Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, January 10, 2012
1. From the temple let us go into the cellar. Let us contrive to retain in ourselves not only soaring flight but also compassion. Each man has a]n open wound. Only psychic energy can point out this pain. Each study of the higher energies teaches open assistance. So, also, the wish to help must be cultivated. Aum, 556
2. I feel the human spirit will rise; but welcome the most unfortunate ones: “Come, ye naked, we will clothe thee; come, ye little ones, we will rear thee; come, ye dumb ones, we will give thee speech; come, ye blind ones, and see the predestined domain.”
Whose hand is stretching forth to the bolt of My House? Traveler, thou art without belongings; therefore thou shalt enter.
Thus will we attain. Illumination, II:IV:19
3. It is necessary to help everywhere and in everything. If obstacles to assistance be encountered through political, national, or social lines, or in religious belief, such obstacles are unworthy of humanity. Help in all its aspects should be extended to the needy. One must not scrutinize the color of hair when danger threatens. One should not interrogate as to religious belief when it is necessary to save from conflagration.
All covenants point to the necessity of unconditional assistance. Such help may be considered true inspiration. It has been emphasized already, but numerous conventionalities compel one to again affirm the freedom of assistance. Aum, 452
4. Water cannot extinguish the Fire that will purify the world, Nor wash away the rivers of blood. By new scourges will the world be purged of its evil. I expound happiness. I shall designate the path for the battle against the bazaar that is the present world. People have reached a dead end, but lightning will reveal the way out, And thunder will arouse the slumberers. Mountains have crashed to earth. Lakes have been drained of their waters. Cities have been engulfed by floods. Hunger shows its face. Yet has the spirit of humanity remained unmoved. Go, teach, stretch out the hand of aid! The Call, 29
5. Love Me – your Spiritual Teacher. Your destiny is to bring the inextinguishable Light to
ardent hearts. Realize the joy of fighting for My Cause. Easy is destruction, but you must build wisely.
Being able to help is a great happiness. The Call, 82
6. “Reckon how much each one has given. Let us count accurately. On the left: fear, self-love, greediness, suspicion, demeaning, self-pity, misinterpretation of the Teaching, dusty whispering, treason in deed and thought. On the right: giving, compassion for others, daring, fearlessness, devotion, firmness, vigilance, movability, realization of the Shield, the path and light of achievement, adornment of the temple of the spirit, righteousness of understanding, exaltation of the good. On the left – loss and payment. On the right – the receiving.” Illumination, II:VI:18
7. Those who enter the path of Great Service sometimes fear that they may not have sufficient spiritual reserve for constant bestowal. Truly, they know that the giving hand does not become impoverished, but it is difficult for them to apply this in its spiritual implication. But the same is also said of the birds of the heavens who have ample food for the morrow. Verily, in cooperation with Hierarchy, the spiritual store will not be exhausted. The heart that cherishes the Image of the Lord will not become silent. Thus, one need not fear consuming the spiritual store – it is inexhaustible. One can pour out these treasures – only hold tightly to the silver thread. Heart, 52
8. In substance, the heart is an organ of higher action and offering; hence each offering is of the nature of the heart. Each positive Teaching ordains giving. Such an affirmation is justly practical, because without giving the heart does not endure. Of course, it is necessary to understand giving in full justice. Giving should not be understood as only monetary or in needless objects. True giving is of the spirit. Let each heart pour out streams of spiritual gifts. Not without cause is it said that each throb of the heart is a smile, a tear, and gold. All of life flows through the heart. It is necessary to know how to give constant work to the heart. Nothing can refine the heart so greatly as an infinite spiritual giving. Usually the spiritual offering is not valued, since everything invisible is not appreciated. But the source of riches – spiritual as well as material – is in the heart. If only it could be brought into each case where the throbs of the heart are precious. Heart, 386
9. 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. The Teacher who gives and trusts must take into consideration a great number of conditions. He must take into consideration not only the personal merits of the one who receives but also the qualities of his immediate surroundings and karmic and astrological conditions as well. The subtle heart prompts one how to discriminate in this complex current of conditions. Therefore We value so much this criterion of the heart. The path of the Bodhisattva contains this essence of measure. No logic will safeguard the giving one from excess, but the heart knows this heavenly balance. Heart, 573
10. Even if someone does good by accident, praise him. Commend each crumb of good. To him who cries out in the darkness it matters not who brings the Light. Widening the field of vision means the bringing of Light. This action is beneficial, both for the giving one and for him who receives the Light. Transmission of Light connotes the transmitter's expansion. There was one flame, now it has become two. It means good has been accomplished. Fiery World I, 192
11. To give is a divine attribute. The inexhaustibility of giving is found in varying degrees in all of nature. But fire is the element in which giving is most apparent. The very principle of Fire is transmutation and constant giving. Fire cannot exist without the sacrifice of giving; likewise the fiery seed of the spirit exists through giving. But the sacrifice is a true one only when it has become the very nature of a man. A mental and compulsive sacrifice is neither natural nor divine. Only when sacrifice becomes an inalienable attribute of life does it become inseparable from the consciousness. Thus, by its qualities Fire teaches us during ascent. Let each one who wishes to attain cognizance say to himself, “I will be like Agni.” One must grow to love fiery sacrifice as the closest means of communion with the Fiery World. Without this self-sacrificial striving it is not easy to rise above the claws of evil. Like Fire, which is elusive, the consciousness becomes mobile when united with Agni. One must approach sacrifice not by the path of despondency but by that of fiery splendor. One cannot define Fire by any other term than splendor. Likewise, the Fiery World cannot be thought of as other than a manifestation of grandeur. Fiery World I, 54
12. Giving is a fundamental principle of the fiery divinity of the spirit. The analogy with fire is striking in all stages of development. From the crudest forms of life up to the highest, giving is manifest. One should not protest if a savage, not cognizant of the value of spiritual gifts, offers his deity his household treasures. By such circuitous paths, humanity attains the highest giving. Being of lofty degree understand giving as a joyful duty. One should strive for this degree of fieriness, for then we enter into balance with the Fiery Principle, and giving becomes receiving. Then, already devoid of selfhood, one's being accepts the highest gifts. And in such accelerated exchange an inflow of energy takes place. This constant regeneration renews the consciousness and spares one the breaks in consciousness during the transition into the Subtle World. Thus one can remember the exchange of substances in both the lowest and the highest. The unceasing interchange erases the boundaries between the lowest and highest, in other words, it raises the general level. Such work will benefit one's near ones, because it draws them into the orbit of striving of consciousness. Reveal understanding of the interchange of substances. Fiery World I, 626
13. Remember that giving one's energy is the highest generosity and mercy. Supermundane II, 379
14. Open to those who knock; give help to the sick; set aright the one in error; but be careful with the devious ones. Especially when you are striving for unity, leave behind every trouble-making thing, for it is not suitable to higher communions.
Protect the co-workers sailing in the same boat, some of them are unaccustomed to distant sailing. Of course, not all have lived through the same dates. Whoever has succeeded better also knows magnanimity. He is already experienced in patience, without which no quest is successful. Aum, 598
15. We must not forget that each dweller of the Subtle World must help his earthly brothers. Such charity is the best guarantee of mobility of spirit. Let us think of helping our brothers and sisters under all conditions. We must not think that we are separated forever from any strata. Wherever there is calamity, we can render help, and no one should think that there is anything beneath his dignity.
We serve humanity, We love humanity. Many workers remain in the earthly spheres so that they can continue working amidst all calamities.
The Thinker often repeated, “Unseen Friends, how can we express our gratitude to you?” Supermundane II, 420