References compiled from the Agni Yoga Series
1. Strive for the life glorified,
and for the realization of purity.
Put aside all prejudices—think freely.
Be not downcast but full of hope.
Flee not from life, but walk the path of salvation.
3. Those who are obsessed with matters of the earthly world
can receive no answers from the Heights.
Fate can be overcome if you manifest the Christ,
Who sacrificed Himself for Truth.
4. My Friends! Happiness lies in serving the salvation
of Humanity.
6. The fire of fearlessness will brighten your hearth.
We send the light to those who smile at darkness.
9. Do not belittle the significance
of what you do not comprehend.
Cherish the token given unto you
You must await the awakening
of a new spiritual consciousness.
Many doubts will be dispelled in your future work.
Necessary and inevitable do I deem
the rise and fall of the spirit.
The Voice of Wisdom will open the gates
to the Unknown.
10. Love each other—beware of disunion.
We must pay dearly for our light-mindedness and prattle.
14. Learn the Wisdom of the Creator
through life’s symbols.
15. Strengthen the awareness of Our Presence
in your life.
16. Try to study the higher manifestations
that are of value to humanity.
The image of mankind is created by the energy
of mankind itself.
19. Turn your mind to the joy of creation.
21. A pure prayer ever ascends.
At the feet of Christ it blossoms, silvery and radiant.
24. Beseech Christ.
Search for the joy of turning to the Creator.
Learn, and unlock the Gates of Knowledge,
And affirm yourselves in understanding the Divine Plan.
32. While you are disciples, learn to overcome irritability.
My disciples must have a sympathetic eye.
As through a magnifying glass behold the good,
and belittle tenfold the signs of imperfection,
lest you remain as you always were.
43. Learn to approach Our Heights pure of heart.
Our Ray will shine upon you and exalt your daily life.
51. Follow the simplest path as you ascend the mountain.
Powerful, exalted visions require pure surroundings,
and prana.
Christ’s deeds were consummated
amidst the beauties of nature.
Never did He dwell for long in cities.
66. Know how to love as you ascend.
Only later will you realize how gently and lovingly
I strive to shorten your journey
in the field of action given to you.
80. M. is your smile, your bliss, your strength, your wisdom.
81. All that can be absorbed by your being
is given to you
82. Love Me—your Spiritual Teacher.
Your destiny is to bring the inextinguishable Light
to ardent hearts.
Realize the joy of fighting for My Cause.
Easy is destruction, but you must build wisely.
83. Know to spread happiness—condemn not.
94. Prayers to the Creator are offered not only
in temples—the wax of the candle burns also
in the labors of life.
124. Your happiness lies in understanding
the Divine Energy at the root of the Universe.
125. God’s plan is beyond the ways of men.
142. I will grant you power to see and hear.
The first essentials are purity of air
and clarity of spirit.
209. Your faith should be aflame,
vAnd you should look forward without expectation.
Expect naught, yet be cognizant of the motion
of each blade of grass.
210. You must know that the chosen path of Good
leads to the Source of Wisdom.
By signs will you know how to time
the steps of your ascent.
And all that exists will be a book of life for you.
214. There are many paths but the heart recognizes
the surest one.
To understand clearly means to learn much.
232. The path of virtue is not a singing of psalms,
but labor and service.
277. Amidst the life of everyday,
seek the gleam of Light.
The growing concentration upon the Blessed Forces
will strengthen the consciousness of those who knock.
The token of eternal life will penetrate
even the lowliest mind.
287. Let him not approach
for whom the probation seems too long.
311. You already know that neither kindness
nor intellect alone can lead to Us.
But spirituality is needed.
This quality comes the moment the spirit is ready.
Naught can hasten the affirmation of the path.
Even calling to people is useless.
337. He who is with Us will have his hour of battle.
But he knows that he is ever victorious.
447. Go forward courageously.
I-VI-11. Daringly raise your shield. I ask one thing: not to weaken your strength with gold. My Teaching does not like gold.
I-VIII-3. Love the solitude of thought, when the sparks of understanding weave a wreath of knowledge. And as I have vouched for you, so entrust yourselves to Me. With the Hand of Power I affirm the path to the Heights. Apprehend the Good when My Envoys will bring the tidings: "He has come!" The hour of happiness is ordained, and on the way there are flowers.
I-XII-2. M. and the understanding of Buddha's Teaching lead one to the vital understanding of law, conceived upon the Mount of Light. His Law will be of much help on the way to knowledge. His Teaching is My joy. My Hand leads to knowledge.
II-I-3. Broad is My Work; to everyone a place ordained. By the broadness of your vision will you allot your own part. The manifestation of unprecedented possibilities is behind the door. Give Us reason to rejoice!
II-I-9. Possession devoid of the sense of ownership will open the path to all without conventional inheritance. Who can improve, shall possess. This concerns lands, forests and waters. All mechanical achievements and various types of inventions are subject to the same principle. It is easy to imagine how folk creation will begin to work, especially in the knowledge that only the spirit offers the best solution.
II-I-13. I rejoice to see how you understand the details of My Decrees. I prepare an event, farseeing all details. Act likewise, as thus it will be easier for us to meet each other.
II-II-1. Maitreya sends courage. Maitreya will accept the gift. Maitreya feels its love. Maitreya sends blessings upon the joyous labor. Maitreya bestows labor upon Earth in the name of miracle. Walk joyfully. It is a joy to Me to lead the smiling ones. Discern the Teaching of Light in each manifestation. Resourcefulness is a quality of My pupils.
II-II-6. When the Ray unites the Teacher with the disciple, then the main understanding is transmitted by the spirit's perception. Not letter, not sign, but infallible spirit knowledge guides the conduct of the disciple. This infallible knowledge is the speediest conduit. Actually it is not a matter of mental decision, it is spirit-knowledge.
II-II-8. Success is only a sign of the correct direction. Success is but the understanding of the moment. The Teaching is but the lifting of the curtain of the theater. How wonderful it is to be an actor in the world's mystery! Walk in joy! The unbroken chain has great value. My Hand sends rays from the mountains. We shall begin the New Era without delay. I teach not to dream but to harken to the flow of events.
II-IV-1. In simplicity of life, in realization of the dignity of service to the New World, love for the worthy opens the Gates.
II-IV-2. Just as We watch over you, so do We watch the development of children throughout the world from the cradle on, weighing their best thoughts.
II-IV-9. The lofty mission of women must be performed by the woman. And in the Temple of the Mother of the World should abide the woman.
The manifestation of the Mother of the World will create the unity of women. The task now is to create a spiritually sovereign position for the woman. And the transmission to woman of direct communication with the Highest Forces is necessary as a psychological impetus. Of course, through the new religion will come the necessary respect.
II-VIII-11. I have already told you that the Mother of the World conceals Her Name. I have already shown you how the Mother of the World veils Her Face. I have already made mention about the Mother of Buddha and Christ.
Indeed it is time to point out that the one Mother of both Lords is not a symbol but a Great Manifestation of the Feminine Origin, in which is revealed the spiritual Mother of Christ and Buddha.
She it was Who taught and ordained Them for achievement.
III-IV-8. I urge you to think about Christ and Buddha as if for the first time.
I urge you to picture the New World as if for the first time.
III-VI-21. Learn to apply your best efforts, and in this labor accept Our greetings.
Welcome to all seekers of the Common Good.
Foreword:
We are dissipating superstition, ignorance and fear. We are forging courage, will and knowledge.
Every striving toward enlightenment is welcome. Every prejudice, caused by ignorance, is exposed.
Thou who dost toil, are not alive in thy consciousness the roots of cooperation and community?
If this flame has already illumined thy brain, adopt the signs of the Teaching of Our mountains.
Thou who dost labor, do not become wearied puzzling over certain expressions. Every line is the highest measure of simplicity.
Greeting to workers and seekers!
1. Family, clan, country, union of nations-each unit strives toward peace, toward betterment of life. Each unit of cooperation and communal life needs perfecting. No one can fix the limits of evolution.
2. Depression is the enemy of each improvement. There can be no constructive building in doubt. There will be no learning under fear. Observation is a step toward justice. Selfhood is betrayal of self-renunciation. Without achievement there is no path.
4. Unity is pointed out in all beliefs as the sole bulwark of success. … Community may consist only of friends.
5. The path of life is one of mutual help.
6. Also let us not forget that realization is simplified through clear consciousness. But let us not lose the shortest Path. Time is precious. We should not deprive anyone because of our sluggishness. Laziness and ignorance sleep in the same cradle.
8. Cooperation must be based upon sound rules. This teaches orderliness; that is, it helps the acquirement of a rhythm. Thus even in daily work are expressed the great laws of the Universe. It is especially needed to become accustomed from childhood to continuous labor. Let the better evolution be built upon labor as the measure of value.
9. And another absolute condition must be fulfilled. Labor must be voluntary. Cooperation must be voluntary. Community must be voluntary. Labor must not be enslaved by force. The condition of voluntary agreement must be laid into the foundation of advancement. No one may bring dissolution into the new house. Workers, builders, creators, can be likened to high-soaring eagles. Only in a broad flight does the dust and rubbish of decay fall away.
10. A lofty quality will enter into pure labor through love of a favorite craft. A beautiful quality will be affirmed throughout life. Nothing will remain in darkness. Ignorance will be a shameful offence. Darkness is infectious but Light is attractive. Hence, let us affirm the love of a favorite craft, which uplifts the life.
Science should indicate the best quality. Science should attract the strongest energies. Let the knowledge of the spirit shine over every workbench.
27. Pure thought saturated with beauty points out the path to truth.
29. The teaching of the New world will solve all discomforts. Verily, only the shield of the Community can give meaning to the sojourn on Earth. How indescribably beautiful it is to think about cooperation with the far-off worlds. This cooperation, begun consciously, will draw into the orbit of communication new worlds. And this heavenly cooperative will broaden its possibilities infinitely.
38. The manifestation of the pure Teaching must be linked with trust. Afterwards it will be necessary to develop such trust that the most apparent evidence cannot shake it. My Ray knows where evil is.
39. Create an atmosphere of readiness for action. When a blow is struck many old obstructions fall unexpectedly. Many battles are past, still more are ahead. Every atom of the Cosmos is battling. The quiet of death is not known to Us.
40. The New Teaching respects the Bearers of the earlier Covenants, but it proceeds without the baggage of times which have been ended. Otherwise the load of text-books would take on unwieldy dimensions.
48. Precisely, without fear and as much as possible doing things oneself. Correct is the manifestation of personal responsibility. Neither miracles, nor quotations, nor actions; but affirmation strengthened by personal example. Even a mistake in daring is more easily remedied than is abject mumbling.
… In the armor of personal responsibility let us make haste.
60. Much can be forgiven him who even in darkness has preserved the concept of the Teacher. The Teacher uplifts the dignity of the spirit. We liken the concept of the Teacher to a lamp in the darkness. Therefore, the Teacher may be called a beacon of responsibility. The bonds of the Teaching are like a saving rope in the mountains. The Teacher is revealed from the moment of kindling of the spirit. From that moment on the Teacher is inseparable from the disciples.
72. The Community, as Fellowship, can unprecedentedly accelerate the evolution of the planet and give new possibilities of intercourse with the forces of matter. It must not be thought that community and the conquest of matter are found on different planes. One channel, one banner-Maitreya, Mother, Matter!
The Hand which discerns the Threads points out the path to Our Community. Indeed, We shall not speak about a precise time when Our place started. Cataclysms molded the favorable conditions, and with Our knowledge We can guard the Center against unbidden guests. The existence of violent enemies has permitted Us to close the entrances still more tightly and to instruct neighbors in an effective silence. To transgress and to betray means to be destroyed.
91. Maintain pure air in your dwellings, project to those who come best wishes, and await Us intently. Let each community await its Teacher, for a community and a Teacher constitute the ends of one and the same column. Even in daily trifles it is necessary to remember the foundation of the house. Again we arrive at the necessity of altering the quality of the consciousness; then the transition is easy.
99. The book "Call" knew no obstacles. The book "Illumination" is like a rock. The book "Community" is like a ship before the tempest, when each sail and each rope comes to life.
116. Shield children from everything false; guard them against worthless music; protect them from obscenity; protect them from false competitions; protect them from affirmation of selfhood. The more so, since it is necessary to inculcate a love for incessant learning. The muscles must not gain the upper hand over mind and heart. What sort of heart takes a liking to blows of the fist?
143. Like healing flowers rise the seedlings of the consciousness of peoples! The channel of the people's striving carries humanity to new knowledge.
211. Gratitude is the setting for justice. The community must know the essence of gratitude. Each goalfitted action is not reduced to nothing but carries along gratitude. The essence of gratitude will be adjoined with the closest harmony of consciousness.
220. It may be known that at present many are ready to accept the community, and many can cultivate their psychic energy. Be able to point out to them that first of all they should learn to recognize the presence of this energy. One can cultivate and increase only that which is realized.
Not right are those who wish to test their psychic energy without sensing its presence. This will not be realistic.
225. The study of psychic energy is facilitated by the identicalness of basic laws. As with the external-physical conditions, so too the psychic are subject to the analogical process of formations and effects. Let us take the simplest example a man goes with the wind or the current and preserves much energy. When the man enters the right current of evolution, he passes over obstacles with miraculous ease. The whole matter is simply one of judiciously determining the construction of evolution.
To proceed in the direction of evolution does not at all mean to be dragged along in the tail of the majority. The whole history of humanity indicates that it is the minority that has divined evolution. And these few have drawn from somewhere the strength to surmount the obstacles. …
Ponder the laws of psychic energy.
The Blessed Mahatma who gave the books, The Call, Illumination, and Community, has given much counsel and the Signs of Agni Yoga. These practical indications were gathered by us for the use of those who seek knowledge.
Yoga—that supreme bridge to cosmic attainment—has existed through all ages. Each Teaching comprises its own Yoga, applicable to that step of evolution. The Yogas do not contradict each other. As the branches of one tree they spread their shade and refresh the traveler exhausted from heat.
His strength regained, the traveler continues on his way. He took naught that was not his, nor did he divert his striving. He embraced the manifested benevolence of space. He liberated the preordained forces. He mastered his single belonging.
Do not reject the forces of Yoga, but like light carry them into the twilight of labor unrealized.
For the future, we arise out of sleep. For the future, we renew our garments. For the future, we sustain ourselves. For the future, we strive in our thought. For the future, we gather strength.
First we shall apply the counsels of life. Then we shall pronounce the name of the Yoga of the time approaching. We shall hear the advancing footsteps of the element of fire, but we shall already be prepared to master the undulations of the flame.
Therefore, we hail the yoga of the past—the Raja Yoga. And we affirm that of the future—the Agni Yoga.
1. They will ask, "Can the time of Maitreya create a New Era?"
Answer, "If the Crusades brought a new age, then truly the Era of Maitreya is a thousandfold more significant." In such consciousness should one proceed.
2. People do not realize the meaning of God or Bodhisattva. As though blind, they ask, "What is light?" But people even lack words to describe its properties, though daily they perceive light.
So wary are people of the unusual that they are confused about the boundaries of light and darkness. It is simpler for them to conceive of God inhabiting a palace upon the largest star. Otherwise their God would remain dwellingless. Their manifest lack of co-measurement impels them to demean what exists.
28. Hatha Yoga cannot be regarded as an independent form. The growth of the spirit changes it into Raja Yoga. It is impossible to name anybody who attained through Hatha Yoga alone. Besides, in a world of darkness and prejudice, accomplishments through Hatha Yoga can even bring harm, by its strengthening of the astral body. The fakirs may adapt themselves to this world of darkness and unwittingly weaken the ascent of thought. Even a person sitting quietly and contemplating can attain further, because thought is the Raja of all that exists. Beauty is born through the lightning of thought. Truly, a flaming Bhakti can kindle new worlds with a thought. And the step of a Jnani will be but the smile of a Raja-Bhakti. Therefore Hatha and Jnana are not original and are insufficient. What sage of wisdom would not be the lord of love?
29. Affirm Our Teaching as your own abode, as your own construction. Let the breath of renewal fill your entire being. The significance of Community is expressed in united thought about the development of the world. The distribution of basic material benefits will result from an understanding of the highest truth. Unimportant are thoughts concerning the lowest material benefits. One should reject thoughts about quantity and strive only for quality. Of the benefit of quality, and of the harm of doubt, one must speak untiringly.
31. It is necessary to distinguish between indignation of spirit and irritation. The fire of irritation must be divided into two kinds. When irritation has an impersonal cosmic character, its poison may be washed away by a current of prana. But if harmful feelings, such as conceit or self-pity, intensify the irritation, the sediment of poison will be precipitated upon the centers. Then there is no means to remove it; one can only wear it away by developing cosmic perception.
Quality of thinking must be realized as healing. Gratitude is likewise the finest purifier of the organism. He who has found the seed and realized the care of the Sender can project gratitude into space. Great is the healing power of the emission of gratitude. One must transform everything abstract into reality.
32. The International Government never has denied its existence. It has proclaimed itself, not in manifestoes but in actions that were recorded even in official history. One can cite cases from the French and Russian Revolutions, as well as from the history of Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Indian relations, when an independent outside Hand altered the course of events. The Government did not hide the existence of its envoys in various countries. Naturally, in accordance with the dignity of the International Government, they never hid themselves. On the contrary, they showed themselves openly, visited various governments and were known to many. Literature preserves their names and adorns them with the fancies of their contemporaries. It is not secret organizations—of which governments are in such fear—but actual persons that are sent out by decree of the Invisible International Government.
45. One should firmly tell people that the New World has come into being. People are not prepared to assume their places in the tasks of creation. It is an error to believe that conquest has any connection with the mission of the New World. Whether it is in the conquest of countries or of a special class of people, this belongs with departing ways of thinking. In the process of evolution one can consider only the ascent of consciousness founded upon freedom of opportunities.
65. If a very simple man should ask you the purpose of the Teaching, say, "That you may live happily." He should not be overwhelmed by too complicated considerations. Let his entire being be filled with the realization that the whole Teaching is concerned with improving his life. The understanding of responsibility will come later. First—proclaim the joy and betterment of life.
66. Can one reveal to people the truth of the evolution of worlds when they cannot even be certain of having their daily bread? One must avoid even a hint of offering abstractions.
83. Spread the grains of the Teaching little by little. Let it imperceptibly flood the being. The time for preaching has passed, and life remains. Inspire the consciousness of your brother with an imperceptible touch, brought to him as his daily bread.
94. Some may be unable to reconcile the idea of equality with that of Hierarchy. Equality lies in the potentiality of spirit that all possess. Hierarchy is based on the uniqueness of one's accumulated experience. Therefore it is just to say that a complex of knowledge will be the gate of Hierarchy. Mark the expression "complex," because narrow specialization cannot define the breadth of a Hierarch.
Striving for knowledge, gain the realization of the Teacher. Truly, reverence for the Teacher is the panacea, even for physical ailments.
98. Express your prayers by devotional action. Know how to affirm the Teaching each day. Lose not one day, nor one hour. Know how to think of yourself as the creator of a whole world of action. Know how to apply all your forces to every action. Know how to bring the Teaching into every thought. Know how to array your forces as on a battlefield. Know how to feel gratitude as the union of joy and beauty.
End with honor, because the end expresses the fire of one's accumulated achievement.
103. In the relation between Teacher and disciple, the Teacher can instruct only within the boundaries of what is permitted. He uplifts the disciple, cleansing him of outworn habits. He warns him against all kinds of treason, superstition, and hypocrisy. He tests the disciple, openly and in secret. The Teacher unbars the gates to the next step with the words, "Rejoice, brother." He may also bar them with the words, "Farewell, passer-by."
104. Be fortified in the thought of My desire to show you the best path. Consider how imperative it is for you to help Me in this desire. Let nothing of the outworn obstruct your striving. Remember that one stumbling horse can impede an entire caravan. Therefore say, "Walk with certainty, otherwise your fate will be to fall upon a spear."
Your approach to Us quivers on the balance; do not try to hide it.
Let us pronounce the prayer to Shambhala:
Thou Who didst call me to the path of labor, accept
my fitness and my desire.
Accept my labor, O Lord, because by day and by
night Thou beholdest me.
Manifest Thy hand, O Lord, because great is the
darkness. I follow Thee!
Walk as though ascending the mountain of joy. Great is the scope of the battle for the regeneration of humanity's consciousness. The Teacher rejoices at your decisiveness.
Given in the Valley of the Brahmaputra, which finds its source in the Lake of the Great Nagas, the Guardians of the Teaching of the Rig-Veda:
"I have set down the foundation of Agni Yoga in four directions, like the pistil of a flower.
"I affirmed Agni Yoga as the pillar of My Steps, and received into My Hands the fire of the Stone.
"I now have given the fiery Stone to her, who by Our decision shall be named the Mother of Agni Yoga, because she consecrated herself to the test of the Fire of Space.
"The streams of this fire were seared upon the Stone in its great flight before the image of the sun.
"A veil of sparks covered the summits of the Protectress of the Snows when the Stone made its fiery passage from south to north into the Guarded Valley."