1924_04_13 PATIENCE

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Note 2p

 

PATIENCE

 

 

26^th lecture given by the Master to the Youth Occult Class

 

13^th April, 1924, Sofia

 

The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

 

A secret prayer

 

Some works on the topic “The aims of modern science” were read.

 

Now, I am going to assign a topic, on which I want you to work individually. It will be: “The best method of self-restraint”. At first you will make an experiment, and then you will dwell on the best method of self-restraint. Each of you will comment on the topic. You are going to apply what you have written.

 

When studying Nature, you should observe two rules: First, Nature always uses pictures and images; second, nature proceeds from the visible to the invisible, i.e. from what is close to the human Spirit, to what is distant from it. Consequently, in your initial studies of Nature you will take a picture from Nature the way it is, without any comment, just like children do, and note what an impression this picture will make on you. You might have an objection, “Why should we do this?” – Because of the following law: if you plant a grain in the soil, should it start philosophising? The grain first tries to examine the soil. What does it do next? It shoots its roots. It wants to explore the soil without making any comment. Therefore, when it shoots its roots, the first stage has started – the grain is pretty clear about its task. The second stage for the grain is to explore what is above the ground. If a picture does not leave a lasting impression on you, you will never be clear about the inner sense of this image, because the images in Nature are alive.

 

Each of you is an image. You are living images in body. What do you do, though? You meet a friend of yours and you want to understand him right away. No, you should not do this. Let the image or the body of your friend impress you, just like children do. This is the simplest way to understand a given image. This is also the most natural way to acquire true Knowledge. If you let the philosophy of the objective mind get the upper hand, this will lead you astray and you will fall into error. Modern learned people make the mistake to try to find a philosophical explanation of the ultimate objectives of Nature. How can they understand Nature? They cannot understand Nature yet, as they have not learnt its laws and they have not obtained any insight of its inner images. Ask modern psychologists, speaking about the human soul, intellect and heart, how they have come to understand this soul, heart, or mind. They will not be able to give a definite answer, as they do not know where the human mind is. They say, “The human mind is in the brain.” Yes, but where exactly is it concentrated? They do not know where the human heart is either. I have already told you that if Nature wants to define someone’s mind, It determines it by the nose, the forehead, and the chin. Then Nature determines the direction of the heart. The orientation of the heart is diametrically opposite that of the mind.

 

 

Fig. 1

 

Let us say that the line AB represents the movement of the mind; then the movement of the heart will be the line CD. You can check that by looking at anybody’s nose. People whose intellectual aspirations are stronger have their nose flatter at the base. Such people think more and feel less. Others have their nose shorter, but wider – they think less and feel more. By saying that there are people who think a lot I do not mean that they can accomplish everything. A thought is what can be fulfilled. Feelings should also be fulfilled, as the point is not just in feeling. Do you know what feeling is like? Imagine now that I were a cook. I am preparing some dish; you come close to me, sniff around the casserole, imagining that you are eating. Are you actually eating? No, eating remains unfulfilled. Can one live with such a feeling? You can only feel the steam coming out of the casserole, but nothing enters your mouth. Only dead people can feed on this. A living person needs to taste the dish. This law can be applied both to the heart and the mind. Someone will say, “I think.” What is the object of your thought? Can your thought be applied?

 

How can you apply this knowledge? Assume that someone has hurt his foot and says, “I can’t walk.” One, who understands the law, on hearing the complaint, will give him some remedy, will heal him and make him able to walk again. Well, let us say that two people from this class cannot get on well with each other, what will your remedy be? You are intellectuals, aren’t you? You say that you live in a brotherhood, that you should get on well, have ideas and aspirations after good, etc. That is all very nice, but your two classmates have fallen out despite their ideas. The first comes up and the other turns his back, saying, “I am busy now. I have something on my mid.” What is on his mind? – To turn his back. One turns his right side and the other turns his left side. Is there any philosophy in this? Have you seen what cocks do? One rises, and the other rises, saying, “Don’t think I am that stupid!” What cocks do is done by people, too. There is some reasoning in this but certainly no philosophy.

 

All these are habits, but when it comes to Reasonable understanding of Nature, we will have to make an experiment with ourselves. That’s why I have told you to write on the topic: “The best method of self-restraint”. I want you to write on something you have experienced. It will be a valuable contribution. I believe that each of you has his own method. You will write about your personal methods of self-restraint. All the forces Nature has enacted have their own directions. The only thing required of you is never to hinder Nature acting in you so that you should not be hindered. Nature acting in you is alive. It is often said that Nature is the best teacher. At least I have not found a better teacher yet. If you listen to Nature, it can give you some valuable suggestions and guidelines; it can correct all your mistakes and make your life on Earth meaningful, even happy. You all have the same fallacy: you read a novel, written by no matter whom, which presents the life of a character you admire so much that you make this character a role model. However, trying to follow the example of the character is not that easy. Novel writers reveal only imaginary portrayals. They have not experienced what they describe. Not a single author has carried out the experiment on himself. They just imagine things and say, “The hero has to sacrifice himself; the heroine has to sacrifice herself.” All these are nothing but imaginary scenes, images that rarely occur in real life.

 

The first thing you should do is to distinguish between what is real and unreal so that you should be clear about to what extent your intentions can be fulfilled. Now we are discussing patience. Patience is something we all need. Do you know what the denominator of patience is? Which number can stand for ideal patience? I will tell you – the nominator for the ideal patience is 100 000 000. What fraction of your patience constitutes the ideal patience? What will the numerator of patience be? You have the denominator, so you should make some calculations to find the numerator. – The numerator is equal to the denominator. So, we have the fraction 100 000 000/100 000 000. What is the numerator of your patience? –( 1). It cannot be 1. Let me give you some hints: the patience of the smallest creature in this world is 1/100 000 000. The smallest cell that comes to life has 1 as a numerator. Now, you as biologists will find out how many millions of forms exist and to which of these forms you belong. By finding the results, you will be able to define the form of your numerator. Now I am speaking of this unit of energy that can be found in the simplest form of the cell: 400 000/100 000 000 = 4/1000 =1/250. This means that organically this should be your denominator.

 

How would you understand and define patience? What kind of force is patience? What is it needed for? Patience has two sides: one is the conscious, sensible patience and the other comes out of necessity. We are speaking now about the sensible patience, in which the mind, the will and the heart are involved. This patience is present only when one is free. Only a free man can be patient. One who is not absolutely free can endure hardships, i.e. he endures restrictions – in these cases patience is necessary. You are also patient now – you are sitting patiently on these chairs, but this is not patience because you have to do it. Patience has a distinctive feature: one who is patient finds satisfaction in work – despite all the obstacles he remains patient and does not lose heart. A patient person is invariably cheerful and merry; that’s why he cannot lose balance. A limited person can always lose balance – this is not patience. A patient person has peace of mind – he is always calm and quiet. Therefore, when speaking of patience, you should perceive it only in this way in order to have good results. Try to check whether you can endure hardship and to what extent. Let us say that you have some problem or you are displeased with something. Ask yourselves why you are displeased with a certain situation. There is nothing worse than discontent. Do you know that in order to make it possible for you to be here now, in this room, millions of Creatures, Heaven, the Earth and Angels have worked for millions of years? They have worked hard to give you knowledge, and now you are dissatisfied. You say, “But how? I am so constrained!” Yes, but where else could you possibly be in this case?

 

Let me make myself clear: imagine a stormy night, everything is under deep snow - where could you be? You cannot be outside your room. Your room is the only possible place where you are likely to be. You will say, “I can go out.” Yes, you can, but where could you go? Therefore, one should get out of the confining conditions, but only if he has found the spiritual path. Birds, for instance, thought for thousands of years before making their wings. Only then were they able to fly freely from one place to another. You should apply the same law: when facing an impediment, you need to think long and carefully before finding a method – just like birds did. Do you think that it was easy for birds to create feathers and wings? – It took the efforts and time of thousands of generations before designing and applying them in Life. As a result of hard work in the past, birds can solve their problems more easily now. You also have better conditions now than you used to. It will take more time for those who did not work hard enough in the previous centuries. You will need less time, but do not think that it will come in an hour or two. Let us say that sometimes you are displeased. You should say, “I’ll be more patient.” Try to be patient for at least half an hour. What does it mean? – You have to think that all your problems are settled and everything runs on wheels. You will say, “But how can I say such a thing when nothing is actually settled?” Naturally, in the present social system you will always be presented with this philosophy. You will always be put off balance. You might say, “When I enter society, I will be able to endure anything.” Yes, but when you face the harsh reality, you will say, “Let’s live as the others live.” Then you will put the new philosophy aside and say, “This philosophy is not applicable.” Yes, it is. You all deal with impossibilities now – you all think that these things are impossible. You have another wrong idea – you say, ”We are young and energetic. Let’s have fun now. We’ll apply these things when we grow old.” No, you are wrong. It is never a bad day that hath a good night. You can try this: Let a baby toddle along. You will be able to judge his future by the way he moves. A prodigy child does not toddle as the other toddlers. He or she moves the hands in a peculiar way, making different gestures. From now on you should reveal the qualities of your soul. You should reveal its freedom, getting rid of all restrictions. You should make room for all your gifts and abilities endowed by Nature. You should not restrict each other. When travelling round the country I have often met men or women who are very witty and perceptive. For instance, a maid visits a household, but the mother is not in, only the children are there. The maid starts doing some chores – sweeping the floor, fetching water, baking some bread, so that when the mother comes back from the fields everything can be ready. This maid is very keen and efficient – she does not wait to be told what to do. She sees what has to be done and does it. When the woman comes back she is very grateful. Whereas you always wait to be told what to do like soldiers. You should be keen enough to take the initiative. If you notice that something has to be done, you should see to it without waiting for orders. Such is the Divine law. When you enter a place, do what others have missed to do. For example, there is a lot to be done in this class for which you wait to be told to do. You distribute it to one another, you talk, discuss, form groups, but none of you has his own initiative. You gather again and again in groups but your matters cannot be settled. You need a vent. These are practical suggestions, necessary for your present growth. The difficulties you are going to face now do not mean anything. They are inevitable. There are certain handicaps you have to overcome, which will actually make up your knowledge.

 

Who is considered to be the most patient student in your class? How can you recognise the patient person? I would like to know how you decide whether one is patient or not. (- A patient person looks calm.) What if one were just seemingly patient? No, there should be some other distinctive feature. I will tell you how to recognise the patient person. If someone patient approaches you, his whole person will exhale joy and he will smell of spring. There are people who laugh, but you know that they are not merry. If one is of a merry disposition, he radiates freshness. A patient person reveals one excellent quality: whatever mistake you make, it will not shatter his mental peace – he will remain merry and calm. Whatever damage you cause, he will remain both outwardly and inwardly calm. For example, if you do not give him a book you have promised him, he will not be angry with you for breaking your promise. He will greet you as if you have given him the book and will stay cheerful. What do you do? Let us say that a friend has promised to call at your place at exactly 9 o’clock. You are waiting for him, checking your watch and pacing impatiently round the room. It is 9.01 now and you become anxious. A minute or two later you have lost your temper. You start stamping feet, saying, “Here is a man who goes back on his word!” Imagine now your friend mastered the skill of moving the hands of your watch back. You keep checking your watch. Your friend comes an hour later, so you say, “You are an hour late!” However, you friend says, “Well, why don’t you look at your watch?” You check your watch. Your friend says, “I have promised to come at 9 o’clock.” You look again and, surprisingly, it shows exactly 9 o’clock. Patience does not run according to the world’s clock. And indeed, when two patient people promise something to each other, they will be as punctual as the earth is accurate in its motion. If a patient person promises something, he will manage to come on time even without a watch. So, patience is the most reasonable attribute of the soul. Therefore, a patient person can keep his promise, but if the other decides that his friend might not come on time, it will be a crime on his part. If I have a patient friend, I will never check my watch. I know that he will be punctual as a rule.

 

Now, you will try[A1]  your patience. It is necessary to carry out some self-observation. I call these experiments psychological manoeuvres. Try to tackle a problem that looks insoluble. Leave the problem aside for some time and focus on something else. Come back to it later. Do not push it. Examine the problem slowly and calmly. It might take a day, two, or more. You shouldn’t give up. You will cope with everything if you are patient enough.

 

It is of prime importance to learn to be patient. Once you have acquired this skill, you will see that it is one of the most valuable attributes. You cannot make a step ahead unless you are patient. It is not enough to acquire knowledge only. It is crucial that one keeps it. It is not enough to cultivate virtues. You need the strength to retain them. You should know that you can keep what you have only if you are patient. One needs presence of mind.

 

Now you will proceed with building up sensible patience. Assign certain exercises to yourselves. Let us say that you get angry with a friend of yours and stamp your feet at him. When you collect yourself, you will say, “I’ll practise patience now.” What kind of exercise would you do? You will say, “Why should I punish myself? What have I done wrong? Is stamping feet that serious?” Imagine that you were a soldier under an officer’s command. Your officer saw you stamp feet and told you, “Take off your boots, take a pail of water, cross the city bare-footed from the one end to the other, and then come back here.” Aren’t you going to do this? Of course, you will. And next time before stamping feet, what would you do? – “Have you ever carried a pail of water bare-footed across the entire town?” This actually happens in social life all the time. This is how people cultivate each other. Why should you wait for a commander to tell you to carry the pail? You should order yourselves.

 

I would advise those who are impatient and stamp feet to say, “Listen, you are going to work in the fields on Tuesday for free.” You should do this. If you keep stamping feet, you should work every day for two hours for free. If you harness what is unreasonable, it will stop stamping feet. If it were possible, it would be a nice idea to make a garden, where those who tend to stamp feet should work. Whoever enters this garden would know that this is a garden where only those who tend to stamp feet work. And then we would call this garden “A garden where patience is studied”. Each impatient person would have a special place in it. We would know what progress patience is making. Everybody would plant different seeds. And when they grew up, we would know whether you have acquired patience or not. If the potatoes grew well, your patience would as well. If the potatoes didn’t grow well, you would have to dig more. There is a certain correspondence in all this, because harmony in man is transferred to the soil and the vegetation. If one works patiently and willingly, plants develop better that those of the impatient gardener, who is eager to get rid of his duties. Therefore, everything in Life is determined by patience and inner disposition of the spirit. The best method of cultivating patience is through work. One has to work hard and reasonably in order to become patient.

 

Now we could test any of you to see how patient you are. Here is a way to test your patience: Let us say that two friends have come to visit you and you are having a nice conversation. There comes a third one who whispers in your ear, “Fetch me some water.” If you are patient, you will tell your friends, “Excuse me, I have something to do. I’ll see to it and come back to join your conversation later.” Under the present conditions you will say, “Couldn’t you find a better timing to make me do this?” A sensible person has to be always polite to relatives and friends. Go and fetch the water as if this were the most natural thing to do. At least such are the methods of the Living Nature. It is indefatigable in cultivating people. If you are presented with a problem, remain cheerful and do your job. Then you can talk again. No other philosophy is of any use to you. You might keep philosophising about being patient applying various methods – that’s nice, but a timely good deed is far more valuable than any philosophical theories. Theories are good to deal with when we have nothing to do; however, when it comes to Life, we need practice in order to become patient. If all of you were patient, there wouldn’t be so much controversy among and within you now.

 

A secret prayer

 

The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

 

 

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