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Agni Yoga (1929) - 240:
One duty of a yogi is to dispel excessive awe of death. One can retreat to such a state of limitation that just moving to a neighboring town becomes a major event. Worse, one could fear to move from one room to another, and even a change of garment would present difficulties. People who fear change fear death most of all. They fear to think of it, and think of the present moment as an ultimate condition. Even the skin on our body is constantly renewed, yet we do not summon grave-diggers to bury the shed epidermis. Then why not draw a parallel from the microcosm to the Macrocosm, recalling all that is said in the Bhagavad-Gita about the indestructibility of the spirit? Agni Yoga (1929) - 308:
308. Every wrongdoer is afraid to return to the site of his misdeeds. People realize that their previous conduct in the astral world often does not correspond to standards of spiritual dignity. Therefore, they are filled with awe and fear before the gates of the astral. They even try not to think about crossing, hoping that ignorance will relieve them of responsibility. But, by admitting this knowledge, they could make these crossings no more difficult than the ascent of the rungs of a ladder. Hierarchy (1931) - 287:
287. Let us turn to devotion. This concept is also subject to many distortions. Devotion does not resemble a windmill, or a hired singer of praises. Rather, it resembles a firm tower upon a summit, which the enemies avoid in awe, but in whose chambers a shelter is ever prepared for a friend. Devotion is the opposite of doubt, which is nothing but ignorance. It means that devotion rests upon enlightenment. Thus, validity of learning is akin to devotion. It is not credulity, not levity, but firmness and steadfastness. Truly, the tower of devotion is not constructed by haphazard toil or by petty decisiveness; and devotion can be violated only by perfidy, which is the same as betrayal. But valuable are the towers of devotion! Such ashrams, like magnets, attract powerful hearts; they are nurseries of spirituality. Even material nature is transformed in the proximity of these towers. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 339:
Over many generations people have developed an awe for misfortune, and claim that it is the gods who send calamities. Man never forgets to pray for help, but he seldom remembers to give thanks for his happiness. It may seem hardly worthwhile to speak about such a thing, but it should be examined from the scientific point of view. The projected image of feelings of distress is an agitated one. We can observe their zigzags flickering on the screen, whereas rapture and exaltation produce perfect circles. It can be proved that disturbance not only produces poison, but also deadens the organs, whereupon the entire laboratory of the organism falls into disorder. This condition can be compared to the death of psychic energy. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 407:
407. Urusvati knows the sensation of rapture and awe that is sometimes called ancient, or primal awe. This feeling can be caused by many experiences, ranging from the music of the spheres to a thundering storm, which would strike not fear but awe in the hearts of the ancients, who sensed their powerlessness in the face of the elements. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 407:
People do not clearly distinguish between the sensation of fear and that of awe. Moments of darkness can provoke a sensation of awe that is very close to a feeling of anguish. This is sometimes called world-anguish, for there is something cosmic at the foundation of such straight-knowledge. Every refined thinker experiences these weighty sensations, for without them existence is not complete.
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