1927_08_24 THE SACRED HOUR

[Ani]

From  The Way of the Disciple, AlphaDar

 

 

THE SACRED HOUR

 

"God reigns in heaven.

 

God reigns in life.

 

May His name be blessed!"

 

Meditation

 

The purpose of every occult science which belongs to the great science of life is to enlighten the human mind and to ennoble the human heart. It aims to bring light into the mind and heat into the heart, as necessary conditions for the right development of people. From this point of view, the mind and the heart must come to help people toward the rectification of their lives.

 

If we want to correct our life, we must begin to study. The past generations have studied, the present generation studies and the future generations will study. From whom? From the world which God has created. The laws, which God has created must be studied, because the personal, the mental and the spiritual life of man is being built upon them. In this process of construction in life different subjects are studied during different periods. Everything in nature is in a successive development. The same thing can also be observed in the world. First, we study the nearest objects with which we are in direct contact. After that, we study those subjects, which are related to our feelings, and lastly, those subjects which are related to our mind.

 

One must begin to study, first of all, the hard soil, which will help him to acquire stability in his character. Anyone who wants to acquire stability, must become a stone-cutter. It would be enough for him to cut stones for two or three months in order to acquire these elements of his character. One can acquire stability not only by cutting stones, but also by ploughing the earth, cultivating gardens, vineyards, etc. He develops his muscles and bones by working.

 

You say: "How can we work? What methods should we apply in studying?" I say: Observe nature, see how it works and learn from it! Use the methods it uses for your development. Notice what happens with the water, which falls from the clouds above. It is apparently pure and falls like drops of dew or rain. But until it reaches the earth, it becomes polluted by the particles of dust in the air. At the same time, it dissolves certain gases in the air and absorbs different microbes. In this state, the water is not pure anymore. Its motion, however, does not stop when it reaches the surface of the earth. It penetrates the earth layers, until it comes to sand-layers, where it becomes filtered. Purified, the water comes to certain layers, where it gathers in one place, then it penetrates the upper layers and springs on the surface in the form of a pure fountain. The layers form different obstacles for the water, but it tries to make its way among them and to take a definite direction.

 

By analogy to this, I say: The thought which comes from God is pure, but until it comes into our brain it passes through spaces where it becomes polluted. Consequently, it must descend into the lower layers to be filtered and to reappear and return to its source as pure as when it first came out of God. Which are these layers that purify the human thought? They are the material world, which encounters a number of obstacles. After it has passed through these obstacles, it comes out in the form of a spring. In this respect, every person is a spring. As soon as he starts to think, he represents already a spring.

 

I say: Everyone of you must, first of all, try to be an excellent disciple. He must consecrate a part of his time each day to study and form in himself the habit of study. The disciple must be marked by his love of knowledge - love of science. He must study and discover what it is to be an occult disciple and what the occult science is in order to have a definite idea about this issue. To be an occult disciple does not mean to store up in your head a certain amount of knowledge on different subjects, because other sciences can also do that. For instance, you can obtain from other sciences knowledge of the sun and its nature, different theories about the creation of the world, etc. Contemporary chemistry, for example, can acquaint you with the elements of which the material world is composed, their chemical properties and their functions in the organic and inorganic kingdoms. It will speak, for instance, about the role of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon in these two kingdoms, but not about the role they play in the psychic world (life of nature). In this respect, we are interested not only in the physical forces of the elements, but also in their psychic forces, since these elements are conductors of the psychic forces found in living nature. Contemporary science helps the occult science by introducing us with living nature. The occult science, however, is a preface to the great science of life.

 

From the occult point of view, when a Teacher examines a certain element, he considers the matter of which it is composed, the purity of that matter, as well as the difference between its own matter and that of the same element in the different organisms. For instance, he finds a difference between gold in the inorganic and in the organic kingdoms. By analogy to this, a certain difference can be pointed out in the brain-matter of different individuals. Therefore, there is a difference among people not only in the matter of which their brains are composed, but also by the quality and quantity of the forces, which function within the bounds of the brain. The occult science determines also the causes, which underline the greater or smaller development of certain virtues in different people. It says: "A good person is one who has a greater number of ties with more advanced and highly evolved creatures." Therefore, the large or limited contact with the evolved creatures and the number of touching points with them, determine the degree of one's goodness. When we come to those superior creatures, who have direct contact with God, we say about them, that they have almost finished their development on earth. They already enter the plan of a higher evolution than that of the earth.

 

No matter how I might describe this superior world to you, it is almost inaccessible for people of today, that's why, at present, we shall limit ourselves only with the examination and study of the earthly life. Observe and see what changes you can find in a young man, who has spent several years in a foreign country where he has been in contact with famous professors. You will find a difference in his outside appearance, in his relations with other people, in the way he thinks, etc. What is the cause for this change? The contact with the learned people. You say: "They are wordly people." Do not think so. These people have attained a great concentration of thought, a full contact with living nature, and they possess a well developed spiritual life. Many of them are occult students and study the occult sciences, but they conceal that from the world. Many of the most famous chemists and physicists study the occult sciences and draw their knowledge directly from living nature. I shall not quote the names of these people, but I say that such people have lived in the far past and they are living today as well.

 

Some people may ask: "Of what use is the occult science to us?" You will find in it a number of ways and methods, as how to have conscious control of your actions under different situations in life, how to arrange your life rationally, and how to solve your difficult problems. For instance, we often say that we must have patience, but in what way can we apply it?

 

We say that we must be kind. But how can we achieve this state? We say that we must do good. Which is the wisest way by which we can do good to people? I will give you an example taken from the physical world. Imagine that you want to take a burning coal out of the fire. In how many ways can you take it out? Either with your fingers, or with the tongs. What will be the results in the two cases? In the first case, when you take the coal with your fingers, you quickly throw it down and feel discontented the whole day that you have burned yourself. In the second case, when you use the tongs, you are free and independent, and you carry it any place you want to, without any trouble. Therefore, if you want to do good to someone, you can use one of the two methods - either use your fingers, or the tongs. You will have two different results. I advise you to do good with the tongs. You want to give money to someone, but what must you do? Find a third person to whom you will give the money. Then you will be free. If you give the money yourself to that person who wants it, you will burn your fingers. That man will come a second time to you and say: "You gave me 1000 leva the other day, give me now another 1000 leva!" People have tried this method, that's why there is a saying: "Do not touch the fire with your hand!" You can touch it with your hand, but the results will not be the same as when you touch it with the tongs.

 

People often mistake the words "studiousness" and "curiosity". In the same way, they mistake their desire to improve their material life with the desire to improve their mental or spiritual life. This is not one and the same thing. To improve one's material conditions does not enter into the plan of the occult School and it does not attain its purpose by that. However, to improve one's mental and spiritual life, to enlighten one's mind and ennoble one's heart, enters into the purpose of this School. To improve your material life means to attain knowledge, which can vanish tomorrow from your brain. What achievement is this? None at all. Many of you are high school and university graduates, but I ask you: Where are all those formulas and theories, which you have studied during the years at school? Almost everything has been forgotten and has disappeared from your mind. You say: "Then why was it necessary for us to study?" The study of that material has fulfiled its purpose. At the time, it has been a necessary exercise for the mind. That's why, one must take care to clean and dust his memory - his library - of the dust which often gathers there. The thoughts represent the laboratory of our memory, where all the volumes of our knowledge are stored. Often these volumes become dusty of ignorance during the ages and they get so displaced in the library, that we do not know where we can find them. The dust is caused by the unnecessary troubles and worries of the mind, due to the present day life.

 

The first problem of the disciple is to learn how to free himself of those worries. Disease for example, is a sort of unnecessary worry. You are ill and suffering, say from inflammation of the eyes, or from a sick stomach, or rheumatism, or disorder of the nervous system - get rid of these diseases! You are poor and have troubles in your life - get rid of these troubles! The disciple must surmount all difficulties and obstacles in his life. He who wants to study, must be neither ill, nor poor. These states are allowed to the ordinary disciples, but the occult disciple must be free of all defects. The occult disciple is not allowed to have any defects - in case he does, he must have the patience and perseverance to cure himself, according to all the rules which the occult science recommends. You do not understand the rules of this science and say: "God will heal us." The world says the same thing. If you leave yourself only God to cure you, it is a physical act and not an inner act of your consciousness. When the Teacher gives you a lesson, which you do not study after class, must you say that the Teacher knows the lesson and he will repeat it for you? No! Once the lesson given by the Teacher, you must learn it and apply it. Every lesson, as well as every occult teaching, have their practical application. If they are not applied in your life, you will come to a state of indifference which will bring discouragement to many who will say: This is also an ordinary science! We have studied so many years, but what have we acquired? You would act in this case, as in all other cases, where you leave your Teacher to give you a lesson and then you do not learn it.

 

I have given to many of you methods and rules how to cure yourselves and how to act in case of emergency. As a disciple, each one of you, must know these rules and apply them. How do you cure a headache, or pains in the hips, etc. It is not enough only to diagnose a certain disease. We have a special way to look at diseases. Diseases are given to people to make them acquire humility. Each disease is a particular problem, which the disciple must know how to deal with. He must look at every illness, given to him, as a special privilege. All diseases are due to certain microbes, small beings, which develop in the human organism. That means, that they find in your organism a sufficient quantity of food corresponding to their development. What must you do in this case? Do not give them the food they need and they will go away. What causes headache? Eating food hard to digest, which leaves certain remains in your stomach. The result is that the regular activity of the stomach is blocked, its canalization is damaged in places, as a result of which headaches occur, while both the stomach and the mouth exhale a bad odour. With certain people this odour can be noticed at a distance of 5-6 meters. There are people, who, after fasting 5-6 days, have an unpleasant breath. When the occult disciple fasts, his breath is pleasant.

 

The occult disciple must work toward the purification of his body. Some people think that they must exhaust and weaken their body in order to purify it. This is a wrong idea. You must make a difference between the physical body and the "flesh". If your flesh weakens, your body must not become weak. What do I understand by weakening of the flesh? The diminishing of one's lower desire, i.e. the control and education of desire. The low desires are not hidden in the physical body, but in the flesh. That is the reason why, if you would educate these desires, you must not torment your stomach. At times, it happens that the stomach demands more food, but the cause for that's the desire for eating, which has a center somewhere around the outer sides of the eyes. The odour of some delicious food stimulates this center, as a result of which is born a desire in man to eat more and after the stomach receives all that food, it is over loaded and digestion is impaired. Therefore the strong desire for eating spoils the stomach. This is one extreme, Tut if the stomach receives less food than it should, is the other extreme. When the occult disciple eats, he must be contented with the food, forget everything else around him and give thanks to God. To know how to eat, is a science in itself, it is an entire musical culture, music itself. The Scripture says: "You will eat and thank God for everything He has given you."

 

A second condition in eating is that the occult disciple must avoid a monotonous diet. Someone for instance, lives a whole month on a potato diet. Is it useful to him? Another lives a whole month on cherries, a third one - on grapes. This is not the correct way of eating. When God created the first man, He told him: "You will eat of all the fruits in this garden, except of one - the fruit of the tree of knowing good and evil." Thus, you also should eat of all the fruits except of the fruit of the forbidden tree. If you eat only potatoes, you must eat all the different sorts: today you will eat white potatoes, tomorrow - red potatoes. After you have eaten of all the different sorts there are, you will begin to eat other kinds of food. If you eat only cherries - taste all the different kinds of cherries. If you eat only grapes, do the same thing. There must be a variety in your diet, because each sort of food contains specific energies, necessary for your organism. Man has a particular sense, which, at all times, dictates him what food to eat. Why? Because in a given case only in that food required by the organism can one find those specific elements necessary either for its growing, for the formations of some lofty thought or of some noble feeling. You will say: "Where can we find this appropriate food?" You see an artist, poor as he might be, he finds paints and brushes. Since they are a necessity for his work, he finds them, no matter where.

 

I ask you: What explanation will you give to the words of Christ in the parable of the house-builder, who had been discharged by his master and of whom the master had required an account of his work? That house-builder had said to himself: "What can I do? I can not dig; I can not beg, for I am ashamed of beggary." At last, he said: "I know what I should do." And so he called one of the debtors of his master and asked him:" How much do you owe to my master?" And he answered him: "A hundred pounds of oil." Write 50! Then he asked the second one: "How much do you owe to my master?" A hundred measures of wheat." And he said to him: "Write 80!" As you see, that house-builder did not gain anything, while the others did. However, he made friends. Further on Christ says: "Make friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." How can you understand this verse? It represents an inner law, which only the occult disciple can understand. He who does not know this law will take it literary and become perplexed. We have an external type of moral, which is necessary for the world, but not for us. We need a deep inner understanding of things, which must take the place of what the external relations in the world represent.

 

I say: As every man in the world knows his interests, in the same way the occult disciple must understand his own interests and the interests of his friends. Every disciple who goes to school, must understand equally well his own state and the state of the others. In case he does not understand people, as well as he knows and understands himself, he will enter into a great conflict with them. Every student who wants to profit by a knowledge in mathematics must, first of all, know the laws and rules, which govern addition, substraction, multiplication and division. Gradually, he will begin to work out complex problems of the higher mathematics. If he does not know the elementary things, he can not work with mathematics or geometry.

 

Therefore, all people represent for us a soul, which we must study. It is a great art to know in different cases with what people to be friends, with whom to share our thoughts and feelings, or work together spiritually, etc. There is a Bulgarian proverb: "One stone does not make a house." It is true that, if you would build a building, you need many stones. The stones are the people, who will take part in the building. You will share with them your thoughts and feelings, your life, but they should not criticize you. They, also, will share their thoughts and feelings with you. You will study a certain problem together and draw your conclusion. Only in this way, you can obtain good results, which will prove that there is an inner understanding among you. After that, you will separate as friends, with a desire to meet again. Suppose that, as occult disciples, sometimes you should form prayer - groups. What is required of you? Your hearts and minds should be opened, so that you would form a strong inner bond with the invisible world and you should all feel happy and contented. At present, you consider prayer as a duty, and not as a result of a Divine inner urge. After some time, you will feel this impulse and prayer will take on a different meaning for you.

 

And now, as occult disciples, you will study, in the first place, nature which surrounds you and its influence on you, namely, the influence of the weather, the air, the winds, the flowers, the fruit trees, the springs, the water, etc. The occult disciple must know what water he must drink. He must drink the best water, because it gives the best conditions for health, which is necessary for the manifestation of right thought. If the disciple thinks right, he will experience beautiful and pleasant feelings.

 

And here is a rule, which I want to give you, as disciples: The occult science forbids all unnecessary talking. You can speak, at times, more than you ordinarily do, but if you speak a lot all the time, you are not doing the right thing. A lot of speaking is a loss of energy. In America, for example, the ministers speak too much, as a result of which they suffer from an exhaustion of the nervous system. Preaching has reached a high degree of development. For instance, a minister holds a long sermon in the church and wants to produce an effect upon his listeners by his eloquence, but it happens that the public remains indifferent to his sermon. He returns home discontented and troubled with the intention not to hold sermons anymore. He opens up his soul before his people, while speaking, but they act as a cold shower on him. These shocks produce a certain kind of organic injuries in the organism of that minister. Probably, no ministers can be found, who do not suffer to some degree of nervous disorders, or of early falling of the hair. This is due to an inner disturbance which they often experience. They enter an unknown region, they do not understand the people they speak to. A minister comes out and speaks to a public, he does not know. He thinks only of one thing - how to speak and how much to say, not being aware of the fact that he will be an object of such criticism, that he has not even dreamt of. Do you know the American people? When they do not like a minister, they frankly say: "That poor fellow is out of his brains!" People often have a desire consciously or unconsciously, to display before the world their most sacred ideas. But that's not right. Christ has said: "Do not throw your pearls before swine." This rule is overlooked by almost all people, but especially here in Bulgaria. This is why we see these swines throwing our pearls at our own heads. What does nature do in such a case? It conceals deep in the earth all her wealth, all her precious things and does not show them to anyone. The religious people, on the other hand, display in the market place all they have. Why? Because it is not their own wealth, they have not obtained it by hard labour.

 

First of all, as disciples of the occult School, you must know how to guard secretly the sacred knowledge you have and not to display it in the market places. You will reveal it only to that soul, which thinks and reasons like you and has the same aspirations as you. Only with such a soul you can share this sacred bread. With all the other people, you can exchange thoughts on general issues. For instance, someone asks you: "What is your idea about God, what do you believe in, etc.?" You are ready to give him immediately an answer. I say: As disciples, you must control yourselves and not hurry up to show immediately your sacred ideas. In the old times, the occult disciples imposed upon themselves a special sort of self-discripline - to restrain themselves from speaking a lot. In this respect, you must also make experiments, not to hurry up to show your knowledge to the world. Knowledge is a fruit, which ripens. Do not give this fruit to anyone before you have tasted it yourself!

 

I shall give you an example which will help you to see the results of the disregard of this law. Some years ago, the question of clairvoyance was very much discussed in Bulgaria. Many people had the gift of clairvoyance, in certain mountain towns, and they had wonderful visions and connections with the invisible world, fill the time when they began to boast before others about their gift. They started to tell their visions to everyone they happened to meet on their way. Those men who heard their stories, told them to others, but with some exaggerations and additions of their own. Thus, these people who had the gift became to some a laughing-stock and their ability of seeing the other world began to disappear, so they had no more visions. Before that, they often used to tell how St. Peter and St. George had appeared to them, but now, they had nothing more to tell about and were sorry for losing their gift. And this was because all saints took their banners and went away, leaving those men alone, wondering whether St. Peter and St. George had really appeared to them, or not. As disciples, you must know that there are things, which can be shared with other people, but there are also certain things, which you must keep for yourselves alone. The latter must represent something like a small capital, out of which only you can profit. Everyone must have something sacred in himself, which he must guard sacredly from the gaze of other people and from their intrusion into it.

 

I said before that sometimes the disciple develops his curiosity instead of his studiousness. For instance, he sees some people talking together and he is interested to know what they are talking about. I say: It is not for you, and if we should tell you, it would be of no use to you, for you will not become better by knowing it. This is actually how it turns out to be. If I tell him about a certain experience of mine, he starts criticizing me within himself, saying: "Did he tell me the truth, or did he just make it up now?" Some time ago, a young man came to me and told me about one of his visions. If I should tell you about it, many of you will be tempted, you will not believe it, because in this vision, there are really many impossible things which the human mind can not accept. One must have a strong faith in order to acknowledge certain things. You must be very careful with regard to your visions and dreams. If you accept them as true without any consideration, you will find yourself in a dangerous position. Do not think that every dream is sensible. Not everything you see or dream, or speak is of God. You must verify those things, in order to know what percentage of all that takes place within or around you is true. Observe and test your dream-life, as well as your real life. Test and see what percentage of the manifestations of your intuition is true. Test yourselves to see how many of your thoughts and feelings have been realized.

 

Make the following experiment: Suppose one of your friends has promised to visit you on Wednesday, at 5 p. m. Before he comes, ask yourself whether he will come or not. If your answer is "yes" wait patiently for the time he has promised to come, in order to verify your intuition. Write down the exact time you have felt that he will come. If he does not come at the stated time, either you have made a mistake, or he has made up his mind not to come. Then, verify from him the time in which he has changed his intention about coming and ask him why. You want to be clairvoyants, do you not? Then make another experiment. Take out your watch and do not look at the time it is showing. Stand still and calm, not in a hurry and try to guess the time. Then look at your watch and see if your guess is correct, or if it has approximately told you the right time, and what is the difference, if there is any. There is a law, on the basis of which you can definitely tell what time it is. If your first experiment is unsuccessful, repeat it and do not be discouraged, but go on until you are successful and develop this sense. Some of our friends do not have a watch, but they have developed such an intuition that they can tell exactly the time, sometimes with a difference of half an hour, but very often with a difference of only five minutes. There are cases when someone's watch has stopped, but he has not noticed it. On being asked what time it is, he answers: "Eight o'clock." The other person has no watch, but he says: "There must be some mistake: according to me, it is about ten o'clock." - Is that so? That's impossible! They look at another watch and it proves to be ten o'clock. Therefore, the watch of the first person has stopped. Where is the mistake? - With the watch, which has stopped and with the man who has not developed his intuition, but believes and relies only on his watch.

 

So, I say: The occult disciple must have a well developed intuition, he must work for its development. Intuition is important and helpful for the disciple. He who has a good intuition, can avoid many misfortunes and troubles in his life. Let us take the simplest case. You want to visit some friend of yours, then ask yourself, whether he is at home or not. If you feel that he is not at home, do not go out. When you meet him, ask him to see if your intuition has been correct.

 

As disciples, you must develop good qualities and abilities. Your mind must be always pure and bright. Each one of you must have a positive faith, founded upon the great Divine laws - Love, Wisdom and Truth. God is working in the world! Since God is working in the world, do you have to feel doubt? I can understand your doubts in an ignorant man, but to have doubts in a great sage, a great man of learning would be unexplainable to me. The mistakes are an exception in the life of the learned, while the exceptions are rules in the life of the ignorant.

 

The occult disciple must have the forces hidden in his soul at his disposal. He must foresee everything which may happen to him, that's why he must always be alert, i. e. his consciousness must be always awake. If the mind of one is sound, his health is also sound. There is no interruption in the thought life of the sound mind. He is not disturbed by anything that happens, because he knows that God is at work everywhere in the world. If a certain suffering, or trial is admitted in his life, it happens by the law of Divine Providence, that's why it conceals something good. By every suffering, God wants to turn your attention towards something important to your life, i.e. He wants to give you the right direction in life. For instance, someone wants to become rich, but since this desire will hinder his evolution, the invisible world watches, that he is placed under such conditions, that would cause him to lose even what he has. When his desire for wealth is not satisfied, he is led into another direction and starts to study music, art or some science. By these pursuits, he approaches already a more superior world.

 

Therefore all troubles, sufferings and trials in the way of the disciple come with the sole purpose to direct him into the world of harmony - the mental world where he can develop normally. Only in this way can the disciple understand the law: "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord, i.e. everything which happens in the life of the disciple works for his good." It is said about the disciple: "The hairs of his head are numbered and not a hair will fall from his head without the will of God."

 

And so, the talks given to you in the occult School must be studied in a special way. Everyone must take out the most important parts of every talk and apply them in his life. Knowledge means nothing, if it is not applied. Study the Bible in the same way. Someone may be impressed by certain passages in the Old or the New Testament, while another may be impressed by certain other passages and draw a lesson from them in the solution of some difficulty, or be injected toward the accomplishment of some good act. You can read the books of famous authors in the same way. If you do not read the talks, the Bible or any other book, in this way, they will appear to you monotonous and you will begin to seek something to amuse or entertain you, but amusement is not science. All of you must work towards the achievement of the concentration of thought.

 

Each one of you, who wants to be a disciple, must choose for himself a sacred hour for work. This sacred hour can be in the morning, afternoon or evening. Pass this hour in deep meditation, in order to deal effectively with all difficulties which you meet on your way. After such an hour spent in meditation, you must feel encouraged, refreshed, with a purified heart, so that you may spend the rest of the day "renewed in strength." On the next day, you will spend again the sacred hour in meditation and as you deal in this way with your difficulties in life, you will find yourselves in the position of an indebted merchant, who suddenly receives several checks and takes them to the bank to draw out the money and pay his debts. Similarly, you will take one by one the burdens off your back. Why? You are given a credit to balance your mental budget. During this sacred hour, you will hold converse with all occult disciples of the School to which you belong. All occult disciples in the world, as well as those in the spiritual world, are interested in your spiritual progress, no matter how small it may be. They are interested in you only because of this very small progress. And whenever you are in a difficult situation, they come to help you.

 

I say: Observe the sacred hour during the whole year and work toward the restoration of harmony in your relations, toward the overcoming of difficulties and toward your elevation. I give to each one of you this problem: find approximately which time of the day is your sacred hour. Next year, you should come with the acquisition to know which is your sacred hour and what time of the day it corresponds to. Some of you may have already found it, but those who have not, can try different times, until they discover the real sacred hour assigned for them. There is a definite hour for each disciple. When you find out this hour, there will appear a lofty thought and a noble feeling in your mind and heart - in general, you will experience a state of inner illumination. If you make room for that thought and feeling in yourself, you will be elevated, but if you oppose them there will be an obscurity in your consciousness and you will have to wait a long time, until you find your sacred hour again. The sacred hour comes periodically every day, at one and the same time. You will separate this hour from the other hours of the day by the fact, that it is more intensive and comes with a more exalted tone.

 

I wish you would study the examples I have given you in the talks, because there is a great law, a great method hidden in each one of these illustrations, by which man can work toward his perfection. Everything else may vanish, brut the examples will not vanish, because they exist in living nature. As the cocks will always crow, so the examples will also exist forever. When the cock crows before his maser's door, the household knows that a guest is coming. When the cock crows early in the morning, people know that he is foretelling a change in the weather. When the cocks crows several times in succession, the Bulgarians believe, that as soon as they crow the third time, all evil spirits go away. I ask you: How do the Bulgarians understand the language of the cock? This shows that the Bulgarians have been at sometime disciples and they know these things. They understand the meaning of the first, second and third crowing of the cock. These beliefs which exist among the people are true. There is also another belief, that when a spider descends perpendicularly from above, a guest is coming. Actually, half an hour has hardly elapsed before the visitor arrives. I ask you: What relation is there between the guest and the descending of the spider? You say: "That's a coincidence." It may be a coincidence, but since the coincidence is true, the occult disciple must go further and try to find the real cause of these phenomena, try to understand where these beliefs have originated from. These things seem strange to us, but they are facts.

 

As disciples, you must study all these things, observe the plants and the animals and draw positive, scientific data about their life and development. Take, for example, the bee. It is distinguished by well-developed sight and smelling. People may smell the odour of the flowers at 5-6 meters distance, at the most, while the bee senses their odour at a distance of 5-6 kilometers. It recognizes at a great distance the flowers, which smell and finds them by that odour. The bee sees well and clearly from a distance. In this respect, it is clairvoyant. When it leaves the hive, it makes a large circle, sees the flowers from a distance and goes towards them. Then it flies up high again, notices its hive and goes towards it in a straight line. If one should move the hive one centimeter to the side, it can not enter right into the hole, but hits itself against the hive. The bee has a well-developed and true sense of measure. I say: If the bee has developed these senses, how much more should the occult disciples develop their more superior senses! When you read about the discoveries of learned geologists and other scientists, do you think how they have received at that data? - Through their intuition. Otherwise they would not be able, by mere suppositions, to arrive at such positive truth. These people have an inner feeling which tells them that certain layers have been thousands of years ago in one position, others - in another position. Then they explain how certain changes have taken place in them, etc.

 

In every occult School, a general interest towards a practical application of knowledge must be formed. The same thing concerns you, the disciples of the School. You should begin to apply this teaching, in order to acquire an effective real amount of money, with which you could work in life. Many of you suffer from diseases. These diseases are problems for you. The ordinary disciples can heal themselves any way they want to, but the occult disciples can heal themselves fey means of the power of prayer and of their mind. Which is better: to pay to a doctor 100-200 leva, and not be sure whether you can be cured or not, or to direct your mind in the right direction and to turn to God? Often sick people come to me and ask me: "Shall we call a doctor?" I say: If you are afraid, call a doctor, but do it like this: when he comes, say to him: "I am sick. Examine my disease and tell me whether I will be healed or not. If you tell me that I will be healed and that really happens without my taking medicines, I will reward you generously. If you say that I shall not be healed, I will not give you anything." If the doctor says that you will be healed, you will enter in contact with him and wherever you go or whatever you do, repeat within yourself the words: "I shall be healed, I shall be healed." Not long after this you will find yourself well again. If you do not say this to the doctor, he will examine you will find that the disease is serious and will advise you to have an operation made. You will be operated, but after that some complications will appear. Operations are allowed for people in the world, but not for the occult disciple. Operations are unnecessary suffering. He who serves God can not be sick. You say: "We serve God, but we suffer from certain diseases." Each one of you who is attacked by a disease, shows that he has violated a certain law of rational nature.

 

During this conference I gave to all of you certain directions which some of you did not observe as a consequence of which they became sick. For instance, I told you to drink water only from the spring because it is exposed to the sun and is warm. When you drink such water you can not catch colds. Others ate cold melons, drank cold lemonades and sodas, but they spoiled their stomach. It is not allowed for the occult disciple to drink beer, lemonade, wine or any other spirits. I recommend only wine as a healing factor in certain extreme cases, for it warms up the stomach. You say: "Can we drink sweet wine?" Yes, you can. When you eat fruit, you must wash and clean it well. Wash grapes particularly well and cut out the rotten parts of pears, apples and other fruit, if there are any. Then wash them in warm water. You do not think about that and say: "My stomach can stand everything." It stands many things sometimes, but other times it protests. Have this as a rule: "Everything you put in your mouth should be absolutely clean!"

 

Cleanliness is a necessary quality for the occult disciple, that's why you should learn to wash your hands at least three times a day: in the morning, at noon and in the evening. If you wash them ten times a day, that's even better. Similarly, you should wash your feet, face and armpits three times a day. There are sweat glands in the armpits and if they are not kept clean by frequent washing, they cause different diseases. After washing your face, hands, feet and armpits, it is good to leave the skin a little damp, because this dampness is adsorbed by the organism. This absorption of the water refreshes and strengthens the organism. Therefore, when you wash yourself, wipe your skin lightly with the towel. I recommend to all, but especially to the clerks, the following way of washing: after you come home at noon, take off your clothes, take the jug of water, which you have brought home in the morning or the day before, and pour the water over your head down to your feet. After that, wipe yourself lightly. Then put on dry, clean clothes. Thus washed and clothed, send a prayer of thanks to God for the water, which he has given you and then sit down to eat your dinner. In this way, you will feel refreshed and go to work with a light heart. Everyone who observes these methods and advices, will be always healthy and happy. If you apply these methods, you will have at least 75% fine results.

 

Now the first thing I require of you as disciples of the occult School is to start with the physical world and gradually advance toward the spiritual. You may wish to enter at once into the spiritual world, but you must know that health and strength are required for that world. The spiritual world represents a mountain peak, which you must climb. I ask you: How can you climb up there, if you are not healthy and have not strenght? When you mount a horse or a carriage or a train no strenght is required of you.

 

I say: These rules which I give you are to be guarded sacredly by each one for himself. Apply them, see the results and then recommend them to other people. If you recommend them to others before you have tested them yourself, they will lose their effect and power. If you meet some person, who is a disciple of the School but you don't know it, and who is interested in these methods, give them to him. Everyone who is sincerely interested in them and applies them will obtain good results.

 

As disciples of this School, you have much theoretical knowledge, but you must apply it in your daily life. By applying it, you will form in yourselves good habits necessary for the maintanance of a bright and happy spirit. The occult disciple must manifest faith, patience and temperance, even in the greatest trials. No matter what difficulty he may face, he must say: "This work will turn out well. I will study and investigate this problem, even though it may require many years." This is what it means to be a strong disciple. The spirit of the strong disciple never fails. He does not put off the question for the distant future, but he works and studies every question, because he knows that the future is now, today. If you study, if you work, you will be good disciples, both today and in the future. Living nature is always in the service of the good disciple. Be zealous in learning and pass this zeal to others!

 

Some of you ask: "What distinguishes the occult disciple from the ordinary person?" The difference is that the occult disciple overcomes all difficulties in life. The Truth is his ideal, Wisdom - his purpose, Love - realization and fulfilment.

 

"Only the Love of God brings fulness of life."