The Mindful Heart

[Васил]

The Mindful Heart

Lecture given by the Master Beinsa Douno in the General occult class

on April 2, 1924, Sofia

Ten minutes in silence.

Topic for next time: "Qualities of the new man(1)".

Every work, every good enterprise in the world rests not on shaky, but on firm and solid basis. Under that I mean a basis that does not change, it remains constant and same in all conditions. This basis is alive. Suppose now that as you live on Earth, your basis is earthly bound. This means you rely on your personality. However, after death, on what basis will you put your life? So, you see Earth is not a real basis, upon which one can rely on. Which then is the real basis? – The real basis we call "the mindful human heart."

I do not speak about the heart that belongs to the man of our age, but about the mindful heart of the Divine man. Apostle Paul said: "Physical men cannot understand the nature of spiritual things, as they have to be understood in spiritual way." You have to set your life on a new course, based on the guidances of your mindful heart. The Spirit of God operates and acts in it. And there are no exceptions in the actions of this mindful heart. When one lives according to its dictates, one makes no mistakes or all mistakes are immediately avoided. Mistakes in the world come from one's objective mind. It is the earthly mind of today, by means of which one thinks. When a good thought comes to you, you start thinking how to apply it and so you lose the conditions. We often say that if someone goes into the water, he is in danger of drowning. He must either know how to swim or he will have to learn how to swim. I ask in which school has the little duck able to swim immediately after hatching, learnt the art of swimming? It learnt that art thousands of years ago. Therefore, there is one Divine element in the human mind. We call it Divine Spirit that acts reasonably without exceptions. And when we listen to the inner voice (I call it "the mindful heart"), our thoughts differ from the ordinary ones.

You can make a simple experiment. If you use your brain, you have to think a long time on a given issue until you reach some conclusions; you have to make a research of one, two, three, five, ten or more years. For example, you ask yourselves what the weather will be like on Monday. You start thinking and you say: "It will be nice." Good, you will be able to check. After that you will ask yourselves whether the weather will be absolutely clear or half clear, whether it will be cloudy or rainy, etc. You have to ask this question clearly in your mind, and you will notice during these experiments that hardly a hundredth percent of what your mind tells you turns out to be true. It was a suggestion that the weather would be nice. However, should you ask your mindful heart what the weather will be like on Monday, it will give you the answer with absolute precision. There are no suggestions this time. When you consider, the Divine stops its guidance. When you think with your mindful heart, you will feel a pleasant sense in the pit of the stomach. Then each one of you can say: "The weather will be such and such." Ask yourselves, for example, how you will spend this year of your life – well or not so well. If your mind gives the answer, it will give you either some of the most beautiful projects or some of the most gloomy ones. However, if you ask your mindful heart, it will give you a positive answer. More over, it will foresee should you go through difficulties and will give you the right directions to overcome them in the best way.

This mindful heart also contains your good habits. Everyone has good habits. These appear earlier in some people and later in others. For example, you see a poor widow in the street; an incitement comes to you to do good; you thrust your hand in your pocket, but then immediately you start philosophising and say to yourself: "I have money, but I will need it today; I will do that good some other day." If you think like this, you have already made the first mistake. It will not be long after and you will have to pay a ten times higher fee for not realising these lovely Divine inspirations.

Consequently, always obey the Divine voice that speaks in you. When this Divine feeling speaks in us, it is an exam in our life. God examines us. We shall fully obey Him! When you receive Divine promptings, fulfill them! For the good you do, you will not have to give your entire fortune; it is a small service. If a child should fall in the street and break its leg; what will cost you to take it, to bring it to your home and to help it? You will hardly lose half an hour. But you say: "I have an important job to do." Misery in our life is due to the fact that we do not listen to the good incitements and good habits that are lodged inside our hearts. We stop to ponder over a number of philosophical considerations, think and conclude that we may arrange our lives by ourselves. The first delusion is to think that we may arrange our lives by ourselves. Your life, according to the mindful heart, is already arranged. All the conditions, in which you are to live, all the people whom you have to meet and be influenced by, everything is predetermined. And it will happen as it is determined. The entire Heaven works upon us in this direction. We do not live in the world but God does. Consequently, every good deed is a manifestation of God, Who is in us. And when we counteract to a good Divine thought, we create our misfortune in the world.

With the good habits that you possess, you are not required to take up the whole burden of the world. I have told you previously that every good thought is connected to thousands of other good thoughts. Do not think that if you do not fulfill a good thought, God has not foreseen this. He foresees everything, but you lose the good conditions. Each time you fail to respond to a good thought, it degrades you and takes you a step down, thus making your life harder. When you refuse to respond to any kind of good thought, you downgrade yourself, your condition becomes harder and harder until your will will be paralysed. You then become a toy exposed to Fortune, i.e. to external conditions. These conditions have arisen, because you have not listened to your mindful heart.

How can we tell that the mindful heart acts? – When the mindful heart acts in us, a certain expansion takes place in our souls. When you do the smallest good, you feel an inner satisfaction akin to acquiring the entire world. You only have to be aware of one thing: when you do an act of good, do not speak of it. Once you express it outwardly, you set yourselves a trap. Whilst doing good, you already have the approval of God and as a result you feel happy. Thus you do not have to recommend yourselves, but God recommends you. Let us imagine that you have saved someone from drowning; after pulling him out of the water, do not wait for him to pay you back. Leave, let him look for you. If you write in the newspapers that you have saved this and that person from death, the good that you have accomplished is lost by half.

The moral power possessed by the disciples who follow the Divine teaching lies in their absolute faith in God. We may not know where Heaven is, where God lives, how far He is from us, we can only feel God. An English preacher said: "I do not know where Heaven is, but once I begin to pray to God, secretly in my soul, I feel the works of the Divine Spirit." So, God hears him immediately. And that is the most important: the moment we turn our spirit to God, He hears us. The prophet was right when he said that God did not live in Heaven, but in the hearts of the humble people. Who are these meek people? – I answer: they are the people of the mindful heart.

If all of you had listened to your mindful hearts, the quarrels that appear from time to time amongst you would have vanished. Take for example, some of your bad habits: sometimes you lose your patience and that is due to the reasoning of your philosophical mind suggesting that you have been insulted. How is one's dignity manifested? – The dignity of someone is manifested in the fulfillment of the Will of God, in the use of the smallest of one's virtues. You might have won the biggest battles, you might have risen an entire people, but if one day your heart tells you to tie the shoe of an old person and you do not obey, all that has been done before will be of no use. To tie the shoe of an old person brings a greater reward than to win a battle.

Now I will give you an example with two hermits who lived for twenty years in the desert, constantly praying to God. One day one of them saw his friend jumping at a certain place and running away. He wondered what had frightened him so much that he had to run. He went to the spot and saw a pot full of gold. He said to himself: "What a silly person is he to run away from a pot of gold!" He took out the gold, went to Alexandria and with it he built a large inn; he helped the poor, spent everything and kept nothing for himself. After this he went back to the desert and prayed God to tell him if He was pleased with him. An angel appeared to him and told him that all his good deeds did not equal the jumping of his brother.

Consequently, if we consider what our present objective mind can do from the time of our childhood to the time when we pass away and weigh it, the total will not weigh as much as one of the smallest acts performed by the mindful heart. It is also mentioned in the Scriptures that David thought with his heart. Therefore, he thought with this mindful heart. That is what is required of all of you, now. In he second stage of your life good conduct is already required, i.e. you have to know how you should behave towards one another. For example, should you want to make a remark to someone, do so, but make it from the point of Love, the same way you would do it to yourself. When you make a remark to yourself, how do you act? Do you condemn yourself harshly? You soften the conditions, don't you? Why should we not behave towards the others in the way we treat ourselves? Consequently, we shall take out the Truth in Love. When we correct the mistakes of a brother, we shall do it with Love, so that he may feel that it is an act of Love and not a gloating over a mistake of his.

The first thing that people lack nowadays is nobility. For example, you quarrel from time to time about your seats in class. Some ask me: "Don't we have the right to listen in the front row?" Who are the noblest ones – they who sit in front or the ones who sit at the back? If you are a person, who says a loving word and fulfills the Will of God, take the first chair! If you are a person, who says the coarsest word, sit last! Even if you are called to sit in front, say: "Brothers, I am not worthy of the first seat. I will sit behind and gradually I will come towards the first chairs." You say: "Let us sit in front!" I will be happy if you sit in front, but you should know that I consider these first rows. They shall be the rows of Divine Love, so that whoever you meet there, you shall emit the kindheartedness, the tenderness, the power that makes you able to help one another. You may tell me now: "Yes, but these are our hereditary traits." This is a lie; the hereditary traits present a fabrication of yours. God placed Good, good habits, mindful hearts in you at the time of your creation; you had them when you came out of God. Consequently, in any case you have an equal number of opportunities to be good or to be bad.

I have previously said what is evil. Evil always results from our refusal to do Good. The evil is uncompleted good. Take two disciples getting cross with one another, they insult themselves in some way and that is quite natural. How will they resolve that insult? If one of them says to himself: "Wait, I will act in line with my reasonable heart" and the other says the same, if both of them react in this way, their argument will be resolved. What is there for you to divide? What is there for you to divide in this world? Is it not best to have Divine Love?

That, which gives power to our minds, to our hearts, to our wills, that is God, Who confined Himself in order to live in us. There is One God in the world, Who confined Himself because of us. That is the greatest glory of God. If you neglect this sacrifice, which God has made to enter in the human heart, you are createing conditions for death. Death comes from there. We die and resurrect every day. If you decide from now on to be faithful to the great law of Divine manifestation, do you know what change will take place in you? If you observe the Divine law, no matter what kind of person you meet on the road, even the worst one, when you stop and look at him, God will smile to you through him. You will say: "I recognized Him!" God is hidden somewhere very deep even in bad people. These people are bad, because they do not live well. When the roads of a country are getting damaged, who is guilty – the roads or the people? The people who do not repair the roads. So, in the present living conditions with our disobedience to the inner great law we have come to the situation, in which the entire contemporary Christian world is suffering. Mildness of manners is a requisite! Someone said that death shone from the faces of the disciples here present. I do not know whether death can shine, but what I know is that our faces shall not breathe death but Life.

Now, when I speak about the mindful heart, you should know that sufferings shall touch you deeply, so that you may grow. One shall be shaken to the bottom of his soul. Effects that hardly touch your surface are not necessary, it is similar to the movement of some waves that reach only about ten meters of the sea surface. You need radical change. We must possess the character of Abraham. Abraham was childless. Under the Jewish law one of his servants or one of his sons from his woman slaves would become his heir.. However, God told him that He would give him an heir. Who was the heir of Abraham? Isaac. His father and his mother had one bright idea. God told Abraham: "You will sacrifice your son." If you were in Abraham's position, would you have said "Let the will of God be"? He took his son, put some wood on his back and went exactly to the place where he was told to make the sacrifice. Till the last moment he was on trial. When he lifted the knife, God told him: "I see that you were an obedient person, that is why you will not sacrifice your son." This quality of Abraham is worthy of praises. That is why Abraham is called a friend of God. I call him the father of believers, because he is a person of absolute faith, a person surmounting any doubt.

Of course, you will apply this Teaching according to your place in Life. You will taste God and He will test you. He will examine you as He did Abraham, the apostles, the prophets. All of you will go through Fire, seven times you will go through Fire. When I tell you this, you become afraid. One shall go seven times through the Divine Fire! It is the biggest blessing. It is the sacred Fire of Love that will purify your minds and your hearts, so that you may understand the Good in God and how you shall fulfill it.

You should never be in a hurry. No matter what you do, do not be in a hurry. Some of you are traders, they get entangled in accounts, have no money; they go home to squeeze their heads and fall into despair. Do not squeeze your head! When you go home, sit and turn your mind to God, to your mindful heart, listening to what it will tell you to do in any situation. You will always receive an answer. You are a mother, you have a disobedient daughter, do not shout at her, do not ask her to do this and that, but turn to your mindful heart and ask it what you must do. One, two, three, four days might pass – but the best answer for your question will come in due course. You are a teacher or you are a servant somewhere, you are a student, no matter what your position is, never be in a hurry.

I will give you an example, which proves that those who have faith always save themselves. Two hundred and fifty – three hundred officers were sentenced to death by the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks went to one of the officers and asked him: "Do you believe in God?" – "No, I do not believe." They shot at him and killed him. They went to the second, third, fourth officer and always asked the same question: "Do you believe in God" – "No, we do not believe." Finally, they asked another one: "Well, do you believe in God" – "Yes, I believe!" And he crosses himself. At last one was found who believed in God. "Come on, leave, you do not deserve to be killed." They set him free. Why? – God whispered to one of them: "Leave this one, he is My man!" That person believed in his mindful heart and listened to his inner voice.

I can give you many examples about the advice of the mindful heart, but these examples have power only if they are applied. I know how hard it is for you to apply a rule! When one gets angry, doubt and hesitation come immediately. You can doubt in everything in the world, but never doubt in God! Be ready to sacrifice yourselves because of that great Love – because of the Lord, Who wills to limit Himself in order to come to live in us! Be ready to sacrifice everything for Him in every situation! That is what made Christ exceptional. "I came to do the will of the One Who has sent Me," Christ said. Finally, when they told Him that He should bear the cross of sufferings, He said: "I will do everything that My Father has told Me." Christ possessed knowledge, He also had power. He used to say: "Can't I ask one or two legions of angels to come and release Me? I can, but I will not do that. I prefer disgrace, suffering, torture, but all of it will be for the sake of My brothers." That is Divine Will! Where is Divine Love? – In obedience. Some day in the future there will not be suffering. Christ will not be crucified in the world again. Why? – Well, there is not such a big tree, on which to crucify Him. There is not such a big tree, which to carry that Christ, Who is living today in the hearts of five hundred million people. He is so powerful, and His power will develop even more. We may dispose with this power too. That is why Christ said: "Everything you ask in My name, it will be". In whose name? – In the name of Love of God, in the name of the mindful heart that is lodged in us. If you open your mindful heart, Christ will come and live in it.

I speak to you, but I cannot impose rules on you. I want one thing from you: please, compete in paying respect to one another. That is the first thing to do. You have enough philosophy, you are even good professors. You can hold lectures, you can deliver moral talks to others, you can interpret the Gospel, but what you need above all is to apply. The hardest thing is application. It is required from all of you. Whoever succeed in applying, will pass into the second phase. Whoever listen to their mindful hearts can be spoken to. You can rely on your good habits. You should know that in all there are good habits. I will prove to you that this is true in the following way: if I insult you, you will show me what I did wrong. You will tell me: "You had to be a bit softer." As long as you reflect morality to me – you have a good habit, you know how to behave. As long as you can spell morality to me – you understand good habits. Why can't you also behave accordingly? We all know how we should behave. If so, why can't we apply it in Life? We can apply it! So, everyone without exceptions can apply it. If two thousand years after Christ we say that we cannot live pure Christian life, shame on us!

I listened to you before the lecture, and heard a brother saying: "Brothers, let us pray!" I would like only one of you to pray, not all of you. One of you can do the whole job. How many engine drivers are needed to drive a train? – One. If all become engine drivers, there will be quarrels. One engine driver is enough; he will get into the driving seat of the machine, while all the rest will sit in the compartments and the work will get going. That good heart will act, that lever will consider the great Divine law, while all the rest will sit in the compartments quietly and calmly. You will say: "But couldn't he make a mistake." The history that we know from thousands years says that all those who were led by their mindful hearts have acted reasonably. They have never created any kind of accident. That is why the psalm-writer said: "I was young and I grew old, but I did not see the righteous to beg. I did not see someone with mindful heart to beg, to have gone out to profanation". If some times the righteous were subject of profanation, it was due to the simple reason that they wanted to help their brothers.

So, now you will appeal to your good habits lodged in you, to your mindful hearts. And after that you will appeal to Christ, to that living Christ Whom I call the Son of Love, the Only Teacher in the world. We know that He is Christ, but He has a sacred Name that we do not dare to pronounce. When I address Him, I say: "Lord, with Your Name, by which You are Known in Heaven, let it be Your Will!"

Compete in paying respect! It is a necessity for the Bulgarians. The Bulgarians are the rudest people among all Slavs. Confess acceptance to that, there is no shame in it. It is not bad to be rude, but smoothing is necessary. In order to smooth it out, you shall compete in Divine Love. That Love will improve you. And then, like a mussel, you will transform your rudeness into a pearl. First you will start with good behavior. I constantly hear some of you saying: "The Master is more benevolent towards some, towards others – he is less." You think in a fleshly manner. One cannot be benevolent on the outside. Divine Love acts in one and the same way towards everyone. It acts in a single and same way towards everyone, but not everyone is able to reveal Divine Love in a single and same way. Consequently, your souls differ in their openness and that is why God manifests more strongly to the more developed ones. However you should all know that you have one and the same opportunity. There is no difference in the way in which God treats an angel, a human being, a plant or the last smallest pebble. I have in mind not the external physical world, but the living stones and plants in Heaven, where they can speak and are alive.

So, all of you have to reveal your good habits! I would also like you to avoid rudeness and quarrels amongst you. These violate Divine Love. All people complain, saying: "We need Love." Well, Love is amongst you, just reveal it! Who is wrong when you have a closed tap and the water is unable to flow through it? Is the water wrong or are you the culprit? Open the tap and your mindful heart will immediately let these sources flow out. The first thing for both young and old is to compete in paying respect. Disciples who are not able to respect one another, also cannot respect their Master. Disciples who do not live well among themselves, also do not honor their Master. The Lord is not pleased with those who do not listen to Him.

The hearts of all shall be ready to do the Will of God. When all accomplish the Will of God out of Love, His kingdom will come. Then all will rejoice. We can begin, starting from tonight. No, tonight is a day. We can turn the night into a day.

Now, I want you to remember the following thought: each of you shall decide on his own how to relate to others instead of considering how others relate to him. That is the main issue. You begin vice versa. No, each one of you, from his point of view shall solve how he relates to others and whether his behavior is pleasing to the Lord. I do not say that the Lord is not pleased, because if I said this, it is judging. You can correct all your mistakes. Tonight the Lord will take all our sins and will throw them behind His back. That will happen instantly. It will bring a new state: the rebirth of humanity and a new uplift of the human spirit. The person that is reborn is free from torments, being happy and joyful. That can happen as early as tonight. You can solve this question even tonight. Those who are ready shall not postpone. And those who are not ready, shall wait for their time to come. Those who are ready, they can instantly solve that issue.

The God of Love is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

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1) Man – the Bulgarian word chovek signifies a thinking and conscious human, without reference to gender. The current translation uses English equivalents such as person and one wherever possible. In certain instances the word man is used instead. The use of man, he, his, him in reference to chovek are used to facilitate the reading of the text, however they should be interpreted as an indication of both the feminine and masculine genders.

This lecture is a part of a twelve selected lectures. You can download all talks from here

Translated by Martina Iovcheva

Edited by Maria Braikova

Wb_translation_team@mail.bg

Person for contact: Anelia Kuzmanova

Note: This Team was created in Bulgaria in 2002 to work for spreading the Teaching given by Beinsa Douno - Peter Deunov /1864-1944/. We are pleased to share this Word with you in English, French, German and Spanish. All our members work for free and on a voluntary basis. We will appreciate any assistance, especially in editing, publishing and distributing these translations.

Редактирано Септември 24, 2006 от Васил