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Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.11:
Likewise, in creeds and laws theft has been spoken against, but again this sounds like a prohibition. Whereas, it must be pointed out that theft is harmful as a concept which augments the sense of personal ownership. Theft injures world evolution, and not enviable is the lot of those who harm world evolution. They send themselves a long way backward. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.17:
3.5.17. Let us recall several cases of error repeated many times in different lives. People have awaited the Messenger for ten years yet closed the door on the day before His coming. Choosing the least portion, they have imagined that all was permitted and tolerated. Selecting a particle, they have fallen into blissful inaction and wondered why the particle wasted away. Choosing a particle, they have decided to retain old habits - as if on one side of the bosom could repose the portion of good and on the other could be kept pet cockroaches. Choosing a particle, they have decided to jump off the train for only a minute, forgetting that such a leap in motion carries one perilously backward. Choosing a particle, they have thought to slander a brother, forgetting that the slander would beat back painfully on their own foreheads. New Era Community (1926) - 4:
4. Unity is pointed out in all beliefs as the sole bulwark of success. Better attainments can be affirmed if the unity of co-workers is assured. One may cite a great number of examples when mutual trust among the co-workers helped in lofty solutions. Let people, from home and hearth up to the spacial preordinations, remember about the value of cooperation. The seed of labor withers without the moisture of reciprocity. Let us not look backward too much. We hastening fellow-travelers shall become weary if we jostle each other. We shall realize a beautiful meaning if we can introduce the great concept - friend. Community may consist only of friends. New Era Community (1926) - 127:
127. If some very ignorant and unawakened person will say of the Teaching that it is apparently quite a different kind of communal teaching - know how to reply justly. Say that every community based on labor and the knowledge of reality does not harm the processes of perfectionment of humanity., Due to the motion of the Cosmos, it is impossible to remain immobile. There is either backward or forward movement. All who realize consciously the community move forward. And there cannot be communities opposed to each other; just as one cannot contrast different aspects of the sensation of hunger. Thus, against the community will speak only he who has begun to move backwards, entering into the formation of cosmic refuse. Agni Yoga (1929) - 69:
69. Many times will you hear the common formula: "I left, and then returned." To this, be able to say, "How many possibilities were lost to you during your comings and goings!" Beyond calculation is the extent of humanity's losses because of such truancy. Man departs and returns, each time for selfish reasons. This "great inner work" reminds one of the sputtering of a wick. The skill in hiding the true cause of this moving backward and forward might better be used to polish the floor. But blisters on the soles may require painful lancing. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 19:
But there also exists a class of people whose fate is deplorable. These are the consciousnesses which do contain the seed of understanding but which, being obscured through negation, do not perceive the cycle executed by Cosmos and thus retard evolution. That which is predestined will be fulfilled, but those who retard the dates of advancement condemn themselves to regression. He who is unwilling to realize the future is like a crawfish - both walk backward. There is either the sword of achievement or an emulation of crawfish. Intentional arrogance is similar to the call of one who summons in the name of ignorance. The accumulation of cosmic fires may easily sweep away this dust. But, friends, your progress lies in your forging of the future sword. Accept these truths molded by the ages and ponder upon them! Hierarchy (1931) - 74:
74. Upon investigation, the quality of thought belongs to the category of subtlest energies. It is impossible to measure the fluctuation of thought, therefore We have established the probation of disciples by the refinement of thought. Every three years We give the disciple the possibility of expressing himself in regard to the same event. Only according to these dates can one see the fluctuation of selfhood, cooperation, patience, and devotion. Similar experiments can be applied to other manifestations of energies; the more so since people have completely forgotten about probations. One can also test oneself, directing one's attention to old objects and observing the reaction of the influence of remembrance. Likewise one can test oneself upon flowers, music, upon a book read long ago. One can scientifically observe the influence of surroundings upon an object long since familiar. How many steps could be counted forward or backward! Besides, one can ponder why a step crossed for the second time is always much more difficult. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 573:
A certain teacher asked a pupil, "Where does stupidity dwell?" The boy answered, "When I do not know my lesson, you tap upon my forehead. Probably stupidity is there." One must understand why We now tap at the heart and not the forehead. The head has stored up many calculations, but the heart has been laggard in improving. Thus one must straighten out that which is backward. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 280:
280. Esteem people who not only speak but also act. Affirm the ability to understand action. The hardships of these times have resulted from disorganization. The cause of such disorganization is absurd in its insignificance - the cooperation of hearts has been forgotten. Meeting together in prayer, people forget how to attune themselves for service. Whereas, such a condition is indispensable and is easily attained; for this it is merely necessary that people help one another. To preserve an unusual frame of mind means to proceed to the Fiery World. Under the ordinary conditions of life such a frame of mind is not easy, but precisely it must not be set aside. One should not enter the temple otherwise than prayerfully. In prayer existence is uplifted and made better; therefore each prayer, as also each exaltation, must be better than the preceding one. Each step of the ladder of the spirit must be traversed. How majestic is the Ladder to the Fiery World, which has in a year three hundred sixty six steps by day and three hundred sixty six by night! Every step is distinct from every other, and let each one be better than the preceding one. Joy toward the Teaching, will it not be a true adornment of a step? In each joy for the Teaching is already contained new cognition. Often one cannot express in words this step, given in joy. It is indisputable, and what a veritable mountain is ascended in the prayer of joy! Pains are alleviated by it, the task is made successful by it. No one and nothing can block this joy. Thus shall we have the advantage of success. The same thing may be wished to all, because on the ladder of the spirit there is no crowding. Let each one rejoice at the sheer beauty of a new step. Why should anyone go backward? But it is difficult and burdensome to lose what has been already traversed. Downfall is always harmful, even for the body. One can imagine how ruinous it is for the spirit, for the fiery being. Contact with Fire already produces a special kind of tissue, which glows on the upward, and is reduced to ashes on a downward path. The ladder of ascent is the measure of magnanimity, consequently magnanimity may be achieved daily. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 389:
389. Spiritual laziness is a very common retarding condition. One may encounter people quite capable spiritually, and yet at the same time, going absolutely backward from sheer laziness. Each one can see how the best possibilities are carried away in a whirlwind simply because of laziness of thinking. Such meditation is useful on the path to the Fiery World. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 264:
264. In this time of world obstruction there is only the one path of regeneration of thinking. Precisely it is important to awaken the consciousness. Indeed, when the spirit can look back and know that yesterday's thinking has already passed, then takes place the transmutation bringing discernment. Indeed the expiring time can indicate to the spirit how all energies pass on and are reworked. But woe to those who wish to encounter the future by looking backward! For the spirit overburdened with yesterday's remains is laden with a massive weight. With such a burden one cannot ascend the Mountain, one cannot pass through the Gates of Light, one cannot become associated with the luminous Future. Thus, if the Church Fathers summon into the past, the Servants of Light summon into the future. Awakening of consciousness, clarification of the Teaching, and summons into the future will result in a great regeneration of thinking. On the path to the Fiery World, My Guiding Hand shifts energies. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 370:
370. Advancing the consciousness is as difficult as moving a mountain. The most immovable consciousnesses are, indeed, the old and ossified ones. This refers to all those who proceed looking backward and not into the future. I affirm that the ossified consciousness require powerful measures, just as do those who do not develop beyond the limits of childhood, for co-measurement is needed in appraisal of events. Ossification and backwardness can destroy the most immense possibilities. Therefore it is most important during construction to remember that the grave time requires fiery measures. On the path to the Fiery World let us manifest understanding of the power in the uplifting of the Fiery Sword. Brotherhood (1937) - 254:
254. No one requires that a telephone call or a telegram be repeated twice before he will believe it. But it works out otherwise in the matter of information from the Subtle World. For some reason people invariably insist upon repetition of manifestations, as if they could be convinced only through repetition; in such a manner much energy is wasted. Conditions have already become altered, but man wishes to turn backward. Much is made difficult by such retrogression. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 402:
The Thinker warned His disciples not to become victims of limited, backward definitions. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 414:
Many of today's psychological notions are inapplicable to life, and in the present state of the planet man cannot waste time with such theories. We must agree that everything that does not lead to the transformation of life should be regarded as useless, and in this there must be no difference of opinion. One can move forward or backward, but to go back among forgotten fossils would be unendurable.
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