There is One who manifests Himself as Love, as Wisdom, and as Truth.

There is One!

And all of Living Nature speaks of this One, of this Great One.

They call Him God, Lord, Father.

It is He who fills everything, all of creation, all worlds, all solar systems, and nevertheless, He is still unrevealed. He cannot reveal Himself completely, even in all eternity. It does not contain all the forms by which He might reveal Himself.

Of Himself, the Absolute, the Unattainable, has no form. He is "nothing" but this "nothing" contains everything within itself.

He limits Himself without becoming limited. He diminishes Himself without being diminished.

He creates and is never exhausted. He reveals Himself in everything but He Himself is not in that which is revealed.

He sustains everything - from within and from without - but He Himself participates in nothing.

We compare Him with Light, Reason - the Logos. But He Himself is neither Light nor Reason.

Light and Reason - these are His manifestations.

God is not present in the world in a material way.

Indeed, when an artist paints a picture, is he in the picture? When a sculptor carves a statue, is he in the statue? The Great Unknown reveals Himself as Light without shadows, as Life without interruption, as Love without change, as Knowledge without errors, Freedom without limitations.

And when we say that God is Love, we understand that Love is one manifestation of God. Therefore, wherever there is Love, wherever there is goodness, which is the fruit of love, there God is revealed.

When we speak of God as Love, we have in mind that Being from whom all life in the universe proceeds and who unites all living souls in one whole without being changed Himself.

There is only one Being in the world who is absolutely good in the true and full meaning of the word and that is God. He is always kind. In His benevolence, God has absolutely no desire to do evil to anyone. If He passes by even the smallest insect, He smiles at it and gives it all the best conditions for life and development.

God judges no one. He restrains no one, He limits no one.

God is most beautiful in that He remembers only the good we have done. The evil He does not remember.

God gives perfect freedom to all beings. Never has He told any being in the universe, no matter how small: "Do this!" or "Serve Me!" He points out the way, but leaves each being free to make his own choice - to do as he thinks best.

Indeed, what does it profit God if we reverence Him and serve Him? Can we give Him knowledge? - No, He knows everything. Can we give Him power? - No, He is all powerful. Everything might pass away, everything might fall apart. He remains unshaken.

The only way in which we can appeal to God is through our helplessness, our misery. When He looks upon us, so small, so miserable, so ignorant, in His greatness there is born a desire to reach out to us and tell us: "Rise up now!"

God's desire is to set us free, to purify us, to enlighten our minds, to ennoble our hearts, to bring into our souls that light by which we come to know that He is Love.

In the heart of God there is something great.

It is He who elevates whole nations as well as separate individuals. All good things come from Him - knowledge, wisdom, truth, freedom. He has elevated all great men. They represent the inspiration of the divine spirit. It is God who wishes to introduce Love, Wisdom, and Truth into the world through these men.

In God's Love, Wisdom and Truth the totality of life throughout eternity is included, as well as the blessing of all souls. Whenever Love, Wisdom and Truth are manifested, the divine Spirit is present among men, and life then is manifested in its real essence.

Man must know that there is only one God and one Love, one Wisdom and one Knowledge, one Truth and one Freedom, one Righteousness and one absolute criterion, one Virtue and one source of good for all.

Except for this criterion there is no other measure of the great reality, and the truly real is only that which belongs to the One, the living God.

However, many people ask: "Does God exist, and if He exists - where is He?"

The entire universe represents the "city of God" where God abides. His consciousness, His mind, is so great that it embraces even the smallest beings and governs their lives.

All angels and all great beings who lived millions of years before us on earth, understand what God is. They stand with holy awe before that great Being from whose heart flows the Love that advances and supports the whole cosmos.

And if you ask them where God is and what He is, they will reply in your own language: "No being is nearer to you than God. No being has a more awakened mind, a more responsive heart, a mightier will. For Him, nothing is impossible. No being is nobler, holier, purer, wiser, mightier, more powerful than God. He is everywhere. He is in heaven - in all the suns, and on earth, behind everything: behind air and water, behind stones and plants, behind animals and man. There is nothing in the world which God does not sustain."

Everything within us and outside us, everything that surrounds us is the background behind which God is hidden as a great artist. He is hidden well because He wants to leave us free.

And because God is so well hidden, men unceasingly search for Him on the surface, and wish to reach Him by external means, to prove His existence.

But God is not a reality that can be proven.

The attempt to prove the existence of God is equivalent to affirming that there is no God. Every proof of the existence of God is a mechanical process.

When a man requires evidence for the existence of God, that shows that he has cut off in his consciousness his connection with Him.

When that connection is restored, life begins to flow unceasingly from God to man, and back from man to God. Then in the mind, in the heart and in the will of man there is a continuous stream of divine consciousness.

Then all those empty and ridiculous questions, whether there is a God, or there is no God, whether God loves us or has forgotten us, are ended.

Our love for God, from which proceeds the living connection between Him and man, is a mystical inner experience which manifests itself in various forms and degrees. The magic power of this experience is hidden in that moment when man directs his mind, his heart, his soul and spirit towards the eternal Beginning, without any hesitation and without any doubt. When this moment arrives, man can accomplish anything. Only then can he understand the meaning of life, because only God can reveal that meaning to him.

Then man will understand that he was born to love God, to imprint his life with that love, and not to be a servant to human conceptions.

Man's soul whispers this softly to him. Because - you must not forget - the only beloved of the human soul is God.

Therefore, I call only him a "man" who has come to love God. The moment in which he is self-determining and loves God, designates him a man. Such a man draws the attention of all good men and they say: "Something divine happened today."

The greatest moment of a man's life is when he comes to love God. That means that he is blossoming and the fragrant aroma will be carried far and wide. It means also that he overflows continuously like a fountain that knows how to give. In this state all reasonable desires of the man can be fulfilled.

Then man becomes truly free. He attains that freedom which Truth brings. And by Truth we mean the link which God established between Himself and us.

There is no other freedom. People of today who have lost almost entirely their link with God, imagine that they can do anything they wish to do: they think that they even have the right to criticize God.

Indeed, no other being has endured greater profanation than God. But He, so to speak, has not even knitted His brows. He looks quiet and peaceful in the radiance of His never changing benevolence.

Only he who lives in that unchangeable, real world where God lives, who serves God and understands His will and His laws, only he is free and only has "free will."

Remember this: The one being who loves us is God. He is one and the same, when we rejoice and when we grieve. In sorrow and in joy, it is God who speaks to us.

Remember also: in order to ask what God is, you must have studied not one but many eternities.

And only after you have acquired all the knowledge of heaven and earth, will you have the right to ask that question. And do you know what answer you will receive? Clearly and simply: "God is Love, which you must experience within yourself."

But before that, while you grope for evidence of the great reality, remember these simple truths: If you ask yourself where God is, know this: wherever there is life, wherever there is thought, wherever there is feeling, there God is.

If you doubt God, you doubt yourself. Because there are no changes or betrayals in God, the reverse cannot be true. There are no exceptions in the Love of God.

Therefore, wherever you go, you may doubt everything, but God - never! Know that He is everywhere, and when you call on Him, He will help you.

When you hear people say that they do not believe in God, observe them attentively and you will find that they consider themselves gods. Do not serve such gods!

Remember also: where there is meaning, God is there. Where there is no meaning, God is absent. And where God is absent, there is "hell."

You might ask: When is man good? At the moment when God manifests Himself in man, he is good. When God is not manifest, man is evil.

When God enters into man, man becomes joyous and ready to perform any service. When man refuses to serve God, God forsakes him.

Do not ask yourself whether God loves you - He has not stopped loving you from the first day to the last - but ask instead whether you love God.

Test your love with the only sure standard: which is stronger within you - your own desires or your love for God? If your love for God is the stronger, you are on the right path. But if your love for God is weaker than your desires, then suffering and misfortune will not cease.

If man has God's love within himself, whatever may happen will turn out for good. If he lacks that love, then his path is long and difficult, and his desires unattainable.

The path toward God is in perfection. The perfect man has only one thought - his advancement toward God! Without perfection God remains incomprehensible for us. By aspiring to perfection, man will come to know God as Love.

Then he will feel the pulse of all living beings on earth. There is no greater bliss for a man than this - to feel this pulse.

Then man will understand the great meaning of these supreme words uttered by Christ: "I live in God and God lives in me."

"I live in God" - this implies that God is "without." "God lives in me" - implies that God is "within" and I, the man, am "without."

Therefore, when God is within you, do not restrict Him. Give Him absolute freedom within you, so that He may also give you absolute freedom within Himself.

"The Devil" is a being which has restricted God within himself, and therefore, God has limited him from outside.

Give absolute freedom to God within you. And then a boundless world will be opened up for you.