The One and Indivisible
Reflection.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew, verse 4) – Who are they comforting? – Those who mourn. He who has never mourned, cannot be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (v. 5) – Why will the meek inherit the earth? – Because only to the meek you can give something that he will not appropriate, ruin, or corrupt.
"Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they will be satiated." (– 6th st.) – He who is not hungry and thirsty for righteousness cannot be healthy.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." (Matthew, v. 7) – If you want mercy, be merciful. He who is not merciful cannot be shown mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (v. 8) – In other words: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see love, in its glory and majesty. He who is not pure in heart, cannot see love. If he does not see love, he walks in darkness and always stumbles. Modern people stumble because they do not see love.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Sons of God.” (v. 9) – What should a peacemaker be like? – Strong. The weak cannot be a peacemaker. He wants peace, but is afraid of being blackmailed. However, the strong brings peace, therefore he will be called the Son of God.
“Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mathew, verse 10) – Whatever kingdom you desire, you will be persecuted for it. To get the grain of wheat out of the ear, you must chase it with horses to the threshing floor. The horses that trample the grain represent the contradictions in the mental and heart worlds. The grain must go through many contradictions in order for good grain to come out of it.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (v. 3) – Who is the poor in spirit? – He who does not put his spirit into earthly affairs. Do not harness your spirit into earthly affairs like the farmer who harnesses an ox to his cart and makes it plough. In this situation, just as the ox cannot be free, so the spirit cannot be the master of the kingdom of heaven. Be, therefore, poor in spirit, in order to be outside the limitations of the material world. The poor in spirit wants nothing from the material world, and therefore is free from its bonds. – Is it possible to live without material goods? – While living on earth, a person needs material goods, but he should not get associated with them. Who has brought any material goods with him to the other world? No one has brought anything. You cannot take even a hair into the other world.
A young man married a girl who was constantly adorned with gold coins. When he looked at the gold coins, he thought they were made of pure gold, and was glad that he had secured himself. What came out of it in the end? The gold coins were fake. Earthly life is full of fake gold coins. Do not marry a girl who adorns herself with fake gold coins, no matter how beautiful she is.
Keep in mind the thought: only what follows you is real. If money follows you, it is alive, it is a real quantity; if it does not follow you, it is fake, unreal, and cannot be relied on. Not only the maiden should wear gold coins, but also the young man. And when he meets his beloved, he should hang three gold coins around her neck: one from love, the second from wisdom, and the third from truth. If he does not hang the three gold coins around her neck, their affairs will not go well.
When you preach to someone, you should also hang the three gold coins around his neck.
What do the three gold coins mean? – The three virtues: love, wisdom, and truth. Thanks to them, intelligent beings created the the eyes, ears, and the mouth of the man. Because they love us, love created our mouth, wisdom created our ears, and truth created our eyes. Who created our nose? – God. He created it so that we could receive the fragrance of flowers. The sons of wisdom created our hands and feet.
Those of you who have come to the mountain may think that they are alone, that there is no one around them. They are mistaken, there are many creatures around them: the sun, the air, the waters, the stones. You would say that they are not alive, they do not understand anything. Whoever thinks so, lives in the illusions of life. Everything that surrounds you is alive. But, to convince yourself of this, you must go through the illusions, to see that they do not have the content that you put into them. Before the child comes to the wisdom of life, to the true light, he must go through several schools. He first enters primary school, where teachers teach him the letters; then he is taught to spell, to form whole words and sentences. Having learned to read, write and count, the child enters junior high school, then high school and finally university. When the science of the earth is finished, only then does nature come to life for man, and he looks at it as something living and intelligent. Only now can he pass on his knowledge to other people. He who does not know the alphabet cannot write; he who does not know the words, cannot speak; he who does not understand the laws of life, does not have the right attitude towards things, cannot solve their problems.
Not understanding the laws of life and not knowing what connections and relationships exist between souls, many complain that no one loves them. They do not suspect that all intelligent beings love them. There is no intelligent being in the world who does not love you. Every moment they bring you some gift, quietly place it before you and leave unnoticed. A person must be awake, to accept the gifts of love in time. If he gets carried away somewhere, undeveloped beings will immediately come around him who will take the gifts for themselves. Knowing this, be awake, to free yourself from the unreasonable beings around you, to receive the gifts of love and to use them correctly. How will you free yourself from these beings? - By putting them to sleep. Once they fall asleep, you are free and will easily cope with the benefits that are given to you. When they wake up, you can give them whatever you want.
What is the reason that a person sometimes feels his heart empty, as if there is nothing? – Ants that eat everything, and mice that gnaw everything. They are interested in external things and attack them. If you want to know whether a person has such creatures in him, look at him, notice where he looks when you talk to him. If he looks to the right and left, he is looking for something to eat, as well as a way to more easily get to what tempts him. You will know that these creatures have attacked him. He speaks, but from time to time he interrupts his thought. However, whatever you see in your interlocutor, you must be silent, as the stones that are present with you are silent. And they listen, but they are silent. There are many listeners around you – the stones, the wind, the sun, etc. There are at least 12,000 listeners here. To have so many listeners is to be present at the largest gathering in the world. However, they can gather in one hazelnut tree, but they can also occupy the entire space. The same can be said about man. He is both small and large. As a spirit, he can occupy a large space; as a man who has come to earth in the flesh, he can shrink. When he is photographed, a man becomes small, barely visible.
And so, a man lives in space as a spirit, and on earth - as flesh. In both cases, he is immersed in the love of bright, intelligent beings. The ether, as well as the higher worlds, are inhabited by beings who have a certain relationship to us. What is the relationship of air to water, in density, such is the relationship of ether to air. There are layers rarer than ether. In relation to them, the ether is a dense, dense mass. Light slides along its surface as if on a plane. What is the reason for the descent of light to the earth? - Some tension or impulse. Just as compressed air tends to expand and occupy a large space, so does a bright angelic thought tend to expand, occupy a large volume and do a certain job. We perceive this thought as light and use it. The light that we receive is nothing but a gift from love. So, a person is sustained and lives thanks to the love of the intelligent world. He who does not understand the manifestations of love falls into great contradictions. He looks for a person to love him, and having found one, he begins to limit him, wants to keep him only for himself. Thus he gets tangled up and loses love. Do not think that if someone loves you and others, you will lose their love. The more people you love, the more your love expands. If two houses face east, have the same number of large windows, they will be equally warmed by the sun, i.e., they will receive the same amount of light. The same applies to love.
Remember: God’s love is the same for all beings, perfect or imperfect. God’s love is eternal and unchanging. One is loved more because he has opened himself more to the light and love and receives more. Another has closed himself off, therefore he receives less – it is up to him to receive more. When he opens himself up, he will receive more light and warmth. In fact, God loves both equally. If they open themselves equally, they will receive equally. Free yourself from the delusion of thinking that God, by loving all beings, diminishes His love for you. The love of God, or of any being, is specific for you. Whoever He loves, along with you, no matter how much He loves him, no one can take away His love for you – it is yours and specific. The right thing is, when you love and are loved, to rejoice. Rejoice in the manifestations of love for one or for all. Love is one and indivisible. The only thing that is not divided is love. The love of every person, of every living being is your love. Love has the same attitude towards one and all. He who loves an ox, loves a man too. When a young man falls in love, he becomes soft, gentle towards animals. If before that he used to gore the ox with his goad, when he falls in love, he stops goring it. He knows that the ox is also a living being that needs love, just like his beloved.
Why humans got beaten up? – For two reasons: either because of their lack of love or because of their love for other people. A father sent his wayward son to school and said to his teacher: My son is very stubborn and wayward. When he does something wrong, do not beat him, but record how many mistakes he has made and how many rods he has received, so that when I come to you, put the rods on my back. Then he turned to his son and said: Son, be careful, so that fewer rods are loaded on my back. Here the father endures beatings and sufferings out of love for his son. Because he loves him, he does not want to be beaten. When his son is beaten, the father would suffer more, so he prefers to be beaten instead of his son. He voluntarily accepts the sufferings and punishments. There are cases when your love for someone causes you suffering without him wanting them.
A young man fell in love with a beautiful girl who did not love him back. To test the power of his love, the girl said: I will love you if you take out your mother's heart and bring it to me in a box. The boy fulfilled her wish. He took out his mother's heart, put it in a box and ran to his beloved with joy that he would now have her love. In his haste, he stumbled and hit his foot hard. Right away, the heart asked anxiously: Son, 'Did you hurt yourself ?'
What is the cause of suffering in human life? - The desire of people to share love. No matter how hard you try, love remains one and indivisible. Whoever tries to share it exposes himself to suffering and contradictions. Therefore, love causes suffering to those who want to divide it and do not understand that it is indivisible. Love brings joy to those who understand it and know that it is one and indivisible. Whoever does not understand love, attributes to it qualities that are completely different from its nature. They play the role of sediments that she puts to work and, in the end, something valuable comes out of them. Love also carries lovelessness within itself and puts it to work.
Speaking of misunderstanding love, we come to the prophets and see that they did not understand it completely either. They addressed the Jews with the words: "God will cast you out from His presence forever." However, it did not turn out that way. It was enough for them to repent in order God to forgive them. This shows that the prophets did not always understand God's Love.
Many ask themselves why they suffer if God loves them. It is very natural. As long as a person resists love, resists God, he is exposed to suffering. Then, he attributes to love qualities that it does not possess. Love has many qualities, but in all its manifestations, it remains one and indivisible. The manifestations of love are countless, the forms through which it manifests itself are diverse, but behind all this stands the one and indivisible Love of God. The farmer can plant the grain of wheat in different ways, but the result will be the same – the grain of wheat will grow and bear fruit. Whatever the manifestations of love, they are equally valuable. Some of them bear fruit immediately, and others – after a longer or shorter time.
– This is eternal life, to know You, the Only True God, and Christ, whom You have sent.
2. Sermon by the Master, given at the seven Rila lakes on June 22, 5 p.m., 1942
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* Matthew, ch. 5
Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness,
for they will be satiated.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The Fulfillment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Murder
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Divorce
31“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Oaths
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Eye for Eye
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Translated by Eleonora Petkova
