Joseph in Egypt

In Egypt

Translated by: Christophorus, Published online: 19 Aug 2008
From: Sunday Lectures (SL), Series "Strength and Life" Vol. 4 - "Brothers and Sisters of Christ", Lecture 6, 13 Nov 1921
First published: Deunov, P. K., "Bratia i sestri na Hrista", Sila i Jhivot, Chetvarta Seria, Sofia, 1922
Reference: Deunov, P. K., "Bratia i sestri na Hrista", Sila i Jhivot, Chetvarta Seria, Pearvo phototipno izdanie (facsimile edition), Sofia, 2000, Janua-98, ISBN 954-9589-50-1
Available online in Bulgarian from ``Library "Beinsa Douno"'' or from Janua-98.

"Now, they having departed, behold, an Angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying: Arise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there until I tell you: for Herod will seek the child to destroy him." (Matthew 2:13)

There are two outlooks on life, i.e. two outlooks exist only among people, while among the animals - among the fish, among the birds, among the mammals - and among the plants, there is only one outlook. As soon as we come to man, we find two outlooks on life, and this is why man is called "chovek" [Bulgarian for "man"]; while this word originally means: "a creature of contradictions". Because the whole philosophy of things is contained in this - in the contradictions [1]. In order for a creature to begin thinking, it has to come upon a contradiction. This is [really] a fact - it is psychologically true. Those children who do not come across contradictions are not able to think; also those adults for whom everything is in plenitude [they, too] are not able to think. Plenitude, in the full sense of the word, means that the heart has all the riches [possible], and [thus] such people are not able to think. They have a single outlook: it is the outlook of the fish, the birds and the animals. Only when we [come to] feel a certain contradiction within life, only then do we begin to think. Contemporary philosophers explain these contradictions in one way; religious people explain them in another way; the people of the practical life, they, too, have their own way, according to which they construct their explanations. Religious people ascribe all contradictions to sin. They say that some being fell somewhere - they do not know when, thousands of years ago - this being had envied man. And, therefore, this spirit - they call him a demon who tortures them - he is the one who has introduced all contradictions. And for whatever happens in religious life, who is to be blamed? - Always this old devil. A murder happens somewhere, treachery, money is stolen, women, an outbreak of war, they say: "Where did this devil come from? He is the cause"; i.e. we view life subjectively. With a single stroke - this is it, a philosophy, this devil is to be blamed for everything. The philosophers, however, find the contradictions in the very matter itself, in the forces, in this mechanical construction of the Universe; while the practical people say: this devil - these are the economic conditions - the "bite" [2]. This "bite", if it is not, then there is nothing, but if this "bite" is there, it creates all [possible] benefits. And according to them, this, the best thing - the "bite", it creates all the contradictions and - the worst evils. And I think that they are much closer to the truth that the religious people. Yes, the "bite" is, according to their philosophy, the cause of evil. They say thus: "for people to sin - this is implanted in man already with the first bite [3] which entered the mouth." And they are right, because Eve, who was chaste, pure, when she took the first bite of the "bite", she, as well as everyone, became corrupt. These are their arguments. I support neither of them, but I [simply] state things as they are. And, therefore, during our existence on the Earth, life is either rational or irrational; either everything is strictly mathematically defined, or all this is a coincidence, a possibility, a probability. These two outlooks exist now. Those who hold the latter outlook say: everything is by chance - people are born by chance, they eat by chance, get married by chance, fight by chance and die, also by chance; someone has lost money or gained it - still by chance. But the others say: everything is strictly determined, nothing is by chance. You have to eat, because there are causes for this. That the causes are rational, there is no doubt. You yourself create all the troubles upon your head: you want more money, yet, when you take them, someone else also wants to have more money, and [so] they beat you because of the money. Thus you cause all your troubles - to get beaten. While the contemporary technicians and engineers, or materialists, say: when a force meets a resistance on its way, friction is always created and a fire explodes. Therefore, in this case money, or all the benefits, are all counteractions, and, when the energies which function within us meet these counteractions, an explosion is immediately generated. Now, someone may ask if this is true. It is true. Let the wife [4] put her hand in her husband's [5] purse - he has 10 thousand levs and she takes them away from him - the husband will immediately shout: "Where is my money?" The balance is lost - [as it turns out] the money was at the bottom of the ship, they were the ballast of the vessel, and it was in equilibrium. But the wife - without understanding this law of the ballast - takes it away from the bottom of the ship and, [naturally], the husband stands up and says: "Where is the ballast?" - But I need it. - "But do you know that we may sink?" And so, arguments often happen in the world because of this ballast - sometimes they are pleasant, and sometimes unpleasant; sometimes they are settled in a friendly manner, and sometimes they are settled according to the method of Don Quixote or according to the method of Sancho Panza [6]. That is, do not think that Sancho Panza was much more clever than Don Quixote, but he was a practical man, he had an intimate knowledge of life, while Don Quixote was an idealist, he understood life ideally, but he did not understand it practically; and [so] we laugh when reading, but both Sancho Panza is right and Don Quixote is right. And the contemporary world is full of Don Quixotes and Sancho Panzas. This is not an insult, I am [simply] stating a fact. If you enter the schools, you will find many programs which are arranged according to the ideal of Don Quixote, there is nothing practical there; other schools have a practical orientation, but they lack the idealistic. And so they argue. When Don Quixote comes, he will apply his laws. First of all, he will start with God - he puts up a sign: religion must be taught first of all - the Law of God [7], and then all other things. Sancho Panza comes: "Down - he says - with this sign! This is not modern, what is needed is what is practical, people have to live - to eat, [some] "bite" is needed. Once we have eaten, then we will think of the Lord". And Sancho Panza reasons thus: first of all, for a man to think, he must have eaten. Is a hungry man able to think? And Sancho Panza says: "The hungry man will think of stealing, but the sated man will think of some philosophy". Now, contemporary people will say: "We are neither Don Quixotes, nor Sancho Panzas". I am glad that you are like this. But you should marry Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, and a child should be born, it will be the 'third' one and it will have the outlooks of [both] Sancho Panza and Don Quixote. Out of these two unified outlooks you will have something new. And the world asks "how will Salvation be brought about?". - Through marrying Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. These are symbols: Sancho Panza may be a man, he may also be a woman. Everything may be a man or a woman, that is to say, with respect to form. But the one who wrote "Don Quixote" has made him male. Why? And Sancho Panza, he is male as well, with respect to form. But Don Quixote fights because of his beloved, for the sake of his Dulcinea. The woman [as such] is a cause for him to manifest his heroism. Whatever endeavors he undertakes - a [certain] beautiful woman is on his mind. For her sake he is ready to sacrifice his life. And Sancho Panza also believes in his master, but he has quite a different outlook. He tells Don Quixote: "When you conquer your kingdom, give me some land, so that I may cultivate it and sustain my children." This is why Don Quixote is lean, of tall stature, with long, lean hands, a long and slender nose, sharp eyes, and a straightened forehead; while Sancho Panza - he is a shortish man, around 145 cm, he is like a keg, has short hands, fingers - very thick at the base, thickish lips, thickish nose. When he sits at the table to have a bite, he smiles like a [bright] Moon and says: "This is the meaning of life!" Now, if contemporary people, who criticize, can see only this - the comical [element] - in a novel, in a play, then they have not understood the loftier meaning; contemporary people are not people of ideas, they are people of fanciful-experiences, but not learned people. Someone has read some book, he imagines himself as a duke or an earl, but this is not enough - you need to have the blood of this duke. Therefore, ideas are something which we have to acquire in the world. And these ideas are given only through the contradictions. The law of evolution requires contradictions as a necessity. This is a law [applicable] only for the human kingdom. In the other kingdoms there is no sin - sin only exists in the human kingdom; and all those beings which are directly or indirectly connected with the people, they are all contaminated by sin. The only sinful beings in the world are the people, there are no other sinful beings. All other beings live their lives in peace and love, and understand God - only people do not understand Him, and think that the whole world is upside down. Judges, philosophers and scientists wish to make out that sin penetrates the whole Universe and they call this "world gloom" [8], and they ask themselves: why does this sin exist? Here is what I liken these writers to: in South America there is certain desert, and when the travelers walk there they raise so much dust around themselves that they are not able to see anything and think that the whole world is [made up] only of haze, even though the dust extends only 200 metres around them. [Similarly], this philosophy projects the sin onto the other worlds as well, but there they live very well, as I [myself] know. They will say: "Prove this with [scientific] data [9]". And I will say: you must also prove [your claims] with [scientific] data. I can [indeed] prove with [scientific] data, I am able to prove mathematically, to debate with mathematicians.

In the human body, given a certain form, I can prove that sin is bounded within a certain space of the Universe. And they will see that this is so. But this is a detached mathematical question and if I were to decide to prove this, do you know how this matter would turn out? A famous violinist went to Paris, he gave several concerts there and succeeded in winning the sympathies of all. Before leaving, one evening, he wanted to give an outstanding concert so that they would remember him, so that the papers would write that he played something beautiful. Unfortunately, however, he started to play a very long aria, for several hours, so that when the listeners became tired they began to leave one by one and at last only the attendant was left with the key; the violinist, full of inspiration, continued to play. The attendant went to him and said: "Sir, please, I have to sleep, take this key and when you finish your piece, close the theater". And I find the contemporary philosophers to be like this violinist: some come out and speak so much that we tell them: "Now then, take this key, and when you finish your dissertation, close your theater, because we are going to sleep". And especially the Bulgarians, they do not like long dissertations very much. The Bulgarian is practical: "Tell me in a couple of words what you want to say. Is there a Lord or is there no Lord? Is there an "other world", or is there no "other world", and do not stretch things out. I do not have time, I have to attend to the field. Is there a Lord or not? If there is not, I am heading for the field to plough. If there is a Lord, I will go to serve Him; but if there is not, I will work for myself." This is how he resolves the issue. "Is there an "other world" or not? I am asking you to tell me". And after you tell him that there is an other world, the Bulgarian says: "Have you been there? Have you seen it? Have you experienced it?" And when you tell him that you have visited the other world, he will say: "Really, is it possible to visit the other world, amazing!, then I will go as well!" He is very practical, he wants to try, he is ready to do everything, but if he senses that you lied once, then the matter changes.

There is a God, because in the world Love exists. And there is an other world, because there is this world. And the other world and this world, they are one and the same world. When you speak about "the other world", you speak about a world you do not understand, while when you speak about this world, you speak about a world you do understand. Therefore, the world I do not understand, I call - the other world; and the world I do understand, I call - this world. There is the other world, which we do not know, while this world is the world which we [do] know. Therefore, we call the known physical, whereas we call the unknown spiritual. But what is the physical and what is the spiritual? The physical world is the manifested world, while the spiritual world is the unmanifested world. When I say "unmanifested", it does not mean that it does not actually exist, but only that this world has not taken form for our feelings yet - it has taken form for our conception only; it is beyond our feelings and we call it - spiritual world. And this spiritual world is the cause of everything that happens on the Earth. And, if you wish, you may do any experiment you like. You say: "I believe [10] that I am a master of myself, I have will, I am able to do anything I like". But you are not able to do whatever you like, you can only do whatever you are ordered, like a soldier on the battlefield: you will shoot, because you are ordered to. You are a priest - you serve in the Church because you are paid; you will serve, the people want it. You say: "I am free to serve or not". No, you are not free: whoever has taken the vows is not free; whoever is a preacher is not free. And given this, we boast that we are able to think. Only free people are able to think, while people who are not free - they [merely] repeat things. And, therefore, contemporary people repeat time and again, they recite, in my opinion, excellent declamations: "Green you are, my forest, you savor of the air of youth, but in my heart you rouse only sorrow and regretful-truth" [11]. Ah, an excellent poet, he recites excellently. "I," someone says," believe in the triune God". It is a declamation. "The Lord exists" - you recite; "I am Bulgarian" - you recite. "But I am learned" - you recite, nothing more! You are Bulgarian, your father, your mother are Bulgarian, you were born among them - you recite. Will you tell me then, what is the Bulgarian blood? By what is this blood distinguished? Some say, that I cannot reason. Today I will reason philosophically and very objectively. Those learned chemists, naturalists, have they analyzed the Bulgarian blood, and by what it is different from the English blood etc.? Where are their tables and calculations? What is the Bulgarian blood like? I wish to see it, to see the results from it. What is its distinction? When some naturalist speaks of a certain seed, he has to describe not only the external form and signs, but also the internal ones, and even what results each single seed may produce. You have Bulgarian blood. What is your blood like? Not only have the Bulgarians not defined what its distinction is, but also the Englishmen, they also say: "I am English, English blood flows in my veins" But their chemists have also not defined what their blood is. What is its distinction? Bulgarians, English, French, Russians, Americans assemble and say: "Bulgarian blood flows here". The Englishman, he also says: "English blood flows". Always Bulgarian, Russian, American blood flows, but what is the blood [like] there? All people speak using unknown numbers, with suppositions. And therefore, I consider them, I say: those Bulgarians recite excellently, and the Germans, the English, the French and the Americans, all recite, but they do not yet think. The theosophists define that man is "manas" - a creature, which thinks. Yes, the first people, who came to the Earth, who created the Earth, thought; but those which stayed on to govern it, they ceased to think.

Now, sometimes I see that when I am giving a lecture, some will take a passage out of it and will say: "He corrupts the Bulgarian people". Well then, tell me the elements of my corrupting speech, the element which changes life. Good. I have nothing against being criticized, but let those critics be rational critics. Let them prove what the elements of this corruption are. According to our understanding, corruption {razvrashtenie}, "to unbolt {razvartam}" [12], this means: if on a wheel where all bolts are tightened, you loosen {razvartash} them, you are causing corruption {razvrashtenie} and those people who are in the car may fall. I ask you, please tell me: on what car of yours, which bolt have I loosened? Who are the witnesses? I am prepared to listen. Say: - On the rear wheel, on such and such a place, you have loosened the so and so bolt, and I will admit that I have corrupted and that there was a danger for the people to fall. I use the word "loosen" in a very mild form. And everyone must think, and I would like all of you who listen to me [now], likewise, to think very soundly and not to recite. "I believe in God" - this is not belief, this is declamation. Are you prepared to die for this Lord, in whom you believe, to sacrifice yourself, to give away all your wealth? For your wife, for your children, can you die for them? This is conviction; although it is a delusion, it is still an ideal, people find meaning in it. That man [who does this] is a hero, he dies for an idea. But you, the zealous believer, who believes in the one triune God, but are not prepared to give a single hair of your beard, allow me to have doubt in your faithfulness. We must reason correctly: do we think or not? You should know, is Bulgarian blood flowing in your veins or is it not flowing, and from where does this Bulgarian blood take its beginning. Does not every river have its own source? From where does the Bulgarian blood take its beginning, and where does the English blood take its beginning from? I will be glad, let them tell me where from the source of [all these] things begins. And there is a significant difference in the blood of the [different] people. I will be sincere.

What color does this Bulgarian blood give to the Bulgarian face? - Blackish, it means that in the Bulgarian blood carbon predominates primarily, or the carbon energy, which compels him to keep close to the Earth, that is why he is a ploughman, a gardener, a shepherd. While in the blood of the Englishman, hydrogen predominates, the hydrogen energy, that is why he is a merchant, he sails everywhere across the sea, his people are all over the world. Yes, I say, there is more water in the blood of the Englishman. And if you wish to befriend the Englishman, give him good water to drink. But if you wish to befriend the Bulgarian, give him a piece of land, he will remember you, he will say: "He gave me very good land". And so, the Bulgarians became Bulgarians when carbon prevailed in their blood; the English became English when hydrogen prevailed in their blood. These are energies within Nature. But one day these energies will change. And the Bulgarian of today will change, something new will come out of him and he will not be called Bulgarian anymore. And a time will come when the English will also change. They will not be called English. They will be called something new. And the Bulgarians and the English of our day will remain in the archive, to be studied like an ancient thing - how they manifested themselves in the past. And so, we all must turn back and start to think and to reason, at first about ourselves - and not to occupy ourselves with other philosophies. First of all we must occupy ourselves with the mighty philosophy of our body, with those great causes which have started to act from the beginning, with the causes which have created the hand. The hand is not complete yet. What had Nature thought when she created the eye, the ear, the human mouth, the tongue, the nose, what is the significance [13] of all these organs? What is their designation? Is the only purpose of the human tongue to simply roll the food? Of the tongue in the mammals, people think that it has a sole purpose - to roll the food. In reality, however, the tongue has three tasks: not only to pass the food to the throat, but also to taste, to distinguish between foods, and the third task is to speak and sing. These are all tasks of the tongue. I will ask now, if Nature has set these organs [in place], what did she initially think? You do not have any memories of this. You see that you have a tongue, that you have eyes; but [of] how these eyes have been created, how this tongue has been created, your ear, the brain, you have absolutely no conception at all. And if I were to ask some one of you: do you know how many nerves there are inside the human body? how many nerves through which the body functions? They are 700-800 million separate little nerves, with which this great kingdom exists. There are so many wires through which all the possible energies in Nature function and the perceptions occur. Do you know how many days you need to read them? Just you put some effort to read 1,000,000 and then calculate how many years it will take you to read 800 million. And do you know how long it took Nature, and how many millions of beings have worked for these wires? Do you know what these electricians of the invisible world, who put this installation inside your body, were like? And someone stands and says: "Splendidly and fearfully is Man created." But how was all this created? The prophet wrote: "splendidly and fearfully" he thinks, but with what does he think? Yes, fearfully, 800 million wires, there are little long ropes [...?], do you understand [14]? And do you know that if they were to put you in some factory to make these wires, and you were to pay [for this], even 10 billion would not be enough. Some of them are so thin, that the manufacturer will say: It is not possible to make such thin wires in our factory". But if you attend a special expedition to go to the Sun, Mars, Saturn or somewhere else, to make this installation and to return... have you thought about this excursion [15]? When an engineer from the invisible world comes to make an invention, he works, [he] returns to the Earth, you will wait for a long time and [then] you will [finally] hear: on such and such a place new wires have appeared. And when we examine the brain of the lower creatures, [we see that] in the front part of the brain there are white nerves [which are still] in an embryonic state, while in man they are long [and developed], and through them the human thought manifests and functions. Do you know from which factory they were made? Some want to convince us that they are made in the brain. Nature has prepared these particles from far-distant spaces, and then they are carried over to the Earth by means of four types of energies: I am now substituting the Hindu terms with ours - carbonic, hydrogenic, nitrogenic and oxygenic energies.

I take the word hydrogen - it signifies those energies which are connected with the hydrogen atom. And there are much deeper causes {prichini} for a given atom to be a carbon atom or a hydrogen atom, than contemporary chemists think. There are completely different reasons {prichini}, upon which we are not going to dwell, these are fields which we will think about in the future. This is a grand, profound science. These energies were carried-through in parts, and then that Great Installer came and began to place this installation, and your brain began to work, and you - to think. So, in order for some of these wires to be manufactured in the Angelic factories, it costs 10 billion levs in gold; these wires are only 2-3 millimeters long and very thin. And when you sit back and say: "This head, why did the Lord give it to me, [it would have been] better if He had given me money!" - My friend, you have in your head a small wire, 10 billion are spent on it, not banknotes, but gold - effektiv [16], so that you would think. And you, who now recite, you say: "Why has the Lord given me these abilities, these talents, when I cannot show my worth [17]?" It is comical, for the son to accuse his father: "Why has my father bought me a violin and a bow, when I cannot play [a musical instrument]? I want to play [some game]". Your father has hired an excellent teacher, he has bought musical scores for you and everything [else besides], you only need to play [(on the musical instrument)]. And now the contemporary people who recite say: "These things are very deep. If we begin to think, our heads will fly off [18], and, therefore, because our heads will fly off, we must not think. And anyone who dares say anything, he is a heretic, he is a liar - he deceives the people". Oh well, tell me then, in what do your truths consist? I do not mind, but when we say "liar", this is a very strong word. What does "lie" {laja} or "lick" {lija} stem from in Bulgarian [19]? I would like some of you, if there are any philology students from University here, to be so kind as to ask your professors: the root of the word "lie", where did it stem from, and is that root purely Bulgarian, is it Slavic, or is it a word which originates from some older language; and what is its archetypal root - you will do me a great favor. You lie, this means, that you do not speak the truth. Good. But define for me then what kind of thing the truth is. If we speak of the truth and the lie we should define them as two values [20]. By what do they differ? Truth, when it enters man, introduces an element of courage. When one knows the truth about a given idea, he is ready to die for it. While the lie, when it enters man, makes him cowardly. Therefore, anything that makes people cowardly is a lie: this is so according to logic. Anything which makes man cowardly contains a lie within itself; but anything which makes man courageous and decisive, to think and reason, draws him closer to the truth. It is so in practice. Does that, which I speak to you, make you cowardly? If it makes you cowardly, then I am telling you a lie. But, if what I speak to you makes you courageous, decisive and happy in life, then I am speaking the truth to you. And then, who speaks the truth and who speaks the lie? And you should not only be encouraged for a single moment. No, no. I can give you a little wine, you become courageous and say: "Do you know who I am?" But then, when you become sober, you say: "I myself do not know who I am". In the truth such changes do not exist, there you will know yourself better, you will always be courageous. And therefore, the truth presupposes that it is without changes and brings light within itself. And for all those plants which are strong and healthy, this is how I can determine their strength - [i.e.] that they have been under the influence of the sunlight; but those flowers in the cellar are very fragile, because the sunlight was lacking for them. And so, truth makes things flexible and pliable, while the lie makes them fragile and unstable.

Now, you will ask me a question: what happened there with your verse 13? But of course, this number 13 is fatal, I am speaking precisely about the number 13. It means - "does this man think now ?". Joseph is the man who thinks and reasons.

"And take his mother" - mother, this is the contradiction which impels us to think. While in Hebrew, the letter M signifies death. So then, death is associated with two processes in Nature. One which destroys, and the other which builds-up. You cannot build-up if you have not destroyed something. These two processes work simultaneously in Nature, and through them thought occurs. And from all metamorphoses, life and death originate. Mary is the woman, who passes through, demolishes and purifies everything. She gave birth to a child and spoiled the affairs of people, and this child has created for them a whole misfortune. And do you know how many people died because of this child? The inquisition alone has scorched 50 million such people. And what about Nero, the Roman emperor, how many people did he kill? And now how many people have passed away at the battlefields [21]? So then, Mary, who gave birth to a child, brought great trouble upon men. Therefore, she wishes to cleanse, to uproot everything, and to plant something new; so when Christ came, the Angel told him: "Go to Egypt". Egypt is the physical world. This child, in order for it to understand the world, must go to Egypt to study [22]. What is the Earth for? The material world, the physical world, is a world [made] for science. And when you are being expelled from somewhere, the Lord tells you: "You have to go to Egypt, to learn", and when you return again, you will know how to reason about those things which Nature has created. And if you ask me: "Why are we on the Earth?", I will tell you - to study. In every learning there is suffering, but learning itself is not suffering, it produces suffering; whereas suffering is like a foundation for us to be able to learn certain things. Therefore, we are in the physical world to study. Very well! What should we study? They say: "I am Bulgarian", over there someone else will say: "I am Serbian". And then those philologists of the Serbians will say: "You should consider the Bulgarians enemies, because they hinder your nationality". And the Bulgarians will also say: "You should despise the Serbians, they hinder your Bulgarian culture". And [both] the ones and the others pray in the name of God, they appeal to this Lord, as though this Lord does not know His work and is in need of being taught by them. The Serbians, those faithful fathers of a nation, say: "You, Lord, do You not want to know what You are doing with us?" And the Lord, after casting a look from above says: "These very learned children of mine have become excellent philosophers, they have divided themselves into Bulgarians, Serbians and so on and think that their games are so serious that I, too, should come to play with them. But you may play thousands of years and one day, when you grow wiser and cease being Bulgarians and Serbians, I will come to set you in order." These words are not mine, Christ had taught the same teaching. And Apostle Paul says: "In Christ there are neither Judeans, nor Hellenes, nor Scythians, nor slaves". Therefore, all these contradictions have originated from reciting: we do not think, we repeat, we always declaim and declaim, until this declamation is lost. But the time has already come for thought as well - for serious thought. The declamation has worn out and become meaningless. An assessment commission is coming, they do not want declamations. They give you an exercise, solve it now, they throw away the sleeves [23] and there will not be any classmates which will give you a cue; I want you to reason seriously. Everyone knows this way, he looks up the sleeve and says "I know" - he speaks, he answers [24], ... but when they take him [the capable student] to the blackboard - only the capable students work on the board while the incapable ones gulp - he begins these formulae, develops them and reasons mathematically; while those who do not know, look at the teacher, and say: "Tell us something". But he is far away, because there is a commission; this commission has come into the world and will call each of you to the blackboard - there is no declamation now, you must solve the exercise. This is why when I say that the time of the declamations has run out, I would like this time to continue, but the Lord will call you to the black board, He will give you an envelope [25] and there will be no one around you. There, at the board, you will perspire a bit. And, when you leave this commission, it will tell you either that you know how to think, or that you only know how to declaim. It will report in the invisible world, it will say: "Reverend such-and-such, he is an excellent preacher, but does not know how to think." "Mr. so and so, Ivan Draganov, an excellent professor, with a degree in astronomy; another, Ivan Stoyanov teaches biology, but does not know how to think". "Dragan Stoyanov, teaches philosophy, but does not know how to think". All recite, but do not know how to think. Thus the commission decides from above: "They do not know how to think". What do they do? - [they] recite. They are excellent children of the declamation, who pass for professors.

And so, the Angel says: "Take your son and his mother and go to Egypt to study [26]". And this Angel now comes and says to you: "Off you go to Egypt". And you will sigh about Jerusalem. But this Jerusalem is a place for sacrifices, while in Egypt there is wisdom, order and harmonious-construction [27]. And why did the Lord lay waste to Jerusalem? There the Jews began to make so many sacrifices, that the temple began to smell of blood. And the Lord said: "Tear down this temple, I do not want blood. I want people to think, to serve with their mind, with their heart, with their soul". And today this Lord is coming, and if contemporary people do not learn, He will say the same to them as well, and all the temples will be destroyed [just] as the temple of Jerusalem [was torn down], and He will send everyone to Egypt. It will happen thus all around the world, everything will be destroyed. "Eh" you will say now, "prove this!" I will send you, when the temples are ruined, I will send you to see them, and I will tell you: See them! Is it true? - "Why did this happen?" - Because you did not think, you did not fulfill the Will of God but followed your own will. You did not study, but you said : "You lie". When someone comes to speak the truth, you wish to get rid of him. The lie tears down, while the truth builds-up. But, if I were the first to speak the truth, I tell you: "You are fortunate people, I respect you". Well, let me see your culture, let me see your prisons, your churches, schools, your wives, your maidens and lads, how you live in your homes. I would like to draw a lesson from your lofty moral {moral}. I am ready to make the visit now. Do you have this morality {moral}? If you were so clever, where do these debts of yours come from? You have more than 20 billion to [re]pay. You have more than 10-15 ministers killed on the streets like dogs. Where is this from? And is this the only thing? I am valiant enough to tell you the truth, and I do not wish you evil, you must not be mistaken; but this is not Bulgarianism, this is barbarism. And when the Western nations wish to define the Bulgarians, they say: "You are barbarians", and to a certain extent they are right. The Bulgarians are barbarians, whereas the Western nations make their appearance after [their time of] barbarianism . Now, let us resolve the problem for ourselves. Can you solve the problem? Because the Bulgarians as individuals do not exist. This is a collective unit [constituted] from many [single] units. Now I will tell you: are you able to love? "Well", you will say, "now you have touched [upon] our heart, how warm it is!" I am glad, indeed I am glad, this is what I wish - love, but I say, on your love, on this fire, is it possible to forge something useful, is it possible to spin a thread? Or is it possible for fruits to ripen upon your love: apples, plums, pears? Now you will say: "Now we are in trouble". What [...]? Yes, when fruits begin to ripen from the rays of your heart, then the world will be set right. This is possible - upon the human heart the best apples can grow. Upon the love from above the best pears and cherries grow. And, when I speak in this way, some say: "This language is very enigmatic". It is not enigmatic, because if you begin to study the human body, you will see the whole of Nature - man is a microcosm; whatever occurs in the whole Universe, the same occurs in man. In man everything ripens: apples, pears, cherries, grapes! Therefore, these pears and apples of yours do not ripen from the sunlight, but from your love, so that whoever tastes may say: "This man has excellent grapes".

"Arise!" says the Angel, "take the child and his mother and go to Egypt". Egypt, this is the body, here the worms will eat it. And the body of the one, who does not know how to reason, the worms will come to teach him how to reason [28] . If you have not studied your stomach, you say: the stomach is just a paunch which the Lord will destroy. The brain is useless, this is not needed, that is not needed. The religious people say that it is also possible [to live] without a body. The secular people, they also go to another extreme. The religious people are Don-Quixotes. I do not wish to offend you, you will excuse me. Such is the train of thought. We will live for God, we will not blemish ourselves like Don Quixote. Don Quixote lives in his mind for his Dulcinea alone. And Sancho Panza reasons that he needs to eat, trembles over his body when something pains him, and says: "Dear doctor", and there is lamb-kin, and turkey-poult: "Man can only live with this". He is a practical man: he thinks that his stomach is a mill, thus far he has come, that he has to mill. When you tell the unsober man to drink water, he says: "Wine is created by God for us, while water is for the frogs". Sancho Panza says thus. Can you prove to me that the Lord has created wine? I know that water is created by God, while wine is from men. The Lord has created the grapes, but the wine is yours. Therefore, you recite, you do not think. And then they will take this wine, they will make it to be "Christ's blood". But the wine which should pour [out] from our tongue, this is the rational word. Man must not lie. Do you understand? When I speak, my heart hurts for you, when I see that you create all your misfortunes yourselves. And when I speak, I have the whole desire that you do not suffer. Salvation is before you. You need only make a semicircle, and you will change your front. This always happens when man is weighed down. And when you say: "I am in great trouble", I say: make a semicircle and the good fortune [29] will come. You say: "How many circles we have done!" You will set out in such a direction, towards the North and towards the East, and then you will put everything in. But you will say: "To the North? Don't you know that it is cold there? And from the East the Sun rises, what will I seek there? I will go South and West". I say: until now all your misfortunes have been created in these two places, and, because warmth is produced in the South, while the West creates density, the matter has become so dense, and the fire which penetrates into this matter has become so strong, that you torment yourself. Go towards the Truth - go East and North, this fire will diminish and rarefy and warmth will form, in which your fruits may ripen. Now you will tell me: "Can you prove this?" Well then, you will come with me, we will hold each other hand-in-hand, you will think the way I think, [and] you will feel as I do, and if within a year you do not see the results of my science, then you may say something, but until a year has passed you will say nothing. Someone says: "I think" - My friend, until now you have not thought. Your wife has commanded you - if you are a man, of course. On the street, when you walk and go to the left side, the policeman tells you to move to the right: "Go back, it is not allowed here". But you say: "I reason, I have the will to go back [or not]" [Yet] you will go back, what else can you do? Now, because there are legitimations, you say: "I will not go out, I am not disposed". No, no, you are not free, [because] you have a certain fear, you think of what the policemen have issued, but you do not think about the Divine legitimation: it has not come to your mind to live according to God - a pure, moral and exalted life. You say: "Now we are young, let us live a little, so that when we grow old, then we will pray all day long". But show me a single old man who prays to God. Not a single one. No, no, the young generation must be spiritual, not only with placards. To these young people we have to clarify the profound laws, why one should live in a free and spiritual way and not otherwise. Let them make an experiment. This is not a reproach. Make the young generations think, give them freedom to think. But the old ones say: "Son, do not try to get to the root of things, become, rather, a [proper] man". How will you become a [proper] man? If you are a clerk, turn and put your hand in [the money-case] when the Lord is asleep, take the money and then you will do a small good [deed] - you will aid the orphans and the Lord will forgive you. And do you think, that the son will then say: "this is morality?" Is it with such a religion that you wish the young generation to enter the Church? No, the young generation needs another religion, a religion of truth, a religion which makes these young people courageous and decisive. But the modern-day maidens and lads, they commit suicides and say: "There is no meaning in life". Why? - Because the lie has crept into their blood, it has made them fragile, they do not find any meaning and say: "I do not want to live" And then in the Universities the students listen to lectures, in the high schools they study, but among these young people you will not find a single student who reasons soundly - the threads in their brains have been torn, their minds have been stupefied. The young generation needs fresh, crystalline thought, Divine thought, which will give expanse for their souls to fly off, to walk through space, to have energy, to think and to think seriously. Therefore, this is what is needed and what is given to you: instill the truth into your soul and when this truth is instilled in the social life, we will be able to fix it far sooner with knowledge, than without knowledge. When a car breaks, it is not philosophers that are required, but workers; when a building is erected, tradesmen are needed; when a man is killed, a mother is required to return him back to life. Do you know now what the [true nature of the] mother is? When you become a mother, you have to give birth, to nurture and bring up a child. But now the mothers misguide their daughters. They speak to them about fashions, about hats, about this, about that, but not a word about the essential things. Maidens and lads join in marriage, the maiden thinks and the lad thinks, but when it comes to the adversities of life, how will they learn? The mothers say: "You will also learn, as we learned by ourselves". It is not so. The modern-day maidens and lads should know the meaning of life, how the human body is created, what the obligations of the mother, of the father, of the teacher are. And not just according to form but also according to essence. Everyone must know their obligations and fulfill them most conscientiously for the good of the neighbor. And there is no need for us to judge ourselves. This Angel says to Joseph: "Arise! take the child and his mother and flee from Jerusalem". That is, flee from this modern civilization, which has perverted every thought, which is condemned: it has deprived people of individuality and has made them uniform. There is an occult story about someone who went to study the science of the East and, who knows how, he fell among some blind adepts: the eyes of all of them were sunken. They caught hold of him, examined him everywhere with their hands: "Everything is like it is in us, only his eyes are not like ours. We have to become equal". And they began to press his eyes, so that they may become like theirs. And in the very thing with which man can find the way, they have put their fingers: "To become alike". And they say: "We want to make these people equal - their eyes have to sink in". The Lord has made our eyes properly. When the Bulgarians say "sunken eyes", they understand what this means very well [30], while of the religious people, when their eyes sink in, they immediately say: "He has become righteous". When a man loses everything - wealth, wife, children - his eyes will sink in, whereas if everything follows its normal course, his eyes protrude. Our eyes must be such as the Lord has created them. They should not sink in. And I am also against sunken eyes. If your eyes begin to sink in, it means that you have not become saintly yet, but have an ailing state, and soon enough you will depart from this world, without having understood why you have come here. Now you should know a sublime law: [you should] have clear thoughts and [you should] understand why your bodies have been created. Have you ever stopped to say: "These hands, why are they sometimes dry?" You have pain in your abdomen, you will call a doctor and he will make a diagnosis. No one has understood the cause yet. The doctor cannot know the cause. And if your hand hurts, do you know what the hand is saying? "My lord, I am sorry that you have used me for many things, but for that which is essential, for which I am intended, you have not used me" And you will look like that boy, which, when his father bought him a violin and a bow, started beating his sister with the bow and broke the bow. He does not play [on a musical instrument], but beats. You also sometimes say: "Beat him up! The hand has been created to thrust". No, the hand has not been created [for you] to beat and thrust. This hand is created for you to play [a musical instrument]. This is its purpose. Have you played [a musical instrument] with it? - "No". You have not understood the meaning of life. Your hand is made to wipe the tears of one who is crying; it has been made to give food to one who is hungry; it has been made for that man who is perishing, so that you may save him with your hands. Did you understand me? Are you going to recite or to think? Tell me now: are you going to recite? If it is a matter of declamation, I also recited this morning. And the first thing I did was to recite: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem...." And sometimes I recite very accurately, sometimes I stop, and there is an exception, someone may say: "There the recitation is not so." There is an art in recitation also. But there is no thought there. Joseph must think. You will say: "Where did you find all this in verse 13? Is all this in verse 13?" I extract the [following] thought from there. You have a brain, this is the reality in life. And modern-day people are right when they say that we have to begin from the visible world in order to understand the true needs of our body. And after this we will come to study, first of all, the physical manifestations of human life. Now from times immemorial many cultures have emerged, but the world has not yet achieved that level, at which it should be. Why? Because people still do not think. But this commission, which now comes, will compel people to think.

Now, a small diversion from these philosophical reflections of mine. They are a little hidden, because, simultaneously, I have to reason on one side, [and] to correct and to plant on the other. I will present to you what situation contemporary people find themselves in. It is a story that is passed down by tradition. To what extent it is true, I cannot say, but it is remembered. It dates from the time of Nero. The question is about a prominent Roman woman, daughter of a patrician - Veronius, and her name was Vincilla. She was one of the most beautiful virgins in Rome, so beautiful, so gracious, so noble and courageous of character, that truly everyone was astonished by her. One day, by [mere] coincidence, for better or worse, Nero - who had a habit of paying attention to everything, both as an actor and an artist, a pupil of Seneca, but who liked women in a peculiar way - passed close by her, and she attracted his attention. He sent for her in the evening and said to her father: "I want your daughter to come one evening for a conversation, to spend an evening in my palace". When her father announced this to her, she immediately said: "No! I prefer death to Nero's palace!" She sent back Nero's envoys. They informed him of this. Nero, who was very proud, said: "Very well". He sent several Praetorians: "Take her and you will lower the nose of this proud Roman-woman, you will kiss her several times". In Rome everyone without any exception had to pay regard to Nero's will. I say, this virgin, she had not understood life, do you understand? When she was entering the prison, they met her for the first time with a very crude act. Now you, the contemporary people, will say: "What is wrong with her visiting Nero's palace, after all?" [31] According to contemporary morality, a man may make a small deviation, but this maiden thought, do you understand? She had her own ideal. There is will-power in her: "I do not want to go! Not for anything would I wish to go to the palace!" The one who was appointed went to carry out Nero's will by force, and then, on Nero's order, they let her go. She went out, left Rome, distanced herself from there completely, [and] in her soul there arose an aversion towards the Roman civilization: "There is nothing noble in Rome, this is a dishonor for Rome, from now on I do not wish to be a Roman [any more]". And she went to the Southern country, passed into Africa, to a mountainous region. There dwelt, as a hermit, another Roman, who had become a Christian, by the name of Finicius, who understood life very deeply and was an excellent philosopher. A young man, about 35, he had persevered for 15 years. He had the desire that his beauty, which tempted women, would disappear. And, the more that time passed, the more handsome he became: he took a mirror and, every day, as he looked at himself, he became more and more handsome. He prayed to Christ saying: "Lord, this devil, this external temptation, may it be gone from me". And he wished this beauty of his to disappear, so as to be pleasing to God. "Lord, appear to me and show me the way, I wish to live a pure and holy, exalted, unblemished life". For 15 years this had constantly been his prayer. One day, close to noontime, he saw this Vincilla in the desert; she was walking, coming towards him, and he said to himself: "Ah, even here this devil has found me, gone is my soul!" He struggles, and she struggles. She is disgusted at the lewdness which is in Rome, in the court of Nero, at that lawlessness; while Finicius, he also perseveres and says: "A devil is coming now, I can see a devil in this beautiful woman, now I will have to fight. If I fail now, I will be ruined forever, I will be gone. Now or never!" And she approached and said to him: "Holy father [32], I beg you, be so kind ... " and began to cry. - "Ah, how cunning this devil is!" And he fell on his knees at her feet and said: "I beg you, sister, do not tempt me, I am full of sin, depart from me, you will ruin me".

You, the contemporary people, are like this saint and this Roman woman. We do not understand each other. You are now this Roman woman who has come out of Rome, who was kissed in the prison forcibly, against her will. And the Orthodox, the Protestants, the Catholics, the Evangelists, Muslims, Buddhists are all Finicius. They constantly pray in their Churches and when we want to show them the path of Truth, they say: "Go away, you will ruin our Church!" I say of this Finicius, that there was not a more suitable occasion to help this maiden. Her soul was being torn up in the futility of life: she could not understand the essential problem - why should man live on Earth? And once her fate let her down, she stopped thinking; with this contradiction here he [Finicius] should have helped her. But he said to her: "Go away, I am a sinner". She could not understand him. "You will show me the way" she said to him, "I want to know the way , this true way". And now I ask, I ask this question to both the Roman woman and to Finicius. Neither of them have found the meaning of life yet. Christ has not come among them yet. They seek Him, she - in Rome, he - in the desert for 15 years, in the Name of Christ. They meet, [and] do not understand each other; he - as a Christian, she - as a pagan, in the name of that knowledge {pl.}, which she carried with herself. While the truth will be shown to them by that living Angel who will descend. I leave the story [as it is,] without making a conclusion. You should make a conclusion for yourselves.

Now, many of you have been kissed inside the prison. "I!" you will say. You have been kissed: in Nero's prison, many of you were kissed there on Nero's order. Many of you are invited to Nero's palace. How have you solved the problem? I stop there, but I tell you: you are at a crossroad, of this young Roman woman and this young saint. You are at a crossroad, and how will you resolve this problem? I leave you, men and women, to solve the problem. The culture to come depends upon this resolution.

"Take your son and his mother, go to Egypt, and wait there until I tell you to return".

And now I listen to the voice of that Angel and I say:

"Return!" May my Lord give you light, may He give you His wisdom, may He give you His knowledge so that you may [begin to] shine through. This Lord of Love whom I serve, this Lord of Wisdom, this Lord of Truth, may He give you all his blessing so that you may come to know Him, so that you may understand what the deep internal meaning of this life is, which you still do not know. And not Bulgarians, but I desire you to be daughters and sons of this Lord Who has created the whole Universe. May you have entrance to His Kingdom, may you freely walk. To be worthy of His Love and to thank Him and glorify Him.

This I wish to all of you!

May the Lord bless all of you with the most gracious blessing. May He grant strength and valor to you all!

And I do believe, that you will be heroes of the future culture of Love, of the future new humanity which carries the sign: Love for everyone!

--==[][][]==--


Notes:
[1] i.e. contradictions in general
[2] Here the Master uses a colloquial word ("papo") which means food, and has a slightly ironic connotation; it can be translated approximately as eats, tuck, bites, goodies etc.
[3] This is the normal English usage of the word here (cf. Note [2])
[6] The characters referred to here are from the (well-known) book "Don Quixote" by the 16th century Spanish author Cervantes
[7] this is a literal translation of the subject "Bible classes" or "Religious Education" in the Bulgarian schools at the time when the lectures were given
[8] In German "Weltschmerz" - sentimental pessimism
[9] or evidence
[10] literally: "I think..."
[11] The Master quotes the beginning of a poem by Lyuben Karavelov (1834-79) which starts with "Beautiful you are" instead of "Green you are". The poem was published in 1875 and the song with this text has been so popular since, that sometimes it is (mistakenly) considered a Bulgarian folk song. A poetic translation in English follows:
                  Beautiful you are, my forest,
      	    And an air of youth you breathe.
      	    But you are a source of sorrow,
      	    You incline our hearts to grieve.
                     	Translated by Peter Tempest 
[12] There is a play of words here - the Master correlates the Bulgarian word razvrashtavam (corrupt) with razvartam (unbolt, unscrew, loosen). This connection could be observed more easily by the contemporary person through the Russian word for corrupt razvrashta -> 'raz-vrashtat', i.e. 'un-revolve' (vrashtat means revolve)
[13] or: meaning
[14] perhaps some text is missing at this point
[15] literally: walk, as in "going for a walk"
[16] Literally, the word means the gold that backs up or stands as the real value behind banknotes; there seems to be no equivalent word in English that would convey the correct meaning.
[17] literally: manifest or show myself, express myself etc.
[18] This is a Bulgarian colloquialism; it means, literally: we will go crazy.
[19] In Bulgarian these two words differ only in one vowel: laja {lie) and lija (lick)
[20] i.e. value or quantity in the sense of mathematics
[21] This could also be rendered as: "and now how many people went to the battlefields"
[22] or: learn
[23] i.e. not to cheat by looking up the sleeves for the correct answers prepared earlier on the cuffs or on cheat-sheets etc.
[24] this sentence is fragmented (the ellipsis is also in the original), so another possible rendering for the rest of the sentence may be: speak up - he answers..., where the answer itself is missing
[25] at this time examination questions were usually put inside of an envelope which the students received upon entrance.
[26] third person plural - i.e. they (all should) study
[27] literally: "order and orderliness"
[28] this sentence is like it is in the original (though possibly it was not recorded in its entirety when the Master spoke)
[29] literally: happiness, but can also be fortune (not as in wealth)
[30] Usually the phrase "sunken eyes" is used in Bulgarian about someone who is not well - ill, hungry, or not having enough rest, under pressure etc.
[31] The original has the quotation end after the words "after all", however, it most likely stops just before it - i.e. ''Now you, ..., will say: "What is wrong with her visiting Nero's palace?"'' - is that not so?
[32] In order to avoid the differences in using the word "Reverend" across Christian denominations, the address is translated literally
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