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Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.19:
You ask why so many tests are necessary. In the Community everything is attained by experience; therefore, it is right to regard testings as growth. Tests lie as thresholds to the gates of Beauty. New Era Community (1926) - 179:
Could unexpectedness test fear or falsehood? Precisely, unexpectedness. Necessity will not be the deciding factor. A thief before a judge seems a model of honesty. Look at him not before the judge, but in the darkness of an alley. Do not reject testings, for the solution of life's achievement must be tested by the fire, as steel. Those who trust words are either inexperienced or are not steadfast. Experiment can pass into immutability only through unalterable striving. New Era Community (1926) - 263:
Whither then have dissolved privations and gloomy testings, when one electron of a substance can pour out an entire stream of blessing? Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 265:
265. Let us strive to understand the distinction of the most necessary. The determination of the degree of necessity is a quality of the Leader. One should know how to make a mosaic of successive order out of many simultaneous considerations. Neither logic, nor reason, nor formulas, but the fire of the heart lights the path of such a train of actions. One should realize with full heart where the passageway is adequate, so as not to jostle a neighbor. The heart will indicate when not to overdo as regards pressure. Such testings of strength are known as the wings of justice. AUM (1936) - 504:
504. One ought to test all useful qualities. It is not enough to imagine courage, tolerance, devotion, and all that goes to make up the armor of achievement. He is not a fit leader who has not proved fearless in action. Each one can imagine himself brave, but in action it often turns out to the contrary. One needs to oppose oneself to great terror in order to prove to oneself whether or not fear can creep in. When I speak about growth's dependence upon obstacles, I have in mind just such testings in actions. AUM (1936) - 586:
It is sad if a man despairs at his first failure. This merely shows that his own psychic energy is in full dissoluteness. Then the investigator must soberly reflect how to cultivate his psychic energy. Apart from experiments, man is not right in keeping the fundamental energy in a chaotic condition. Let each neophyte-investigator test himself in various circumstances. Only diverse testings can show precisely what properties predominate in the given psychic energy. Brotherhood (1937) - 119:
119. It may be noticed that patience is developed to the extreme in certain people while others are totally lacking in this quality. What is the reason for this? Such a basic quality cannot be a matter of chance. Know that the possessor of patience has built it up in many lives. A patient man is a worker of vast experience. Only in great labors does a man cognize the worthlessness of irritation. Before the Great Image he perceives the complete insignificance of transitory manifestations. Without many testings it is impossible to appraise and distinguish the qualities of manifestations in life. One should not assume that patience is a distinction conferred without reason; on the contrary, it belongs to the qualities that have been earned with special difficulty, both in the earthly and in the subtle sojourn. Hence, the patient man is rich in experience while the impatient one is a novice in life. Thus let us remember, for the Path. Brotherhood (1937) - 315:
In olden times prolonged testings were designated in order to assemble a nucleus of the spiritually concordant. However, length of time alone does not solve the problem of selection. An evil seed can remain concealed for years and years. The feeling of the heart can whisper the better intimations. Too lightly do people handle a higher concept, and only a few know how to guard it with full love. Such cherishing is not in gesticulations and obeisances, but in indissoluble heart devotion. For some the bond will be fetters and chains, but for others it is a ladder of ascent. Brotherhood (1937) - 529:
It is Our custom to test those who are approaching the Brotherhood on liberation from habits. Such testings must be unexpected. It is best to begin with small habits. Man is often concerned with defending them more than anything else. They are considered to be natural qualities, like birthmarks. Yet the newly born have no habits. Atavism, the family, and school foster the growth of habits. In any case, a routine habit is an enemy of evolution. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 59:
One can cite many examples from history of people who carried Our missions. These tasks take many forms. Sometimes We assign only one action to be performed, but the mission may last a whole lifetime. We are accustomed to taking responsibility for the chosen ones. Each member of Our Community suggests a person who has been tested and assumes the responsibility for him. We need these lengthy testings that last even for several lives. We must be certain that the essence of the mission will be fulfilled. We do not consider details, because local conditions can bring in new factors. Also, We do not insist upon minor dates, for what is important to Us is the essence of the manifestation. Where is success and where failure? We alone can decide that. The considerations of cause and effect bring many complications. We project Our attention into the future in order to avert untimely conclusions.
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