In his 33rd year, every human - consciously or unconsciously - enters spiritual life

PEDAGOGICAL QUESTIONS

Many of the brothers and sisters were teachers. They used the methods of education given by the Master, and when they came to visit him, they shared their experiences. The Master listened to them with great attention, developed the methods further and added to that which he had already given. He introduced them to the methods of Intelligent Nature showing them how they could be applied in the schools. In this way he laid the foundation of a new educational system. Once during a hike in the mountains, questions concerning child education arose.

The Master said:

"The educational system needs to be changed. Something new needs to be introduced. The human spirit strives for new ways and methods through which the Divine Life can be manifested on earth. All of you need to contribute something to the new culture. In the education of man, something new needs to be introduced to completely change his conception of life.

"Some of the educational methods that are used today are little more than training. You educate a person under certain circumstances, but when he is placed under different conditions, he slips back to his old ways. Children are knowledgeable, but the window through which they are looking is too small. As the child grows older, the window becomes larger. The abilities of the child are inside him. God has implanted the new within man, and it comes from within. The educator needs only to create the conditions for the development and growth of what is implanted in the soul by God and not try to inseminate their souls with his own ideas. In contemporary education, we want to make the child like us. This is wrong. Instead we should give the child the impulse to develop what is already implanted within him.

"If a student is nervous, let him be nervous. Then someone is quiet; let him be quiet. You can make him jump, but this is unnatural for him.

"You can divide the human life into three periods of seven years. But from another point of view, you can divide it into periods of 33 years. In his 33rd year, every human being - consciously or unconsciously - enters spiritual life. Something within him finds a balance. In his 66th year, man enters Wisdom, and after this age he is already living in the Divine World: the soul and spirit manifest within him. This needs to be applied in education, because in the first 10 years an impulse is given which will bear fruit during the corresponding period.

"There is a law according to which you cannot give others what you do not have. You cannot convince people if you yourself do not believe. You cannot awaken the good in man if you do not possess it within yourself. The same applies to knowledge and Love. This law should be applied to education.

"The education of a child is in his mother's hands. What the mother brings to the child during pregnancy is important. After that - after the child is born - it is more difficult to educate him. Therefore I say, 'Mothers will put the world in order.' During pregnancy the mother can inspire her child towards wisdom, intelligence; can influence his feelings and also strengthen his will.

"After the birth, the connection between mother and child continues, although in a different way. A child whose mother does not hold him in her arms loses something valuable. There is a connection between the etheric bodies of the mother and child. Therefore the child should not live far away from his mother at least until the age of 14 or 15.

"What the mother can give her child in one year, his relatives and surroundings cannot give him in 20 years. Statistics show that children, who have grown up until the age of 20 with the love of their parents, are nobler than those who have been deprived of their parents' love. The law is: if the parents' love towards their child is weak, the child is more likely to become ill. In order for you to be healthy, the love of your mother must permeate your soul fully.

"If the father and the mother have thought of committing crime, the son that they give birth to, could. Therefore, people need to be pure, need to have pure thoughts and feelings. When a person has a negative thought, it can incarnate with the child.

"You, as a mother, when you caress the head of your child, say, 'May Divine thoughts enter you. May you carry Light to humankind. May you help your weaker brothers. May noble thoughts penetrate you.'

"He who treats the plants and animals well will be kind to people as well. This is the morality of the new culture. The mother needs to teach the child that the Divine Life permeates the whole of nature: the flowers, the trees, the little flies and the birds, everything.

"As long as the child believes that the teacher is not lying, the teacher has authority. If he notices that the teacher is not telling the truth, the teacher no longer has any authority over the child. The same is true for parents.

"Never speak in a negative way, 'Do not do this! Do not do harm! ', but say instead, 'Do good! ' Instead of the words, 'Do not lie! ' say, ' Speak the truth! ' The less you speak about negative things the better. We should speak about the positive.

"Sometimes when a gifted child passes beyond, he helps from there and uplifts a less gifted child on earth."

One brother asked the Master, "Is the relationship between the family members kept in future reincarnations?"

The Master answered:

"It is retained according to the love existing between them.

"There are three kinds of students, and you need to take these three types into consideration. First, there are students of the objective mind; their learning is based on facts, on observation. Secondly, there are those students of the literary mind. These are students who can go from the facts to the laws. And thirdly, there are students of the philosophical mind who go from the facts to the laws and from the laws to the principles. When you work with students, you need to consider these differences and know how to work with each group of students."

One woman, a teacher, said, "Because I cannot know who is from which group, and because I need to work with all students, I will provide food in my lectures for all three kinds of students: of facts, of laws and of principles. And so everyone will perceive and comprehend what is necessary for him."

The Master continued:

"It is impossible to educate two people in the same manner. There exist as many different educational methods as there are men on earth. In their education, the same principle can be applied, but never the same method. The failure of the contemporary culture is due to the fact that teachers use the same method of education for every child. This is a mechanical understanding.

"If a child makes a face, do not pay attention. Before the teacher enters the classroom, the whole room is in dust. When the teacher enters, he should not show discontent but tell them to open the window for a while. The first thing is not to pay attention when children are not quiet. For example, if one child has stolen a piece of fruit, the teacher should call him over and give him a whole bag of fruit. When working with children, one needs to be very patient.

"One woman teacher told me that when she asked a student to go to the blackboard to present the lesson, he did not want to, and so the teacher became angry. But if I were her, I would leave this student if he does not want to speak, and I would ask the next one to do it instead. If he also does not want to, I would ask another one. Another time I would ask the student who is unwilling now. And if does not want to participate again, I would let him be once more. After a few attempts, he will be ready to get up and talk."

One sister asked, "If a student is noisy and disruptive, what should I do?"

The Master replied:

"Go to this child and begin speaking with him. Ask him, 'What is the name of your father and of your mother? What does your father do? Do you have any other brothers and sisters? What are their names? How old are they?' and so on. Then this child will become closer to you and will become well behaved.

"You need to possess the methods that cultivate good thoughts and feelings. The educational method of today is mechanical. It is only concerned with the sorting of facts."

Another sister asked, "The students ask me many questions, and once a month I discuss them in class. How should I handle these questions?"

The Master responded:

"First let the students try to answer these questions by themselves. Help them to obtain an answer; and what they cannot answer, you will explain to them. The teacher needs to build on whatever the students already have within themselves. They carry within themselves great treasures. The teacher needs only to help these treasures be found. The teacher should tell this to the students and help them realize that they carry these treasures.

"Speak to the students about Love which brings health, about Wisdom which liberates from contradictions and about Truth which liberates from limitations. The younger generation can be set right only in the following three manners: through the Laws of Love, Wisdom and Truth. If you adhere to the Law of Love, true Life will come. If you abide by the Law of Wisdom, right thoughts will appear and Knowledge will come. If you observe the Law of Truth, freedom will be born. These three things need to be united in one.

"For Love, you should begin with eating. What do I mean by this? For example, those who are eating need to share their food with the others. This is the way to begin the manifestation of Love! It means: Love needs to begin with the material things. Education should begin first with eating food, drinking water, breathing air and receiving the light.

"In the primary school, the child must learn to create through his heart and imagination; and in the secondary school - through his heart and mind.

"If an educator wants to put his student on the right path but appeals

only to his mind or heart, he will not get results. But if he speaks to his soul as well, there will be results.

"When some students are not quiet and are naughty, it is because they know that the teacher does not love them. In such a case the teacher needs to find one good aspect of their character and begin to love them; and they will be transformed. When they are naughty, they are saying, 'See, we are just what you think of us. We manifest ourselves according to your opinion. You think that we are not good, don't you, and so we are not.'

"In teaching and education, the child needs to learn from nature. Growing flowers should be used as a method in the new system of education. The child should study the flowers. He needs to learn to love them. In every school backyard, there should be a garden with plants. It is necessary to have something, which can serve as a conductor for the Divine Impulses: cherries, apples, plums, pears, quinces, walnuts and others. Yellow flowers transmit Intelligence; red ones - Life and health. When you encourage children to plant flowers - yellow, red, white - the flowers will educate them through their colors.

"In every school, it is necessary to have a garden where children can work. We also need to know the right proportion: how many apple, plum, pear and other fruit trees to plant and what influence each tree will have. Each tree that the child grows influences him. In such a way, everything in nature acts educationally. Fruit trees teach children generosity, love, giving service. It is necessary to explain to the children that these trees give their fruit without asking anything except for us to sow their seeds.

"Tell the children, 'Be hard workers like the bees. Be as consistent as a plant is. Be as strong and firm as the oak. Nobody should cause you to deviate from your ideas.' Nature needs to be studied in such a manner. If you had given such explanations to the children, you would have obtained quite different results. All of these children would have given a new impulse to humankind.

"The first method to start the new education with is music. One thing I would like is for Bulgarians to be musical. Music should work in their minds and hearts. In schools, special attention should be paid to music as an important educational factor.

"Paneurhythmy should be introduced into the schools. The one hour a day used for Paneurhythmy will prepare a new generation. "

"You can create an organic geometry that would be very interesting for the students. This means studying the forms and lines which we encounter in living Nature. In child education, every form has some influence in a specific way. A pear and a bunch of grapes are Angelic creations. Angels are the true artists. In the future, we will not talk to children about good and bad, about straight and curved lines, about singing in tune. There will be no moralizing. Geometry and music will be used to speak to them with drawings and lines about Life. The figures and forms of Nature will be studied and interpreted.

"If I were a teacher, I would write many children's stories - stories which would be accessible to them - in order to emphasize to the children through these fairy tales that when man does good, he gains and when he does evil, he loses; he will lose his strength or wealth, or his beauty and so on. I would tell them stories about stones, flowers, trees and animals.

"With a child of genius, the soil in which he is planted is very rich. His internal and external conditions are very good. There it is very easy to work. With a talented child, the soil is not so good; and still less so with the ordinary child. But from the ordinary children can come forth the talented; from the talented - those of genius. For ten ordinary children, one who is talented is necessary; for ten talented children - one of genius. If there are no children of genius among the students, they cannot develop correctly. The children of genius and the talented ones will be an inspiration to the ordinary ones.

"I would place one dishonest child between two honest and conscientious ones. They will influence him, will educate him. If a child is too generous, I would place him between two selfish children in order to balance his goodness. In such a way, everybody will benefit.

"Man does not need to study in order to earn his living. Knowledge is necessary for human development and not for earning a living. One should love knowledge and not look at it as a profession. If he considers knowledge as a condition for earning a living, man will gradually degenerate. If he receives it with Love, he will be elevated. This needs to be applied in education.

"The new Teaching which The Universal White Brotherhood is bringing should first be applied in the schools. The right conditions in which to grow up need to be given to the young people who are coming now. They come with great potential."

Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno)