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THE NEW FOUNDATION (May 10, 1915, in Sofia.)


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THE NEW FOUNDATION


 


For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.2


I am the way, the truth and the life?3


 


There is a certain relation between these two verses.


 


What must we understand by the words, "For other foundation can no man lay"? I shall consider this verse in its broad sense. Foundation is a prosaic word: Who does not speak about one foundation or another? You start building a house and say, "I am laying the foundation." When you set the warp for weaving, you say, "I am setting the warp in the loom." In geometry, by the word foundation we understand the point of support of something. Therefore, such a foundation, or point of support, is necessary for the existence of life as well. What does this foundation really consist of? It is said that no man can lay other foundation, or we cannot change human thoughts, human desires and human acts. That is we cannot change them essentially. You cannot change the nature of thought, so that it will not be thought anymore; you can make it good, bad, or neutral, but no more than this. Therefore, you can change its external form, but never its essence.


 


Now I am speaking about a fundamental Law, namely that "No man can change the foundation which Christ has laid." This foundation is that we are under the power of a great Law, under the influence of good and evil. We stand upon a foundation, which at one and the same time causes joy and suffering, rising and falling, enrichment and impoverishment, health and illness. This is the foundation that Christ has laid.


 


For this reason He came to earth—to set these two points of support as a foundation of life. This is a principle. When you are building a bridge over a river, you can build it only on two points of support at both ends, but the weight will fall mainly on one of the two points of support. In this sense, heaven and earth are the two points of support on which human life is built. The deepest thoughts to which we penetrate comprise the first base, the first point of support in life; the desires are the second base, the second point of support, while actions, which we call an expression of the will, are the process of building. When someone speaks of the human will, we understand that two points of support are necessary for its expression. As soon as we start building on them, our will power shall be expressed. Therefore, according to this principle, the human will can be manifested only provided there are two points of support. Where building takes place, there is will power.


 


Therefore, you must understand well the deep meaning of Christ's Teaching. It is not sufficient for people only to think they understand it, when they do not. Once I was told an anecdote about a young woman in Sofia, who studied everything but cooking. When she married, she wanted to cook her husband beans, but did not know how. She went to ask a neighbor how to cook it, but did not tell her that she could not cook. The neighbor said, "First, I boil the beans, then I fry some chopped onions in butter." "That is just as we cook it," said the young woman. After a week again she asked her neighbor how she cooks meat. And the neighbor told her. "That is just as we cook it," said the young woman. One day the neighbor woman wanted to test her and see if she knew how to cook, so she played a joke on her. The husband of the inexperienced woman brought home some snails for her to cook. She went again to ask her neighbor how to cook the snails. "Pound up the whole snails in the mortar, put rice and water and boil them." "We cook them the same way," said the young woman. She went home and cooked the snails just as her neighbor told her. When her husband came home for dinner and when he saw how his wife had cooked up the snails, he found out how well she could cook.


 


There are similarly cooked snails in contemporary religious beliefs as well. No, the world has no need of such snails. A fundamental understanding of things is necessary. What is human thought? Thought is one of the basic great Laws which create. First of all, we are all thinking beings; secondly, beings who feel; and thirdly—beings who act and build. I say that you cannot lay any other foundation than this, you cannot act any other way; if you do, you may degrade yourself. You can go only in two directions—upward and downward—there is no middle path in this world. Since everything is moving, you cannot stand on only one point of support. The two points of support give stability to the bodies, while everything around them is in motion.


 


Now, in order for you to see what your illusions in life are, I shall use an example from contemporary science. If we pass an electric current through a pile of iron filings, the filing nearest to the electric current will be magnetized first and will attract the other filings. This filing turns to the others with the words, "Do you see how I attracted you with my own power? If I were not here, you would not be around me either." But if we change the place of the current, another filing will be magnetized first and become a center around which all the other filings will gather. Therefore, when you say, "I can do everything, or people gather around me because I am influential," it means that the current is near you. The moment this current changes direction, you will move towards the periphery. Thus, you should know that the foundation is not within you, nor in what you think or feel at a given moment. In order to know whether you have reached the foundation, at the moment of finding your points of support, you must feel a deep peace within you. Many philosophers teach the whole world, but they themselves have not found their points of support—they are not calm, possessing inner peace.


 


When Christ said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," he pointed out the two points of support. Life is a process, springing from the spiritual path and the Truth. We cannot build without this foundation. I ask you what aspiration is. The aspiration of a spirit in space is to be reincarnated, to grow. In growing, the child starts from one point, reaches a certain height from which it starts to descend forming a curved line that ends at the other point of support. Youth and old age are the two points of support of human life. When you pass the path from childhood to old age, you will find the two points of support in your life. After that when you return a second time, you will build upon these points, if you have not forgotten them; but if you have, you will start from the beginning. There are people who only traverse and never build. A curved line must be placed on the two points of support. This is a Law of motion. This motion is expressed by the human thought. What does human thought consist in? Human thought is a Law of laying, or piling material on the two bases of life. We must build according to a certain plan.


 


Let us come now to the building of the human body. When a child is conceived in its mother's womb, first, the limbs and extremities of the body are formed and then the other organs. The lungs are the last to be formed. As soon as the respiratory system is formed, the child must be born at once. The hands are the product of the human will; the nose, the mouth, the lungs, the stomach—those are the human desires. By these organs we test things. The brain is the organ of human thought. By the brain we test thought. On the thickness and quality of the grey matter in the brain depends the productivity of the human thought. The greater the convolutions in the grey matter, the stronger the thought. Some say that the brain itself produces thought, but this is not right. The human brain is similar to the Earth, which does not bear anything of itself. The creative power of the Earth comes from space, from the impact of the Sun on its surface. Because the Earth has a base, it is on this base that the Sun builds, produces and creates. The human spirit is the human sun which, by shining on the brain, engenders thoughts. Every being thinks. You assume the ox does not think. The ox also thinks, but in an oxen way, in a limited way; the snake, the lizard, the fly: every creature thinks, but according to its thought it, creates its house—or its body, its organism—in order to live. Our present organism is the fruit of our thought. Humans build according to their thought. They can expand their lungs as much as they want by their thought. If the human spirit makes efforts, it can make the human head very large, but it is not sufficient for the head only to be large, the important thing is whether a person will be able to cultivate it.


 


The Earth is large, too, but when God sent human beings to earth, he told them, "Go and conquer the Earth, conquer all elements!" And since they could not conquer the Earth, God gave them a small earth inside their head—their brain. If you know how to conquer your brain, you will find out the Laws by which you will conquer the Earth. If you cannot control your brain centers and your feelings; if you cannot focus your will power in the right direction, how will you control things outside of you? Thus, we cannot lay any other foundation except Christ's. There is a certain Law which limits our activity; only in a definite direction within this Law can we do everything and be all-powerful. And our happiness will rest on this great thought—to what extent we are going in the right direction on the spiritual path.


 


By this talk I want to inspire you with the idea of starting to build your life. I shall use an example to clarify my thought. An explorer who went to explore the East came across a wild bull that started chasing him. The man jumped into a dry well on his way and got hold of a branch of a small tree, growing in the well. The bull came to the well and looked at the man inside. At the same time the man saw a snake waiting for him in the bottom of the well. He started wondering what to do—he could not go up because of the bull, he could not go down either, so he kept holding to the branch with all his strength. At one time he noticed that there was some honey on the tree and forgetting about the bull he started calmly to lick the honey and enjoy it. But soon he saw a mouse that, coming out of a side hole, started to gnaw the tree. Then the traveler said, "This honey will not save me either. Some day the tree will be gnawed and I shall fall into the well where the snake is." I say, the bull is fate, which tosses a person up and down, and the snake is death, which is lying in wait for them. Actually, the bull is birth, youth. The snake is death, old age. They are not dangerous things. Why is the bull chasing you? To make you work. You are indolent and he wants to make you run.


 


What are the sufferings in the world? They are the bull, chasing people—kings, generals, ministers, judges—all are running and preaching freedom. All these people are eminent philosophers. They reason that the world is badly made, but they themselves have no foundation. How can they reason, when they have no foundation? Can a person argue, when they are running? It is not bad that the bull is chasing you. He is chasing you to make you strong. If you are strong, you can turn around, catch him by the horns and he will stop. In Hebrew history there is a hero—Samson—who was attacked by a lion, but who took hold of the lion's mouth and tore it apart. The fear of the bull is due to the fact that you have not found the two points of support in your life.


 


"No man can lay other foundation than that which Christ laid." What foundation did Christ lay? How did he live on the Earth? In the nine categories of blessed people, Christ has given nine rules by which a person must live. He has also given two great Laws: Love of God and Love of one's fellow brother. These are the nine points of support on which you must build your life. Contemporary social and family life must also be build upon them. A woman who does not love God and her husband cannot keep a household going. A man who does not love his fellow brother—his wife—cannot keep a household going. Naturally, when I am speaking about a man and a woman, I do not mean your houses, i.e. your bodies, because I see they are quite modest. I mean the human soul in its supreme manifestation. In the future this soul will be able to build for itself a much better house than the present one. This soul that appears ignorant today will have much greater knowledge some day and will be much more enlightened.


 


Now, in order to find the two points of support on which you must build your life, you must effect the curved line and start building. Do not grope about like contemporary philosophers. Some scientists that are examining the Sun say that its heat is about five million degrees of heat; others say that it is two million while still others consider it 100,000 degrees. A scientist had the courage to say that it is only 32 degrees of heat; another—that it is below zero; and some say that the Sun is in the liquid state that is why it sends out heat. However, today there are new scientists who object to these affirmations and say, "If all this is true, then the whole space must be warm, but it is a fact that the higher we go, the colder it becomes." That is why these scientists say that the Sun sends only energy, which is transformed on earth into heat and light. Actually, when you go very high, you will see that the sky is dark and cold. The scientists argue among themselves, but the facts show that both sides are right—yet for both sides there is something misunderstood. I say, if you are very sensitive to heat, the Sun has heat; if you are not—the Sun has no heat for you. Heat is something relative. Some people put five lumps of sugar in their tea, others put only one and still their tea is sweet for them. That is why you must free yourself from the illusion of thinking that you know everything. See that you are not like that young wife who thought she knew how to cook snails and pounded them up. No, this is not the way to cook. Europe is cooking the snails in the same way now4, but the European nations will cook them a different way next time.


 


Now, let us go back to the essential thought of this talk. We must create! Some of you who are listening to me this morning are unhappy; others are dissatisfied with life; still others have big ambitions and a high opinion of themselves. Some days ago one of our friends told me that before starting to study palmistry he had a high opinion of himself, but after examining the lines on his hand, he discovered that he was proud and vain and began to be ashamed of himself. You also think you know much, but when you enter life you do not know how to deal with things. A young girl before marrying dreams, "When I get married this is how I will furnish my house; this is how I shall dress and live with my husband"—she makes a plan the same way projects for Law bills are made. After the second month of marriage you will see her and her husband disheveled. Thus, the Law bill was not passed and enacted as planned. In the same way the Laws adopted by the Parliament often remain unapplied because they were not suited to our conditions of life. And when one of your thoughts is not put into action, you say, "We are unhappy, fate is against us!" No fate whatsoever is against you, it is your foolishness which is against you in all you do. We must learn to think right. When someone comes to you, you should form a right opinion of them and act in a given case as you would wish others to deal with you. We must act well, because whatever we do the same will be done to us.


 


About 45 years ago a man from Varna graduated in Europe in music. On returning, he became a teacher and started teaching the children of some rich people in Varna how to play music and how to dance. However, one day he quarreled with some city men and was dismissed. He was an extremely proud and touchy man and after spending his money, he had to go hungry. A priest who knew him met him once and invited him to dinner. After hearing the sad story of the man, the priest gave him two gold coins saying, "Take this now and when you are in need, come to me again. I am ready to help you until you find a job." A month or two after that the man was employed as a secretary to the Turkish vali5 at the time because he knew Turkish. After a year the priest was accused of being a revolutionary and some illegal letters and books were found in his house. These letters were given to the secretary of the vali to examine them. He looked them over and separated the suspicious letters from the others, so that the priest was acquitted much to his amazement. He asked the secretary how that happened and the latter said to him, "The two gold coins you gave me when I was hungry for three days saved your head." If this young man had known how to behave with the students, the citizens would not have dismissed him from the school. If the priest had not given him dinner when he strolled the streets hungry and had not helped him with the two gold coins, the young man, being the secretary of the vali, would have put the rope around his neck. In the same way you should deal correctly with every thought, every feeling and act in your life and ask for the causes of your unhappiness. If you are unhappy, proud or cruel what are the causes for your pride, cruelty and greed for gold and riches?


 


Therefore, you should think right! You are cruel—that is not your own trait, but a false capital left over by your ancestors. To clarify my thought, I shall give you an example. Some years ago an Armenian visited a Jewish man carrying a whole bag of sample diamonds. He wanted to sell them to the Jew very cheaply—for only 20,000 levs,6 because he had managed not to pay any duty on them. The Jewish man was very happy and both agreed on the day and place where the Armenian would bring the diamonds and receive the 20,000 levs. The Jewish man took the bag satisfied to be the owner of such a great wealth. Reaching his house he immediately opened the bag and what did he see? Only one diamond was real, but the rest were glass pieces. You, too, may be carrying this bag thinking you are rich but when you open it you see that it is full with ordinary glass pieces. According to the Law of heredity your ancestors leave you some wealth, but only a part of it is real virtue, and the rest of it is glass—evil in a person.


 


Therefore, we have a false conception of life. We think we are good when we are not, or we think we have capital, but have none in reality. This means we have a false foundation for life. The Apostle Paul, addressing the Christians of his time, said, "No man can lay another foundation than that which Christ has laid." But Christ says, "I have not come to do my will, but the will of God"—the first point of support. And, actually, Christ came to give us life. He preached and realized the Love for our fellow person, because Christianity is Love for our fellows, it is the science of Love. Those who learn this science can build. This science does not consist of sweet words, gentle kisses and presents—I doubt that when a person starts making gifts to someone they wish him or her well. A fly once stopped near a spider and he began to praise her, "How beautiful you are! What nice eyes you have! And your wings! How colorful they are! I have never seen such a beauty!" "Is all this really true?" asked the fly. "Yes, there are no more beautiful creatures than you. I have a mirror—come closer, I shall give it as a gift to you so that you can see yourself." The fly went to him and began to look herself in the mirror, but she never came out.


 


So when someone tells you that you are very beautiful, that he will do this and that for you, do not believe it for if you enter his place, you will never go out again. This is what gifts and promises mean. I am not telling you not to give or receive gifts, but the mouth, the thought and the heart must participate in making the gift; the human wisdom, knowledge and Love must be deposited in the gift. Many men and women have been ruined by gifts. The woman may receive a watch, a ring or a hat, but she looses once and for all her virginity and purity- she is already dishonored. Many have been in high places of power, but have come down dishonored, stained and have lost their purity. Society praises them, "This is a famous man!" Yes, he is famous but once he was a diamond and now he is a mere piece of ordinary glass. Thus, we can lay no other foundation than that of Christ. If we can fulfill our duties in the world as the great Laws require according to which we move and develop, it is good, but if we can not, it is better not to fulfill them. Do not take a position of power to rule the people when you will be dishonored and when you will sell yourself. Do everything selflessly as Christ has said. Someone says, "I cannot be selfless." How is that possible? You can gossip about people, you can hate them, but those who can praise can love also—as the one is possible, so is the other. Those who cannot hate cannot love either. The Law is the same. If you have only one point of support, find the other. And when hate and love unite, they will give you what is necessary for you. They will give you the right direction in life.


 


I do not recommend you to be saints in the ordinary sense of the word. To be a real saint implies the knowledge of the two principles of life in such a way as to be able to use them for your uplifting. As you can tame a lion or a snake, in the same way you can tame the devil. You cannot make the devil good, but you can at least render him harmless. Begin with your thoughts. A thought which tortures you is a lion or a snake. Do not try to chase them away or kill them, but tame and conquer them. Have the courage of those black people in Africa who know the lion psychology and when they meet a lion on their way, they do not turn aside, because the least turning aside or back will cause the lion to jump at them and to rend them asunder. On the contrary, the black people walk straight towards the lion and start speaking to him, "Since I am the master here and you the servant, you should step aside so that I can pass." When the lion comes three or four steps away from the person, it steps aside and lets them pass.


 


You must do the same. When you meet a lion on your path, do not turn back, to the left or to the right, but look it straight into the eyes and say, "Make way for me to pass! You know I am the master, you are the servant." You ask, "Is this possible?" Those who are skillful can do it, but the cowardly will fall victims to the lion. When a house is collapsing, even if we try to run away, we may be covered up. If someday the Earth starts collapsing and we are people of faith, we shall rise and lift ourselves skyward—to the other point of support, or the other end of the bridge. If there is any danger at the one end, we shall go to the other to withstand our position. Therefore, as long as you have this bridge, the enemy will never be able to harm you, since you will be strong enough to raise the bridge. And then there will be a chasm between you and your enemy which they will not be able to cross. Your enemy must know the Laws very well to attack you at that position. That is why the good people can never be conquered. They have two points of support and as soon as they find themselves in great danger at one point, they pass over to the other and from there they defend their position.


 


This is the foundation we must lay. The two words Jesus Christ signify the two points of support. Jesus is the suffering person on earth, i.e. the human soul that suffers, working out its salvation. Christ is the person who has conquered, who is serving God and is ready for self-sacrifice. Therefore, you too should be Jesus and Christ. Those who suffer and bear their sufferings as heroes can be Jesus. If you put a cross on Him, He will bear it without grumbling. He will be like Socrates, who married the worst woman in Greece and, asked why he married such a woman, he would answer, "If I can conquer this woman, if I can cope with her, all other hardships will mean nothing for me." Therefore, if men and women can come to terms, they will have solved one of the greatest problems in life. If they cannot come to terms, they cannot solve any other problem. Some ask why people marry. They marry in order to come to terms. The man and the woman are the two points of support on which life is built. You say, "Why did Adam need a woman to cause him trouble?" It is not right—God did not give a woman to Adam for trouble, but for work. Eve had initiative and mind. She was a sensitive woman, more sensitive than many women who consider themselves wise. Contemporary knowledge and culture are due to her. She committed a sin, but later on she realized it and said to Adam, "I brought you down, but I shall raise you up. Now I shall save you. You had to go down to learn your lesson, for you had not enough sensibility; if you were wise, you would not have asked God to bring me to earth."


 


I say, if women understood this Law as their old mother did, they would have been wiser. However, they do not understand it; that is why they only grumble. Women of today are bad daughters; their mother was wiser than they are. For eight thousand years she has been working in the world and at that—quite skillfully. Do not think that Eve is not working. This present civilization is due to her. Adam only fulfills her commands. He knows how to fight, how to take out the knife and when he returns to his wife, she asks him, "Did you finish your work well?" "Yes, I finished it." It is here that we must lay the foundation. Give up your illusions that when you go up to heaven you will be taught. In order to be taught in heaven, you should take along some light and soft material; but what are you carrying now in yourselves? I would rent a train to take you to heaven, but how many days could you stay there? Some of you would hardly have money for one or two days; others will spend their money in ten days and say, "Let us return to earth to earn more money." Therefore, when we understand wherein the sense of Christian life lies, we must lay a new foundation. I shall not speak to you about salvation, as others have talked to you until this day. These are elementary things.


 


A sensible, constructive work on the present social order is what is required today. You should ask yourselves, "How should we bring up our young generation, what kind of people should be our judges, teachers, priests, fathers, mothers, sisters, friends, merchants, mechanics and so on?" Some say that time creates the new people. Yes, but time does not ask us what we want it to create for us. As the serpent appeared to Eve asking her why does she not eat the fruit of the tree of knowing good and evil, in the same way Christ will appear before her and ask her, "Why have you not eaten of the fruit of the tree of life for so many thousands of years?" "Because we are forbidden to eat of it," Eve would answer. "Why is it forbidden to you?" Eve would wish at first to lie to Him, but then she would decide to speak the Truth, "We sinned; that is why we cannot eat of the tree of life." Christ will answer her, "As soon as you correct your sin and cast it out of you, you will be allowed to eat of the tree of life. You experienced the infection when you ate of the fruit of knowing good and evil; now the same way you will taste the fruit of the tree of life, and you will acquire a different science, a different social order diametrically opposite to the present order." These things may seem allegorical to you, but they are actual. These trees are in our brain: the tree of knowing good and evil is at the back of the head, the other one—the tree of life—is in the front part of the head. The Russians say, "Руский человек живёт задным умом."7 Now the Russians are beginning to live with the fore part of their brain. They gave up drunkenness. No one in Russia thought that those people who like to drink can live temperately. Drunkenness was abolished by a Royal decree. Therefore, the same Law which created evil until now will create good from now on.


 


Christ is asking us, "Are you ready to think right and not to live with your posterior brain? Are you ready to start building as I shall tell you?" You answer as today's neutral nations, "What guarantee will you give us that we shall succeed?" Everybody wants a guarantee—Italy, Serbia, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. They all say, "We cannot abandon neutrality without a guarantee." The same way you say to Christ, "We ate of the tree of knowing good and evil and saw all the evil that assailed us, let us think a little now, lest the same evil will come to us, if we taste of the tree of life." Grandpa Radoslavov8 says, "We keep neutrality." But only with neutrality the work cannot be done. Neutrality is one point of support. Now we must find the other point of support and start weaving. In the Christian life also we can be neutral to a certain point after which we must start fighting. You have a bad thought—that is war; you are born and die—that is war; you get rich and then impoverished—that is war. From one end to the other, life is nothing but war and fighting, but this Law must be based on the principle of gain, not loss. The Triple Entente gave guarantees to Italy, but are they in a state to fulfill their promises to an end? How can we know that in time they will not give up their promises?


 


Once, while a wolf was eating a sheep, a bone got stuck in his throat. He started to howl and a stork came to his aid and took the bone out of his throat. After that the stork wanted the wolf to remunerate him for his service. "You must be thankful," said the wolf, "that I did not bite your throat." This is what a guarantee means. Now we, who are building by the same Law, are solving the great problem in life. Not only is Bulgaria lacking a resolution to fight or not, but we are also making a decision together with the invisible world. Christ is placing an important problem for all of us to solve, "With or against us?" And we must decide now, "With or against Christ?" There is no neutrality. A great competition is on in the world. All people are fighting and everyone must take this or that side, so that the great problem may be solved. What is going on in the world is taking place within us as well.


 


Now I wish to save you from the illusion of thinking that you can gain something without suffering. Know that the gain is always conditioned by the loss and joy is always conditioned by suffering. If a mother does not love her beauty, she will never have children. If the young maiden does not love her virginity, she would never become a mother. Such is the great Law in Nature. You must know how to digest and cultivate your thoughts. Let's assume a bad thought comes to your mind to do a crime or steal something. In order to get rid of this thought, your mind must take another direction. Turn your gaze to the soul of the person you want to rob, begin to love them and say to yourself, "If I were in their place, would I like to be robbed?" Anytime a bad thought of doing evil to someone comes into your head, think at once, "If I were in the place of that person, would I like people to act with me the same way?"


 


You, women and men, how do you solve these questions? Sometimes you are angry with your husband, bad thoughts obsess you and you say, "Away with these men! I shall find another with whom I shall live better." Sometimes a man says, "I want this woman out of my sight! I shall find a better one." But I say that whatever woman you find, she is a woman made of the same stuff. This is why neither women, nor men should be deceived by the external aspect of things, by their forms. When a man or a woman gets angry, let them ask themselves, "If I were in the place of my wife, how would I like my husband to treat me?" And whatever answer they receive, let them solve the question thus. If a woman says that her husband is bad and she cannot tolerate him, she is not a woman, she does not think right. There are cases in life when a son and a daughter want to kill their father for being bad. How do they know that he is bad? What is badness? He who is bad today may become good on the very next day. Today a woman may hate her husband, but in a day or two she says she loves him. How is that, can you love a man who is not good? You cannot. Therefore, there is a fictitious appearance of things which obstructs people to think right.


 


Thus, Christ's foundation must be applied in life! This is not a difficult thing. Whenever a thought comes to you to do something bad, say to yourself, "I am a servant, or a son of God, Who has sent me to earth, and this moment my Father is watching me." If you say this, your thought will be changed immediately. Your Father cannot praise you for your bad thoughts and feelings. What will a father say when he sees his daughter torturing her husband? A story has it that there are three kinds of women and three kinds of men in this world. I shall speak only about the women for as the women are, so are the men. According to this story Noah had three sons and only one daughter. One day three candidates came for Noah's daughter, who was very beautiful. All three loved her greatly, but none wanted to leave her to the others. Noah found himself in difficult position. In order to satisfy all three he turned his donkey and his cat into beautiful women like his daughter and married them to the three candidates. After a year he went to visit them and see how they were getting along. He asked a son- in-Law, "How do you like my daughter?" "She is nice, but at times she scratches me." "Well" Noah replied, "Such is her nature." He went to his second son-in-Law and asked him, "How do you like my daughter?" "She is nice, but sometimes she kicks me." "Such is her nature." He went to his third son- in-Law and asked him, "How do you like my daughter?" "She is an angel." Noah thought, "This is my real daughter." Therefore, to be a real daughter of God, you should neither kick nor bite.


 


Hence, the basic Teaching of Christ lies in this: neither bite nor kick, but meditate like a human being and fulfill your duties on the Earth. Wherever you go, bestow joy and gladness on people; whenever you meet a sad person, comfort them and illuminate their mind. Knowledge is necessary for this, however. To study your heads and hands is real science. As soon as you begin to study them, you will form a correct idea about yourself, about your development; you will see how several generations have lived before you; on what level of development you are and after that you will be able to work in the right way. The hand never lies. By only touching a person you can get a right impression of them; by shaking hands you can find out what their heart, character and disposition are. They call some foolish. These people are foolish because on their hand they do not have many ganglions of receiving sensations and impressions. It is has been noticed that on the hands of the foolish, of the bad people there are fewer knots of this kind. Why? Because they say that they have no need of this or that, and they think only of eating and drinking.


 


People need real culture, the culture in which the foundation is the ideas Christ has introduced: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." "Love of God and Love of one's fellows." If you can apply these two Laws—Love of God and Love of one's fellow person—as a foundation of your life, there will be no force in life which could oppose you, neither any thought which would not submit to you and would not serve your ideal. The Law of Love stands behind you. If you apply it, you will love people. If you are not directed by this Law; the other Law—Love to your fellow person—will lead you the wrong way. Only the Divine Law can regulate and ennoble human love, because we can destroy a person we love out of our great love of that person. How? By sucking up the saps of their emotions and stealing their heart. This is not Love, it is parasitism. The octopus does the same thing—when it catches its victim, out of love it sucks its blood with its suckers, and the victim goes weak and tame. Many men tame their wives in the same way. To take your wife's strength and then say that your wife has become tamer, more sensible, is neither science, nor taming. Today you will destroy a woman, but tomorrow a woman will destroy you. Christ says, "I came to give life to people, not to take it from them." Can you give life to your husband, i.e. make him think for himself? You can make your husband the kind you want him to be, but you must not put him between the hammer and the anvil. Rather, put him between these two forces, or these two great Laws, which will heat him up and change him.


 


Human beauty depends on this heating up. The farther away you are from the center of these two Laws, the uglier you will be. Iron is black, but when you heat it up, it turns red; it passes through the red rays. After that it grows yellow and finally it turns bright. You say, "Iron becomes beautiful." Yes, while it is near the fire, it is beautiful. If you draw it away from the heat of the fire, it becomes ugly again. Therefore, you can be beautiful, wise, and bright to the extent that these two Laws are working on you. This is not only a hypothesis, but a verified and proved theory. If your posterior and front parts of the brain work in accord and have one point of support, you will immediately acquire what you want. You will have good children as well as good and loyal friends. For this purpose you must work consciously on yourself, applying the two Laws Christ preached—Love of God and Love of your fellow person. Someone says, "I cannot apply these Laws." When it concerns something good, the word cannot must be erased in you and be substituted by the word can. When it is a question of sin, you must say, "I cannot sin." If a good thought comes to your mind, say "I can;" to any bad thought that comes to you say "I cannot." Just as a woman weaves her cloth by moving the shuttle from one hand to the other and back again, in the same way she must weave her thoughts, feelings, desires, her character by moving to the negative pole when a bad thought comes to her and then to the positive pole, when a good thought occurs. As soon as she has woven, i.e. completed her character building, Christ will send a master tailor to cut out a suit for her in which everything will be in its place. And then everybody will love her. This concerns the man as well.


 


This is the new foundation which Christ wants to lay in the world—that we may know how to work. Do not doubt in God! Some ask, "Is there a God?" Leave this thought aside. The only proof of the existence of God is the following: I exist, therefore God also exists. There is no stronger proof than this. I think, therefore God also thinks. My thought implies God's thought, my action implies God's action. Those who think otherwise, have no logic. They do no understand the fundamental rules of logic. I love means God Loves. God is a perfect great Being Who moves and directs all people on their spiritual path. When some begin to doubt in God, they already have doubted in themselves and in their fellows. Do not think we shall disturb God by this. God is glad when we do not obey Him. Why? Because our work increases. When the devil sinned, God put him to burn on a fire until he avows and comes to understand Who is his master. The same holds true for those who philosophize too much. God says about such people, "Bring this person to me and put them on the fire!" As soon as they get heated up, God asks them, "What forces are working on you?" "I am suffering." "Think of the causes of your suffering." "But this is hell!" "Why is it hell, what are the causes of your suffering?" I say: hell is a place where God teaches people to reason.


 


Some ask, "Where is hell?" Hell is on the Earth, which is considered the thirteenth sphere. God will put us on this fire and if we are good, we shall come out of it without burning out, as it happened with the three men in the fiery furnace. They walked, sang and praised God in the flames. Some tremble at the thought of hell. But hell is not a bad place. Whether something is good or bad is a relative fact. If God is with you, there are no hardships in life, there are no bad places—it is good everywhere. If God is not with you, if you do not understand His Laws, it is bad everywhere. Thus, you are the first point of support; the second point of support is Christ. Unite with Christ as a man unites with his wife, as a brother with his sister, because power is in unity. In unity there is work, building, thoughts, feelings, aspirations and culture.


 


This is the thought I leave with you, "No man can lay another foundation." The foundation is in this that the life you are passing now is the best God has given you. By no means can a better life than the present be given to us. It is excellent, full of such benefits out of which we can do wonders. You even do not suspect what great riches are stored in your life. You do not even suspect what forces it bears for your future, for your achievements. While in the mother's womb, the child is microscopic, but in the ninth month, it becomes an independent organism. Then the mother bears it and gives it conditions for development and growth. After twenty years it becomes a man or a woman and begins to think. By the same Law, humans are microscopic beings compared to God. But one day when they are developed and born again, by rising they will understand the great things in life. But in order to rise they must change their head, their minds, their hearts, their character and come to feel the great harmony in life. Only in this way people will join the ranks of the angels and come close to God. This is the new foundation of human beings.


 


Sermon held on May 10, 1915, in Sofia.


 


_____________________________________


2. I Cor. 5:11.


3. John 14:6.


4. A reference to WWI (ed. note).


5. (hist) District governor in the Ottoman Empire (ed. note).


6. Bulgarian monetary unit (ed. note).


7. Russian, "The Russians live with their posterior (hind) brain." (tr. note)


8. Dr Vassil Radoslavov, a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1913 through 1918 (ed. note).

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