Selections from the Agni Yoga Series
Presented before the Agni Yoga Society, April 28, 2015
1.Reader, if you have not grasped—read again, after a while. Call, Preface
2. How to await the development of works? As waves have their rhythm, so do the works grow: in measured rising and expectant flowing progression. Understand the hour of the clarion; heed the pace of life.
In moments of silence, store up the teaching on the shelf of experience.
How should one read the writings of the Wise Ones? One must isolate oneself and apply what is read to one's different moods. Here am I, newborn. Here am I, an old man. Here am I, an exile. Here am I, a sovereign. Here am I, blind. Here am I, one who has cognized worlds.
To all sources apply all the conceivable greatness of the Lotos. Illumination, I:IX:11.
3. The school must not only instill a love for the book but teach how to read—and the latter is not easier than the former. It is necessary to know how to concentrate thought in order to penetrate into a book. Not the eye but the brain and the heart do the reading. The book does not occupy a place of honor in many homes. It is the duty of the community to affirm the book as a friend of the home. The cooperative, first of all, has a book-shelf whose contents are very extensive. There will be accounts of the treasures of the motherland and of her links with the world. The heroes, the creators and the toilers will be revealed; and the concepts of honor, duty, and obligation to one's neighbor, as well as mercy will be affirmed. There will be many examples prompting learning and discoveries. Community, 107
4. The time is at hand when My Teaching will not easily reach communities in different countries.
Before the issuance of the third book, one has not only to assimilate the second but also to put it into practice in life.
I already know how superficially the first book was read by many. Some made of it a dream book and fortune teller. Others took it for a soothing drug. But few are those who took it as an urgent call to world evolution. In the second book those who understood the summons of the first will find the features of the desired labor.
The emergence of world events will place the book on the worktable. At this table We can meet together with you. Sometimes an excessive burden becomes a feather of a wing. Illumination, III:VI:6
5. Picture to yourself how an ignoramus approaches a complicated machine. He does not think about the meaning of the apparatus but clutches at the first lever, not realizing the consequences. Exactly comparable is the case of a man who has remembered only one detail of the entire Teaching and is amazed that he does not see the whole effect. Just as careless handling of the machine threatens the ignoramus with ruin, so does a man who disregards the essence of the Teaching find himself in danger.
One person is concerned only about the quality of food; another tries to avoid foul language; another attempts to avoid irritation; a fourth avoids fear; but such useful details are nevertheless separate levers: none by itself will lift the entire weight. One needs to delve by degrees into the synthesis of the Teaching; only the rainbow of the synthesis can bestow advancement. If someone notices that one aspect has taken possession of him, let him diligently repeat also the other parts of the given indications.
We give much in a veiled form and gradually bring realization nearer to people. Let man not be afraid, but draw near until he assimilates the rhythm of the entire mosaic.
Thus, an approach to the synthesis teaches one to make use of all the details. Aum, 497
6. Urusvati rightly encourages co-workers to copy paragraphs from the books of the Teaching dealing with Primal Energy. One should gather the pieces of the mosaic into a complete book. At the same time, we must remember that some people complain that the books of the Teaching discuss one and the same thing over and over. These ignorant ones do not read with proper attention and fail to notice that in each approach to an idea We introduce a new detail. That is why extracts must be introduced in sequence; only then can one notice the turns of the spiral of Our Messages. People should learn to enjoy this work, for through such thoroughness they will be able to observe Our methods while gathering together Our Indications and Advice.
What merit is there for the student who repeats Our words without applying his own effort? Consciousness is enriched only in the process of right thinking, and mechanical repetitions cannot lead to the new synthesis. One should observe how We lead thought without interfering with independent activity. We show the way, and point out the possibilities without violating karma, but each turn of the path must be recognized by the person himself. It is of particular importance to develop a love for thoroughness. Only in this way can you become familiar with Our methods. Supermundane I, 126
7. Truly, guard the Teaching as a pearl. Hold high Our Books, the joy of your day and the labor of your ascent. Extol the Teaching as a sword of vigilance. Can carelessness be permitted to creep around the Teaching of life? By what other means can we transform our lives? How else can we find application of the realm of spirit abiding within us?
Let us count the days we spend unworthily and be stricken with remorse. Let us count the hours not given to the Teaching and bewail. … How can we devote our days to ordinary routine, when treasures are strewn along our path? One must become accustomed to the unusual manifestations of life.
Just as a magnet attracts iron and then magnetizes it, so is sustenance given to the magnet of the individual spirit. Without nurture the spirit will not see how many doors are open to it.
According to the law of the interchange of matter, it is necessary to create a steady current of receiving and giving. One should not think that whatever is read once stays in the mind. The gardener is not worthy who visits his garden only once. It is necessary to understand the signs, but for this one should accept them as one's own. One's own Book lies at hand. Wondrous is the realization of reverence through which one's life is transformed.
We send Our wish that the Teaching be treated with reverence. Agni Yoga, 377
8. Often We hear complaints that the Teaching is impracticable. Usually those people complain who make no real attempt to apply the Teaching. Can a medicine that is still sealed give relief? In any case, not many can claim a deep knowledge of the Teaching. Either their understanding is limited by their antiquated way of thinking, or they read it in bits and pieces without connecting them. One should first apply the Teaching before judging it. Light-mindedness is a world-wide failing! Agni Yoga, 399
9. 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. Hierarchy, 125
10. People put on a most shameful performance when they pick up a book with the firm intention of disregarding its contents. From this attitude arises the remark, “Everything is old and familiar to me.” Yet the simplest advice has gone unapplied. One can even see how the most necessary observations were scorned in order to belittle the Teaching. People can go ahead and indulge in frivolous laughter, but not a single Instruction ought to be ignored. Now we are speaking about the education of the heart, but won’t we hear from the stupidest people that they knew about it long ago? Meanwhile, they think more about cutting their nails than about their hearts. The most common cause of heart attacks is precisely a failure to think about the heart. We human beings are ready to give in to any overindulgence rather than show respect for our own hearts as the centers of our existence. Heart, 543
11. When all books are read and their words have been studied, then it remains to apply in life what has been learned. If books are read again and again, and their words carefully noted, their application can still remain outside of life, and not even the strongest signs will compel one to change one's habits. Yet one has to find a way to develop mobility of consciousness. The heart can sense the shame of an unworthy waste of time.
We do not want to seem severe in Our judgment. We would prefer to see the joy of attainment, but for centuries it was necessary that the sword be held ready, for fear has always dominated people. Victory over fear will be the threshold of the new consciousness. Agni Yoga, 538
12. Only very strong spirits can enter the Path of Service. Therefore one should never entice, or tempt by rosy promises. Certainly, even the thorough reading of the books of the Teaching will invariably bring benefit through broadening the consciousness, thus affording a possibility for new flights of the spirit. But it is impossible to expect immediate fiery achievements and a fiery transmutation of the centers if the Teaching is applied spasmodically. Letters of Helena Roerich II, 22 July 1935
13. So many suggestions are given to leaders in the pages of the Living Ethics. Every book speaks of tolerance, of ability to embrace and comprehend—are these not actually the foundations of synthesis? Letters of Helena Roerich I, 25 May 1934
14. Only thought and a great consciousness will conquer everything. Therefore, use all means to broaden your consciousness by absorbing with all your essence every line of the Teaching. A profound and many-sided consciousness and the application of the Covenants of the Teaching into life will give you the key to everything because you will possess a synthesis. Letters of Helena Roerich I, 13 October 1930