A Talk given before the Agni Yoga Society, February 8, 1979 by Jeff Clark
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, October 6, 2015
Within the human heart burns a fire, a craving for creative fulfillment, for true life beyond the fetters of selfhood. The fire of love leads man to his most noble and his most foolish acts. Its spark impels him to strive beyond the narrow confines of his present existence in search of the Real. In times of self-forgetfulness, of intense joy or pain, we seem for a moment to contact the Source of Being, Unity. But the moment ends. We find ourselves once more in the world of limitation, once more confronting the difficulties and opportunities of daily life.
"By holiness in life, guard the precious Gem of Gems," begins the Teaching of Agni Yoga. "Our Ray will shine upon you and exalt your daily life." "By your everyday life do I teach you." (The Call, 43, 161) "Even in daily work are expressed the great laws of the Universe." (Community, 8) Certainly the Teaching would never slight the value of moments of spiritual realization and ecstasy. But the greater part of the "journey of a thousand li" (Li—A Chinese measure of distance equal to about one-third of a mile) lies between these fiery milestones; hence, "The Teaching provides a solution to the daily problems." (Agni Yoga, 304) The poetry of The Call, sublime and simple, reveals concrete practical advice. "Brothers, in all your beginnings, remember the time of silence." "Learn by teaching others." "Disdain excessive eating, just as you do quarrels." "Ask yourselves in the morning, beginning your day, what you can add to the entrusted work that My Name should permeate all your deeds....Read and understand closely My Teaching.” (The Call, 360, 251, 438, 390)
These simple but sagacious words of advice were not transmitted as unattainable idols to be breathlessly admired. "You know well enough that My words are for application." (Community, 118) An aspirant to Agni Yoga does not live in the mist of abstraction. If we do not test and strengthen ourselves through practical use of such advice, can we expect to absorb the deeper aspects of the Teaching?
Yet such valuable pieces of advice by themselves do not reveal the real practical basis of the Teaching. Certainly there are both specific hints and general guidelines for developing the life of Yoga; but the Teaching can never become a "recipe book" or a mold, however lofty or "lawful" the latter may seem to be.
The first practical basis of Yoga lies in Thought. (See the very first letter of Letters of Helena Roerich I, where she writes: “We call you to understand the great significance of creative thought, and the first step in this direction will be the opening of consciousness, freedom from all prejudices and from all tendentiousness and forced concepts.”) "Purify your thoughts, and after determining your three worst defects sacrifice them to be burned in a fiery striving." (Agni Yoga, 185) The sincere beginner who chooses to strive and actualize this advice, soon discovers that in eradicating the weeds of habit, merely clipping the tops off counts for little. One must deal not only with surface effects, outer action, but primarily with the inner causes. Even habits which have become physically stratified find their original root in thought. Their cause is their cure. The happy "sacrifice" of habit, prejudice, and fruitless condemnation, becomes not a negation of the past, but rather an affirmation of mindfulness, discrimination, imagination, will—in other words, of illumined mind and its power, psychic energy. "Sacrifice is power. Power is possibility....It is time to cast aside the hypocrisy that sacrifice is deprivation. We do not accept deprivations, but We give possibilities." (Illumination, II:VI:15 p. 101)
The Agni Yoga Teaching reveals much about thought and consciousness. Indeed, the Teaching itself, as its vast beauty is assimilated, becomes a powerful tool for broadening and transforming consciousness. Let us look into its pages for practical advice regarding thought. "The idea of having at least a half-hour daily for thought is good. I do not mean some special concentration. It is useful to think about the best aspect of everything that is taking place." (Fiery World I, 405) "Ponder each day how to fulfil My Work." (Illumination, I:V:1 p. 9) "Expel small thoughts, they are stifling to Us." (Illumination, II: VII:17 p. 120) "Gloom can be dispersed by changing the direction of thoughts." (Illumination, II:VI:9 p. 97) "It is useful at the inception of a thought to give oneself the following command, ’I will place this thought upon my heart!' This advice will give much discipline to the thinking beginner." (Fiery World I, 419) "I consider those hours worthiest which are spent in sending thoughts to friends and to all those who are in need.” (Brotherhood, 73) "Look upon pure thoughts not as a wondrous Heaven-Dweller who descends on holidays, but as the fare of your workdays." (Illumination, III:V:20 p. 248)
Can such mindfulness and creative thought lead away from life? "When you will be called dreamers, say 'We know only action.’” (Agni Yoga, 283) Thought creates action (karma). As thought is transformed, the quality and scope of action develops. Tension and patient labor intensify energy, and awaken the accumulations latent in the Chalice. Daily life, no longer drudgery, becomes a mission, a string of fiery achievements. This is the promise of Agni Yoga. "My Friends! Happiness lies in serving the salvation of Humanity." (The Call, 4)
"Conscious actions are necessary; they alone lead to Nirvana." (Illumination, III:V:7 p. 206) Conscious action means conscious choice. But how are we to choose rightly? "The conscious realization of duty prompts the right use of energy." (Brotherhood, 155)
The concept of duty is an indispensable touchstone for Action. But one might inquire further: "Where are the scales of self-abnegation? Where is the judge of achievement? Where is the measure of duty? The sword of knowledge flashes at the command of the heart. For the heart there will be no contradiction." (Brotherhood, 121) Thus, "whatever circle of reasoning we choose, we shall inevitably return to the great knowledge of the spirit." (Illumination, p. 203)—in other words, to the principle of Heart. Thought, Action, and Heart are one Path. "I believe one can allow the urgent problems of contemporary life to be resolved through the guidance of the heart, as long as there is knowledge of the basic laws. So I am affirming the essence of a sturdy, beautiful structure." (Heart, 392)
"Love Me, for love multiplies your strength." (The Call, 37) Love for one's Chosen Image is the great key to the Path; for, "It is aimless to speak of love if the heart does not yet contain the Image of the Lord. But the hour strikes when one must indicate the power of the heart." (Hierarchy, 85) "Hiero-inspiration descends through a single basic condition. Neither concentration, nor command of the will, but love for Hierarchy produces direct Communion. We do not know how better or more precisely to express the guiding law than as a flow of love....And what can more strongly unify than the mantram—- 'I love Thee, 0 Lord!’” (Fiery World II, 296) "Do not be in a hurry to impress upon the third eye the Image of the Teacher. It is better if you are able to fill your heart with a constant memory of and love for the Great Image." (Letters of Helena Roerich I, January 16, 1935) "Repeat the Name of the Lord not only with the lips but rotate it in your heart, and He will not leave it—like a stone pressed into a crevice by the mountain waters ....One should shield oneself by the Lord." (Hierarchy, 6) "We demand that the first thought be dedicated to the Teacher." (Letters of Helena Roerich I, June 3, 1931, quoting Hierarchy, 313) "I advise realizing Hierarchy from the highest spiritual striving to even the smallest bodily requirements; the silver thread is needed everywhere." (Hierarchy, 126)
At the beginning of this talk, the peaks of intense contact with the higher worlds were contrasted against the plains of everyday experience. "I call attention to the saturation of the heart and the prayer of the heart for two reasons: firstly, it leads to a blending with the Higher World; secondly, it does not require a special time and can be performed during any labor." (Hierarchy, 132) Thus "for us the daily routine is perfectment and ascent; it opens the gates to Infinity. One can learn to love this daily routine, because it tempers the spirit and gives one courage to contemplate the endless chain of the ages of labor." (Hierarchy, 176) Precisely daily striving and labor, permeated with pure motive and devotion, lead us into the higher spheres, toward the highest goal of full consciousness and activity in all worlds. "A great Crown is ordained for the brow which has been shaped by millenniums of achievements of self-sacrifice. The crown of achievement is molded by the heart, and the winged spirit creates its own ascending karma." (Fiery World III, 91) This lofty goal appears distant now; yet "The superior man of devoted character heaps up small things in order to achieve the high and great." (I Ching, Mandala 46) Thus wherever we stride on the Path of Heart, let us resolve to realize the foundations of the Teaching by its practical application in daily life.
In addition: “The Living Ethics consists of disciplines that enable you to become more conscious in any sphere, but alas, people avoid such daily disciplines. They will often invent an utterly impractical meditation in their attempt to conquer the higher planes, yet neglect their immediate obligations.” (Supermundane I, 249)
“Remember how necessary it is to keep the Teaching, especially at this time of world-wide commotion.” (The Call, 391)