The Sunday Lectures, Vol.IV

By Peter Deunov

The Sunday Lectures comprise more than 25% of all the lectures given by Peter Deunov. They are also considered his most significant oeuvre as they contain the key topics and subjects which would serve as a template for all future lecture series. The collection of lectures in this volume are organized chronologically and span the years 1919-1920,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eagle Rock Publishing
• Release date: Apr 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781952996108

Book preview

1

AS YOURSELF

Jesus said to him, ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’—Matthew 22:37-40 (WEB)

Everyone recognizes the fact that people don’t like old things. When the mother and father grow old, the son and daughter are dissatisfied with them, they want to free themselves as soon as possible. They see elders as an obstacle in their lives. Actually, old people are in the right place. A Bulgarian proverb says, from an old goat to a kid. ¹ Generally, elderly people carry all the conditions in which the child can be born and raised. In the primordial language the word old had a completely different meaning than the one they give it nowadays. In order to develop properly, the youth must serve two great laws: love for God and love for his neighbor. Nothing can be born without love. Love urges the human soul towards movement and creativity. To speak of love doesn’t mean that we have in mind human love, which leads to disappointments. We speak of the love where apostle Paul says, for we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. ² The perfect thing is love. The absolute, Divine truth manifests via perfect knowledge, via love.

Christ says that love manifests through two great laws: To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself. When one speaks of love for God, some think He’s outside of them, [that He’s] invisible. Hence they say that no-one has ever seen Him. Whoever wants to find God must seek him within his brother, that is, within his neighbor. How will you love God if you haven’t come to love your neighbor whom you see? Whoever loves sees God. This is why it is said, God is Love. This verse expresses the external and internal meaning of the concept of God. Love is not seen, but it is felt, hence God is accessible to all minds, hearts, and souls. It’s enough for man to open himself to love in order to recognize it. Life without love doesn’t exist. There’s no heart, mind, and soul that hasn’t experienced love. Wherever love penetrates there is warmth. This is why all beings carry it within, to a small or large extent, as a lower and higher manifestation.

It is said, to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Where the heart manifests, that’s where there are feelings and desires, that is, material through which love works. Whoever gives way to his feelings and desires without working with them becomes satiated with love and says there’s no point in loving. It makes sense to always love, but correctly. The temperature of man’s body is between 36-37°C. If it rises above 37, the person becomes ill. The higher the temperature, the greater the complications that occur in the body. If it reaches 40, 41° the sick one passes away to the other world. So, in the physical world love can reach up to 41° at the highest temperature. The same law applies to social life as well. When the public figure functions at a temperature of 36-37°, everyone considers him a normal person. Should his temperature exceed this, he becomes delirious, he speaks incoherent things and they immediately take him to the asylum.—Why?—Because he displayed such things which are outside the physical world. Actually, it’s difficult to put a boundary where the normal life reaches and the abnormal one begins. When you fatten a pig, you take this as something normal. You say the pig needs to be fattened, to have more fat. Release the same pig in the forest, in natural circumstances, and see what will happen to his fat. It will melt and the pig will reach his normal appearance. Consequently, the concepts normal and abnormal are relative. What man was in the past, what he is today, and what he should be in the future are three different things, three realities. The real life is one which includes the past, present, and future. He who carries all three lives within himself, we call a man of love. He is guided by three great laws: the law of necessity, the law of freedom, and the law of nature. The law of necessity solves 25% of human difficulties; the law of freedom also solves 25% of the difficulties, and the law of nature—50%. The three laws together solve 100% of the hardships in life. If the sick one applies all three laws, he will recover soon. According to the first law, he is his own doctor, hence he will help himself 25%; according to the second law, he will run to a doctor who will help him with another 25%. And finally, when he is left to nature, she will heal him 50%. In this way he will be completely healed. If the sick one is left to himself, or only with the doctor, he will be partially healed. However, the sick one and the doctor must count on nature for assistance; then the healing is 100% rational.

The same law relates to the familial, to the social, and to the life common to all mankind. When two young people get married, the young man must take part in the good life with 25% of his powers and abilities; the young woman—also with 25%. Then both of them must turn to God, to ask for His participation in their lives. He will help them with 50% of his powers, and their life will be 100% normal. Contemporary families do not rest on a solid foundation, because one of the youths gives 25% of himself, yet he expects 75% from the other one. Every person can give only 25% from himself. The remaining part up to 100 must be expected from one’s neighbor and from the Lord. If the familial and social life do not uphold this principle, something will always be missing, which is why people will be disappointed with each other. Apply all three laws, so you can test their power. If you only serve with one or with both you’ll always be dissatisfied. The cause of death within households, of diseases, of childlessness are a result, namely, of applying the law of necessity and freedom, but denying the participation of the Divine principle in life, or the rationality of nature.

To love the Lord with all your soul. By soul Christ understands a way, a condition for the movement of love. There is movement in all of nature. All the lakes, rivers, [and] seas move. Where there is growth, everything is in motion. It’s a condition for developing the soul. That’s why we say that movement is necessary in both the human, as well as the angelic, and in Divine love. If the movement stops, life stops, and henceforth love as well. Since there is movement in love, man must love all living beings who stand in his way. Only in this way does he give God the opportunity to manifest within him. This means feeling the pulse of life. This means feeling the grandeur and beauty of nature, as well as the might of the Creator. Only in this way can man understand and apply the verse in which Christ says how we must love God. Without aspiration for beauty, love cannot manifest.

To love the Lord with all your strength. Strength implies intensity. This means loving the Lord in such a way that you are ready to overcome all sufferings and obstacles. Love that gives out before obstacles isn’t real; love out of self-interest isn’t real. Love requires great sacrifices. All great people sacrificed for love first. Many doubt whether there really were people who existed or [who currently] exist, who are ready for complete self-denial for love. They may doubt, but doubt doesn’t solve the issues. You’ll deny one thing, [but you’ll] uphold and prove something else. How can you deny the light? How can you deny life? The evidence for life is through death, and death—through life. Since there’s life, there’s also death; since there’s death, there’s also life. It is said in Scripture that we live and move in God. ³ Consequently, you’ll always live when you’re connected to God, regardless whether you’re in this world or the other one. They call the passing away of the human soul for the other world death. However, in the absolute sense of the word, death doesn’t exist. The fact that a person dies and disappears is a crooked viewpoint, a remnant from grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Actually, death is a shadow of life. On hot summer days, man hides under the shadow of trees. Is he dead? No, he just hid under the shadow. It is said in the Holy books that death is rest. So, whoever worked and [continues to] work has a right to sit under the shadow of some tree so he can rest. If they say that someone died, this implies that he hid in the shade, so he can rest. According to many, death is a convulsion, writhing, agony, anguish, and so on. These are fictitious things. Man’s physical garment is separating from the spiritual one, but this is not death. You can suggest to some person that he’s dying and he’ll experience all the symptoms of [someone] in agony, without actually dying. When he frees himself from the foreign thought, he’ll see for himself that he’s alive and well. Can one think that he has risen after this? This shows that death is a process of human thought. Upon coming to earth, man realized that everything which surrounded him was God’s creation, [so] he desired to fabricate something and, in conclusion, he worked for the creation of death, that is, for rest. The man of today is afraid of death, without thinking about it as one of his own creations. How can man be afraid of his own creation? He says that after death come sufferings, fire, and eternal agony. Who went to the other world and returned from there so he can describe what there is and what to expect? Let the scientists and philosophers come, who speak of the other world, so they can understand each other, so they can see what language they use to write and describe the truth.

In the distant past, somewhere in India, in the home of the shah at that time, there lived a prominent philosopher who studied the secrets of nature. Among the great philosophical understandings, he learned the art of speaking with hand gestures. The shah showed interest in this art and, in order to see how people could understand each other only through gestures, he told the philosopher to look for someone who knew this art with whom he could speak. The philosopher didn’t know such a person, hence the shah assigned this task to one of his erudite brahmins, saying to him, I want you to find a person who can speak via hand gestures, like the philosopher. If you don’t find one, you’ll leave my court. The brahmin became frightened by the shah’s order. He looked for such a person but didn’t find one. Pensive and sad, he left the court and withdrew into himself. One day he met his barber, who asked him, why are you so pensive?—I can’t tell you. You’re not in the condition to help me.—Tell me what’s bothering you, I’ll find some solution for your grief.—The shah assigned me with the task of finding a person who speaks via hand gestures, but no such person could be found anywhere. Since I couldn’t fulfill his wish, I left the court.—Don’t worry, I know this art. I’ll speak with the philosopher in the presence of the shah, so I too can display my art.

The shah determined the day of the séance and the conversation commenced. The philosopher lifted one of his arms and one of his fingers, and the barber—two of his arms and two of his fingers; the philosopher lowered one of his arms from above, with fingers outstretched, while the barber brought out his arm, with fingers outstretched above. The shah asked the philosopher what conversation he had with the barber, and he answered: By raising my arm and one of my fingers, I said that only one being governs the world—God. The barber raised two arms and two fingers, with which he wanted to tell me that two beings govern the world—God and king. By lowering my arm down, with fingers outstretched, I wanted to say that it will soon rain. In the same way, the barber mirrored my arm with his own, with which he wanted to say that after this rain comes much fruitfulness. After this, the shah asked the barber what he understood from his conversation with the philosopher. The barber replied: When the philosopher lifted one of his fingers up, he wanted to say that he would gouge one of my eyes. I raised both of my fingers, in order to show him that I’m stronger, that I would gouge both of his eyes. When he stretched his arm in the air, with this he wanted to say that he would come against me with five men, so he could punish me. I also stretched my arm in the air, to show that I would oppose him with five stronger men than his own. The shah smiled and said to himself, they call this understanding! This is how many contemporary religious and worldly people understand each other. This is how people understand each other in families and in societies, something that invites misfortunes and sufferings.

Christ talks about the eternal life. He excludes death with this. The eternal life implies knowledge of God and Christ. Knowledge rests on true, inner understanding. Whoever loves God with all his heart, with all his mind, with all his soul and strength, and his neighbor as himself, he acquires eternal life and has no fear of death. Many things, many concepts are vague. The word отвлечен [vague] has a double meaning: an inner and outer one. It is said that something is отвлечено, that is, stolen. Young people oftentimes complain because their love is отвлечена, stolen. The young man weeps, he suffers because someone stole, that is, abducted his beloved. ⁴ He was happy while she was with him. Once they abduct her, he becomes unhappy. This is a misunderstanding. No-one can steal a man’s love, except he himself. Once he starts doubting his love, love itself leaves him. So, doubt and suspicion in man become a reason for the abduction of his beautiful and exalted ideas, of his love. He loses his inner peace and seeks the reason for his unhappiness outside of himself. He himself is the cause of everything. Man determines the life of the family and society, just as he does with his own life. Whatever the condition of the individual, it’s also the same for all of society. Individuals form societies, societies form nations, and nations—all of mankind. Mankind however has a connection to the angelic world. Consequently, everything depends on the individual. He builds all of mankind, and not mankind the individual. By individual I understand the Divine origin in man—his soul.

Speaking about the individual and soul as identical concepts is contradictory for many people. Saying that 10 is equal to 1 is a contradiction. However, you buy one kilogram of apples, you count them and see that they’re 10 in number. In this case, 1 is equal to 10, or 10 is equal to 1. In this sense, the individual, in whom the soul lives, is singular—all the conditions and abilities for creating all of mankind are hidden within [the soul]. The grain of wheat hides the conditions for creating hundreds of grains of wheat within itself. This is a philosophical understanding of things. This is how people need to understand each other, and not like the philosopher and the barber. He who thinks of himself as insignificant, as a sinner, and looks for the cause in his mother and father is not thinking correctly. The builder who built your house may not have known the laws of building and, instead of a large, stable home, a small hut might have come out of it, but you need to know that you and the hut are two different things. Your current house may be small, unhygienic, but you can manifest in spite of this; you can turn on the light in your little house and express your love.—My love is small.—Express it, regardless of how small it is, don’t close your heart for God and your neighbor. Open a path for your love, so you can expand. Do not fear the changes in life. Life and death are two conditions that man must inevitably pass through. They are changes that lead to reality. You will live and build, you’ll expand your house, so you can manifest the love of Him who created you. You’ll die and you’ll carry with you that which doesn’t rot or die. This way you’ll grow and develop, until you reach the perfection of which Christ speaks: My Father and I are one.

To love your neighbor as yourself. This means to love every soul outside of yourself. Your neighbor was within you and he came out of you. If you can love him as yourself in this condition, you have fulfilled the second great law of love. You will object [by saying] that you don’t remember your neighbor being within you and coming out. This doesn’t mean anything. The grain of wheat also doesn’t know that all grains of wheat on the sheaf came out of it. Consequently, you have to love your neighbor as your own child, which has lived and continues to live within you. Just as God lives in man, in the same way your neighbor lives in Him. The neighbor, who lives as a soul in every person, has not yet manifested, because he hasn’t been given the conditions. Give him conditions and he’ll manifest. No matter how small, something beautiful will always come out of him. Everyone strives for the beautiful and the perfect. This law comes naturally. The people of today are still unable to receive praise for the beauty and freedom for which they strive. The free person endures all trials. One speaks of freedom, of love, but, if they subject you to a several-day fast, you’ll immediately give up on the idea you’re pursuing. One doesn’t achieve immortality with such love and freedom. Only he can speak of freedom who tore the chains of death. While he’s a slave [to death] neither his freedom is [real] freedom, nor is his love [real] love.

Contemporary religious and worldly people speak of love, yet most of them apply hatred, jealousy. How do you explain the hatred between mother and daughter, between father and son, between friends? Giving a scientific explanation to the issue is not enough. Every doctor knows how to treat the various illnesses, but he can’t heal everyone. Consequently, the true explanation for hatred is that which can turn it into love. Hatred is leprosy for the human heart. If you can heal this leprosy today, at least 25%, you have achieved something great. This means that peace and joy will settle into [people’s] homes. However, work is required from man—inner, conscious work. Hence we say, don’t wait for assistance from outside! Everyone get to work! All people, families, societies, and nations await assistance from outside, to receive help from above. The power and prosperity are in the individual. If the parts of a whole are in order, the whole will also work well. The parts must rely on those goods which nature gives, and not on transient, temporary things. What culture will come if it doesn’t rain and if the sun doesn’t shine?—What do the rain, sun, and human culture have in common?—They have something in common, which is known to the inhabitants on the sun. It’s enough for you to go to the sun for a moment, among the inhabitants there, in order to see how much they are interested in the earth. One will object, [saying] that the earth is dead.—The earth is alive. She loves the people—her children, and she constantly cares for them. The earth sends her love to the people every moment, but the love of the sun is even greater. If the sun withdraws its love from the people even for a moment, they would immediately understand where life, development, and culture come from.

Christ speaks of the two great laws of love, as something real. Love manifests even in the smallest parts as energy, as an impulse. Scientists call this energy attraction, kinship, gravitation. However they call it, it’s one and the same—love of the parts and love of the whole. There’s no atom, ion, [or] molecule that don’t contain the energy of love. The atom is small, but it holds a miniature [version] of the entire universe within itself. Whoever knows the properties and composition of the atom knows the entire universe. This is why it is said in spiritual mathematics that the part is equal to the whole. This is the law of evolution, according to which the small strives for the greater. However, according to the Divine law, the greater strives toward the smaller. So, two laws are at work in nature: a law of expansion and a law of retraction. During retraction the human soul penetrates into the profound mysteries of nature. The humble and the meek retract, but not the prideful. Hence Christ says, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom. ⁵ This verse relates to sacrifice. Only he can enter the Kingdom of God who is ready to deny and sacrifice himself. To love the Lord means to become humble; to love your neighbor means to expand. Consequently, man must both retract and expand, that is, to become small like the atom and great like the universe. Whoever loves becomes great; whoever doesn’t love suffers. Now that you know this, don’t ask why you’re sick. Illnesses are a sign of lovelessness, or of a small amount of love in the human heart. If you want to be healthy, put your love in your mind, in the heart, in the soul, and in your whole body. Where love is, there are no misunderstandings, no hatred, no jealousy, no diseases, or difficulties. Without love in the heart you’ll resemble a person who treads on water yet goes thirsty; he carries bread yet goes hungry. Love wants deeds, not words. Too much talking leads to misfortunes. Generally, strive for the smaller quantities, but [they should be] well understood and applied.

There’s a lot of talk today about love, but the results are weak in spite of this.—Why?—Because it’s not being spoken in the corresponding language. You will speak to people in three ways: either with the language of the air, or with the language of water, or with the language of the sun. The language of the air relates to breathing, that is, to the purification of the blood. You’ll speak in this language and you’ll think about the pure air, about oxygen, about the entire respiratory system. When he speaks with the language of the air, man must think correctly, to align his thought with the Divine [thought]. If he doesn’t align his thought with the Divine [thought], he will certainly suffer. When he thinks correctly, man transforms his mental energy into electrical and magnetic [energy] and thus creates conditions within himself for a healthy, normal life.

To speak in the language of water means to manifest its attributes, that is, to be agile, energetic, pure like it. [You would] quench and saturate everything wherever you pass through, and you would dissolve and resend solid substances as nutritional juices for all living beings. The language of water relates to the digestive system.

To speak the language of the sun, that is, the language of light, means to transform debased energy into exalted [energy] and to resend it directly into the brain, as dynamic, creative energy. The more light that penetrates the human brain, the purer and more illuminated a man’s life becomes, the purer and more exalted his deeds become. The language of light relates to the arterial blood, which spreads throughout the entire body and feeds it. Love for God relates to venous blood, whereas love for one’s neighbor—to the arterial kind. Consequently, if you become weary of life and your blood becomes impure, seek your neighbor. Once you come to love him, you start expanding and your blood purifies. The stronger your faith, the stronger your love and hope will be.

What do love, faith, and hope represent? Love is God, faith—the angels, and hope—all of mankind. Dress in the garments of love, faith, and hope. Only in this way will you fix your lives. How will society be fixed?—When it ceases to violate the Divine plan. If you want to heal the wound on your hand, clean it, wrap it, and don’t touch it anymore. The more you pick it, the slower it will heal. Don’t interfere in Divine affairs. Just as all the conditions for healing are hidden in the organism, in the same way all conditions for straightening out all of mankind are foreseen. Everything that happens in life is foreseen, nothing is accidental. Measures have been taken to fix the tangled affairs. After the year 1945 all of Europe’s affairs will be fixed, but until that time the travelers will vomit, like those who go across the Atlantic Ocean by ship. You’ve seen how the travelers who will travel by sea take off, and how they disembark on the ports. Their relatives send them away, giving them bouquets, everyone is joyful. Once they ascend the ship and go into the sea, they lose their disposition. They turn pale, they start vomiting, and one after another they lay on their beds. Their condition worsens on the second day: they don’t want to eat, they don’t want to talk. On the third day their condition is even worse, but their hope for improving strengthens, because they approach some port. Everyone smiles when they step on dry land, they become joyful and well-disposed, and they start talking as if they haven’t been through anything. Everyone asks them how they passed through the sea and they talk about the seasickness with smiling faces.

And so, whatever the travelers experience in the sea, the people on earth also experience. While he’s young, man is happy and joyful, he loves everyone. He gets on the ship and his relatives send him away. The more he enters life, that is, into the sea, he becomes more serious and pensive. When he marries, he becomes even more pensive—the ship enters deep into the sea waters. He has children who don’t respect him and he becomes completely confused, he can no longer perform his role. His son and daughter are dissatisfied with him, they find that he’s lagging behind, that he can’t perceive what is new. When he finds himself in this condition, he gets off the stage and gives his place to the new actors. The public gives him a bouquet and asks him whether he’s satisfied with his situation.

To love God and your neighbor. This means for man to safely pass through the ocean or sea. Whoever has love within himself will choose such a time for traveling when the sea or ocean is quiet and calm. There is no success without love. You must love at least one person. Today’s people suffer from love accompanied by jealousy. You meet a good, educated young woman, but her face is disfigured.—Why?—Someone loved her and sprayed her face with vitriol out of jealousy. This isn’t love. You’ll say that the young woman and man shouldn’t be unfaithful to their love. This is another issue. I don’t reproach the young, nor the old, but people must turn back, [they must] straighten out their mistakes and become youthful. Contemporary people have aged prematurely. They speak of old age without understanding what old age means. Only God is old. Old age without wisdom is not old age. Millions of years will pass until an old person appears on earth. In Revelation it talks about 24 elders who sit around God’s throne. The theosophists give various explanations about these elders. Actually, they symbolize time, that is, the ages that mankind passed through. Time is with God, who carries the beginning and end of things. When Christ says that you must become like children, He means that the old [person] cannot enter into God’s Kingdom.

The time has come for man to deny the crooked idea about old age and to become youthful. Otherwise he’ll always justify himself with his old age, that he can’t work, [that he can’t] study, or love, and so on. In the Sanskrit language by old they understand a being who manifested, who learned the laws of nature and immortality. Contemporary people are barely now learning these laws. You will say that the elder is recognized by his white hairs.—This is not a sign of old age. Look at how the actors disguise themselves on stage. The youth becomes old there, and the elder—a youth, without actually being such. It’s enough for you to turn the pages of your previous life, in order to see how many times you went up and came off the stage and what roles you played. You were in the position of a king and a servant, a simpleton and a scholar, an impoverished and a rich person. When you play your role, you come off the stage and remain with the unchangeable within yourself. Everything in life changes, but the Divine in man remains unchangeable and eternal. Whoever doesn’t know the law of reincarnation wonders why someone hates him. Very simple: you harmed him in the past. Turn one of the pages of your past life and you’ll see that you wrongfully took this man’s house. Now you’ll straighten out your mistake. In order for him to love and forgive you, not only will you return his house, but you’ll even furnish it. This is what it means to live according to the law of love.

Contemporary people live in two ways: some of them speak of God, but act profanely; others don’t speak of God yet act in a Divine way. It is more preferable for one to live according to the second way. To live like this means to constantly be happy and joyful. Love rejuvenates, it refreshes man and gives him power to withstand the difficulties and contradictions in life. Love resolves all misunderstandings. The one who loves sees everyone as his neighbor, with whom he has something in common: in eating, in breathing, and in living. It is in these deeds, namely, where everyone is alike. Everyone lives, breathes, and eats. The difference is in how they live, what air they breathe, and what kind of food they satisfy themselves with. There is one important thing: everyone must live wisely, they must breathe pure air and take in pure, healthy food. Only in this way will man complete the task for which he came on earth. Everything that is alive moves and works. There are ten million cells in the human stomach that work to purify the blood. There is a certain harmony between all the cells, hence they do their work well. What would happen with the person if the cells gave up their service? The person would cease to exist. Disharmony leads to destruction and death.

Many don’t succeed in their lives, hence they live with their former greatness. Instead of looking realistically at the present, they say, do you know what I was in the past?—The past is not important. What’s important is who you are right now. The past and future are only conditions, but reality is in the present. When he passes through the past and the present, man reaches the law of necessity and freedom, which lead to love. It’s a path toward goodness and wisdom. Correct thought and reason are where love is. Lovelessness leads to crooked views and reasonings.

One day the fox conversed with herself: The people are hunting me down unfairly. They accuse me, [saying] that I attacked their chickens and this is why they kill me. There’s something true in this, but they forget that I act more leniently towards the chickens than the cat does with mice. I at least remove the chicken’s garment, whereas the cat eats the mouse along with her garment. This is crooked reasoning. It’s crooked because it’s devoid of love. The situation of the chicken and the mouse is one and the same. Once they end up in the mouth of the enemy, it’s indifferent to them whether their garment is spared or not. What’s important is that in both the first and second cases the life of the chicken and the mouse is taken. A day will come when the fox will realize her mistake and straighten out her life. There are many plucked chickens nowadays whose lives will be restored in the future. The plucked chickens are impoverished people, whose situation will improve.

Remember: Nature makes use of symbols which have to be studied. The rivers, flowers, trees, fish, birds, mammals, [and] people are symbols with which nature manifests her secrets. Whoever understands the language of nature will read in her book the past, present, and future history of mankind. Upon laying his hand over the pulse of the sick one, the doctor immediately determines his condition. So, man’s pulse is a language in which the doctor recognizes the condition of the sick person’s health. He then opens the eyes and mouth of the sick one, to see the condition of the stomach and his liver. You see that someone is silent and say that he’s contemplating. The outward things determine man’s internal condition. Man contemplates while the ox considers his livelihood. Consequently, just as the ox needs food for his livelihood, in the same way the human brain needs thoughts in order to contemplate. What does the husband think about?—How to retain his wife’s love. And the wife thinks about retaining her husband’s love. This is a difficult task, but there is a resolution. You will say that it can be resolved in Heaven. Where is Heaven? Heaven is on earth.—Is this possible?—It’s possible. How do the caterpillar and butterfly live together on earth? The butterfly feeds off the nectar of flowers, that is, with good thoughts and desires, and the caterpillar—with leaves, that is, with debased thoughts and desires. When is man like the butterfly?—When he gives way to the Spirit, that is, to the Teacher within himself. He is called a servant of love.

What is wanted from man in order to serve love?—Complete self-denial. In the distant past, in a Russian village, a great crime took place, but they couldn’t find the perpetrator. In place of him, they found a poor widow guilty, with four little children. The court decided to send her to Siberia in exile. The sentence had to be carried out in 24 hours. A young man from the same village heard about the widow’s sentence—the thought of the little children and who they would remain with horrified him. He said to himself: I’m without a father and mother, I pass off as a scoundrel, no-one needs me. I’ll go to the court and say that I committed the crime. On the same day he appeared before the court and said to the prosecutor and judge that he committed the crime, and not the widow. In this way he freed the unfortunate mother from prison and took her fate upon himself. After ten years a priest took confession from a dying man. The latter revealed the secret that he bore for ten years over his conscience: he confessed that he was the real perpetrator in the crime which was carried out ten years ago. The administrative jurisdiction immediately ordered that the young man be freed from prison, but it turned out he was already dead. So, this young man lived profanely, yet he acted in a Divine way. Outwardly, this young man bore the garment of a scoundrel, of a thief, but inwardly he worked upon himself, he ennobled his soul. Man ought to have admiration for such heroes, who are ready for sacrifice. They’re courageous, determined, with aspiration for what is great and exalted.

To love God and your neighbor—these are two great laws which, through application by any man, he can free himself from the difficulties and contradictions in life. You will say that when Christ comes a second time on earth, life will improve all at once. There’s no reason to wait for this time. Christ may come after two thousand years. Shouldn’t you work during that time? Even if He comes on earth, Christ wouldn’t be able to tour all the cities and villages, [or] hold a sermon everywhere. So, only those will make use of His sermon who will hear it. What will the remaining people do? You expect impossible things and waste your time. Know that Christ is in the light which you perceive; in the air you breathe; in the water you drink; in the food you eat. Christ is also in your thoughts, feelings, and actions—you’ll find Him everywhere. Use these goods consciously and don’t postpone things. Be good [bill] payers. When the due date for your bill arrives, pay immediately. If you postpone, interest charges increase. The meaning of life is in love—to do everything with love. While he’s young, man lives with faith and love, he’s ready for all kinds of sacrifice. Once he loses his faith and love, he says, the good time has passed.

Today most people suffer from their lost love. They’re right. Love is a power that raises man. Just as a crime can ruin a person’s life, in the same way love can purify and raise him in a single moment. Just as death can cut a thousand heads in a single moment, in the same way life can restore the fallen heads in a single moment. Life is stronger than death, and love is stronger than hatred. Knowing this, uphold the side of life and love. Only he who is strong has the right to occasionally lie down under the shade of death and hatred. Outwardly hatred is ugly, frightening—like a wolf, yet inwardly there’s something noble, gentle. Whoever hates can also love. Whoever doesn’t hate cannot love. Hatred is also love, dressed with a foreign garment, with the goal of testing what is hidden in the human heart. The beggar knocks on people’s doors in order to test their compassion. Outwardly he’s tattered, dusty, but inwardly he’s dressed in a clean, beautiful garment. If you see a very well dressed and polished person, you will know that he’s not the one whom your soul seeks. You’ll find the real person in the tattered man who is suffering. Truth and love dress in old, tattered clothes. Whoever seeks them wholeheartedly will learn to differentiate between good and evil, and he won’t be deceived by outward things, that is, by their packaging.

Apply the teaching of Christ, in order to understand why you must love and why you must hate. If you want to love, you must know how to hate. You cannot love if you never hated. Love and hate are two forces that work simultaneously in nature. Love is magnetism, and hatred—electricity. The current hatred is a future love, and the current love is a future hate. This is a law of polarization. In order to escape this law, one must deny himself. If you sense hate penetrating into your heart, deny yourself. This is why Christ says, whoever doesn’t deny himself cannot be my disciple. ⁶ Apply self-sacrifice so you can see how your life will be.

A father died and left a great inheritance to be divided amongst his four sons. They began to argue about who should take more. The youngest son understood the situation and, in order to avoid the strife, he denied his share and said to his brothers, take my share and divide it amongst yourselves. I prefer to have your love, rather than for us to argue. Not much time passed [until] the remaining brothers reconciled and the partitioning occurred in a peaceful and loving way.

It’s noticed that when the love between two souls is active, both of them become positive and repel [each other]. If they’re a husband and wife, they remain childless. This is a law of the physical world. When the husband and wife become negative, they have children, but they can’t live for long. Consequently, in the love between two souls, one of them has to be positive, and the other one negative; one of them creates, while the other one builds. If both of them create, they can’t give birth. This law relates both to society and to the state. When two people appear as candidates for one and the same ministerial post, the affairs in this country aren’t going well. If the state wants to succeed, half of her subjects must be positive, and the other half—negative, that is, some must create, and the others [must] create; some must serve, while the others [must] govern. It’s not good for man to destroy. This is no science. He who only destroys hasn’t learned the law of creation and building.

One of the great laws of existence requires that man either build or create. This is the way in which man can give way to the Divine origin within himself and fulfill the purpose which nature determined for him. Man may have many beliefs, but let him try Christ’s teaching, which transforms things. For many, Christ’s teaching is [something] old which has outlived its time. This is not so. Christ’s teaching is as old as it is new. If you take it to be old, rejoice because the old mother gives birth to wise, good children. If it’s new, you must still rejoice. The young mother gives birth to children with loving hearts. Accept the teaching of Christ with love, apply it and be happy and joyful.

Christ says, to love the Lord and your neighbor. This means: contemporary people need more light, more air, more moisture, more food. This also reveals today’s sun. Take care of the brain, the lungs, and your stomach.

Listen to the voice of the wisdom of nature, connect with God and a bright future will be on your side.

—Lecture held on 2 February 1919

2

CONTRADICTION IN HARMONY

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you […] If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you.—Matthew 5:29, 30 (WEB)

The aforementioned chapter relates to consonance and contradiction. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out; if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; if they hit you on one side, turn the other one. This language is unintelligible to contemporary people. If Christ spoke to them like this today, few would understand Him. There are many churches today, where they serve in the name of Christ and sing songs for Him, but if He comes and speaks among His followers, as He did two thousand years ago, they would consider Him an unstable man. Whoever wishes to hear Him will expose himself to great contradictions.

What is the cause of man’s internal contradictions? All people uphold [the idea] that they came from God, but when they are being spoken to in the language of love, they don’t understand what to do. They ask themselves, how is it possible for a sheep to give birth to a wolf, or for the wolf to become a lamb? Everyone speaks of brotherhood, equality, love, self-denial, but when it comes to applying these ideas, they become confused and don’t understand anything.—Why don’t they understand?—Because something self-serving lies hidden in the foundation of their life; they serve God, but there’s self-interest in their service: They want to make a living through their service. Others become businessmen with the sole purpose of becoming rich—again, personal interest drives them. Truly, as he lives, man needs to earn a living, but it’s important that he work with love. Otherwise, he’ll always excuse himself because the surrounding or external conditions force him to express himself in ways he doesn’t want. The wolf also excuses himself for eating sheep, because this is his vocation. When he finds himself in hardship, he says, if man flays the skins of thousands of wolves and foxes, don’t I have the right to flay the skin of at least one sheep? When the wolf attacks sheep, they immediately put a bullet in him; when man kills his fellow man during wartime, not only do they not take him to court, but he receives a prize, a cross for bravery. You will say this is how it’s destined to be—for people to kill each other in time of war. Who allowed the war? In which Divine law is this written? The doctrine of Moses talks about war, but war is excluded in [the doctrine of] Christ. There is such a difference between Moses and Christ, such as exists between earth and Heaven. Consequently, when Christians make war, they must also confess before themselves, as well as the entire world, that they’re acting according to the law of Moses, and not according to Christ’s law, which implies the absolute application of love. Give the corresponding name to each one of your actions. Moses says, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth. Christ says, if they hit you on one side, turn the other one.

Contemporary people live according to the doctrine of Moses—the old culture. Moses himself says, the Lord will raise another prophet greater than me. Whoever doesn’t serve this prophet signs his own death sentence. ¹ Moses spoke about Christ and he himself acknowledged his teaching as imperfect. After all this, the people ask themselves why, having come out of God, they don’t live well. Very naturally: people who don’t live well didn’t come from God. Some mother threatens her enemies with the words, once I give birth, then you’ll see! She expects to give birth to a son who will take revenge for her. Can this son be born from God? According to his heredity, he’ll either walk in the matriarchal or patriarchal lineage, he’ll follow them. The law of heredity is not understood by everyone. The Egyptians believed in the transmigration of souls; the Hindus believe in reincarnation, and contemporary scientists—in heredity. These are three teachings with contradictory meanings. Heredity is a law of the physical world, reincarnation is a law of the soul, and transmigration of the soul—a law of the spirit. In other words, the Egyptians learned about the descent of the Spirit, the Hindus—about the evolution of the soul, and contemporary scientists—about heredity. They talk about fields, houses, about vineyards, about properties, about inheriting gifts and abilities.

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. In Genesis it talks about the snake who tempted Eve to eat from the forbidden fruit, so her eyes could open. Eve really ate from that fruit, and also gave Adam to eat, and from that moment their eyes opened. With their right eye they looked at the world, that is, at the temptations in life. It is said that Adam and Eve were naked in paradise; this is actually not so. Something else is hidden in the nakedness of which it speaks; it’s not understood as nakedness in the external sense. Scientists also give various explanations regarding the development of mankind, yet the truth stands far from them. Mankind passed along the path of evolution during its development, but few know what it is. It’s not enough to say that evolution is development. Even children know this. Even the most simple-minded Bulgarian woman knows how to develop the cloth, but this is not yet evolution. Some will say that evolution created everything. If evolution could create, it would be a powerful force that transforms, recreates, and modifies. Actually, evolution is a process of the human spirit. Hence when speaking about evolution, we must understand it in its essence, without attributing qualities that it doesn’t possess. If we say that evolution is a law of development, this is enough, there’s no need for more explanations.

What does the law represent? When and where, namely, are laws created? Laws exist both in life and in nature. The law exists where creatures aren’t very cultured. Laws are created to curb theft, crimes, people’s lawlessness. There are also laws in nature; all the creatures there, from small to great, live in struggle and extermination among themselves. Such a struggle exists among people as well. In spite of this, there is talk of culture everywhere. Culture does exist among people, but a culture of money, or of capital. This culture relates to the teaching of Moses. So, there is something in common between capital and the teaching of the Old Testament. They’re synonyms. This is why Christ says, it is easier for the camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom. By God’s Kingdom the people understand something completely different from that which Christ understands. Generally, even to this day Christ’s teaching is interpreted in a very peculiar manner. If Christ comes among the people today, He would marvel at this interpretation, and what they refer to as love. What love actually is is difficult to define, but it is easily understood. The child also understands love, but he can’t define it. Love is the only force that can do everything that a person desires. It gives the urge, the impulse, the aspiration. The will cannot do anything without love. Everything a person loves can be realized. The old Hermetic school gives an exact definition of love.

In his philosophy, Hermes explains all the contradictions in life through seven principles. Contemporary science accepts only two of these principles: the principle of mentality, [or] according to the Theosophists—the principle of manas, [or] according to the occultists—a domain of the mental world, that is, a principle which determines the forms of things. The second principle is the domain of the heart-centered world, that is, the world of feelings, of the vibrations through which one explains the concept of light. The remaining five principles stand outside contemporary science, which doesn’t deal with them, but it still gives them the necessary names. For instance, it calls the third principle the principle of likeness between things. The fourth principle is examined as a principle for splitting the forces of nature: It’s the reason why positive and negative forces exist. The fifth principle has to do with ebb and flow: It maintains [the idea] that everything which happens in nature is strictly defined, like the ebbs and flows—there’s a rhythm everywhere. There’s also a strictly defined rhythm in music—time. There’s no music or harmony without it. The sixth principle is the causality and consequence of things. The seventh principle deals with genders, that is, the male and female gender. The evil in the world also arose with the appearance of this principle.

Consequently, evil exists because of the men and women. When speaking of men and women, we don’t understand their forms, but the principles of man and woman as contradictory forces in nature. By woman is understood the creative principle. In order to build something, you must gather material for building: bricks, lime, sand, beams, roof tiles, and so on. When building a house, some rejoice, others suffer. Man rejoices in his new house, but the trees, stones, and plants suffer. And the laborers aren’t too joyful. Sometimes it happens that one of the laborers falls from the house and cripples himself. The same happens when creating human life. The parents rejoice because a child was born in the world, but many beings around them suffer. So, what’s good for one is not good for all. This is the reason for hatred between people. The misunderstandings between brothers and sisters, between religious and worldly people, is due to the same cause. Two shepherds argue because one of them took the other one’s sheep. Two young men argue because one of them took the other one’s beloved. This is why, namely, Christ says, if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. What is the right eye in man?—It represents the physical world. In order to stop deceiving himself from the appearance of things, and to understand them, man must know the laws of the physical world. Whoever doesn’t understand these laws always perishes. One of his acquaintances meets him and promises to provide for him, to take care of his affairs. He believes, but he remains deceived in the end. Someone unfamiliar enters the home of a good person and falls in love with his wife. In order to hide his feelings, he plays the role of a benefactor who wishes to help the entire family. In the end, the good person sees that the unknown one has a goal out of self-interest—to use his wife. This person had bad intentions, which he hid with the word benefactor. Hiding one’s bad intentions with something good speaks of bad character traits, which manifest as atavism even today.

Somewhere in America, in the distant past, there lived an eminent doctor who suffered from an obsession with cutting people. He helped many sick people, but many of them also suffered from his knife. When he fell under the influence of his weakness, he took out his knife and cut the sick person in pieces. His secretary was the first victim of his abnormality. At one point, he decided to cut the members of a family into pieces, in whose home he was a house doctor, however here they caught him and handed him over to authorities. It turned out that he killed 25 people by cutting them into pieces. The judges wondered what caused this anomaly in the doctor. They consulted scientists, specialists who decided that this weakness comes from his grandfathers and great-grandfathers. He adopted this anomaly from them via heredity and today, by way of atavism, he manifests it. This is why, namely, Christ says, if your right eye causes you to stumble, and you wish to kill your brother, it’s better if you pluck it out. If your right hand causes you to stumble, and you wish to commit a crime, it’s better if you cut it off. To pluck out your eye and cut off your arm are figurative words. One may pluck out his eye and still stumble and commit crimes.

What do the right eye and right hand represent?—The eye represents the human mind, and the hand—the human will. Consequently, if the mind stumbles you and you wish to commit some crime, and you direct your will in this direction, stop them and take control of yourself, in order to save yourself form evil. You will say the wolf always remains a wolf, and the sheep—a sheep. This is not a positive philosophy. The wolf is a wolf, he chokes sheep, but he can also live like a sheep. The qualities of all the animals are gathered in man. It’s up to him to give precedence to one quality or another. When working upon himself, man can discipline his weaknesses and passions and ennoble himself. It’s difficult to discipline and ennoble the animal outside of man, but it’s easy to discipline when it’s within man. This requires consciousness and sincerity in the task. The animals represent stages of development which man has already passed and continues to pass through. This is why contemporary culture is divided into culture of the wolf, and culture of the sheep.

Contemporary people need to study the animal symbols and make use of them. When you study the horse, you see that his hind legs look like human hands. In order to re-discipline this trait, the Creator turned the horse’s hind legs into human hands, with which he can work and move forward. Truly, man is deprived of the art of kicking. Instead of kicking, he harnessed his hands to work: he raises and sets down the hoe all day long, he drags the rake and cultivates the land. When he’s aware of the vocation of his hands and works with them, man assists his neighbor in rising [higher]. Once he forgets the vocation of his hands, he immediately applies his old trade—kicking, and [therefore] drags his neighbor down. This is atavism, a remnant from the horse culture. Hence Christ says, cut off your right hand, which makes use of the old art—kicking. Stop kicking and start working. Raise your neighbor up, and you yourself go forward! If your right eye stumbles you, pluck it out and remain only with the left one—the eye of love. The left eye relates to Divine love, which prompts people upward and forward.

Many ask me what religion I preach. I don’t preach any religion, but I speak to people about a good life. My science is about life, which the people have lost. All people—educated and simple, young and old, want to live well. The mother wants to have good children, the children—to have good parents, and so on. This desire is natural. However, no-one can be good if he doesn’t have life within himself. Hence Christ says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Christ also never preached any religion, but he talked about the way, the truth, and life, which one must strive for. When they asked Christ which God they should worship, He answered, the day is coming and it is now, when they will neither worship in Jerusalem, nor to this forest, but they will worship God in spirit and truth. ² This is not religion, but serving the true God in spirit and truth. You will say this viewpoint destroys the old ideas. The old gets destroyed on its own. Every new culture destroys the old one. Every person must refuse the old, in order to build something new, more beautiful and stronger. And the old religion will be destroyed; a new religion will come—a religion of labor. The future is hers. The new differs from the old in this: it gradually frees itself from deceit and crooked understandings. Today all the preachers pray for God to bless their nation’s weapon. They have a right to pray for their weapon, but as nationalists, as patriots, not as Christians. Christ didn’t advocate for war. Consequently, no-one has the right to pray in His name for a blessing of the weapon and for success in war. Many hide behind Christ, justifying their deeds in His name, saying that some verses speak of war as an inevitable process. This is not true. Nowhere did Christ