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Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 360:
Father, henceforth I will shorten my psalms, And I will limit the length of my hymns. And podvig will be my prayer, And I will start it with silence. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 388:
I shall not come in the night. And in the hours when the rays of the sun do not reach Earth, Let your spirit calmly rise to the Abode of the Creator. I shall tell you how to wait in the hours of day. Not with hymns nor with exaltation await Me, But by strengthening your labor in My Name. Not in sleep nor during the repast, But during labor shall I fulfil your hopes, My beloved ones. In the morning, repeating the seven words, say: Help us lest we neglect Your Labor. And repeating My Name, and asserting yourself in My Labor, You will attain My Day. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.2.15:
During work, when fatigue already possessed the disciples, Buddha would ask the most unexpected question and await the promptest reply. Or, placing the simplest object before them, He would suggest that they describe it in not more than three words or not less than one hundred pages. Or, placing a pupil before a locked door, He would ask: "How will you open it?" Or, summoning musicians beneath the window, He would have them sing hymns of entirely dissimilar contents. Or, noting the presence of an annoying fly, He would ask the pupil to repeat some words unexpectedly pronounced. Or, passing in front of the pupils, He would ask them how many times He had done so. Or noticing a fear of animals or of natural phenomena, He would give them the task of mastering it. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.6.2:
I see a young scientist who has collected covenants from all the Teachings of the East and who says to himself, "From all sides I shall select the precepts of life; I shall discard all hymns and ritualistic worship; I shall disregard the difference in time and the errors of slanderers and translators, as the very simplest appears to be the most fundamental. From these fragments I shall compose here a single life - this is the life of the East. Notwithstanding its fragmentariness, this life will be wise and full of evolutionary actions." New Era Community (1926) - 123:
Friends, matter is not manure but a substance radiant with possibilities. The want of humanity is because of its despising of matter. Sumptuous assembly halls have been built, but hymns to knowledge have not been sung. Agni Yoga (1929) - 90:
90. A simple affirmation of respect for knowledge will make possible the resolving of all contradictions. True thinking is impossible without reverence for knowledge. The Teacher advises that knowledge be set as the basis for developing the consciousness. Point out that knowledge builds the path to the One Teaching. Is it possible that humanity cannot comprehend that knowledge emanates from the One Source? Therefore, the dividing line between knowledge and ignorance is the dividing line between light and darkness. We are easily able to bring together the Torah with the hymns of the Vedas, or the precepts of Buddha with the words of Christ, for We do not discern differences between Teachings emanating from the One Source. Agni Yoga (1929) - 431:
It would be a mistake to see My words as poetic hymns. One must accept them as the call of the Builder, to whom it is not important to be the Highest One, but to whom it is important to fulfill the mission entrusted by the Lords. Agni Yoga (1929) - 623:
I say that you must learn to affirm the Origin in the beauty of Cosmos by permeating life with the hymns of the Mother of the World. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 13:
And where will be the night? Where you seem to perceive its hush the hymns to the Mother of the World begin. Neither day nor night - only Her Radiance! Hierarchy (1931) - 153:
153. Dangerous is Maya when humanity thinks that it can create entirely identical objects. They forget that even the difference in the time of creation already effects a substantial difference. Thus, a standard can satisfy only an inferior consciousness. The mention of conventionalities of understanding corresponds to the understanding of Maya, but the foundations cannot be within the limits of Maya. Therefore, let us turn to the immutable, in other words, to the spirit's blending with Hierarchy. Having searched all corners of the planet we shall find the sole path upward. Thousands of hymns may be composed to this ascent, yet at its foundation will be the same identical striving of the spirit to the same spheres where its granulation takes place. One may study the idioms of all peoples, but nowhere will a word dare to express the immutable and unutterable Foundation of Be-ness and the path to the Father of all Existence. However, the heart in the hour of tension knows the Unutterable and feels the higher path. Heart (1932) - 314:
314. You know to what an extent We walk upon the edge of conflagration and the abyss. You know when the pregnant silence indicates the intensified battle. You feel Our tension. Only those who are unwise and self-loving can believe that above them are only hymns. But he who has directed his vision toward Infinity understands that the higher it is, the more tense. Thus, prepare people for an inevitable intensification. This does not mean that the Teaching propels one to tension, but that this pressure is the law of Existence. Heart (1932) - 402:
402. A mantram and all prayers can sustain the outer rhythm and also serve as union with the Highest World. Many people fail to perceive either the outer or inner meaning of prayer. The beautiful hymns of the Rig Vedas died away because they did not penetrate into the heart. This lack of rhythm can be regarded as a sign of the final period of Kali Yuga. It is precisely darkness which will intrude upon each harmony by every means. Dissonance is the distinctive mark of all contemporary arts. It can even be noticed how consonance and the major key seemingly have become a distinctive characteristic of the old-fashioned. One must possess a certain courage to continue to create in the consonance of the major key-maestoso! Thus, along the entire structure of life one must note the deviation from every heroism. And in the entire world cowardly malice distinguishes the adherents of darkness and chaos. But the heart demands construction, for it knows how infectious is chaos. Each decay generates further decay. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 358:
358. Pythagoras forbade all raillery among his disciples, because it, above everything, disturbs solemnity. He who greets the sun with a hymn does not notice the small spots. In this command is contained the affirmation of the Beautiful Let the dark ones retain for themselves the fate of mockery. Those who need jesters will leave no memory of themselves among the wise. His insistence on the solemnity of hymns reveals Pythagoras as a Fire-bearer. Let us take an example from such Fire-bearers, who have traversed their assigned earthly path in beauty. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 30:
30. Some people may think - how easy it is for the Lords, when They have passed beyond the boundaries of earthly burdens! But whoever says this does not know the scope of reality. Precisely as it is upon Earth, so also in Heaven. The earthly burdens pass away, but incomparable cosmic cares take their place. Truly, if it is difficult on Earth, then so much more difficult it is in Heaven. Let us not count the moments of Devachan, when illusion may conceal tomorrow's labor. But in action amidst chaos, it cannot be easy. You suffer from darkness and chaos. In all abodes it is as difficult from many aspects of darkness and the same chaos. But, fortunately for you, you only feel the attacks of chaos and do not see its murky movements. Truly, it is difficult for people because of their ignorance and their servility to darkness. But it is more difficult when one sees the movements of the masses of matter being turned into chaos. When the destructive subterranean fire tries prematurely to pierce the earthly crust, or when layers of gases poison the space, the difficulty surpasses all earthly imagination. Not burdens, but only comparisons help now to speak about the difficulties. For ignoramuses think that hymns and harps are the lot of Heavenly Dwellers. Such error must be dispersed. Nowhere are there indications that it is difficult only upon Earth; in comparison it must be said - if here one is annoyed by devils, the Archangel is threatened by Satan himself. Thus one must understand action and the everlasting battle with chaos. One must realize it as the only path and grow to love it as the sign of the Creator's trust. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 38:
38. Every message must not be only benevolent but also attractive. One may notice that many young people do not follow in the footsteps of their fathers and mothers. Aside from karmic reasons one can notice the unattractiveness of the actions of the elders. The same may be seen in regard to religions. Religion, as the link with the Higher World must first of all be attractive. Fear is not attractive, violence is repellent, but the very understanding of the Higher World must be attractive. One may rejoice at everything of the Highest. Even the weak-minded will not turn away from the Highest. In order to obscure the Highest one must commit a series of repulsive actions. No matter who these repellers may be, they are in any case blasphemers. If they besmirch the most Beautiful, they are servitors of darkness. The answer does not lie in dogmas nor in symbols - one may debase the most beautiful sign. How then to call those who seduce the little ones away from the Abode of God? Seducers and jailers are they who discredit the prayer to the Highest. Has it ever been said that one may speak with one's father and mother only in their own words? So also in the prayer to the Most High - who can force his heart to laud in alien terms. He who composes prayers, hymns, songs, sings with his own heart. The spirit cannot be prevented from soaring upon its own wings. Whither and how will fly the wingless? And will not he who breaks even the smallest feather be responsible? If a song is needed it is the song of the heart, and in this song all creation will resound. Every object will join in lauding the Most High. He who helps his neighbor to create a still more attractive praise will be a creator of good. No dogma can forbid conversing with the Highest. The more beautifully it is done, the nearer will be the approach. But if help is needed, it suffices to express oneself with - "Help." But even for such a simple word attractiveness is needed. AUM (1936) - 36:
36. You have heard the prayer of the birds - the little brothers know how to welcome the light. They summon their most rapturous expression before the grandeur of light. Plants reach out toward the light. Only people dream about their stomachs when their spirits should be filled with the grandeur of the Highest. Thus they commit a sacrilege similar to suicide. Noblest hymns have been written, but people recite them without heart tremor, like the clatter of broken crockery. AUM (1936) - 236:
236. The Higher World is incorruptible, but instead of self-purification through thought and labor, people still try to bribe the Higher Grace. In such ignorance is expressed a complete unwillingness to reflect upon the essential nature of the worlds. The history of prayer shows that at first hymns were chanted, then prayers were spoken for all beings, and only later did man dare to importune with demands for himself. Sufficient evidences have been given as to how worthless for evolution is everything engendered by selfishness. One cannot purchase favor and justice. Is it not shameful that such words must be repeated? AUM (1936) - 564:
564. In different religions there can be noticed a special harmonization of sacred hymns. If one compares the oldest of them, one may observe a striking similarity of tonal structures. Moreover, one can find remarkable common rhythms; all of which indicates that the composers of these psalms had the same understanding of the significance of harmonization. It is impossible to attribute such a basic similarity to simple succession. It may be understood that they have been influenced by One Source. It cannot be doubted that the one fundamental energy of Existence will produce similar rhythms for one form of inspiration. Verily, the keen of sight can discover confirmation of the great Unity in a broad way. Brotherhood (1937) - 295:
295. Solemnity should be strengthened by the concept of Brotherhood. It ought not to remain an empty sound. To affirm solemnity means to sing hymns to the rising sun. It must be realized what purification is vouchsafed at being filled with health-giving solemnity. All the proposed concepts have a significance both elevating and curative. We suggest all that which can also fortify the body. Let us not think that exalted concepts are manifested only as exaltation; they also constitute salutary means that strengthen the organism. One should realize the power of beneficent concepts. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 7:
We must work for unity, not by hymns and harps, but by labor and struggle. Few will strive to Our Brotherhood when they learn about the sweat of Our labor. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 80:
80. Urusvati has heard the hymns of nature, which is what We call the harmonies that resound at the conquering of darkness. They resemble the music of the spheres, but belong more to Earth than to the higher realms. Most people reject every hint of the highest harmony, and when it resounds, would rather say that it is just a ringing in their ears. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 80:
Thus many who consider themselves to be occultists shut themselves off from their natural feelings. Too many books confuse them by prescribing practices that were once intended for other purposes. We prefer to meet new people, who are unencumbered by useless formulas. The music of the spheres and the hymns of nature are more easily heard by those whose hearts are full of love. Those who insist upon formulas for the heart, for love, for compassion, will not open their ears to higher harmonies.
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