THE TWO PATHS

Lecture 1 of the Youth Occult Class

Given by the Master Beinsa Douno
February 24, 1922
Sofia
Secret Prayer
What is the main idea of students entering into school? Students want to be educated, to acquire
knowledge, to develop what is lodged into their souls, minds and hearts. And after they have acquired
knowledge and have developed their talents and abilities, they are obliged to preserve them. Good soil is
required for this, so that every thought falling into it, may bear fruit.
You also want to study like students and to deal with science, but do you know the meaning of the
word science? If we consider the letters of this word, written in Latin and in some of the Slavic
languages, we see two different notions hidden in the spelling. The letter combination of the word written
in the Slavic languages indicates that in science the Slavs seek a method of balancing contradictions in
Life. The Anglo-Saxon society, however, uses the Latin word scientia to mark the notion of
knowledge, science and the letter configuration indicates that it is interested in studying the relations
between the different forms and the continuous changes taking place in the Living Nature. The first letter
s in the word scientia designates infinity. Consequently, from an esoteric point of view, you can study
science with the purpose either to find a method, assisting you in reconciling contradictions in Life or to
find a way of using the forces of Nature. Those who deal with science in order to make use of the natural
forces are submitted to a big danger. The danger is hidden in the appearance of the sacred egoism in
them. They may place themselves higher than others by obtaining authority in their own eyes, so they
will say, We dispose with powers, which we can use as we wish.
There are two categories of people: people who have strong personal feelings and self-confidence:
they think that they can do everything, that they know many things, etc. However, the other category of
people like the Slavs for example, seek a method of balancing the contradictions in their lives and of
healing the pains of their hearts at the same time. The Slavs are closer to the Truth in this aspect.
If you want to deal with the spiritual science, you should study your inner self first. Socrates said:
Know yourself! What does it mean? What should you know the Higher or the lower self in you? To
know yourself means to know the Higher Self or the Divine Source in you. In other words, to know God
in you. Once you know God in you, you will be aware of the conditions, in which you can grow and
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develop properly; the conditions, which give direction to your growth and development and which also
balance the forces operating in you. Take a person who is living well, whose mind and heart are
developing properly, so everyone expects from him to become an important person. But all of a sudden
an accident happens to him, completely destroying his form. What is the reason for this misfortune? The
reason is in the artisan who made this form. Many will say that such was the fate of this person. If a
potter has made a tilted, half-baked pot, who is to be blamed? The potter alone. What could he do then?
He will break the pot into pieces, knead it in slurry and make a new pot, but this time the pot will be
better, firmer and well-baked. Consequently, when the High Source smashes the low forms, remaking and
remodeling them, it gets out of them more beautiful, more perfect forms. What else could be done with
the pots, which are not well carved, except to destroy them, so that they could be remade and moulded
into new, more resistant and perfect forms?
Young people often think that they are wiser than old people, so they say about them, Their time
is over, we will show them how to live now. However, the present-day old people said exactly the same
in the past. And young people at that time did not approve of their way of living thinking that they could
improve it. But they also grew old without correcting their ways. Thus young generations go one after
another, trying without any success to show old people how to live properly. Why do they fail? - Because
they use the same old methods like the old people. I say, the fundamental tasks in Life cannot be solved
by means of using old methods. Young people should try not to repeat the errors of old people. They are
to learn from their experience and see their omissions that hamper them in Life. The reasons for their
failures are numerous and profound. They present an entire history that should be studied and researched.
I will give you a topic to think on. It is the following: "The Most Rational Method for Work" .
Each one of you should reflect on the most rational method for oneself. The spiritual science is based on
experience; knowledge is valuable only when it is applied in Life. It is the application that determines
your position as disciples. When one wants to study violin at musical school, one is tested on violin
playing and, depending on the results, one is put in a certain class. If that student turns out to be
mediocre, the violin professor will advise him to enroll in another school, so that he may not waste his
own time.
In one of my next lectures I will speak about the intelligent relationship between humanity and
Living Nature. But before that you are supposed to state openly your opinion on the topic: The Best
Method or the Most Rational Method for Work. It is a privilege, an extraordinary occasion for you to
speak openly on a given topic. From an esoteric point of view, the best method is the one that is
applicable in real Life. If a given method cannot be applied, it leads you astray from your goal; it brings
you somewhere far away from your aim without any real results for you. Since you are not at one and the
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same level of development, each one will present a specific method for work, which is applicable in ones
own life. Some of you are first materialists, then idealists: they give priority to the material in Life; others
are first idealists, then materialists: they give priority to ideas. This is the main difference between
people. Idealists say that ideas create everything. What ideas do they have in consideration? Certainly,
they do not consider their own ideas. There are ideas of a higher order than the human ones. These ideas
come from the Infinite Divine Source.
So, you should learn in this School to apply the methods of Nature. You should use the forces of
Living Nature in the same way as flowers use sunrays. Then you will be able to fulfil what you were born
for. This law also has an application to the human body. Each organ of the human organism has a specific
function. For example, legs walk and at the same time carry the total weight of the body; hands work
catching, lifting and carrying different things; eyes see; ears hear, etc. Consequently, each organ executes
a specific function in the human body. In this aspect, every human being presents a special organ in the
common organism of Nature and has a specific function. Those who have found their place in Nature and
have realized their destination can properly fulfil their function as organs of the great Divine organism.
You are disciples in this School and may raise questions that you consider important. You may
raise for example some questions concerning your needs. What is a hungry person interested in? - Bread.
A hungry person wants to know everything about the bread he will eat: whether it is warm or cold, fresh
or mouldy. If you want to create a solid foundation in you, you should apply the same law to knowledge.
You, who are young, should not repeat the mistake of that Gypsy man, who ate first vine leaves to his fill
and then some bread and cheese. He went to the vineyard to work there and took some bread and a piece
of cheese in his bag for breakfast. After some work he got very hungry. He looked at the bread and the
cheese and saw that it would hardly satisfy his hunger. So he picked some vine leaves and started eating
them. After that he also ate the bread and the cheese and said, Excellent lunch! No, I do not advise you
first to swallow the vine leaves and then to have a bite of esoteric knowledge. Be cautious to avoid this
mistake! No mistakes are allowed in your work. If you make a mistake, correct it! It is not a crime that
you have admitted some mistakes, but that you leave them uncorrected. When you realize a mistake of
yours, correct it. There is nothing criminal in some bad thoughts passing through your mind, but each
distorted thought of yours should be rectified. The efforts of your minds, hearts and wills should be
directed to the correction of your mistakes. Only in this way you will create reliable characters.
You should also consider the following thing: when students enter the school, the teacher is kind
and attentive to them in the beginning. The more they learn and the harder the material gets, the teachers
requirements to them increases and especially to those ones who do not study enough. So, the teacher
changes his attitude towards the students who do not make an effort. The first obligation of disciples is to
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study. So, you too must study and what is more, study seriously. Each science has its own rules that
should be known and observed. Self-control is demanded from you as young people - not fictitious,
external, but real self-control. There are two types of self-control: outside, fictitious self-control, when
your inner balance is usually disturbed; and inner, profound self-control, when your balance has never
been broken.
I will give you an example for outside self-control. A young man got engaged to a beautiful,
young woman who was noble and self-controlled. He often praised her to his friends. One day he invited
a friend to her place to introduce her. They sat and talked for a while. Then the fiance brought a tray
with glasses of water and sweets to treat them. The young man tripped her on purpose in order to see her
reaction. As she held the tray, everything fell on the ground, the sweets and the water scattered on the
floor. The fiance kept full self-control and said, It is all right! She calmly bent down, gathered the
glasses, wiped up the water and went into the other room. The young man turned to his friends and said,
This is self-control and nobleness of character! This is an ideal woman! However, when they got
married, things did not go the way he thought. Once he asked her, Where did your self-control go?You had to enter the other room to see what happened there. Only the wood of the table could tell you
how hard I had chewed it!
I say, this is not real self-control. Someone wants to open the window: he pulls it, but it does not
open; he pulls it a second, a third time - it does not open again. He gets nervous, angry and starts pulling
it harder and harder, as if the window is guilty about something. First of all, the window is not conscious,
it cannot understand if one is irritated. The same is true for the esoteric forces: some of them are
conscious and intelligent, others are half-conscious and unreasonable. When I say that some forces are
intelligent, it means that they have the same direction of movement as ours. The unconscious forces go in
the opposite direction. Consequently, each one of you should know if a given force goes in compliance
with ones own development or in opposition. In the same way you should consider if your thoughts,
feelings and actions go in line with your development or not. When you come across some thought or
feeling, you should immediately look into it to decide where to put it - to the left or to the right. Disciples
should know how to sort out and where to put each one of their thoughts, feelings and actions. Some
disciples will succeed in this activity twenty-five percent, others - fifty percent, the third ones - seventyfive and the most capable a hundred percent. Disciples should work to gradually increase this
percentage, so that they can avoid mistakes and disappointments.
So, we will make experiences after each lesson. This means that you will be put on an exam after
each taught lesson: not only theoretical, but also practical exams. All theoretical knowledge is to be
applied in Life, where it should be developed and tested. Whoever wants to deal with esotericism should
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know that he/she will be submitted to certain trials and tests, which should be solved successfully. You
say, We have difficulties anyway. Yes, but this time you will realize the meaning of these difficulties.
And realizing it, you will be able to use them as healing methods. E.g., if you complain of pains all over
your body: in your hands and legs, in your backbone, if you have a headache and your stomach is upset,.
from all these pains the Invisible World will create just one pain, but a bigger one, so that you will direct
your full attention to it. This big pain will make you heal yourself properly. You will forget about the
small pains and will start working intensively in one direction. So, great difficulties unite the human
forces into one focus. Otherwise, there is an energya dispersion of energy and the forces in man are
scattered. Nature acts in the same way. She will create one big pain for you, and through it everything
else will be healed. But you have not come to the big pains yet.
After a reflection on the topic, which I gave you, you should write as concisely as possible: only
on the core of the idea. Each one of you is to write about his personal method for work. What have
written scientists have written on this theme is not so important for you; it could correspond to your
understanding or not. What is important for you is to tune your work to the methods of the Intelligent
Nature, not to the methods of ordinary scientists. Only in this way you will get the common principles of
Life. So, each one of you will work and apply the method which is the best known and is the most
specific for him. It depends on your awareness, your sincerity in work and your deep striving for a
valuable achievement. Many of you will say that they do not have good conditions for work. The
Americans are leading in this aspect. In America you will meet students who work in kitchens and offices
to afford pay their school or university studies. It is good when favourable conditions are available in
Life, but all conditions could be reasonably used. Even in the hardest conditions, you may find ten or
fifteen minutes for reading and self-education. What hampers a housewife to read something, while she is
cutting onion and cooking? Both good and bad conditions have the purpose to put a disciple into position
to overcome difficulties. Only thus you can grow up and develop in the right way.