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New Era Community (1926) - 49:
49. The more anyone renounces, the more he receives. But nations have forgotten how to renounce; even the smallest thinks only how to receive. Meanwhile, the planet is ill and all is sinking in this sickness. And someone wishes to evade the final battle through infection of the whole planet. And some hope to be setting sail in broken fragments, forgetting that the ocean is also departing. It is easy to picture that the planetary body can be just as sick as any other organism and the spirit of the planet is affected by the condition of its body. How to name the illness of the planet? Best of all as a fever from poisoning. Suffocating gasses, from the accumulations of the lower strata of the Subtle World, cut the planet off from the worlds which could send assistance. The Earth's destiny can be ended by a gigantic explosion if the thickness of the cover be not pierced. A stupendous acceleration is forcing all lines to shake. It could have been expected that acceleration was urgent for a certain country, but it is needed for the whole planet. Agni Yoga (1929) - 136:
136. Often people entrust themselves to a fiery steed, not realizing that even a mere gnat can throw the animal into a rage. Often people try to navigate in a frail canoe when every stone is a peril. Often people sit beneath the beams of a house which the slightest tremor of earth can cause to collapse. All this is of course known; nevertheless people think they can evade danger as though danger were not a constant companion to existence on Earth. People traverse life, blindly happy, unaware of the adjacent precipice. But if the inner sight is sufficiently developed, the voyager of life will see each cosmic irregularity. He will be painfully tormented by the seeming impenetrability of the path. But how will he gain the courage and strength to cross all chasms of what he now sees as a crumbling stronghold? Certainly, only by realizing the relation of the present transitory hour to an inevitable future. Agni Yoga (1929) - 650:
Is it possible to avoid the burdensome currents? Of course it is better to face them head-on in battle than to zigzag to evade them. But the decision to engage in battle is the responsibility of the leader. The joy of battle is known to those who are aware of its purpose, to those who know the necessity of victory. Hierarchy (1931) - 414:
414. What thorns people weave into their wreaths of life! What strength people dissipate to counteract those principles upon which life itself is maintained! How many unnecessary thorns surround people, transforming their lives into regress! People will not understand the higher Wisdom if they do not first of all understand the law of Hierarchy - that upon which the entire life is founded; that by which the world progresses; that upon which evolution is built; that upon which the best steps and pages of history have been constructed. Thus, humanity cannot evade the great law of Hierarchy. Self-destruction is the only direction along which those bereft of the understanding of Hierarchy proceed; thus, the thorns directed against Hierarchy turn into a dark path. Thus, the great law of Hierarchy must be safeguarded as a leading principle. Heart (1932) - 5:
5. New circumstances will indicate the path to the future. Truth is the same, but combinations vary, according to consciousness. How much of the beautiful is destroyed, owing to the ignoring of the temple - the heart! But let us irresistibly strive to a realization of heartfelt warmth, and let us begin to feel ourselves as the bearers of the temple. Thus one can cross the threshold of the New World. How poor in spirit are those who believe that the New World is not for them! The bodies differ, but the spirit will not evade the New World. Heart (1932) - 257:
257. Let doubt, which has extinguished the fires of the heart more than once, be silenced. One must rid oneself of the worm in order to evade the dragon. Especially now is doubt destructive, because one may have only a single sword. In battle none may have two swords. Nor does one throw two spears or shoot two arrows. One can achieve by only a single thrust and through the valor of a sole striving. It is difficult but success is near the fire of the heart. Heart (1932) - 552:
552. It is necessary to keenly look above bargaining and cheating. Before Our eyes is human ruin. Thus, it should be realized that in evoking Armageddon all are guilty, and therefore none may evade it. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 40:
40. In the ancient pharmacopeias and in various ancestral medical records you are struck by the number of allusions to mixtures for bringing the organism into a transcendental state. You feel that this is not a form of necromancy or witchcraft, but a special way of seeking one's future. Hence, it is clear that our remote ancestors were far more solicitous and thoughtful for the future than our contemporary scholars. For us, the future is relegated either to the confines of hellfire or to the province of an electrical manifestation. The powerful life-creating potency of Fire is unrealized; the effulgent, radiant manifestations are not comprehended, and the very Hierarchy of Light itself is regarded as either a phantom or a bugbear. There are many who wish to evade the future, preferring to call themselves dust. Yet even the learned shudder at the question as to whether they wish to pass through Fire. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 529:
529. A common error of people is to cease to study after leaving school. The Pythagoreans and similar philosophic schools of Greece, India, and China furnish sufficient examples of continuous study. Truly, limiting education to the prescribed schooling indicates ignorance. Obligatory learning is only the entrance to real knowledge. If we divide humanity into three categories - those who are altogether unschooled, those whose education is confined to compulsory schooling, and those who continue their education - the number of the last will prove astonishingly small. This primarily shows indifference toward future lives. In their decline of spirit, men are indifferent even to their own future. There should remain a record that in the present significant year it is necessary to remind people about that which was useful a thousand years ago. In addition to elementary education one should further the education of adults. Several generations exist simultaneously on Earth, and they are all equally indifferent in striving to the future which they cannot evade. Such negligence is astonishing! Learning has become an empty shell. Yet for a simple holiday people like to dress in their best. Is it possible that they do not think it behooves them to secure an attire of Light for the solemn Abode in the Fiery World? One should rejoice not in bigotry, not in superstition, but with an illumined mind, and not only at the schools for children but also at the uniting of adults for continuous learning. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 618:
618. Everywhere it is indicated that suffering is the best purifier and means of shortening the Path. This is undoubtedly true under the existing conditions on Earth. But could there have been Creation with an unalterable condition of suffering? No. Indeed, the Great Creativeness does not foresee a need for suffering. With terrific zeal people drive themselves into the circle of suffering. For millenniums people have tried to become mere bipeds. They try to weigh down the atmosphere of Earth with malice. Verily, every physician will bear witness that without evil there would be no suffering. Let us designate the ability to avoid suffering as a step toward Good. Truly, the passage of the Good through the furnace of fire eliminates the sense of suffering. Thus, fiery transfiguration even on Earth lifts one beyond suffering. One should not evade suffering, for without suffering earthly achievement does not exist. But let each one ready for achievement kindle the fires of his heart. They will be the indicators of the Path, and a shield not fashioned by human hands. Someone has asked, "How does the Lord discern those who approach him?" The answer is, "By the fires of their hearts." If we are astonished by the power of Fire that even here envelops us and saturates our garments, then we can understand how supernal is the glow of the fires of the heart along the Chain of Hierarchy! Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 369:
369. "We do not die, but change" - can one speak any more clearly about eternal life? "The wise man proceeds to Me by the Higher Path" - thus conclusively has been ordained the living path. Unjust is the observation that in the Covenants there is no mention of anything about the life of the Fiery World. There are many clear indications, but people evade them. Can it be possible that the element of Fire, continuously alive, can conform to the concept of death, of deadliness? Thus is it useful to meditate on the pathways to the Fiery World. AUM (1936) - 123:
123. Indispensable is the participation of the wise physician in all especially beneficial manifestations. Let it not be thought that We evade scientific observations; on the contrary, We value each scientifically founded thought. AUM (1936) - 257:
257. In the Subtle World it is possible to remain in the lower strata for interims centuries long. One should not be astonished at the resourcefulness of certain people; in their insanity they can contrive much that is impossible for a healthy man. Madness of a special kind is to be found in the Subtle World. Unfailingly the law insists upon the date of incarnation, but the madness of the consciousness may be such that in larger measure only evil can be born. Just as cowardly soldiers cut off their fingers in order to avoid the battle, so do the madmen who dwell in the Subtle World contrive to avoid a summons to the banner of labor. It is impossible to evade the law entirely, but it is possible to conceal oneself temporarily in darkness. Brotherhood (1937) - 172:
172. Inexperienced physicians try to drive a disease inward in order even temporarily to evade dangerous symptoms - thus are established hotbeds of maladies. But the experienced physician tries to draw out the germ of the disease in order to eradicate it in good time. The same method ought to be applied in all sicknesses. It is better that a crisis be lived through than that a destructive collapse seize the whole organism. It is possible to live through a crisis, and such shock may call new forces into life. Whereas disintegration and rot but infect all the surroundings. Thus, let us understand it in forty ways. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 57:
You have already heard that We send Our arrows at the last moment. You must understand this - know when the last moment for all decisions has arrived - and accept the responsibility. Many people try to avoid it by all possible means, and because of this such warriors are unreliable. We test each co-worker, but few are those who accept the joy of such a task. Most will evade it and try to hide themselves when the time for action has come. Let the co-workers show who is good and who is bad. Let them show who is ready for action and who prefers the lazy twilight. Darkness is not far from it.
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