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INTRODUCTION  TO  AGNI  YOGA“

 

 

BROADCASTING  15 

 

The New World: Administration of Justice, Property Ownership, Cities, Science, Agriculture, Media, Army, Police, Arts, Churches

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

We continue our description of the New World. We shall be considering today further institutions of society, namely administration of justice, property ownership, cities, science, agriculture, media, army, police, the arts and the churches.

 

 

1. Administration of Justice as a Sacred Act

Gottlieb Doebler „Immanuel Kant“

 

The great and important area of the administration of justice (legislation, administration, police, public prosecutors, judges, lawyers) has to return to its true task: Its sole purpose is to create justice on earth.

 

If justice perishes, there is no longer any value in human beings’ living on earth. (Immanuel Kant)

 

To enforce the rule of the spiritual principle of justice against raw violence or material means – this is one of the greatest achievements of mankind. Justice is – apart from peace – the highest good that the government has to provide. He who establishes justice also creates peace, namely legal peace among men.

 

There is no more noble activity than peace-making; but it is also a most burdensome and difficult one. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. I, letter of 18.04.1935)

 

The soul actually thirsts for justice. Like the sick physically, we suffer spiritually whenever we experience injustice – regardless of whether it is directed against ourselves or against others. The workers within the legal system are called upon like doctors to relieve this suffering.

 

A steed rears under the lash of the whip. Purusha trembles in the presence of injustice. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 181 [206])

 

If we want to create the Kingdom of God on earth, if the request "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven " (Mt 6, 10) is to come true, we must above all establish justice down here.

 

The Fiery World is maintained by justice. (Fiery World III, 547) 

 

He who, as a lawmaker or a judge, imparts justice to the people, is like a priest who administers a divine gift. In his decision, a spirit manifests itself: either the divine or an evil spirit.

 

Through the administration of justice, the principles of the higher world are supposed to incarnate among men! Therefore, many cultures do not even distinguish between the theologian and the legal scholar. To create justice means to realize an aspect of the divine, to recognize and to enforce the Higher Will on earth.

 

Justice is corollary with Divine Will. (Teachings of the Temple, Vol I, Lesson 107 „Stored-up Memories”) 

 

The administration of justice is a sacred act. Do we sense anything like this in the Parliament Chambers and courtrooms, in government offices and law firms? Justice, unfortunately, has fallen among the wolves:

 

There are the parliamentarians who represent the interests of power and particular groups; there are civil servants like judges and public prosecutors who not even know whom or what they serve; there are the lawyers, who, like businessmen, are only looking for earning money with their clients; and, finally, there are those who turn to the legal system not to ask for justice, but to abuse it as a tool to enforce their selfish, personal interests.

 

Human judgment blunders. Laws obstruct the entrance. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 257 [293]) 

 

 

2. Justice as an absolute Principle

 

In the reasons stated for enacting a law, in the court rulings, in the pleadings of lawyers and public prosecutors of our days, the word "justice" no longer appears at all. The judiciary restricts itself to defining and weighing the claims that are raised by way of compromise. The louder someone cries, the greater is the prospect of his being considered, at least with a part of his claim. Those who are unable or unwilling to powerfully assert their demands hardly receive attention.

 

*****

 

To create justice means more than just weighing interests. It requires a clear decision as to which interest is justified and which is not. Such a judgment can only be made by recourse to higher principles.

 

When interests are balanced, they are only measured one against the other. There wins – wholly or in part – one interest over the other. "Justice" does not come about thereby, only the rule of interests. To find justice means to weigh each individual argument not against the counter-argument, but against the higher principle.

 

One of the most important paragraphs of Agni Yoga runs:

 

The victory of the spirit is achieved by enforcing immutable principles. (Heart 71) 

 

It is crucial that you recognize: The basis of decision-making can only be an absolute value. Relative concepts are unable to give us orientation.

 

One can accept only an unchanging value; thus we shall learn to safeguard this value and to enforce it. (Fiery World I, 202)

 

If there is only one truth, in a dispute, only one of the two parties concerned can be right. The task of the administration of justice is to find out who is right, and thereby also to show the right way: namely, to confirm the winner and to guide the defeated back to the path of virtue.

 

The weakness of our time no longer believes in the one truth, in the validity of immutable principles. It considers justice a relative, not an absolute concept.

 

People mistakenly presume that justice is a relative concept, that everyone has his own justice and his own good. Such a misconception can cause irreparable harm. Justice and good seem to be undefined concepts, but one must look deeply into the essence of consciousness to sense the indestructible Foundations of Be-ness. (Supermundane 820)

 

People invent many so-called justices. They know personal, family, national, tribal and racial justice. They hide behind official, school, and professional justice. One cannot enumerate all the many views of justice! (Supermundane, 610)

 

This view is wrong. "Justice" is a principle of the higher world, which lies hidden in every individual case and must be carved out by the servants within the legal system. Either there rules justice or injustice – there is no relativity, no midpoint between both.

 

*****

 

An example: If I demand payment of € 100 from you and you reject my claim, only one of us can be right. There is no "middle way" in between. It may be that you owe me only € 25, but that is another matter: Then I am right regarding € 25 and wrong with regard to € 75. But in a question that has to be answered with "yes" or "no", both positions cannot be right, not even in part.

 

Hypocrites will contend that injustice is a relative concept. Answer firmly that in every instance injustice is clearly evident, and a person with a sensitive heart can discern clearly the borderline. (Br II, 601)

 

 

3. Judges

Nicolas Poussin „The Judgment of Solomon

 

The judges and their assistants should neither be civil servants, nor scientists, nor businessmen, but wise men like Solomon, who are able to recognize the essence of a man, or of a situation, and thus the justice hidden within it, with the straight knowledge of their heart.

 

Prospective judges should be examined not only for the knowledge of paragraphs, but above all regarding their ability to recognize the human heart. Various experts may be involved, but the judges themselves must have a sufficiently enlightened consciousness. The leader has to examine the consciousness of the judges himself. The administration of justice is an expression of a noble construction of the state. (Words of Guidance for a Leader 19)

 

One must perceive through the heart the essence of what is taking place. (Fiery World II, 277) 

 

Verily, only the heart is able to penetrate into all actions, into all motives, into all beings, mani-festing discernment. (Fiery World III, 101) 

 

This requires, above all, psychic energy, which, as we had already said, (Series "Introduction to Agni Yoga", Broadcasting 14 "Psychic Energy"), is able to infallibly find out the truth.

 

We call psychic energy “justice”. Since, through the reactions of the energy, it is possible to determine the different qualities of people, it surely will be the path of justice. Knowing how to summon psychic energy to his assistance will be the true adornment of a judge. (AUM 475) 

 

Already Plato taught: The sages must lead the state. Likewise, the Bible says: The pure, the wise, the saints are the true judges.

 

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? (1. Corinthians 6, 1, 2, 5) 

 

Only he who knows the cosmic laws as well as the goal and the destiny of man is able to enact earthly laws and to administer justice.

 

Can lawyers and judges administer earthly laws if they have no concept of the laws of the Universe? How can they establish earthly law without thinking of universal justice? It is impossible to isolate Earth from all the worlds. It is necessary to understand the interaction of the earthly world and the Subtle World in order to acquire the right to judge people’s conduct. Without a clear picture of the evolutionary situation the court will err. Verily, the judge takes upon himself a great responsibility if he is to remain at the helm of universal justice. (AUM 298)

 

We cannot, of course, exclude the possibility that even wise and selfless servants might come to different opinions as to the justice of a case. This does not mean, however, that there are different kinds of justice, but only that man's ability to recognize the truth is limited.

 

The truth is always the same, but the connections vary in accordance with the consciousness. (Heart 5) 

 

The way out is the principle of Hierarchy: The supreme courts, which ultimately have the last word, must consist of spiritually high standing judges who are so close to the supermundane world that we can hope that they will be able to find the right decision.

 

Beyond earthly laws, the just ones know where the truth is. (Fiery World I, 364)

 

Judges should be knowledgeable and honest. One can evaluate the level of consciousness of an entire nation by its judges. (Supermundane 194)

 

 

4. Administration of Justice in the Interest of the Common Good

Honoré Daumier „Lawyers

 

The attitude of the old man is: “I pursue my personal interests by all legal means without regard to their legitimacy.”

 

As opposed to that, the New Man, the immortal recognizes: Justice is a principle whose rule benefits all human beings. If it is violated in one case, the whole system and thus each individual member suffers! So, in the long run, he who is involved in violating the law and undermining the system of justice, hurts himself.

 

If one party to a controversy persists in ignoring any means which might prove his adversary in the right, and so persists because he desires to carry some personal desire or opinion into effect, he not only wrongs his adversary but he builds up a wall between himself and his God. Prove your boasted desire for justice by being just to each other. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. II, Lessons “Your Choice” and “Divine Law”)

 

The seemingly isolated case of an infringement of the law is a disease that spreads: The opponent who is being deprived of justice may conclude that in future he, too, will enforce his egotistic interests without regard for their legitimacy. The judge is corrupted by the deviation from the iron principle and might decide the next time more easily in a wrong way again. Others hear of the case and will say to themselves: Justice does not count anymore, now we must no longer respect it either. In this way, injustice enters society to the detriment of all members.

 

*****

 

The legal system is strengthened to the true benefit of all members of society, when in every individual dispute all parties concerned strive to respect, to uphold and to realize justice. It is weakened to the detriment of all of us, when they violate justice by egotism or other low motives.

 

*****

 

If we want to create the New World, we all must overcome our selfishness and adopt a completely new attitude: The impulse: "I demand my right" is the old, outdated, selfish principle. The New Man says: "Let us seek together the justice of the case."

 

The existing contradictory legal system with attorneys unworthily quarrelling with one another is antiquated: In the New World, the parties will no longer fight each other, but work together in order to find truth and justice.

 

*****

 

We see: Justice is a regime that comes true when everyone strives to realize it in his ordinary everyday life. On the other hand, when the individual betrays the foundations, injustice gains the upper hand. The struggle between spirit and materialism is to be fought particularly in this area.

 

 

5. New Order of Property Ownership

 

We had already talked about the new rules regarding property ownership in the Video on "Selflessness" (Series "The 10 Pillars of the practice of Agni Yoga", 6th Pillar).

 

All we possess, we have to administer as trustees in the name and on behalf of Hierarchy, and to selflessly use it for the service to the common good and the progress of evolution.

 

 

6. Megacities unsuitable

 

It is in accordance with the nature of man to live in small communities with equally minded friends. The lifestyle of the big cities is, in truth, unsuitable for him. Their poisoned atmosphere, in which men, squeezed together by millions, mutually intensify their lower aspirations, is unbearable for a spiritual disciple.

 

A disciple who has reached a certain degree of spiritual development is unable to remain too long in the polluted atmosphere of the cities and is obliged to retire into nature in order to accumulate prana and lead a more or less retired life. Christ, Buddha, and other great Teachers often used to retire to the desert, and never stayed long in one place. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 22.02.1936)   

 

It is not healthy for the king of the earth to leave large parts of the planet uninhabited and to crowd together in a few centres under unworthy conditions.

 

Your judgment is correct in regard to the need for an exodus from the festering cities and for a proportionate distribution of the population of the planet. If humanity is fundamentally a fire-bearer, is it possible not to understand how very necessary is the wise distribution of this element? It must be understood that the illness of the planet depends to a great extent upon human balance. One should not abandon vast spaces and gather in fratricidal congestion on infected and blood-soaked sites. (Fiery World I, 323)

 

Humans must spread evenly over the earth and live as much as possible in nature.

 

Multitudes will have to spread out from the cities into nature. (Fiery World I, 321)

 

There are many cases of city dwellers who take jobs as farm laborers to escape the sickening environment of the big cities. This is a praiseworthy decision if one knows how to avoid crowds in the new environment. (Br II, 340)

 

Life in the countryside will become attractive again. Today's technical possibilities no longer require living in big cities.

 

Life in nature must be arranged attractively and considered self-evident. The new inventions permit the use of cultural achievements even in far-off places. When the schools show the meaning of life in self-improvement, people will also increasingly seek a life in the open nature. (Words of Guidance for a Leader, 99)

 

For the spiritual men, the village is the appropriate way of life. Here they live simply, in harmony with nature and environmentally friendly. Here, they produce what they need more or less themselves, and also govern themselves on their own to a large extent.

 

As long as man continues to pile structure upon structure and crowd countless numbers of people in a small area, the world must suffer. But if right methods prevailed there would be no occasion for crowding into cities. If we would follow the advice of the Masters, go back to the land, live in normal, natural ways, construct our business centers aright, Nature would work with and for us instead of against us. (Teachings of the Temple, Vol. II, Lesson “The Earthquake”) 

 

The village is a manageable community in which can best be realized the basic principle: Everyone contributes according to his possibilities as much as possible to the wealth of the community and claims from the goods owned by all as little as possible, according to his needs.

 

*****

 

The personal relationship existing between all members allows to assume immediate responsibility for the neighbour; to care for the needy, especially the youngest and the elders, in a natural way; it grants every man his proper and dignified place; it avoids the basically inhuman gigantic systems of social security, big industry and mass consumption.

 

*****

 

The village can become a new form of monastery, a modern spiritual centre: Like-minded spirits live together with their families according to fixed rules and devote themselves to contemplation, education and service while preserving their individuality and privacy.

 

When the time comes that you can obtain a large enough acreage of ground, create a true home center in the midst of that land, and gather around that center a sufficient number of young people who can be rightly educated in every sense of the word, you will have done more for the world by far than the most notable college that the world contains, has ever done.

A co-operative farm, where a definite number of the hours of each day shall be devoted to study, practical work and recreation, where intelligence and skill can combine with mere physical energy, and where all the healthy, life-giving exercises can be turned into hours of recreation; where there can be turned out the most practical horticulturists, agriculturists, fruiterers and foresters – those upon whom the world, then as now, will depend for all that makes life worth living, in an esoteric sense – here is a work outlined for true Templars, a work for which millions yet unborn may sometime arise to call them blessed.

If many of these thousands of college bred failures had been kept in their country homes, and had been taught farming as a science, they would be today among the army of happy, contented producers instead of the indolent, useless, consumers of the food, clothing and shelter that other and better men have produced.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of land are lying today uncultivated, because there are no men at hand to cultivate them, and the cities are crowded to suffocation with this unproductive element. (Teachings of the Temple, Vol. II, Lesson “The Cultivation of the Soil”) 

 

 

7. Science

 

A completely new spirit must enter science. Science should selflessly serve the common good and seek nothing but the truth. To unearth new, higher knowledge is a sacred act!

 

*****

 

The New Age needs researchers of a new kind: Today's scientist is vainly and selfishly striving to push his personal achievement to the foreground at all costs. Will it not be much more fruitful to work towards the truth in collaboration with others?

 

The Commandments of the Fundamentals will give an invincible enthusiasm to the scholar who, freed of egoism, with honesty continues his researches for the benefit of humanity. (Fiery World I, 666) 

 

Scientific opinions in the interests of a sponsor endanger the independence and the exclusive obligation of the researcher to truth. The New Order must make sure that the sciences are run by persons who do not succumb to such dangers.

 

We are not against laboratories and Western methods, but We ask that honesty, efficiency, and the courage of impartiality be added to them. (Hierarchy 71)

 

In the New World the character, the reliability of a scientist will be even more important than his professional competence. The community entrusts him with decisions of the utmost importance: Let us think of nuclear energy or genetic engineering only. It has a right that its questions be answered by persons whose integrity and sole obligation towards truth are beyond any doubt.

 

The difficulty now being faced is that many of the people gathering ostensibly in the name of science are undeserving of trust. (Heart 422)

 

A hierarchy of the best scientists must be in a position to come to a unanimous recommendation to the community even on a difficult question – if and when all persons concerned work together and look for nothing but the truth. Only on such a decision can the community rely.

 

*****

 

The new divine science, of which we had already spoken (Series “Introduction to Agni Yoga”, Broadcasting 3 "Expansion of Consciousness"), requires a synthesis of religious and intellectual knowledge. Accordingly, the scholars of the New World must have spiritual abilities as well.

 

Religion and science must not be considered separate in their essential nature. Therefore, it is so important that scholars should be in possession of subtle occult receptivity. But only a refined organism can possess this divine perception which is not developed from without but from within. Therefore, all the great discoveries for the good of humanity will not emanate from enormous laboratories, but will be discovered by the spirit of scholars who are in possession of the synthesis. (Fiery World III, 60)

 

 

8. Agriculture

 

Agriculture is the only one of the institutions of society for which there already exists a living model of the New Order: Organic agriculture shows how we can practice our profession on an ethical basis in the service to the common good. Here the old, irresponsible abuse of nature is overcome.

 

According to this example, we must offer in our professions ethically pure services for all the needs of body and soul of our fellow human beings. This is possible and necessary even in the cities.

 

 

9. Media

 

Truth is the foundation of every higher creation.

 

Souls thirst for truth. He who imparts the truth to the people is like a priest who administers a divine good.

 

The truth alone can work redemption for that world, and every willful deviation from the truth can but increase the weight of woe and defer the day of release; as every bravely uttered truth must decrease the load of sorrow and hasten that coming day. (Teachings of the Temple, Vol. II, Lesson “The Lie”) 

 

The spiritual degeneration of modern society is clearly visible in the role of the media. In addition to legislation, administration and jurisprudence, they are assigned the important task of a "fourth power" in the state: A supervisory institution that monitors the government bodies, the functioning of social life, and keeps the power in check by its purely spiritual authority. The mission of the media is to serve the uncovering of the truth.

 

Only selfhood impels the spirit to the suppressing of truth. Not to conceal but to reveal is the most primary duty of the servant of Light. (Fiery World III, 277)

 

Unfortunately, we are a long way from that. The spirit of egotism and profit-making has corrupted most of the media. They are aiming no longer at quality, but only at sales or audience ratings. Produced is that what can be sold. Thereby the truth transpires, if at all, only accidentally.

 

The columns of newspapers, in most cases, are at present filled with such calumny, coarseness, and vulgarity that there is even a joke: although it was in the papers it proved to be true. The printed word has lost its one-time unfailing authority and the high significance of bringing light to broad masses. There are not a few newspapers at present which are not disseminators of enlightenment, but, alas, hotbeds of all kinds of deception, to put it mildly. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 26.01.1939)

 

Overall, a distorted image of reality is shown.

 

From the small to the great, humanity perverts all Truths. (Fiery World III, 153)

 

The world is covered with the ulcers of human vices and monstrosities. One of the greatest ulcers is untruthfulness. (FW III, 285)

 

Nothing, however, causes so much damage and works as destructively as a lie: Truth, like justice, is a system that is either strengthened or undermined by the daily thoughts, words, and actions of every one of us. This principle, too, asserts itself only when we human beings strive to realize it in our daily life on earth.

 

Let people become accustomed to ejecting from their lives the multitude of petty lies and to learning to apply truth to life. Nothing is as destructive as a consciously injurious distortion of reality. (Hierarchy 332)

 

If the majority of the people constantly deviates from the truth, it cannot rule down here – which will work in the end to the detriment of all of us.

 

"A social convenience," "a business necessity," "a pardonable evasion," so say ye, one to another, to cover that which ye dare not face. "A little oiling of the springs of life," "a saving of self-respect;" yet withal, say I – a lie. (Teachings of the Temple, Vol. II, Lesson “The Lie” 346) 

 

 

10. Entertainment

 

Most of that what is nowadays spread as "information" with a high pretension of importance, is without any meaning for the higher nature of man.

 

The dirt and garbage with which newspapers, magazines, radio and television daily flood our homes actually, in a spiritual sense, poison the atmosphere. Just imagine all these unclean waves that the stations send out into space incessantly, and how they penetrate your home and you yourself. With this regard, many media are today, consciously or unconsciously, tools of the forces of darkness.

 

*****

 

Modern mass media play a particularly harmful role in the spreading of that sweet spiritual poison: distraction. They lure people round the clock with their entertainment and temptations. In doing so, they prevent quiet contemplation, the concentration on the essential, the serious occupation with a valuable purpose and the service to a high task.

 

People substitute amusements for concentration. But was distraction ordained? Everywhere action was prescribed, but not the chaos of scattering and dissipation. (Herz 439) 

 

They distract from the higher self and the true needs of man. They seduce you no longer to dream yourselves, but to consume the dreams of others. They pamper us in such a way that in the end we shy away from the hard work required to realize a dream.

 

*****

 

Free yourself! Be creative yourself! The world that you find within your own interior; the world which you enter in meditation; the world you create for yourself, living as a disciple in the Ashram of your teacher – this world is incomparably more beautiful and fruitful than the illusionary world of artificial emotions that others prepare for you and offer you ready for consumption.

 

*****

 

Dissatisfaction with the conditions in which we are compelled to live explains to some extent the willingness to indulge in such illusions. The better solution, however, is to develop your own ideas of a higher world and to implement them down here on earth.

 

 

11. Army and Police

 

Peace and justice are the highest goods the government has to administer. When they rule on earth, the divine spirit reigns. When they succumb, evil governs.

 

The government must therefore apply the means necessary to enforce peace and justice against the forces of chaos. Even violence is admissible, if attacks cannot be repelled otherwise.

 

By no means do We intend to present the spectacle of defenseless sheep! (Community 186) 

 

Of course, violence must remain the last resort if all other means fail.

 

In this sense, even the use of force by soldiers or the police is service to God.

 

Certainly the defense of one’s country is the direct duty of every man. Blessed is the soldier of that country which is not the aggressor. Defense of one’s own country requires various means and defensive measures, no one can deny this. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 1.07.1937) 

 

The fight against the dark forces, however, must be led first of all in such a way that as many as possible of those who are on the wrong side are being brought back to the right track. A suitable concept for this is as yet missing.

 

In particular, today’s prisons do not serve this purpose. They are among the worst dens of vice. Instead of elevating the offenders, they lead them even further down on their downward path.

 

It is inconsistent to treat as criminals those in need of medical attention. (Teachings of the Temple Volume I, Lesson 172 “Vibratory Changes”) 

 

There is only one effective means for making good injustice: work for the common good. And there is only one hope to improve wrongdoers: to integrate them into the healthy discipline of an ordered, meaningful working life.

 

Is not the prison the brother of the cemetery? Labor opens the prisons. (Community 236)

 

The prisons of the future will therefore be more like labour camps where the practice of a better life is taught and an opportunity for valuable work is offered. The goal must be to heal the disease of the criminal.

 

 

12. The Arts

W. Kandinsky „Riding Couple

 

He who bestows beauty on the people is like a priest who administers a divine gift. The divine spirit reveals itself in beauty.

 

Beauty, like truth and justice, is a principle which is promoted or suppressed by the thoughts, words, and actions of every one of us. It becomes a reality only when we emulate it.

 

*****

 

The artist senses the acting of the spirit in the material world. He uncovers a deeper truth than that which we ordinary people are able to perceive. The letters and observations of the great artists show that they all were spiritually high standing beings.

 

Art reveals the spirit in all matter and its connection with the higher spheres. It shows the spiritual reality which exists beyond the material one.

 

In Beauty will Infinity be manifested. In Beauty the teachings of the seekers of the spirit are illumined. Each realization is born in Beauty. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 318 [322])

 

The arts bring a reality of the spiritual world to material expression.

 

By striving for beauty, we create a link between the higher and our earthly world.

 

Indeed, the bridge between the two Worlds can be made real if the actions are filled with beauty. (Fiery World III, 115) 

 

The path to the Fiery World leads through the heart and through beauty. (Fiery World III, 250)

 

True art is never intellectual – it enlightens and transforms, it elevates our spirit.

 

Art is the highest stimulus for the regeneration of the spirit. The wondrous pearls of art can actually uplift and transmute the spirit instantaneously. (Hierarchy 359)

 

The vitality of art, which guards the divine fire, gives to humanity the saturation by that fire which kindles the spirit and imbues all worlds. We have seen how the creations of art have transformed men—something all the book-learning in the world cannot do. (Hierarchy 366)

 

Art is indeed a means to improve people.

 

To listen to the Beautiful and to look at the Beautiful, means to better oneself. (Supermundane 608)

 

By showing us the beauty, the perfection of the higher spheres, the arts awaken our longing for better conditions down here on earth as well.

 

Art awakens our longing for beauty, for the Highest; and here is its chief and great significance. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. I, letter of 19.06.1933)

 

Art inspires us to pursue the Spiritual Path, to strive for perfection, and to approach the earth to heaven.

 

The World is striving for crowning perfection. Manifold are the paths of the search. The closest path to perfection will be the one of Beauty. (Fiery World III, 23)

 

If we assimilate the spirit of the arts and preserve it within us, instead of betraying it once we leave the museum or the concert hall, our earthly life will be completely transformed.

 

Man is uplifted when he associates with the Beautiful, looks at the Beautiful, listens to the Beautiful, thinks in the ways of the Beautiful. It can be understood that without assimilation of the Beautiful there can be no evolution. (Supermundane 783)

 

However, mankind still needs to learn to deal with the great works of art in accordance with their purpose – that is, consciously use them. They are destined not for entertainment, but for elevation, consolation, strengthening and enlightenment.

 

It must be understood that the products of art are for education, not for diversion. (Community 63)

 

The crisis of the arts in our time points to the crisis of a society that has lost wisdom and the knowledge of the higher reality. We have exactly that art caught in the external, the material, which a society deprived of spirit deserves.

 

 

13. Churches

 

The crisis of our spiritual life is reflected in the crisis of the churches.

 

It is amazing to what an extent people fill themselves with interpretations in which they do not believe. The contemporary churches are the best example of why the highest manifestation does not alter life. (Hierarchy 103)

 

They have lost their influence to the extent that they have averted themselves from the concern for the salvation of man's higher nature. A church that is caught in the material sphere is unfit serve as an intermediary to the spiritual worlds.

 

The representatives of the church promise people salvation of the soul, but beyond the physical world they do not go. (Fiery World III, 334) 

 

The return to the powerful concept of the immortality of the soul will renew the churches. They can regain spiritual authority when they revert to their true mission: To lead people to the higher worlds, to the Spiritual Path of the elevation of the soul to God. They are destined to heal, nourish, care for, and elevate the soul, not to look after the perishable body.

 

*****

 

Churches, temples, sacred places and centres of faith are needed more than ever as a counterweight to materialism. They fulfill their mission, however, only as places of pure spirituality.

 

The original instigators to the building of such sacred places well knew what final purpose would be served. They knew they were creating centers of communication through which the White Lodge forces might work, and that all pure, unselfish souls could in reality communicate with the Higher Powers by such means.

And this is why, when a congregation and a priest or minister become befouled and sensualized or commercialized, there is such a loss of spiritual power. The current between that group and the spiritual center is cut off by the destruction of the center of communication. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. II, Lesson “Centers of Consciousness”

 

The faith proclaimed in church must offer concrete help and spiritual guidance in all matters of everyday life. It is the firm basis upon which our whole life rests. If the churches are unable to provide such a fundament, they lose their function in society.

 

To be true, religion and philosophy must offer the solution of every problem. (Mahatma Letters, Letter of the Mahachohan, 1881,)

 

A faith that does not guide one’s entire life is worthless. (Fiery World I, 340)

 

 

14. Priests

Nicholas Roerich „Zarathustra“

 

The priests form the highest level of human society. They are sacred men. They have advanced so far on the Spiritual Path, who have learned so thoroughly from their own superiorsk that they can point this path, walk on it, and lead the others upwards.

 

A Teaching is good only when it is in worthy hands. (Supermundane 564) 

 

As a trailblazer, the priest must not point a direction into which he himself does not go at all. He is a model of obedience, for otherwise he would not be able to convince mankind of the usefulness of submitting to the higher Commandments.

 

Someone gives lectures about cleanliness, yet is himself extremely filthy. Will such an instruction be convincing? Or a lazy man summons to labor, but who will give heed to him? (Brotherhood 450)

 

He is not to make many words, but to show us by his example how we can reach salvation and build the Kingdom of God on earth.

 

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1. Corinthians 9, 27) 

 

A priest is someone closer to the higher world than the others. He must be able to actually impart the divine blessing to us. Only he can be a true leader of souls and guide people on the way to God who awakens the divine in them and teaches them the spiritual life, the communion with the higher spheres.

 

Rembrandt: "The Mennonite Preacher Anslo und his Wife"

 

The clergy fulfills in the community the important task of interpreting the Holy Scriptures. People have at all times sought inspired leaders who explain to them the words of the Lord and their application to the questions of the time. Through truly authorized priests, the Mahatmas Themselves speak to Their followers.

 

*****

 

The priests know, proclaim, convey and explain the Will of God. Therefore, they are spiritual leaders in all areas of human life – from politics and economy down to everyday family life. They are to make sure that the Higher Will is actually carried out everywhere at any time.

 

*****

 

Only the best, most sensitive spirits, real authorities may be admitted to priesthood. Their education and qualification should not be of a scientific or intellectual nature. They must rather train and prepare their hearts for the higher communion, from which alone they themselves receive the necessary guidance.