"Like newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk, that through it you may grow up to salvation."
1st letter of Peter, 2:2
In one of the laws of Moses it is said: "Do not long!" I am not sure about the word long. Yet in the first letter of St. Peter it is said "Long!" Who is right? - From their point of view both are right. Nevertheless if Moses was in the place of St. Peter he would have being wrong. And if St. Peter was in the place of Moses, he too, would have been wrong. Moses said that one should not long. For what? - For power. wealth, women. St. Peter says: "Long for the pure spiritual milk." Why? - Because it is necessary for the spiritual growth of a man. The first thing which a newborn babe searches when it leaves its mother womb is her breast with milk, because when it sucks it grows and develops. St. Peter says the same: "We must find the breast that will feed us spiritually. If we do not find it due to the same law as the child, we could not live. After few years when the child grows up a little, his teeth grow out which indicates that its organism adopts to a greater variety of food. The same is valid for the spiritual life of a man: until he grows up a little he should not expose himself to hard-digestible food that can cause his early death.
I ask: did all people on earth that live now have received that pure spiritual milk? No, not all people have received the pure spiritual milk and as a result they are exposed to death. Besides it is not enough for a mother to bear her child and to have milk but this milk must be uncorrupted. How many mothers have poisoned their children with bad milk. If the mother becomes angry several times during the day after a while she may poison her child with her milk. Priests, too, which in respect to their congregation are mothers, can poison them if they are angry during preaching. The same is true with teachers. If during lecturing they are nervous and worried they can poison their pupils. Modern men suffer from great ignorance. They have solid knowledge in the fields of mathematics, geometry, botany, physics, chemistry but lack the most substantial knowledge - the necessary pure spiritual milk. They have knowledge about the movements of the celestial bodies, about the creation of man, how he evolved, but when they come to that pure spiritual milk they keep quiet.
Do you know what resemble modern men? They can be compared to that Turkish sage who claimed that he knew everything that goes on in heaven. In an anecdote is spoken about this Turkish sage that he bragged everywhere that he knows when Lord rises, what His affairs were during the day, what the angels do, etc. Saying this to the sultan the last one wanted to ridicule him, to show him, that it is impossible for a man to know everything. One day he invited him together with another philosopher and told them: "I wish that you will join me for a boat ride and for a friendly talk." They boarded the Sultan's ship and went. After a while they were served bread and milk in a bowl. The sultan asked his companions to break the bread into small pieces and dip them in the milk. He personally mixed the bowl and then he said: "Let now everyone find his pieces of bread and eat them." - "How can we know which bit is who's," replied the philosophers. - "If you cannot know the bites which you yourself broke up how can you then know what is happening in heaven?"
In the cited verses from the bible St. Peter advises his listeners to search for the living stone. We know that there exist only dead stones for building of homes, yet as you see there are existing also living stones. If you could interpret the word "stone" in a spiritual meaning you will see that it has another meaning also. By "stone" in a spiritual meaning is implied a complete character, in which all powers are balanced, the process of development proceeds harmoniously; the nervous system as well as all inner organs, stomach, lungs, brain, are in perfect state and function well. This is why Christ had said: "Be living stones which can grow and develop." In another place He said: "You must build in yourselves a divine temple." He implied the building of a home out of living stone.
Let me now return to the words "pure spiritual milk." Some people say: We do not want to be spiritual. What do they understand by the word "spiritual"? Does it means for a spiritual man that he ought to close himself for the outer world and only think and contemplate and be at a state of tranquillity? No, this cannot make a man spiritual. To be spiritual means to be in contact with the surrounding immediate conditions, the environment, the soil on which you live and at the same time to be able correctly to react to the soil, to the environment, to the condition as to elements which create the totality of life. The highest position which a man can occupy on earth is when his mind, his heart and soul, all these powers are in their best, in their maximal development. In its normal state the stone cannot absorb in itself any liquid. Yet when we take limestone and bake it in a lime-kiln it turns into white-wash ready for painting walls. In the same way when God wants to white-wash His home, He takes such limestone, bakes it, mixes it with water and after a certain chemical reaction takes place he white-washes his home with this white mass called in spiritual respect purity and goodness in life. Therefore when sufferings come this indicates that you are put in the lime-kiln to be baked and turn into spiritual white-wash. There exist hard stones which even after having been baked in a lime-kiln do not become soft. Such stones are considered useless and are cast out.
And so, when St. Peter said: "Long!" he had in mind this inner process of baking which occurs within man. After this baking in the mind will be created these sublime forms which will be able to pass freely from one world into another. For this purpose can be useful also the process of diluting. Therefore if in your mind come two thoughts which worry you do not feel sorry for them but take one of them, put it in the lime-kiln, kindle the fire beneath it and bake it. If you do this with the thousands of troubled thoughts which pass through your mind this will be equal of having baked thousands of pounds of limestone and the acquired lime having sold. This way not only you would have freed yourselves of these troublesome thoughts but you will have made some profit. That which happens on the physical plane by analogy happens also in heaven. The opposite is true also; every process that occurs in heaven occurs on earth also. When you understand this law correctly you will know, that when you suffer on earth you rejoice in heaven. When you are been baked in the lime-kiln this is nothing else but suffering. When you do not understand the deep reasons for these sufferings you say: We all burned! Our lives have finished! In heaven the beings say: How glad we are that this stone will turn into lime, into white-wash! When you think that the angels have no compassion with you they answer: We have great compassion with you but we are nevertheless glad, because we see that you, too, like us will become white and pure. Therefore you must not long for the things which thicken and harden your minds, your hearts, souls, powers and talents but in the opposite you must long only for that which is powerful to expand them and free them of all limitations.
Many ask the question: How can we apply this teaching in practical life? The teachers says: my pupils are restless, disobedient. How can I influence them? The priest says: Many of my people from the congregation are ill-behaved, unfaithful, they do not comprehend the philosophy of life. How can I influence them? The marchant says: My customers and affiliated want to destroy me. How can I make them to act more loyal? All people complain. Why? Because their rope is thin and weak. They want to use it to lift with it 200 pounds and it is not strong enough to hold such a weight. Naturally this rope will brake and the load will fall on the ground. I ask: How is it possible to live according to the Old Testament and to apply the teaching of St. Peter? You are friends with Moses and at the same time you wish to be friends with Christ, too. He who has Moses as a friend is not a friend of Christ's. Moses says: Do not long, but he does not say further what to do. He says that one should love God but how if one has never seen him? In another place he says that one should love his nation and for the other nations he speaks completely different. I treat the law of Moses in a broad sense. It is true that when Moses laid the law the conditions were entirely different than they were when Christ's law was created. Moses's law was a preparation of humanity for the teaching of Christ. The law of Moses represents one half of the globe and Christ's - the other half. You can exist in the half that is under the law of Moses only as long as upon it shine the rays of the sun. As soon as it steps out of the reach of the sun rays you can no longer live there. The desires of modern men come from the application of the law of Moses in their lives. All people want to be rich, learned but accepting this law they cannot accomplish their desires and as a result among them appears great clashes. In the physical world do not exist conditions for all people to be rich and educated, but for all people there exist conditions for them to be good. Long for the virtue which does not belong to the physical world. There are people in India who understand and apply this law even toward the animals. If you could manage to come in contact with an animal as cruel as it can be, it will come to love you and become your true friend. All the desire to harm you will faint away and it will be ready to fulfill all your orders. When Christ said that one should come to love his enemies he had in mind this law.
The first thing which Christianity recommends for the purification of man is suffering. The hard stones must pass through the lime-kiln so that they may serve as white-wash; the raw bread must be baked so that it may be eaten. The same is true for man. You can enter heaven only as baked bread. Only then you can be placed on the divine table and you will be broken up. Why has God given to man a mind, a heart, eyes, ears, a tongue? You must contemplate about the purpose of these organs. I am suggesting these questions to make you think about them. You say: I want to serve God. You do not understand how you ought to serve. There are people who partly understand the laws of the occult but still cannot serve God. If they know the laws they should be able to apply them at least for their own development. Some have the desire that I may convey to them some secrets related to philosophy and the occult. I could tell many things but first must be laid a solid foundation upon which you could then build. Every stone which you build in must be placed in its right place. A great challenge is in front of us which is to improve the world. The building upon which rests modern life is falling apart and one day God will call upon you to start building anew. The question is will you be knowing how to build when God calls upon you? In order to be ready you must begin from now on to nourish yourself with that milk about which I have spoken to you. You must be prepared so that when God gives you a new garment not to soil it.
A fable speaks about raven chicks that wanted their mother to move them in a new clean nest. The mother asks them if they will take with themselves their soiled fannies. - We will take them, was the reply. - In such case I cannot move you because you will soil the new nest again. Some imprudent women says "Why God made me a woman? - As women you will learn the arts which you could not learn if you were men. This is the art of preparing the milk with which to raise your children. You are God's mammies that raise His children. If you do not fulfill your obligations as mothers God will ask you: Why did I appoint you for this service? You should not have fed your children with the milk of disobedience. - But we fed them already. - Never give them again such milk, because then I will dismiss you from your service. - But I wish to be a man. - You cannot become a man. If you continue to ask for things which you don't deserve, if you continue to be stubborn, next time you will be even beneath a human.
The philosophy of modern Christians does not rest upon solid foundation. Every sectarian claims: That which I am preaching is the true Christian teaching and that which the others preach is not true. Yet no one is able to define what true Christianity is. We say that we are the crown of creation. Let's not defeat ourselves nor God. We are not the crown. The crown are only those that have completed their development. We that are in the pond and croak are nothing but frogs. We who want homes and money, who are ready for them to sell even God, are not the crown of creation. We are crowns of hell.
Now you are facing a dilemma: you must ask yourselves if you could continue for long time to follow this path or you cannot? - We cannot make one more step. - Modern humanity has come to the end limit. One more step and everything will be lost. The next step must be in the opposite direction - one step forward, one step upward so that it may see that its future is great. You must stop and think where you go and give up all that is transient, that leads toward fall. Christ says: "He who loves his mother and father more than me is not for me. You must renounce your mother and father and follow me." Every man must say: - I no longer want this contaminated milk. It will be better to parish that to drink such milk. Death without milk is better than life with contaminated milk. You must turn away from all the things which defile your thoughts and feelings, which poison your lives and seek for divine truth. My intention is not to scare you but rather to make you think more seriously about yourselves. Take a mirror and look at your face what his color is: if it is too red, this indicates that it is irritated, that your body is not healthy; if it is too pale, you are indifferent to life. The first as well as the second states are not proper. If you use Christ's food about which St. Peter speaks you will be well disposed, joyous and cheerful, you will be courageous and resolute in the fight; if you saturate yourselves with the pure spiritual milk it will not be possible for any germs and microbes to find nourishment in you.
You have certain aspirations, you wish to be good but cannot. Why? Because you do not know how to act. A doctor was once called to a rich young woman that suffered from boredom. The first thing he advised her to do is exercising. - How shall I exercise? - If you do not exercise you risk to suffer and parish. - Well in such case I will start exercising, please give me instructions. Soon after she started exercising the boredom faded and left her. Often you sit with folded hands. This must take an end and you will begin to exercise, you will start to work. Only then will God bless you.
The woman must become alert and start with work because God has given in their hands the key to heaven. They are the holders of the key to heaven. St. Peter has a name of a woman. The bad thing is that the women are somewhat fainthearted and soon give up their service. A woman loves a man but when she sees another more attractive one she says: I will marry this one. If I do not, my life will have no meaning for me. She succeeds, marries him but after two-three years she gives him up and is ready to look for another man. God says to the women now: - If you, who keep the key to the kingdom of God do not obey my commandments I will chase you out from heaven, so that you may weep, repent and turn away from your sins. When you do not obey Christ's commandments you turn away from Him, you deny Him, think evil about Him, betray him constantly to Pilat, give Him to sufferings, daily you crucify Him. After that you ask why the world does not improve. How will it improve when you make your God suffer every day. Cease to trust nails into His body! The nails that you put in Christ's body by reflection touch you, too.
Do you know the story about the fisherman who found one day a very special uncommon fish and wanted to present it to the king? The guard at the gate refused to let him in but the fisherman promised to give him half of the profit if he would let him in. When he entered the palace the king asked him what a reward he wishes for his present. The fisherman said: As a reward I wish to be punished with 50 whippings. - Is this possible? - Yes, he said, this is what I want. The king gave the order to give him 50 whippings. When they gave him twenty five he said: - This is enough, now the remaining twenty five give to my partner, your guard at the gates.
When people thrust today nails into Christ's body he says: "Stop now, twenty five are enough for me. Call my partner and give him the rest. That which every day happens to the people is nothing but the rest of the whippings - the other half of the reward which they themselves have asked for. Someone says: I have too many sufferings, my soul is bursting, I will parish from my pangs. - Yes, your soul will burst because you have thrusted many nails in Christ's body. If someone of you becomes ill you call for the doctor immediately. I say: -As long as you continue to thrist nails into the body of Christ - the true doctor, upon whom you relay for cure, He will not enter your home. The teaching which I am preaching now to you is absolutely practical. Everyone can apply it in his life. When an evil, negative thought attaques you or you wish some evil for someone, you run into hard stones. Put these stones into the lime-kiln, heat them up, let them change into lime with which you can white-wash your soul, to make it white, radiant. If you practice this way you will see how your soul will become radiant.
This is the teaching which St. Peter is preaching. Many people think of St. Peter as a simple fisherman but in reality he was not a common man. He always baked his fish, he never ate uncooked fish. - Where should you bake your fish? In the divine fire, in the fire of love. When you bake it in that fire you will say: - Here, we have an excellent fish! Therefore if you like St. Peter do not become partners with those who live on heaven, what a place do you expect to find for yourselves in the world behind. When Christ says that we must deny ourselves, to lose our lives he meant that we must do this in favor for those beings that are on a higher level than us. You may say that this law does not correspond with the laws of nature. No, it is perfectly in harmony with the laws of nature. Those who will drink from the juices of the tree will plant a new seed from which a new tree will grow up and will provide new fruit. Therefore in order to sprout we must enter in the path of development. Then will the angels participate in our work, too. In order to do so we must pay them something. In order to have them plant us again on earth with better living conditions we must still now as long as we are here on earth prepare the reward. When we nourish ourselves with the pure spiritual milk we will come closed to them and then to Christ, too.
And so, whoever wants to walk on the path of Christ must not be afraid of anything. Every fear must vanish completely from you. Everyone must place his consciousness in the divine fire like you would bake the fish which you catch. In order for a fish that has been caught not to be spoiled one must cook, or salted it. Christ says: "If the salt ceases to be salty it is cast out." Therefore if you cease to be salty you will be cast out, too, as useless. If you have not lost your salt you will be used. It is preferable to go through the fire than to be put in salt. The salt is for the world and the fire is for you. The process of the fire is preferable because in it there is growth and life. Preserving through salt is a process of not permitting something to be spoiled, like preserving seeds in a barn. Therefore you may be in two positions: either in the process of growth in the divine garden or being preserved as a germ in the divine barn.
Make the experiment to apply the verse which I read to you. It has a deep meaning. Several questions are contained in it: for the building up and organizing of society, the family, about the upbringing of children, for the improvement of the living conditions, etc. For this reason this verse must be planted somewhere deep. - Where should it be planted? - In man's mind. Cook this verse in the divine water, bake it in the divine fire and you will see that even though it seems to be like a hard nut to crack, it will change into food, whose juices you can freely accept. If you are nourished by the pure spiritual milk about which St. Peter is speaking, your face will change, your social conditions will improve.
Now I want that you would accept the divine method for work and prepare yourselves for the new life, for the life in heaven. Until now you have not longed for the pure spiritual milk. I want that beginning from today you long for it, and enter in the positive side of life. If you long for the pure spiritual milk everything else will be given to you, too.
2nd Ser., 4th lecture of the Master Beinsa Douno on November 16, 1914, Sofia (Bulgaria) from the collection "The Spirit and The Flesh"
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