Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 118: The ship encounters the fury of the waves, but it reaches its destination. Pure service flourishes if its roots are deep and strong. My Shield may not be upon their doors, but the approaching ones bear My Banner in their hearts. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 292: Like a householder in constant action, be not afraid of a few drops of labor's perspiration. Even a misguided action is better than passivity. Attain the port. For each one is a ship provided. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 297: 297. People are gathering. Experiences are increasing. Help comes more easily. Thus does the ship, spreading its sails, quicken its course. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 318: 318. We manifest revelations unto the sensitive ear. And your wish may bring to you Our Voice. Our Ray, as a beacon, is searching the darkness, And with the aid of its light the ship reaches port. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.5.18: Now you will ask why the solitude of the last incarnation is necessary. This is a circumstance very difficult to explain from the earthly point of view, but simple and immutable as soon as one crosses beyond the line of earthly existence. Even in the ordinary approach of a ship to a harbor one observes a similar manifestation. The life of the ship ceases; the journey is ending and the passengers are busy with the matter of disembarking, and the recent united activities seem non-existent. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.7.5: On a ship traveled a trader of monkeys. In his leisure he taught the monkeys to imitate the sailors spreading their sails. A storm arose and the sailors hastened to lower the sails. The monkeys, knowing only how to spread them, followed the sailors and hoisted the sails again. The ship was lost because the teacher had foreseen only fair weather. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.1.1: 3.1.1. Of course one's own canoe, though full of holes, is better than another's ship. We value sailing only in one's own boat. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.2.6: You know how a ship rushes forward on a wave. Therefore, verily, one should nurture not the hearing but the spirit. New Era Community (1926) - 17: 17. Many a time you have heard about following our indications, and you could convince yourself that precise fulfillment of their indication is practical and beneficial. This is the first step. After this, self-action must begin. Knowing the foundations of Our Teaching it is necessary to prove to be disciples creating in full co-measurement and immutability. When the Teacher says, "Now you yourselves display the effect of My indications," it does not mean to recall old habits, to quarrel with one another, to become offended and to hurt each other. This can be left to the mule drivers. But it should be for you to remember about Our Community and emulate it in harmonious labor. When the time comes to change the course of the ship, the indication will come. But do not expect an indication about a patch for the boot. Otherwise we shall soon congratulate each other on our birthdays. New Era Community (1926) - 99: The book "Call" knew no obstacles. The book "Illumination" is like a rock. The book "Community" is like a ship before the tempest, when each sail and each rope comes to life. New Era Community (1926) - 145: 145. About the development of possibilities through action. When a determined action is created it resembles the movement of a ship. The cloven atmosphere sends out splashes of intensified matter. They are all found in the magnetic sphere of action and are temporarily subjected to it. The intersected strata of the atmosphere are very divergent; and the usefulness of the stirred-up particles is quite unexpected. In truth, he has mastered action who can take into account the activated particles of matter and, cognizing them, compress them into unity. New Era Community (1926) - 152: Day and night Our co-workers are prepared for all the scintillation of the Cosmos. In their readiness they will pass invisibly by day and will find at night the radiant path. Nothing will alarm you when you are constantly alert. The character of the seeker does not permit the ship to be ice-bound. New Era Community (1926) - 207: 207. Do not encourage cosmogonic discussions until the consciousness is affirmed. Follow goal-fitness of instruction in schools. Provide the hastening ones with opportunity for speediest advancement. If a lively ship must reduce sail in order to even up a formation, will this not be a killing of possibilities? Do you know how the harmony in the ship's sailing effort has been created? And has it not been constructed for resisting the utmost peril? How to make use of it for conveying frozen vegetables? Always preserve a possibility of responsible advancement. From the first year of school let not slow pace be a handicap for rapid pace. Let the teacher keenly discern those able to proceed swiftly. It is not necessary to praise them, but one should clear the path for them. One should create intermediate courses; the fleet ones can run up these steps. Do not conceal difficulties from them. For a certain type of consciousness every movement leading to achievement is already a light and a joy. New Era Community (1926) - 254: 254. When you meet with a valuable object on the road, covered with mud, you do not pass haughtily by. You pick up your find and cleanse the mud from it. Likewise when you encounter a valuable man covered with mire, you interrupt your pace and endeavor to cleanse him. It is the duty of the community member to affirm justice. The Teaching cannot reject true values. The community cannot deliberate as to whether he is ours or he is not ours. The community says that either he is valuable for evolution or he is not. The most severe choice is that according to essence. Austere goal-fitness obliges one to preserve the true treasures. Lose not time in defending the values. Each hour counts. And reject expressions of uncertainty. And each value is to you as the sail is to the ship. New Era Community (1926) - 263: The suffering of privations is unknown to Us, for containment excludes privation. Our Teaching represents the world as rich, joyous and attractive. Nowhere are fetters and floggings indicated. Like a ship filled with treasures does the indicated community rush along. Realization of the innumerable properties of matter brightly illuminates all. The matter of yesterday is clothed in a radiant fabric of energy, which is not in need of a new name but which penetrates all space and palpitates with the rainbow of human rejoicing. New Era Community (1926) - 267: 267. Two sailors were shipwrecked and cast away on a desert island. Both nearly perished from hunger and terror, for they considered themselves forever cut off from the world. A ship picked them up. And later there was erected on the island a strong light-house. These same two sailors remained at the light-house, to save the other perishing ones. Now their frame of mind was altered. They were happy, directing the light of rescue and no longer feeling themselves cut off from the world. This means that realization of communion with the world and of usefulness to others completely transforms people. Work in common is a pledge of success. Agni Yoga (1929) - 118: It is wrong to think that Our Communications are without effect. On the contrary, each Decree bears with it, as a whirlwind, Our protection or criticism. Can it be otherwise when each manifestation of smugness carries its own harmful contagion, when each act of narrow-mindedness is at another's expense? Each Command inattentively heard is like an arrow in the heart, each sneaking away like a chain that strangles. You know that all is suspended in space. Who would be willing to drive in the nail of his own condemnation? We hasten to help you to complete your karmas in order to rid the speeding ship of unnecessary loads. At the destined date strain your ear to grasp every word of the Teacher. Agni Yoga (1929) - 120: 120. Can the so-called miracle be expected? The most important characteristic of a "miraculous" phenomenon is, of course, its unexpectedness. The very substance of human consciousness makes such phenomena elusive. The ordinary consciousness creates obstacles by presuming conflicting conditions. The Adept of knowledge can only ask, "Dear humans, do not distract yourselves with cries of expectation when the vessel of universal essence is already producing a blessed combination. Can one expect the turning of the ship toward the right, when Our Hand directs the rudder to the left?" Only one with a clear and infallible understanding of what is immutable can be a co-worker in the world process. If a room seems empty to the eye, can we affirm that it is truly empty? Agni Yoga (1929) - 137: Sometimes even decent motives can draw unworthy individuals to a worthy person - a sort of overloading of a ship with unfit cargo. But the helmsman must guard the quality of the cargo and cut away the unfit. Especially avoid empty promises; these promises cling to the ship like barnacles. Recognize the merits of the worthy one, but do not burden him with promises. A united group must avoid mutual promises. A realization of the future structure should be the sole basis for unity. I speak not of magic circles but of the influence of real groups. Agni Yoga (1929) - 200: 200. Revelations are only for the few. The crowds will not know of the turning of the ship; and in the morning they will ask, "Where did the sail disappear to? Why is the shore so empty?" Agni Yoga (1929) - 205: Blessed India! You alone have guarded the concept of Teacher and disciple. The Guru can pilot the ship of his disciple's spirit. The Guru can dispel the attack of sleep. The Guru can raise the drooping spirit. Woe to him who has dared to lay false claim to someone as his Teacher and who then pronounces light-mindedly the word Teacher while actually honoring only himself! Truly flowers the spirit that has understood the path of ascent, and he fails who droops in uncertainty of thought. Agni Yoga (1929) - 257: 257. How should one understand the benefits of obstacles when one is told that psychic energy, acting as a magnet, attracts all possible advantages? Truly, when a large ship increases its speed the resistance of the waves increases too. Similarly, many obstacles are brought about by our own striving. It is this process that attracts to us unexpected actions by an opposing will. If they are very strong, our own counterstroke will develop accordingly. Most important, the currents opposing us should be strong, because then our flame is ignited. Agni Yoga (1929) - 267: 267. Each one who approaches Us already has an idea about the process of passing into another state of being. One can compare him to a person who has learned to travel, whereas an inexperienced traveler fears even to step on the gangplank of the ship. Agni Yoga (1929) - 271: 271. The consciousness understands the idea of motion best when it is presented in familiar forms and symbols. One should understand the true value of symbols to the consciousness. For example, the symbol of a small boat is far better than that of any modern ship; a boat, because of its vulnerability, responds more directly to the danger of the elements. Even in its seed, the spirit is subject to the action of the elements. Therefore it is good to be a friend to the elements, especially the all-binding fire. Agni Yoga (1929) - 285: One must live through difficult currents; even the ship in its voyage must face the obstacles of the elements. Agni Yoga (1929) - 307: 307. The Fiery Warriors are often called by this name because Satya Yuga begins with the approach of the element of Fire. Then those gather who are imbued with that penetrating element. The motion and striving of Fire lie at the foundation of light. Nothing can surpass light, because it is fed by the streams of omnipresent Fire. I affirm the stream of Fire as the most pure and swift. All unmanifest space is the ship of Fire. The ancient symbol of the fiery wall relates to the Fire of Space. The East knows of the Army of Fiery Warriors that will arise before the coming of the New Era. Agni Yoga (1929) - 419: 419. We know about teraphs. We know that a teraph can be astral or material. The astral teraph is higher than the material one, just as the astral world is higher than the material world. Only very developed beings can have an astral teraph, whereas material teraphs can serve any conscious spirit. The teraph is a model of an actual event or thing. A navigator can more easily understand the behavior of his ship by studying a model of the vessel. Looking at the image, people, in a way, come into contact with what is absent. Even humble fortunetellers request first of all an image or an item closely connected with the subject. These objects direct their psychic energy, in order to increase its effect, like a beacon or a milestone. Agni Yoga (1929) - 455: 455. Like a boat with sails taut in the storm, so is Our ship propelled forward. One can see that the past was simpler than the present. This does not mean that the present is burdensome and bad; it means that there has been progress. During preparations for ambushing the enemy, the command given is, "Silence!" Then only the ignorant one will raise his voice; experienced warriors keep silent, for they know that an outcry brings destruction. Agni Yoga (1929) - 458: 458. Craftiness and resourcefulness are different qualities. Craftiness is defense, cunning, a clinging to the old. Resourcefulness is the future, mobility, devotion. No one can criticize resourcefulness. When the ship speeds towards its destination, does it matter if it tacks to port or to starboard? We are not astonished at the zigzags of its course as it sails against the wind, because it conquers obstacles all the same. Agni Yoga (1929) - 650: The power of authority is not demonstrated by a flow of instructions that are pleasing to both the one who gives them and those who receive. The Teacher must be sure that the actions taken lead in the right direction - though they may take manifold forms. Just as a courageous captain can save his ship by jettisoning the cargo, or by cutting down the masts, so does the Teacher with full power of authority lead his disciples to victory. Hierarchy (1931) - 94: 94. As he embarked upon a ship, a purse of gold was stolen from a traveler. Everyone became excited, but the loser smiled and repeatedly said, "Who knows?" A storm occurred, and the ship was wrecked. And only our traveler was cast ashore. When the islanders called his salvation a miracle, he smiled again, saying, "It is simply that I paid more than the others for my passage." Hierarchy (1931) - 117: 117. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, storms, fogs, shoaling, changes of climate, sicknesses, poverty, wars, revolts, heresy, treason - what other signs does humanity expect of the threatening time? Prophets are not needed, the most insignificant scribe may testify that never as yet have so many dreadful forerunners of Earth's disintegration been gathered. But deaf is the ear and obscured the vision. There has never been such an hour of disintegration as this planetary year! It is as if a path were being laid for the waves of fire, and the obsolete monsters of other days creep away unwillingly to realize the price of that which takes place. Verily, the world is sustained by Magnets as imperceptible as the air and the flame of space, and just as indispensable as light. The Magnets sent by Us for Our manifestation are like the anchors of a ship tossed in the storm. Hierarchy (1931) - 136: 136. Only by the tension of all strength will you conquer. This must be remembered and applied. We have decided on complete success, it depends upon you to accept it. The entire garden of doubts, suspicions, fears, offenses, condemnations must be cast aside. If you desire to accept victory, every treason must be avoided, because the consequences of doubts and lack of respect for Hierarchy will disrupt all threads. When the ship is holding by only one anchor during the tempest, it is stupid to begin to change the chain. Guard the foundation, and ascend only through its growth. I shall be tireless in repeating about Hierarchy until you realize it. It is not enough to nod your head, it is time to think and to apply. I have reasons for repeating this. Heart (1932) - 15: 15. Though we be humiliated by the hypocrisy of ignoramuses, the way is one, and nothing will impede it if the heart is pure. It was wise to liken the heart to a ship, but a ship presupposes a helmsman. Courage is born of a pure heart. One can compare it to a rose, where the significance of the flower is in the number of its petals, but if they are torn off, the flower itself is injured. Thus, guard the defense of the heart. It is wise to understand that only the lord of the flower has access to all the petals. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 278: 278. The physician should not be surprised to observe that symptoms of obsession are assuming the proportions of an epidemic. They are far more numerous that the human mind imagines. Moreover, the varieties are highly diverse - from almost imperceptible eccentricity up to violence. I commend the physician for noticing a connection with venereal diseases. Truly, this is one of the channels of obsession. It can be said that the majority of those suffering from venereal disease are not strangers to obsession. However, in one way the physician has proved too optimistic - although venereal disease facilitates the entry of obsession, its cure does not lie in an eviction of the obsessor. Thus, also, irritation in extreme forms may invite an obsessor, but one must not expect that the first smile will eject him. A complete science is contained in such observation. The physician is correct in wishing to visit not only insane asylums but also prisons. It would not be out of place to visit the stock exchange also, or the deck of a ship in time of danger. One can observe chronic, protracted or temporary symptoms. Likewise, the perspiration can be observed. Many characteristics will gradually become evident to the observer. Among them, details of the Subtle World will be traced. One thing, however, remains incontestable - the ejection of the obsessor does not depend on physical methods. Only Agni, only the pure energy, can oppose this human calamity. I repeat the word calamity, because it is commensurate with the extent of the epidemic. A great number of physicians will regard Agni as a superstition and belief in obsession as ignorance. People so often endow others with their own qualities. But, at the same time, obsessors of all degrees will be troubled by these investigations. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 408: 408. The Great Architect builds eternally. It is senseless to suppose that certain parts of the Universe are completed and remain static. A great deal is made of the term evolution , but people have absolutely no conception of this process in its actuality. There has been much argument about the social structure, but it always has been presumed that human society exists in something inflexible and finite. The stories of the Deluge and of the glacial period are regarded almost as merely symbolic. and it is not proper even to speak of Atlantis, despite the testimonies of the Greek writers. One can see how the human consciousness evades everything that threatens its established comfort. Likewise, the concept of evolution is turned into an abstraction, thus not disturbing the consciousness of the petrified heart in the least. But does not the heavenly vault evoke thoughts about eternal motion? Only through such evolutionary concepts can one absorb the beauty of the earthly pilgrimage as the sojourn for ascent. The very briefness of the path should not disturb one, on the contrary, it should give one joy, as does the rotation of the sun. It is urgently necessary to expound to what extent evolution is incessantly in the hands of the Great Architect of the Universe. One should feel that the planet is in space, just as seamen know that the vast ocean is beneath their ship. At first seamen were terrified by this suspension over an abyss, but reality and experience accustom them to this truth. Every inhabitant of the planet is on a similar ship - below him is the abyss. The seamen cannot depend entirely upon their ship and scientific calculations, if they could there would be no shipwrecks. Astronomy knows a few heavenly bodies, but it does not know the starting point of the comets, and it does not anticipate the gigantic meteors. Only upon their obvious appearance are people notified, The destruction of entire worlds is sometimes noticed, but more often it occurs without attracting any attention. Astronomy is a night watchman! But what about the events taking place by day? Thus, we observe only approximately half of that which is evident. How much that is unexpected is concealed from the sleeping heart! Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 440: 440. The bringing of fire is the ancient symbol of the purification of the spirit. The seed of the spirit itself cannot be defiled, but a ship can become covered with barnacles, which hinder its course. The Fiery Mother understands when the necessity of cleaning the seed approaches. The new sowing can be accomplished only with pure seeds. One must help when the time comes for the Sower to go out into the field. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 591: 591. Resurrection and immortality - do they not direct our thoughts toward the foundation of Being? But even these undeniable truths impel men toward disunity rather than cooperation. Many are the streams of Benefaction poured upon Earth. The manifestation of Benefaction occurs far more often than is generally supposed, yet the sacred gifts are accepted by men far more rarely than might be hoped. Thus is the law of free will peculiarly interpreted by Earth-dwellers. The dark forces try their utmost to prevent the manifestations of Benefaction. The self-will of people encourages various perversions. One should observe how at times benevolent thoughts flash out, to be extinguished as if by the pressure of a black hand. You were shown how even a powerful ray is subject to the schemes of the dark ones. Therefore I repeat about the unprecedented times. It is a fallacy for anyone to continue to regard the present time as normal. No self-hypnosis or reminiscing can help the ship in a storm; only the solid rock of the future can hold the anchor! So many raging voices are shrieking from out of space, intent on hindering the course of the ship! Therefore the black eagle struggles with such fierceness, but out of the Dawn comes the White One, and with him the streams of Benefaction! Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 647: 647. When I say, "Burden me more," I do not deviate from the aforementioned economy of forces. It should be known that burdening develops the resistance of the seed of the spirit. One cannot reject the law of gravity. Thus should one understand the value of burdening. Any seaman can tell you about the need of a ballast for a ship. No sailor would even consider putting to sea on a ship without cargo. Equally useful is a load amidst earthly tempests. Do not fear burdening, it will only reveal the fire of the heart. Thus should one think upon each action. And thus should one end each advice. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 229: 229. A good attitude is still far from acceptance and excellent relations. One may recall an old fairy-tale A grandfather prepared an unsinkable fabric for his grandson, before the later put out to sea. But the grandson covered the roof with this cloth. Thus, when the storm struck, his ship and he quietly went to the bottom, and his grandfather was unable to help him. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 529: 529. Clouds rush along, but the ship reaches the harbor. Yet the sailor must not think about the watery depths under the hull of his ship. Likewise, there are abysses around, and one should not be frightened by them. AUM (1936) - 22: 22. A ship succeeds in returning when the sea is calm, but seamen know how storms arise and they plan ahead for unforeseen delays. Thus, in the very best decisions it is possible to foresee elemental difficulties. But there are no frightful outbreaks of chaos where the spirit is striving toward the higher worlds - it soars above the waves of chaos. Brotherhood (1937) - 237: 237. Not only is one to be called a wayfarer who is already found upon the way but also one who has been making ready for the path. It is just the same with a world event: it has already been formulated, it already exists, even though the ship has not yet pulled up the anchor. It is needful to distinguish outer movement from inner readiness. Certain people attach no significance to inner readiness. For them, if something is not in motion before the eyes of everyone it means that it does not exist. Let us return again to medical examples. Many sicknesses may be in process inwardly, presenting no external symptoms. Only in the last stage are they manifested, when treatment is already useless. Let us not consider the process only when in its fatal stage. So it is too in human relations. Brotherhood (1937) - 243: 243. Cooperation is not easily achieved. For its assimilation a whole series of lives is sometimes required. People understand with difficulty the combining of individuality with communal labor. The human consciousness tosses like a ship in a storm, forgetting about synthesis. Brotherhood (1937) - 449: 449. A presentiment is sometimes called the figurehead of the ship. It runs in advance and does not allow itself to be overtaken. The new consciousness understands that the ship has a bow and a stern, but superstition adds to the bow of the ship the most fantastic image. Similarly, human thinking adorns the simplest sensations with unheard of forms. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 36: 36. Urusvati understands the significance of the calmness necessary for action. People find many ways to explain this quality. Some think that without an effort of the will there can be no calm. Others see calmness as a true innate characteristic, and still others say that a crooked beginning brings a crooked end, or that calmness depends upon the method of labor. All of these observations have a part of the truth in them, but the most basic one, the quality of experience, is often forgotten. An inexperienced seaman is apprehensive when boarding a ship, but after ten voyages he astonishes those around him by his calmness. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 38: Let Our Sister recall how often she has spoken in the subtle body with women completely unknown to her, and how often she has witnessed quarrels and misunderstandings. But the work of enlightenment does not tarry. Entire nations strive for knowledge, and with knowledge full rights will come. We can show Our records of the women's movements, and the results are encouraging. One should not think in a routine way. At present, the world has exceeded its bounds, the ship has lost its course, and the cosmic whirl speeds its movement. We are at the helm, but other sailors should also help. The terror of Armageddon can be transformed into a manifestation of success, but first Armageddon must be discerned and the meaning of Hierarchy understood. The role of woman in the world's economy has been strengthened. Never before have so many women been called to high positions. Our Counsels penetrate into far-off places. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 195: The Thinker said, "How can we trust a military leader who was never in a battle? How can we know the quality of a ship which has never been to sea? Truly, exertion is blessed, for through intense labor we prepare ourselves for higher understanding. One cannot move without bringing the muscles into motion. One cannot rise in spirit without sharpening the consciousness. Only in labor do we experience that ardor which takes us to our highest Guides.
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