. If the young ones ask you about the things that I told you today, you can tell them in two weeks. After two weeks you will tell my words to the young ones. June 2, 1922, Veliko Turnovo27

Note 3 The Testimony of Spirit ‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me’ John: 15; 26. A Secret Prayer ‘Bless God, my soul’ I will read chapter fifteen of John. I will talk to you about the vine. This vine has three contents. There are vines that have not gone bad. Have you been to a vineyard, have you seen it with leafless vines? You have seen it coming into leaves at other times and finally you have seen it maturing and heavy with ripe fruit. Not all vines have grapes. I will read to you about the vine, which has grapes. Sing the first line from Love; sing it quietly. I shall talk to you on line twenty-six of the chapter we read, ‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.’ Spirit – this is the most elevated, the purest, the most sacred. And in this sanctity Spirit brings the conditions of the intelligent human Life. I use the word intelligent, but I could use another word too. In the widest sense, when a human being has the intelligent Life within oneself, such a human being lives as a musician and as a poet. Such a human being is always in high spirits, there is Peace in his or her soul, the world does not worry him or her; nothing disturbs such people. Such people are not petty, they do not dwell on the small things in life, but only on that Great one that God created. Now, let's assume that somebody brings a hedgehog into your garden; when you reach out to catch him, he will prick you. What do you think; did God create the spines of this hedgehog? No, this is the art of the hedgehock itself. You may enquire why God placed spines on this hedgehog. The hedgehog created them himself, such is its culture. He needs spines; such is his understanding of life. Subsequently you should not be asking yourselves about his spines, but if you want to study the hedgehog, you should dwell on his basic features: what hedgehogs feed on, how they make their dens, how they raise their young ones, what are his relations with the ones close to him etc. Hedgehogs make good teachers for snakes: when a hedgehog meets a snake, he grips the snake by the tail first, covers his head, the snake coils round him and he swallows the snake little by little until the head is left and finally he swallows the head as well. And when the snake asks him, ‘Why did you treat me in such an inhumane way?’ The hedgehog answers back, ‘Well, how do you catch frogs? Frogs keep crying out and you keep swallowing them. It is from you that I learnt this craft and now this is my first attempt as I want to see how things are.’ I am asking now, when the snake is swallowing the frog, do you think God taught the snake? This is again an art of snakes. When you come to Life, you will first separate all those visible features existing in human life – what was created by the people themselves, in order to arrive at the purely Divine substance. Now, the Divine substance is Spirit. And Christ says, ‘I will send this Spirit to you.’ Now people live without the Spirit. And you ask why people do not live in brotherly relations. How can they live in brotherly relations? Hedgehogs live the life of hedgehogs; snakes live the life of snakes and so on. And all animals live according to their understanding. There is no Spirit in them and each one has one’s own understanding. When it comes to people, we ask why somebody acted the way he or she did. A person lives according to one’s understanding. Why doesn't he or she live in any other way? The Spirit must come for a person to live in any other way. If the Spirit does not come, the person will live according to one’s own understanding. If you want to change on principle, to start living another Life, the Spirit must come to you. And when He comes, you won’t be asking yourselves whether this Spirit is within you and whether it is Divine. There is only One Spirit – the Great Spirit bringing Light, bringing Wisdom, Truth, bringing everything in himself. He has been delivering all the goods for ages, from times immemorial and there is no second to Him. This Spirit carries everything within himself and He is the discharger of all goods. And when He comes, people start becoming intelligent, geniuses and when somebody comes to visit, they receive this person gladly, treat this person lavishly, they do everything with Love. But when the Spirit departs, they say, ‘Today, I am not in high spirits; do not enter my home! Come some other day!’ Why? It is the Spirit that delivers all the riches, and He is not present now. Quite natural: when I am sick I will say that I am not receiving visitors on that day. Why? Because I am sick. Apart from not being able to receive visitors, I also need somebody who could do me a favour. Having spoken about the vine, Christ told his students, ‘You will take the Spirit in the first place!’ The Spirit comes only to those twigs that have grapes. Now I do not want you dwelling on the issue whether you have grapes or not. You may put this question to yourselves, but you cannot resolve it on your own. This question can be resolved only by the Spirit. And when talking, Christ, too, pays attention to the fruit. God prunes these vines because of the fruit that is inside the soul. It is our fruit that is important to God, not the external form; not the vine itself, but what comes out of it. Now, when a mother delivers a child, what does she expect from the child? She expects something intelligent, because it is from the mouth of the child that this fruit comes. If she gives birth to a deaf, dumb, and blind child who cannot speak and has the worst of habits, what does the mother tell herself then? She tells herself, ‘I wish you were not born, I did not need such a child! God gave this child to me to punish me! And she gives birth to a good child with grapes, she turns to Heavens and says, ‘How grateful I am to God for giving me such a good child!’ This is fruit! Now, you who have started, have to know that the fruit is inside. The fruit of your soul is inside. ‘And when Spirit comes’, says Christ, ‘He will teach you’. This is the first thing. Then He says, ‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me’. He shall testify whether you do or don’t have grapes, whether your vineyard is developing properly or not. So that all the effort in the Life of a soul, in the Life of a human being on the Earth, has to be directed to a certain fruit. Outside of this fruit one can never be glad. What is it that makes you feel glad? You yourselves are glad if you have a virtue. The virtue living within you was invested there by the Spirit, but it makes you feel glad. And Christ, representing God’s Love and Wisdom, says, ‘The Spirit that I will send to you, he shall testify for me’. But elsewhere he says, ‘He shall teach you, he shall remind you.’ What shall the Spirit remind you of? The Spirit shall remind you of all the fruit that you have to have in your soul? Because when the grapes-pickers come, what do they do? They stop at those vines, which have grapes, but they pass by the vines with no grapes. And when the Spirit comes he will inevitably stop at a soul that has the grapes. There are three types of vines: vines that have not yet developed, but have the promise, others that have developed and have a great deal of leaves – this is the second type; and the third one – vines that have set fruit that is ripening and everybody who takes a look says, ‘This vine is close to giving fruit.’ Everybody is expecting it to bear fruit, to try the grapes. And I can tell you the reasons which make you have friends – in order to try their delicious fruit. This is the reason. Why do you want to have a friend? The major reasons are that every human being wants to try the fruit of the Spirit. Now, so that these vines can develop properly, so that the Spirit can function properly within you, the vines need soil. In other words, three things are necessary in Life: first, soil; secondly, seeds, thirdly, the one who will sow the seeds. If we have the soil but do not have the seeds, nothing will come out; if we have the vine, but not soil, again nothing will come out; but if we have soil and seeds, but do not have a vine-grower who will cultivate the seeds, this is also impossible. So, these three elements: soil, seeds, and a vine-grower to cultivate it are required. Only then can a vine bear fruit. I shall now make a comparison: the soil – this is you, according to Christ’s words. The vine – this is the Word that is invested in you, while the vine-grower is the Spirit that cultivates, the Divine Spirit. Each elevated thought, each elevated desire which are developing within you, which blossom and give joy to your soul are supported by this Divine Spirit. Now in order for this Divine spirit to come and live in you particular conditions are needed. I shall make a comparison: if you make a house and expect a friend or a tenant to come and inhabit it, he will first examine your house, then he will choose only those rooms that are most hygienic, that have large and nice eastern or southern windows and only then will he say, ‘Your rooms are excellent, I will move in.’ Similarly the Divine Spirit too, when moving into human beings, the Divine Spirit examines whether you have real rooms. The law is the same too. In the whole of chapter fifteen, Christ determines the conditions needed for the Spirit to come. Love is one of the conditions. Now you will say, ‘This Love! He speaks only of Love!’ I now talk about Love in its third degree. I am not talking about Love as an underdeveloped vineyard, as a vineyard having leaves only, but I am talking solely about Love as a grape bearing vineyard. You can have the love of the undeveloped twigs, but the most important Love – the Love of the third degree – is the one with leaves that are fine and grapes that are ripe. This vine and its excellent fruit show its internal quality. Therefore, Christ says, ‘By their fruit you shall know them.’ So now God also wants to know you all, He wants to try your fruit. You are hiding but He works towards making you give something, making you manifest yourselves. You are not willing to manifest yourselves and you say, ‘The right time has not yet come!’ No, no, the time to show the nature of human beings has come. But you may tell yourselves, ‘What if I give the fruit and it is not as it has to be?’ Everything must come to the surface; the sooner the better, because you will know what you are like. While now you have an exaggerated or belittled idea of yourselves. Which is the best sort of grapes in Bulgaria? The Turks call it muscat, and there is also a sort of grapes in the colour of amber which they chaush. Now the Spirit needs to be received. Without this Divine Spirit, without these goods your Life will not manifest itself as it should. And when I talk about Love, that you have to free yourselves, I mean Love flowing from the Divine Spirit, but not the ordinary love flowing from people. There is Love flowing from people only, it is like scorched straw and lasts for a day and a half. It is so intensive that those having it say, ‘Without you I cannot live.’ But after a day and half they understand this love and say, ‘I do not want it; it’s not worth it.’ I see contemporary people weeping for their lost love. Christians also have this love; they flare up and say, ‘For God I am ready to do anything!’ But when it comes to sacrificing they say, ‘It’s nonsensical for one to be so idealistic and so ardent, one has to be a little cooler.’ The Scripture reads, ‘As you have lost your first Love.’ And this is the first Love that binds all beings. It warms them like a fire place that needs to be kept alive and never to run out of chopped wood. Do you know how it is kept alive? A friend comes who has lost a little bit behind of your confidence[M1] [1], but she tells you, ‘How beautiful you are, how much I love you, I want to embrace and kiss you!’ You get agitated and you relax. But when she leaves, some time afterwards you tell yourself, ‘I am fooling myself; does she love me or does she hate me?’ On the third day your friend comes again and says ‘my dear’, on the following day again ‘my dear’, until something disappears from your house and you close the door and say, ‘I do not want this dear any longer!’ While the Love I talk about, the Spirit that is coming, He always brings. He won’t tell you a sweet word, but he will bring you a nice book or he will bring you an apple or a pear and will tell you, ‘Eat a little bit to find out how kind the Lord is, so that you can try and see how kind I am!’ While now what is Love? The father comes and says, ‘Do you know what I am bringing to you? A nice doll.’ But dolls can neither be eaten, nor drunk, and after four or five days the daughter breaks the doll. We are being beguiled with such dolls: a story about this, a story about that, the Kingdom of God is promised to us, but you keep asking whether it is so. But when the Spirit comes you will have one live positive experience, you will experience and understand the meaning of Life everywhere and in everything. This is the Spirit. When he comes he will testify, and you will be brave, decisive, you will cope with all people. Because it won’t be you talking; it will be the spirit in you talking. How will he talk? Your soul will be permeated with this Divine Love and when these words come out of your mouth, they will open doors for you everywhere. Thus, those who want to beat you will beat you less. And afterwards they will also turn to the Lord and will start glorifying Him. So, dangerous people we are! Nobody will be left unpunished. They will also come to be servants of the Lord, just the way you are. You need to get started and prepare your hearts for the Spirit. And now only spirits you have, I can see them: you have many spirits, but I call these spirits ‘soullets’. They are soullets and spiritlets who circle around you. And when this Great Spirit comes all those soullets and spiritlets will serve only This One. While now you often listen to bad things, sometimes these little soullets tell you that you are stupid, that you have stepped aside; they tell you, ‘Mind your life, you have to live a nice life, you are young, you have ruined your life.’ But this ruining is not the teaching of the Spirit; the Divine spirit never ruins one’s life. Only these small spiritlets ruin one’s life. When the Divine spirit comes, He brings in Light, brings in Peace, plants knowledge, and brings health, happiness and bliss. This is what the Great Spirit brings when He comes! And Christ says, ‘I will send this Spirit to you.’ When? ‘If my words live in you and you live in Me, and if you have the Love of my Father, then I will send the Spirit. If you have my Love, the Love that I love you, when I show it to you, you too show it to the others.’ To whom? Christ does not say to love everybody gratuitously. Can you love a stone? Let’s define ourselves properly: you may love only one intelligent being – the one that has intelligence and brings conscious Life. This one you can love, but the other things you cannot love. Only two conscious souls can come to love each other. You cannot come to love a stone or a bear. I take these images in the first degree… Consequently it is in Love that I understand the intelligent. If it exists, Love also exists. Christ says, ‘You should love the way I came to love you!’[2] He has come to love the Intelligent. Now, you shall not ask whether this Spirit will come to you or not. If you believe in Christ, then He will come into you. And Christ says, ‘I will send the Spirit to you if you believe.’ In what faith? People have two ideas about Christ: some think that Christ has now come out of God, while others think that He has been before all the centuries of Light, and consequently everything in the world has happened through Him and all people have come out of Him. Hence, He is the most well known Path for people. The first, who you know in the world, after having come out, is Him. It is Him who has sent you to this world and it is Him who saves you. Subsequently, Christ is the First and therefore He says, ‘I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.’ You say, ‘How can we know Christ?’ You do know Him. Do not dwell on this question, you know Him! If you do not know Him, you have to give, but if you know Him, you have to take. You do not know the person, who has to take from you, do you? However you know well the person from whom you have to take. You know him because he has to give to you. Why do you know your husband? He has to give to you. Why does a husband know his wife? Because she has to give to him. Subsequently, it is in this sense that we have knowing and love. When I say ‘I came to love somebody’, I mean that I have to take from him. And if Christ has come to love you, He has to take from you. Therefore, He knows us. He, without denying this, says, ‘I invested capital, and I shall not allow you to eat it up; I know you and I hold you!’ You argue that you do not know Him, but He says, ‘You do not know me, but I know you.’ And as He knows you, He will send the Spirit to you. Since people have lost themselves along the Path, He will send the Spirit to testify for Him. You have to implement His law when you know Him. You have to get the meaning and resolve all issues which concern your minds as married women. You are above all interested in family issues. The top question for a married woman is the question about the family: what husband she will have, what children, and after them there come the other questions, the secondary understandings and opinions. A woman is a Queen; the man is the one from whom she has to take, while the children – are those that will be servants. Women have big pretensions, they love children, but they want their husband to be Prime Ministers and the children to be top ranking subjects. She says, ‘My Kingdom’. This is what I have found; this is the great truth. Men realise this and the last eight thousand years they have been fighting to overthrow the rule of women. A husband beats his wife, but she says, ‘Even if you beat me, I am a Queen!’ Although children do not know her, she says, ‘You have to know that you are my subjects, you will recognise this!’ But I am saying again, that these children are the striving of the human soul. A woman is right that she has to be a queen. I like the statement that she is a queen, but I do not like the fact that she does not recognise her husband for a king or the children as princes. If she recognises this, a row will spring from a political point of view. While the Scripture resolves this issue in the following way and reads, ‘You will be kings and daughters of the Living God.’ The Scripture does not recognise women, it does not read, ‘You will be Queens!’ Because the first woman became a queen, it is now the man who is being placed as King, because his authority was undermined. Not the authority of the contemporary men, but the one of the Divine man. I would ask contemporary women: have you met your husband somewhere, what his features are, what distinguishes him. You say that this is not the most important question. And this is why the world is asking how to resolve the major question. Women would rarely know because they consider men as something of secondary importance, they only recognise their children. Once they deliver children, they place their husbands at the end of the line and this shocks them most of all and they are beside themselves with anger. Now, do you know why I talk like this? You will think that I want to attack you. This is a contradiction within a woman resulting from another influence, because of which she is the most miserable being. Why? Because she argues that she is a Queen without anybody else recognising her as such. She admits it but the others deny it. A husband says, ‘You are a servant, nothing more, you will cook!’ A mother tells her children, ‘You are my subjects!’ But they object, ‘Subjects? You must be kidding! It’s not the way you see it!’ Hence there is an internal discord. Not only outside, but inside as well, in the very soul there is a discord. I go further and I say that you are split-minded internally, there is big fight going on inside you. Sometimes you are pleased with yourselves; sometimes you are not. Why are you pleased, what are the reasons? There is a big internal dissent and this is one of the reasons why a woman is the most miserable being on the Earth. This is why nine tenths of her life is tears only: she hides in her room, she cries, and cries, and cries, and then she will wipe her face and will get out; on the following day – the same, on the third day she cries again and says, ‘What was I hoping for, and what turned out!’ Why? The Spirit has not yet arrived, the Spirit has not arrived, it is the Spirit that has not arrived! But when this Spirit comes, He will recover everything. And Paul says, ‘I engaged you to a man’. To whom? To Christ. Hence until you recognise this Man, who is the head of humankind and whose head is God, you will have tears anyway. Only at such recognition shall Christ send the Spirit, and this Spirit shall testify for Him. This is the major issue: Christ must come among you; this Man must come inside you! But this fight, existing now too, must be liquidated once and for all when the Spirit comes and you know Him. Who is the head of your life? The Spirit is the head of Life. And when He comes you will break free from the present discords. Then the new knowledge will come, the new understanding of Nature; you will get in touch with the new laws, which are now being established. And Christ says in this chapter, ‘Everything you beg for in my name, will be given to you.’ You are restless at times. Why? As long as there is the signature of Christ, everything will happen; but nothing happens without His signature. So, the Spirit is the one who brings all these sufferings. Suffering shows that you are not reconciled completely. As long as you suffer, you have not known your Husband. Do not understand the knowing of a husband the way you know him. I use the word knowing in the following sense: when you go out in the forest on a pleasant May day, when the Sun shines on you when you hear the beautiful song the birds are singing, this is knowing. It causes a great Joy to you, you are exhilarated. Conversely there is also a restricting knowing: as soon as you know your debtor, you restrict him or her; as soon as you find your ox and know him, you harness him, you take the stick and start driving it. Now, why has Christ departed up there to Heaven? He knows that there is harness for him. In this sinful state that we are in we would crucify Him everyday. This is why He has risen so high and waits. He has sent His spirit until people come round. Your mind and heart must be prepared, to come round to the understanding to fulfil Christ’s Will. This is an internal, deep understanding. Therefore, you are all required above all to unite. When Christ comes all women must become One Woman. You shall not be many women, but One Woman. Now each one of you will say, ‘What will happen to us?’ Women do not know themselves yet. Therefore, the first rule is that women should know themselves. Tell me what makes one woman different from another. If I compare two women, they all have the same longing: the one wants to marry and the other one wants to marry too; the one wants the dishes to be cooked all right, to be dressed all right, the other one wants the same. All their strivings are the same, there is nothing different, nothing special; life is the same in all the houses. Now, why shouldn't women join hands! In this way they can elevate their spirit. All women, if they join together can elevate it much easier. But now each one of you says, ‘I shall be first!’ This weakness of yours resembles that story which I have referred to at other times as well: a German prince went to a visit to Denmark or the Netherlands. He was supposed to be greeted at a theatre and for this purpose they chose twelve out of the most beautiful women in town. And one had to be chosen out of these twelve women to give him a bouquet of flowers. They decided to put it to vote and twelve tickets with twelve different names were found in the box – each one voted for herself. And now each one of you votes for herself in Christ’s box and there is nobody to give the bouquet. When the box is open there are as many names in there as there are women. Every human being is first, but while performing God’s Will only the Lord is first. He is the beginning of things, and we cannot be first. The one who creates things, He is the First. When this Spirit comes, He will bring this deep understanding in your souls, what it takes is selflessness. You sometimes say, ‘I have served this husband so much!’ But you have not served the Husband [Man] yet. Paul says, ‘I engaged you to a man.’ I would be glad if you had served, because you would not get older then, your hair would not alter. When this Man [Husband] comes, you should not fly into a fury. Therefore, we allowed a man in today to listen, lest women make a plot of some sort. So, when the Spirit comes, if you admit this authority to Christ, all the other issues, insults, and doubts shall be cardinally resolved. This is the major issue, which will resolve the other issues. This must be a question of a love for nature, which must be resolved according to the strength of God’s Love and Wisdom. So, this Love has to be so strong within you, that it could sweep everything around like a strong current, not to leave a thing around that can counteract you. When your husband who is on the Earth scolds you, you will say, ‘We are waiting for Christ!’ This husband of yours prepares the path for the Other one. Then I tell you that there is only One Man, and I will tell men that there is only One Woman in the world. When I talk to the men, you will commission a delegate. Thus I elevate their authority, do you understand? And I will then tell them that there is only One Woman and all men should join together because there is only One Woman. And when this Spirit comes, He will bring what you need. I have spoken many times and I do not want my lecture to be left without any results. Have you asked yourselves what women you are now? Can you give me a description? I had assigned a topic to you ‘What women you are; what makes you different’, and how would you describe yourselves? Now, in the world, in order to describe somebody, you have to either love or hate this person very much and usually you show all of the negative features of this person. Now, you hate these men on the Earth, this I know. Subsequently, the wife says to her husband, ‘Do not believe him, whatever he tells you do not believe it!’ You are right, because how many women have men sold in the history of human culture; how many legs they have broken! Now, if I tell you ‘I engaged you to one man’, how would you describe Him? That you live with your present husbands is due to this Man, who is above. Everyday He sends them to you every day and tells them, ‘Although they are such people, give them [let them have]? translator’s notes [there is an implied meaning in the Bulg sentence – my guess is that God told the husbands that although the wives were such people, the husbands should give the wives love [M2] !’ He does not quite see your sins completely and He says, ‘Let them live well, let them be happy on the Earth!’ But are you happy? No, you are not. Not only are you not happy, but your husbands are unhappy and they constantly write books about it. Now what takes place outside in society, the same goes on inside the family, the same goes on in the soul too! In your soul you sometimes lose this hope, this authority, this consciousness, you lose every love and then you despair and say, ‘Let it go!’ You lose any idea of that elevated substance, granted to the soul, you give up God and you live in the world only to eat and drink. And now, if you, as women, still look for many men, there will be tears, tears, tears. But if you look for the One Man, when He comes to the world you will say to all the present men, ‘Off you go!’ When the woman fell down, the man remained up there in Heaven, and when the man fell down, the woman remained up there. So that, now the true men and the true women are up there, while those who left Heaven and came looking for their happiness here on the Earth are the heroes of the day. Now, the Spirit of Truth has to come, this salvation will happen through Him. I do not in the least want to make fly at your husbands when go back home. There is nothing to fly at him for. You will be looking to find the like of him; you will be looking for Him until you find Him. Have you read Song of the Songs? Many have read it and they say, ‘This is a wide life!’ You will understand the profound, internal meaning not in the human way, but in the Divine way. And why don’t I disclose secrets to you? Where is your husband? When you come to me I will tell you, ‘Let your husband come with you too!’ But you come only with women, without men? How can a woman be without a man? And the Scripture reads, ‘A woman cannot do [M3] without a man, and a man cannot do [M4] without a woman.’[3] Both are in Christ. A woman, when she comes, wants to have Love with her husband[4]. There must be you, your husband, and one more – a third one. Love can exist only among three persons. Do you know this? Your husband and you will come to me and then we can have love. This is how the Scripture sees the meaning of things. But we do know the love between two. So, do not beguile yourself looking for love between two, you should be looking for it between three. This is what Christ says, ‘When you are together with Me and the father comes, then I will manifest.’ When I talk to you about Love, it takes three persons to love each other. I have not seen two women loving each other. If you can find two women here in Bulgaria who love each other, I would like to see them and to have a picture of them. Not that this is impossible on the Earth, but a woman has to have her own husband and one other - a third one, who will come. Then God will manifest and what you are looking for will come. Only then will the Spirit and Christ come. It takes three persons for Christ to come. I want you to free yourselves from your illusions: you want to be students, but you are looking for happiness where it is not. If you are looking for happiness – I am telling you where it is – with your husband. But he will place a harness on your head, he will set you in the cart, he will drive you with the stick and he will tell you, ‘Go to the field to plough!’ Your husband is also harnessed. I mean the phoney man on the earth, and I do not want to mention the name of the other Man. These men on the Earth are merely his representatives, his servants. And they do as he orders them to do on the Earth. Now do you know who He is? You know Him now! A maid comes and says, ‘I found him!’ ‘Yes’, I say, ‘you haven’t found him yet. When you find the one about whom Paul says, “I engaged you to a man”, then that day will be the greatest in your life. This will be resurrection for women and therefore, Christ says, ‘Those who agree with this day, with this understanding, neither get married nor look for a man.’ When delivering a lecture before the men I will tell them that there is only One Woman. Do not beguile yourselves – there is One Man, you have to understand this! You will look for him! You will feel as one soul and thus you will be able to resolve the question of your suffering. The point is to find Christ. Not the historical Christ, not this Christ whom people believe in, but that Christ who says, ‘I am the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega’. The one who sent you here; who sent his blessing; who has supported you in all of your comings and wanderings in this world and has guided you along the path of Truth. He has always been good, has never frowned, is always delicate and He says, ‘There will come the time of this great outcome.’ Now, the Divine Spirit is coming for women, to wake them up, so that they start looking for this One Man. And now, since there are many men, there are scandals too: a woman says, ‘Why have you taken him?’, while another one objects, ‘What about you? What have you done to him?’ They argue about men all the time. I say, you do not have any men as of yet. Nobody can take away from you your Man, the true Man. He is up there in Heaven. He will be your beloved. He is not called a Man, but a ‘beloved to the soul’. And women are referred to not as the one who sinned, but as ‘my beloved’. So, you will be looking for the beloved to the soul! And when you find Him, your soul will be pleased, it will be happy. And the Scripture reads, ‘And in those days I will obliterate all of your sins.’[5] When you find your Man, all of your sins will be obliterated, not a single trace will be left of them. The most significant issue is to find the beloved of your soul, for whom your soul is longing. You shed so many tears for Him and you say, ‘What have we remained for? Isn’t there salvation?’ The Scripture says about the day when this beloved will come, ‘I will wipe your tears’, ‘I will remove your shackles’. There will be no tears then, there will be no shackles; your hearts will be healed and there will be no wounds; enlightenment will be there, there will be no darkness; your soul will be elevated and a woman will be a Queen then. So, you will plant this idea in yourselves and you will ardently pray to acquire the Spirit above all and this enlightenment. And you will tie the black man and you will tell him, ‘Concubines we cannot be any longer!’ Each and every woman has to say, ‘A concubine I cannot be any longer!’ Do you understand? If you say, deep down your heart, that you cannot be concubines any longer, you resolve the issue and then the Spirit will bring Love. The true Man will come and then you will start a new epoch. And then the New Woman will appear. And I would like you to form at least the finger of this New Woman. Your law is great. You have only to overcome the external oppression, this tribulation and to know what the meaning is. Consequently, if you do find your beloved, anything else ruining your life will disappear. Thus the issue is solved at its basis and we can then talk about education and about Love. If I talk to you about love, about kisses, my words will be understood in an absolutely distorted sense. So far such kisses you have not had. This Man has to kiss you, the one who is pure and in whom you have your beginning. And the point that your present husband has kissed you, this does not qualify for a kiss. We shall be waiting for it, there is still a long time until this kiss comes. And when one receives this kiss, such a person does not stay on the Earth, such a person leaves for one’s Fatherland and leaves this home. Such a person leaves these things that now hinder you and by form such a person is free. Consequently, the soul is something internal. One cannot corrupt oneself externally, because one’s essence is inside. [M5] Sin is not something external internal. Sin is something internal, inside the soul.[M6] So, when this Spirit of the Truth comes, He will testify for Me, and you will testify.’ And I would like all of you to testify. Can you testify? (A voice from the audience): We can. We can!… Do not confuse your soul with your body, because you now have one body, afterwards you will have another body, but there is something more substantial that distinguishes you. This is the soul, not the body. And when you meet, you have to first feel like souls. The power of Love does not lie in counteraction. If you can endure one counteraction, you have Love. This Love is of the Spirit, this is the Love of your soul. Between God and your soul – this is where Love should start, but not from outside. You mention Love so many times, you kiss, but you still talk about yourselves; you treat yourselves, but your affairs do not resolve. This Love has to start between God and your soul internally. And Paul says, ‘First, the visible’. This is the visible! Some may interpret this expression in the following way: first, this life. I say: the visible – this is God, while the invisible – these are the people. Visible is what God is to me. We shall start with this understanding. Life is within. During Paul’s day these words were right. When descending from above, the visible was down, but now we are staring on the road behind and we look upwards. First the Love for God should appear and then we shall manifest externally. If I have no Love for God, this Love cannot be manifested to you. God, my soul, and the one close to me [my neighbour] – these are three persons and there is Love only there! They constitute the Holy Trinity, God in three persons. They are the manifestation of the Divine Love. The Spirit is the first outflow of God. God, the Spirit, and Love constitute a trinity, and we together with them form a quaternion - the Virtue on the Earth. Now, the first rule is to start with Love. Women should look for their beloved! You will say, ‘What shall we do with our present husbands?’ The Scripture reads, ‘After you die, you are free of them.’ A woman is tied to a man while he is alive, as soon as he dies, she is free. So, if she returns into the world, he has no right to remarry her. This is not a teaching of mine, Paul says so. According to the moral law, if somebody owes money but dies and then returns again to the world, he has to pay. Such is the moral law! You will tell your present husbands, ‘We shall go to find our Husband, and you go find your Wife!’ You will also say, ‘We, the two of us, have not prospered, therefore, you go to your Wife, and I will go to my Husband!’ This resolves the issue in a cardinal way. What does a husband have to do? He must go to his Wife. Thus you will bring about the outcome and you will resolve this profound issue. When the Spirit comes we have to implement the will of this God who sent us to the earth because to Him we shall return. There is no other way! No matter how long we stay on the Earth, some day we shall have to return to the place where we came from. And Christ says, ‘But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me’. He will testify for this great Truth bringing Love which brings freedom to women. Women have to be freed first of all! You have to free yourselves and when you find Christ your issue is resolved and you are free. Now, some of you are already close. You aspire to this while you are bringing into effect this profound understanding. When you understand you will be saved forever. This is salvation; this is purification – to be content. To be like what the soul of a woman was originally – content and pure! And it will get purified! When the Spirit comes into her, she will start testifying for the one that is within and without Now, the Spirit that already works; let it enlighten you, let it urge your soul, your heart, your mind to the resolution of the most significant issue. The other issues you may resolve, but this issue is basic in the Supreme Divine Teaching, a cardinal issue it is. It is this issue that you have to resolve and then you will resolve all the issues one after another. Let’s have a secret prayer. We shall read ‘Our father’ in a low voice. We shall read the good prayer in a very low voice. Stick to the rule not to allow discouragement now. Now you are closer to the Kingdom of God than you were in the past. You will reflect on this issue. It does not have to be an obstacle to you, but an issue on which the resolution of all other issues depends. Every woman has to resolve this issue without any hesitation; she has to know this! Once you resolve this issue in your soul, when the Spirit comes, the issue is resolved on its own accord. You can work only in this way. You yourselves may resolve the issue, it is not one of the most difficult issues, but it is the easiest issue. But you constantly put it off for later, while it is this issue that you have to resolve first. ‘But this Spirit of Truth, He will testify for me’; and elsewhere it is said, ‘He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything what I have said.’ Next time I shall talk further on. Next time, after a month I will tell women what they have to do when they find this Man [Husband]. The Spirit that is coming will open your minds and will tell you what you have to do then. Women have to take part in all actions in the world. Women impede the world. The fate of the world and the keys to the total salvation depend on you! And now, since you have not resolved the most significant issue, you mislead your sons and daughters. You will call your daughter and you will speak to her about the great Truth inside Life. She has to know the Truth, why should you delude her? There is no happiness; you will be skinned like an ox. Say, ‘May the Will of God be performed!’ The Will of God is performed only according to the law of Love. Hence, you have to understand me in a very wide sense, not in a narrow sense. You will understand [gain understanding] about your elevation in a cardinal way, fundamentally! Not only you, but all the women in the whole world keep resolving this issue. Those who used to raise this issue would have resolved it, but the world war broke out and they discontinued for a while. They brought up the issue about women’s emancipation. It takes no emancipation, but a cardinal understanding of the issue. The war broke out, men and women intertwined, and now they cannot resolve the issue fundamentally. But the issue has to be resolved. You live in a very important epoch, or as secular people say ‘in an epoch of historical significance’. Now or never! This is the edge of the issue. If you do not resolve this issue now, you will never resolve it. You have to have an open heart, and not to say, ‘We are not good.’ The Lord will obliterate your sins; He will throw them behind His back and won’t look at them. But the way you are now, you cannot even pray. You now pray to perform God’s Will, but tomorrow you seek one of those, somebody else’s man and you say, ‘Who will feed me?’ Enough, eight thousand years of slavery should be enough! Since it is eight thousand years old, the strap is about to break. It is time for a human being to break once and for all with the strap of evil. It is a great evil from which a human being has to break free and from which one has to part. And then one will turn one’s mind to God and will understand that there is no change, no betrayal in him or her. It is the same human being. It is not a man. It is the Great Spirit and there is no change in Him. He is called the one coming from the benevolent womb, He is merciful, full of Love for those who repent, who perform His Will. This issue you will resolve now! You shall not entertain illusions and shall not say, ‘I am not like the other women.’ I have one request to you: do not entertain any illusions that you are not like the other women. Try to be like this Woman. I haven’t spoken about the One Woman yet, I haven’t told you what the One Woman is like. Come on, I congratulate you with the Spirit! You have to attack now and you have to charge and enter. Everybody with the Spirit, with the Word of God! You will resolve the important issue not with your needles pointed ahead, but with the Word of God. Master’s lecture Delivered on 10 November 1921 15:00h in Sofia [1] [whom you no longer trust so much] or [in whom your confidence is a little shaken] [2] To Editor: if this sentence in ‘’ is a quotation from the Bible, I will need the reference = chapter, line… [3] To Editor: this is most probably a quotation – unfortunately I see no reference as to book, chapter, line. [4] To Editor: in many instances the original text reads ‘woman’ or ‘man’ – but it is evident from the context that the 2 words refer to married people – I translated as ‘husband’ and rarely as ‘wife’ in places where I felt it inappropriate to refer to a woman as somebody’s woman. However, if the convention is ‘man’ and ‘woman’ even though referring to married people – please feel free to substitute at your discretion. In Bulgarian the colloquial style has ‘my man’=‘my husband’ & ‘my woman’=‘my wife’ which I am afraid is not exactly the case elsewhere. [5] To Editor: perhaps a quotation – no reference though [M1]Unclear. What is meant by behind your confidence? {who has lost her confidence} or {who you have lost confidence in} [M2]Give them what? [M3]{be} [M4]{be} [M5]Maybe this sentence should be checked again. Perhaps the word externally is meant to be internally. [M6]This sentence contradicts the previous one, in addition, sin cannot be internal and inside the soul. {Sin is not something internal, and it is not inside the soul.} or {Sin is external, not inside the soul.}

Note 5 [translator’s notes are placed in square brackets] The Great Mother The written assignments on the bone system, on the heart and its function, and on the digestive system were read. We were sent to the Earth not for leisure, but for work. However, even the Earth can put up with its guests for no longer than three days. All contemporary misfortunes result from the fact that we want to be guests to the Earth. And since I talk to you from a purely esoteric point of view, if you ask me what the misfortunes in the world are due to, I shall tell you that they stem from your desire to be just visiting guests here on Earth. The Earth is a place for more [most] [M1] serious work to be done. Each creature, regardless of how small it may be, has its mathematically strictly determined place and work that it has to do. Even today, more superior creatures live on the toil of the more inferior ones. I intentionally asked you to describe the digestive system, as way of explanation, because you, esoteric students, do not even suspect what is going on within you at any single moment. Every one of you should investigate one’s organism thoroughly. The only real thing that you have in this world is your organism. Until you investigate your organism, you will be ignorant and won’t be able to understand Nature. Our Great Mother – Nature, restricts her children under all the rules she has. Bear in mind that she is ruthlessly blunt. No esoteric students should beguile themselves that this would pass them by unnoticed. When this Divine Mother gets hold of you, she will take you through all the rules of education without blinking an eye. I talk to you about education, because this is where you should start from: Nature has the correct way to educate. What seems to people callous in the world, what we, contemporary people, notice as certain disharmony in the world, is in fact a most harmonious action. I still do not dare tell you that Nature should be studied from its rear side. You should start studying your life from its rear side too. For example, the goodness of someone depends on the badness contained in the roots of one’s life. Hence, we can mathematically determine that one’s goodness would be as big as is the badness in the roots of one’s life. I exclude your moral concepts and here I do not mean bad actions. The word badness stands for that matter in your life that acts against your life. I told you that you have to investigate Life from its rear side. Now many of you feel a desire to show themselves better than they actually are, or worse than they actually are. This is a misleading situation and Nature does not tolerate such falsities. Nature has two methods that it applies: you should strictly determine things from a mathematical point of view, absolutely accurately, or otherwise you should not measure things at all. In order to measure precisely the powers active in us, we have to develop the senses we have in our organism, so that they can start working, i.e. to develop the sensitivity of our soul. Let’s take for example the concept of coldness; it denotes a physiological process, the physiological reasons for being cold. How can you translate coldness; what does it stand for? It stands for hatred. So, hatred is similar to coldness. Can you make an analogy between coldness and hatred: what is the effect of coldness upon the organism? Shrinking. Indeed, all bodies shrink to a certain extent in the cold. Hatred gives rise to the same action – it also makes one shrink. Warmth is the opposite of coldness. Warmth translates as love. What does warmth give rise to? Expansion. What does love give rise to? Also expansion. Hence, esoteric people, who understand the laws, can influence hatred through warmth, and love – through coldness. The white magi in the White Esoteric School use warmth against hatred, while the black magi use the cold to counteract love. The White magi use warmth to strengthen love, while the black magi use the cold to strengthen hatred. If you ask me why the winter is cold, I will answer that these two lodges – the Black and the White - act in Nature. And according to this law, those of you who observed what the weather was like when the Central Powers and the Allies were at war[1] might have noticed the following: when the Central Powers were winning the weather was always cold, and when the Allies was winning, the weather was warm. And then, from a purely esoteric point of view, we made the conclusion that the White Esoteric School sided with the Allies, and the Black one sided with the Central Powers. Whether they were aware of this or not is another issue. When peace was to be signed the Black Lodge changed its tactics and started influencing the Allies, while the White Lodge started influencing the Central Powers, i.e. they swapped roles. I shall not dwell upon this; I wanted just to note this fact in progress. The situation you - supporting an idea - are in any given moment, might be sustained either by the White Lodge or by the Black Lodge. So, if you want to train yourselves, you should first determine where the ideas that preoccupy you are being commanded from. Someone may say, “I believe in this and in this.” This, however, does not solve the issue though. Stupid people also believe. But when a stupid person is given something, say one hundred leva, the stupid person is ready to immediately take it and says, "I will give you back one hundred and fifty”, although the stupid person may as well lose everything shortly afterwards. It is not profit that is at stake. Mind you that all of our acts and ideas on earth bear an impact on our future. Perhaps a thought at present may influence your future life in a thousand of years. Therefore, bear in mind that what you do now, you do it for your own sake. A thousand years may pass, but you cannot evade taking the right direction. Now, these false teachings of the Black brotherhood come to distort the lines of the Holy Scripture. And when they want to entrap you in a certain sin, or to distort something, they immediately quote a line that suits their purpose. The Black brothers, when willing to make somebody sin, can be very polite and kind, they will offer chickens, apple pies, until they manage to harness the person. But as soon as they harness a person, they start goading this person, start making him/her work for them and neither apple pies, nor chickens do they offer any longer. This is the beginning of the so-called black doom. The Bulgarians say, “I ended up with what I was given in the beginning.” However, esoteric students cannot and should not be thinking like this. Opinions on life have to be strictly determined; they should not rest on those silly interpretations and beliefs, inherited from the past. Esoteric students should verify things fundamentally for themselves, and the shadows of things, the secondary and tertiary things will come on their own accord. Everyone should understand the law properly, to be sure whether one observes the law or not, whether one believes in God or not. I do not understand the word God in the sense you understand it. I see the esoteric law in the sense of faith in the living law of Nature. However, [i mean] not [M2] the law as effect[M3] , because you are familiar with any effect, since impact is the result of and is generated by a living and intelligent centre. Consequently, when we say that something affects us, this is due to the thought vested in this influence. When I take somebody by the hand and influence this person to start walking, this is the result of the thought vested in me. Hence, you have to be absolutely determined in your thoughts whether you have faith or not. What is your definition of faith? As soon as true faith comes, doubts will also come, and alongside this contradictions in life will appear. Where there are contradictions, Life must have begun. This feature indicates that the true life of esoteric students has begun. If there are no contradictions, you are very far from the Truth. This is a law on the Earth. Such contradictions should not grow into obstacles before those who want to learn. When I said in my previous lecture that those of you who are not ready to follow the Teaching should not set foot in the Esoteric School, I meant not to set foot in the School of this Mother of yours, because it will throw you out according to all the rules of art. You may enter it, but you will need all the humility of your soul and you will need to speak tenderly and kindly. Any rude intonation of your mind or soul will attract all the counteracting forces and you will stumble along your Path. The Old Testament reads, “The Lord scorns the scorners: but He gives grace unto the lowly.” The Lord is understood to mean the Mother, the Living Nature. How can the Mother express her opposition? Living Nature opposes its disrespectful children by taking them by her three fingers, then Nature lifts them up, then she throws them away and says, “Do you know me, do you know what I can do to you, are you going to lose your temper again? I can turn a human being into the smallest infinitesimal animal!” You may say, “No, it is not possible for a man to go back in the evolutionary development and to become an animal.” It’s not true; one may regress in one’s development and at that according to all the rules of this great law of the Mother. Christians say, “A man born once is a man forever.” Yes, correct, but if one trespasses upon the rules of the Mother, she will send him back and then he will start on a long journey changing forms and millions of years will have to pass, until he is purified. Before he comes out at the end of this Path he will have filled ten tubs of tears, he will keep his memories of them, so that when a passer by incidentally asks him, “You are not going to sin any longer, are you?” he could answer, “Have you filled ten tubs of tears?” When Christ says that He will send somebody to eternal suffering, I clarify that He will send all the clergy, scientists, philosophers, as well as their servants to suffer, to fill tubs of tears. They will pass through a great fire. This fire is not what it is described to be; it is a quiet fire, it has its pleasures, it is a fire that purifies and makes people humble. I warn you to watch out for the three fingers of your Mother – Nature, she is dangerous! When people cross with three fingers in the Orthodox Church, this is also a warning to be aware of the three fingers of the Mother, not to be grabbed by her three fingers. Crossing has a particular meaning in esoteric sense: remember the three fingers of your Mother in your mind, in your heart and in your will! But religious people say that in crossing, one of the fingers stood for the Father, the other one – for the Son, and the third one – for the Holy Spirit. It could as well be so, but you have to know that these are the three fingers of your Mother, the three intelligent Powers working within her. And she is remarkable, remarkable indeed your Mother Nature is. Those of you, who tend to cause a stir, should keep it in their mind that I can complain to your Mother, without having to unmask you, and I can tell her to grab you by her three fingers. And then regardless whether it happens to be a man or a woman, a boy or a girl – they will get it. She will feel you and will say, “Did I send you there to study or to philosophise, to serve or to give orders?” Christ, as a disciple of the Great Esoteric School, also understood this law. The Scripture has it that when he found himself in a human body, he became humble. For the grace of this Divine Mother, Christ was ready to endure any suffering. The Father is known as Mother in Esotericism. He is the Love, but not the way you understand this Mother – Love. Don’t even think of comparing this Divine Mother with the love you know! There is no image comparable to this concept. I call her Divine Mother, not in the sense that she delivered God. The Esoteric School perceives the Divine Mother as the essence in everything living in the world. Let’s go back, because these are abstract things that may stir fear and anxiety in your minds. My point is not to make you fear, because fear is just one feeling, while so far human beings have been found to have forty abilities. Fear is only one fortieth of the present life, so that your attention to fear should be one to forty. If all your life turns into fear only, you do not understand Life. Fear is supposed to be only a warning to human beings, reminding them whether they have properly understood what they studied and whether they acted accordingly. Thus, fear is necessary to show you that you have your responsibilities. After fear, conscience comes and tells you, “You did it according to all the rules of the Divine Law.” The first thing that all of you are required to do is to accept the following motto as a rule “If you do not become like little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” I shall translate this for you: if you do not place yourselves in the shoes of little children, you cannot enter any Esoteric School, any branch of this Great, Intelligent Esoteric School. The second rule is that students of the Esoteric School should learn to keep silent – to keep silent in order to be able to think. Their thoughts should be strictly determined, their thoughts should not be roaming, they should not contain similar opposite thoughts or doubts. Some say, “I think”, but what is it that you think about? If you look at the faces of the people around you, you will see that these people are not thinking, but wasting their time. The present philosophising and thinking is just a waste of time, but the skulls and bones of people reveal how righteous their thought is. The first thing that you are facing is to restore your righteous thoughts. You may ask, “How can we know which thought is righteous?” This cannot be proven. This is a law, implanted in human beings from the very beginning – their ability to think righteously. So, since the soul always thinks righteously, I am not going to prove this, anybody can try it. It will be sufficient if one goes back to that point where one deviated from the right path. What will be the first result that you will notice from this righteous thought of yours? As soon as you manage to experience righteous thoughts, any gloomy thoughts will leave you, a Light will appear in your mind and you will start feeling reconciled with everybody. The curtain will begin, little by little, to open, you will start understanding the correlation existing between causes and consequences, and you will understand why things keep happening in this way and not in that way. The Scripture reads, “The Earth should be silent, for the Lord to speak.” Silence is the first rule in every school: when pupils come to school and when the teacher comes in after them, all pupils are silent so that the teacher can speak. This is why, when this Divine Mother starts speaking, everybody should fall silent. Sometimes she makes us to be silent against our wishes. She sends a big misfortune to us, thus telling us, “Keep silent!” Then you say, “I do not feel like talking,” and you become immersed in thought. You keep thinking and thinking and in the end you say, “Life is meaningless.” In this silence you must have heard the voice of your Mother, coming from the depth of your soul. This voice is calm and it will speak to you in such quiet and tender tones, as no other voice has spoken to you. But when will this voice start talking to you? When one has been through the worst pains and miseries and after having filled ten tubs of tears. Here on earth the contact of this voice is called love, kindness etc. This voice provokes instant magical changes in human beings. You might have been the person most slighted and hurt on earth, you might have been close to your death-bed, but as soon as this voice starts talking to you, you immediately feel safe. You are looking for the secret, for the Truth of Life somewhere outside you and you tell me, “Teach us how to find it!” Learn to understand yourselves and to find this secret within you. Sometimes unwittingly you place your hand on the forehead of a weeping child. I now ask you why you place your hand there. How many philosophers and scientists in Bulgaria know the reason for this? I will tell you, “When you place your right hand upon the upper part of the forehead, you arouse one of the noblest feelings." Many centres are located in this part of the head, but you influence compassion above all – the Divine Love. And if the person placing his/her palm on your forehead is compassionate, you will immediately feel a certain pleasantness spreading all over you. The mother, by placing her palm upon her child’s forehead, tells the child’s spirit, “Mother Nature that entrusted you to me, loves you and her Love never changes.” And the mother, who places her palm upon the child’s forehead, is a step-mother to the child, entrusted to raise the child. So, when you are upset, place your palm or let somebody else place their palm upon your forehead, concentrate your thoughts in this place, call your Great Mother, and everything will pass on its own accord. This is a beautiful gesture. You should know the meaning of each and every gesture – these are the new education methods. Each movement in Nature is strictly determined and from this point of view, all people can be either good or bad. If your child is crying and if you take the upper side of the child’s hand, if you bring it close to your mouth and blow against it, the pain will pass away. But if in similar cases you curl your lower lip and thrust it forward, you have already tarnished your mind. Any gesture of your hand or mouth that is incorrect brings dishonour to your mind. And these gestures have their impact. Therefore, any movement of the hand, of the eyes has to be strictly determined, has to follow all the Divine rules. Contemporary highly educated people are like children who start writing for the first time and this explains why, when they take the writing pen, they start scribbling on the paper. Children scribble and scribble on the paper and tell their mother, “Mother, look what I have written!” This scribbling, however, contains no Divine thought; it has no content at all. This scribbling refers also to the present newspapers. Similarly, at spiritual séances, a medium starts scribbling first upon paper, and afterwards some letters come out. The minds and hearts of many contemporary Christians resemble this childish scribbling – they scribble, but nothing comes out. So, you should first start scribbling, then you will start drawing circles and finally you will start writing letters. Learn to stop and take a look at your actions, so that you yourselves can be pleased with whatever movement you do with your hands, head, eyes or mouth. Watch your movements, but do not be afraid! Often some poets shake their heads while talking. I interpret this movement in the following way: “Oh, I hope these rotten pears would fall!” You think about them, “There is something substantial in these ideas of theirs; they are poets, they will surely write something.” They will write nothing. So, be careful to ensure that your movements are harmonic. You may in time feel a desire to correct somebody. Nobody is allowed to correct anybody in the Esoteric School. This is an insult. Both the one correcting, and the one being corrected, both of them commit a crime. Do you believe that the movement of the wheel in the factory, which has once started rolling and keeps rolling, is not strictly determined? Do you think that the master of that gentleman, who has lost his temper, has not predetermined this reaction? Do you think that you have to block the drainpipe through which all waste goes out? No, you should not, because by doing so you will bring about the greatest misfortune to people. The person who flares up, is just a channel, so, let all impurities flow out of him, do not interrupt him. This flaring brother of yours is on duty today, he is throwing up so many things, so you should rather tell him, “Brother, you did a wonderful job today, you are throwing up impurities and thus you are helping so many people.” If you do not have such understanding for things around, you will be on duty tomorrow. So, intelligent students should understand properly the causes and the consequences of each action and should remember the following: Life is determined very intelligently, there are no exceptions to it, no accidents, and everything, even the smallest details, have been provided for. This is not a restriction of the human will, because at your stage of development, you have no will whatsoever yet. I am telling you the truth. I believe that only a person, who can forgive after being insulted, has Will. People, who can forget that they were deprived of all of their wealth, have Will. People, who in spite of having a lot of work to do, help fallen people, have Will. While ordering one person or another around, does not count as will. Will starts in sin. If you look upon this issue in this way, you will immediately feel enlightenment. Do an experiment, so that Mother Nature can start talking to you. If you stick to your conceptions, the conceptions you have today, your Mother shall not start talking to you in a thousand of years, but will only grab you by her three fingers. When I say that your Mother will grab you by her three fingers, I do not mean your individual life; I mean it on principle, as per the laws. There are exceptions to these laws, they are not absolutely mechanical. So, when I say that your Mother will hold you by her three fingers, this will be so as long as you oppose her. The moment you change, she will also change her attitude to you. No philosophy, no logic is not in a position to alter Nature. However, the moment you feel repentance within, that the path you follow is not the right path, your Mother will change her pre-disposition to you. No sooner has she become pre-disposed to you, and you will experience certain pleasantness, a certain relief. You will struggle until the moment you feel this pre-disposition, and everybody coming your way will be [considered] bad[2].[M4] Now, Nature does not regret having such obstinate children, on the contrary, she rejoices for them, because they do such a wonderful job. She places these children in their proper place. When they get tired, they say, “Mother, we learnt this art.” The Mother replies, “All right then I will take you to another area.” As I see you are tired of life and you say that life is meaningless. What have you learnt so far, does not satisfy you any longer, and the beliefs you have are not positive either. How many of you, if tortured for their beliefs, are ready to make a self-sacrifice, to die for them? You may say, “We have to think a little, and then we can answer whether we are ready to sacrifice.” Now, let me go back to the talk about the beautiful movements. I will give you two examples: the day is clear, the sun is shining, you can see a high rock facing south, and there is a crystal clear spring under its eastern side, which gives rise to a small river flowing eastwards also. I will now draw the same picture, but situated oppositely: a high rock facing north, a crystal clear spring to the west of it. If you visit two locations similar to the ones described, two different ideas will rise in your mind. Watch the people living on such northern slopes where rivers flow westwards, and the people living on southern slopes where rivers flow eastwards. Compare the people in these two areas, take it as an assignment. Some of you may solve this task in a week; others may need a month, still others – a year. Therefore, in education, we have to make the best of Nature, because there is a fundamental, great idea underpinning the various forms it has created – to alter the mood of our mind, heart, and will. I shall elaborate a little bit on this, so that you can start paying attention to the clouds, you can start relating with them. Do not think that clouds are dead, you should always consider them living: sometimes there are whole mountains of clouds in the sky facing north or south; watch these living clouds in space, reflect why some of them face north, while other face south. Contemporary people today are exhausted, small-minded, because they do not go out to watch the sky. They turn their faces only to the ground, to what they themselves have created, and this is petty. If people went out to watch the sky, the clouds, and the stars, their mood would change, and we, contemporary white people, would be nobler than we are now. Since we do not want to voluntarily give up the old habits, the White Lodge has decided to make real people of us, to free us from these buildings, so that we can watch Nature. In previous times people made idols, bowed to idols, but today we ridicule them. However, contemporary people make houses, have property, and take their joy out of it, because this is how they earn their living. Is it not idol-worshipping as well? Don’t you ever rely on the thought that your house, field or vineyard will earn your living! Do not vest your hopes in them. If you think along these lines, you can be sure that you have taken the wrong direction. I talk to you as students of the Esoteric School. Throw out of your mind these houses of yours; you will have to look upon them as a simple exercise for you. In America there are houses of twenty-thirty floors. I say what we have now is not houses, these are the most dreadful prisons ever seen in the world; these are cemeteries. There are dwellings where the sun has not set a single ray for years. This is no culture; don’t you admire these big buildings. I’d rather live in the simplest Bulgarian hut out of town, than in a twenty-storey building, costing a couple of millions, albeit having the latest amenities. There is an analogy for you: a writer describes the houses of a town, the streets, the layout of the town, and when you read this you think, “Why I am not moved by all of this?” Because there is nothing new. Let this writer set the plot in the open, in Nature, let the author describe the movements in Nature, and then you will find out whether it moves you. This author describes how two people fell in love – the one was on the stage and the other one – in one of the theatre boxes. Is there anything more misrepresented than this? Being esoteric students you should not waste your time on similar novels, you should be selective in your reading. If some of you start writing, mind you do not imitate these authors. See what the psalm writer writes in the songs! A song reads, “Let the rivers murmur, let forests and tall cedars bend low.” In psalms all people are compared to trees, to mountain peaks, to rivers, to springs, while the world is compared to the sea etc. All this makes sense. The psalm writer, from an esoteric point view, implanted these true Divine ideas that govern the world. The interpreters, when analysing these forms, misrepresented them and now contemporary people cannot think properly. There is one task ahead of you – to go back at least eight thousand years, to come to the Gates of Paradise, so that I can show you that you have taken the wrong direction. There were two paths opening before people on coming out of Paradise, and they had to choose one of them. The entire humanity took the wrong one and said, “This is what is destined for us!” No, there was another Path destined, and it was the so-called straight, narrow Path. Narrow Path should be understood to mean that Great Path of the Living Nature and this is the Path you have to take. You cannot return along the path you took on coming out, but I will take you back along the other path, along the narrow Path. When you reach this initial point, I shall show you the Path which you have to take in the new course of development in your evolution. Do a short mental exercise; this is what you should ask, “Where was I a hundred years ago?” Take a break, then try to figure out where you were a thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, three thousand years ago, four thousand, five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand years ago, and where you were eight thousand years ago. Take such a small notional transition and allow yourselves a break at each point. You will not resolve anything of particular notice, but by returning in your mind along the path that you have travelled so far, you will follow this law and when you come to the point where you were eight thousand years ago, please take notes of your condition, of what you experience, and also put down the thought that comes to mind, and afterwards come back to your present condition. If no thought comes to your mind or if you do not experience any condition, you should not worry, try to return once again. I shall gradually show to you the mathematical correlations that will be of help in your work. These are the smallest exercises that I assign to you. You are wondering how you can go back eight thousand years, how you can do this. Take little children as an example: when they stand up for the first time on their feet, do they have any idea how to take steps? No, children follow their instinct: they stand up, fall down, they stand up again and fall down again and so on. Similarly your mind is a four-legged animal too. Mental people are four-legged, they try to stand up, they fall down, and again they try to stand up and in the end they say, “We cannot think.” No, we shall fall down, shall stand up, shall bow, until finally we shall stand firmly on our two feet and shall start thinking. So, remember, that your mind is not human, it is four-legged, and this is not an insult. If our mind was human, our Life would have been organised differently and we would not have been in the situation we are now. Anybody can check [and verify] [M5] that our mind is not enlightened. Can you find two people at home who are in the same mind, who live in Love? Very rarely is it so, and only when they are in the mood for this. This is not due to a lack of desire to live, but it is due to something distorted in us. As soon as we reach our original situation, we shall immediately be set free. Then we shall find ourselves in the situation of a person who is being healed with water or sun rays – such a person keeps sweating until all impurities are thrown out, and afterwards such a person feels like a new born baby. Therefore, first we have to get rid of the impurities that have accumulated within us for thousands of years, so that only pure blood remains, i.e. the pure Divine thought and the pure Divine heart. Then we shall experience the same as a person, who before falling ill with typhus used to weigh a hundred and twenty kilogrammes and then he lost weight and became like a dried mackerel. The same will happen to you. You will throw out everything that is useless and you will feel stupid. Until you yourselves feel stupid, nothing will come out. After having thoroughly emptied yourselves, New Divine Life will come from elsewhere and it will fill up your bottle. To succeed in this small experiment does not take much courage, but only faith and diligence. You may recite to me that line, about whether this is in agreement with God’s Will. Any good action is in agreement with God’s Will. Any good thought, any good deed, regardless how small it may be, is in agreement with God’s Will. Keep in mind that every good deed yields results and can be accomplished, but it takes a long time to do it. Therefore, the smallest desire, the smallest urge will in time produce good results. Every good thought and desire is a result of the urge of your Divine Mother, who wants to advance your present level. There is a small disharmony between us now. I will check whether it is me or you who are the cause of this disharmony. You will do your homework, and I will do mine, and having solved the problems we shall meet at certain points of contact. Have faith and do not hesitate! You will make this a rule of yours: you are demanded to have faith in yourselves, in your intelligent souls, just as much as it can be free to think and understand everything that God did. Inasmuch as your soul is awakened inasmuch you will benefit from the Divine goods in the world. So, faith should be the first among all rules! Master’s lecture, Delivered on 26 February 1920 [1] Coalitions among different countries, that were at war during the time of the World War 1 (1914-1918); The Central Powers (The Triple Axis) included Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy, while the Antante included Great Britain, France and Rusia (notes of the editor) [2] To Michaeli – the original text translates ‘will be bad’ – of course, there is a great difference between ‘be bad’ and ‘be considered bad’. However, reading the text I somehow got the feeling that [considered] is implied – since in speech as different from writing many words may be omitted as meaning is through non-verbal means. I placed [considered] for you to see and comment upon – I understand that it is next to impossible to recover the non-verbally conveyed meaning – as none of the non-verbal means were taken down in short hand. It makes a worse sense without [considered]. I do realise it’s a personal judgement which is not allowed, but two minds make a better product. [M1]{The Earth is a place for the most serious work to be done.} or {The Earth is a place for more serious work to be done.} [M2]{I do not mean…} [M3]Unclear. This word needs more definition in order for this sentence to be understood. [M4]There is a big difference between {will be bad} and {considered bad}. The first one is a statement saying that everybody coming your way is bad. And the second implies that you will think that everyone coming your way is bad. [M5]delete

Note 4p THREE VALUABLE THINGS Reflection There are three valuable things in life that you should accept properly. They represent a foundation on which man should build. The first valuable thing is Love that brings the goods of life. On its part, Love originates from the Spirit. It expresses itself in two ways mainly: through giving and taking. The place from where Love comes out is for giving. That is – the Spirit gives. The place from where Love flows into is for acceptance. Due to the reason that Love flows into the soul we say that the soul accepts. Consequently, in order that Love can appear, two beings should be present – one, from which Love will come and another – to accept it. The strength of the human soul lies in the acceptance of Love. When the human accepts Love properly, then peace, joy, and fun set in and all the discrepancies in his life disappear. Until he has not yet accepted Love[M1] , man comes across discrepancies. As he knows this, he should seek the reason for the discrepancies within – not outside himself. The presence of discrepancies show that the windows of your houses are dimmed, as a result the Light cannot freely penetrate through them. Wipe your windows with a soft clean cloth, so that you can have more Light. The second valuable thing in life is the Love, Wisdom, and Truth that bring Light and Knowledge. The strength of the human Spirit lies in the Light and Knowledge he receives. The third valuable thing in human life is the truth that brings freedom. The one, who is not free, has not acquired the value of freedom. It was said in the Scriptures: “The truth shall set you free.” Only a free man can move. Only a free man can apply Love. Only a free man can apply Knowledge and Light. Only a free man can live. All those who listen to the Word should listen in compliance with the laws of Love, Wisdom, and Truth. If they do not listen in compliance with these laws, they will not understand the values that Love, Wisdom, and Truth bear within themselves. Each one can voice the words “love, wisdom, and truth”, but with different content and meaning. Each one may sing, but in the singing of the genius and the ordinary singer there exist great differences. A great difference exists between the genius and the common artist, between the genius and the ordinary orator. The ordinary musicians, artists, and orators just blare the eyes of others.[1] Dust is also useful, because it helps for the raindrops formation. The raindrops form the clay. As soon as the talented master finds this clay, he immediately harnesses it into work. From this clay he makes nice pottery. Consequently, if a man cannot form raindrops from the dust, clay from the raindrops, and nice pottery from the clay – then he is not a talented master. Many people want to know if a man loves them. Only the talented man loves himself, because he can form raindrops from the dust, clay from the raindrops, and nice pottery from the clay. Consequently, the one who suffers without being able to help himself, is an ordinary man. If you cannot mould a light deed out of the dust and the clay you have, this means that you are ordinary men. As he has come to Earth, a man should be exceptional, he should be a sculptor – he should mould from dust and sculpt beautiful statues for the future. Some people say about themselves that they are good and have Love. Goodness and Love manifest themselves outside time and their consequences remain within time. Each thing that manifests outside time is eternal, that is – it lasts forever. The manifested, though, does not always survive. If you enter an illuminated hall, you see the whole setting: pictures and statues. As soon as the light goes out, the pictures disappear. As long as you have Light, you are in a real world; as long as this Light disappears, you are in an unreal world, or in the world of the shadows. You are happy, but in one moment your happiness disappears. You love, but in one moment your Love disappears. You are free and you have knowledge, but in one moment your freedom and knowledge disappear. Love, knowledge, and freedom that appear and disappear, though, do not bear the values of life. You might say that the situation was such. As you begin to comment – you live in the realm of the transient things – in the realm of the shadow of life. Love, Wisdom, and Truth do not stand[M2] any comments. The provisional Love constantly grows and increases. It embraces all the beings God has created. Only these things that God has created are real. All the rest of the things are unreal. They appear and disappear like the shadows. Consequently, just the things that God has created are valuable for a man. He has created his body, heart, mind, soul, and Spirit. Value these things within yourself and do not sell them for anything. Each one of these valuables has its specific language. Contemporary people begin to study the language of the heart only now. The one, who does not know this language, wants to express his feelings by the help of the common language. The heart does not use the language of the mouth, though. Why should you ask a man if he loves you? Listen to his heart and see what it says. If you listen to a singer, should you ask him how he sings? If you ask, then you are deaf and your ear does not hear the tones. As the singer sings, the ear is competent – it understands if he sings properly, or not. If the singer cannot bring Love and the values of life through the left ear of the listener and the Light and the Knowledge of Wisdom – through his right ear, then he is not a real singer. And if the listener cannot receive Love and the values of life through his left ear and Light and Knowledge of Wisdom – through his right ear, then he has not heard anything. He has listened with closed ears. To look and not see, to listen and not hear – this means to live outside the Divine World. The ability to speak, sing, and play music are the great things, with which God has endowed a man. Where there is speech, singing, and music - God is present. He talks to people through his Word, through the songs, through the great harmony. If your souls were opened, you would have heard the love song of the angels: Oh, men, made in God’s image and likeness, listen to the voice of your Creator as He speaks today. Listen to Him as we do. Do his will as we do. This is the meaning of the immortal life. Christ says: “I am the door.” The door symbolizes Love. Through it anyone has to pass, so that he can enter the reception room – the room of Light and Knowledge. Here, he will find Truth and freedom. The man, who knows God and who has received all Knowledge and Light that Wisdom brings, is free. As man loves, he has adopted the great life. In order to acquire Love that gives meaning to life and brings joy and merriment within the soul, man has to reject the common orators, singers, musicians, and artists that make noise around them. In order to acquire Love, Wisdom, and Truth, which make a man powerful and strong, man should reject the knowledge that brings darkness and gloom within the consciousness. In order to acquire the truth, which gives freedom, man should deny the delusions that limit him. Love turns the sorrows into joy, the misfortunes – into Goods. Strive towards such Love that brings the valuables of Life. I already see here and there little flowers that grow and small springs that water them. I already hear the birds singing and the children playing in a carefree manner. Far beyond the horizon I see the rising of the Divine Sun. The first two beams are the beams of the Divine Love and Wisdom. They are united into one, so that they can form the beam of the Divine Truth and Freedom. Enjoy yourselves and be merry for what comes now. I wish for you now, that the beams of the Divine Love and Wisdom come out of your heart and mind, to join into one in order to form the beam of the Divine Truth and to become strong and free. Take these beams within yourself, so that you can have abundant life, knowledge, and freedom and that you can devote in service to God, Who has given you everything. Do worry neither for yourselves, nor for the world. [M3] A new and excellent world will be created. The egg has already been put under the brooder. Twenty days later, the egg will break and there a new life will come out from it – the rooster of the new day. It will sing and crow, it will glorify the new day – the day of the new culture and of the Divine Sun. The future world is a world of Love and agreement among people, a world of brotherhood and freedom. Contemporary people are exposed to trials and sufferings, with which they have to cope. In order to be able to cope with them, they have to be rational and put each thing in its place in line with its purpose. An old man should choose a coat corresponding to him, a middle-aged person should choose a coat corresponding to his age, a young man should choose a coat corresponding to his figure and age, a child should choose a child’s coat. If there is any change in these coats places, a human will inevitably experience suffering. Each thought, each feeling, and deed should be directed to its place. This depends on their form. The suffering of people is due to the fact that a change in the places of the Divine goods has occurred. Each one has taken the goods that were not appointed to him. No matter how many goods come to you, you are obliged to direct them to their destinations. Therefore, it was said that man should not stop the Goods that come to him. The last Good, that no one wants, is for you. By this you can tell what Good has determined for you. If you are invited to feast – take the last seat. As the householder comes, he will determine which place is for you. Observe the same rule as regards God. If God invites you to your table, take the last seat. God will tell you where to sit. The place of a man is determined in compliance with his Spirit, soul, mind, and heart. His post and purpose in the world are determined in compliance with these things. Thus taking your place, no one can take it away from you. So, as man occupies his place in compliance with his Spirit, soul, mind, and heart, God will begin talking to him. When you know God, He will begin talking to you. God visits only those, whose heart, mind, and Spirit are in their proper places. As God visits them, they will feel great joy. Some people might say that the purpose of the heart is to provide the blood circulation in the body. As its sends the blood to the cells of the body, it should feed all the cells – not even a single one of them should remain unfed. The mind, on its side, has the task to send mental energy – food - to all the brain cells. The task of the truth is to release all the cells of the human organism from the restrictive conditions in which it is. As soon as it releases them, they will see that they have a great master that takes care of them. For his own cells, man is what God is to the man. Man should reform all his discontented cells and make them contented and happy, so that one day they can acknowledge him as a good master. Today, only a part of the cells acknowledge the man as their master, while another part does not acknowledge him. They say: our master is not here. We eat and drink, but who eats and who pays is not known. A complete anarchy reigns here. “I am the door,” says Christ. The door symbolizes Love. The one, who enters through this door, will exit and find pasture. These words represent the Divine Wisdom, under the Light of which grow all the goods provided by God. Today you are gathered here. What is the reason for this gathering? The reason is your hearts, minds, souls, and spirits. As God has gathered together all of you, He will be present among you. I wish that you see the omnipresence of God right away and to do what you have not done up till now. What do you have to do? You should revive the dead ones, educate the ignorant, and free the slaves. As you do this within yourselves, you will be able to do it outside your own self as well. Free your mind, heart, soul, and Spirit and become servants of God, Who is talking to you today. The one, who cannot do this alone, might as well leave that to God – He will do it. [1] Blare the eyes of the others. - In Bulgarian the equivalent of this phrase is “to throw dust in the eyes of the others” – i.e. to mislead, to delude, to deceive someone. [M1]{Until he accepts Love} [M2]{tolerate} [M3]Shouldn't this read – {Do not worry for yourselves or for the world.}

Note 4p THE LIGHTER OF THE HOLY FIRE STARTING Reflection There exists only one beginning in the world – the beginning of Love, only one statement – the statement of Love, Wisdom, and Truth, and only one salvation or liberation that originates from Truth. The words “beginning”, “statement”, and “liberation” are words, the meaning of which man can understand only after he has studied for a long time. Love as a beginning of life, can be understood only after a man has worked his way to the holy fire. What does the holy fire mean? Schools existed in the old times, in which there was talk about the holy fire. From the outside, the holy fire is like the common fire with the only difference - it was kept burning constantly. Many people have looked for the holy fire in the sanctuary of the temple. They have understood it externally. In fact, the holy fire is within the human heart. This is the internal, the mystical side of the holy fire. Those, who have not studied the law of the holy fire, have experienced great sufferings. Those, who have studied this law, have experienced great delights. The holy fire is a weapon against the enemy of those who seek God. Besides being within the human heart, He can also be met in space. Wherever you look for Him, you will find him everywhere, uniformly spread. There are many theories about the holy fire, but in the end they will remain just theories. You meet a musician, who is talking to you about music, about the relation of the tones, about the harmonious combination between them, but make him sing something – he cannot. He might reveal to you many hypothesis and theories, but as it comes to practice and application - he can do nothing. The theories and the hypothesis are something good, but man should know how to sing properly. The adult man likes to theorize, but the child does not like theories. As it sees a lit candle or fire, it immediately comes near and wants to touch it. Its mother says: Gush! This one-syllable word is a remainder from an old language – the Vatan language. Its meaning is: Until you study things – do not touch. But the child does not understand the meaning of this word and it thinks that its mother says: Catch![1] So, the child goes near the fire, puts its finger near it and immediately jumps backwards. After it tries this three times – it already misses the fire. Now apart from practical knowledge, the child has also theoretical knowledge as well. It already knows that fire scorches. When he should not touch anywhere, the adult person is being told, “Run!” If he does not listen to this voice, he will also find himself in the same situation as the child that has put its finger in the fire, or within the range of the lit candle. Consequently, as they ask what suffering means, I say: suffering is nothing but the burning of a finger, or of another limb caused by a lit candle. As it burns, the candle talks to humans, but few people understand the language of the flame, that is, the language of the light. No language is more beautiful than the language of Light. The flame of the candle is nothing but light that penetrates within the human eyes and enables him to see. This Light is the holy fire of Nature. It traces the borders of the objects and makes them visible for a man. So, human strength is in the knowledge about the holy fire that man has. The human thoughts, feelings, and actions are the forms through which the holy fire manifests itself. Everything in life is a result of the holy fire. Feelings that are void of the holy fire are unstable and cold. This is the reason why people complain that once they were loved, but they have lost their Love. Love cannot be lost, but the warmth of human feelings disappears. You meet your sweetheart and you say that he or she radiates coldness. Feelings void of warmth resemble the North Pole that is constantly covered with ice and snow. The North Pole is white, but cold. Why? Because the holy fire within it has extinguished. The colours white and the black in Nature denote two different states. Within the holy fire they are at their proper places. Black means that things should be accepted harmoniously. White denotes that you should give harmoniously. As soon as you give something from yourself, you will go to study immediately. Today, few people like to study; most people study against their will. Children go to school and cry, because they do not feel like studying; the young bride gets up early in the morning and begins to work, but she cries – she does not feel like studying. There is no man in the world that has not cried. As suffering comes, he takes a towel, wipes his eyes with it and cries – he does not want to study. As he went to the holy fire, the priest used to wash his face with holy water. Then he wiped his face with a clean towel, so that the water drops do not fall on the ground. You, too, wash in the morning, but the water drops fall on the ground. Why? This water is not holy. All the people that served the holy fire were priests. There is no man in the world that has not started this fire. In other words, there is no man in the world, who has not fallen in love, or who has not stopped loving someone. While he is in love – his fire is burning. As soon as he stops loving, the fire extinguishes. He has burned his sweetheart down in his fire. The young lady says: He burned me down! The young man says: She burned me down! The mother and the father talk about their children: They burned us down! The sons and the daughters complain about their parents and say: They burned us down! All the men – masters, disciples, servants, and rulers complain that they have been burned down. There is not a single man in the world that has not been burned down. The burning of humans presents one of his past experiences. The burned down people sleep in their graves, but they already have to rise from the dead. The holy fire will make them rise. The more a person has burned down, the more awake is his consciousness. He does not find sense in life until his consciousness awakes. As soon as his consciousness awakes, he already understands life as a foundation, on which he should build. He already understands that the world - with all its forms - provides opportunity and conditions, created by the holy fire for the elevation of the human as a Spirit, soul, mind, and heart. Through these appliances[M1] he builds a beautiful body, with which he gets in touch with the Divine World. So, remember: The holy fire gives meaning to all things – pleasant and unpleasant. The one, who does not understand the meaning of this fire, wonders why suffering befalls him. The hen, with a knife embedded in the neck, might ask the same question as well. From its point of view – this is a crime, while from the point of view of man – this is good. If the hen has benevolently sacrificed itself for the elevation of a man who slaughters it, then its death is justifiable. In the past, various people have come to Buddha as to a master – Brahmans, scientists, philosophers – who wanted to know the truth. One day he decided to isolate himself and told the disciples that he was not going to receive people that day. All the visitors were turned back – no one was accepted. As Buddha lay under a tree, he noticed from afar, a poor man approaching. He immediately jumped to his feet and directed his steps towards him. As they saw this, his disciples thought: This is strange! Today our master did not see anyone. Distinguished scientists and philosophers visited him, but he turned all of them away, while at the same time he jumped on his feet as he saw this poor man. As he understood the thought of his disciples, Buddha called them aside and told them: Once, thousands of lives ago, I was a Brahman. One day, as I was reading my prayer, I felt awfully exhausted and fell on the ground – I could not finish my prayer. At this time a rabbit jumped into my fire and was roasted. I cut from its meat, took refreshment and finished my prayer. These distinguished people who visited me today are looking for Truth for their own sake. Not one of them has sacrificed his life as this rabbit did. This poor man that I received today was the rabbit. He sacrificed himself for me, so that I could be elevated, so today I also did something for his elevation. Consequently, until he cannot throw himself into the burning fire and roast, so that others can eat him, man cannot be elevated. The rabbit sacrificed himself, so that Buddha could take refreshment. If it is a cold winter day and you are in the mountain with rucksacks full of warm clothes, food, and drink, but you have no fire – you are finished! And the one, who can bring you a lighter for the fire has saved your life. Contemporary people have everything, but they are missing one thing – the lighter to light the holy fire. As you find this lighter, always carry it with you. The fire has the capability to burn and melt things. Whatever you put into it – it does not reject anything. As people talk about fire, they become frightened. They have in their mind the fire of human Love that burns their hearts down. Light the holy fire within the human with the Divine Love and do not be afraid. It will start burning, it will light, but it will not burn. Light the human soul with the holy fire of the Divine Love and see what happens with it. It will dress in white and begin to light. The colour white is an allegory of purity. The Divine good gathers within the white colour. As you decompose this colour, you will find these goods manifested in seven different colours. The contemporary scientists do not know what does each separate colour symbolizes and what its application is. They know how many billions of vibrations each colour consists of, but they do not know how these colours can be used. Only the enlightened and the genius ones have this knowledge. The same might be said for the holy fire as well. Only the enlightened people know what holy fire is. Talented people have begun to study it, while the common people have not yet heard a thing about it. So, as you do not understand things, you resemble the common people; as you understand them – you resemble the talented people; as you put your knowledge into practice – you resemble the ingenious people; as your attempts are successful – you are saints; as you work freely with the holy fire – you can be a Master. The one, who has not been a common man, cannot be talented; the one, who has not been talented, cannot be a genius, the one, who has not been a genius – cannot be a saint; the one, who has not been a saint, cannot be a Master. It is not enough to just be a master. Something specific is required from the master. All in all, in order to be a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, man should have specific characteristics within himself. In order to be a mother, a father, a brother, or a sister, man should bear the image of God within his Spirit, soul, mind, and heart. If man does not bear this image within him, but nevertheless occupies the honorary position of a mother or a father, the human will cause great misfortune. Such a mother and father will give birth to a sinful son or daughter. What man is sinful? Sinful is the one, within whom the holy fire does not burn. Once this fire burned, but then it was extinguished. Within the sinful man burns the common fire, in which everything burns and melts. That man is righteous, in whom the [M2] holy fire burns without extinguishing and without burning down things. As soon as the holy fire extinguishes, man experiences great cataclysms. As regards the holy fire – I do not tell you to start it, but to keep it going. Each man should keep the holy fire going on his own – he should not let his servants take care of it. Each man is his own priest, servant, angel, and seraph of his holy fire. No one can extinguish the holy fire of a man but himself. After he extinguishes it, he begins to complain and suffer, that [M3] no one loves him. This is not true. God is the first to love the man – that is why he has sent him to Earth - to study. When a man says that no one loves him, in the first place this means that he himself does not love. He has lived only for himself. Has he sacrificed like the rabbit that jumped into the fire, so that Buddha can eat it and finish his prayer? Consequently, as he lives and sacrifices for his fellowmen, man begins to realize that the virtues of men are his own virtues as well; and that the crimes of people are his own crimes as well. The same holds true for the good and the bad deeds of people, which are his good and bad deeds as well. As you have this consciousness and you see that someone makes mistakes and crimes[M4] , you will say to yourself: My brother is wrong, consequently I am also wrong. Therefore, I will correct my mistake. As you see an apple, thank it for its unselfishness. It gives from its good to everybody. As you see a spring, thank it for its unselfishness also. Whoever passes by it quenches his thirst. I wish the hearts of all people to be like clear springs that constantly well up. I wish the minds of all people to be like gardens with sweet and tasty fruits. I wish the souls of all people to be like schools in which the good is being taught. I wish through the Spirit of all people the good of life to be put into practice as regards the lives of their fellow men and as regards their own selves. And I wish that whatever they do, they do it for the glory of God. I wish that all the people on Earth might keep their holy fire burning. Love reigns wherever the holy fire burns. The lighter of the holy fire is hidden within Love. There are many safety matches within the matchbox, but the first match is the most important one. From this first safety match the whole world might take advantage. Consequently, as you want to make[M5] something valuable in your life, make[M6] just one good deed, but lodge within it all your Love, all your knowledge, and all your freedom. This good is the first safety match, the first lighter, with which you have started the holy fire within your soul. This good will accompany you through the whole of eternity – to this and to the other world as well. So, may your heart, mind, and Spirit be in everything you do. May the eye of God, of the angel, of the cherubim, and of the seraph be in all your deeds. This is a feast. This is a resurrection of the human soul. As soon as he rises from the dead, man enters the abode of his Father. All of heaven knows that he has brought Life, Knowledge, Light, and Freedom in the world, for the glory of God, of his fellow man, and of his own glory. Strive to attract the attention of God to your Love. Strive to attract the attention of God to your studying. Strive to attract the attention of God to your putting Truth into practice. ==== Luke, 12:1-10 [1] In Bulgarian language the two words have similar sounding (e.g. “gush” and “drush”). [M1]Usage. {Through these he builds a beautiful body…} [M2]{Such a man is righteous – the one in whom the…} [M3]{suffer and complain that…} [M4]{and commits crimes} [M5]{do} [M6]{do}

Note 4p NEAR-BY AND FAR AWAY “If my words do not dwell in you and if you do not dwell in me, you will not have life in yourselves.” I will change the form of this verse like this: If the Light dwells in us and we dwell in the Light, then the world will manifest itself to us. As a man is required to do something, he says: Before I do this, I have to know and to have studied it. This view is wrong. The human first sees the light, familiarizes with it, and then begins to study it. The human first familiarizes with the bread and water and tastes them, and only after that begin to study them. This is the natural way of attainment. Man knows what to do and how to do what is required from him, but influenced by some evil will, sometimes he does not want to do what he knows. There are cases, when man forgets what he has to do and how to do it, indeed, but he himself is the only reason for this. While he is sober and with an awakened consciousness, man remembers and knows everything, but after he drinks several glasses of wine, he forgets everything. He forgets his mother, his father, his wife, and his children. He remembers one thing only: the glass full of wine. Often people excuse themselves and say that they did not do something as they should have, because they do not see objects clearly. Why? They cannot see them clearly because they have put a solid screen before their eyes. As soon as they remove this screen, everything will be revealed before them and they will see clearly. The reason for which the human can see clearly is the light. What is the light? While he is within the light, man is able to see his way and walks freely without stumbling. As soon as the light disappears, he does not see where to go and he stumbles. Consequently, light, knowledge, and freedom are being studied in two ways: through presence and absence. For instance, as you are within the light, you know its characteristics, but as you remain in darkness, you also study the characteristics of the light. While you are in darkness, you also study the characteristics of the light. While you have knowledge, you can study its characteristics; as soon as you lose your knowledge and become an ignoramus, you also study the characteristics of the knowledge. While you are free, you study the characteristics of freedom; as soon as you confine yourself, you also study the characteristics of freedom. So, two ways exist for studying things: positive and negative. You can study the law both through application of the juridical laws and through the application of the wrong principles. As soon as you encounter something wrong in your life, you begin to suffer. This suffering concerns both the righteous people and the people who serve the wrong. Christ was a righteous man, but because He assumed the sins of the wrong people, He had to experience great suffering. Each one, who becomes a guarantee of the sinful people, who eat, drink, and do not pay, will bear their suffering and sins. Some person eats, drinks, and makes debts, but the one who has become his guarantor pays for him. The law is in force for the rich one – not the one who has eaten and who has drunk everything he has. So, the one, who does not want to pay, should not become a guarantor. As they do not understand the laws of life, people cause themselves misfortune. In this respect people often resemble flies that alight wherever they can. The fly is highly conceited. It alights on prominent places: on the nose, on the forehead, on the eyebrows, on the face of the human. With this it wants to show him that it has a high origin. As he catches it with his fingers, though, a man shows it that it cannot compare to him. Consequently, as soon as he enters the world, the human should alight at a secret place, that is – at the last place, so that no one can see him. The law also has hands. As soon as the law catches you, it will hold you until it wants. – But I am of noble birth. – As you are of noble birth, get rid of its hands. Prove the strength of your origin. As he sees that he cannot cope with his problems, the human – like the fly – begins to ask and sing to be released. The fly says to a man who holds it in his hands: If you are a musician, be merciful towards me. I am a small, little creature. I thought that I am strong, but I saw that there are people stronger than me. If you press me, you will smash me. So, the human opens his hand and the fly, flies away freely. What will this fly tell her friends? It will tell them: as you go to the world of the laws, do not get too close to them. Always stay far away and occupy the last place. As they love someone, people act as the fly does – they sit near him. They like to get near and feel him. Someone says: As I love someone I want to constantly see him before my eyes. What will you acquire if you constantly keep your sweetheart near you, though? To be physically close to someone is not real intimacy. Intimacy is something internal. You can be intimate with a man as you hold him in your mind and heart. The same holds true from him. This relation is sacred. To hold the man in your mind – in the endless world of the thought, and in your heart – in the wide world of feelings – this is intimacy. The physical intimacy of people causes discontent, collisions, and discrepancies between them. This is the situation of the branches of the tree. Even the faintest wind causes them to rub against one another; as a result they maim each other. As regards Love, contemporary people begin well and end badly. Why? Because they trespass the distance in which Love acts. Two friends, or a young lady and a young man, that love one another, initially are ready to see each other form afar only. For instance, the young man says: I want to catch a glimpse of my sweetheart from afar only. As he manages to catch a glimpse of her, he is contented and happy all day long; he sings, works, and walks and he is constantly thinking about her. On the second day, as he sees her, he says: I want to just catch a glimpse of her. But as he sees her, he tries to widen the angle of his sight – he wants to sweep her completely with his glance. On the third day, he wants to hear just one word from her, to hear her voice. As he hears her voice, he is happy and he does not want anything else from her. On the fourth day, he says to himself: I heard her voice and she has an angelic voice, but I want her to tell me something. As the young lady says a word to him, he is in the seventh heaven of happiness. But after that, even this does not satisfy him – he feels like talking with her, he wants to understand what she thinks. Day after day he approaches her, until finally one day they quarrel. Lovers are very sensitive. Their ear is so refined that each rough word causes a wound in their hearts. Since the words of the lovers cause a wound in their hearts, this shows that Love has left them. Love requires ideal experiences in human relations. For his excuse man says that although he is rude externally, at least he has internal experience. Love requires from the human both external and internal experience though. The human draws his way and his relations with people on his own. He himself is the reason to make people respect or not respect him. The respect of others depends on his experience. The attitude of other people towards you will resemble your attitude towards them. This is a law for the physical, for the spiritual, and for the Divine world. Besides it is noticed that each negative deed in the spiritual world causes its consequences in the physical world as well. For instance, if the human tells a lie, he will certainly meet with disaster – he will fall, get ill, or someone will cause him some trouble. Therefore, it was said in the Scriptures that everything is above board in the world. No matter how small the lie is, it resembles the microbes that multiply and bring misfortunes to people. As it multiplies, the lie leaves its filth within the human mind and heart with which it causes him great harm. As people encounter difficulties and suffering, or before evil - people want to escape far away. Whatever they do, though, they cannot avoid them. Before all, evil is not outside the human – it is within him. If evil is outside the human only, it is harmless. While it is outside the human, evil exists just as a possibility. As it enters within the human - it penetrates his blood and poisons him. As he knows this, the human should not allow even a single thought [M1] within his mind, nor a single bad feeling or desire within his heart. The mental energy that is given to the human is meant only for good thoughts. The energy of the heart is meant only for good feelings and desires. The energy of the human will is given for good deeds only. The human is free to think, feel, and act as he likes, but he bears responsibility for all this and there are consequences as well. Many people talk about free will and say that the human can live, think, feel, and act as he understands and as he wants. Indeed, the human has free will and he can live as he likes, but there will be destiny for him as well. He will not be released from the responsibility for his deeds. If he does not want to be brought to trial, he has to live, as God wants. As he enters school, a student follows the program that the masters have determined – not his own program. The student, who has entered the musical academy, plays what the programme requires. The student from the art academy draws the pictures that are provided by the programme. The human has been sent to the Earth to study what God has determined. As he does not fulfil these programs, he makes mistakes and commits crimes. As he encounters some responsibility, the human excuses himself with the argument that he has followed his planned way. What is the way he follows and who has determined this way? Someone might say that he had to marry and that the marriage was predetermined for him. Does he know who has determined this way for him? To marry or not to marry – this is a way determined by God. Consequently, as he accepts this way, man has to ask the One that has drawn it whether he should follow this way or not. God has determined that someone should marry and another one – not. What do we see in life, though? Usually, people that are determined to marry do not marry and those, that are not determined to marry - they marry. Few people do what has been determined for them to do. There is something in man that strives to do what is forbidden for him to do. If man marries or not or not – being sentenced to suffering. [M2] If you do not want to suffer – do the will of God. In other words – man should first do the will of his father and hear from him, that he has done good. Then he should do the will of his mother and hear from her, that he has done well. Finally, he has to do his own will and hear from the one who lives within him, that he has done well. As he hears these three voices, as he received approval for his deeds from these three places, this shows that the human follows the right way in his life. Man suffers. Why? Because of three reasons: either because he does not think right, or because he does not feel right, or because he does not act right. Consequently, the real right is the right that is thought over, felt, and done right. As I tell you what is right and wrong, I do not accuse anyone. If I accuse you, I will accuse myself as well. If I accuse you, I will spot myself. What do I profit if I get dirty? Not only do I not profit from anything – I lose. Someone complains that he was robbed. How much did they take from him? They took one hundred leva from his safe. I take out one hundred leva from my pocket and give it to him. As we correct the mistake of our brother, we correct our own mistake as well. Should the man steal and commit crimes, then? The human should not steal, but he should know one thing: the mistake, or the crime, is not so much in the theft, as in the deception that the human brings into his mind – the deception that as he steals something from here and there, he will settle his problems. As he steals something, man puts it before his eyes and consciousness and thus he blocks the light and cannot see clearly. Do not occupy yourselves with the mistakes and the crimes of other people. If you occupy yourself with their mistakes, you will do more than they had done. Observe the cleanness of your mind, heart, and will. Contemporary people ask themselves if it isn't possible to live without suffering. The one, who has not understood the meaning of suffering, wants to break free from it. The one, who understands their sense knows, that suffering is [M3] necessary for the development of the human. Without suffering there is no development. Each wellborn suffering is always being rewarded. For each offensive word, the human receives ten kind words. If one of the kind words erases the bad one, the remaining nine kind words will remain as a reserve capital. As someone asks why he should be offended, tell him, that each wellborn insult leads to great wealth. Whenever they say a bad word about you, ten kind words follow it. Thus the one, who insults you, is unconsciously doing you a favour. As you know this, do not seek your rights. Let God give you your right. While you seek your right for yourself, you will not get any blessing. As soon as you let God, He will intercede for you and you will get His benevolence. [M4] As they abuse, pursue, and offend you, pronounce blessings to God within yourself, so that you can get His blessing. Often people render an account of their deeds, thoughts, and feelings and ask themselves why they do not succeed. They say that once they loved each other stronger[M5] than today. The reason for this is that they have put some people very close to themselves; as a result they have hidden the horizon before their sight. Consequently, do not let the man closer to yourself than God himself has put him. What will be your situation as some singer starts to sing directly in your ear? No matter how well he sings, you will wish you could move away from him. If the same singer moves away from you, though, you will listen to him with pleasure. The greater the distance between you – the better. What will you gain if you want to familiarize with one another by drawing near? What will happen with you if the Sun comes two times nearer than now? You say that you will have more light. Indeed, if the Sun comes nearer to Earth, we will have more light, but it will be too bright and hardly bearable. The planet Venus that is nearer to the Sun is enveloped in vapours. As it passes through the vapours, the Sun energy lessens its intensity considerably, due to which there is life on Venus. Many people want to be loved by everyone and to make use of the great amounts of Love. Do not strive to be loved more than God has foreseen. Do not want your mothers, fathers, and friends to love you more than what God has foreseen. If they love you more that they should, you will be exposed to suffering. If we dwell in light and if the light dwells in you, the world will manifest itself to us. According to the law of Love, man can know things only as they are put in the proper place. And in order to be loved by someone, you should put yourself at such a distance from him as God has put you. In order to be able to see the stars clearly, the astronomer should put his telescope at a strictly determined place from each star. As he puts it at a place at which the stars he wants to observe are in focus, they are seen clearly. Usually a man puts the subjects and the people he loves nearer to his eyes; the less he loves them – the further they are from his sight. If he does not love them – he does not see them at all. The rational man puts things at a proper distance. As he puts them at the required distance, he loves them as much as he has to. As long as you love the people as much as you have to and as long as they love you as much as they have to – then both you and them are at the places determined by God. Christ says: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Whatever might happen in the outside world – do not judge. You can learn from the mistakes of the outside world, but do not judge them. Judge not and praise not. – But don’t I have the right to express my opinion? – You have the right to express the opinion of God, but not your own opinion. No one needs the opinion of the human. The world needs the competent opinion of God, but not the opinion of the human, who today thinks in one way and tomorrow - in another way. The opinion of the one who is a channel of God is valuable. Some religious people are constantly citing what Christ said two thousand years ago. Christ had spoken well then, but he continues to talk even to this day. To insist only on the words that Christ has spoken in the past is to enjoy the words of a five-year old child. This child has already grown, though, and it has become a 21-year-old young man. Listen to what Christ says today. In the past, Christ spoke to the Jews both with Word and with a whip, in compliance with their development in those times. To contemporary people, Christ talks in another way and language. So, listen to what He tells you today. Do you want that Christ should talk to you with a whip, or do you want Him to talk to you with some other law? It is preferable that Christ speaks to the people today through the law of Love, Wisdom, and Truth, rather than through the law of the whip. Apply the law of Love first towards yourselves. As soon as you apply the law of Love towards yourselves and forgive yourselves, you will be able to apply the same law towards your fellow men as well. God is all forgiving. As he makes some mistake, the human hears within himself the voice of God, who tells him: correct your mistake and do not make more mistakes. Judge not, that ye be not judged. As you judge the others, your faith will return to you.[M6] From this day to the year of 1939, a great award is determined to the one who does not say a bad word, who does not allow a bad thought in his mind, who does not accept a bad feeling in his heart, and who does not do a bad deed during the remaining three months of the year. If he can restrain himself from everything negative except the appointed award, he will preserve his energy: he will not get angry, he will not lose his temper, and he will not quarrel. As he sees that two people are quarrelling, he should retreat to such a distance, as to be able to hear and see just the good. Rational man requires that all people live like brothers and with love. The rational world is bored by the disorder that the people have brought into the world, by the wrong human thoughts, feelings, deeds, and by the human delusions. The human delusions reflect in the great world and cause great cataclysms. The rational world has decided to punish humans – not by a flood as in the past, but by fire. People have dug underwater[M7] hiding-places to protect themselves from their own bombs, but where will they hide from the fire that descends from above? This fire will melt the Earth at a distance of more than 25 meters. Then, where and how will people hide from this fire? What will remain of humanity then? The one who survives will tell. If this is true or not – all of you will try[M8] . Everyone on Earth will experience this fire. You should be ready to withstand this fire as the three young men withstood the furnace. The fire which I am talking about today has already begun to exercise its influence. It has warmed many people. We can see the function of this fire in the world by the disorders of the human nervous system, by the physical and mental diseases of humans. For those that follow the Divine Way, this fire is a blessing. For those that do not follow the Divine Way - this fire is a torment. I wish you to follow the way of Love. You do follow the way of Love but in a wrong way. What is wrong? The wrong is in this, that as you love someone, you bring him nearer to you than you should. If you do not love him, you remove him from yourself more than you should. I would advise you to think, feel, and act as God thinks, feels, and acts through you. As soon as you reach the manifestations of Love, put people neither very near, nor very far from yourselves. As soon as you have to make a judgment of things, neither reproach, nor praise each other. The distance at which people should stay from one another should be determined by their needs. Two people meet: one of them is thirsty and carries a glass of water and the other one carries an earthen jug of water. One of them hands the glass and the other one is filling it. The distance between the lovers should correspond to the distance between the stretched hand of the thirsty one and the person that is filling his glass with water. As long as they keep this distance, their relations will always be good. The hand is a measure for the distance between humans. As two people hold out their hands, they themselves determine the distance at which God has put them. Consequently, if he wants to follow the way of Love, man should put his mind, his heart, and his will in their proper places. This is what God wants from each man. This means to do the will of God. If he does not observe properly the law of God, no matter how man excuses himself, something inside him tells him: You do not do good – correct your mistake. In order to do the will of God man should think, feel, and act according to a proper tone. The correct tone makes the thought light, the feelings – warm and good, and the deeds – noble. The mind, the heart, and the will of the human also have a proper tone. As the mind, the heart, and the will are being manifested according to their tone, the human feels joy and delight in himself. He is glad, that he thinks, feels, and acts correctly. As you properly apply the tone of his life, you will hear the voice of your Father: Courage, my good and faithful servant! Strive boldly, my good and faithful son! So, put each thing in its proper place as you put the numbers in place. As you arrange the numbers from one to ten, you see that each preceding number is less than the following one. If you owe one lev, you are glad that your debt is small. But if you put number one at the place of number nine – your delight disappears. The debt which was in the first place, in the place of number one, now increases nine more times. Consequently, do not change the order of things, so that you do not cause excessive sufferings to yourself. As disciples, you should strike the right note, that is – you should think properly. If he does not think properly, the human cannot sing well; if he does not feel properly, he cannot express himself by singing; he cannot put strength and a note in his singing. The human cannot sing well without the participation of his mind, heart, and will. As he sings in this way, the human can self-habituate himself. As you sing, Love, Wisdom, and Truth should take part in your singing and you should express everything that God has imprinted in you. This is real singing. Now I wish you to sing in such a way that your mind, heart, will, soul, and spirit may sing with you. Open your soul to Love, Knowledge, and Light, to Freedom and Peace. Give effect to the Good within yourself in order to connect with all the rational beings that are coming to help you. I wish you to get in touch with the reasonable beings that come to congratulate you for your courage, and for the fact that you have thought, felt, and acted, as God requires. I wish the warmth of Love, the Light of Wisdom, and the strength of Truth to be your companions! Lecture, given by the Master on September 22, 1939, Sofia at the residential district of Izgrev at 5 a.m. [M1]{single bad thought} [M2]Unclear. {If man marries or not – he is being sentenced to suffering.} [M3]{the sense of suffering knows that it is…} [M4]{As soon as you let God intercede for you, you will get His benevolence.} [M5]{more} [M6]Unclear. This sentence seems to contradict what is said in this paragraph. I find it confusing as it says not to judge and in this sentence if we judge others our faith will return! It does not make sense. [M7] {underground} [M8]Unclear. What will everyone try? Maybe this should read - {all of you will experience it}

Note 4p UNIFORMITY AND DIVERSITY Uniformity leads to the life of the separate man[M1] , of the people, and of humanity. Diversity, though, leads to achievements. Uniformity is a human process, while diversity is a Divine process. Occasionally the human is displeased either with humans, or with animals, or with plants. Why he is displeased, though, he does not know. Very simple – he has got into the realm of the uniformity of life. He seeks the reason outside himself and wants everybody to conform to his disposition. As soon as he enters within the realm of diversity, though, the human rationalizes everything. He finds meaning and rationality even in the greatest discrepancies. As long as the human lives within the realm of diversity, he starts to find sense in everything – in disharmony, evil, and chaos of life. A Russian proverb says: “There is order even in disorder." As a result we say that there is good in evil and evil in good. For instance, the wealth of the rich man is a temptation for the poor man, and also for the thief. As soon as they hear the word “thief” all people shudder. What is so fearful in this word? Almost all people love to take something without permission. People call each thing that they take without permission “theft”. Things people take with permission are called gain or profit. Studying the human, phrenologists explain theft with a strong developed centre for acquisition of something: money, food, or property. Some people like to dress well. This is due to their strongly developed sense of beauty. This sense is strongly developed in birds as well. If even the birds like to dress well, then why shouldn't the human like to dress well, too? Not all people dress uniformly. They differ from one another in their clothes. The most beautifully attired bird is the paradise bird. By its costume it outruns even queens – the same holds true for some butterflies, too. Those people that do not understand the meaning of diversity in life find a great discrepancy in the fact that some birds are beautifully dressed and have a variegated design, while others pass completely unnoticed. The existence of diversity aims to make people think, though. If all the things were uniform, then the thought of humans would have been at a standstill and there would not have been any impulse for movement within it. In spite of the great diversity in life, in spite of the capability of the human to think, he has again fixed his attention on the uniform thought: How shall I live? By the word “live” they mean, how the human will seek the way to settle his life: how to acquire an apartment, how to acquire three meals a day, how to dress well, how to live richly although with debts, how to dress and undress several times a day, and how to be buried ceremonially after he dies. As someone dies, his relatives say that he has left for the world of disappointment. While he lives in the world of uniformity, though, irrespectively of whether he is in this or in the other world, man will continuously experience disappointment. There is no need to comment now what the situation will be of a man in the other world. As he goes there, he will see what awaits him at the other world. Go to whatever city you like and you will see both heaven and hell. If you go to Paris, Berlin, London, or New York and visit the main streets there, you will see that all of them have nice streets, that they are clean and that there are high buildings there. If you go to some outlying quarter, though, you will see that the streets there are unclean, dusty, and without any pavements. If you are well dressed, the children there will stone you, and the local pickpockets will attack you and take whatever you have in your pockets – your money, your watch - they will take everything from you. It is frightening for a single man to be at these quarters alone. There are such quarters in Sofia, too. They represent the hell in life, and this shows that hell and heaven are at one and the same place – they are not side by side one another. Where he will live depends on the man himself. So, whatever exists in the outside[M2] life of the human will exist in the inner man as well – in his mind and heart and in his thoughts and feelings. Within the human heart, you can find both heaven and hell. As soon as hell enters within the human heart, everything there turns head downwards. As they encounter some difficulty, people say that they should ascertain some facts and convince themselves of a certain truth. They ascertain these facts, yet they do not achieve their goal. For instance, as some murder was committed, the contemporary court procedures resorts to [M3] special studies, so that they can ascertain some facts and show how the crime was committed. Doctors help the court investigation, too. They make an autopsy of the dead body, so that they can find out in what way the criminal acted. What is being achieved as a result of the assertion? Thus they prove how the crime itself was committed – nothing else. The dead person remains dead and the crime was already committed, though. As in the personal, so in the family and social life as well, they ascertain facts connected with the way in which some mistake or crime has been committed, but this is not enough. The really important thing is to correct the mistakes and the crimes. This is what contemporary people, families, societies, and nations seek. You meet some man who is angry and displeased with other people. Why he is angry? There are reasons for this. Another one likes to talk a lot. Why? He likes to talk a lot, because the centre for speech is strongly developed in him. Consequently, there are reasons for this as well. Whether he talks wisely or not is not important. There are parrots in which this centre is strongly developed too; as a result they repeat one and the same words. An Englishman heard how a parrot repeated his words, which were: “There is no doubt about this.” He liked the parrot and bought it. As he brought it back to his house, he boasted to his wife, that he had done something nice and had bought a parrot. The parrot immediately called out: “There is no doubt about this.” That is, he also approved the action of his master, who was pleased with this. One day, the Englishman made a mistake, though, and as he returned home he said to his wife he said: I am not happy with myself today, for I did something stupid. Immediately, the parrot called out: “There is no doubt about this.” As he heard the confirmation of the parrot, the Englishman got angry and said to his wife: I am not satisfied with this parrot and I will sell it. Why initially, was the Englishman pleased with the parrot and after that was not? Very simple. The human cannot be as contented with his bad deeds in the same way as with his good deeds. Indeed, with all the good deeds in his life, man feels something sweet, pleasant, and harmonious; with all the wrong deeds, though, he feels something bitter, unpleasant, and disharmonious. The uniform deeds always input bitterness in man, while the varied deeds input sweetness in him. Consequently, uniformity deforms the human, while diversity forms him and makes him beautiful. If you live among ugly and bad people who are constantly quarrelling among each other for ten years, you will adopt their character and you will acquire something from them. If you live for ten years among noble and elevated people, according to the same law you will acquire something from them and you will adopt some good deeds. If you seek beauty, you will find it in the diversity of life – not in its uniformity. As you know this, you should work consciously upon yourself, so that you can acquire beauty. As soon as a uniform thought crosses your mind, immediately leave it aside. Do not pay attention to the uniform thoughts, feeling, and deeds. It was perceived that whenever a child is mocking the insufficiency of another child, some time later it acquires the same insufficiency as well. A child stutters, while another child mocks at it and makes fun of it. After four or five years, the mocking child will begin to stutter, too. Do not relate with the uniformity of people, so that you do not fall in it as well. The only thing that can protect you from uniformity is to completely neglect it. As long as you do not pay attention to it, you are far from it. As soon as you encounter a negative thought, put a positive thought against it. The negative in life originates from uniformity. Avoid uniformity, so that you do not spend your energy in vain. The human has come to the Earth, so that he can follow the way of diversity, of the Divine processes – not to occupy himself with the incompatibilities of life. As long as he occupies himself with the incompatibilities, the human bears responsibility for this. He has come to the Earth to learn, to pass from one school form to another, to pass from one class to another – not to repeat the school forms and classes. He has to graduate in higher science and then enter the wide world, so that he can put into practice what he has learned. The creation of the true man, that has its place in the world, is a result of putting the Divine laws into Life. Do you think that the beautiful young lady and the beautiful young man have come here in this world with the only mission to marry? Some people think that as he has come to Earth, man should indispensably marry. In fact, marriage is the last thing that he should do. The human has been created to think first, and act after that. Thinking, feeling, and acting are Divine processes, while all the rest of the deeds are human. Christ says: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Christ draws the attention to the new way of giving birth – of water and spirit – not by a mother and a father. Contemporary people encounter great discrepancies, as a result they have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to live without money. This conclusion is kind of true. With the present order and way of life it is impossible to live without money, but what do the animals and the plants do? They, too, live under the present conditions, but they do not need money. So, money is a human – not a Divine invention. The views of the people are such that they cannot live without money. A day will come, though, when they will live without money. Then they will understand that their present views are not right. Money is necessary for the relative – not for the absolute order of things. You might say that animals are lower beings and that they do not have the needs that the human has. On the one hand, as they reason, many people say that only ignorant people can be religious. If this conclusion is true, though, then more ignorant people than cattle do not exist. Are they religious, though? We cannot talk about a religious feeling in cattle. Their religion is an idol-worship. They have elevated the fear into a cult. Each animal relies on its legs. The one that has long legs is saved. That is what animals think. Now I do not dwell upon the personal life of the human, but upon the two important processes in the world: the processes of uniformity and diversity. The human views refer to the process of uniformity, while the Divine views refer to the process of diversity. The people have mixed these two processes in their life; as a result they have ascribed Divine origin to some of the human views. For instance, they created idols that they worshipped as Deities. One of the Babylonian kings ordered the sculpturing of an idol from gold and he wanted everyone to worship it. Three young men, who believed in the existence of one God, refused to worship the idol, made by a human hand. For their disobedience the king ordered that they be cast in an oven. They were cast into the oven, but strange as it may seem, they did not burn. Indeed, the one, who believes in God, cannot be burned by fire. Today, everyone pretends to be believers, but in spite of this, they get ill, they suffer from poverty, etc. I say: The one, who believes in God, cannot be ill, ignorant, or poor. The believer is a strong, rich, and healthy man. The one, who has faith, gets along with people; the one, who does not have faith, cannot get along with anyone. When the problems of the human are not settled well, he gets angry at Providence, because it has not helped him. Providence has given Goods abundantly to everyone, to all living beings. Each man has some gifts that he has not developed. Each gift is like capital that has to be put into circulation. Contemporary people suffer, because they have not developed the capital that has been given to them. As you look at the foreheads of some people you can see that they do not think right. As you look at the upper part of their head you can see that these people have not worked spiritually. The upper parts of their heads are flattened. The history of the human development is written on the human head. As you look at his head you will guess if this man has lived well, or not. Each part of the human body also shows in what way the human body has developed. Lombrozo, who has studied the philosophy of criminals, has found that the first phalanx of the thumb of all criminals was deformed. It had the shape of a little ball, formed like a little hammer. By the thumb of the human you can tell in what way his ancestors and forebears lived. If the thumb of a human is deformed, this means that he is sentenced to great suffering and misfortunes. Some people have a deformed forefinger. Others have a deformed middle finger, third – a deformed ring finger, etc. As he sees that, the human should work carefully upon himself and correct the mistakes of his past. If you enter a house and see that its walls are cracked, you conclude, that its rafters are weak. This house should be repaired by all means, because at even the slightest earthquake it will be demolished and will bury the people that live in it. Consequently, the religion of the human should be such, to be able to relate him with the Divine world. The Divine world laws do not allow a woman to marry a man whom she does not love. The Divine world laws do not allow a man to marry a woman whom he does not love. These laws do not allow the mother to give birth to a child that she did not love even before its conception. The child is also not allowed to be born, if it hasn’t loved its mother before coming to Earth. These are dicta that you should have in mind. You might say: How do we know these dicta exist? How do we know that God exists? The ants do not know that God exists, because they have not reached the level of the human. The human, though, knows and should know that God does exist. We know this, because we have come from the Divine world; we have been there. What we see around us is not the absolute world. This is what we call the world of the shadows. The one, who constantly changes his views, is a shadow of the man. But we do not bother with the fact that the shadow melts and vanishes. This is quite normal. We do not bother with the fact that people quarrel, die, and lose their wealth. For us, this is a performance, a show. These are roles in the drama of some author that should be played. We are interested in the beautiful and noble deeds of people. Someone complains that they have robbed him. This man is deceiving himself. If after the robbery he feels better, he should be thankful that they have removed part of his burden. What would have happened if he had this burden while he was floating in the sea? He might have drowned. As long as there is a man who can take the burden off his back, he should be thankful. Otherwise, he will try the depths of the sea. One thing you should know: Only this thing is real, that no one can take away from us. [M4] As long as someone is able to take something from you, then this thing is not real. Any wealth that can be taken away from you is not yours. We believe in the property that no one can take away. The only property of the human is his spirit, his soul, his mind, heart, and body. Man has at his disposal a body that no one can take away from him. As he dies, man will remain with this body. For the time being, he lives in a foreign body. The physical body in which the human lives is not his property. It is the shell of the egg, from which the chicken comes out. That is why, when he dies, the human comes out of his shell and gets in his own body in which he has the opportunities to develop. You might say that you believe in God. Faith implies the knowing of God. To know God means to enter in the Divine school and apply God’s Love, Wisdom, and Truth. As you apply the Divine principles, you will acquire true knowledge. If you go to the Sun with your present knowledge, you will find yourself in the position of children that have just started to learn. You might say that you know French, German, and English languages. What are these languages in comparison with the Vatan language, from which all the existing languages have originated? People have forgotten the Vatan language that was spoken in the distant past. There are people that still remember this language, but they are few. Now I do not want to bring confusion in your minds and hearts, but I want to make you think. Confusion originates from people’s views. The one, who loves you, never brings confusion in your soul. Consequently, as long as you have some confusion in your soul, you either do not love that man, or he does not love you. In the realm of the Divine Love people love simultaneously, but they manifest in different ways; as one of them gives, the other takes. After some time, both of them change their roles. The Divine Love implies rightful exchange, that is – an exchange of poles. The same phenomena happen[M5] also in electricity: the pole that was positive becomes negative. Light always appears at the negative pole. For the time being, the weak in the world bears the Divine manifestations within itself, while the strong in the world bears the knowledge. The human owes his acquisitions to the weak in himself. Each great thought has been created by small impulses. The small desires and urges that the human retains within himself, after a time give birth to a great idea. Man should work on a given idea for dozens of years until he realizes it. Nothing in the world is arbitrary. In order that a mother gives birth to a wise and beautiful child, she has worked in this direction for dozens of years. In order to give birth to a genius, the mother has kept this thought within her mind for ages. If the eyes of a man are beautiful this shows that he has had thought in this direction for a long time. If he has not thought anything, then his eyes are not beautiful. So, if you want to have beautiful eyes that are able to transfer the Divine thoughts, work consciously on this wish. Each thought – good or bad - that comes out of a man, makes a circle and comes back to him again. Such is the law. As you know this, think, feel, and act in a good way, so that all this might return to you. The rain today shows that all the good things that you planted will be watered, so that they can grow and give fruit. The good that you plant within yourself will grow. The rain today is a great blessing for you. God says that all you have wished for thousands of years will be blessed on the condition that you will follow the Divine ways. Do not be afraid of the rain. In spring and in summer, go out, so that the rain can wet you well. If you are already outside, take off your hat, so that your head can be wetted well. This rain is bliss to a man. As long as the rain has wetted you, give thanks that you have bathed and that you have taken an electrical bath. I wish that your thoughts, feelings, and deeds could be bathed, too. The rain that comes from above is intelligent. He[M6] bears within itself powerful thoughts. The plants, animals, and people that have been moistened and bathed by this rain are blessed. Most of the people have an unnatural fear from rain – they behave like they are made from sugar. I do not advise those that are made from sugar to take rain baths, though. But those that are made from stable matter should take at least ten rain baths each year. Christ says: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” So, the water from which you should be born will be your mother. At present, you run away from your mother. The spirit will be your father. Who has seen his mother, that is – who has seen Love? All the young people fall in love, but they do not know what Love is. The older ones, though, say that Love is not for them. If an old man falls in love, they say that he was stupid. So, the stupidity is for the old – not for the young people. The young people are allowed to love, while the old people are not allowed. In fact, the human can be young only if he loves. As he stops being in love, he gets old. It is better if a man bears all the stupidity of youth, but with love, than all the wealth of old age, but without love. The stupidity of youth, but with love represents the virtue of youth. When children quarrel, they make peace easily. You see two children quarrelling and pulling each other’s hair, but a minute or two later they are already hugging and kissing each other. If two old people quarrel, though, they cannot make peace for years. People have understood wrongly both old age and youth. Young is the man who receives. Old is the man who gives. The old person should transfer his experience to the young one and say: My son, you are a good man. The way that you follow is right. Be blessed! Is it not true that children follow the right way? Christ says: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” There are children that do not look like children. They have prematurely grown old. In my opinion, only those are children that have Love. [M7] Only those who do not have Love are old. Consequently, all the children and all the young people who have no love bear other names. The children without Love we call young dolls. The old people without Love we call old dolls. This refers to both men and women. Each person should ask himself a question: What do I prefer to be – a young doll without love, or an old doll with love? Each man should be either young or old, but he should by all remains[M8] have Love. While he is just a doll – nothing can be expected from him. Whatever opportunities you create for the doll, it will remain a doll. Children bathe their dolls, dress them in modern clothes, and walk them in baby carriages, but nevertheless they remain just dolls. If the leg of the doll breaks, the child cries, but the doll itself does not care about its leg. Now, keep the following thought in your mind: The human cannot be healthy unless he loves. The human cannot be a scientist unless he loves. The human cannot be free unless he loves. In general, the human cannot be happy, rich, strong, healthy, and learned if he does not love. Love should be present everywhere. If you have Love in your knowledge, you will be great scientists. If you have Love in your freedom, you will be invulnerable. Only the help of Love can protect freedom, wealth, knowledge, and health. Without Love, freedom turns into slavery, knowledge – into ignorance, Love – into a torture. It was said in the Scriptures: “This is eternal life – to know you: the One True God.” “To know” implies Love. To love someone means to live for Him. The Divine Love lies in this, in spite of all the insufficiencies in human Life, He nevertheless looks benevolently towards the human. On seeing all the wrong deeds of human, God says: This life is not for you. I believe that after a time you will overcome your weaknesses. No man in the world likes to eat spoilt meat. Everyone likes to wear nice, new, hardwearing clothes, made of expensive, fine material. Each one would like to have golden jewellery covered with diamonds. The most beautiful garment that one can dress in is the garment of Love. It is decorated with precious gems and diamonds. No one is able to steal the garment of Love from the human. Some people ask me if they will know each other as they go to the other world. If they love one another they will know one another; if they do not love one another they will not know one another. If you love each other here, you will love each other when you go to the other world as well. For the rational person, the opportunities in the other world are better that the opportunities on Earth. In the other world, people have better opportunities to know and love each other. In the other world, you will be able to learn the most beautiful language with the most beautiful words, which you have been looking for in your life. Before you, the great past and the great future will be revealed, so that you can see how you have met and what acquaintances you will make in the future. Each man that you love has been useful for you in the past. He will be of use to you in your present and future as well. Consequently, everyone who loves you is your capital. For the people you love – you are their capital. What greater wealth could you expect? You are like capital for those you love and the people who love you are your capital. Their happiness is hidden in you and your happiness is hidden in them. Happiness of everyone, though, is hidden in God. If you love God, know that the future is hidden in Him. If you love Him, you will be given whatever you like. As you know this, ask from God only this that corresponds to you. Can the little girl dress in her mother’s dress? This desire does not correspond to it. This girl can dress in her mother’s garments, as she becomes a 21-year-old young lady. While you are a five-year-old girl, do not crave for your mother’s dress. While you are a five-year-old boy, do not crave for your father’s coat. While you are a five-year-old child, do not crave for the professor’s chair. As you grow, you will dress in whatever clothes you like. As you grow, you will even head a professor’s department. Each thing will happen in its proper time. Wait calmly for the time that has been appointed for you. It will bring the good that corresponds to you. “This is eternal life – to know you: the One True God.” This is eternal life – to love each other. This is eternal life – to live for one another. This is eternal life – to do the Divine will, to acquire all that you want and say: The words of Christ are true - that whatever you like in the name of God will be given to you. Apostle Paul says: “An eye has not seen and an ear has not heard what God has prepared for those, that love Him.” So, for each man goods are appointed, which will come at their proper time. In order to receive these goods he has to apply his Love. That there will be hardships is inevitable inevitably. The human cannot live without hardships. Hardships are the touchstone for the human. In order to acquire one good of Love, man should experience 99 sufferings. If he finds a man, who has not experienced 99 sufferings, then Love will melt him and nothing will remain from him. As he meets a man, who has experienced 99 sufferings, Love will unite them and it will form the eternal good of life from them. If you observe the laws of Love, it will transform all your disagreements and suffering and will turn them into eternal capital for you. Be glad, that the Love that will break you free from your present unbearable conditions in your life is already coming. Only the Love of God is able to break the man free from death – the greatest enemy in the world. This is eternal life – to know God as Love. This is eternal life – to know God as Wisdom. This is eternal life – to know God as Truth. I wish you to follow this way in the future. I wish you to become masters with Love and servants with Love. 3. An assembly lecture, given by the Master on August 27, at the residential district of Izgrev, 10 a.m. [M1]It is not really clear what is meant by a separate man, perhaps what is means is – {individual} [M2]{outer} [M3] {commissions} [M4]{The only thing that is real is that which no one can take away from us.} [M5]This is awkward as one should say happens but because of the word phenomena it can't be said, therefore, I suggest using {can be seen}. [M6]{It} [M7]Does this refer to the children in the two previous sentences… [M8]{means}

Note 4p A KING AND A SERVANT Christ says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Whoever has known Christ, follows His way. Whoever has known Christ, easily finds his way. His way is illuminated by the Divine Sun. For the one, who has not known Christ – the road is blocked. He cannot find his way because he has a mist before his eyes – just like you today. As he sees the mist before his eyes, man thinks that the whole Earth is misty. If he thinks so, he is deceiving himself. In fact, the mist is only before his eyes, or in his consciousness. There exist people that always live within Light. For them, the Divine Sun never goes down. There was a time, when all the Earth had been a nebula, but today the people enjoy the sky and the earth, the day and night heavenly bodies. The mist you see today shows that people will pass through certain trials, which can be overcome with faith and rationality. Have faith in the wheat grain that spends a whole year under the snow as under a warm blanket. As it is raining, it thanks God that He has softened the hard and dry heart of the Earth, so that it cannot press it too hard. The wheat grain gives thanks also for the rain, mist, and snow, and patiently awaits the warm sunny days, when it will show its little head above the ground and begin to grow. Consequently, if the wheat grain has so much faith, then how much more should a man have in the One, Who has wiped away many tears, Who has removed much suffering and has turned many hardships into goods. God has removed many disagreements, hindrances, and difficulties from the way of the man, yet man is nevertheless discontented. A man is discontented either from his outlook, or from the conditions of his life. He wants to dress well, eat well, and live like a king. How many people may be kings in the world? There is a vacancy for a king – a vacancy for a king of your own self. Each man can be a king to himself. Now I wish all of you to become kings of your own selves, but servants to God. The one, who can become a king of himself, he will get the Divine Blessing. August 22, 5 a.m.

Note 4p THE LITTLE PRAYER “Love never fails.” A flower in the mountain prayed: Lord, visit me by your dew and your Divine Light, so that my little heart can enjoy your goods. Lord, I will put on my best clothes, so I can meet your Light. I will greet in your name whoever passes by me. August 21, 5 a.m.

Note 4p RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE VIEWS Reflection In the old times the disciples considered the four elements of Aristotle: water, air, fire, and earth. They used to say that man couldn’t live without these elements. He cannot live without water – he will die from thirst; without air he will suffocate; without fire he will freeze and not be able to move; without earth he will not have a place to stand and get rest. Contemporary scientists say that these four elements participate widely in the formation of the organic world. In one word, they play a leading part in the creation of Nature. As they studied these four elements, called so in the broad sense of the term “element”, they say that water is a composite body, constituted of two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen. The air is a mixture of 4/5 nitrogen and 7 grams of oxygen. Earth is a mixture of different quantities of all the elements. What then the scientists considered as an element today is proven not to be an element. Why? Because it might decompose to more common composite parts. Outwardly it looks like an element, but inwardly it does not look so. But then the doll also resembles a human, yet it is not. It has all the human limbs, but its limbs do not make it a human being. Humans are beings that have Spirit, soul, mind, and heart. The Spirit is a beginning that creates everything; the soul settles everything; the mind manifests everything, the heart melts everything. As we compare contemporary life with the life of the past, we see a great difference both from a scientific and religious point of view. The present scientific views differ considerably from the view of the past. The present religious views also differ considerably from the view of the past. Likewise, the future scientific and religious views of people will differ greatly from the present ones. For instance, little children believe that there are no fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters like theirs in the world. Is this true? Their views are such. Sometimes, older people also make such conclusions. Why? They make such conclusions because of their views. As he does not understand things, man misinterprets them. During the French revolution, a young Turk said to an old Turk: There is a revolution in France. The old bearded Turk, pondered over it and said: Thank God. I hope that what happens there will happen here also. Why did he say that? Because he did not understand. He thought that some great good had befallen on France. As they explained to him, that during a revolution things turn upside down, he said: I hope God will protect us and what happens in France will not happen here. Now I see what the revolution means. What does the word “revolution” mean? It means that things turn around their own centre. Does the wheel not turn on its own axis, too? If it does not make a revolution it cannot move. The revolution consists of good and evil. The result of the good is that a man grows rich and the result of the bad is that the man gets poor; as a result of the good, man comes back to life, while as a result of the bad – he dies. There exists a fictitious death in Nature. As one being dies, another creature is being born. Evil, though, should constantly die. If the evil in man does not die constantly, he cannot live. There is something within man that constantly dies, but there also exists something that constantly survives. For instance, today you are not what you were in your childhood, or in your embryonic stage. When you were in an embryonic stage, you had almost no weight and then it gradually increased. Today your weight is more than 60 kilograms. The more evil grows, the more its weight increases. As it has little weight, the child remembers nothing of its life. The more it grows, its consciousness awakens and it begins to remember. As it grows up, the child manifests strength, depending on the growth of its matter. But you measure the matter with one measure, and the energy - with another one. The matter exercises one type of pressure, the energy - another one. Contemporary scientists talk about the atmospheric pressure and they say that the pressure upon the man is balanced by his internal tension. If it was not for the internal tension, the outside[M1] pressure would have flattened him. A man is exposed not only to physical, but to mental pressures as well. For instance, evil is an external pressure acting on man, while good is an internal one. If the internal tension did not exist, a man would have flattened[M2] . So, the outside and the inside [M3] pressure are necessary. Today evil and good are viewed as special types of pressure exerted on a man. According to some people’s opinions, evil is a force, the manifestation of which is not a law, while good is a force, whose manifestation is a law. What is wrong with the fact that a manifestation of force might be a law or not? For instance, Hindus view life as an evil, irrespective of whether its manifestation is a law or not. Evil and good are relative concepts. As a robber robs a rich man, we call this evil. Why? We call it evil because the robber deprives him of his wealth. A rich man suffers, because he does not understand the value of wealth, though. If he had not valued his wealth, he would not have suffered. If the robber returns his wealth, he will be glad. In this case evil disappears. This shows that the concepts of good and evil are relative and they change according to people’s views. Now I’ll give another definition for good and evil. If you commit evil without Love – it is evil; if you do well without Love – it is evil, too. For instance, if you rob someone and do not return his money – this is evil. You have done evil without Love. But if you rob a man and give him back his money – you have done a good deed. This is evil done with Love. If you do evil with Love, this is good; and if do well with Love – it is again a good deed. Often people speak ill about themselves. For instance, someone says: I am not a talented man. Why do I need a life full of suffering? Why do I need wealth, as there is no one to love me? Why do I need this knowledge, as I have nowhere to put it into practice? Why have I been given this beautiful voice, as there is no one to listen to me? Those of you that have come to the mountain – sing for the very mountain, for the stones, for the waters. They are the best audience. Start singing and you will see that the water will splash and the small pebbles will jump up. If you sing, but you do not listen to your own singing, no one will listen to you from the outside. You will simultaneously be a performer and a listener. If you yourself do not have a high opinion of your own self, then you will not be highly spoken of by the rest of the people as well. As you have a high opinion of yourself, you will have a high opinion of the surrounding people as well. Many people think that they are poor and say that they have no resources for teachers. They do not know that The One Who teaches all people is God. He teaches man from the inside – through life itself. He uses evil and the good to teach man. He uses all the goodness and hardships to teach him. Consequently, God requires from man a full trust and confidence in Him. God wants man to implement the love as He himself implements it. God is so indulgent that he does not want from the man to be long suffering, instead, He wants him to at least be patient. He does not want the man to be all loving, but He wants him to at least be loving. As disciples, you should rationally use what has been given to you today. Each thought, feeling, and action, no matter how small they are - use them there and then. Do not postpone things for the future. The present is yours – not the future. Thus the rational, good, and loving people do. Thanks[M4] for everything that happens in your life. August 20, 5 a.m. _____ * John, chapter 6 [M1]outer [M2]{have been flattened} [M3]{outer and the inner} [M4]{Give thanks} or {Be thankful}