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Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.3.18:
I will say something of great importance; People study visions too little. It is precisely by following the character of the visions that the best history of the intellect may be written. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.2.11:
3.2.11. You already know about the two commanders of Akbar - let us add something about a third. This one asked: "Why are tardiness and prematurity equally condemned?" Akbar replied: "My friend, there are no equal values. Hence, if the prematurity embraces resourcefulness its merit is the greater, because tardiness is linked only with death. Prematurity is to be adjudged, but tardiness is already condemned." Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.3.7:
3.3.7. When someone bars your way, step aside in silence if you know your path. When you have to find shelter, find good words for the host. If your path is broad, when the hour of departure strikes, find good words for those remaining. When a tree blossoms by the roadside, do not break it; maybe it will give joy to those coming after you. When you hear a call of greeting, do not spoil it. When you hear a singing bird, do not shake the tree. When you see children approaching, say, "We have been expecting you." When you are hurrying for supper, step on dry stones. When you go to rest, set your thoughts in order. When you hear something pleasant about yourself, do not write it down in a note book. When you think about an offense, look back for the dust on the floor. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.6:
The embryo of proprietorship is also fear, the feeling that one must be attached to the Earth at least by something! As if a miserable hovel could be an adequate anchor for the spirit! As if a heap of personal belongings could protect one from the lightning! Periodically the injurious playthings of ownership have been taken away from humanity. But again fear, the father of lies, spins his cobweb and again terrors are concocted. Therefore, let us abolish fear. With it will depart property ownership and boredom. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.7:
Buddha mentioned quietude, but only this external aspect was assimilated by his listeners. For to the people who heard him the idea of rest was very attractive. Action as something meritorious is too little understood. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.12:
Very ancient mysteries said: "The lingam is the vessel of wisdom," but in time this knowledge was converted into hideous phallic cults, and religion began to prohibit something without knowing exactly why. Whereas, it should have been said simply that the fact of conception is so wondrous that it is impossible to deal with it by ordinary measures. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.6.1:
People have distorted the meaning of the word "harmony." Into this concept there has been inserted something clerical, a fold of the chiton, the immortelle of non-existent love, and even a knotted stocking. It were better, without any harps, to replace this withered concept with a more energetic one: let us say "sensitiveness of cooperation." Without it the Community cannot exist. Violation of it provokes resentment; resentment begets dullness and stupidity. New Era Community (1926) - 26:
26. If matter is everywhere then even light leaves behind its protoplasm. All manifestations of light cannot be regarded as accidental. Certain eyes are able to catch the network of light. Because of the loftiness of the energy of light, all these formations are very beautiful. Dissonance of sound is far more frequent. The protoplasm of light is not something abstract, its sediments adorn the vegetable kingdom. The rhythm of waves and sands and the crust of the planet are notably stabilized by the nodes of light. Learn to love the formation of light. It is not so much the images impressed upon canvas as the caught vibrations of light that have significance. The quality of the glance is completely unappreciated. It is like a ray for the photographic film. It must be kept in mind that through the spiritual gaze we establish the image of the elemental spirits. Similarly does the physical glance arrest in space the network of light. The significance of this cooperation should be known. Each movement of man is bound with the essential nature of the elements. New Era Community (1926) - 101:
It is easier to observe one sensitive apparatus which fixes the quality of thinking. It is possible to see spirals going upwards or descending into a darkish vapor - the most graphic illustration of the materialistic process of thinking through the quality of inner potential. These simple manifestations have a dual significance first, they detect the ignorant ones who image matter as something inert and lacking anything in common with the seat of consciousness; second, they have a significance for those seekers who will be responsible to themselves for the quality of their thinking. New Era Community (1926) - 135:
Verily, when something can be simplified and adorned, it is our duty to do so. Blindly to be attached to something borne by the current would be like being in a shipwreck. One must comprehend the significance of the current. The indicated mobility is only a preparation for the realization of the great current. As an unfailing spiral fed by the forces of matter does the eternal current rush along. Thought can overtake the light that follows the current. New Era Community (1926) - 149:
To observe the movements of the consciousness one should take photographs of physical radiations. This process of photography must be carried out very precisely. You have heard about the visible symptoms of illness, of their being reflected on photographic prints. Besides these perturbations there may be observed, as it were, blue spots floating in the field of radiation. One may know that the consciousness is being condensed in these moments. Then a photograph may show something like flaming streams sweeping away the blue condensations, which means that the hero is ready for the next achievement. From an accurately made photograph of such radiations there could result an important popular understanding of the concealed qualities of man's organism. New Era Community (1926) - 157:
Our messenger has but to proclaim any elementary truth to be suspected of some sort of machinations of the Community. He may pronounce, "Energy and light," apparently the simplest of concepts, but the city-dweller already senses some attempt against his comfort. The city-dweller is so accustomed to considering himself something dense and dark that he does not admit that he could prove to be a source of physical light. But even children are not astonished if an electric spark emanates from them. New Era Community (1926) - 174:
If the principle of a manifestation has been found, its dimensions depend upon technique. Thus, transference of sensitivity can take on the most diverse dimensions. Let us say - in a certain location there must be founded a new community. The place may have all the necessary signs, but surrounding conditions may temporarily constitute a grave danger. Then let us take a new location and transfer to it the possibilities of the first. In our consciousness we have not broken away from the possibilities of the first place, and we experience the effect of the first decision in laying the foundations for the future structure. Whether something is to be on the fiftieth parallel or twenty degrees farther south, it is essential to preserve the enlightenment of constructiveness. New Era Community (1926) - 198:
198. In the recent past, in accordance with the plan of My Friend, We often visited Western cities. At that time We encountered casual individuals who suspected something about Us. The most persistent inquiries were addressed to Us - about the methods of psycho-mechanics and demands for the most precise biochemical formulas. Besides, with the conceitedness of the West, these people were never concerned about their own consciousness and did not attempt to learn whether they possessed the corresponding physical qualities. It is sad to contemplate that this opportunity was unaccompanied by any aspirations for social welfare. As the caveman with his club hastened to gather colored sea-shells as his exclusive property, so did these dwellers of stone places try to appropriate for themselves qualities foreign to them. Moreover, the caveman adorned himself with the shells, but the contemporary wiseacres degraded knowledge into after-dinner coffee talk - it was a spectacle of shameful lightmindedness. New Era Community (1926) - 198:
He who wishes to plow must have his plow. He who wishes to attain must understand his weapon. The people of the West have overshadowed their consciousness with the weightiest thoughts, but the joy of knowledge has become something almost indecent. Joy of realization must become the prerogative of the New World. New Era Community (1926) - 211:
Affirmation of cooperation is not the result of a formal examination. Only through action and resoluteness is it possible to approach the heart of the Community. Teach not to let possibilities slip by. If resoluteness and action lead to gratitude, then imprudence and negligence create an obstacle difficult to remove. The co-worker who neglects action through immobility is left to his own devices. This is not a penalty, but a practical means for showing him his failure. Rarely, it is true, one does recognize his own failure, and then a small independent exercise is put to him something goes with difficulty, something creaks and does not come off. One should not suspect magical measures; the attention of the Community has simply flown away temporarily, and the stilts of inexperience sway in the wind. In any case, the reaction of the collective, which represents the Community, will be a strong one, and without this concentration it is difficult for one to proceed who has already once tried the path of good of the Community. New Era Community (1926) - 220:
You can imagine the number of people who are striving toward Our Community. So many testimonies, so many approving attitudes, but into the basis of judgments only reality is placed. Thus comport yourselves in the founding of new communities. See that family ties have no significance. See that former friendship and enmity be carefully examined; that no testimonies bend a resolution - personal examination, personal testing, personal responsibility. I advise you to begin the testing with a proposal to rest, not to work. Each one who is glad not to work is no co-worker of yours. You may ask whether the services of the newcomer are recognized by ungrateful humanity. Each complainer is no co-worker of yours. You may ask whether he himself is responsible for the past or others are. Your co-worker will not impose responsibility for his past on others. Furthermore, note that, left alone, he does not move objects about. The man who is imbued with the importance of what is around him, does not disturb any process unknown to him. The man who knows something of the essence of objects, displays care with reference to your arrangement. Look after the silent ones especially sharply. New Era Community (1926) - 221:
221. When We speak about the formation of psychic energy into a conscious weapon, it may be asked, "With what to begin?" One must begin with realization of its presence. For this realization it is necessary to begin with one of the most fundamental concepts. Sometimes this unfittingly has been called faith, but it is better to call it trust. Faith corresponds to self-hypnosis. Trust conforms to self-analysis. Faith is indefinite in its essence. Trust confirms infallibility. We proceed by the path of infallibility. It is no superstition to cognize the power of the human apparatus. It is enough to ponder upon the processes of thinking or of a reflex, or even of digestion. One could easily note the action of nerve centers, yet something unifies their activity unconsciously, without entering the boundaries of the reason. This organ has been called the spirit, but again this definition is not clear, as in it there is no striving. New Era Community (1926) - 227:
Moments of disintegration of the consciousness are characteristically reflected on the physical radiation. There can be seen something like puffs of gray vapor drifting downward from the solar plexus this confirms the fact that we have to do with an energy - briefly stated, great Aum has turned to ashes. Already in childhood we see how aspiration is reduced to ashes. New Era Community (1926) - 232:
We permit certain of Our discourses to be written down, not to draw reproach or opposition but for the consciousness of those who have at some time heard about Our Community - who have learned something about an unrealized dream which somewhere has been brought into life. In the night hours someone was tormented with thoughts and forthwith enhanced the legend. To them is it needful to transmit Our discourses. New Era Community (1926) - 241:
Verbal renunciation is like the gesture of a monkey. Ask your interlocutor how he thinks about the community. Affirm you understanding from this thinking. A word contains a thousand thoughts. It is too crude to attribute to a word a precise expressiveness. Only comparison of concepts can determine the quality of thinking. Ask him what is for him most unacceptable. By what is he most attracted? Ask more than once, as otherwise the most important will be forgotten. People have not been accustomed to define clearly the unacceptable. Decrepit man does not agree, but fears to account for it to himself. A child is attracted to something but does not know how to reflect about the basic cause. The new age is in need of responsible clarity. How indispensable it is to force people to think about the causes of non-acceptance! Revelation of the causes is half-way to acceptance. New Era Community (1926) - 245:
245. Adaptability is the best means for conservation of forces. Often it is asked how to develop this quality. The development of adaptability actually takes place in the current of life. To all is known the sensation of the boundaries of spheres. When you go out of a playhouse into a gray street, it seems to you that you have fallen into a lower sphere. When after solemn festivities you turn to ordinary toil, you become struck with the sad everydayness. When out of the dismal cold you enter a beautiful building, it appears to be the crown of perfection. A sluggish adaptability produces a series of false concepts. This falseness makes you timid and awkward. People cringe before the mirage of an effect. They constrict their own concepts before something unexpected, whereas everything must take place in an opposite manner. Sternly accustom yourselves to the reception of contrasting sensations, to the grasping of unexpectedness. All is expected, because all is realized. Agni Yoga (1929) - 39:
39. It is erroneous to believe that it is easy to lose something on Earth. It is even more difficult to find something. The word loss suggests that something was acquired. All that is acquired will drag behind him who acquired. At times it is impossible to be rid of one's possessions, both material and intangible. Therefore We advise acceptance of possessions with full responsibility for them. This permits improvement of the quality of one's possessions and thoughts. To drag along tattered survivals is burdensome. Agni Yoga (1929) - 76:
Gratitude and devotion flourish joyously in Our Community. If Our conduit brings word to Us that a co-worker thinks he has sacrificed something in the name of the Teaching, this would compel Us to reject his cooperation. Our co-workers know both how to receive and to give. When you spread Our Teaching do not shout in the square, but simply offer a smile to the approaching ones. Those who come voluntarily will accept the Teacher. But he who is ensnared will gnaw at his chains. We expect joy, and accept only the wondrous flower of devotion. Let us hasten to understand the Teacher! Agni Yoga (1929) - 130:
Also, one must understand another ability of the Arhat. One must know how to pass through certain periods of life unnoticeable to the eyes of others. Arrows of excessive attention destroy the purple protecting net. This phenomenon may soon become visible. We do not hesitate to offer the concept of the Arhat, until recently unknown to science, as something that can be proved by experiment. Thus can a bridge to the far-off worlds be built, and life will be discovered where only death had been anticipated. Agni Yoga (1929) - 141:
Can the individual himself know when he has begun or completed something? In the physical body it is impossible to know all about oneself. Many lives forge one chain of consciousness, and one should leave it to the faithful Brothers to pronounce the hour when the Lotus will open. They can decide on the needed goal-fitness, and in this decision and in the depth of trust lies a mastery over karma. Agni Yoga (1929) - 158:
158. People believe they can attain perfection by many methods. This multiplicity of mirages lulls the mediocre mind. But one really has only two ways to live: either wisely and ardently to seek the realization of Aum, or to lie in a coffin like a log - self-centered and impoverished in spirit - assuming that one's destiny will be taken care of by something or someone else. Agni Yoga (1929) - 166:
166. Everyone has within himself some kind of Yoga, even if only in a rudimentary stage or in a distorted form. People can be classified not only according to the elements, but also according to Yogas. Often in a hypocrite you find a perversion of Bhakti Yoga; in an overbearing athlete, Hatha Yoga; in a zealot, Raja Yoga; and in a bigot, Jnana Yoga. But what can match the heights of the true Yoga, which links the earthly consciousness with the cosmic pulse? Can one imagine anything that could replace the fundamental striving of the incarnate spirit; something that could imbue one with astral understanding; something that would make clear the purpose of mankind's existence? It is the study of Agni Yoga that brings one closer to the far-off worlds. Agni Yoga (1929) - 190:
190. On the way to Us do not forget to take all that you recognize as valuable. It is instructive to develop an understanding of values. Often, even people who know something of the domain of the spirit continue to give their attention to mediocre and ugly things. They forget that ugly things serve the forces of darkness. A yogi must know quite clearly the true quality of everything. Agni Yoga (1929) - 252:
252. Every illusion can be made real, for it carries a seed of reality that can be enhanced and revealed. Illusions should be regarded as fireflies. Who would want to extinguish something that brings light? Agni Yoga (1929) - 254:
254. The striving of most people has little to do with psychic energy. Certain properties of this energy have been completely lost to their consciousness. It is most difficult for humanity to realize the infiniteness of energy and its ability to act independently. People easily sense energy in relation to physical actions, but they little realize something much more remarkable - that psychic energy can act independently at great distances. Like a cannon ball that speeds from the cannon producing its individual effect, so our energy can create results completely independent and long-lasting. Of course the durability of the results depends on the reserve of energy. One can project energy consciously, but one can also project it subconsciously if it is directed frequently in the same way. When the cannonball of energy has been propelled afar, then one may feel a temporary exhaustion of energy. But he who knows this can happen will not be concerned. On the contrary, he will reinforce the act of transmission with his own consciousness. Agni Yoga (1929) - 272:
272. The Teacher never belittles. Only when something has taken place can it then be described. Agni Yoga (1929) - 280:
280. Amidst his enemies' assaults, Akbar was asked why there were so many attacks. Akbar replied, "Let the enemies have something to do." Agni Yoga (1929) - 303:
An enemy is something unknown, one which must be recognized, conquered, and transformed into the familiar - properly speaking, the cognized. During this process one should also observe oneself. Approaching his quarry, the hunter must calculate each of his actions. Agni Yoga (1929) - 304:
Our Indications foresee all possibilities, and in their manifestation they are quite varied. The danger lies elsewhere. Often a person, having mastered a possibility, then becomes careless about it. The festival flower is brought down into ordinary life, as something ordinary. Of course flowers are always pleasing, but it is better to transform everyday life into a festival of the spirit than to dirty the flowers with everyday dust. Agni Yoga (1929) - 391:
391. Recently I sent you a Tibetan coin, and it was placed in the middle of the table under a notebook, in order that it might be found more easily. But no one thought to pick up the notebook. In the morning the maid happened to move the coin to a more noticeable spot, but even then no one noticed it until evening, when it was found by following a new Indication. Similar things often happen in accordance with the action of karma. Something is sent, but it must be recognized and accepted. So many small things clutter one's view that sent gifts remain unnoticed. Agni Yoga (1929) - 402:
402. Still another enemy threatens the Teaching - distrust, which destroys the almost-achieved, the most important. It is astonishing to see how unable people are to cope with what is new to them! Their self-respect is so limited, and their imagination so impoverished, that people are usually afraid to even think that something out of the ordinary could exist. It is always easier to deny than to investigate. Be destroyed, all ye who deny! Without your narrow thinking the sun will shine the brighter and the stronghold of knowledge will be raised the higher. Agni Yoga (1929) - 418:
418. The Teaching does not exist outside of life. The Teacher does not come from outside of life. In order to treat different problems of the spirit in the co-workers, We apply various methods. It is not appropriate to apply one remedy for all sicknesses. Also, We do not reject something of evident value just because of one not yet eradicated ugly trait. Agni Yoga (1929) - 420:
420. The material teraph was usually made as a sculpted image, by using any object to which was added something belonging to a person referred to in the ritual. Often, after the death of the owner of the teraph, it was put into the tomb, as in ancient Egypt and in the burial monuments of the Mayans and Etruscans. When the funeral rites required cremation, the teraph followed into the fire. Agni Yoga (1929) - 420:
In the Temple of Israel there was a general teraph for all uses, but for each ritual something belonging to the subject was placed under the teraph. Eventually, in the various countries there were scattered a multitude of teraphs, each one filled with the accumulations of many psychic transmissions. It is curious to observe the continued vitality of these accumulations of psychic energy. One can truly see that teraphs retain their power over thousands of years, like a seed that lives, manifesting undying power. Agni Yoga (1929) - 441:
You could have observed already that Our Indications relate to the very heart of events. I often speak of trust, not because I doubt it, but because what is obvious hinders one from seeing the inner currents. Everyone can recall having mistaken the incidental for the fundamental, and thus having forged mistaken notions about physical nature. But this also can be said of ideas about the element of fire. Someone may narrow-mindedly muse, "Our ancestors lived without fire, yet journeyed to the grave as honored citizens. What have I to do with fire? Let it be the concern of my cook!" But the wise one thinks, "Whence come the unexplainable epidemics, withering the lungs, the throat, and the heart? Beyond all the apparent causes there is something undetected by the physicians. It is not the circumstances of life, but other conditions that wipe out so many lives." This way of unprejudiced observation leads to right conclusions. Agni Yoga (1929) - 442:
442. Certainly, the wisest course is to partake of food only when the body has need of it. Also, food taken just twice daily is sufficient. But in view of the circumstances of present-day life, this is difficult to follow. Therefore the stomach can be given its work at specified times. The most harmful is consumption of food at any time with no real need. An orderly life is not something shameful, for one must carefully protect the apparatus built through the ages. Agni Yoga (1929) - 448:
After a long silence the pupil says, "Perhaps I do feel some cold and see something like a flashing of stars." Agni Yoga (1929) - 457:
457. One can sometimes notice in children strange and fleeting glances, as if they see something unexplainable. Sometimes they may speak of a fire, of stars, or of sparks. Of course, adults usually attribute this to illness or foolishness, but attention must be paid to just such children. As is known, younger children can easily see astral images and, furthermore, especially sensitive ones can even see the fires of space. Such organisms should be carefully observed from their early days. Be assured that in them lie the promises of Agni Yoga, and if placed in pure surroundings, they will freely fulfill these promises in an exemplary way. Chiefly, their minds should not be polluted with outworn ideas, nor should fear of the unusual be instilled in them. Agni Yoga (1929) - 485:
485. Some people are called bearers of happiness, some of unhappiness. Many examples and much evidence can be found. Let us assume that something like this exists, and let us look at it from a psycho-physical point of view. In addition to karmic effects, there is something that attracts or repels happiness. By a series of physical experiments, one can demonstrate that certain combinations of elements will determine the degrees of attraction and repulsion. The stronger the presence of the basic energy in people, the more positive will be their effect. If this main element is fire, then the other needed elements will be drawn like moths toward the light. This means that even success can be revealed and measured in physical terms, and it is useful to know one's own essence. Agni Yoga (1929) - 540:
Of course, you may be certain that We do not speak against the mastery and application of energies, but We are concerned and want to warn that it is urgent to acquire protection when making contact with new energies. All Our experiences indicate that psychic energy will always be ready to transmute the assault of other energies into something useful. We saw how psychic energy could, like inoculation, prevent the possibility of sickness. In the same way, it can transform the effects of all other energies into beneficial ones. Agni Yoga (1929) - 545:
When you are spreading the Teaching, do not wonder why so few understand its urgent necessity. In immature thinking, one trait prevails - ideas about the future are distorted. The approach of something may be felt, but the undeveloped consciousness refracts the perceptions. It is unnecessary to cite instances of people's rejoicing before disaster and celebrating before defeat. Agni Yoga (1929) - 578:
578. The process of deepening and refining one's thinking enables one to conduct remarkable observations of distant communication. You know that a communication enters the consciousness as something separate, and therefore is easily forgotten. You also know that neither tempest nor hurricane can hinder psychic energy, though they can affect the centers, especially the Chalice. It is possible to observe how communications relate to the particular centers, and how the quality of the communications is affected by them. Briefly, the manifold ways of thinking and the varied properties of psychic energy will provide new opportunities for the individuality. Observations conducted under various conditions of locality, temperature, and weather will provide an inexhaustible source for new achievements. Agni Yoga (1929) - 583:
Animals, especially dogs, sense the emanations of psychic energy. It is not just through smell that they can find their home and their master, but through something deeper. Agni Yoga (1929) - 603:
603. Notice that a deep sigh accompanies any application of psychic energy. Does not this indicate that this energy is something tangible? Point out the manifestations of this energy scattered everywhere. A path can be built with these milestones. Agni Yoga (1929) - 661:
661. Each thought put into action is a contribution to the fiery creativeness. Each fulfilled thought is linked to Our actions. How carefully must the disciples examine the quality of their thoughts! Has not the worm of egoism, or conceit, or the manifestation of self-love hidden somewhere? The ability to admit this honestly is something that each spirit must develop within himself. Only thus can one fulfill one's mission in the Plan of the Lords. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) :
A great deal remains unknown to us, yet we do overcome our ignorance. Thus, even if we do not understand the meaning of Infinity, we are able to realize it as something unavoidable and therefore meriting special attention. How else may we temper into commensurateness our thoughts and actions? Verily, by comparison with Infinity we realize the scope of our grievances and triumphs. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 44:
Let the far-off worlds live in the consciousness of men as a wondrous kingdom. This is just as indisputable and just as real as the fact that a growing seed gives birth to a flower. The far-off worlds are interpreted only as something illustrative of the concept of distance. But let us regard the far-off worlds - the life there is affirmed in beauty and in striving for achievement; there are the fires of spirit; there is the fire of love; there the seeming excrescences of Earth are transformed into creations of Fire. The fires of the spirit carry knowledge that the passing of the present and the striving into the better future will be the ladder upon which we shall ascend. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 96:
Life is comprised of an eternal succession of ideas and of manifestations of cosmic energies. How can a spirit who does not project his thought into the realm of ideas adopt the concept of Infinity! When thought will take on the significance of something vital and realizable, it will reveal to man where is joy and where is truth. The quests of thought have led to unification with the Fire of Space. The quests of thought have led to the acceptance of the records of the past. The quests of thought will lead to the realization of higher worlds. The quests of thought will lead to the irradiance of the Mother of the World. Striving will lead to boundless beauty! Hierarchy (1931) - 67:
67. You can perform one of the most useful psychic experiments. If you accept all Our Counsels and it seems to you that something indicated was not fulfilled or was not transmitted in accordance with your expectations, then immediately study the Counsel itself, applying the words in accordance with the customary human understanding; then recall all the circumstances that have taken place and consider all your own thoughts, worries, irritation, and all accompanying hazards and blunders. It is very significant to observe the events that have influence over the cosmic waves. One may see that however ponderous is our human burden, it cannot be compared to the minutest thought. In this way you can observe to what degree the psychic sphere has its own laws, beyond our three dimensions. Hierarchy (1931) - 68:
Therefore, in speaking of the Infinite, we will not imagine it as something void or measureless, but as something integral in its incessant ascent. And is not the entire Infinite expressed in your consciousness, for where are the measure and boundaries of your consciousness? Thus, from the smallest to the Greatest, proceed by steps, each link being visible and tangible. There the indicated experiment will serve you in seeing through the physical, impenetrable forms which stand before you. From the evident proceed to the reality that will enrich your path. Hierarchy (1931) - 233:
233. It is necessary to become as accustomed to battle as to daily labor. One should understand a battle not only as a test of excelling in strength but also as a source for the accumulation of energy. We cannot think of mastering the elements without a battle. And how ready must we be at a call, for otherwise we may waste the action of the Higher Forces. Hierarchy does not mean the steadfastness of repose, but steadfastness in the midst of battle. Can something else be substituted for battle, when Our Magnet is tense and each victory is the joy of the entire Hierarchy? If it is difficult for some to accept Hierarchy through love, let them accept it as a fundamental necessity. Hierarchy (1931) - 254:
254. Each shattering of the foundation spoils the entire web. Striving loyalty is needed like oil for levers. For Us it makes no difference why, despite loyalty, something is not done, but We often see how an already ripe chemical reaction is dissolved. Thus, one should sharpen the blade of the glaive, because success is not farther away than the length of a spear. Guard the concept of Hierarchy. Hierarchy (1931) - 261:
261. Let us not understand the cosmic whirl as do the animals, who sense something incomprehensible and try to hide in the darkness of their burrows. An enlightened consciousness does not conceal the battle from itself, and, being prepared by the Teaching, is able to break any hostile arrow against the shield of illumination. Even the crashing of the destroyed hostile blow is heard. We pity the one who receives a rebounding blow, which, according to the law, increases tenfold. Is it not wondrous to feel in life the application of the great laws of justice? One may speak of them at length, but their application in life is convincing. Hierarchy (1931) - 311:
311. Let us observe how the black ones labor. It is necessary to observe their peculiar habits. They are not indignant about a nonentity. They consider that the first steps of service are particularly useful for them. A nonentity is negligible even in treason. Treason is precisely the main basis of undermining by the black ones. For treason, one must know something. This relative knowledge, not strengthened by devotion, may be found on the first steps. One must know that condemnation acts like fire upon a wavering devotion. It is sad to observe with what unnoticeable deviations the disciple begins to steep himself in indifference, finding eloquent justifications. Like the blade of a knife, the heart loses its protective net. Without its sheath, the blade injures the carrier himself; and such spurs do not lead to achievement, they lead only to irritation. If one day has passed successfully in demeaning the Teacher, why may not tomorrow also be blazing with blasphemy against the Highest? And if the silver thread is broken, the blade of ossification is already irrevocably sharpened. Hierarchy (1931) - 366:
Therefore, humanity must ponder on how to bring the psychic manifestations closer to the physical world. Otherwise, established science and pedantry may meet at an empty board. Therefore, the vitality of art, which guards the divine fire, gives to humanity the saturation by that fire which kindles the spirit and imbues all worlds. Hence, the wondrous torches of the beauty of creativeness are so precious for humanity. We have seen how the creations of art have transformed men - something all the book-learning in the world cannot do. Thus the Banner of Beauty and Peace unites the world. Thus spirit-creativeness saturates space. Hierarchy (1931) - 393:
393. Service is often taken as an affirmation quite opposed to Truth. Service is regarded as something not conforming to reality. Service is regarded as a ritual, as a rhythm, which entered life incidentally. But it must be realized that Service is a chain which connects the Higher with the lower, and is affirmed in life and preordained by the manifested essence; thus the entire chain of Service enters into the Hierarchy of Bliss. Thus all actions form a unifying chain; hence the law of Hierarchy can bring us to the Highest Bliss. Hierarchy (1931) - 403:
403. Can you indicate any disparagement in the Decrees of the Teacher? You cannot, for then the Teacher would not be worthy of this title. But can you vouch for your own actions, since disparaging is contrary to the Brotherhood? Disparagement is involution, whereas upliftment is evolution. We serve evolution. One can find Commands, warnings, and even indignation, but there is no disparagement in Our Works. Even Our adversaries are not belittled. Two types of people differ especially - some will create something great, even out of a small hint; others will create a repulsive image, even out of a beautiful vision. Each one judges according to his consciousness. One is great in heart; the other has a heart like a dried mushroom, which one must soak in water before it is of use. Verily, one must redeem all mistakes. Remember this law. Hierarchy (1931) - 418:
418. Diseases are divided as sacred, karmic, and those that are admitted. The first two concepts are easily understood, but precisely in the book Hierarchy one should mention the admitted ones. Who or what permits these diseases? Certainly ignorance and the horror of non-realization. It is not enough not to think about them. Children likewise do not think of them, yet become infected. One should protect oneself in consciousness and create an invulnerable armor of nerve emanations. Even severe epidemics cannot develop if people master their consciousness. An experiment with the substance of psychic energy would indicate what powerful antiseptics people carry within themselves. For this, two conditions are necessary the first - realization of psychic energy; the second - realization of Hierarchy as the sole path for the increase of psychic energy. One should not look upon Hierarchy as something abstract. One should realize firmly that it is the most powerful life-giver. We call it the primary remedy. But even a pill must be swallowed and an ointment applied. There is no effect from a remedy that is in a trunk. Likewise, the Benefaction of Hierarchy must be taken by striving. Thus, an irrevocable striving will afford a healing result. Hierarchy (1931) - 430:
430. How much significance people attribute to their ego! How people dread that their personality may be intruded upon by something incomprehensible to their consciousness! How people dread to adhere to the Highest and prefer to remain on the boundary of darkness! Each intention brings one closer to a better decision if the spirit strives toward the Hierarchy of Bliss. Man can ascend each step in evolution if he accepts the Leading Hand and each Command of Hierarchy. History is built by the Hierarchy of life. The best steps of humanity were built by Hierarchy. The best achievements were affirmed by Hierarchy. Thus one can attain only through Hierarchy. Heart (1932) - 27:
27. The Philosophers' Stone is something real. It must be understood spiritually and physically. The spiritual condition that is called "Stone" corresponds to the consonance of all the precipitates of psychic energy. Physically the preparation is quite close to the preparation of Paracelsus, but he made a basic error in which he insisted in vain. As for the rest, the Arabian sources which sustained Paracelsus were quite correct. Heart (1932) - 91:
91. Let us give attention to some seemingly unsuccessful actions which basically have a kind of special meaning. Sometimes one may observe how a man performs some actions almost without a possibility of success, but something compels him to act precisely in this manner. Such actions are usually not bad in substance, but they are often unjustly repaid. All these are karmic payments; he who receives them has of course forgotten about them, and on the way has lost many spiritual accumulations, but the one who pays nevertheless strives to return the debt, even if the garment of return no longer fits. Nevertheless the debt will be paid even though it cannot be accepted. One can also witness payment made for others, people close to one's heart. Heart (1932) - 92:
92. An ancient legend relates how a certain king, desiring to free himself of all outside influences, asked counsel from a sage. The sage said, "In thy heart thou wilt find liberation." But the king became indignant, answering, "The heart is not sufficient, a sentinel is more of a guaranty." Then the sage bade him farewell, saying, "The principal thing, then, is that thou shouldst not sleep, King." In the legend our heart is pointed out as the only defense. Not without reason do all Teachings prescribe prayers before sleep, in order to strengthen the beneficent link. Humanity does not like to think that more than one-third of its life passes in sleep, subject to special and unknown influences. Science gives little attention to the significance of sleep - this existence in the Subtle World. Is not a strong unity with the Hierarchy needed when we are at the threshold of something unknown to our habitual consciousness? Consider that almost half of life passes beyond earthly existence! Of course, a heart ready for all three worlds can continue the consciousness into the next region. Who would want to assume the destiny of the king who wished to depend only upon a sentry! Heart (1932) - 93:
93. In all scriptures are presented symbolic narratives of how hermits and saints compelled demons to serve and labor for something useful. Truly, this is quite possible in case of a disinterested impulse. I attest to what an extent all the dark ones serve the structure when the power of self-sacrificing demand protects the commanding heart. But one circumstance can be dangerous and harmful-irritation full of imperil opens the entrance for the dark ones. Where there is irritation various newcomers set themselves to profit by it and increase the action of the poison. How much of the texture is torn, how many tests and experiments are impeded, to the joy of the malevolent ones! Advise to accept this not as a fairy tale but as a dangerous reality. The source of good and evil does not disappear. Heart (1932) - 103:
103. How can one safeguard people if they themselves do not wish to hold to the saving thread? Keeping a correct direction is already a victory. Our help is ready to pour forth, but it must be for someone and into something. Who, then, can aid Us with straight and simple striving? The heart will help find this current and also the true path. Heart (1932) - 122:
122. The convulsion of the world is like a convulsion of the heart. Nothing can influence the threatening ones to abandon the assault; so, too, nothing can exempt the sensitive heart from quivering when something precious to it is subject to assault. But it is necessary to tell everyone not to be terrified, for as long as unity is strong nothing can penetrate. However, the quiver of the heart is inevitable, not only on the Tower but also wherever there is devotion. Let us distinguish this feeling from the atmospheric influences, which even during tension cannot produce that reaction afforded by the psychic reflexes. I affirm calmness as much as possible, because We are vigilant. Heart (1932) - 131:
131. Now, I advise that scientists pay attention to the sensitivity of the organism to various inexplicable manifestations, for instance, the sensation of goose flesh on one's body. Of course, this can be explained as a nervous contraction. Yet it is instructive to pay attention to whether or not there is something alien in the surrounding atmosphere. These observations are so useful during the investigation of psychic energy. Something intensifies the physical atmosphere and reacts on the surface of the skin and nerves. The physical reaction ought to be investigated chemically as something that precipitates the nervous contractions. Rays and currents are verily so close to the Subtle World! But for these investigations one should learn primarily to pay attention to sensations. Physicians themselves pay less attention than others to the variety of sensations. They divide complex organisms into primitive sections which impede them in making their observations more subtle. Heart (1932) - 132:
132. One must think each day of the tasks of the New World. One must strive to the New World as to something which already stands behind the doors. The care of the New World must not be left to another when it ought to be realized by every one of us. Heart (1932) - 172:
172. Fire is closest to sound and color. And it is not without reason that the trumpet call attracts the Fire of Space. It is not incidental that some paintings seem to radiate; the same fire of the heart glows in them. The manifestation of fire must be envisioned not only as a reality but as something indivisible from us. Heart (1932) - 192:
192. Sickness may nestle within a man for a long time, but if it does not manifest itself in a coarse physical manner, none of the earthly physicians will acknowledge it. Ten prophets and clairvoyants may testify in vain about a hidden sickness, but they will be regarded as liars because the coarsest stage has not yet taken place. Similarly, humanity has educated itself in coarse forms in everything, having eschewed refinement and straight-knowledge. Even the most intrusive signs of the Subtle World are exiled to oblivion. No one wants to know or to count the innumerable words in all tongues that speak very definitely about the Subtle World. Let us take for instance a favorite word inspiration. It means that someone or something was inspired from somewhere. The word quite clearly implies that something came from outside, yet people, irresponsibly speak repeatedly about this manifestation which pertains precisely to the Subtle World. Just think how many signs are present in the world, and something blinds the eyes! Is it not darkness? Heart (1932) - 194:
194. Antennas can be adjusted for various waves, but their character is not disturbed because of that. Likewise hearts can catch various currents, yet their essence will be one. This can be observed especially about presentiments. Comparisons can disclose a remarkable scale of human hearts. It can be observed how one event may evoke unfailing effects, but how diverse they will be as to time and quality! One event can provide an entire volume of observations. One heart will grasp the cliche of the Subtle World, another will demand a physical current, and a third will respond only after the event itself. It is one thing to evaluate an event according to its merit, another to exaggerate it, and it is something else to unconsciously reflect it the rhythm of the pulse. No doubt the response of the heart is much more vital than one thinks. Presentiment is not superstition or imagination, but a physical fact. By a slight observation one can foretell an event, for the background of the event is not important; it is its potentiality that counts. Thus, the heart reverberates according to the most varied waves. Is it not instructive to ponder upon these manifestations? Heart (1932) - 212:
212. Patience is the gift of heaven - thus spoke the ancients. Why should patience belong to heaven when in reality it should belong exclusively to the Heart? Yet how shall we exert patience without knowing the Higher World? Only when the silver thread shall be drawn from the heart to the Higher World, will the understanding of patience come. We revere that quality; it is close to tolerance and containment, in other words, to the opening of the Gates. If something is not close to us, but it opens the heart of a neighbor, would we not tolerate it only to kindle someone's heart? Would we prefer to satisfy our own pleasure and embitter the heart of a neighbor? Moreover, would it not be a beautiful test to keenly observe exactly what will open the heart to Good? In the diversity of achievements one cannot fail to acknowledge the general harmony of the spheres. Though it be expressed only in one tone, yet each correct note sounds like a cosmic consonance and must be accepted with care. Therefore people rebel so greatly in heart if this note is rejected. The trial by patience is one of the highest tests. Heart (1932) - 230:
230. Should one not fill one's consciousness with an influx of energy since even the smallest accumulation by the spirit is significant for the future? Decidedly, everything positive determines our future treasury. Besides, for the sake of Hierarchy, it is unfit to become a pauper in spirit. And each conquest and discovery can be brought to humanity. Certainly, love for gain is incongruous with both Hierarchy and a flaming heart. The saturation of the heart may be of three kinds either personal and self-loving, namely, deadly; self-sacrificing for something close and defined, in other words, a heroic life-achievement; or a universal saturation of the heart with all humanity. This saturation is both easy and difficult, easy because it liberates from Earth, difficult because it has to affirm a feeling beyond races and peoples. Yet the universal saturation of the heart demands experimental research and practice. It is like suggesting that the contents of an entire house be put into a small box; but an experienced spirit will not hesitate to choose the most precious. Heart (1932) - 250:
250. Enough is known about the thread that connects the physical body with the subtle one during the projection of the latter. So, also, the silver thread with Hierarchy must be felt. One should not imagine it as something abstract, it exists just like a waterspout in which heaven and earth merge. The very formation of the silver thread is similar to a waterspout because of its spiral form. When the energy of the heart swells with love and devotion the radiant spiral will leap out into space and, naturally, by the law of attraction will meet the Teacher's ray. One must accustom oneself to see and sense this light-carrying link as a red-hot spiral amidst the whirl of space. Many have never seen waterspouts; hence what has been said will seem to them like an empty sound. But let them begin to ponder, starting with the coarsest apparent manifestations and then imagining Infinity, where everything is possible, where no rational trend of thought exhausts all Be-ness. Heart (1932) - 281:
281. Thus, feeling gives birth to energy. Energy can create so-called possessions. How, then, to deal with these possessions? We know about renunciation, but if something already exists, how is it possible to designate it as non-existent? Besides, would this not be destructive? Thus, let us again invoke the Teacher and, in thought, transfer to Him this burdensome load. And He will transfer our mental gift still higher. Thus we solve the problem of possessions. Thus, the very name disappears, and we remain the guardians of the property of the Hierarchy. For we may read the Teacher's books; the Teacher grants us permission to dwell in his house, to admire his things, and to be nurtured by the fruits of his garden. Thus, the name of the Teacher will always be with us, and we shall smile as we dust the objects entrusted to us by the faith of the Teacher. People do not know how to deal with possessions because they do not care to understand the meaning of mental transmutation of the earthly plane into the subtle one. Heart (1932) - 298:
298. Nothing can transmit an understanding of the Invisible World save the very sensation of it. Nothing can help the heart if it does not desire to surrender itself to this feeling and sensation. A careful attitude toward the manifestations of life shows readiness for the experimental method of research work. One should not understand affirmation as something abstract, but as something necessary to comprehend the whole closeness of the Teaching affirmed by experience. So, also, it is necessary to understand all the rhythms of alternating events. The train travels over the fields, but when it disappears into a tunnel only a child screams over the disappearance of the train. Thus, let us preserve calmness at the varied movement of events. Heart (1932) - 363:
363. Let us once again turn to the quality of the pulse. From different angles it will be necessary often to point out this indisputable testimony of the affirmation of the heart. Not the beat of the pulse as much as the observation of its quality will give the picture of the heart's vitality. Until one succeeds in photographing auras one can already begin to observe the pulse, not during illness but during good health, marking what sensations affect the changes of pulse and precisely how. If the aura gives evidence of the presence of illness, the quality of the pulse offers the entire scale of reactions. However, the aura is something transcendental for the majority, whereas the pulse provides a completely physical manifestation. But how solicitously and cautiously one should understand the study of the pulse! Contemporary physicians hardly take note of the quality of the pulse. More than once shall we return to the study of the pulse when we think of vibrations. Heart (1932) - 366:
366. When you experience a sense of striving and anticipation, do not apply it for the immediate days. You often feel how the foundation is laid upon the necessary affirmation; this straight-knowledge has nothing to do with the success of tomorrow, on the contrary, it shows that something greater already receives definite shape. Usually, people suffer from their own lack of co-measurement. Often they impede the stream of already shaping events by their preconceived judgments. Consolation is not for the morrow, but for more beauteous dates. Yet the straight-knowledge is correct. Heart (1932) - 376:
376. Certain people feel the heart as something isolated within them. Such a sensation may be very useful in developing the unifying substance of the heart. When you desire the heart to transmute a certain influence, you should first transmit this task consciously to the heart; you will then sense that the heart will be felt as a thing isolated. Not a pain, or a pressure, but the sense of a self-sufficient apparatus will denote the presence of the heart. Thus it must be when the heart assimilates foreign influences in order to transmute them and prevent the poisoning of the entire system. Heart (1932) - 394:
394. "And at evening he laid the thought upon his heart, and at morning he pronounced his decision" - has been said of the Sage of the Mountain in Persian annals. For many people this is simply a quaint saying. Yet an entire Teaching is contained precisely in the saying, "Laid the thought upon his heart." Nowhere can the thought be transmuted except upon the altar of the heart. Many readers of the book Heart will wonder whether they have learned something new and applicable. Such people demand a pharmacist's prescription to exalt their hearts with patent pills. For them the command of placing a thought upon one's heart is nonsense. It is difficult for them to dissect thought in their disturbed consciousness. And it is impossible for them to discover the heart in the convolutions of their minds. But he who has already sensed the altar of the heart will also comprehend the discipline of spirit. We send calls of the heart to those friends who meet upon the crossroads of the East. We send calls of unity to those whose hearts have already sensed the music of the spheres. For him to whom the spheres are void the heart is only a sack of blood. Heart (1932) - 405:
405. Events are bearing away the corrupted world. This period was indicated in all scriptures. Nevertheless, people do not think of what is taking place. They cannot even begin to think of the future. Thus, one should not produce a book without indicating the Teaching of the time which has come. One cannot assume that something will still alter the direction of the current created by people. On the far-off worlds there is already a horror of the fiery inevitability, yet Earth continues to shroud itself in a dark cover. That which necessitated a century now occurs in five years - the progression of acceleration acts according to law. Therefore, when I speak of the heart it means that salvation can be found along this channel. Do you hear? I repeat about salvation! Not arguments, not doubt, not uncertainty, but salvation will be the sign of that hour. One must understand still more firmly how unfit by now are the old measures. Only one bridge remains from the highest worlds - the heart. Let us approach the source of the sensing of Light. Let us understand that even in the fiery furnace the youths were not consumed when they ascended by way of the heart. The time is a difficult one! Thus shall we repeat, fearless of the derision of the ignorant. They do not have even an idea of the significance of the heart. Heart (1932) - 417:
417. The new is the oldest, hence, one should not fear something as being impossible. Everything is imaginable because everything exists. One cannot assume a poverty of creation. It is astonishing how easily science permits itself narrow limitations and responds to that of which it is ignorant. Children sometimes say, more correctly, "I do not know." A frank absence of knowledge is regarded as the Gates of Cognizance. Heart (1932) - 431:
431. One may notice in people an absence of attention. Like a curious absent-mindedness. During this process they are unaware of their surroundings. In addition to absent-mindedness and fattiness of the heart one should not reject many other higher causes for this. The spirit can conduct its work at various times. It is not in need of temporary intermissions or special preparations; it either senses the need or is invoked. It conducts its distant communications in diverse ways. The stories of saints who seemed to fall into an instantaneous trance and who during this time created great spiritual help have reason. Often such so-called trance is unnoticed either by those present or by the people themselves. Only the unawareness of surrounding conditions has proved that there was a complete absence. It is impossible to judge the duration of these absences, because time does not exist in the measures of the spirit. But each one who is aware of having had similar absences can say that something beyond earthly dimensions has occurred. These absences should be noticed, One can gradually ascertain even quite casually familiar details. Like a fiery arrow, the details of the spiritual work will flash by, then droop like a flower dipped in poison. The great labor of the spirit is so remote from the lower, poisoned spheres! Heart (1932) - 447:
447. We understand how the great future is being prepared. True, people do not accept Our methods. They do not value the immutable and guiding quality of the consciousness. They think something will succeed by the usual laudations and by money, but, according to Our method, beauty is born of tension. Let us not disparage when the roots of the tree are already growing. Therefore, caution is so greatly needed when there is unprecedented tension. The approach to life through the heart as a guiding principle is not only the reiteration of previous Teachings but it also performs a true transmutation of life. Heart (1932) - 507:
507. An experienced ruler often lays his hand upon the shoulder or hand of him with whom he converses. Some do this consciously, but the majority do it unconsciously. But even those who do this consciously are not always aware of how to utilize this method. They regard the hand as being sufficient, that the palm of the hand already communicates the power of the thought; but very seldom do people realize that the tips of the fingers have stronger emanations. Hence, if a thought is being suggested, the fingers must be tightened, but if one desires to receive the reaction of one's companion, the tips of the fingers should be separated. Thus, considerable stirring of an entire group of centers is effected. So many possibilities are concealed in each act! It is only necessary to apply them consciously. Consciousness and unconsciousness may be compared to swimming with or without experience. Of course, someone may swim immediately, but this occurs very rarely. Thus, in everything it is necessary to observe Hierarchy, which pervades our consciousness visibly and invisibly. It would be sad if the consciousness represented something abstract and almost supernatural. Each heart beat fills us with a realization of existence, and with a true understanding of Be-ness. Mental fog results only from lack of respect for consciousness. These words should be inscribed in each school. Children may ask, "How is it possible to guard against deadening habits?" Then someone can point out the inscription concerning respect. Heart (1932) - 512:
512. The nature dweller when desiring to remember something will invariably shake his head. In this motion is hidden the ancient thought about the substantiality of ideas. In order to bring the hidden remembrance to the surface, even a physical movement is required; as though it were necessary to alter set objects to a different position. Now that we know about various crystalline precipitations, this manifested instinct is not regarded as strange; quite the opposite, it is necessary to study the motions of primitive peoples. Among them we shall find not only expressions of cosmic rhythm but also manifestations connected with understanding the nerve centers. Thus a human being knows in substance much that has disappeared from the first layer of memory. Besides, travels and changes in the sites of life aid in arousing the memory; just as a kaleidoscope gives rise to new combinations, so, many small seeds which contain great potentiality are awakened in the memory. Thus motion can provide evidence of a perfect, refined materiality. Moreover, it is necessary to feel how one should give oneself to the Highest Hierarchy, in order that our being might be of benefit to the cosmic movement. Of course, motion may not be bodily at all, but spiritual, for you know that there are no boundaries between these domains. Heart (1932) - 520:
520. After the pulsations of the world the tremors of human hearts are not frightening. Hence, a great touchstone must be applied everywhere, or else it will be impossible to exist, sinking into the slough of meanness. The scale of the entire Universe is needed where Armageddon thunders. Consolation lies in co-measurement. One's entire observation must be applied in order to evaluate the essence of the battle. And yet, people often understand the battle as something not beyond a street brawl, forgetting that the battle is in the mailbox, in the smile of cunning deceit, and in the restraint of Light. The battle is far more dramatic than earthly people understand. When I speak about caution, also understand it in seven ways. Heart (1932) - 553:
553. If, while you are in Asia, you speak of being fatigued because of your participation in the work in America, no one will understand or believe it. It is time for humanity to learn respect for the spiritually expanded consciousness. Aside from any magic, we participate at remote distances. We prompt thoughts, write letters, and thus people cooperate with each other far more than is presumed. One must avoid the more each wrathful principle. Understanding Universal Good, one must be more good. The heart must become accustomed to the efficacy of good. As experienced warriors, you should acknowledge the power of good. No power of evil can conquer good. Let us not regard it as something clever; cunning is not cleverness and hence cannot abide in the heart. We affirm the path of knowledge, but let us not in silence avoid the creative principle of good. Heart (1932) - 561:
Let every significant day be accompanied by a reminder of the heart as something most undeferrable. Heart (1932) - 562:
During hypnotism Western scientists sometimes use the energy of the heart, usually without being aware of it; then, even without inducing sleep, the hypnosis becomes especially powerful. Thus, during a spiritual battle one must add a drop of heart energy to everything. One must fulfill this consciously. One can persuade the heart to act. One should not consider these communions with the heart as something childish. Just as a prayer consciously pronounced will act, so can we force the heart to concentrate this energy - this will be the tautened bow. When the fire of the heart radiates and flames with each touch, then the call to the heart may become silent. But during the primary education of the heart we must practice the communion with our center - thus we can justly call the heart. Heart (1932) - 574:
574. Consider attentively whether the Teacher is compelled to reiterate something. You know how We dislike repetitions, then it means that there is a reason. Perhaps, according to outer logic repetition is unnecessary, but let us peer into the depths of the heart and we shall see how necessary it is. Often repetitions are unnoticed precisely by those who call them forth. Thus, repetitions must be applied like medicine, until they imprint their design upon the brain. He who carries within himself the Teaching of Life must be ready for the reiterated affirmation as long as he sees the shaking of the foundations. One must accept that the law of foundations must be fulfilled primarily. The foundations cannot be replaced by details. Heart (1932) - 583:
583. To choose the best from the worst is also comprised in the task of an Arhat. Often one may already be encompassed by an abyss of the worst, but even then one must find the self-control to choose something better. It is not easy to seek a better wave in the ocean, but it is nevertheless possible. Heart (1932) - 585:
585. Ponder! In no way can the aura and the properties of the secretions be falsified. Humanity is unable to grasp even so simple a consideration. Even among the tests of Arhats such questions have their place. To see naught, to hear naught - yet faith up to the highest degree of cognizance. This is a quality of an Arhat. The striving of the heart - this also is a quality of an Arhat. The ability to discriminate in great and small - is also a quality of an Arhat. Husbanding of the basic energy - is also a quality of an Arhat. Constant desire for Good - is also a quality of an Arhat. Courage and patience - are also qualities of an Arhat. It is absurd to regard the essence of an Arhat as something beyond Earth. He evolves on earth as a Leader of Hearts. He offers himself as the focus for new formations. His consciousness perceives everything, all apparently intolerable earthly situations, but His heart understands how to transmute these barriers. The small in spirit are constantly fearful of battle, or more correctly of that state which we call battle. But no other word will express that state of inner struggle and success as battle does. Thus one can also find a place for the adversary as a whetstone for sharpening one's sword. I deem that one can send to the Teacher fortified strivings in mutual battle. Heart (1932) - 587:
This parable can be told to many. The coils of the snake are so frequent! Having become like snakes, people cannot tolerate anything beyond their crawling state. They are ready to waste time and effort in order to discover something which in their opinion would be disparaging. The worm's dimensions correspond to such a tendency of thought. He who tries to assert that the Yogi's achievements do not exist is verily a cunning worm! But it is necessary to centralize all the details of Yoga through refinement of the heart - thus are the ancient achievements renewed in the rays of the New World. Why limit oneself to earthly achievements? Why rend oneself forcibly from karmic conditions? Through the Fiery Baptism one can also here attain the unity with the Subtle World. Thus one can strengthen oneself through the understanding of the heart and receive those beneficial currents which are sensed physically. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 43:
43. To a certain degree, the difficulty of understanding is due to the limitations of the earthly language. All the symbols and higher concepts are conventionalized to an absurd degree. When man observed something beyond the limits of daily life, he began to speak of it in vague and unusual terms, which meant something entirely different to his neighbor. To this were added the anomalies of sight, taste, and hearing, resulting in a complete Babel. When man attempted to express the supreme Hierarchic Concept, he tried to string together the best syllables and only achieved extreme confusion. Notice that everyone who speaks about a transcendental concept meets with the most surprising explanations. People frequently speak about the same thing, but in such different terms that there is no possibility of reconciling these concepts with words. Then, do not tire yourself with argument, but remain silent in cordial solicitude. Let the fiery energy work, it will know how to find at least a narrow entrance. Thus, in all circumstances, remember that you possess a store of the all-pervading energy. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 55:
55. In world events, is it not possible to perceive the manifestation of Fire? Observe the relationships of nations, the magnet of ideas, the dissemination of thoughts, and all the signs of public opinion. These flashes of flame are not caused by any means of communication, but by something else, which stands beyond. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 96:
96. Achievement should be the subject of conversation on each significant day. One should regard achievement as something invoked and not become weary of speaking and thinking about it. Misfortune is begotten by disparaging achievement. It is as if a large temple image were being carried through a narrow door, and in the jostling the most precious ornaments were broken. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 110:
110. Cognizance of fiery reactions is divided in accordance with the senses. The first impression is that of vision, with all its fiery diversity. Then hearing is added, with the music of the spheres, bells, and the chords of nature. Then comes the refinement of touch, with the sensations of rhythm, of heat and cold. The most difficult of all are the sensations of smell and taste. Yet Urusvati knows the meaning of scenting a man at a remote distance. Now Urusvati also knows something else that is very difficult to sense the taste of a metal in the Subtle World, which is already an extraordinary subtlety. But one should not only possess the power to discern such sensations, one should know how to observe them. Such discernment is very rare, but by passing beyond the three-dimensional boundary it becomes attainable. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 123:
123. The state of illumination is called "fiery aid." This state of consciousness should be approached with all the senses refined. Indeed, it may be noticed that sometimes I speak about things that are almost the same, but in this "almost" is contained one complete turn of the spiral. If you compare all these "almosts," you can discern the stratifications of the consciousness. It is not very easy to assimilate the rhythm of these strata, which differ individually. Yet through many observations it is possible to understand what a most subtle substance our consciousness is. Precisely, I emphasize refinement of the stratifications of consciousness. People often imagine that Fire is something turbulent, unencompassable, almost terrifying, thus they themselves plant fiery thickets. "As you call, so shall the call be answered." Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 150:
150. One must not look upon the labor of Fire as something psychic. Consider Fire as something physical. It will be easier for the average consciousness to think thus. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 153:
153. We shall return later to the question of birth, so bound up with the Fiery World. But now I shall reply to the question about light in the Subtle World. Indeed, the transcendental nature of the condition communicates a corresponding aspect to the whole world-content. When you visited Dokyood, you saw sufficient light. But certain regions of the Subtle World are striking because of their twilight. The Light is within ourselves and we open up the way to it. So, too, the inhabitants of the Subtle World who desire light have no scarcity of it. The inhabitants to whom the need of Light is alien dwell in twilight. This refers to unlimited thought-creativeness. That sun which we on Earth perceive under one aspect, can be transformed into many conditions under the power of thought-creativeness. He who desires Light gives access to it, but he who sinks into a twilight of thought receives that to which he has limited himself. This is why we repeat so often about clarity of consciousness, about boundlessness of thought, and about containment. Such an adaptation of the organism to the future produces the most desirable results. How many inhabitants of the Subtle World look about themselves in the Fiery Mist and dimly regret something that has been lost! Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 158:
158. Psychic energy, that is, to say, fiery energy, or Agni is manifest in every living being. Everyone can discern in himself dense, subtle, and fiery elements. Wherever we sense a manifestation of psychic energy, there already is the fiery domain. From these fragments an entire fiery conception of the world can be formed. Each one, through attentive observation of the reflexes of his being, can note a great number of characteristics of the fiery domain. This should be observed, because in such manner we cease to think of the Fiery World as something abstract. Such a conception of the Fiery World is especially harmful, nor do all abstract interpretations assist evolution. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 181:
181. It is often necessary to remind about events that have already been molded. This is not an encouragement but a statement of fact. People are directed far more often than they think. But still more often they do not think at all, being carried away by a stream of prejudices. Yet We can but send a vision or a dream wherever something concerns the Common Good. At present the world is especially in need of such indications, otherwise the confusion of minds may close the principal path. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 187:
187. Many times have I spoken of the harm of divisions. If life is eternal, if we understand one another not by conventional sounds but by something beyond language, then we are obligated to utilize this force toward unity. He who divides is wrong. He who permits separation is wrong. It is correct that the best ones are the containing ones. This is no time, after the fashion of cave dwellers, to flaunt ourselves as chosen workers. All are workers, along the entire line of Hierarchy, but let none obstruct the fulfillment of the fiery wishes. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 223:
223. New thinking does not mean the overthrow of all that is old. Indeed, it will be the best friend of all that already has been discovered. Such thinking does not reject a formula that is not understood merely because it is not clear at the moment. Our friend will carefully lay aside an obscure formula. Often something obscure is not a concealed attainment, it is dependent upon a great number of transitory idioms. Every language is not preserved; even in the course of one century the meaning of expressions is changed, which leads to a growing complexity of ways of thinking. Let us not regret running waters, but let us not forget that we are looking upon old achievements with new eyes. Even a great number of isolated ancient terms may appear strange, because they have been inserted into alien dialects and often are distorted in pronunciation. In antiquity people sang these significant words to memorize them, but the rhythms have been abandoned as something unnecessary. Yet by losing rhythm people have forgotten the significance of vibrations. New thinking does not forget about the basic laws. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 225:
225. Amidst the battle it is possible to have a moment of respite and reciprocity. You have sensed something like prickly currents. The currents themselves are not prickly, but seem so because of the resistance with which the earthly strata are filled. These arrows of the demons hide the sun. We must intensify all energies, and hence reciprocity is especially needed. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 235:
235. Fiery affirmation takes place not in pleasant drowsiness but in storm and lightning. He who accustoms himself to feel tranquility amidst lightnings easily meditates about the Fiery World. It is necessary to think about the World of Light. Thoughts should be send into its heights. Thus is it possible to participate mentally not only in the earthly battle but also in the battle of the Subtle World. Indeed, earthly destructions are as nothing, compared to the destruction of the Subtle World. A great number of the best intentions are dissipated together with hideous accumulations. At the same time the inhabitants become involved, particularly those who display activity. There are many of these, both in the lower strata and in the higher. The fire breaking through is sensed by all who have not accustomed themselves to the fiery state. Therefore, when I speak about thinking of the Subtle World, I am advising something very useful, and when I speak about thinking of the fiery worlds, I am advising something indispensable. The affirmation of fiery thought is already an acquisition of invincibility. As the links of a coat of mail are gradually strung together, so, too, the fiery plumage grows invisibly. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 241:
241. Is it possible for one incarnated on Earth to create mentally in the Subtle World? It is possible, especially if Agni is acting. It is possible to cultivate and improve plants. It is possible to create constructive forms; one can participate in a great number of improvements, provided they are not ugly. Urusvati has seen a tree planted by her. Thus it is possible to create from weak fragile forms something strong and lasting. So we prepare during earthly existence the future beautiful gardens. Thought in all its constructiveness also creates our own future happiness. Thus we proceed by means of thought beyond the limits of Earth. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 255:
255. The fiery tension of space inevitably causes a particular fatigue of the eyes. It is necessary to interrupt the work of the eyes, closing them for a brief time. One can also make use of warm compresses, but closing the eyes for short periods is very helpful. A great number of new conditions arise during the Epoch of Fire. One must take these new factors into consideration in all conditions of life. The principle error is to take the external conditions of nature as something immovable. True, the moon may have appeared to remain static for a great number of generations, but nevertheless it was possible at one time to observe a substantial change in it. A lamp on a table falls over but once, yet the possibility of this always exists. Thus, one must not forget useful prophylaxis in connection with the tension of the fiery element. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 296:
296. Of course, there are people who will say that a blow with a club, being a direct method, is therefore permissible, but that fiery action is something concealed and inadmissible. By such reasoning each one who thinks about good is already dangerous, but the murderer is only a reflection of the social order. Not a few people think in this manner and in so doing obstruct all that is subtle. But the club is no longer useful; the subtlest solutions and respect for the human heart are necessary. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 357:
357. There are many who would like to ask certain questions but are embarrassed. For example, they would greatly like to know if, on approaching the Fiery World, their health will suffer. In answer one may recall a philanthropist who discontinued his almsgiving for fear of infection from contact with the poor. Of course he was not a true philanthropist. Likewise, he who fears the Fiery World is no Fire-bearer. Hence, let us regard the Fiery World as something primordial, inalienable, manifest in courage and joy of heart. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 379:
379. One should speak about the Fiery World even to very young children. But first one should tell them that a void does not exist and that there is no loneliness. Thus one can approach the subject of Protector and Guide. Children will become accustomed to the thought that nothing is secret. Such a foundation will provide them with a real protection against fear. It is especially harmful when parents, in ignorance, try to convince the child not to be afraid because nothing is there. Such a seed of negation can cloud the child's entire life and break down its consciousness. The child is fully aware that everywhere something exists. It sees many images, even fiery ones. It is visited by unknown children, who come to play, and adults. Ignorant physicians will try to drown this perceptivity in bromides - like binding wings with lead. But poisons will not help! Only a sensible explanation of reality will bring health to children. One should listen equally attentively to each fragment of truth. The lama says, "One should pray each day, otherwise it is better not to pray at all." And fundamentally you know that this is so. Actually, one should preserve the higher vibrations, while not losing the connecting rhythm. You know the value of constant rhythmic work. You know to what an extent such great exertion opens the Gates. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 391:
391. People often harm themselves by refusing even to think of the Subtle World, or by believing it to be something inconceivable. One must conceive the Subtle World as the most perfected state of our worthiest feelings. Only thus can one prepare oneself for a better abode in the Subtle World. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 396:
396. When I indicate the beneficialness of gratitude, I do not mean that someone is in need of it, but that in itself it contains the chemism of bliss. One must analyze the chemism of various emotions; such observations will help in finding psychic energy. Not vitamins so much as the fiery energy must occupy the imagination. The revelation of the essence of human existence cannot be regarded a something occult! One should attract many minds to these researches; they will also observe in passing other useful peculiarities of feelings. Thus, one should first establish the direction of evolution. There cannot be two directions of progress. There can be but one true direction, and all other efforts will be errant. This should be remembered, because many confuse individuality with the general stimulus of the epoch. If a given epoch must strengthen in the consciousness the power of psychic energy, no machine can screen the imperative advance of the world. 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) - 433:
433. How is it possible to ascertain the verity of the Teaching? A multitude of good words may cover up something mediocre; but Truth, we know, does not fear examination. On the contrary, when observed, Truth draws nearer and shines forth. Therefore, each investigator of the Teaching may be advised, "Approach with all force; observe by thorough measures; investigate by all methods; cognize with all daring; reveal indefatigability, and be aflame with each discovery of Truth." The Teaching cannot be fallible. It cannot deviate from the paths of usefulness and good. One should not believe only in assertions. Faith is the realization of Truth, tempered in the fire of the heart. The Teaching is infinite, otherwise the very concept of Infinity would not exist. One should strive toward Truth. Truth does not reject - it directs. In the Teaching there can be no distorted concepts. Regard the path of the Teaching as the affirmation of that which is beyond doubt. One should not approach Truth along a meandering path. One must proceed by testing each word, each statement, and each covenant. If the Teaching is a true one, each step to it will be enlightening and broadening. Disparagement, denial, abasement are poor guides! More than once you will hear from a speaker the conceited remark that the only correct Teaching is the one known to him. It is then good to remind the conceited one about the grandeur of Infinity, of the millions of years of life on Earth, of the Billions of worlds - let him meditate upon the vastness of Truth and the soundness of its fitting recognition. One could agree with the method of skepticism if only something would result from it. As a rule it corrodes the creative principle. An indefatigable spirit is needed to advance along a constant progression. Only such an expansion and containment will bring real tolerance toward anything that is futile, this is learned through relativism. Thus, say to him who has doubts about the Teaching, "Test it, be aflame in your heart, and broaden your spirit!" Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 478:
478. Fiery breathing exists, because the fiery body is alive. Seldom is it possible to observe the flashes of fiery breathing in the earthly body, yet a purified body can sometimes feel such sighs. They may be felt either in the crown of the head, in the heart, or in other centers; one can feel something like an expansion of these centers, as it were. This can even cause dizziness or nausea, because the physical world cannot easily adapt itself to such a manifestation of the Fiery World. Among the causes of enlargement of the heart may be included fiery breathing. Often the heart expands, but loses the rhythm and thus cannot contract normally. In levitation fiery breathing is of great importance; it takes the body out of physical conditions. Here again we are concerned with thought as a fiery product. You yourselves know that during levitation the body loses weight. You must also remember that the thought about levitation did not occur - it was only the entire being striving toward Hierarchy. Yoga constantly advises "Think only of the Highest, so far as your consciousness can encompass. Imagine this Highest to be the best Aspect. Imagine this Highest to be in the Ineffable Light. Strain your consciousness as if toward something completely tangible. Manifest the best disposition. Gather all treasures of the Good, for the Voice of the Silence said, 'In good we ascend!'" You see once more how clear were the ancient counsels, for application in life. One can constantly advise scientists to reread attentively the ancient Teaching. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 527:
527. One apparently simple manifestation merits attention when ten men test their prowess separately they will find that the sum of their individual efforts is less than the total of their joint effort. This mysterious something is the crown of cooperation. Again we touch on the fiery domain. Only a combined rhythmic effort summons the fiery reserves. Is not such a calculable strengthening a proof of fiery energy? Let scientists collect even the most minute data about the manifestations of fiery energy. Let them observe this something not as a mystical but a real and growing concept. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 545:
545. The heart may ache when Hierarchy is commented upon in an unworthy manner. The heart is a center. Hierarchy is also a center. From the most cardinal, all is transmitted to the Supreme, and vice versa. When people are ignorant of something, they should not defile what is beyond their grasp. They should have enough humaneness to understand where the Ineffable begins. One cannot hope to continue to cast stones at the best Image. Some nitwits, filled with conceit, think that everything is permitted them. But when they lose their teeth, they should not be amazed but should look nearby for the causes. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 573:
573. Pseudo-science impedes knowledge of the Universe. Thought cannot be limited by a mechanistic conception. Even the greatest mathematical minds have acknowledged something above mere formulas. But mediocrity has no flights of thought, and in its stupidity prefers to come up against a wall rather than look upward. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 580:
580. One must again recall that which should be familiar even to children. People often know and understand something, but later, when they arrive at the division of atoms, they are covered by the debris! They can only split, but not one can build a house in the wrath of destruction. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 597:
597. And so, the greatest misconception lies in the fact that people prepare themselves for death instead of educating themselves for life. They have heard often enough that the very concept of death is vanquished. They have heard often enough of the need for changing the seven sheaths. It has been sufficiently emphasized that these changes take place with the closest cooperation of Fire. This means that one should assist the fiery transmutations, since they are inevitable. Why spend ages and millenniums on that which can be accomplished far more quickly! We should prepare our consciousness for the fiery receptivity of our concentrated bodies. If something is subject to a fiery action, let this good be accomplished in the shortest possible time. Thinking about such transmutation in itself greatly helps our organism to assimilate this process into the consciousness. You already know that accepting something into the consciousness means a bodily assimilation also. In our general conceptions it is high time to become accustomed to the scope of the Fiery World. We are amazed at the difference between an idiot and a genius, but our imagination falls short in extending this divergence into infinity. Our imagination is equally uneducated in visualizing the closeness of the Fiery World, obscured solely by our body. Rarely do people see the highest spheres of the Subtle World, but those who are worthy to behold the splendor of the mountains and seas of the Subtle World, and the radiance of its flowers, can visualize the purity of the Fiery Kingdom! One can also imagine the omnipresence of the Fiery World, when even during physical existence one can project the subtle body to different places simultaneously. Thus let us become accustomed to the Fiery World as the only destiny of men. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 600:
600. The Fiery World is reflected in the earthly consciousness as something contrary to all everyday concepts. Imagine a man who has slept through all sunrises; he knows only the sunset and the evening shadows. But if he is once awakened at dawn by an earthquake, he runs out of his house and stands astonished before the rising light, never hitherto seen. If a man cannot accept into his consciousness even so natural an occurrence, how can he assimilate the subtlest manifestations of Fire? People have acquainted themselves with only the most gross of the subtle and etheric energies, and the beautiful fiery signs are cast into the domain of superstition. It is terrible to observe that precisely ignorance comments upon superstition. It is difficult to imagine how repulsive is this obscuration of knowledge through dark stratagems! Chemistry and even elementary physics give an idea of the higher luminosity. But even such examples do not elevate thought. People want to dwell in evil, in other words, in ignorance. One should firmly remember that each allusion to the One Light will be the source of hostile attacks. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 617:
617. It is almost impossible to convey an idea of the imminence of the fiery invasion. There are numerous signs of it but people refuse to think of summer in winter. No one understands that the obduracy of nations cannot be settled by the methods of the past century. The Teaching about the most subtle physical processes presupposes everywhere something not susceptible to definition. One must accept this "something" also in the processes of national structures. The study of ethnography is greatly needed for the realization of the deplorable state of the planet. A concept of the world which embraces the Invisible World will change the psychology of the people. But this is as yet remote! Even in the circles devoted to psychic research the results of the experiments are not carried into life. After their experiments the people remain as before. However, nothing should deter one from sharing his knowledge and encouraging the growth of consciousness. Therein lies love for one's fellow men. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 18:
18. People feel sometimes something singing within them. Such a song is never disharmonious. One can rejoice when such vibrations stir one's being. In them is contained the embryo of attainment. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 31:
31. One must become accustomed to the fact that every message from Us is something indispensable. Be this one word or one letter of the alphabet, yet if it is sent, it means it is needed. People themselves often pronounce a command in one word, but often they associate it with something lasting. Thus also from the Watch Tower it is often possible to send only one letter. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 34:
34. A mother sometimes spike to her son about the meaning of Highest Bliss, and of the eternal link with the Higher Forces. One day the boy very attentively observed a little bird on the window-sill, and whispered to his mother - "It also watches me so that I should not say something bad!" Thus may one begin the thought about the great link. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 40:
40. Besides the borrowing of energy, the signs of absence and dizziness pertain to the fiery reactions. Likewise are epidemics of neuralgia and of seeming rheumatism nothing else but actions of the fiery centers under the pressure of the spatial Fire. Not soon will people consent to investigate such epidemics under the sign of Fire. People usually like to dissect, but synthesis is difficult for them. Yet it is already time to pay attention to every disease which yields to suggestion. One must clearly visualize the cause which creates physical pains, but which disappears under the influence of suggestion. Why are physical sensations subject to psychic influence we shall come to the conclusion that one element is the determining factor - Fire, which penetrates both the psychic and the physical domain. Even meningitis gives way under suggestion. This seemingly incurable affliction retreats before the power of Fire. Of course suggestion is first of all a fiery concentration. A man who causes such a fiery reaction thus calls forth a tension of the injured organs. Therefore the power of hypnotic suggestion must be greatly developed, but must be subject to state control. Something similar to the control over the Egyptian priests, who had the right to employ suggestion but who had to give full account of their actions in the temple assemblies. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 48:
48. Some may ask why I speak of a Leader and not of a Ruler. The difference between them is enormous. the conception of Ruler presupposes the present and the ruling over something already existing, but the Leader manifests the future in the very significance of the word. He has not received anything already built; he leads, and each of his actions impels forward. The ruler knows that which is already built and accomplished, but the Leader confronts nothing which is already affirmed and must bring the people to the Mount of Perfection. If the burden of the Ruler is great, then the responsibility of the Leader is still greater, and therefore the Highest Powers affirm their Altar there, where there are signs of such Leadership. Precisely the Leader must discriminate between hypocrisy and sincerity. The manifestation of the virtue of the heart differs greatly from a forced servility. The Leader has the power to discern this quality. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 53:
53. An invulnerable armor may be of metal or of silk, but the best armor is the fiery one. Can the Leader proceed by the ordained path without the fiery armor? With what other means may one deflect all arrows of malice and swords of hatred? But many Leaders even in their earthly consciousness have felt that they were protected by the fiery armor. Whole books can be written about the magnetism of the destined Leader. It may be observed that neither the outer appearance, nor the voice, nor riches, but something else convinces people. More than once have I spoken about the Fire of the heart. Precisely this armor is a magnet which attracts and protects. As it has been said, "I will receive all arrows in my shield." But this shield must be forged. This shield can be manifested only from Above. But how many thoughts and discourses must be sent in advance, in order that this Communion be established and the fiery armor forged! One should lose not a day nor an hour, to make the Communion living and ever-present. In error people think that science precludes the Higher World; it can alter earthly nomenclature, but the triune essence remains the basis. The more so does the Leader know wherein is the substance. Perhaps he will not express the Unutterable Word, but he will feel it in his heart. That Word will help the Leader not to lose the universal concept, only this will bring readily the wondrous armor. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 66:
66. One must not think that the sounds of the far-off worlds will be something hard to imagine. First of all they will resound, because the current creates vibration. One should accustom oneself to such sounds. One may understand that the so-called music of the spheres rather often comparatively borders on the sounding of the far-off worlds. In any case, every music of the spheres is already a bond between the worlds, because this vibration reaches unaltered the most distant planets. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 80:
80. To those who cannot accept the concept of the Leader, let us say All your words presuppose the priority of something or someone. You yourself do not notice that each of your affirmations is based upon a discovery of something established by someone. There is no man who can get along without being taught. One must not become proud in one's own heart. The understanding of Hierarchy will help to establish the manifestation of the Leader, who in relation to the Higher Ones is not a leader but a follower. People, under the influence of ignorance, try sometimes to cut the ropes, but any sailor will tell you that masts are cut down when the elements overcome human strength. The same sailor knows that without masts and ropes the voyage is catastrophic. This means that the unavoidableness of Hierarchy throughout the Universe should be affirmed through education. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 128:
128. A renewal of energies is required in everything. The most powerful manifestations are in need of higher currents. Schools have the task of developing in students the understanding of the unity of the elements. It has been thought that the composition of the air is the same everywhere. People have thought like this up to the present, otherwise they would have taken suitable measures. People drink water and say - it is simply water; fire is simply fire. But even fire could be investigated from the point of view of the Fiery World. Beginning with the diversity of electrical manifestations, it is possible to arrive at the luminosity of objects and animals. One can find in certain species of fishes interesting degrees of luminosity. If we begin to analyze the composition of this luminosity, we can see, besides the ordinary processes, something indescribable, especially among deep water creatures. Amidst these compressed organisms appears one of the qualities of the subtlest Fire. Thus it is possible to observe comparable data upon antipodes. Amidst rare factions of the air and amid ethereal explosions similar differentiations of Fohat are glowing. Beings of the middle strata cannot endure the pressure of the oceanic depths, just as they are not adapted to ethereal vibrations; nevertheless certain hints may be found in observations which are already taking place. With sorrow did We follow two scientists - one descending into the depths, the other striving to the heights. Both had useful problems, but neither of them had in view the study of the degree of Fire, as an element. Naturally, their attempts were inadequate. Remarkable are the depths, and the heights still more so. But the basis of striving was right. Gradually there may be found apparatus sufficiently protective, but if the problem of spatial Fire will not be dealt with, again useful possibilities will be lost. In the fiery body we observe a great deal, but only with the help of Hierarchy. But it would be extremely opportune if scientists would put before themselves the problem of the Fire of space. Even by means of hints they would arrive at the realization of the pressure of the fiery element. Our disciples sustain it by the prophylaxis of the heart, but for the crowds, hints from various sources are needed. Crowds will perish from the fiery element. Why then do they not attempt to learn about this element? Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 153:
Imagine a man coming out of a dark and stifling room into a beautiful garden. If such a sharp change does not renew his thinking, he shows himself to be highly insensitive. Such personalities are to be found among soulless people. But how incongruous are they amid beautiful uplifting surroundings, just like a filthy blot! But even earthly filth is not easy to remove; therefore We are anxious to project the consciousness through the Subtle World into the Fiery. Often such striving is not in accord with one's forces, yet even at worst it advances one in the spheres of the Subtle World. However, shopkeepers overcharge a great deal so that they may receive at least something. Not a great consolation! In order to advance somewhat in the Subtle World, let the consciousness be drawn into a most Beautiful Garden. This is Our Command - without small measures. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 167:
167. Examine two stones. They are primitive, cold, they have become congealed in their small life, but even they can give off sparks of fire. The heart of a man is no worse than a stone. The thought of a man, even in a small manifestation, is higher in effect than a mineral. I speak of this because it is instructive to observe how thought evokes sparks of fire from the innermost memory. The most casual thought evokes whole forms from the storehouse of memory, entire epochs in which we have been participants. This is a procession of definitely related fiery contents. Indeed, the spark can extricate related portions from the preserved treasure with instantaneous speed. One may be amazed how securely the treasures lie in the Chalice always ready to be drawn out. Only fiery energy can act so subtly and swiftly. The fiery earthly manifestations give an idea of the tension of the fiery World. If here on earth something can be astonishing in its speed and accuracy, then how keen and swift is the Fiery World! If only people would not forget about the Fiery World, one link could be established. Think what the state of consciousness must be, when one is obliged again to remind about the foundations which are so near. However, let us reiterate, let us be filled with patience. It has been said - affirmation of Truth is a strengthening of the bridge. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 234:
234. It is not the brain substance that thinks. It is time to recognize the fact that thought is born in the fiery centers. Thought exists as something ponderable but invisible, and it must be understood that a lever is not a furnace. Already many truths are knocking for admission, but only thinking about the fiery centers can be of assistance toward correct interpretation. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 235:
235. One must observe how entire countries can be shaken by one incorrect interpretation. It is impossible to justify this by saying that someone did not know about something. Usually proof can be found that such knowledge had knocked at all doors, had lain on all tables, and had been mentioned many times. It is not right to try to justify inattention and unwillingness to think deeply. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 235:
New oppressions are nothing but unconvincing conduct of the Leader. Often people do not know the actual cause, but in their hearts they feel that something unconvincing is taking place. Most of all must a Leader guard himself against the growth of unconvincingness. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 240:
240. The consciousness directed to Us is continually being refined. The process of refinement becomes a code of every day. Could it be admissible that the subtlest energy be turned into chaos? Everywhere it has been said, "Whoever comes unto Me shall also abide in Me." This must be understood literally. The subtlest energy cannot be turned into amorphousness; therefore I am so concerned about refinement of consciousness. Complication by grossness only demonstrates that the heart energy has not reached a level where it is no longer threatened with drowning in the waves of chaos. One must hasten with the refining process. Each ulcer begins with the smallest decomposition of tissue. A drop of resin can make healthy the ailing tissue, but for a neglected ulcer not even a pot of resin can be of help. Create a manifestation of refinement in the very midst of life. Why only in words, or in glances, when heart energy is multiplied precisely in thoughts. The collecting of the most precious is only for the purpose of returning it. Who, indeed, would not wish to give something of the best quality? Only a cheat will try to offer something unfit or useless. One must keep watch over one's thoughts, in order to send those of the best quality. I am not speaking in the abstract. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 270:
270. Who can say where begins the Ineffable? Who dares to measure off somewhere something which is not permitted to be uttered? But the heart knows and can guard against a pronouncement of blasphemy. One must know how to hearken to such a sign from the heart. One must persistently and patiently cognize the signs of the heart. One must know how to turn to Hierarchy. One must realize that there is no other path. It has been said - let us devote our spirit to the Lord, but it was not said - let us overburden the Lord. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 281:
281. Fear of the future is the horror of the World. It breaks in upon life under different concepts. It gradually decomposes the mind and deadens the heart. Such fear is false in its nature. People know that none of their situations are permanent, consequently it is sensible to prepare without delay something for the future. But formless and immobile factors of chaos attach the consciousness to illusory places. One must intensify one's realization of reality in order to recognize the falseness of Maya, and to understand that truth lies only in the future, when we draw near to the Abode of Fire. It is impossible to describe how people try to conceal their fear before the future. They attempt to prove that not the future, but the past must occupy their thinking. They shamefully avoid everything that reminds about the advancement into the future. They forget that this attitude constitutes a dangerous poisoning of space. Even in the purest places waves of such poison can be observed. People also poison each other. But the most health-giving and beautiful thought is about the future. It conforms with the Fiery World. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 345:
345. No one knows exactly who has died and who has departed. There are many empty tombs and many ashes of wood instead of body. Hence, one should understand the bond with Hierarchy as a manifestation of the Pilot. Even if something is unutterable today, one may understand that the rudder is in Powerful Hands. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 354:
354. People are unable to think about the future usually because they live under the spell of illusions of the past. Imagine a man who many days afterward receives unpleasant news of something which took place previously. This event no longer exists, the man himself has already lived for some time since the occurrence, yet he sinks into the past and loses connection with the future. Surely, the tree of the future must grow, and it should not die from the injury of a plunge into the past. Attention must be paid in schools to the study of the future. Each Leader in his own field will ponder about the future, otherwise he is no Leader. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 412:
412. One should not guess at one's place in the Fiery Hierarchy. We are all hard workers in the Sphere of Light. Earthly measures cannot express the dimensions along the path to the Fiery World. Each one has a fiery particle, but how and where it is transfigured is not a matter for earthly conjecture. Yet we distinctly sense when something accomplished by us is worthy of the Fiery World. Thus each one must be in tune with this sacred feeling. In this he will be a true co-worker. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 441:
441. Each Teacher must possess the quality of listening. This is necessary for the treatment of many ailments. It is necessary to promote the outflow of all harmful substances. The Teacher sees when the dying fire is liberated from the covering of gray ashes. A healthy fire leaves no ashes behind. It completely transforms that which passes into the eternal. So, too, must thought be purified by fire. Each day man must reflect about something eternal. Such meditations will be useful on the path to the Fiery World. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 454:
454. Many legal statutes have been invented by humanity, but the most immutable has not been pronounced - that of cosmic right. It is easily seen how often this law is applied and how it guides life. One may often observe how something impossible according to human laws is nevertheless accomplished. The worthlessness of all human precautions is often astonishingly evident. One cannot but feel that something over and above earthly reasonings guides circumstances; in this something are the will, cosmic chemism, and the most immutable magnet. Cosmic law brings destined people close to world problems. Sometimes they cannot explain how unexpected details are put together. But they realize that their heart is aflame. Thus it is, as it were, joined to something unalterable. In conformity with this immutable law it is possible to pass over the most dangerous abyss. Such full authority may be called Hierarchic, but when we add to this the chemism of the luminaries and the delineations of the far-off Worlds, it is then possible to define such a right as cosmic. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 465:
465. You think correctly about gratitude. The best expression of gratitude will lie in the realization of the greatness of the Mission. The Service is so great that each step already constitutes an achievement. Each day, with each thought, something significant is done. A great manifestation gives rise to innermost solemnity. In this solemnity there is also expressed gratitude. Solemnity is one of the best magnets. Hence, let us think about the greatest, for by this measure all else can be covered. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 470a:
Traveler, you must be conscious of the Fiery World as something real, and which nourishes life. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 110:
110. About the destination of man on the Earth. From times immemorial this question has occupied the minds of people. All religions have noted the affirmation about the destination of man who bears a kinship to Higher Force. Wherein then is revealed a likeness to Higher Force? Only in perfectionment of spirit may man be likened to Higher Force. The destination of man cannot be regarded as something accidental. Likewise it is impossible to regard all forms uniformly, because all spheres have their own forms and very precise correlations. We speak often about the bond between two Worlds, because it is imperative to get out of the charmed circle which has girdled the planet. It is necessary to find the exit. Thinking must be directed to the more subtle principles in order to discover points of contact. Reflecting upon the simplest processes, we shall reach the highest concepts. If we shall discover the subtle bond in all life then indeed a striving toward the Higher World will not delay in coming. Since up to now it has been rather difficult to awaken the consciousness, at present it is necessary to push forward persistently all the foundations of the bond. All events, all affirmations, summon humanity to the achievement of transmutation of the fundamentals of a World outlook. It is especially needed to penetrate into the destination of man. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 132:
132. Often the spirit which bears the synthesis affirms its knowledge from within the "chalice," for the accumulated treasures of creativeness are actually tensed by creative vibrations. Often the spirit, as it were, finds its confirmation upon the basis of the unified consciousness. The manifestation of creative vibrations often evokes a thought which has dwelt in the depths of the heart. One must harken to those thoughts which, as if something familiar, live in the spirit. One can find many identical vibrations by subtly examining one's consciousness. The treasures of the "chalice" are not to be regarded as accidental. They constitute the potentiality of the spirit. These creative vibrations open many locks, for the hidden knowledge which lives in the spirit can be revealed. Often the aspiring spirit discovers that vibration which connects it with the Higher Forces. How can one imagine this sacred power which unites the depths of the heart with the Fiery World! The records of space are often available to it, for unity is strongly manifested as the bond between Worlds. On the path to the Fiery World it is needful to remember about the vibration which touches the depths of the heart of the bearer of synthesis. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 139:
139. People do not even suspect how strained the planet is! All these conditions which governments are creating are comparable to a volcano. Each wave of actions is saturated with destruction. There are no such circumstances as would indicate an advancement toward salvation. Yet the more suffocating, the more speedily can the great World Problem be resolved. Supermundane spheres are also agitated. Verily, each spirit striving into the future can sense that "Something" about which only the Lords know. Surely it is imperative to think about the driving clouds which must inevitably destroy the countries going against the Light. A New Dawn is already lighting the way on the dark horizon. Already events are proceeding and new forces are building a better future. Therefore, one must reflect about the appearance of the Fiery Element, for whoever is from Fire, triumphs with Fire. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 342:
342. The Cosmic Will directs consciousness to understanding of the necessity of equilibrium; indeed, of that equilibrium on the spiritual and the earthly plane without which the different spheres cannot be unified. The spiritual plane appears as something so strange to the majority of humanity! Above the limits of the very lowest spheres mankind does not penetrate, and the lowest psychism is the result. That toward which man is striving becomes his manifest tyrant and his scourge. The subordination of humanity it, indeed, affirmed by these concupiscences. The Cosmic Will summons to regeneration of the consciousness. On the path to the Fiery World let us strive for the realization of equilibrium. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 440:
440. The Fiery World has its expression under the name of psychic energy. Thus will people understand more readily. Everyone will agree that there exists within him something for which there is no name in any language. Force or energy will be more readily accepted than a fiery spark. Humanity is highly opposed to Fire. Fire consumes but does not create - so people think. Therefore, at first, name it psychic energy, and only to a developed consciousness speak about Fire. It is more acceptable to say that musk, phosphorus, or amber are close to psychic energy than to say they are close to Fire. The first consideration, in everything, is not to create impediments. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 442:
442. All the secretions of man are too little studied. They can call to mind so much about psychic energy! Already the remarkable contents of saliva have been spoken about. It can yield the same evidences as photographs of radiations. One has but to separate the saliva of man into its various constituents to see its different phases. Furthermore, at times something indeterminable in its composition will be noted. Something reminding one of psychic energy. In some particular cases a significant deduction may be drawn. How useful is the cooperation of the observant physician! Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 483:
483. Everyone knows how difficult it is to discover the cause of failure in a very complicated apparatus; somewhere something has been bent, and its performance yields no results. No one observed precisely when took place some small negligence. But it has taken place, and it is not only necessary to stop all operation but also to take the whole apparatus apart. So it is in the Fiery World resist it with the least carnal desire and all relationship will be violated. But worry not the little ones, otherwise they will begin to fear such an element. Fire loves courage and impetuousness. But the courageous hero will not belittle himself with carnal thoughts. Impetuousness will help one to fly over the dark abysses. There is much darkness, many chasms, many dark traitors. Let Light shine above the darkness! Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 491:
491. Certain perspicacious people speak about the approaching end of the World. In describing it they talk as they were taught to think in elementary schools. They are little to be blamed in this, since their heads have been filled from childhood with the most monstrous ideas. And yet, they do sense some sort of end of something. Though dimly seen, still their spirit has a presentiment of some kind of change. They are called false prophets, but such a judgment is not fair, for in their own way they sense the end of an obsolete World. Only, they are unable to distinguish the external signs. Indeed, near is the hour when superfluous scales begin to fall, and the World of Light begins to come into being in joy. The most important processes can be carried out visibly-invisibly. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 492:
492. When forewarnings are given, it is easier to distinguish events. Already something is being born, but the crowds are occupied with amusements. Already an explosion is prepared, yet the crowds rush into the hippodromes. And ancient seers knew of many changes which are not clear to historians. But their contemporaries only knew how to stone all those who were far-seeing. Is it not thus also today? Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 498:
498. Is it possible to want to have false thoughts? When the day of photographing the aura comes, many will attempt to replace their habitual thoughts with something more beautiful just invented. Indeed, people know how to shed simulated tears. Petty cunning individuals will try to conceal their essential natures, but the film will prove to be quite revealing. A remarkable experiment will take place. Hypocritical thought will only make the picture worse, spattering it, as it were, with dark spots. Thus, new cunning will not be successful. Sincere, inherent thought produces clear rays. The needed sacred aspirations will have clear colors. Soon advancement will be made in the photographing of the aura. But it is difficult to reconcile the polarity of the photographer with the photographed person. Many trials will be required. Likewise is needed a particular, as it were, ozonizing apparatus, for purifying the surrounding atmosphere. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 546:
546. During extraordinary dangers clairvoyance flashes out, which means that it is possible for something to shake up the sediments of the consciousness. The same thing occurs during epilepsy, when in the words of the afflicted the heavens are opened to him. It also means that clairvoyance is possible amid earthly conditions. Indeed it is instantaneous, too quick to be marked off by earthly time. And also in this lightning timelessness there is apparent a quality of the Subtle World . Of course, dreams are also timeless, and yet they may contain a great number of events. By various examples we can recall that which formerly was quite known to every one. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 552:
552. Observe that at present people are talking about the beyond more than ever before. A deeper understanding is showing itself. Do not judge severely the peculiarity of many manifestations. People are ashamed to appear to be thinking of something besides the bazaar. But spatial currents are acting invisibly. Actually there is taking place a continuous, directed, lucid preoccupation with that which was not thought about formerly. Side by side with madness, touching searches go on. You may guess what country I have in mind. Wonderful sprouts may be expected. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 560:
560. The Teacher who has not overcome intolerance cannot mold the future. The Teaching is given for the future. The spirit cannot advance without forging perfectionment. Thus, it is possible to command the attention of listeners, but it is far more necessary to arouse a movement forward. The Teacher does not forbid reading different books. Everyone who fears puts limitations on himself, but the leader summons to a broad cognition. He will not restrain one from good in all of its aspects. This liberality of spirit is indispensable. He who does not even wish to listen is already afraid of something. Thus, the fiery condition requires broad gates and the speediest of wings. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 573:
573. The Teaching of Good must be the friend of good in all its manifestations. This truth appears simple, yet evil intention continually tries to destroy it. The Teacher of Good must be grieved, seeing how the workers of Good become twisted and how they exclude each other. Such a mutilation of Good takes place when someone bears a burden of good which is too much for him and someone else attempts to carry a double load. And if someone will dare to think about a triple load, he will not find many helpers. Millions of years have not been enough for humanity to learn to rejoice at Good, to grow to love it as something of the utmost utility. The Teaching must stimulate in all the bearers of Good a feeling of broad sympathy. Otherwise it will not be the Teaching of Good but a teaching of egoism. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 592:
592. Too often are words used in an incorrect meaning. People speak about the supernatural instead of saying the unusual. The supernatural does not exist in any of the Worlds. Perhaps a certain thing is unusual for the ignorant, but even this definition is conditional, as that something is unusual only under certain conditions. Thus it would be possible to revise dictionaries considerably. We have often spoken about this, and in translations into other languages you see how needful are various shades of meaning. People do not like to search for better definitions, yet diverse old dialects demonstrate that it is not easy to rejuvenate a dictionary with befitting expressions. It is especially difficult in the case of concepts of earthly and heavenly Fire. There are so many visible and invisible Fires that far more subtle definitions are needed. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 608:
608. The centers produce ring-shaped radiations. They can begin to shine all at once when the spirit is helping at far distances. Great are such tensions. Not the muscles, not the nerves become tense - the strings of the heart resound. Such a sounding can even be heard. But such tension is frightful for a man who is not accustomed to think about the Higher Worlds. Experienced thinking will apprehend calmly even such manifestation of the crown, and will observe it as something very unusual but valuable. Not often will such tension occur. AUM (1936) - 7:
7. At the present time much is being created. In vain may some one think that something does not exist when it is already in existence. Thus it is also with entire nations - some proceed as the dead, others as the newly born. Thus it is in everything. AUM (1936) - 17:
17. All manifestations of spatial thought should be remembered. Each one can sense at times something like an invisible cobweb upon his face. It is possible for each one to feel a touch or to turn to a call inaudible to others. Man can hear radio waves without any apparatus, which means that other waves can also be registered by the human receiver. It is very important to observe that sensitivity can even affect a physical wave. Just so is it possible to receive the thoughts of the distant worlds. AUM (1936) - 19:
19. It is essential to understand the meaning of help. Each one wishes to receive help according to his own formula, but not many apprehend true help. Likewise, nowadays when the world is atremble, great numbers of people do not notice the fiery peril. For a special manifestation they want an Archangel as vast as the heavens! Each day something indescribable takes place. Though but a week of the year has passed, consider what has already taken place! Many nations are changing their faces. AUM (1936) - 26:
26. People will come and assert that even the highest Teaching does not satisfy them. They still desire something else. Ask them what personal benefit they desire - you will make no mistake by this inquiry. Their dissatisfactions springs too often from a desire for personal gain. Infinity itself has no lure for such hypocrites. They are interested only in an ardent quest of physical delights. They will not linger long near the Teaching; they will depart as soon as they sense the spiritual, not the physical. It is precisely such people who, failing to find pieces of silver, become the most dreadful traitors. Thus, neither the power of Grace nor Aum will affect or illumine them - the coal black heart remains black and is reduced to ashes. AUM (1936) - 42:
42. An opinion exists that prayer is something apart from daily life, whereas it is the foundation of life. Without a link with the Higher World humanity would be unthinkable, it would be worse than the beasts! Thus, one may regard this bond with the Higher World as the foundation of Be-ness. It matters not in what language the invocation is uttered. Thought has no tongue, yet it is all-pervading. AUM (1936) - 69:
69. Prayer has no kinship with violence nor constraint. The first prayer of the child should not be ridiculed or reproved. A boy once prayed, "O Lord, we are ready to help Thee." A passer-by was indignant and called the child presumptuous, and in this way the first feeling of unselfishness was defamed. A little girl prayed about her mother and her cow, and her prayer was ridiculed. Thus her memory retained only something ludicrous, whereas such solicitude was really touching. AUM (1936) - 69:
Likewise, using the name of God for intimidation is a great blasphemy. Forbiddance to pray in one's own words is in itself an intrusion into the young consciousness. Perhaps the child remembers something very important and extends his thought upward. Who, then, can intrude to smother such a luminous impulse? The first instruction about prayer will be a directive upon the whole path of life. AUM (1936) - 83:
83. Miracles cannot be something abstract for the spirit that is united with the Higher World. Every unusual earthly manifestation is a particle of the very Highest World, in other words, of reality. The same harmonious sounding already reveals the secret entrances. However, observe the smallest signs of the Higher World. From such small seeds will grow forth the most steadfast tree and the loftiest. AUM (1936) - 112:
112. It is rightly understood that so-called sacred animals were not deities, but were a natural consequence arising from local conditions. Even now people often speak about some sacred obligation meaning thereby, not a religious rite, but a useful moral action. The conditions of antiquity often required a special attention to certain animals, or trees and plants. Sacredness signified inviolability. Thus was preserved something rare and necessary. The very same protection contemporary people call "preserves." Thus, one should refer very carefully to concepts that are not clear. So much has been added to the province of religion that, because of its antiquity, superficial observers are completely unable to distinguish the fundamental from the stratifications around it. The temple even now is a gathering place where, along with ceremony, barter and sale take place, and local matters are discussed. The same piling up of confusion is still taking place. Therefore let us not be excessively harsh toward the term sacred animals and other long-forgotten archaic symbols. AUM (1936) - 117:
117. Tears and saliva alter their composition according to the state of the spirit. And each breath is different in its chemism. If ordinary breathing is not easy to investigate because of its superficiality, then a sigh which causes a tremor of the organism will be indicative. It can be noticed that a deep sigh sometimes causes something in the nature of an internal spasm. Such nerve contractions indicate increased outpouring of psychic energy. Depending on the impulse, it will stimulate the action of certain organs which will give a particular chemism to the breath. At the pronunciation of Aum a breath is manifested, the chemism of which will be very beneficial. AUM (1936) - 147:
147. In the purest place, the purest snow is saturated with earthly and cosmic dust; thus is space filled, even when crudely examined. Add a multitude of currents and rays, and you obtain an image of reality; thus are incarnate beings surrounded. Thoughts flow incessantly from the Subtle World; sometimes a man turns around and cries out at the impact of thought, but he still does not think of it as something coming from without. Man sees sparks and even fiery flashes, but he attributes them only to himself. It is impossible to teach men to treat their surroundings with respect. To such an extent do people fail to understand equilibrium that they either fall into sanctimoniousness or swell with conceit. For this reason the bridge to the distant worlds is difficult for people. AUM (1936) - 155:
155. Besides earthquakes, there can be atmospheric disturbances. There can be concussions, as it were, during which the earthly sphere is agitated. These are caused not only by the crossing of currents, but also by conditions in the Subtle World. During discoveries, frequently something inexplicable is felt. This may be a reminder of the invisible world, full of energy. I would suggest that writers collect such unknown facts; thus will be accumulated a book of new juxtapositions. AUM (1936) - 168:
Gratitude grows without compulsion, therefore the manifestation of joy especially affirms community of spirit - everyone would like to do something better. AUM (1936) - 173:
173. People wish to render everything commonplace and insignificant, but when they see something that does not fit into their framework, confusion results instead of attention. The manifestation of such an unusual scale of events will actually be considered as mere chance. Thus are precious weavings senselessly torn asunder. The obviousness of events is often striking, yet words are found to violate even evidence. People know how to break up stone blocks and remain with a rubbish heap. AUM (1936) - 183:
183. Again about reactions. You may have heard of an experiment of a certain chemist which illustrated the conflict of influences. He invited some friends to listen to some well-known authors; at the same time he prepared several chemical compounds conducive to laughter or tears, irritation or sympathy. In the midst of the most emotional passages of the reading the chemist filled the room with a contrasting gas. The result was that the listeners laughed during a funeral scene, wept during a joyful one and during a description of peaceful events they became bellicose. Thus, at the conclusion of the experiment it was strikingly apparent to what an extent words had been conquered by something unseen and unheard. AUM (1936) - 214:
214. There are people who refuse to understand what arrogance is. Let us help them understand by saying, "Do not belittle, and rid yourselves of the disgusting worm of disparagement." He who belittles is almost the equal of a traitor. In the presence of such vipers there can be no talk of communion with the Higher World. To reduce something to worthlessness is an unworthy transformation! He who dwells on the negligible will find himself on the path to nothingness. The higher communion is impossible with thoughts about the insignificant. It is possible to converse in the simplest expressions, but their meaning need not be insignificant. Whoever is preoccupied with representing his neighbor as a nonentity is measuring by his own insignificant standard. AUM (1936) - 215:
215. One may meet people so hostile as to suspect something unfitting in the word Aum . They will ask "Why have other beautiful symbols been forgotten? What is the purpose of not mentioning other exalted concepts?" AUM (1936) - 265:
265. Knowledge will always be positive and affirmative. There is no time to concern oneself with denials and forbiddances. Unbelief and error are results of ignorance. Knowledge searches, investigates and affirms. When it encounters oppositions, it first of all puts the question, "Is this not something merely illusory? Has not the spectre of contradiction appeared?" Knowledge cannot parry with a spectre, therefore, knowledge first of all investigates amiably the apparent contradictions. Knowledge does not permit dissensions before the face of the Higher World. An exchange of opinions is not a quarrel. AUM (1936) - 267:
267. Each prayer is a beginning and not a conclusion. Ordinarily prayer is understood as something final, whereas there can be no communion with the Higher World without consequences. Each slight opening of the sacred Gates already renews the chords of the consciousness. This renewal does not bespeak the past but is directed into the future. Thus, prayer is the gateway to the future. This creative force should be kept in mind. It is inadmissible to limit oneself to the gesture of outward prayer; such hypocrisy is the most dangerous blasphemy. Yet it is impossible to affirm the power of communion with the Higher World so long as the basic energy remains unrealized. Therefore, knowledge of the Subtle World helps to construct the step to the Higher World. The Subtle World has already become almost a laboratory concept. Though the names be diverse, the goal of the quest is one. Let us not disturb the scholars who draw close to the Great Unknown. We are indifferent as to how they name the sparks of the One Light. In approaching, they will suspect that there are a great number of subdivisions. They will be right from their point of view, because psychic energy reveals its face according to the quality of energy of the investigator. AUM (1936) - 286:
286. Another limitation which hampers the ascent of man is his failure to pay attention to what takes place close around him. He wants that which belongs to another; he is impressed only by something alien; yet the closest and most precious attracts no attention and provokes no study. Such incommensurateness is the result of ignorance. One must apply judicious observation to everything. Such a state of affairs is quite usual, but the developed consciousness must correct such limited thinking. AUM (1936) - 293:
293. If the precipitates of space upon cities were to be investigated, something similar to imperil would be found among the poisonous substances. Carefully observing this poison, one comes to the conviction that it is imperil exhaled by the breath of evil. Undoubtedly, breathing permeated with evil is a carrier of injurious effects. If poison can be deposited in the organism, due to irritation, if the saliva can be made poisonous, then the breath can also be made a poison-carrier. It is necessary to judge how much evil is being exhaled and how multiform are the aspects of evil compressed into the new combinations of poisons present in enormous crowds of people. This is increased by the varied effluvia of decomposing foods and all manner of refuse which litter the streets even in metropolises. It is time to look after the cleanliness of backyards. Cleanliness is necessary out of doors and in the human breathing. The imperil exhaled by irritated people is identical with filth, or shameful refuse. It is imperative to impress people's consciousness with the fact that each bit of filth infects those around. The filth of moral dissolution is worse than any excretions. AUM (1936) - 308:
308. At times during a convalescence, one may observe that something impedes the process. It may be surmised that the patient himself is retarding the efforts of the organism by a negative attitude, but it is possible to be convinced that other causes exist outside of man's sphere of influence. Spatial currents can be strong determinants of any reaction. In hospitals, where observations upon many individuals are possible, there should be expert observation of the causes of different reactions to the same medicine. Many clues for this may be found in spatial conditions. It should not be thought that a clear blue sky is necessarily an indicator of useful currents; it may be that a threatening, clouded sky carries better currents. AUM (1936) - 314:
314. Everyone may observe evidences of psychic energy in any place and at any time. One needs to concentrate attention and, however briefly, to note the observed manifestations. Certainly among these notes some may be useless, but this should not disturb one. Written notes have an enormous significance, because manifestations of psychic energy are forgotten with extraordinary speed. Each day something unusual takes place. It should not be considered that only striking manifestations have significance, sometimes the grasping of a thought or the discovery of some needed pages may offer a very significant example of the working of psychic energy. Besides the path of attention also produces patience, an indispensable quality for the investigator. AUM (1936) - 319:
Since Infinity is, the spirit of man has no single commonplace instant. Joy can be born of a uniqueness of sensation. But lofty communion cannot become something ordinary. Boredom is not in Infinity, but in human limitations. AUM (1936) - 324:
324. The creation of good should be so natural an occupation of man that it should not be necessary to speak of this goal. Man cannot point to his good deeds as something exceptional; otherwise it could be presumed that man's usual state is evil, and that only by exception does he at times arrive at something good. AUM (1936) - 348:
348. Frequently, identical attainments are simultaneously manifested in different countries. Research workers, writers, artists, all of a sudden take up the same task. Indeed, it may come from without, but it can also be communicated from a distant co-worker. It can fly through space telepathically and inspire him who is sufficiently attuned, therefore it is useful to jointly carry on observations. Much escapes observation, because people cannot recall the moment when something inspired them, but according to the theme of their labor it is possible to discern the bond between their consciousnesses. For experimentation with psychic energy it is very important to investigate such similar consciousnesses. AUM (1936) - 355:
355. All experiments with psychic energy promote discipline. It is necessary to recognize discipline as the salutary rhythm. The most significant experiments may be cast aside without attention. Something already begun may be interrupted. Any compulsion exerted upon psychic energy is contrary to nature. Let us mention experiments with photographs. If the first picture was not successful, the undisciplined consciousness is disappointed. But where there is disappointment no experiments are possible. Many conditions can interfere with the first attempts. Faint-heartedness whispers that one should not continue the quests. Fear of appearing ridiculous can ruin the most useful observations. AUM (1936) - 376:
376. To each one something has been given. It is cause for rejoicing that no one's path intersects the path of his neighbor. The broadened consciousness indicates how multiform are the manifestations of psychic energy, therefore each one who writes about it should tell what he has experienced and observed. One should not generalize sensations, because the manifestations of energy depend upon a great number of conditions. AUM (1936) - 395:
Many well-thought-out symbols have been left for our interpretation. The study of symbols will provide a conception of the profundity of ancient thinking. Though remains of ancient adaptations are rarely found, such as apparatus, yet in symbols it is possible to see something far more profound than people care to admit. Still, excavations sometimes yield parts of objects which are not understood. AUM (1936) - 419:
419. In establishing full rights it is necessary to avoid making it appear as something extraordinary. It is a natural condition and must be accepted calmly. In spirit one may deplore the fact that such a natural condition was not reached sooner. But it is no cause for proud boasting when something is done which nature itself preordained. AUM (1936) - 423:
423. Each domain of life has become so complicated that cooperation everywhere is required. Not a single branch of labor can be named in which a man can regard himself as an isolated unit. Therefore cooperation becomes, as it were, the science of life. But in order to give it a scientific basis it is necessary to recognize it throughout life. It is impossible to summon people to it as to something abstract. In each school subject the inherent possibility of cooperation should be pointed out precisely. AUM (1936) - 429:
429. No one should deny that he has something of special significance within him. The application may not have been found, but this does not mean that the possibility is lacking. AUM (1936) - 478:
It is beautiful to feel that such inexhaustible force has been given to each individual. With such a force we can move physical objects. Since the force is inexhaustible, the size of the objects is relative. Today we can move small objects, tomorrow we may move something larger. In this progression lies the success of evolution. AUM (1936) - 490:
One must not understand Guidance as something beyond the clouds; in a different degree Guidance takes place also in the carnate world. Therefore since olden times the ordained concept of the Guru was extremely significant; reverence and devotion and love live around this concept. The living current of psychic energy works in such combinations of Teacher with disciple. AUM (1936) - 492:
It is a mistake to think that certain initiations elevate one to the step of absolute Teachership; only continuous discipline of cognition can be the living source of perfectment. Let us not look for limits in Infinity. Let us not understand cognition as something finite; in this limitation we lose the joy of Be-ness. AUM (1936) - 517:
517. It should not be thought that in comparing feelings with energy a debasement of feelings is implied. Some imagine that it is out of place to mention higher communion together with energy. To some, energy is something contained in a machine, but such earthly interpretations are mediocre. One should also come to love the entrusted manifested energy. The entrusted energy is a drop from the Highest Chalice. Thus, without love there is no advancement. AUM (1936) - 528:
528. Dejection is nothing but dissoluteness. Put a melancholy man in a sufficient extremity of danger, and he will be obliged to take courage; but the degree of shock must be great in order to force the man to alter his frame of mind. Certain illnesses are even treated by means of shock. Fear of death appears to exceed all human weaknesses, but even such a degree can find something which surpasses it. There are many tales of how the mortally sick received help, thanks to danger alone; how, many times, a paralyzed person has rushed out of a burning house; how, many times, internal affections have been cured, because the center of attention was turned in another direction. AUM (1936) - 549:
How is it possible to assert that concern about thought is dangerous to the state? Yet you have already experienced being accused of introducing something dangerous. But into what a low state must man have fallen that he should consider the mention of thought as athing unpardonable in the human way of life! AUM (1936) - 558:
558. People know about the electric eel, but the same discharges in a man seem to them something phenomenal, so extremely difficult is it for the consciousness to absorb the fact that man contains within himself absolutely everything. Such qualities in man ought to stimulate especial cautiousness in him, but this universal containment in man has not been recognized. The words Macrocosm and microcosm are repeated senselessly, without any inner realization. AUM (1936) - 570:
If people are asked how they picture something of extreme importance, they propound the most ingenious hypotheses, and not one of them touches upon the essence of what is taking place. Such wanderings around the essential nature of things, merely show neglect of the fundamental energy, which can direct the imagination along the right path. AUM (1936) - 576:
What riches of life are opened up to those who vibrate to all sensations! It is not difficult to awaken oneself to a diversity of perceptions. Each book, each letter bears in itself a complete aura. Something indescribable, yet evident to the heart, is received from a contact. There is no reason to suppose that only certain fortunate persons possess this gift denied to others. The thought of possibilities is already an opened path. AUM (1936) - 596:
Not long ago you considered the logic of certain events. It is proper to observe both external and internal causes. Many do not understand why a thing happens not sooner nor later, for them the most important events remain accidental and are not ever analyzed. But the experienced observer notices the extent to which something is carried out not as a casual matter. Let us observe each manifestation of the law. The energy is one and the law is one. Brotherhood (1937) - 4:
You know that I am speaking about something that is in particular need of reinforcement. Brotherhood (1937) - 7:
In ages past many different peoples have emphasized the significance of Brotherhood. Fratricide was considered a grave crime. Behind all this could be discerned a reverence for a certain exalted status; with strong measures the people safeguarded something which had no place in their everyday thoughts. Reason denied this "something," but the heart in the depths of its fire affirmed it. The heart palpitated with the beauty of the meaning of Brotherhood. Again humanity will turn to the heart and will apprehend the essence of Brotherhood. Brotherhood (1937) - 8:
8. The spark of Infinity must be expressed in everything. Each concept must include presupposition of its development into Infinity. There may be noted whole series of concepts which succeed each other. Neither friendship nor cooperation can be terminal. Between them and the Subtle World there must be still another something that can equally belong to the two worlds. This something is called Brotherhood. Brotherhood (1937) - 10:
In no way is it right to conceal something good in outmoded words when it is possible to express it more comprehensibly for broad masses of people. Surely, knowledge is not for the elect but for all! Therefore, we should not reiterate outworn morals, but rather, designate the best conditions for scientific cognizance. Only the ignorant will not understand that for the successful advancement of science the best conditions of life must be established. Brotherhood (1937) - 14:
14. The Subtle World is frequently described as something misty, cold, a realm of wandering shadows. Do not such descriptions issue from superstition? Yet may they not result from inability to enjoy the advantages of the qualities of this superior state? Actually prejudice and mistrust can conceal the true aspect of the Subtle World. Even in the earthly condition man sees what he wishes to; then the more does he see thus in that world where everything is composed of thought. There the dwellers can create and behold according to the quality of their thinking. Brotherhood (1937) - 26:
There are many instances when essential signs have been explained by the ignorant as something completely opposite. In their earthly customs people often interpret letters in their own way, not being concerned with the precise meaning of the words - such conventional egoistic practices have to be abandoned on the paths to Brotherhood. Brotherhood (1937) - 35:
35. Be not surprised that, speaking about Brotherhood, I mention the primary energy; there are two reasons for this. The first lies in the fact that approach to Brotherhood requires the development of the primary energy. Without this, with the centers sleeping, realization of such subtle perceptions is impossible. On such most subtle vibrations is built Brotherly cooperation. The second thing to be remembered is that not everyone has read the preceding writings, in which psychic energy is spoken about. Each book must contain the basic conditions for improvement. It would be cruel not to give even brief allusions to the preceding, wherein something invaluable has been dealt with. Brotherhood (1937) - 52:
52. It is incorrect to say that every growing plant is in rotary motion. It is more accurate to speak about spiral motion. Rotation is understood as something conclusive, whereas each turn cannot be final, since it is moving onward. Brotherhood (1937) - 66:
66. Co-workers and messengers may be either conscious or unconscious ones. The entrusting of commissions is considered honorable, but unconscious co-workers usually do not even know when they have been inspired by a commission. They proceed in accord with a command unknown to them, transmitting something or forewarning someone, but they themselves do not know where is the beginning and where the end of their mission. There are many such messengers; they differ according to their condition, but none the less they do not tarry. Also, there are particular silent commissions, when it is needful to exert influence, not by a word, but by silence. Brotherhood (1937) - 71:
By means of suggestion it is possible not only to forestall pain, but even to give an entirely different direction to the illness. Rarely is the latter admitted, for up to the present time people have not believed much in the influence of thought. From the same source, from unbelief, comes stagnation of consciousness. People poison themselves by unbelief. The wisdom of ages has recorded many examples of great trust and also of destruction through mistrust. When We speak about cooperation and even about Brotherhood, We must repeat about trust - without it no rhythm is created, without it success is not invoked, without it there can be no advance. Do not think that I am reiterating something too generally known; on the contrary, as in an hour of danger I am repeating about the salutary expedient. There is no other way to awaken the psychic energy. There is no other path on which the heart can glow with victory. It is difficult not to weary if there be darkness in the heart. Brotherhood (1937) - 80:
80. Usually, when people return to a former place they experience a certain sadness. They feel that something has not been accomplished. And so it is. In Infinity there must always be sensed something preordained. Brotherhood (1937) - 82:
82. Composite dreams and recollections represent in themselves a whole science. Sometimes they are interwoven with fiction, but upon dissection they manifest a whole series of separate episodes which are quite real. Therefore, when people speak about something as being impossible, one should reflect that perhaps a combination of some parts may be unnatural, whereas each one of them may be entirely possible. It is instructive to observe precisely which parts of recollections fall out more easily; thus the character of the person himself can be elucidated. Brotherhood (1937) - 88:
88. The Burden of this World. Two disciples were discussing the most expressive symbol for this concept. One proposed gold, but the other suggested that white marble might be better. Both agreed that a burden, meaning something weighty, would best be expressed by a stone. But the Teacher observed, "The smallest seed corresponds to the concept of the burden of the world." Brotherhood (1937) - 93:
93. All is possible; only depression of spirit can whisper about impossibility. Each step of science does not limit; it provides a new possibility. If something appears impossible from the earthly point of view, it may be entirely feasible through application of subtle energies. The face of a man changes with the source of light. Lightning can alter to the point of non-recognition the facial features and can reveal a quite unusual expression. But there are so many rays and currents, of diverse influence, and they can transform that which exists! Brotherhood (1937) - 109:
109. In Infinity there are many sensations that are inexpressible in earthly words. Some of them fill the heart with palpitation, yet such tension will be neither terror nor rapture. It is difficult to describe the feeling of the one who stands before the fathomless abyss. He is not frightened, yet he cannot act boldly. He does not see any support and he does not know what is to be done in such a situation. But it is his good fortune if behind him stands Brotherhood, completely realized. One should not understand Brotherhood as something abstract. It is here present for the happiness of humanity. Brotherhood (1937) - 110:
110. If the surpassing feeling of Brotherhood is difficult in the earthly condition, nevertheless Brotherhood is entirely accessible to each aspiring mind. There is no need to make something complicated of it, if you are able to wish for your neighbor nothing that you do not wish for yourself. Thus, every day, in every task, in every thought, one may be affirmed in the realization of Brotherhood. Brotherhood (1937) - 118:
118. In legends about Armageddon there are mentioned people with covered faces. Is there not something similar taking place now? It can be seen that the whole world is gradually putting on a veil and brother rises against brother. Precisely, the covered faces are marking time. Brotherhood (1937) - 128:
128. It is customary to represent the manifested by a circle, assuming outside of it something unmanifested. Such a symbol is conditional, because the boundary line of the unmanifested is quite tortuous. It penetrates wherever resistance becomes weak. Brotherhood (1937) - 130:
130. "Brotherhood on earth is impossible!" Thus exclaim those filled with selfhood. "Brotherhood on Earth is impossible," say the dark destroyers. "Brotherhood on earth is impossible," whisper the weak-willed. Thus do many voices try to deny the fundamentals of Be-ness. Yet, so many true Brotherhoods have existed in different epochs, and nothing was able to cut short their existence. If people do not see something, then for them it does not exist. Such ignorance can be traced from ancient times up to this day. Nothing can force a man to see if he does not wish to see. It is time to understand that it is not only the visible that exists but that the world is filled with invisible realities. Brotherhood (1937) - 151:
151. Compulsion upon thought is a grave offense. It cannot be justified. It serves only to provoke new violations, and where then will there be an end to outrage? It is a mistake to presume that something created in the name of hatred can remain firm. Only construction, not subversion, can gather power for free thought. Brotherhood (1937) - 160:
160. Be not surprised that the simplest examples often prove to be the most expressive. Setting forth on a distant journey, people look forward to seeing something attractive; if this does not happen, the journey turns out to be very abhorrent to them. Likewise, we should grow to love the idea of the Subtle World and the far-off worlds. One can so frighten oneself regarding the far-off worlds that even a move toward them will appear to be inadmissible. People usually have such a gloomy frame of mind toward everything of another world that they may be likened to a rueful traveler who has lost all his baggage. Let people be concerned with suggesting to themselves the best possibilities for success on the distant path. They will thus enter into the region of thought. It will be impossible for one to suffer who thinks beautifully! He will enter the Father's House, sensing in advance all the blessed treasures. Likewise must be comprehended the path to Brotherhood. Brotherhood (1937) - 162:
162. Ancient philosophy advised thinking about the far-off worlds as if taking part in the life on them. These indications have been given in various forms. Wherein lies their essential point? They cannot be an abstraction. The insistence in the indications about such participation shows that thought about the far-off worlds has great significance. The rays of the planets are powerful, and they exert influence upon humanity. But thought assimilates powerful currents, and in the thought process humanity can profitably accept the far-off worlds. Indeed, for such perception it is needful to think of them as about something close at hand. Thought creates around itself a particular atmosphere; in it the planetary currents can be transmuted to act beneficially. Whereas, the same currents, when met with a thought of negation, will yield grave consequences. It need not be considered that one must think incessantly about the far-off worlds. What is important is to direct to them a basic thought, and it will naturally flow along in a definite direction. Thought is of two kinds: the outward and the inward. The manifestation of outward thought can be recorded on an apparatus, but the inward thought is almost undiscernible, though it shows color and chemism. Brotherhood (1937) - 165:
165. One should not be surprised that certain names are not pronounced. It is possible thus to understand the distinction between thought and word in the lower spheres. A thought is not perceived, and only the sound of a word can give away something held secret. Therefore, one should exercise discrimination in uttering names and in writing them, because writings may be seen. Brotherhood (1937) - 175:
175. Great Service has called forth everywhere much misunderstanding. To people it usually has the aspect of something unattainable. They hope that responsibility for such Service will pass them by. But let us reflect upon certain great Servitors. Let us see if They were unapproachable supermen. Pythagoras and Plato and Boehme and Paracelsus and Thomas Vaughan were men who bore their lamps amidst their fellow-men in life under a hail of non understanding and abuse. Anyone could approach them, but only a few were able to discern the superearthly radiance behind the earthly face. It is possible to name great Servitors of East and West, North and South. It is possible to peruse their biographies; yet everywhere we feel that the superearthly radiance appears rarely in the course of centuries. One should learn from reality. Brotherhood (1937) - 186:
It is more difficult to understand why a sent thought which, by agreement, is to be received at a designated time is so rarely caught. First of all, people do not know how to put themselves into a definite frame of mind. Frequently, instead of receiving a thought, they thrust it away. Because of this, it is more often that thoughts arrive, which are not those agreed upon, but are ones which succeed in falling in with the rhythm of a mood. Still oftener can thoughts from the Subtle World be caught, because they may more easily harmonize with the energy of people. But people pay too little attention to thoughts from the Subtle World. One of the reasons is that the transmutation of language can be achieved only by strong, lofty spirits. On Earth, people often cannot understand the meaning of something that has been spoken, and it is even more difficult for them to adapt themselves to spatial sendings. Yet one need not be disappointed, for each attention to thought refines the consciousness. Brotherhood (1937) - 198:
198. Among the external signs of fitness, pay attention to the wanderers. Something moves them and allows them no rest. More easily than others they realize the frailty of ownership. They are not afraid of distances; they are learning much. Among them may be messengers. Brotherhood (1937) - 218:
218. During a thunderstorm it is advised not to run about nor make abrupt movements. Likewise, a harmonious condition is indicated during mundane storms. Let us not grasp at a cushion in order to hide from the thunder. Let us not rush to the smallest when we hear the knocking of something great. We must test ourselves in the most diverse circumstances; in this is contained the secret of diversification of incarnations. But people cannot understand in what manner a king is transformed into a cobbler. Brotherhood (1937) - 222:
222. Unity is also needed there where the Teaching is being read. The reading alone is not a shield. There should be special joy at the assimilation of what has been read. In the course of the day each one can apply something from the Teaching; then comes the joy of unity. 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) - 240:
240. It may be noticed that sometimes especially large upheavals have far less destructive effect on the organism than small ones. The reason is that during the large upheavals psychic energy begins to act in a special manner, manifesting a powerful protection. During small agitations the protection may not be so strong. When I say, "Burden Me more when I go into the Beautiful Garden," this is not merely a poetic figure of speech but a practical indication. Long ago it was said that through great upheavals the spirit grows strong and the consciousness is purified. But in such processes the primary energy will be the principal factor. Therefore, let us not be distressed if it be brought into action in one particular way. It is far worse when something petty undermines the organism, and the salutary force is inactive. Such a situation must be recognized; otherwise people will begin to strive for the small and will be content with the mediocre. The store of psychic energy must be supplemented. Without pressure it does not receive the Higher Help. Even the enigmatic saying, "the worse, the better," has a certain foundation. Brotherhood (1937) - 274:
274. If someone assures you that he is neither for nor against something, regard him as being against it. Among these voiceless ones there are far more opponents than among the shouters. People hope to conceal their opposition under a mask of hypocrisy. Therefore it is especially valuable when a man has the courage to speak his opinion. However, for correctness of appraisal it is needful to realize Brotherhood as the lever of the world. One should not recognize only one's own personality, because isolation does not exist, and he who tears himself away falls into the lower strata and injures himself. Brotherhood (1937) - 278:
278. It was said in antiquity, "All people are angels." Verily, people are the messengers of the far-off worlds. Hence great is their responsibility. They rarely take the responsibility of carrying that which is entrusted to them and are not even distressed at losing the treasure. Only a few individuals may sorrow that they have forgotten something they have heard. Let people not forget that they are messengers and a bond with the distant worlds. Such a consciousness in itself beautifies everyday life. Brotherhood (1937) - 297:
297. After the grandeur of Infinity is it possible to speak about simple earthly unity? Even if this is not asked, still many will think thus. But who, then, has said that earthly unity is something simple? In order to understand it realization of synthesis is needed first of all. But such generalization can come about only through realization of Infinity. Earthly unity is certainly not simple! Brotherhood (1937) - 298:
298. Only the call to Brotherhood can sometimes flash out as lightning. Let people think that Brotherhood is inopportune, that it is unattainable; but for all that even a savage heart will begin to tremble, even a hardened, embittered heart will not pass by such a reminder of something forgotten. It is necessary to find the simplest words, for people are expecting the simplest. People can accept a good word if persuaded that it will make better their way of life. Brotherhood (1937) - 321:
321. In general, fearful wayfarers are not fitted for the path. Can one imagine a swimmer who is afraid of the water? Likewise harmful is fear before advancing into the Subtle World. Only steadfastness and aspiration to the Highest can further the ascent. He who strives toward something beloved does not count the steps of the ladder. Thus, it is necessary to love in order to attain. Brotherhood (1937) - 348:
348. The most ordinary eye can discern signs of the Subtle World. Frequently it is possible to see, as it were, certain color formations. It is amazing how something turbid actually swirls around some people, while at the same time others see quite clearly. Each one can recall cases when he rubbed his eyes after seeing something unexpected, and then as usual referred this sensation to some ailment of the eyes. It never entered his mind that the manifestation seen existed outside of his eyes and could be seen by many others. Brotherhood (1937) - 361:
361. For certain nations Brotherhood is something so remote that they even avoid thinking about it. They ridicule those peoples of Asia by whom the concept of Brotherhood is still considered sacred. It is cause for rejoicing when, over and above human laws, concepts live on which are beautiful in their loftiness. When people can establish a steadfast union with the concept of Brotherhood, then it will be possible to look forward to the building of firm foundations. Let the heights of the Caucasus, Altai, and Himalayas be the abodes of the Beautiful Brotherhood. Brotherhood (1937) - 371:
371. Terror of the extraordinary links people together, both in the little and in the great. One is afraid to move away from a place, another fears manifestations of the Subtle World. Shock at contact with the Subtle World is understandable as a result of difference of vibrations, but it is difficult to understand why the majority of people are frightened at everything unusual. Each new rhythm exasperates people. When they reject something, seek the cause in fear or in a presentiment of increased rhythm. Not fitting for Brotherhood are such fears of the unusual. Brotherhood (1937) - 375:
375. People will wonder why at times a very important thought reaches one fleetingly, whereas ordinary communications arrive clearly. One should decide with caution whether something is important, which appears to be ordinary. Sometimes the most ordinary circumstance contains the solution of something important. Often a single word forewarns about something essential. Often man is cautioned against danger by a single exclamation. It is well if in this hasty word he hears the warning. There are many examples of people having remained deaf to the must urgent Indications. At the moment when misfortune is taking place they recall in a flash how help was offered them, but it is already too late. People usually think that equal help can be extended in all the stages of circumstances. But can a cure be expected when the organism is already disintegrating? It is impossible to grow a non-existent hand, it is impossible to reanimate an already dying brain. Many examples can be cited when people beseeched resuscitation of the dying. Such an attitude merely shows complete lack of understanding of how to deal with energies. Brotherhood (1937) - 396:
396. Yogis are acquainted with attacks, as it were, of sudden drowsiness and fatigue, called the cloud of cognition. Indeed, the Yogi knows that at this time his energy is ebbing, attracted by the powerful flow of spatial current. The Yogi knows that he has taken part in Great Service for the good of humanity. It is possible to distinguish many aspects of such services. Sometimes only drowsiness is felt, but sometimes the subtle body strives to take part in an undeferrable action. Then one can see such a subtle body as a vision, or sense an invisible presence. The manifestation of such actions at a distance will be instantaneous. No earthly time is required for prolonged discourses and reactions. When a Yogi feels the approach of a moment of drowsiness, he yields to such an imperative call, otherwise he may let pass an opportunity for cooperation in something great. It is especially indicative that those communions take place at remote distances and with persons absolutely unknown. Thus, the magnet of attraction is the more remarkable on the basis of thought-energy. Many manifestations may be noticed that are usually ignored. Brotherhood (1937) - 402:
402. Who can take it upon himself to judge that which he does not know? Who presumes to affirm the presence or absence of something unknown? It is more sensible to admit that much exists which is unknown to people. Let people at times reread this simple truth. Brotherhood (1937) - 409:
409. Tolerance is one of the conditions of observation. True observation is the basis of cognition. An intolerant man cannot form a just picture of things. He deprives himself of observation and loses perspicacity. What kind of cognition can be born from egoism which rejects reality? There are many examples of great truths having been subjected to distortion, because of intolerance. It may be said that intolerance is ignorance, but this definition will be too mild. Intolerance is evil; there can be no good intolerance. It invariably contains falsehood, because it conceals the truth. Only those who definitely lack intelligence can light-mindedly fail to consider intolerance as something unworthy. Brotherhood (1937) - 416:
416. Yes, yes, yes, the usual mistake is that even people who accept the subtlest energies picture their action incorrectly. The manifestation of the subtlest energies is imagined as something thunder-like and physically striking. It is impossible to explain to people that their earthly nature makes the subtlest energies almost mute and imperceptible. Of course, the inner reaction will be enormous, but few are the consciousnesses sufficiently prepared to perceive these higher Contacts. It must not be thought that it is possible to receive sendings from the distant worlds without preparation. One should not be distressed that the dual nature, the earthly and the subtle, is not easily manifested as one. One is again obliged to remember about earthly cooperation, an idea which is assimilated with difficulty. It often excites the lowest passions instead of rational labor. If cooperation is rarely found, even in small circles, then with how much more difficulty is the synthesis of subtlest energies assimilated! We speak, not to distress you, but to implant patience and striving. Brotherhood (1937) - 423:
423. Many will read about Brotherhood; many will discuss this subject - but will many apply in life the fundamentals of Brotherhood? Not reading, not conversations are needed, but gleams of brotherly relations. Likewise needed are experiments with the energy of thought; though they may not yield brilliant results, nevertheless they will fill space and help someone unknown. Let empty arguments be abandoned that something has not been successful. Today it did not succeed in order that tomorrow it may blossom more beautifully. Brotherhood (1937) - 439:
439. The psychic nature is individual in both people and animals. It is an error to attribute it to a single race or species. One may notice in certain peoples a leaning toward psychic manifestations, but this quality still does not explain strong manifestations in the case of certain individuals; it is the same in the animal world. Some will say, May not this be evidence of the disorderliness of some laws? Not at all. On the contrary, it merely proves the existence of laws over and above earthly reasoning. There are many questions which lead into error those who cannot think above earthly reasoning. People have become accustomed to think about fortuitous boundaries of nations, taking them for something immutable; likewise an entire people should think uniformly; a species of animals should have the same characteristics - yet life itself teaches one to perceive a great diversity. Man will be far happier when he discovers the thread of laws of the psychic nature. Brotherhood (1937) - 440:
440. If catastrophe threatens Earth, is it not absurd to write something down, to study, and to conserve? Only from an earthly point of view is it possible to arrive at such a premise. If no Subtle World exists, then from the earthly point of view it is not worth-while to be concerned. But We are speaking about life, not about a handful of earth. Brotherhood (1937) - 445:
445. Around the concept of forgiveness there is a great lack of understanding. One who has forgiven someone assumes that he has accomplished something out of the ordinary, whereas he has merely preserved his own karma from complications. The forgiven one thinks that all has been ended, but, of course, karma remains ahead of him. True, the forgiving one did not intervene in the karma of the forgiven one and thus has not made it more burdensome, but the very law of karma remains with both participants. The Lords of Karma can alter this to a certain extent if the fire of purification flashes out brightly, but such a flame cannot easily be set alight. Brotherhood (1937) - 447:
447. Among one's customs one must retain all those that contribute to the elevation of the spirit. Let us not uproot feelings which can yield most precious branches. Let us not cut away healthy shoots, for it is impossible to create in an instant something new and more beautiful. Brotherhood (1937) - 448:
448. Ordinary human sensations are often called something supernatural. A presentiment is quite natural, but as a result of superstition it is referred to the category of unusual agglomerations. A feeling does not deceive, but to sense it will be a certain attainment. Especially do people lose their wits when waves of different sensations simultaneously rush over them. Even trained observers cannot discriminate between contrasting feelings. One may spring up from a nearby neighbor, whereas another comes flying from beyond the distant mountains. Frequently, a nearby circumstance can interrupt very important distant currents. Let us not be distressed by the small when great calls may be hastening on. It is necessary to adjust one's feeling to the greater, knowing that it may arise. Especially when space is so tensed, one must keep one's attention fixed upon the larger tasks. Brotherhood (1937) - 450:
450. Wherein, then, is progress? Some assume that it is in constant recognition of the new. Will not such aspiration be one-sided, and must there not be added to it regulation of the old? More than once it has been shown that people abstractly strive toward something new, and yet continue to dwell in an old pigsty. Someone gives lectures about cleanliness, yet is himself extremely filthy. Will such instruction be convincing? Or a lazy man summons to labor, but who will give heed to him? Let us not be afraid to repeat such primitive examples, for life is full of them. Brotherhood (1937) - 463:
463. It will be pointed out that many Communities and Brotherhoods have fallen into ruin, but they are not the ones We speak about. Moreover, they could have been moved elsewhere, but to a stranger's eye it might seem that they disintegrated. Do people know much about life in a neighboring house, much less about that which they are not supposed to know? Each one can recall from his own life the most significant events about which no one has known. Especially if transmitted by thought at a distance, who could learn about them. True, thought can be intercepted, but for this special conditions are necessary. If a thought has been directed with especial clarity to a definite person, it will unfailingly contact his aura. Thus communities can be kept together by the force of thought. But some are so afraid of thought that they decline everything relating to this domain. Such people should not be attracted, their approach ends in treachery. More than once Communities have been moved away in order to free them from undesirable people. It is easier to announce the dissolution of a Community than to disclose those who can do harm. From such a situation one can more easily comprehend why the Brotherhood is to be found in an inaccessible place. therefore, too, each one who knows about the Brotherhood will be careful in giving out his information. People cannot bear it when they are unable to understand something. Such understandings are stratified slowly. Very rarely is the Chalice filled to overflowing. As a synthesized center, the Chalice preserves the most essential, indescribable accumulations. Brotherhood (1937) - 489:
489. Many have heard about the Kumaras, but few have rightly understood about them. This manifestation is something superearthly - thus do people say, but they forget with what labor the attainment is built. Scholars are already beginning to understand how a human personality enters into the pantheon of heroes. By the same path also are the qualities of the Leaders of humanity accumulated. If they do not pass through earthly sufferings, they cannot respond to people's sufferings. If they do not experience the sweat of toil, they cannot guide people in their labor. Self-abnegation, mercy, compassion, courage are forged in life. Nothing abstract can mold the strength of the spirit. Thus let people understand the Kumaras as the true Leaders. Brotherhood (1937) - 508:
508. Spatial currents also are not something abstract. They influence not only the condition of man but even the radio waves. Even in aviation certain strange manifestations can be observed that can be explained only by the currents of space. Thus, let us note each bit of evidence about subtle energies. Brotherhood (1937) - 513:
People think that the knock of the far-off guest is something abstract; yet does not the physician know about a disorder in the organism which results from indefinable causes? Commonness of speech presupposes illness of the soul. There are many such illnesses! Brotherhood (1937) - 515:
515. Not only was levitation well known in remote antiquity but it was also understood rationally. Amid the ignorance of the Middle Ages even a thought about flying apparatuses was regarded as sorcery. Only now do people look back with pity at the ignorance of the Middle Ages and accept aviation as something natural. But did the grandfathers of the present generation think similarly? Brotherhood (1937) - 548:
548. Blessed is true cooperation; in it is the element of space. As Infinity ceaselessly flashes out in each spark of an electrical discharge, so, too, common labor engenders limitless effects. Therefore, let us not call labor small and of no consequence; no spatial spark should be condemned by man. The quality of spaciousness should be reverenced as something supermundane. And so labor is a furnace of Supermundane sparks. Brotherhood (1937) - 565:
565. The Silvery Tear - thus We call the lofty degree of readiness for tests. The first word recalls the silver thread, the second - the chalice of patience. One should constantly keep in mind that the concept of the supermundane lives side by side with the earthly concept. This consciousness is very hard to maintain, for even good consciousnesses think only along one line in the hour of testing. We should not console ourselves with the thought that the silver thread is sturdy; let us rather safeguard it as if it were something fragile. Moreover, let us not forget that the chalice of patience is easily filled to overflowing, even in everyday life. It is not difficult to pass judgment on another's circumstances. Tests of equilibrium should be carried out upon oneself. Each such victory will be in itself a true success. Life provides many an opportunity for such victories. Preserve in memory each such conflict, instructive processes of thinking take place in it. The symbol of the tear for the chalice of patience is not accidental. It is difficult to restrain one's indignation when one observes a senseless destruction. A complaint about the brutalities of people often runs along the silver thread. The Teacher will often send a ray of Light so that one can look into the distance. Only the telescope of the spirit can cover the judgment. Brotherhood (1937) - 566:
566. There are many causes of madness. Let us not exculpate ourselves merely by obsession, let us ponder on all the ugliness of excesses. Also, let us not forget that, owing to a desire to escape karma, breakdowns of consciousness may occur. Man, feeling the unavoidability of something, strains his will to such an extent that a darkening of consciousness takes place. Moreover, brain sicknesses can also occur. The reduction of insanity depends upon physicians. And too, the idea of cooperation will constitute a salutary aid. Brotherhood (1937) - 574:
574. For some Our counsels are a reliable staff, for others an intolerable burden. Some will accept the Advice as something long awaited, whereas others will find grounds for discontent in each counsel. Man cannot understand how fully must the advice be in harmony with his consciousness. One cannot put into practice many useful courses of action merely because of their rejection. Good does not dwell with rejection. Good has an open door, it needs no locks. Brotherhood (1937) - 590:
590. It is essential to accustom oneself to subtle perceptions. Indeed, one should assiduously sharpen one's senses. Sometimes people try to accustom their ear to certain musical chords at varied distances. Even such a simple experiment yields unexpected observations. The very same chords will be perceived differently at various distances, which means that something exists, which intrudes and alters the quality of sound. If there can be changes even in such an ordinary perception, then how many reactions take place during subtle perceptions! People do not even think about them. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 17:
In addition to the inhabitants of the Stronghold of the Brotherhood, there are others living on Earth who carry out Our missions. One can trace how in different countries, throughout history, people appeared whose tasks and methods of accomplishing them had much in common. Usually these people were regarded with suspicion and hostility because something was sensed in them that could not be expressed in words. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 25:
Those who observe world events may perceive something higher than human logic. Even some who are devoted to Us have accused Us many times of delay and indifference, but that is because these hasty accusers have seen only part of the events. They could not possibly know their causes or effects, or be able to compare the attendant circumstances. They could not foresee exactly when decisive blows had to be struck. Who, then, can know the Plan and the steps leading to it? Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 28:
It is difficult for many to imagine how cooperation can proceed between entities in three different states of consciousness, but in reality it is not so complicated. Co-workers in the subtle body are often visible. For this no ectoplasm is required, but certain chemical compounds are used that aid in the densification of the subtle body. During the last war many people had visions, but no one realized that the cause of this lay in particular chemical agents. The conditions differ to such an extent that often something causing decomposition in the physical world can serve quite the opposite purpose in the Subtle World. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 29:
29. Urusvati values Our Help. He who values also safeguards. Each true cooperation requires first of all a cautious attitude. One should not abuse Hierarchic cooperation by a casual state of mind, and must attend respectfully to the Voice of the Elders. Even those who, because of their ignorance, cannot conceive of the existence of Our Brotherhood can still recognize the existence of superearthly voices. But those who can realize Our Brotherhood within themselves should understand that each light-minded wavering disturbs the flow of the Teacher's thought. Each unfitting word distorts something. Each broken thread can coil into a noose. This is not meant as a threat, but comes only from a desire to bring forth better achievements. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 30:
People must become used to the possibility of such manifestations. Even now some people can discern auras, while others rub their eyes, thinking that something has happened to their sight. Often, such luminosity at midday seems like a kind of mist. The perceptions of this luminosity are diverse. Among Us this capacity is so intensified that We can read in Our own light. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 40:
We do not shun life. When We manifest Ourselves We cannot be distinguished from other people. You yourselves can testify that when Djwal Khul came to welcome you He appeared no different from the other Lamas. Urusvati immediately sensed something unusual, but this feeling could have been caused similarly by the head of the monastery. Thus, outwardly, all Brothers and co-workers bear the usual earthly appearance. But even with such a conventional appearance their heartfelt warmth will shine in every glance and smile. One can call this quality of heartiness by another, more scientific name, but We wish to affirm the most human aspect of Our Abode. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 41:
Every co-worker of the Brotherhood comes into close contact with the Subtle World. We have entire Strongholds in that world. You already know their names, you have heard about the wondrous tree, Elgatir, and about the structures created by thought. One must clearly realize these conditions in order to direct oneself to Dokyood. Thought not obscured by doubt will lead to Our supermundane Abodes. The Abode of the Hierarchy in the Himalayas is in constant communication with the Abodes in the Subtle World, and the earthly battle resounds and thunders there. People do not want to understand this correlation, therefore even Armageddon is to them only an earthly conflict between peoples, and the most important aspect of Armageddon remains misunderstood. How can one participate in something when only the smallest part of what is happening is known? We affirm that the battle raging in the Subtle World is far more violent than that which is fought on Earth. Truly, much of the spatial battle resounds on Earth. Often Our World tries to warn people of this terrible danger, but in vain. One of Our Brothers used to say, "Let us tell people once again, but how difficult it is to speak to deaf ears." Their warnings will be words of justice and compassion. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 41:
You have frequently noticed an incomprehensible sleepiness, which may mean that you are cooperating with distant worlds, or else is evidence of your cooperation with the powers of the Subtle World. You should vigilantly observe the requirements of the organism. You cannot think about incidental happenings when something of importance is taking place. Only through ignorance can Our Ordainments be ignored. But great is the joy when not only the Brotherhood is realized, but also the link with the Subtle World. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 55:
It should be understood that We wish to explain joy as something creative and inspired. Joy is a reliable magnet. We want people to know where their panacea is. They can conduct a better and higher communion in joy. They will find a firm co-worker in joy. They will wish that the world might live in joy. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 57:
Our Abode is most peaceful, but it is ready to fight for good. We are informed when the dark traitors begin new attacks, and can then choose the best hour of battle. Again we come to karmic laws. Each action depends on something that has happened before, and the consequences will flow amidst many secondary conditions. They must be accepted and one's actions taken in conformity with them. I speak about this because many think that We can ignore the Law of Karma. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 59:
In antiquity such actions were called sacred, for in them was felt something from beyond Earth, and the discerning of such actions is contained in straight-knowledge. It is difficult to classify them according to human laws, but an expanded consciousness can feel their presence. The higher ranks of the hostile forces especially dislike those who bear Our missions. The dark ones cannot understand the missions or determine their scope, which irritates them all the more. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 61:
Let us not belittle the dark hierophants; they are not minor adversaries. Their ways are cunning, and they are aware of Infinity. But We know something beyond their knowledge, and they sense that there is something they cannot attain. Great is their wrath against such limitation, but that is the law. It is amazing to observe what base means they use to attract people! One must rely not on transient earthly ideas, but on immutable values. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 63:
63. Urusvati knows how to appreciate the value of all that exists, for every manifestation is the result of active thought. Even if a manifestation is undergoing involution, somewhere in it is concealed a spark of the highest energy. People will usually reject something completely even if only one part is not understood by them. An unwise or inexperienced person will act in this way, but with accumulated knowledge he will learn to appreciate each creative force, even when it is in an unfit envelope. Even jinn can build temples. They may not understand the purpose of building, but because of their power they make good masons. Every legend contains a particle of truth. For instance, the subterranean people of Agartha are often mentioned, although they do not exist. But the legend itself originated not far from Our Abode, where We do have extensive underground passages, but they are not on the grand scale described in the legend. Other legends tell about "White Waters" and "The Heavenly Jerusalem." Both of these tales relate to Our Abode. It would be unwise to reject legends without pondering over their meaning. Each of them preserves precise indications, often deliberately concealed. Frequently We Ourselves shroud the meaning of a legend, so that the local people will not disclose too much. Sometimes We must sternly forbid the crossing of particular boundaries. In everything one should evaluate situations carefully. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 73:
73. Urusvati knows how to discern the veils of Maya. When We speak about veils, it is because there is something being veiled, and that is Primal Energy. Wise is the one who can perceive in different manifestations where the eternal, indestructible foundation lies. Without this discernment everything will be Maya, a baseless mirage. It is impossible to live among such phantoms. The very foundation of eternal life requires a realization of where to find that steadfastness upon which the tired traveler can lean. Inevitably man will come to seek the eternal foundation. Thought about immutability can inspire man to action, and this striving to action is a healthy sign. We may be asked what conditions are required for Us to be able to help people better: of course, the answer is in action. We can say to those who ask for help, "Act!" for then it is easier for Us to help. Even a small unsuccessful action is better than no action, since We can then add Our energy to the energy shown by you. It is no wonder that a substance will blend more easily with one that is similar. When We wish to apply Our energy, We look for its most useful application. We send Our energy not just to awaken, but also to increase the power of those who strive. A person suddenly awakened can perform the most foolish actions. The sleeping one should not be disturbed unexpectedly, but when one is on a conscious vigil, We can help. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 75:
Most people leave Earth not realizing that they will have to return again. If they could remember at least something of the past, and learn to think about the future, they would save themselves from many errors. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 78:
78. Urusvati has seen explosions of black projectiles. What does this mean? Should it be understood as something symbolic, or as a vision of real projectiles? We must acknowledge, with great sorrow, the real existence of such dangerous projectiles even in the Subtle World. They spread a poisonous gas that reinforces the brown gas that contaminates the planet. The dark forces utilize the most destructive means to pierce the earthly atmosphere and project the deadly peril. They defy the laws of the Universe, and hope to attain their victory through confusion. They are not only dangerous adversaries, but also unwise ones, for they have no thought for the planetary balance. One who has seen the terrible explosions of these black projectiles can understand what extreme countermeasures are taken to dissipate their harmful effects. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 84:
One should not be surprised when We speak about cooperation with an energy that is within us. How can one cooperate with one's self? Let us not forget that the Primal Energy exists everywhere, and our spark of that Energy must cooperate with the highest currents. Thus we can better understand the guidance about which so much has been said. Truly, Guides exist as well as tempters. Every incarnate man is surrounded by both friends and enemies. Without fail, the many cares and hatreds of former lives gather around one. When a man asks for help, he feels that there must be something real near him during his lifetime, and truly he is not mistaken. In addition, if he could realize the presence of the Primal Energy his call would be still more effective. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 86:
86. Urusvati knows the significance of great tension. We say, "Turn to Us," but one should ask how, and We will reply, "With all your mind, with all your heart." This is easier to say than to do, for to offer the entire heart is to be in love, and where there is true love, there is no place for doubt. Those who love will not criticize something they do not understand. Where there is criticism, there is not complete love. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 120:
What We are speaking of here is something else, the diamond moment between sleep and the waking state, at the moment of the return of the subtle body into the physical one. Each human being has the power to experience this moment that connects the two worlds, but for this one must develop a subtle awareness. All recollections of the Subtle World are extremely useful for human evolution, and even reminders about the lower strata of the Subtle World serve as a useful warning. Human thought moves in the direction of cognition of the various realms, and even the fiercest Armageddon is helpless to prevent the predestined knowledge. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 127:
Most people are unable to understand the importance of co-measurement and goal-fitness. They think that Our Power can overcome any resistance, regardless of the cosmic imbalance. It is a simple concept yet it must be repeated constantly, otherwise even the most learned people fall into despair and wonder why something that was possible ten years ago is not possible today. Such a question is evidence that they do not understand cosmic motion. Not without reason do We call for courage and patience. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 139:
139. Urusvati knows that many decisive moments pass in silence. First may come a storm, with lightning and thunder, but the foundation is silence. When We suggest unification in silence, then somewhere something significant is taking place. Such concentrated silence gathers a special energy, which potentially is more powerful than even the loudest words. Very few understand silence as action. Our entire Abode sometimes merges into profound silence when something of great importance is taking place. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 158:
158. Urusvati knows the Sacred Pain. Physicians today would call it neuralgia, rheumatism, nervous spasms, or inflammation of the nerves. There may be many diagnoses, but even an earthly physician will notice that something unusual is taking place. This "something" is a pulsation of psychic energy in Infinity. One can observe that these pains appear without evident cause and disappear without any effect. They are never the same, and it is impossible to foresee which center will be affected. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 160:
160. Urusvati knows that the Great Teacher would sometimes trace various signs in the sand and then erase them. The disciples were puzzled and asked the Teacher why He did not write these signs on something permanent. In response, He drew a line in the air and said, "This is the permanent law. Nothing can erase this inscription." Thus the Teacher explained the power of thought. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 166:
166. Urusvati knows how the historical records concerning remarkable leaders are lacking in important details. But something besides human injustice causes such scarcity of information. In fact, the Great Workers themselves avoided public recognition and did not wish to have biographies written, sometimes even destroying such chronicles. The fundamentals of Their Teachings were recorded, but the details of Their Lives were not written down. Now, We too are giving the idea of the Teaching simply, without dwelling on small details that might be interpreted in a mundane way. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 171:
Pure will can be cultivated in all environments, and psychic energy can be preserved in all circumstances. Each person, small or great, is equally endowed with free will. Everyone has this highest gift and may either accept it or, in ignorance, prefer to squander the entrusted treasure. Everyone has sufficient psychic energy for fearless flight into the Subtle World, but must first of all overcome the fear of the unknown and learn something about the Subtle World. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 183:
Be assured that only a few contemplate the far-off worlds, or think about the continuity of life, and the very ideas that would help to improve life are neglected. It is not the acceleration of technical discoveries that leads to concentration of the mind, but the desire of people themselves to learn something new. Yet, how can they learn if the most fundamental truths have not found a place in their consciousness? One must do more than listen politely to these truths; one must apply them as reality. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 197:
The Thinker said, "How do we know whether, at this very moment, we might need to be saved from something? Do we really know what threatens us? We are content to think that our day has been a peaceful one, but fail to see that the poisonous viper, lurking behind us, has been driven away by an invisible savior! Let us express our gratitude to invisible saviors. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 226:
There is nothing new in this. "New" does not really exist - there is either forgotten truth or still unrealized truth. No one can claim that he has brought something new to the world, because only the moment before someone may have projected that very thought into space. People should not compete to be innovative, but should train themselves to think about the useful and the Beautiful. It would be better to think about essentials and how one can contribute the utmost good to the world. The most useful thoughts are those dedicated to Beauty. Ugliness is not fitting for evolution. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 233:
233. Urusvati knows the variety of conditions that may relate to one's incarnations. The Thinker said, "Once upon a time a great leader delivered a brilliant speech, and when he had finished he began to look for something on the ground. A simple silver ring had fallen from his finger. People smiled and suggested that he cease looking for an object of such insignificance and little value, but the leader said, 'You do not know the origin of this ring. Perhaps the whole speech was delivered on its account.'" Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 248:
248. Urusvati knows how diverse are Our messages, which sometimes come as short commands, and at others times as faint reminders. Sometimes they are stored in the Chalice, to be applied at the appointed hour. In such cases, people begin to recall something heard somewhere, and the recollection becomes more and more persistent as the indicated date approaches. These recollections from the very bottom of the Chalice must be treated with great care. In them are many events which by karmic law can only be revealed through the consciousness. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 252:
When We say, "Affirm the success," it will be asked, "But where is the proof that it has taken place?" People do not understand that something beyond mere words is happening, and this "something" determines the combination of energies. An inexperienced eye cannot catch the first vibrations of atmospheric tension. An untrained ear cannot hear the developing accumulation of forces. To a casual observer nothing is happening, and everything remains as it always was, covered with dust! Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 252:
When then did something meaningful happen? The reaction of the worldly one will be that nothing has taken place, and he will become indignant, asking, "Where is that affirmed success?" Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 252:
Therefore, care should be taken when you speak about the inception of events. Only a well-tested consciousness will embrace this idea. One should not expect people to rejoice about something that is not evident to them. And if We add that many events originate on days when signs are favorable, most people will not understand it. Superstitions are readily accepted, while scientific conclusions are ridiculed. Thus, today We shall say, "Affirm success." Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 276:
276. Urusvati knows My advice to write down unusual and rare manifestations. There are many reasons for this. You have read about radiesthesia, but you should know that there are several kinds, which differ greatly. Radiesthesia can be of sound, smell, or taste. People may at times feel as if they are permeated by a particular sound. If such a phenomenon occurs repeatedly it has a certain purpose, either to indicate something, or as a reminder. The same happens with the senses of taste and smell, or when, for some reason, a person may begin to feel an attraction or aversion to certain sensations. Thus, by means of their senses, people receive signs of warning and protection from the depths of their own consciousness. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 277:
The Thinker used to say, "Why is it sometimes easier for Me to lift a log than to concentrate my thought? I am not ashamed to admit it, for I know that this happens not because of my laziness, but because of something beyond my control." Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 295:
The Thinker pointed out that the disciples must test their fearlessness. When the Teacher observed that a disciple was afraid of something, He placed him at once face to face with what had frightened him. The same trial was also used in the schools of Sparta. There, the expression of the eyes was watched in order to confirm the disciple's courage. Thus We also watch the motion of the spirit, and rejoice when We perceive true courage. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 299:
Generally We do not rely on names or rituals, but are concerned with the essentials. Urusvati knows that the essence of Our work, Our goal, is the transformation of consciousness. Like sculptors, We work on the coarse aspects of human consciousness and try to mold it into something beautiful. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 302:
The Thinker used to ask, "Have I failed to observe something important? Has something irreparable happened? May my eyes acquire the power to observe!" Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 305:
Our life is a voluntary mastership and is not concerned with limits. Even on Earth it is possible to almost forget time, and service becomes joy. I affirm that one can prepare oneself for such service under all circumstances. One need not be a sage to accept life as something important and responsible. There are examples of even simple farmers who were ready to devote themselves to the idea of service. It was the loss of this concept of service that turned earthly life into slavery and insanity. But the time is approaching when people will be looking, even unwittingly, for the purpose of life. They will first refer to evolution in scientific terms, but the next step will be the acceptance of service as the right approach to life. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 311:
Do not underestimate the power of human counterattacks; you can find fanatical declarations everywhere. Fragmentary messages and human outcries should not be ignored, for they all pollute space. Inexperienced people would want extreme measures for purification, but can you imagine these extreme measures applied daily? They would cease to be extraordinary, and the surrounding atmosphere would become strained to the point of explosion. Such methods cannot be applied without taking into consideration the final goal. Think, therefore, about the complexity of Our Labor and try to apply your forces in the same direction. Everyone can do something useful. Each consciousness can perceive the necessary path. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 318:
When a person says that he will think about something, he has already thought about it. The fiery decision already exists within him and when he says that he will think, he refers to the act of intellectual deliberation. It is instructive to observe the duel that takes place between mental and fiery decisions. The intellect can often distort a fiery decision, but the fiery seed itself remains intact. It secretes itself in the depths of the consciousness and reappears often. It is lamentable that man stubbornly refuses to accept the various states of consciousness that exist within him. This very awareness would help him to treat the process of thinking with caution. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 346:
346. Urusvati knows that if each person wrote down a description of something phenomenal that had taken place in his life, humanity could compile an extraordinary book in just one day. Everyone has had authentic glimpses into the supermundane and many could provide revealing accounts. Even a rank materialist cannot claim that he could provide mundane explanations for everything that has happened in his life. 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) - 363:
Rest is best achieved through change of work. Yes, yes, yes, it will be a long time before people understand this paradox! Nor is it easy for them to recognize that even the process of thinking is labor, for who can understand that man creates something real when thinking? Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 371:
The Thinker once said, "Today I felt as though I knew nothing. This is a good sign, for it means that tomorrow I shall probably learn something beautiful." Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 382:
382. Urusvati saw the many different apparatuses in Our laboratory, each of which operates with the assistance of psychic energy. The time will come when people will recognize that the functioning of machines is dependent upon the psychic energy of the person operating them. This should not be regarded as magic or something extraordinary. People should know that they transmit some of their psychic energy to every object they touch. If the energy is uncontrolled it operates without effect, but when it is realized and organized it will work more effectively. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 387:
The Thinker often sensed the separation of His astral body, and at such times He directed it mentally toward those spheres where He could learn something new. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 390:
The Thinker advised His disciples to ask themselves now and again, "Have I deprived myself of something?" Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 406:
We can provide many examples from life, when the apparent destruction of something actually assisted in its regeneration. Take for example the knowledge about Our Tower. Humanity seems to acknowledge it at one moment, and in the next almost forgets about Our very existence. These waves are not accidental, and each wave of evolution has its pralaya. Only such changes produce the spiral of knowledge. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 407:
People do not clearly distinguish between the sensation of fear and that of awe. Moments of darkness can provoke a sensation of awe that is very close to a feeling of anguish. This is sometimes called world-anguish, for there is something cosmic at the foundation of such straight-knowledge. Every refined thinker experiences these weighty sensations, for without them existence is not complete. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 415:
People agree that the advice is good and meant for the best, but they do not want to apply it to their own lives. If something is acknowledged as good and worthy, why then is it not applied? Attention should be paid to such inconsistency. Many instances can be cited in which the most useful and easily accomplished action was rejected. Afterwards, some regretted having rejected the good advice, but life had already begun its new turn. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 419:
How can We remind people of their responsibility and duty? I say, by repetition, and though people cannot stand it, they need such constant reminders. It is difficult to remind without repetition. But We have been trained well in this, and are able to repeat while always adding something new. Sometimes a single hint can add newness to a whole sentence. We must learn to continually propel the spiral of fostering useful principles. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 431:
Man himself is fully aware when he does something unworthy. He must learn from the smallest daily examples and develop within himself a persistent striving toward the Highest. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 431:
Likewise, anyone who knows about the Great Service will remember that any unworthy action will cause pain to someone. Old governesses used to say to children who had done something wrong, "Your angel will weep," and this warning reached to the very depths of the children's hearts. Truly, each unkind action causes someone to suffer. What Higher Communion can there be when natural laws are violated? People may think that everything is admissible, even robbery and murder! But who are They who will approach the place of crime? Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 438:
You may be asked if it would not be better to concentrate mentally. But this beautiful state can be destroyed by spatial currents and whirlwinds. Besides, ordinary people do not know how to think, and waver like reeds in the wind. But during such winds one must hold fast to something secure. In labor will people's consciousnesses find this support. The teacher must accustom his pupils to work and must praise the best quality of labor. This perfectment will lead to an expansion of thought.
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