Lecture given by Beinsa Douno
March 22, 1934
05:00 a.m. local time
Sofia – Izgrev
Now, I am going to speak about the significant things in life that you should know.
What you have learned up to now should be solidified, i.e. organized. When students enter school, they are supposed to learn everything that is taught there. When they finish school and enter into life, they will face another teaching. The words solidifying and organizing differ in meaning. Solidifying or cementing is not an organic, but a mechanical process. The persons of the world are being cemented; the persons of the Spirit who serve God out of Love are being organized. In this sense, the Divine world is organized. The believers who strive for spiritual life are to be organized, but their way of living deprives them of this experience. Why? – Because they also hesitate in implementing what they know. I will not explain why and in what way they hesitate, because the explanation of some truths sometimes causes more darkness and obscurity to appear in human minds instead of introducing more light. For example, can you explain to someone why humans see? Light is a world that is necessary for human minds. I say, it is important for all those who desire to serve God and to be His servants to know that serving is a process leading to advancement. Neither progress nor advancement will be possible in the world without serving. Life cannot have meaning without serving. Contemporary people think that only the ignorant, weak and poor persons serve. This is not true. The ignorant, weak and poor persons do not serve, but slave. There is a great difference between slaving and serving. When someone does something out of Love and voluntarily, we say that this one serves. When someone works consciously, we say again that this one serves. But when someone is forced to work or to act, then we say that this one drudges and slaves. When a patient is made to do something in order to be healed, this is slaving, not serving. This patient acts out of necessity, not according to his good will. When do people undergo a treatment? – When they are ill. They take treatment, but we cannot say that they work. We say that they suffer or torment themselves "depending on the way they fulfill the doctor's prescription". Whether they will or not, they will call one, two or three doctors out of necessity, in order to be able to recover in one way or another. Diseases and painful states in humans refer to the human world, to the world of contradictions; health and the states of health in their turn refer to the Divine world. Therefore, when you are ill, when you reveal certain weaknesses of yours, you should know that you are in the human world, in the realm of the human. If you are ill, say to yourself, "I am a human being!" When you are encouraged, when a good, bright thought visits your mind, you should know that then you are in the Divine world, in the realm of the Divine. The good side of human nature is included in the rectification of one's weak points.
Listening to what is spoken concerning these questions, many of you ask, "Which is the way we should follow?" The way you should follow is the way followed by the children. Which way is this? The children follow the way of their parents. Sons follow exactly the way of their fathers, and daughters – the way of their mothers, with just a slight inner difference. Many worry about how they will grow, whether they will develop properly. I say, one will grow and develop and in the end one will become exactly what one has been destined to be. If you want to be convinced of this, perform the following experiment: take an egg from a snake, an egg from a duck and an egg from a hen and put the eggs in suitable conditions to be hatched. You have three eggs similar in appearance, but after hatching, from each egg will appear exactly the being that was lodged in it. A form adequate to what was hidden in the embryo of each egg will come out. Someone may say, "What will come out of me?" Exactly what was initially lodged will come out of you. Someone may be disturbed about the end of their life. How will a wolf finish its life? It will finish its life like a wolf. How will a sheep finish its life? Like a sheep. How will a snake finish its life? Like a snake. How will a person finish their life? Like a person. Under the words finish one's life I mean the understanding of Life. When a wolf has eaten a sheep, just then it understands that what it did was wrong. When a sheep has come to the end of its life, just then it understands that it has not achieved anything. When someone is at the final stage of life, they understand that none of their desires were achieved. When a man was born and became grown up, he started dreaming of becoming a king. Finally he realized this dream and became a king: being crowned, bowed down before, listened to and obeyed by everyone. He enjoyed the health, power, glory and authority that were at his disposal. But the time came, when the king's strength started to fail, the king's hands and legs did not function and began to quaver; the king's subjects began to disobey and dethroned him. Day after day his high position was eroding until he lost everything he had possessed and he said, "I was a king, but what did I win?" You won the experience that each king had. You played the king's part on the stage and after that you left the stage and entered the real Life. Playing the part of a king had not yet become the actual state of a real king. Until one becomes a Son of God, they will come on the stage and go off the stage; they will pass through various transitional states. To be a Son of God means to live in the real world, where no changes exist. Only the Son of God understands the real world. The entire Universe is at His disposal.
I ask, what is the state of contemporary people? They live in the limiting conditions of life, in the world of changes and they say, "Where will this life end?" There is no sense in thinking about the end of life. "What will be the beginning of life?" It is better not to think of this as well. "What is the purpose of all things in life?" Do not think of this either. All things have their purpose. Each thing that seems to have no meaning at the beginning receives its value at the end. What meaning will you give to Life? What meaning will you give to Love? You should know one thing: Love excludes any sacrifice. Why? Love is more than sacrifice. Love excludes any giving – Love is more than giving. Love means fullness and satisfaction of the soul. This fullness and satisfaction will grow unceasingly. Love includes all acquisitions, for which the human soul strives. If today, in the name of Love, people do not fulfill their desires, the reason is that they want to be like others; they imitate one another and thus they are hindered. One is supposed to be like others only in one aspect that is, living in Love. People shall follow only the example of Love. Those who live in Love are not like others. The point is not to think like others, but to act like those who live in Love. Many will think that it is contradictory, even impossible, to act like all others. You should behave as the snowdrops and the oaks do. Shall a snowdrop wish to become an oak? A snowdrop can never become an oak; it will remain a snowdrop forever. The snowdrop's life is determined to be one, two months long. In this term the snowdrop will sprout, grow up, bloom and then fade away. The snowdrop has the right to exist on Earth for no more than two months. This is its term. The oak, however, is destined to live one, two, three hundred years or more. When I give you this example, I want to direct your attention to the argument existing among people about why some of them should take the position of the snowdrop and others – the position of the oak. The same law also exists in the Divine world. If a human being wishes to become an angel, they should not imitate an angel, but take its place; at the same time the angel should come down to the position of the human being. This is good, but what will you do tomorrow, when someone else will wish to take your position as an angel? This one will take your position, but you shall also take their position. Therefore, do not consider that when you become angels, no one will hinder you. Many will desire your position, which will cause you to go down and up again all the time. And in this constant descent and ascent you will study Life. You ask, "Where will it end?" There is no sense in thinking of the end. You will rejoice, when you come to the state of being an angel; you will also rejoice, when you go down to the state of being a person. You should be pleased with both ascending and descending. What is bad about descending? Your room is on the top floor of the house. You go upstairs in order to spend the night and you go downstairs, to the first floor, in the morning. If you can go only upstairs and not downstairs, why should you build up houses of several stories? Which floor is best for living? At present the masters of the house or the hosts live on the first floor and the renters live on the second floor. The servants live on the top floor or in the attic. At present the world is turned upside-down. In my view, the masters are supposed to live in the attic, and the servants – on the first floor. Why? – Because the mountain air is fresher than the valley air. The first floor represents a valley, and the top floor – a mountain. The present masters are clever. They live on the first floor, i.e. in the valley, in order to be closer to the basement, where the food supplies are stored. The biggest facilities are to be found on the first floor.
However, let every one of you conclude what is essential for yourself and apply it to life. Everyone will understand me according to their level of development. A five-year old child understands life in one way; when it becomes twenty-years old, it will have another understanding; at the age of thirty its understanding will be quite different; at the age of eighty or a hundred, one's understanding of life differs completely from that of a child. Therefore, the understanding of life of one and the same person is different in the different ages of life. This indicates the progressive nature of understanding. As a matter of fact, if you watch a child of five and then you watch the same person, but as an aged person of a hundred and twenty, you will find an enormous difference between these two images. Why? – The states, in which they are placed, are completely different. But these states also influence the difference in understanding. This same person was joyful and content with life as a child of five; the child loved its parents, hugged and kissed them. And when grown old, the same person stooped as someone of a hundred and twenty years, so they started to walk with a cane; they did not trust anyone and they said, "Do not trust people, because they are bad-natured. Do not trust your servants, because they are thieves and will rob all your properties. Do not trust your neighbors too, do not trust anyone!" I ask, whom shall you trust then? Shall you trust only this old person? This one is discontent with life, with people, with themselves alone and will teach others from this point of view. No, this is not a right understanding of life. This is the reverse view of life. When old and young people are discussed, this concerns the physical life, i.e. the life on Earth. In Heaven, however, all are thirty-three years old. They do not have beards like people on Earth, and all are similar to one another. If you go to Heaven and wish to see a child, right then one of the great angels will diminish and become a child. If you wish to see the same angel, he grows again and takes his initial image. Whatever you wish will happen, when you are in Heaven. But this is not so on Earth. In Heaven there are no sick, discontented or old people. No complaints, no groans will be heard there. When angels want to comprehend the nature of discontent, they come down to the Earth. In this way they receive some entertainment. The Earth is a place of entertainment for them. The angels go to the old people, to the old men and women, in order to listen to their life stories and get acquainted with discontent. An angel will smile listening to the story of an old person, who is introducing discontent to him. The old person will say, "You do not value my experience that is why you are smiling." – "How could it be true? I have come down to the Earth in order to study." – "So, you should take interest!" – "We do not know what discontent is." Discontent is not available in Heaven. And such examples as those amongst humans are also excluded there.
I say, the meaning of Life is not in aging. The meaning of Life is in Love, in Eternal life, in the process of everlasting rejuvenation. Those who do not become old cannot rejuvenate too. Those who do not make errors cannot become righteous too. If you can understand these thoughts, you will be blessed; if you cannot understand them, you will be like your grandparents. Why is this so? Asking why it is so is like asking why God has formed humans with only one face, not with two or three faces. If a boy falls in love with a girl who has three faces, he will not know at which face to look and will be confused. Humans must have one face, because there is only one God. Humans must have one mouth, because there is only one Love. However, humans have two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two arms and two legs. Why do humans have two ears? The one ear corresponds to the male, the other ear – to the female; the one ear corresponds to the brother, the other – to the sister. The one ear corresponds to the master, the other – to the servant. Therefore, the number two indicates that humans should receive and transmit the Divine gifts simultaneously. The five fingers of the human hand represent the five open doors to the world, through which one comes in and out in order to get acquainted with the laws of Life. Therefore, when you have five senses, you will see, hear, smell, taste and touch well. The five senses are the five doors through which one receives knowledge. In the future, humans will have more senses, but only if they have succeeded in developing the five senses that they use today. Contemporary people even with their five senses are still not able to understand and study the surrounding environment. They have mouths and tongues, but they have not yet learned to speak musically. Do you know what power is hidden in speech! If you knew the laws of speech, if you knew this musical language, it would be enough to say only three words in order to open the heart even of the most stingy banker. And now, as you do not know this musical language, as you do not know the key to use, when you go to a banker, you speak to him for hours, but you close his heart instead of opening it. And then you say, "I went to this banker, but I cannot go out." I ask, how is it possible to go to a banker and not to be able to leave? If you cannot leave his room, it shows that you must give him something, but you cannot open his heart. Indeed, you own him a hundred thousand. He catches you and says, "Money now!" – "Let me go!" – "No, you will not go. Repay the money or I will turn you over to the court!" You cannot pay, so you are like that dervish, who went to take a bath, but he had no money to pay it and said, "I will take a bath and the Lord will think of me." He entered the baths, took a bath and said to the person at the exit, "Many thanks for the bath!" – "First you pay and then you thank." – "For God's sake, let me go." – "If God has sent you to the baths, He will take care of the payment." – "I have no money, I cannot pay." – "No, you will pay! Otherwise, I will not let you go. Ten pennies total." – "Allah, give me ten pennies to pay this person or destroy the baths, so that I can exit!" The reason for the misfortunes of contemporary people is that the person from the baths has caught them just for ten pennies and does not let them go out until they pay the amount due. When some people share their sufferings with me, I see the funny situation in which they are placed; I see that the person from the baths has caught them and does not let them go, and then they tell me that they are suffering. They ask me for some advice. What advice will I give to them? If I tell them not to bathe, I will not be right. I see that they need a bath at any cost. There is no other way than to pay that person from the baths. "I am money-less." I say, so it is with this one who has no sweet words; but for the one who has soft, sweet words to say, the banks are open. If you know how to turn the key of your language, you will be able to do miracles. The wealth, the future of humans is hidden in their language.
Someone may say, "I will not become a conscious person this time, but in my future life." Why do you say this? You have already come to the Earth; God has deposited something valuable in you, which is to be developed. It is funny, when some professors who have completed four degrees say that they cannot teach their students. If they cannot teach, why have they become teachers? The same refers to you. Place in your mind the thought that you, like a professor with four specialties, can fulfill your purpose on Earth. You say, "How can we know what we are supposed to do?" I ask, does a woman not know that she is a female? Does a man not know that he is a male? Does a child not know that it is a child? Do masters not know that they are masters? Do servants not know that they are servants? Do military persons not know that they are in the military? Everyone knows the purpose of one's birth. Therefore, your task on Earth is to do what you were sent for. For this purpose you should enter the world of thoughts, or the Causal world; then you should enter the spiritual world, or the world of Love, the world of warmth; and finally, you should enter the Divine world in order to learn what the Will of God is and how to do it. Therefore, you have to study three things: the laws of mind, the laws of heart and the laws of will. Humility is also included in this science. One is to become meek in order to act reasonably and appropriately. The human life remains incomplete without humility. Humility is a way, a door, through which you can enter the Divine world, so that you may learn how to work. Those who want to become wise may go to the Angels[1] to study; those who want to cultivate their hearts may go to the Cherubim[2] and Seraphim[3]; those who want to learn to work on Earth may go to the Divine world, to God. One may be wise and good-natured, but without humility one cannot fulfill their ideas and desires. But if one has visited the angels, the cherubim and the seraphim, finally they can also visit God. Only in this case can one fulfill the Will of God. There is no greater thing for humans than to do the Will of God. The entire science of the past, the present and the future is hidden in the fulfillment of the Will of God. The ideal of both small and great beings is to do the Will of God. God's Love, Wisdom and Truth are revealed in the fulfillment of the Will of God. Therefore, if you do not fulfill the Will of God, you cannot understand His Love, Wisdom and Truth; if you do not fulfill the Will of God, you cannot attain His Life, knowledge and freedom. The ideal of each soul is hidden in the fulfillment of the Will of God. One should be prepared for any sacrifice for the achievement of this ideal. One should not have two opinions, when the Divine is concerned. It means to be a master of yourself. Mastering the situation does not mean that you will sacrifice yourself, but you shall don the garment of humility in order to fulfill the Will of God. Humility is a beautiful world! The real work starts in this world. The humble person has passed through all the phases of life and has diminished oneself, taking the position of a child. Christ referred to such souls, "If you do not become like little children, you will not enter into the Kingdom of God." Such a little child has passed through big trials, through all realms of Life and now it has come to Earth for a specialization. This specialization is nothing else but understanding of Life, its treatment as a Divine manifestation. Only meek people do the Will of God and that is why they know Love. Only God's Love makes Life meaningful and takes away any difficulties, obstacles, contradictions, making one master of the circumstances. The entire world is at the disposal of such a person. It means to be in the world among people who love you. They all will take care of you, so you will not have any problems, but in turn you should be attentive to others as well.
Now, being disciples, you are supposed to study. You will all pass through the experience of Job, who was at his time one of the advanced disciples. God wanted to test his patience; that is why He submitted him to big trials. Only a long-suffering person can do the Will of God. Without patience one cannot come into contact with the Divine world, one cannot know the Great Source. Without patience people can only ask themselves why the world was created in this way, why the trials were given to them, why they carry one or another form, but they cannot answer in the end. Gradually humanity will become able to answer all these questions by developing patience. When one is able to answer positively all questions, finally one will say like a certain Bulgarian, "Day after day life becomes better; and it is best today." What is the meaning of these words? The Bulgarian worked in his field all day long and in the evening he came back home to his wife and children; he washed, put on clean clothes, ate a meal and said, "Day after day life becomes better; it is best today." One day, when you will be at home too, washed, dressed in new clothes, nourished and satisfied, you will say, "It is best today." Your life will become meaningful only in this way.
Today, March 22nd, is the Vernal Equinox, the beginning of spring. All will meet the sunrise, rejoice, sing and celebrate the coming of the first day of spring. When one meets the sunrise, they should have an idea about it. The Sun is an emblem of the Great Source in the world. It is seen to move around the Earth, to go from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere. When the Sun is in the Southern hemisphere, the Great One comes down to the Earth. When the Sun is in the Northern hemisphere, He goes back to His world. Then we go to Him, to the Divine world. Never mind whether the Sun is in the Southern or in the Northern hemisphere, Love and Truth should be known to us. Therefore, this year you have to study and implement Love and Truth in your life. Only in this way you will become free. Many think that they are free, but nevertheless they worry about many things. You are not free until thoughts, feelings or actions can disturb you. You are not free until children, servants, people around you can disturb you. You are also not free until cold and heat can disturb you. One shall become a master of everything that is inside and outside them. I say, one shall pass through certain limitations and big pressures in order to become a master of the situation; one shall hit an obstacle, so that their consciousness may be awakened.
A sister told me about a dream of hers: she dreamed one night that she was in front of a frozen lake. She wanted to get water, but she could not. She hit the ice hard, made a hole and went into it; she filled her pitcher with water, but she could not get out. It came to her mind that she could fly. When she tried to do it, a wall obstructed her. If she were to come near it, she could hit her head and break it, so she stopped. An inner voice said to her, "Do not be afraid, hit the wall and you will go through it". She obeyed this voice. She flew up, hit the wall with her head and right then she felt released. She passed through the wall without any damage. When she woke up, she understood the meaning of hitting an obstacle. She solved an important problem with this hit on her head. So, if one comes to a hard and dull state, they should hit their head a little bit, so that their consciousness may be awakened. Some years ago, when I was in Tarnovo[4], a forty, forty-five year old woman came to me and started to complain of life and people. I asked her, "Are you the only righteous woman in the world?" Then she turned another page, she started to speak about herself that she was bad, unsatisfied with her life and so on. I listened to her and asked again, "Why did you come to me? If you want to tell me what people are, what you are, I know this. What new can you tell me?" – "I want to tell you that my mother has sent me here. She passed away several years ago, but I dreamed of her last night. She came to me angry and discontent, with a pitcher in her hand. At once she lifted the pitcher and hit me right in my head. Some yellow liquid started to flow from my broken head. I was scared and decided to run away, but I heard the voice of my mother: "You will become a good person, or an even greater evil will befall you!" What a bad mother, I thought. Instead of meeting me with joy, she broke my head. I saw, however, that she was sitting and watching me. After some time she opened the door, lifted up her hand and went out of my room. I got up in the morning, but I noticed that some change had occurred in my thinking; I started to think about God, about people, about the goodness in the world. When I thought in this way, an idea came to my mind to pay a visit to you and to hear what you will say to me." Then I told her, "Thank your mother that she hit you on your head. This hit caused the awakening of your consciousness. Follow the Divine way and do not worry. Until you go in this way and do the Will of God, no pitcher will hit your head any more!" Therefore, only those who do the Will of God can enter the world of freedom. I wish you all to enter the world of freedom! How will you attain this freedom? You will attain it, when you enter the world of God's Love, God's Wisdom and God's Truth. What will we do there? This is none of your business. You should not think about this. When you enter into these worlds, you will be taught what to do. It is said in the Scriptures, "God will teach you all." Therefore, when you enter the world of Love, the world of Wisdom and the world of Truth, you will be taught there what to do, how to fulfill the Will of God. If you do not enter these worlds, others will teach you what to do. Now, I wish you all to fulfill the Will of God! There is no more beautiful, more magnificent, more meaningful thing for one than to fulfill the Will of God! In other words: there is no more beautiful, more magnificent, more meaningful thing for a person than to enter the world of Love, the world of Wisdom and the world of Truth! I wish you all to enter these three worlds and to be taught there what to do by One God. Now you will go into the world of Love, where you will be until September. When you come back from this world, we will meet again and have a talk. So, now you are going into the world of Love, where you will spend six months. I wish you a bon voyage! Have a good journey, all of you!
May God of the whole fullness fill us with His Sweet Spirit! May we fulfill His Good Will!
[1]Angels – bearers of life and vegetation
[2]Cherubim – brothers of Harmony
[3]Seraphim – brothers of Love
[4]Veliko Tarnovo – the former medieval capital of Bulgaria, a university, cultural and tourist center in North-Central Bulgaria, famous for its archaeological and architectural heritage.
Translated by Maria Braikova
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