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Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.3.8:
3.3.8. "It is better to accept an urgent message than to hide from the messenger. It is better not to paint brightly the gates on a dusty road. It is better to let one's horse into a vegetable garden than to make it step on stones. It is better to forgive a village policemen than to have a lawsuit with the magistrate. It is better to give up carrots than to be deprived of peas. It is better to fall asleep on a wooden plank than on an ant hill. It is better to receive sound reprimands than to smirk at syrupy speech. It is better to be friends with a donkey than to listen to a fox. It is better to call a physician than to bleed a demon. It is better to shudder at the torments of the past hand than to be in doubt about the future. It is better to judge in the morning and forgive in the evening. It is better to think by day and fly by night." Thus is it said in the book "The Pearl of Dreams," written in China. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.5.12:
3.5.12. In creeds and laws intemperance is much condemned, but again without explanation. The practicality of temperateness in food and speech can be seen over a period of several months. Of course, as always, We are opposed to fanaticism and torments; the body knows it full needs. About sexual temperance it is necessary to speak in more detail; too much space has been allotted this subject by contemporary thinking. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 345:
345. The Guru may ask his disciple, "What are you doing, what do you desire, what torments you, what gives you joy?" These questions will not indicate that the Guru is unaware of his disciple's state of mind. On the contrary, with complete knowledge the Guru wishes to see what the pupil himself regards as most important. Through lack of experience the pupil may indicate the most insignificant of all circumstances. Hence, the Teacher does not inquire merely out of politeness, but as a test of the consciousness of his disciple. Therefore one should carefully weigh one's replies to the Teacher. Not the so-called amenities, but a constant broadening of consciousness is the Teacher's concern. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 656:
656. When I speak of tension it must not be interpreted as fanaticism On the contrary, the tension that links one with Hierarchy may be precisely a spiritual departure from customary conditions. Though formerly people fell into bodily fanaticism this does not mean that in a more spiritually advanced time the same primitive methods need be used. If formerly it was necessary to threaten people with the torments of hell in order to curtail their partaking of bloody food, nowadays the vegetable diet enters life quite naturally. So, also, when it is realized that the heart is the focus of the spirit, then the physical manifestation of fanatics will be replaced by the revelation of the life of the heart. Thus, gradually, even in the most difficult epoch, the spiritualization of life is entered upon. There are many grave examples before you of entire nations losing their image. But when the Fiery World is realized, the highest earthly state appears small and transitory. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 97:
97. One should be very solicitous about the last hours of sojourn on Earth. Often the final striving can predetermine the succeeding life, also the stratum in which the spirit will dwell. Indeed, it is inadmissible to recall the spirit into the earthly spheres when it already has broken away. Tissues which already have been freed from earthly attractions must be strained into a terrific effort in order again to be assimilated into the earthly atmosphere. People should learn to think during someone's departure, as well as during birth, and should be able to ease the processes. As delays are harmful during birth, they are likewise harmful during death. The subtle formation of the new body must be taken into consideration. Wounds caused the departing one must be cured in the Subtle World. A most cruel treatment of the departing ones is often manifested. It may be said that it is not death which torments, but living people. All who are approaching the Fiery Teaching must know about this. On the path to the Fiery World let us remember the law of affirming the last minutes of the crossing. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 307:
307. The condition of the spirit during the crossing into the Subtle World is subject to the state of the consciousness. Withdrawing from life with the most subtle striving, the spirit is unable to harmonize its vibrations, and thus for a time remains within earthly limits. Yet not only does the sojourn in the earthly state place a burden on the spirit, but, indeed, the conflict between physical emanations and flashes of the higher magnet makes the dwelling of the spirit in the lower strata very burdensome. The feeling of hopelessness which man so sharply senses gives rise to many torturing experiences. Indeed, hopelessness becomes the lot of him who lacks refined aspirations. While on the earthly plane man can atone for his Karma, but in the Subtle World man is dependent upon his aspiration. Space is filled with ones who have not expiated their Karma on the earthly plane. Thus, the exalted spirit knows not these fiery torments. Refinement of the spirit is the key to the Gates of the Fiery World. Brotherhood (1937) - 78:
78. Destructive is the feeling of contentment. It leads to satiation and to paralysis of energy. One may observe in the Subtle World the most pitiful fate of such paralytics. Even the little that they have succeeded in accumulating during their earthly life is cut short by paralysis of energy. Vagrant shades, they cannot succeed, because without energy it is impossible to advance. You may be asked whose lot is more gloomy, that of such paralytics or of the malignant haters. The answer is difficult. Those who hate can suffer and thus be purified, but through disuse of energy the paralytics lose the possibility of advancing. Is it not better to suffer much but with the possibility of advance? The torments that purify are better than hopeless dissolution. Hatred can be transformed into love, but paralysis is the terror of night. Such hopeless destructions cannot lead to Brotherhood. Paralysis of separate limbs can be overcome by the will, but if the basic energy itself is inactive how can a command be carried out? Many such living corpses walk about! Brotherhood (1937) - 85:
85. The bliss of the thinker or the torment of the thinker? It is customary to represent a thinker as in torment, but if you ask him whether he wishes to be freed from such pangs, any thinker will reply in the negative. In the depth of his consciousness he experiences great bliss, for the process of thinking is a higher enjoyment. People have only two real joys - thinking and the ecstasy over beauty. The path to the Fiery World has been affirmed by these two manifestations. Only through them can man advance to the lofty spheres. Every higher communion will contain these two fundamentals. Therefore, it is absurd to talk about the torments of the thinker or the creator. They are not suffering but rejoicing. However, people understand joy in such a singular fashion! For some people joy is in thinking nothing and doing nothing. Brotherhood (1937) - 143:
143. Tatters are complicating the fundamentals of Be-ness. It is necessary to find the link between the earthly world and the Subtle World. Not on paper but in the heart is it necessary to know just what the people need. Worries and torments denote many mistakes. They arise from the fact that someone had in mind only one group, but not the people as a whole. Salutary counsels are needed for the people. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 58:
There are many kinds of cruelty inflicted upon people and animals. It should be remembered that the karma of torturers is very heavy. The barbaric consciousness should be made to understand what is permissible and what is not. Few torments can be excused by claims of legality.
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