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Bartholomew
A part of pine forest with plenty of
mushrooms is located in the midst of dense damp
fir-greens. We find ourselves inside a giant Divine
Spiritual Heart towered by the top of the hemisphere
above the forest. But if to look deeper, It comes
from the Infinity of the Abode of the Primordial!
One more Divine Teacher — a
Representative of the Creator! We put off backpacks,
sit on old fallen trunks of trees and take a rest a
bit. We ask Him to recount about Himself.
“My last name on the Earth was
Bartholomew. I was a Greek philosopher and cognized
God-the-Father. I lived in Greece in 11-12 centuries
A.D. Although I lived in Greece, I was a Catholic. I
went through the entire work of the Catholic Church,
but I cognized God because I came directly to
Jesus. And Jesus directly began helping Me
and got to Himself.
“Jesus shows the way to
God-the-Father. Although hope for Jesus is as
adequate as hope for Love of any Other Divine
Teachers known to you.
“I know everything about each of
you: in former years I watched your activities.”
“Tell about Yourself, Bartholomew,
if possible.”
“Well… Let people know how through
love to Jesus it is possible to cognize the Father.
“… I was born in a family of sincere
and deeply pious people. I was named in honor of
Saint Bartholomew, and the great significance was
attached to this, which was connected in My childish
perception with the destinies of Apostles, direct
disciples of Jesus.
“I grew in a small Christian
community. People of this community considered
themselves as keepers of the traditions of the first
Christians to whom the Gospel, the Teaching
of Jesus, was preached by Philip and Bartholomew
during Their apostolic service in Greece.
“In Greece, Egypt, and Syria during
centuries there were schools and communities which
tried to save the true Christianity.
“Realize that when the Teaching of
Jesus got to the field of those who read and studied
Plato and Aristotle or to savage customs and
doctrines then the results were different. In some
cases love, veneration for the Highest Truths, and
hesychia were developed; in the opposite
cases — crusades and the Inquisition…
“The latter, unfortunately, is more
known to people…
“But those who studied philosophy
before, i.e. people inherited the culture of ancient
Greece, could not become crusaders or support the
Inquisition.
“On the ruins of the antique
spirituality the Teaching of Jesus gave those
sprouts about which not many people know.
“Those traditions of Hesychasm
which were developed in Christianity in small
communities and monasteries remained after
separation of two branches: eastern and western:
Orthodoxy and Catholicism. But the memory about this
in the history of the Catholic Church was almost
obliterated. These are white sheets but not because
nothing was written on them, but because it was
washed, forgotten…
“I will try to narrate about this a
bit…”
“Were You a monk?”
“No, a philosopher… I sought the
Truth, I sought God. I studied both: the ancient
philosophy and Christianity; I sought God by a mind
first.
“When I realized that the Truth is
not hostility and disagreements of movements but
love, then Jesus began opening Me Himself. On
this stage My “external” life was finished and the
inner life began. The life of consciousness,
striving by love for Jesus, began. The life
of an “opened heart”, which converses with God
directly, came…
“I did not know meditative
techniques and methods except the cordial prayer
the traditions of which are left alive in the
community. Just unspeakable love overfilled
the heart when Jesus came into it! This
Revelation of the True Love at the silence of
mind is great, splendid, and tremendous! A human
heart extends to such a degree that it takes in the
Lord!... To live like this is a great bliss!
“In that way I cognized Him. The
Heart which became such that Jesus lives in It all
the time approaches God directly. It was My life
with Him. He came, and this became the
most important; this became the only thing that was
significant in My life! The questions which
tormented Me before were no longer relevant; only
the Heart of Jesus, which extended more and
more in My heart, remained.
“My life became simple; only Jesus
remained in it…, and then He took Me to Himself, to
the Father…
“Lead people into Me! I will give
them Myself, I will give them the opportunity to
turn into great, flooded in Calm spiritual hearts!
This is — the main thing! This is the base of true
spiritual work.
“As a sky-scraper which has solid
foundation reaches the clouds, in the same way a
soul can reach unimaginable summits if in its base
it has unshakable Love and Calm.
“Your task is to inflame hearts of
people!
“It will be possible to say that you
win a victory when your books at the international
level are considered as classics of philosophical
and religious thoughts and extracts be included in
educational programs.
“The main thing is to teach people
to love. In order to develop a spiritual heart it is
necessary to fill it with love to everything living.
Only in that way it is possible to transform the
world on the Earth.
“And you can manage it! We all are
‘at your service’ in this business.
“… I repeat the eternal truths just
in different variations. But using which words is it
possible to tell what the Eternity and Infinity is?
One can only cognize this by himself. This is My
Existence, and it will never end! I am Love!
“And one more: always remember that
in this world nothing but your love to Me belongs to
you! This is your treasure, and it is yours by
right! All your riches are — your love! Nobody ever
will be able to take it away from you! It is
impossible to steal, to take love by force; it can
not be sold and inherited. One only can give love —
sincerely and gratis!
“Love has an amazing characteristic:
the more you give it, give to others, the more of it
you have.
“But love is a ‘free bird’: it lives
and grows on freedom. Such human notions as ‘I want’
and ‘my’ are opposite to love, because they
constrain its freedom. All attempts to
appropriate love are doomed to be failed.
One can only accept it with gratitude, carefully and
gently, as a great gift of the one who gives it.
“Love enters only one gates — the
spiritual heart opened towards! And then the
reciprocal wave of love arises in it, streaming
outside. In that way love lives and grows.”
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