1942_08_19 - The Secret Chamber

[Nev]

  The Secret Chamber

Reflection

 

What is the difference between the healthy and the sick, between the wise and the foolish, between the strong and the weak? There is something that distinguishes them. 

What is the distinguishing quality of a capable and gifted student? He studies well and never repeats a grade. It is not enough for a student to progress from one grade to another and, upon finishing school, to forget everything.

What kind of student is he who acquires knowledge throughout the year and forgets it during the vacation? What kind of student is he who has forgotten the knowledge and experiences he acquired in his past existences? It is as if a person carries in his mind the thought that he once was well educated or rich.

Thought alone does not feed a person. His striving towards getting rich has a definite place in the brain, above the temples. The more a person strives towards getting rich, the more this center develops. 

Often people get cancer because of their great greed for money and wealth. The cells in their limbs become individualized, grow, become independent, and do not listen to their master. When they get sick, they turn to doctors for help. The doctors perform surgeries, cut out the cancer, remove the tumor, but after that the patient still departs to the other world. Why? The cells do not want to obey their master.

A man needs several essential things: eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and feet, through which he enters into communication with the external world. In order to achieve this, he must be in a special state. Otherwise, he will look, listen, smell, speak, eat, and move, but mechanically. It is time already to free oneself from mechanical life. Mechanical life implies movement by inertia, in which consciousness does not participate. Anger and anxiety over losing something valuable create in a man a state of inertia, and once he succumbs to this state, it is difficult to return to his original position. Having lost something valuable, a man loses his self-control and surrenders to worry and anxiety. If he becomes angry, he loses his inner peace, which he cannot restore for a long time.

Anger is useful as energy when it is under the influence of the mind, the heart, and the will. If they cannot regulate it, anger acts destructively. It is a flood that causes great damage. Whatever it encounters on its way, it carries it along with itself. If this flood can be controlled, it does useful work—watering gardens, trees, flowers.

One thing is required of a human being: to be brave and resolute in doing good. Whether angry, or calm and peaceful, one must be brave. In the first case, one must be brave enough to control one’s anger, while in the second, brave enough to demonstrate goodness. When things go well for a person, he is brave. When he encounters contradictions along his way, he becomes frightened and retreats.

Why does he retreat? God is present in contradictions too. Through them He tests people. Why should they not be brave and solve the problem hidden within the contradiction, but retreat instead?

Fear implies some weakness. As soon as a person notices any fear within himself, he must work to deal with it and overcome it. If he does not free himself from fear, he resorts to lying—either white or black lies. Children usually lie. When they have done something wrong that leads to punishment, they resort to lying to avoid being punished.

The lives of many people are built upon the white lie. When they cannot keep their promise, they resort to the white lie. When they become frightened, they again use the white lie. When they want to achieve something prematurely, again the white lie comes to the surface. Why must a lad tell a maiden that he is dying for her? Will he actually die for her? He will not. Moreover, has he ever died before, to know what death is? Then why speak words that will not come true? Avoid lies, whether white or black.

The Japanese have a custom: at the eve of a New Year they visit everyone they are indebted to and pay off their debts. The New Year must find them without debts. A young man, the son of a wealthy family, had large debts that he needed to repay. He went to one of his creditors—a well-known banker—to settle his debt and said to the banker: “I owe you a large sum, but since I cannot repay it, according to tradition I will perform hara-kiri, I will commit suicide in front of you. I cannot bear the shame of owing such a large amount.” 

The banker became worried and told the young man: “Don’t commit hara-kiri, I am ready to forgive your entire debt. Do not kill yourself.” Upon hearing these words, the young man thanked him and started to leave. “Wait, stay for a cup of coffee” added the banker. “I can’t, I’m in a hurry: I still need to go to several other places to commit hara-kiri.” The Japanese man goes around all his bankers to perform hara-kiri.

People often use a folk custom in order to arrange their personal affairs. They apply again the white lie. Some use it out of fear, while others use it out of weakness. The strong one frightens the weak one. The first advances, the second retreats. If you realize you are strong, advance; if you realize you are weak, retreat. In other words, if you are strong, solve your task yourself; if you are weak, do not make mistakes that are hard to resolve, but let others solve your task. Whoever cannot solve their task themselves, let them seek help from one, two, or three people, until finally it is resolved properly.

One of the great tasks given for resolution is the task of serving God. It is as easy as it is difficult. Few have resolved it correctly. A person can serve God both with love and without love, but the results are different. Thus, he serves both good and evil, regarding them as forces which mutually assist each other. A person is strong only to the extent that he gives conditions for the good and the love within him to manifest. If he wishes to preserve his strength, he must never stop doing good. Never delay the time for doing good. Once you have decided to do good, do not delay. Even if robbers are chasing you and guards are pursuing you, you can still turn aside and do a small, good deed. 

Imagine that someone is chasing you to kill you. At that moment you see on your path a dying horse, fallen from extreme exhaustion, weakness, and thirst. If you can stop for a moment, find water, and give it to the dying horse, you are ready at any moment to do good; you love goodness and are connected with it. Do good with love and do not be afraid. 

The rich man fears doing good lest he becomes poor. There is no case in life where someone has done good and become poor. It is impossible to do good without love. Anything done without love is evil. Conversely: anything done with love is good. Whoever finds himself in the realm of evil, must strive to commit the least evil. Upon entering the realm of Good and Love, one must strive to accomplish the greatest good.

What is the greatest good a person can do? If one can give a piece of bread and a glass of water to a dying person and support them, that is the greatest good at that moment. This dying person has spent forty days fasting; if he fasts one more day, he will certainly die. If you give him a little bread and water at that moment, you have done the greatest good for him. You might say that money is important, that without money one cannot live. Before death, money is worth nothing. In this case, bread and water are preferable.

For the discouraged, a kind word is worth more than any money. For the discouraged, the sick, the dying, a good and compassionate person is a rope by which they are saved. He transmits something of himself to them. A person cannot transmit something of themselves to others if they do not carry it in their mind, in their heart, and in their soul. For example, a believer can pass on some of their faith to others, without even speaking of it. However, a nonbeliever, no matter how much they preach about faith, will achieve nothing. Their words will pass and go past people’s ears, without touching them. Faith occupies a special place in the human head. It is enough to look at a person’s head to recognize whether they are a believer or not.

Faith has different manifestations. It is not the same whether a person believes in God, in his neighbor, or in himself. Whatever and whomever a person believes in, this is imprinted on his face. It is said in Scripture: “I have drawn you with My love.” This means that Love has threads with which it draws or binds a person. The power of Love determines also the strength of human faith. If Love is manifested in its fullness, then faith is steadfast and uninterrupted. It acts both in calm and in difficult times; it accompanies a person everywhere—both in this world and in the other world. With faith and love, a person is well received both in this world and in the other world. He has good friends everywhere, who will meet him with joy. Without faith and without love, he feels lonely everywhere, like a stranger away from his homeland. He has eyes and does not see, he has ears and does not hear; he carries within himself only the awareness that he is alone, abandoned by everyone. Knowing this, do not ask why you must love. You will love people on Earth in order to see the external world. You will love the intelligent beings in the invisible world in order to see through them the world in which they live.

When talking about love between people, they ask themselves whether one can love a bad person. Can a good and a bad person be friends? How can the bad person be corrected? By placing him between two good people.

Unless he is placed among good people, he can never improve. If you look at the (Bulgarian) letter "zh" (Ж),  you will see that it represents nothing else but a friendship between two bad and one good, righteous person. Thus the strength of the righteous or the good person is tested. This means that bad people oppress the good one. 

How will he free himself from them? By loving them. They have turned their backs to him and look outward, toward the external world.

Therefore, Christ says to love your enemy. The letter "zh" (Ж) also shows the position of a bad person between two good people. In one case the straight line in the letter "zh" (Ж) shows the position of the good person between two bad ones. In another case, the straight line shows the position of the bad person between two good people. Thus, they help and influence each other.

Knowing this, do not let bad people join together. Place good people among them, to reduce the power of evil. Therefore, do not reconcile evil with good, but through good the power of evil should be weakened. If this is achieved, good and evil will become parallel and will fulfil God’s will.

Don’t think that a good person can do everything he desires all by himself. Can he give life to the dead? Can he make people rich and happy? The task of the good one is to fulfill his duties—nothing more. If he does that, he has fulfilled his purpose—to soften the blows of evil. Can you love another’s child as much as its mother and father love it? You may say, “I want to help him, to lift him up.”

If you want to help him, you must love him more than his parents do. If you love him as much as they do, you are not needed. Moreover, you must love his parents as well. If you don’t love them, your love is selfish. This is how you love a hen too: you feed her, care for her, so you can take her eggs. It is difficult nowadays for a person to show completely selfless love. If this is impossible, he must at least be fair. To be fair, good, and loving, a person must possess a high level of awareness, he must have risen above the ordinary conditions of life.

Beware of the common consciousness that creates anxieties, worries, and contradictions. While living in this consciousness, a person often falls into delusions. In a poor American village they appointed a preacher, about whom it immediately became known that his hair was combed straight back, with a parting in the middle. The villagers did not like to comb their hair this way and immediately spoke out against him. They said they did not want such a preacher. Whilst they were preparing their protest in writing, the preacher had already arrived in the village. What was their surprise when they saw that his head was completely bald. He had no hair at all, and they had been deceived, yielding to false rumors. What is wrong if someone combs his hair straight back with a parting? It is better to have a parting than no parting at all. Just as hair is combed straight back with a parting, so thoughts must have a parting. How do they paint Christ; how did He comb His hair, with a parting or not? The letter “zh” (Ж) represents a man’s hair combed with a parting. On the left side of the head is evil; on the right, good; and in the middle, the person himself, who benefits from the forces of good and evil.

And so, remember that a good, righteous person is situated between two bad people, as if in prison. What should he do? He should pray. This is how good people prayed when Apostle Peter was put in prison. In answer to their prayer, an Angel came down from heaven, pushed open the prison door and went in to Peter. He touched the chains and they fell from his feet. Then he said to Him: “Go out and never return to prison again.” 

Is this fair? For the weak it is fair: once someone comes from outside to free him, he must not return to prison. Whoever is under the influence of evil is in its prison; whoever is under the influence of good is in the prison of good. Which of the two prisons is better? In the prison of evil they will beat you several times a day, and in the prison of good they will feed you regularly with clean, healthy food, will take you for walks, and in the evening will bring you back to prison, to rest.

As they do not understand life, many people worry about little things. The mother worries about her children and her husband, the man worries about his wife, the children worry about their parents. Scholars worry that someday the Sun might stop shining and that life will cease. This is strange! Why would you fear that the Sun will go out? In order for it to shine and burn, someone has lit it. The One who lit it takes care of it; He knows why He lit it.

He who lit it is higher than the Sun. This is God, Who is Light that never goes out or darkens. Knowing this, strive to deal with worry. “How can we not worry when we are hungry, when we haven’t eaten for several days?” What should a hungry and tired traveler do? Imagine that a traveler passes through a village: he has fasted three or four days, he has no bread, no money in his pocket. If he is reasonable, he will easily deal with his situation. There are two ways to do this: external and internal. If he works externally, he will enter someone’s home to rest. He will begin to tell something from his life, thereby making the host well-disposed to give him something to eat as well. If he works internally, he will seek some good trait in the character of the hosts, through which he will open their hearts. He must penetrate the secret little chamber of their souls, where God lives, and connect with them. If he thinks well of them, they will surely welcome him kindly and feed him. If he thinks ill of them, he will provoke evil and instead of receiving him well, they will rob him.

In every person lives both good and evil—it depends on you which one you will awaken in him. Good and evil must be tested in order to know which one is stronger in you. If evil is stronger, you will work on the good, at least to balance them. In the beginning the good is weak, and the evil strong; in the end evil is weak, and good is strong. Love, however, is equally strong both in the beginning and in the end. The more good increases, the greater the conditions for the manifestation of Love. If good does not start with its weak side and gradually strengthen, Love will never manifest itself.

One of the main laws of Love is that it gives everything and takes everything.

This does not mean that you should desire the whole world to be yours, nor should you wish for all blessings to be yours. Give your loved ones the opportunity to share in your blessings, so they may become your friends.

Give your love to your loved ones, so you may be loved and respected by them. If you do not give your loved ones the opportunity to share in your knowledge, in your goodness, in the blessings and love you have, you can achieve nothing. If you are a singer, do not sing only for yourself, but sing for the sick, for the discouraged, and for the despairing. Sing them a song, say to them a sweet, encouraging word. Say to the sick and to the discouraged: “As surely as the Sun rises, so too will your affairs be set right.”

Today everyone is asking who will win the current war [World War II]. To ask such a question means to ask who will win: the river or the rock? The river must follow its path, to flow into the sea. The rock may deflect the water, but only to direct it where it is needed. If it meets no obstacles, the river must follow its way—to flow where it is needed. If it deviates from its path, it will circle around and again go where it is expected. A person has come to Earth to fulfill God’s will.

A maiden and a lad marry in order to learn to love the Lord mutually. If they do not learn to love the Lord, their marriage is pointless. If you have a friend, your task toward him is this: to teach him to love the Lord. And he has the same task toward you. All people must love the Lord and realize that He is Love. When Love enters human minds, hearts, and souls, the world will be set right.

Where Love is, there is order and harmony; there is music, there is art. Whoever plays (an instrument) with love, can regulate the weather: if it is dry, he will bring rain; if it is a storm, he will calm it. When playing for a sick person, he lifts him from his bed. 

You may ask, “How does this happen?” That is not my concern. This art is from the Divine world. Whoever acquires this art immediately becomes musical—their musical sense is revealed. No one has the right to abuse this art. Ordinary love brings ordinary achievements, while Divine love brings extraordinary achievements. Apply Divine Love, learn from it, so that you may have extraordinary results. When all people become good, beautiful, strong, and loving, the world will be set right. It is time now for people to leave human love and enter Divine love.

Someone says that he cannot tolerate people. Why can’t he tolerate them? Because their love is limited: they give to one person, but not to another; they smile at one and welcome them well, but are strict toward another and do not welcome them into their home. Expand yourselves, open your hearts to God’s Love, so that you may tolerate all people and love them.

Teach each other to love the Lord, so that He may love you too. One of the qualities of Great Love is its ability to turn sour fruits into sweet ones, sick people into healthy ones, and bad people into good ones. Whoever has learned to love God, will teach their loved ones how to love. If one has not learned this art himself, he cannot pass it on to others. Moses gave the Jews several commandments, showing them how to love God, but they did not learn this art. God sent His Son to teach them, yet they did not wish to follow Him and crucified Him.

Now it is also said to you: accept Divine Love as truth, as beauty, as knowledge, so that you may be useful to yourselves and to your loved ones. All people are called to be workers in God’s vineyard. When a person works with love, they fulfill God’s will. They help without speaking. Fire shows from afar that it is burning. Bread speaks for itself. When it enters the stomach, it reveals its strength. The same applies to Love. It does not need preaching. It is enough to perceive it, to understand that it carries life within itself. It renews, rejuvenates, and uplifts a person. Strive towards Love, so that you may rejuvenate and resurrect.

This is eternal life, to know Thee, the only true God and Christ, whom Thou hast sent.

 

—20th lecture with the Master, held on August 19, 1942, at 5:00 a.m.,

Sofia – Izgrev

Преведена от Росица Трайкова

Редактирана от Ненси Кромптон

Прегледана от Невенка Димитрова