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New Era Community (1926) - 129:
129. Beware of obtrusion, not only in relation to alien entreaties but be careful that you yourselves do not become obtrusive. It is impossible to calculate the harm of obtrusion, and one cannot view without contempt the selling of the Teaching in the bazaar at a discount. Learn to understand that the Teaching, conscious of its knowledge, will not expose itself in the bazaar. Only an exceptional ignorance in the followers can place the Teaching in a cringing position of falsehood and ignominy. One may pity those who, scantily informed, have taken on this purposeless labor. New Era Community (1926) - 246:
246. The man who is not free, who thinks of himself, who acts for himself, is plunged into an ocean of false currents. The man even remodels his speech into a manifestation of external expression that is in conformity with his egotism. Pay attention to how accents are displaced on words of foreign tongue, in disregard of meaning and philology. People re-cut alien sounds to fit the custom of their own country. Indeed, the self-conceit of ignorance and a contempt for the neighbor are indicated in the distortion of speech. To reason out and to penetrate into the meaning of a neighbor's feeling is incompatible with the coarseness of petty self-conceit. The feeling of irresponsibility and the undiscarded sense of ownership create the feudal lords of our contemporary times. Agni Yoga (1929) - 295:
Generally, there is no need to meet in person others who have accepted the Teaching. The ways of necessity are unpredictable. And do not present the Teaching as too accessible, for this breeds contempt. One can tolerate ignorance, but to demean is not permissible. Searching for the Teaching causes no harm. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 217:
217. Of all the depraved traits of humanity one must subtly note faint-heartedness. This quality borders on many other dark traits. Nearest of all is treachery. Faint-heartedness borders on fear, cowardice, and selfhood. And in the Fiery World there is no place for faint-heartedness. And the crown of courage can be placed only on the brow which is bared in self-renunciation. Yes, let the lone warrior fight single handed. Let the arrows of hypocrites pierce his breast. Let each manifest aspiration be met with rejection. Yet will his armor be studded with courage. Who, then, knows the fiery striving of the warrior? Who knows the truth of the aspiring heart? Only the manifested fiery heart. The subtle consciousness will illumine the manifestation of courage. Faint-heartedness is contempt for the higher Ego. Faint-heartedness is slavery of the spirit. Only the head which bows not in faint-heartedness will be adorned with the great crown. And the disdain of slaves of the spirit is an attainment for the warrior who walks the fiery path. And alone, the courageous warrior, scorning and scorned by faint-heartedness, finds the Fiery Gates to the Hierarchy of Light. Verily, faint-heartedness and self-deception are sisters of darkness! AUM (1936) - 518:
Highly diverse are the paths of the consciousness, and therefore people need to accustom themselves to assimilate thoughts they hear. It is a pity to observe the needless zigzag of the path arising from egoism, arrogance, and contempt for another's opinion. Thus, people are obliged to read many times that which through heart perception could have been reached more directly and quickly. Brotherhood (1937) - 310:
310. Do not consider absurd the testimony of the three aviators who saw horses at a great altitude. Such a vision is possible for several reasons. Motion itself can call forth forms connected with it; then, too, speed can concur with manifestations from the Subtle World. As before, it is needful to advise noticing such signs. One should not inevitably consider them as omens, but one should accept them as facts from the spheres of the Subtle World. There are not a few such manifestations, but extremes of attitude toward them are not permissible. People refer to them either with contempt or with absurd exaggeration; rational observation is rarely encountered.
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