Every esoteric science belonging to the great science of Life has for its aim to enlighten the human mind and ennoble the human heart. It seeks to bring light into the mind and warmth into the heart, as necessary conditions for the proper development of the individual. From this standpoint, mind and heart must come to the aid of the person in straightening out their life.

And so, once we begin to straighten out our lives, we must all learn. Past generations have learned, present generations are learning, and future generations will learn. From whom? — From the world that God has created. The laws ordained by God must be studied, because upon them the personal or individual, mental and spiritual life of man is built. In this construction of life various subjects are studied. Everything in nature develops sequentially. The same thing is observed in the world. First, one studies the subjects closest to us, those that bear directly on us. Afterwards one studies the things that affect our feelings, and finally those that concern our mind.

First, one must begin by studying the solid ground from which one acquires a stable character. It imparts stability to the person. Anyone who wishes to acquire steadfastness can become a stonecutter, carving rock. It suffices to carve stones for two or three months in order to introduce this element into one’s character. One may also gain firmness not only by carving stones but by plowing the earth, tending gardens, vineyards, and similar tasks. Through such work one develops one’s muscular and skeletal systems.

You ask, “How should we work? What methods must we apply to learning?” I say: Observe nature, see how it works, and learn from it! Employ the methods it uses for your own development. Track what happens to water that falls from the sky. At first it is pure, descending as dewdrops or rain. As it falls to earth, it gathers dust from the air—whether from particles or soot; then it dissolves certain gases present in the atmosphere, simultaneously absorbing various microbes. In this state the water is no longer pure. Yet its movement does not stop there. It penetrates the earth, encountering sandy strata through which it seeps or filters. Purified in this way, the water reaches impermeable layers, collects in one place, and from there, having broken through, emerges as a clear, handsome spring. These layers are obstacles for the water, but it strives to find a way between them and to take a definite course.

By analogy, I say: The thought that comes from God is pure, but before it reaches our brain it passes through space, gathering dust and becoming impure. Therefore it must descend into lower strata to be filtered—that is, strained—and return once more pure, as it came from God. Which are those strata through which human thought is purified? — They are the material world, in which it encounters numerous obstacles. After overcoming them, it emerges outward like a spring. In this respect each person is a constant fountain. As soon as one begins to think, one already constitutes a spring.

I say: Each of you must first strive to be an excellent student. Every day you should set aside part of your time for study, creating within yourselves the habit of learning. A pupil must be distinguished by a love for knowledge, a love for science. He must investigate what it means to be an esoteric student and what esoteric science is, so that he can give a concise definition of the matter. To be an esoteric student does not mean merely to amass certain facts in your head about various subjects, since other sciences can provide that too. For instance, from the ordinary sciences you can learn about the Sun and its composition, various theories of the world’s creation, and so on. Modern chemistry will acquaint you with the elements from which the material world is made, with their properties and roles in the inorganic and organic realms. It will speak, for example, of the part played by hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon in these two worlds—but not of their roles in the psychic realm. In this regard not only the physical forces of the elements are intriguing but also their psychic forces, of which they are conduits in living nature. Contemporary science aids esoteric science by opening up living nature to us. Yet esoteric science itself serves as an introduction to the great science of Life.

From the esoteric vantage point, when a Teacher examines an element, he pays attention to the matter of which it is composed, to the purity of that matter, and to the differences between its matter in various organisms. For example, he discerns a difference between gold in the inorganic world and gold in the organic world. By analogy, differences are noted in the matter of the human brain among different individuals. Hence people differ both in the quality of the matter constituting their brains and in the quality and quantity of the forces operating therein. Esoteric science also identifies why certain virtues are more or less developed in particular people. It declares: “A good person is one who has more connections with advanced, exalted beings.” Thus, the greater or lesser contact with higher beings—the number of points of connection with them—determines the degree of a person’s goodness. When we come to those lofty beings who have direct points of contact with God, we say they have almost completed their earthly development. They are already entering the plane of a higher evolution than that of Earth.

However I may attempt to describe this higher world, it remains nearly inaccessible to present-day man; hence for now we confine ourselves to examining and studying earthly life. Observe the change you will note in some young man who has spent a few years abroad in contact with eminent, learned professors. You will see a transformation in his appearance, in his relations with others, in his manner of thinking, and so forth. To what is this change due? — To the contact he had with those scholars. You say, “They are worldly people.” Think again. Those who have reached a high concentration of thought and a complete rapport with living nature also possess a strongly developed spiritual life. Many such scholars are esoteric students, engaged in esoteric science, though they do not outwardly appear to be. Numerous renowned chemists and physicists pursue esoteric science, drawing their insights directly from living nature. I need not name them, but I assure you such have existed in ancient times and exist today.

Some ask, “Why do we need esoteric science?” — In it you will find many ways and methods for influencing yourself in various conditions of life, for arranging your life sensibly, and for resolving difficult problems. For example, one often hears that one must have patience—but how is it to be applied? One hears that one must be gentle—how is that to be achieved? One hears that one must do good—what is the wisest way to do good to others?

I will give you an example from the physical world. Suppose you wish to remove a coal from the fire. How many ways can you do it? — Either with your fingers or with tongs. What will be the result in each case? — In the first instance, grabbing the coal with your fingers, you quickly fling it aside, yet you remain dissatisfied all day that you burned yourself. In the second, having grasped it with tongs, you remain free and independent, carrying it wherever you wish—nothing disturbs you. Thus, when you wish to do good, you may employ one of these two methods—either with your fingers or with tongs—and you will have two different outcomes. I say: You ought to do good in the second way—with tongs. Suppose you want to give someone money. What will you do? — You will find a third party through whom to pass the money. Then you are free. If you hand the money yourself, you burn your fingers. That person will return and demand more. People of the world have tried that method and thus say: “One does not touch fire with one’s hand.” One may, but the result will never be as when one uses tongs.

People often confuse the words “curiosity” and “love of knowledge.” Equally often they conflate the desire to improve material life with the desire to improve one’s mental and spiritual life. These are not the same. To improve one’s material life is a blessing, yet it is not the objective of the esoteric school. To enhance one’s mental and spiritual life—to enlighten the mind and ennoble the heart—that is the aim of this school. To enhance material life is to acquire knowledge that may vanish from the mind tomorrow. What have you gained? — Nothing. Many of you finished high school or university, but where are those formulas and theories you learned? — Most have been forgotten. You ask, “Then why learn?” Learning that material served its purpose: it was a necessary exercise, a mental gymnastics. New impressions from life have worn away that knowledge. Therefore, each person must cleanse and wash his memory—his library of superfluous dust. Thoughts are the laboratory of our memory where all volumes of our knowledge are stored; often these volumes are covered with the age-old dust of folly and are so scattered that we do not know where they lie. The dust comes from needless anxieties of the mind, created by present-day life.

The first task of the student is to learn how to rid himself of those anxieties. Illness, for instance, is an unnecessary anxiety. If you are ill—whether from eye inflammation, stomachache, rheumatism, or nervous disorder—remove those ailments. If you are poor, facing hardships, remove those obstacles. A student should overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his life. One who wants to learn must not be ill, nor poor. That may be allowed for ordinary students, but the esoteric student must be free from all infirmities. If he has any defect, he must have the patience and courage to heal himself by all the rules recommended by esoteric science. You do not understand these rules and say, “God will heal us.” So say the masses. If you leave healing to God alone, that is a physical act, not an internal act of your consciousness. When a Teacher gives you a lesson and you do not learn it, do you say that he knows it and will repeat it? No—once the lesson is given, you learn and apply it. Every lesson, every esoteric teaching has its practical application. If one fails to apply them, one becomes indifferent, discouraged, and says, “This is just ordinary science! After years of learning, what have I gained?” As always, you let the Teacher give the lesson, but you fail to learn it.

I have given many of you rules on how to heal yourselves and how to give first aid to others. Each of you, as a student, must know and apply these rules. How do you treat headaches, darts of pain, backaches, and so on? It is not enough merely to diagnose an illness. We have a particular perspective on diseases: they are given to people to cultivate humility. Each illness is a special task for the student to overcome. A student must regard every disease as a privilege. All diseases arise from microbes—small beings that develop in the human organism. They find in your body sufficient nourishment for their growth. What ought you to do? — Provide them with no nourishment, and they will depart. What causes headaches? — Consumption of indigestible food that leaves residue in the stomach. Then the cleansing of the stomach is impaired; its drainage is blocked, resulting in headache, and the mouth and stomach begin to emit foul odors. In some people this odor can be detected five or six meters away. Some, having eaten nothing for five or six days, begin to smell unpleasantly. When the esoteric student fasts, he emits a pleasant fragrance.

The esoteric student must work to purify his body. Someone says, “To purify oneself, one must starve the body.” No—that is a mistaken conclusion. You must distinguish between the flesh and your physical body. If the flesh weakens, your body need not weaken. By “weakening of the flesh” I mean the diminution of lower desires—the cultivation of those desires. Lower desires do not reside in the physical body but in the flesh. Therefore, to discipline those desires, you should not torture your stomach. Indeed, at times the stomach may take in more food, but that is due to the desire for eating lodged in a center around the blind eyes. The aroma of some tasty dish stimulates that center, arousing in the person a stronger desire to eat, and the stomach then overloads. Thus, through intense longing for food, one spoils one’s stomach. That is the extreme; but if the stomach takes less food than it requires, that too is an extreme. When the esoteric student eats, he must be satisfied with the food, forget everything around him, and give thanks to God. To know how to eat is a science, a whole music. Scripture says, “When you eat, give thanks for all that God has given you.”

A second condition in alimentation: the esoteric student must avoid monotonous diets. One person subjects himself to potatoes alone for a month. What benefit will that food bring him? Another lives on cherries for a month; another on grapes. That is not a proper method of eating. When God created the first man, He said, “You may eat of all the fruits of this garden, but of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.” Likewise, you may eat of all fruits—except the forbidden fruit. If you eat potatoes, try all varieties: white one day, red the next; then move on to other foods. If you eat cherries, taste every kind; likewise with grapes. Always vary your diet, for each food contains specific energies essential to your organism. There is within man a special sense that at any time suggests which food one should eat—because in that food one will find the unique elements needed either for building the body or for the creation of some great thought or noble feeling. You ask, “Where will we find this suitable food?” Observe that poor artist: however destitute, he finds his paints and brushes—if needed, he will obtain them from wherever he can.

I ask you: How do you interpret Christ’s words in the parable of the steward who was dismissed and called to account? The steward thought, “What shall I do? I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.” Finally he devised a plan: he summoned one of his master’s debtors and asked, “How much do you owe my lord?” He answered, “A hundred measures of oil.” “Write down fifty.” He then questioned another debtor: “How much do you owe my lord?” “A hundred measures of wheat,” said he. “Write down eighty.” As you see, the steward gained no profit but made friends. Christ then says, “Make friends by means of unrighteous mammon, that when you fail they may receive you into eternal dwellings.” How do you understand this verse? It embodies an inner law that only the esoteric student can grasp. He who does not know this law remains stuck in the letter and becomes confused. We have an external morality necessary for the world, but for us a deep, inner understanding of things is needed, rather than mere external relations.

I say: Just as every worldly person understands his own interests, so must the esoteric student grasp both his own interests and those of his companions. Any student who attends school must equally comprehend his own position and that of others. If he does not understand people as well as himself, he will fall into conflict with them. Any student who wishes to use mathematics must first know the laws and rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; only then can he gradually advance to the higher operations of mathematics. Without elementary knowledge, he cannot employ mathematics or geometry.

Therefore living people represent the soil we must study. It is a great art to know which individuals we should befriend in each case, to share thoughts and feelings, to strive together in the spiritual life, and so forth. “A house is not built with a single stone,” says a Bulgarian proverb. Indeed, to build your edifice you need many stones—these stones are living people who will participate in the construction. You will share your thoughts, feelings, and life with them without being criticized, and they will share with you. Together you will examine a subject and draw a joint conclusion. Only thus will you achieve a result, demonstrating that an inner understanding exists between you. Then you will part amicably, eager to meet again. Suppose that as esoteric students you gather for communal prayer. What is required of you? — That your hearts and minds open so that together you create a great inner connection with the unseen world and all feel joy and gladness. For now prayer is a duty for you, but not the fruit of an inner divine impulse. In time you will develop that impulse, and prayer will assume new meaning for you.

Thus, in the beginning, as esoteric students you will study surrounding nature and its influence upon you—specifically, the effects of climate, air, winds, flowers, fruit trees, springs, water, and so on. The esoteric student must know what water to drink. He should drink the finest water, for it provides the best conditions for health, which is necessary for the manifestation of right thought. If the student thinks rightly, he will experience beautiful, pleasant feelings.

Now, as students, I give you this rule: Esoteric science does not tolerate unnecessary speech. You may sometimes speak at length, but if you always do, that is wrong. Much talking wastes energy. In America, for instance, preachers speak extraordinarily much, so that they suffer from nervous exhaustion. There, preaching has reached a high degree of development. The preacher mounts the pulpit to produce an effect on the audience with his eloquence, but often the audience remains indifferent. He returns home dissatisfied and troubled, determined never to preach again. He opens his soul, speaks, yet his listeners greet him with a cold reception. These shocks produce organic disorders in the preacher’s body. Few preachers in the world escape nervous complaints and hair loss. This is due to their inner anxiety: they enter unfamiliar territory—they do not know their audience. The preacher focuses only on how to speak and how much more to speak, without considering that he will face criticism he never dreamed of. You know how Americans are: if they dislike a preacher, they say, “Something’s wrong with his board!” Often people consciously or unconsciously wish to acquaint the world with their most sacred ideas, but that is improper. Christ said, “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” That rule is observed almost nowhere—especially in Bulgaria. Hence we see those swine hurling our pearls back at us. What does nature do then? — It hides its treasures deep in the earth and shows them to none. But religious people exhibit everything they possess in the marketplace. Why? Because it is not theirs—they did not earn it by effort.

First, as students of the esoteric school, you must know: preserve your sacred knowledge as a holy trust and do not display it in the marketplace. You may share it only with a soul that thinks and reasons like you, one that shares your impulses. Only with such a person may you partake of this sacred bread. With all others you may exchange thoughts on general topics accessible to their understanding. For example, when some ask, “What are your concepts of God? What is your creed?” you are prepared to answer at once. I say: As pupils, you must restrain yourselves, not hurrying to reveal your sacred ideas to the world. In ancient times, esoteric students practiced a special self-discipline—to abstain from much speech. You, too, must attempt not to rush into displaying your knowledge externally. Knowledge is a fruit that ripens—do not offer that fruit to anyone before you have tasted it yourselves!

I will give one example to show the consequence of violating this law. Years ago in Bulgaria the matter of clairvoyance was vigorously discussed. From some foothill towns many clairvoyants emerged, claiming marvelous visions and communications with the other world. They began to parade this gift before people, recounting their visions to anyone they met. They would pass on others’ visions, exaggerating them slightly. In this way, they became objects of ridicule and gradually lost their gift—and their visions vanished. While formerly they reported appearances of St. Peter or St. George, now they had nothing to tell and lamented losing their power. Meanwhile, those saints withdrew their standards and departed, leaving the visionaries alone to wonder if they had ever truly been visited. As students, you must know that some things may be spoken to people, but others must be held in reserve as a small capital for your own use. Everyone must possess something sacred within—a pearl to guard from every prying eye.

I said earlier that sometimes curiosity develops in the student instead of a love of knowledge. For example, he overhears two people talking and says, “Tell me what they were saying.” I reply: That is not for you. Even if I told you, you would gain nothing from it, nor would you become better. Shortly a young man came to me and described a vision he had. If I were to recount that vision to you, many would be tempted and yet refuse to believe, for the vision contains many impossible details beyond ordinary acceptance. One must have strong faith to accept certain things. You must treat your visions and dreams with great care. If you accept them indiscriminately, you place yourself in danger. Do not assume that every dream has meaning. Not everything you see, dream, or utter is from God. You must test these things to determine what percentage of events within and around you are true. Subject both your dream life and waking life to examination. Determine what proportion of your intuitions prove correct. Test yourselves to see how many of your thoughts and feelings actually come to pass.

Conduct this experiment: Suppose a friend promises to visit you on Wednesday at five in the afternoon. Before his arrival, ask yourself whether he will come. If you answer “Yes,” wait patiently at the appointed hour and note the exact time at which you predicted he would come. If he does not come, either you erred or he changed his mind. Then find out from him at what time he decided not to come and why. You wish to be clairvoyant, do you not? Then try another experiment: remove your watch and do not look at it. Stand quietly and calmly, without haste, then determine the time. Check your watch to see whether you succeeded or what error you made. There is a law by which you can tell the exact time. If you fail the first, second, or third attempt, do not be discouraged; continue, and you will eventually develop this faculty. Some of our friends do not carry watches but have cultivated such intuition that they can tell the time precisely, sometimes within half an hour, often within five minutes. There are occasions when someone’s watch stops, yet he does not notice. Asked, “What time is it?” he responds, “Eight.” Another, watchless, says, “No, it must be about ten.” Check another watch, and indeed it is ten—the first watch has stopped. Whose fault was it? — The stopped watch and the person who lacks intuition and trusts only his watch.

Thus I maintain: The esoteric student must develop intuition, so he will work to cultivate it. Intuition is a crucial aid in the student’s life. One with developed intuition can avoid many misfortunes and troubles. Consider the simplest case: you wish to visit a friend; ask inwardly whether he is at home. If you sense that he is not, do not go. When you meet, verify whether your intuition was correct.

As students, you must develop good qualities and abilities. For instance, your mind must be pure and luminous. Each of you must possess positive faith, grounded in the great divine laws of Love, Wisdom, and Truth. God works in the world! If God works in the world, why doubt? It is understandable to doubt an ignoramus, but to doubt a great sage or learned person is inexplicable. In the life of a scholar, errors are exceptions; in the life of the ignorant, exceptions are rules.

The esoteric student must marshal the forces hidden in his soul. He must anticipate everything that may occur and therefore remain vigilant; his consciousness must be awake. If one’s mind is alert, one’s health is assured. In an awake mind there is no break in thought; it does not fret over occurrences, because it knows God acts everywhere. If a certain suffering or trial befalls someone, it follows the law of divine Providence and thus contains some good. With each trial, God aims to direct your attention to something important—to guide you onto the right path. For example, someone desires wealth, yet that wish impedes his evolution; hence the invisible world places him in circumstances to lose what he already has. When his longing for riches goes unfulfilled, he turns instead to music, art, or science—and thus approaches a higher realm.

Therefore all adversities, sufferings, and tests in the student’s path serve only to send him into harmony, into the mental world where he may rightly develop. Only in this way will he grasp the law, “All things work together for good to those who love God.” Thus whatever happens in the student’s life contributes to his good. It is written of the student, “Even the hairs of his head are all numbered, and not one shall fall without the will of God.”

Thus the talks given in the esoteric school must be studied in a special way, not merely read. Each must extract the most important passages from every lecture and apply them in life. Knowledge without application is not knowledge. Likewise read and study the Bible: some of you dwell on one passage, others on another, from either Testament, drawing lessons for personal hardships or finding encouragement in moral deeds. In the same manner read the works of eminent authors. If you do not read lectures, the Bible, or any book in this fashion, they will seem monotonous, and you will seek entertainment—and entertainment is not science. Work diligently to acquire concentration of thought.

Each of you who aspires to be a student should designate a sacred hour for work—morning, afternoon, or evening. During this time, engage in deep reflection to overcome difficulties that arise on your path. After this hour of contemplation, you should feel encouraged, refreshed, and with a pure heart, ready to tackle the rest of the day with renewed strength. The next day, again spend your sacred hour in reflection. By confronting your life’s obstacles in this way, you will resemble a merchant who, receiving several checks, goes to the bank to exchange them for funds and pay off his debts. Likewise, you will lift burdens from your back one by one. Why? — Because you have credit extended to balance your mental budget. During that sacred hour, communicate with all esoteric students of your school throughout the world and the spiritual realm; they take interest in your smallest spiritual progress, caring for you because of even your minor achievements. When you find yourself in difficulty, they immediately come to your aid.

I say: You must keep your sacred hour throughout the year, working to smooth misunderstandings, overcome hardships, and elevate yourselves. I assign you this task: to discover approximately which hour is your sacred hour. Next year present that achievement—knowing your sacred hour and the corresponding time of day. Some may have found it already; those who have not, will try various hours until they identify their true sacred hour. Every student has a fixed sacred hour. It may be the same for several students. When you enter that hour, a great thought or exalted feeling will arise in each of you—an enlightenment. If you give way to that thought or feeling, you will ascend; but if you act upon it forcibly, you will experience darkness of consciousness and then must wait until the next sacred hour. The sacred hour recurs daily at the same time. You will distinguish it by its heightened intensity and stronger tone.

I would have you examine the examples I have given in the lectures, for each embodies a great law, a great method for self-improvement. Everything else may vanish, but the examples will endure, for they exist in living nature. Just as roosters always crow, so too will those examples persist. When a rooster crows at its master’s door, it heralds a visitor; when it crows very early, it foretells a change in weather; and if roosters crow three times, Bulgarians believe that all evil spirits depart. I ask: How do Bulgarians understand the rooster’s language? This shows that the Bulgarian was once an esoteric student and knew these things. They understood the meaning of each crow. Folk beliefs such as these are true. Another belief holds that if a spider descends from above, a guest will arrive—and indeed, in half an hour the guest comes. You may dismiss this as coincidence, but once you accept it, the esoteric student must probe further to find the true cause and understand the origin of these phenomena. These matters may seem strange to us, yet they are facts.

As students, you must study these things: observe plants, animals, and extract positive scientific data on their lives and development. Consider the bee: it possesses an exceptionally keen sense of smell and sight. A person can smell flowers from five or six meters away, whereas the bee detects them from five to ten kilometers. It recognizes which flowers emit fragrance and locates them by scent. Moreover, the bee sees clearly from a distance—it is clairvoyant. When leaving its hive, it makes a large circle, spots the flowers, and flies toward them in a straight line; then it ascends, sees its hive, and returns in a direct line. If the hive has moved a mere centimeter, it will strike the hive rather than enter. The bee possesses a precise sense of measurement; if the bee develops such faculties, how much more should esoteric students cultivate their higher senses! Reflect on geologists’ discoveries: how do you think they arrived at such data? — Through intuition. Otherwise they could not have deduced such truths merely by conjecture. Those scientists have an inner sense enabling them to assert that certain strata once lay in one position thousands of years ago and others in another; they explain the causes of subsequent changes.

In every esoteric school a communal interest in practical work must be fostered—and this applies to you as well. You must take up the teaching practically to acquire an effective, real sum with which to operate in life. Many of you suffer illnesses; these illnesses constitute tasks for you. Ordinary students may seek any cures they like, but esoteric students can heal through the power of prayer and their will. Which is better: to pay a doctor a hundred or two hundred leva without certainty of cure, or to direct your mind rightly and turn to God? Often people ask me, “Shall we call a doctor?” I answer: If you fear, call a doctor, but proceed thus: When he arrives, tell him, “I am ill; examine me and say whether I will recover. If you assure me I will, and I do recover without medicines, I will reward you well. If you say I will not, I will pay nothing.” If he predicts recovery, you thereby bind him to you, and wherever you go, you will repeat to yourself, “I shall recover, I shall recover.” Soon you will indeed get well. If you do not speak thus to the doctor, he will examine you, deem your illness serious, and advise surgery. You consent, but then complications arise. The masses may undergo operations, but it is forbidden for the esoteric student; operations are needless sufferings. He who serves God cannot be ill. “We serve God but suffer ailments,” you say. Each sick one shows that he has violated some law of rational nature.

At this gathering I gave you certain directives, some of which you did not follow and thus fell ill. For instance, I said to drink only from the spring, because its water is warmed by the sun and keeps you from catching cold. Others ate cold melons and drank lemonade to cool off, only to upset their stomachs. The esoteric student must not drink beer, lemonade, wine, or other spirits. Only wine may be used as a medicinal agent, and even then only when absolutely necessary to warm the stomach. You ask, “May we drink sweet wine?” — Yes. When eating fruit, wash and clean it thoroughly: rinse grapes well to remove copper sulfate; clean pears, apples, and other fruits thoroughly unless slightly overripe; then wash them in warm water. You think, “My stomach can handle anything,”—sometimes it can, sometimes it protests. Adopt this rule: Everything you put into your mouth must be absolutely clean!

Cleanliness is essential for the esoteric student. Learn to wash your hands at least three times daily: morning, midday, and evening. If you wash them ten times, so much the better. Likewise wash your feet, face, and underarms three times daily. Under the arms lie special glands that excrete sweat; if these areas are not frequently washed, various diseases arise. When washing face, hands, feet, and underarms, allow the skin to remain slightly damp so the moisture may be absorbed, imparting freshness and vigor. Therefore, after washing, pat yourself dry lightly. I also recommend to clerks: at midday remove your outer garments, take the water you brought from morning or the previous day, pour it over yourself from head to toe, then lightly dry off, don clean, dry clothes, offer a prayer of thanks to God for the water He has given, and then eat. You will feel refreshed and energetic. Those who follow these instructions will always remain healthy and lively; applying these methods will yield excellent results at least 75% of the time.

Thus, the first thing I demand of you, as disciples of the esoteric school, is to begin in the physical world and gradually ascend to the spiritual. You may wish to enter the spiritual realm at once, but you must know that sphere demands health and strength. The spiritual world is like a mountain peak to be climbed—how will you ascend if not sturdy or lacking strength? When mounting a cart, horse, or train, much strength is not required.

I say: These rules I give you, preserve as a holy trust for yourselves. Apply them, test their effects, and only then recommend them to others. If you recommend them before you have tried them, they lose their influence and power. If you encounter someone who, unknown to you, is a student of the school and interested in these methods, share them with him. Anyone sincerely interested who applies them will reap good results.

You as students possess much theoretical knowledge, but you must put it into practice. Through practice you develop the good habits necessary to maintain a lively, joyful spirit. At your greatest trials the esoteric student must exhibit faith, patience, and self-restraint. Whatever difficulty afflicts him, he must say to himself, “This will be resolved; I will investigate the matter, even if it takes many years.” That is a strong student. A strong student never loses heart. He does not postpone matters to a distant future but works and investigates each question, knowing that the future is now, today. As long as you learn and work, both now and in the future you will remain good, excellent students. Living nature is ever at the service of earnest pupils. Be zealous in your studies and instill that zeal in others!

People sometimes ask, ‘How does the esoteric student differ from ordinary people?’ The difference is that the esoteric student overcomes every difficulty in life. For him, Truth is an ideal, Wisdom a goal, and Love the means of fulfillment.

On Conditioning for Success

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 10 min read ☾

In youth man learns best; when old age comes, he learns with difficulty. And even in maturity, man may learn, yet for this is required a strong will and a keen desire to learn.

That he fall not into listlessness, man must stir all the cells of his organism, must give them impulse toward activity; and having given them impulse, they know their task. Each cell, each organ in the human body, has its own office. Strong desires awaken the cells and organs to definite action. Man must have strong desires, but not many — for if they be many, some of the cells grow weary and cease to labor, and others must labor in their place; thus is created disharmony in the organism. If man say he is ill-disposed or of dark mood, the cause lies in the inner discord of his system — a consequence of excessive desires.

Many desires lie hidden in the human soul, yet not all may be fulfilled in one life. For a desire to be fulfilled, favorable conditions are needed; and without these conditions, fulfillment is impossible. Let man strive as he may, he shall gain no result. Therefore must man be wise — he must know which desires may be fulfilled now, and which not; and knowing this, let him not waste his energies in vain pursuit.

In the fulfillment of desires there exists a law: if you wish to fulfill a desire, plant it in your subconscious and think on it no more. Work in that direction, but do not muse upon when it shall be fulfilled, nor how, nor what results it shall bring. If a child desire to grow tall and measures himself each day to track his growth, growth shall cease. But let him forget the thought, let him cease to measure, and one day he shall be surprised — for he shall find he has grown.

This law works alike in the physical and the spiritual life. If it be not observed, no desire may come to pass. Yet even when this law is kept, certain conditions are still required. Can a small puppy take meat from the mouth of a strong dog? Though it long for the meat with all its soul, it shall taste of it only when the larger dog has fed and leaves what it cannot eat — then the little one may draw near and eat, and in part satisfy its longing.

Not knowing the laws of fulfillment, men wonder why some desires are thwarted and others crumble. Yet this is but natural. Today there are nearly two billion people upon Earth. Imagine all of them, in one moment, having the same desire. Then to your desire are joined two billion competitors. What, then, is the chance that you alone shall attain it?

Moreover, men have not reached a common level of development, that they might know who is most in need and yield accordingly. They are not yet organized into a living whole; each lives for himself and seeks his own interest. In this, men are as grains of sand in a bottle — ever jostling and striking against one another, yet not achieving their ends. What harmony can exist among grains of sand?

Have you not observed what becomes of your ideas? A thought enters your mind, and you begin to ponder how to realize it. You ponder for days, for months, for a year, and at last cast it aside. Another idea comes, and likewise is laid away — why? Its time has not come. Take account: how many of your ideas have you brought to completion? Why can man not attain his ideals? Because he is not ready.

To reach his ideal, the merchant must be wise and skilled, that he might employ his capital with understanding. The student must be gifted and apply his mind with diligence. To realize his thoughts, man must exercise — he must develop his mind, his heart, and his will, and bring them into action.

As students, you must work upon yourselves consciously. Develop steadfastness and endurance. Bear joy and sorrow alike. Regard them as visitors from without who come to visit you. Treat them with awareness, receive them with Love — not by the law of compulsion. If a general command an officer to pass barefoot through the city carrying a jug of water, he shall obey, for the law compels him. What for the officer is law, must be for the student an ideal. For his ideal, the student must be prepared to endure all. The ideal draws the soul forward, and in striving for it, man discovers the forces that lie hidden in him. In seeking his ideal, man studies himself and perceives how far he has come in his development.

Having come to Earth to learn, man is met with problems he must solve alone. Suppose you are given the task to carve out a place for yourself in society — what method shall you employ? Or suppose you must pass through a line of enemies, soldiers well-armed and standing close. You look here and there and see no way through. At last you say, “To pass this line, I must become either a bird and fly over it, or a mole and dig beneath.” The bird and the mole are symbols of states by which one may pass through trials. This is a difficult task. To pass through an enemy line is to fulfill a desire. Man may fulfill a desire each day, and yet he fails — why? Because the conditions for fulfillment are not in his reach; they lie far off. Thus the desire remains unrealized.

But a day will come when men shall live as brothers, when all are organized into one living body. Then shall no desire remain unfulfilled — for by thought alone, men shall help one another. Then, if the conditions for your desire lie in America or in England, turn to your inner radio, and the way shall be opened. Today it takes years to fulfill a desire — but then, with swift communion, it shall be fulfilled at once.

The fulfillment of man's desires is what we call the gaining of happiness. Yet the happiness of a man is not found solely in the nation where he dwells. The happiness of the Bulgarian is not bound to Bulgaria, nor the happiness of the Englishman to England. We see Bulgarians scattered across the globe — seeking their happiness. We see Americans in Germany, Englishmen in India — all seeking happiness.

Man's happiness is not only in the soil he tills. Some conditions are there — in the soil, in the air, in the water, in food — but others are on the Sun, on Venus, on Jupiter, and on the stars and planets beyond. If man knew the laws of communion with them, he would find and use his conditions there. If he had reached higher consciousness, he would telegraph his friends on the Sun and ask them to send what he needs; and they, receiving the message, would send him the necessary elements at once.

Humanity today has not yet reached the stage of being able to communicate directly with Beings from other worlds and receive from them the elements necessary for their lives. What do people do instead? They turn to spirituality, seeking by an inner path to connect with God, that is, with the potentials of the Living Cosmos. For a person to turn to God means to acquire that light through which he may study the conditions for the development of his mind, heart, and will. Only in this way can he build his life, organize the forces within himself, and open a path for the Divine, for the higher Self.

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The Divine Minute

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 40 min read ☾

To be a thinking man — this is the greatest attainment possible. To think is a science. In the Scriptures it is written: “And I shall teach you.” Now some understand this to mean that the Lord will teach us while we remain idle. Not so — we shall learn by our own effort. In learning, there is a process of thought. Without thought, no learning is possible. If there is one who shall teach you, then you must learn.

And in general, all men place a boundary upon learning: four years in the lower grades, seven or eight in the gymnasium, and four in the university. After this, they say, all learning is finished — all that could be gained, has been.

What, then, is the meaning of present life? When we speak of life, we imply consciousness — for only the thinking man possesses consciousness. When we speak of thought, we imply at least four directions, four conditions, four elements. From your point of view, or from the view of others, you may ask: What is meant by the word “conditions”? The earth, for example, is a condition; water is a condition, the air is a condition, and fire is a condition. In each condition lie hidden certain possibilities. Possibilities for what? — For human thought.

By the word “thought” we understand that inner impulse, that intelligent inner link which exists between the First Cause and man. I have spoken to you before on this matter. Christ says: “This is eternal life — to know Thee, the One True God.” By “eternal life,” Christ meant the awakening of the thinking man.

And if you read the Old or the New Testament, you will see that what distinguishes man from the animals is learning. Learning proceeds from Divine Wisdom.

Now you must eliminate all that you have acquired from books. That is secondhand. You must also eliminate what another person or others might say to you. That, too, is secondary. Finally, you may even eliminate what you feel. Feeling is not yet knowledge. It is a guide toward knowledge. You may feel that you have a certain ideal — but that is a distant striving, not yet science, not yet learning.

For man to develop fully, he must grasp ideas — or the primary forms with which thought begins. It is not enough to have a notion of ideas. He must be in inner, continuous connection with the Primary Source in the world — with God. This you must all understand: when that connection is broken, darkness ensues. And when darkness comes, every process halts.

You must know that even in nature, processes are interrupted. Even the highest beings experience such interruption. This is what is called “falling.” A fall is nothing but the interruption of a given process. And once the process is broken, darkness enters the soul of man. Then his sky grows dim — no moon is seen, no sun, no stars.

I ask you: How then shall one determine direction? This state is a real experience — a real philosophy in life. And for many of you, the sky often darkens. Such darkening occurs in the literal sky as well. Even the most elevated souls — the saints, the sages — have had such experiences. In all thinking beings, the interruption of thought sometimes occurs.

I shall not now explain why this interruption happens. It is a fact — and facts occur everywhere in nature. I ask: When thought is broken, what must be done?

Ask an electrician — what does he do when the current in a house is broken and the light goes out? He repairs the fault. But in order to do so, he must have a small light, a little lamp, to guide him to the place where the break occurred. He who does not understand may say the homeowner was careless. But we do not know this. Perhaps the homeowner arranged all things wisely — yet the fault lay in the installation itself.

First of all, you must observe and determine where the fault occurred. Perhaps an element of the installation was missing. Perhaps a condition necessary to the functioning of the system was absent. Therefore, you must make up for what is lacking. You must find where the cause of the fault lies.

There are many kinds of interruptions, and not all causes rest with us. Whether young or old, you must first come to terms with the inner and outer conditions of human thought.

Some of you seek only joy in life. Some seek only the easy path. But you must know: in the world, there are many blessings. To each is given blessing — yet man must be worthy of it. Blessings are given only to the wise — and they are given freely. Take this well to heart. To the unwise, the sinful, the criminal, God gives absolutely nothing. They are sentenced to death. Such is the law. They condemn themselves. We speak in human terms, saying that God condemns them — but it is not so. They judge themselves.

You will ask: Why is it so? Let us take a simple fact from daily life. Suppose you have a loving, generous father who provides you with everything, who watches over you tenderly. He brings you the best food. Your mother has prepared it perfectly. But your stomach is ruined. As soon as you eat, within you there is an upheaval. Who is to blame? Is it the father who brought good food? Is it the mother who cooked it well? No — it is your stomach that is to blame.

Yet you say the cause lies with the mother or with the father. No. The fault is neither in the one who cooked, nor in the one who gave — it is in the stomach, whose inner installation is damaged. Some will say: I ruined my stomach. But you cannot ruin your stomach so easily. The danger lies here — that when within man an inner disruption occurs, he does not know how to repair the fault. And from this ignorance is born an inner disturbance.

The first thing: Man must learn to think. Thought is communion with the First Cause. God thinks — and we must begin to think also. How? — As He thinks. God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” Someone says: I think. Then I ask: Do you think as God thinks? — I do not know. That shows you lack a measuring unit by which to determine things.

Ask any engineer: what is the unit upon which he builds his science? And he will answer you. Ask one who studies grammar, and he will tell you there are fixed rules and a structure by which he works. Ask the one who speaks, and he will tell you he knows the conditions by which speech becomes possible.

Now let us return to the Gospel. In the passage read, it is written that at the pool there were five porches through which people entered. Between these five porches and man’s feelings there is a correspondence. Man also has five porches through which all interruptions may come: an interruption of thought may come through sight, through hearing, through speech, through smell, and finally, through feeling itself.

I speak here of the inner process of human consciousness — that link which connects all thinking beings. In order to be present in the world, in order to think rightly, our thought must be in full connection with God and with all intelligent beings who have completed their development — that is, those beings who have begun to think aright.

I call “a man of right thought” one who is hindered by no obstacle in life. Obstacles may be physical, spiritual, intellectual, or causal. Four kinds of obstacles may hinder the thought of man. At times, we place the cause of this hindrance in the physical world — and this may be so. At other times, we place the cause in the spiritual world — this too is possible. Sometimes we place it in the mental world; and finally, we search for it in the causal world.

Every interruption of thought implies a new installation, a new direction. And if a man does not know where this new direction leads, he may stumble. That is why, when man passes from one state of consciousness into another, an inner obscuring takes place. Those who are unfamiliar with the depths of life, and those who do not understand the processes of thought, consider such interruptions a misfortune. Why? Because in that break, outer light is lost — and man is left with only his inner light.

By this shall he know how great his inner light truly is. The wise, when they lose the conditions of outer light, at once light their inner lamp. And when electricity fails in your home — do you not do the same? You take from your cupboards the old oil lamp, or a candle, and you light it. These you once said were useless, out of date. But as soon as the power is cut, you begin to look for them. You light them and use them — until a new installation comes.

So always, when one installation is broken, a darkening follows. I speak here of the physical conditions of present life as they are. Do not think such interruptions happen in a perfect life. No — such interruptions belong only to the present conditions of life.

And thus, man begins first with the earth — with solid ground. The study of the firm soil gives stability and steadfastness to human character. To what may we liken the firm ground? — To thought. It is thought that gives steadiness to character. It builds the conditions of life. Thought is the foundation upon which you, as a builder, shall construct your house. Therefore, you must have a strong foundation, a right thought — that is, solid ground. The earth, then, is one of the conditions of life.

And if you enter the Divine world, what corresponds to the earth? Make the comparison. If earth is a condition of life, then it represents the firm base. Can you lay the foundations of your building on anything other than rock? And in the spiritual world — what is the rock? Think upon this idea without interruption.

It is not my task to solve these questions for you. To answer the questions of life on behalf of others is as easy as eating what has already been prepared. But even the innkeeper does not allow anyone into his tavern until the food is ready. Until then, he keeps the doors closed: he begins to chop onions, pours oil into many pots — ten, fifteen, twenty — and all sizzle.

The innkeeper is cooking. And if anyone knocks on the door during that time, he says: “You cannot enter the inn now.” Why? Because the pots are still simmering. But when the meal is ready, he opens the door and says, “Welcome!”

Yet to enter the inn, there is another condition — you must have something in your pocket. The innkeeper favors only those whose pockets are full. Those whose pockets are empty, he sends away, saying: “You shall come last. If anything remains, it is for you.”

So the first ones to come must have full pockets. Full with what? — With coin. The innkeeper takes nothing from the others, but from the first, he accepts gold. Their pockets must be filled with gold!

This law holds true also in nature. When you enter the inn of nature, you cannot enter empty. You may say: “Can it not be by grace?” But do you understand what grace means? Grace means your pocket is already full. Grace is for the wise. When nature sees such a man, she says: “Come in.” And then she seats him at the finest table.

Why so? Because the coin you bring into the inn is minted by nature herself. If you enter any establishment and present the coin the state has issued, you will be honored. But if you try to forge that coin yourself — you shall find the prison.

We must design things rightly. That which God has created — that is what you carry in your pocket. Understand this rightly: these are only forms, symbols. In nature, such “pockets” do not exist. They are metaphors — ways of expressing a thought.

Knowledge is what you always and everywhere carry with you — but you must know how to carry it. When you enter the world, you carry with you your mind — the first great wealth that God has given you. With mind, with thought, you are welcomed everywhere. Without mind, without thought, you cannot go anywhere. You may be received, but you shall be the last. If you enter a place without mind and without thought, it will be a hospital — or an institution.

So I say to the young: you begin a work, you gather for an assembly. I do not wish to determine your program, nor what you should think, nor how your assembly shall unfold. But I say this: your gathering is conditioned by four things — the earth, the water, the air, and the fire.

Thought is only that which can produce growth. And what do you understand by the word “growth”?

Have you ever sat before a great sculptor as he carves in stone? Do you believe each strike of the hammer is not a concentrated thought? Do you think he strikes without knowing where? When he sculpts, his thought is so focused that every mark is determined in advance. Each strike is accompanied by a specific thought. The sculptor knows where to strike.

Take the violinist who performs a classical piece. Do you think he plays however he wishes? No — he plays note by note. He watches every sign, every motion of the bow with the eye. Every variation in his playing depends upon the markings given by the great master who composed the music.

I say: a great performer is he who can faithfully follow all notes and signs.

Therefore, if you wish to think, you must think in time — and by all the rules. Before you lies a composition which God has given, perhaps millions of years ago. I do not say you are the first to play it. This piece has been played by many — it was given long ago to others when they completed their growth. And now, it may be given to you.

How will you perform it? This piece may be played in many ways. That is thought. This is the most beautiful music in the world. There is no music more beautiful than thought.

One may say, “Dry thought!” But thought cannot be dry. Why? Because thought is growth — and growth is never dry. Growth cannot be hard, nor can it be vaporous, nor purely fiery. Yet growth is made possible through the conditions of earth, water, air, and warmth.

Without firm ground, nothing can grow. Growth itself has no hardness within it. Thought is not like water, yet it cannot manifest without water. Water is a necessary condition for it.

The thought hidden in these words is this: that man must first have firm ground beneath his feet. This constitutes a point of support in the physical world; from this point begins a new turning, a new direction. Therefore, man must first determine this center and observe what possibilities lie concealed within it.

And what is the first of these possibilities? — Expansion. Expansion is the symbol of the human heart. It is the heart alone that gives breadth to things. Once you expand, you have but one plane upon which to move — your life upon the Earth. And what shall you gain if your ideas expand so far that they encompass the whole cosmos? In any particular case, it is expansion that defines the direction of your movement. But if you expand beyond what is needful, you will no longer be able to move at all.

Thus, understand this: the first condition for human thought is the earth — solid ground. The second condition, the second element for human thought, is water, which gives expansion. It is the bearer of life. You must understand what water is able to accomplish on your behalf. If you have no expansion in your life, then you must seek the second condition — water.

The third condition for thought is air. Air gives movement. The fourth condition for thought is fire — heat. Fire brings forth light, and light gives direction to movement. Therefore, in order to have thought, you must first possess a center from which thought may begin. That center is firm ground. Then your thought must have expansion; thereafter, movement; and finally, a determined direction.

When we speak of earth, water, air, and fire, we must return these words to their primary meaning. By “primary meaning,” I do not mean the use they are given today. For example, today we use water to quench our thirst — but it is not enough merely to quench it temporarily. We must find that living water, from which if we drink but once, we shall thirst no more.

To quench thirst temporarily is not a solution. Man must think. And within every thought there must be: a definite center, then expansion, then movement, and finally — meaning, or direction.

First you will feel things; then will come their realization. The desire to realize them shows that in your thought there is movement. Once you know the direction, this is thinking.

Only in the presence of these four elements will the first Divine element be born. What must be realized? What is meant by "giving meaning"?

— It is the birth of the conditions necessary for right thought. Why is thought given to us?

— That the first connection might be formed between man and the First Cause. This we call the "dawning," the giving of meaning to life.

There is no thing more beautiful, more noble, more sublime in the world than that first connection which may form within you an inner light. Only in this way shall your life find meaning, and only then will you be able to accomplish all things.

Therefore, through thought we shall begin to study the Divine language — or, as I call it, “the language of nature.” Once we have learned this language, we shall know how to complete every task we begin on Earth. I do not say that we know nothing of how to work — but we work wrongly.

The Turks say, “The evening’s work is the day’s ridicule.” That is to say: work done in darkness, work done without thought. Some say they can work without thinking. I do not know how such work can be done. A task done without thought is evening work. But when the day comes — that is, true thought — the evening work becomes the laughter of the day.

You must know: the beautiful in life is thought.

Interruptions in thought shall come often — yet fear them not. This is but an inner shift.

When do these interruptions occur? — When you cross the orbit of another being.

What causes these interruptions? — Interruptions in life do not come only from sin or poor inner disposition. An interruption may also come when a rational being crosses your orbit. He who does not understand this law will be greatly troubled.

Let me give you an example. Suppose you are traveling across Europe, and with you, you carry two very valuable suitcases. Your luggage is well packed, securely sealed, everything is in good order. But when you arrive at the border, you are stopped at customs. They take your suitcases and carry them inside for inspection. And within you, there arises a disturbance. Why? — Because you do not know the laws of customs inspection. You say, “My luggage is gone!” No — this is but a small interruption in your thought. The customs officers will examine your suitcases, and if they find nothing dangerous or unlawful, they will close them again and return them to you, and nothing shall be lost.

A young Bulgarian once told me the following: He was returning from abroad, where he had spent four full years. From there he bought two fine silk blouses — gifts for his mother and sister. But along the way, an acquaintance said to him, “Listen, to avoid paying duty, put on the blouses yourself and cross the border that way. You’ll pass without paying a cent.” And so, said the young man, against better judgment, I wore the blouses.

Upon entering Bulgaria, the customs officers checked my luggage and then began to pat me down to see if I was hiding anything on my person. They opened my coat — and the blouses were revealed. “What are these blouses doing on you?” they asked. They confiscated the blouses, and in addition, fined me two thousand leva. Thus I paid the first fine of my life — the price of a lie.

I asked him: “And how much would the customs duty have been?” “At most,” he said, “seven hundred leva.” Then I said to him: “Pay what nature has determined. If you put the blouses on yourself, you will pay two thousand leva and lose the blouses as well.”

And now I see many — both young and old — who act in the same way. But in the end, the result is the same: the blouses go, and the two thousand leva are paid. That is the easy path. The young man said to me, “That was the first fine I paid in my life. Never again will I wear blouses.” This example is a good one.

I say: we have entered this great Divine world in order to learn how to think rightly. How beautiful it is when you meet a man who thinks! I take the word “thought” in its ideal sense. Some will say, “But one must not have dry thought.” Dry thought is not thought — it is a caricature. By “thought,” I mean that thought whose foundation and center is Love. Such a thought, by its nature, carries expansion, application, and justice. It contains within it a fragment of Truth. Not the whole Truth, but a small portion. It carries within it a particle of Wisdom, and, lastly, a portion of the great Goodness of God.

Someone may say, “Is that all?” — It is enough. If you can understand even a little of Love, a little of Wisdom, and a little of Truth, it is enough. I do not speak of absolute Truth. If you understand a small part of Truth, you will come to understand the greater. Truth itself is neither in the small nor in the large — it is beyond all things, beyond all physical forces. These are but conditions, symbols, through which we attempt to grasp certain ideas. What then is Truth itself?

Let me present the following thought: When you enter heaven, the Divine world, you shall meet an angel — one who is a representative of Love. How shall you recognize him? Then you shall meet another — a representative of Wisdom. A third — of Truth. A fourth — of Justice. A fifth — of Virtue. All these angels are bright, beautiful, and majestic. How then will you distinguish between them?

Each performs a different service. One may say, “The angel of Justice must be very strict.” Not at all. He is just. His face is so beautiful that the moment you look upon it, you will love him. The angels of Love, Wisdom, Truth, Justice, and Virtue do not differ in beauty or majesty. None stands above another. How then shall you know who is who?

Do not solve the question by the old way. You say, “Let them love us!” This is an old formula. Then you say, “They don’t love us.” Perhaps — according to your understanding. If you think that not being given money means not being loved, then yes, you are right. But that is your interpretation.

I may work for an unjust employer who does not pay me, and I may say he is wicked and does not love me. Yet money is merely the expression of human reason and intelligence — it is not intelligence itself. With money, all things are possible — but only the wise man knows how to use money rightly. Place money in the hands of a foolish man and observe what he will do.

So when you say, “They do not love me,” you are not expressing yourself rightly. If you exist in the world, God loves you. God does love you — but He will manifest that love in the way He chooses. You have no place to set boundaries on His Love, nor to doubt God.

If people act in this way or that, it is they who define the relationship. Every person in the world has a great task.

And so, if we are to be just, we must take into account the life of all beings, great and small, and grant them all the right to live. When I see an ant walking along, I make way for it. You may say, “The teacher comes to speak to us about ants.” No, I see that this ant has a task to fulfill. And she says, “Sir, you are a rational man—do not hinder my path. I too have a problem to resolve.” I could place a thousand obstacles before her and ruin her purpose—but what would I gain from it? She is on her way to do her work. Therefore, I clear the way for her to pass.

The Divine in me says: God, who directs the path of my life, also directs the way of this ant. I take the ant in its proper sense—not the ant that enters our granary to steal, but the one that goes to labor. The ant, with her energy, is praiseworthy. She is bold and intelligent.

Do you know how the ants think? Among them there is order and discipline such as even men do not possess. They obey one another. When a command is given by their commander, they go at once and carry it out. All ants think in harmony with the thought of their leader. They think independently and rationally—they have large heads. We say, “These ants!” Yet in this regard, I would that men were more like ants.

Even the Scriptures say, “O sluggard, go to the ant and learn!” Learn what?—Industriousness. And what is industriousness? It is thought. Therefore, learn to think. The ant thinks all day long.

You have not paused to observe what makes them intelligent. When ants build their anthill, they construct it so that no water can enter and flood their chambers. They have an entire system for diverting the water, and yet their homes remain dry. We, the modern learned men, have not yet created such designs. We do not yet understand the properties of water as the ants do. Our cellars grow damp, moldy, and rotten—yet the dwellings of ants remain ever dry. And their rooms are dry without any cement at all.

Now translate this thought inwardly, and reflect: what is the relationship between yourselves and the ants?

Now I speak to the young. My desire is that you examine whether there is moisture in the storeroom of your mind. If you lack thought, go to the ants and the bees. From the ants you will learn one thing; from the bees, another.

They say of someone: “This man is not sweet, he has no gentleness, no sweetness in his life.” If we wish to learn how to be gentle, we must go to the bees—for they are full of sweetness. Yet do not suppose that even the gentle bee, who knows how to gather pollen and turn it into honey, is not also dangerous. She has a sting. And here lies the beauty: where there is sweetness, there is also a sting.

Now you may wish to draw a final conclusion. But we must understand what the sting of the bee means. There is meaning even in the sting. When God placed the sting within the bee, it had a specific purpose. She may not always use it rightly—that is another question. We shall not dwell now on how it should be used. That is a secondary matter. The sting once had a very different purpose. Today the bee uses it as she sees fit.

When the Lord gave the pen to the hand of the writer, or the poet, and he cast it aside in dissatisfaction, or used it for other ends, I ask: is the pen to blame? — No, he alone is responsible.

You, the young, must study the four conditions of life and thought: earth, water, air, and fire.

What can the earth give you? Firmness for your character. If you lack firmness, if you are not constant, you must study the solid matter.

If you lack expansiveness, you must study water.

If you lack motion, if you do not know how to move, you must study air.

And lastly, if your warmth is small, you must study fire.

You study combustion and say it is a form of energy. That may be true, but we consider combustion as a form—as a condition. Under “combustion" we understand a very special process in nature that relates to human thought.

So long as thought lacks the conditions of earth, of water, of air, and lastly of fire, it cannot yet be true thought.

Or, said in spiritual terms: if thought has not Love, it cannot unfold. Love is the first impulse—the solid ground of human thought.

And if thought lacks that inner Light of Wisdom and Truth, along with the other two elements—Justice and Virtue—it cannot manifest.

I desire that the young would draw forth the treasures hidden within their souls and cultivate them in the most proper manner. You must lay right thought as the foundation for the building of your character. You must not waver — to think one way today and another tomorrow. In right thought, there can be no hesitation. It is a construction — a layering. Man builds with his thought, stone by stone. And each stone must be set in its place.

When we have raised our building to the point allowed, then your Teacher shall appear, shall look upon your work, and shall appoint your further task. Each evening, such a review takes place.

Now to you, the young, I say: observe the following law — for every seven minutes, six belong to you, and the seventh belongs to the Divine. For every seven hours, six are yours, and the seventh is God’s. For every seven days, six are given to you, and the seventh is to be returned to God. For every seven weeks, the same. For every seven years, six are given to man, and the seventh is sacred to God. Such is the order in life as it now stands.

All the misfortunes that befall us today arise from this: when the seventh minute arrives, you do not give it to God — you use it for yourselves. You dwell constantly upon your troubles, your failures, your illnesses, and a thousand other concerns, without stopping to ask: what is the cause of all this? If you would seek the cause, you would see whence your misfortunes have begun — whether from minutes, or from hours, or from days, or weeks, or months, or years. We shall not speak of centuries — let those rest, for few live beyond 120 years.

You must first look for the causes of your sorrow in the years. I too now turn to time. At what hour did I begin speaking to you? (— At twenty minutes to six.) Then how long have I been speaking? (— Fifty minutes in total.) How many Divine minutes have there been in this time? (— Seven minutes.) For what will you use them?

When a Divine minute comes, I say: I must be in harmony with God and with all intelligent beings. And inwardly, I shall think: my thought shall be as God's thought. If I reason, I shall say: I think as God thinks.

You may ask: and what, then, shall your relation to me be? But you do not yet understand the law. The relationships of all must be as the relationship of God. If I do not think as God thinks, then my thought is not right. And then, my relations to anyone shall be unnatural, shall be out of harmony. But if I think as the Lord thinks, I shall have within me such a disposition, as though God Himself is acting within me.

It is not I who think — but in me shall be revealed that beautiful, joyful feeling which belongs to God. It is not that I have manifested my love, but that I rejoice in manifesting God's Love. In this way, God works within me — and I learn from Him. I rejoice, I listen to Him. He speaks — I think. He speaks — I sit, I write, and I attend. I make a distinction between the speech of the Lord and the speech of the various intelligent beings. There is no speech more beautiful than that of God!

By His speaking, all the questions in the world find easy solution. When the Lord speaks, you shall forget yourself and all else — you shall cleanse your heart of all that is negative. You shall become as a clear and loving spring, and all who drink from you shall rejoice in that which flows.

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Love, Wisdom and Truth

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 5 min read ☾

The path of life is beset with difficulties. Yet God’s Love, God’s Wisdom and God’s Truth are realized on this very path. Through them, life fulfils its purpose.

Many people strive for personal happiness, yet the personal element does not lead to true happiness. True happiness is hidden in love. It is the seed from which life springs. When Love visits you, you expand. Even physically — if you measure your arms, for example, you will notice a microscopic expansion.

Everybody talks about love without knowing what it is. Why? First, because they don’t know themselves. You say that you love someone and enjoy love. But when you hear that the object of your love loves someone else, you become uneasy. Are you wondering every day whether or not this person loves you? Love that ceases, or which appears and disappears, is not real love. If you meet someone who has opened themselves to only one person, know that they cannot love you. Even if they were to start loving you, they would soon betray you. Only the one who can love everybody can love you. True lovers are those through whom God’s love is manifest; they have opened their hearts to all. They will always love you. Such love is unceasing and eternal.

What is it that we love in people? The sublime, divine source; the eternal, unchanging wellspring in humanity. A person’s life unfolds in three phases: childhood, adulthood and old age. If you photograph someone in each phase, you’ll see three different images. However, despite their differences, they have the same essence: an eternally unchanging source — the divine. Outside the essence are shadows of human life. We are still in the shadows of life.

You must strive to find your soul. When you find it, you will see the soul of your fellows too. You could flip through an old book and say it’s uninteresting, while someone else might say it’s very interesting. How do they know? Because they have read it. Likewise, you can neither know nor love someone by looking at their outer appearance, at the surface. Only if you know them from within, know their soul, can you truly love them. You might say, “I see nothing special in this person”. Why not? Because you haven’t gotten to know their inner self, so you don’t love them. If you were to ask a wife what she sees in her husband, she might say, “He’s interesting”.

When you investigate the ways in which a person manifests love, you will constantly see interruptions in its manifestation. However, it might only seem that way. This relates to a person’s outer self rather than their essence. There are external obstacles, clouds in the mind that seemingly obscure love. As long as the Earth revolves around its axis, there will always be day and night, good and evil, rising and falling. At a certain height above the Earth, there will no longer be day and night.

Likewise, the higher the realm of consciousness you enter, the more unceasing your love is. You might be sitting in your room, looking through the window while a friend is passing by. You follow their movements, seeing them from only one perspective. After a while, they disappear from your sight. This happens because you’re both at the same height. If you rise to a higher plane, you will always see them. Thus, the higher you stand, the more unceasing your love is.

It is said that love conquers evil. That is why the only people who can contend with evil are the ones who carry the weapon of love within themselves. If you don’t have love, don’t fight evil; because evil will prevail.

One of the rules of love states, “Guard the freedom of others the same way you guard yours”. Someone might interfere with the freedom of others and restrict them. Why? Because these people are outside of love. You might tell them, “You have no love for me”. Let them be free; don’t interfere with their freedom. They are free to love you or not. When everybody rejects you, seeing you as trash, know that there is One who loves you. An angel is accompanying you and telling you, “Don’t be afraid, God loves you! Your affairs will come out well. Don’t cling to temporal things!”

A father had ten children. He bought everyone a toy except the youngest. The child started crying because the others told him that he was bad and that his father didn’t love him. Seeing his tears, his father comforted him, saying, “Don’t cry, tomorrow I’ll buy you a toy too”. I say: People always cry for such ‘toys’. Apart from the physical, there are also spiritual ‘toys’ that people cry over. By identifying ourselves with outer things, we gradually grow old. Aging is a law of distancing. When things move away, they become invisible. Old views make us grow old. To rejuvenate, one must let go of them.

What are the distinguishing qualities of Love, Wisdom and Truth? It has been written, “You have loved the Truth within”. Therefore, what you love in someone is the Truth. Those who have faith can keep a secret. Whatever secret you entrust to them, they will guard it. If you assign a task to those who possess the Truth within, they will surely do it. Love is the mother, Wisdom the father and Truth — the son. Here’s another comparison: Love is a base, Wisdom is an acid, and Truth — salt. The loving are living flames that warm everyone, the wise are lamps that shine and scatter forth light, and the truthful are bakers who provide bread. Love gives things, Wisdom adorns them and Truth distributes them. Laws are the result of the Truth.

Truth brings freedom; it enables us to manifest ourselves. People say that the truth is bitter. This shows a misunderstanding. When does the truth embitter people? When they are sick or when they are wrong. In other words, bitterness isn’t something natural for us. You cannot sin while possessing the Truth within. When somebody lies, it is bitter for them because they lose their freedom. Truth is a transformer. It gives guidance. It frees us from our difficulties. Truth reconciles people with their contradictions; it enables them to carry their burdens gracefully. Truth values the inner meaning of things. It seeks to know their essence. Wisdom, in turn, enters deep into them and illuminates them, while Love brings warmth and melts all things in it.

Thus, Love maintains life, while Wisdom shapes life. The loving are simultaneously intelligent. So they are at the same time both wise and truthful. Love, Wisdom and Truth are inseparable.

Love provides the material, Wisdom organizes the material, and Truth works with it. As Solomon had many wives, so do human beings have many desires. Yet we only need one fundamental desire — to acquire Love. We must have only one central thought — to acquire Wisdom. With these, other things will come automatically.

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The Symbol of the Infinite

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 13 min read ☾

Modern people are interested in the origin of things—each within their own field. The geometer is concerned with the origin of lines, angles, figures, solids, and so on. The mathematician is concerned with the origin of numbers. He wants to know how the one, the two, the three, etc., came to be. Thanks to this, one mathematician treats numbers as quantities, another as symbols, a third as characters, and so on. Consequently, when we come to the origin of the straight line, we regard it as the path traced by a point. If the point does not move, the straight line cannot exist. Moreover, we know that a point has no dimension—it occupies no space. Nevertheless, as it moves, it produces a straight line, which has one dimension—length—and occupies a certain region. In that sense, the straight line is also considered the beginning of space.

What is meant by the term “curve”? For example, in geometry, a circle is a curved line that has a center. All points on the circle are equally distant from its center. We, however, say that any line that has a center is not curved. Any line that has no center is curved. You say that two points form a straight line. Why? Because one of them serves as the center for the other, which moves in a given direction. From this viewpoint, if someone moves along a curved line that has a center, we say that he is a person with an idea. Ordinary people’s conceptions are exactly the opposite. When they see a person walking along a curved path, they say he is disoriented, “off-track.” He is only “off-track” if he has no center toward which he strives. But if he does have a center, he is not “off-track.” Then we would conclude that the sun, the earth, and the other stars and planets, which move along curved orbits, are “off-track.” No—they have a center toward which they aim. In reality, curved lines do not exist. A curved line is merely the sum of many straight lines, between which there is a certain relationship. Thus, a curved line is nothing other than an extension of the straight line. Without the curved line, the straight line cannot extend. By “extension of the straight line,” we mean “continuation.”

Therefore, the straight line is the only possible manifestation of the point. From this viewpoint, the plane is the only possible manifestation of the straight line. And the solid is the only possible manifestation of the plane. Consequently, if a person wishes to manifest individually, he must move along the path of the straight line. If he wishes to manifest collectively, he must move along the path of the plane. Ponder the point, the straight line, the plane, and the solid. Do not rely only on the perspective of official geometry, but also on the perspective of living geometry, and apply it in your life. Knowledge that cannot be applied in a person’s physical and psychological life remains fruitless.

Many of you pass yourselves off as esoteric students, studying the esoteric sciences without applying them. That is not knowledge. Someone passes himself off as a naturalist, another as a mathematician, a third as a philosopher, a fourth as a musician, yet they do not know how or where to apply their knowledge. That is a misunderstanding of science. What does the chiromancer know if he cannot first apply chiromancy in his own life? What will the soldier do if he goes to the battlefield with a rusty saber or rifle? Not only will he accomplish nothing, but he will be burdened by their weight. He carries a load he cannot use. Such a load represents any knowledge that cannot be applied.

There are learned people in the world with great knowledge, but in the end, when faced with a particular difficulty, they say, “We cannot resolve this difficulty; we no longer know what to think.” Why do they not know what to think? Do they not have knowledge? Why can they not resolve their difficulty? They have plenty of knowledge, but it is unapplied. Such is the condition of the student who does not study. At first, he goes to school with an empty bag. Each day, the teacher puts one feather into his bag. When he returns home, the student takes out the feather, examines it, and then puts it back in the bag. He says, “These feathers are all the same; there is no point in examining them.” No—those feathers are for writing, not just for looking at. Take one of the feathers in your hand and begin to write. Each feather writes differently. What would the poet do if he had no pen? If the student does not write with his feathers—i.e., if he does not apply the knowledge the teacher gives him—he will use them only as ornament. That is how the turkey became a turkey, the fish a fish, the ox an ox, the horse a horse. When they ceased to strive to learn and to apply the knowledge taught to them, the turkey adorned itself with the plumage of knowledge and became a turkey; the fish adorned itself with the plumage of knowledge, arranged the plumes like scales, and became a fish; from the plumes the ox fashioned horns and became an ox; the horse made hooves and became a horse. We take the word “feathers” in a symbolic sense. They represent human thought, which must participate in knowledge and apply it in life.

Let us return, then, to the straight thought as the manifestation of the point. Therefore, if a person cannot find a path for the manifestation of a certain thought, a certain feeling, or a certain action in its most elementary form, he does not understand the law of the straight line. The building of a person’s character rests on the law of the straight line. A person’s education and self-education likewise rest on that same law. When we speak of the moral decline of an individual, of families, of nations, we understand their departure from the direction of the straight line. People deviate from the path of the straight line, consciously or unconsciously, because they consider that path difficult. In fact, the path of the straight line is the easiest, because it is the measure of things. There is a world beyond the straight line, but that world is spiritual—outside of the time and space in which people move. Thus, points are the foundation of the material world, and lines are the boundaries of that world. A plane can be decomposed into lines, and a line into points. Mathematicians say that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. That statement is true if we assume that one point is in motion and the other is at rest. The straight line implies that something has already been realized. In other words, the point has traversed a certain path, thereby creating the straight line. Once there is a straight line, there is achievement. When the physiognomist examines a person’s face, he seeks straight lines upon it. It is enough to find at least one straight line on a person’s face to say that that person has some achievement. That person has character, because only the rational can realize the possibilities of the straight line. Strive to understand the law of straight lines and to apply it in your life. He who understands this law alone can be happy. Whatever difficulties and contradictions a person encounters in his life, all will dissolve before the law of straight lines. He who does not understand this law will be unhappy, encountering difficulties and contradictions that will disturb his spirit. Whenever you encounter a difficulty on your path, straighten the lines of your character. This is achieved by straightening your thought.

Thought moves according to the laws of the straight line—that is, according to the laws of the Divine path. If you enter the world of straight lines, you will see that the relationships among the beings of that world are mathematically determined. The world of the straight line is one of the most beautiful worlds. Indeed, the straight line is a beautiful thing. Sometimes the straight line dresses itself in a curved line. In reality, there are no curved lines. Why? If you decompose a curved line into its constituent parts, you will see that it represents the sum of countless tiny straight lines. If people do not understand the curved line in this way, they will suffer, thinking they have come upon a crooked path. There are curved lines in the world, but they are without a center. Hold fast to the straight line in your life so that you may be joyful and merry.

Therefore, joy is the outward expression by which a person shows he has found the way of the straight line. The only way to God is the way of the straight line. Only along that path can a person fulfill his desires. Whoever deviates from it brings harm upon himself and benefit to those around him. For example, if a wealthy person—to whom wealth has been given as a blessing in life—deviates from the straight path and begins to squander his wealth, he will soon become impoverished, but those around him will benefit from his wealth. When the individual cannot enjoy, at least those around him should. This explains why nature allows negative manifestations in life—revolutions, wars, thefts, and so on.

So remember the fundamental idea of this lecture, namely: The straight line is the only path by which you can realize your thoughts and feelings. The law of the straight line gives a person the strength to deal with his difficulties. He has knowledge, understands people, and always treats them well. If he goes to some banker to ask for money, he will surely succeed. The banker cannot refuse the request of a person who moves along a straight line. It is only natural: the two together form a straight line. They are the two points of that line. If, some way, the banker does not align himself with the person moving along a straight line, he will pay dearly for it. There will always be a banker willing to serve the rational person. In general, the rational person attracts people to himself. Love operates along straight lines. Therefore, if you meet someone who moves along the lines of Love, you are ready to help him in everything. If someone moves along a curved line, you close your heart to him. Knowing this, study straight lines, apply them in your life, so that you can realize all good thoughts, desires, and actions.

Where is the place of the straight line?—Within the person himself. It is enough for a person to delve into himself to find the straight line and use it as a method for realizing his thoughts and feelings. However, only he who has passed through great suffering and wisely used it can delve into himself. Whoever lacks inner experience seeks achievements outside the straight line. That is impossible. Behold, for eight thousand years humanity has walked outside the straight line, and all that it has achieved has been destroyed. Outside the straight line, life is unstable. The secret of good and stable life is in the straight line, which brings joy and merriment to the human soul. If you wish to eliminate poverty, ignorance, darkness, and limitations, enter the world of the straight line. If you seek God, you will find Him in the world of the straight line—in harmonious living. God works in the world of the straight line.

It is said in Scripture: “What is impossible for man is possible for God.” Why? Because God works in the world of straight lines. If a person’s speech moves along a straight line, he can never “bite” (strike others with harsh words). If he deviates from the straight line, he always “bites.” If a person’s thought moves along straight lines, it always benefits humanity. If it deviates from straight lines, it becomes harmful. If you make a hammer according to the law of the straight line, you can achieve everything with it without causing the slightest harm to those around you. Moreover, you do not need to strike many times with it; one blow from that hammer is enough to accomplish the work you wish. In general, anything made according to the law of the straight line contains within it a magical power. It makes sense for a person to study the path of straight lines and to follow it! The straight line is the path of the wise, while the curved line is the path of fools. By “fools” we mean those who expend energy, time, and resources without achieving their desires. Thus, two paths exist in life: the path of the straight line, along which all desires are fulfilled; and the path of the curved line, that is, the path of unfulfilled desires. This is the reason why the path of the curved line is longer than that of the straight line. If you want to have achievements, make your attempts along the path of the straight line. Until you obtain results, do not cease making attempts.

A poor and unfortunate man once set out into the world to seek his happiness, but he found it nowhere. Finally, ragged, discouraged, and desperate, he started to return to his native place. One day on the road he met a man richly dressed but lame in both legs. “Where are you headed, sir?” the poor man asked him. “I am seeking good people in the world. Behold, I have grown very tired; I can no longer walk on my own. I will sit here to rest and talk with you. Where do you come from?” “I went to look for my happiness, but I could not find it. I am returning, despondent from my failure.” “Your happiness is close to you.” “How? Where is it?” “If you take me upon your back and carry me to my home, happiness will smile upon you.” “I no longer believe that. So many people have ridden me, but I gained nothing. This back of mine knows how many people I have carried and what I have achieved.” “That, too, is possible. Those people did not know how to ride you properly. And you did not know whom to carry on your back and whom not to. I am a man who knows how to ride upon his neighbor, and how to thank him. Your happiness is in my hands: whatever you wish, you shall receive.”

Therefore, enter into relationship with the world of the straight line. There is your happiness. Once you find your happiness, place it on your back and carry it wherever it wishes. Do not ask how you will carry it. Do not doubt it. Leave yourself at its disposal. Let it ride you, and you carry it with joy and gratitude in your soul for having found it.

The straight line is a ray that illuminates your path in a dark, stormy night. Follow this ray without fear and without doubt.

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Try Love

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 16 min read ☾

“‘And again He stooped down to the ground.’ People do not like to stoop. In general, there is in people a resistance to bending downwards. It is not pleasant for a person to perform difficult tasks. Man is a creature who prefers to do all things in an easy way. Everyone seeks the easy path. No one seeks the arduous path.

“In this respect, Americans hold the record—they like everything to happen quickly. In fact, everyone in the world has become ‘Americanized’ in that way: people everywhere hurry. A certain German professor once gave a definition of what can become of people who always rush. An American student came to a distinguished philosophy professor in Leipzig and said, ‘Professor, don’t you have some kind of abbreviated course in philosophy? I want to finish it in five or six months.’ The professor replied, ‘Listen, my friend: when God intends to create a pumpkin, He needs only six months. In six months He can produce a large pumpkin. But when He wants to grow a great oak, He requires one hundred years.’ So, if you rush, you will produce a pumpkin or a melon; but if you work over a longer span of time, you will produce a great oak—something enduring. Many of you want to understand the truth all at once, to have it made clear in a short time. And you want to grasp love in a short time as well.

“In the world, there are many schools that teach methods for a successful life. In America, for example, there is an esoteric school that teaches ways to become rich quickly. Every science has its exceptions; every law has its exceptions. The main tenet of this esoteric school is that if a person wants to become wealthy, first he must imagine that desire mentally. He must fix in his mind a certain figure—how rich he wants to be, whether in the hundreds of thousands of leva, or a million, or two, or three, or more—up to one hundred million. Then, three times a day—morning, noon, and evening—he must insist that this wealth come to him somehow. He does not know from where this sum will come, but by thinking this way, it will come from somewhere. The author of that teaching wrote a book proposing various methods for easy enrichment. One gentleman became a devotee of that teaching. Typically, those who enroll in such a system are materially strapped; the wealthy do not become its followers. Those in financial distress become followers, hoping to remedy their situation.

“This gentleman set in his mind the goal of somehow raising ten thousand dollars—about one million leva. However, the money did not arrive when he had determined it would, and so he became angry. He left New York, heading west, and stopped in a small western town. That same day, a major earthquake struck and nearly destroyed the town. At that moment, a large beam fell from a building and broke his leg. He lost consciousness, and when he came to, he felt that his leg was broken, but nearby he saw a check for ten thousand dollars. Now, I do not take this example literally—implying that whatever you wish from the Lord you will receive, but that your leg will be broken. It does not necessarily mean your leg must be broken, but some price will have to be paid. So, whatever you wish, wish for it, but do not fix the time when you must receive it—do not insist like some general. Do you know how unseemly it is for someone to learn to give orders? Later, one must unlearn how to give orders.

“One of our brothers, Ilia Stoychev—who has since departed on that Journey to the Other World—once recounted this experience. He was a clerk at the Singer company. One day, a gentleman appeared before him and asked, ‘Do you know who I am?’ ‘I don’t know,’ replied Ilia. ‘I am Colonel So-and-So of the reserves.’ ‘I did not know that; I was just now learning it. But do you know who I am?’ asked Ilia in turn. ‘No,’ said the colonel. ‘I am Corporal Ilia Stoychev of the reserves!’ And so they shook hands—both reservists, one a reserve colonel, the other a reserve corporal.

“Now, you who listen to me are also ‘in reserve’—not on active duty. If you were on active duty, whatever you said would happen. But since nothing you say happens now, you are in reserve. Those who are in reserve must wait until their ‘turn in power’ arrives. Therefore, until you understand the great laws of nature, you remain in reserve. You might be a reserve general, a reserve colonel, or a reserve corporal—that is of no consequence. Once you comprehend the laws of nature, you will be on active duty, and whatever you say will come to pass.

“There is nothing in the world that has not come to pass. A certain old Bulgarian sent his son to study in Paris. From time to time, the son would write love letters to his father, asking him to send money for tuition, books, and other needs. One day, the father received a letter from his son but, not knowing how to read, he took it to a butcher friend and asked him to read what his son had written. The butcher was rough in character, with a crude voice, and he began reading: ‘Dad, send me some money because I need it.’ ‘Look at that son of mine—writes so roughly to his father! I will not send him anything. Nothing will become of him.’ A day or two passed, and the father took the letter to a baker friend, who was gentle by nature, and asked him, ‘Please read this letter from my son so I may see what he wants.’ The baker began to read: ‘Dear Father, send me some money; I need it for tuition and books.’ ‘See how nicely he writes when speaking to his father. My son has changed.’ The same principle exists in nature: as long as we maintain bad behavior, as long as we do not understand it and want to command it, it will resist us. It is a law that as long as a person acts without love, he is like a general who knows only how to give orders. If you demand from nature in that way, she will eventually give you what you want—but it will cost you dearly. If you deal with her according to the law of love, she can give you everything.

“I say to you, the world’s success is due to love. You say, ‘Things cannot be accomplished by love.’ No—things are accomplished precisely by love. God created the universe out of love for us, for all people. He created it because His love for humankind was greater than their transgressions. If He had not loved us, all creatures, He would not have created the world for these creatures to cause Him so much trouble. Just as God has difficulties, so will you have difficulties. But just as God overcame all hardships with His love and patience, so will you overcome yours. There is no other way. Now it is up to you, with your own patience, to overcome your trials and create your own world. There is nothing that has not been accomplished thusly. All that to which people have devoted themselves under the law of love has been brought about. In love, nothing is impossible. If a person places in his mind to accomplish some task with love, he will inevitably succeed; it is impossible for him to fail. When you set love into motion, it will accomplish the work. But if you do not include love as a condition in your life, then your efforts rarely come to fruition—and even if they do, they quickly vanish.

“I will not burden you with many more examples here; it suffices to recall the historical fact of Adam and Eve, who were the first pupils in an esoteric school. They were accepted there as students, but they committed an action without love. They discovered how easily force can accomplish tasks. Everything that people do today—wars—arises from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now eight thousand years have passed since Biblical times, and people still attempt to reform the world by force. All of you have tried that teaching, and I see that lovelessness has corrupted the world and all good things. I see a young man, having graduated from university, who falls in love with a young, beautiful woman, also a graduate. They adore one another; it is wonderful to die from love—but they die each night and come back to life each morning. If people died without love, they would not revive. I wish people could die from love, for if they died without love, no one would revive them.

“These young people marry, but then over a single disagreement, their love dissolves. Years ago, the Turks had a custom: if a wife brought her husband an empty water jug—no matter how much love they had, he would leave her. He was not allowed to ask for water and for her to present an empty vessel. The jar must always be full of water. So, if you say an empty word to someone, things will go awry; they will be spoiled. Never speak empty words to anyone. Every word you utter must be full—full of meaning. When are words full? When they issue from the fountain of love.

“A certain bachelor with a higher education married a young, beautiful woman. One day she decided to cook beans. She set the beans on the fire and attended to other tasks. At that moment, her mother-in-law saw that the beans were boiling over, stirred them, and added salt. A little later, the sister-in-law entered the kitchen, saw that the beans were done, and added some salt as well. Finally, the beloved wife came, saw that the beans were cooked, and added salt. When the husband arrived and they began to eat, he tasted the beans and smiled, saying, ‘It seems three people cooked these beans, and each of them put in salt.’ The beans were over-salted. The mother-in-law asked her son, ‘Perhaps the beans were unsalted? I salted them.’ Then the sister-in-law asked, ‘Were the beans unsalted? I have already salted them.’ And the same question came from the beloved wife. ‘You’ve salted them well. You have put a lot of love into them.’ I say: one person’s salting is enough. Today, in learning, they oversalt everything. One comes and salts you; another comes and salts you; a third comes and salts you, until you become overly salty. I say, it is not good for a person to be too salty. Even in love, there are limits. Love is a great science, one that requires careful and delicate handling. It is the most delicate realm with which a person must begin. Love tolerates no force. Love tolerates no sin, no suspicion, no anger. You may have faith—any amount of faith—but love does not tolerate unbelief. You may have hope, but love does not tolerate despair. It takes no interest in those things.

“So I say: when you enter into love, you must arm yourselves with all virtues. You say you love someone—but how do you love him? To love someone, you must perceive in him all his virtues. We love a tree for its fruit. We love a learned person for his books. We love a musician for his music. We love a painter for his paintings. We love a sculptor for his statues. You must love a person for some cause. Why do we love God? For what He has created. We love God for what He has given us. Not only did He create the world, but He ordered everything very wisely. Whomever has any need, He has abundantly endowed. Many do not realize this and complain that they lack this or that. Someone complains that he has no children—yet children do not come at every moment. A cat, for example, can bear kittens every six months. I will not open that topic now because it would lead to an entire new discussion. What is happening in the world today is not real birth. When people say a woman is “with child,” that is not true birth; it is carrying some burden. They say, “She is pregnant,” then, “She has delivered the child.” True birth occurs without pain.

“And so, human life today is full of many handicaps that people carry. Sometimes you think of love, but from that love come a host of unpleasant matters. I have heard all sorts of high-flown praises of women in Bulgaria and everywhere—America, England, Germany—everywhere you hear derogatory remarks about women. But in Bulgaria, they say, ‘She may be a snake, but at least make sure she is not poisonous.’ That is not a proper way to think. Where is the mistake? The mistake is in the man, because he imagines that he “birthed” the woman. Yet God took two ribs from him and formed the woman. Those ribs only caused problems for Adam, so God removed them so they would no longer hinder him. That was the thirteenth rib. Woman is very energetic because she was fashioned from the thirteenth rib. In other words, God took material from Adam and made woman—but Adam did not “give birth” to her. Then God breathed life into her. The mistake lay with Adam, who regarded Eve as his daughter and said, ‘She is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.’ No—woman is not the property of man. When I speak this way, women smile. But women have the same misunderstanding, thinking that man is their property. Neither is man the property of woman, nor is woman the property of man. Man and woman are servants of God. A woman should rejoice that she was taken from a noble realm of man—she was formed from his spiritual, angelic essence, not from animal matter. Woman separates the animal from the human. What is woman? She is the boundary between animal life and human life. I speak of modern women because, as in the esoteric text, it is said that God created man and woman in His likeness. That subject we will leave aside for now—one day you will study it. It is a deep matter. What does it mean to create a person? That demands considerable study. Scripture says that the man is the head of the woman—meaning the man taught the woman to think, and the woman taught the man to feel. Woman bears within her the reasonable heart, and man bears the reasonable mind. You might ask, ‘Is the mind higher, or is the heart?’ The question is not who sits higher; what matters is who performs his duty better. Whoever performs his duty well always sits higher than one who does not perform his duty well. Do not think that if the spirit performs some unreasonable act, it will sit on high. In nature there is this law: whatever is well done stands high.

“Now, this topic is somewhat obscure, and since you are all interested, we should not delve too deeply right now. People have often said to me, ‘How can you resolve this matter if you are not married?’ And you too are not married. To my mind, no one on earth is truly “married.” A person is truly married only if he has never cast a malicious glance at his beloved, or ever rebuked her; he always directs loving looks and sweet words toward her—that is to have been truly “in love.” You might say that a person can become ill-tempered. To my way of thinking, what is important is a person’s inner disposition. I have made many experiments in this regard. Sometimes outwardly I present a serious appearance, but inwardly I am in a delightful mood. Whoever sees me might say to himself, ‘The Teacher looked upon me very sternly.’ I ask: when the sky darkens and the wind starts to blow, does that mean God is angry? You do not understand the language of nature. When thunder claps and quakes occur, does that mean God is enraged at you? No: through an earthquake God releases certain souls or energies that have been buried deep in the earth; He breaks the layers to free them. That is how precious stones are found. When the sky sometimes cloudsover and the rains fall, God’s purpose is to moisten and refresh the plants. For whom were the oceans and seas created? They were created for the fish, not for man. And the dry earth was created for the animals to walk upon, while man cultivates it. Because God assigned all the work among the animals, He said to Adam—the most intelligent creature—‘I give you dominion over all the animals to rule them, but with love.’ Evil does not lie in dominion but in dominion without love. Every power without love is violence. Every knowledge with love is a blessing. When things are done from the impulse of love, they are always in their proper place.

“You want a key—how to set your life right? Apply love. Those of you who lack patience should go to some bank teller’s window—the place where people exchange money—and there you will acquire patience. There, everyone is in a hurry; each tries to complete his business as quickly as possible, while you must treat everyone courteously, with the greatest patience. In that respect, the whole world is a training institute by which you must train yourselves. Suppose one of you were appointed teacher of unruly students—how would you teach them? Do you know how many pranksters there are among students, both in Bulgaria and everywhere? In the Varna Gymnasium there was a fine Czech teacher named Emper, about one and a half meters tall, with broad shoulders. He taught descriptive geometry. Because he was very exacting, the students looked for ways to get back at him. They knew he had a great fear of frogs, so they placed about a dozen frogs under his desk. One day he entered the classroom, lifted the desk lid to check attendance, and immediately slammed it shut, as around a dozen frogs leaped out. He rushed from the classroom, and all order was lost. Later, when he calmed down—perhaps in the next period—he returned, smiling faintly, yet the students sat quietly as though nothing had happened. He addressed them: ‘I beg you, do not put frogs under my desk. I have some kind of organic aversion to them and cannot endure them. Ask for anything else you wish, but no frogs.’ And that was the end of it—he punished no one. Such things also occur in our lives.

“‘And Christ stooped and wrote on the ground.’ Every person must write—what will he write on the ground? He must always write his most difficult questions. To write is to reason. To resolve a question requires calculation from the person—according to which rule: addition, subtraction, division, or multiplication? Which rule do you think applies to love? In the future you will develop that theme yourselves. We must apply a new understanding of love. You say, ‘We must love one another.’ That is the old rule of love. Never again use that formula. Do not say anymore, ‘You must love one another’—that has been said. Now it is time to move on to loving itself.

“When you wish to know and apply love, act like that ancient student who went to his teacher to ask about love. He told his teacher that he wished to discuss the two great commandments: love for God and love for one’s neighbor. As the teacher began to speak, the student interrupted, ‘That is a difficult commandment—do not tell me anything about love for God, for I cannot go to Him now. Speak to me at least of the second commandment.’ When the teacher began to speak on the second commandment, the student said, ‘Please, grant me a little time. I will return soon.’ He went out into the world to seek his neighbor, to test love; after two years, he returned to his teacher, saying, ‘Now you may begin to speak to me.’ To test one’s neighbor means to see whether the law of love works. I say: Now is the time when the law of love must be applied. Someone asks, ‘Who will command me?’ If one person tries to command another, that person will say, ‘Is he to command me?’ In the world, there must always be someone to give orders—without command, nothing can be done. Now that cold weather has arrived, it too gives orders: wood, coal, warm clothing—all must be provided. In addition, every crack must be sealed. Do not ask why the world was made this way; think instead, now that winter is here, what must be done. The cold commands that there be a warm room, warm clothing, coal and wood, warm and hearty food, and so on. That cold is the world’s lovelessness. It indicates that we live in a world of lovelessness. What does this world need? Warmth—love. This cold shows the state of Europe. Why did the temperature change this year? Because there is war in the east and the west, and others are preparing for war. Cold shows that if people fight, there will be frost and snow—nothing more. Moreover, the trees will bear no fruit. If you make war, everyone will shiver and freeze. Thus speaks Nature. But how will the world be convinced by Nature’s words? We say, ‘Let the Lord convince us.’ Now, you—all Christians, all esoteric societies, all religious and spiritual groups—want to unite by force, to work together. Yet everyone lives in full discord; each thinks only of himself; each lives for himself. Because of that, these misfortunes befall the world. If all those with awakened consciousness were to unite as one, the face of the world would immediately change. Not only some people, but all societies, all nations, must become good. And if the world could be set right so easily, everything would go well.

“‘And He wrote on the ground.’ What did He write? He wrote: ‘As long as people have hard hearts and live without love, the world will never be set right.’ How will it be set right? He wrote on the ground: ‘When people prepare their hearts to receive love and to act according to it, the world will be set right.’ This is what Christ wrote on the earth. Yet we do not believe it. If you say that Christ did not speak or write this, then I declare it to you now. I say: The world lives in lovelessness, but cannot be set right thus. Now I tell you clearly—I do not write on the ground—if all of you began acting according to love, the world would be corrected today. What say you to that? Now I say it to you: this is done and concluded; none of you can excuse yourselves. Even if the earth turned upside down, you could not excuse yourselves. What does it cost you to apply love? At first, God said the same thing to Adam, yet he did not understand and replied, ‘Let me test this law first.’ God said to Adam, ‘Without love, things cannot be done.’ He said, ‘Let me examine that law’—and he did. We have a long experience to show; what did the world yield? The world—i.e., the whole earth—has become a graveyard filled with rational beings. All this is the result of lovelessness. Lovelessness exists not only among people, but also among plants and animals, water and air—everywhere there is lovelessness, with only occasional flickers of love. It is not that people lack love, but that they hoard it for themselves. I see how a hen shelters her chicks under her wings—that is love. I see how a bird carries food in its beak to its young—that is love. But today love is very restricted; it is not yet that great divine love. Your love is beautiful—but having learned this love, you must study divine love. After you have done your duty in human love—to spouse, children, and kin—you must say, ‘Lord, I have done what I needed to do for my companion and my children; now tell me what I must do out of love for You.’ If your wife asks something of you, you will say, ‘I have done my tasks regarding you; now I have a task to perform for the Lord. When I see that you need me again, I will return.’ Thus a person serves both God and his home simultaneously. Today, people wish to be freed from serving God under the pretext that they have duties to the state, to their household. Someone says he is a civil servant and cannot serve God until he retires. No—you must serve both God and your office. What do we observe in the world? When people retire, they depart for the Other World. That idea—that once one retires, then he may serve the Lord—is dangerous. Everywhere, all esoteric students suffer from lovelessness, because they serve only themselves. Everywhere you see ambition, pride, misunderstandings among people. They cannot reconcile. If a third party attempts to reconcile two people, they still cannot reconcile—no reconciliation is possible. Love alone can bridge the gap. Each person must ask himself: Am I acting from love, or without love? And in the soul of each one must arise the desire to serve the Lord out of love. How will you appear before the Lord? Some of you may be called to Him this year—you do not know your own lives; you are not one hundred percent certain. One day, as you walk, you may be struck by some vehicle and that will be the end. A car speeding along the sidewalk once ran over and killed a distinguished Bulgarian. One of our brothers was recently injured by a tram and suffered a head injury. Afterwards he said, ‘How strange—how did that happen? I prayed so much this morning and said so many prayers.’ Be thankful you prayed—had you not, it might have been worse. In the world where we live, we have many enemies who create misfortunes for us. To be delivered from these misfortunes, you must pray to include in your life love for God. Therefore, when you board a car or tram, you must come to love the driver—feel benevolence toward him. If you love him, he will be kindly disposed toward you and will convey you to your destination in complete safety. In this law I have never known an exception. Recently, a friend and I rode in a car that was traveling slowly. My friend said, ‘Let us tell him to go faster.’ But I said, ‘Do not disturb him—the terrain does not allow rapid travel.’ Once we reached level ground, he sped up. Now, you may wish to force your vehicle to go much faster, but God will not grant that, because if it did go very fast, it might overturn somewhere.

“When you rise each morning, open your hearts and give thanks to the Lord—even if you do not know Him, behave as did a little girl who once wrote a letter to the Lord, addressing it ‘To the Lord Jesus Christ in the Other World.’ The letter read, ‘Lord, my mother and father have died. There is no one to care for me. Please tell people somehow to help me.’ She addressed the letter and went home, hoping for an answer. When the postal clerks read that letter, they were moved by the child’s great faith and decided each to contribute whatever he could. Soon they had collected a considerable sum, and from that day the girl’s circumstances were set aright. You might say, ‘Was it the right time for that?’ Many have advised me on this or that course, but human affairs do not progress. Once I tried an experiment on a sick man, and it gave good results. He came to me, explaining his illness. I gave him one remedy—it had no effect. I gave him another—still no effect. Then I said to him, ‘Go home; I will give you no more medicine—without medicine, you will recover.’ ‘But how?’ he asked. ‘Go quickly,’ I said, ‘and you will get well.’ He went away dissatisfied that I had sent him away, but a month later he returned and said, ‘Thank you very much; I have recovered.’

“Now I say to you: you need nothing else but love. Make love the foundation of your life, and all your affairs will be set aright. If you base your life on the law of love, you will be healthy, you will have money, you will be joyful, and you will have bread—you will have everything. Thus Christ wrote. And I tell you: the world will be healed by love. This is God’s will.”

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On Loving Another

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 7 min read ☾

You may hear someone say he loves, or that he has come to love another. He believes his love began the moment they met. But if he thinks this way, his love is passing and momentary. This is what we call “the love of the mayfly."

So long as man dwells in this fleeting love, he shall continually find himself in comical, dramatic, and even tragic situations. For instance, he declares his love—only to see the one he loves turn toward another. Upon seeing this, he becomes jealous. Here is a condition both tragic and absurd.

True love is never jealous. It does not seek its own. He who truly loves never regrets that he loves, even if his love is not returned.

Modern men and women love one another, and yet they suffer. Why is this so? Because they doubt love itself. Both the one who loves and the one who is loved fall into doubt. And wherever doubt arises, suffering follows close behind. Doubt reveals that love is not yet pure; there is something selfish clinging to it. But the one who loves selflessly never doubts. He is content in the very act of loving. In loving, he becomes rich and fulfilled.

Pure, selfless love embraces all. When you love one soul truly, in their face you love all souls. And if your love awakens love in others, rejoice—for you have become the spark of love’s unfolding. Love begets love. It is impossible to love truly and not be answered. Decades may pass, even centuries, but the one you loved shall one day thank you—for the love you gave them. Love never loses. If your love is unnoticed today, let it not trouble you. The day will come when your gift will be weighed, and returned with gratitude—and interest. To believe that love is a loss is a grave error. One may lose in many things, but never in love.

So then, when you love one, you love all. This is the measure of love. When you warm yourself by the fire, many may warm with you. Should you grow jealous of the fire and wish it only for yourself? Jealousy, if it has any value, serves only to awaken others—to stir them to love as you love.

If you love someone, do not demand that they love only you. If one says, "I love only you," know that he deceives himself—and you. Why should a father not love another daughter as his own? Why should a mother not love another son? If you cannot love more than one, you are yet in the first degree of love. For love is graded in degrees.

And what is the cause that you love another? There is always a reason—outer or inner. You love the sun for its light. You love the diamond for its radiance. Everything you love holds within it some divine quality. It is the Divine that is loved and valued, whether in stone, plant, animal, or man.

Today people complain that they have lost their love. What must they do to keep it? If you would preserve your love, do not step outside its sacred boundary. Come too close, and you will burn; stray too far, and you will freeze. Do not blame others for your burning or your coldness. If the fire is too strong, step back. If it is too faint, draw near. Give thanks that you have a fire at all. Thank the trees that give themselves for your warmth.

The task of every person is to manifest love—to work steadily toward the highest degree of love. A woman should love woman and man as herself. A man should love man and woman as himself. A woman’s love brings warmth and softness. A man’s love brings light. Warmth and light joined together give birth to strength. When one joins the warmth of the heart with the light of the mind, he becomes strong and beautiful. This is how each one must love.

Someone may say, "I cannot love." But this is not true. Why? Because to love is to live—just as to love is to eat. Can a man live without food? No. Neither can he live without love. When one says he cannot love, he means only that he cannot love as God loves. That is another matter. Each will receive and give love according to his measure. The mosquito receives and gives love as a mosquito; the fly, as a fly; man, as a man. He who does not understand love says, "I die from love." But what love is this, that kills a man?

Christ gave Himself for mankind out of love—and yet He did not die, but rose again. In love, there is no death. Love does not kill—it resurrects. If you would know love clearly, do not peer through its keyhole. Look through its windows and doors, and see it in its fullness. Learn from those who love selflessly, that one day others may learn from you.

Many books have been written about love, yet it remains misunderstood. Many comedies, dramas, and tragedies have been composed around love, and still it is not rightly lived. What we need are new comedies, dramas, and tragedies—not where the hero is mocked, but where his flawed expressions are. Not where the Divine suffers, but where the human does. Not where goodness dies, but where evil does. This is the new drama.

It is said that love does not seek its own right—and yet, it never loses it. Love is a capital that is never lost. He who thinks he has lost in love will, in time, receive back his investment—with interest. Just as life rises from fire and returns to its source, so too the riches invested in love are never wasted. They return to their source.

People speak often of the great Divine Love, yet few understand it. Until you do, hold fast to your old love. Strive toward the new, but do not abandon the old. The old love is the mother; the new is the daughter. The old burns; the new resurrects. How do you know when one has been burned? Outwardly, he looks frightened—his trust is gone. Speak to him of love, and he does not believe.

To preserve faith in love, avoid the unnatural love that scorches the soul. If it finds you, treat it as the actor treats sorrow on the stage—he grieves, but he is not undone. He dies in the scene, but lives on behind the curtain. What does he gain? He learns.

So too, be an actor in your own life: grieve without destruction, love without being consumed, rejoice without losing yourself in joy. Know that all is passing. Yet if you have come to earth to learn, learn equally from the passing and the eternal. Do not cling to the fleeting, lest you suffer. Why grasp at the wine that ferments at every moment? Why chase the love of men, which burns everything it touches?

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From Desire to Discipline

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 20 min read ☾

The people of today long for meaningful pursuits in life. They tend to avoid amusements, which to them are just a form of rest. But they don't need that kind of rest. For children, however, amusement is essential. Through amusement, children grow, develop their abilities, and prepare themselves for a serious life. Since contemporary people have already passed through the phase of childhood, they are now preparing for a new life, for new work. They say that a person must think a lot.

Indeed, the distinguishing feature of the human being is their ability to think. But thought—thinking—is not an isolated process. Thought is a collective process. All people think. Because of their ability to think, man is regarded as a thinking being, while angels are regarded as rational beings, endowed with high intelligence. Human thought can be positive or negative. By negative thought, we do not mean evil thoughts, but thoughts with negative energy.

Now, whatever is said to a person, what is required of them is application. A person can understand life only through application. Life is expressed in three directions: in the realm of thought, in the realm of feeling, and in the realm of action. That is, a person moves not only in the realm of feeling and action but also in the realm of thought. Therefore, it is said that man is a thinking being. For man, thought is something constant, whereas for animals, it is entertainment, a celebration. Just as the visit of a king to a poor household is a great festivity, so too is every thought that enters the mind of an animal like a great royal visit.

As students, you must understand the difference between ordinary and royal matters. They differ in form, in content, and in meaning. Thoughts change their form, content, and meaning. This is the reason why a particular thought may interest a person for a certain time and then cease to interest them. For example, if you have a bottle full of some fine content, you are interested only in the content. However, if you know that some bottles have a beautiful shape and also good content, you are interested in both the shape and the content.

Every bottle that is full of good content interests the person because of its content. As soon as the content is finished, the bottle is set aside and no longer interests them. If the bottle had consciousness, it would wonder why it was once treated with such respect and now has been cast aside. It does not understand that the respect was for its content, not its form. As soon as new content is poured in, the person becomes interested in the bottle again.

In the same way, people are interested in thoughts with good content. Once they receive the content within themselves, they set aside the form and are no longer interested in it. However, there are thoughts in which form and content are inseparable; they cannot be separated from one another. In such cases, the person is equally interested in both the form and the content of those thoughts. The value of such thoughts remains constant, like the value of precious stones.

If you wish to sell precious stones, you must sell both the form and the content together. The diamond, for instance, may be likened to pure human thought, through which the solar rays of life refract and create a spectrum. When the rays of life refract in pure human thoughts, the person's feelings also grow. Knowing the value of your thoughts, you should not sell them. If you sell them, you will inevitably suffer in some way.

Suffering will come inevitably into your life, but at least strive to avoid those sufferings which you cause yourself. This type of suffering creates contradictions for the person, from which they can easily free themselves. These sufferings represent unorganized matter that must be harnessed for work. A person suffers because they cannot satisfy some desire. For example, someone wants to become a king and suffers because this desire cannot be realized.

Before pursuing such a desire, a person must make a calculation of the likelihood of becoming a king. As soon as they make the calculation, they will see that this desire cannot be realized and will abandon it without suffering. How did the idea of becoming a king arise in a person? If it were destined for them to become a king, upon descending to Earth, they would have brought with them credentials that they were sent to become a king.

If that were the case, a whole entourage of aides and courtiers would have descended with them, with power and authority, to teach and support them. But in this case, without any credentials, without any entourage, they came to Earth as an ordinary person and began dreaming of becoming a king. Was that idea born in the right time and place? - No, it was born neither in the right time nor place.

This type of thought we call unnatural. Such thoughts arise in every person. Someone wants to be a philosopher, a learned person. But the philosopher is not born a philosopher, nor is the scientist born a scientist. To become a philosopher or a scientist, a person must work for a long time. Work, effort, and perseverance are required for a person to acquire anything.

Whatever ideas a person may have, they all share something in common. The difference lies only in this: some people represent the roots of an idea, others—the leaves, still others—the flowers. But all together they form the ideas of the total life. If, according to the place they occupy, a person does not realize their ideas, they will remain in the position of a root of a plant. In this condition, they will only draw sap from the earth, they will cry and suffer, until one day they pass into the state of an animal, at least to be able to move from one place to another. From animal, they will strive to become human. The human being will strive to become an angel. And the angel will strive toward an even higher position.

When you hear this, you may ask: Where is the end of life? What is its meaning? - The end of life and its meaning are found in eternity. Eternity contains everything within itself. Why should a person strive for eternity, what is the meaning of this striving—no philosopher can answer. However great the philosophers in the world may be, some of them arrive at some sort of end, and others—at none at all.

Thinking on this subject, some people say of themselves that they are the beginning, the head of the work. Others realize that they are the end, the tail of the work. But neither the beginning can be without the end, nor the end without the beginning. The beginning and the end, that is, the head and the tail, go together. The birth of a given idea is the beginning of that idea; its realization is the end. The end of one idea leads to the beginning of another. Ideas are inseparably linked to one another. So when someone says they have finished school, they have only finished one kind of school, just as a student finishes one academic year and rests before starting another. A person constantly learns, passes from one school to another—there is always something to learn.

As I present these thoughts, my goal is to draw your attention to the constant changes to which human life is exposed. The forms of human life are constantly changing. When it is said that a person passes through the state of plant and animal, this does not mean that they literally transform into a plant or an animal. A person passes only through the states of plant and animal, without taking on their forms. While they only grow, remain in one place, and rest, the person is in the state of a plant. This is the state of the newborn child, which grows without moving from one place to another. As soon as a desire arises in it to move, to change its place, the child enters the state of an animal. It begins to crawl, to move on all fours like an animal. When thought begins to act, the person feels a desire to stand upright and walk freely. They then enter the phase of a true human being who thinks, works, and aspires to rise to a new state—the phase of an angel. As a person transitions from one state to another, they are exposed to sufferings that elevate them—that is, which aid their development.

Modern people, especially some religious ones, think that when they go to the other world, everything will go smoothly and they will be able to learn what they failed to acquire on Earth. Indeed, many things can be learned in the other world, but for that, more intense work is required than here on Earth. "But we've completed our evolution, we've completed our earthly development." All the better. In the other world, those who have completed their development work. On Earth, both the wise and the foolish work, but in heaven—among the angels—only the wise work. A fool may visit the angels, spend a day or two as a guest, and then return to Earth to work. While still on Earth, one should not waste the moments for work, thinking they can live as they please and expect better conditions later. They must learn the lesson given to them today, without postponing it for tomorrow or another life. Today's task must be solved today—nothing more. You might say that the conditions are hindering you, or that you didn't understand the assignment. - No excuses are accepted.

- "Then what should we believe in?" - You should believe that there is one God in the world, Who is Love. He has given people the conditions to live, to work, and to learn. God is Wisdom. Therefore, He has placed reason in the human being, taught them to think and feel.

When a young woman and a young man fall in love, they think they are experiencing feeling for the first time. In the end, the woman complains that the man "burned" her, and the man says the same of her. What does this show? - That they placed too much energy into each other, more than was appropriate. If they are complaining, they are not wise; they played with fire. It is pleasant to play with fire, but not when that fire is placed on your hand. What are the consequences of such play? - A loss of trust. In order not to lose faith in themselves or in others, people must educate their feelings. Thought is given to the human being precisely for this purpose—to educate their feelings. One must always feel, not only when falling in love. The same applies to God's relation to us. Every moment He sends His thoughts and feelings to us. When people deny this, the cause lies within them. Through their unrighteous life, they close themselves off from God, and as a result, He temporarily ceases to send them the blessings they desire. He knows that if He sends blessings while they are living improperly, He will not help them but harm them. Failing to understand this, people, like capricious children, grumble that so-and-so received more while they received less. Of course! The healthy one may always eat from the food set on the table, but the sick one will eat little, and then only light, special food. Their stomach is weak, unable to handle anything else. When they recover, they too will partake of the blessings the healthy enjoy.

As students, you must focus on positive thoughts in life—not on how much someone knows or what their belief system is. The apostle Paul said: "We know in part, and we prophesy in part." The question is not for a person to grow up all at once, to become great and notable. The joy of a student lies in gradual growth and the acquisition of knowledge. Someone finishes high school or university and thinks they've become a learned person, that they know a lot. They talk to everyone about their past: when I was in such-and-such class, or in such-and-such semester, this and that happened, I learned such and such things. It is good to remember something from the past, but life moves forward without ceasing. Science also moves forward. What was true 10 or 20 years ago is no longer the same. Today you are agile, but in 20-30 years you will become more serious, move more slowly, and start philosophizing. You'll say, "Once we were young, and now we've grown old." - Why did you grow old? What caused your aging? Old age is your creditor. If you do not want to age, you must follow the rule: pay your creditor before they come to your house. If they show up, you must immediately send your servant to their office to pay the debt. If you don't have the money, you must escape somewhere so as not to appear before your creditor's eyes.

Therefore, if you want not to age, you must do one of two things: either pay your creditor before they come for you, or hide somewhere so they don't find you. - "Should a person flee from their obligations and not pay?" - Then pay! - "But I don't have the money." - Then flee! Life presents two positions: good and evil, day and night, joy and sorrow. One must choose one of the two. You say to someone: You must do good! - "I can't." - Then you'll do evil. - "I can't do evil either." - Then you'll do good. There are things a person cannot avoid. They must move forward—they cannot go back. However, in some cases, salvation lies in turning back. For example, if someone has taken a wrong path, heading toward evil, they must turn back. By returning, they will reorient toward good and move forward again. A person's thought determines the direction of their movement.

Often people take pride in their thoughts and feelings and rejoice that they are very productive. But it is not enough for a person merely to generate thoughts and feelings—they must also know how to preserve them so they are not lost. You meet someone, and they begin to complain: "What beautiful thoughts and feelings I had in my youth, but that time is gone; my bright thoughts and lofty feelings have vanished." - Where did they go? - "I don't know, but nothing remains of them. The beautiful and the bright are gone! They will not return." - If you've lost the beautiful in your life, it means you weren't a wise person. Not being able to retrieve what is lost, and not knowing the cause, you arrive at a crooked philosophy and say, "That's just the way things are; that's how we will pass on to the other world." - No, that is not the order of things. In the Divine order, the fountain must constantly flow, and the trough must always be full of water. If the fountain stops and the trough is not full, one of two things is true: either the fountain has some defect, or the water has been diverted from its path. In the Divine order of things, the fountain must always flow, and the trough must be full. In other words: a person's thoughts and feelings must continuously flow and fill the trough from which people, plants, and animals may draw benefit.

Thus, a person must not lose their beautiful thoughts and feelings. As soon as they look toward the reservoir into which they once flowed, they must remember their youth—as a maiden or a young man—and return to it. Whoever masters this art will instantly darken their hair, erase the wrinkles from their face, and become a young maiden or young man once again. You will say this is a tale from *The Thousand and One Nights*. For the ignorant, yes; but for the wise, all is possible. What kind of science is it that convinces people they must die, fall ill, or sin? That is no science at all. Divine science excludes all of these things. A person must strive toward that science. Once they reach it, they will understand that Paradise and Heaven are created for the good and wise. Hell and purgatory are created for the bad and foolish. The icehouse is made for ice. The hospital is made for the sick. - "But why must I go to hell?" - Because you are foolish. - "Why must I go to purgatory?" - Because you are bad. - "Why must I go to the bathhouse?" - To cleanse yourself, to become pure. This shows that there is great order and lawfulness in the world—everything is put in its rightful place. Where there is order, there are also laws that must be fulfilled. No one is able to change these laws. Even God does not change them. If He were to change them, He would turn against Himself. To believe that one can change the great laws of life means one is incapable of thinking correctly or thinks only of themselves.

Now you ask: "What should we do when we've lost our inner peace?" I ask: what must the violinist do, who, despite having a fine violin and good-quality strings, cannot play well? External moisture affects the strings, and they are forced to stop and retune the instrument. Knowing this, you can understand why sometimes the strings of your heart and mind go slack and you cannot play well. Some kind of moisture is affecting them. Protect yourselves from the moisture that influences your thoughts and feelings and hinders your ability to reason correctly. Right thinking determines your present state. And your present state serves as the foundation for many days to come.

What do we see today in the life of modern humanity? You meet a twelve-year-old boy—strong, healthy, capable of overcoming all difficulties. But by the time he is twenty-one, instead of becoming a strong, robust man, he weakens, loses his strength. What is the cause of this? - This young man has experienced something so powerful that it created a rupture between his mind and heart, that is, between his thoughts and feelings. If he wishes to restore his strength, he must harmonize his thoughts and feelings.

Now, in studying the phases of human development scientifically, we can generally divide them into three: in the first phase of human development, from ages one to seven, the person passes through the state of a plant. Observing the life of a child up to the age of seven, we see that the circle in which they move is small. This is why a child is afraid to stray far from home. From age seven to fourteen, the person passes through the state of an animal. They begin to move freely and stray farther from home. From age fourteen to twenty-one, the person begins to think and enters the phase of the true human being. After age twenty-one, these same phases repeat. From twenty-one to twenty-eight, they enter the plant phase; from twenty-eight to thirty-five, the animal phase; and from thirty-five to forty-two, the human phase. These phases continue in this pattern into deep old age. When passing through the plant phase, the person may scientifically say of themselves that they are studying botany, exploring the origins of plants. At the same time, they study themselves and determine to which category of plant they belong: algae, terrestrial plants, lower or higher species, etc. When passing through the animal phase, the person engages with zoology—studying the origin of animals generally and their own origin specifically. Finally, when they reach the human phase, they study anthropology—examining their organism and the epochs they have passed through as a human being.

Many say they are not interested in these matters. Indeed, today people are more concerned with material questions: when will they finish school, will they be hired for a job, and so on. Someone finishes studying the natural sciences and wants to become a teacher. They are appointed as such, but after five years, they are dismissed. They are concerned with getting the job but not with how long they'll remain in it. When someone is dismissed from a post, it means another task is foreseen for them. Not realizing this, they suffer and want to return to the same job. But human life is full of changes. In change lies the beauty. While changes occur in one's life, they should rejoice. When changes cease, it means development has stopped.

Therefore, whether passing through the state of a plant or of an animal, a person should rejoice. As a plant, they must learn the law of patience. Whatever situation they find themselves in, they must learn. Otherwise, they may only philosophize, without acquiring real experience. When such "philosophers" encounter trials or challenges, instead of resolving them, they may ruin things.

There's a story about one such small philosopher. A ten-year-old boy loved to philosophize and solve problems on his own. One day—on Holy Thursday before Easter—his mother had bought 250 eggs and placed them in a basket to dye. Seeing so many eggs, the boy decided to find the strongest one to use in cracking the eggs of his friends. He took two eggs, knocked them together—one broke, the other didn't. He continued this way, testing them all, until only one unbroken egg remained. The boy concluded that this egg was the strongest and would be his champion. But what was the outcome? All the eggs were broken, and only one remained. When the mother entered and saw the disaster—a basket of broken eggs—she cried out in horror. "Why did you break the eggs?" - "I was looking for a champion," the boy answered.

Modern people often find themselves in the position of that boy. Solving their life's questions only with their intellect, through abstract philosophizing, they end up breaking all the eggs—the conditions given to them in life—and are left with only one intact egg. - No, that's not how questions are resolved. With one sound egg in life, nothing can be achieved, nothing can be solved. A person is not born on Earth to live comfortably. They are born to learn—and joy and merriment are merely interludes, changes of state. The student rejoices when they are learning. If they do not learn, they will receive failing grades—ones and twos—that will trouble them. It's dangerous if those ones and twos grow fond of them. If they do, the student cannot move up. Ones and twos are a barrier that prevents the student from advancing to a higher grade. Confronted with this barrier, the student must exert all effort to overcome it. If they do, they are a hero. But if they remain stuck, receiving only ones and twos, they become a barren tree, to be cut down and thrown into the fire. To avoid being cast out, the student must work diligently—turn the one into a two, the two into a three, the three into a four, and eventually reach a six. If they graduate with a six, everyone will recognize them as gifted and capable.

Now, those among you who do not understand the significance of numbers might say, "These are just numbers, they mean nothing." Indeed, if they have no content, numbers carry no meaning. But if they have content, they represent a certain tension, a certain quantity of energy. For example, if we take the numbers 740 mm or 700 mm of atmospheric pressure, it matters greatly which one we refer to. At 740 mm, the weather is fine; at 700 mm, we have rain and storm. Knowing the atmospheric pressure, you can decide whether you can go to the mountains or not. If you go at 700 mm, you must dress warmly, take a raincoat, because it will rain. If the pressure is at 690 mm, the weather will be even worse. As you can see, every number has meaning. Numbers are not arbitrary quantities. They conceal within themselves a specific amount of force, of tension.

Therefore, every number in nature—and in life—has a strictly defined inner meaning. So, when people speak of the favorable or unfavorable influence of certain days or numbers in their lives, it is not superstition. For many, Tuesday and Friday are not good days. For some, the numbers 13, 17, and others are unfavorable. On such days and with such numbers, they begin nothing. Whatever influence numbers may have, a person must keep positive thoughts in their mind. Some say that to avoid the fatalism of life, one must be religious. - That is easy work. To be religious means to believe in God and to do good. People don't realize that by believing in God and doing good, they are learning, acquiring experience. Whether doing good or evil, a person is always learning. In both cases, they are held accountable for what they do. Some think that death will bring them peace. - No, even the dead are held accountable. - Why? - Because they must answer for why they smell so badly and pollute the air. To relieve the living from the dead, worms are sent to help. Thus, there is no absolute rest—neither in this world nor the next. From time to time, the good and wise may rest, but the foolish and sinful have no right to rest. They are obligated to give account for their deeds at every moment in order to learn and move forward.

What do we understand by the phrase "a sinful person"? A sinful person is one who resists the will of God. In the very moment they resolve to fulfill God's will out of love—not fear—they are righteous. It depends on the person whether they will be good or bad, righteous or sinful. God's desire is for us to be good and wise. He has all the means to turn a bad person into a good one, and a sinner into a righteous one. But this requires work. Even if one goes to God, they must still work. Nothing is given freely—without labor and effort. Knowledge, virtue, strength—all are acquired through work. - "But can't they be received by grace?" - No, they cannot. Grace means good conditions provided to a person, and from them is required work—to fulfill God's will. Whoever fulfills His will is under His grace. Whoever does not is under no grace at all. They are exposed to suffering because they have transgressed God's laws. Even God does not violate His own laws. Whoever fulfills God's laws prospers. Obedience to God and the fulfillment of His will make a person happy. To develop this readiness within yourself, you must hold this thought in your mind: that God is good, that He cares for all people, desires their good, and helps them. The dark thoughts, the black clouds in your consciousness, are your own invention. They are the product of your negative states. To remove the clouds from your consciousness, you must live in a new way. If you choose to return to your old way of life, the clouds will only thicken. What does a person gain by descending deeper each day? - Nothing. One day they will find themselves at the bottom of hell, from which they will again need thousands of years to rise to the surface.

The thought that must remain in your mind is this: your happiness, your good, lies in your own hands. If you want to acquire science, art, music, poetry—everything depends on your obedience. If you have this obedience, you will become a musician, an artist, a poet, and a scholar—but not now, not in a single life. Many days, many months, many years, many lives must pass before a person acquires these things. But once they make a beginning, their affairs will begin to fall into order.

Modern people need patience. They should not become weary of life, but should regard all things positively. Someone complains they live in hell. - Why do they live in hell? - Because they think badly of everyone. You constantly hear them saying, "This one is bad, that one is a sinner." Sometimes, they go so far in their criticism that they allow themselves to disapprove even of God and the angels. Everyone is bad to them—only they are good. What should such a person do? They must believe that all people are good, that God is kind and merciful. Until they restore harmony between their thoughts and feelings, they will not be healthy and will not develop properly. A person must transform their mind and bring into themselves new, positive thoughts that can rejuvenate them. Only in this way can they be renewed. If they want to be young again, they must bring love into themselves—to love all people, to be content with life, with the conditions in which they find themselves. If they do not bring love into themselves, then no matter how much they speak of it, they will be like someone boasting of their apples but unable to take them out of the sewn-up sack to offer to others. If the apples remain in the sack, they are condemned to rot.

What definition can be given for love? What is love? To love means to give to others from the good you possess. That is the simplest definition of love. In Bulgarian, the word love is written with six letters. In English, it is written with four: L-O-V-E. After the letter "L," the Englishman writes "O"—he shortens the Cyrillic character "Ю" to "O," because he is practical. He says: "Time is money." The letter in the Bulgarian word shows that to love, a person must work—must plow, must sow, and in time, the sown seed will grow. The Englishman is in a hurry. He wants the seed to grow quickly and produce something.

When speaking of love, you must also learn its song. The word "love" has its own song and its own movements. A truly musical person can sing the word "love" with movements. If they sing it in this way, it will have the desired effect. Every word, when musically spoken and accompanied by harmonious movement, has the power to awaken the human soul. Imagine someone going on stage to speak, but standing stiff and motionless like a tree, with no expression in their words, no movement. What kind of impression will this person leave on the audience? One by one, people will begin to leave, and he will be left alone. We are not made for life without movement. When someone speaks, their eyes, hands, face must express the words coming from their mouth. In the movement, in the gait of the person, there must be something plastic, harmonious—they must rejoice that they are alive. Everyone can become beautiful, can develop grace in their movement—it depends on the person. Effort, work is required for someone to become a true human being. If even an angel must pass through thousands of trials before becoming a true angel, how many more trials must a person endure before becoming a true human being! How many times they will be born and reborn before reaching that state!

As students, if you desire to advance, you must free yourselves from doubt. You shall believe in God, in the Spirit of God, and in yourselves—without any doubt, without hesitation. Even the smallest doubt will lead you into the lower worlds, into darkness and discouragement.

Some may say, "I think I believe," or "I think I love others." But this is not enough. This matter must be settled within. One must say: I believe. I love.

In Divine love, there is only giving. In human love, there is both giving and receiving. Sometimes a person loves and gives; other times, they love and receive. The Divine and the human touch at points, but they move in opposite directions. A person must learn much before they can understand the Divine world.

For the development of the human soul, there are thousands of possibilities. A vast future unfolds before the person. Countless riches are revealed to their sight. To realize all of this, not one, but countless eternities are required.

Let this truth encourage you: you can attain your higher ideals, you can fulfill your inner aspirations. If this is your aim, then each morning, when you rise from sleep, before beginning your work, turn to the Lord. If you do not do this, you won't accomplish anything. God will teach you what to do, and how to work throughout the day.

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On Pursuing Your Path Diligently

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 22 min read ☾

Activity and rest are two states through which a person inevitably passes. After working for a while, he must rest; having rested, he begins to work again. If he rests wisely and at the proper time, his work is pleasant and yields good results; if he does not rest wisely and on time, his work is not pleasant and does not bear good fruit. Therefore it is said: Work moderately and rest on time. When one rests more than he should, he becomes lazy; when one works rightly, he becomes diligent. Thus, improperly applied rest turns into laziness. Properly manifested activity turns into diligence. Laziness and diligence are brother and sister from two different fathers and two different mothers. Just as activity and diligence go together, laziness and pleasure always go together. The relationship between the first two is the same as the relationship between the latter two. The lazy person loves to indulge, while the diligent one loves to work. Activity and the capacity to work are two analogous states through which the human soul passes. Laziness excludes any culture. A lazy person can be called civilized, but not cultured. The lazy, the weak, make no effort for their own development and say that evolution, as a natural process of development, will lift them, too. The lazy person does not like to move, to change his place; therefore he seeks comforts in his life and expects everything from servants. He is surrounded by bells and constantly jingles them, calling this or that servant to attend him. As soon as the bell jingles, his desire is fulfilled in a magical way. The lazy person loves to dream, to transport himself to realms that fairy tales depict.

Laziness is a state that exists in all three worlds— the physical, the spiritual, and the intellectual. The contradictions that exist in human life are due to laziness, to the lazy states of the person, which sometimes seize his mind and heart and obstruct his noble aspirations. Whoever seeks the easy path constantly asks, “Why do things happen this way and not another?” Such a person is lazy. A Bulgarian proverb says, “Make a lazy person work and he will teach you wisdom.” It means that lazy people are clever. Laziness is accompanied by one negative quality— postponement. If a lazy person must pay something, he postpones payment until favorable times; if he must finish a task, he postpones it; if he must pray or study, he postpones; if the hour of his death has come, he postpones even that. Whatever work you assign him, he will always find a way to delay it, or he will ask for time to think whether to accept that work or refuse it. The lazy person does not hurry; he looks through the eyes of eternity; he has no high ideal, no definite ideas. Because he strives for inner calm, he avoids worries. The lazy person often looks at himself in the mirror, fearing that wrinkles will appear on his face; then he touches the skin of his hands to see if they have become rough. He loves to have soft skin, especially soft hands.

Now I am not speaking of the laziness that arises from the household environment, but of that laziness which comes from the inert matter within a person. Sometimes wealth makes a person lazy, but this laziness is temporary. The son of a rich man is often lazy, does not study, because he relies on his father’s wealth. Sometimes laziness becomes the cause of lying. That is why, when a person takes the true path of life, he must guard against laziness and against lying. Laziness is a gentle current in nature, but once a person falls into it, he encounters great contradictions and begins to seek happiness where he cannot find it. Laziness does not lead to happiness, but to destruction.

What is the opposite quality of laziness?— Diligence. Through diligence, a person develops his virtues. Diligence appears as a saving means for the person against laziness. “Can every person be diligent?”— Yes. Diligence is a quality of the human soul, which it has inherited from the spirit. It is said of the spirit that it is tireless in its activity, that it constantly works. Only through diligence does a person begin new tasks and finish those he has begun. The diligent student always learns his lessons for the day; the diligent worker completes the work he has started; the diligent worshipper prays at the proper time. In general, the diligent person does his work on time and never postpones.

Another distinctive quality of a diligent person is that he always starts with small matters and gradually moves toward greater ones. Once he begins a task, small or large, he completes it to the end. In great and grand works, many motivating reasons participate, but not diligence. Wealth has given rise to laziness, and poverty to diligence. The diligent one understands the meaning of life. He studies, works, and knows why he studies and why he works. The lazy one spends his time in idleness and does not know why he does not want to work.

When is laziness born and when—diligence? When people lose their primary ideals, laziness appears on life’s stage. If a person loses the direction of his inner life, he becomes lazy. In this sense, laziness is defined as the result of having lost something valuable. When a person finds his path—i.e., the direction of his inner life—diligence appears. Thus, diligence indicates the true path in life. As long as a person is diligent in his tasks, you will know that he has found the true path of life. If he is lazy, you will know that he is off the true path of life. For him, life has no purpose or meaning, and so his desires and thoughts are scattered and wrong.

You hear someone say that he does not want to learn, does not want to become a scholar, philosopher, poet, musician, does not want to become a person of note. In support of his words, he quotes verses from the Gospel where it says that knowledge and acquisitions are burdens of the spirit. He continues to convince himself and his neighbors that man must live calmly, without worries, knowing why he has lived. What is the motivating cause that makes this person think in this way?—Laziness. Only the lazy deny knowledge; only the lazy avoid hardships. Whoever runs from hardship and denies it is a lazy person. To avoid hardships, he imposes upon himself an apparent inner calm, but it does not arise from that deep philosophical thought which brings self-possession to a person.

Many confuse laziness with rest, but they are two different states. Rest is a natural state in which a person changes his position in order to restore expended energies, to renew his organism. After rest, he feels satisfied and ready to work. Laziness produces a certain slackness of the organism. In laziness, a person’s state remains the same all day long. There is no more dangerous disease for the young than laziness. The lazy person cannot realize his ideas. Laziness neither brings impetus nor impulse to a person, but rather stops his development. Whatever noble desire arises in him, as soon as laziness comes, he postpones everything and says: “There is no need to hurry so much for this task; its time has not come yet; when the time for it comes, then I will accomplish it.”

To illustrate the results of a person’s positive and negative qualities, people have written and continue to write fables and proverbs with moral conclusions. For example, in the fable “The Grasshopper and the Ant,” the grasshopper represents laziness, and the ant—diligence and industriousness. In fact, the conclusion is not absolutely true. The grasshopper is not lazy, nor is the ant a symbol of true diligence and industry. The ant is indeed active and energetic, but the feeling that makes it act in this way is not diligence but avarice. The grasshopper is carefree. With its songs, it heralds a new culture. There is a certain resemblance between the grasshopper and the hare. The grasshopper’s hind legs are long, like those of a hare, which is why it also jumps easily.

From a psychological viewpoint, to complete a task, a person must have the disposition of a grasshopper. In this regard, the grasshopper resembles a scholarly person who understands life in his own way and uses it according to his possibilities. Ants, on the other hand, symbolize the old culture, which has lost its direction in life. If one traces the life of ants, one sees the reasons for the stoppage of a culture’s development in the organic world. If you seek the negative—that is, the bad—sides of a given culture, you will find them in the life of ants. Among them there is order and discipline, but discipline of violence and cruelty. Ants are creatures of extreme materialism; in them there is no trace of idealism. When young people say that one must work in one’s youth in order to rest in old age, this philosophy pertains to the culture of ants.

Having been guided by the principle that one must work in youth in order to rest in old age, people have created laziness. Under the concept of “rest,” they understand a tranquil state in which a person simply rests and indulges. Upon this principle, some religious views have also been built. The Turks, for example, imagine paradise as bliss: before them stands an entire mountain of pilaf, dripping with butter. They hold a hookah in their mouth and a spoon in their hand, and from time to time they smoke and eat pilaf. This state continues for an entire eternity. According to them, this is a life of eternal happiness and bliss. Many contemporary people imagine life in the same way and say to themselves: “I desire nothing but to have before me a mountain of pilaf, and for me to sit with a spoon in my hand before it, to stir the pilaf, to eat, and to think of nothing, and to have no worries. This is the meaning of life.” In my view, this is the distorted Turkish idea of paradise and of bliss. This is a perverted life, without hardships and sufferings. Such a life exists only in the minds of those who seek the easy path, but not in the minds of wise people who cope with hardships and sufferings.

What ideas can arise under such a culture, under such a civilization, or under such an understanding of life? Today, the young are educated one way, the old another. In the end, upon encountering hardships and contradictions, both ask themselves, “Why was the world created as it is?” Do you think that God, Who created the world and pondered for centuries how and in what best way to create it, would introduce so many hardships, contradictions, and sufferings that would trip you up? Do you think that He Who created the entire universe did not take into account the best methods for the development of all living beings? Do you think that He did not foresee all the conditions for and against the common development of life? All this was foreseen before life was created and manifested. And if today, in people’s lives, certain contradictions stand out, they are not God’s doing, but shadows that appear in the consciousness of still underdeveloped beings. These shadows are due to lower consciousnesses that penetrate into people’s consciousness and thus cloud their original light. Life itself, as it existed initially in God’s consciousness and was manifested outside His consciousness, is ideal, exalted, and perfect. If a person places absolute faith in life, that everything God created is good and perfect, he will attain the true, the profound meaning of things, embedded in the totality of life. Only thus will a person understand the purpose of apparent contradictions; only thus will he understand why hardships and sufferings come into life.

Thus, to acquire a deep understanding of life, a person must comprehend all the hidden methods by which laziness extends its tentacles and envelops him. Having discovered the methods and techniques that laziness uses, a person can oppose it. Laziness is a conscious force that seeks to counteract a person’s development. When a person’s forces are balanced—i.e., come to the brink of indifference—then laziness, inactivity, appears. Such a state arises when two young fighters with equal strength fight. They fight for some time until finally the fight stops with neither victor nor vanquished. That fight is pointless because it lacks motion. That is why we say that the meaning of life is in eternal movement, not in eternal struggle.

When a state of inactivity befalls a person, diligence comes to his aid. It is the force, impulse, and drive of the human spirit, which constantly pushes one or another force or ability in the person toward activity and keeps him in always conscious movement called “work.” Therefore, diligence must enter as a fundamental element into every act, every thought, every feeling. Diligence is distinguished by the fact that it overcomes all hardships in life, while laziness retreats at the slightest obstacle. In order for laziness not to nest in a person’s mind, heart, or will, and become a morbid state of his soul, he must not yield to any hardships in his life. Every hardship, however small, represents a stage that a person must pass through and move beyond, without lingering too long there. Every hardship is a barrier that has at least one opening through which a person can go out. In a word, hardships are formulas similar to those used in mathematics. If you know the formulas, you will solve problems correctly. Therefore, if you solve your hardships correctly, you will also solve the tasks of your life correctly.

When speaking of laziness and diligence, you must listen and understand well so as not to fall into contradictions. Sometimes the lazy person thinks he is a deity for whom all must work. He considers himself the center of the universe and thinks that if he works or shifts from his place, order and harmony in the world will be disrupted. In a certain case, the lazy person takes the position of a philosopher or scholar who thinks that only he has the right to teach people how to work and live. If someone dares to give him advice, he says: “I have done my work, I have finished studying and praying, I have understood what love is. Now nothing remains for me but to sit motionless in one place like a point in the universe, around which all other points will move and work.” This person may give lectures to people about diligence without putting it into practice himself. He seeks a luxurious life and pleasures. He speaks softly, gently, and calmly, like a philosopher. He quarrels with no one; outwardly he is kind and serene, smiling to left and right. If someone opposes him and refuses to do the work he assigns, he takes out some shiny coins from his pouch, gives them, and says: “Do you want to become diligent? Do what I advise, and don’t force me to lose my peace. If I lose my peace, you will lose your life, because you will cause the balance of the universe to be disturbed.” If you fulfill the desire of the lazy person, he says about you: “Here is a fool who does not understand the meaning of life.”

The lazy person loves to give advice to people. To one he says: “Go dig in the vineyard!” To another: “Go plow in the field!” To a third: “Read, learn so that you don’t remain blind!” He only sits, lounges, snickering at people’s weaknesses. Some call the lazy person an “internal aristocrat.” He moves slowly, with dignity and self-awareness, as if he understands everything.

When did laziness originate?— Since the time of the first man. Having been left without work, he wished to outwit nature, to impose himself on it. But wise nature does not love lies, does not love inactivity, does not love the violation of its laws. For a long time it remained silent, observing how far man would go in his folly. Seeing that this situation would not correct itself, it every day placed one speck of dust on man’s back. Because he gave in to laziness, the man did not brush the dust from his back himself, but expected someone from outside to come and clean it for him. He waited a long time, but no one came to help him, until finally so much dust had accumulated on his back that it began to penetrate his consciousness. As a result, his life began to become distorted, to lose its meaning. He did not understand that the cause of the clouding of his consciousness lay within himself. The accumulation of dust in human consciousness eventually led to extreme obesity of his body, through which he grew coarse and deformed—he lost his beauty. He wondered about the state into which he had fallen and said to himself: “What has happened to me that I have changed so much? There is something meaningless in life.” Day by day he became more undisciplined until he became a lazy person and succumbed to inactivity.

Many of the sufferings and anxieties of contemporary people are mainly due to inactivity. A person can manifest laziness in every respect: in learning, in acquiring virtues, in his work, and so on. Laziness manifested even in Solomon as a quality of human nature. After Solomon acquired great knowledge and great wisdom, laziness placed its foot in his mind, and finally he said: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Much knowledge is a burden to the spirit.” After this philosophy, Solomon gave himself over to eating and drinking in his life. He sought the cause of laziness in himself but could not find it.

Thus, the right and natural path in life is the path of diligence. As long as diligence has lodged deeply in the human soul, a person walks the right path of life, on which all forces and abilities develop correctly. The diligent person is always joyful. Returning from work, he is calm and tranquil, satisfied with himself for having accomplished something. He has his own assets and liabilities. There is no greater good for a person than to become diligent. If someone says that he mourns his unfulfilled desires, this shows that he has been lazy. Only the lazy think that they cannot achieve their desires and make no effort. Discontent is a state that follows laziness. They go together. In other words: laziness is the mother of discontent, and therefore the lazy person feels inner discontent with himself.

Study the qualities of laziness and diligence from a psychological point of view so that you may understand the outward aspect of the new life you wish to acquire. Diligence shows a person the methods and laws by which he can work. Laziness, on the other hand, turns a person away from the right path. Until a certain age, some children are active and diligent, but afterward they walk the path of laziness and lose the meaning of their lives. Remember: laziness is the mother of evil, and diligence—the mother of good. This is the inner, psychological difference between evil and good. Therefore, if you are asked how and whence evil was born, you will know that laziness is its mother. Laziness is a civilization that gave birth to evil. Evil has its effect in the world because it often produces explosions in a person. In evil acts the goad is at work. The ox plows the field and does work because the goad prods it from time to time. The horse gallops, serving its master, because the whip plays over its back. However, neither the ox nor the horse works of their own good will. The goad and the whip are the reasons for their activity.

Therefore, if a person has in himself a stimulus similar to a goad or whip that compels him to work and move forward, this is not proper activity. Likewise, the lazy one works. When they want to make the lazy person work, they will forcibly compel him, but this is not a voluntary act—it is violence. The forces of the lazy person are passive. He tells himself: “Who will toil? Who will make an effort of his brain to grasp this or that knowledge? There is no need for me to toil; God did not create man for suffering.” When he goes outside, into the sun, the lazy person warms his back a little, then returns to the shaded room and rests. If someone says he does not want to study, to pray, to work, the cause lies in laziness. If they force you to pray and to study, this is not true prayer nor learning with love. If they force you to do good, this is not true good. True good implies a natural, healthy act of the human soul. Knowing this, cling to diligence and avoid laziness. Whenever you come to an obstacle in your life, cast laziness entirely away from yourself. If your affairs are not going well, renounce laziness completely and apply diligence. It resolves the contradictions in life. It resolves the question of the existence of evil. If laziness visits you, do not be angry with it; listen only to what it will tell you. It will recount to you its origin, where it came from, how it nested in a person, and so on. The story of laziness is interesting. It is a living force that has such subtle techniques and methods that, if you do not know how to deal with it, it will leap onto your back and force you to carry it all your life. It is not easy for a person to free himself from laziness. It can slip into the mind of even your best, most beloved friend, in whom you have trust, and deceive you, leading you off the right path of life.

Imagine that your best friend, whom you have not seen for twenty years, comes to you. At precisely that moment, you must perform your prayer. Seeing that you are preparing to pray, your friend says: “Leave your prayer now; let us first meet—so much time has passed since we last saw each other!” If you postpone your prayer and give in to your friend’s counsel, you enter into the law of laziness. If your friend acts according to the law of diligence, he must pray together with you and then converse.

Prayer is a sacred act that everyone must perform at every moment and without delay. How a person will perform his prayer depends on the degree of his development. What does a person do when he awakes? First, he opens his eyes; then he raises his arms upward and rises. In the spiritual sense of the word, opening one’s eyes means “the awakening of the human soul.” The opening of the eyes also represents prayer. Who opens his eyes early in the morning?—The diligent person. Thus, the diligent one is distinguished by the wakefulness of consciousness. For him, every opening of the eyes is a prayer. To pray means to open one’s eyes, to look at the beautiful world of God, and to go forward to do the small task given to him for the day. The one who sits in one place and constantly recites prayers is a lazy person. In the end, he comes to a bad end. What does this bad end consist of?—In his disappointment in God. After praying for years, he wonders why God does not answer his prayers and asks himself, “Why does the Lord not satisfy my needs? Does He not see that I need money, servants to help me?” He wonders how the Lord does not pay attention to such a deity as himself. God does not stop on a person’s negative qualities and satisfy them.

To what are the negative traits of human character due?—To laziness. The negative forces in a person cloud his consciousness, and he loses the meaning of his life. This means that a person closes his eyes prematurely. When does a person close his eyes?—Only when he sleeps. The one who is not asleep yet closes his eyes is lazy. However, if a diligent person does not sleep, his eyes are always open.

Now we examine the inner essence of laziness and diligence, not as they are understood in life. For a person to rest is not a state of laziness but a state in which the mind takes active part. When he rests and when he works, a person must know the reason why he rests and why he works; when he prays and studies, he must also know the reason for what he does; when he thinks, he must know the cause that gives rise to his thought and then think rightly. Someone might say that life has no meaning. How is it possible that God, the Creator of the world, who has given meaning to everything, could create a meaningless life? This is the philosophy of the lazy person, from which you must guard yourself. Whoever strives for new life and new understanding must be pleasing to God. This means to be capable. The diligent student is capable, and the capable—talented. The talented student is the teacher’s and God’s favorite. God concerns Himself with the diligent student, while He leaves the lazy one to nature to deal with. What does nature do to the lazy person? Each time it passes by him, it leaves a speck of dust on his back. Then God passes by him and, seeing him covered in dust, says: “This child reaps the consequences of his laziness, but he will learn his lesson.”—When will he learn his lesson?—When he enters the spiritual world and begins to engage in spiritual works.

When people speak to others about spiritual matters, few are interested in them. Why are people not interested in spiritual questions?—For two reasons: either they are not ready to receive them, or the one who speaks on them does not affect them in essence. Both the material and the spiritual world have their good sides; therefore, both worlds present interest for people. In both worlds, there is something real, unchanging, which eases their study. This reality represents the inner connection among all manifestations of life. In this respect, the diligent one solidarizes with the activity of wise beings from all worlds and works together with them. The lazy person, however, is an extreme individualist. He separates himself from the beings of other worlds, living only in the physical world, guided mainly by his personality. However, the life of the personality does not represent an ideal life. Through laziness, a person comes to a distorted understanding of life, and this leads him away from the right path of the natural activity necessary for every soul.

So, keep in your mind the two ideas—of diligence and of laziness—strive toward the first and guard yourself against the second. The young must guard against laziness so as not to age prematurely; the old must practice diligence so as to become rejuvenated. Youth is the outward expression of diligence, and old age—the outward expression of laziness. Virtues develop under the law of diligence, and weaknesses and vices under the law of laziness. A young person must apply the law of diligence and make use of the smallest blessings that God has given him to solve the tasks in his life. If laziness enters the young person’s heart, it begins to advise him not to love all people, not to open himself to love. Whom should the young person love?—Only himself. To love only oneself is to cripple one’s own heart. Only he who places a barrier before his eyes with a narrow aperture and, from time to time, glances through it at the wide world cannot love others. What will he see through that aperture?—Only what is right in front of his eyes, which does not give a notion of the vast world God has created. In such a position, it is only natural that a person should love only himself. If one sees only one person through a narrow aperture, it is only natural to love only that one person. “Show me how to love all people.”—This happens instantly: remove the barrier before his eyes, and he immediately sees everything around him. Laziness places such barriers before people’s eyes and leads them into dead-end streets. They look here and there, asking: “How can a cart pass down this road?”—“This road is not for a cart.”—“Then let people come from outside to make a new road.”—“You walk on the road that God has long since drawn, and do not wait for people to come from outside to make a new road.”

Today, young and old, learned and unlearned, criticize God, finding that the world was not created as it should have been, that it should have been created otherwise. People who think and philosophize in this way walk according to the law of laziness. This is an abnormal state for humanity because in this way, precisely, people descend from the rung of culture and enter the realm of civilization—a step downward. Human idealism gave birth to culture; culture gave birth to civilization; and civilization gave birth to savagery—degeneration, the decline of humanity. What came after that?—People began to kill one another. What did wars bring?—Destruction and misery. These are the consequences of laziness. This cannot be called evolution, but the degeneration of humanity. Evolution is a law for correcting errors. To evolve means to walk the path of diligence. In other words, evolution includes humanity’s efforts to enter the law of diligence, that is, into the correct manifestations of human activity.

What is the task of contemporary humanity?—To return to the original Divine life. This is the new life, whose philosophy can be expressed in a few words: to live as God lives; to manifest as God manifests; to work as God works. To be like God and one with Him! Having achieved this, all beings become close to you as they are close to God; all disputes dissolve instantly. Only thus will you hear the gentle voice of God, Who says to you: “Diligence!” It leads to the correct development of life. If you understand diligence and laziness properly, they will gain meaning for you. It is necessary to understand their meaning to find the truth. Every word is true when it expresses the truth. If I describe the wolf, I will describe it as it actually is. When I describe laziness and diligence, I will give their essential qualities exactly, without any exaggeration or diminution. Only thus do words attain their true content and meaning.

Here is a way to protect yourself from laziness: whenever you come upon it, brush a single speck of dust onto its back and walk away. It will be pleased—after all, each speck of dust brings its own kind of blessing. But if you leave it clean, it will roam free and trail after you. To grasp what those specks mean, your awareness must be fully awake. Anyone lacking that alertness—anyone who doesn’t truly understand life—shouldn’t condemn himself. Self-condemnation closes off the possibility of seeing the truth. On the other hand, whoever refrains from judging himself and instead searches for the root of his errors to set them right is traveling the way of truth. Ultimately, that person discovers that every wrong turn and setback in life comes from laziness.

Many complain of fate and wonder who brought them into this state, to feel bound and limited. Very simple—laziness has bound them. “How can we be unbound?”—By entering the law of diligence. From the moment you begin to work according to the law of diligence, you will free yourself from the limiting conditions of your life. If you connect with diligence, all fear will vanish from you. If you are afraid and work with diligence, you will find yourself in the position of that neurasthenic whom the doctor recommended take excursions. Having begun to climb the mountains, he became afraid that his heart would burst, that he would lose his strength, and took another direction of movement. Diligence is an ascent up high mountain peaks. Whoever becomes afraid of it descends into the valley of life and remains there for a long time.

When you apply the law of diligence, don’t be afraid of moving quickly or scaling mountain summits. For someone diligent, there is no room for doubt or disbelief. He lives with positive, absolute faith. Once he starts a job, he sees it through completely. Even if the weather is rainy and cold, even if circumstances are against him, and even if he’s inherited negative traits from his parents, he pushes forward and works without making excuses. Laziness blames inherited flaws, but diligence looks for talents and cultivates them. Ask laziness what it bears, and it responds, ‘I bear weaknesses and a life of comfort.’ Ask diligence, and it answers, ‘Talents and hard work.’

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The Way of Being

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 22 min read ☾

What does the curved line in Figure 1 represent? - The creative line of Being, the path of Being, or the path of life. In other words, the path of life is not a straight line but a curved line. A straight line represents a small segment of the curve. Thus, the smallest part of a curved line is straight. However, the entire line is curved. Whoever can "read" along it will understand the path they have traveled and learn for themselves from what they have passed through and experienced. Every person, every living being, is subject to the laws by which this curved line is formed. In its form, the curved line resembles a serpent. When a serpent is dead, it straightens out and forms a straight line. Through the contraction and relaxation of its muscles, the serpent moves and goes forward. Such movement also exists in the universe. In the movement that takes place throughout the universe, we notice two kinds of moments: ascending - LB and MB - and descending - TD and TI. The ascending moments represent divine principles that create, i.e., bring everything into existence in the universe, whereas the descending moments represent the realization of the Divine, meaning the manifested and embodied forms.

A person's descent onto the earth is nothing other than a descent into a valley. The earth represents life in the valley, and the heavens represent life atop the mountain peaks. You cannot live on earth without first descending into a valley and without first understanding life in the lowland. To climb the peaks implies the awakening of the human soul. Once awakened, a person determines the direction of their movement. Direction is determined by thought, and thought is the straight line of movement. Thus, at the peak LB a person awakens and sends their thought toward the peak MB — the direction of movement for their thought. However, a person cannot remain forever on the peaks. They wish to descend into the valley of life, to apply their thought, and to realize their desire.

We have said that the curved line, which has a serpentine shape, represents the creative line of Being. Therefore, we may say that the serpent is a symbol of Being's creative line. Whoever does not understand the meaning of this line cannot attain the divine truths. In the curved line we see two directions: AC - horizontal, and BD - vertical. The horizontal line shows the direction of human striving, while the vertical line shows the very striving itself. The horizontal direction, denoted by the straight segment AC, represents the line of reason, while the vertical one, BD, represents the line of will. Will cannot manifest without reason. In other words, will cannot manifest without a straight direction of movement. A person cannot strive to realize a given idea if there is no determined direction in which that idea must move. One idea implies one direction. That is why, when someone wants to realize a certain idea, they must concentrate their attention in a single direction and avoid splitting it. Many images, many ideas distract the consciousness, and a person looks in many directions, not knowing which to seize. Once they fix their attention on a single image, they take a definite direction and move consciously. That is how all people act who move toward a great goal. Once they set a definite direction, they move, they think, they decide. Once they have decided, they soar upward toward the summit of their goal and unerringly follow the chosen path.

Thus, every movement implies a determined direction. Desire is movement, and movement is connected with a certain direction. Someone desires to get out of bed but asks themselves, "What must I do?" If you are a mathematics student, you will solve problems; if you are a painter, you will pick up your brush and paint; if you are a musician, you will play; if you are a carpenter, you will build, you will chisel with your tools, and so forth. Once you have descended to earth, you will desire to achieve something — that is, you will manifest your will by which you realize your desire; the stronger your desire, the greater resistance you will encounter on your path. Once you remove the resistance, you proceed in a straight direction, and in short order you realize your desire. The greater the obstacle you have overcome, the more easily you will realize your desire. Someone may wish to become a scholar, a good person, a strong person, yet they exert no effort to overcome life's hardships. Remember: a person cannot achieve their desires if they do not work consciously on themselves to remove all external and internal obstacles.

Every primitive impulse that acts in the human soul has a definite direction and movement. Since this is so, never place an obstacle in that direction or against that movement. Never say that your life has no meaning. Once you have come to earth, your life has meaning. If you stop your life, you maim yourself and become an invalid. Do not wonder afterward why nature creates invalids. People create invalids, not nature. Sin makes a person an invalid. Life loses its meaning when a person sins. The moment a desire arises in you to correct your wrongs, your life once again gains meaning. Any dissatisfaction in a person shows that they have placed a barrier on the path of the Divine within themselves. Until they remove that barrier, dissatisfaction will hang over their head like a sword. Therefore, until the plane of resistance is removed from a person's path, they will always be under the torment of discontent and suffering. Once they free themselves from discontent, they bend and move forward. Bending shows that a person is forming peaks in their life - the peaks LB and MB. If the bending proceeds in the direction from LB toward MB, a person is safe and steps onto a good path. However, if it goes in two opposite directions, the bending is dangerous, because there is a possibility of descending unexpectedly into the valleys - TD and TI. Any unnatural bending leads to catastrophe. Reflect on the letters LB and MB, TD and TI as symbols in life.

Modern people complain about life on earth; they are dissatisfied with it; many want to go to another planet, to different conditions. For now, that is impossible. Until a person becomes pure and holy on earth, they cannot go to any planet. Each person's task, having come to earth, is to lead a pure and holy life and to help straighten the axis of the earth. One day, when the axis of the earth is straightened, it will be illuminated from all sides. Today, the earth is illuminated during the day by the sun and at night by the moon. In the future, it will be illuminated by the sun, and indeed from all sides. These are symbols that you must translate into your own life, give them meaning, and make use of them.

Christ says: "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." The word "serpent, serpentine line" is taken as a symbol of movement. The serpent moves without legs. This movement is unnatural for a person. It represents a deviation from the correct path of movement. A person moves with legs, which have a parallel direction. Parallel lines are symbols of reason. Thus, a person's movement is rational. When one steps on their legs, they must say, "I can work, and whatever God wishes of me, I will do it." When you step on your legs and walk forward freely, you are an independent person and rely on yourself. Should you then become discouraged? One who moves freely and steps lightly on their legs has no right to become disheartened. The moment they become disheartened, they become a spiritual invalid and await another's help. Beware of the thought that other people should help you. They can voluntarily come to your aid, but you must not require or expect their help. The left and right legs represent the two peaks between which a person moves. If they plant in themselves the thought that they cannot move by themselves, they place a barrier between the two peaks that descends into the valley TD - Figure 1. This barrier we call the Babylonian Tower - the tower of impossible things.

In order not to halt humanity's development, not to impede its culture, the wise world set itself the task of removing this tower, i.e., of removing the obstacle that a person has placed on their own path. Why was the Babylonian Tower created? - Because people wanted, in an unnatural way, to remove sufferings from their path. The wise world did not wish to fight them, and so it confused their tongues so that they would lose the ability to understand one another. People cannot understand each other when they lose their reason. Divine energy scattered those who were building the tower, and it remained unfinished. After that, they began to plow and dig, to sow, to learn, to write, and so forth. People still do this same work today. Divine energy works among them and urges them to activity. Even today, people strive toward the old idea - to build a tower like the Babylonian one.

You see a young poet or writer composing a great work, wishing it to be translated into all languages, to become known throughout the world. This is the Babylonian Tower. But the Divine will come, will confuse the tongues, and the tower will remain unfinished. What will the poet do in that situation? They will take a shovel and hoe and begin to work. Today they will learn one craft, tomorrow another, until they enter life's right path. As a poet, they will sing of the peaks and valleys and write:

"O lofty mountains, O deep valleys!
Hard is the climb to the mountain peaks,
Hard is the descent into the deep valleys-
Both come fraught with dangers."

In order to avoid dangers, you will connect the peaks with the valleys and place no barriers between them. Put no obstacles in your way so as to avoid bad consequences in life. Remove the causes that lead to bad consequences so as to avoid the consequences themselves. That is the essence of life's philosophy. Therefore, whenever someone complains of suffering, I say: "Remove the causes of suffering, and it will disappear by itself."

- "I am ignorant."
- "Remove the causes of ignorance, and conditions will arise for you to become learned. Love wisdom, knowledge, and light, and you will become a learned person. Knowledge gives a person the ability to walk the straight path of life."

As pupils, you must watch your movements and ensure they are rational. Where reason is, there creativity is; where reason is, processes are continuous. In nature, there is no interruption. Once one desire is realized, a second is born, then a third, and so on. In these accomplishments, precisely, is built the edifice of future life. Whoever does not work and refuses to realize their desires destroys the building they once began to erect. Every pure and beautiful desire, every pure and radiant thought must be realized. They are attainable. Only impure thoughts, feelings, and desires are unattainable and should not be realized. What should you do with your bad thoughts and desires? As you strive to realize your pure thoughts and desires, the impure ones will vanish on their own.

Imagine that one of your enemies wishes to beat you to take vengeance for some offense. The moment you see that he approaches you with a club, immediately give him a loaf of bread. When he sees the fresh, warm bread, he will immediately set the club down and say, "Forgive me, I was about to do a foolish thing." He takes the bread into his hand and is grateful that through it he can free himself from his evil desire. Thus, the bread gave him a new direction of movement. So, if you fall into a bad disposition, give the disordered energies within you a new direction. The new direction must be natural and rational. In order not to fall into a bad state of spirit, do not strive to realize all your desires at once. As you realize one desire, then you will realize the second, then the third, and so on. This means that a person strives to fulfill God's will.

Two things are necessary for the pupil: will and reason. If the will is not rational, it is not true. Why can a person sometimes not realize a certain desire of theirs? - Because their desire lacks a direction of movement. Without a direction of movement, a person cannot realize any desire or any idea of theirs. They must move in a serpentine fashion in order to have a certain field of action. Even a person's eyebrows represent two mountain peaks. They symbolize a certain number of energies with a determined direction of movement. The lower line of the nose, which forms the nostrils, also curves in a serpentine manner and creates peaks and valleys. This shows that this line is creative—through it, nature works everywhere.

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On Serving and Leading (bonus)

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 7 min read ☾

The modern world is in need of those who practice righteousness. A man must be just. Justice considers the needs of all living beings. It provides for the day. And so, man too must care for one day only. If he secures one day, he has secured all days. Why? Because that day is Divine. The Divine day includes all other days.

From the beginning of the world, justice has been applied to all people and nations. In ancient times, the Jewish people were considered chosen by God. But because they crucified Christ, they still bear the consequences of that deed. Unaware of the cause of their suffering, they live with great contradictions. Yet not only they—every person, without exception—faces inner conflicts and asks why he suffers. Few suspect that these contradictions arise from within their own consciousness. When the inner awareness is cleared of delusion, the contradictions vanish of themselves.

Can one who criticizes others be free of contradiction? He sits for hours pondering who is right and who is wrong. But criticism does not belong to the harmonious life. If you wish to be free of inner conflict, rise into your higher consciousness and view life from there.

What is justice? It is a quality of the Spirit. It has a Divine origin. In man, love, wisdom, and truth must all be governed by justice. Among the people of the fifth race, it is power that decides all matters. The weak submit to the strong. But among those of the sixth race, it shall be justice that decides. Man's superiority over the animals is not in strength but in mind. There are animals stronger than man, yet man has subdued them through thought. In the physical world, man settles matters with thought; in the Divine world—with application.

Some believe that application requires ideal conditions. But the conditions are already given. All that remains is to apply. Do not think you know everything. When you begin to apply, you shall see what you truly know—and what you do not. In application, one must put himself last. That is: let the interest of others become your own.

A young woman leaves her parents prematurely, thinking her beloved will love her more. She seeks her own happiness and forgets her parents' care. Thus, she creates confusion and entangles herself first. So do many, both religious and worldly. Who does not suffer if he devotes all attention to his feet, neglecting the rest of the body? You have been given an organism as a whole—care for all its parts, outer and inner alike. And likewise, all people, as members of the great Divine body, must care for one another, that none be left in want.

Since he has come to earth to learn, man must first live in love with himself—and then with his neighbor. Love makes a man perceptive and attentive. A rich man once received a poor guest and set food before him. The guest ate with his fingers, never having used a spoon or fork. The rich man, seeing this, laid aside his utensils and ate just as his guest did. He adapted himself to the guest—not the guest to him.

To gain the qualities of love, people are placed under a special discipline—life's massage. All pass through the unseen hand of fate, being gently worked upon. Whether you see it or not is irrelevant. No one escapes these inner massages. Wherever you go, the same awaits you—an inner working, a sacred pressure. You may say, "I am an important person—I will not go the way of others." Yet if you are important, then answer: where have you come from, and where do you go? You came to earth incognito, wearing other garments, unaware of your true origin.

You say you know yourself—but only in part. If you had seen someone as a child of five, would you recognize him at one hundred and twenty? If long ago you were a king and now are a shepherd, what memory remains? You are a dethroned monarch, silent and forgetful.

It is written: "And God made man in His image and likeness." What greater glory could there be? What higher dignity than this—that man was made in the image of God? Not only that—but how many other blessings have been given to man?

In an old tale, it is said that when God was distributing gifts upon the earth, a Bulgarian arrived late and asked for strength. "It has already been given," replied God. "What remains for me?" "Most things have been claimed," said the Lord. After thinking a moment, the Bulgarian asked, "Has anyone taken work?" "Work is the only gift left." "Then give me work," said the man—and gave thanks. Truly, it is a great thing for a man to work.

So, whatever happens in life, give thanks and learn. If you see another suffer, thank God. If he had not, you might have. If one falls into a pit, give thanks—he saved you from falling. Had he not gone first, you would have fallen in his place.

If someone steals your bread, say within: "Thank you, Lord. I feel lighter than ever." If you are rich, and someone robs you, say: "Thank you, Lord. For it is written that the rich cannot enter the Kingdom of God."

All men seek happiness. Happiness and misery come through mastery and service. If you know how to lead and how to serve, you shall be happy. If not, you shall suffer. Nature keeps account of all. One day it shall ask: “What did you do with the energy I gave you?”

If you used it wisely, happiness will follow. If not, sorrow. If the burden upon your back fits your strength, you shall walk in peace. If the burden does not fit you, you shall stumble. If you give space to love within yourself, you shall be happy. If not, you shall suffer.

How does one express love? Before a man has loved, he feeds others. Once he loves, he compels the beloved to feed others. In other words: when you love, you serve; when you are loved, you lead.

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The Law of Faith (bonus)

A remarkable talk by Beinsa Douno • 12 min read ☾

What, then, constitutes a person’s strength in the physical world? If you pose the same question about a person’s strength in the mental and emotional realms, what would you answer? A person’s strength in the mental world is known by his thoughts; in the emotional world, by his feelings and desires. And in the physical world?—by his actions, by the movements he makes. Yet we know that all bodies move. Science studies, on the one hand, bodies’ movements apart from the causes that set them in motion. In that case it takes no interest in the mind’s participation in the movement. For example, we say that a steamship moves, a clock moves. That is the outward aspect of the matter. After examining appearances, science probes deeper. It seeks the causes of bodies’ motion and finds that a rational force lies behind them. This rational force is precisely what propels them. A steamship moves because it has engines made by man—a rational being. A clock moves for the same reason. The machines themselves are unconscious, but behind them stands a rational, conscious being who sets them in motion. Reasoning thus, you conclude that behind every phenomenon in Nature there lies a rational power.

The question then arises: how is a strong will recognized?—By its fullest manifestations. Will can manifest in great deeds, but to be strong it begins with the smallest acts. For example, when a child enters first grade, he begins by writing little strokes and hooks that mean nothing to him. He does not know why he writes them. These are unconscious movements of the hand, yet will is expressed through them. At first a child’s exertion of will is unconscious. When those strokes and hooks coalesce, the child learns the letters themselves, toward which he now has a conscious relationship. He understands that the letters will help him read. He rejoices because his will now has larger, conscious expression. Then he begins to draw straight lines and angles, which the teacher associates with certain ideas. For example, a straight line can have various meanings: it may represent motion across a plain, over the sea, or up a height. In each case the movement differs at every point. If the line moves across a level surface, its points meet no resistance; if it moves over the sea, the resistance between its points is greater; if it moves upward toward a mountain summit, the resistance grows still greater. In all three cases the will exerts different efforts—and the more intelligent those efforts, the more intelligent the will itself becomes. A rational will compels a man to think and to feel. They say man is a machine—and indeed he is, but a conscious one. Just as people use machines they have themselves built, so do the rational beings of the spiritual world use the thoughts, feelings, and deeds of men.

There are thoughts, feelings, and actions whose meaning man does not know; yet the beings of the spiritual world derive benefit from them. For example, two beings C and D (see Figure 1) start from the two ends of a straight line, move upward along CE and DF, and form two angles that enclose a plane. But though they move and think and feel, they do not know why they go upward or what their motion will produce. While they move, think, and feel, they live. Should their thought, feeling, or motion cease, they would cease to live. Yet the spiritual world observes the path of movement in every living creature’s thoughts and feelings and uses it rationally. The spiritual world cares about man’s feelings; the mental world cares about his thoughts.

Therefore, if you wish to study life in its depth, you must know whether your thoughts, feelings, and actions are rational. A man must understand that the rationality of his thoughts, feelings, and acts derives from rational forces acting both outside and within him. As long as he remains connected to that force, he is rational; once the connection is severed, he loses his rationality. Then his will grows weak—and with it his thoughts and feelings. Thus will is bound to a person’s thoughts and feelings. Many believe that one can act without thinking or feeling—that is impossible. Will is precisely the product of thought and feeling; without thought and feeling there is no will. Hence a person’s will must be not only strong but also rational, which depends on the harmony of his thoughts and feelings. A person’s thoughts and feelings must be directed toward a common center, not scattered. What force do raindrops exert if they fall upon an arch? Each drop splatters and dissipates its strength. But should the drops fall into a hollow, they gather in one place and manifest their power—they give an impulse and accomplish work. Knowing this, strive to give your thoughts and feelings a common direction of motion, to develop rational strength within yourself so as to accomplish some work. Many say they have a goal in life—goal implies direction. To have a goal in life means to turn your thoughts and feelings toward one direction. If you achieve this, your will will be strong and rational. If you cannot direct your thoughts and feelings to a single center, you will have not one goal but many; your thoughts and feelings will be scattered. Under such conditions you will wonder why you don’t succeed: “I have will, yet no results.” Quite naturally, since you have one will but serve many thoughts and feelings—it splits its strength in different directions, and so grows weak. This division of forces explains failures in one’s past life. Your present task is to concentrate the forces of your thoughts and feelings in one direction, to apply your will toward achieving that for which you strove in the past. You may say your present life is important to you—and rightly so. This life realizes the thoughts and desires you had in the past. It also involves setting new thoughts and desires that will be realized in the future. Thus the present unites past and future, making it the most important life stage.

A person’s past and future are connected through the present. In the spiritual world, past and future alternate. Your past represents the future for other beings: you stand above them as something toward which they strive. Having traveled that road, you can guide them, telling them which obstacles they will face, how to overcome them, and what gains they will achieve. The past of exalted beings above you represents your future: you strive toward them and ask, “What lies ahead?” Having already trod that path, they tell you what you must pass through and show you methods for dealing wisely with your difficulties. Hence we conclude: one can help another only if one has traversed the same path of trials and hardships that the other faces. In this regard, be careful: do not take as your guide someone who has not walked your path. Only he who has traversed and studied your path in all its details can truly guide you and offer real help.

Therefore, real are those things tried and experienced—those that have left a positive imprint on a person’s consciousness. Hence you may confidently rely on what exalted beings tell you: they have long passed your path and mastered it. Whatever they say, it comes to pass. Knowing this, obey the great laws that govern your thoughts and feelings; avoid the side influences of petty thoughts and feelings that introduce disharmony into your mental and emotional world. Should you fail to resist them, you will stumble. If you are a painter, they will mar your canvases; if a poet, they will taint your verse; if a musician or singer, they will corrupt your playing and voice. Beware of petty people, petty thoughts and feelings, lest you fall under their sway. They are like briars and weeds that hinder flowers and grain from growing freely. Cleanse your mind and heart of them, and cultivate thoughts, feelings, and desires that spur you toward the great and good in the world.

Many complain that their works do not progress well, that they do not see the fruits of their efforts. This depends on the intensity with which they work. For instance, a saint who begins some work will complete it in 24 hours—one day. A genius will complete the same work in 24 years; a talented person in 240 years; an ordinary person in 2,400 years. Thus, if you work as an ordinary person, you will see your results only after 2,400 years. “I can’t wait that long,” you say. “Then work faster, like the talented,” comes the reply. “But 240 years is a lot.” “Then work as a genius.” “Even 24 years is much.” “Become a saint, and you will finish your task in 24 hours and enjoy its fruits the same day.” The saint, the genius, the talented, and the ordinary person represent four stages of development through which one passes. If you are swift in the good, you will inherit the saint’s results. Whichever stage you occupy, take care not to fall. Rising and falling depend on the direction of your movement. For example, for an ordinary person to rise, he must consult the talented; for the talented to rise, he must consult the genius; the genius— the saint; and the saint—the Teacher. Should this order be reversed, each is doomed to fall. A saint cannot consult a genius: he may learn from him, but he will slow his progress—what he could have done in a day, he will take 24 years to accomplish. Likewise, a genius should not learn from the talented, nor the talented from the ordinary. A person must ascend in his development, not descend. Some wish to become saints, to achieve all that saints have achieved, to equal them. He may become a saint, but he cannot equal one. By the time he reaches that stage, the saint has risen higher yet. Thus, however much people strain, there will never come a day when all stand equal; in humanity’s development there will always be four distinct stages through which each must pass.

Scripture says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” What does this mean?—That if one follows life’s rational laws, a task requiring great time can be completed in 24 hours. In this way, one’s karma can be settled swiftly, and one’s life improved. Reincarnation as a means of clearing karma applies to the ordinary person—he needs 2,400 years. But when the efforts of the talented, the genius, and the saint unite, they can accomplish the same work in one day. Herein lies the power of faith. They say, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that you and your household may be saved.” Those who quote this verse take it mechanically. We mean the faith of the saint, the genius, and the talented—those who have known God and applied His laws. Only for them is time abbreviated. Mechanical faith includes doubt: if you believe in the physical, you disbelieve in the astral; if you believe in both, you disbelieve in the mental; believing in three realms, you disbelieve in the causal. No—you must unite all four realms in one and believe absolutely; such faith is that without which you cannot please God or achieve anything. Faith implies a connection with those exalted, rational beings who oversee the destinies of humanity, nations, societies, families, and each individual.

Knowing this, do not become discouraged. Many despair that their works do not advance quickly, that they do not see their end. They dwell in the ordinary stage, where tasks take 2,400 years. Let them make a small effort to accelerate their development and reach the talented stage; if still dissatisfied, climb to the genius’s level; with one more effort they will reach the saint. It is good to strive upward, to hasten your labors. Should you remain at the ordinary level, you are ordinary soldiers marching. At the talented level, you are drummers announcing what must be done. Neither soldiers nor drummers can act without a sergeant who gives direction—that is the genius. Finally must come the captain, who draws his sword and leads all after him—that is the saint, who has the power and authority to guide people toward God.

When faced with difficult tasks, people postpone their solution. By delaying, they remain at the ordinary level, aligning with the consciousness of ordinary people who have no great achievements. What would the herdsman, who tends cattle for 2,400 years, accomplish? He would learn only the cattle’s life and nothing more. In the cattle’s life there is nothing special; after 2,400 years the herdsman would say, “I will never tend cattle again.” Must one herd for 2,400 years to finally grasp that cattle can graze and drink unaided? Once you reach this insight, beware lest you fall into the same condition. Do not manage the cattle’s affairs—let them graze on their own. The cattle represent ordinary human thoughts, feelings, and desires that lower a person’s level. Leave them to their own lives; intervening in their affairs delays your own development.

The younger generation must resolve to abandon their cattle. A youth should fling aside his herdsman’s staff and pouch, far from himself. If he says “I will do it later,” he stumbles. No delay! Each must say, “Today—or never!” Once I begin a task, I will complete it today—from morning till evening. Be like the saint! Say to yourself, “I begin my work at sunrise and will finish it by sunset.” “But what if I fail?” Allow no negative thought into your mind. The saint begins his work without thinking of failure; he knows the task must be done by nightfall—nothing more. Introduce the slightest doubt, and you cannot be a saint. If you harbor no doubts in mind or heart, you are connected to the saint’s consciousness and will finish your work as swiftly as he—from dawn to dusk. Test the power of positive thoughts: imagine you have not a penny yet need five hundred leva today. Plant the thought in your mind that, from morning to evening, you will obtain 500 leva from somewhere—and see what happens. Should you admit no negative thought, feeling, or doubt, those 500 leva will indeed come from somewhere. But let the slightest doubt enter mind or heart, and your experiment fails—you receive nothing. With the saint’s faith, money arrives in 24 hours; with the genius’s faith, in 24 years; with the talented’s, in 240 years; and finally, with ordinary faith, in 2,400 years. It is up to you which experience you choose.

The mark of the saint is absolute exclusion of doubt from mind and heart. That is why his works are done in a day. The genius allows at least one negative thought, so his works take 24 years. Who would not find 500 leva in one day if threatened with punishment or imprisonment? That is to believe in the Lord. When one believes in God, long periods are shortened and one hour becomes rich and fulfilling. Stretch the day into years, and you have admitted doubt into your mind.

Thus, what is essential in life?—What is accomplished in a day. Since this is so, work in short periods. Employ the methods of the saint and the genius. Some are unhappy that a work took 24 years. “Then you labored with the genius’s mind. Work instead with the saint’s mind to finish in a day.” The reason lies within the person: by whatever means one works, such will be the results.

Many ask why they must believe. Faith is necessary to shorten time: by believing, you will complete your work in a day. “Why should I believe?”—To heal yourself in a day. If you recover in 24 years, you have used the genius’s methods. If you die, you have used the ordinary’s, which means you will be born and reborn many times. Faith implies the compression of processes. Some say faith is foolish. Others ask, “Can belief make a man fly?”—Yes. Fish became birds when they believed they could fly. One day, when man believes he can fly, he will become an angel. Indeed, some have believed this and have become angels.

Therefore, whoever wishes to evolve must apply the Law of Faith as a great Divine principle. Only then will he understand that without faith he cannot please God nor expect any achievement.

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