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Agni Yoga (1929) - 196:
Also, one should take care that no dirty water collect in the house. Indoor fountains and aquariums are usually undesirable nurseries. Besides, why torture and imprison fish and birds? Agni Yoga (1929) - 273:
On this new level, Our instructions become less frequent and more brief, and one's work depends more on one's ability for independent action. Friends will be few, obstacles will pile up like seemingly unscalable mountains, and achievements will seem insignificant. The influences of the subtlest energies will not be so evident. The intermittent, so-called sacred, pains will torture one. The divisibility and transmissions of the spirit will still be beyond explanation. But above all this will arise the striving to fulfil the desire for the General Good. Spiritual cooperation will grow, unlimited by space. Emulation of the far-off worlds will change one's perception of one's surroundings, and spatial work will cease to be an empty idea. One's assigned tasks will become a joy, as if they were one's own chosen labor. It cannot be otherwise. Of course, this joy is not expressed in goat-like frolics. A true understanding of one's surroundings may provoke a stern face, but one's life is nevertheless transformed, and one can observe the coils of the Earthly Dragon from a higher vantage point. Fearlessness, already sent in the first call, brings one closer to the new waves of light. Agni Yoga (1929) - 297:
It must be recognized that people want to forget grievous events. The destruction of entire continents is carefully removed from the old writings. Equally well-concealed are many indications regarding events that were fateful for the world. "We do not like to torture ourselves," say the earthly authorities. They are ready to hide from themselves their bankruptcy and their defeat. Earthly rulers say, "All is calm in our kingdom." Their self-satisfied repose and inactivity guarantee them their thrones. Usually they admire the sunset but sleep through the sunrise. But the Invisible Government says, "It is absurd to hide what exists." This is because we must carefully learn from past events. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 444:
444. Let the tormentors think that they torture you severely. Let them even revel in these thoughts, but let them at times think what it means to harm their fellow man. It is not easy to free oneself of such millstones bout one's neck! Brotherhood (1937) - 20:
20. Touchiness is not suitable for a long journey. This does not mean that We seek only supernal perfections. We merely forewarn as to what load should not be taken along. One should succeed in being fortified with joy, and in testing it in diverse circumstances and in all kinds of weather. One should not torture and torment oneself, but one should make tests in order to ascertain the measure of one's bodily endurance. Brotherhood (1937) - 442:
442. Without any instructions people know how to care for a beloved object. They will resourcefully discover how to keep it in concealment. They will exert themselves not to break or damage a beloved thing. Someone has said that people are most competent at preserving stones and metals, less so with plants, still less with animals, and least of all with man. You can judge for yourself how just is such an understanding. Man is a most subtle organism, and yet the most cruel treatment falls to his lot. Let us not close our eyes to the fact that the so-called abolishment of corporal punishment is merely a screen for still greater cruelty. When will the abolition of spiritual persecutions finally come! When will people realize that the highest degree of torture is torment of the spirit! As long as they are not conscious of the Subtle World, humaneness will not be realized. Let us not be surprised that some people require the division of the higher worlds into many degrees. Rather, let people, including those who demand the most, understand at least the Subtle World, so that they may know how to enter it worthily. The division will be grasped afterwards when at least the first degree of Infinity shall have been comprehended. Brotherhood (1937) - 459:
459. Thirst is slaked by water. Thirst for knowledge is slaked by the path of approach to the Higher World. Many scholars suffer their whole lives from indescribable anguish, because they alienate themselves from cognition of the Higher World. The anguish of the wrong path is most cruel, most devouring! In the end such a man finally abrogates his progress and is in torture without understanding his own error. Much malice is engendered by such beings. They are ready to persecute even the least manifestation of Light. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 58:
58. Urusvati rebels against any kind of cruelty and all torture. This is not through any lack of fortitude, but from the inner knowledge that, in the name of man's dignity, torture cannot be permitted. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 343:
343. Urusvati knows that We carefully observe the life of animals. We keep dogs, goats, bulls, horses, and some smaller species of animals and birds. Our principal studies are of their psychic energy, although We also involve them in medical experiments. It goes without saying that We do not permit vivisection or torture. We do not train them by force, but by penetrating into their world of thinking. Only such an approach can bring trust and a correct response.
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