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Agni Yoga Series - Master Index > AV > AVERAGE (29)

Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.6.16:
3.6.16. It is especially difficult for humanity to understand the relationship between quality of labor and infinity. The average man assumes that a higher quality of labor leads to the finite. For him quality is inextricable from finiteness, which We call deadliness. It is quite impossible to explain to the average man that higher quality aspires on into infinity. Precisely in the endlessness of higher tension lies the discovery of knowledge. One must find courage to labor for Infinity.

New Era Community (1926) - 156:
Indeed, realization of cooperation and community goes on, but the thinking of the average citizen is sunk in stagnation.

New Era Community (1926) - 230:
230. It would seem that an end has been put forever to the two Western inventions, mysticism and metaphysics. Any laboratory, moderately fitted out, tells enough about the properties of the one matter. But as soon as people go beyond the limits of yesterday's experiment, they begin to cover up their helpfulness with indefinite dusty nomenclature. They rise in opposition, covering with the bugbears "metaphysics" and "mysticism" all the scientific possibilities of the coming day. The metaphysics of yesterday has turned into the scientific knowledge of an average literate man. Mysticism has proved to be a historic fact, and the walls of the tomb have convinced many more, those of broadest consciousness.

Agni Yoga (1929) - 80:
Until recently the sensitivity of plants was considered to be just instinct, but after investigation one now can attribute this "instinct" to the domain of thought. Hence, one must observe upward and downward. The human creature shows a characteristic error in presuming to himself the exclusive ability to think. By the most simple examples, one can demonstrate how human thought is affected by age, circumstances, and nationality. It is striking to see how weak is the rudimentary thinking of the average man; yet anonymously-sent spatial thoughts will uplift his spirit. You know that a radio, with slight alteration, can receive thoughts from space. And thoughts, as living matter, can both nourish and be nourished.

Agni Yoga (1929) - 522:
People who have stored psychic energy should be considered as treasures of the nation. Not of its millions of citizens should a country be proud, but of its store of psychic energy. For the sake of even one individual with a store of energy, thousands of average ones must be spared. Like a magnet, each one with an intensified store of psychic energy attracts the embryonic energies buried deep within people. This means that each possessor of conscious energy is himself an embodiment of the General Good. Therefore, let us treat with care every accumulated store of energy.

Hierarchy (1931) - 397:
397. During a trance, even the most average man becomes adroit, daring, indefatigable, begins to learn much of what is as yet inaccessible to him, and the evidence of the invisible world becomes apparent to him, merely because for a time he has parted from the lower physical world. But on returning to it the man forgets his higher substance as though it were a dream. A bridge must be found to prevent the loss of consciousness and to become enriched by the Higher World. Agni Yoga is given to bring people to the Higher World.

Heart (1932) - 425:
425. On observing the activity of the heart, the average mind will encounter a multitude of perplexities. Thus, it will seem strange to it that even the most refined heart records the most powerful events very slightly, but reacts powerfully to comparatively insignificant actions. There are numerous causes - external and internal - for this, but one ought to distinguish between them wisely. One must take into consideration all counteractions of the currents, but, on the other hand, one must also understand all karmic circumstances, which may magnify or diminish the transmission. One should not be distressed if the law cannot be expressed by a dead letter. On the contrary, the diversity of intervening conditions enriches the possibilities of new observations. Thus, even in schools one should exercise the attention of the small ones, who are often much more honest and flexible than adults; one should only approach them with the attractive proposal that they pay attention to their own sensations.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 27:
27. Observation of people who love the structure of flame constantly yields new deductions. Approaching fire, we begin to discern the rhythm of energy, which produces all combinations. One should love this element with full understanding, in other words, with thoughts in harmony with space. If we are prepared to remain earthly gnomes let it be remembered that the best gnomes serve Fire. Thus one should understand that even the lowest consciousnesses are being drawn upward. Even fairy tales speak of gnomes who cannot exist without devotion to the Fiery Beings. Thus the ancients tried to inculcate fiery conceptions in the children's consciousnesses. Nowadays science, through the caloric theory and astrochemistry, gives the identical fairy tale about the Great Fire. But the exceptional character of the fiery manifestations still does not permit the average man to introduce the concept of fire into his daily life, so that Fire remains within the confines of an undesirable abstraction. One must overcome this limitation; I speak as a physician.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 150:
150. One must not look upon the labor of Fire as something psychic. Consider Fire as something physical. It will be easier for the average consciousness to think thus.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 277:
277. Everyone agrees that books should not contain too much preliminary material. But even average builders agree that the site of the construction must first be cleared and the necessary materials assembled. You yourselves know what it means just to clear the site - one must raze veritable jungles of envy, doubt, and all kinds of rubbish. One must apply all tolerance and magnanimity in order not to be bent under the load of weeds. Of course, all the forces of darkness and ignorance will revolt with especial vehemence against Fire. Therefore each book about the successive steps of life will not be brief. Let the last part of such a book appear separately, otherwise everyone will wish to read the end before the beginning. This habit is especially pleasing to the servants of darkness. Thus they create a quicksand for the weaklings.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 295:
295. You know that during suggestion one should not wave the arms or stare at the patient. In general, it is not necessary even to look into the patient's eyes, but one should project the will from heart to heart. Only afterwards should one proceed in applying one's will from the center, in the needed direction. It is absolutely useless for the patient under suggestion to know what is taking place. In fact, the preparations for suggestion often set up an undesirable counteraction. Besides, although the patient may believe that he is ready to submit to the treatment, his Manas will resist the intrusion. The longer both consciousnesses are mutually balanced, the more potent the suggestion will be. However, the experiment should not be announced in advance; each treatment should take place unexpectedly. But physical conditions must be favorable. The temperature should be average, moderate, without the irritation induced by heat or cold. The air must be pure, and it is advisable to have a light aroma of roses or eucalyptus. One should arrange inconspicuously that the patient be comfortably reclining in an armchair. A bed is less suitable. Everything sudden or noisy should be shunned in order to avoid the possibility of a shock. It must not be forgotten that during suggestion the subtle body is in a state of great tension and attempts to leave the body. Therefore, one should with all possible caution forbid its leaving the body. Naturally, all commands should be mental and not oral. Western hypnotists scoff at the idea of a mental command; they think that words and fingers can dominate the will. But let us leave them to their occidental blunders. In certain primitive tribes the patient was smitten on the forehead with a club. Such an act also subjugated the will. But where there is the Teaching of the Heart and of Fire the methods must be different.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 322:
322. Many desire to know details of the Subtle World, but many will be sorely perplexed. The entire perceptibility of the Subtle World is relative, depending upon the development of the consciousness. One can be enraptured by the light, or one may find oneself in fog. One can build beautiful structures by will power, or, one may remain on piles of rubbish. One can instantaneously assimilate the language of the spirit, or one may remain deaf and dumb. To each in accordance with his deeds. Each perceives in accordance with his consciousness. The Subtle World is a state of true justice. One can observe that a consciousness, even though simple, progresses if illumined by love. The bazaar-colored emotions of Earth-dwellers bear little resemblance to love. Love often remains unrealized. But in the Subtle World love is the key to all locks. For many people imagination is an unattainable abstraction, but in the Subtle World each grain of the accumulations of imagination is a path to possibilities. For Earth-dwellers, offense, bitterness, and vengeance constitute the bases of the bile and liver; but in the Subtle World, even for an average consciousness, these infamies fall away as worthless husks. Therefore We emphatically repeat about the fiery consciousness, in order that one be directed immediately into the higher spheres. One should indeed strive by all lofty means toward the fiery consciousness.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 340:
340. Follow Me. Strive to Me. Only thus can you understand the future. What could be preferred to the Forces of Light? One's faith can be renewed as an immutable force. Faith that does not guide one's entire life is worthless. I indicate the countries that have lost their path; the machine is still in motion, but without a regeneration of the consciousness there is nothing on which to exist. New consciousness can come only from the spirit. The new force can be strengthened only through knowledge of the higher worlds. The accumulation of such knowledge will strengthen life. One may reject the most essential if one fails to consider the future! One must accept all transitions as improvements. A single flight of thought can transport us across the abyss. Even that which seems most inevitable depends upon the quality of thought. The affirmation of thought can even alter the return to Earth. The Subtle World is regarded generally as a passive state, but it need not be merely passive; it can be active as well. If it has been said, "As in heaven, so on earth," this means that there, also, conditions exist for the higher achievements. We should not judge only by average measures. If the average period between incarnations is approximately seven hundred years, there can also be spans of seven or even three years. Karmic conditions themselves must yield to the hammer of the will. Thought itself is the best fiery guardian. Thought is unconsumable! Even on Earth, a man suffused with faith and thought loses weight. Thought also leads to the higher worlds. When thrown off balance, a man requests a moment's respite. This respite affords an accumulation of will. Without will there is no faith. Thus We arm people with weapons of Light.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 502:
502. Waking dreams represent the action of fiery energy upon the Chalice. These are not forms of illness; they act as messengers of the approach of fiery energy. The circumstances of the Subtle World begin to reveal themselves similarly. They may proceed beneficently, but during a condensation of the fiery atmosphere they can cause insanity. The best cure lies in explaining the cause of this manifestation, in other words, in a cognizance of Agni Yoga. Obvious need compels Us to offer Our Counsels for wide application. Until quite recently the possibility of epidemics of waking dreams would have been regarded as absurd. But now, even the average physicians in hospitals are confronted with the necessity of studying the mass manifestations of such unusual symptoms. Likewise, other incomprehensible symptoms of the new conditions of the organism will begin to disclose themselves in life. Is it possible that people do not wish to prepare themselves for the new conditions? Such ignorance recalls the story of the child who had the faculty of seeing in the dark, but whose mother asked a physician to cure the child of this peculiarity. The evidences of the work of the fiery centers have become more frequent among people. It is unwise to reject these gifts which will furnish the solution for the immediate future.

Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 549:
549. Spatial thought engenders a certain substance which in a vortiginous movement becomes a generating center for various inceptions. It would be beautiful to realize that human thought contains such a powerful substance; still only the most lofty and intensified thought produces an energy that is sufficiently powerful. But a small thought - unrealized, erratic, and unstable - will not give a creative impulse, and can even inflict harm. Lacking the correct coordination of attraction and repulsion, insignificant thoughts form as it were, ugly conglomerates and pollute space. We call them spatial slime. Much energy is wasted in transmuting these stillborn monsters. One can imagine how greatly spatial production could be increased were it not for these progenies of men. In this matter let us not accuse only the primitive peoples. Their thinking is potentially not weak, but the average result of civilization is complete degeneration in quality of thought. Such degeneration produces the whole store of slimy products which threaten to turn the bliss of Agni into odium. Not rare are the instances of the harm of petty thoughts. So many of the best channels are clogged by chips only because humanity does not respect thought. Brainless superstition will undoubtedly rail against each reminder about the reality of thought; people well cite the contrast between nature and bliss, whereas the lower carnate strata are entirely incommensurable with the highest. Discipline of thought will inevitably lead up to the highest fiery spheres. Instead of becoming a source of infection man can become a purifier of space.

Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 16:
16. As in Heaven, so on Earth. One foundation of Be-ness verily permeates all existence. Precisely this foundation should help humanity to understand the Hierarchy of Infinity. Who then will doubt that in every earthly object is expressed someone's will? Without will no earthly object can be created, nor set into motion. Thus it is upon Earth, and it is the same in the Higher World. Since the existence of the planet as an earthly stronghold requires an impulse of will, it is just as comprehensible that the whole systems of heavenly bodies require the same. Such will of course is more readily comprehensible to an expanded consciousness. But even the average human will can serve as an example of a microcosm. One need not go too far in special calculation, but if we take as a unit the human will at its highest tension, then it is possible to estimate the force of the impulse of the planetary will. One may be involved in innumerable ciphers, in calculating the will-impulse of a whole system. Such a problem would be an introduction into the Grandeur of the Ineffable. So useful are the observations, therefore, upon will power, when thought sets into motion this cosmic energy. The abode of Agni is the furnace of Cosmic Power. One should not be overwhelmed at the innumerable digits in the calculation of the Magnitude. Figures merely express that of which we are conscious, but the fiery heart, without figures can strive along the path of assimilation of the Grandeur there where word is naught.

Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 228:
228. Usually people do not even notice the turning course of circumstances. Yesterday your attention was directed to the fact that people do not wish to understand that they themselves create! The ladder has long since been constructed, yet man nevertheless casts himself into emptiness, for he thinks about a former ladder. It seems impossible to affirm people upon reality. The simplest and most beautiful solutions are passed over in silence, and rejected merely upon the assumption that somewhere grandfather's ladder has been left standing. It has ceased to exist long since, but the average consciousness will not accept such reality.

Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 367:
367. Even at the average level, people know much in a rough and disorderly way. It is especially dangerous that people try to perceive not so much an object itself and its significance, as from whom comes a communication and the reason for it. Thus is born the most harmful prejudice. But even wolves can be of use! On a long journey many considerations must be assimilated. Meditation on this is also useful on the pathways to the Fiery World.

AUM (1936) - 209:
209. One need not be disturbed if the word physiology is applied to the Higher World. Truly, any conscious man could select a far better word, but for the average understanding neither matter nor physiology are untrue determinants. Matter is spirit, physiology is the law of Existence. No one can say that the spirit does not contain all. Physiology is only the conventional definitive of many operative laws.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 107:
Certain unusual diseases are now spreading rapidly. People either ignore this fact, or if they do notice it, prefer not to look for the causes. One can argue that from the point of view of the average person this is neither new nor unusual. However, one must remember that this is the age of new energies, and the daily life of even the ordinary man is charged with numerous highly concentrated currents which produce new impulses in human minds. Man must assimilate many new ideas.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 271:
Even without experiencing the grandeur of the Great Battle, one can clearly see that the world has gone quite mad. Even logic cannot explain the conflicts of nations, which can bring no good. For the average person the reasons are entirely obscure. The truth is that nations are subject to invisible promptings to ruin the planet. As above, so below. At Our Abode, it is terrible to see how all the spheres of the Subtle World are involved in this battle, and that, like great dark clouds, they press upon the earthly planes.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 310:
There are many beliefs by which people shield themselves from reality, and it is therefore necessary to goad humanity into participating in all aspects of life. Many ancient thinkers emphasized this, but unfortunately their advice came down in the form of maxims which today are read, but never applied. The thoughts of Confucius, Pythagoras, and Marcus Aurelius are recorded in the pages of history, yet the average man is loathe to accept their authority. People are ashamed to reveal the cause of their ignorance, therefore it is important to persist in reminding them about participating in the totality of life.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 317:
There should be an attempt to expand the boundaries of human concepts. Present schools are totally inadequate in fostering the expansion of consciousness. Today the average person would consider Our discourses to be insane or foolish! You know of people who scoff at Us because We attempt to teach humanity the purpose of life.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 329:
329. Urusvati knows that, in certain cases, passing into the Subtle World is accompanied by sensations either of extreme pain or extreme bliss. But these are extremes, not the average conditions that are experienced by the majority.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 329:
It is especially valuable to know that even with an average degree of consciousness an individual can dispense with prolonged sleep in the Subtle World. In fact, he can begin to learn and work immediately. He can create his particular attire and hasten to join useful co-workers. He is ready to share in all the advantages of the Subtle World, and will even be ready to make contact with the higher spheres. Indeed, he can boldly approach the highest in full daring.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 353:
When the ancients urged, "Know thyself," they were primarily concerned with the development of the power of observation. This process is no mystery. People should simply become more attentive to their own nature and to their surroundings, and should realize that they are responsible for the quality of their projections. It is strange that the interval between sleep and awakening remains unnoticed. People read about the particular qualities of drowsiness. The ancient initiates knew how acutely perceptive one becomes during this state, but this knowledge remained only with the initiates, who alone could remember their experiences. The average person, absorbed in his work, had no time for such observation.

Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 383:
Despite everything, sparks of Truth penetrate the human consciousness. Today the average person would not sneer at some ideas that were rejected half a century ago, but this acceptance has come at such sacrifice, and with so little progress! The sad fact is that the losses sometimes exceed the achievements. How then should the aspirant defend Truth? If he is slandered, thrown into prison, or killed, who will hear his last words? Therefore, a special wisdom must be applied in proclaiming and defending the Truth. Complete co-measurement must be applied.

 


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