Lecture 21 to the Youth Occult Class Given by the Master Beinsa Douno On August 2, 1922 – Wednesday, 19.30 local time
Sofia
Secret prayer [Silent Personal Prayer]
There was a presentation of the disciples’ works on the topic: “The purpose of the human heart.”
Disciples were then asked to write on the topic: “The significance of the human eye.”
When you were writing about the purpose of the human heart, did you stop and reflect upon the centre of your heart? When the heart ceases to beat, the physical life also ceases. When the heart ceases to feel, the astral life ceases.
Now I will give you the following weekly task: every day - in the morning, before lunch and before supper - recite the following words: “God, create a pure and sacred heart in me!” After you have said these words you should reflect on the heart for five minutes.
Some people say that the heart is a temple, others say that it is an altar of God. What is the heart for poets, a temple or an altar? Such sentiments indicate that people place a high value on the heart. What is the role of the heart in the human organism? It is very simple – it stimulates the blood circulation. In this respect, the heart fulfils the role of a conductor. It has a precise, mathematically determined size, according to which its function is also determined. There is a certain relationship between the physical and the spiritual functioning of the heart. Although as a physical organ it is small in size, from a spiritual perspective the heart is considered very important. As a result the heart becomes a master, which it does not have the right to be. This is an incorrect position. Only the human Spirit can be the master of anything.
I ask you the following question: “Does the heart or the Spirit feel?” How do contemporary psychologists explain the function of the heart in the Spiritual world? – As mere nervous impulses, as functions of the nervous system.
Insofar as the psychic or inner-life aspects of the heart are concerned, people pay no attention. They come and go by the heart like tourists.
Many modern tourists climb mountains, pick and eat blackberries, but never think to gather some berries for winter. You say, "When winter comes, we'll buy blackberries from the store." Yes, but you will not find blackberries then. The heart needs its stores the same way the good housekeeper stores various fruits for the winter.
It is said that the heart is a temple of God. But every temple needs an altar. The altar is the fireplace of the temple. The human body is likewise said to be a temple of God. The heart is the fireplace of this temple, and the fire burns always within it. What is the fire needed for? People warm themselves, cook, boil water on the fire and so on. If you bear in mind the role of fire in a fireplace, you will understand the functioning of the heart as a fireplace in the Divine temple. When it is warm outside, the fire is extinguished, but the fireplace remains. So in the summertime people may warm up without a fire.
As mentioned before, when the physical heart ceases to beat, the physical life also ceases. When sensations and feelings cease in the human being, the astral life ceases. After the cessation of the astral life, one falls into a sleepy state that resembles the application of anaesthesia. Thus, one can be intoxicated by smoke, ether or other gases. When the chimney of someone’s house does not work well, the house will be filled with smoke, so it should be ventilated through the windows. It will be impossible to stay inside and breathe the smoke. Similarly, each negative state indicates that the human heart is full of smoke. Why? Because the chimney of your heart, the chimney of your fireplace has been choked.
People say that everything is due to the heart, yet when they pass through serious inner experiences, they look for reasons elsewhere. I enter their house and see that it is full of smoke. I say, "Clean your chimneys, or amend them if they are of no use!" The same is true of the heart. When you have difficult emotional problems, I say, "Clean the chimney of your heart!" What is the chimney of the heart and where is it located? Reflect on this question for awhile in solitude and find the answer.
You will be able to answer this question when you begin to study the Physical, Astral, Mental and Causal bodies of the human being. In the same way that the Physical body has its physiology and anatomy, the Astral, Mental and Causal bodies have theirs. The physiology and anatomy of the higher bodies are similar to those of the physical body. When certain analogies are made, however, they should be true. If analogies are true in their comparisons, one will intuitively feel inner harmony and satisfaction with them. For example, someone has written a poem. He has read it several times, but he does not like it. He corrects it, reads it again and then leaves it for a time. He then reads it again and realizes that it's now better than before, so he likes it. This proves the existence of an intuitive sense within a person, a sense that indicates to him which choices are right and which are wrong.
In this respect, as disciples, you should develop your intuition so that you may sagely determine which choice is right and which is wrong. If your intuition is well developed, after you have written something on a certain topic - as you have written about the heart today - and after you have read it two or three times, you will be able to determine immediately whether your work is true or not. If your text is good, both you and your listeners will be satisfied. If you are not satisfied with your text, in no way can you expect others to appreciate it.
While you were preparing the theme of the heart, you should have asked yourselves if your heart was healthy, if it sensed in a correct way. Then you should have considered the number of its valves from an anatomic point of view. Lastly, you should have perceived the astral or the spiritual heart, and reflected on it for some time before finally writing the theme. This is the right way of thinking. Contemporary people do not think in depth. Supposing someone tells you that you are a bad person. Is that true? If you do not think deeply on the matter, you will take these words as absolute and you will feel insulted. However, if you are a servant and your master has ordered you to go out to the field and dig, and you have refused to fulfil the order, I will say: you are a bad person in relation to your job, but not in relation to your life. If the servant has not gone out to plough and sow the field, one of his basic obligations is unfulfilled.
I ask, is there any difference if a servant sows the entire field or just a single grain of wheat? Whoever is ready to sow a single grain of wheat will also be ready to sow the whole field. Whoever cannot sow a single grain of wheat cannot sow the whole field. As well, when we say that someone is a bad person, we mean that he is bad only at a certain moment, but not in other past or future moments. He is bad so long as his bad behavior lasts. In a next moment, when he will think or do something good and noble, he will be a good person. Similarly, when we speak about the occult meaning of good and evil, we understand only a definite moment. This may last a few minutes, a few hours or an entire year, but then it will change. One cannot be only bad or only good for an entire lifetime. Even the wolf, who is considered cruel, may display nobility on some occasions, such as when it goes into a flock, touches this or that sheep with its muzzle, then goes away, causing no harm. In such cases shepherds say that something unusual has happened, that the muzzle of the wolf was blocked so that it could not kill any sheep. No, this wolf has shown some nobility. After pushing a sheep, he thinks a bit and says, "All right, have it your way!" When a wolf enters a flock, he may act in three different ways: choking the sheep; scraping them with his nails, frightening them and then running away; pushing them a little without choking them, then going away without causing any harm.
The same is also true of humans. When one behaves badly, he either chokes others, scratches and frightens them, or pushes and knocks them over and runs away. Therefore, when you say that someone is bad, you should know exactly which of the three moments has occurred. This is the reason why good and evil are relative. Relativity is determined by the period of time in which the energy is active and whether or not the activity has changed anything. When it is said that someone is unable to do evil, this means that evil action is determined astrologically, through the influence of certain planets over human beings. In simple terms, the right conditions must exist in order for someone to do evil. When someone acts outside of these conditions, the door for committing evil is closed to him or her. Outside of this closed door, the individual energetically knocks and hits upon it, but as it's not to be opened, the direction is changed and the individual begins to manifest good deeds. The same law is valid for good, too. Therefore, as one does not always have suitable conditions for doing good at his disposal, neither does he always have suitable conditions for doing evil.
When developing the theme about the human eyes, think at length of the good that can be attained through them. Reflect also on the good that comes through your heart. Make scientific observations on yourself in order to differentiate the experiences you have, as well as their effect upon you. For example, measure your pulse when you are in high spirits, then count the number of heartbeats that you have when you experience great joy or grief. It is interesting to observe the variations of your pulse as you go through different situations. Also, you will receive certain mathematical data that you can use in your work upon yourself. Observe if the rhythm of your heart is steady or not, if it is long or short. You can determine your condition by the rhythm of the heart. Only in these ways can you receive concrete data to apply to your life. Otherwise you will accumulate capitals and put them in the bank and count them without knowing how they were acquired. If you do not become bankers, you will dig, plough and sow the field in order to learn how wealth is accumulated. Whoever has not acquired his wealth through effort and work can only praise himself for having thousands, but such wealth is dangerous.
As occult disciples who are given much knowledge, you run the risk of getting fed up or of being absent-minded. When you study many subjects, you may become disoriented, and the result of this is that you won't hear, comprehend or perceive many of the issues. You will hear physically, but you won't perceive inwardly. In this situation, you won't be understood no matter how long you speak. Such a person is like a youth who waits for a date with his beloved girl and thinks of nothing else. No matter what you speak to him about, he will think only of his date. A hungry person is in a similar situation. You tell him this or that, but he thinks only of food. Therefore, when an individual's consciousness is occupied with thought, he will not grasp or understand many things.
Sometimes your consciousness is also busy with lateral or related issues, not allowing you to perceive things in the right way. You read a poet, you admire him, yet wonder what he intended to say in the poem. What did he want to say? He experienced despair and he masked it, so you think that his ideas are very deep. At another time he was uplifted and fascinated, yet you're puzzled about his ideas. He has expressed his fascination, nothing else. These are lateral issues, not connected to the main issue. When describing his disappointments, the poet has gone through painful experiences. When describing his fascinations, he has been healed, especially after receiving financial support in the thousands, enabling him to travel abroad. However, a real poet views things from a Divine perspective and applies this in his life. A real poet describes things in their reality, he is not misguided by personal feelings. The same is also true for music and art.
Now, when you make your reflections, I want you to expect nothing from anyone else, and nothing is to be expected of you. When I refrain from speaking to you more specifically, it's because I have not yet met a person whose consciousness is as clear as the Sun – without a stain. Only those with clear consciousness can perceive things as they are set in the Divine world or in the Wise Nature.
Therefore, as disciples of an occult school, you should purify your consciousness in such a way that everything you perceive can be understood and imprinted. You should break your telephone connection with the external world, saying, "We receive only from within, not from the outside world." When you come to class now, you deal only with rings: “brrring” from here, “brrring” from there. You stand up, go away, come back, and fail to comprehend the subject you are taught. How can you comprehend when you deal only with rings?
The first task of an occult disciple is to learn to close his telephone lines. If someone wants to call you, you will say, "Excuse me, but my wires with the external world are disconnected." – "Why, how?"– "They're disconnected because of my occult studies at School. When I finish my lesson, I can receive and send messages again. Please don't bother me while I'm in class. Wait till the end of my lesson - then you may tell me what you need. Until then, wait for me outside."
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