|
New Era Community (1926) - 153:
A true musician does not think about each finger's calling forth a sound; only a pupil considers which fingers are convenient to use. The true co-worker does not think about the intended application of the qualities of labor. The music of the spheres is blended with the song of progress of labor. New Era Community (1926) - 167:
167. It has been said often - "Rest can be found not in sleep but in change of labor." True, some may discontinue sleeping and obtain poor results. As a preliminary it is necessary to teach the nerve centers to work in groups. One must disconnect the work of the centers. One must learn to unite the most unexpected groups and then quickly change their combinations. Thus, a street musician playing several instruments simultaneously performs one of the useful exercises. Dictating to several copyists at the same time is useful. Contrasting movement of the arms is useful. Stoppage of breathing and thinking is useful. One can enumerate a great number of exercises of the will about which it would be fitting to say, "Bees create their hives with patience." Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 511:
511. He who thinks of modesty and humility is by virtue of this neither modest nor humble. Natural virtues do not require forced considerations. Much vanity has originated from such forced pseudo-modesty and suede-humbleness. In all qualities connected with fieriness, directness is needed. If a man has not acquired reverence for Hierarchy, no command can make him feel the beauty of this striving; external conditions will shatter the seed of striving. It is a great fallacy for people who have begun to think of the Supreme to alter the outer conditions of their lives. A shoemaker known to you could have abandoned his craft, but he preferred to affirm himself in the rhythm of the past in which his highest thoughts had been generated. This is not inflexibility, but a due regard for the precious rhythm already established. One can observe that external conditions can give the impulse to thought. This consideration is very useful during fiery achievements. A musician does not part with his instrument even when traveling. The reason for this lies not only in mechanical technique but, consciously or unconsciously, the virtuoso thus preserves an already established rhythm. Continuity of work is needed for the coordination of the centers just as much as is pranayama. But an experienced workman does not ponder over the use made of his work. Work for him is food; he cannot live without it. Let the physician cite examples of this. In connection with Agni, disorderly, unrhythmic work is especially harmful, and it is necessary that a rhythm should become habitual without forcing. Then one may expect Agni to become indeed a self-acting armor. The quality of self-initiated action is a fiery achievement. It does not come from outside, but only together with the broadening of consciousness. Without the affirmation of consciousness, self-initiated activity cannot be established. Brotherhood (1937) - 518:
The ignorant will say that strings are easily replaced. But even the usual strings are chosen with care by a musician. Far more subtle is the structure of the rhythm of labor. Such destruction cannot be remedied. The Brotherhood is particularly concerned with the preservation of labor in its best rhythm. Likewise, in all communities people should learn to mutually safeguard labor; therein will be expressed the lofty measure of reciprocal respect. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 94:
The currents of will come into rapid collision, and undisciplined thinking fills space with destructive explosions. Probably the ignorant will again declare that We threaten and frighten them, but they should turn to the pages of history in which they can trace the calamities of humanity. These calamities are not sent by heaven, but are caused by human society. People persecute their own Saviors, acting like a mad musician who tears out the strings of his instrument before the concert! Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 424:
We frequently perform exercises for clarity of thought, for thinking requires practice. Even the loftiest thinker will not deny that he too must exercise this capacity, just as a musician must practice constantly for clarity of sound. Let fools insist that they need no such exercises. Composure, too, is acquired through the exercise of thought.
|