At sometime during their life, each person asks the question: What did I come into this world for and what will I leave behind me? Certainly, this question has come to me as well. Looking at the world around me, of course, I involuntarily thought: Can I change something in this, or should I accept that the voice of one person is the voice of no one, that I am a small person, and nothing depends on me but everything depends on the powers that be?
Yet, even a little bee does a lot of work during its very short life. From such microscopic offerings, probably, a treasury of the spirit of humanity as a whole is created, if each of us brings at least a grain of Goodness, Mercy, Compassion, and Understanding. And then there will be more of these qualities in the world…
Reflecting on what I could do, I just came to an impasse, because I could not even put three words together beautifully. I thought: “Well, someone writes poetry, someone cures.” I had always dreamt of becoming a doctor. Once in a school, in the village Bolshoe Yanikovo [Chuvash Republic, Russia], we wrote an essay: “Who I would like to become,” and I wrote about wanting to be a doctor ‒ to reduce people’s suffering and on the part of doctors to offer patients more sympathy and heartiness. I wrote that my mother’s sister had died in childbirth, and that I would like people not to die. For some reason, I thought that doctors were all-powerful people. Surely, very much depends on them: sometimes a simple word treats maladies that medicine cannot cure.
While studying history at university, for some reason I always chose the topic “The Role of Personality in History” for term papers. Through my study, I realized that one person can change the historical course of a particular country and even sometimes of the entire world. Of course, these are outstanding divine personalities who can change the course of the evolution of the whole of humanity, and on this depends the Evolution of the entire Cosmos, too.
I went on to work at a school, teaching history. A new subject — “Person and Society” — had been introduced and I saw how children were keen to learn about world religions and about prominent personalities: Christ, Buddha, Krishna, and Muhammad, the greatest saints, philosophers, and reformers. I would talk about them as living people. I would speak gently, and I never had to admonish my students, because the whole class listened attentively.
I noticed that this was bringing some kind of enlightenment to people, and I wanted to spread my knowledge in the wider world. Yet it was difficult for me to choose the path of a writer, although I did love literature.
The first line of my first book was born on 27 October 1992…
I felt the grief of people I didn’t know and may never come to know, but I thought that, by writing poems or an article, somehow I could connect with that person, and maybe make their life easier. When I began to write 77 Pearls Shining on the Beads of Time, I wanted to do it in the form of newspaper articles. I even had an image in my mind of an Afghan war veteran, who is alone, in a wheelchair. Abandoned by everybody, he was in a state of despair and hopelessness. I did not know what I could do to help him. And so, focusing on the image of a desperate person, I started to write the “Lesson of Love.” It was dedicated to Love and religious tolerance, since intolerance is the main cause of religious conflicts.
Going back to my first line, I was waiting ‒ not passively, but I was as if breaking through something, I was praying, appealing to Heaven, Eternity, to help me serve humanity. Humanity — perhaps that is overstated, since service to others begins with helping our own neighbours. If you have assisted at least one person, you have taken your first step on the path of service to the Great Cause. Lying down to sleep, I would put a pen and a blank sheet of paper beside me, and all day they would be in front of me too. I prayed constantly: “O Lord, my life is a blank sheet of white paper. I don’t want to pass away without having written a single line. What would be the meaning of my existence then?”
And so, on 27 October, I woke up with the first phrase, resounding in my head as my own thought: “A Teacher was talking with the Fire for a long time…” This phrase seemed so amazing, I recorded it. Then came the following line: “And the Fire told him the parable of a Celestial Warrior.”
Line by line, I was breaking through layers, like a flower appearing through asphalt, and the “Parable of a Celestial Warrior,” who would come to help people, was born. People did not understand his Kindness, his Light, and his Service; they stoned him, he was crucified, slandered, and killed more than once. However, having gone back to Heaven, the warrior watched the Earth and had only one wish: to return and save humanity with Love. And I decided, following the example of this warrior, that I should endeavour to build my own life path, always trying to triumph by Love alone.
In recent times, many catastrophes have occurred on the Earth and ethnic conflicts never subside. What happens to the planet Earth, and to all of us who live here?
Looking back at the historical development of humanity, we see endless wars. Unfortunately, they have not ceased and, indeed, have acquired other forms. Currently many people, hiding behind the banner of their religion, incite ethnic conflicts. Yet any sensible person, understanding the Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad-Gita, or the Zend Avesta, will know that there is no call for war. They will see, for example, that Islam means “submission.” Where are calls for war there? These are all inventions of those at the helm of power who, sheltering behind the names of the greatest Bearers of Light, launched wars.
If we look back at long ago Judea and the image of Christ, we will see nothing but Love. This Greatest Spirit brought the Word of Love. He brought the Law of Love. And what callous and evil souls they must have had to hide behind the name of Christ in order to start wars. How many wars with the blessing of the church leaders there were! And if it’s been said: “Love your enemies,” how blasphemous this whole inquisitorial system looks, which lasted for decades. Of course, the Inquisition and torture tools have already left the stage of history. But perhaps it is even more terrible when they attempt to morally destroy those who are destined to carry the Light, who elect as their cause the Service to the Light.
Two days ago on the radio “The Voice of Russia,” I issued an appeal to the Indian people, in association with Republic Day. And there was also a question about the causes of conflicts. I pointed out that they exist only because there is not enough Love in the world, and that we don’t follow the word of the Great Saints. After all, they told us of Love, of brotherly relations, and of religious tolerance. But unfortunately, debates arise around teachings and philosophical concepts instead of following them and through our example to be exactly what is in consonance with our soul. Indeed, the best way to honour the saints is to emulate their lives. And no matter where a saint lived, which name they bore, and which religion they represented, the essence of their messages was the same: service to humanity, bringing Good, Beauty, and Love into the world. I believe that if there is more Love, there will be no such conflicts.
I have been to India seven times, and visited many ashrams there. In one, I was told the following story.
One of the admirers of a saint was returning to her country, and her plane was hijacked by terrorists. She began appealing to this saint in her mind, saying: “What can I do? The hijackers have guns pointed at us!” And then she heard the voice of this saint, whose name is Sai Baba. He said: “Love!”
She was shocked: “But how can I love them! What are you talking about? This man is ready to kill me, to tear me to pieces, and I will love him? No, Sai Baba, forgive me, but I cannot!”
But then she got this idea: “I cannot love them myself, but I can offer my body for you to express your Divine Love through me.”
And with that, she felt that an unknown force of grace was pouring out of her. She began looking at everything through different eyes and saw that the closest hijacker had lowered his weapon and his eyes had become confused. Suddenly he said: “I am so tired of you all. Get out of here!” And because the plane had already landed at the airport, without waiting for the boarding ramp, the passengers left the plane. Everything ended happily. And she saw this miracle, she saw that Love is really some mysterious, unknown energy, about which humanity actually knows nothing. There is nothing higher and stronger than Love’s energy in the world.
Indeed, from this position, no one has looked at Love as Divine Currents, considering this energy characteristic only of a handful of saints: “And for us, for people, what can love be? Well, there is a family, man and woman, parents and children, and other relatives…” When there is a lot of literature, I would say, of low quality, humanity may lack literature, which describes the infinite facets of Divine Love.
One of my books is entitled A Treatise on Cosmic Love and it speaks of the Love of Stars for each other, the Love of Planets for each other, the Love of even Galaxies, and how in the Cosmos problems of love triangles that exist on the Earth are solved. Each book is an attempt to reveal new facets of Love. Here is the facet of the love between loved ones, and how this love evolves and ascends up to the love for God. People cannot love God, if they are not capable of loving an ordinary flower, some semiprecious stone, or even their closest fellow! It is rare to find this feeling even among members of the same family, where often people are as though in confrontation with each other. And I would like to show absolutely different facets of this feeling.
So maybe the deficit of Divine Love is one of the causes of anthropogenic catastrophes and cataclysms in nature? It means, if people are able to generate this energy of Love, they will also be able to heal space in their cities, their localities, their countries, up to the point when through the feeling of Love harmonized with the light energy, people simply do not allow destructive earthquakes or cataclysms to happen?
Human love is a more selfish kind of love. We are accustomed to taking everything. However, at one time we must look at the surrounding world with the thought of giving: what can we give to the world? We can give it only Love. But how? Only through looking on the world as a living being. If we understand that a flower is a living being, that it similarly hurts, then we will become kinder. And this thought — a specific energy that scientists record by their equipment nowadays — will already be pouring out over the surrounding world. It will become a little bit lighter. If we look on the planet as a whole as if it were a living being, of course, the planet will become easier. We saturate it with the currents of aggression — this is the destructive energy that is also registered by equipment.
We are the carriers of both positive and destructive energy. If we have quarrelled with someone ‒ for example, with beloved ones ‒ we are sick at heart. If you have behaved rudely with a child, it is hard for both the child and you. And it appears that it is hard for the world as well, because you have brought irritation into your own world, let the darkness in, dissonance. And if we have praised the child even for an imperfect attempt at something (maybe they caused more damage, but nevertheless to praise and say it will be better another time), the joy of the world will be multiplied.
And after all, the world represents a special sphere, several spheres, shall we say. But let us take one, the global sphere — our planetary house. We come into this house. It is dark around. We switch on the lamp of 9 volts. Well, what shall we see? We switch on the one of 220 volts — everything becomes illuminated. Likewise can we bring the light into this world, surrounded by the gloom, the darkness. We often feel physically how we are squeezed by a vice of the darkness, hopelessness, and despair. And we, too, begin to resound on this note, bringing dissonance into the world.
But we need to endeavour to accumulate Joy. One of my books is called Joy-Bearer. It is dedicated to everyone who attempts to bring Joy. And there is the preceding phrase: “Overcoming pain, I am bringing Joy…”
And if a person on the verge of despair remembers this formula ‒ “Overcoming pain, I am bringing Joy…” — they will resemble a roadside flower, which is nothing but nevertheless bends under a huge layer of dust, yet tries to assimilate this dirt, this poison, and give us oxygen. And if each of us appears in the image of a flower planted by the Divine Hand of the Creator in the garden called the Earth ‒ which, being bent under the burden of evil, poison and intoxication, will still absorb all these, accumulating Goodness and Light — then, naturally, we will not suffocate in this world. We will breathe the currents of Good, Light, Purity, Compassion, and exalted, chaste Divine Love.
And do we, people, have the right to expect help from the Higher Forces?
We, as a rule, in our prayers appeal to the Supreme Powers: “Lord, help me! Lord, give me!” I think that throughout the developmental history of humanity, the Supreme Powers have watched us relentlessly, literally sweating blood to keep not only the planet from being destroyed, but also any individual creature following the Path of Light. And I believe that the time has come for humanity to wonder: “And how can we help the Light Forces?” Why not express the question like that? I think it is humanity that should help the Powers of Light, and not to pray: “Help! Help! Give! Give!…”
The Lord came two thousand years ago. He took sins; He brought Love. People crucified and killed God. Have people realized during these two thousand years what a terrible crime they committed? And have they pondered what they can bring into this world, in order through the image and likeness of this Greatest Saint to somehow atone for their fault, so that His Sacrifice was not meaningless, to show that humanity is not a senseless herd which is sinning? And after a certain number of years the Saviour must again come, again bring Great Love, forgive everyone and again be crucified, and once again people will glorify the dead God. How much longer does one need to revere the dead God? It is time to understand that God is alive! And the Temple of the Living God must be erected in the heart of everyone. The spirit does not live somewhere behind the monastery walls, behind church walls, abiding in isolation.
Even churches and monasteries are in need of assistance. They may be considered as living beings. One should not go to church only to take. One should not appeal to Heaven only to receive, or to the Earth just to consume its fruits. But it is time to address the world and see: “What can I give?”
I think the Light Forces never abandon humanity. But if one contemplates whether humanity deserves the help, one can hardly say it deserves it to the greatest extent. We receive this help in advance, just like a child, who cannot stand on their legs, cannot tie their own shoelaces and properly keep a spoon in their hand. But then, when they grow up, who will feed them with a spoon and tie their boots! This will already be a drone.
I want to emphasize that humanity stands confidently enough on its own feet to take the next steps without assistance, precisely through the emulation of those Greatest Saints, who have existed throughout the history of the entire world.
And the last. There is the most beautiful word Ilem — Beauty [in Chuvash]. And let this word be a measure, not only in human relations but also in relations with nature, with the planet, with the Cosmos, and with God, so that thought, word, and action always correspond to this finest word — Ilem.