We were gathered around our beloved Master. Some of the brothers and sisters read works of Bulgarian and foreign poets. A discussion of poetry began.

The Master said:

"Art must have two related elements. Primarily, it is necessary that art offers a model - an ideal - to which man may aspire. Art must represent that which is sublime in Life that it may awaken in man the aspiration to come to know God. Secondly, a sublime Thought must become incarnate in the representation, and in such a way, that this Eternal Divine Thought will emerge within the consciousness of the one who contemplates on this representation and become alive within him. In this way, art is able to connect man with the Divine and with the eternal Ideas.

"Poetry must be so sublime that a man who is discouraged will -upon reading this poetry - forget about his suffering and attain new insight.

"The poet or the writer must coordinate his energy with that of the Intelligent Nature in order to write well. Only the Intelligent Nature is capable of inspiring man towards the great and sublime in Life.

"The poet whose forehead is broad in the upper part has imagination; this broadness of the forehead will be lacking in the one who writes mediocre poetry.

"Poetry will signify the level of consciousness of a culture at the time of its writing.

"To me, the true poet or writer is the one who - although he may have written only one word - has written it from the essence of his heart. This single word gives voice to his core essence.

"That which you write about should first be experienced.

"Every poet, musician and artist is the collective manifestation of many souls. That a poet might begin to manifest his greatness, thousands of souls of genius must convene to manifest through him. Whenever a person writes, many Evolved Beings come to assist him. They rejoice over each word that comes out of his pen. Sometimes when a poet is writing, Beings from the higher Worlds come and dictate to him.

"The pen of every poet who writes wrongful and misleading stanza will dry up. However, the pen of every poet who writes sacred verse will be blessed. Consider a poet who has written something. If that which he has written is fruitful, he will rejoice not only for that moment, but for many years to come as well. If that which he has written is untruthful and causes harm, he will suffer.

"Every poet knows - to a certain degree - when his works are read. You are a poet and you feel joyful. The reason for this is that you have written something good - and when it is read - you experience fulfillment. There are other times, however, that a poet has written something that is mediocre - and when it is read, he experiences distress.

"Only that one who - while still in Heaven - aspired to become a Poet, will be a poet on earth. All are destined to be a poet - at some point in time - and a first-class one at that. Order, as well as other favorable conditions, exist in Eternity which enable man to manifest himself. A Law exists there for this. You must wait for your time: you must not hasten. God has chosen the time for every being to manifest. One must wait for this moment a thousand - or even a million - years. Your day will come when you will be told, 'Emerge and manifest!' All of the Cosmos will then manifest through you. Are you ready for this moment? Each and everyone of you must prepare himself for this great day.

"Tolstoy was a man of genius: he possessed an inner vision. In his work War and Peace, he explains that it was not the individual Napoleon who made history, but there exist other factors from the Intelligent Nature which were at work through him.

"At the time in which our Bulgarian poets were doing their writing, the sky was dark - and there was even thunder; that is to say, the conditions under which they worked were unfavorable. For this reason, they have not written sacred works.

"In India, Tagore had a sacred environment in which to work which made it possible for him to write such masterpieces. Tagore's father set aside a special time every day for meditation and contemplation. Tagore arose from bed before dawn each day to spend time in meditation. For this reason, he was able to write sacred masterpieces such as Gitanjali, The Gardener, and others.

"In the future, great poets will be born in Bulgaria. All that has been written so far is merely a prelude.

"Poetry and music are two fundamental elements of Life. Music represents the external, and the poetry - the internal side of Life."