Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, December 4, 2012
1. Streams of joy fill the ocean of the Creator’s Thought. And you, pouring drops of joy into the human soul, bring offerings to the Creator of the Worlds. Enlightenment will never end. The Call, 251.
2. Energy and will are the true rulers of karma. He who renounces self, who strives for the Common Good, who is devoted in battle and joyous in labor, acquires, at least for a moment, an Arhat's enlightenment, which makes him lord of his own karma. The realization of enlightenment may be defined as straight-knowledge. True, this straight-knowledge may be lost, or may never be realized. These meteors of spirit race by in space, bearing away the happy opportunities of unconscious humanity. Agni Yoga, 127.
3. Humanity must suffer very much before it comes to an understanding of the advantage of unity. Most destructive forces have been directed for the purpose of obscuring the embryos of unification. Each unifying agent is subject to personal danger. Each peace-maker is disparaged. Each worker is ridiculed. Each builder is called madman. Thus the servants of dissolution try to drive from the face of the Earth the Banner of Enlightenment. Work is impossible amid enmities. Construction is inconceivable amid explosions of hatred. Fellowship is battling against hatred between men.
Let us keep in memory these old Covenants. Community, 273.
4. Conceit and suspicion are horrible diseases. The first gives rise to stupidity and ignorance. From the second issue lies and treachery. One must keenly discern the true motives of one's co-workers. The shield protects those who, through sincere striving to enlightenment, can make straight the convolutions of darkness.
Not the happy fool of popular tales, but the warrior, vigilant, with foresight -- such is the image for the present time. Agni Yoga, 132.
5. Urusvati knows that We disapprove of fear and suspicion, and consider them to be derived from ignorance. At the same time We insist upon vigilance and caution, qualities that belong to an enlightened consciousness. Supermundane III, 513.
6. All that is said about psychic energy applies to every action. There is nothing abstract in it, for psychic energy is contained everywhere in nature and is especially expressed in the human being. Much as one may try to ignore it, it reminds one of itself, and the task of enlightenment is to teach humanity how to use this treasure. Agni Yoga, 477.
7. Psychic energy is both Fire and Materia Matrix, and the Teaching of Agni Yoga is nothing other than an explanation of today's application of energy, the stream of which is approaching with Satya Yuga. This is not a new awakening of heretofore dormant possibility, but an enlightment spread over time. I say, the Teaching cannot be given for money, nor can it be imposed; it heralds the New Era. One can ignore it or deny it, but its heralding is inescapable. Agni Yoga, 416.
8. Be not afraid of the holy bliss of solitude. Through love let it enlighten you. The Call, 152.
9. With each century a special kind of Yoga is introduced, appropriate to the world's condition. The earth element is inapplicable when a fiery cure is required. Nor will water or air serve in place of the wings of fire. Like an inevitable cataclysm that sweeps away continents, so undeferrable is the Yoga of the realization of the fiery power. The ability to recognize the right time for right actions is the mark of an enlightened consciousness. Agni Yoga, 188.
10. He who said, “Love one another,” was a true Yogi. Therefore We welcome each outburst of love and self-sacrifice. Just as a lever sets the wheels in motion, so does love inspire powerful responses. Compared with the radiance of love, hatred is only a hideous blot. For love is the true reality and treasure.
I do not speak about love abstractly but as a physiologist. I consider that as necessity is the impetus, so love is the enlightener. Agni Yoga, 424.
11. People do not know how to find that which is most beautiful. They forget the best moments of enlightenment. But these hours are given to all, notwithstanding different conditions. A moment of enlightenment flashes out like a diamond. It is extremely brief, yet this brevity embraces a contact with the Supermundane World. Such touches are unforgettable! They are as torches on Earth and surpass reason. One should preserve the supermundane sparks with solicitude. Brotherhood, 150.
12. The Teaching is like prophecy in the world of science. Even skeptics will admit that the fate of humanity cannot depend upon the dissecting of frogs. The revealing of Our Indications at least will not increase the number of the bearers of ignorance! Accept enlightenment, the helper of humanity. Those possessing diplomas have overlooked the law of the Common Good. You, attracted by Maya, manifest understanding! Agni Yoga, 611.
13. I affirm that humanity's irrationality is inducing it to amass antagonism which will overtake it like an explosion. You correctly discerned the approaching ominous page. A great reorganization is coming! The scales are now being tipped. In Cosmos there is a most gigantic equilibrium. The power of the equilibrium is maintained through a harmonized psycho-life. The more errors on the one hand, the more enlightenment on the other. And the striving of the awakened spirits increases in proportion with the decline of the general trend of thought. Great is the law of Equilibrium! Infinity I, 91.
14. Freedom of choice is predicated in everything. No coercion whatsoever should obstruct the path, but it is permitted to give a torch to everyone on a long journey. Enlightenment alone can help one to comprehend freedom of choice, therefore enlightenment is the affirmation of being. From the earliest years every school should provide instruction in linking reality to the essence of that which is predestined. Only thus can we link our existence with self-perfection. Freedom of choice, enlightenment, self-perfectment, are the paths of Fire. Fiery World I, 269.
15. The ability to discern the true direction is a great and fiery quality. One can understand that such a quality is not easily strengthened. It demands not only discussion but the most attentive study of life. No one believes that one can leap, at one bound, from animal consciousness to straight-knowledge. Animal instinct is the germ of straight-knowledge, but great is the abyss between a dog that senses its master, and a man who is aware of the Fiery World! To sense the Fiery World while in the earthly body is already enlightenment. Fiery World I, 397.
16. Each phase of the Teaching answers a particular need of humanity. The present time is distinguished by the shattering of morality. The help of the Teaching must be directed to the affirmation of moral foundations. The findings of science pursue a path different from the way of life; there results a particular kind of savagery, which is in possession of scientific instruments. A minority of highly enightened workers stand out as rare islands in an ocean of ignorance. Literacy is by no means enlightment; therefore, the advice is given to reinforce the heart as the focal point of enlightenment. Brotherhood, 220.
17. The Great Pilgrim also taught the advantage of knowledge over ignorance. “Knowledge is achieved as the result of great labor. People will never succeed unless they strive to learn. Few are those who are qualified to help others to learn. Glory to such enlightened teachers! Each of them teaches what has already been written, but also includes a drop of his own knowledge. Such a drop is a gift from Infinity.” Supermundane I, 174.
18. Urusvati knows the power of victory over darkness. What is new in this? The need for enlightenment and the significance of the broadening of consciousness were indicated long ago. Human emanations were recognized in the past, but it must now be added that man can increase his emanations through the power of his will. Of course, this should not be told to novices, who might attempt to strain their wills without expanding their consciousnesses.
One must not forget about the constant, enlightening phenomenon of learning, which is called the torch of victory. Supermundane IV, 834.
19. Evolution requires that hatred be regarded as a shame of humanity, and when this requirement has been met, the many barriers raised by ignorance will be destroyed. Hatred is a special kind of ignorance. An enlightened person knows that hatred stands in the way of progress. Supermundane III, 635.
20. The successes of science can raise the level of humanity, but the consciousness of humanity must not be chained by any kind of prejudice. Humanity must be free in order to study the Laws of Nature. Let scientists be true enlighteners.
The Thinker said, “A scientist is Light.” Supermundane IV, 781.
21. None of our co-workers would ever condemn any temple, but rather would light a candle in each one. But it is quite certain that fanatics and hypocrites do not travel the same road as those of enlightened consciousness. Letters Of Helena Roerich I, 6 June 1935.
22. All that you write about some persons who have left the Teaching of Living Ethics is not unusual. Indeed, if it were not so, the world would not be in a state that is without issue, and cosmic cataclysms would not threaten us. It is painful to hear such statements as “the idea of the General Good is just empty words.” Certainly, for a heart reduced to ashes and for an ossified mind the General Good will be empty words. But an enlightened consciousness understands the completeness of its dependence on the General Good. The General Good was, and is the foundation of each Covenant. Letters Of Helena Roerich II, 17 January 1936.