It is said in Scripture that the life of the righteous is like the dawn.
Often the questions arise: What is the foundation of life? What is the foundation of the world? Before one can answer these, the more important question is about human life itself. What is it based upon? – Human life is guided by three important principles: the mind, the heart, and the will. When a person reaches these, he goes further and asks: What is the soul? Does it exist or not?
The soul is everywhere, yet it is so small and so great that it cannot be measured by anything.
And what is life? – Even to this question, there is no easy answer. Only the one who knows the higher spiritual mathematics can understand life. The same applies to the world. It is built from a multitude of numbers, arranged in harmonious combinations. You might ask: Is the world made of even or odd numbers? To answer that would be fortune-telling.
What, then, is the present life of people? – Fortune-telling. Most people live as if they are waiting for someone to come and divine their fate. They live from day to day: they rise in the morning and say, “Let us see what will happen to us today.” This is what the young maiden or the young lad does. They look for an old fortune-teller to cast beans, lay out cards, or read the coffee grounds to tell them what will happen in the near or distant future.
If you ask these fortune-tellers what they actually see in the beans or coffee, even they themselves do not know; sometimes they just guess something by chance. There are fortune-tellers who can divine for others but not for themselves. Two fortune-tellers may meet and tell each other’s fortunes, yet neither can see for themselves.
In the Varna region, there was once a woman who could foretell the future of others. People from all around flocked to her and left satisfied with her predictions. She made much money from this. Yet, interestingly, though she foretold for everyone else, she could not foresee anything for herself. One night robbers attacked her and took everything she had earned. She was left poor again, just as she had been before becoming known as a fortune teller.
As they live, people say they want to be educated, to enlighten their minds, and to ennoble their hearts. In truth, they do not know what they want. The first task of a person is to use the opportunities and conditions for the expression of mind and heart, and afterwards to seek the enlightenment of the mind and the ennobling of the heart. Once expressed, the mind will naturally seek conditions to be enlightened, and the heart will naturally seek conditions to be ennobled.
The task of a person is first to establish his relation to the Divine within himself, to his soul, and to rely upon it. Do not rely on the capital people possess, on how they think, how good or strong they are. Rely only on what you yourself have, what you carry in your own mind and in your own heart. You will say that one must rely only on God. That is another matter. For in order to rely on Him, above all you must know Him, must understand Him as a Reality that exists both within and beyond you. He is in the small and in the great within man, and likewise in the small and in the great outside of man.
Therefore, when we say one must rely on the Divine within, we mean God as a Reality in which there is no change. Only after that may one partly rely also on people.
Human life requires a firm foundation, where everything is set in its proper place. In such a position, one will have a clear conception of death and life, of birth and rebirth. Today many speak superficially of death, and you hear someone say: “It’s time to die.” Where did such a thought come from? Why does the young person not think or speak of death?
When a child is about to be born, all say: “A child will be born in this home.” But what does birth mean? In its wider sense, birth has many manifestations. It is not only birth when a human being comes into the world. If a person comes to visit your home, that too is a kind of birth. While he is within your home, within your conditions, he is limited. Once he leaves your house, for you he has “died,” but for himself he has been “born” – freed from the limiting conditions of your home.
Thus, the concepts of birth and death are relative. A person is born when leaving limiting conditions in which he has lived for nine months. Then he enters other limiting conditions of life. Later he leaves the Earth – he “dies,” that is, he departs for the other world, where he is again born. So man is continually being born into one set of conditions while dying to another. This shows that dying and being born are repeated processes in life.
When speaking of free and limited people, we call free those who have no houses – that is, who live outside their bodies. You will say: “But those are the dead.” Yes, we call the dead free. Limited, on the other hand, are those who live in small, confined houses. The human body is a little house in which the spirit and soul dwell for a time.
You may say that the real purpose of life is to create a family: to marry, to have a wife or husband and children. But for how long can one have a wife or husband? Has there ever been a case where a man and woman have spent together an entire life of one hundred years – marrying at age twenty, living together one hundred years, and departing together at one hundred and twenty? I have never seen such a case. In reality, husband and wife live together at most forty or fifty years, and then one departs before the other. Is that which lasts only forty or fifty years truly real? Sometimes a marriage lasts only a year or two, and they part.
That which is real is eternal.
Whoever does not understand the meaning of marriage wishes to marry quickly, to enter into a new life. That is easy work. But one must know that marriage is service. Anyone can become a servant, but the important thing is that when you bargain to serve somewhere, you are not dismissed prematurely without being paid. When your wage is reduced, that shows something is out of the natural order of things. If your wage is increased, then all is in order.
When a maiden and a youth marry, they pay dearly for it. They give each other a hundred kisses a day. Each kiss is pure gold—real currency. But the longer they live together, the fewer the kisses become. By the second or third year, they scarcely give one kiss a day; and by the tenth year—perhaps one kiss a year. Thus their wages are reduced to a minimum. When the “wage” between husband and wife in the home diminishes, their life gradually worsens, losing all poetry. Many of today’s people do not even know how to kiss. That is nothing but deception. Many people do not know how to shake hands properly. They extend only one, two, or three fingers. But you should shake hands with your whole hand, so the person knows he can rely on you.
Modern people deny the existence of the soul, but in fact, their striving for expression is nothing other than the striving of the soul to manifest itself. The soul reveals itself through the mind, the heart, and the will. The mind reveals itself through the eyes, the heart—through the nose, and the will—through the mouth. Look at what the lion does when it seizes its prey. It grasps it with its paws and brings it to its mouth to tear it apart. Thus, the mouth is the expression of the will. Some want to know whether they have will or not. That is not the important thing. The important thing is for a person to have a strong will. The larger the mouth, the stronger the will. But how large should the mouth be?—That is a question you must study for yourselves.
Every person has a mouth, nose, eyes, brows, ears, yet few know their exact dimensions. No one has measured them precisely to know the size of their own features. Ask a farmer how large his field is—he will tell you exactly. Ask him about his house and its dimensions—he knows them too. But ask him about his head, and he can say nothing. He does not know how long it is, nor how wide.
Human suffering arises from the fact that the things they use are not well-constructed; they do not correspond to the precise measures Nature has ordained. Today’s houses are very beautiful. More beautiful and more comfortable houses humanity has not known, and yet they are unhygienic. The light does not fall properly, and thus most people are nervous and irritable. The reflection of light from the walls and ceilings is not harmonious. Not only that, but the beds and their coverings are unhygienic as well. The same applies to the clothing people wear. It does not meet Nature’s requirements, therefore people must design garments that accord with Nature.
As for food, there too is disharmony. The chief element of nourishment—wheat—is ground with stones. This strips away its nutritive substances, its essential oils, leaving only bran. In the future, wheat will not be ground dry.
In general, one of the causes of human suffering lies in the predominance of straight lines and sharp angles in their lives. Through the distortion of life, man has also deformed his own features. Rarely will you find a perfectly formed head. For this reason, light is not received equally by all people. It does not fall at the same angle, and therefore people hold different views on religious as well as social questions. You cannot find two people who have the same understanding of Love. If two good painters were to set about painting the same person, each aiming to capture the essential traits, their works would differ: each would render differently the features that impressed him most. In the end, you would have two different portraits of one and the same person.
To paint truly, the artist must follow the path of Nature: to depict the characteristic features of the person as Nature has placed them, without exaggeration or diminishment. No one can surpass Nature in her work. The task of man is to imitate Nature, but not to compete with her.
What is a human being? – A gathering of billions of little souls, or beings, who have agreed, in the name of God’s Love, to enter into a person and to work for him, to give him expression as a human being. They have sacrificed their lives for him, becoming his servants; yet, not understanding this, he says: “What is the body?” – Nothing but a machine.
Some religious people look upon the body as a hindrance to man’s spiritual life and say: “We don’t need the body; we can be free of it. For us, the important thing is the soul, which is pliant, mobile, omnipresent.” However great the soul may be, it is simultaneously present in all the cells of the organism. The soul can contract and expand according to need. The small cells create the great body.
Looking at his body, someone may ask with what body he will return in the future. It is not important with what body one will come to Earth. What matters is with how many souls he will come, that is, with what number. If he comes with fewer souls than those that now inhabit his body, he will never enter Paradise. It has been shown that wicked and criminal people are lacking something: in each life the little souls abandon them one by one, and they begin to resemble empty beehives. The bees are gone, but the hives remain. When the souls realize that someone does not fulfill the Will of God, they say: “This person will not mend; let us leave him, let him learn his lesson.” Then a person feels that something has vanished from him, and he is left alone. This state of loneliness frightens him; he feels inwardly abandoned, impoverished. While the little souls dwell within him, he is joyful and cheerful; but once they leave, he grows sorrowful, begins to complain about life, until one day he departs altogether.
When left alone in life, a person begins to seek God, to pray. He asks where God is and wishes to find Him outside himself. Without Love and without affection, a person cannot enter into communion with God. To think that one can live without Love and without affection means to have a materialistic understanding of life. If all the cells individually, as well as all the members of the human organism, could not love, then man himself could not love. Love is a quality of the soul. Thus man loves through the cells of his mind, of his heart; man loves through his soul and through his spirit. The more virtues a person has, the stronger his love is. The greater his mind, his heart, his soul, and his spirit, the stronger is his love. A home in which the people do not quarrel is a home of Love. Such a home may be called hygienic. And what will you say of a home in which people quarrel constantly? You will say that they pray to God three times a day. I read the inscriptions and see that they quarrel and complain about life three times a day. They pray for bread, for clothes, for houses, for money. Rarely do I see inscriptions that show that a household fulfills the Will of God, that the people in that home serve God.
There is nothing greater in human life than service. Whom can a person serve? – The Perfect One. Whom can a disciple listen to? – His Teacher. For the disciple to be absolutely obedient, the Teacher must be a genius. The genius teacher is distinguished by great perseverance and decisiveness.
When Mohammed was preaching his teaching, at last he reached great discouragement and resolved to flee from people. He could no longer endure the slanders and persecution raised against him. He stopped at one place to rest and fell into deep thought. At that moment he saw an ant carrying a load very heavy for it, trying to bring it into the anthill. Mohammed counted how many times the ant lifted the load from the ground and dropped it again. At last it succeeded in raising it and carrying it into the anthill. Seeing the great perseverance of the ant, Mohammed said to himself: “Strange thing—an ant shows such perseverance and courage. It can lift and drop its burden ninety-nine times with the hope that on the hundredth it will succeed, while I became discouraged after only the first attempts. I will return among the people and apply the perseverance of the ant. On the hundredth time I too will succeed in my work.”
Small though the ant is, you may learn even from it. A person longs for one thing—to be secure. If he does not obtain his desire, he becomes discouraged. But why should a person think of security when, from the very moment of his coming to Earth, he is already secured? He who sent him to Earth has secured him. Believe in the One who lives within your mind and within your heart. He will arrange your affairs as they should be. As long as you love Him, He will care for you. If you cease to love Him, He will leave you. Whoever renounces Love imagines himself to be a deity. He wants to play the role of a great man. But to be great, you must carry a great burden. The great person resolves great questions. He must keep in mind the good of all humanity. Each person must carry something not only for himself, but also for his neighbor. The world needs the living bread. He who thinks also for his neighbor is a good person. He gives way to the Divine within himself; thus he attracts people. He who thinks only of himself repels people; no one relies on him. Whoever cannot receive the Divine Light into his mind achieves nothing.
Man has come to Earth to be educated, to attain three things: first, to acquire the art of walking and moving rightly; second, to learn, in order to gain knowledge and experience; and third, to learn to work. To work means to apply everything one has learned. It is enough to look in the mirror to see whether one’s eyes are clear or clouded. Clear, bright eyes show that a person has cultivated within themselves right thoughts, right feelings, and right actions. When one does not think, feel, or act rightly, the eyes become dull, clouded with moisture. Once, the Earth itself was filled with moisture, but God spoke a single word, and the waters were gathered into seas and oceans, and the sky cleared. Likewise, our mental world must become clear: the clouds must be removed, and the horizon revealed—pure and bright.
The stars of the heavens symbolize human beings. The Sun and the Moon represent the two systems on which people rely. The Sun stands for the learned, the Moon for the religious. It is said in Scripture that the Sun and the Moon will grow dark. This means that science and religion will come down from the place they now occupy.
A new life, new paths, new conditions are coming into the world. Today the whole world, all nations, are fighting for some idea. But is this idea rightly placed? If a stonemason breaks stones in order to build a house, then the breaking of the stones is in place. If a woodcutter fells trees in order to use them in the building of a house, then the cutting is in place. But if the stonemason and the woodcutter work without any higher purpose in mind, then their work is not in place. To cut down forests indiscriminately means to bring upon yourselves the greatest misfortunes. To avoid suffering, cultivate the soil and strengthen vegetation. Many human illnesses arise from weakened “vegetation” in the organism. The vitality of growth in the brain, the lungs, and the stomach has declined, and so people fall ill with nervous disorders or with afflictions of the lungs and stomach. When this inner vegetation is strong, one enjoys long life. Plants know the laws of long life better than people. There are trees that live for hundreds, even thousands of years, while no human has yet reached a thousand. In the Old Testament we have only one example of a man who lived the longest—and even he reached only 900 years.
The life of the righteous is like the dawn of day. Associate with righteous and good people, that the dawn of the new life may rise within you as well. A Bulgarian proverb says: “With whom you keep company, such you become.” If you keep company with the sick, you will become sick; with the healthy, you will become healthy; with the wise, you will become wise; with the strong, you will become strong. Therefore, if the world is to be renewed in a single day, people must keep company with Love—that is, with God. Life on Earth is temporary. Man is like a tenant: it depends on him whether he will remain longer or shorter in the house he has rented. If his relations with the landlord are good, he will remain longer; if he ruins those relations, the landlord will drive him out. If one wishes to prolong life, one must have love for oneself and for one’s neighbor. What kind of love?—Love that resurrects.
If a young man, with a bright mind and heart, says to a dying maiden that he loves her, she will revive, recover, and rise from her bed. She had been ready to die because she believed no one loved her. But the moment she is convinced that someone does, she awakens to new life and regains her health.
Modern people die from lack of love, and they are quickened to life by love. Thus a person lives as long as there is someone to love them. If love ceases, they die. You must be convinced that there is One who loves you unfailingly. Who is He?—He is the One, the Eternal, who never abandons anyone, who judges no one, who casts upon no one a crooked glance, who speaks no bitter word to anyone. If He meets one who has erred, He says: “You are a good child—something noble will come of you.” The angels may not approve of him, but God approves of all. He smiles upon them and grants them His blessing. Thanks to His gaze and His smile directed toward you, you are joyful and glad. If you doubt Him, your joy departs. The moment you are encouraged in life, joy returns to visit you once more.
Every person must work upon themselves, to form the image of the true human being. As a model of the true human being we are given Christ. He said: “I came not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” By His life He proved that He had not come to fulfill His own will. Had He wished, He could have prayed and twelve legions of angels would have come to His aid. One angel alone could overcome 150,000 men. In one night they could have subdued the whole of humanity. But this was not Christ’s purpose. He came to test the love of humankind and to manifest the Love of God. And the love of humankind—He still feels it upon His back even to this day.
Scripture tells us that Christ met Saul on his horse and struck him with His light, so that he was blinded. Christ asked him: “Saul, why do you persecute Me?”—“Who are You, Lord?”—“I am Jesus, whom you crucified. I tell you, it is hard for you to kick against the goads.” From that moment Saul turned to Christ and became one of His zealous disciples. He understood that the sacrifice Christ made for the whole of humanity deserved to be answered with sacrifice in return.
Today people think that to sacrifice oneself for Christ means to abandon one’s wife, one’s children, and one’s home. It is not so. When a man loves Christ and comes to know Him, he will love his wife and children all the more. Likewise the wife, when she loves Christ, will love her husband and children all the more. The same applies to children: when they love Christ, they will love their parents. When people love Christ, they will love also their homeland, becoming true patriots. This is what it means to know Christ. In knowing and loving Him, people will be ready to share their blessings with those in need, just as a postman delivers letters to their rightful recipients.
Today I would have you make the following experiment: when you leave this hall, spend five or six hours in complete inner peace. Whatever may happen to you during the day, do not perceive any contradiction, any disharmony. Imagine that you are living in the world of the angels. Whoever speaks to you, listen as though you were hearing music. If your husband or your children are angry or upset, hear them out and say to yourself: “How beautifully they speak!” Be deaf and blind to the faults of others. Only thus will you come to understand the Love of Christ. For Christ lives in the souls of human beings. Scripture says: “God does not delight in the death of the sinner.” Why not? Because He lives in that soul also. He is concerned with life, not with death. Therefore, if one dies in order to live, death has meaning; but if one lives only in order to die, then neither life has meaning, nor death.
The first thing required of man is to give thanks to God for the head that has been given to him. Once he knows who has given him his head, he must hold it upright, not bowed down. Conscious of such a blessing, one must say: “I thank You for the Divine Light I receive through my head. I thank You for the Love I receive through my heart. I am ready to apply the Light and the Love I receive, not only toward people, but even toward the smallest beings. I am ready to make way for the ant and hasten to its aid.”
One day I was observing how two ants were quarreling over a crumb of bread. I asked them: “Why are you fighting?” One of them replied: “I was the first to find this crumb; she wants to take half of it, but I will not give it.” At that moment, I took many crumbs out of my pocket and scattered them. The dispute was immediately resolved. There was abundant food for both ants. Thus, abundance resolves questions. One kilogram of water does not settle a dispute, for all people are thirsty; but an abundant quantity of water resolves all disputes and contradictions. A little love does not resolve problems, but great Love does. To carry great Love within yourself means that after working diligently all day, you can return in the evening refreshed, filled with strength and life.
The Bulgarian, when making his earthen pitchers, provides two openings: a large one through which the jug is filled, and a small side opening through which the water is poured out. Thus he receives much, but gives little. The line of the side opening is beautiful, yet it should be twice as wide as it is now.
Remember the following law: the more you give, the more you receive; the less you give, the less you receive. The more you think, the more knowledge you acquire; the less you think, the less knowledge you acquire. The more you work, the more you gain; the less you work, the less you gain. These are processes of Love. You cannot act as you please and still benefit from Love. A maiden or youth who quarrels with father, mother, brothers, and sisters cannot live well with each other either. Whatever promises the youth may give to the maiden, he will not fulfill them. It is impossible to be angry and resentful toward one’s parents, yet live well with one’s beloved. Such a maiden and such a youth may serve as overseers, but not as husband and wife in a family.
Today God watches what we are doing and marvels at our minds. Present-day Christians think they can enter the Kingdom of God by an easy path. There is no easy path to the Kingdom of God. Whoever wants to enter must be ready to walk the path of Christ. He came into the world, brought God’s Love, and sacrificed Himself for humanity—for which He was crucified. The Roman soldiers mocked Him the whole night, yet He endured it all with love and great self-mastery. He knew that one day those same blows would fall upon their own backs. The Roman soldiers determined the number of blows that future humanity would have to bear.
Today everyone is concerned with who will triumph in the present war. When the war is over, you will see who has prevailed. I say: blessed is that nation which first applies God’s Love, God’s Justice, God’s Wisdom, and Truth. The old must be erased, and the new must come—bringing the conditions for victory. True victory will come through Love, which excludes all injustice. The world needs a new order, reasonableness, and justice. Injustice must disappear from every home and every state, and be replaced with the order of Justice and Love.
The life of the righteous is as the dawn. Scripture says: “God is Love.” Therefore, seek the resolution of questions in Love, not outside of it. When Love comes among people, it will set right all that is confused. It brings the new life, which will be revealed through the mind, heart, and soul of humankind. Open your minds, your hearts, and your souls to the One who speaks to you every moment through all living beings. Listen to what He tells you and fulfill His will. Open yourselves to Love. You may say that love is only for the young. Not so. Love is for all: for young and old, for the married and unmarried. Only one who bears Love within can truly marry. The one who loves is healthy, wise, and good. Therefore, do not marry the sick, the ignorant, or the wicked. A maiden who loves puts her love into every action. When she cooks, she pours her love into the food. Whoever eats from it, if sick, becomes well; if discontent, becomes content. If someone says he has love in his heart, ask him to cook. From his food you will know what his love is like.
As long as one gives way to Love within, one disposes of all its possibilities. Once Love is lost, all possibilities that come with it are lost as well. Life is precious chiefly because of the Love it carries. That Love will resurrect all who have been slain or have died. They will rise again, reappearing on Earth as radiant young men and women, and all will cry out with one voice: “Forward with Love!”
Blessed is he who is born of Love. Joseph was born of a loving mother and received the blessing of Love. Yet before that, he passed through two great trials. He had a dream which he told his brothers. They resented him and resolved to kill him, but instead sold him to wealthy traders going to Egypt. From them, Potiphar, captain of the guard, bought him. Potiphar’s wife fell in love with Joseph. To free himself from her, he fled, leaving his garment in her hands. Accused falsely by his master’s wife, Joseph was cast into prison. He preferred prison to sinning against his master. From there he was released after interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and rose to high rank beside him. When famine struck Canaan, his brothers came to him for grain and bowed before him—thus Joseph’s dream was fulfilled. Then he revealed himself as their brother and forgave their wrongdoing.
The life of Joseph shows the path all must walk. To receive God’s blessing, one must pass through trials and difficulties. One must overcome them and then come to Love. Love without trials is not true. God’s Love comes after great trials and sufferings. Great blessings, opportunities, and conditions are given to humanity, but they do not know how to use them. God waits patiently for all to awaken and return to Him. These are difficult times. Whoever wishes may live in Love. You all have experiences that must be used. Nature does not like repetition. It does not allow mistakes to be repeated. A mistake made once is in its place—one learns from it. But the same mistake must not be made twice.
—19th lecture by the Master, given on August 16, 1942, 10:00 a.m., Sofia – Izgrev
Source: На зазоряване
