Contemporary people know many things, but they do not know ordinary ones. For example, they are sometimes cheerful, well-disposed, but they do not know why; sometimes they are sorrowful, ill-disposed, they do not know why, either. Many people are interested in wealth, they want to become rich. Why do they want to become rich, they do not know. They think that by means of wealth and money, everything could be achieved. Many things could be bought with money, indeed, but life could not be bought with money. Through wealth, a person could bring about some disease, but the wealth does not always cure diseases. When a person grows rich, one is for fear that may be robbed, or may lose one’s wealth, as a result one neither eat, nor sleep peacefully. Human being gets ill because of fear. But that wealth is not able to cure a person.
The human being has one’s own body on disposal, as a machine for work, but one does not know what is needed for that body. One says: “I should have more fat, in order to endure the external conditions”. – You should have fat, but you should also have muscles, and bones, and nerves. The most stable substance in the human being is the brain. When a person suffers from a serious disease, one first loses the fat. It reduces and one becomes faint as a candle. If the disease still continues, the muscles weaken, but the nerves and brain remain to the last. They are the most stable. And vice versa: when the organism starts recovering, first the health condition of brain recovers, and of nerves, and of muscles and at last comes the fat. People, who have more fat, are calm, well-disposed characters. People, who have less fat, are more quick-tempered, nervous. The quick-tempered and nervous person says: “Nature creates me in this way”. The calm person says: “Nature creates me in this way, too”. But we say: The character of a person is determined by one’s head. Whatever is the head of a person, so is one’s character. The mind of a person is dependent mainly on the brain, and then on one’s relation to lungs and heart.
One thing has to be known: the human health is dependent on laws, which control the body. First, health depends on the human thought. As a person knows the laws of thought and aply them correctly, one is healthy. We do not speak about the ordinary human thought, accompanied by anxieties and uneasiness. We have in mind the bright and sublime thought. If someone posses sublime and right thought, that person has specific warmth, a specific pulse, a specific attitude towards things. Those who do not have right attitude towards the air, they could not be healthy.
Many people could not be healthy because of the inner fear they yield to. When someone is afraid about one’s health, that person is under the influence of mental microbes and gets ill. Keep away from microbes, no matter what they are, mental, heart or organic. You have to be their master, not they yours. Doubt and suspicion are mental microbes. Do you have to yield to such microbes? You say that some of your fellow people, your mother or father, do not love you. Where do you know that from? If you love them, they will love you, too. Have you measured your neck, in order to know, whether you love them? When you get up in the morning, measure your neck’s width. Then you should start thinking about your mother and father, afterwards measure your neck again. If there is at least a microscopic widening of your neck, that shows that your parents love you. If you love them, they will love you, too. Therefore, do not let doubt within you to take roots deeply. When doubt comes to your mind, that someone of your fellows does not love you, you should measure your neck immediately. Send the doubt away from you, if you do not want to be ill.
These are facts that have to be studied. Facts, however, do not represent science. There are laws, which have to be followed, but the laws do not yet represent science. You have to come to the principles. To have a clear notion about a particular issue, first of all a person should know the facts, laws and principles, which defines it. For example, it is a fact that the mother loves her child. What law is based her love on? What is the principle that controls it? All these have to be known. You will say that love is defined by the law of giving. So the mother has given something from herself to her child, therefore she loves it. People give in two ways: first they give, and then they want to receive; or first they receive and then they want to give something.
Consequently, when a person wants to be loved, one has the intention first to receive, and then to give. When a person want to love, one has a wish first to give, and then to receive. Someone complains that wants to love but has not found the right person. Amazing! The world is full of people, who wait to be loved, and that one can’t find a person whom to love. – Why can’t one find such a person? – People search for someone, who is suitable, to correspond to their beliefs. To the lean person suits the plump one. To the plump person suits lean, thin one. People should get closer in such a way, that their powers to balance one another. Muscle and nervous systems in the plump person are more covered by fat, as a result one is well-disposed and one’s cart does not squeak. Fat is an accumulator of heat energy within the human being. Those who do not have inner fat, they lose easily their warmth. This is the reason why thin people, as well as those, who live in the north, need fat food. Let’s return to the issue of health. – What is the human health dependent on? – It is dependent on one’s thoughts, feelings and deeds. The brain is connected with the human thoughts; the lungs and heart – with human feelings, and muscles, fat and bones – with one’s deeds. If the muscle, bone and stomach systems are not connected among one another, human being could not be able to move. Since one could not move, one cannot work, one does not power within. As you know the dependency among the different systems in the human being, and the manifestation of one’s thoughts, feelings and deeds, you have to take care of them, they have to be in perfect condition. Only in this state, the human being can think, feel, act, speak, and move and so on.
What is the function of the mouth? You may say that the function of mouth is to receive food from the outside and to speak, to render the human thought. We say: The service of mouth is to receive and give. When it opens and closes, it receives food from the outside, and it chews it up and then sends it into the gullet. In this case it is a great niggard. Whatever it receives from the outside, the mouth considers it as its own capital and it does not give anything from it to anybody. As regards its own, it is a niggard. But as regards somebody else’s, it is generous. In this cases it acts in a democratic way, it gives away that easily. – Which is the alien capital for the mouth? – The air, which goes out of the lungs. As it uses the air, which goes out of it, it forms such beautiful words, through which it becomes famous all over the world. When you are listening to a good orator, you say: “These words are sweet as honey”. – These words are sweet as honey, but that person uses somebody else’s capital. To take a part of the air, which has to go out of the nose, and to form a well-structured, beautiful speech, that is a great art also.
The Genesis says: “And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”. (- 2nd Chapter, verse 7.) – So through the nose God breathed air into the human being and one accepted the Divine life. Therefore, when someone is in a difficult position, one has to breathe. As one breathes and takes air through the nose, one will find God. As one breathes, one thinks. After thought, come feelings. Only those, who breathe consciously, can find God. God says to the human being: “As you breathe in through your nose you will find me and listen what I am going to speak to you”. Air is a bearer of electricity and magnetism. This energy passes through the nose of the human being and revives the nervous system. There are many breathing methods, but some of them are expensive. In order to produce a kilogram of rose oil, three thousand kilograms of rose leaves are needed. You can imagine how many workers have to work, until they gather the roses, then boil and distil them, in order to get one kilogram of oil. In this situation, of course the oil is expensive.
The rose oil is valuable, but more valuable is the good frame of mind. The human being can draw the good frame of mind from the air through the nose. Through breathing you are able to make your brain to think right, your heart – to feel right and the stomach – to work normally. Many people get angry, they are nervous, they think in a wrong way. – Why? – They do not breathe right. The incorrect breathing is a cause for many diseases: headache, stomachache, heartache, chest pains and so on. Your leg hurts you, because you do not breathe properly. Your spinal column hurts you, because you do not breathe properly. In general, all diseases are due to incorrect way of breathing. The fast and shallow breathing is dangerous for the organism. It leads to various diseases. Breathe calmly, with ease, with a particular rhythm. Be aware of the air, which enters through your nose. Along with the air enter Divine thoughts, which prepare the way of the human being towards the Divine. God’s blessing passes in the human being through the top part of brain, and goes down perpendicularly to the physical brain, then through the nose where it goes out from.
You have to try to cure yourselves alone through breathing. If you have a headache, stomach ache or you are not well-disposed as a whole, you should do 12- 19 breathing exercises in the morning, before lunch, and before dinner. If you have not practise in breathing, then you should do six exercises. Each breathing in, holding and breathing out of air represents one exercise. So six breathings in, six holdings and six breathings out represent the six exercises. As you do these exercises, your mind has to be concentrated. As you are breathing, your diaphragm should arise and go down, shrink and widen. Diaphragm represents a border between the spiritual and physical world. One of the causes of tachycardia, shortness of breath and some breast diseases is due to displacing of diaphragm from its natural position. If the diaphragm arises higher than it should be, lungs and heart are pressed and do not function properly. As the human being takes a deep breath, lungs are filled with air, they pressed on diaphragm and it goes back to its place, it takes its particular place, as a border between two worlds – the physical and spiritual one.
Have you tried while you are breathing deeply to read some prayer in your mind. If you have not tried this, start breathing and reading “The Lord’s Prayer” or “The Good Prayer” in your thoughts. Breathe in, hold and breathe out the air calmly, slowly, in order to read a whole prayer in one exercise. While you are doing the exercises with reading the prayer in your mind, you will feel pleasant warmth in the area of the solar plexus. In order to convince yourselves in the power of thought, you should make experiments.
Contemporary scientists believe only in what could be a subject of an experiment. Therefore, namely, the discussion arises: is there a life on the Sun, Moon and other planets. Some people support the idea that there is a life on other planets. Others deny that. Now, experiments are made for communication between Earth inhabitants with Moon inhabitants. In order to be possible for the Earth inhabitants to make a connection with beings from other planets, first of all they need to have spiritual understanding about things. Nowadays, the scientific facts are in pieces, without a connection among them, because people go through various painful conditions. When they stabilize their nervous system and organize the powers of their body, people will understand that there is a narrow, unbreakable relation among all facts, phenomena and laws of the different sciences.
Nowadays people could not aspire to spiritual science and to enter into connection with the spiritual world, because they deal with ordinary things. Everyone is anxious about thinking of tomorrow. Everyone wants to know how will spend one’s physical life. In one word, everyone thinks about one’s own stomach. Should the son worry what will happen to him? His father and mother love him. They take care of him. His only work is to study.
Parents take care of the material needs of their children, and children have to study. Each human being is a child of some sublime spirit. That being the case, the task of people is to study. If their matters do not go well, they will pray for some help to come from somewhere. Someone prays hurriedly for a while and say that the prayer has been accepted. No. Prayer, which is not accompanied by slow, calm and rhythmical breathing and thinking, is not accepted. As you pray, you will concentrate your thought only on a certain subject and you should inhale deeply and slowly. In each inhale, holding and exhale of air you should think only about what interests you. If you have a stomach ache, you will think about your stomach; if you have a headache – about your head.
Those who have not practised in deep breathing, they should hold their breath up to two-three seconds and each day they should increase the holding with one more second. As one increases the breath holding by a second, in the course of a month, one will hold the breath up to 30 seconds. If one is able to hold the breath up to 30 seconds, one will cope with many indispositions and diseases. Headache, pulmonary disease, stomach ache, paralysis – everything disappears. Consequently, if you hear that someone is ill, advice him to breathe deeply. If one does not know how to breathe, that person loosens, lies on one’s back and says: “Let the will of God takes place!” – Let the will of God takes place, which means the human being to move one’s hands and legs freely; to think, to feel and to act as God thinks, feels and acts.
The human being has to get free from the illusions, to understand one’s own deeds, as well as those of the other fellow beings. Someone shakes hands with his friend and holds tight his hand. – Why? – That person wants to show the other one that loves him. Another one shakes hands, but barely touches the hand of his friend. He wants to show that he is not interested in these ordinary things. Third one shakes hands only by two fingers. In general, through shaking hands a person gives and receives energy. If one does not breathe deeply, that person could not shake hands properly. Before shaking hands with somebody, you should take a deep breath. Before entering into your room, or in some saloon, you should take a deep breath again. Before start speaking you should also take a breath. Good orators breathe deeply. Those, who do not breathe deeply, they do not speak well. As one breathes deeply through the nose, one perceives the Divine blessing within. As one breathes properly, one also feeds properly. As one breathes and feeds properly, all process in the organism take place properly.
So, if you want to be healthy, you have to breathe deeply. It is worth paying to a doctor to teach one to breathe properly, before one to get ill. In the future, doctors will deal more with healthy people, to teach them how to preserve their health. Cure yourselves before to get ill. Medicines help to those, who breathe deeply. If one does not breathe deeply, no medicines could help. Someone loses one’s temper, gets angry to that person, to this person and then breathes deeply. No. Before getting angry, to quarrel with someone, before to speak, you should breathe deeply. Fill your lungs with clean air and then speak. If you do not observe that rule, your words do not have a result: neither will you make use of them, nor the other people. Be indulgent to people’s mistakes, they should not bring disturbance in the heart. Since you think about people’s mistakes, breathe deeply in order to brighten your thoughts.
As students, you have to heal yourselves with deep breathing. If you have a stomach ache, do six exercises four times a day. When you do the exercise, put your left hand on your abdomen, or stomach with your palm facing downwards; then put you right hand with your palm downwards on the left one. As you breathe deeply, you have to feel shrinking and widening of the diaphragm. Those who do not breathe deeply, they could not be students to the new teaching.
As you study the areas of human feelings and abilities in the brain, you will see, that in the back part of the brain are situated some kinds of feelings: feeling of friendship, of sociability, of love towards family, towards the children and love towards the woman and towards the man, the so called “love of the young”. The love of the young is peculiar, and it is located in the cerebellum. The danger of that love stands in the fact that as more blood rushes to that centre it interferes the circulation to go properly. As they do not breathe properly, they are arguing all the time. In order to avoid disputes and misunderstandings between them, the young have to breathe deeply. If a human being does not breathe properly, love also does not manifest properly within oneself. Of such a person the breath smells bad, his sweat, too. Those who breathe properly, their blood circulation is also regular. That person is healthy. No matter what kind of disease you suffer from, look for help in the deep breathing. It cures rheumatism, breast and stomach diseases, headache, and stomach ache and so on. There isn’t a disease, which could not be cured through breathing.
Breathe deeply and believe that you will achieve what you wish. Faith is a Divine feeling, which awakes the thought of the human being and makes oneself to work. While breathing one has to be calm, to sing in one’s thought and to search for a cause of the pain. Breathe and sing to your pain! For example, which is the cause of headache? When much electricity gathers in the head, inner tension is formed, which influences the nervous system. If the tension disappears, the headache will also passes off. If you get ill of some kind of disease, you have to breathe and sing to that disease. Sing a special song to each disease. If you breathe well, you will go out of your body whenever you wish. Then you will not die from suffocation, as many people die nowadays, but you will go out unrestrictedly from your body. You will invite your fellow beings and friends at a dinner, you will sing, you will talk and when the hour of your departure comes, you will say goodbye to all and tell them: “Farewell to you, I go to my homeland, among my fellow beings”. The one, who breathes properly, is a good tenant and one is held for a longer time on Earth. If you breathe well, you can stay even for 120 years on Earth. If you do not breathe well, you will hardly spend 30-40 years. Long life depends on deep and correct breathing. And breathing depends on right thinking and feeling. Breathe deeply and think that Divine blessing comes upon the human being through the air.
People on Earth breathe air. When they go to the other world, they will breathe ether, matter more diluted than air. Fish live in denser environment than people – in water where they draw air from.
For the present, the only being on Earth that breathes consciously is the human. Therefore it is said that the human being becomes a living soul. Animals also breathe, but unconsciously. When you breathe, you have to be conscious that you receive the Divine blessing. If one breathes but does not think, one is in the condition of the animal. The plants have the longest life on Earth, because they breathe properly.
So, remember that all diseases and indispositions are cured by deep and conscious breathing. There are special breathing methods for each human being. One will aspire to these methods through the inner teacher and doctor. Listen to your inner doctor, i.e. the Divine within you. He will direct you in a good path. If you do not listen to the inner doctor, you will not listen to the external, either. As you listen to your inner doctor, you will correct all your weaknesses. Whatever misses you, you will find it; whatever you have not developed, you will develop.
So, you will breathe and sing. If you do not sing, you cannot breathe properly. Those who sing, they have the opportunity to improve their breathing. If one does not breathe properly, one will leave prematurely for the other world. One will not be accepted for a student in the other world either, if one does not breathe properly. When one goes to the other world, one will be immediately stopped in front of the Heaven’s door and will be forced to read “The Good Prayer” with breathing in, holding of breath, and breathing out. If one cannot read it fluently, with deep breathing, one would not be allowed in paradise. That world is well organized. All people are beautiful there, and they have perfect lines of face and body. There are no diseases, no sufferings, and no contradictions either.
As you know that, breathe properly. Breathe consciously and with love. When you wake up, take some deep breaths before to start any kind of work. Breathing helps for formation of the human character. The proper way of breathing enhances the light of mind and warmth of heart. The proper breathing makes the face beautiful. If one does not breathe properly, the skin on face and hands wrinkles prematurely.
Wrinkling is due to disorder of liver and incorrect breathing. When one starts breathing properly, the wrinkles of the face and hands gradually disappear.
Some people avoid deep breathing, because they torture themselves. And what? There is something inert in the human being that does not like to torture itself. Let it torture itself, there is no need to feel sorry for it. When the inert tortures itself the human being is educated. The same refers to the young children also. If they do not breathe properly, they could not think and feel properly.
Contemporary people breathe fast and shallow, in one minute they breathe in and out 20 times. So in one minute they take 20 air lunches. This is immensely. As one learns to breathe properly, one has gradually to decrease the breathings in and has to reach up to two air lunches. This is achieved gradually, in the course of some years, not all of a sudden. Apply the deep breathing in physical exercises, too. When you do gymnastics, you crouch down and then raise up. With each raising of the body you have to take a deep breath and hold it in your lungs, while comes the time to crouch down. When you crouch down, you have to breathe out. During the second raising of the body you have to take a breath again. When you do the exercise with breathing, you concentrate and the exercises are given meaning to. Their result is better then.
Lecture by the Master, held on 4th September 1940, 5 a.m.
The Good Prayer
Lord, our God, our gracious Heavenly Father, Who has bestowed upon us life and health to rejoice in You, we pray to You, send us Your Spirit to protect and shelter us from each evil and cunning thought.
Teach us to do Your Will, to sanctify Your Name and to glorify You always.
Sanctify our spirit, enlighten our hearts and minds to keep Your commandments and decrees.
Inspire within us with Your presence Your pure thoughts and guide us to serve You with joy.
Our life, which we dedicate to You for the good of our brothers and fellow beings,
bless You Lord.
Help us and support us to grow in every knowledge and Wisdom, to learn from Your Word and to abide in Your Truth.
Guide us in everything we think and do in Your Name, to be for the success of Your Kingdom on the Earth.
Nurture our souls with Your Heavenly bread and strengthen us with Your Power, so that we may succeed in life.
As You give us all Your blessings, supply Your Love as well to be our eternal law.
For Yours is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, forever.
Amen
The Good Prayer is universal not only for humanity, but for the whole Universe, for all angels, archangels, principalities, authorities.
When you read the Good Prayer, you can go everywhere with it. It is a kind of a pass.