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Hierarchy (1931) - 57:
57. Mean thoughts have been compared to crawling reptiles. Nothing is more analogous to this scum of the consciousness. Can one sit calmly in an armchair, knowing that beneath him crawl poisonous snakes and scorpions? One must free oneself from reptiles, and primarily on the path to Hierarchy. Condemnation of and blasphemy against the Lord are irreparable. Thus, each one who condemns the Hierarch must remember that his levity and crime will infect his karma for many ages. Verily, if there is only one way - through the Lord - to the one Light, then only extreme ignorance will allow destruction of this single path. One must assert striving to the Highest as the essence of life and assume a reverent attitude toward this salutary striving. By belittling the Hierarch one may condemn oneself and inflict perilous harm on many near ones. It is time to remember this! Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 602:
602. Ahamkara is the high state of the fiery seed when it can already affirm itself without egoism. Thus the Fiery Gates are opened when not only is egoism burned away but a worthy evaluation of self is achieved. Only then can the spirit verily bring its sole heritage to the altar of Light. But on this long journey what happens to the enemies who wrought such torment through their discordances? When darkness takes over its own possessions, the remaining ones who are able to ascend are divided according to rays. Thus discord disappears and the feeling of enmity dissolves by itself. The spirits gather and rise to the abode of containment like waves of harmonious light. Thus is settled the question, most incomprehensible to man, about the unity of the seeds of Light in ascent to the Higher World. Enmity, so insoluble in the physical world, disintegrates by itself in the etheric, purified rays. Not only in the higher but already in the middle spheres of the Subtle World, the feeling of enmity withers because of its uselessness. One must understand these laws of the distribution of the rays. The realization of these laws alone will mitigate the malice of enmity even here. Also let us not forget that enmity throws the organism out of balance, leaving it a prey to various sicknesses and obsessions. Therefore I advise you to consider enmity from the viewpoint of prophylaxis. Why should one be sick, infect others, and be a prey to fits of madness when a single effort of spirit preserves the invulnerability of the organism? Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 266:
266. There is no such thing as emptiness; yet often people sense, as it were, a semblance of emptiness. What can such an anxious sensation mean? Of course, it is not without foundation. With their thinking people poison their surroundings and transform them into chaos. The so-called feeling of emptiness is really a sensing of chaos. In itself chaos is not emptiness at all, but it is so far removed from the human consciousness that its approach already constitutes a loss of the guiding principle. Such a deadly principle is sensed as emptiness, and in it is contained no small danger; equilibrium is disturbed, and suicides and various kinds of insanity occur. Not emptiness nor chaos, but mean thinking causes the stupid poisoning of the atmosphere. Besides, such thinkers infect their surroundings and thus strike at their neighbors. Truly, man can become social only on a certain level of thinking. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 165:
165. The forces of darkness press on by various means, being affirmed in strata which are found to be near to the Light. In the Subtle Spheres this proximity is naturally impossible, but in the earthly strata, where the atmosphere is so thickened with infected gases, the forces of darkness definitely try to come close to the Light. An impulse of destruction impels the forces of darkness to these Torch lights of Truth. The enemies who uplift a sword are not so dangerous as those who penetrate under the mask of Light. There are conscious and unconscious instruments of darkness. At first the unconscious ones create, as it were, in unison with the good, and these bearers of evil infect each pure beginning. But conscious servants of evil enter into the temple with your prayer, and woe to the undiscerning! Dark snares have been laid for them. It is not fitting to admit into the Holy of Holies offenders against the spirit. Djinn can help on the earthly plane, and may even build a temple, but the spiritual plane is inaccessible to them. Thus, on the path to the Fiery World let us remember about the servants of darkness who strive to penetrate into the Holy of Holies. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 183:
183. The construction of new beginnings can be affirmed upon great principles only when humanity will apprehend all the Higher Origins. Without this it is impossible to manifest the Beauty of Existence, for the manifestations of life proceed in conformity with the thinking of humanity. The creator of thought creates forms. But how frightful are those movements in the World which arise out of decomposing sources. These sources infect the atmosphere surrounding the planet. It is necessary to purify the strata for the reception of new energies. So many powerful forces are awaiting reception and application, but to perceive them means already to manifest them. But is it possible at this time to reveal these energies to a destroyer? Certainly the planet is passing through Armageddon, and all its affirmations are sharply divided into the camps of Light and darkness. Therefore, the great discharge leads to fiery purification. Then it will be possible to bestow the affirmed Beauty of Existence. Verily, the time draws near. On the path to the Fiery World let us remember the great principle of Beauty. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 285:
285. The World is covered with the ulcers of human vices and defective engenderings. Incalculable are the human diseases of the spirit which infect the planet. One of the greatest ulcers is untruthfulness. When the World is crumbling away soap bubbles are no shield. When it is necessary to act in defense of such great affirmations as the Banner of the Lords, then it is inadmissible to resemble warriors carrying paper shields. It behooves us to give credit to the dark ones for their speedy actions and foresight, for each day can be considered the Day of Eternity. Therefore, in the days of the destruction and reconstruction of the World, it is important to affirm the principles of true constructiveness. Therefore, each damaging distortion will be considered as an obvious blow upon the Shield. Indeed, faint-heartedness and selfhood are the brothers of distortion. The practice of untruthfulness becomes a habit, and egoism displays its harmful effects. Therefore, when the World is crumbling, it is well to ponder how to destroy all distortions. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 292:
292. Interactions between bodies should be investigated, because as the condition of the physical body acts on the condition of the astral body, likewise the astral body reacts on the physical. A sickly state of the organism is reflected on the astral, and a spiritual indisposition of the astral body is reflected on the physical. All spiritual experiences have their influence on the astral body as well as on the physical. But these manifestations must be analyzed with subtlety. Each experience on the astral plane does not leave its impression immediately on the coarsely healthy body. True, when the subtle body collects around itself all the poisonous fluids which infect the astral body, then an infection also breaks out in the healthy gross body. In the infected astral body there results the affirmation of interaction. The astral body easily absorbs all the fluids of the physical body; therefore, each violation of equilibrium is first reflected on the subtle body. Hence, it is so important for the physician to know the spiritual state of the patient. During illness and the fight against them, one should have in mind the concordance of the bodies and the indissoluble bond between them. Such sensitive relationship must be acquired on the path to the Fiery World. 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. Brotherhood (1937) - 193:
193. Harmony is not always attainable, even if it is proclaimed verbally. It is a common error to think that harmony can be established by reason. Few realize that only the heart is the abode of harmony. People reiterate about unity, but their hearts are full of stinging arrows. People repeat many sayings from various ages about the power of unity, but they do not try to apply this truth to life. They reproach the whole world for dissensions and at the same time they themselves are sowing disunity. Verily, it is impossible to live without the heart. Heartlessness cannot find a harmonious abode. Not only do the sowers of disunity harm themselves but they also infect space; and who can foresee how far such poison may penetrate? Brotherhood (1937) - 195:
195. It is useful to advise friends to send out mutually good thoughts at a definite time. In such an action there will be not only a strengthening of benevolence but also a disinfection of space, and the latter is extremely necessary. Poisonous emanations not only infect man but also are precipitated upon surrounding objects. Such sediments are eradicated with great difficulty. They can even accompany objects for long distances. In time people will distinguish the aura of such infected objects. Meanwhile sensitive individuals can feel the reaction of such stratifications upon themselves. Good thoughts will be the best purifier of one's surroundings. Affirmations of the sendings of good are still stronger than purifying incenses. But one should accustom oneself to such sendings. They need not be made up of definite words but only of a directed good feeling. Thus, in the midst of daily life it is possible to create much good. Each sending is like a cleansing bolt of lightning. Brotherhood (1937) - 211:
211. Essentially, transition into the Subtle World ought to be painless. People having completed the earthly path ought to take up quite naturally the next proceeding. But they themselves complicate the solemn change of existence. They have propagated illnesses, and they pass them on to their near ones. They proceed to infect space, yet only by their own effort can they enter upon the path of purification. Compulsory prophylaxis cannot help fundamentally; a general conscious cooperation is needed. Compulsion can save only a small part out of hundreds of thousands of sick people. Rendering the planet healthful rests in the hands of all humanity. First of all, it must be understood that man makes healthy not only himself but also all his surroundings. In such a realization there will be contained true humaneness. Such a feeling cannot be commanded. It must come independently out of the depths of the heart. Brotherhood (1937) - 235:
Likewise poisonous are the gases which irritate the mucous membranes. It cannot be permissible to poison a people, condemning it to maladies which make their appearance only after a passage of time. So-called enlightened rulers infect wide spaces and soothe themselves with the thought that the poisoning is harmless. Let them try living in a house which has been poisoned! Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 217:
Equilibrium is maintained by the exercise of one's free will, but people do not want to accept their individual responsibility in this. Infection takes hold not only because of a predisposition to certain ailments, but also because of the loss of balance. A pilgrim without balance will not be able to walk safely through the narrow passage and will be afraid, pursuing his way in great anxiety. Such imbalance will destroy him and infect those close to him with fear.
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