Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, May 9, 2006
In creation realize the happiness of life, and unto the desert turn your eye.
Aflame with love for Christ, carry joy to Him.
You bear wings of light.
When departing life, you will see Me once more.
Do not demean yourselves.
Summon the courage to safeguard the mysteries.
Comprehend the great gift of love to the One God.
Try to unfold the power of insight, that you may perceive the future unity of mankind.
The one salvation is to turn the spirit toward the light of Truth.
The great gift of love lives in the one vision bestowed upon the fearless soul.
You, my daughter, who have seen!
Pure art is the true expression of the radiant spirit.
Through art you gain the light. The Call, 2.
It is wise to draw a line between past and future. It is impossible to calculate all that has been done – it is incommensurable. It is better to say, “Yesterday is past; let us learn how to meet a new dawn.” We all grow, and our works are expanding with us. After twenty seven years no one is a youth, and we all can then understand the achievement of Service. It is unworthy to rummage in yesterday’s dust. Henceforth let us establish a new step. Let us begin to labor, surrounding ourselves with a thousand eyes. Let us acquire purity of thought and co measurement of actions. Thus let us fill our days; let us become used to mobility and decisiveness. Likewise, let us not forget that there is nothing on Earth higher than the given Plan for the Common Good. Let us manifest understanding of the Teachings of life.
As Moses brought forth human dignity, as Buddha impelled toward the broadening of consciousness, as Christ taught the good of giving, so now the New World is directed toward the far off worlds! Ponder, what comparisons surround us! Ponder about the cornerstone. Reflect about the given path. Ponder how the boundaries of the Cosmos touched you. Recall the steps of wondrous tensions not in a book but in life. Reflect that so much has not been taken up and absorbed and yet you stand in your place. Therefore, be not disheartened by mistakes, but ascend by the Hierarchy of the Teaching. New Era Community, 81.
To Christ was shown an image from a distant land. On the palms and on the feet were open eyes. One asked, “Is it not superstition? Can one see through the hands and the soles of the feet?”
The Teacher said, “Verily we learn to see by the hand and the foot. Will the sluggard know the essence of things? How shall we express our conclusions if we shall not apply our hands? And by our feet the spirit treads through earth.”
Then the Teacher added, “Wise ones gave this image in order to recall the nature of things.” And He also added, “Are not these eyes like open wounds? Verily, verily, through open Wounds comes the light.” On Eastern Crossroads (From The Life of Christ)
Christ said: “Not in a temple, but in spirit shalt thou pray.” Verily, religious prejudice is the worst vulgarity. Often even religious ecstasies result in more harm than good. Out of them the crowd has made a vulgar spectacle. Therefore, it is important to show the vitality of Those Who stand upon all rungs of the Ladder.
It is time to cast off the diamonds which desecrate the holy Images. It is time to burn the relics, following the covenant of Christ. It is time to enter into the Temple of Spirit understanding, consecrating one’s forces, which perfect the knowledge of the true power of spirit. Illumination, II:IV:3.
Christ himself transmitted the healing power by his touch. He gave help in life through the heart. Thus, it must be remembered that all forced conjurations are unfit, in accordance with the law of the Lords. The heart’s prayer issues directly, even without need of the conventional canon.
In conjurations we see that the identical words were addressed to God as to Satan. Not the words, but the feeling of the heart creates the miracle. Thus, even in the days of Armageddon one can be successful. Therefore one must eject all that impedes. Everyone who reads the Teaching can understand through the heart where the path lies. Heart, 550.
In the Cosmos there is a perpetual struggle between manifested chaos and the unmanifested. It is the struggle of the Forces of Light with the dark forces. Christ Himself actively resisted evil, if we decide to believe the Gospel. Let us recall how He drove the merchants from the Temple, and all His severe accusations against the scribes and Pharisees. Would we accuse Him of contradictions? And again, if we try to read objectively the words which are attributed to Christ, we shall see a Teaching which is severe in its mercy. Therefore, the words “resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also,” I accept from the point of view of karma. If this law of Karma, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” is inevitable and exact justice, it by no means follows that we ourselves, personally, should attempt to fulfill it in this way. If we do so, we shall never emerge from the magic circle of karma. Indeed, we must forgive our personal enemies, as who knows but that the blow one receives is a return blow, well deserved under the law of Karma? By returning such a blow with another and with a feeling of revenge in our heart, we do not outlive this karma, but we continue and even intensify it in the worst way for ourselves. Moreover, by forgiving our enemies we decrease the amount of evil in space and become immune against many blows. Similarly, let us understand the words “Love thine enemies....” However, with all this, we must resist evil, if we do not want to be entirely overwhelmed by it. Letters Of Helena Roerich I, 26 May 1934.
The suffering and resurrection (or the transformation of matter) by Christ provided the attainment of the supreme earthly achievement. But no one knew about the disintegration of the body into the atomic state. People thought that His body had been stolen away by His disciples.
The slander of the old world is of no consequence. Each true achievement is needed for Cosmos. The creativity of podvig is the same in every process of creation. In augmenting the profundity of the form we create an ageless crystal. The sense of perfection uplifts the spirit of creative manifestations. Christ, being a realist, desired that the phenomenon of transformation should be preceded by a podvig in complete consciousness.
One can point out two kinds of podvig, the supermundane and the earthly. As an instance of supermundane striving, one can mark a serene passing, such as that of the Great Pilgrim. Let us not attempt to judge acts of podvig, for the understanding of evolution is individual and voluntary. Agni Yoga, 8.
Reverence to the Lord can be experienced only by the heart. Filling the heart with the Lord propels each quality of the spirit. Only inner comprehension will give subtle understanding.
Nothing external can wash the body of Christ. Nothing external replaces the filling of the heart with the Lord. Even small flashes of consciousness indicate that nothing external can be compared with the fire of the spirit and with pure motive. If the spirit could preserve the memory of the spheres of the Subtle World, then indeed much could have been already established. But it would be impossible to leave behind memory of the experiences, because hard is the path of sensations not yet out lived. The supermundane spheres have their records, and these direct the efforts of successive lives. Long since have all religions proclaimed this law. Reverence of God, reverence of the Judge, reverence of the Lord, is a single concept. Therefore, on the path to the Fiery World let us remember how vital is reverence of the Lord. Fiery World III, 138.
Displaying fearlessness, you show a noble example to those around you.
I teach you to face life’s experiences with hearts alight.
I shall explain – I am hastening your karma, and on the way I strip away all masks, that you may see.
Your power increases at the understanding of another soul.
You will reach the goal predestined for you by Christ. The Call, 127.