Lecture eighteen read by the Master to the Youth Occult Class on the 21 of February 1923, Sofia
Contemplation
The essay “The First Thought Born Within the Human Mind” was read.
A summary of the essay “Purpose of the Sun, Moon and Stars” was read.
Exercise: put the thumbs of your hands one beside the other and join up the rest of your fingers. After that imagine you are a centre and mentally describe around yourself, around this centre – a bright circle. Then describe another bright circle around yourself in the direction from the back to the front. Finally, describe still another bright circle around all of them. The exercise will take two minutes altogether. During the exercise your hands should be in front of your face. Some people are afraid that the circles might mutually cross each other. There is no reason to be afraid. These circles are presented mentally – they are within the realms of the mental world, they are not in the realms of the physical world. The circles that you mentally described are a result of rational movements. In the course of these movements two acute angles are being formed. What are the acute and the obtuse angles? If you examine them from the point of view of the standard geometry you will be able to make one kind of explanation; if you view them from the point of view of the living geometry you will be able to make another kind of explanation. Wherever there is an acute angle, there the movement is always most strong. This can be ascertained everywhere in Life and in Nature. For instance, the human nose is one obtuse angle – sometimes it is more acute and sometimes – more obtuse. If the human nose becomes too acute, from the organic point of view this is a bad sign; it shows that this person is under the exclusive influence of his brain system – such a man is extremely active. If the human nose is obtuse, this shows that such a person is more under the influence of his sympathetic system; such a man is active rather than passive. The acute angles show, that the human consciousness is very active. What are the reasons causing that? The activity of the consciousness depends on the inner life of the person. The intensity of the inner life of the human is determined by his mental and by his sociable life.
By the skull of a dead man you can judge what his mental life was more easily than by the skull of a living man. How can you tell what the mental life of some man was? You can take the skull of some dead man and you can enter in a dark room and light a candle and put this candle inside the skull. The more developed the man was, the thinner his bones will be and the greater amount of light would be able to penetrate through them. If there are some underdeveloped parts of the skull, the light will not be able to penetrate through them. But this can be found only by the one who is able to understand properly the angles of living geometry. By these angles Living Nature builds its forms. The thinner the skull bone of the human is, the more intense his mental life has been; the thicker the skull bone is – the weaker his mental life was. If the bone in the front part of the skull is thin, this shows that the man has been merciful. If the bone in the back of his head is thin, then this man must have been extremely proud and touchy. The more some person has worked with some of the brain centres, the thinner his bone is at these places. The greater the amount of brain, that is, the more electric energy some brain centre emits, the thinner the bone gets at this place. These forces shape the human head. So the human thought shapes the human head – as man thinks, so his skull changes. The human skull is subjected to constant changes. The thoughts and the impressions, which man perceives, reflect not only on his brain, but on his double as well. Those who can read the thoughts of a man can understand what his spiritual life is, based on his double. Another double corresponds to this one, upon which the thoughts of the human as well as his whole spiritual life is imprinted. So the human life is imprinted in several copies, one of which is being preserved after his death. By this copy, which remains in eternity, you can read the past life of this man. While he is alive this man carries these copies with him. After his death they detach from him and remain forever as copies of his past incarnations.
The occult disciple should know his mental abilities. He should know how and upon which centres he should work on most. If he wants to work especially on a certain brain centre, the disciple should get in touch with those Beings in which this centre is mostly developed. As long as he gets in touch with them, they will influence him beneficially namely in this direction in which he strives most. For instance, if the disciple wants to develop some compassion within himself, he should get in touch with those intelligent and rational Beings, for which the ability to feel compassion is a specialty. Other Beings are specialized in Love towards God; as soon as you get in touch with them, the energy, which has been stored into feeling Love towards God, immediately begins to flow towards you as well. As you know this you should learn to tell the difference between the energies that flow through your brain and the energies that you consciously process. In order for a certain brain centre to be developed, certain brain energy should flow through it by all means. The compassionate man immediately responds to people’s sufferings. When he sees a poor man, a sick man, or a man in need, he immediately responds to him. If the compassion is not developed within a man you will have to talk to him for a long time before his heart can react. Sometimes all the forces, all the streams in Nature increase and at other times they decrease. This is the reason for which sometimes the conditions for development of certain abilities and feelings within man are favourable and at other times they are not favourable. For instance, the stream in Nature, which helps the development of the ability to feel Love towards God, is not coming constantly – it comes periodically. The disciple should know this fact and he should be awake and he should make use of these forces on time. Otherwise he might deceive himself, he might think he has developed within himself one feeling or another, without in fact having attained them. In general, each force, each stream in Nature comes periodically. You should use these forces so that you are able to develop your centres.
The phrenologists have studied about forty centres within the human brain. But lately they have found, that each of the centres corresponds to three other centres, so about one hundred and twenty centres exist within the human head today. Within these centres, different brain energies circulate. They say for some man, that he has an ear for music; what does that mean? To have an ear for music is an ability, a feeling, which has its own specific centre. When the human gets in touch with the musical flow in Nature he begins to develop intensely in music. If the mother has been initiated in these matters, she could put her children in conditions where they are able to perceive these natural streams and can develop an ear for music. As disciples you should study the natural forces and the natural laws. You should study them consciously, you should use them, and you should understand from where the oppositions emerge. Only in this way will you be able to understand that all your abilities and feelings are nothing else but natural forces and streams, which reflect on your brain. That’s why if you would like to develop some compassion within yourself, then you should be on friendly terms with people in which this feeling is strongly developed. If you are not on friendly terms with such people, you will not develop your own compassion. If you like to develop your own intelligence, you should be on friendly terms with people who are highly intelligent – they will hand down their intelligence to you. In general, if you like to develop certain abilities and feelings within yourselves you should be on friendly terms with people in which precisely these specific abilities and feelings are strongly developed.
As I keep an eye on people, as well as on you, the disciples, I find that within you the most strongly developed are your personal feelings as a result of which you are touchy, ambitious, arrogant and conceited. Outwardly you hide these features, you do not show them, but inwardly you cannot hide them. Where pride and vanity are strongly developed, there the mind is weak. These feelings absorb the forces of the mind and as a result the human doesn’t think about the causes and the effect from things, but he yields to his personal feelings instead. When firmness in man is strongly developed he doesn’t tolerate anyone else’s opinion or advice and he says that his own opinion is unshakable. First and foremost this man has no personal opinion. Why? - Because the opinion, the conviction is a result from the whole activity of all the feelings, forces, and abilities of the man. This means that all the forces within man should be gathered in one place; likewise the congressmen gather in the chamber and after long debates come to a joint conclusion. This we can call an opinion, this we can call a conviction. Some opinion, some conviction within the human can be formed only after more than one of his abilities function - all of his abilities should be put into work and after a long discussion among themselves they should come to a joint view, to a joint conclusion.
Many people do not know themselves and so they deny everything that other people tell them. They do not admit that they are proud, ambitious, and tenacious. Since they do not admit this, they will be subjected to a test, so that they can ascertain this on their own. Tell some proud and vain person that he understands nothing, so that you can see how he will react. Order some strenuous person to do something in order to see how he will oppose you, especially if he has another opinion regarding this point. All the forces and abilities in the human being manifest themselves naturally and for this reason man has to be sincere and he should strive to self-educate himself. He can easily learn from his behaviour, but a conscious striving is required – a striving, which is under the control of the rational will. Rational is the will, which makes each separate thing in its own time. That’s the way the good gardener proceeds: as soon as drought occurs, he makes channels through his garden, which water all the plants and vegetables. He uses the water forces on time and enjoys good results.
The disciple has to have a striving to develop his forces, to study, to know in what field he is weak and in what field he is strong. For this purpose he should have a true scale with which to check things up. The first condition required from the disciple, is that he should be ready to make experiments. If he starts some business but he fails, he should start again and continue until he gets some result – the disciple should not give up on the things he has begun. If he writes an essay, but he is not satisfied with it – let him write it again, let him write it for a third time, until he likes it. When you read your essays I see that each of you reveals his own specific feelings and talents. The same can be seen in the various speakers: you listen to some speaker and you see that he waves his arms, he points to the audience with his fist, and he bangs on the table. These movements show that the feeling for destruction within this man is strongly developed. They say that he is an excellent speaker. Yes, he is an excellent speaker, but he can beat up this person or that person and he can immediately destroy things which others have built up for years. Next to him another speaker steps forward: he speaks quietly, he turns to one side and then he turns to another side, he throws open his arms. The fact, that he throws open his arms shows, that he is timid and that his mind is strong but he cannot control it. Each human movement denotes something. Whoever understands the language of the movements should be able read them, to study the people and to study himself as well. The movements are not arbitrary – they are due to certain forces within man. You meet a person and you see that his hands are shaking. You say that this man is neurasthenic. Why and for what reason he has become a neurasthenic you don’t know. In fact, what is the reason for the neurasthenia? You see each brain centre is a depot for energy. If the forces of this centre are not put into work, slight cracks in the nervous system occur from time to time - they cause this nervous energy leakage. These cracks, these escapes of the nervous energy are the reason for the trembling of the hands and the legs of the neurasthenic person.
A great knowledge is hidden in the movements. The movements are beautiful when they are natural. A preacher comes out from the pulpit and says, “My Christian brothers, a strong and unshakeable faith in God is required from all of you.” All the people are listening to him, but they do not like his movements. What is wrong with his movements? He lifts his hands and he lowers them but his fingers move as if he is counting money. The man has been a tradesman for a long time and he cannot give up his habit of counting money. The movements of this preacher are not beautiful, because they are not natural, they are not adequate. A tradesman who counts money – this movement is not adequate; a preacher who counts money – this movement is not beautiful, it is not appropriate. When someone is highly excited and feels that his solar plexus is out of order, which movement would be natural for him? The most natural movement for him will be to put his right hand on his solar plexus, in the pit of his stomach with the palm downwards and to put his left hand on his waist with the palm outwards. With his hands in this position man feels tranquillity in the nervous system. This movement is natural and beautiful, because it brings serenity. What do the people do in such cases? They walk, they move from the one end of the room to the other end of the room, they hit, they knock, they are angry with this person, they are angry with that person. And as a result of these movements instead of calming down they get more and more upset. When the man puts his hand on his solar plexus he drives the surplus brain energy through his hands, and so he calms down. The palm of the right hand is the bearer of the negative, the conciliatory energy, while the palm of the left hand is the bearer of the positive, the exciting energy; these energies, when they merge together, bring tranquillity to man.
Consequently, as soon as you find yourselves in some mental, some nervous excitement, you better make this experiment, so that you can calm down. Whatever nervous excitement you might have, as soon as you put your hands on your solar plexus and you concentrate your thought, tranquillity will come at once. The solar plexus is able to regulate the brain energy. When the blood is not properly distributed in all the parts of the human organism, it causes a series of nervous excitements. All the disharmonious states in the brain system are due to the uneven distribution of the blood within the organism. Many illnesses are due to this uneven distribution of the blood.
So, as disciples you should work upon yourselves very consciously, so that you can control the flow of your blood and so that you are able to distribute it evenly within the whole organism. As soon as the blood comes into your head you should be on guard, so that you are able to direct it primarily towards the front part of the brain. Likewise, the disciple should be able to control himself and to know where and how much blood he directs into his body. When he is highly excited, that is when he is angry, he should draw out the surplus amount of blood from his brain centres, which are the cause of the excitement, and he should direct it towards those centres, which have less amount of blood. When he becomes able to regulate the forces in his organism correctly, the disciple will also be able to give proper direction to his own thought. As long as he thinks rightly, he will feel and act rightly. As soon as you get angry, stop for a while and contemplate in order to see what is required from you: take a grip of your thumb and think of the Divine world with which you are connected. Only in this way will you be able to cope with the forces and cope with the streams that pass through your brain and you will be able to regulate them.
When you get angry and you cannot calm down with the help of the above mentioned method, make the following experiment: put your right hand on your solar plexus and start to count slowly and with concentration from 1 to 10. If this does not calm you down, then count from 1 to 100. Each number comprises within itself a certain order of forces, which have a wholesome effect on the human being. When you voice, or when you write the number 1, think about God and say to yourself: “There is just one God in the world, there is only one Wisdom.” When you voice the number 2, say to yourself: “There is only one Divine Mother, there is only one Love.” Upon voicing the number 3, say to yourself: “There is only one Son – the Truth.” The number 4 represents these three forces joined into one – they have borne humanity. The number 5 is related to the human mind. The number 6 is related with the law of development. The number 7 is related to the forces, which work for humanity. The number 8 represents the great mother of the world. The number 9 is a result, a complete circle. As soon as you reach the number 10, stop for a while and ask yourself: “Do I get anything from these numbers?” If your condition does not change and if some bright idea does not cross your mind, then continue to count from 10 to 100. Upon each new ten units you should contemplate on the meaning of the numbers. What you know about number 1 holds true for the numbers 11, 21, 31 etc. as well; what you know about the number two, holds true for the numbers 22, 32 etc. Counting consciously up to one hundred, you will finally succeed to understand the meaning of the numbers, and you will get in touch with the forces which work within them. Only in this way you will calm down. Thus you will understand that you are not alone in the world. Each of you is related to beings from different cultures, which accompany him at every turn and some of them help him, while others hinder his development. I have seen people, who walk on the streets and whisper something to themselves. Some man walks and says, “Is that so?” This means, that such a man is listening to the conversation of the beings, which are within him and he takes part in their conversation and joins to one of the parties. The man, who does not understand this, thinks that this man has gone crazy. No, the man is not crazy.
When do people become crazy? People go crazy when in their mind a certain thought comes to mind – a thought that is contrary to what they are convinced of. Do not bring into the human mind the contradictory thought, that what he is convinced of is not true. Each thought, each conviction of the man, whatever it is, has its basis, has its cause. No matter what thought might come into your mind, or what feeling comes into your heart, do not decline them. They have their origin; they have the right to exist. Analyze each of your thoughts, each of the feelings, which pass through you, and check why they came and what they evoke in you. Do not ask why you are angry – instead, ask why the anger has visited you. The anger and the fear are in their proper places, but they should be used. They are forces which have their purpose and meaning; they are advisers of the man, which accompany him everywhere. You might say that these negative feelings are similar to the bad spirits, and that they do not have the right to disturb the human. I am asking you - why the mosquitoes have the right to bite people, but the negative feelings have no right to disturb them? As the mosquitoes alight on the nose, on the arms, and on the legs of the human, likewise the bad spirits have the right to tempt him. God does not meddle with their affairs. The flies, the mosquitoes, the bugs, as well as the animals, have their own great purpose.
Man should think properly and should combine the facts in order to be able to find the reason and the purpose of everything which Nature has created. You sit and you contemplate something, but your thought is smoky and blurred; at this time a mosquito alights onto your nose and stings you. You immediately become startled and you bifurcate, but your thought gets brighter. Another time you get angry and you want to take revenge on someone and make some mischief for him; in this moment some fly alights onto your nose, stings you and your thought immediately gets bifurcated. You start to think seriously about what you have decided to do and you say, “Why should I argue with these people, there is no use taking revenge on them – I shall rise higher and I shall look at Life from there.” With her sting the fly likes to attract your attention and to make you be with her for a while as well. Sometimes you enter into the forest, but you are angry, you are displeased, you want to pour your anger onto somebody; but while you walk you stumble into a tree, you fall on the ground and you instantly forget your discontent. So then each plant, each animal, each inanimate object that troubles you, or that you stumble into, distracts you from the bad and from the negative states. In this way they balance the forces in your organism. The stone, the tree that you stumbled into are destined to divert you from the harm that you decided to do. You better get angry with a stone, rather than to do some harm to a human.
Now I explain to you these things as to disciples, so that you can contemplate over them and walk steadily on your way, without great hindrances. Namely in this way you will temper yourselves in order to be able to endure the tests. Great tests are awaiting you. Imagine that some of you graduate university and start to work for some rough proprietor or chief who abuses you and insults you all day long and you have to endure everything without losing your temper, without losing your balance. Isn’t this a test? In order to endure this test man should have will. Imagine that you are a poor student and you are forced to make your living at the place of some angry and bad tempered woman of wealth, or you are an office worker and your chief is very strict and pedantic. Here you will also have trials but if you can control the law of energy transformation, then as soon as you see that your mistress or your chief are angry, you will start to direct good thoughts towards them from afar. You will appeal to their kindness, to the nobility of their soul and you will see that they will change and become kind and attentive to you. In this case they stand for the fly, which alights onto your nose and stings you. You will drive the fly off your nose with your good thought. How do the office workers behave with their severe chief? As they see the chief entering into their room, they say to themselves, “Here, he will scold us again.” And indeed their chief acts as they think. But if all the employees and office workers in the office receive their chief with good thoughts and with a positive disposition, no matter how severe and no matter how bad their chief might be, he will be influenced by the favourable atmosphere and he will restrain from his bad behaviour with them. He will defer from his bad behaviour today, he will defer tomorrow, until he improves his attitude towards all of them. This means that with their thought they have influenced him well.
So strive to control your brain energy and not to spend it in vain. Everything alive, everything that has consciousness in Nature struggles to acquire more of this energy for himself. Whoever has a greater reserve of the brain energy within him, thinks, feels, and acts calmer more than others. When you like to use the energies from Nature, accept them right from their source є, and not through glasses and lenses. The same law refers to the thought: each thought should be accepted straight from its source.
What is the human thought? The human thought is a representation of the Rational World. Until it reaches man, human thought might pass through several points and might undergo some refraction. That’s why the human should get in touch with the Mental World – so that his thoughts can reach his mind straight away. This means that he will receive his thoughts straight from their source. In order to preserve their purity the Divine thoughts should be received straight from their source. As soon as the human thoughts pass through the minds of tens and hundreds of men – they lose their purity and strength. If such a thought gets into the mind of a man he instantly polarizes himself and begins to hesitate whether he should realize this thought, or not. After some hesitation he says, “It is a bad time to realize this thought, I will put it off till a later time.” So, when you are ready to realize some thought this shows that you have received it straight from its source. As soon as you begin to hesitate whether to realize some thought or not, this means, that it has passed through many fields, through many brains, and as a result it has lost its purity and its power.
The same law should be kept upon studying the Holy Scriptures: they should be studied in such a way that enables you to get in touch with each prophet or each apostle that you are reading about. For example, when you read the psalms of David you should get in touch with him. After you get in touch with David you will be able to understand what he has put into each psalm and you will be able to make use of it. Each psalm is a well-known formula, a well-known key with which the secrets of the Nature are being opened. You say: “God is Love”; in order for this sentence to bring about the necessary effect within the human soul, he should know the key with which he can open it. The same applies to the words Wisdom, Truth, Justice, Virtue – they also have keys with which they can be opened. Whoever has these keys will be the only one able to make use of the energies which the words hold within themselves.
Only that man knows the sense and the power of the air, of the water, of the bread, and uses them in a beneficial way. For such a man the words bread, water, and air are alive and full of energies. Keep some man hungry and thirsty for ten days so that he can understand what exactly the water and the bread mean. All the springs, all the streams, all the rivers and all the streamlets come back to life in the thought of such a man. When he says water, he knows what the water carries within itself. So, in order to understand the sense of the word water you should abstain from water for at least ten days. Special methods also exist in order for you to understand the word Love. Each word, each notion should come back to life within man. If the notion water does not come back to life within him, he can never understand the meaning and the value of water; if the notion Love does not come back to life within man, he would never understand what Love is.
Consequently, in order to reach the positive knowledge, man should not philosophize - he should make experiments instead, he should verify things until they become quantities that are alive for him instead of being empty words. For instance, whoever understands the sense and the meaning of the word water will get in touch with the forces it contains as soon as he voices this word. The water is the allegory of Life –it waters wherever it passes. If it passes through dry, waterless, and infertile places, it waters them and it turns them into fertile places. Christ speaks about the life-giving water – this shows that the water is a living force, which should spring from the human heart. It was written in the Holy Scriptures that the human heart should not only feel – it should also think. Consequently, in order that the human begins to think, the water should pass through his brain as well, and should water it. Only in this way his thought will be able to manifest itself.
You as disciples are required to make experiments for concentration of your thought and for development of self-control. For this purpose it would be good if you make artificial tests with each other, so that you can see how you will react to them. Imagine that one of you has received from his father five hundred levs; if your friend sees where you put the money he will come one day to your home, he will take you by surprise, he will take this money, he will hide it somewhere and he will watch closely what you will do. After that he will return the money to you. Another friend of yours will hide your hat and your coat somewhere and he will watch closely what you will do. In this way you will be able to study yourselves and to see in what degree you have developed your self-control. At the same time your friend will also learn. But even without artificial tests life brings surprises to man each day. Many times thieves will appear who will, in actual life, steal your money and your clothes without being interested in your situation. So, if you yourself do not make such artificial tests these tests will be forced on you from the outside. Certain trials and sufferings exist through which man should inevitably pass. Whoever thinks that he might pass without trial and suffering is deceiving himself. It is impossible for a man to pass without sufferings. As disciples you should be thankful for each trial and use it consciously. As long as you use this trial consciously, it will uplift you – “But did it have to come now of all times?” You should know that each thing happens at its fixed time, everything in Nature happens right on its time. You say that some trial has come prematurely. Nature claims just the opposite – each trial comes at the time fixed for it. Do not regret what has happened and do not rejoice for what has not come. If some good visits you, rejoice that it has come and use it rationally. If you expect some good, but it does not come – do not regret it. The grief is the planting of seeds, the Joy is the blossoming, bearing, and ripening of the fruit. Why do sufferings come in our Life? They come in order to develop the human heart and the human mind. Why does delight come? It comes in order to develop the human mind and the human heart. The delight and sorrow are processes which walk side by side in Life. The delight and the sorrow are constantly exchanging; if today you are delighted, get ready to be sad tomorrow; if today you are sad, get ready to be delighted tomorrow. If you understand Life in such a way, you will attain certain rules and laws, which will bring you great blessings. It is not easy to tell someone to be patient when he suffers some pain. Someone has a stomach ache, he writhes in pains and you are telling him to be patient; a great effort is required from him if he should withstand these pains. Instead of advising him to stand the pains, tell him to put his hands on his solar plexus or on the place where he feels the pain and you will see that some time later his condition will improve. Each pain is due to accumulation of surplus energy somewhere in the body. The accumulation of this energy causes some tension of the nervous system. In order to remove the pain this energy should be dispersed. As soon as the energy is dispersed the blood starts to circulate evenly through the whole organism and the condition of the sick person improves. If the accumulated energy does not disperse, it will be difficult for the blood to circulate through the body and as a result of this there will arise some friction, some rubbing at these places – the sick person feels great pains, feels nervous excitement, which the doctors call inflammation.
So, one should purify his blood if he wants to improve his Life. The blood can be purified by pure thoughts and pure feelings. The pure thought and the pure feelings balance the forces of the human organism. The contemporary people have lost their balance and they should restore it. It is not easy for a man to cope with the energies of his organism. But there exist a certain number of methods for recovery of the inner balance of the organism. As a method of achieving such balance the Hindu recommends a conscious work for development of the mind, the heart and the will of the human.
After he develops these great forces within himself man can use the energies in Nature properly. Until then he should not be greedy for too much knowledge – the more knowledge he gains, the more discouraged he will become. Today man needs as much knowledge as he is able to process and apply. If man has too much knowledge but he has not processed it, or he has not put it into practice, he will be unhappy. Some man sits and contemplates over great questions and he thinks that he has a lot of knowledge; at some time he goes to listen to some great musician, but he returns home desperate and discouraged because he doesn’t know how to play music. What should you do in order not to get discouraged? Listen only to the musician who gives you an impulse and encouragement; only read and study the philosophy of the scientist and of the philosopher, who will stimulate you to work and lead you to the real Life.
What is discouragement? Suppose you are in London – a town completely foreign to you; suppose you don’t speak English and you don’t have any acquaintances there, but you have five or six hundred pounds in your pocket, which you rely on. At some point you reach into your pocket and you realize that your money is missing – immediately you feel horror, desperation, discouragement and you don’t know what to do. It is not easy to retain the presence of your mind in such a situation. You might be a philosopher or you might be a religious person, but you will lose your strength and your courage at least once in your life. Few people can stand this trial – they should be spiritual people, with a high level of conscience and they should say: “God gives, God takes.”
Now you want to know what was the first thought born within the human mind? I am asking you, what is the first thought of the hungry man? The thought for bread. What is the first thought of the thirsty man? The thought for water. What is the first thought of the man who has eyes? The thought for the light. What is the first thought of the man who has ears? To perceive the sound. What is the first thought of the man who has a good nose? To perceive the scent of the flowers. What is the first thought of the new-born child? First of all, can we talk about the existence of a thought in a newly-born child? In order to answer this question return mentally to your childhood and remember the first time some thought occurred in your mind. From what age do you remember yourself? Do you remember something from the first year of your childhood? You don’t remember anything. Most probably you won’t remember anything from the third or from the fourth year of your childhood. A certain thought might emerge within the human mind after he has lived as a human for a long time. The first thought was born within the mind of Eve when she saw the fruit of the forbidden tree; the second thought was born within the mind of Adam when he tasted this fruit; the third thought was born within the minds of Adam and Eve when they were expelled from Eden. After they went out of Eden they took the seeds of the forbidden fruit and they started to plant and to plough. The first thought was caused by the feeling which has occupied the humans mostly. (Unclear.) What is this feeling? Think over this question. It was said that God has created man in His image, that is, man was meant to think like Him and to control his feelings and his thoughts. When God created Eve the first thought voiced by Adam was as follows, “She is the flesh from my flesh and the bone from my bone.” What the first thought of Adam was before the appearance of the woman the Scriptures don’t say. While Adam was in Eden he took two animals from each kind – one male and one female to name them. From this moment in his soul, an inner discontent was born because he was alone without a mate. As God saw his discontentment He put him to sleep. To sleep, to rest and to solve his problem – this was the first thought and the first desire of Adam. In fact, when man cannot solve some problem he falls asleep. After he has slept over the problem, he will solve it. Consequently, in order to solve some problem properly, you should stop thinking about it. If you would like to settle some matter correctly you should absolutely stop thinking about it. This means: become passive as regards your endless and anxious thoughts, in order to perceive the positive thought from the higher world. This thought will help you to solve your problem correctly. This is the natural way to solve the problems.
Contemplation
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