Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, February 13, 2007
They boast that they receive messages from Us, Yet have not renounced a single habit. Their steps are lagging in doubt, And their words are bitter with treason. They bathe in a puddle and mistake it for an ocean. Beware especially of treason. The Call, 343.
Among psychic maladies the most frightful, almost incurable, are treachery and blasphemy. Once a traitor, always a traitor. Only the strongest fiery shock can purify such an infected brain. If such a criminal condition emanates from obsession, this is likewise not comforting. Is it possible to conceive of cooperation with a traitor or a blasphemer? They are like a plague in the house. They are like a fetid corpse. Thus, the Fiery World has no consolation for traitors and blasphemers. Fiery World II, 445.
It is necessary to guide the education of a people from the initial instruction of children, from as early an age as possible. The earlier, the better.
During the first step the hand of the guide must already turn the attention to, and indicate, the far-off worlds. Infinity must be sensed by the young eye. Precisely, the eye must become accustomed to admitting Infinity. It is also necessary that the word express the precise thought. One must expel falsehood, coarseness and mockery. Treason, even in embryo, is inadmissible. New Era Community, 102.
Prayer has no kinship with violence or constraint. The first prayer of the child should not be ridiculed or reproved.
Likewise, using the name of God for intimidation is a great blasphemy. Forbiddance to pray in one's own words is in itself an intrusion into the young consciousness. Perhaps the child remembers something very important and extends his thought upward. Who, then, can intrude to smother such a luminous impulse? Aum, 69.
Blasphemy, mockery, and slander are the sole weapons of darkness. Yet you already observe the beautiful energy, and no slander will distress you. Aum, 398.
Who will keep silent when blasphemies are uttered? Each living heart says, “We are not with you, blasphemers!” The disease of blasphemy is very dangerous. But no justification is to be found in the fact that this is a disease, as this ailment is very disgraceful. When the heart is alive it will oppose in every way the infection of blasphemy. One can call to mind heroic oppositions even on the part of children, when their hearts were pure. Be blessed, you who take a stand against blasphemy! Fiery World II, 139.
The yogi is not given to hypocrisy; the yogi is not given to gossip against those belonging to the Brotherhood. Such gossip is equal to treason in its consequences. The yogi knows how much he himself is affected by his own thoughts. Agni Yoga, 173.
It may be asked what to do with traitors. Liars and sluggards are easy to expel , but it is impermissible to not suppress treason. We may cite a case when one of Our coworkers permitted treason. The sentinel on guard said to him ABe your own judge. As if nothing had happened, the traitor smirked at him and went on living. But in a year, deprived of sleep, he awaited death, fearing it. Fear of death is the weightiest self-judgment. Fear of death shuns growth and envies each one who welcomes a change of life. An indescribable terror is the fear of death; it is not a spur to flight, but a freezing paralysis. One may say to the potential traitor ABeware the fear of death. New Era Community, 236.
Express your prayers by devotional action. Know how to affirm the Teaching each day. Lose not one day, nor one hour. Know how to think of yourself as the creator of a whole world of action. Know how to apply all your forces to every action. Know how to bring the Teaching into every thought. Know how to array your forces as on a battlefield. Know how to feel gratitude as the union of joy and beauty. End with honor, because the end expresses the fire of one's accumulated achievement. It is a most heinous treason to know the Teaching and not apply it. Abuse of the Teaching is worse than death of the spirit, because by this act one exiles himself from cooperation and dooms himself to Saturn. Agni Yoga, 98.
Observe how people read the Teaching. Observe which passages they avoid and try not to notice. People especially often close their eyes to everything referring to betrayal and psychic murder. They do not even wish to consider that they can harm at a distance by their thoughts. Thus people avoid that in which they are most often guilty. One does not have to be a giant of thought in order to harm. Even a mediocre thought poisoned by the crystal of imperil will be very effective. To conceive treason means to accomplish an evident half of the whole, because an already poisoned shell will be receptive to the slightest impetus. Verily, poisoning by thoughts is even more harmful than narcotics. Hierarchy, 125.
Forgetfulness, distraction, duplicity, curiosity, belong to the imperfections which must be eradicated. Any of these qualities may be regarded as treason, for out of them issues the lowest. One should understand how unavoidable for oneself are their consequences. A small consciousness is engulfed in mistakes and, trying to justify itself B in other words to lie to itself, actually sinks to the bottom. It can be observed through many lives how the garden of effects blossoms. Sooner or later one must be convinced of the harm of mistakes. The main touchstone will be the question, “Is there no treason?”? One must in the end realize how manifold is treason. Besides the classical kiss, there may be found many subtle aspects of treason. Hierarchy, 250.
Hence, one must remember that disparagement of Hierarchy is treason; that indifference toward Hierarchy is treason; that a negligent attitude toward all that pertains to Hierarchy is treason. Thus, We affirm that responsibility must be realized for each spoken word, for each deed and each action. Hierarchy, 218.
Let us observe how the black ones labor. It is necessary to observe their peculiar habits. They are not indignant about a nonentity. They consider that the first steps of service are particularly useful for them. A nonentity is negligible even in treason. Treason is precisely the main basis of undermining by the black ones. For treason, one must know something. This relative knowledge, not strengthened by devotion, may be found on the first steps. One must know that condemnation acts like fire upon a wavering devotion. It is sad to observe with what unnoticeable deviations the disciple begins to steep himself in indifference, finding eloquent justifications. Like the blade of a knife, the heart loses its protective net. Without its sheath, the blade injures the carrier himself; and such spurs do not lead to achievement, they lead only to irritation. If one day has passed successfully in demeaning the Teacher, why may not tomorrow also be blazing with blasphemy against the Highest? And if the silver thread is broken, the blade of ossification is already irrevocably sharpened. Hierarchy, 311.
Great firmness, great determination must be evidenced when the goal is communion with Us. But even a minor treason generates numerous calamities. I warn those who have ears. Hierarchy, 440.
Three circumstances can burden karma especially. The first—the denial of the Teacher; the second—the suspicion that the contact with Hierarchy can bring harm; the third—shrinking from a mission of responsibility. Only the heart can whisper the beginning of denial, of suspicion, of retreat. He who has many times betrayed the Teacher begins in madness to assert that he never even thought of treason and did not think of retreat; an obscured mind may invent a thousand justifications to conceal that which has long since been inscribed in the scroll of karma. It is better not to approach than to manifest apostasy! The night is not dispelled for the apostate! Yet this is not a punishment, it is but the consequence of the sowing! The heart knows how to discern the seed of treason. Heart, 59.
Preserve courage; it alone will give an impetus to action. You have heard of treasons committed against the best and most worthy. The present time will not pass without these signs which accompanied each Teaching. There is that of high significance which has treason—this supreme crime—as its counterbalance. One cannot indicate one Teaching against which treason was not evidenced. Heart, 270.
People think in vain that each treason and malevolence does not evoke a rebounding blow. At times the blow may not be immediate, and often it cuts off all possibilities without any visible consequences. But the law of equilibrium is immutable. Heart, 532.
I call to mind a tale heard by Akbar. A sovereign asked a sage “How do you tell a nest of treason from a stronghold of loyalty?” The wise man pointed to a crowd of gaily dressed horsemen and said “There is a nest of treason.” Then he indicated a solitary wayfarer and said “There is a stronghold of devotion, for solitude can betray nothing.” New Era Community, 86.
The correct measure of giving is the criterion of love and responsibility. To give too little is contrary to love, but it is no better to give too much. Niggardliness is unworthy, but generosity that leads even to treason is not goal-fitting. As insufficient food leads to hunger, so excessive food leads to poisoning. It can be stated without exaggeration that the extent of treason has increased considerably due to excessive giving. Heart, 573.
What crime is the most destructive to the monad of the criminal? Certainly treason. This crime abruptly alters the current already established, and a terrific counterblow results. A traitor cannot live long in the world of matter, and when he crosses into the Subtle World, being entirely without life-giving energy he is sucked into chaos and is doomed to disintegration. Treason is never impulsive. It is always premeditated, and thus its fate is aggravated. Fiery World I, 609.
Everyone whose consciousness can already contain the significance of Hierarchy must first of all renounce blasphemy of the spirit. Much unworthy blasphemy is uttered and thought amidst the usual work of day and night. The most dangerous poison is produced by these imperceptible treasons. Often their consequences are more dreadful than one misdeed through crass ignorance. It is not easy to break the habit of the abomination of blasphemy, for the boundary between the white and black is complicated. We call this contamination a black ulcer similar to cancer. Besides, the meaning of cancer in general is not far distant from the consequences of a spiritual abomination. Like striving to the Guide, one should develop in oneself comprehension of the Highest Hierarchy. Ponder that in concluding our notes about Hierarchy We do not conclude anything, but only open the next Gates. Hierarchy, 456.