Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, March 16, 2010
1. Have you finally learned to rejoice at obstacles? Can We be assured that what seems like an obstacle will multiply your resourcefulness tenfold? Can We accept you as conquering warriors? Can We send you the arrow of help, assured that you will catch it in flight? Can We pronounce the word of the New World in unison with you? Can We believe that for the sake of the beauty of creation you have burned your outworn garments? Agni Yoga, 72
2. People may assure you that they fear nothing, but will tremble at the first test. Courage should be tested in schools. An entire course could be dedicated to a study of how to act in the face of various dangers. Children should not be expected to manifest immediate resourcefulness, but they can be taught to understand life and develop the ability to make courageous decisions. A competition in resourcefulness would be a good exercise. In time, the students would understand how the best people were able to manifest the greatest striving.
The Thinker demanded from His disciples that they dedicate at least one day a week to the exercise of resourcefulness. He knew that this skill would often provide valuable protection in life. Supermundane III, 474
3. 7. You have understood correctly that it is inappropriate to turn for help to the Highest, where we ourselves should apply our own understanding; aside from an appalling lack of co-measurement, we not only lose all possibilities but also dull our abilities through such expectation of help, and thus weaken ourselves. Without incessant effort in tensing our abilities and resourcefulness in overcoming obstacles, there can be no progress on the spiritual plane. Not reliance is needed, but precisely full trust in the Teacher and realization with all one's being that when we have reached the limits of tension, help will come, giving us a possibility to direct our efforts toward new and higher achievements. Without such independent overcoming of obstacles, the transmutation of our energies is not possible. Only when the limit of highest tension is reached can the blessed sublimation take place. The laws are alike in everything. Letters of Helena Roerich II, 17 May 1937
4. One should know how to correlate many concepts which appear to be different. Thus, to those who do not understand, Hierarchy and self-activity appear as contradictory concepts; whereas Hierarchy requires precisely the development of self-help. He cannot approach Hierarchy who does not understand self-activity. On the steps of ascent, the first condition will be self-help and resourcefulness. One should depend upon the assistance of Hierarchy when all one's self-acting ability has been intensified. Fiery World II, 315
5. Do not choke yourselves with verbosity. In verbosity resourcefulness and flexibility become lost. Verbosity cuts a furrow like a screw, and nothing new can pass through this orifice. All kinds of bullets are cast in the factory, but the factory does not produce a new banner. A community without flexibility and resourcefulness becomes very boresome. How then will you find for each one his particular bullet if all must fit one and the same rifling? Here comes a child, here a girl, here a warrior, here an old man--one should not give the same advice to all or one's guests will take flight….
It is imperative to learn to speak more briefly and concisely, otherwise the community will be undone through boredom. Boredom is a dangerous beast! Flexibility and resourcefulness alone preserve the freshness of the tree of freedom. Community, 132
6. A diver prepares himself for the lowest depth of water. The upper level of water does not concern him, but he must foresee the entire pressure of the lower layer. So too, in dealing with nations one must have a conception of the lowest consciousness. Everyone who thinks about the Fiery World must be able to understand the thinking of the semi-animal consciousness. One should not ignore the understanding of the very lowest consciousness. On the contrary, one must equip oneself with all resourcefulness, so as to catch the human note even in animal roaring.
Most dangerous it is not able to adapt oneself to another's consciousness. How many misfortunes have resulted from words spoken not at the right moment. Manifest resourcefulness. Fiery World II, 323
7. I know you who scratch at the door.
You hope upon the shoulders of a guest to enter My House. I know you!
You have become subtle and resourceful, Even more resourceful than many of Mine.
You have fastened your clasps and prepared your garments.
You have even studied all My expressions. I hear you pronounce even Joy.
But here I shall stop you. You do not dare pronounce the joy of Love.
Your joy is the joy of hatred. The Call, 372
8. Craftiness and resourcefulness are different qualities. Craftiness is defense, cunning, a clinging to the old. Resourcefulness is the future, mobility, devotion. No one can criticize resourcefulness. When the ship speeds towards its destination, does it matter if it tacks to port or to starboard? We are not astonished at the zigzags of its course as it sails against the wind, because it conquers obstacles all the same.
Craftiness, on the contrary, provokes only disgust. One can see that craftiness does not aim to the future, since it stands in defense of only the way things are; it is an example of valueless existence.
One has to value the fire of resourcefulness. If we pay attention when the fire is ignited, we will see that much finer flames appear when courage and resourcefulness are manifested. Agni Yoga, 458
9. Poor is the master craftsman who does not make use of all the riches of nature. For the skillful carver, a bent tree is a precious treasure. A good weaver uses each spit for the embellishment of his carpet. The goldsmith rejoices at each unusual alloy of metals. Only the mediocre craftsman will deplore everything unusual. Only an impoverished imagination is satisfied with the limits set by others. The true master develops great acuteness and resourcefulness in himself. The blessed spell of his craft frees the master worker from discouragement. Even the night does not bring darkness for the master, but only a variety of forms of the one fire…. But people far from mastery lose the best treasures. They repeat the best prayers and invocations, but these broken and unrealized rhythms are carried away like dust. The fragments of knowledge are turned into the dust of a dead desert. Fiery World I, 472
10. Only children can think that if today has passed, tomorrow will be better. But a courageous mind understands that success that is missed will not be repeated. Even the sun does not shine uniformly. Refinement of understanding should be developed. The complexity of the time will increase. He who did not discriminate yesterday will not be resourceful tomorrow. The Teacher foresees an undeferrable, immediate sowing. Hierarchy, 406
11. Agni Yoga requires a special resourcefulness. It cannot manifest through physical mechanics, which appear in different degrees in other Yogas. Such an element as Fire should, it would seem, be subject to physical laws no less than other elements. But the essence of Agni is subject to such very subtle laws, that physically it is inexpressible. Thus one must apply the entire refined resourcefulness in order to follow the fiery signs. Hence, one may perceive that often fiery signs are sent by Hierarchy, and people do not even try to perceive them and to apply them…. When whole continents are dying, how are new abodes to be found without new energy? It is necessary to prepare the spiritual consciousness for great earthly upheavals--this, at best, but if people approach the last divide filled with the black hatred of the past, they will be but powder magazines. Thus let us resourcefully think about Agni. Fiery World II, 8
12. The Teaching requires not only an open consciousness but also a desire to commit oneself to its step-by-step application. A mind obscured by conventional ways cannot accept the Teaching….
One can understand and apply the Teaching of Agni Yoga only after having been in touch with other Teachings of Life and then feeling the need to find beauty and new meaning in one’s existence. Clouds of doubt do not oppress the person who seeks by any means to find a way out of the labyrinth! The command of necessity infuses one with resourcefulness, and helps one's ability to consider concepts not yet understood. Agni Yoga, 295
13. Learn to guard the Shield. Be resourceful in your attainments.
The new is difficult, and the old unsuitable. The clouds must not conceal the mountains.
No excuses or evasions will help. Only creative labor leads to victory
Understand labor broadly. The blizzard blinds the eye, but not the spirit. The Call, 340