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Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 541:
541. Earth still harbors the good robber and the cruel devotee. One would suppose that people, as the highest elements of Earth, would evolve far more rapidly than other elements of the planet. But a strange phenomenon is taking place - rejecting the ethics of spirit, people have encased themselves in a spiritual inertia. It seems that even the climate changes more rapidly than the human consciousness. Many inventions have appeared on this planet more than once. Bygone nations knew much, but the quality of thinking has progressed very little. And still people talk a great deal about a new race and a new humanity. But no Golem is to be the prototype of the new race. The quality of thinking will differ from that of past ages. The art of thinking must be completely and consciously regenerated, but without understanding the three worlds it is impossible to raise thinking to a new level. He who does not yearn for self-perfection will not think on a planetary scale. He who considers discussion of the Fiery World as superstition or paganism cannot revere the Image of the Savior. One need not wonder that people become accustomed to honest thinking so slowly, for throughout their many incarnations they have been bereft of the best images of the heroes of mankind. People have continually seen that it was precisely the heroes who were tortured and killed before their very eyes. By such thinking one does not arrive at the concept of the new man. Brotherhood (1937) - 480:
480. Dissonance is more audible than consonance. When one listens to the lower superearthly sphere, one may be staggered by the tortured groans, wails, and cries of terror. After these moans the succeeding spheres seem silent, but this impression is a relative one. The music of the spheres is sublime, but it does not harrow the nerve centers. So, too, in all that exists people are attracted by dissonance, but only a few know how to recognize concordance. On the paths to Brotherhood one must cognize the power of concordance. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 205:
It is correctly pointed out that people are incarnated for specific purposes. For example, humiliated and tortured people return to Earth to remind others about their unacknowledged rights, but most of these people cannot overcome the desire for revenge and retribution, and few reach the noble heights of all-forgiveness and pure self-perfectment. There are those who return to the very place where they were abused and mistreated and wreak terrible vengeance. They hide themselves among the common people, bringing about sedition and hindering the progress of the country.
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