"It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true."1
Every external testimony is an expression of an inner intelligent impulse in the soul. Why is it that the testimony of two persons is true, but not of a single person; and who are these two? If two people suing each other in a court today call two, three or ten witnesses who do not speak the truth, the jury will not take their testimony into consideration. I think the jury would agree with this statement. Keep in mind that I am speaking in principle and have no person in view, since the human personality is something relative in its manifestation. Some may think I speak about them in my sermons, but that is not the case - not in the least.
I am asking you, which is the real thing in the world: the blossom or the fruit, the leaf or the branch, the fruit or the seed? They are all relative realities. If you play the role of a leaf, if you play the role of a blossom, of a branch, fruit or seed in the world: these are all different states which in mathematics are called variations, permutations and combinations. I understand what variations mean in mathematics. You may engage yourself with them some day. Variations mean ordering, permutations - rearrangement and combinations - fitting together. But if you are a variation or ordering in life, by what will you be distinguished? Certain quantities enter your life forming certain compounds and you are a group, or a compound of these qualities. The qualities are the elements of your manifested life. The mathematicians say that the variations are compounds in which not all elements enter and which have classes. Then they say that the permutations are transpositions in which all elements enter, therefore, they have no classes. The combinations, however, are compounds in which all the elements do not enter, they have classes but each class is distinguished from another by at least one new element.
In which category can I classify you? Your life may move only by ordering, it may move only by transpositions, but it may move by a combination of things and quantities. These mathematical formulas contain deep truths which I cannot stop to explain now for they are dry bones and I must work many years on them to give them life. Such is the Law of Nature. There are seeds which grow in six months, like the squash, and give fruit; while there are other seeds - the trees - which blossom once in a century. We cannot change the order of things God has put in nature, for if we change it our destiny changes and the karma is born. Karma is nothing other than a deviation from the right path of human development, while the expiation of karma is the re-entering of the right path of human evolution. Therefore, it would be of use to those who like mathematics to spare some time for the study of these variations, permutations and combinations. You should not only think you know much, but test your knowledge; not only to formulate, but to handle and deal with these quantities and elements. Let us suppose a committee orders that each person be given a kilogram of sugar - that is a variation. You may have to wait a long time, but you may come back home with a broken rib so that you will say the variation turned out unsuccessful. The sooner you get the sugar without loosing time, the more successful the variation will prove. Of course, this variation has nothing in common with the mathematical one, it is only a reflection of the great spiritual law which is functioning in our soul.
Let me return to my subject. Who are those two who are witnessing? When a Bulgarian wants to build a hut, he first drives two stakes into the ground - they are the two witnesses - and the Lord says to him, "Now you can build the hut." He places a triangle on top the two stakes and starts building. When you want to prepare the warp you also need two women to roll the yarn: one at one end, the other at the opposite. One will wind what is warped around her waist, while the other will start winding it on the yarn-beam and this will last 2 or 3 hours, until this permutation, this transposition of things takes place. It may seem funny to you that the two women are not in accord: one pulling backwards, while the other pulling forwards - like the crab and the pike - but this is the only way to make things work. At times, let us say, the husband is pulling the cloth, while the wife is winding it and people say, "Why is that man pulling the cloth and not obeying his wife?" He is pulling it because the cloth must be woven. He should not listen to his wife at that moment, until all is done. At times it is the other way around - the wife is pulling and the husband is winding. I just gave you a thought, simple in form, but deep in sense.
The two witnesses in nature are light and warmth. Their testimony is always true for wherever they penetrate, life and growth take place; but where they are absent there is no motion, no spring, no plants, no life whatsoever. That is in nature. But in a person, these two witnesses are our mind and our heart. Where our mind and heart speak together, their testimony is true, as it says in your law that the testimony of two men is true. Christ gives this idea and says, "I bear witness of myself and the Father is Who bears testimony of me." In the spiritual world the two who bear testimony are the Father and the Son and their testimony is true. In the angelic world the two who bear testimony are the spirit and the soul. In the human world they are the mind and the heart. In nature they are the light and the warmth. We have an ascending ladder; therefore, when we want to change our life, we must have a deeper and more detailed understanding of things. If we have a downward movement, we should keep in mind the light and warmth - since they are a reflection of the divine world - so that our mind should always be in accord with light and our heart - with warmth. Where the light is absent, the mind does not think and where warmth is absent, the heart does not beat. These are not mere statements and suppositions, but a Great Law. When we are asked by what standard, or by which proof we can prove certain truths in human life, we shall refer to the mind and heart. If we prove truths in the spiritual world we shall refer to the spirit and soul. And finally, if we prove truths in the divine world, we shall refer to the Father and the Son. Do not disturb your minds with those philosophical theological conclusions which state that the Son in a manifestation of the Father, i.e. that He is a shadow. A manifestation is the external side of things, while the Son is much more than that. The heart cannot be a manifestation of the mind, neither can the mind be a manifestation of the heart. They can corroborate in their manifestations, but these are variations, permutations and combinations. This thought is not clear to you yet, for the cloth is just now being woven and you do not see anything yet.
Christ says that your law also states that the testimony of two men is true. We must first of all cast every doubt out of our mind. Doubt in the real life does not bring any good. In life today, there are thousands of causes to make us doubt. How can we expect of other people what they cannot manifest at a given moment? Can you expect fruit from an apple-tree in winter? Would you get angry with it for not being sufficiently compassionate and regardful of you? You need not be angry for it will say, "You are not paying me a visit at the appropriate time." Some people live in spring, others are in their summer, still others are passing through their autumn and a fourth kind are in their winter. Some say that all people are alike. No, all people are not alike. Some form groups of variations, others of permutations and a third group of combinations. The same thing is stated in your external law which is similar to the inner law since the lower - the earthly - is similar to the heavenly. If your mind and your heart speak the same thing about an object, accept this truth without any reserve or wavering for every wavering will hinder your progress. Contemporary society is lacking in this - it has not enough faith in itself, a positive faith without wavering or doubt.
In the past when the Lord created the world, Faith and Knowledge, which were two sister-goddesses up in the Divine World, decided to come down and help people. In heaven they knew and loved each other, but after coming down to earth one of the sisters entered the mind and was clad according to the law of the mind; but the other entered the heart and was clad according to the law of the heart. When people harnessed them to work, they washed dishes, chopped onions, cooked meat and their faces became so ugly that the sisters could not recognize one another. Someone says, "I have faith." Yes, faith which cooks onions, fries meat, washes dishes and fights with doubt. Thus, these two sisters, Faith and Knowledge, not recognizing one another, started to quarrel and to argue which one was first - Faith or Knowledge. Then the whole world was divided: one part of the people took the side of Faith and became religious, while the other took the side of Knowledge and became materialists. Then the bombardment started, "I am a learned person, but you are ignorant,"
"You have faith, but you are first-class ignoramus." Now we have thousands of volumes written on materialistic philosophy and faith, but these two sisters have not been reconciled yet. When the Lord saw them quarrelling, He sent His Son to reconcile them.
Some ask, "How can they be reconciled?"
By self-sacrifice.
Some ask, "Who is the man and who is the woman?" Woman is Faith, while man is Knowledge. When a man and a woman quarrel, they do not know each other. The woman says, "I want to be a man." In heaven you were two sister-goddesses who came down from heaven to rectify the world. One of you became a woman cutting onions and the other became a man who opened a shop selling water-melons, pumpkins, onions and so on. Instead of rectifying the world, they spoiled it to such an extent that even the Lord Himself cannot recognize it. What is needed is deep, right and sincere thinking. When a man and a woman unite, their testimony will be true only if it is done with Wisdom and Love. Love is that great power which can bear the greatest sufferings without fainting in spirit. That is Faith. But Wisdom is that power with which the most difficult problems in life can be solved.
All hardships today are problems which we must solve and not say, "Lord, do away with them, we don’t need them." The mother says, "My poor child is suffering so with the hard problems their teacher gave them, they have grown weak and do not get enough sleep." The Lord has not sent your child to earth to sleep. He has sent them to study. Sleep is naturally necessary as a rest, but one may rest for five or ten minutes, or for two hours, but for no more than seven hours - that is not permitted. Your law also states that the testimony of two persons is true. Often these two persons appear in court and start blaming one another. The man says, "I protest, Your Highness, these witnesses are biased. Order them away, I will summon others," and brings two new witnesses. Then the woman remonstrates, "Your Highness, these witnesses are far from disinterested." Finally the judge is at his wits’ end and puts off the case. That is why the highest art in law is to be able to postpone a case which you cannot win. You are lawyers, too, who put off the case which means that you leave your problems in life unsolved expecting more favorable times to come, saying like the judge, "Now, I am somewhat indisposed."
Do not put the blame on your mind calling it weak. Never say that your heart is perverted. You may quote the Scriptures that the mind is perverted; these are only philosophical statements of the prophets, but you must understand the deep meaning of these words. If the heart was perverted and had no value, God would never have said, "My son, give me your heart." He does not say, "Give Me your life." You must give your heart to God so that He may teach you how sublime and noble your heart is and how the sources of your present and future life are hidden in it. No one can live if their heart is disturbed. The doctors today recommend calmness of the heart too. There might be slight disturbances on its surface, but it must be calm and quiet in its foundation. There may be drafts, but they should never disturb the heart.
When your mind and heart turn to God, He hears your prayer and directs your destiny rightly. The heart and the mind are two quantities, two elements of the group which the occultists call astral-mental world, but I call it credo-philosophical - to coin a new word - a credo-philosophical world. Therefore, the testimony of these two, this credo-philosophical law is considered true in the divine world as the testimony of light and warmth in the physical world. Light is the quality of Wisdom while warmth is the quality of Love inherent in it. But it is not the warmth you feel. You often feel the unpleasant vibrations of heat. When you have the experience of a mystic to fall into an ecstatic state, only then can you feel this Inner Divine Warmth - the quality of Love. Such warmth can melt and purify everything. You must increase your warmth; however, not according to the Celsius thermometer, but by studying alchemy and the vibrations of this warmth. It is so intensive that all impurities disturbing your life will be immediately cleansed. You can attain this by casting out all doubt from your heart and mind. Or let me express this idea differently: put doubt outside, rent a room for it, pay the rent, but do not keep it in your home.
Applying this Great Law, Christ says, "I bear witness of Myself and the Father bears witness of Me." Which is the important question for which we have gathered today? I am not treating the question whether you will be given a kilogram of sugar next week; I am not treating the question which committee may permit this; I am not treating the question what peace treaty can be concluded. Many similar questions may be raised which have no importance for us. The important ones are: Why has a person come to the earth? Do you have a soul or not? Do you have a heart and is your heart in concord with your mind?
Often your heart is troubled and you start looking for a friend to rid you of your trouble, but suppose they are in the same state? A group of people get together and say, "We are pessimists" and start proving their cause by philosophical discussion. They have a peculiar view of the world, finding it a bad world, and start to prove scientifically their thesis that this is the worst of worlds. Here are their arguments: it is bad because hens and sows are slaughtered; because there are earthquakes, wars and the like. If it were a good world, things would be different," they say. But I say, "You pessimists are those men and women winding the warp-beam and both are pulling it backward; but as soon as the cloth is warped, the woman takes the cloth and the man takes the shuttle and they say, "We have finished the work" and there are no more contradictions in life. Their work is the testimony that they have worked together in accord. We often say that the man and woman have pulled like the crab and the pike, but those are people who face two directions: from the center to the periphery and vice versa. If the man goes one direction, the woman goes another. Who is right? Both are right for they are moving from the center to the periphery. When both come to the periphery and start moving, then they are on the Way.
If you study astronomy, you will notice that the earth and the sun have two opposite directions: the sun moves in one direction and the earth in another. And the earth always crosses the path of the sun. But the path of the earth is longer than that of the sun. If 52 million years are necessary for our sun to make one revolution around the centre of its circle; the earth should revolve 25 million times around the sun, the two making a large circle. Who is doing the bigger work? Both are doing their work well. The sun spends more energy, but the earth - more time. There is a law in physics that to save energy one must spend more time. Therefore, if in one respect you want to save the energy of your mind, you should spend the energy of your heart - and conversely. If you want to save the energy of your heart, you should spend the energy of your mind. For time becomes evident by the direction of motion. I am not philosophizing about time in its essence, but I say time is a factor determining the motion, the direction of your life. Energy, on the other hand, is the impulse of this motion from within. If we spend the energy of the mind, we save the energy of the heart and vice versa, if we spend the energy of the heart we spend the energy of the mind. Every given moment you will refer to the two witnesses. In the court it is the same - two witnesses cannot speak at the same time. When one is speaking, the other one must keep quiet; when one is expending energy, the other one must sit quiet and calm. If both start talking at the same time, the judge will say: "Wait!" Therefore, one determines the time, while the other the energy. Consequently, when one witness in you starts speaking, if you are a judge, you will tell the other one to keep quiet so that you can give time to your mind to make its statements. Do not disturb them. Let them speak to the end; then your heart will take its turn to testify. Also, in the process of education we must put the mind and the heart in most normal relations and leave them alone not hindering them with things which are not real. I am speaking to you first; but by the word "you" I mean this great mass of people, for every person is a collective being made up of millions and millions of beings together. All these souls are rational and listen to this talk.
Do you understand me? I even notice at times that your eyes understand me better than your brains. The eyes have the sharpest perceptivity in the world. When you look a person in the eyes, you will notice if s/he understands you or not. When people do not understand you, their eyes are blurred. "Ahmed buorada, akil disharda," as the Turks say, meaning "Ahmed is here, but his mind is outside." When a person understands you, their penetrating look is fixed and you are aware that they comprehend everything and have contact with the relation of things. Everyone of you knows this. Many say, "I feel it." That is good, but you must also grasp it with you mind. If you have heeded only the testimony of your heart and not of the mind, you are on the wrong path of development. If the light within you works more than the warmth, you are again on the wrong way. Sometimes your feelings are intensive. When children fall into a state of extreme joy, they start jumping; but after that they are overtaken by a transitory state and they start crying as this joy is not natural In the bringing up of children, we must create both work for the heart and for the mind. And I beg you, when a person is speaking never stop them with your thoughts. If you do not want to listen to them, move away.
A daughter says to her mother, "I do not want to listen to you," or a mother says to her daughter, "I do not want to listen to you." I repeat: let those who do not want to listen to people move away from them. It often happens that a child, inspired by what the teacher has said, comes home and starts telling it to their mother. However, she suddenly shouts out at them, "Get away, I won’t listen to your nonsense." In this case the mother is committing a grave crime. She must listen to her child and hear until the end what the teacher had told them as the child is giving their testimony. After interrupting the child in such a rude way for ten or twenty times, the child will surely take the wrong path in life - that is in relation to the mind.
Sometimes the heart of the daughter is inspired; but the mother, having become a philosopher after her marriage, will stop her by saying, "Do not follow the foolishness of your heart, do not listen to it! The desires of the heart are the illusions of youth while meat is necessary for your meals!" Today, the tender soul of the daughter is disturbed by advice like this which is of no use. And when she becomes a mother she starts saying, "This is nonsense, the real thing is this or that." However, what the young girl, the daughter, felt in her heart was real. There is nothing more real than that. How do you want to taste a thing: with your tongue or with your heart?
I shall cite again an example I have given you at other times. A Turk was pounding coffee in a big stone mortar with a wooden mallet and every time he struck with the mallet, he cried out, "Ha!" A man passing by his shop said to him, "I am jobless and offer you my services wishing to help you with your work. You will pound with the mallet and I shall say, "Ha!" They started working together. The Turk raised and dropped the mallet and the helper cried, "Ha!" They pounded up the coffee and the Turk started making coffee for his clients and when he took the money, he dropped it in the safe, not giving anything to his helper. The latter felt robbed and sued the Turk for not fulfilling the clauses of their agreement. When the judge was informed of how things stood, he ordered that a tin-can be brought to the court and said to the coffee-maker, "When you take money, drop it in the tin-can: you will hear the sound "Tin!" That will be the salary of your collaborator for saying "Ha!" You, who are obeying the taste of the tongue are like the Turks say, "Nefes orta." So be sure that your law also says that the testimony of two persons is true.
In order to be able to understand the philosophy of life, you must have a pure heart and a pure mind. Your mind and heart must be in such a state that the mind should perceive things at the right time and the heart should feel them at the right time. But a philosopher might say, "You cannot feel and think like the angels!" When you come to their state, you will feel like them. There are different stages of development in life; every minute, every second bears their qualities and powers. Do not try to be alike or uniform. When God created the world, all the souls springing from the center of creation took different directions, like the sunbeams, each one bearing something from the divine center: different talents, different feelings and so on. There are no two souls alike in the world and they cannot be alike, although the difference between them may be small.
In studying astrology, you will see that you are at a certain degree in one of the four sectors of the circle and this arc of 90° is equal to a quarter of the so called Platonic or Polar year, i.e. it is a period of 6,300 years. Two persons may be separated by an arc of 90°, or a period of 6,300 years. Suppose the first person A is in the beginning of the circle while the other one B is 90° away from them, which is a period of 6,300 years. The soul B is 6,300 years older than the soul A; hence it has more knowledge and experience. The soul C, which is on the same diameter with A, but on the opposite pole is still older and more advanced. While A has to pass the lower sectors of the circle, C moves along its ascending half. They will pass equal distances, but the knowledge they will acquire will not be the same. One half of the circle implies a downward movement, while the other and upward one. On the upward way, one acquires one kind of knowledge; but on the downward, another. Therefore, when we descend to the heart from the height of the mind, the latter acquires one kind of knowledge; while the heart moving upward to the mind acquires different kinds of knowledge and feelings. Thus, the formula is the following: the mind descending acquires mind-feelings, while the heart ascending acquires heart-thinking.
You may ask, "What difference does it make?" The difference lies in the fact that when the heart prevails there is greater warmth; but when the mind has prevalence, there is greater light. When fruit and wheat are ripening, there must be warmth by all means to help the ripening process. When growth must take place in us, by all means, the mind must have prevalence. The one who wants to grow rightly should give priority to the mind. Growth and knowledge are of the mind; but development and expansion are of the heart. These are two great processes in our development; therefore, their testimony is necessary and true.
The Lord says, "You should work in accord with your heart and mind - then you will develop greatly in life." Now you are reading philosophical books as to what Kant or others have to say. What does this pear tree mean? It had blossomed and now bears fruit. What does a cat do? It mews. By mewing it may want to say that it wants meat, or that it is looking for its children. There are different kinds of mewing. Some people speak, but what do they say? Nonsense. What is nonsense? If I visit mentally deranged people, I shall be a fool in their point of view, although I am a philosopher. A religious person will be considered foolish by a society of materialists and a materialist will be considered stupid in a religious society. But I say that both are intelligent - the one who serves Faith and the other who serves Knowledge. Yet, we promptly label them, "This person is stupid; that one is infidel so do not listen to them." But neither one has a right idea about God.
Please excuse me, but in my viewpoint, God is neither a concept, nor an idea. We have an idea of the things God has created, of His manifestations, but have no idea of Him whatsoever. We have an idea of God’s Love and His Wisdom, but He is more than the manifested love and wisdom. You may have an idea of them, but if you say you have acquired a deep knowledge of God, you are only deluding yourself and your ideas will be refuted. For thousands of years the river Iskar did damage to the nearby villages. How many houses and land it has inundated and destroyed! When the peasants were drowning, they would say, "This is our destiny." From time to time they would harness the river water to run a mill, but when a flood came, it carried the mill away. But people today are wiser. They harnessed the Iskar to produce electric power to light their homes and to run trams. You can see what great energy this dangerous Iskar possessed. It has always said to people: "Put me to work. I bring you much good; but if you do not, I shall cause you much damage." Your child is like the Iskar. You say, "I am tired of this child. Why did God give them to me? It causes so much mischief." Do as you did to the Iskar: drive a tunnel, place turbines and the water will produce electricity which will move cars and light houses.
The learned pedagogues say, "We must educate our children in religion and in knowledge and respect of their parents." Do you understand this? Neither you, nor those pedagogues have understood this. For 8,000 years it has been repeated over and over again that people should be educated and believe in God. And those who do not believe should be considered infidels. But Christ says, "The testimony of these two is true." Only the testimony which our heart and mind give us simultaneously is true. Only those things in nature, which are unchangeable, speak the Truth. Whenever someone tells of their experience, or cites this or that philosopher or mathematician; according to my mathematics, I exclude 50% of what was said first; then 25% more; then I start thinking about the remaining 25% and the group it belongs to - variations, permutations or combinations, e.g. orderings, transpositions or combinations.
What are our relations to God? Some say, "May God help us fix ourselves up nicely; marry our daughter well; then have nice children, full barns, oxen, good food and drink and so on." We daily fix ourselves up and finally we die. The priest comes and starts chanting, "Blessed be our God," ending with, "May their soul rest in peace." Whoever wants the Lord to fix them up must pass through all these variations, permutations and combinations and not remain only in the orderings. Bulgaria is issuing only orders and instructions at present; but this is only an overloading of the camel: placing goods and loads on its back until its back breaks. What God is testifying within us is the spirit speaking in us; and we, as children of God, should be able to give ear to His voice.
Some days ago a young officer of the reserve visited me and told me he fell ill of an incurable disease. He was on his death bed when he chanced on a booklet about healing by hunger by a doctor Muller. He decided to fast for 22 days. He described his experience during the first, the second and third day and the result was that his illness disappeared. Then he went to Plovdiv to the doctor who had told him his illness was incurable and said to him, "Examine me."
The doctor examined him and said, "You are in good health." That man applied fasting with his whole mind and heart whereby his mind was clarified and he turned from a materialistic man into a spiritual man. He understood that there is something else in the world besides what people know. He became a sort of clairvoyant and going to a believer, he confessed that the Spirit led him to that idea; however, the believer said to him that his mind was somewhat weak. For ordinary people, a believer is only a person who believes in chopped meat, drinking, money - their mind is sound, but for them the belief in spirits is a mental derangement. From their point of view some are wise, others are foolish, but from my point of view all are good.
The newspapers write about different criminals and want punishment for them. They look one-sidedly at things, but they should have faith only in the positive things. All visible things must be cast out for they are not in the Divine World. We must penetrate deeply in our souls and hearts and avow to ourselves that we are S and ons of God who have come out of the Divine Center that is why we shall do the Will of God. Some say, "I want to be good." This is the wrong way to take for you can never be good; you must do the Will of God. You may be good; but if you do not do the Will of God, you are bad.
Present-day people must decide to do the Will of God in the full sense of the word and not in the way they understand it, for what they are doing is not the Will of God, but rather a service to themselves. To do the Will of God is to feel Oneness with God, then we are filled with joy and we regard all people calmly for we know the causes and effects of their faults. But when each person serves only their self, there is no mutual understanding and this is the source of all evil in the world. If your heart should stop beating for half an hour, it will begin to stink. The same thing would happen to the mind, if it should stop working. People say that someone’s breathing has stopped; but that is not tru,e for when breathing and the beating of the heart stop on the physical plane, the soul begins to work. This is an experience of all who have been engaged in the spiritual sciences.
You ask, "What will become of me when my heart stops beating?"
Your soul will wake up.
"What will become of me when my mind stops working?"
The Divine Spirit will wake up. I have no intention of making you fast for 22 days like that young man I told you about. I do not recommend such a fast to you, either. You will not attain anything if you have no faith. I should say that young man got rid of doubt and awakened the Divine in himself. If you want to fulfill all your obligations and do away with all your misfortunes, fast for 5-10-15-20 days and then you will learn the causes of all things. But your heart and your mind together should prompt you to this act. Only then can you fast and have an excellent result. But if your heart says, "Fast," and your mind says, "Don’t!", then do not begin fasting. Some may say, "We can do without fasting." That cannot be. At a certain moment in your life when we must strengthen our will and unite it with the Will of God and see the testimony of these two witnesses, we must fast.
Now, I will speak about the influence of the planets on people. Those who are under the influence of the earth will be avaricious of material gain. When you notice this quality of avarice in a person, know that they are under the influence of the earth. When you have a desire to act and complete or create something, Mercury has influence over you. When your heart begins to love, the planet Venus is influencing you. When Mars is influencing you, a desire to fight and show that you are strong and powerful takes possession of you. When the planet Jupiter influences you, you will become more temperate and self-controlled, rather quiet; but aspiring for freedom and brotherhood. Under the influence of Saturn, your sensitiveness will increase, as well as your sense of smell. Uranus will make your heart stronger; while Neptune will increase your sense of sight and make you a clairvoyant. All these planets of the solar system cause different manifestations in people. When all the planets (which are living and rational) act at the same time, then we are in harmony. When you say you do not like the world, then understand that you are under the influence of the Earth. If you want to have all the riches of this world, that would draw you away from God.
You have not come to the earth to become rich, but to gain knowledge and understand these two witnesses I am speaking to you about. You must study your heart and mind for they are the two professors who are teaching you. The heart is an excellent professor. It is that Goddess I spoke to you about - it is Faith, it is Love, and linked with Knowledge it creates the religion on earth. Do you understand this professor who is within you?
You say, "My mind is foolish." It means that your professor, who has taught you, is a foolish person who did not know his job. But I say to you that you do not understand or listen to your mind and heart. Someone may say of a person that the latter does not believe in God. But I shall say that they do not believe in their heart.
"But s/he is not a wise person."
I say, they not believe in their mind. Those who despair of this world and want to commit suicide do not love the Light. No one wants to commit suicide on a high place, on a mountain, but rather in some dark place or cellar. Those egotistic forces which want to hinder your development, cause a darkening of your mind so that a crime may be committed, and then throw the blame for this crime on the mind. The Goddess who has come down from heaven does not commit crimes. In the same way, your heart, your faith, (this Goddess who has come from above) does not commit crimes. Therefore, I say to all of you, "Believe in your heart, believe in your mind; then the second stage will come - you will believe in your soul and spirit; and after that - in God and in His Son. Only in this way will you acquire a true philosophy for understanding the Great Law of Nature."
You ask what is your predestination. You, the citizens of Sofia, should go up the Vitosha mountain four or five times in the summer. Visit all the waterfalls; climb the highest peak in Bulgaria, Moussallah, and go up Belmeken. You will say, "We need boots, which are expensive now." You need excursions - excursions up the mountain. These excursions are a stimulus which will develop the mind and the heart of a person. By all means, you should climb to high places. By saying "climb high mountains", I am using a symbol. A person who wants to develop their mind must, by all means, climb high places. A person who wants to develop their heart, should go down low places. Climbing up and down require heroism. How many mountaineers have wanted to climb the Himalayas, but have not succeeded because the high peaks are inaccessible. Also in human development there are places that the human mind has not been able to climb. In Bulgaria some people do not even know Moussallah, and who knows how few people have climbed this peak. I think that one in ten thousand has gone up. And since Mont Blanc is the measure for gauging the European mind, I shall say that few people have climbed the peak of that mountain either.
You will say, "These are abstract things which have no relation to our ‘food-providing committee’. Do you know our difficult condition today? There is no butter and cheese, no produce." Whoever needs butter, let them come to me and I shall give them a method of extracting butter from nature. You can have as much butter as you want, if these two witnesses within you are speaking the truth. Come, let us make an experiment. I put this Divine Science under a live experiment: we shall make the experiment with those of you in whom these two witnesses are speaking and do you know what your state will be then?
In India a great Brahmin master had a cow which was so beautiful that the local prince wanted to take it. First he tried to buy it for money. "I do not want any money," answered the Brahmin.
"But I shall give you as much money as the cow weighs."
"Even if you gave me the whole world, I would not give you my cow."
"Then I shall take it by force!"
"Just try!" The prince sent ten policemen to take the cow by force, but the Brahmin waved his hand and they fell flat on the ground. The prince sent one thousand policemen; but the Brahmin waved his hand and they also fell flat on the ground. The prince finally sent 20,000 policemen - they all fell just like the others. The man would not give up his cow! The prince was convinced that the Brahmin was a strong person, so he went to him and became his disciple. He wanted to find out how the Brahmin had acquired this secret force. He started living like him. After a life of one thousand years he tried to take his cow with no success. After a life of two thousand years and one more unsuccessful attempt to take the cow, he found out that he had become stronger than the Brahmin; but now he thought, "Why should I need his cow? I have no need of it."
Now I say, find this cow; it is within you and when you find it, you will have milk, butter and everything you need. In a word, as people say - honey and milk will start flowing.
It said that in the distant past milk and honey were flowing in Palestine and it took two men two carry a bunch of grapes, but now, neither milk, not honey flow there. There are reasons for this. Make room in your heart and mind for everything you consider good in the world - this is the first rule. Say, "Everything is good." Even if it is not so, say it is and it will become so. Saying it is good, you will take another direction. Say, "I do not want his money. I have no need of this burden." It is a bad thing to desire something you cannot have or bear. At this moment, for instance, of what use will riches be to you when tomorrow a catastrophe may take place? We are, so to speak, preparing ourselves for the other world; but we do not believe in it. If anyone should start speaking about spirits now, the others will say they are out of their mind.
There was a preacher in America who liked to exaggerate when speaking. He had a friend by the name of John whom he called and said to him, "Do me a favor, John, when you hear me exaggerate, turn your forefinger this way." One day the preacher talked about Samson who caught three hundred foxes and started explaining that the tails of the foxes were three meters long. "And this is a fact, because such and such an author says so," and he started quoting, but his friend turned his forefinger. "But, he continued, this looks to me improbable and I suppose the tails were two meters long," and he started quoting another author, but his friend turned his forefinger again. "However, this also seems to me improbable, but they must have been one meter long," and he started proving this by quoting, but his friend made again a sign with his forefinger. "Now, this looks to me unnatural, certainly the tails have been as long as those of our foxes - about 50 or 60 centimeters." John turned his finger again, but this time the preacher jumped and cried out, "John, I cannot shorten them anymore."
The tails in Samson’s times were as long as in our times. What cause is there for argumentation that such and such an author said this or that? People read different philosophers until finally they are forced to see the truth in nature - how things really are in life; what the heart and the mind are saying. Be loyal to these two principles and you will have the support of the Invisible World which is around you and helps everyone who seeks the Truth. We are not alone on this earth so there is no need of our worry about sustenance, for everything is prepared for us. In the past when the Lord led the Hebrews out of Egypt across the desert, He gave them manna for food and ordered them to gather it only for the day it was given and not to store it up, except for the Sabbath. However, the Hebrews did not obey Him, and as they had practiced in Egypt (which represents the present-day culture, they) gathered manna for two days and it spoiled.
We people today, in our effort to store up for the future, do not give our minds and hearts even some rest. That is why everything in our life is spoiled. Do you know what this means? It is just like a child who wants to take his mother’s time the whole day. We call such a child disobedient. There is time for the child, but there is time for the mother as well. Do not think that your time is exclusively for your children; neither theirs for you. Part of your time must be devoted to God and to your neighbors as well.
All people must devote some time in order to know what is the Great Law. Some time should be consecrated to God. But what do you do? You look after your business or work. And what happens? You lose ten times more time.
Someone may say, "Are there any statistics you can show us by which to determine what has happened to those merchants who have not fulfilled the Law, and to those farmers who have not acted according to this Law?" A poor person sometimes asks you for alms which means that the Lord sometimes wants you to consecrate a little time to Him. Let the merchant give the beggar something; let him tell them a kind word. He says instead, "Get out of here for I have work to do." Then the Lord notes down in His book that such and such a person has not consecrated the given time to Him. A merchant acts this way three or four times and then a crisis comes to him and he loses 100 or 200,000 leva. The Lord takes it because he has not fulfilled the Law. But what happens to a farmer who does not fulfill the Law? He sows his field two or three years, but the field gives no crop because he has refused to devote a short moment to God.
The priests, on the other hand, will say that one must consecrate all their time to God. That is well said, but they do not do it themselves. Moses, who gave the Law of Rest, was much wiser, for he said: "Work for yourself, for your wife and children, for your friends, six days a week and consecrate the seventh to the Lord your God." This rest is necessary to you so that you may enter your Inner World and evaluate the experiences of the other days of the week.
You should say to your wife and children, "Leave me alone today that I may serve the Lord.” But then, do not worry that the children will fight, that your wife may not be well-disposed. Leave them alone; do not pity them too much. If you pity your family and friends on that day, you will lose the Divine Harmony which is a great moment in your life.
Some people come to me and complain that they have nothing to eat. I have tried all kinds of ways in which people can nourish themselves. I have eaten only an apple a day, or only beans and I have survived. In my opinion only bread is the best food. But you object to this and say it is not sufficiently nourishing; however, I say that meat, butter, olives, sausages, soup cooked with lamb’s liver are less nourishing. You call my way of nourishment a "monk’s way of eating." Our animal mind has deluded us and made us carnivorous; the instinct of the swine has deluded us and made us omnivorous for the swine eats everything.
Once a priest visited me and as I was saying these things to him, he said, "But I have healthy stomach and can eat everything."
"Let him eat everything he wants," I said. But after eating he was ill for two days. Of what? "Indisposed."
My friends, your stomach tells you, you are not a sensible person. When we eat we should thank our soul for giving us everything that is necessary. We do not need any superfluities. What is necessary for us is to come to know our mind and our heart for they are Divine. Seek only what is necessary in life: seek it in your mind, in your heart, in your life. It will not leave any remnants in you out of which impurities may remain in the person.
Only if you turn to your mind and heart, will you then be able to reform your life and society - you will solve both problems at the same time. Everyone will work with what is given them. You will not all do the same thing since there is a variety of things to be done. Everyone will work according to their own understanding. By entering this Great Divine Plan I talked to you about, the Bulgarians and Bulgaria will put their life in order. I recommend to Bulgaria to make an experiment - to give heed to her mind and heart and in ten years’ time, her life will be put in order. Let every Bulgarian make an experiment of obeying their mind and heart. Let no one compel another. If your friend is not walking in the right way, direct your thoughts to them and in this Divine Way send them your help; then see how thier life will change.
When a flower is not watered a long time, it is crying "Water! Water!" When there is humidity we say it needs warmth and light. We need this humidity, this Inner Light and heat. Some may say, "This is hard to apply." Heroes are needed for this teaching, not cowards. What is important for us is what nature is teaching us, what we were created for – and not what philosophers have written in the past, nor what the people of learning are writing now.
Have we been created to become victims of the battlefields, to torture and hang people? Not in the least. God has created us for great purposes. We call ourselves cultured people, feigning we serve God as Eastern Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants; but we all kill hens and lambs the same way. We are not cultured people yet. From now on, the future belongs to a real culture - the culture of our heart and of our mind. Let there be no two thoughts and two feelings in people about things. Let us always speak the Truth, always cherish the Good in our heart, and be ready to sacrifice ourselves for it. I am ready to sacrifice myself for what I believe, I have experienced this. I see what others do not see. It is preferable for a person to wear a dressing-gown but have a fresh mind and speak the truth than to wear a crown and have a high post in the world, but be the worst of liars.
Brothers and sisters, do you know how deluded you are! Do you know what you told me one time when you were leaving heaven? What fine ideas, what wonderful programs, what high purposes you had at that time? You were beautiful and powerful as I know you, but as I am looking at you now, I pity you. If I could weep, I would. I would not weep for your sufferings, however, but for your delusions; for not knowing how to be happy on earth and where your happiness is. Life in its present condition is slavery - a big prison. Have no illusions, realize your condition and come out of it. You, being in this prison are thinking how to reform it so that the prisoners may live well. But I say unto you, "Come out of this prison!"
Some will say: "The time has not come yet," and prefer to live thousands of years in the prison. No, five years have passed, the term is over. Has not the time come for you to leave the prison? Thousands of years have passed and you are still in it. Come out of it! You will call the policeman and say to him, "We were sentenced on the basis of such and such law to stay in prison for so many years. The term is over and we want you to set us free!"
Raise your mind and your heart and appeal to God, call Him to set you free from this prison. All that you see now will be leveled with the ground in ten years; nothing will remain of these laws. Such will be the end of this world with its present perversion. A New Culture will come when people will listen to their hearts and minds and live like brothers according to a deep comprehension of that Law which says, as it is also written in our law, that the testimony of the two is true.
I am not telling you to become pessimists, but to be heroes. Work among all people and tell everybody that the time has come for us to live a human life on earth. But you will say that people do not wish this. You will convince them, because the right is on our side. A common brotherhood will be created in the whole world. This slavery will be abolished; the rich and the poor will become equal; the learned and the ignorant will be put on the same footing; all people will become equal according to the Law of Wisdom and Love.
This will be the New Culture. Arm yourselves with this idea. Be heroes and fear nothing. You have served the devil long enough. People believe in him more than in God. Say, "From now on we shall believe in the Living God Who moves the world and Who has decided to reform it." For that reason He has sent His servants. If you do not do this, the stones will come to life and reform the world. It is written that the trees and the animals will rise, but if you do not rise, you will be the last in the Kingdom of God.
You will say that I am strict. Please excuse me, but this is not strictness. I am only saying that your relationship as brothers and sisters are not what God requires. I am telling you the very truth. Give up all squabbles among you for there is no reason for them. But you say, "I am an Eastern Orthodox," "I am a Catholic," "I am an Evangelist," "I am a Communist," "I am a Theosophist," "I am a Spiritualist," "a Frenchman," "a Bulgarian" and so on.
When God created the world, we were not separated into different creeds and nationalities. Now we have become French, English, Italians and tutti quanti. Let us turn to the Great Truth which God is pointing out to us and which calls us to a great task. Put your minds and hearts to work so that we may create a great wave in the world which will lead us in the way of mutual accord and the Great Laws of Nature. Then you may be sure that the future will be yours.
Sermon by the Master November 16, 1919.
1 John 8:17
---------------
------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
------------------------------------------------------------
1
|
