Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, October 18, 2005
Intellect is not wisdom. Straight-knowledge is wisdom. Intellect is reason. Wisdom makes decisions that long ago had already germinated. Intellect is at the threshold of wisdom, and when sharpened it moves into the realm of synthesis. Reason and a mind trained to one specialty are only corners of the future house. Those with narrowly specialized minds can pave for themselves a brilliant future, but they must continue to incarnate until their minds lose their narrow specialization. Only when the intellect loses this can it become wise. Each specialty is meant for conditions of life on Earth, whereas the synthesis of spirit opens all spheres. Spiritual tension accumulates spatial psychic energy. Spiritual tension can lead into any sphere of the astral plane. Agni Yoga, 508.
Reason is the guide of misunderstanding. Rational thinking is being condemned, but irrational actions have also been condemned. This means that there is some force that should supplement the action of the reason. The heart must be the supreme judge. Being the conscience of peoples, it will produce equilibrium. Reason is not equilibrium. Brotherhood, 385.
The process of illumination is very complex and difficult to understand. Very few grasp that many conditions are necessary for illumination to occur. First of all, tranquility of the heart is needed, but this is not an easy state to achieve. Both inwardly and outwardly it strengthens the link with the Highest. Man is not able to cognize with his mind when and why the beneficent moment will come. The reasoning mind is a poor adviser! Instead of giving help, it can mislead. Only the heart can sense the sacred stillness and in this striving true straight-knowledge is developed. Supermundane IV, 865.
I am not at all surprised at the fact that certain ones among your intellectuals cannot understand the Fiery World. Was this so-called intellectuality ever the sign of true knowledge or of accumulations of the Chalice? Intellect is not the higher Manas. The higher intelligence is wisdom, the fruit of many years of accumulation. One may possess a brilliant intellect and at the same time not have the great synthesis which gives perception of the true nature of things. Often, narrow specialists are intellectually brilliant but reveal a complete absence of synthesis. Letters Of Helena Roerich I, 24 June 1935.
Each individual, isolated human ability has not an absolute, but a relative significance. Intellect without the enlightenment that comes from the fires of the heart, and also the heart that is not supported by intellect, are ugly manifestations. Balance is essential in everything. The goal of evolution is the attainment of the balance, or harmony of all human abilities and feelings. The tragedy of our age is indeed in the existence of the terrible conflict between the intellect and the heart. If Infinity lies before us, then surely all our abilities can develop infinitely. But here again their correct development will depend upon the equilibrium, or harmonious unfoldment, of all the potential forces that are stored in man. Synthesis is the highest harmony. Letters Of Helena Roerich II, 23 September 1937.
The heart thinks, the heart affirms, the heart unifies. One can always remember the significance of the heart, clouded for so long by the brain. The heart will be first to thrill, the heart will be first to quiver, the heart will be first to discern much, before the judgment of the brain dares to reflect. Without undermining the tortuous path of the brain, can we disregard in silence the most direct attainment of the heart, the arrow-like ray to which the miracle-heart is equal? Thus, one can be united with the heart and bulwark oneself against all attacks of evil. Heart, 353.
Urusvati knows that it is especially difficult for people to understand that psychic actions are instantaneous. They believe that earthly thinking requires time, not realizing that thought is instantaneous and that it generates lightning-like fiery decisions. When a person says that he will think about something, he has already thought about it. The fiery decision already exists within him and when he says that he will think, he refers to the act of intellectual deliberation. It is instructive to observe the duel that takes place between mental and fiery decisions. The intellect can often distort a fiery decision, but the fiery seed itself remains intact. It secretes itself in the depths of the consciousness and reappears often. It is lamentable that man stubbornly refuses to accept the various states of consciousness that exist within him. This very awareness would help him to treat the process of thinking with caution. Supermundane II, 318.
It must not be thought that an inability to evaluate properly is a calamity. It is unnecessary to involve oneself in all this reasoning when one’s main purpose is to do good. Every act of good brings benefit. The more good we do the more we increase the beneficial accumulations. The reasoning mind must not be allowed into the domain where the heart should reign. The reasoning mind can always validate self-interest, but the heart will recognize untruth. Supermundane IV, 719.
Each one of you is acquainted with special types of preachers who, having gathered all the bones of other writings, depart with them into oblivion. Reason collects detailed proofs, but the purpose of these accumulations remains undisclosed, for the heart is silent; thus, we call them the silent in heart. Moreover, these preachers, giving others innumerable counsels, succumb to faint-heartedness at the first opposition. Verily it is only the heart that bestows immortality. The affirmation of the heart is already the revelation of the future. Far from the heart are those who themselves fear counsels gathered by the reason. The ancient Teachings speak of the holy madness. Consider this as a counteraction to the frigidness of calculations; consider it the vital beginning above the conditions of deadliness. Those who deny the Teaching are not far from falling into the abyss. Those who affirm Truth, even with imperfection, are already on the path. During crossing into the Subtle World they will not regret that they called the heart to life. Heart, 23.
...always and in everything, it is most essential to have complete harmony between the heart and the intellect, this great balance which is the basis of perfecting and which is confirmed by all the great Teachings. Letters Of Helena Roerich I, 17 April 1934.
The newly invented narcotics are comparatively crude; chiefly, they destroy the intellect–in other words, precisely that which sustains the balance in all psychic experiments. A flaming heart without spiritual balance is an impossibility. Thus one must remember all details that bring one close to Hierarchy. Hierarchy, 316.
The Duad, consisting of the seventh and sixth principles, does not act as a conscious entity on the physical plane of existence. Thus, in order to reach true immortality and to achieve a conscious manifestation on all planes, that is, to become an Arhat, a Buddha or a Dhyan Chohan, man must connect the three principles (the fourth, fifth and seventh) here on Earth and merge them together, precisely in the sixth principle. The seventh principle is just the eternal vital force which exists throughout the whole Cosmos. Therefore, perhaps it would be better to say: Absolute Intelligence and Perfect Heart, being one and the same Origin, correspond to the higher aspect of man, wherein his spirit, intellect, and all his feelings are fierily transmuted and are centralized in the heart - in short, when the intellect becomes a heart and the heart becomes an intellect. With this understanding the reader will be able to avoid many perplexities. Letters Of Helena Roerich I, 30 June 1934.
For a long time the subtle body will be independent of the intellect, but then it will enter into harmony with the higher consciousness. This is not just an experiment; it is a re-attraction of those forces that have been driven away by the intellect. But the intellect, too, must take the next step of ascent. One can thus quite simply direct oneself toward higher levels of existence. Agni Yoga, 439.
The time which humanity is now experiencing is one of transition from the evolution of the intellect to the evolution of spirituality. This period will be marked by the achievement of the predominance of the spirit over the intellect. This transition will be completed during the change of races. Letters Of Helena Roerich I, 7 June 1934.
Intelligent thinking must help humanity to accept the new rhythm and cognize the New World that has already drawn near. Truly, the New World pours forth its influence, and has manifested its power in the radiance of scientific achievements. May we overcome all the suffocating dangers through concentration upon the New World! Mankind must realize that life now takes on supermundane meaning. People may still ridicule astrology, but they have accepted the idea of the influence of cosmic chemistry. Instead of the limited formulas of the past, humanity will now see unlimited supermundane achievements. In these new achievements there will be place for both the intellect and the heart. Supermundane II, 255.
It is correct to presume that evolution is propelled at times of great cosmic reaction. But this does not mean that people should not prepare themselves for it. Each conscious, thinking individual seeks anxiously for the future direction of evolution. If this direction is sensed, then common sense will strive to approach the right path more speedily. Our Teaching does not coerce, but indicates the way. Not mysticism, but logic of mind, is offered to the seekers. Agni Yoga, 580.
The Teaching of the Future Epoch will be re-union of the spirit and intellect. Illumination, II:VIII:11.