KAYR

Written down by Anna Zubkova, M.A.
Edited and translated from Russian by Dr.Vladimir Antonov
Corrector of English translation — Hiero Nani

On the Value of Time

       
        One year has passed since the young men began to live in the Master’s house.
        Here was the certain order of an average day.
        They got up — with the dawn. After hygienic procedures and a light breakfast — time was spent for spiritual work. Sometimes these were lessons of Master or one of the older disciples. For the remainder of the morning, the disciples themselves repeated the tasks previously received from Master.
        In the afternoon, they usually worked in the garden and the vegetable garden, or by reading and rewriting books.
        Some disciples, who came to Master from other countries, translated the texts into their native languages.
        Our young men, at first, liked this life in the Master’s house very much. They were filled with rapture from the first touches of Divine Love, Which they could sense from the simple initial exercises for opening the spiritual hearts.
        ... In the beginning, they followed everything with inspiration! But then... they began to be lazy.
        To good — people get used quickly... And sometimes it happens that the good things in life... become ordinary — and then they stop appreciating.
        When all the other disciples went to their rooms to perform daily meditations, our young men sometimes preferred to sleep. And no one scolded them for it and did not check how they perform the exercises!
        And sometimes one of them began to boast about imaginary achievements in meditations — to show the others how successful he is!...
        When everyone worked in the garden or in the kitchen, it happened that this work seemed “not spiritual” — and they only pretended that they tried but got tired, and, if possible, they avoided this work. Such a “dirty work” — they thought — was not needed for “spiritual ascetics”!...
        They took for granted that they had nutritious food and shelter. And — they forgot about gratitude...
        Master watched them sadly, but did not hurry to admonish them. The good that a person will do under duress was unlikely to benefit the souls! So he believed.
        Master sometimes washed the dishes himself after a common meal or undertook to fertilize and dig the vegetable beds when the young men pretended to be very busy with more important matters...
        Master was waiting for a convenient moment to explain how sad the fate of those who stopped in their spiritual development due to laziness and narcissism. And also — of those who have ceased to make efforts to transform themselves — into the souls shining with love.
        And after all, if a person does not perform the normal affairs of good in everyday life or performs them with unwillingness and disgust, — then what spiritual work can be talked about?
        The young men were sometimes embarrassed by the Master’s strict views, but did not rush to look for the cause of his discontent in themselves.
        Boredom began to appear in their lives from satiety with well-being and because of the extinction of love...

* * *

        In one of these days, when the young men were especially lazy, an old man had come to the Master’s house.
        He walked, heavily moving his legs, hunched over, like a heavy load of past years and life’s problems and of disappointments, weighed him to the ground.
        This man has not achieved much in life, and what he managed to find — it became just a load of new worries, and it did not bring him happiness.
        One of the Master’s disciples said to the young men, looking at this man:
        “Yes, when the life is lived almost to the end, — only then many people start to think about the fact that they did not live it the way it was necessary to. But they have nothing to help already... Here — the old man came to Master for advice and help, and what can you do when death is already ‘knocking at the door’? Look: it’s so sad — and rejoice that you still have strength and time!”
        ... And Master spoke with this old man for a long time, and when the guest left after the conversation, his eyes shone with hope. Even his gait was easier, he straightened, as if he had managed to lose load, which bent him to the ground, in which the body soon will rest...
        “Tell us, what did You tell this old man?” — the disciples asked Master, being surprised by the change that happened in the visitor.
        Master invited everyone who was interested in this conversation to discuss this topic:
        “Despondency is often inherent in old age. In old age, a person can not entertain oneself with hopes for the future, because this ‘future’ has already come close, and it is such, as man built it for all his or her life. And what awaits after the death of the body — usually people do not know, and this frightens them.
        “In old age, a person can no longer console oneself with dreams: ‘I will have time to accomplish this, I will make it, I will reach it!’ Both diseases and bodily infirmities are added to that...”
        “We thought that such a person could no longer be helped. But You — as if resurrected in him youth and hope! What did You say to him, Master?”
        “The fear of the unknownness of posthumous existence makes many people — young and even elderly — try to not think about the inevitability of death of the body. When the death of the body occurs to another from their environment, then people try to drive away the thought that death awaits their bodies. ‘It will not happen to me soon!’ They try so to console themselves.
        “And, having lost all hopes for the future, people begin to indulge in regrets about the past, blaming themselves and others for ‘everything is so bad’...
        “Sadness and despondency are the best way to squander in vain also that little residual time, to lose the last forces in negative emotions...
        “For each person — young or old — the principle should be relevant: there is no spare time in life, there is no time for idleness, laziness, and meaningless vain cares!
        “The death of the body does not always come in deep old age. Therefore, every day should be ‘expensive’, filled with joy from the spiritual transformation of oneself and the accomplished deeds of good in relation to other beings.
        “It can be small and simple — at first glance — deeds, and not always it should be just meditation. If all deeds that help people are done with love, then this is already a great good in the sense of a favorable fate formation! Such a person, including, creates around him or her a space of love, peace, joy, harmony. All surrounding beings feel this, even if they do not understand the reason why they feel good! And all the fruits of the work of such a person carry in themselves particles of the energy of love, like the fruits of plants, saturated with sunlight!
        “There are feasible opportunities to transform oneself — for any soul.
        “That’s what I tried to tell the old man. Also I told him that beyond the threshold of death of the body — man-soul does not die. Also — that righteous intentions, the desire not to harm anyone and do only good deeds — even in the last days of life — change the posthumous existence and the fate which will be in the next earthly life.
        “We have talked a lot with you about the formation of destinies.
        “And here is the understanding that the conscious aspiration to God, to Good, and Light — even at the end of life — can be very significant, helping the person to gain an understanding of how to build his or her life now!
        “You can always start living in the ‘moment now’ and try to use every moment of life productively, no matter how many of such moments are ahead: many or few.
        “It is important for each of us: to do the best that we can — right now! Do it with joy and full dedication, investing love and soul power in the creation of harmony, peace, beauty, purity, kindness, and wisdom!
        “This is appropriate in large cases and in the smallest, at first glance! Even with our emotions — which are the states of the soul — we create what we give to this world, to all beings around. We create and give away either a space of joy and harmony — or anguish, discontent all around, condemnation, and suspicion...
        “And it always depends on us!
        “And all this is always known to God!
        “Did you pay attention to the fact that senility, despondency, laziness, lack of will, and other manifestations of extinction can begin much earlier than the time when the matter of bodies grow old?
        “Sometimes already at a very early age, there is a stop in the development of the soul. After completing studies at school, having created a family, having gained a certain ‘position in society’, or imagining oneself ‘the successful spiritual ascetics’ — people very often cease to develop themselves intensively, they lose purpose in life and live only ‘by inertia’... This is the beginning of senility.
        “When the speed of the development of the soul fades away — then the body also grows old before its due time.
        “There are also opposite examples, when the intensity of spiritual life does not stop even when the time of death of the body has come. There were scientists and physicians who, even in the process of the body dying, monitored what was happening, and tried to give this experience to other people.
        “It is worthy before God: to share with others the wisdom and love! If life is lived this way — then old age and death of the body do not terrify!
        “It makes sense to accumulate just such indestructible by death treasures of the soul! Because then the man-soul becomes composed of these qualities — Love, Wisdom, Purity, Power!”
        ... The young men that evening came to Master and with repentance told of everything that they understood about their vices that day.
        “Forgive us!
        “How, as it turns out, we quickly got used to the good and stopped appreciating what we get from You!
        “How easily we forgot about the joy of labor for the sake of others!
        “How inconspicuously the usual execution of exercises was deprived of emotions of love for God!
        “How imperceptibly for ourselves, we began to perform meditations only in order... to be proud of our skills!
        “We will try to improve!”
        “Yes, it’s good that you understood this yourselves, without waiting for My reproaches or ‘blows of fate’, with which God reminds of the value of incarnate life, about the importance of heart love, without which even the most ‘prosperous life’ is empty and has not a lot of sense... And then — even the most correct techniques of meditation are not useful, but they only nurture egocentrism and self-conceit!”
       

Sculptor

       
        Once a famous sculptor came to visit Master, whose works were admired by so many.
        He told Master:
        “You probably do not remember me. We met only once, when I was still a teenager. But your words have changed whole my life. And I remember that our conversation verbatim.
        “I consider myself as your pupil and I dream to learn from you in the future. It was you, who taught me the basics of mastery in my work, even though I later learned from many sculptors.
        “And the sculptor showed Master a fragment of a vessel — a small crock:
        ‘I’ve kept this thing since!’
        “But I’ve never taught anyone to sculpture,” — Master said with a kind smile.
        … Then the sculptor told Master and His interested disciples, gathered around, the story from his life:
        “Since childhood, I’ve been very eager for God. In those parts, where I lived, during the great religious holidays people brought their gifts to the temples. We lived very poorly, but I, the child, wanted to do something for God too!
        “And so, I brought a bowl to the temple, which I made of clay myself. This my creation was very imperfect. But I tried so hard! I tried to put all my love for God into my work! I so wanted my gift on the holiday — also to be pleasant for Him!…
        “Then I still did not understand that God does not need material gifts! And I dreamed my cup to be accepted by the servant of the temple.
        “But that minister refused to accept my gift. Moreover, he ridiculed me:
        ‘Do not insult the temple and God with your pathetic offering! Do you really think that this curve and worthless stuff might be interesting to anyone? You insulted God and us, clergymen, with such a ‘gift’! Do you really think that God can like this?’
        “And with these words, he threw to the floor and broke the cup into pieces and angrily began to trample them with his feet.
        ‘Get that garbage out of here!’ — he shouted at me.
        “… I collected the fragments and went away…
        “I then thought that he trampled all my love, trampled me like a soul, destroyed all the best in me…
        “I walked with my head down and could not hold my tears…
        “All the people had fun on the square in front of the temple… And it seemed to me that I was banished, punished, forever deprived of hope… As if everything good in me was broken, like a tender sprout, — rudely and cruelly…
        “Suddenly you appeared near, Master. You told me then:
        “Don’t be sad! Of all the gifts, which were brought to the temple today, your cup was most liked by the Divine Teacher, to Whom this temple is dedicated! And He poured a drink from the Light into it — and drank it and treated Those Who knew the essence of the truly Holy Gifts.”
        “How do you know?” — I asked.
        “You answered:
        ‘I was there and I saw it. And I also drank from your cup.’
        “How is this possible? That cup was broken into small pieces?!”
        “In the non-material worlds, where the Light and Compassion reign supreme, it is impossible to destroy that what has been created with love. Even imperfect verses and prayer songs can be heard there, if they are uttered with a pure heart filled with reverence and love.
        “For God, is important the state of the soul in which the gift is created. After all, there are no material objects in that world! Only non-material images can be manifested there in the Light — on the approaches to the Depths, in which there is no division into names and forms.
        “But, if someone wants for other embodied people to be happy from using the beauty of human creations, then it makes sense to master the corresponding direction of art. The more perfect is what was done, the more joy and benefit it will bring to people!
        “God is the Highest Perfect Consciousness. It consists of Multitude of Souls, Who have reached the corresponding level of the Perfection — and therefore have merged in Oneness with Him.
        “And whole the Creation exists just to give people and other beings the opportunity to cultivate, to learn the Perfection.”
        “… Oh, how important it was for me to hear this! Like a life-giving balm healed a wounded soul!
        “We then went for a long time on the market and looked at the beautiful in the creations of artisans, talked about beauty and harmony in objects and in souls.
        “You told me then that my cup was beautiful exactly due to the love with which I did it, but its appearance was far from the perfection.
        “Although there is an opportunity to do material — also beautiful. It must be done so that harmony and grace delight the eyes, and the love, with which the thing has been made, nourished souls.
        “We then approached the market square, and you bought delicious pies.
        “Oh! I remembered all this forever: Your wisdom, Your kindness, and even the taste of those pies…
        “You then said that the woman, who baked this food, did it with love. She used both good flour and fine apples for filling, and her ability to bake on fire was in the measure. It was a wonderful taste! And in this food, there is good for both the body, and the soul. Including, the particles of love energy of that woman filled us, when we ate her products.
        “But it would not be enough for us only her love, if, for example, apples were not tasty, or if the flour was rancid, or if the pies were raw or burnt. Is it so?
        “Simple, at first glance, the ability to cook food, allows to improve in this art. Similarly — and in any work that brings good to the surrounding beings, you can strive to achieve more and more excellent results. In this case, the creator of each work should consider it multifaceted, looking at it from different angles.
        “Serving other people with one’s work, helping them in all good, one perfects oneself — as the soul.
        “Then — this perfection can be continued with the help of special meditative techniques, but you will find out about this later.
        “Yes, it’s good when people are surrounded by beautiful things, nutritious food, when clothes and homes are clean and beautiful!
        “But, most importantly, it is the beauty and perfection of souls! It is our main work for God, which we can do every single day of our lives!
        “Each of our actions can bring harmony, beauty, kindness, love, peace to the world! It can be both words and deeds, and even kind thoughts and emotions. Through this — the souls become more perfect and help to improve those who live around.
        “Look — how are beautiful these flowers, birds, grass, trees! These are the perfect creations of God!
        “But… here is a trunk of a living tree mutilated by an ax… And here is a bouquet of flowers thrown to the ground… These flowers died before time — instead of producing seeds and giving life to other beings as beautiful as they are…
        “… It makes sense to improve ourselves in all goodness, what we do, in everything that we give to the world, including all kind beings around us.
        “Through this, including, we ourselves — as souls — are becoming more and more perfect — to approach the Perfection of our Creator!
        “Any work for the good of people and other kind creatures can help the development of beauty and perfection of souls — both ourselves and them!
        “Namely, this is the main task for which we all are on the Earth!
        “We pass — after life here, in the material world, — to life without bodies which we leave. There — we sum up before God, as if we are naked from all outer covers — such as we have become during the time of schooling in the school of life here, in material bodies!”
        “… Since then, I have longed to fulfill, what I heard from You, — in my life. This allowed me to work with great inspiration! I also tried to teach my young students the same.
        “But I remembered that you did not tell me everything that time. Now I again ask you to teach me how to approach the Divine Perfection!”
        “Well, I’ll be happy to help you to take the next steps on your Path!” — Master answered joyfully.
       

On Disputes

       
        The young men, trained by Master, at first, usually had a similar opinion about everything that they heard from Him and read.
        But gradually — as their outlook expanded in the process of acquiring new knowledge and developing independence in thinking, — they sometimes began to disagree in their opinions and assessments of events or written material.
        And it began to happen that their disagreements in opinions began to grow into heated debates, which sometimes ended in insults. Usually friends soon reconciled again, but such situations were repeated again and again… Once they turned to Master with a request to judge in future: which of them is right in the next heated debate.
        Master answered them in an unexpected way:
        “Do you know that the excessive insisting on your opinion in a conversation is a manifestation of the vice of violence?
        “Violence over the thoughts of another person, forcing others to think the way I think, is one of the very negative manifestations of egocentrism!
        “Have you thought about this?”
        The young men were silent in embarrassment. They did not evaluate their verbal arguments from this perspective.
        Master continued:
        “To express a point of view that is different from the interlocutor’s opinion, it is possible only in a state of love and respect for that person. And you should also understand that the interlocutor has the right to disagree with your opinion.
        “Because we all here want to be like-minded in the main principles that unite us, it is very important to learn not to invest the power of negative emotions in such disputes concerning an insignificant point.
        “We should insist on our correctness only in exceptional cases! But you have acquired the habit of arguing on insignificant problems and topics.
        “Only in those cases when mistakes of your friend can seriously harm him or her, or other people — it is necessary to show firmness in the statement of your position. This confidence in the correctness of such words and actions will be confirmed by the approval of God, which you will learn to feel.
        “If you learn the habit of arguing over trifles, then, when it comes to really important matters, your opinion will not be heard and taken into account. The habit of always objecting to the interlocutor is very bad!
        “A reluctance to listen to another point of view, as well as an attitude to an opponent, who thinks differently than you, as to an enemy or a fool, — this shows the extreme degree of your egocentrism!
        “Develop a habit of self-observation, self-control!
        “Sometimes the desire to object to the interlocutor is not manifested in words, but only in the accumulating mental and emotional objection. This accumulation of the negative inevitably leads in the future to conflict situations. Take note of your own such shortcomings!”
        “But what should I do if I really do not agree with him?” — one of the young men asked.
        “God gave people free will! This includes the freedom to think and evaluate what is happening — in accordance with the level of development, on which the soul is. This freedom of will of everyone should be respected!
        “Only if the thinking of the interlocutor seems to you harmful and dangerous for others — it makes sense to try to stop or correct a friend. But all this should be done in emotions of peace, love, and respect!
        “If you cannot respect and love those people, with whom there are protracted conflicts, — it makes sense to stop this communication. And even in this case there should be no contempt, disgust, and hatred. It’s just that people separate and get each in his or her lives new lessons from God — according to how they will live on.
        “Violence in the field of thinking is very interesting and it should be deeply understood and studied.
        “It is important to develop in oneself, including, the ability to admit one’s own error, the ability to ‘surrender’, to permit the ‘clever self’ to be defeated, to recognize oneself as wrong. We must also learn to look at the problem or situation — through the eyes of the interlocutor, learn to understand how he or she thinks. It is also important to be able to calmly and reasonably express your opinion. This is what you need to learn during such discussions. All this develops the ability to think independently and, at the same time, to understand others not superficially.
        “It is useful to be able to do this — not only for zealots who have risen on the spiritual path. This is also important for a harmonious life together in families or in other small or large communities of people.
        “And even in the relationships between states, it would be very useful and could be named as a wise policy. It is a pity, however, that politicians and diplomats usually use the ability to understand the train of thought and recognize the far-reaching plans of actions of interlocutors — only to deceive opponents and to obtain conformation in ‘victorious superiority’ over… the allies.
        “Very often bloody wars between peoples are due to the ambitions and disputes of politicians who do not want to see the situation wider than the interests of one or several persons, do not take into account the possible disastrous consequences for the remaining very many people. Such politicians also do not think about the great gravity of the karmic consequences that they themselves bring into fates in their present and future incarnations.
        “We must understand that if some people are of large volumes of consciousnesses and have great willpower, then their thinking and convictions influence very much small souls. Such leaders easily begin to control the thinking of the crowds, subordinating, paralyzing with their brute strength other people’s weak ability to think and distinguish critically.
        “It’s sad to see when such leaders use their power to subordinate to themselves the thinking of other people — for their own material gain or fame…
        “The same can be observed in relation to some religious leaders.
        “That is why on the spiritual Path it is so important to learn to monitor and suppress the desire to subordinate the thinking of other persons even in insignificant manifestations.”
        “Why, Master, did not You immediately forbid us to argue with each other?”
        “One should develop in oneself the ability to think, to understand others, to have one’s own point of view — but not blindly obey the opinion of others, even those who have influence and authority. I’m not happy if my students just take everything that I’m saying or everything that they read in my books on blind faith — and do something in one or another way not because they agree, but because of fear of being among those of whom I am not satisfied.
        “Now, I hope, you saw the situation multifaceted — and not simply due to obedience will act faithfully, but you will be able to develop in yourselves the qualities of love, care, and wisdom while mastering the abilities to think, speak, and listen independently.”
       

On the Ups and Downs

       
        One disciple was very sad because of the fact that recently he did not manage to advance in meditations. He himself could not understand: why is this happening? Other students advised him to turn to Master for help and advice.
        Master invited all those who wished to listen to their conversation.
        He said:
        “Why are you so upset? Tell us — and then we’ll try to see the reasons for your difficulties. And it will be useful to learn not only for you.”
        “I am not able to do anything that was very easy for me lately! Until recently, all meditations were so gorgeous! And now — whatever I do, everything is so weak, so bad… Have I really lost the ability to feel God forever? And even in the body, there are the signs of diseases! But we were cleaning our bodies for so many years! How can this be? Why is this happening to me?”
        … Master looked affectionately at the disciple and replied:
        “Yes, it often happens in our lives… That — even is inevitable: that successes and failures alternate…
        “To begin with, I will tell you one story:
        “One day a wrestler, whose nickname was Invincible, turned to me for help. For many years, he performed in a lot of competitions, and no one could defeat him. But one day, at a very significant tournament, he was defeated by a young contender. Worse, his body had received some injuries, and he could not immediately prove to everyone in the upcoming battle that he was the best…
        “He was in complete despair because he considered the situation to be a terrible shame for himself… Before — everyone glorified and admired him! And now — suddenly — everyone turned away from him and began to extol the new champion…
        “And so, he came to me for advice, because he did not know how to survive this event and how to live on.
        “Let us consider: why this had happened to him.
        “When a person feels oneself to be the best and surrounded by ecstasy and applause of the public — then it becomes very easy for such a person to be prone to self-admiration!
        “Even if worldly glory and success are really deserved, it happens that such people lose the understanding that behind all phenomena in the world of matter is the Supreme Divine Power.
        “But most people, who live in the ordinary worldly life, do not even think that all these honors and glory can easily be replaced by oblivion, the ‘disgrace of failures’, which painfully breaks the grown-up self-esteem…
        “Very often, it is precisely for this —  failures happen in the fates: that the love, kindness, humility, strength for overcoming difficulties, and wisdom for understanding our mistakes — would increase in the souls.
        “Failures and all the hardships of life, which are called by people as troubles, may serve to help the souls…
        “The wrestler, who came to me for advice, managed to understand that the stage for changes and turning the soul’s gaze to the spiritual accomplishments, not to battle in the arena of worldly battles, has come in his life…”
        … The disciple asked:
        “But all my aspirations and whishes are directed to God! Why have I got the same fate? I feel like a loser, a worthless and incapable student!… Why is this? How can I overcome all these difficulties?”
        “If a person has embarked on the spiritual Path — this does not mean that, from now on, God will save him or her from all difficulties and troubles in life.
        “Let’s understand that a disciple on the spiritual Path must learn to treat his or her own achievements and failures — in a different way. It is important to understand that such stages in the lives of spiritual hermits are normal! No one can become perfect at once, at the same moment, as soon as it was desired!
        “In the life of every spiritual seeker, there are necessary stages when, after the ups and successes, a difficult segment of the Path comes. This is a necessary test of the strength achieved. It is also time for a new accumulation of forces for a starting run before taking new heights.
        “We must also be vigilant about our own mistakes, which may become the reasons for our declines. For example — negative emotions that were admitted and not noticed: longing, anxiety, resentment, anger. Or, when one was still at the peak of success, — the self-content, self-admiration, boasting, contemptuous-patronizing attitude towards others.
        “You probably think that you already have defeated all this negativity in yourself. But, what has already been cleansed from the soul, is only the most superficial layers of vices.
        “Yes, you will never reply with an angry tirade against another person, even if he or she offends you. Yes, you will not panic if you are told that you have lost some material wealth. Yes, you will not brag to your friends about your accomplishments — in order to be extolled…
        “But there could be a connivance of false emotions for only a very short time or in weakly expressed forms.
        “For example, your sadness because of failures and despair from your own ‘worthlessness’ — these are precisely the vicious egocentric emotions!
        “And egocentric emotional states render a way out from this difficult stage of your life — even more complicated.
        “You should pay attention to all this right now, in order to eliminate something in yourself which becomes noticeable against the background of the decline!
        “It must also be understood that, when this happens, then the pathogenic energies can seize the weakened sites in the body — and then there is a deterioration in health, due to which it is even more difficult to maintain the previous achievements…
        “In such cases, you need to pay attention to those areas in the body that are most vulnerable. So God shows us what we have not yet noticed and solved in ourselves.
        “The easiest way to heal and restore in such cases is to start from the very beginning of the Path and repeat everything that has already been done.
        “If you have committed an ethical error, then you need to repent and cleanse the energies in the body and in the ‘cocoon’ by all ways known to you.
        “And again and again returning ourselves — as souls — to a state of peace and love, we learn to live in the unity with God, strengthen ourselves in this state!
        “Remember that, after taking one mountain pass, you, the traveler, may need to go down — and then again climb to another pass. And the path there may be even steeper and more difficult.
        “And also it is necessary to stop sometimes for a while — in order to gain strength to overcome the new height.”
               

[The translation will be continued.]