Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, March 22nd, 2005
When we are impelled to fight and destroy evil,
are we not then also as fanatics?
Where is the boundary of Justice?
But those who are trained in the school of harmony
will recognize the mandates of the heart.
Our disciple determines each sword thrust
with his spirit directed to Us. The Call, 280
Is justice difficult?
A child measures justice better than a judge.
Wherefore can only the aged and the children
Be the arbiters of the earth?
Human judgment blunders.
Laws obstruct the entrance.
Learn to judge in the open, beneath the stars.
Learn to measure distances with closed eye.
To see the light with closed eyes is granted to each one;
But laziness, ingratitude, ignorance, and brutality
are astride your backs.
Blind travelers, how will you attain the justice
of children?
Wash away the dust of habit. The Call, 293
I will tell you of the origin of the controversy between Buddha and Devadatta.
Devadatta asked: “Wherefrom is each action begun?” The Blessed One answered: “From the most necessary; because each moment contains its necessity, and this is called the justice of action.” Devadatta persisted: “How is the evidence of necessity ascertained?” The Blessed One answered: “The thread of necessity crosses all worlds, but whoever has failed to realize this remains within a dangerous chasm, unsheltered from the stones.”
Thus, Devadatta could not distinguish the line of necessity, and this obscurity impeded his way. Illumination, III:II:5
What is required in Our Community? First of all, co-measurement and justice. True, the second results entirely from the first. Indeed, one must forget about good-naturedness, for this goodness is not the good. Goodness is a surrogate of justice. The spiritual life is governed by co-measurement. The man who does not differentiate the small from the big, the insignificant from the great, cannot be spiritually developed.
One talks about Our firmness, but this is only the result of Our developed co-measurement. New Era Community, 67.
Let us affirm justice. Each one will receive his just deserts. The impetuous, the courageous, the cowardly, the lazy—all will come for their wages. Reassure them, cleanse them, and point to the entrance. He who can understand will knock until admitted. New Era Community, 260.
And let us take the example of a structure. For the construction of a new house the old building is demolished. Each stone, each beam removed from the old nest cries out against the injustice of such an act. But the demolition is completed, and a new energy is ignited. Kali the Destroyer has become Mother the Creator. Out of the fragments of the old, a new structure is built. New energy floods the space. With such simple examples one is reminded of the need for the regeneration of energy. Agni Yoga, 142.
The Teacher watches the progress of the yogi. Signs of his progress will be the ability to hear the voice of the Teacher and also the development of a keen sense of justice. Agni Yoga, 174.
Affirm the justice of the entire new structure of life. Strike especially at those who claim for themselves what others have attained. Agni Yoga, 177.
An angry person is like a bull. But the one who strikes a blow for justice is like a luminous spirit. When will people comprehend the wondrousness of becoming like the Highest Beings? As yet, they are abashed at this thought. Agni Yoga, 215.
If we limit ourselves by dead laws, it would be better to move to a cemetery. Anything ordinary will not invoke the Fire of Space. Sacrifice is accepted by the consciousness. But how precise must be the chisel inscribing justice, and how subtle can be the wiliness of self-justification! Agni Yoga, 337.
Every atom moves in accordance with exact calculation, and energy gathers from each convulsion of spirit. Let each one understand that he is doomed not because of karmic cruelty but by self-indictment. Cosmic Justice is aware of the design of evolution, and the plan is executed in accordance with the design of one and the same law of the Fire of the Mother of the World. Infinity I, 49.
When it will be possible to penetrate the spheres of true cosmic creativeness, the Cosmic Consciousness will be manifested. Alongside the creativity of Cosmos, the human spirit, which is a part of it, is active. Cosmic balance demands striving toward limitless perfecting. Hence, when the spirit of humanity cooperates with the Cosmic Magnet, it is itself drawn to that boundary which will assist it in striving into the Infinite. Thus, beyond the wall of its contentment, humanity prepares for itself the boundary of Cosmic Justice. Infinity II, 54.
Thus, only a subtle consciousness can feel how, behind some undesirable action, there is concealed not a bad motive. But the reverse also happens when an action which is not apparently bad is the result of an inadmissible thought. When I speak of spatial justice, I have in mind the law of equilibrium. The Chalice will reflect each wavering of the spirit. Hierarchy, 364.
Cosmic justice resolves all karmic ties. And how little humanity ponders upon the affirmations that bear us through space! Would they but ponder upon the affirmations that carry us into the higher spheres, they would invariably arrive at Hierarchy. Thus humanity would garb itself in the realization of Truth. Thus, upon the blending of the arcs of consciousness We create the future. Hierarchy, 382
Beware of senseless condemnation. Not only does it contain the property of decomposition but it delivers the weak denunciator into the power of the condemned. A weak but cruel heart can call forth a counteraction in the aura of the condemned. Usually the denunciator is not strong himself, otherwise he would not find time for condemnation. The injustice of condemnation, like any lie, weakens the already insignificant consciousness of the self-appointed judge; thence issues extreme harm for him, whereas the one who is unjustly judged only gains through strengthening his magnet by the attraction of new auras. Heart, 89.
The law of free will does not permit the arresting of the inception of crime. But the law of justice provides the possibility of arresting the development of harm–as above, so below. One cannot avert the inception of criminal thoughts, but the heart can prompt one as to where the persecution of evil is already possible. Hence We insist so greatly upon the Teaching of the Heart. Heart, 545.
Benignity is one of the fiery qualities. But what have people made of this quality? Not flabbiness but full justice is included in benignity. The fiery heart distinctly understands the inadmissibility of malice. It knows about the creativeness which excludes malice as a worthless expedient. Benignity also senses goal-fitness, that is to say, the higher measure of justice. About the sense of justice We have spoken much, but it is so fundamental that one should affirm it in each statement. Otherwise what will balance personal feeling when one has to gaze at the Light from behind a screen of blood? Not without cause do people say of an unfair judge that he has blood in his eye. Fiery World I, 224.
One should discern which qualities become more pronounced through realization of the Fiery World. Among these, justice is especially evident. It is impossible in words to convey this quality, which, when straight-knowledge is evidenced, is regarded as the greatest. Beyond earthly laws, the just ones know where the truth is. The law leads to many injustices, but he who is conscious of the Fiery World knows where the truth lies; in spite of the obvious he senses reality. Thus, the fiery consciousness transforms life. Fiery World I, 364.