Lecture given by Beinsa Douno
August 21, 1929, The Fifth Rila Lake
The word purity[1] is understood by everyone. It has an external and also an internal meaning. We say "external cleanness" and "inner purity". Everyone understands and perceives external cleanness. When we refer to the external cleanness of a house, we imply that the house is whitewashed on the outside and the inside, the floors in the rooms – swept and mopped, the dust thoroughly wiped. When we refer to the external cleanness of clothing, we imply that the article of clothing, if white, is thoroughly washed, and if black, does not have any stains. When we refer to purity of butter, we assume that it is fresh, pristine and without any odor. Hence, everything is pure, as long as it is not adulterated or mixed with any foreign elements. This shows that there are certain elements in Nature, which produce impurity. What is impurity? – Impurity is the antithesis of purity. While a person[2] lives, while he is healthy, he is characterized by purity. When the element of impurity begins to enter life, death immediately takes a forward stride. The more impurity builds up, the deeper death penetrates life. Death and impurity are positively correlated. Therefore, impurity is related to death. Once this principle is acknowledged, the first rule in life for people is to purify their thoughts. If they purify their thoughts, they will gain a clear and pure understanding of God. God is not a form outside us. He is the Source of Life. What better do we have than Life? Every urge, every instance of joy in us is begotten by the inner feeling that we exist, that we live. When you get up in the morning, you feel revitalized and healthy, you look toward the rising Sun and rejoice, because you have a humble idea about a certain daily work. This is a result of the first offshoots of the Tree of Life. Someone says, "Life is tough: since early morning we have to think about food, about what we will eat, how much we will earn, etc." I say, the issue of food is an element of the physical or material life. The physical food is an element, which is not a necessity for one's spiritual life. To be spiritual does not imply that one should eat a lot, or that his food should be very tasty. The seasonings added to a meal are extraneous elements. If all enlightened beings gather in one place, what food will be given to them? – Different. Why? – Because every being ingests the type of food, which is necessary for its development. However, there is something common in the nutrition of all beings, of all organisms on Earth. For example, when we consider water all beings without exception use it. Initially all beings received their food from the air, afterwards – from the water, and finally – from the solid matter. This is how it happened with humans as well. Once upon a time humans lived on light. People of this age have forgotten the art to live on light; only their eyes have retained this knowledge until today. If the eyes of a person do not feed on light for a long time, they will atrophy.
Consequently, the first task of a person is to formulate a clear idea of God. When you speak about God, you have to attribute all beings to His consciousness – from the smallest to the biggest ones of whom God takes equal care. There is no other being such as God that is better, higher, more magnanimous and more helpful, wherefrom Life emanates. The life of the entire universe is contained in God. God does not have an equal to Himself. When both the most sinful and the most ignorant think of Him, they feel a tremor somewhere deep within themselves. If one does not apprehend the essence of this tremor, he will pass through and go away from life, without grasping the meaning of the Great Source. He will say, "I got excited, as if I saw a bear." Yes, it is pleasant to see a bear, but because the tremor is strong, you are frightened out of your senses. Even the most courageous hero is often scared by the look of a beautiful young woman. The hero will say, "I saw a beautiful young woman and my heart jumped." Why did his heart jump? – For the only reason that this brave person cannot withstand the bounty he was bestowed. Every gift contains a danger. Many ask, "What is the essence of fear?" – Fear exposes the boundary, the region, where the human being has diverged from God. However, if one arrives at the proper, pure thought, the fear will be transformed into a rational force. Those who think wisely do not fear. This is why, until you have not formulated a clear idea of God, you cannot evolve, you cannot attain true knowledge.
If you do not grasp this concrete idea, you will soon lose everything that you have achieved. For example, you can progress for a certain period of time: you can become a scholar, learn an art, gain wealth, acquire strength, etc. Once you advance in age, you will gradually begin to lose your acquisitions: today you will loose your knowledge, tomorrow – your art, on the third day – your wealth, on the fourth – your strength. Eventually you will find yourself in the position of a person, who has lost all his high ideas and the inspiration to work, so you will say, "I have only one idea left." Which is this idea? – "That I was a rich man and now I am an utter pauper." What is someone with such an idea? You may say, "If one loses everything, he should not think, feel or act." I say, if one's thoughts and feelings are incorrect, they will create worries and anxieties, from which one will age prematurely. We are talking about sober thoughts, about pure and noble feelings, which connect human beings to God and inspire and lend wings to his activities. For example, our thoughts are worrisome, when we are anxious about how we will live our lives, whether we will be healthy, rich, etc. I ask, when the king's son enters school, does he need to think about who will support him, how much money he will be sent, who will serve him, etc.? – He does not need to dwell on these questions. Once sent to school, he is expected only to study; and his father will take care of the rest. If the son is lazy and does not study, he will bear the consequences of his laziness: grave misfortunes will overtake him. I say, you are the king's sons, sent to the Earth to study. You must thank God for everything you have: light, air, water and bread. What else do you need? – To study! One day, upon your return from this long journey on Earth, your Father will ask you, "What have you learned up to this point?"
This is what your acquaintances will ask you as well, once they find out that you went to the Seven Lakes in the Rila Mountain. You will tell them that you climbed mount Damga[3] and mount Haramiyata[4]; that you saw the Seven Rila Lakes. However, this is not all that you could have seen and learned. All these peaks and lakes are symbols. It is important what you read in the book of Nature. How many pages did you learn and what did you grasp? What difference does it make that you climbed a high peak? Why did you climb it? – To follow from afar those who pass and what they carry. Is this the meaning of climbing high peaks? You will say that brigands went up to mount Haramiyata to await the passage of rich travelers whom they robbed. Outdoor excursions have a profound meaning, and particularly – the ascent of high peaks! So when you talk about robbing rich people, you have to know who they are. Rich people represent the rich ideas in the world. Good is like a rich person whom we have to rob. Evil is like a poor person, whose passage we must not obstruct. What are we to take from the poor? The Scriptures say, "Do not resist evil!" Why? – Because evil is like a poor person whose bills you have to pay. This sentence from the Scriptures is an important economic formula. Therefore, you should grant undisturbed passage to evil; to the poor man. If you do not heed this advice, if you obstruct the passage of this poor person, he will beg you for money, clothes, shoes and you will have to give him everything for which he asks. Evil is like a poor person who relies on the mercy of others. Those who enter the Heavenly School to study have to free themselves from begging.
I say, if you want to understand God, you have to be pure. It is said, "Only those with a pure heart will see God." Sufferings, hardships, misfortunes will come. You are amidst the sea where big storms rise up. These storms will affect the ship as well: they will rock it to one side, then to the other, but harmony and peace must reign inside. If the waves manage to enter the ship, even through the smallest of its cracks, the latter becomes already subject to destruction and death. The negative, impure thoughts from which you should guard yourselves enter in the same way. What about you, do you not contaminate when you travel through Nature? How many servants have to work, following your departure, until they clean up your dirt! Some may consider themselves pure and saintly, but they leave their dirt behind: they eat here and there, leaving garbage all over. Until you carry your dirt with you, you are neither saintly nor pure yet. If you observe cleanness in the physical world, you will also be pure in the mental and the spiritual world. Someone may brag to me that he believes in God, that he has a high ideal, while he does not observe even the most basic cleanness in the physical world. No, purity is required of everyone in all aspects: physical cleanness, mental purity and spiritual purity. You say, "Everything is up to us." It is up to you to observe Absolute Purity in your entire life. Life itself, however, depends on God. If you want to be healthy and happy, let every feeling, every thought and every action of yours be permeated with the idea of Purity. Only in this way will you receive the blessings of God.
Currently whatever God sends you, you spoil it, but by doing so you undoubtedly expose yourselves to death. It is time for humans to renounce their petty pride. So what if someone has said something bad about you or has defamed you? Do not occupy yourselves with negative things; do not invite them to your mind! Let all people disrespect you, yet work and prove that you are a person of dignity and self-respect. Work incessantly in the course of ten years to develop your inner strength and might, so that you may prove to others that you are a person. If you enter a village and lift a big stone weighing a whole ton, you will amaze all the villagers. When they see your strength, they will say to themselves, "Do not mess with this man. One should not tease him. He is very strong!" Instead you enter a village and you cannot lift the smallest pebble, you are in need of the most basic help yourself and on top of it you demand people's respect. Afterwards you will boast that you converse with God. The one who converses with God is strong; he can move mountains from one place to another. If you cannot move mountains, do not delude yourselves. Everyone else might have talked to you but God. When God spoke to Moses, the latter raised his staff, struck the rock and therefrom water gushed out. God spoke to Moses and manna descended from the sky. God spoke to Moses and he shepherded the Jewish people in the course of forty long years through the desert. Instead, those who boast cannot feed themselves, and yet they claim that God converses with them. I ask how will you recognize when God speaks to you? Are you going to learn that from books? – No. Everyone has a unique inner experience through which he has come to recognize God's voice within himself.
There are many ways to understand Nature, but one is the Way to enter the world of Truth. Truth is the purest of worlds, in which Love manifests itself. Truth is the purest form of Love. What is Love? – The purest essence of this form. Truth is the highest manifestation of Love! The utmost freedom is achieved through Truth. The brightest Light is attained through Love. In an esoteric sense Love is substituted by Righteousness. If you seek warmth and heat, look for Righteousness. Whenever Righteousness comes into the world she raises the physical temperature. Righteousness is the strongest heat of Love, and Love is the essence of Life. When it is a question of Life, you have to know that there is nothing higher than Life. Therefore, Love, Wisdom, Truth and Righteousness are these spheres or worlds, through which Life manifests itself. What is meant by the word life at present is that human consciousness, which contains constant, incessant aspiration for achievements. When we say that we live, we imply a constant aspiration for something, which we are trying to achieve. When a child is born, its consciousness awakens instantly and it begins to desire, to want something from the objective world. If we consider the world of feelings, we are also searching for a certain object in it. If we consider the world of the mind, there we want to study, we are searching for an object there too. Life also exists in the spiritual world and in the Divine world. Therefore, Life manifests itself in all spheres and worlds, but in different forms.
One thing is important: in whatever form Life may reveal itself, it cannot function without purity. I ask, how can you maintain purity? – Through serving God. When we talk about serving, we imply that one may serve only God, only Love. We say, "God is Love." Therefore, it is only Love that one may serve. As far as Life is concerned we say, "We could even become slaves only to attain life." Therefore, three things are important in your life: to serve God, to respect yourself and to love your neighbor. To love your neighbor means to unload the unnecessary burden that you are carrying on your back. To respect yourself means to understand the meaning of Life. Only the beautiful, intelligent and good person has self-respect. One perceives these traits first within oneself, and then in others. If you see goodness, intelligence and wisdom in yourself, then you will see them in others too. This implies that what you see in yourself is reflected in those around you. You respect people for the consciousness that you have within yourself; you love people for the beautiful, divine, noble that you see in yourself. Once you have discerned these traits in them too, you have already loved them. Why does the father love his son? – Because of the respect he has for his own self. This respect is transformed into love for the son. What is Love? – To see yourself in others. What is respect? – To realize your human dignity. What does it mean to serve God? – To realize that everything comes from God and that He does not have an equal. If you say to yourself that everything is possible for God, you will be prepared for everything. You can serve God only conceptually. The word serving implies that everything you do in the name of God is possible. Then someone will ask you, "Can you shoulder the Earth?" – I am shouldering it now. "What about the Solar system then?" – I have been shouldering it for a long time. "Well, what about the universe?" – I am a master of the universe.
Now, every person with petty ideas will say, "What an awkward statement! How can people dare to claim that they shoulder the Earth and the Solar system or that they are masters of the universe? Is this possible?" – To say that you are a master of the universe means that you have traveled across it from end to end. For the wise person the distance between his head and his feet represents the entire universe. Therefore, when someone says that he is a master of the entire Universe, this suggests that he knows his body from head to toe. Thus one holds the universe in oneself. The time necessary for a person to stretch his hands from his head to his feet is equivalent to the time he will need to cross the universe form one end to the other. It is sufficient that he only moves his hand to cross instantly the universe from one end to the other. Things are distant only when they are separated from the common organism. When they are together in the organism, they are close. The word closeness implies the organization of all enlightened beings in one whole. Disorganization implies an act of separation. When you claim that someone has insulted or harmed you, then either this being, which has insulted you, is outside the common organism, while you are within, or both of you are outside the organism. When both of you are inside the common organism, discord cannot exist between you. Can there be discord between the fingers of the hands? Does it matter that some fingers are on the left hand and others are on the right hand? Whether some fingers are on the left hand and others on the right hand is of no consequence; they can help each other.
I say, many people of today have reached a certain sphere in life and there they have stopped. They have to take a step forward to enter the sphere of the New, which is now coming into the world. If someone walks along the trodden path, the same as before awaits him: he will die, priests will perform the funeral service, speeches will be held over his grave, saying that he had graduated from three universities, that he had served the country. – Yes, this person served his country but not God. And we know this because he is dead. It is written in the Scriptures, "And this is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God." (John 17:2-4) I will add to this quote: this is eternal life that you may know God and serve Him. But there is a certain danger: if people in their service go to an extreme, they may get bored and abandon their work. It is true that there are many reasons, which may lead you to such a situation. However, if people have an accurate understanding of life, nothing can steer them away from their path; nothing can disturb their balance.
I will give you an example from the country life (because it is closer to Nature) and I will explain why people sometimes run off the rails of their lives. Every day a youthful hard-working peasant got up early in the morning before sunrise to yoke his oxen and to go to the field to plough. His cart was apparently in order; his oxen were groomed and brushed with care. He himself, cheerful and smiling, was quietly singing to himself, he was aspiring to life. All day long, until late in the evening, he worked and did not get tired; he was content. He returned home still cheerful and smiling, unyoked his oxen, fed them, put away his cart and awaited the following day with joy in order to continue his work. Thus the days slipped unnoticed until one day he met a beautiful girl and was captivated by her. He did not feel like working anymore: he departed late in the morning and returned early in the evening. He abandoned his cart; his oxen were not groomed, the song was no longer on his lips, the smile was no longer on his face. He roamed in a daze and said, "I suffered enough; I do not feel like working anymore. How did it happen that this lot, to be slaving my whole life, fell on my shoulders? Until now I have worked, from now on I want to enjoy life." So, he went around the village well-dressed with a hat and a new belt, with a flower on his coat; he walked in random streets until he stopped by the garden of that pretty girl and just like a soldier he patrolled from one end to the other. Then he paused for a moment in front of the garden to see the delinquent who was hiding somewhere among the trees. His patience was exhausted, he entered the garden, but the gardener was locked up – she was not in the garden. She was sitting inside, smiling and observing what the young man was doing. What was the delinquent like? What were her fetters like? – The young man was interested, he wanted to know everything. It was because of the delinquent that the young man had left his field and his oxen. This delinquent – the young girl – was sitting inside, with a wreath on her head, smirking. Currently, an idea arose in the youth, to take a flower from the girl. Why did he want to take the flower? – He wanted to rob her, saying, "I worked, I ploughed the field up to now, but nothing happened through ploughing." And thus he began: today he took a flower from the girl, tomorrow – a flower and when he took ten flowers away, he also took the girl. This was the first magic with which the youth commenced. He knew that when the girl adorned herself with a flower, she instilled something of herself in it. That day he took something from her, the other day he took something until the girl went to him to take back her flowers, and with him she remained.
These relationships exist in all manifestations of life. These are symbols, which we translate into the human language. The youth will marry the beautiful girl, but how long can they be happy with their current views of life? A year or two they may be happy, but afterwards their happiness will disappear. Why? – Because neither the youth nor the girl have eternal Life in themselves. As long as a wife has something Divine within herself, her husband can love her. As long as a husband has something Divine within himself, his wife can love him. When they loose the Divine within themselves, their love for each other disappears. In other words, a person can be loved, when they are pure. If an element of impurity enters them, love towards them will gradually recede until it fades entirely. Therefore, the lack of Love comes as a natural consequence from the impurity in life. When people do not love you, you should know that you yourself are the reason for it. Who does not like to bathe in a clean spring? However, if you are a puddle or a bog, who will bathe in you? Everyone will wash their faces, hands and feet in a clean spring, but in the bog – no one wants to do it.
Now, once you grasp the meaning of purity in its broadest sense, you must place it as a foundation of your physical life. Why? – Because one's health depends on one's inner purity and outside cleanness. Purity of ideas is what is required of a person! In this respect, when we say that you should not occupy yourselves with the shortcomings of others and criticize them, we imply that you should not contaminate the purity of your life and expose yourselves to death. To deal with the shortcomings of people is a contagion, which destroys the body. What will you gain from this? – Not only that you will gain nothing, but you will loose all that is good in you. Hence, why should you occupy yourselves with the sins of others? There is a Turkish proverb, "Leave the drunkard, let him fall down and learn!" It is easier for the Bulgarian to get drunk than for the Turk. The Turk in general is more sober. When he gets drunk, he walks, falls down, gets up and tells himself: "Come on, go on, Hassan! Why did you drink so much, that your legs cannot support you?" He falls down again – "Walk, Hassan! Why do you drink so much?" This is how he talks to himself on his way home. When he enters his home, he starts to apologize to his wife that he got so drunk, because according to the laws of Mohammed, one is not allowed to get drunk. When the Bulgarian gets drunk, however, he will first demonstrate his art to fight. Sometimes his wife is strong enough; when she sees that her drunken husband is throwing himself to beat her, she will push him and he will fall on the ground. He will get up and start afresh to throw himself at her. After she has pushed him three or four times to the ground, he will ask her, "What do you mean by this?" – "That you drank too much." – "Well, a person has to enjoy life somewhat." The Bulgarian thinks that wine is a gift of God and that one should drink as much as he pleases. The Turk thinks that he has committed a sin when he gets drunk. So early in the morning he goes to confess to the imam*. I say, inebriety is impurity. Gluttony is impurity. Bad-mouthing is impurity. Envy and many other vices are impurity.
Therefore, from an entirely hygienic point of view, impurity has to be thrown out, if we want to be free. If we want to become knowledgeable, in the broad sense of the word, we must be pure. Scientists filter things in their scientific experiments until they purify them completely. When we talk about purity, it applies to those who are assiduous when working on themselves. It applies to those who have a strong aspiration for purity. The rest will not understand what they are told, saying, "This subject is really tough." Those who follow the right path are required to take only one step forward in order to enter the realm of purity. Then you can speak to these people about conceptual issues. As long as they live in impurity, you cannot speak to them about conceptual issues, because they will remain unclear. There are certain spheres, in which Absolute Purity reigns. They can neither be mentioned nor can a human foot enter them. If someone enters there, he will contaminate and disturb everything. Absolutely no disarray and dislocation of a single thing is allowed there. You do not have the right to move a single pebble there. When you go to one of the sacred springs of eternal Life, you will dip a cup of water and drink it to the very last drop. Not a single drop of water is allowed to be spilled there. What do you usually do when you go to the springs in the physical world? You pour an entire cup of water; you drink two or three gulps, and the rest you throw out. In the Divine world this is absolutely inadmissible.
When contemporary people are told about sacred, pure things, they laugh. They do not realize how important the sacred things are. A person of this age grows serious only in the face of the toughest and the most difficult situations in life. Only then one starts to think of God and of the other world, and to believe that there is something else, which he does not understand. When the rope is hung around one's neck and the priest comes to read a prayer, then this person becomes very serious: he looks around, wondering whether help will not come from somewhere. If at this moment they set him free, he feels enormous gratitude because his life was granted to him. Now he has already understood what Life is. The rope with which people are hung represents the evil thoughts. The enemies, the foes of people are those who are the cause for the rope to be placed around their necks. They offer you bad advice today; then more of it tomorrow until you are hanged. Be careful not to hang on the rope in the same way as it happened to a saint, who was cheated by the devil. The saint lived in the desert, where he spent his time in fast and prayer and in deep contemplation. The devil decided to tempt him by making him a king. He tried one trick, then another, until he finally succeeded in achieving his aim. The saint really became a king; however, the circumstances soon enough brought him to the gallows. The devil told him: "Trust me, I will set you free". When they placed the rope around the neck of the saint, the devil appeared again and told him: "Look out into the distance and you will behold a vision." The saint looked towards the place, pointed by the devil. "Do you see something?" – "I see a donkey." – "What else do you see?" – "I see another donkey."- "Do you not see anything else too?" – "I see a third donkey." – "Are the donkeys carrying something on their backs?" – "Yes, they are loaded with sandals." – "These are the sandals, which I tore until I succeeded in placing the rope around your neck." The rope awaits those who follow the devil's advice. It will be placed around their necks and then they will take them down.
A small trace of deceitful relationships can be observed in life. These are relationships of impurity. To avoid this type of life, you need to be exact: whatever good you think of and promise to do you have to fulfill it. In the Divine life where Absolute Purity reigns, there is not forgetfulness. In the Divine life everything happens precisely on time. Precision is a quality of the pure life. Those who do not live in purity obscure the horizon of their sky in the same way as the clouds obscure the Sun. That is why you hear certain people say, "I am somewhat sad." – Yes, your sky is cloudy. If you want your sky to clear out, you have to serve God, to respect yourself and to love your neighbor. The same formulas you shall apply to yourself as follows: you will serve your spirit that guides you; you will respect your soul that contains everything valuable in itself; you will love your body and all the creatures that serve you, because of the great idea which lives in you. If you treat yourself accordingly, you will have a clear idea of God and then everything will be possible for you. If you do not serve God, everything around you will be dead. If you know God, if you have a clear idea of Him, all boulders in Nature will be able to move, becoming light as feathers. In fact, they are heavy and frightening for those who do not serve God. It is sufficient for them to see these boulders moving and their hair will bristle up with horror. Everything in the world is alive and in motion for those who serve God. They can make an experiment and assure themselves that everything in Nature is alive. If we see many motionless bodies, the sole reason for this is to give us the possibility to reveal life today, i.e. this is a possibility for us to live. One day, when people finish their development on Earth, all creatures that are currently motionless, will abandon this state and will manifest life. Many want to know what will happen with the boulders. This is an easy question. It is more important what will happen to you. When you attain eternal Life, you will visit the Earth again and then you will witness the result of all its transformations. If the consciousness of people is constantly awake, they will be aware of all changes, which take place on Earth. Currently, because of this interruption of consciousness the contemporary people wait for the scientists to explain the past geological changes on Earth. This is good, but it is time for the human consciousness to wake up and for the human mind to begin working actively.
Hence, we recommend Absolute Purity to all contemporary people. For many this idea is still incomprehensible. It depends on the situation, in which they find themselves today. Purity is followed by sanctity. They are synonyms. And sanctity is followed by service. If someone is pure and saintly, he cannot do anything else but serve. Finally, Love comes after serving. If one does not know how to serve, one cannot love. If one does not know how to love, one cannot learn. And if one does not know how to learn, one can never attain freedom. These possibilities are closely related to each other. Those who start with purity have already taken a step forward. This is the natural, normal path in life. Someone says that he has already aged, but he has not lived enough. What is the essence of Life? Let us suppose that someone is able to live a hundred thousand days on Earth; what does he need during this period of time? If he eats three times a day, he will need three hundred thousand meals. If he drinks water five times a day, and every glass contains two hundred and fifty grams, it means that he will need one hundred and twenty five thousand liters of water. And if he tears a single suit each day, he will need one hundred thousand suits in total. Some scientists claim that every seven years the human body completely renews its cells; others claim that this process occurs every three months. Therefore, according to some scientists humans change their clothes every seven years, according to others – every three months, and according to me – every single day. A new suit lasts from sunrise to sunset. As you can see, many expenses are associated with someone who will live one hundred thousand days on Earth. How can people justify such expenditures, if they have not served God, respected themselves and loved their neighbors?
I say, let those people whose consciousness is awake keep the idea of mental purity. Let purity remain in the minds of all people as a norm, as a measure, which they can use in all situations in life. Purity is a magic wand for every conscious person. When you get up in the morning, start your day with the idea of purity. Let this idea become as dear, as desired and beloved for all people as the image of a young beautiful woman in the youth's mind. We may witness how the youth awaits and seeks her, how he is ready to go to the other end of the world for her. Let the idea of purity be the beloved woman, whom everyone is ready to seek out even at the other end of the world. Let Purity be the beloved of everyone! Once people find her, let them stop at a distance in front of her holy image solely to study and contemplate her. Once you attain such purity, you will be connected to the Heavenly world, to the Primary Cause. Only in this world there is constancy and steadfastness. The constant and steadfast things are important to you. What can be better than to know that there is one sagacious Being in the world Who loves you at all times: when you are asleep or awake, when you are sick or healthy, when you are learned or ignorant, when you are wealthy or poor. There is nothing better than to know that the attitude of this Being towards you is always the same. If you serve God, everyone will love you.
Someone says, "I want to serve God, so I do not want to get married." I say, if you resolve this issue without God, you will be unhappy. However, if you marry without God, you will be twice as unhappy. If you do not marry, but you connect to God, you will be happy. If you get married with God's consent, and both you and your spouse are connected to Him, you will be twice as happy. This idea expressed in your way signifies the following: every task, every conceived idea in which the Divine Source participates is pure, sacred and sublime. Only then can a person be content. What is the purpose of bringing two people together? Why do two souls join to live together? – They become two poles, through which the Divine life manifests itself. When someone says that he does not want to get married, this suggests that the sphere, in which he is moving, is impure. When a traveler passes by many springs and does not drink water from them, this shows that they are impure. If he drinks water from them, they are pure. I ask: Will you marry when you ascend to Heaven? – No. Therefore, marriage is a side issue. When we talk about marriage, the primary idea to be concerned with, is that we ought to marry purity. This is a true marriage. Whoever has not married purity is a widower. In this sense, when someone says that he does not want to marry, he sentences himself to death. A marriage in the spiritual sense of the word is to marry purity. Whoever gets married on Earth in the physical sense dies; if he does not marry, he does not die. In the spiritual world the process is reverse. Therefore, the union with purity is a condition for the continuation of Life.
Contemporary people must free their consciousness from all impure images. They have to create within themselves pure ideas, pure images of the young woman, of the youth, of marriage and celibacy, of Love, eternal Life, children, etc. A fundamental inner purification awaits everyone as it usually does before Easter. Assign beautiful explanations to all happenings and occurrences in life. When I am told that someone is crying, I do not dwell upon the person who is crying, but I say that it is raining outside and the rain is watering the flowers in his garden and so they are happy. When I am told that someone is happy, I understand that the Sun has shown upon the flowers in his garden and they are blooming and giving off a wonderful fragrance. If I am told that someone is beating his wife, I understand that in this home they are threshing wheat to store it in the barn. Aspire to substitute bad images with pure, vivid ones, so that you may preserve the purity of your consciousness.
Now, when we talk about purity there is a danger to focus only on one of its facets, only on the external cleanness. If a young but lazy lad, who does not want to do any kind of work, strives only for external cleanness, he will ask his father every day for money to buy new clothes, shoes, perfumes, different combs and brushes solely to appeal to the girls. Thus, he will destroy both himself and his father, but he will not be able to achieve his goal. The girls will see him dressed up and clean every day, but there will be something else for which they will not like him. They will not see the true person in him. We cannot do without clothes, but the clothes do not make the person. The good clothes acquire their value only when a wise person is dressed in them. Knowledge and strength represent the same thing for the impure person as the adorning of the swine with a bell. I say, purity is the first requisite for the attainment of the Divine life. It is purity that the souls long for, pray for and seek out. The Scriptures are full of verses about purity and sanctity as well. Many opportunities arise before the pure people. If you cannot free yourself of impurity, the opportunities will remain sealed away for you. Advancement, light, knowledge, strength and freedom depend on purity in the physical world and on sanctity in the spiritual world. The more sacred the spirits are, the stronger they are. In the Divine world everything depends on Love. When you descend, you will work on the following ideas: serving, respect, affection; when you ascend you will acquire purity, sanctity and Love.
All of you were present at the feast of purity today, but you shall watch out that a single crumb does not fall on the ground. You shall gather all the bread and then give it to those you meet. Someone says, "Let people embrace our ideas, our beliefs." I ask you, what are your ideas? – Be pure! What is your creed? – Purity! Each of you should be distinguished by a vigorous aspiration for purity. Let us dedicate this day to purity. You may ask, "Is everything hidden in purity?" Purity is the first step on the staircase to eternal Life. When you ascend to the second step, you will read again "Purity". The latter is a broad, inexhaustible world. The word chistota (purity/cleanness) is not a strong word, but we use it for the lack of a stronger substitute. That is what every village lad does when he wants to get married: he looks for the most beautiful bride and if he does not find the one he fancies he takes the best one in the village. They ask him, "Why did you marry this girl? Was there not a better one, a prettier one?" – "This one is the best of all. There was not such one as I fancied, so I married this one instead. And I am content with her." In the same way also by necessity, we use this simple, humble word chistota (purity/cleanness) to express a beautiful, magnificent world. The word chistota (purity/cleanness) here on Earth is not very beautiful; it is not a strong word. Purity is not a princess. Her father is not rich, but he is a respectable person; her mother is not rich either, but she is a hard-working woman. Therefore, purity was born lawfully and by good parents.
Favorable circumstances have to be provided to bring about purity. At present purity is at the stage of a small seed that has to be planted in the soil, so that it may grow. Let some people take from this seed and work on the idea of purity in groups of two, three, five or ten. Only in this way the world can be reformed. Many uphold the idea that God can do everything, angels aid Him and so on. Since God can do everything, you do not have to work. This is a false idea, from which you have to guard yourselves. God has His action plan. He will come to the Earth, but will He find people ready to work? Everyone must work to evolve and perfect oneself. Do you know what will be the situation of a person, who expects a good, happy life but who does not work? I will give you an example to help you grasp this situation. Imagine a young woman who has awaited her beloved for many years so that she could create a happy life for him, but when he arrives she is bedridden by sickness for the following three years. What can her beloved do? – Either depart or wait for her to recover. What will be her situation, if her leg is broken, but her beloved offers her an automobile ride in town? Her legs must be healthy so that she can go on an automobile ride in town. Every person who lacks virtues is in the position of the girl with the broken leg. The legs of all people must be healthy! This will be achieved only when people change their old views and conceptions.
Now, when a new idea is revealed to people, they panic. In this respect they resemble the little children of old times, whose teachers entered the school with canes. Whenever the children saw the teachers bringing in the canes, they knew that a punishment would follow. When a teacher entered the classroom, he saw that the children had raised dust, but he did not know who the true culprit was. Then he began in due order: he hit one on the hand, the other on the head, he beat up everyone and went out. However, contemporary teachers do not come to the children with canes. Contemporary upbringing does not resemble the old one; now, there are new methods and ways to educate children. When I reveal a new idea to you, you fear due to an old habit, you think that I am carrying a cane in my hand. No, I have entered without a cane, without a stick. This method is not recommended, it is not economical. When a teacher enters the classroom with a cane, a great deal of his energy goes into it. A teacher must not hold his lecture with a cane. Today the cane is substituted by a quill or a pencil. It is the magic wand, which every student has to hold in his hand, when the teacher lectures.
Therefore, with this magical wand you will write in your consciousness the idea of Absolute Purity. And when someone asks you what you were told at the Fifth Lake, you will say, "No ear has heard and no eye has witnessed what we were told. We were told about hygiene from the point of view of Absolute Purity".
[1]Purity – the word chistota in Bulgarian signifies both purity and cleanness. Therefore in Bulgarian, the subtle nuances of chistota are inferred from the context of its use. In certain instances, to facilitate the reading of the text, the current translation uses the word purity to signify both cleanness and purity.
[2]chovek (person) – the Bulgarian word chovek signifies a thinking and conscious human, without reference to gender. The current translation uses English equivalents such as person and one wherever possible. The use of the personal pronoun he in reference to chovek is used to facilitate the reading of the text, however it should be interpreted as an indication of both the feminine and masculine genders.
[3]Vazov Vrah Summit – old name Damga, 2669 m, the Seven Rila Lakes Region
[4]Haiduta Summit – old name Haramiyata, 2465 m, the Seven Rila Lakes Region
Translated by Jana Rupchina and Oleg Rupchin
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