"For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other...But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law."
Gal.: 5:17, 22 - 23
In general, people have very foggy concept about those deep laws upon which life is based. The world in which we live is governed by laws and rules which God set down long ago when He constructed the universe. When He introduced the first man into the world, (about this the scriptures say nothing) God taught him for a long time and instructed him in the Divine knowledge. God acquainted man with all the basic laws of the great building in which He placed man to live. He instructed man about the properties of the herbs, acquainted him with the qualities and functions of the elements and, as He made man master over all these, He said to him: "If you obey the laws which I have laid down, you will always be joyous, blissful and you will succeed in all that you will do; but on the day on which you break My commandment, everything will turn against you." The two trees of which it is written in the Scripture, "The Tree of Life" and "The Tree of Knowledge", witness that this was true. If I should pause now and explain what these trees are, I would digress from the main subject. I will give the explanations in one other lecture. These two trees in Paradise were living, intelligent, and possessed certain power, certain qualities. And God said to the first man: "In the Tree of Knowledge is hidden great danger and on the day when you touch it you will lose everything. The elements which are hidden in this tree are not for you yet; you are not strong enough to be able to govern them. You may explore them in the future, but for the time being you will make use of all the other trees, of everything in life, but not of the Tree of Knowledge."
I will not stop now to explain the deep cause which instigated Adam to break God's law. Some people preach that we must have faith. It is true that either positive or negative faith is necessary; this is the basis of life, and without faith life could not exist. All beings, as small as they may be, beginning from the microscopic ones up to the most advanced ones, all have faith. What is their faith? A disbeliever says, "I do not believe in God." At the same time his assertion indicates that he must believe in something and this is that there is not a God. This indicates that he has some faith. I would like to see how a man could remain without faith, not even to believe in himself. If he believes in himself this indicates that he has faith, yet he believes in his own mind. When we say that someone is a disbeliever, this is not correct. This is only half of the truth, he has dropped the faith in God but he still has faith in himself. Therefore, faith can be positive and negative. Adam and Eve manifested this principle of disbelief in God when Lucifer came to the garden of Eden and they believed in him instead of in God. As a result of this came the original sin. Saint Paul says in his letter to the Romans: "To whom you submit, his servant you become."
This morning my lecture will be on the two great laws which I formulate as follows: "Law of opposites" and "Law of similarity." These are laws which we can verify every day. They are not abstract philosophy, they are not complex as reincarnation or transmigration of the souls, but rather things which we can check in ourselves. From this view of the laws, even the darker sides can become to a certain degree clearer to you. For example, you find yourselves at the sea shore. You see the sea calm and peaceful; but suddenly you notice that it gradually starts to be agitated, and towards the shore a flow rises - that which the scientists call "high tide". There are places where the sea rises as much as 60 feet high. In such cases, you must flee as soon as possible. Only in this way you can save yourselves, otherwise you will be caught and swallowed by the waves.. This influx, this rising of tide, continues for twelve hours; after this, one can see, for the next 12 hours, the waves receding back to the see. You can observe this phenomenon often, sometimes every day; in 24 hours, once towards and once away from the sea shores. Such a high and low tide occurs also in you. Where? Naturally not in the high mountainous places, not at the peaks of life, but in the low places. Perhaps once it has happened to you, that while going out in clear weather to the sea shore to sing some beautiful song, a wave has come and carried you off together with your nice song before you have even realized what has happened to you; or at least it has splashed you well. Or perhaps you were sitting in a boat in the calm sea, when suddenly a storm came up and turns your boat upside down and you found yourself afloat in the raging sea. Someone may think that this is a slight exaggeration of the facts, but this is true for life. How often people disappear without a trace in this sea of life, with their songs, dreams, and ideals! You say: Misfortune! and search for the reasons without knowing the laws of nature. When the old philosophers were saying "Come to know yourself!" They had in mind the knowledge of these two laws of measured movements of high and low tides. In your mind these expressions may be foggy, but I will try to explain them. In modern science, this phenomenon is called the law of "rhythmic movement". In all things, there exists a flow from the center to the periphery and from the periphery toward the center; in all things there is a high and low tide, a rising and a sinking, a generation and degeneration. In chemistry, there exists "action" and "reaction". Action is flood; after that follows reaction, which is reflux. If sometime you observe your wristwatch, you will notice that its sound becomes at one time stronger, then gradually it becomes weaker, to die, as if it may stop at any minute; and then it starts picking up again and weakens again. The same happens also with the human heart. If you place your hand on your heart you will notice that sometimes it starts to beat faster and you are afraid. The doctor will say that this person has an increased heart beat. This flood in your organism is reflected in the beat of the heart. This law works everywhere. When the doctors say that someone has had a heart attack, i say that this man has a certain flood of his mind, of his heart, of his soul and after 12 hours this flood will recede and the heart beat will slow down. These twelve hours can be twelve seconds, twelve minutes, 12 hours, 12 days, 12 weeks, 12 months, 12 years, 12 centuries, 12 thousand years, 12 million years, etc.; there is no difference, the relation of things remains the same. This is how this law works.
In the chapter which I have read, St. Paul speaks about the law of the flesh - this is the law of reflux and about the law of the Spirit which is the law of influx. The law of opposites includes in itself the law of reflux, and the law of similarity - the law of influx. In same places miasma are formed and their evaporations propagate microbes from which diseases are spread. This law works in our brain, in our heart and in our soul. Often residue remains in the body which brings about diseases. We call these rheumatism of the joints, of the feet, of the head. We feel pains and begin to complain. If we were smart and knew the laws when there was high tide we could build a barrier, a big wall. If we are foolish, we start singing on the shores of the stormy sea.
People constantly say: the world is evil. What is evil about it? What about the war? It is an influx of powers and in this influx there are some collisions and all people rush away and say that high tide is approaching. This rushing and running they call war. They ask what will happen with the world? I say: after 12 hours, or after 12 weeks, or after 12 years everything will calm down; the places which are covered with blood will dry out. Then the people will ask themselves: what was this all about, what was the reason, why did the sea rise against us? The sea has not become mad, it only breathes, and when its chest upheaves to take in the air it rises 60 feet. When the sea rises 60 feet, you must be 60 miles away from the shores standing on a high peak, this is what matters. When it exhales you can go to the shores and enjoy it; but when you see it inhaling, run to the high peak.
If we could only understand that the two laws of opposites and similarity are two great things in this world. The law of similarity is the law of heaven; the other law - of opposites - is the law of the earth, of the organic world, of the flesh. You rise in the morning ill-disposed, the whole world seems to be against you, you do not feel like working, your mind is troubled. You say: God has not created the world properly. All the devils are within your mind; you are ready to quarrel with anyone, you ride roughshod and wait to start a fight with somebody - this is acting according to the law of opposites. On such a day the wife sees that her husband is riding roughshod. If she understands the law of the opposites she must run at least two miles from her husband and say to herself; today me husband has low tide of his spirit and high tide of his flesh. Do not laugh because the next day the wife will do the same. This is a law. All people do not ride roughshod at the same time. Ten years ago I lived with a family. It consisted of seven members: the father, the mother, one son and four daughters. I made some minor observations and checked the functioning of this law; it worked like a clock. All members of this family took turns each day of the week. On Monday the father was ill-disposed. They all said: today our father is not well disposed, he is serious, shouts, and scolds. All the others were quiet and tried to understand the reason. On Tuesday the father was cheerful, but they saw that the mother was ill-disposed. The father only smiled and said: Today is your mother's turn. It is very interesting that the older son was ill-disposed on Wednesday. They all laughed and in this way they all took turns. I knew well who's turn it was, and the schedule worked inviolably. It was to acertain extent pleasant. If one is ill-disposed, it is easy, but when two have their turns, or said in a scientific way - if both are in low tide, then it is bad. In the chapter that I read, St. Paul says that the flesh counteracts the spirit, and the spirit, the flesh. It is impossible to reconcile these two laws because they move in opposite directions: one moves forward and the other backwards. The law of opposites destructs, it ruins happiness, harmony. When it comes to you, it robs you of all your belongings. If you are subject for a long time to the law of the opposites, it can influence your mind for 12 minutes, 12 hours, 12 years. There exists certain periods of life which influence the character of a man right from the beginning. If a child is conceived and born in the period of opposites, it will inevitably become a criminal and will not be able to escape the consequences, because the parents have given him those elements which stimulate his life in a different direction. If both the father and the mother are under the influence of the law of similarity, they will give rise to a noble son or daughter with a good and well developed mind. This is the way in which these great laws work. The first people before the great sin knew the laws and understood them, but after the great sin they forgot them.
People want to have their priest preach to them after the service, but it may happen that he is under the influence of the law of opposites; his vibrations, his mood, his sermon on such a day cannot bring a blessing to the people. He may serve because he is forced to do so. If he were free, he would take his hat and go somewhere else. But the people expect him to preach to them. What can he tell them? He will judge them: you are such and such, you are bad people, and he will send them to hell. On that day, he will have spoken a lie, for he has spoken about himself. The people in this case were serving as a mirror in which he was seeing himself; he was under the influence of the law of opposites.
People talk about a well known American preacher in New York who was preaching for a long time under the influence of the law of opposites and voiced such terrible things that all his parishioners were afraid of him. Since he was under the influence of the law of opposites, deposits remained in his stomach which hindered proper digestion and harmed the whole organism. They caught the priest one day and took him to the hospital to clean all the impurities from his stomach. In the hospital, they pushed a hose into his stomach and flushed it out with 4-5 quarts of warm water, cleaning it once, and then a second time, ridding it of all the deposits. A week later, the preacher appeared in the church and preached about the Kingdom of God, about the second coming of Christ, about love, etc. The people said to each other: Do you see how our preacher has become a new man! I say: When a priest or a speaker speaks in a church or in congress, he must first throw out all the deposits from his stomach, his heart, and his mind. Only then should he speak to the people.
Let's assume that you rise in the morning from sleep slightly ill-disposed and you do not know why this is. After five or ten minutes your mind begins to clear up and you say to yourself: Thank God I fell better now. Some time passes and you are attacked again by evil thoughts and you say: Where did this devil come from? People cannot understand that there is a law that periodically and systematically functions in this world. There is no devil to catch people in a trap, this is a divine law. God says: "I have provided you with a mind so that you may contemplate upon the order of the world. At one time I instructed you about this law but you have forgotten it and now the law itself will teach you." When modern societies understand the deep meaning of these two laws the world then will change fundamentally. Some people ask: How can the world be changed? When we start to act according to this law, the world will be arranged the way that God originally ordered it.
Similar causes produce similar results: opposite causes produce opposite actions. The Hindu explain these two laws with the word "karma" - the law of cause and effect. The karma can be karma in high tide and karma in low tide, or also good and bad karma. In commercial language this means: to give and to receive. When you give, this is a low tide; when you receive this is influx. He to whom you are indebted will come to you exactly on the day of payment and will ask you to pay your debt. The day of payment indicates a law that regulates all things. this law is conditioned by debtors and by the person who is to receive.
Therefore, when God sends us into the world He places upon us certain conditions; we have signed an obligation to accomplish this and that. But now we tell Him: "We owe nothing." Is that so? I will apply the law upon you, I will apply the law of the opposites. You are hurting someone and he, too, will hurt you; you love him, he too, will love you; what you do to another the same will be done to you. These two laws rule and function on earth.
The like is repulsed by the like. A rooster climbs on the compost heap, another, a stronger one, comes and chases him away. Why don't they both crow on the dungpile? The law says that on one dungpile only one rooster can crow. Therefore only good or evil can exist in the world. Two evils can not tolerate one another in the same place; two goodnesses cannot stay in one place either. A saint cannot stand another saint, one scientist the other. This is how a Turkish saying goes: "The cotton merchant is not afraid of a white dog."
And so, on earth these two laws work: the law of opposites and of similarity. The good strives toward the evil and the evil - toward the good. This is why he who wants to live on earth inevitably must have evil people as friends; the evil ones on the other hand must have good people as friends. The good person that wants to communicate only with good people will be unhappy. Why? There must be an exchange between the good and the evil people. For example, a merchant has produced fabrics for millions, but his neighbor also has just the same fabrics. Who will be the customer in this case? Their interests do not match. The one will say to the other: "Go away from here! Go somewhere else, go to the other end of the earth, I will sell here." Therefore, the law of the opposites is working here.
Christ, who knew this law, speaks about self-renunciation. When a man is self-denying, he becomes a servant and then God tells him: "I love you." If someone says that he, too will be a master, God will tell him that two people cannot be masters at the same time, one must be the master, and the other, the servant. Evil comes about when both want to be masters at the same time. If they want to be masters and insist on this, God says: "Two masters cannot exist here with me. If they insist in this, I will send them to the other side of the world." Which is the other side of the world? - The earth. This is why God has sent men to earth. Within all of you who want to understand the law of the similarities works the law of the opposites and because of that you are unhappy. You must leave the law of the opposites and enter into the law of the similarity, and the law of similarity is self-denial. To deny oneself does not mean that one must lose ones life, but only to change one service for another. Let's assume that two candidates want to become high school principals. If one of them acts according to the law of the similarity, he will say to the other: "You become the principal and I will be a teacher." But if both of them insist on becoming principals, there will be some plotting in the Board of Education; each of them will say; "I am more capable." Who rules them in this case? The law of the opposites. Christ's teaching is on the side of the law of similarity. Christ came to this world to install the law of similarity. He says: "I do not want to rule over you but want to teach you how to be happy: if you love me and obey my law you will be blessed." If you are ill-disposed, hateful, critical, unhappy; you re under the law of opposites. You must leave it, or stated in the scientific way, you must emerge out of the law of the opposites and enter into the law of similarity. Or placed in other words - you must change the conditions and the environment. Start to love. - How shall I love? It is true, that you cannot love if you do not go where love is. It is the same as if you were locked in a dark room and someone tells you: "Look!" What can you look at? A dark room, but this is not the place of similarity. You must go out from this room. If you had a candle you could strike a match and light it. Therefore, when Christ said that we must deny ourselves, He wants to imply that we must leave this dark room of self-seeking and enter into the law of similarity, of love. You can see how rational this is. Go out and find the places where you can find the elements which will make you happy, which will please your heart. You cannot do this as long as you are in the law of the opposites. In this way, many people will fight for one position as a professor. Once in France, an opening was announced for a professors job and fifteen thousand candidates applied for it. How many people can receive this appointment? One candidate for one position. In modern society such desires often occur. Why? Because every one is a candidate for the same position. You hate someone and want to do away with him. Why do you hate him? Because either you or he are candidates for the same position. The law of the opposites in life is merciless. This law works also in the world of our thoughts, of our desires, and of our will. During certain periods of time, the myriads of cells of which our bones, our nervous system, stomach, lungs, heart and brain are composed are under the influence of both the law of the opposites and of similarity, and therefore there are also high and low tides in them. A man is angry, ill-disposed, which indicates that he is in a period of low tide. After that inevitably there must come in him a period of high tide. How? He will concentrate, direct his thoughts toward God, he will climb to the high mountain where God abides and speak for a while with Him and when the low tide passes by he will return to earth.
By influx I do not imply only the phenomenon that happens with the sea but also in the plant kingdom which always comes when there is humidity in the air. As soon as the fruit ripens it start to wither.Here we have the law of opposites which prepares the soil for he next year. The law of the opposites takes off the old clothes, and the law of similarity provides the new clothes. When you undress, this is the law of opposites; you got dressed - the law of similarity. Your body gets soiled, and this indicates that you are under the law of opposites; you take a bath, you are in the law of similarity. Every morning you rise from sleep and wash your face. Why? - Because of habit. Today you must go to visit God because there is a low tide in you. You wash your face and say: "I will take a load off my heart, I will rinse away the dust from my mind and this way I will go to see God's face. The washing of the face is exactly this act. Yet since you cannot explain this, you wash your face and after that, you stir the mud all day long again. And then your affairs do not work out as they should. How should they if you are stirring up the mud which is in you. In order not to be soiled, one must be in a high mountainous place.
According to St. Paul, the law of similarity has application in the following verse: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Love is the father, joy is the matter, and peace is their child. Therefore, they form a triangle which belongs to the Divine world. He who wants to be blissful must have these qualities. Then he is in heaven. After that follows the second category of virtues which belong to the angelic world: long-suffering - the father, gentleness - the mother, goodness - their child. Attain these and you will be among the angels. The third category: faith - the father, meekness - the mother, temperance - their child. Thus I say: "According to the law of similarity you must first have a father." Who is your father? Faith. But I have no faith. Friend, I have a bad idea about you. If you do not have a father, you are born of lawless parents; your mother has not born you in a divine way. This is what I understand when someone says that he has no faith. If he says that he has faith then I say to him: "I congratulate you, because you have a noble father, who comes from a royal family." But I do not believe in this father. In such a case, you are the lowest scoundrel.
Let's come back to the word meekness. We said that meekness is the mother; she. too, is of royal family. If you believe in meekness this indicates that you have a mother. - But I do not want to be meek. - Then you have no mother. Therefore, every Christian must have a father and a mother - faith and meekness, and he himself is temperance. When we say "temperance" we must understand that this is us - the child of our father - faith, and of our mother - meekness. Someone says that he wants to go among the angels. - You can go, but you must be born of a father - long-suffering and your mother - gentleness - must have conceived you and bore you in her womb. When you are born what will you be? Goodness, an angel, a saint. If you have mercy, you are an angel, among the angels you have a father - long-suffering and a mother - gentleness. This is the law that regulates the human life. It is the base on a philosophy which can be proven every day.
Do not deceive yourselves nor should you deceive others. Only he who lives in the law of opposites can deceive himself. For my self I exclude the law of opposites. If I am in low tide I go to God; when I am in high tide then I come to earth to work. If I stay with God, who can deceive me? This is why I have said in a previous lecture: Where God is the devil cannot enter. Where God is absent the devil is there. If someone says that the devil is riding his back, I understand what he wants to imply. If God is in your heart, then the devil cannot step on you. According to the law of similarity, the evil can never change into good, nor the good into evil.
An old white bearded man appeared one day in front of a saint who was living in the desert for twenty years. He said to the saint: "I am a great sinner, please pray to God for forgiveness of my sins." When the old man left, the saint started to pray to God for him. An angel appeared to the saint and said to him; "Your prayer is not accepted by God because this old man is the devil himself. In order to try him and see if he speaks the truth, say to him: "I will pray for you but you must confess all your sins. Climb this rock and say; "God have mercy upon me because I am a great sinner. This you should repeat for a whole year." After some time the old man came back again and the saint told him as he was advised by the angel. "What?" - screamed the devil. "I can't do that! I, who am ruling the whole world, do not want to pray, you must pray." The saint said to him: "An old hatred cannot become a new virtue."
Those who preach the Gospel must realize that they never can change the law of opposites into a law of similarity. They cannot draw a man to God who lives constantly in the law of the opposites. They cannot make him happy, nor can they change a woman into a man. The woman wants her husband to make her happy. How can he make her happy when she does not love him. He purchases a nice suit for her - she is dissatisfied; he brings some groceries - they were not good; the house was not built the way it should have been, this or that is not in place. How can you satisfy her when she is in the sphere of the opposites of her mind and when all the things which her husband would do for her would not be in the state to change her nature. Neither can a woman change her husband if he has such a disposition. She can cook, clean the house, but he will still be dissatisfied because he lives within the law of the opposites. A woman says: "I do not know what to do with my husband, he has become so impossible." I contemplate calmly and say: "Unfortunately, he is under the law of the opposites, in law tide; put him in your wagon, harness the horses, take him to a high mountain to rest - this is what your husband needs. When the wife wants to take her husband to church, she takes a coach and says to him: "Let's go to God, in the church a famous man will preach and we will learn something new."
Now we say: The world must change! How will the world change? If for millions of years the pig has been grunting beneath the tree and after it has eaten all the pears, it starts to dig the roots of the pear tree, I ask: How can the pear tree bear new pears next year? The pig will ruin the whole tree. You, too, in the same way when there are no pears on the tree start to dig the roots and say: The money which we search for is buried in the ground. This way you become gold-diggers. I say: you are in the sphere of the law of the opposites. In the roots of the tree, there are no pears, nor gold. Do not dig constantly in one place, put your bag on your shoulder, take your cane and go somewhere else. Why? Because when the master comes and finds that you are still digging at his tree, he will punish you well. This is what God does to this world now. You dig and search for pears and God says: Strike every one of these men, twenty-five times.
Therefore, apply this law in your life. The wife should not dig around the roots of her husband; if there are no pears on his tree, let her wait. The husband, too, should not dig around the roots of his wife's pear tree; the priests - their parishioner's tree, the students - their professors' tree. Let all apply the law and they will understand life as God has created it. This is a philosophy which can be applied in this world. It is so simple that everyone can understand it. If you say that you cannot do this, then I will tell you that you are sunken in the swamp, in the mud of opposites. If you say that you can, you are in the law of similarity. Make a step forward and you will find yourselves on the path of salvation. Some people say that they cannot love. I am sorry, I cannot help you, because you are in the realm of the opposites where you collect the scum, the mud. I can love. You are in the law of similarity and God is with you. If you rise in the morning, ill-disposed, say to yourself: Today I am in a low tide, I will harness the wagon, I will take the yoke of the horse and go on a trip. Do not go near the tree to pick some pears when the time is not right. You may find pears somewhere else. Get up and start to pray if you know how. In prayer you will become strong. The most sublime and noble occupation which one can do on earth is to pray. This is the only way for human hearth to be uplifted. I do not speak about the external aspect of praying, in which only the tongue participates, but about the conscious impulse of the soul toward God - The Highest Love. Not all people have the same outlook. Some say: I can not pray. Someone else says mockingly: "It is a delusion; I am a learned man, I have education, how can I pray to God!" The men of science are inconsistent. They apply for a job and write the following way: I have completed my education and herewith I am applying most humbly for a position promising to fulfill my duties in the most accurate way. Is this not a prayer? Yes, quite a prominent prayer. yet praying to God is a shame. As long as there will exist people that pray only to their equals and not to God, the world will remain the same as it is. These people live in the law of the opposites.
I ask: How can we be good when lies are at our sides wherever we go? We deceive ourselves, our neighbors and God, too. Unconsciously we have granted citizenship to lies. We act under fear. Let us free ourselves from fear, let us decide to be honest at least in front of God. If you make a mistake, say: Pardon me God, I have made a mistake! Do not say that such and such was the person who made you err, that you are better than he is. Do not act like the Pharisee who has a high esteem of himself. If you are acting this way you find yourselves in the sphere of the law of the opposites, of darkness. Be honest and say: "I have made this mistake." When you admit that you have made a mistake you will be able to improve. Read the confession of Tolstoy where you can find a good example about self-confession. Tolstoy became great after his confession. There exist in history only a few such examples. You, too. aren't you able to do the same? If you wish to become a noble man, an angel, a saint, this is the easiest way for you. In one day you can become ten times an angel or a devil. Many people do not believe in reincarnation but nevertheless they can reincarnate in one day ten times. When you want to kill a person you are an reincarnated devil, you are in the sphere of the law of the opposites and are able to commit any evil. If you are in the sphere of the law of similarity you are an angel. If you are ready to self-sacrifice, or to do a noble deed, you are a saint. One thing is sad in this case; that you are not able to keep this state for a longer period of time.
It was said that man is created in the image and after the likeness of God. Here is what I understand by "image and likeness of God." When you hear it said that some man has been elected as a governor or judge, I ask: did this person exist before the election or not? He existed earlier, but as a common citizen. And when God said: Let us make man in our image and after our likeness". He wanted to promote man to a higher rank, to make him a general, to adorn him in the uniform of a general with all the signs of dignity. But man did not fulfill the will of God and God took him down from this high rank, took away his adornments and clothes. This is the great sin of man. "Take off his full-dress" said God, "because he did not perform his duties as a general properly." When you turn to God, He will say: "Today you have the image and are after the likeness of a general, enter Paradise!" If after five, ten minutes you seek to fulfill the law, again He says: "Take off the full-dress of this general!" If you are angry, or ill-disposed you are outside Paradise. After one or two years you repent and God says again: "Bring him here, I will promote him to a general."
Many times before now God has been promoting and discharging you. Today you are OK, you are angels in heaven; tomorrow you are bad, you are sent down to earth. If you do not pray, if you do not obey the divine law, you will serve the evil. The two laws of the opposites and of similarity regulate the world. The spirits that live under the law of opposites don't have the desire to return under the law of similarity and for this reason God cannot transfer them from one sphere to the other. The first thing in Christianity is the border line which exist between these two laws. When you come to this frontier, you must leave all your baggage - thoughts and desires that are under the law of opposites - and then enter the law of similarity, free and purified. Then God will give you new clothes and will promote you to generals. Because of disobedience to the order of God - not to eat from the tree of Knowledge - man become naked. God took off his full-dress as a general and man had to prepare clothes for himself out of leaves. God said: "Quickly make him clothes of skin!" This is why today you have clothes of skin called flesh. How and when can you free yourself of this skin? When you enter the law of similarity. This skin will fall off you and God will give you full-dress of a general with epaulets. Such is the Christian philosophy which you can apply in your life. This is not a philosophy of the past, it is a philosophy of the present. You reincarnate every day by serving once the good and another time the evil. This means reincarnation.
Modern Christians say: Whoever believes in the law of reincarnation will be expelled from the Church. Why should you expel me? Because I believe in the laws of opposites and similarity and live according to them? If I live according to God's law it doesn't matter to my soul if you expel me from the church or keep me in it. When I live in God, when I do not hate antibody, when I try to love all people, would it be possible to expel me? Only God can expel me. This is the teaching which I am preaching. I say: In the day when you fail, you will be expelled from the Divine church, from Paradise. What are modern churches? They are only a remote remembrance of a great past. Do you know what secretes are hidden in these churches? There is a deep philosophy in the church: the stones of which it is built, the meaning of the priest's vestment, the candles. Upon the vestments of the priest are written God's law. They put on these vestments every day but they cannot read what has been written on them. Do you know what is the meaning of the vestments, the crown, the scepter of the cardinal? And of the censer and the incense? We have closed the Divine book of life and say: Do not touch this book, for it is sacred! God says: "Watch out not to soil this book from without, keep it clean; open it carefully and read of it every day a little and take notes about the valuable things which it contains." The church, the vestments, the icons, the candles, the censer, the books, everything is in its place. You must keep the contents of the sacred book. From it you will study the laws of opposites and similarity. When you accomplish this, then you will put Christ's cross on your back and will be ready to be crucified. Then God will say: "This man will be with Me in Paradise" and you will be saved. This happens in one moment. In this moment I will be in heaven, and in the moment when I have a doubt about God and think evil about Him, I am already at the bottom of hell. In the moment when I come to love God in my soul and say: "God, forgive me!", I am with Him. He stretches out His right arm and takes me with Him.
Now I will give an example and I will finish with it. A man died and was sent to hell where he remained for a long time, for centuries. He suffered and prayed to God to forgive him. At last God said: Open the book of life and see if he has done at least one good deed during his entire life. When the book was opened, it was found out that once this man had given a carrot to a poor man. God said: This man can be freed. He gave the order to one of his angels: Reach out with a carrot so that he may hold on to it and this way you will be able to pull him out from hell. Yet together with him, other sinners kept holding to the carrot and to each one's feet and the angel took them all up to heaven. The man whose carrot it was said to the others: This is my carrot! As soon as he spoke these words the chain broke and they all fell back into hell. Let your carrot serve to save other people also, let it help to raise them up to heaven because if you say, "This is my carrot"; you will fall down again. Let others hold on to your clothes, to your feet; keep quiet, say nothing. As soon as you say, "This is my carrot" you are far from God. Unselfishness lives always according to the law of similarity. Sacrifice and renunciation - this is Christianity.
(II. ser., 1st lecture of the Master given in Sofia on Nov. 2.1914)
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