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Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 176:
176. Our Task is to help humanity. Often a Yogi, merging into Nirvana, strives to forget the earth. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.7:
3.5.7. Nirvana is the quality of assimilation of all actions. The saturation of all-inclusiveness brings you true knowledge, flowing from the tremor of illumination. Languages have no more precise definition of this process. Quietude is only an external aspect, and quietude does not express the essential nature of the condition. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.7:
Conscious actions are necessary; they alone lead to Nirvana. Agni Yoga (1929) - 181:
Is there any other path to Nirvana? Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 28:
You are right in asserting that the Lord Buddha had to give the concept of Nirvana to the world because there are few who are willing to labor eternally for the creation of new forms. Nirvana is only a step in the endless cosmic periods. Our disciples, accumulating the earthly inheritance, can rejoice, transporting themselves with striving consciousness toward the higher worlds. Is it not better to serve the manifestation of the great eternal reworking and transformation from the lower to the higher than to be slave to stagnation? Heart (1932) - 260:
260. Since the so-called state of Nirvana is not rest but the highest tension of energy, one may ask whether rest exists altogether. Indeed, how is it possible to imagine rest if everything is in motion and exists by reason of motion? The very concept of rest was invented by those who desired to hide from existence. They preferred passivity, forgetting that there can be no moment without motion. Balance is the concept needed. One should think not of rest but how to preserve the balance amidst the whirlwinds. The silver thread is tautened by the power of striving, hence one must know the meaning of balance, lest one burden the thread of Hierarchy through faltering. The thread will not break when tautened. For even a straw resists as long as it is not bent. The silver thread is founded upon the law of concatenation, but if someone does not refrain from hasty fluctuations, he usually cannot hold the link. Thus, let us not bemoan the lack of rest, because it does not exist at all. Heart (1932) - 379:
379. Calmness of the heart does not mean the soothing of the heart. The burning heart cannot be soothed. Calmness of the heart means firmness and unfalteringness. Through this understanding one can reach the tension that leads to Nirvana. But how many steps must one cross courageously in order to realize unfalteringness of the heart. It is easy to speak during seemingly calm surroundings, but one should not seek the tempering of the heart through inactivity. Naturally, action does not consist in waving of the hands, but in tension of the heart. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 157:
157. Toward what shall we strive, to the finite or the infinite? The earthly sojourn is of short duration, the Subtle and Mental Worlds are of fixed date, but the Fiery World is beyond dates; this means that one should strive toward it. In the worlds of limited sojourn the fiery armor is acquired. The earthly world is like an impasse - either ascent or destruction. Even the Subtle World will not satisfy a striving spirit; all the other lives are only preparations for the all-encompassing Fiery World. A weak spirit is terrified by the distance to the Fiery World, but the spirits in which ascent is innate can only rejoice. The physical forms are beautiful, but the music of the spheres is incomparable. Yet beyond this subtle illumination is displayed the Fiery Grandeur. Ozone here on Earth appears as a messenger from Above, yet it is the grossest manifestation of the atmosphere. The earthly azure is lofty, but it is like wool compared to the fiery radiance. Those who have entered the Fiery World cannot breathe the air of Earth. Nirvana is actually fiery ascent. In every Teaching we find a symbol of this fiery ascent. St. Sergius received the fiery sacrament. Thus, graphically is the sign of the higher possibility given. The time is coming and is already near when people will not know how to accept the fiery possibilities. In their confusion they will forget that fiery communion has been ordained. They will excel in counteracting, instead of being filled with, the power of Fire. Therefore I reiterate and remind about the necessity of fiery union. Many dangerous chemical combinations will cause consternation. Precisely the encumbrances in the Subtle World can indicate how sick the planet is. Since this danger has become obvious, it is Our duty to forewarn. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 644:
644. Bliss, Nirvana, Divine Nearness and all analogous terms for the higher state are usually understood in an earthly sense. Thus, Bliss is always understood as an ecstatic oblivion and the rapture of some kind of indolent rest; but oblivion may be understood only as the erasure of all earthly means and examples. Truly, why such limited earthly ways, when one can already act through the higher energies? Is it possible to identify Divine Nearness with indolence and immersion in oblivion? Such a correlation is contrary to the very meaning of approach to the Highest Principle. This conjoining with the Highest, this transformation through the higher energies, primarily impels one to an increased tension of all forces. Even in extreme tension a man must not lose hold of himself. But amidst the contacts with fiery radiances, the seed of the spirit will be kindled the more, and its striving toward thought-creativeness, unrestrainable. One may wonder why people try to limit and disparage the significance of the Fiery World. They wish to clothe it in earthly limitations and also stipulate that the inhabitants of other worlds must exist in earthly bodies and dwell in earthly conditions. Only an undeveloped imagination can limit the Universe to such a degree. Therefore I so greatly emphasize the development of imagination as the basis of striving toward the Higher Worlds. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 23:
23. The World is striving for the crowning perfection. Manifold are the paths of the search. The closest to perfection will be the path of Beauty. Religion has given a striving for Nirvana, but it is distorted by misleading concepts. Many quests were deflected by the misunderstanding of the concepts of Karma and Reincarnation. He who sought perfection could have found through Beauty the powerful laws of Being. Yet if one should take all distorted manifestations of life and line them up with Beauty one would find the law of perfection. If we take the unbalanced conditions of all principles introduced into life and line them up with Beauty, we shall arrive at the law of Being. When we observe the life of the planet with all its prejudices, we see that we must inevitably arrive at the victorious crowning through Beauty. One should become accustomed to the realization of the victorious crowning. Such thinking will bring one to the Fiery World. AUM (1936) - 480:
But neither inspiration nor beauty lie in the middle; it means that the middle, just as equilibrium, affirms but does not lessen the tension of the energy. What we call Nirvana is the same thing. This middle is not a lower vibration, but an equilibrium of higher tension. Brotherhood (1937) - 217:
217. People will say that rest is impossible in days of great confusion. Reply, "Let us not quibble about words." Rest, like Nirvana, is an effervescence which does not boil away. But if someone's strength is not adequate for such a concept let him be concerned with clarity of thought. Let him acknowledge that even in the hour of Armageddon it is needful to have a clear consciousness. If we lose clarity of thought in earthly battles, how can we maintain it during transition into the Subtle World? Each earthly impact is only a touchstone for our consciousness. Even during indignation one should not admit obscuration of thinking. Experienced people know that spatial currents are stronger than those of any human combat, yet during such powerful attacks one should clearly preserve the goal of existence. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 36:
Our actions are full of calmness. Like experienced seafarers We have passed through countless storms and know how to weather them. To overcome chaos and darkness is Our daily task. Not unexpected battle, but continuous action is the order of the day. Action should be followed by a conscious calmness. This is not like a narcotic stupor, but is a sober and experienced use of goal-fitting strength. Much is said about calmness, and it is often described as a frozen condition. What a fallacy! The concept of Nirvana is similarly misrepresented. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 254:
However, there are those seeking inner peace who are filled with selfishness and false modesty, and believe that they will acquire inner peace by doing nothing. These are not bad people, they do no evil, but their "good" is of little value. What kind of peace can come from inertia? True inner peace can be likened to Nirvana, in which all the energies are so intensified that they are unified in their ascent. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 345:
Similarly misunderstood is Nirvana, in which the greatest intensification of one's faculties is sometimes interpreted as passive, unfeeling inaction. Equilibrium requires mutual tension, for both cups of the scale must bear equal loads. Therefore, both cups, the mundane and the supermundane, never stand empty. In his ignorance, man prefers to limit himself to one side or the other. That is why humanity is lame; but can one hop for long on one foot? Can one drag one's crutch into the Subtle World? I speak in jest, for sometimes a jest is better remembered! Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 356:
Defense and Nirvana are two mercilessly distorted concepts. People try to make them into something amorphous, vague, and passive, but such distortions are harmful for evolution. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 356:
People must consciously prepare themselves for a state such as Nirvana, and this takes a long time. They must learn to love the state of mind that can be called all-containment. In the same way, people must learn to love the concept of defense, and think of it as the most intensified and vigilant condition. They must perfect themselves consciously, otherwise participation in the Cosmic Battle will become unbearable. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 367:
Uttering the name of the Guru also creates a strong bond, but this, too, must be done with serenity, for any excessive exertion will invariably produce a disturbed atmosphere. Realize, however, that calmness is not inertia; on the contrary, just as in the state of Nirvana, it is full of inner vibration. Many will not understand this and will see only contradiction. They will argue, "How can calmness be filled with vibrations, and how can a calm invocation of the Guru's name be so effective? How can a calm prayer be more effective than a cry of despair?"
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