AGNI YOGA WEB TV
SERIES
INTRODUCTION TO AGNI YOGA“
BROADCASTING 15
The New World: Health Care, Schools, Marriage and Family
Ladies and Gentlemen,
today, we are completing our description of the New
World with a view on the health care system, the schools as well as on marriage
and family.
I hope you are not bored by our
going through one institution after the other with seemingly abstract
explanations. But without a building plan there can be
no new construction. You must know – and in every detail! – how
the New World should look like, if you want to contribute every day a stone to
its creation.
When you are working in legislation, in the
legal or the health care system, in education, business, the media, the arts or
the churches, you must form an idea of the direction into which this
institution needs to develop in order to meet the requirements of the future.
I. Health Care
1. Holistic Medicine
How can we revive the spirit of medicine?
As immortals you recognize how relatively unimportant
your physical well-being is. You must keep the body – your "brother donkey"
– reasonably fit as a suitable tool of the spirit, not more. It does not
deserve exaggerated attention. The salvation of your immortal soul is of much
greater importance than the integrity of your perishable self
The condition of his
body has lost importance for the striving spirit. (Fiery World I, 648)
The health care system of the New World will
serve not only the physical, but above all the spiritual
health of the people. The concept of immortality will remind the physicians and
their collaborators that man is a unity of perishable body and eternal soul.
This unit must not be arbitrarily torn apart. If, in
diagnosis and treatment, we pay attention our physical side only, we will not
be able to achieve good results.
Many diseases have not physical, but spiritual causes.
The latter are generally more significant.
The conventional medicine, which prescribes
medications even against spiritual diseases, is scarcely able to recognize and to
treat other than physical causes.
2. Spiritual Causes of Illness
Picasso „Weeping Woman“
Spiritual causes of illness are in particular: Ignorance,
lack of discipline, and a wrong way of thinking which induces you to identify
with your body, or which produces depression, doubts, suffering, or disharmony.
This leads to a wrong way of life in conflict with your higher self, which also
weakens you physically. Here the cure must begin.
In a normal situation, for
mankind there is no need for suffering. Such an unnatural state is the
reflection of a wrongly led life. (Supermundane 65)
Test yourself and
observe what has been laid deep in your consciousness.
If depression or offence should live long within you and burden your heart, you
must consciously eject them. You should know that they cause many illnesses,
and impede your spiritual advancement. When you accept this simple explanation,
your reason will tell you that it is harmful to succumb to poisonous
influences. (Supermundane 877)
Disease can be the result of violations of the
spiritual foundations, or of deviations from the Higher Will, in the past or at
present.
“Sickness comes from
sin”—so says Scripture. We say that illness arises from the imperfections of
past and present. (Heart 96)
Evil thoughts and other bad emanations can
cause illness; both your own and those that other people send you, consciously
or unconsciously. If you are mentally tortured, you also torment your body. The
negative auras of others, and of the earth as a whole, actually damage you physically.
It would be helpful to
compile a book about the harm, for oneself as well as for others, caused by
evil thoughts. These thoughts are the source of a great many maladies. It is
now time to discern the vast number of extremely diverse physical illnesses
that arise from thought. Not only heart disease but also most afflictions of
the stomach and skin are a consequence of destructive thoughts. Similarly, the
transmission of infectious diseases may be a result not only of predisposition
but also of thinking. (Heart 302)
As opposed to that, good thoughts have a healing
effect.
Exalted thoughts not
only influence the nerve substance, but also purify the blood. Experiments with
the composition of the blood in relation to the thinking of the patient are
highly instructive. (AUM 306)
Therefore, many diseases can
be cured only by a renewal of thinking, by an expansion of consciousness!
If you liberate yourself from outdated views that lead to depression and hopelessness,
you heal yourself at the same time, both physically and psychically.
The shifting of
thought is the paramount healer of mankind. (Infinity
II, 518 [118])
May the doctors always look for the spiritual causes
of illness.
A physician could say
to the patient “You have an attack of cupidity,” or “the anemia
of self-conceit,” or “stones of treachery,” or “an eczema of gossip,” or “a
stroke of hatred.” It would not be amiss to set forth the true causes of
diseases. (Community 23)
3. Healing through a higher Way of Life
Nicholas Roerich "Star of the Morning"
Who of you would doubt that the way of life of
the Inner Monastery is most beneficial and healthy not only for the soul, but also for the body? If you get up and go to bed early,
avoid spiritual poisons, feed yourself healthily, simply and moderately, carry
out physical exercises and spiritual practices such as meditation that bring firmness,
calmness and solemnity into your life – then you will inevitably heal your body
as well.
Spiritual health is
the primary basis of bodily health. Precisely prayer as a real link with the
higher Source will be the best purifier of the organism against all diseases.
Infection appears when the body permits the entrance of messengers of evil. Each
body is predisposed to many diseases, but spiritual strength does not allow
such outbreaks to develop. When the spirit can be properly
nourished by higher energies, it also protects the body against dangers.
(AUM 57)
A wise doctor knows the higher nature and the
higher mission of man. He recommends his patients a progressive, truly healthy
way of life in harmony with their divine self and the laws of cosmos.
An experienced
physician understands that a sickness does not begin when he is
called, but much earlier. He will seek the true causes and will thus
renew the patient’s life. (Supermundane 632)
Thus he combats the roots of diseases.
The right conditions
for recovery can only be created by sacrifice. This is
done by the renunciation of personal will and the sacrifice of those habits or
appetites of self-indulgence which were the original
cause of the disease.
All other treatments
but drive the disease from one plane or organ to another. The renunciation of
former methods of life, the sacrifice of deleterious and harmful appetites; all
these conduce to the recovery of the victim of his own imprudent
self-indulgence. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 101 “Color and Disease”)
The doctor must lead the patient onto the Spiritual
Path. Many examples prove that mentally healthy people, who lead a fulfilled
life of powerful and meaningful work in the service of a great task, are
generally not physically seriously ill either.
Much to the regret of
doctors everywhere, the true preventative measure will be self-perfectment. (Heart 96)
A state of joy and
exaltation is the best prophylaxis. (Fiery World III, 450)
Their higher striving actually makes them
largely immune to diseases.
Right efforts wipe
away the manifestations of contagion. A person who is striving is actually entirely
immune. It even turns out that striving is the most effective
antidote. The fire born of swift, intense striving is the very best shield. The
ancients explained why arrows fail to reach those who are striving. Nowadays
doctors could show how a special substance develops in the course of spiritual
striving. (Heart 216)
4. Self-Healing
As a patient, it is first
of all you yourself who has to heal himself! We had already talked about
prevention and healing by strengthening vitality and joy of being in the Video on
"Psychic Energy" (Broadcasting 14 of the Series "Introduction to
Agni Yoga").
5. Healing the Soul
In the New World, the doctors will be true
healers, spiritual authorities who are able to recognize, nurture, strengthen
and heal not only the physical aspect, but also the immortal soul of the
patient.
A new profession will be
developed: physician for the healing of the soul. He cures malformations
that have slipped into the life of the spiritual self. The New immortal Man
desperately needs treatment for his soul, which is weakened
by materialism and lack of spirit. His highest good is not the health of the body,
but the well-being of his Eternal Individuality. Here a vast area of work will
open up for doctors!
*****
The immense importance of this new profession
is obvious: The old doctor cures the transitory, the
soul-healer looks after the eternal in man.
Such a physician is like a priest who elevates the
nation in order to relieve it from its spiritual sufferings. It is no
coincidence that in ancient times the priests were at the same time physicians, and that many saints were great healers as well.
Physicians can be true
helpers of humanity in the ascent of the spirit. The
intellect of a physician must be reinforced by his heart. It should be
impossible for the physician to be an ignorant denier. (AUM 3)
The patients open their homes and hearts to their
doctor. In their need, in search of relief and understanding, they are more
than ever prepared to accept advice on the improvement, refinement and
spiritualization of their lives. May the doctors wisely use this great
opportunity!
One may urge all
physicians of the World to start upon a mission of spiritualization of the
heart. Each physician has access to different homes. He sees various
generations, and his words are listened to with
attention. When giving physical instructions he can so easily add the most
valuable advices. He has the right to be acquainted with all the details of the
moral conditions in the home. He can give advice which
will compel the occupants to reflect over and above the actions of the stomach.
He can even command, for behind him stands the fear of death. The physician is the
most sacred person in a household where there is a sick person. If we but had
enlightened physicians! (Fiery World II, 217)
6. Limits of Medical Technology
The realization that the true self of man is
immortal will reduce many unnecessary, essentially hostile efforts
of modern medicine.
We had already spoken of the inadmissibility of
life-prolonging measures (Broadcasting 8 "Death and Rebirth" of the Series
"Introduction to Agni Yoga"). If patients and physicians realize that
the well-being of the eternal soul is much more important than the health of
the perishable body, then doubtful treatments, which are effective on the physical
level only and cause harm to our spiritual nature, will gradually disappear.
We are thinking, for example, of blood
transfusions, heart transplants and vivisections, which are
permitted only exceptionally and under special conditions.
*****
In the New World, the boundaries
of medical technology will be defined by the ethical authorities. This
example demonstrates: Society should leave the fundamental decisions neither to
the majority nor to the specialists who tend to do everything that is technically
feasible. The assessment of ethical issues requires a particular spiritual
qualification.
II. Schools
1. Goal of Education: The New Man – The New World
The formation of youth is one of the most
important tasks of the community. The children are our future. What we bestow upon
them today, they will return to the world tomorrow.
The school plays an important role in the great
work of creating the New Man. Education should awaken the higher potential which lies dormant within us. Should
we not free at least our children from the wheel of ignorance and suffering, to
which today's humanity is bound?
Education has a great importance.
It is nourishment with everything lofty and refined. (Supermundane 425)
Our greatest hope to build the New World
naturally rests on the young, who have not yet been distorted
by outdated habits. Let us make sure that the new generation is
raised according to the 10 Pillars of the Practice Agni Yoga: Defence of
the higher consciousness, rhythm of the day and nourishment according to
spiritual principles, obedience, living in two worlds and selflessness, communion
with the higher world, service to the common good and spiritual exercises for self-perfection!
Then the New World will emerge quite naturally by itself.
2. Holistic Education
Nicholas Roerich "Lama"
The education of immortals requires a
completely new concept. Its starting point must be the twofold – physical and
spiritual – nature of man. The one-sided promotion of purely intellectual
skills is not sufficient for the New Age. Our children have to be comprehensively formed: body, spirit and soul, heart and intellect,
ability and character.
Such a vision is clearly lacking in today's
schools. They have no idea of the image, of the ideal according to which they
want to shape the young.
Our goal of education is purity, wisdom and power. We are raising healthy, beautiful, great and strong souls – future hierarchs!
3. Conveying Knowledge
Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge
The schools have, of course, first
of all to convey knowledge. This includes higher knowledge. They must
teach the laws of cosmos (evolution and hierarchy), the spiritual foundations
of existence (karma and reincarnation), but also the path and the goal, the mission
and the responsibility of man.
From the earliest
school years, it is necessary to lay firm, practical foundations. Only thus can be found a living way to living successes. (Supermundane
718)
Verily, there should
be more schools in which people are taught the meaning
of life. (Supermundane 190)
4. Formation of the Heart
The school of the future will strive to refine
the feeling of the heart of the pupils, without which higher knowledge can neither be conveyed nor received.
It serves the formation of the heart, namely
the expansion of consciousness and the development of sensitivity and
straight-knowledge. It will train the communion with the higher spheres. It
will teach a pure, clear thinking directed by the heart.
It is a gigantic task to develop curricula and
above all practical exercises for this purpose.
5. Moulding Life
It is crucial that the children not only learn
the theory, but above all how they can apply their
knowledge in practice and use it in everyday life. The education centres of the
New World will not only convey knowledge but also implement cognition in practice.
They will teach the youth respect for work, quality and self-perfection.
It is impossible to
convey the facts convincingly without practical exercises. Only the ignorant
would think that a simple reciting of information imparts it to the student. (Supermundane
477)
Theoretical lessons in the morning and collective
practical labour at the Great Work in the afternoon – that is the concept of
the school of the future.
The heart of a child
recognizes what is aflame and what is extinguished.
Not the given lesson, but the mutual aspiration of teacher and pupil reveals
the world of wonders. To open the eyes of a pupil means to share with him the
love of great creation. (Fiery World I, 583)
The schools serve the renewal and
transformation of our existence, the spreading of a healthy way of life that
corresponds to the higher self. They must awaken the fire of enthusiasm for the
Spiritual Path and the higher possibilities of man.
When the family does
not know how, let the school teach cleanliness in all ways of life. Dirt comes
not from poverty but from ignorance. Cleanliness in life is the gateway to
purity of the heart. Who then is unwilling that people be pure? One should
equip schools in such a way that they will be hotbeds for the adornment of
life. (Community 106)
We must not allow the educational
establishments to become hotbeds of disobedience, lack of discipline,
irresponsibility, immorality and egotism.
Shield children from
everything false; guard them against worthless music; protect them from
obscenity; protect them from false competitions; protect them from affirmation
of selfhood. The more so, since it is necessary to inculcate a love for
incessant learning. (Community 116)
Already the young should practice the higher
culture of immortals.
In most schools the foundations of a sound life are not taught. (Supermundane
700)
We want our children to live a life of beauty
and joy in harmony with their higher nature.
Where is the school
that can teach people joy? (Supermundane 600)
6. Community
Nicholas Roerich "Zvenigorod"
It is most important that the school teaches our children community, theoretically and
practically.
This means, for example, to train them to administer
property in trust for the community.
What a mistake to
think that one must give a child its own things! A child can easily understand
that things may be held in common. (Community 102)
The children can learn that a task (both a
mathematical problem and a riddle that life presents) can
best be solved in common. They will easily understand that it is of
little use when some individuals advance and the rest of the class stays
behind. The community as a whole must learn and make progress. The faster pupils can assist the slower ones – often better than
the teachers! The time of the lonesome warrior who only thinks of himself,
is over.
7. Living Examples
Pordenone „Laurenzo Giustiniani and other Saints“
One of the most important tasks of the schools
is to show the young people living examples of a worthy life. Recognizing a
greater spirit as a teacher and imitating him will give the pupils the
strongest and most natural impulse to climb a higher level.
Let us make sure that our children no longer
emulate pop stars or soccer players, but the great saints!
Adults often fail to
resound to the concept of heroism, but children are fond of popular heroes;
they are enraptured by heroic deeds, and they dream of
seeing themselves among the champions of truth. It is inadmissible to deprive
children of this living source of inspiration, which will remain a luminous
glow throughout their lives. A beautiful heroic deed can illumine a young heart forever. (Brotherhood 470)
The schools must educate those who are suited
to heroism in the succession of the great spiritual fighters of mankind. Do not forget: The true wealth of a people are the
high consciousnesses whom it counts among its members.
One Gandhi
raises an entire nation of hundreds of millions of people! If a school succeeds
in producing such a hero, it has rendered humanity an invaluable service.
8. Teachers
Nicholas Roerich "Guru"
These great tasks can only be
accomplished by spiritually high standing teachers. We do not seek intellectuals, but
spiritual leaders of the pupils entrusted to them.
The teacher will be a
guiding tutor—a friend who points out a shorter and better path. Not the
process of compulsion, but the smile of summons. (Community 108)
The Teacher is the one
who gives the best advice for life. (Agni Yoga 43)
A teacher must himself walk on the Spiritual Path
with enthusiasm, otherwise he will not be able to stimulate
imitation.
The teacher himself
must be aglow, so that just approaching him already imparts fieriness. (Brotherhood 471)
Let us see to it that we gain the best spirits for
the education of our children. The Master of the Order does not consider teaching
youth himself unworthy of him. If we belittle the importance of the teachers
and neglect the schools, we are wasting our future!
Shamed be the land
where teachers dwell in poverty and want. Shamed be those who know that their children are being taught by a man in want. Can one
entrust children to a depressed man? Can one rest ignorant of the fact that a
depressed spirit cannot inspire enthusiasm? Can one regard
teaching as an insignificant profession? Can one expect an enlightened
spirit in children if the school is a place of humiliation and affront? Can one
expect the fires of the heart when the spirit is silent? The nation that has
forgotten its teachers has forgotten its future. Let us make sure that the
teacher be the most valued member of the country’s institutions. (Fiery World
I, 582)
A people will do well to meet its teachers with
respect, and to enable them to lead a worthy life dedicated entirely to cognition
and education.
In all countries,
teachers should be the educators of the people. (Supermundane 663)
III. Marriage and Family
1. Spiritual Relatives and Blood Relatives
Your blood relatives are only rarely your spiritual
brothers. Let us listen to Helena Roerich:
The Teaching indicates
blood relationship and spiritual relationship. In daily life
is it not those closest to us who most often misunderstand and belittle us?
Because of their physical and blood ties, they impose upon us some of their own
laws. People refuse to understand that above all earthly relationships there is
a spiritual bond, and it is a blessing when both these relationships, spiritual
and blood, are combined on Earth, but this rarely occurs. Often in the same
family spirits with entirely different past accumulations are gathered. (Helena
Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 28.05.1937)
In your family, you may even meet former enemies,
with whom you have to continue to deal and, if possible, become reconciled.
Enemies even try to
incarnate into the families of their victims, in order to
more easily reach them. (Supermundane 616)
And a man’s foes shall be they of his
own household. (Matthew 10, 36)
Others, because of their spiritual development,
are much closer to you than your blood relatives. Your
true relatives – your soulmates – are the members of the supratemporal
spiritual community, together with whom you walk the Path under a teacher and
serve. These eternal ties are more important than the family relations
which are limited to one single earthly life.
Very often strangers
by blood are more harmonious with us than our own children.
Spiritual affinity is much stronger than the bonds of blood. (Helena Roerich
Letters Vol. I, letter of 17.04.1934)
An Agni Yogi must
renounce the conventional in all national cultures, although temporarily he
belongs to one of them. He chooses spiritual relationship over blood
relationship. (Agni Yoga 171)
The immortal takes an attitude opposite to that
of the old man: His highest loyalty is to Hierarchy, the Brotherhood of
Shambhala, his Master and his spiritual brothers and sisters. As opposed to
that, he will find in marriage and family in the most cases only temporary, not
eternal companions.
My first duty is to my
Master. And duty, let me tell you, is for us, stronger than any friendship or
even love; as without this abiding principle which is the indestructible cement
that has held together for so many milleniums, the
scattered custodians of nature's grand secrets — our Brotherhood, nay, our
doctrine itself — would have crumbled long ago into unrecognisable atoms. (Mahatma
Letter No.62 of 18.07.1884)
This qualifies the exaggerated importance that is given to the family these days.
Every one of us has
direct duties toward his family, but let us not exaggerate them. Often families
manifest a complete disunion and mutual antagonism and are the hearths of
spiritual corruption. Would it be right and sensible to waste strength and
sacrifice the high ideals for an artificial maintaining of bonds
which in most cases are illicit, being against the higher law? (Helena Roerich
Letters Vol. I, letter of 21.07.1934)
In order to overcome the illusion of the perishable
world, you also have to break away from the bonds of blood relations and turn
to the mates of your soul.
However, this does not alter the fact that your
obligations towards your family are sacred.
2. Crisis of the bourgeois Family
The present-day bourgeois family is a true
reflection of the prevailing materialistic worldview: A haven of egotism,
personal comfort, private happiness, effeminacy, and separation from the rest
of humanity and from evolution, without regard for the gigantic tasks and needs
of the time.
The main cause of
unhappiness in families is that the life of the spirit is not a part of their
daily existence. There does exist a certain manner of living that becomes like
a beast’s lair. (Agni Yoga 446)
The whole atmosphere of cosiness, personal well-being,
relaxation, individual enjoyment and distraction; the huge amount of
unnecessary objects that are being accumulated and have to be cultivated, cleansed,
and maintained – all this is simply incompatible with the requirements of the
life of a spiritual warrior in spiritual discipline, selflessness, simplicity,
service, and contemplation.
When the spirit tries
to create an illusory world of selfhood, it is certainly difficult to advance.
(Hierarchy 217)
The crisis of bourgeois marriage indicates that
the foundations of this institution are crumbling. Its meaning is nowadays only seen in the marriage partners’ making each
other happy. But this is no long-term goal of life. It
does not go much beyond the satisfaction of the egotism of both sides.
There are different
kinds of egoism. In addition to personal egoism, we can see examples of family
egoism and even racial egoism. Moreover, there is even egoism on a planetary
scale. (Supermundane 273)
The quality of
self-sacrifice is fundamental in woman, but she should learn not to limit her
self-sacrifice to the narrow concept of home life, which is often nothing more
than encouragement of the family’s egotism—she should apply it on a world
scale. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 17.05.1937)
The satisfaction of personal desires is not
sufficient as a basis for a lasting community. It leaves us unfulfilled, with a
feeling of emptiness. Obviously, the traditional happiness of bourgeois
marriage is an illusion.
Cooperation based on
personal feelings is not steadfast. Besides respect for the labor
itself, reverence for Hierarchy is indispensable. Under the whirl of personal feelings people will bob about like cork manikins, and will
jostle each other and be occupied with spasmodic actions. (Fiery World II, 406)
The marriages of today are failing because they
have no spiritual foundation and are not compatible with the principle of
selflessness. It is really distressing to see which immense
material and idealistic efforts are wasted in the futile attempt to build an
island of private happiness, prosperity and security amidst the storms of the
world.
*****
Even the most obvious task of marriage, namely
the raising of the new generation, cannot be fulfilled
without a solid spiritual basis: The mere continuity of the human race is not a
value in itself. The next generation should continue our work. But he who does not know for what purpose and with what a
mission he came to the earth will not be able to lead children to a meaningful life
either.
*****
As it currently exists, the bourgeois family is
a major obstacle and a severe temptation because it makes it almost impossible
for its members to walk the Spiritual Path.
I deeply regret it,
but I have no right to bind myself so securely to any person or persons by ties
of personal sympathy and esteem that my movements shall be crippled, and I
unable to lead the rest to something grander and nobler than their present
faith. (Mahatma Letter No. 57 of 31.12.1882 [06.01.1883])
You should not allow transient personal ties to
prevent you from progressing on your eternal path and from accomplishing your supratemporal mission.
Ah! that whirling, showy, glittering world, full of insatiable ambition, where family and the State parcel out between them a man's nobler nature, as two tigers a carcase, and leave him without hope or light! (Mahatma Letter No. 8 of 20.02.1881)
3. Error of bourgeois Love
Carl Spitzweg „The eternal Bridegroom“
A man who acknowledges
nothing higher than himself and his peers, succumbs to an awful error: He seeks
the way out of loneliness and meaninglessness with the opposite sex, with
someone like himself who does not know any better either.
He will be bitterly disappointed. It is not a
goal of life to love someone else. In marriage, too, you cannot find lasting
happiness in the material, in the flesh. Bourgeois love is
overburdened as a source of meaning.
As long as either man or woman is wedded to the idea that personal
happiness on the physical plane is the end and aim of life, instead of the fulfillment of duty, all chance of happiness will fly away
like a bird on the wing; while the fulfillment of
duty will at least bring peace to the soul and a possible recognition of the
reality of the ideal toward which they are striving, but which may not yet
exist on this plane. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I,
Lesson 175 “The Higher Love”)
Love brings a man and a woman together for a
certain purpose. The path to a union which is fulfilled in
the spiritual sense is shown by our feelings in the first time of our
love:
The couple is animated
by the burning desire to place itself completely selflessly in the service of
something higher. Both are ready to sacrifice themselves entirely for this
higher love. This is not an egotistic feeling. They clearly sense the
connection with the higher spheres.
*****
When you love, you perceive more than others: You recognize through all the imperfections of the
body, of the perishable being, that the others see, the beautiful eternal core,
the higher nature of your beloved.
This divine spark shines through from time to
time, even in the ugliest, most deeply sunken man. This is what you love.
Love hath seen a ray
of the divine in thee behind the darkened windows of thy soul, though it be all
unseen by other eyes than love’s. (From the Mountain Top Vol. I, Lesson “The
Light within”)
To love is to be able
to perceive another man the way God has meant him to be. (Dostojevski)
The error occurs when you believe that your exaltation
directs you to serve the insignificant, transient, earthly, egotistic, personal
wishes and preferences of your beloved. Then your love turns to the perishable
nature and will cool down soon, because it experiences its imperfection.
On the other hand, love will not disappoint you
when you continue to look through the material shell and never fail to
recognize and love the soul of your partner.
*****
The love we feel is, in essence, a love for all
human beings. It is directed to the divine spirit,
which is inherent in all men, indeed in every creature. When we follow this
feeling, we reach the true meaning of marriage.
Not egoism dwells in
the heart, but a feeling that embraces all humanity. (Heart 7)
Service is not in
furthering ordinary felicity but in bringing benefit to humanity. (Brotherhood 102)
A Master has no family in the earthly sense. He
loves all mankind.
Love not a man, but mankind. (Supermundane 332)
4. The Married Couple on the Spiritual Path
People are being brought
together on their endless path in order to grow by learning from each other, to
settle old, not yet paid back debts, and to fulfill a
task.
No less than half of
all earthly encounters take place because of past incarnations. (Agni Yoga 238)
The marriage of two spiritual warriors who stand in the service of Hierarchy and are working for the good
of humanity is not a private matter. Two immortals who unite will pursue
a higher goal than just to lead a pleasant life and to generate descendants
who, in their turn, only wish to vegetate undisturbed and do not know for what purpose
they are on earth.
The mission of man to advance on the path to Mastery,
to serve selflessly the common good, and to practice the higher communion, does
not come to a stop with marriage. The married couple has the privilege of
walking this path together!
True marriage is not
of the world, it is of the spirit. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. II, Lesson
“True Marriage”)
The common task is what creates a meaning and
frees us from the error of the personal. This applies to marriage as the
smallest as well as to larger communities.
Let us take as an
example a choir or an army, or a team of workmen; it
is probable that in such groups there can be found many people clouded by
misfortune, but their common unity will lessen their personal unhappiness. Thus common striving helps turn people from their individual
suffering. One should not think that common work brings about a dulling of
personal feelings; on the contrary, with a high quality of labor,
it can heighten one’s striving. (Supermundane 760)
The ultimate purpose of a marriage is to walk
like Tamino and Pamina in
Mozart's "Magic Flute" the Spiritual Path together! What could be
more beautiful than you and your partner helping and inspiring each other on
this highest journey?!
*****
Worldly duties will result from the circumstances.
A natural task is the education of the coming generation, of our own or others’,
of physical or spiritual children, to worthy warriors of the spirit, to whom we
can one day confidently hand over the torch.
O, ye wise men, your
efforts will be fruitless if woman does not stretch out her hand to you, and if
you do not raise a generation of heroes! (Supermundane 700)
Our children are destined to manifest the
divine spirit more fully than we, the preceding
generation, are doing. This is the high goal that love,
marriage and family are to serve.
5. The Family as a spiritual Community
Raffael „Holy Family“
The ideal family will be a small spiritual
communion. It may form the core of a larger community to which others can attach
themselves.
With your family as well, you may live under
the spiritual rule of the Inner Monastery and raise your children through your example
in the spirit of obedience, living in two worlds and selflessness.
The true family is the
prototype of communal life. It can personify cooperation and Hierarchy and all
the conditions of the Brotherhood. But
such families are extremely rare, and therefore it is impossible to say to
everyone that the family is the symbol of the Brotherhood. It is impossible to
think about building the state without building the home. (Brotherhood
57)
Such a small community can change the whole world
– just think of Helena and Nicholas Roerich!
Two harmonized auras
can create a New World. (Fiery World III, 66)
Like any other community, a family can only
exist in the long run if it observes the principle of Hierarchy.
He who is spiritually superior must take the lead, and the others have to
follow.
As man and woman, you are
entrusted with the difficult task to determine who is to lead in which
area.
*****
Above all, your children must learn and
understand that the adults are destined to lead. You can consult with your
older children at a suitable opportunity, but ultimately you as parents must decide,
because you alone bear the responsibility until your children are of age.
If the higher subordinates itself to the lower,
if you as an adult allow yourself being pushed to and fro
by your children, nothing but chaos will result.
*****
This also applies to a child who stands
hierarchically and spiritually higher than his parents,
which is not unusual at all. Even such a child must learn that there is a
certain meaning in his being incarnated in this particular
family. Even such a child must learn to subordinate himself to the one who
bears the responsibility.
To finish this Broadcasting, let us listen
again to Helena Roerich:
I hope very much that
you do not spoil the growing warrior! Teach him to be studious, attentive, and
assiduous. Develop his sense of cooperation, sense of help, and compassion
toward animals and the needy. You must teach him to be obliging and respectful
toward adults, thereby is strengthened the understanding of Hierarchy. Let him
learn to think about other people and to be happy if he can bring some cheer to
others. The most terrible thing is to develop in a child selfishness and
stinginess, as these vices will limit its thinking. (Helena Roerich Letters
Vol. I, letter of 17.06.1931)