AGNI YOGA WEB TV
SERIES
„THE 10 PILLARS
OF THE PRACTICE
OF AGNI YOGA“
10th Pillar: Self-Perfection
Dear Agni Yogis,
today we shall be talking
about to the 10th and last of the Pillars of the Practice of Agni Yoga:
education or self-perfection. This is one of the four spheres of life.
The disciple asks: “What
do you mean by spheres of life?”
We repeat: What is
an Agni Yogi doing all day long? Four things: 1. connection with the higher
world or meditation, 2. service to the common good, 3. service to the neighbour
and 4. training or self-perfection (see the Broadcasting “Overview”). Our motto
is:
Every day, we weave
a new fibre into the Silvery Thread of the connection with the teacher. Every
day, we contribute a stone to the building of the New World. Every day, we take
another step on the Spiritual Path of ascent.
"That sounds
like hard, arduous and unpleasant work."
Of course, practising
Agni Yoga does not mean honey licking.
Self-perfectment is the most difficult heroic deed. (Fiery World
I, 652)
Let me try to make the
work on yourself more palatable for you. The key is to recognize:
There lies a
gigantic potential hidden within you!
There are higher
abilities, almost fantastic spiritual powers hidden within you. To name just a
few: The man of the future will be able to move objects with mental force, to
walk on the water and to heal spiritually like Jesus, to read thoughts and even
to fly! The cosmic giant inside you is urging to reveal itself.
Reflect that people
are fully equipped for the furthermost evolution. (Brotherhood 492)
If you do not take
advantage of the possibilities that lie dormant within you, you are spoiling
your mission.
Unfold what is
pure, beautiful and great within you!
You are much
greater than you think!
The fourth sphere
of life, education or self-perfection, aims at developing this potential! Your
true being, the soul demands perfection. Like all creatures, it strives to the
light, to the heights.
It is a joyous fact
that the essence of human nature strives toward perfection. An animal state is inadmissible. (Supermundane 373)
Perfection is the
ultimate aim of the soul of man. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 230 “A
Supreme Being”)
We had already said
(Broadcasting "The Meaning of Life"): It is the very purpose of your
life to grow, to become ever greater and stronger, to ascend continuously on
the endless ladder of the Hierarchy.
Why are you living?
In order to cognize and to perfect yourselves. (Community 230)
Eternal life means
eternal growth – unlimited development to heights still unimaginable today.
Our mission is: The
line that leads from minerals via plants and animals up to us humans we are called
upon to continue further upwards and to climb step by step ever higher levels
of evolution.
I wish to see you
upon the next step. (Community 17)
The proud motto of
the New Man is:
I am on the path to
God!
Only in perfectionment of the spirit may
man become like the Higher Force. (Fiery World III, 110)
One must assert
striving to the Highest as the essence of life and assume a reverent attitude
toward this salutary striving. (Hierarchy 57)
God's image within you
shows you the way. Every imperfection that still adheres to you is a deviation
from your ideal.
What a wonderful
concept, that man has been created in the Image of God! Surely, such an
exhortation is a powerful call to perfectionment of
the spirit. Reminding about the Prototype of God must lead man unto New Paths.
(Fiery World III, 147)
The disciple is not
above his master; but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master. (Luke 6,
40)
Is this not a
wonderful goal for which every effort is worthwhile?
When will people
comprehend the wondrousness of becoming like the Highest Beings? (Agni Yoga
215)
The labour of
endless perfectionment is ordained by Us. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 358 [362])
It is a true
catastrophe in the spiritual sense that humanity has lost sight of its destiny
to grow infinitely.
Indeed, for
centuries the idea of perfectionment has departed
from mankind. (Fiery World III, 326)
The refined nature does
not seek personal well-being, for it strives toward perfection. (Supermundane
505)
The next level on
this infinite path will be the man of spirit of the 6th race. You should not
believe that this New Man will appear on earth by inheritance or otherwise out
of the blue.
There is so much
talk about indigo children who are born suddenly, and nobody knows why.
This is mysticism,
and you must not fall for that. Nothing in the Universe happens by itself and
without cause. It took a gigantic effort on the part of the last animals to
rise from four legs to two legs and thus to become the first humans. If they
had not put up with this challenge, we would not even exist today!
Likewise, the New
Man of the 6th race will only arise if individual humans through a heroic
uplift transform into immortal beings of spirit and more and more old men
follow their shining example. Thus we retain:
It is only on the
path of self-education that we can live up to our mission on earth.
Section I: Education
The Spiritual Path
of inner growth is a path of education. Those will benefit most from the
Teaching of Living Ethics who treat it as a book with lectures, exercises and
instructions from the Masters to their disciples.
Our Teaching is not
a campaigning one; it is an instructive one, intended for those who already
desire to perfect themselves. (Agni Yoga 543)
We are, therefore,
about to found a school of the Lord's service. (Rule of St. Benedict, foreword,
45)
You enter a school
of perfection. From now on, you will happily greet each new day as a school day
that offers you many opportunities for improvement and on which, if you stay on
the path, you can only learn – that is ascend.
Each new day offers
new possibilities for approaching the limitless growth. (Infinity I, 113)
The superiority of the
new over the old man rests on the one hand on his higher knowledge of the
fundamental basics of existence and on the other hand on a better education.
The main reason why today's spiritual communities tend to fail is because they
neglect this holistic, theoretical and practical education. And because there
are no teachers, no Masters of Life who are capable to teach and to elevate
disciples.
1. Self-Education
Agni Yoga calls for
the next level of evolution. Where do we want to start in order to reach this
high goal, if not with ourselves?
The success of
perfection begins with self-perfection. (AUM 211)
The time has come
for people to cease lecturing and to apply themselves to strict
self-betterment. (Supermundane 363)
It is not the world
that is bad, but man. Coarseness, cruelty and selfishness are not somewhere out
there "in the world", but within ourselves. Here they have to be
fought, then the world will get better by itself.
The world will only
become enlightened, harmonious, peaceful, beautiful and just if you and I, the
people who control it, are enlightened, harmonious, peaceful, beautiful and
just.
Not the World is
cruel, but man. Not the World proves unjust, but man. The purification of the
consciousness is the great task on the path to the Fiery World. (Fiery World
III, 337)
"Thus, what is
my contribution to improving the world?"
First, develop to
an immortal spirit, a role model that others can imitate. The superior type of
the New Man of the 6th race must and will spread – like bipeds among
four-legged creatures. The old men just have to see it, then they will
immediately feel the longing to climb this wonderful higher level themselves as
well. And with the spread of the man of the future, the world of the future
will emerge of its own accord.
You yourself must
be the change you wish to see in the world. (Gandhi)
Everything – both
your personal Spiritual Path and the building of the New World – starts with
your starting to work on yourself!
Take your training or
self-perfection into your own hands! Unlike the animals, we humans can reach
the next level of evolution only with our own conscious cooperation.
Starting with
self-improvement you proceed toward Infinity. (Community 121)
Each step of life
must be considered as being indispensable for self-improvement. (Agni Yoga 36)
In the spiritual
realm everyone is a self-made man: There is no success based on the
achievements of others.
Self-education is a
manifestation of synthesis. (Fiery World III, 75)
Do not expect
someone else to carry you up to the top. You have to climb there yourself!
The average man and
woman is prone to believe he has only to wait long enough to have the secrets
of Occultism, pertaining to psychic and spiritual development, unveiled and to
be able to avail himself of all such advantages without special effort on his
part, and so he refuses to accept the statements of the older Seers regarding
personal effort, or to use the only methods by which advancement in those
fields is possible, as those methods have been outlined, for they invariably
call for a greater amount of self-sacrifice than he feels willing to make. But
this is where he makes his great mistake, for he never can attain to the
understanding or use of the only powers that will differentiate him from others
in the mediocre degrees of life, by means of the effort of others. (Teachings
of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 99 “The Middle Point”)
Others can funnel
intellectual school knowledge into you. But only you yourself can work on the
elevation of your own being. The teacher can give advice, raise your
consciousness and go ahead. However, you yourself must carry out these
instructions, walk the indicated path and follow the example.
I say to you,
"follow me" (for I cannot carry you), and I point you to the mile –
stones along the Path which I have travelled. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I,
Lesson 25 “Selflessness, the one Thing needful”)
I am unable to
bring you up. You have to bring you up yourself!
No Saviour, no
Master or Adept in the heavens above or the earth beneath can carry a man
farther up the path to the gods than his own will allows. All that a Master can
do is to point out the steps, endeavour to show the disciple how he can obtain
the spiritual nourishment he will require on his journey, and give him a staff
of knowledge to enable him to protect himself from the antagonistic forces he
will inevitably meet on the way; then he must draw in and await the result. All
the rest depends upon the individual man. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I,
Lesson 231 “The Unknowable”)
Walking the path of
self-perfection is of paramount importance at a time when not only children and
dogs are badly brought up, but also adults – because they have lost the
consciousness of their mission to shape themselves according to an ideal and to
gradually grow greater.
Beware of indulging
too much in high ideas: If you shy away from the tedious work of
self-education, of the incarnation of your high thoughts, you will not change,
you will not make progress on the Spiritual Path, and you will not advance the
world either.
*****
Everyone who has
just read the first pages of Agni Yoga wants to become a teacher right away.
"Yes, sure, me
too!"
An excellent project!
But first, educate yourself before you start instructing others! Your soul is
still like a toddler or a disciple. Once you have raised it, you will be ahead
of others, and only then you can be their teacher.
2. Formation of the Eternal Individuality
"What is the
difference between worldly and spiritual education?"
In secular schools,
body and intellect are trained, of which, however, nothing remains. The
spiritual education focuses on the accumulations of your Eternal Individuality,
which you will retain permanently on your infinite path far beyond the material
level. At its next incarnation, your soul will bring back to earth whatever it
has appropriated today.
We are here only
for the perfectment of the spirit. (Heart 400)
You must, you are
granted the opportunity to enrich this treasure during this lifetime; you may
increase your true wealth!
The spirit must
acknowledge that through its strivings it lives not for one life-round but for
a cycle vouchsafed by Infinity. (Infinity I, 149)
The education we
are talking about today does not concern the outside, but the inside of man.
For this, completely different rules and methods apply than you were used to
before.
Everything
mechanical concerns only the outer man and cannot reorganize the inner man, and
therefore is worthless. (Letters of Helena Roerich Vol. I, letter of 29.08.1934)
Nothing mechanical
can transform the inner man, and this transformation is the chief aim of all
the true Teachings. Therefore, one must always bear in mind that all the Great
Teachers are concerned with the inner man, whose realm is in the sphere of
motives and thoughts. (Letters of Helena Roerich Vol. I, letter of 21.07. 1934)
The feat of striving
for perfection is an inner process.
The labour of an
Agni Yogi is above all inner work!
You are educating
your inner being, your true, higher, Eternal Self: So that it becomes a
co-worker or a disciple of the Brotherhood, a teacher, master, king of the
spirit, healer or spiritual warrior, that means a Great Soul – regardless of
the external position which your transient personality occupies in the current
short earthly life. This work on your consciousness is much more important than
the worldly labour that you have to carry out at the same time.
The crowns of the
Masters are in their royally beautiful radiations. (Letters of Helena Roerich
Vol. I, letter of 08.11.1934)
Some think that
chastisement of spirit and body are necessary. But We say achievement of spirit
is needed. And this fiery quality is attained only through the inner Fire of
the heart. (Fiery World III, 118)
These are the
treasures in Heaven that we are to gather according to Jesus' words:
Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through nor steal. (Matthew 6, 19, 20)
You yourself are to
get greater. Your soul is to grow, not your library, your house or your bank
account.
As you ought to
notice, Agni Yoga requires first of all a spiritual development. Without it,
all other indications and secondary measures are useless. (Letters of Helena
Roerich Vol. I, letter of 28.08.1931)
So in everything
let us aspire to the inner—in other words, to the depths. (Heart 397)
We remember (see
the Broadcasting “Bring your Soul to Life”, Series “Experiment Immortality”):
You are shaping your Eternal Individuality like a work of art! The apparently
somewhat boring and perhaps even repugnant concept of "education and
self-perfection" means in reality something wonderful, something highly
creative:
You are toiling
every day, every moment to make this work of art – your own true self! –
greater, stronger and more beautiful!
3. Exercise
“I am studying the
books of Agni Yoga every day. What more do I have to do?"
Knowledge is
necessary, but not enough. Moving forward on the Spiritual Path requires more
than studying occult scriptures. The application in everyday life of what you
read, the conversion of cognition into matter, into the flesh is our task!
He will understand
that it is not dead scholarship that is needed, but realization and
application. (Agni Yoga 527)
Some suppose that
spirituality consists in the reading of spiritual books. There are many such
readers but few who carry out. (Fiery World II, 447)
Especially harmful
are those who read much, but assimilate nothing. (Supermundane 693)
No less than your
body, your soul as well grows greater and stronger only through constant
training, through toil, setbacks, experience, improvement and again and again
toil.
It is essential
that the Teaching be put into practice not as the whim of a single day but as
an ongoing exercise, one that is free of irritation and vexation. (Heart 108)
The following
instruction also applies to your personal development:
Everything is
labour and experience. (Agni Yoga 225)
I suggest that
power be understood as being gained from the accumulations of experience. We
are again in the garden of life, where experience assures attainment. (Agni
Yoga 160)
The practice of
Agni Yoga mainly consists of spiritual exercises in the middle of everyday
life.
The whole life of
the disciple is nothing but spiritual exercise.
The entire practice
we have discussed in the previous Broadcastings consists of spiritual
exercises: Elevation, Transformation into an immortal spiritual Being,
strengthening the soul, gaining inviolability; acquiring a firm inner bearing,
the right attitude towards work and the difficulties, obstacles, needs and
sufferings of everyday life; mastering moods, thoughts and feelings, keeping
joy in all situations; prayer and meditation, the 10 Pillars of the Practice of
Agni Yoga, Living in the continuous Presence of the Teacher, the Invisible Toga,
the Path of the Inner Temple, the Fiery Condition: all these are nothing else
but spiritual exercises.
Verily, everything
must be educated. (AUM 239)
Every new day offers
you a myriad of ways to grow greater. Make use of them! That is only possible
on Earth. After death you will regret every opportunity you missed!
The New Man differs
from the old in that he regards every moment, especially a difficult one, as an
opportunity to practise, to grow, to strengthen his spiritual powers and to
refine his spiritual senses.
*****
Creating the New
Man means developing new skills.
This is only
possible through hard and persistent training. Like all other human abilities,
athletic or musical, physical or intellectual, mastery, the superiority of the
future man of spirit, thought reading, telekinesis, levitation and all other
higher skills of the soul can only be achieved through practice and again and
again practice.
As the saying goes:
In German: No
master has fallen from heaven yet. In English: No one is born a master.
In order to develop
on the one hand the powers and on the other hand the senses of your Eternal
Individuality, the same perseverance and endurance is required that athletes
and acrobats use to master their bodies and musicians their instruments.
Even the loftiest
thinker will not deny that he is in need of exercise, just as a musician must
practice constantly. (Supermundane 424)
Only mental exercise can produce elevated heart-knowledge. (Supermundane
852)
"Asceticism"
means exercise; that you should not regard as deterrent but as tool for your
ascent.
Practice takes away
the difficulty and you find that what you thought was impossible is easy. (St.
Bernhard von Clairvaux letter 1, 13)
*****
"Often I am so
overwhelmed by worldly commitments that I cannot even think of
self-perfection."
I am sorry, but
that is completely wrong! Nobody and nothing can prevent you from working
inwardly and thereby growing greater!
Always and in all
circumstances you may practise and thereby rise.
Adverse external
conditions and weaknesses of the body offer the best opportunities to progress
in your spiritual development, as we had already discussed (Broadcasting
"Rejoice at Obstacles!").
When a bird of
paradise was asked from where its brilliant feathers came, it answered, “Many
poisoned arrows glanced off me and the most virulent poison gave me the best
hue.” (Agni Yoga 453)
Practical Tip
Nicholas Roerich
"Brahmaputra"
Get into the habit of living a double life: On the material level, your
body and your intellect are active in the earthly world. At the same time (!)
on the inner level you make use of every opportunity, of every hour, to promote
the growth of your soul, to make it greater, stronger and more beautiful.
Both works, the outer and the inner one, proceed hand in hand, side by
side and independently of each other. That is one of the crucial aspects of the
practice of Agni Yoga!
You are living and working consciously on both the material and the
spiritual level.
Under the pressure of everyday, external demands we are constantly in
danger of neglecting the inner work on our consciousness. Although it is the
more important one: First comes the New Man, then the New World. And no
external success of your perishable personality is worth being paid for by an
injury to or a crash of your Eternal Individuality.
This is what Jesus meant with his eternal words:
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8, 36)
*****
"I still do not quite see how in the foreseeable future
I can make real progress towards the fantastic higher skills you mentioned
!?"
But you have unlimited time at your disposal!
How infinitely high will you get if you climb one rung only on the
Jacob's ladder every day!
Each step of the ladder of the spirit must be
traversed. How majestic is the Ladder to the Fiery World, which has in a year
366 steps by day and 366 by night! Every step is distinct from every other, and
let each one be better than the preceding one. (Fiery World II, 280)
May you stand in the evening of every new day one step higher than in
the morning!
Every day should become a stone of this building.
(Supermundane 324)
The consolation does not lie in the fact that a
failure is not possible, but in the fact that each achievement of good means
the manifestation of a new progress. (Fiery World II, 233)
If you only grow 1 cm every day, that is 3.65 m a year
and 36.5 m in 10 years!
*****
“I am unable to use my spiritual skills in everyday
life. What should I do?"
There are not only outward but also inward actions.
When there is no opportunity to act externally, you are still busy with
endless learning. Be grateful for this time that you can use for practising,
for preparation.
Whether there are ways to act or whether you have to stay outside
society depends on circumstances that you cannot safely influence. According to
the law of correspondence, by striving for perfection, you will certainly
attract external possibilities as well.
Activity can be of two kinds, external and internal. A
person may not yet have the opportunity to begin external activity, although
his inner resolve is already fixed upon seeking truth and a desire for self-perfectment. But his striving creates within him a sort of
magnet, which attracts the outer possibilities. (Supermundane 283)
Like a "sleeper" in a hostile environment you are preparing
yourself in a silent and unrecognizable manner for your mission, to which the
Brotherhood will inevitably call you sooner or later – namely when the time is
ripe and when you are adequately trained.
You must be able to live in readiness, and this
quality requires considerable training. (Heart 562)
There are tiresome and
dangerous periods of transition, which may be endured only by trust in the
Guide. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 136)
*****
"Is there a program of exercises?"
Of course! Agni Yoga and thus our school offer a complete program for
your ascent from a small to a Great Soul:
Participate in the "Experiment Immortality" and carry out the
exercises belonging thereto: The transformation into an immortal being of
spirit, the attainment of inviolability, invincibility, fearlessness, freedom,
dignity and so on, as described in the Series "Experiment
Immortality".
Set up in your life the 10 Pillars of the Practice of Agni Yoga:
Maintaining a higher level of consciousness, rhythm of the day and nutrition
according to spiritual principles; obedience, living in two worlds and
selflessness; connection with the higher world, service and training (Series
“The 10 Pillars of the Practice of Agni Yoga”): These are all spiritual
exercises!
If you practise all this successfully, you will have taken already
quite a big step forward in the Agni Yoga program of training and exercises.
This is the basis on which we will continue to advance in the Series on
“Education”.
The movie "The Last Samurai" starring Tom
Cruise is a fine example of our path: The entire Samurai village is busy
practising sword fighting every free minute. In the world of the future, the
spiritual warriors in addition to their worldly work are continually practising
on the inner level the strengthening of their soul.
4. Education in the Middle
of Life
“Many travel to India and look for a guru there to
find enlightenment and guidance. Is that my path too? "
No! A disciple of Agni Yoga should not leave his usual sphere of life.
Therefore, I do not advise your friend to go to India
only in search of a Teacher, for he will merely waste a great amount of
strength and time, which will not be justified by the results. Knowledge can be
acquired in any country, just as the Teacher invariably appears when the
disciple is ready. This law is immutable. (Letters of Helena Roerich Vol. II,
letter of 23.10.1937)
Your education takes place in the middle of everyday life.
Trust in it: Karma has placed you exactly there where you can best
learn and advance. According to the law of correspondence, life itself presents
you with precisely those tasks that enable you to take the next step of
progress, growth and ascent.
Above all things, put away from you the false idea
that such training is to be had by seeking it amidst the mountains of the
Himalaya or the temples of ancient Hind or Egypt, the religious monasteries, or
the countless self-announced teachers of other lands than your own.
If you believe in the laws of cause and effect you
should be able to see that you have been placed in your present environment to
work out some much needed change in your own character and surroundings. When
that change has been made and it has become necessary for you to seek other
racial opportunities, the law will place you there.
But if you run away from present duties and
necessities, you will gain nothing and only have to return to and remain in the
environment you have deserted. When you are ready for a change in the right
direction, if your heart is fixed on necessary training for such a field as I
have suggested, the way will open for it. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. II,
Lesson “The Seven Builders”)
You can practise, acquire, test and confirm the skills of the future
man of the spirit best of all in the midst of everyday life.
Do you wish to give proof of your best quality? Ask
yourself about it. Do not wait for an opportunity, because each instant
provides many opportunities to display any quality; one has but to wish to
disclose it. (Brotherhood 554)
Life itself is the best school! The difficulties of everyday life are
the best teachers!
Life provides man with an opportunity to test any
quality whatsoever. In everyday life there can be found the possibility of
application of any quality. If a man begins to insist that he has been deprived
of the possibility of applying his best qualities, he will reveal his own
dullness. For the long journey let us gather together as many qualities as
possible. Let each of them be of the best degree! (Brotherhood 60, 61)
"How then do I learn when I don't go to school at
all?"
Let us take as an example the first, fundamental quality of the New
immortal Man: Inviolability: Every day you face a variety of challenges that
offer you the opportunity to acquire this property through practice, to deepen
it through perseverance and to test it again and again.
Every hour you are exposed to attacks. A small soul runs the risk of
being injured. Every hour, your Eternal Individuality must assert itself as a
Great inviolable Soul.
Moreover, you cannot set up the 10 Pillars of the Practice of Agni
Yoga, the first in the series of exercises, anywhere else than in everyday
life.
*****
The initiation tests are no longer of an artificial nature, as was the
case in the mysteries of Egypt or Greece.
In ancient Egypt the neophytes
had to pass through fearful, artificially created, dangers and temptations, and
only a very small number of them were able to stand the trial. In our days all
artificial tests are abolished, and the disciple must be able to face and
overcome the difficulties and obstacles of everyday life. (Letters of Helena
Roerich Vol. I, letter of 12.12.1934)
Your progress will be tested by life itself!
Only in everyday earthly life, in the midst of worldly difficulties and
needs, can you prove that you have actually moved forward.
We shall be ready to accept the Fiery Baptism in life.
(Heart 210)
Practical Tip
Nicholas Roerich "Brahmaputra"
As a disciple, you
visit your teacher's Ashram in the morning and in the evening at fixed times –
not physically but in spirit (see the Broadcastings "Become a
Disciple!" and "Living in the Ashram of the Teacher"). During
the day you participate in normal earthly life with the aim of practising and
applying what you have learned in the Temple, of trying out and using your new
spiritual powers and senses.
You truly live a double
life: partly in the Temple, partly in the middle of the world.
Read again the
beautiful book "Initiation" by Elisabeth Haich. It vividly describes
how the spiritual disciple can lead a life in the morning as an apprentice in
the Temple and in the afternoon as a bearer of office in the world.
If you manage to
defend the consciousness, the spiritual discipline, and the dignified attitude
of a spiritual warrior, a disciple, or a king of the spirit on the material
level, whatever happens to you, you have already reached a high level of
initiation!
After numerous
trials, you may be offered more comfortable conditions – but only in order to
allow you to carry out higher tasks.
True achievement is
not in artificially safeguarding oneself from harmful and impeding influences,
but in rising above all obstacles by the power of the spirit. And only when
this has been achieved has a man the right to retire into better conditions, in
order not to waste the high energy on self-defence but to give it fully to the
service of humanity. (Letters of Helena Roerich Vol. II, letter of 30.03.1936)
Section II: Renouncing bad Habits and bad Qualities
We are now coming
to a crucial point: One can use many sublime, abstract and complicated words
about attaining immortality and inviolability, increasing your vibration,
ramping up your body of light, the New Man, the coming 6th race, reaching the
next stage of evolution and even the path to God: Howsoever you twist and turn
it, in the end Agni Yoga, like all other religions and teachings of wisdom,
amounts to one and the same thing only :
You have got to
become a better man!
"Can we do
without the moralizing forefinger?"
If that is too sour
for you, we can also put it scientifically: We want to reach a higher level of
human development. We want to grow greater. We want to climb the next rung on
the ladder of evolution. Fundamentally, this means nothing else than:
We have to cast off
bad qualities and acquire better ones.
Or, again without
morals: Leave behind what belongs to the outdated, animal stage! Acquire those
new, future-orientated skills that characterize a being of spirit of the next
level! A higher being has higher abilities – it is as simple as that.
The elimination of
one of your undesirable habits will bring you more benefit than learning by
heart all the existing systems of cosmogony. (Letters of Helena Roerich Vol. I,
letter of 12.04.1935)
This is arduous work.
Most shy away from it and prefer to remain non-committal and in the abstract.
Thereby, however, they will not advance.
Still others will
speak of their love for the Teaching, but will not renounce a single bad habit.
(Agni Yoga 543)
1. The Importance of Habits
On the path of
self-education, our habits are of particular importance.
Habits are the
second nature of man.
We are what we
repeatedly do. (Aristotle)
Habit is our second
nature—a wise proverb indicating to what an extent habit dominates man.
(Brotherhood 529)
Observe your
everyday life: Much of what you are doing happens automatically, almost against
your will, at least against your better insight, only through the power of
habit.
"What do you
mean, for example?"
Well, what and how
much you eat, for example, is almost entirely based on habit: You eat, even
though you are not really hungry at all, just because it is time to eat, and
too much or too heavy because it is such served to you. Even if you have
already overcome the craving for meat, alcohol, sweets or tobacco, it is always
the old patterns that make you relapse: There is a biscuit on the table, or you
are offered a glass of wine, and you grab it without thinking.
However, we can
also make use of this apparent disadvantage:
We change our
habits and thus our nature.
Overcoming one’s habits was called in antiquity the opening of the
Supermundane Gates. (Supermundane 825)
As we can get used to
form a habit, so we can also get used to give it up again. Education,
self-perfection therefore means above all:
You give up
something bad, which is outdated, and get used to something better which is
future-orientated.
2. No old Habits on new Ways
Old habits are
ulcers that deface the original, pure state of your soul.
Doesn’t a child
feel ashamed after his first feeble attempt to lie? Only by habit does a child
harden his heart. That is why We call habits the calluses of the soul. (Heart
367)
Wash away the dust
of habit. (Leaves of Morya's Garden I, 257 [293])
We are on the way
to the future, to a renewal of life. On such a path, the atavisms, the obsolete
habits of our forefathers, are serious obstacles. It may have made sense for
the stone age man to gorge himself in order to build up a fat reserve for
periods of need; all that remains of that habit today is pure gluttony.
Actually, the birth
of the New Man fails mainly because of our old habits! May everyone recognize
and overcome those patterns of behaviour which are unsuitable for our further
evolution.
The search for new
ways is the most imperative problem. Due to the unusualness of conditions of
the future, it will be impossible to proceed by the old ways. All new ones must
remember this. It is the worst thing when men do not know how to escape from
the old rut. It is dreadful when people approach new conditions with their old
habits. Just as it is impossible to open a present-day
lock with a mediaeval key, likewise it is impossible for men with old
habits to unlock the door to the future. It is necessary, necessary, necessary,
to find new ways! (Infinity II, 484 [84])
In order to develop
your Eternal Individuality, you want to strengthen the powers and refine the
senses of your spirit. Then remove all the many old habits that weaken your
inner strength and coarsen your inner senses!
Your desire is to
be brought to communicate with one of us directly, so as to be guided. Yet
hitherto you have not found "sufficient reasons" to even give up your
"modes of life" — directly hostile to such modes of communications.
This is hardly reasonable. He who would lift up high the banner of mysticism
and proclaim its reign near at hand, must give the example to others. He must
be the first to change his modes of life. (Mahatma Letter No.2 of 19.10.1880)
Those who want to
grow greater despise what makes them small!
Customs make one
customary. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 310 [314])
3. Casting off bad Habits
Michelangelo "The rebellious Slave"
Obsolete habits are
a burden. They make us inflexible. They are real fetters. They prevent us from
advancing into the future, which means moving forward to something new.
A free man is not
chained by habits. He will know how to adapt himself to any conditions.
(Supermundane 825)
We are actually
slaves of our habits!
My habits have
brought me to lack of will. (Supermundane 411)
Man carries within
himself an inclination toward a most abhorrent slavery. Man is full of
enslaving petty habits. Let us weigh which of our habits weaken our free will.
(Supermundane 832)
It is a true
liberation to shake off this yoke!
Urusvati knows the
true meaning of self-enslavement. People love to talk about freedom from
slavery. They care about other people, but forget about their own need for
liberation. What is the slavery of every day, of every hour? Man has bound
himself with petty habits. Can a yogi bow before the petty demons of daily
routine? Can a traveller in the Supermundane World proceed freely under a load
of petty, prickly habits? Man so fears to disturb the smallest particle of his
daily routine that he does not sense how to approach the renewing of life. It
is impossible to realize freedom, when slavery rules. Before thinking of the
freedom of others, liberate yourself! (Supermundane 902)
"How can I
free myself?"
Urusvati knows the
true meaning of self-liberation. Fear, irritation, lies, envy, slander and all
other enemies of man must be banished, but without the free will it is
impossible to conquer them. It is sometimes said that vices must be outlived,
but in trying to prolong this transitory state people use this as an excuse to
procrastinate. Therefore it is best to replace the idea of outliving one’s
faults with a command to liberate oneself. Verily, a firm will can, like a
sword, cut away bad habits. (Supermundane 890)
Your strength can
only grow, it will be easier for you to ascend if you cast off unnecessary
ballast.
Just as when the branches of a tree are hewn down the trunk gains
strengths, so does the abandoning of habits purify the spirit.
(Leaves of Morya's Garden I, 232 [266])
The habits of the body
obstruct the development of the spirit.
"What do you
mean by that?"
You remember the
cycle of involution and evolution. After passing the lowest point, we are today
on the ascending arc of the spiritualization of matter. It is not preaching
morality, but an experience you will make yourself: The pleasures and the
sluggishness of the body are diametrically opposed to the elevation, the
upswing of the spirit – because they are not directed towards spiritualization,
but towards carnalization.
The difficulties of the path
are caused by the habits of the body. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 247
[283]).
Practical Tip
Nicholas Roerich
"Brahmaputra"
The abstract concept of the evolution of the spirit becomes concrete
when you listen to the voice of the soul, of the divine within you, and carry
out what it tells you to do. In this one exercise, we may summarize the entire
Agni Yoga training program.
The result of this practice will be:
You reveal only the Divine.
"How do I perceive what the Divine wishes to tell
me?"
By listening to the voice of your heart! With its help the divine
speaks to you. This most important organ of your Eternal Individuality warns
you unfailingly against any unworthy deed.
Who is unaware of the warnings the heart gives every
time an unworthy act is about to be performed? Such actions of the heart
transmit the best calls, but often people force the heart to be silent. This is
a grave crime. (Heart 367)
Self-perfection means above all education of the heart!
We shall talk about this in more detail in the Series on
"Education”.
*****
Let us not hover in higher spheres beyond the clouds! It is precisely
the seemingly harmless everyday habits that we must begin to overcome.
Because of the deadening influence of daily routine,
how many priests have lost that which they had accumulated! Daily routine is
the great testing stone. It opens the Gates of Eternity. (Fiery World I, 407)
Self-betterment must begin with the eradication of
small, but harmful, habits. We particularly stress the importance of daily
habits. People believe they must overcome the main obstacles at once, only to
find that such drastic measures are beyond their capacity. One may also often
observe instances when people imagine that they have rid themselves of their
major sins, yet remain burdened with little ugly habits. A tree bent by the
weight of ugly fruit, developed over ages, is a sad sight indeed. (Supermundane
370)
Let us never remain in the abstract. We are talking about the everyday
little things.
A great deal must be removed from the path. It is
necessary to examine everything ingrained. In this, one should begin checking
the most trivial matters. Have you slept too long? How have you spoken with those
around you? Have you deferred an urgent task? Have you forgotten solicitude
about the Common Good? Thus question yourself without hypocrisy. (Community
213)
It is best to begin with small habits. Through
realization of true values routine habits will be rendered insignificant. The
best liberation comes through a comparison of insignificance with greatness.
The chief enemies of cooperation will be the small habits of selfishness.
(Brotherhood 529, 530)
Starting with the little habits of everyday life is per se not such a
difficult task – if only you form the will to take up the fight and to end it
victorious.
If someone were to collect in a single book all the
forms of behaviour harmful to perfectment, he could
easily ascertain how simple it is to overcome them. He could see from what
small actions this evil accumulates. Is it difficult to give up trivial habits
in one’s daily life? Is it difficult to suppress the small destructive acts
that poison the body? (Heart 367)
Test yourself and others. Test for fear, for
irritation, and for laziness—and for all failings that cause the litmus paper
to blush with shame. (Agni Yoga 651)
And yet the small habits present us with great challenges:
Bear in mind that it is not easy to rid oneself of
petty habits. Among them there are always some of which one is not even aware,
and which only a keen-eyed observer can discern. Yet, the uncovering of such
hidden habits often leads to complete transformation. Remember the ancient
saying, “If you seize the lesser devil by the tail, he will lead you to his
superior.” (Supermundane 370)
The trials on the path of ascent relate primarily to habits.
One can suppress habits, but it is not easy to
eradicate them. It is Our custom to test those who are approaching the
Brotherhood on liberation from habits. Such testings
must be unexpected. (Brotherhood 529)
4. Casting off bad Qualities
Not the death of
Christ on the cross, the grace of God or a bath in the Ganges, but the
Spiritual Path will redeem us from evil. There is so much talk about making the
world a better place. However, there is only one way to remove the scourges of
humanity such as fear, strife, restlessness, lovelessness, greed, violence and
selfishness:
Every single human
being has to drive them out of himself!
Each and every one
of us must become fearless, peaceful, calm, loving and selfless.
*****
The very essence of
the practice of Agni Yoga, perhaps the most important among the thousands of
instructions of the Mahatmas, is one simple exercise:
Identify your three
worst qualities and get rid of them.
Purify your
thoughts, and after determining your three worst traits, sacrifice them to be
burned away in fiery striving. (Agni Yoga 185)
You have to reach
down to the fundamentals of human character, select from these fundamentals
those you would cultivate and those you would suppress, and then consciously
set about doing so, before you can rise above your present mental and physical
environment. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 149 “Self-Examination”)
This simple rule is
actually a gigantic training program that can be continued infinitely in all
worlds and in all incarnations. The Mahatmas themselves as well and the many
creatures standing even higher, continue like we do to work on this task.
Penetrate deep into
your innermost, determine your worst faults, choose one of them, and try with
all your might to get rid of it by replacing it with
its opposite. After getting rid of one vice, start to work upon another, and so
on. It is not at all easy, but then nothing easy is fitting upon the royal path
which leads to the Fiery World. (Letters of Helena Roerich Vol. I, letter of 29.08.1934)
This exercise is
universal. You can practise it anytime, anywhere, even in the worst of
circumstances.
Let no one say it
is too difficult. Others have already discarded the properties from which you
still suffer. So you can achieve that too.
Let us recall the
qualities absolutely inadmissible in the community: ignorance, fear, falsehood,
hypocrisy, cupidity, usurpation, drunkenness, smoking, and obscenity. Someone
may say, “Do you wish to collect angels? The requirements are too high.” We
shall reply, “All these requirements are frightening only for the philistine,
who hides his wealth under his threshold. In the Himalayas, We have long ago
found people to whom the above stipulations are no bugbear.” (Community 178)
Again we are
speaking of the struggle between your lower, transient and your higher, Eternal
Self. Much of you is still animalistic and has to be overcome if you want to
reach the level of the man of spirit on which you express your divine part to a
higher degree.
Strive by
self-examination to look yourself honestly and fairly in the face, to recognize
the qualities which belong to your lower selves and gain control of them. Of
course, it is a long task – but you have Eternity to accomplish it in, so do
not let that deter you from making a beginning, lest even Eternity be too
short. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 186 “Egoism versus Egotism”)
Let me reveal the
secret of success:
Practical Tip
Nicholas Roerich "Brahmaputra"
"Why do I keep
failing, for example with the proverbial New Year's resolutions?"
There are two
reasons for this: first, you do not have a plan, and second you are aiming too
high.
First, you have to
set up a program of exercises, and second, you should undertake to something
only that you can easily implement.
First, proceed in a
targeted and systematic way, as on a mountain tour! Make a concrete plan of
ascent according to which you will practise and work. Write down the
characteristics you want to get rid of first!
Let each one
designate for himself a path of progression leading toward one of the higher
worlds. (Infinity I, 75)
Check your progress
every day!
Decide to take a
specific step in the morning and give an account to yourself in the evening of
how far you have succeeded – and do better next day if you were unsuccessful.
Thereby you use
every day for ascent.
You will not wish
to find yourself at the end of a day – or worse at the end of your life! – on
the same level as at the beginning!
It is regrettable
if the spirit who has lived through his cycle of life arrives at the same point
from which he started. (Infinity I, 63)
On the contrary,
the work of art that you chisel out of the raw material of your own soul should
look a little greater, stronger and more beautiful in the evening than in the
morning.
Second, you can
make the difficult path to the heights easier – again as on a mountain tour –
by dividing it into small steps, each of which is easy for you to master: You
may make a firm commitment in the morning, you may promise yourself:
Today, I shall
drink only two glasses of wine instead of three; or eat only half the amount of
sweets; or smoke five cigarettes less. This is possible! If you stick to this,
you will stand one step higher in the evening.
Next day – or maybe
a little later, when what you have achieved is consolidated – you take the next
step, which again will be small, but together with the steps of the days to
come will safely lead to success. You are in no hurry! You have an eternity at
your disposal! The secret of success is:
Many small but safe
steps!
One small step a
day, 365 small steps a year and so forth over countless incarnations! In this
way you will climb inexorably the highest heights!
5. Acquire good Properties
Nicholas Roerich
"Lama"
We prefer to formulate our goal positively: If the Teaching advises to get
rid of bad qualities, this means practically: acquire the corresponding good
ones: replace impatience with patience, irritability with serenity, fear with
fearlessness, doubt with steadfastness, and so on.
"Can you substantiate this a little bit more? After all, everyone
wants to become a better man somehow."
Yes, we must never lose sight of the great goal of our efforts: the next
stage of evolution, the New immortal Man! The properties we have to acquire are
therefore above all those that mark a being of spirit: invulnerability,
fearlessness, freedom and joy (see in detail the Broadcasting “The Secret of
Immortality Part III”).
Also think of the ascent on the ladder of the Hierarchy. You remember
(Broadcasting "The Hierarchy"): The three basic characteristics of a
Hierarch are purity, wisdom and power. You should start with developing them.
*****
In the Series on “Education”, we will talk in more detail about the many
other attributes that are necessary or useful to acquire, such as imagination,
discernment and sensitivity.
In general, we may say: Ask yourself: What skills does a master have (or,
to start more modestly: a co-worker or a disciple), and which of them are you
still lacking?
Your education must have a goal!
Imagine an ideal (co-worker, disciple, king of the spirit, healer,
spiritual warrior, teacher, Agni Yoga master) and shape yourself according to
this picture!
Section
III: No Service without Self-perfection
1. Only the New Man will build the New World
We are now coming to another crucial point: The pursuit of self-perfection
is so important above all for one reason:
Only the New Man can create the New World.
That is why all of our work for a better world has to start with ourselves.
"Why? Can't we just introduce a new system like the one you described
in the Broadcastings on the New World? People will adapt!"
No! As there can be no state with monkeys and no democracy with savages, we
cannot create a New World with the old, unspiritual man. In principle, good and
valuable systems such as socialism or communism have failed because today's
selfish man is not yet ripe for them spiritually, according to his inner
nature, to his level of development.
Man must first improve himself before he can think of improving the world.
A new banner requires new people. (Leaves of Morya's
Garden I, 375 [440])
Humanity needs to purify its existence, so reconstruction must begin from
the hearth, from everyday life. The life principle will undergo a worldwide
reformation following the personal channel. (Heart 173)
Those who have not proven that they can cure themselves and bring their own
lives under the rule of the spirit must not dream of healing the world and
conquering it for the spirit.
It is only by changing ourselves that can we change the world!
Only the healing of the inner life will help to elevate the life of
society. (Supermundane 548)
Nothing changes until you change yourself. And then all of a sudden
everything changes.
If more and more people reveal more and more the divine within them, the
outward earthly life will finally come naturally and by itself in accordance
with the Higher Will, the Cosmic Order. This is the only way to establish the
Kingdom of God on earth.
First of all, it must be understood that man makes healthy not only himself
but also all his surroundings. (Brotherhood 211)
The evolutionary goal is: To develop homo immortalis,
the immortal man of spirit, from homo sapiens, which is still close to the
animals. Compared with that, the external task of creating the New World is of
subordinate importance:
If the New Man spreads, the New World will emerge by itself from
communities of these New Men.
The outward conditions are always a reflection of the inner development.
New forms of society would quickly lose their strength and wither away to empty
shells if there are no New Men to fill them with new life.
To seek to achieve
political reforms before we have effected a reform in human nature, is like
putting new wine into old bottles. (H. Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy)
2.
Suitability for Service
Today’s time suffers from too many uncalled for,
self-appointed, unsuitable and themselves “helpless” helpers who cannot even
cope with their own lives.
First comes being, then comes action. Only if you
yourself are pure and holy will your works be pure and holy.
It is not deeds that sanctify
a man; it is his high nature which elevates everything he does.
Do you wish to be a healer? First of all ask
yourself if you have sufficient strength to issue it for help to your
fellow-man. Indeed, ask yourself, Can I give without regret for myself?
(Brotherhood 553)
Good will alone is not enough. The many
well-intentioned people who are only "good" but do not have the
knowledge and skills to effectively help others are causing the greatest
damage.
Love without wisdom is simply a candidacy for the
lunatic asylum. (Letters of Helena Roerich Vol. II, letter of 31.07. 1937)
"That sounds very rigorous, though!"
And yet there is a wealth of evidence for this:
The “dear relatives” who, in the best of intentions, shower our children with
sweets, thereby definitely harm them and counteract our education.
The psychologist who purports to “help” a 60-year-old
patient by putting all the blame for his botched life on the allegedly
deficient education by his parents – instead of making him understand that at
his age it is high time to finally take over himself the responsibility for his
own life.
Or the Church that "helps" by assuring
that Jesus' death on the cross, a bath in the Ganges or an absolution by the
confessor will wash away all our sins – and thus prevent people from starting
the fight against the evil within themselves.
All this everyday madness is hardly diminished by
love or good will.
Let us listen to a conversation from Henry James'
novel "Washington Square":
“Do you think it is better to be clever than to
be good?” “Good for what?” asked the Doctor. “You are good for nothing unless you
are clever.” (John
Singer Sargent "Henry James")
You must know before you are able. You must be
able before you can manifest anything. (Leaves of Morya's
Garden I, 198 [224])
If you are not even able to put your own life in
order, you cannot establish a higher order in the world either.
It is too early to concern oneself with the
downfall of the planet when one has not yet recognized one’s own downfall. One
should first cure one’s own wounds, then walk with those who labour. (Agni Yoga
191)
"Lo, here, and lo, there", cry the
would – be prophets, themselves powerless to find the safe path for their own
feet to traverse, to say nothing of rightly guiding others. (Teachings of the
Temple Vol. I, Lesson 138 “The eternal Tragedy”)
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull
out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. (Matthew 7, 4 ff)
The spiritual warrior must be properly trained
before he can be sent to battle. The higher he has ascended, the more
powerfully can he fight for the good in the world.
In order to give one’s soul one should cultivate,
expand, and refine it, then it can be given for the salvation of one’s
neighbour. (Hierarchy 340)
The relentless law of the material level is:
A fighter for the cause of the
spirit must be stronger, smarter and braver than his opponents, otherwise he
will fail.
Each one who wishes to serve with Us knows that
he will have to endure the assaults of darkness. (Supermundane 14)
You can only help another soul if you stand
spiritually above it.
None may come to the rescue other than by holding
more securely, more erect upon his own point, and thus generating increased
strength to all others in similar situation. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. II,
Lesson “The Crystal Path”)
When thou hast cleansed thine own heart that the
light of the sun of divine love may shine clearly through its meshes, then
shalt thou see clearly to cleanse thy brother's heart. (Teachings of the Temple
Vol. I, Lesson 102 “The Light from the Lodge”)
If you wish to become a co-worker of the
Brotherhood, you need to acquire the necessary skills!
My warriors, I can assemble you according to
usefulness and devotion. (Hierarchy 118)
It is not enough to say, “I have come and I wish
to serve,” for readiness to serve obliges the disciple to acquire discipline of
spirit. It is insufficient to say that all indications of the Teaching have
been accepted, for only in life is it possible to manifest acceptance of the
Indications. If the earthly plane imposes hard and fast rules, the world of the
spirit demands the manifestation of striving in life towards acceptance of the
Covenant of Hierarchy. One must merit the realization of the Call. (Fiery World
III, 127)
The highest Lords are entitled to make the
highest demands on their representatives on earth.
Our condition for the co-workers is a complete
desire to apply in life Our fundamentals, not in theory but in practice.
(Community 65)
Where there is fear, where there is self-pity,
where there is conceit, where there is passivity, where there is avoidance of
self-sacrifice, where there is lack of co-measurement, where there is
irresponsibility, can there be service to evolution? (Agni Yoga 591)
If the Masters pass on an order which they
themselves have received from their own superiors, they must be absolutely sure
to be able to completely rely on the co-worker.
It is a great happiness for Us
when We can have the complete confidence in someone that We have in Ourselves.
(Heart 16)
My work allows no weakness. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 64 [69]
3. Tasks according to Suitability
On the spiritual
level, the law of correspondence determines which tasks are conferred to you.
It may take years, perhaps even several lifetimes, until after a multitude of
trials you will be found fit and worthy of performing assignments of the
Hierarchy.
One can cite many
examples from history of people who carried Our missions. We are accustomed to
taking responsibility for the chosen ones. Each member of Our Community
suggests a person who has been tested and assumes the responsibility for him.
We need these lengthy testings that last even for
several lives. We must be certain that the essence of the mission will be
fulfilled. (Supermundane 59)
The more difficult
the task, the more capable must be the person to whom it is entrusted.
Each task requires
a force of the same nature. (Hierarchy 130)
Each task of a
servant of humanity reflects the quality of his spirit. (Fiery World III, 71)
"In my life I
am dealing with minor trifles only. I am ready to do greater things! How do I
get more responsibility?"
Carry out what has
been allocated to you by Karma, however small it may seem, to the satisfaction
of the Higher Powers, and more difficult duties will be imposed on you. Your
tasks will only grow if you yourself get greater. Under an excessive load you
would collapse.
I would be glad to
summon you nearer—provide the opportunity! (Community 197)
Desire power
ardently, and the power must desire ye. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. II,
Lesson “True Humility”)
The Cosmic Powers
must by law use every tool that proves suitable.
They would violate
the principle of goal-fitness and reduce their own possibilities if they
allowed qualified forces to remain unemployed.
Goalfitness and gratitude are among the most essential foundations
of the Brotherhood. It is unreasonable to think that the Brotherhood would
accept someone’s services and later discard him as one would a worn-out
garment. If the co-worker proves to be helpful and does not commit betrayal, he
certainly will not be rejected. (Supermundane 227)
As rapidly as any
unit of a given mass reaches a point of development where it has become a recognized
instrument, capable of directing lesser units to the advantage of the whole
mass, the central nucleus, in accordance with the higher law which governs the
whole mass, must avail itself of the services of that instrument, and must do
its utmost to advance and emplace that instrument where it can do the most good
for the greatest number. Not to do so would be to jeopardise and eventually to
destroy the whole mass of which it is a constituent part, for evolution is
conducted on strictly mathematical principles. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I,
Lesson 68 “The Power of the Central Cell”)
Make yourself
irreplaceable! Then you cannot be ignored!
Contemplate each
approach to Us. Become irreplaceable! (Agni Yoga 102)
How to select co-workers? Only by their irreplaceability. (Agni Yoga
331)
This is what the
Mahatmas said about Helena Roerich:
It was necessary
for you to remain because this century is in need of your attainment. No one
could replace you. (Infinity I, 74)
Finally, there is
not only self-perfection for service, but also self-perfection through service
Putting on the
earthly envelope man has to create good, thus perfecting himself. (Brotherhood
261)
Section IV:
Self-Education as Service
“We are constantly
talking about my personal growth only. And yet the saying goes: 'The good man
thinks of himself last.' How is that to be reconciled?”
If you set about
getting greater and develop the potential stored within you, this is not
selfishness, but the fulfillment of your mission,
service to the advancing evolution of the spirit.
Your personal
growth also contributes to the realization of the common good.
Spiritual ascent is
the only way to individual attainment and to attainment of the Common Good.
(Fiery World III, 247)
Only growth of the
individual spirit can fill the treasury of the General Welfare. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 356 [360])
Self-perfection is
not selfishness.
The process of self-perfection
was not regarded as egoistic. Improvement has the General Welfare as its goal,
and by its nature cannot be a personal acquisition. (AUM 254)
We are not striving
for mastership in order to take any personal
advantage of it. We do not expect anything for ourselves.
The broadening of
consciousness cannot be considered a personal gain, for in every such
purification is contained the General Good. (Supermundane 33)
A yogi knows that
self-perfectment is needed not only for him but also
for the common good. How can we explain to people that they live for the
success of evolution? How can we protect space from pollution? (Supermundane
896)
Self-perfection is
service!
"How so? I
don't understand yet! "
We said at the
beginning: Only when egotism and rudeness disappear from the individual human
beings they will also disappear from the world. You start the introduction of
the new order with yourself. You present your fellow human beings with a
shining example of the path to the future. By advancing yourself, you encourage
imitation. Your fire ignites others, your light drives away the darkness.
Sincere striving
for self-perfection is not egoism, but has universal significance. The thought
about improvement does not concern oneself alone. Such thought carries within
itself the flame needed for kindling many hearts. (Fiery World I, 81)
Each hard fought
vantage ground he wins gives footing to another who hard beset doth follow.
(From the Mountain Top I, Lesson “The Homage of the Heart”)
By elevating yourself,
you also help your fellow human beings to move forward: Rupert Sheldrake's
research on morphogenetic fields ("A new Science of Life") proves: If
you appropriate something, later other people will learn the same thing more
easily and more safely.
Each advance made
in the cosmic scale by a human being advances all who follow the former on the
same scale. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 85 “Will and Law”)
Today's humans are
looking for the road to the 6th race, the next stage of evolution. They long
for trailblazers to walk ahead of them and to clear a new path through the
thicket of the intricate conditions of the old world. The achievement of the
individual makes it easier for mankind as a whole to advance, because they can
follow him on a track that has already been prepared.
Attain and conquer.
You do not conquer for yourself; your victory is important for the General
Good. (Agni Yoga 616)
A high consciousness
through his presence alone exercises an uplifting, healing and rescuing effect
on his surroundings.
The greatest
benefit that we can contribute consists in the broadening of consciousness, and
the improvement and enrichment of our thinking, together with the purification
of the heart, in order to strengthen our emanations; and by thus raising our
vibrations, we restore the health of all that surrounds us. (Letters of Helena
Roerich Vol. II, letter of 25.10.1936)
Attain peace of
mind, and thousands around you will be saved. (St. Seraphim of Sarov)
A high spirit
radiates light and transforms the darkness he encounters everywhere. This is
already a great service.
A great spirit
absorbs a huge quantity of evil and transmutes it, but even for such a spirit
it is not easy to take on the poison of the world. You know how difficult it is
to transmute evil from every part of the world! You know the price paid for an
outflow of heart energy. (Heart 499)
Thus,
self-education is never in vain. Even one single light gives humanity a glimmer
of hope.
A selfless, flaming
heart is a special joy for the Higher World. Such hearts blaze forth like
torches, shining above all the pressures of the world. (Heart 174)
If need be, one
alone must keep the banner flying and prevent the fire of the spirit from
extinguishing. There always must be at least one Guardian of the Light (Infinity
II, 371).