Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 431: 431. The Teacher sees in a mirror a picture of all your movements. The signs of your fatigue surround you, like smoke. Yet above your shoulders rays of decisiveness pierce the cloud of weariness. Your heads are adorned with rays of silver. Auras of strangers crowd at your feet like abutments of a bridge. The power of courage forces these auras downward with purple arrows. The blue flame of the heart pierces the smoke of weariness. Labor continues, and the rays reach ever higher. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 1.9.17: One can understand people's wearisome thought when one peers into human breath; like smoke it clouds the air. The suffering is transmitted on the waves of the ether. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 1.11.9: 1.11.9. Through fire, through smoke, through miracles, through faith - walk! Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.3.19: It is not necessary to explain the Laws of Fearlessness and Righteousness, and it is easy to understand the Law of Containment, but the Law of Nearness must be elucidated. At the approach of certain Signs and Images ordained by dates, a specially saturated atmosphere gathers, as if clouds of smoke were overcasting Heaven and Earth. That which had been clear begins to crumble, and, as if in a whirlwind, falls to pieces. Even physically this period is difficult, but during this period certain dates are being pronounced which stand as milestones on the road. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.6.12: There is nothing worse than a candle of villany. Christ does not need such worshippers, for the smoke of their candles is smutting His garment. The waters of Jordan the Urdar could not cleanse away the traces of such offerings. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.8.15: One wishes to say: "Dear travelers, look upward. And if instead of clinging to the illusions of Earth you wish to fly farther, then your wings will grow. Instead, you have encumbered by the same miserable hovels the whole astral plane. The same slander, the same illusory smoke, but you forget that your phantoms fume malodorously. The rays of the sun are dimmed by your feasts of dullness. Empty shells create empty shells." New Era Community (1926) - 35: 35. Paracelsus used to say; "per aspera, ad astra." Later, this remarkable maxim became a device upon shields and coats of arms, losing all meaning. True, understanding its meaning it is difficult to attach oneself to Earth alone. As a smoke escaping through a chimney, the attained spirit rushes into manifested space. What kind of dimensions for it can earthly garments offer? What kind of mobility can the spirit manifest on the surface of the Earth? What thoughts can it share with and upon the earthly sphere? New Era Community (1926) - 101: It is instructive to observe how thought infects space - an analogy may be obtained in likening it to the process of gunfire. The bullet flies far, but the dispersal of the smoke depends upon atmospheric conditions. The density of the atmosphere forces the smoke for a long time to cloak the sunrise. Hence, take care about your thinking. Also, learn to think beautifully and briefly. Many do not see the distinction between thought for action and a reflex of the brain. It is necessary to know how to cut short reflexive spasms that lead to semi-consciousness. The development of reflexive activity is similar to intoxication. New Era Community (1926) - 260: When the house was ablaze, people still played at dice and mistook the smoke of the fire for the smoke of the hearth. Agni Yoga (1929) - 47: We saw how the red flame of revolt turned into nothing more than smoke in the hearth. We saw the many banners of light resewn to cover layers of prejudice. We became aware of how lofty edifices were used for bazaars. Timid ignorance has woven its nets and feared, above all, to push away from the mossy shores covered with decayed bones. Agni Yoga (1929) - 50: 50. When will people understand the significance of thought and word? People still lend greater importance to the spilling of a sack of ordinary seeds than to the spilling of destructive words. Any rodent can pick up the seeds, but even an Arhat may not be able to clear away the consequences of thought and word. When people depart for a sea voyage they take with them only carefully chosen things; but in their speech they are unwilling to pay attention to its meaning, and to the consequences of their words. We do not threaten, but We do point out the first signs of smoke curling from under your shirt. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 18: You did not realize the achievement of the difficult task; and you do not ascribe human obscurity to the prototype of your actions. There is no ground for blaming devastations upon the cosmic whirls; in this is not evil but necessity. Each manifestation of Cosmos has its application in Eternity. And, as is the devastation, so is the accumulation subject to the rhythm which is inseparable from the affirmed course of your earthly events. The difference is that Zeus, in creating a cosmic storm, fills space with ozone; whereas your earthly Zeus, creator of wrath, fills the sphere with suffocating smoke. In this, the lowest and the highest do not meet. Hierarchy (1931) - 67: Beginning with such observations, one can arrive at valuable conclusions which, when accumulated, will bring great benefits to humanity. Because the time has now arrived for especially keen application of the psychic laws. It is time to gather into the chalice of patience all the designs and to remember that each fluctuation of climate and atmospheric pressures also exerts its deep influence upon the psychic laws. Let us apply the most precise scale for weighing our thoughts, and let us remember that each oxidization of metals exerts influence upon the character and quality of thoughts. Smoke, and also the odor of burning refuse or meat, is always harmful. Let us not forget that dust, like particles of decay, penetrates the pores of the body. Let us calmly discriminate in all the details of life, not for self-vindication, but for the investigation of our nature and acceptance of the measures of perfection. Heart (1932) - 267: 267. You are familiar with the music of the spheres, the spatial bells, and the reverberating strings. It will be asked why, then, do not a multitude of people know these manifestations. But, then, why is a multitude of people satisfied with false intonation, absolutely refusing to realize the nuances of sound? Whereas even the rustle of tearing paper rends space, but the majority of persons do not even notice it. So it is with odor. The aromas of the Subtle World often penetrate to the physical world, but people primarily do not wish to notice them. Even the smoke of a conflagration is noticed by people only when it already chokes their throats. Not only insensibility but immobility as well makes the people blind and deaf. They do not possess even basic imagination; hence they distort the entire meaning of existence. Thus, for these shallow-minded ones the magnet of the heart is pure nonsense. Heart (1932) - 505: 505. The lack of observation among people is shocking! Try to fill a room gradually with smoke and observe who of those present will first notice it. Usually the state of self-satisfaction is immediately transformed into despair. The horror lies in that the despair is replaced by self-satisfaction. Thus, regard the chief misfortune as lying in non-rhythmical oscillations. With Us, attention is paid primarily to observation that contributes to the harmonization of the centers. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 42: 42. Upon the sky you inscribe words in smoke. Perhaps you do not know that the Chaldeans up on their ziggurats wrote in space when the dates approached. Thus, cooperation was established with the luminaries, and chemical rays speedily fortified the earthly solutions. In their turn, scientists affixed in space their findings. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 185: 185. Of course, every one is at liberty to determine his own destiny and even his final disintegration. But soulless beings are highly infectious and harmful. Obsession occurs easily during such a depleted condition. Do not regard it as an exaggeration that almost half of the planet's population is exposed to this danger. True, it varies in degree, yet once the decomposition sets in it progresses rapidly. One can notice the same thing amidst past cultures. The fires of the spirit died out like smoky bonfires, and all smoke is poisonous unless some useful substance is added to it. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 430: 430. The inhalation of fire is practiced by certain yogis and is a purifying action. One should not understand this literally. One cannot inhale flames, but fiery emanations are useful. For such inhalation, the yogi chooses a quiet place, keeping his spine erect. Before him the yogi makes a fire of deodar wood, or, if deodar is unavailable, twigs of balu, so arranged that the smoke does not reach him. Then the yogi performs the usual pranayama, but in such a way that the emanations of the resin reach his breathing. There are two results - first, a purification of the body; second, the strengthening of the Agni energy. Nothing so helps the kindling of Agni as the properties of deodar. As you know insects cannot endure the strength of deodar resin. You also know that imperfect entities cannot approach the fire of this wood. Usually, the deodars prefer a volcanic soil to grow in; in this way a significant kinship is manifested. Volcanic soil in general merits study, along with its vegetation. Not only has the inhalation of fire been practiced by the yogis but also lying on deodar planks so that the spine comes in contact with the heart of the wood. Various records of antiquity indicate how ardently people have sought the fiery element. Experiments are necessary in order to understand the value of deodar. The significance of fire should be remembered in order to understand volcanic soil. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 593: 593. Around the place of manufacture of high explosives people do not smoke, they wear special soft footwear, they avoid any metallic objects, they do not even speak loudly, and they do not breathe in the ordinary manner. There, where danger threatens their flesh, people are ready to renounce habits, but it never enters their heads that thought can result in a far more dangerous explosion, invisible yet irreparable. Terror helps people to guard themselves against bodily dangers. But the entire spatial life does not exist for them. They can blaspheme at the Great Forces and rejoice at the misfortunes of others, if their own ruin is not immediately visible to them. The loss of spatial co-measurement in Infinity consumes all the better possibilities. Whereas, the present time is precisely the last chance to join the dense with the subtle and even with the fiery. One should begin to think persistently and clearly in the direction of the merging of Worlds. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 601: 601. Artificial calculations, not illumined by the fire of the heart, bring misfortunes and confusion to the world. People lose the meaning of life. Not only for themselves but for all generations to come they leave a heritage of smoke and poisonous fumes. Thus is it needful to turn to thought as the creative path. Each one possesses sufficiency in thoughts, if only he were reminded from childhood about the treasure, manifested and ordained. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 276: Long ago, the Thinker noticed that the smoke of campfires is harmful, and urged people to use a kind of wood whose smoke does not obscure the consciousness. He knew then that at some time mankind would poison itself and all that exists. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 416: The Thinker long ago observed how poisonous the smoke from furnaces and bonfires could be. When He saw lighted torches, He remarked, "Whose destiny is it to inhale such poison?"
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