There is a beautiful side in the reading of the Word. It lies in its comprehension. In the comprehension of things there is variety, while in the lack of comprehension, lies all the monotony of life. Man may regard the world from four different points of view: first, he may regard the world through, a small opening; second, he may regard it through the windows of his house; third, he may regard it outside of his house, and, lastly, he may regard it from a height - from above. These are the four ways for comprehending the Word. Therefore, you must distinguish the inner comprehension of the Word from an external, or literal comprehension of it. When someone says that he has read and comprehended the Word, he must know that the Word is expansive as the world. It says in the Word: "All things were made by Him." This means that all the manifestations of life as a whole are effected by the Word. He who comprehends the Word, comprehends all the external and internal processes of life. No process whatever can take place in the human soul without the Word. The soul is an environment through which the spiritual world, i.e. the world of reality, is manifested. Therefore, the spiritual world is manifested through the spirit, the soul and the body. The physical world, on the other hand, is manifested through the mind, the heart and the will. Men are slowly beginning to regard the soul and the spirit as a reality and the body, as the fruit of their activity. The mind corresponds to the spirit, the heart - to the soul, while the will corresponds to the body.
The text I read in the Scripture is connected with a great soul – with Christ. You can not understand the Scripture, if you are not connected with the One out of Whom it has issued forth. If you drink water far from the spring, there will be much deposit in your idea of it, while if you drink at the spring, your idea of it will be perfectly clear. In this way, you will know why, at times, you do not have a clear comprehension of things as they are in their primary state of purity. There are things in life which deceive men. These things are nothing but their external wrappers. These wrappers are the product of past generations, who not being able to comprehend the questions of life, have left them for a solution to the future generations when conditions would be more favourable. Men of today act in the same way. When they want to preserve something valuable like money, wheat etc. they hide it in a secret place - they bury the money in the earth, while they place the wheat in a barn. In such a state, neither the money nor the wheat is properly utilized. Why? Because the wheat left in the barn and the wheat sown in the field are two different things. The wheat left in the barn, gradually decreases its worth: either insects attack it, or mice spoil it and in the end there is not any increase, while the wheat sown in the field passes through suffering, but it increases its amount. In this sense, the wheat sown in the field can be compared to a suffering man. The man who suffers passes through trials, like the wheat, but acquires something in the end. The wheat in the barn does not suffer and has no trials, but it does not acquire anything. The wheat in the barn and the wheat in the field are two symbols for whose comprehension a number of explanations are necessary. The millions of grains of wheat in the barn press one another for when the master comes, he stores the wheat inside and goes away. He leaves it to the grains themselves to get in order, but they can, establish among themselves no order whatever. However, grains of wheat, placed in the Divine barn, do not press each other, but everyone of them has its proper place. They are arranged in a system as the books in a library. Everyone would wish to be a grain of wheat in the Divine barn rather than in a human barn.
So I say: in life there are some things desirable and others - undesirable. There are desirable things, which belong to the external life, while there are other desirable things, which belong to the inner life. And inversely: there are undesirable things, which belong to the external life, while there are undesirable things, which belong to the inner life. It is desirable, for instance, that a man should be well-dressed outwardly. It is undesirable that he should be naked with ragged clothes and shoes. It is desirable for man to have bread to eat and undesirable that he should stay hungry.
Now I shall give you the first article of "the future creed of humanity": I believe in the Only Sacred bread, which all men eat and without which no man can live. Every religion, every doctrine must start at this point. He that does not believe in the Sacred bread, does not believe in anything and nothing can become of him. You must believe in the Sacred bread and you should taste it three times a day. You should caress it with your hand, kiss it with your mouth and say: The Sacred bread - that is my creed. You can philosophize as much as you wish; you can believe in anything you want to, but in the end, you will test the first article of "the creed of humanity." You say: - I believe in God. - How can you believe in God whom you have not seen? God - that is only a word. To believe in the Sacred bread, has sense and meaning, since you have seen and tasted it. That is exactly why Christ says: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven."
Thus, the power, the knowledge of man lies in his ability to distinguish and select the desirable from the undesirable things. It is important that man should know what his soul desires and what it does not desire. The important thing for man is that which he can not do without, that which is not essential to him is only a loss of time. It is desirable for man to put on new, well-made clothes. It is undesirable for him to go naked, but if he does not wish to clothe himself, nakedness itself will come upon him. It is desirable for man to be healthy, but if he does not desire to be healthy, sickness itself will find him. Men themselves must seek health, while sickness itself finds them. Health is a natural consequence of the observation of the first article of "the creed of humanity." This is not the creed of one nation, but of all nations; it is not the creed of one man but of all men over the whole face of the earth. This is the creed not only of all men, but of all angels, of all gods who inhabit heaven. All believe in the Sacred bread, which is their food. This is a symbol which includes everything which the living beings - men and gods - have tasted.
You say: But can we not do without bread? He who says that one can do without bread, is an unbeliever. What is unbelief? He who does not eat is an unbeliever; he who eats, is a believer. He that eats, he that clothes himself can be called a believer. Let anyone attempt to call such a man an unbeliever, he will immediately say: How is it possible for me to be an unbeliever when I taste the Sacred-bread three times a day? I believe in the Only Sacred bread. - This is the simplest definition of the idea of God. Contemporary people discuss the question of what God is, but all discussions all philosophies on this question have not contributed anything useful to humanity. These philosophies are good, but they have their place. You can read what the philosophers, the mystics, the occultists and saints have said about God, but you must keep one thing in mind: Only he who has eaten of the Sacred bread of life can speak about God. The real philosophy of life will appear only when men begin to eat consciously of the Only Sacred bread. The Sacred bread bears the Word in itself. He who does not eat of this bread can not have the Word manifested in him. Eating, as an external process of the Word, and comprehension as an inner process, go parallel. If man does not eat correctly and if he does not comprehend things correctly, the Word can not operate within him. Then come the evil consequences in life. All sicknesses, misfortunes and contradictions are due to the fact that man has not eaten well and has not comprehended things well. It is not a question whether man should eat according to the rules of modern science, or use the elements which it recommends. I am not speaking about bread, as a material object composed of several elements. I am speaking about bread as a spiritual manifestation of life. The Sacred bread, known by all people, contains mainly a spiritual element, which all the rest of the chemical elements are supplemental forces of, in order that the Word, the bearer of life, might become manifested. Everything contemporary science maintains is true, but that is only the external side of the question. The bread contains a great idea without which the human life can not be manifested. If you want to manifest this life on earth, do not believe in that bread which is fresh today, and stale tomorrow, neither the bread which moulds, but rather in the living bread, which all men eat. He that eats the living bread, feels an inner calmness, an influx of energy and power and is grateful to nature for having given him the possibility to live. This is what the first article of the new Creed contains.
The Creed of humanity, however, contains four main articles, which are as follows: I believe in the Only Sacred bread which all men eat. I believe in the Only Sacred water which all men drink. I believe in the Only sacred air which all men breathe. I believe in the Only Sacred light which all men receive.
These are the four articles of the new creed. Every other creed proceeds forth from this one. Why? Because this creed contains the four necessary elements of life. All men eat the Sacred bread. All men drink the Sacred water. All men breathe the Sacred air. All men live in the Saered light and receive it. No matter what world you may go into - heaven or hell - everybody needs these four elements. Both believers and unbelievers are benefited by the four sacred elements. There is a difference, however, in the way the inhabitants of heaven use these elements from the way the inhabitants of hell use them: the former profess them and put them to an inner as well as an outer use, while the latter profess and use them only externally. As far as their inward application is concerned, they keep quiet about that. From this point of view, hereticism does not exist. Therefore, if you call any one a heretic, it would imply that that man does not eat of the Sacred bread, drink of the Sacred water, breathe the Sacred air or receive the Sacred light. In such a case, that man is doomed to death. He who lives, he who does not die, is not a heretic, for he lives by the four sacred elements - bearers of life and immortality.
Who gave the idea of these elements to humanity? Christ brought this idea. He preached about it among all people. When? Not only two thousand years ago, but since unremembered ages, for Christ has always existed and worked for humanity in many different ways. The sun has always shone and is shining, but at times we see it, while at other times, we do not see it. That is, however, a temporary condition, a changed environment depending either on the position of the earth, or upon ourselves. The sun is always shining for those whose consciousness is always awake. The present conditions of life divert men from the right path, 3ince they prevent them from comprehending the development of life in its entirety. People today, like small children, worry and are disturbed by things which they must not even raise a question about. What do children worry about? The child, generally, is impatient. As soon as he ask his mother for bread and hears that the bread is not ready yet, he begins to cry. His mother speaks to him and tries to convince him that in one hour, or in half an hour the bread will be ready, but he does not want to listen to her and continues to cry. As soon as the mother takes the bread out of the oven and breaks it up, the child smiles, stops crying and starts to eat.
Thus, the essential thing for life is food. Why? Because the Word comes through the food. As soon as the Word comes, we enter the world which God has created. Only in this way can we understand the words of Christ: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." You have all read 'the Blessings' and will read them many more times, but they will remain mere sentences for you up to the time when an inner comprehension will illumine you. No matter how you may explain a thing to a man, he will not understand it until he has experienced it. How can you explain sweetness, or bitterness to anyone, if he has not tasted them? How can you explain to people the verse "The pure in heart shall see God," if they have not experienced this state? No matter how you may explain it, they can not understand this verse, if they have not seen God. After they have seen Him, they will understand the meaning of this verse. The man who would speak about this verse must have passed through the same experience. When a painter lives in nature and paints its beautiful spots, his pictures bear a sort of character which they would not have, if the artist should paint the same pictures away from nature, out of his memory, or imagination. These are two entirely different things.
Often people want to form an idea of what a good man is. What idea can they have about the good man? Three things distinguish man from the other living beings, according to me. They are: the head, the hands and the feet. These are the external features of the visible man. All other features and organs of man are secondary. Therefore, the head is the essential thing in man. The important part of the head is the face with all its organs. The face is linked with the brain and the better the brain is cultivated, the more beautiful and expressive is the face. The feet of man are the expression of the good. Thus, the good, virtue, has created the feet. When the serpent told the first lie, it crippled its body by losing its feet. In this respect, the feet are the expression and the symbol of the good. If men lose their goodness, they cripple themselves and become invalids. Such is the great law of life. Therefore, when a man loses or neglects some virtue, at the same time he loses or cripples that organ which is in service of that special virtue. When man enters the region of sin, he gradually becomes atrophied: his feet and hands become atrophied until nothing is left of them. If you put a log of wood in the fire, at first it starts to burn and it burns until it disappears and turns only into smoke and ashes. Sin is an analogous process. It is fire, but not fire which purifies, but rather fire which burns everything up. Sin, evil in the world in a destructive force, while the good is creative and constructive. The good is the first fruit of life. With that good, i.e. with our feet, we walk over the face of the earth. By and through the good we receive those energies which are necessary for the sustenance of the bodily life. Who has not experienced a great joy when after a long sea voyage, he has touched ground again. The child experiences a great joy, also, when he stands and walks on his feet for the first time. Both the adult and the child rejoice for having a solid base under their feet.
Thus, the feet are the expression of the good. To stand on your feet is to step on solid ground, on the real creed, on a deep, solid understanding and inner self-assurance. To stand on your feet is to be out of all deceit, unbelief, cowardice and evil. He who lives in the Divine Love walks on the earth and feels that it is sacred ground. Which is the sacred ground? It is that ground upon which wheat is born. It is out of that ground that the wheat draws all its necessary elements which the ground has been storing up during the course of ages.
Contemporary people follow two contrary courses of life, in consequence of which, they obtain two different results. The one way lies in much speaking and little working, while the other - in more work and less speaking. The first way is of no profit. For instance, people say to someone: you must study; you must understand; you must be prudent. The results of this method are similar to those of the four sons, heirs of their father. After receiving their inheritance of fields, vineyards and gardens, they had begun to eat and drink and to sit all day long saying: the fields must be plowed, the vineyards must be digged, the gardens must be watered, but they themselves did not do anything, leaving all the work to their servants to do. But after a time, they became very poor and naked and began to ask one another: What is the reason that we lost everything? Why did not our father tell us the secret how to work and what to do? I say: one must not only say what must be done, but rather work. It is the same thing as to sit in a chair and to repeat to yourself: I must be good! - In this way you will become the last pauper, but you will not become good. You will become good when you give the good that is within you, a chance to manifest itself. The good is in man, it can not be manifested externally. The power, which makes the grain of wheat sprout up, is within it, it can not come from outside. Outside of it lie the possibilities and conditions for its growth, while the power for its growth is hidden within. Therefore, when you do not have success in life, you must know that you live in the first way - that of merely speaking about the things which must be done. If you want to reap success, start to live in the second way, which is the way of work. As soon as you say that something must be done, begin immediately to work for its realization.
Now as I speak about desirable and undesirable things, I find that a number of contradictions appear within them too. For instance, someone say: I would like to attain something for which I am making great efforts. - There is no need of making efforts. When you go to work, or study, efforts are not necessary. Only the sick and the lame man make efforts. The healthy man does not make efforts. To study, to work, to be good are natural states for all people. Efforts must be made only when a man is overcoming some defect or infirmity. In all other cases of life, effort must be excluded. Do not make efforts, but rather say: I live, I love. Do not allow any thought with a double meaning to stay in your mind. For instance, you say: I must be good. - That means, that you have not been good till now and from now on you will become good. This thought has a double meaning and can cause you to stumble. Again you say: If I can not realize my desires in this life, I will leave them all for another life to attain what I want to. - Do not divide life. The present and the future life are one and the same life. Life can not be divided. Therefore, do not put things off for another life. How do you know what conditions you will have in the future? If you can not benefit by the present conditions which you are given, how can you use the future conditions to your benefit? If you can not learn the lesson which your teacher has given you today, how will you learn tomorrow’s lesson? Putting things off for the future life, is one of the dangerous sides of the theory of reincarnation. I am not against this theory, but I say: every life has a definite program which must be fulfilled. Everyone must benefit by and solve the problems of his present life and not think about the future. Many are hindered by the thought that they are old and can not do anything more. How old are you? Those who think they are old, are barely 4O-45 years of age.
I ask you: By what means do you determine youth and age? If by the words "an old man" you mean an invalid, that is another question. But if by 'old' you mean a man of experience and sound reason, you are on the right path, Since you have become wiser through age, you need not be hindered by it, but rather continue to march on. But if you are invalids, you must know the reason why you have come to such a state. If you say that God has created you invalids, you are not speaking the truth. It is dangerous for man to think he is an invalid, for he would expect others to take care of him in that case. It is the same thing as when a father, expects his children to grow up and take care of him. In case he has no children, he would expect some rich uncle to make him heir of his riches. Yes, the rich uncle may come, but he also may not come. Then that man would expect his fortune from some lottery ticket. But the chances there, are also small - he may buy lottery tickets all his life and still gain nothing by them.
Here is how the question stands: if there is need of a lottery ticket, you already have one - you have brought it with your coming to the earth. Which is this ticket? - Life. This lottery ticket is full of possibilities for the attainment of your ideals. What more do you need? This lottery ticket contains a number of rules and laws which you must observe. If you eat the living bread on time, your lottery ticket will be always full. The healthy man observes the rules and laws of the lottery ticket, while the sick man can not do that. Whom do you love more: the sic or the healthy man? Who is sick and who is healthy? There are healthy people who, in reality, are sic. There are sick people who, in reality, are healthy. At times you can love the sick people. The fact that you love them shows that they are healthy ‘sick’ people. In this sense, the healthy man can always be loved, while the sick man can not be always loved. The healthy man is contented, but when? Only after he has eaten well. He is not contented before he has eaten bread. He is contented with the knowledge he has, but not with his ignorance. However, knowledge springs, from the Word. Only the healthy man has knowledge and can know something positively. A healthy man, in the full sense of the word, is the man who believes and whose faith is acquired by experience in the three worlds: the world of the human body, the world of the soul and the world of the spirit. The human body represents the external - the physical world - the world of external nature. That of the soul represents the invisible, the spiritual world, while the world of the spirit represents the Divine world.
Now I shall not explain to you what these worlds represent. You yourselves must think and form some opinion about them. Some day when you visit these worlds, yea will learn many things. And whatever you learn, that will remain with you. That which one can see there, is very difficult to describe. Haw, for instance, can you describe the angelic world? Some people ask if there is day and night in the other world, as here on earth. - In the other world there is no night as here on earth. It is only day there. On earth, however, there is day and night, because it receives its light from the sun. The day and the night show that people on the earth live outside of the reality of life, under peculiar conditions. When the consciousness of man is darkened, in consequence of which certain changes in his condition take place, it is night for him; when his consciousness becomes clear and his ideas corrected, day comes in him. You say: we wonder what our life in the other world will be. If your consciousness does not darken when you are in that world, it will be day for you. Man's consciousness can be darkened by many causes. Sometimes the most insignificant cause can darken your consciousness. For instance, you have a good disposition, but your friend comes and pricks you with a needle. You lose immediately your good disposition and begin to think and worry over the pain your friend has caused, you. If one string of the violin of some famous violinist breaks, he loses a quarter of his certainty; if the second string breaks, he loses two quarters of his certainty; if the third string breaks, three quarters of his surety are lost. However, as soon as one string is left, he stops playing the violin. No violinist can play with a single string on his instrument. What sort of violinist is that who can play on a single string?
Thence, I draw the following comparison: what sort of man is he whose spirit, soul and body do not function? That is a violinist with a single string on the violin. What kind of a man is he whose mind does not think, whose heart does not feel and whose will is not active? The real man is he who believes in the Divine Spirit out of Whom he has proceeded forth and who works in accord with Him. He should also believe in his soul, which feels at all times and lastly, he should, believe in his body by means of which he is in contact in mind, heart and will with his neighbour. The mind, the heart and the will are the manifestations of the body. Man cannot believe in that which he does not see. He should believe in that which he sees outside of himself, and that which he feels within. When he believes in everything outside and inside himself, man will come to a number of external and inner methods for work. You can not attain anything without this creed. The whole humanity will come to the new creed through the Sacred bread which they eat. The Sacred bread will lead man to the Word, while the Word will reveal the real life to him. It says in the Scriptures: "All things were made by the Word." As soon as man attain life, along with the Word they will attain the Sacred water, the Sacred air and the Sacred light.
Now I shall tell you a legend about the origin of the human tears. Tears appeared for the first time in the world after Adam and Eve were chased out of Paradise. Up to that time Adam had not known what tears are. The first woman who has wept is Eve. Eve was a beautiful woman. After leaving Paradise, she realized her fault and deeply repented. Then God gave her a book saying: "The first commandment I gave you was not to ear of the forbidden tree - the tree of knowing, good and evil, but you ate and violated my law. Now I give you this book that you may read and study it. As soon as you stop reading it, you must close it and hide it away carefully. If you leave it open, a greater misfortune than the former one will befall you. You wanted to attain knowledge, did you not? Therefore, take this sacred book. Read and study it!" After taking the book from God, both of them had the idea that they possessed a book upon which their salvation depended. One day after reading it, Eve distracted by something, forgot it open. At that moment the devil arrived and after covering the book with a black sheet of paper, he went away. Upon returning to her book, Eve was terribly surprised when she could not read its pages any longer - a black sheet prevented her from reading the book. Then she thought to herself: "This time again we did not fulfill the command of God." She realized and repented for her fault and started to cry and to pray. A long time she wept until the black sheet melted away before her eyes, the book opened itself and she started to read it freely again. Thus came the first tears into the world.
So I say: man must weep and pray a long time over the Sacred book before the black sheet can melt away and the book open and become readable again. As soon as the book opens up, one must begin to read it, by all means! It is the Sacred book of life. You ask: why must man weep? - It is dark before his eyes. He must weep until the darkness is dispersed and everything shines clear before him, until the Sacred book of life opens before him and he starts to read it. Never leave your Sacred book of life open! If you do that, the devil will come immediately, place a black sheet over it and go away. As soon as you have read some part of that book, close it up immediately. When you need to, open it again. Do not give it to anyone else to open it. Everyone must open and close this Sacred book himself. The book may be open while you are reading it, but as soon as you stop reading, close it up and then go away. Everyone must open his own book with a sense of deep reverence and respect, He will open his book, read something in it, reflect upon it then close it carefully and go to work. After he returns from work, he will open his book again to read and reflect, then he should close it and rest. The reading of the Sacred book represents the great bond which the soul must continually sustain. What bond must the soul sustain? An inner bond, an inner communion, With whom? - If I say with God, this word will not be clear to many. What God is for the human soul can be comprehended only when you have a friend whom you love much. When you see you friend, your whole being is transformed - you are deeply glad to see him. Everything which makes things meaningful, is due to the presence of God. Wherever God is present, there life appears; wherever God is absent, death is present there. Where God is present, there light appears; where light dwells there bread is born, water springs forth abundantly and the air encompasses all things, Where God is absent everything gradually diminishes and disappears.
Therefore, the sufferings in the world show the absence of the Divine Love in people. When the Divine Love is in men then joy and gladness are found there. Thus, when you grieve, love is absent. This does not mean that love does not love you, but rather that there is some obstacle between it and you, some black sheet which prevents its manifestation. What must we do in order that love may come? You must shed tears a long time over the black sheet until it melts away. Therefore, water must come to the aid of man to quicken the arrival of love. Water satiates the thirst of man and saves him from death. Therefore, the bread is the bearer of the good; the water bring life; the air brings power while the light gives knowledge. These are four cardinal states which must be known by everyone. If man is not good, if he has not life, power and knowledge, these four elements are absent in him. Power flows into mail through the Sacred air which he breathes. The Hindus who know this from their initiates, have created a whole science about breathing with all its different methods and rules, in order to restore the strength of the human organism. When someone is in a negative mood, or sick or finds no sense in life, let him drink water. Everyone has experienced the effect of water at such times. When a traveller is passing across a mountain and begins to feel his legs giving way under him and his strength failing fast, he stops at a spring, drinks some water and feels his strength restored.
This is why I say: believe in the Sacred bread, in the Sacred water, in the Sacred air and in the Sacred light through which the Word is manifested. When you believe in the Sacred bread, you will pray God to receive it inwardly and along with it to receive the Word of God. You can see how Christ regards the bread as the symbol of the Word, that after he broke it and fed with it several thousand men, he gave orders that all the crumbs should be gathered in a basket and not be scattered all around. As soon as you comprehend the meaning and significance of the bread, as the symbol of the Word, you will be in a position to form among yourselves sacred relations and have a sacred attitude toward one another. I wish you to form such sacred relations among yourselves and learn to understand and appreciate them. Let these relations and attitude which you have among yourselves, include all living beings for the sake of the love you have for God. You may see a snail insect creeping, stop a while beside it, consider its life and draw some lesson from it for your own life. You see a fly or a bee - stop before it and think about the One Who has created them and Whom you love. You see a worm - do not mock at its effort to creep, but try to penetrate into the difficulties of its life. The worm is the symbol of humility. If the worm did not work, the Sacred bread would not some forth. That small worm, despised by many, does a great work. What a ploughman it is! It has done a thousand good things whereby you and millions like you profit!
The New Teaching needs men of a new outlook on life. Today the young people disregard the old men who, in their turn, disregard the young people. The young man says about the old man: This man has grown old, he is of no more use to anybody. The old man, in turn, says about the young man: This youth is still green, he is not a ripe fruit. Who can wait for him to become ripe? If the youth thinks about the aged in this way, he is a sick man and if the aged thinks in this way about the youth, he is already on his dying bed. He will die tomorrow, men will bury him and write on his grave: Here lies such and such a philosopher, a learned man! If the old and young people continue to think in this way, it will follow according to their views, that Christ is in the grave up to this day. In reality, Christ did not spend even three days in the grave. On the third day He rose. People today still keep their Christ in the grave. It is time for them to roll off the stone from His tomb so that He might resurrect for them! And after all that, men expect Christ to come a second time to the earth! If Christ does not rise within you, He will not come outside of you by any means! When Mary went to the tomb of Christ and did not find Him there, she started to weep. They asked her: "Woman, why weepest thou?" And she answered: "Because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid Him!" And after saying that, she turned her head and saw Jesus standing there and knew not that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her: "Mary!" And she turned and said to Him: "Master!"
I say: how many times in the past you have met Christ! But in spite of that, you continue to ask: Did you not see who took His body away? Now I am speaking to you, in order that you should not be deceived by external things, but rather hold to your inner illumination such as Mary experienced. When that illumination dawned in her, she knew Christ. External things can never be understood without that inner illumination of the consciousness. There is an example of this idea in the Bible. When Christ asked some of his disciples whom men thought Him to be, they answered Him that some say He is one of the old prophets and some - Elias. However, Peter answered: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Christ answered him: "Flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee, but my Father Who lives in heaven." This is why man must study that truth which God reveals to him. If some man comes who calls himself Christ, must you believe in him immediately? In order to test him whether he is really Christ, lead him to a sick man and ask him to put his hand over the head of the sick person. If after the laying of his hands over the sick person the latter does not regain his health, what kind of a Christ is that man? Must man balieve in such a man who does not give them any knowledge or throw any light in their minds? It says in the Scripture: "As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon and bread." And Jesus said to them: "Bring of the fish which ye have now caught!" This is what it means to be with Christ, or to have Christ come into your home. When Christ comes to your home, you will have everything in abundance. If you are deprived of certain things, if you are not fully satisfied, Christ is not among you. Those who want to follow the way of Christ must have such an idea of Him.
How many ask when the end of the world will be. - The end of the world is a philosophic question. - When will Christ come? - This is also a philosophic question. When they asked Christ about the end of the world, He answered them: "My Father only knows this. It is not given to you to know the times and the seasons which my Father hath appointed." So I say: there is a knowledge which is not necessary now to people. It is unnecessary as a bride's dress is to a five years old girl. All the flowers, wreaths and jewels which the bride wears are not necessary to the little girl. Therefore, I say to you: do not deck the child's clothes given to you by God with any flowers and jewels! Do not exchange your child's dress for that of the bride! I have often seen small girls who wear flowers on their heads like young maidens. Some years ago I had a chance to test a little girl and to see how prudent she was. I held forth a lovely rose to her which she refused to take under the pretense that she is not a maiden - she has not come to the state to deck her hair with flowers. This was the external side of the refusal, but inwardly she meant that she did not wear flowers picked from their root. Since she could not give them life, she would not pick them, or deck her hair with them. Let the one who had picked the rose bear the consequences of his crime - she meant to say. I had received the rose that day and wondered to whom I could give it. As you see, it served as an object lesson to all.
When you say a bitter word to anyone, is not that equal to the giving of a picked rose to him? Do not pick the flowers and do not give them to, any person! Keep the following rule: approach all people with a deep consciousness that originally God created then good. If you find that some people are not good, that shows that they have committed a faulty sometime in their life, on account of which they have lost their goodness. You must think in this way both of yourselves and of others. If you have some defect it is due to certain other causes. It depends on you to remove that defect. However, you must constantly keep in your mind the thought that God has deposited the good in you as a foundation for your life. He has sent you to the earth as to a school where you can study. Therefore, you must study well. The only thing which makes God happy is when you study well. I am also happy when I see you study with love and readiness. When I sea a man facing temptation, I say: It is dangerous for a man to go astray from the path assigned to him.
I shall use an example from the Old Testament about the bad consequence of a diversion from the right way. Once God sent one of the young prophets to the king of Israel - Jeroboam to deliver His Word to him. He said to the prophet: "Do not eat bread, do not drink water nor return by the same way you went." An old prophet reached him on the way and told him: "Come with me to my house to eat bread." - I can not go back with you, neither can I eat bread and drink water, nor return by the same way I came. This is what the word of God tells me to do. - I am also a prophet like you and an angel spoke to me the Word of God saying: "Take him back with you to your house that he may eat bread and drink water." The old prophet thus told a lie. The young prophet returned and went to his house to eat bread and to drink water. While sitting at the table the old prophet told him: "Since you did not obey the voice of God and did not keep His commandment, your body shall not lie in the tomb of your fathers." The young man continued his way, but a lion met him and tore his body into pieces. The old prophet found his body on the road, and took it to the town to lament and bury it.
I ask you: why was it necessary for the old prophet to deceive the young prophet and put him in such a temptation so that a lion had to devour him? And why should he lament him afterward? The right thins was for the old prophet to advise the young one not to go astray from his road. There is an inner cause for which the old prophet had to put the young prophet to a test - the stability of the latter was tested. By that test it was seen that the young prophet had not a firm and solid character.
Often people understand things as the young prophet, in consequence of which they make mistakes which cost them their life. The young prophet should have said to the old prophet: I shall continue along the way I have taken and not stop or go right or left. The same thing applies to you: if you stop anywhere, you will be hindered in your development. For instance, you rely on something, you follow a certain way, but someone comes and say to you: The way you are going is not right. - Must you believe that person? You must answer: Since I eat the Sacred bread, I am in the right way and I have absolutely no doubt in that. Therefore, man can not walk in the way of Truth, if he does not eat the Sacred bread, drink the Sacred water, breathe the Sacred air and receive the Sacred light. And when Christ says: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," He means exactly these four elements - to eat the Sacred bread without the least doubt, whether you are in the Way or not. As you receive everyday the Sacred bread, i.e. the body of Christ, you must know that you are in the right way. As you drink the Sacred water, breathe the Sacred air and receive the Sacred light of the rising sun, you must be grateful at all moments, that you are in the right way. This is the first state man experiences in the physical world. The second state is higher - it penetrates all the worlds.
Now you should meditate on these four elements, as symbols, and try to see what in life each one of them corresponds to. After that you will enter the other reality of life which will give you that which you seek. You want to be happy, healthy, rich etc. However, it is not necessary for man to obtain everything he desires. Why? Because all things are not essential. In this sense some things are desirable and essential which have a relation to the present moment. Other things are desirable, yet unessential and can be put off for a later time. I wish you to obtain that which is essential for you. For instance, love and truth are essential for you. Whatever might be said about love, it is unique. Love brings life; wisdom brings knowledge and light, while truth brings freedom. You say: We want to know the truth. - The truth can not be spoken on the earth. Here we can display only the facts of life, but not the reality itself, i.e. the truth itself. For instance, I say: reality has two sides - light and dark, sweet and bitter. These are facts about reality, but they do not represent reality itself. You say to someone: You are not a wise man. - This is only a fact, but not reality. The truth can be spoken only to the slave when you release him from his chains; the truth can be spoken only to the hungry man when you feed him; the truth can be spoken to the thirsty man when you satiate his thirst; - the man suffocating - when you take him out into the pure open air; - to the lost in a dark night when you illumine his way. Thus, the truth shows you the way you must go; it liberates you from the limiting conditions of life. All people expect to be welcomed with music, songs and wreaths when they go into the other world. One thing is true - that you will all go to the other world, but how they will meet you there is quite a different question. How will you appear before the face of your Father? What account of your life will you give Him?
You say: It means that suffering is expecting us in the other world. Few have experienced real suffering and real joy. Imagine a young man full of life and energy condemned to death by beheading. They take hold of him, bind his hands and feet, put him in prison where he knows that the next day his life will be taken. What is the state of that young man who knows that his head will be taken off the next day? What greater suffering than this can there be? Such is the state of a sinner who realizes his sins, and must appear before the Lord. Imagine now just the opposite of this condition. This young man has prayed and wept a long tine, but no one has given attention to him and he is beheaded. But the Saviour of the world comes Who love the young men, takes his head from the ground, puts it in its place and says: - Be free now and sin no more! Follow the law of Love! What will that man experience? - Unspeakable joy. When someone asks what suffering is, I say: real suffering lies in this - to see how your head falls off your neck by the knife of your brother, in spite of the fact that you desire with all your, might to live and to enjoy this world of God. What is joy? Real joy is experienced when you see your head put back in its place. What is suffering? - Deprivation of Love i.e. taking your head away. What is joy? - The coming of Love, i.e. putting your head back in its place. This is the way to understand life in all its manifestations. All other ideas have not the power to throw the new light on life. Man’s head must stay in its piece! The upright man is distinguished by the fact that no power in the world is capable of taking his head off his shoulders. No arms can take his head off, either. When man's head can fall off his shoulders, it is a sign that he is exposed to some inner danger.
The blessings we read in the chapter of Matthew are methods toward the realisation of an inner bond with God - with Love. As soon as you achieve this bond, an angel of the Lord will knock on our hearts and take you to the spiritual end Divine world where they will welcome you with wreathe, music and songs. If you are not ready and refuse to go with him, he will cut off your head with his sword. I describe to you this state not because it will be your fate, but in order that you might know what darkness and suffering mean. Every man is not condemned to be beheaded, but everyone must sympathize with the one who will pass through that suffering and feel his condition. You speak with such a man, but you know that after one day he will lose his contents — his head will go. You look at his muscles, hands and feet, but the man is not there. Where is the real man? Some will say that the man is in the soul, others - in the spirit etc.
Now we are expecting the elevation of the human soul, the liberation of the human spirit and the resurrection of the human body. Thus, the physical man must resurrect! In the physical world the resurrection represents the new life of man; in the spiritual world the resurrection implies the coming of love on the earth; while in the Divine world, it means the descent of the spirit to the earth. Therefore, man must resurrect simultaneously in the three worlds: in body, soul and spirit. This is the true resurrection. When a man dies and is born again - that is a resurrection only in the physical world called reincarnation. The resurrection in the spiritual world is the entrance of man into a world without contradictions. The resurrection in the Divine world implies the attainment of the Eternal life.
People today live in a world in which they eat mouldy bread from morning till night; drink polluted water from morning till night; breathe impure air from morning till night; walk in dim light in which they constantly stumble. These are the inner states of man. It is not enough only to say that God is good and to sit and wait for this goodness to become manifested. This is an old philosophy which you must put aside. The question is about the new life which requires faith in the Sacred bread, as a foundation of life out of which proceeds the Word. Believe that originally God has deposited many talents and abilities in man which he must develop. How? - By working in the right way and by loving disinterestedly. Then he will appear before the face of God as before a good Father and show Him all the talents he has developed. He who has worked on the earth will appear before his Father as a good son; ho who has not worked will appear as the prodigal son about whom Christ spoke in one of His parables. The prodigal son returned to his father penetant and humble, for which reason his father killed the fatted calf and gave a feast in his honor. He said to his good son: "Son, you must not be angry. Your brother was dead and is now come to life. All that I have is yours. You do not understand yet the deep meaning of life, that is why you are angry. Rejoice that your brother has come!"
As I observe the relations of people, they are very much like those of the two brother, when they see that a new person enters a society where he is met with a certain respect, they all attack him saying: This man has just come and so much honor is accorded to him, while we have worked for 15-20 years and no one pays any attention to us. I say: the prodigal son did not return to his father for any honors, or feasts. He said to his father: "I am not worthy of your love. Will you, kindly, take me in your home as a servant?" In order that man may be given a banquet like the one the father gave to his son, he must have a broad mind, a big heart, a spacious soul, a great spirit and broad views. This concerns all who have an awaken consciousness who want to love, to study and to prepare themselves for the coming of the Kingdom of God within them. It is time for all people to take off their prisoners robes and to free their feet chains. It is terrible to listen to the noise of men's feet in chains! How awful is the noise of the iron chains! All men today are in chains. I meet a certain man in such a state and free him from his chains. Hs begins to walk freely, but when I meet him on the morrow, he is in chains again. I cure some sick person, but after he is cured, he comes to me sick again - again in chains! Someone comes to ask me what food to eat and how many times a day to eat, but after I tell him everything, he does not apply my advice, continuing to eat as he is used to. What can one tell such a man? Another man asks me whether to eat potatoes and tomatoes. I say: It is not an easy thing for one to eat potatoes, since they have absorbed certain harmful elements by staying a long time in the ground. The wheat, also, by being kept a long time in the barn acquires certain harmful elements for the human organism. Man must know how to rid himself of the harmful elements the different foods contain. When you eat grapes you must wash carefully every grain you put in your mouth, as that it should be free of any microbs or dirt. People today eat quickly and o not give enough attention to the purity of the fruit they eat. It is good that they have no fear of infection, but fast, careless eating has bad consequences for the organism. Man must not eat fast. When he takes a bunch of grapes, let him look it over carefully, wash it well and start eating it grain by grain, counting the number of grains the bunch of grapes contains. In fact, all this is in regard to the external side of eating, but when one learns to eat correctly, he will gradually begin to comprehend its inner meaning.
Now as you read the Word of God, you come to the conclusion that man must live rightly in order to please God. How can we please God? - By loving one another. How can we love one another? What is the rule, according to you about the way to love a person? To love a man means never to trespass his Sacred enclosure. How should this be understood? - Never to eat the bread which he eats; never to drink the water, he drinks; never to desire the house for yourself in which he lives; never to regard with envy his clothes, his hat, or the shoes he wears; never to cross the path he walks upon; never to take the place in which he sits. This is what love means. Someone comes and tells me that when he loves a person he wishes to embrace him a little to press him against his bosom. There is no greater misfortune, according to me, than to embrace and press a man against your bosom. Why? This is binding. You can bind only a sick person. The doctor comes, examines the sick person, binds him and goes away. They bind the sick in hospitals, also but that is not love. To love your neighbour is to give him within yourself all the rights which you want to have yourself. Who are our neighbours? They are those rational souls by whom we are daily put to a teat. Our neighbours are the angels who manifest themselves on earth through the people. You meet a poor, feeble man trough whom they teach you a lesson; an angel is manifested trough him who wants to test you and see how you will act. Christ says: "That which you did to the poor, the sick, the suffering and the prisoners, you did it into me. I was in them." Therefore, if you do no render some service to the sick, the poor and the suffering, you have not rendered a service to Christ. This is the external side of the test. After you have passed it, you will come to the inner side of the test which is more difficult. After you pass that one also, you will meet the One Who loves you and Whom you love. Today people live on earth not knowing whom they love and who loves them. We see who is our neighbour in the parable of "the Good Samaritan."
Now as I tell you to work upon yourselves, I want to turn your attention to the inner danger of self-criticism. Self-criticism is a temporary method of no profit for you. I do not recommend this method. If you, or some other person commit a fault, do not hurry to pass your judgment about it, but make an inner interpretation - learn something from it. You hear that a wolf has devoured the sheep of your neighbor. Do not hurry to say for what reason wolf has done that crime, but draw a lesson from that for yourself. You say that the wolf has not done well. It is true that the wolf has committed a crime, but you, who criticise him, are committing the same crime you kill the lambs and eat them. I ask you: what difference is there in the crime the wolf commits from that of man? You will answer that it is allowed to people to kill sheep, but it is not allowed for the wolves to devour them.
Another case: you criticise a person that he has made a mistake, but as soon as you go home, you make the same mistake. What will you say about this? So, it is easy to see the mistakes of another, but difficult to see your own. Therefore, judgment and criticism do not set things right, nor help people. You go to the house of some man and want him to receive you in. He gives you a piece of bread and excuses himself that he can not receive you in, because he has no bed, no covers, no fire. You do not believe him and are read to label him as insincere, since he does not want to receive you into his home. I ask you: what can that man do? He is also poor and has not a cent in his pocket. This condition is similar to that, of a poor man spoken of, in the story "King and beggar." In a certain kingdom, in ancient times, the king had fallen seriously ill, almost at the point of death. After all the doctors had in vain tried to help him, a simple man had arrived at the palace, saying that the king could be healed, if he could put on the shirt of a happy man. Men had gone on had to all the corners of the kingdom searching for a happy man. Finally, they had found an utterly poverty - stricken person without shelter, without clotes and shoes, almost always hungry, but happy and contented with his lot, continually singing and thanking God for the life He had given him. The messengers of the king, had gone to ask him for his shirt, but had received the calm answer: - I have no shirt!
Men often speak about move and in the Scripture we read about it, but everyone must apply it in life according to his deep understanding of it. Man, moreover, must not impose his own conception about it, on other people. In regard to love, I have come to the following rule: Apply love in your life according to your deep inner comprehension of it, disregarding what other men think about this question, without, imposing your own idea on others. Love is a great, sacred law through which God is manifested- Therefore, apply love in your life in the way God is manifesting it towards you. Do not be influenced by other men's comprehension of it, neither impose your own conception upon others. However, do not disregard the manifestations of others, but learn by them. In this respect you must be models one for another. If you are models for one another, everyone will be free in his manifestations. This is the way the artists, musicians and poets act. When a musician listens to the performance of another musician, he observe carefully how the latter moves the bow, how he executes and interprets a piece and learns from him. When an artist observes some greater artist than himself, he observes carefully how the latter moves his paint-brush, how he applies the different paints on the canvas, and learns from all that, drinking in the beautiful. All men must observe and receive the beautiful in life. If you are not a great artist, or musician, no one will receive anything from you Thus, I am not for the imitation, but for the reception of the beautiful. Let people receive that which is beautiful in you; but you must receive also that which is beautiful in them. I take a delight in all that is beautiful and lovely. I rejoice at every pretty leaf, at every pretty flower, at every living creature, child and man. I see in all things this manifestation of the rational/(Inteligent, Sentient) Power and learn something from all things.
I say: we must all rejoice at that which God has created. Only in this way can we understand the inner meaning of things. Therefore, all that you have read and understood of the Word of God, must be received and applied in life, because it corresponds to your mind, to your heart, to your will, to your soul and to your spirit. Only thus can you attain the Truth which shall make you free.
Now I wish the blessing of God to come upon you, as God wills! I wish all the promises God has given you to be fulfilled!. And let those promises serve for the elevation of your souls!
1. Congress talk of the Master; held on the first of September, 1933.
Sofia. — Izgrev.
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