Connectedness with the Spiritual Source

SPIRIT

God, in His essence, is Spirit.

Spirit is a manifestation of God.

It has always existed and will exist eternally.

The Spirit is the beginning of all things.

It is written: "In the beginning was the Word." The Word - this is the first manifestation of Love in the material world.

And Love - this is the first fruit of the Spirit.

The head of the Word is Truth.

And the head of Truth is the Spirit of God.

It is the Beginning of the beginning of all things.

Therefore, the Word is the first thing with which man must begin. That which speaks to man at times is not yet the Spirit of God, it is the Word.

Later, man will arrive at Truth, and finally, at the Divine Spirit.

He who does not understand the Word, cannot understand Truth, and he who does not understand Truth cannot understand the Spirit.

Spirit descends into Truth, and Truth descends into the Word.

And thus speaks the Word: "The Spirit is that which gives life."

There is life because there is Spirit. The Spirit initiated Life.

True life is only that which proceeds from the Spirit, because there is life that is not initiated by the Spirit. The life that proceeds from the Spirit is perfectly rational. In this life nothing dies. It excludes all suffering, all sickness, all contradictions, all want.

The Spirit is the eternal, immortal foundation of this very life.

Within it are hidden all the primary forms in which life manifests itself.

Primary forms are all forms, which proceed directly from the Spirit.

Every form of the Spirit is a page from the great book of life.

The Spirit in its essence is one, but in its manifestations it is manifold. Unity and plurality - these are the attributes of the Spirit.

As a manifestation, the Spirit is plural from one of its poles to the other.

Therefore I say: The Spirit is One, the spirits are many.

The spirits are breaths born out of the one Breath.

In its plurality the Spirit reveals its inexhaustible variety.

The greatness of the Divine Spirit is manifested in that variety. The Spirit contains all the inexhaustible treasures of the visible worlds, and reveals what God is.

God comes down to us by sending His Spirit, as the sun sends its light.

The Divine Spirit rises every day, and every day it sends us its blessings voluntarily, without our asking for them and without expecting any repayment from us.

We owe to it everything that we have.

Men have always realized this more or less. In various ways they have designated that intelligent power which comes from God and manifests itself in the world, and they have given it different names: the primal substance, the primal energy, the laws of nature, and so on.

The laws are created by the Spirit. They relate to that great energy of the world which comes out of its primal state and differentiates itself in order to manifest itself in its inexhaustible variety.

This manner of development is but the universal movement of the Spirit in carrying out the complete cosmic plan.

The Spirit is the most sublime reality. From the point of view of the physical world it is invisible, but from the point of view of the Divine world, it is as objective as is the body in the physical world, and the soul in the spiritual world.

Everything that is great, sublime and mighty in the world is due to the Spirit.

Spirit has borne the most precious fruits in life.

These fruits are:

Love, Joy, Peace.

Long-suffering, Gentleness, Goodness.

Faith, Meekness, Temperance (or Self-control).

These are three great triangles of the three worlds the divine, the angelic, and the human. Love, Joy, Peace - this is the Divine triangle. Love is the father, Joy - the mother, and Peace - their child. In the triangle of the angelic world, long-suffering is the father, gentleness the mother, and goodness the child.

Acquire these qualities and you will be among the angels.

In the third triangle, faith is the father; meekness the mother, and temperance the child.

Acquire these qualities in their deep mystic meaning, and you will be ranked among the saints.

In order to understand what the Spirit is, man's soul must be awakened.

Only the soul has direct communion with the Spirit.

Without the soul, we would have no conception of the Spirit.

It may be said that what the relationship of the growing seed is to the sun, such is the relationship of the human soul to the Divine Spirit.

The human soul experiences a holy awe in the presence of the Divine Spirit, because its growth and life depend upon it.

The soul has not yet completed its development. It will pass through millions of forms. When it completes its development, it will unite with the Spirit, and then soul and spirit will no longer exist separately.

Then eternal life will be manifested.

The spirit can dwell only with the soul. It cannot dwell with our minds, because our thoughts are constantly changing.

Remember: the primary essence of man is his spirit.

The first manifestation of man is his manifestation as spirit. The spirit is that absolute point within which man appears in creation. The soul represents the potentialities of the spirit.

The spirit of man is eternal. It continually descends, manifests itself and ascends again. Man's spirit awakens and manifests itself when the Divine Spirit descends into it. It descends and then ascends again to God.

In this descending and ascending, the human spirit moves simultaneously in three directions, which bring about three strivings:

The first striving of the spirit is the striving towards life.

The second striving of the spirit is the striving towards knowledge.

The third striving of the spirit is the striving towards freedom.

The human spirit teaches man everything. It stimulates the human soul to grow and develop. The soul is the treasury of the human spirit. It contains within itself everything that the spirit has acquired from time immemorial to the present day.

The human spirit is the author of all things on earth. All sciences, all arts, all religions, all the epochs and cultures through which the earth has passed are created by the human spirit, which has not yet fully unfolded. Even man's physical body, with all its organs and all its organization, is created by his spirit.

And when the body of a man is being created in the womb of the mother, the spirit of the man participates in this creation together with the spirit of the mother. All energies, all forces active in the cosmos, are at the disposal of the human spirit. It works freely with matter - it can condense it, dilute it, mould it. For instance, when the spirit desires to reduce the vibrations of light, it condenses matter around itself.

Matter constantly compels the spirit to mould new, more perfect forms. The spirit creates the forms, and matter individualizes the spirit. And that which we call the conflict between matter - which in itself is lifeless and inert - and the spirit, which is full of life, is the striving of the spirit to make matter more plastic and more pliable for its creative work.

Man searches for happiness, knowledge and wealth in life.

But these things may be acquired only from the Spirit.

Only the Spirit bestows all these blessings. It bestows all endowments and all talents, all intelligence and all genius.

With the coming of the Spirit, everything great is born.

When the Spirit comes, it stimulates all that has accumulated within man for millions of years. All this awakens and begins to develop.

When the Spirit comes, man begins to experience an expansion, his horizon clears, contradictions disappear, and he begins to see clearly.

If man desires that Divine Love be revealed in him, the Spirit must necessarily be in him.

But the Spirit is a very sensitive being. It is very responsive to all human weakness and is, by nature, able to enter into those who are on the Path. It does not knock strongly. It will knock very softly at your heart, and if you open to it, at once it will change your whole life. The Spirit will show you how to live, what to do, and how to do it consciously.

The Divine Spirit comes to work within us only when our hearts and minds work rightly.

First, it appears as intuition, but when man advances, it speaks out clearly. Its manifestations become more lucid and concrete.

When the Spirit enters into a man, it will manifest itself without fail. There is no power in the world that can prevent the Spirit from revealing itself.

But without purity the human spirit cannot appear in its full strength.

Listen to your spirit! And remember that it is the great author of all that is on the earth. Science, which people sometimes worship, is a creation of the human spirit. The human spirit is above all science.

Therefore, do not worship that which the human spirit has created, that you have created!

Respect your spirit as a great creator, as a great interpreter and executor of the divine will.

The human spirit always fulfills the will of God. It does that which it has learned from God.

If you wish to follow the path of Truth, then let the Spirit within you be free. Let it guide and direct you. Inside you or outside you, the Spirit observes all that you do.

Today the Spirit is leading humanity in new ways. The whole solar system has entered into a new realm. After a time men of science will prove that the earth itself has entered a new configuration with the sun. We are coming in contact with a virgin matter and those who are ready will enter into the new life that is hidden within it, and will be resurrected, and those who are not ready will have to wait and be taken up in the future, by a new wave.

Prepare yourself for the coming of the Spirit!

And do not forget that when the Spirit comes, the door of your heart must be opened.

When the Spirit enters, the door of your heart must close.

Do not open the door before the coming of the Spirit.

Do not close the door before the entering of the Spirit.

Work where the Spirit works.

GOD

There is One who manifests Himself as Love, as Wisdom, and as Truth.

There is One!

And all of Living Nature speaks of this One, of this Great One.

They call Him God, Lord, Father.

It is He who fills everything, all of creation, all worlds, all solar systems, and nevertheless, He is still unrevealed. He cannot reveal Himself completely, even in all eternity. It does not contain all the forms by which He might reveal Himself.

Of Himself, the Absolute, the Unattainable, has no form. He is "nothing" but this "nothing" contains everything within itself.

He limits Himself without becoming limited. He diminishes Himself without being diminished.

He creates and is never exhausted. He reveals Himself in everything but He Himself is not in that which is revealed.

He sustains everything - from within and from without - but He Himself participates in nothing.

We compare Him with Light, Reason - the Logos. But He Himself is neither Light nor Reason.

Light and Reason - these are His manifestations.

God is not present in the world in a material way.

Indeed, when an artist paints a picture, is he in the picture? When a sculptor carves a statue, is he in the statue? The Great Unknown reveals Himself as Light without shadows, as Life without interruption, as Love without change, as Knowledge without errors, Freedom without limitations.

And when we say that God is Love, we understand that Love is one manifestation of God. Therefore, wherever there is Love, wherever there is goodness, which is the fruit of love, there God is revealed.

When we speak of God as Love, we have in mind that Being from whom all life in the universe proceeds and who unites all living souls in one whole without being changed Himself.

There is only one Being in the world who is absolutely good in the true and full meaning of the word and that is God. He is always kind. In His benevolence, God has absolutely no desire to do evil to anyone. If He passes by even the smallest insect, He smiles at it and gives it all the best conditions for life and development.

God judges no one. He restrains no one, He limits no one.

God is most beautiful in that He remembers only the good we have done. The evil He does not remember.

God gives perfect freedom to all beings. Never has He told any being in the universe, no matter how small: "Do this!" or "Serve Me!" He points out the way, but leaves each being free to make his own choice - to do as he thinks best.

Indeed, what does it profit God if we reverence Him and serve Him? Can we give Him knowledge? - No, He knows everything. Can we give Him power? - No, He is all powerful. Everything might pass away, everything might fall apart. He remains unshaken.

The only way in which we can appeal to God is through our helplessness, our misery. When He looks upon us, so small, so miserable, so ignorant, in His greatness there is born a desire to reach out to us and tell us: "Rise up now!"

God's desire is to set us free, to purify us, to enlighten our minds, to ennoble our hearts, to bring into our souls that light by which we come to know that He is Love.

In the heart of God there is something great.

It is He who elevates whole nations as well as separate individuals. All good things come from Him - knowledge, wisdom, truth, freedom. He has elevated all great men. They represent the inspiration of the divine spirit. It is God who wishes to introduce Love, Wisdom, and Truth into the world through these men.

In God's Love, Wisdom and Truth the totality of life throughout eternity is included, as well as the blessing of all souls. Whenever Love, Wisdom and Truth are manifested, the divine Spirit is present among men, and life then is manifested in its real essence.

Man must know that there is only one God and one Love, one Wisdom and one Knowledge, one Truth and one Freedom, one Righteousness and one absolute criterion, one Virtue and one source of good for all.

Except for this criterion there is no other measure of the great reality, and the truly real is only that which belongs to the One, the living God.

However, many people ask: "Does God exist, and if He exists - where is He?"

The entire universe represents the "city of God" where God abides. His consciousness, His mind, is so great that it embraces even the smallest beings and governs their lives.

All angels and all great beings who lived millions of years before us on earth, understand what God is. They stand with holy awe before that great Being from whose heart flows the Love that advances and supports the whole cosmos.

And if you ask them where God is and what He is, they will reply in your own language: "No being is nearer to you than God. No being has a more awakened mind, a more responsive heart, a mightier will. For Him, nothing is impossible. No being is nobler, holier, purer, wiser, mightier, more powerful than God. He is everywhere. He is in heaven - in all the suns, and on earth, behind everything: behind air and water, behind stones and plants, behind animals and man. There is nothing in the world which God does not sustain."

Everything within us and outside us, everything that surrounds us is the background behind which God is hidden as a great artist. He is hidden well because He wants to leave us free.

And because God is so well hidden, men unceasingly search for Him on the surface, and wish to reach Him by external means, to prove His existence.

But God is not a reality that can be proven.

The attempt to prove the existence of God is equivalent to affirming that there is no God. Every proof of the existence of God is a mechanical process.

When a man requires evidence for the existence of God, that shows that he has cut off in his consciousness his connection with Him.

When that connection is restored, life begins to flow unceasingly from God to man, and back from man to God. Then in the mind, in the heart and in the will of man there is a continuous stream of divine consciousness.

Then all those empty and ridiculous questions, whether there is a God, or there is no God, whether God loves us or has forgotten us, are ended.

Our love for God, from which proceeds the living connection between Him and man, is a mystical inner experience which manifests itself in various forms and degrees. The magic power of this experience is hidden in that moment when man directs his mind, his heart, his soul and spirit towards the eternal Beginning, without any hesitation and without any doubt. When this moment arrives, man can accomplish anything. Only then can he understand the meaning of life, because only God can reveal that meaning to him.

Then man will understand that he was born to love God, to imprint his life with that love, and not to be a servant to human conceptions.

Man's soul whispers this softly to him. Because - you must not forget - the only beloved of the human soul is God.

Therefore, I call only him a "man" who has come to love God. The moment in which he is self-determining and loves God, designates him a man. Such a man draws the attention of all good men and they say: "Something divine happened today."

The greatest moment of a man's life is when he comes to love God. That means that he is blossoming and the fragrant aroma will be carried far and wide. It means also that he overflows continuously like a fountain that knows how to give. In this state all reasonable desires of the man can be fulfilled.

Then man becomes truly free. He attains that freedom which Truth brings. And by Truth we mean the link which God established between Himself and us.

There is no other freedom. People of today who have lost almost entirely their link with God, imagine that they can do anything they wish to do: they think that they even have the right to criticize God.

Indeed, no other being has endured greater profanation than God. But He, so to speak, has not even knitted His brows. He looks quiet and peaceful in the radiance of His never changing benevolence.

Only he who lives in that unchangeable, real world where God lives, who serves God and understands His will and His laws, only he is free and only has "free will."

Remember this: The one being who loves us is God. He is one and the same, when we rejoice and when we grieve. In sorrow and in joy, it is God who speaks to us.

Remember also: in order to ask what God is, you must have studied not one but many eternities.

And only after you have acquired all the knowledge of heaven and earth, will you have the right to ask that question. And do you know what answer you will receive? Clearly and simply: "God is Love, which you must experience within yourself."

But before that, while you grope for evidence of the great reality, remember these simple truths: If you ask yourself where God is, know this: wherever there is life, wherever there is thought, wherever there is feeling, there God is.

If you doubt God, you doubt yourself. Because there are no changes or betrayals in God, the reverse cannot be true. There are no exceptions in the Love of God.

Therefore, wherever you go, you may doubt everything, but God - never! Know that He is everywhere, and when you call on Him, He will help you.

When you hear people say that they do not believe in God, observe them attentively and you will find that they consider themselves gods. Do not serve such gods!

Remember also: where there is meaning, God is there. Where there is no meaning, God is absent. And where God is absent, there is "hell."

You might ask: When is man good? At the moment when God manifests Himself in man, he is good. When God is not manifest, man is evil.

When God enters into man, man becomes joyous and ready to perform any service. When man refuses to serve God, God forsakes him.

Do not ask yourself whether God loves you - He has not stopped loving you from the first day to the last - but ask instead whether you love God.

Test your love with the only sure standard: which is stronger within you - your own desires or your love for God? If your love for God is the stronger, you are on the right path. But if your love for God is weaker than your desires, then suffering and misfortune will not cease.

If man has God's love within himself, whatever may happen will turn out for good. If he lacks that love, then his path is long and difficult, and his desires unattainable.

The path toward God is in perfection. The perfect man has only one thought - his advancement toward God! Without perfection God remains incomprehensible for us. By aspiring to perfection, man will come to know God as Love.

Then he will feel the pulse of all living beings on earth. There is no greater bliss for a man than this - to feel this pulse.

Then man will understand the great meaning of these supreme words uttered by Christ: "I live in God and God lives in me."

"I live in God" - this implies that God is "without." "God lives in me" - implies that God is "within" and I, the man, am "without."

Therefore, when God is within you, do not restrict Him. Give Him absolute freedom within you, so that He may also give you absolute freedom within Himself.

"The Devil" is a being which has restricted God within himself, and therefore, God has limited him from outside.

Give absolute freedom to God within you. And then a boundless world will be opened up for you.

Taken from the book “The Master Speaks”
(Book is compiled by Georgi Radev (1900 - 1940). It includes subject extracts from the Word of The Master Beinsa Douno and represents the basic principles of His Teaching. Its first edition was in 1939. The book is translated from Bulgarian by Ernestina Staleva in 1970.)

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Also you can find lectures by Master Petar Danov (Beinsa Douno) at this link: Lectures by Beinsa Douno