Save Us

And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, and “Lord, save us We are perishing!” Mathew, 8: 24, 25

Now, you will ask yourselves what it was, after all, that the boat contained. Then, the Sea of Galilee is not that big – it is just an ordinary lake, though when Christ lived, it was one of the biggest ones. I would like you to focus on three elements in this verse, namely, the boat, the disciples, and Jesus. The boat is the human body, the disciples stand for the Astral world, and Jesus represents the highest principle in people, while the lake symbolises Life, it is the world. This is an analogy from which we want to infer a law, applicable in Life. In my opinion, anything that is not applicable to Life is a hypothesis, a conjecture. Anyone capable of comprehending this teaching will be able to apply it in Life. If you apply it at a time when the sea is stormy and you say, “It is over! We are perishing!” then you will have to wake up your Master, i.e. the highest principle, sleeping within you. When you chatter idly, your Master is asleep; when you are angry, your Master is asleep; when you are bored, your master is asleep. When your burden is so heavy that you cannot bear it, you awaken the highest principle, saying, “Get rid of that load.”

Now, can you tell me in which part of Palestine all this happened? – In the Northeastern part, in Galilee. Palestine is divided into Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Jerusalem stands for the inferior principle in man; that is why, Christ was crucified there. Everybody bows before Jerusalem, especially when having chicken and wine on the kitchen-table. It is exactly in this Jerusalem where Christ was crucified. There are pilgrims who look upon it as a major honour to go to Jerusalem. It is the greatest pleasure in this world to be invited to lunch or dinner to high laces. Yes, but in this Jerusalem Christ will be crucified. Samaria stands for the psychological beginning, while Galilee symbolises the highest principle.

In the semantics of the Scripture lakes and rivers stand for Life as they both move; therefore, there is an analogy. The lake is said to have been rough. It is quite acceptable that the lake is stormy, because it needs renewal, i.e. winds are most welcome, otherwise the waters will remain still. It is movement that brings Life. By the same token, human life also needs movement. It is not bad when your brain, stomach, or breasts surge, because it means renewal, proven by facts. Nowadays diseases come as a blessing. If people did not fall ill, they would fall to pieces and decay. Therefore, the storm has to occur in order to awaken Him, Who is sleeping in the boat. You all enjoy pleasures and are eager to have everything ready, without much effort. You want to have fifty maids and servants, all the money in this world and everything done without you lifting a finger. When I say you, I mean humanity.

So, there will be turmoil and misunderstandings in real life. They exist in the state, in church, at home, at school, in trade – practically everywhere. I would like to see a person whose sea is not tempestuous, but if such a person existed, he would be a saint, and not one from this world. That is why, if someone said that he does not get excited, he would be lying. Every human being living in this world gets excited. No matter how elevated one is, he will always get excited, as such is Life. Some tend to believe that when they go to heaven, they will find peace. There will be agitation there, too, only it will be of a different kind. When you experience something pleasant, this is an excitement. When you experience grief, this is also an excitement, though unpleasant. So excitement can be pleasant and unpleasant. If you are clairvoyants observing light, you will see that it is a movement of waves. There would not be any light without the movement of these waves. Your brain responds to the ethereal waves, so without agitation, thinking would be impossible. When the energy coming from the Sun reaches your eyes, it diffracts, so you can perceive the light reaching your optic nerve. Light is an act from the psychological world. Movements are physical, but the concept of light is spiritual – it is an act of the Spirit. Therefore, we can see through the Spirit.

Now, tell me why Christ was sleeping in the boat. Sleeping is a law. One has to sleep to relax. Tired by His daily work, Jesus got in the boat and fell asleep. However, the winds did not let Him sleep and told Him, “Wake up! You must help these people!” Generally, a storm occurs when one is asleep, i.e. when disasters occur, God is asleep. Jesus is sleeping in the boat, but the storm and the cries of the people will wake Him up. When He wakes up, wars will cease. When Christ raises His hands, the storm will subside, seas will calm down, and the boat will come safe ashore. I will give an example to clarify my thought. On conquering Jerusalem, the Roman military leader Titus entered the temple, looted all its wealth, removed the golden shroud from the ark, took out the parchment with the ten Commandments, and said, “Where is the Jewish god? Let him show his power now!” Loading all the riches on the ships, Titus set sail for Rome. Initially, the weather was fair, but half the way to Rome a severe squall broke out and the weltering sea began tossing the ships. Gritting his teeth, Titus said, “The Jewish god is mighty only at sea so the pharaoh’s servants perished there. I would like this god try his strength against me on land!” The storm abated, the weather changed for the better and Titus noticed the sky clear up. Then a voice was heard saying, “You mean worm, now you will know me!” Titus landed, and quite excited at the narrow escape, asked, “Where is the Jewish god now?” He led his army to Rome, but at some distance from the coast a mosquito entered his nose, wormed its way to the brain and started bothering him. This went on for seven years and though he saw many doctors, nobody could help him. Once, when passing by a smithy, he heard the smiths hammering so heavily on the anvils that the mosquito got startled and stopped bothering him. Titus called the smiths to work at his court, but soon the mosquito got used to the sound of their hammers and began torturing him again.

What does this story mean? You may have your inner conflicts, you can loot the shroud, and you can try convincing yourselves that there is no God, but this mosquito will inevitably come sooner or later. While this war is going on, the mosquito will come to both teachers and preachers, no one being able to find a remedy. This mosquito will come to anyone who has violated God’s laws. Some listening to this lecture might say that all this is old wives’ tales, but believe me, you will all experience this. According to the scripture God cannot be desecrated. Jesus will not be crucified a second time. He was crucified once for people’s sake, and from then on it will be you who will be crucified without being helped if you have Titus’ temper and attitude. You have to wake up Jesus sleeping inside you. This is the only way for you to grasp the inner sense of your lives. Each of you has a Jesus inside, which is typical of every individual. But I would like to ask you what Christ is for you. This reminds me of those mothers boasting about their children. One mother will say, “Look at the beautiful eyes of my child! Isn’t my kid lovely!” – “No, mine is lovelier!” another will say. It is not the child’s appearance that matters. What counts is the mind, the wit, and the heart the child has. If you manage to wake up the Christ living in you, He will be able to calm your sea down. He is the God you are seeking. If the sea abates, you are on the right way, holding onto your God. A god that cannot establish peace in your soul cannot be a true god. He can be wearing a mantle and a gold crown, but he is just an idol. From time immemorial man has suffered from his idols. Be aware of them, as they bring on misfortune.

So, you will know Christ, because He will bring peace to your heart and mind and will make you important in heaven. You want to be important here, on earth, but this is ridiculous. How important can a root be? The aspiration of a root is to shoot deep downward; therefore, the more important you are, the deeper you go. In other words, the more important you are on earth, the farther you are from God. There are four types of people: good people who do not do any good, bad people who do not do evil, good people who do good, and bad people who do evil. The last two types are constant and the first two are transitional. Which category would you prefer? Which are better than the first two types? These types have to be crossbred and mixed so that they can produce a good result. A woman will say, “I am a good person, but I can’t do good." Arrange it for her to marry a bad man and she will turn into a saint. If you let a bad woman who cannot do evil marry a good man, she will be elevated. This is how these two principles work. The first two types are weak-willed people, while the other two types are people of strong will. Jesus’ disciples are like those who are basically good but incapable of doing good, because they were impotent.

“Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him.” Each rest is followed by active life. Since the storm gives rise to the conditions necessary for life to exist, it was crucial for the storm to break out, so that Jesus could appear. Such is the law: Jesus cannot appear without a storm. Some might say, “You are after God, but there is a chain of misfortunes befalling you!” This is the privilege. A farmer, growing a vine, will often check its progress, and prune it, while the vine will cry. Some will say, “I’ve cried my eyes out”. I feel sorry for people who have never cried – it means that they have not been pruned. If God prunes you, it means that He is awake and is going to help you. You will tell him, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” How will you greet God when he wakes up? You can greet Him just like the woman whose husband comes back home bringing something and she tells him off for having forgotten a certain item. When your God wakes up, you will start complaining about something that slipped His mind. He will say, “I should have slept longer, because these people want to sleep in their graves.”

From the verse cited above the last line is more interesting: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” By perishing I understand the assimilation of the superior principle by the inferior one. When reasoning falls victim to your stomach, the inferior principle manifests itself. People nowadays are quite happy when they become obese, which, in fact, is the greatest misfortune. Then they turn into a fat pig that is going to be eaten by its master. When you become fat, you will be eaten by the Devil. You will be a mere turkey, while the devils will get together and say, “We have been feeding this person for years, but his meat is worth the effort.” This is death; that is why, you have to wake up Jesus. The disciples awoke Christ to avoid being eaten. This is true both metaphorically and literally. To all who understand religion, it means that an inferior principle can engulf a superior one, which means descending. If you want, you can call this “eating the pig”, but anyway, an inferior principle eats up a superior one. When a man eats up a pig or a hen, it is the superior principle that eats them, but at the same time man lowers himself. When I say that one should abstain from eating meat, it means that the forces of inferior life oppose our life. That is why vegetarian food is better. If one wants to be physically strong, he has to eat meat. If one wants to be spiritually strong, he has to eat fruit and vegetables. If one does not eat meat, it means that Jesus is awake inside him. Under meat I understand all inferior thoughts and desires, comparing them to hens, turkeys, etc. Someone will say that he does not like pork, but prefers poultry, lamb, etc. It makes no difference. You have never asked this lamb whether it wants to be eaten. How many times you have eaten the human lamb! The husband comes back home merry and cheerful, carrying a lamb, but his wife meets him brandishing a knife, spoils his good mood, and so, he loses his lamb. Do you remember how many times you have slaughtered lambs? Someone will say that he has never slaughtered a lamb. You are all lying. God says that whoever gets angry with his brother without a sound reason slaughters a lamb. God will look for these lambs.

What I want you to learn from today’s lecture is not to slaughter lambs – this is what I think. When the husband or the wife carries that Lamb, you should greet him or her and give the lamb some feed or water. The Lamb is Jesus, bearing Joy. When Jesus awakes, the five principles are awakened, too – to keep to Truth, to stick to Justice, to learn Wisdom, to make friends with Virtue, and to enjoy Love. Some say that they stick to Justice, but they do not enjoy Love. You should by all means do the five things, as this is the highest principle. Some day, if we are still alive, as long as you do not slaughter me as a lamb, I will talk to you about Virtue, Love, and Justice. The love you have is made of potatoes, and I have heaps of books on it. The Love I am speaking about sustains the whole world and heaven – God and all the Angels live in it. It is immutable and is never in two minds. A man cherishing such Love can see deep. While you are like shallow marshes. I can see that the love some have is 15 to 20 cm deep. Actually, it needs to be 10 or 20 km in depth – or at least as deep as the oceans. Disasters are impossible to occur where there is depth. If our lives are as deep as that, no storm is capable of stirring their water. The Sea of Galilee was shallow, which made it possible for the storm to occur, but such phenomena are impossible in deep places. A person who worries much, no matter whether he is a philosopher or a preacher, has love not deeper than 15 cm. Although many have tried to lie to me, I cannot be misled in these matters. This is the measure I apply to my love. You should find it, too.

When Jesus woke up, he said, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” According to the Scripture perfect Love chases away all fears. Disasters do not occur where there is depth. So, when getting married, you should test the person you have chosen. If he or she worries too much, their bottom is shallow and there will be many storms – do not swim in such a lake. Some girl will say, “When I marry him, I will change him.” No, you will find the bottom. Even if he promises you golden mountains, you should not get in his boat. No matter whether he is a preacher, a priest, a merchant, or a judge, you should never get in his boat. Jesus asks you why you do not have that Love. The one who sends you the storm wants to test how great your Love, Wisdom, and Truth are. For example, there are Christians who would not lie for a farthing, but would gladly do so for a shilling. I knew a gentleman who used to say, “I would not lie for 10 or 100 lv., but if I were offered more, perhaps I would.” I, however, would not lie even if I were offered the whole world and all the glory. I would not pluck a hair from my beard; I would not ever lie for all riches in this world. A hair from my beard is worth more than anything, and if I ever gave someone a hair from my beard, it would be because the man is worth it. There are about 250,000 hairs on the human head. By a hair I mean a law. That is why women have long hair. Now you all comb your hair without being aware of these laws. You just think that putting hair on your heads and face is just God’s whim. God knew His business when He gave you hair, but I would not dare reveal His intentions. I would reveal this to you, but before that I would examine you. Do you have an idea what was all that in aid of? Why did Jesus suffer crucifixion? Satan appeared, tempting Him and saying, “I have seen many like you here.” Then he showed Him how people would spit at him and do evil in His name. Then Jesus turned to God and asked him, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Then God spoke deep to His soul, so Jesus said, “It is finished.”

Now, some of you have been listening to my lectures for weeks, saying, “We are not doing any good.” I consider you to be good people who do not do good. You say that you do not have the conditions to work and deal with it. God has imparted everything in you, so you should not waste your time. You get in a boat, saying, “We are going to rule the waves.” You need to wake up Jesus, sleeping in the boat. There are a lot of spirits in your mind, scaring you. But the time when God is going to judge you for each word uttered by you is near. At first, He will judge the righteous, and then the sinners. Everyone will appear in front of Him to say what has been done for thousands of years. You may have done just one good deed in your life, but the point is in quality, and not in quantity. When Jesus comes and opens the book, He will see how many lambs have been slaughtered. You do slaughter lambs every day, and as a result, there is no peace in your homes.

God, Whom I am speaking about, said, “Let Jesus wake up in you!” Now I am speaking to you, but this is a voice crying in the wilderness. When Jesus wakes up, you will rise from the dead, finding yourselves not in Jerusalem but in Galilee, your sufferings will be over, turning into a pleasant agitation and you will find yourselves in a pleasant atmosphere, favourable for your growth. The inferior and the superior lives are connected; however, the inferior life should be subordinate to the superior one. Do not let your stomach, heart, and mind rule over you – they should be your servants. Lift any desire to serve the Divine Principle. You reckon that you will understand the Jesus I so often talk about, trying hard to see Him. I would like to ask you whether your sea calmed down, and whether you came ashore. No. What you have seen is mock Christ; you have yet to see true Christ. When He appears, you will stand firm on the rock of Virtue, in the frame of Justice, and amongst the true mother of Love, who does not judge and avert from anybody. Love does not divide people into righteous and sinful. It lives both in Heaven and on earth, in hell and above. It enjoys performing its duty wherever it is. You will say, “I can’t stand this fellow.” You are a good person, but you do not do good. Somebody will say, “It’s good giving alms, but really, that’s the limit! I’m not going to be the slave of it!” You are such, too.

So, it is time you listened to what Your Jesus in the boat, tossed in the rough sea, is about to tell you. What He is going to tell you should be kept sacred and secret. When I tell you Titus’ story, you say, “I haven’t done it.” But remember the times you get angry, saying that God built the world badly. Then you remove the shroud and happen to be just this Titus who destroyed Jerusalem. You will say, “How cruel that man was!” Remember the times you have defied God, while He said, “You small worm, do you know how you will die?” Some give Him advice – God does not need any advice. If all people understand the world in this way, if they are all able to apply this teaching, Christ will come. I would like all preachers, priests and judges think in this way – to keep to Justice, enjoy Love, learn Wisdom, and follow Truth. This is the only way people can make some progress - everything else is vanity.

Only then can everything become meaningful. There is sense in cooking and washing. Someone is doing the washing, complaining, “Why should it be my duty?” For example the daughter-in-law, is doing the washing, saying, “Can’t I get rid of these old folks? It’s one thing washing my own clothes, but why should I wash theirs, too?” No, while washing, you should say instead, “Just as I am going to wash this shirt, I want you, Lord, to clean me!” If I am doing the washing, I will say, “ God, those people stained me! Now, make me clean again!” If I start writing something, I will say, “Just as I am doing this, I want you, Lord, to give me some colour!” Someone will say that the book was stained. A book cannot be studied unless it gets stained.

If you examine the word mercy, you will see that the letter M has four lines forming two mounts and a valley. Therefore, to be merciful, you need two peaks, among which the valley lies. Likewise, human life cannot be made up of peaks only; it needs its valleys. The valleys are the dark, shadowy places. Sometimes your eyes are not well. Some weeks ago a young lady came to me, complaining that her lower lids were darkened. She had got it into her head and the thought haunted her. The problem, actually, was that her eyes were a bit popped out and cast a shade at different angles in the light. Similarly, when you see some shade, you start thinking that you are great sinners and nothing good will come out of you. These are just hollows and bulges, casting shade. God has sent you to serve someone, for instance, to take care of some orphans, while your ambition is to become first, to be Prime Minister and run the country. Give me the name of a minister, who has solved the problems of Bulgaria, England, or Germany. When your God wakes up, then all storms will abate, and you, along with Him, will have the power. You cannot do anything without Christ. Christ has to wake up so that you can be strong. And He can wake up only in five possible ways – when you are with Virtue, Truth, Justice, Wisdom and Love.

Now, will you be in two minds if you are offered 1, 5, or 10 million levs? Imagine you were given all the riches, would you hesitate then? You might remind me of that quarryman who lived at the dawn of Christianity in Egypt. At the time a pious hermit lived, who used to weave baskets and sell them in Alexandria. On the way back from Alexandria he always met a poor quarryman, who invited him to his house, washed his feet, and offered him food. The hermit felt sorry for the quarryman and decided to ask God how to help him. God allowed him to help the poor man but only if his life would change in some way. “Well, will his life change if I offer him some money?” asked the hermit. “Well, I’ll show you a place where there is some money buried. Find it and give it to the quarryman.” The hermit found the money and gave it to the quarryman. The latter rose in life, built a huge house and soon became a grand vizir. One day the hermit met the former quarryman, who had become so important that pretended not to see him. The hermit, who was deeply hurt, walked on, but soon, met an Angel who gave him a nice hiding, saying, “It is you that lost a soul!” Then the hermit started praying to God to help him save the Quarryman’s soul. There followed rumours and plotting against the vizir, who as a result, lost his fortune and ended up cutting stone again. One day he saw the hermit and talked to him, “You know, I recognised you the time when we met. I only was too proud to say Hello. Pray to your God to give me some money again.” The hermit answered, “I do not want to be given another hiding.”

You are pretty much like the hermit as you tend to give priority to the inferior, but the Angels will come and beat you, so you will have to raise the superior in man then. I am telling you all this, because I want you to be as virtuous, just, true, and wise as is God Himself. In our lives we should do just as God does to us. We are often discontent, but he sends us His blessing. It is always we that are the reason for our misfortunes. I shall give the following example: Once Nessredin Hodja climbed a tree and started hewing the branch on which he was sitting. A passer-by saw him doing this and warned him, “Don’t do this, or you will fall.” – “How do you know?” asked Nessredin Hodja and went on sawing the branch. And, indeed, on cutting off the branch, he fell on the ground. Then the hodja rose and ran after the fellow to ask him, “You told me I was going to fall off the tree and you were right. Now, tell me when I will die.” The man answered, “You will die in three days. You should dig yourself a grave under a pear-tree. You’d better lie in it and wait to die.” Nessredin Hodja took leaves with his wife, found a tree, dug himself a grave, lay in it and started waiting to die. Pears were falling off the tree and he ate them. Three days passed when a caravan of camels came along. On seeing him, the animals got frightened and ran away. The angry herdsmen caught him and gave him a good hiding. So he came back home, where his wife asked him, “How did you find the other world?” – “It’s really nice there. Pears fall right into your mouth, but if you frighten the camels, then it’s a different story.”

You too happen to frighten camels, have a mosquito in the nose, or cut the branch on which you sit. Wake up Jesus, and He will teach you how to live. The highest principle has to come and free you from slavery. You are all slaves to each other: the husband waits for salvation from his wife, the wife from her husband, the daughter from her mother. Do not trust in people; wake up Christ in the boat and you will get to grasp the inner sense of everything. When the disciples saw that Christ was capable of calming the sea down, they realised that He had the power to control the inferior principle.

May your Christ wake up and lead you to your Peace, give you Wisdom and Knowledge so that you can carry out the mission God assigned to you.

9. A lecture given by the Master on 17th December, 1916, Sofia

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