Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, March 4, 2014
1. Dedication is the requisite of those who strive on the path of ascent. The Call, 5.
2. One should firmly tell people that the New World has come into being. People are not prepared to assume their places in the tasks of creation. It is an error to believe that conquest has any connection with the mission of the New World. Whether it is in the conquest of countries or of a special class of people, this belongs with departing ways of thinking. In the process of evolution one can consider only the ascent of consciousness founded upon freedom of opportunities. Agni Yoga, 45.
3. Often you hear the outcry, the moan, “Why is there leprosy, why calamity, why is the evidence of beauty obscured by a twisted smile?” Poor humanity, We regard your ailments as your own progeny. Evolution does not need so many impediments. The ladder of ascent does not need so many super-fluous steps. Our Shield does not need your recognition, but you are in need of Our Shield. Infinity I, 4.
4. Upon the summit of consciousness is affirmed the path of the Lord. On the summit of consciousness achievement and evolution resound in unison. Eternal, indefatigable is the labor of ascent! This eternal motion is your karma! Infinity 1, 20.
5. The consciousness not blended with the Lord cannot strive to the law of accumulation in the Chalice. Only the power of the Cosmic Magnet can bring the spirit close to the Teacher. Verily, the one who adheres to the Higher Consciousness receives the power of thought. Only when a spirit accepts all transmissions from Above can he broaden his consciousness, otherwise the power concealed within the Chalice cannot be awakened. Thus, the thread of the bond is the ladder of spirit upon which the power of the spirit ascends. Creativeness is affirmed by way of this wondrous thread. Thus, the ascent of the spirit proceeds through its bond with the Lord. Hierarchy, 155.
6. The spiral striving lives in the entire Cosmos. Whither a striving spirit propels itself, the circles of its lives are born. Thus, the spirit itself establishes the exact spiral of its ascent. A striving of the spirit toward crude manifestations describes a corresponding circle in the Cosmos. Striving of the spirit toward higher manifestations describes also a corresponding circle. This law applies to all manifestations. Infinity I, 202.
7. The power that unites those who are spiritually aspiring is determined by the Cosmic Magnet. In the cosmic law there exists the manifestation of creativeness which has an established arc of ascent upon which the spirit strives. The law of attraction acts upon the entire cosmic affirmation; therefore, in the higher tension of the fire of spirit, one may act only in ascent. Beautiful is the law! Infinity I, 367.
8. Love, podvig, labor, creativity--these summits of ascent maintain the upward momentum, regardless of the order in which they develop. And what a multitude of attendant concepts they encompass! What is love without sacrifice, achievement without courage, work without patience, or creativity without self-perfection! And over this entire host of beneficial values rules the heart. Heart, 75.
9. Whether negative or positive, prejudice is wrong. It is contrary to every kind of Yoga, for it cuts off the phenomenal side of ascent. Heart, 472.
10. More than once during successful research work progress has been interrupted by petty difficulties. Among these difficulties repugnance, so called, has a special significance. It arises from many conditions, both external and karmic. It is difficult to describe in words this feeling which shuts, as it were, the fiery centers, thus depriving them of power. Undoubtedly repugnance is akin to fear. But for ascent one must overcome repugnance. In ancient Mysteries there was a special ritual for the conquering of repugnance. Fiery World I, 454.
11. Freedom of choice, enlightenment, self-perfectment, are the paths of Fire. Only fiery beings can independently perceive these abutments of ascent. Fiery World I, 269.
12. How can one attain success? Remember, through joy--not through despair, but joy. Do not for an instant believe that We ponder the probability or improbability of success. The thought is, Does your joy suffice to quicken the ascent? We always counsel joy. It is necessary to realize and remember that you have succeeded when you rejoiced. Fiery World I, 663.
13. But the Yogi understands the great need of kindling the fire connected with Good. The thought of Good is the measure of consciousness. He who attains begins the ascent in self-abnegation and measures his steps by the criterion of Good. Fiery World 1, 655.
14. Everyone who has understood the needs of the World has shortened his path of ascent. Everyone who realizes the significance of the heart as the Abode of Agni is already upon the true path. Fiery World II, 83.
15. One can intensify one's will by the most mechanical expedients. Many examples and prescriptions can testify to this, but We advise to gather the strengthening of the will from Communion with Hierarchy. It may even be said that in general this is the sole means of the ascent of the spirit. Fiery World II, 112.
16. Among the manifestations which are particularly harmful for ascent may be noted half-way service. It is impossible to advance without casting away this terrible half-wayness….People must understand that the most important thing is the honesty of Service. Fiery World III, 8.
17. Daring of the spirit is the beginning of ascent. The manifestation of true daring indicates to the spirit how to affirm the measuring scale of all actions, as well as the direction, because daring admits no faint-heartedness. Daring eradicates all tendency toward betrayal. Whoever has realized in spirit true daring knows the beauty of Service. Fiery World III, 55.
18. He who knows how to discern the presence of the Higher World in the smallest things is already on the path of ascent. Indeed, it is needful in everything to link oneself to the Higher World. Without such attachment, the path will be a long one. Aum, 82.
19. In general, fearful wayfarers are not fitted for the path. Can one imagine a swimmer who is afraid of the water? Likewise harmful is fear before advancing into the Subtle World. Only steadfastness and aspiration to the Highest can further the ascent. He who strives toward something beloved does not count the steps of the ladder. Thus, it is necessary to love in order to attain.
Brotherhood teaches this means of ascent. Brotherhood, 321.
20. There is no force that can prevent the ascent of the spirit that harbors no doubt. Doubt is like a hole in a balloon. Everything is in motion and is carried into Infinity. I say this to remind you that the natural direction of man is upward. Doubt is nothing but holes in one's pockets, and diamonds cannot be carried safely in such pockets. Supermundane I, 102.
21. Urusvati knows that man must beware of indifference; it is the ruin of high vibration, it is the killer of ascent; it is the path to apathy. They will say, “But indifference should free one from desire.” This is an error, for no one speaks against the desire for heroic self-sacrifice. Such desires should be understood as darings, as milestones of ascent. Rejoice when you see daring attempts. They prove that the one who dares never falls prey to indifference. Supermundane IV, 744.
22. Much has been said about compassion, yet every act of compassion requires that one know how to bend to the level of the needy one. Indeed, this affords a glorious ascent. In the Supermundane World, mercy and compassion lead to a speedy ascent. The pilgrim learns to harken to the voices of pain and is imbued with thoughts of healing, which, like wings, bear him aloft. Supermundane IV, 847.
23. But there are periods when consciousness enters, as it were, a blind alley and cannot leave it without special help; then ensue purifications, which are manifested in revolutions, in the casting out of old dogmas and values. These periods are grave, but they do bring a healthful recovery, and further ascent becomes possible. Letters of Helena Roerich II, 10 September 1938.
24. It is correctly observed that certain pains are called sacred. Through them the spirit acends, and there is no other way. We do not know even one instance when the consciousness was able to ascend without bodily pains. Understand how attentive one must be to every manifestation, for with each hour we can expect a transmittal of the highest energies. Agni Yoga, 235.
25. What holds back a nation in its historical progress? How can a nation preserve its drive to ascend? Only through Hierarchy and an understanding of the Highest Will. These levers can propel humanity to the predestined affirmation. With this consciousness one can approach cooperation with higher spheres. Only thus can the nations shifting be evidenced as an ascent. Hierarchy, 258.
26. It is dangerous to feel no responsibility. Being a temporary traveler is also dangerous, for we are all trans-temporal beings propelled to ascent, like heavenly bodies rushing onward. Therefore any deviation or retreat is unnatural, as are crime and evil. Every person ascends according to his or her nature, and responsibility becomes wings, not a burden,. Heart, 515.