“And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
John 17:3
Life is the strongest and most natural aspiration of the human soul; it is the treasure, which she desires to earn. This aspiration has existed for thousands and millions of years and not just in human beings but in other mammals too, in birds, in fish and even in plants. The difference lays only in the methods of obtaining life by these various beings.
Let us come to the human aspiration for Life - it concerns us, it is important for our growth. You enter, for example, a music school not only to listen but also to learn. You are given a violin, you are given a bow, strings are put on the violin, you are taught how to tune it; you are given a teacher to teach you the main rules of music and you start practicing your mind, your hands, and your fingers. And, in this way, in the course of time you master the art of being an excellent violinist. By the same law God wants to teach us to master the method, the way of acquiring Life. Once people had possessed Eternal life, but they lost it. They lost it for one simple reason and now they strive to correct their mistake. This mistake has caused death and only when people began experiencing the permanent degradation of their souls, of their minds, of their hearts, of their organisms and of everything that forms, only then did they realized what they had lost.
It is said in the first chapter of Genesis that God put humans into Eden and told them to cultivate and use everything in it but forbad them to touch one tree - the Tree of knowing good and evil. However, humans wanted to make a small trial of disobedience and first the woman began this trial. It is said in this chapter that the snake wound round the Tree of knowledge and began talking with Eve, asking her a question: “How is that you, being masters of Eden and making use of all the trees in paradise, can not make use of the Tree which hides a great mystery? The woman asked: “What mystery?” “If you eat from this tree you will have the knowledge of God, you will know why you live, you will know good and evil, and you will be very strong on the Earth, as God is.” And then vanity began arising in the woman and she said to herself: “To become like God – this is my burning desire”; and she picked the forbidden fruit, tasted it and then went and convinced her husband, so he tasted it too. As a result of this, the Scriptures say that they saw their nakedness. When do people get naked? A rich father died and left his son money, farms and woodland. The son made friends, used to go on walks and sprees, spent everything and became naked; he did not become naked for no reason but because of eating, drinking and laziness. This suggests to us that Adam and Eve had eaten from this tree for a long time and began pawning Eden and then God told them: “What are you pawning, is it your property? Get out! From now on you will earn your living with labour and with the sweat of your brow in order to learn this great law – to appreciate Life which I give you.” Man can easily become poor. An American millionaire, whose father had left about twenty million dollars inheritance to him, had a weakness for flowers and he began collecting various flowers from all over the world; he even sent a special expedition for some specific rare flowers. After some decades he spent everything that he had and when he died he had to be buried at the expense of the municipality.
But you will ask how one can lose his Life. I will tell you how: you have a son, healthy and sound, educated in foreign countries, but he conceived the idea to rise to greatness, fame, to hold St. George’s cross; he says: “I am going to fight for glory” and he goes; a bullet hits him – he accepts the glory but loses his life. Adam and Eve desired such a cross and God sent them to the battlefield. They departed from Eden, and went to conquer the world but they lost their Eternal lives.
Now, let us revert to Christ’s thought. We know how to spend money, how to lose our lives but we do not know how to gain Life. Christ came to teach us how to gain the lost Life. I will talk on this thought in your presence. Christ says: “I am Life.” By what is Life distinguished from the other forces? It is a force that builds, raises, joins, unites and gives joy and fun to the soul. In the last verse of the chapter that I read to you, three words are important: life, knowledge and God. Life is the aim we strive for; knowledge is the method for achieving this aim and God is the environment or the conditions from which we can obtain this Life. This matter has a double sense. I can talk on its purely philosophic side; I can explain its biological origin to you, its psychological or psychic state and so on. But this will not be of use to you, as if I do not give a hungry person some bread to eat but begin telling him how the bread is prepared, what flour it is made of, what woman kneaded it, how she baked it, what elements it has, how chemists discovered them in the laboratory and so on, man will say: “I am hungry, give me something to eat. I do not need to know who kneaded it. Also, I do not want to know which elements it contains. The only thing I am interested in right now is to take my meal; and then I will be able to listen to you telling me those things.” And we too will say now to the philosopher: “We do not want to know what elements Life consists of, how and from what it is kneaded, how it has derived; we want to take our meal, to eat from Eternal Life and afterwards we may discuss with you these things as long as you wish; now we just want to get free from this death.” And I think this is the correct solution to the matter.
How can you acquire Eternal Life if you have not lived yet? You think that you live and you say: “I live.” You have Life indeed but it is not yours, it is life on loan. Tomorrow the one to whom you owe will appear, will present the bill for your debt, will put you into prison and will take your life. You will be put on a stretcher and the priest will come to just confirm the sentence, saying a requiescat for God to mention you in His Kingdom, that is to be merciful to you; then the singers will sing the established song and you will be buried. What does it mean for a person to be buried? This means to be imprisoned down in the jail in order to pay off his debt. Everyone who instead of going to pay off his debt goes to search for George’s cross is buried in the earth in order to first pay off his debt, to learn how to acquire his Life. All people cry when their closest ones die, but tears will not save people. The one to whom we owe will not take pity; He will say “Pay your debt” no matter how much we cry. When coming, death too will say: “I do not need your tears but I want to have your debt paid – you owe me.”
Now, we need to know the main law of Life in order to free ourselves from death. I will give you an example to clarify this. In the time of the Bulgarian slavery, in the epoch of janissaries1, a Turk – daaliah2, a wrestler, seized the whole countryside and put the whole population in fear and trepidation. Whoever he caught, he beat, wounded and killed; he boasted everywhere that he frightened the giaours3. No one from the local population dared to raise their voice; everyone prayed to God to rescue them from this evil. All men bore the scars of the Turkish daaliah, but no one dared to rear his head. Everyone bore his yoke in fear. One day, a young Bulgarian shepherd, neat and with shoes on, with a crook in his hand, was passing this countryside. He entered a forest; the Turkish daaliah saw him from far off and called out: “You giaour. Stop! Who allowed you pass here?” – ‘I am a shepherd, I take my flock across.’ – “You must throw down your stick!” – ‘But I am bringing it to you as a present – it is full of gold. My grandmother told me that my grandfather had brought it from Eden. It has never deceived me and has cleared my path.’ – “Look at this foolish giaour, what nonsense he speaks! I will tell you from which paradise it has come from, from yours or from ours! I will impale your head on it.” However, with the first blow the bold shepherd broke the sword of the wrestler–daaliah in two; from the second blow his right hand hung down completely; the third blow broke the left leg in two and the wrestler–daaliah fell onto the ground. ‘I told you that my stick always stated correctly that it has come out of Eden. For the present these three words which you learnt from it are enough for you. God pays well. When I pass by the second time my stick will say to me – I will tell you three more words and will crush your head.’ The wrestler–daaliah replied: “I believe in your stick. I will practice its words in my life. How can I stand against such a stick which has come out of Eden and speaks the truth? From now on let the rayah4 be free; this is the will of the Allah.”
I am giving this poetic story in order to explain a truth in a folk-form. This Turk represents death; and the giaour is who we are. Is there any place in the world where this wrestler has not been? Is there any house he has not visited? What do the crosses on graves show? Everyone in this world talks about the wrestler–daaliah, mothers and fathers talk about his feats. There are volumes and volumes written about his story, about his power. All sing one and the same tune: “Our wrestler–daaliah is unconquerable in this world.” And if someone dares to say that it is possible to get free from him, we immediately hear the words: “Are you crazy, have you taken leave of your senses? This is impossible, we do not believe you; these are empty words, foolish phrases, and youthful illusions.” But this young Bulgarian shepherd, with his stick that has come out of Eden, that tells no lie, with three hits – against the knife, in the right hand and in the left leg of the wrestler–daaliah, is enough to refute the false theory that the wrestler–daaliah is unconquerable. However, manliness is needed; will is needed for such a giant fight. But one may retort and say: “I do not see what deep sense exists in this ordinary example.” Yes, you are right in your point of view because you do not trouble yourselves to set things in order. But, if behind this formula the following truth lies, what will you say then? If this young shepherd represents the reasonable uncorrupted person; if his grandmother represents the Divine Love which permanently speaks to our soul that Liberty is a human right; and if the grandfather represents the Divine Wisdom, which takes the stick out, i.e. the Divine laws and entrusts it to the arms of this wise being in order to defend its soul from enslavement; and if the knife represents the Nature, forces contrary to human progress; and if the arm represents the corrupted human will, and the left leg – the corrupted human heart. We consider that by reacting to these forces in a certain direction we can eliminate the destructive actions.
In this exact sense one should comprehend the words: “He who will win to the end will be saved.” The victory is a condition for acquiring of Life. And the words of Christ: “The stronger one, while going into the home of the strong one and tying him, only then could he plunder his home” understand the same idea. For this reason, that Knowledge is necessary which can make us familiar with the laws of this process of acquiring Life. A woman who wants to weave some cloth should first know how to wash and spin wool, to prepare her loom, her harnesses, her weaver’s reed, her vatali5 and then to make the warp and to wind it to the cloth-beam, to stretch it tight and to start weaving in compliance with the rules determined in this art. The shuttle should be repeatedly thrown at one moment from the left side, at another from the right side; to carry the fibres of the weft, and when woven together with the warp will make the desired cloth.
An artist, who wants to paint a valuable picture, has to know the rules of this art; has to know the harmony of paints and has to wield his brush. A sculptor, who wants to mould a great statue, has to wield his hammer. He who wants to build a house has to know how to build it, how to raise and arrange it. A doctor who wants to become eminent and useful, has to know thoroughly the elements which cure the sick. A teacher, who teaches and elevates people, has to know the human soul, the human mind and has to act in compliance with them.
Now, the Christian who wants to acquire Eternal life should know the basis of this Life and should apply the laws on which it can be acquired. Life could be likened to a cloth, which we have to first weave and then dress. It is the first garment which human Spirit should be covered with. When we wear this cloth out, we become bare from outside. This baring is called moral lapse.
Christ clearly says: “It is Eternal life to know God.” To know Him – this is the secret of acquiring of Eternal life. But you will ask me: “Is it possible that we do not know God?” If you would know Him in the Christ’s sense you would not die. But you will answer back: “Who is he that does not die?” And this is what refutes people’s contention that they know God. But you will tell me that Christ died, too. No, He did not die but He resurrected and appeared to His beloved ones. When you die, will you resurrect to appear to yours? This is the important question for you.
You may have a particular concept of God such as that of a philosopher, a pantheist, a materialist, a churchman; but it will not carry Eternal life in you – that eternal beginning, that eternal blessing for which we strive, and which is our aim. If you don't have this you will be in the position of a sick person who basks in the moon in night-time and expects that it will warm him up; or of a hungry one who watches the nice loaves from a distance; or of a thirsty person who imagines from a distance that he drinks clear water and he says to himself: “I know it.” I am telling you this is not knowledge; this is an idea for the outside shadow of things. When you acquire the true knowledge of God, the Eternal life will be realized in your soul; then you will meet death like this young shepherd did. And there will be no epitaph over your grave: “He was buried here in the prime of his youth, he whose life, death put an end to.”
But let me return to the subject and illustrate the matter with a small analogy. Every living being needs an environment and conditions in which it will be able to live: soil, humidity and light is needed for plants; water is needed for fish - without it fish can not live; for birds, mammals, and people, air is the environment of their lives. This analogy is also true regarding external human feelings. The environment for the human eye is light; for the ear – sound; for the nose – smell, the flowers which constantly emit those ethereal vibrations which are the food of this feeling. The environment for taste is food; all those organic substances and saps that constantly flow and give life.
If we now go still higher up this staircase, we will notice how this great law works. The environment in which our heart can live, these are wishes; the environment in which the human mind can live and develop these are thoughts. Without thoughts the human mind atrophies, without desires the human heart atrophies, as well. The environment for human will is force, activity and energy for work – without work, will atrophies. Under the same rule, the environment of the human soul is God. That is why it is said in the Scriptures: “We live, move and exist in Him.” Through Him the soul can acquire its initial Life – can dress in immortality. Therefore God is an inner environment, an inner condition and an inner force from which we should constantly obtain. For example, as our eyes are connected with light, our lungs – with air; as our stomach is connected with the mouth in order to eat, so are our heart and our mind two means through which the soul can accept Life. These are preparatory environments for the Divine environment – the Universal Divine consciousness, in which our soul is dipped. It is true that each time when a being loses the connection with its environment, it is exposed to death; it makes no difference whether this is a plant, fish, bird, mammal or human being – the law is one and the same for all. Christ, who deeply realized this law, insists that it is necessary to know God or, saying in terms of science, that it is necessary to have connection with our environment.
But you will say: “We will know Him when we go to the next world.” The next world is God. People who think that when they die they will go to next world, look like that criminal son who, being imprisoned said to himself: “I am going to see my father.” Is this the prison where you will see your father? You will go to the place of reformation. In the next world you will not go to your Heavenly Father. In order to go there you should defeat death, get out of prison, and be free. That is why Christ says in the chapter read from the Gospel: “I am the door”; and at another place: “He who will go in and go out through Me, will find pasture, too.”
Do tell me; have you ever gone in through this door and have you ever gone out through it and how had you done it? If I ask you about the house of some friend of yours, you will say: “The outer gate of his house is to the west and the inner one to the north or south”; you will also describe how great it is, what paint it has and how it is locked. All churchmen say: ”Christ is a door.” As soon as Christ is a door, do clarify what it is made of, either of wood or iron, gold or silver, gems or something else, by what rings it is hung on, and on what bedding it lies? “But, you will say, this is figuratively said.” Good, make a translation of this door, what Christ is, in what sense He is a door? You will say: “Christ saved us.” How did He save us? “He died for us.” Is a dead one able to save? “But He resurrected.” How has He resurrected? “Through Divine life.” So, Christ has been united with God, He knew God and by this knowledge of God He defeated death, resurrected and came to our souls. Now He is with us. Firstly, He was imprisoned 33 years together with us and He taught us how to get out of this prison, how to overcome death and evil. Christ is now outside, in the next world with the Father of Light. He comes to visit our minds, our hearts and the world will see Him with those three hits: against the knife, in the arm and in the leg. He will pull down all false teachings. What are these false teachings? They are those elements, thoughts, desires, actions that disrupt human happiness, human mind, human heart, human soul, human Spirit; which fill us with death, anarchy and slavery everywhere and paralyze our life. And what is the teaching of Life? These are all the elements that give happiness, blessing, goodness, enlightenment; which raise the human Spirit, the human heart and bring in it Fondness and Love towards everything – this is the living Christ. And that is why He says: “In order to have these basic elements which can bring eternal Life in you, you surely should know God.”
In the world it is necessary to be at war. But with whom? “With death.” However this art should be understood properly otherwise mistakes will constantly follow us. I will tell you how: a Bulgarian mother sent her son to Germany, I think, to study. She was quite a well-to-do woman, every month she used to send some three-four-five hundred leva6 to her son, but it was not enough; he was short of money. One day he wrote to his mother to send a thousand leva. But she wrote: “I have no money; you will have to try to find some small job”; but her son said: “If you do not send me any money I am going to kill myself.” Then she, being indignant, wrote him so: “Kill yourself, I will spit over your grave; I do not want a son who is a coward, who does not want to work, who is afraid of work in the struggle with life and wants to live like an old woman.” The words were not the exact ones but were in this sense. The son pulled himself together. And today this telegram is in a frame and when questioned about it he replies: “It saved me.”
So, in the world you should fight with the elements of death. And how are you going to win? By one way only: by knowing God – the beginning of Life. But you will ask me again: “How can we aspire to this Beginning?” This is the easiest thing. Let us say, you choke; what will you do? You will open your mouth and will breathe. You should breathe in through your nose. So, in order to have Life, we should have knowledge and in order to have knowledge, we should have a fresh mind that is able to take in, to move.[M1] And when you permanently take in those good, elevated thoughts with your mind, as you permanently take in air through the nose, you will be on the way to this Eternal life that you are searching for. If everyday you make a small trial to strengthen your will; when bad thoughts and desires come, to drive them off and to take only the good thoughts and desires then within one year and more you may do wonders with yourselves; there will be no hindrance which will not submit to this effort of your will.
Now, of course, one who wants to acquire immortality should have a strong will in the true sense of the word. But you say: “I am not able.” Those who are not able will go to prison. This is what is written in the Divine book. When you say: “I am not able”, God says: “Imprison him, I shall teach him to be able.” There is not another way to begin. This is our fate. If we want to unite with God, to live with Him, to acquire Eternal life, we surely should be servants to Him. Otherwise there will be another kind of serving, but to whom? - To the devils, to the princes of this world who will set us to work three times a day. The devil will take a whip and will say: ”Gee! You do not want to work for God – flap!” After all that you will say: “There is nothing to be done – there should be work: because there is a stick - a beating of course. If you stop, the whip will begin cracking again. These are the two ways. “I do not want to serve God.” Once you do not want to serve God, you will have another god. “I want to be free.” You deceive yourselves, there is no freedom in this world; the only one that has Freedom, is he, who is united with God and live conscious life. Sometimes you say: “I got angry, I told him this and that.” You think that you have acted very wisely - you talked down to him! Who did talk down, to whom will you talk down? “I beat him up.” What were you paid for this? This is okay, tomorrow you will be beaten. What kind of freedom is this: today you beat, tomorrow you are beaten; today you strangle, tomorrow you will be strangled? This is not Freedom.
Christ says: “You should acquaint yourselves with the main principle of knowledge.” I want you to apply what I am saying to you. You go to the church, stand up, fold your arms, close your eyes, get carried away and pray to God; as soon as you leave the church – you forget all this. People from outside say: ”This person goes to church, he is religious: he departs – his life is different.” This means that you have not found the correct and true way of salvation. But they say: “Christ came and saved us.” Christ saves the intelligent and the good; He never saves the bad and the foolish people. He saves the intelligent and good ones who listen and implement His teaching. In the first place Christ teaches us how we should work for ourselves. He says: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Way – is the method. Truth this is your mind by which you should acquaint yourselves with things – which are good and which are bad. Life – is an art, by which you already know how to make the cloth, and how to dress yourselves with it.
Make a small trial with yourselves. You are sick, nervous, indisposed; your children are not good. Leave the children in peace, do not worry about them, and think a little about yourselves. Why are you nervous, why are you indisposed? There are deep reasons for this. If you tell me: “I am thirsty”, I will tell you: ‘Drink some water.’ “I am hungry.” ‘Have your meal.’ “But how will I drink, there is no glass?” ‘Kneel to this mountain spring that is the element which can quench your thirst.’ “I do not want to kneel.” ‘You will kneel, otherwise you will stay thirsty.’ “But my trousers which I have bought now will be covered with mud.” ‘If you want to protect your new trousers you will stay thirsty. Better kneel, get dirty in order to feel the blessings of water.’ “I am hungry.” ‘Come with me’; I take him into a room: ‘Here is some bread, you will sit down on the ground and will eat.’ “But I am not used to eating in this way; I need a fork, a knife, a bowl.” ‘Leave the fork, the knife, the bowl; there – you will take this bread, will break it to pieces with your hands and will eat.’ “But people will see me. It is a shame.” ‘Once you feel ashamed, you will stay hungry. If you feel ashamed to go to school with an ABC book, you will remain uneducated.’
So, when one is called to follow Christ, he should not say “what would people say” but he should come near to Christ, put His teaching into practice and then he will become strong. The devil threatens us because we are weak. I do not want you to be weak but to eat enough. How? By feeding your mind, and your heart. To acquire eternal Life, means to know how to feed not only your body, but also your heart, your mind, your soul, and your Spirit. This is a method of feeding in compliance with the deep teaching of Christ. And this morning, I would put the following title to my lecture: “How to learn to eat.” You have learned only to chew and you are very skilful at this art. Now start from there on: put the meal and feed your heart, feed your mind, feed your Spirit, too. And when you have your meal in this way, I will tell you that you are very sensible, that you have learnt Christ’s teaching and that you will acquire Eternal life, because you know how to unite with God.
I place this matter on an experimental ground; I speak about things that I understand, about things that I have experienced myself. The only thing that impedes you is that you hesitate; you use big words to describe how this matter stands. When speaking of practical life, there is no philosophy. You have called a woman to teach you how to spin and weave. “But I am not able.” You will be able. In the beginning, this will not be done instantly but gradually, from day to day, in a week, in a month your yarn will become thinner; then you will learn how to twist; after that the weaving itself will come. Do not think that everything will go on wheels at once; you will have hindrances, but if you persist, you will learn. Let your first attempt be the following: try to keep your mind free for one or two minutes, not thinking of ordinary trite things of everyday life. You say: “I stopped thinking, I do not think of anything”, but through your mind pass your grandmother, your children, hens, oxen, firewood and you think that you are free. Chaos exists in your mind: your grandmother, your mother, and your children are all there. Say at last: “I want to be free; today I will think of God – the Great love of Life. Everyone – out in the yard, you will play there and leave me alone, because I have very important work. Try the first time, for only two minutes. But the children will come; they will fight, and cry. Let them fight, let them cry; forget them for two minutes and devote this small time to think only of God of Love. This is the art – the smallest. “But, you will say, this is very easy work.” It only seems easy. After that try for five minutes, ten minutes.
So, Christ first wants to turn out of your heart the oxen, the hens, the horses, the wolves, the foxes that have dirtied your sanctuary. Do you know who these wolves and foxes are? There are foxes and wolves in you. I see them – with long tails, with red fur, with great teeth and claws. Your hatred – it is a wolf; your hypocrisy is a fox. Why do you want this fox, what is the use of it? No use. Turn everything out and put order in yourselves. Then you will call your priest: “Come you, servant of the living God, put your vestment on, and take your burner by which you offer your incense up to God.” You will call the bishop of your Life, too. And who is that bishop? – Your Spirit. You will also call the singers. Who are they? – Your good feelings and desires. You will say: “Come, start singing, and serve God in this erected temple.” And then Christ will come and finding this meeting free of those who had been selling pigeons and the like in it, having been driven out by him, He will say: “Let Peace be with you! The day of your resurrection has come; today you will be in Paradise with Me.” Do you know the deep meaning of the words said by that robber, who was crucified at the right side of Christ: “Good God, mention me in Your Kingdom!” He was a person who had expelled all the vermin from within and for this Jesus told him: “You are a person who will be in Paradise with me today.” Turn out all vermin, pigs, foxes, and wolves from yourselves. And the other robber who was crucified at the left side of Christ, what did he say? – “If you are really the Son of God, go down and set us free.” How could he set him free if he had not expelled all the vermin from himself, and was still a slave of his egotism?
I think that you understand me; I am speaking very clearly to you. I want to speak to you in a way that you maybe have never been spoken to. The first thing is to learn to love God and this Love will connect you with Him. You have thousands of opportunities to unite with Him and to make your life happy. And when you connect with Him and go into the Eternal life, everything in you will change and everything will come to its place.
So, set yourselves the aim to expel foreign thoughts from you; first for two minutes, then for five minutes and when you remain alone, in this deep contemplation start thinking on this great matter: why you are on the Earth, you are indisposed, why you do not have lofty thoughts and heart, why you do not have the will to solve a certain problem. And Christ will answer you. He will answer in this form: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. This means that when you drive everything out of you and accept Me in yourselves, when you know My Father as God who lives in Me, who has given Me Eternal Life, He will give such to you, too.”
We should accept Christ in ourselves in order to connect with God. And Christianity has meaning only when we learn to overcome this life in order to acquire the life which is of value to us, because it brings Knowledge, Power, and nobility in our feelings, happiness, gives power to the Spirit to overcome everything. Let the fear from poverty stop in the world. This is the teaching of Christ. You are afraid of death. Meet her saying: “We will fight with her!” They may want to put you into prison; say within yourself: “We will fight against him who brings death, through the power of Him who lives in us, through the one true God.” The whole world may oppose you, you may be frightened – do not be afraid. One who is frightened can not become a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Now you fight in the world and when you go to the Heaven you will each be given a George’s cross, which will be a living cross. You will come back and then Christ will say to you: “Come you good servant who has fought in the battle-field.”
Humans suffer for thousands of years but they have not suffered for humankind, for Justice; till now they have suffered only for themselves, for oxen, horses and so on. At last they have to suffer for Christ. In this suffering you will find the true Life. And that is why Apostle Paul says: “If we liken with Him in suffering, we will liken in the resurrection, too”; because while living for Him, God will resurrect us in the same way as He resurrected Christ. Let Christ’s Spirit develop in us, let us know the True God and acquire Eternal life. Then we will go out to work for our smaller brothers and sisters, so that they too could learn the art of acquiring the wealth of this Divine life.
21.09.1914, Sofia 7
1 Turkish soldiers from the Christian population.
2 Turks from the south parts of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria who used to rob at the end of the XVIII-th century and the beginning of the XIX-th century.
3 Turkish word for persons of religion different from the Islam and who do not profess the Islam faith.
4 Turkish word for the non-Muslim population in the Ottoman Empire.
5 Parts of а home loom where the reed is put.
6 Bulgarian currency.
7 The lecture “The necessity of knowing God” was first published in the collection “Power and Life”, first series, Sofia, 1915.
[M1]Suggestion to make it clearer – {obtain knowledge and to move in the right direction}
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