AGNI YOGA WEB TV
SERIES „EDUCATION“
BROADCASTING 3
Mastery of
Thoughts
Dear Agni Yogis,
following the education of the physical body, we shall be talking today
about the mastery of thoughts. The subsequent Broadcastings will then deal with
the education of the bodies of feelings and of instincts, and finally with that
of the Eternal Individuality.
If your physical body, the brother donkey, is allowed to treat its
master, the soul, any way it likes, the latter can never develop, and its true
concerns will always be suppressed. The same is true if the body of thoughts
rules your Higher Self.
1. The Epoch of Thought
Every epoch has its defining characteristic. For the New Age it is
thought, this mediator between the physical and the subtle realm.
Each era has its own call. The power of thought will
be the evocative principle of the New World. (Agni Yoga 101)
The present century is the century of thought.
(Supermundane 99)
A new development, the progress of evolution is always based on new
ideas and ideals, that is, on thoughts.
Thought is the mover of evolution. (Infinity II, 795
[395])
Whoever wishes to take part in the evolution of the
world must understand the significance of thought. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 331 [335])
Without a new thinking, nothing will change!
2. School of Thought
The education for mastery is above all a school of thought.
In its essence the Brotherhood is a school of
thinking. (Brotherhood 379)
The training of the faculty of thinking is at the
foundation of Our Inner Life. (Supermundane 542)
We can and must practise right thinking like any other skill.
It is not so easy to learn to think. (Agni Yoga 345)
We constantly perform exercises for clarity of
thought, for thinking requires practice. Even the loftiest thinker will not
deny that he too must exercise this capacity, just as a musician must practise
constantly. (Supermundane 424)
3. Body of Thoughts
It is undeniable that our thoughts have a certain life of their own:
They come and go as they please; they try to lead us here or there; they
influence, they torment and they delight us.
It is therefore helpful to assume the existence of a separate body of
thoughts, which acts in the sphere of thought, in the Subtle World, just as the
physical body on the material plane.
The disciple asks, "How am I to
understand this? Do thoughts form a body?"
No, but you can regard that what thinks within you as a living being in its own right. You must learn to master, purify and refine its stirrings in exactly the same way as
those of the physical body.
The body of thoughts must become as willing and suitable a tool of the
Higher Self as the physical body.
On the plane of thought, too, the spirit has to
subdue the lower nature. Here is a crucial realisation:
It is not you – your true, Eternal Being – who thinks, but your Subtle
Body.
Your Higher Self will place itself just as much above the intellect,
with its many thoughts that never come to rest, as above the body.
Your soul must steer the body of thoughts as one of
the four mortal bodies, just like the charioteer controls one of the four steeds
of his quadriga.
Section I: Nature,
Significance and Power of Thoughts
1. Thoughts as indestructible living Beings
We repeat (Broadcasting "The Supermundane World"): Thoughts are
physical forms. They consist of particularly fine matter, comparable to gas or
smoke. They are measurable, weighable and under certain circumstances even
visible, photographable and audible.
One of the simplest experiments will be the weighing
of an individual under the impact of his different thoughts. A sensitive scale
and sharpness of thought will provide clear contrasts. (Agni Yoga 599).
It is known that some people can hear thoughts.
(Supermundane 204)
They leave behind physically perceptible traces. One day there will be
devices that can capture and record thoughts.
Even the passing shadow of a person leaves behind an
ineradicable trace. How, then, to describe the impact of thoughts and words!
The light-mindedness of humanity is astonishing, for with its every step it
leaves behind the most frightening deposits. (Heart 160)
Thoughts are living beings of the spiritual plane.
They do not pass away but continue to live indestructibly and eternally
in space. Hence our great responsibility not to give birth to bad thoughts:
They cannot be undone.
Thought is an independent creation, a newborn entity
of the spiritual plane. It is a creature with all the signs of a
self-sufficient existence. As a being of the spiritual plane,
thought cannot be annihilated. (Hierarchy 211)
Like all living beings, they grow. Thoughts are born, they develop, spread and fight each other. We nourish them, they nourish
each other, and they nourish us.
Thoughts, as living matter,
can nourish each other and grow. (Agni Yoga 80)
2. The Power of Thoughts
People pay far too little attention to the power and effects of
thoughts.
The significance of thought is most powerful!
(Infinity II, 748 [348]).
"What does this power consist of?"
Thoughts, ideas, change, conquer and rule the world.
When it was declared [by
Plato] that ideas rule the world,
the power of thought was affirmed. (Supermundane 255)
Rulership is not in crowns nor in crowds,
but is in the cosmic expanse of ideas. (Community 84)
Thought affects people and other living beings such as animals and
flowers.
One should remember that no thought can remain without
consequences. It may affect a person who is far away. (Hierarchy 215)
Thoughts form stratifications on objects and shape the aura or
atmosphere of a place.
How often have I stated that the accumulations of
thought are far more virulent than poisons! Just as fire deposits a patina upon
a vessel, so is the fire of thought irremovable when it saturates the surface
of an object. (Fiery World I, 367)
Urusvati knows how firmly human thoughts are
accumulated on objects. Verily, man himself creates good and bad things and
places. Many leaders chose new locations so as to
avoid the bad accumulations of previous dwellings. (Supermundane 294)
The experiments of the Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto
prove the impact of thoughts on water:
Positive thoughts create beautiful, harmonious,
negative thoughts create ugly, inharmonious water crystals.
The quality of the bread we bake or of an object we manufacture depends
largely on the thoughts with which we are at work.
Not rare are objects made in an hour of hatred,
fatigue, terror, or despair; they will carry these sendings
with them into the world. (Fiery World I, 367)
In the Broadcasting "Communion with the Higher World
(Meditation)", we had already spoken about the healing power of help
through thoughts. It works on a worldwide scale!
A person, with each elevation of the spirit, is of
substantial aid to others. But a person falling in spirit may thereby even kill
someone. One can cite numerous examples, such as how one who became insane in
Asia was the cause of the death of another in Europe, or how one who rose in
spirit in America healed another in Egypt. (Agni Yoga 168)
There is, however, also mental murder!
A great number of murders take place at long distances
from thoughts. (AUM 141)
One may be horrified by the countless mental crimes
which have not been legislated against, and yet they are destroying the lives
of people and the life of the whole planet. (Brotherhood 248)
Let men ponder upon the poison of sendings!
It is time to pay attention to the amount of
sicknesses generated by thoughts. (Hier 132)
A thought works like a magnet, it attracts that what corresponds to its
nature.
Thought attracts positive currents like a magnet and
repels negative ones like a shield. (Fiery World I, 344)
A pure thought purifies the aura and emanates a
radiant light. Purity of thought is the best defence against the dark entities
that cling to every dark thought. Every thought is in a way a magnet that
attracts whatever is similar to it. Each good thought
begets goodness, and each dark thought is a cradle of evil. (Supermundane 350)
It causes to flourish in our surroundings those forces which are
present in ourselves:
In any object there are to be found side by side
perfect parts and chaotic particles. It is possible to call to action either
the perfect or the chaotic portions of each thing. When a man thinks about the
inconvenience of an object it actually becomes
inconvenient. When a man thinks about a beautiful object its perfect particles
begin to act. The object is, as it were, animated through human thought. Man
has but to realize this natural force to apply it beneficially in all
circumstances of life. (Fiery World II, 147)
The main thing, however, is: Thought creates
the person you are and the world in which you live! We will now talk about
these two points in more detail.
Section II: Thoughts create
the Person you are
We had already said (Broadcastings "The Significance of
Consciousness", "The Secret of Immortality"): The consciousness determines
the identity of a human being:
Man is what he thinks. (Buddha)
He who thinks like a chicken, a king or an
immortal, is a chicken, a king or an immortal.
In meditation in the morning, you actually are
a New Man of the 6th race, a higher species, a high vibrating being. Whether
you can maintain this elevated state during the day depends on the mastery of
your thoughts. If you think right – if your soul thinks – your vibration
remains high.
Whoever thinks beautifully will not suffer. (Brotherhood
160)
All your thoughts weave your true Eternal Self.
Our inner being is created by our thoughts. (Helena
Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 21.01.1936)
If you wish to become a Great Soul, be sure to express only uplifting,
elevating thoughts – whatever the circumstances in which you find yourself.
Beware of negative thoughts. They will turn against
you and will burden you like an abominable leprosy. But good thoughts rise
upward and will lift you with them. (Supermundane 160)
You shape your Fiery Body, your Body of Light, your
radiations by uplifting your thoughts!
What you think, you are. What you are, you radiate.
What you radiate, you attract.
Precisely, thought and inner
motives weave our aura, this magnetic field which either attracts or repels
possibilities. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 24.09.1935)
If, whatever happens, you think in a positive, beautiful
and great way, you are a beautiful, great creature in all circumstances. If, on
the other hand, you think negative, ugly and small, your true, inner being is
ugly and small as well, even if it dwells in a beautiful body and lives in a
palace.
The happiness of your life depends on the nature of
your thoughts. Our life is the product of our thoughts. (Marcus Aurelius)
Right thinking is the basis for your entire future development.
All the exercises that we have already discussed and will discuss in
the future ultimately come down to the mastery of your thoughts: elevation,
attaining immortality, transferring the consciousness into the Eternal
Individuality, strengthening the soul, transformation into a being of spirit,
attaining invulnerability, bringing the soul to life, creating the Fiery State,
joy over obstacles, transforming suffering into joy, living in the continuous
presence of the Teacher, the path of the Inner Temple, participation in the
life of the Higher World, and many others.
The qualities that make the New Man, such as invulnerability,
fearlessness, freedom, dignity, firmness, serenity, vitality
and joy of being are all attained through the control of thought! Every single
thought builds, enlarges and beautifies or destroys
the artwork of your Eternal Individuality.
Each thought is either a stone in the construction or
poison in the heart. (AUM 303)
*****
You alone are responsible for the quality of your thoughts, no one and
nothing else.
You must not excuse yourself by saying that it is adverse circumstances
or the selfishness, malice or stupidity of your fellow men that trigger
negative thoughts within you, for by harbouring them you only harm your own
Higher Self!
Precisely in the earthly chaos, you have to
assert the true being that you want to be, and appear everywhere, at all times
and under all circumstances, as a disciple of the Brotherhood or a king of the
spirit. For this you must above all think like such a person.
*****
We are the masters and rulers of our Karma! Not because we can control
circumstances, but because we can control our thoughts.
Individual karma is always the basic one. And firstly,
it is formed by the inclinations, thoughts and motives
of man—actions are secondary factors. The Buddhists say, “Karma is thought.”
(Helena Roerich Letters Vol. I, letter of 05.05.1934)
"Are not words and deeds much more
important?"
No, because their value depends entirely on your thoughts! A
hypocritical good word or an outwardly good deed may have base motives, and
these alone are relevant for Karma.
Everywhere it is said that thought and action are
identical in terms of their significance. This is easy to establish. Compare
how a thought about murder affects the spectrum of the aura, and how an actual
murder does so—the results will be identical. It is difficult for people to
grasp the fact that the thought has the same effect as the deed. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 331 [335])
*****
The Mantram
I reveal the Divine only!
you realise primarily through your Eternal Individuality’s determining
your thoughts. You think what it wants you to think. It takes constant,
prolonged training to reveal only those thoughts that express the Divine within
you.
Section III: Thoughts
create the World in which you live
The goal of Agni Yoga is a New Construction. Every single thought builds, enlarges and embellishes or destroys the artwork of
the New World. This applies to both the inner and the outer world in which you
live.
1. Thoughts form the inner World
Because these statements are of paramount importance, we quote again
Schopenhauer and the Teaching:
In the same environment everyone lives in a different
world.
Each spirit creates his own world, and the beauty or ugliness
of the created world depends upon the quality of his consciousness. (Infinity
II, 719 [319])
We had already said many times (Broadcastings "The Significance of
Consciousness" and "The Path of the Inner Temple"): What is
important is not the material but the spiritual world in which you live:
The subtle scenery behind the stage on which your material
existence takes place; the Heaven to which you are attached while you are
working on earth.
That is where your true existence takes place!
This sphere – like the entire Subtle World! – is created by your own
thoughts! If you think whatever happens in a positive, beautiful
and great way, you live in a beautiful world in all circumstances. If, on the
other hand, you think negative, ugly and small, your real existence is a hell –
even if physically there is a paradise around you.
By a single word have evil empires been created.
(Leaves of Morya's Garden I, 374 [439])
2. Human Thoughts create Sickness and Health of the
Earth
Moreover, human thoughts are also responsible for the fate of the
outer, material world. They are a spatial force and either purify or pollute
our environment.
Like a grey swarm infecting the air, fragments of
alien thoughts rush about and gradually encumber space. (Community 45)
Man, remember that you have been designated a guardian
of space. You can restore health to it or can defile it. With your every breath
you send either restoration of health or destruction into space. (Supermundane
764)
With their thinking people poison their surroundings
and transform them into chaos. (Fiery World II, 266)
The aura of the Earth as a whole is
created not only by the words and deeds, but above all by the thoughts of
humanity.
Under the law of correspondence, this aura, according to its nature,
attracts either good or bad currents, beings and
possibilities.
It is necessary to create a better atmosphere in our
daily life by the purifying of thought. In such a way we shall attract better
possibilities. Thought is a magnet, and each dark thought creates a stratum of
heavy fluids which are attracted and gathered by similar consciousnesses. Will
we not be foolish in breeding such dark thoughts? (Helena Roerich Letters Vol.
I, letter of 17.08.1930)
Unfortunately, humanity as a whole harbours
predominantly negative, harmful thoughts instead of useful ones.
It is possible to verify the sum
total of all the thoughts simultaneously flying through the world. It is
instructive to learn what humanity is thinking of each minute. The result will
be utterly unexpected. It is possible to divide thoughts into a few categories,
and one will find that only a very small number is directed to the Common Good.
Such calculations result in the most frightening conclusions. (AUM 549)
This creates a bad, downright polluted aura or atmosphere around the
earth.
Therefore there is no way by which one can escape
responsibility. Even the smallest thought enters into
the megaphone of space and attracts to itself the same kind of locust, causing
the smoky atmosphere of the planet. Thought can purify by destroying the
microbes of disintegration, but it can likewise attract unbridled elements.
(Hierarchy 173)
The composition of the earthly atmosphere is saturated
by all the emanations arising from all the actions, thoughts
and vices of humanity. The atmosphere becomes a reflection of what is taking
place on Earth. The equilibrium of the World can only then ensue when humanity
shall manifest higher radiations, because all the spheres surrounding the
planet are infected by the emanations from earthly actions. (Fiery World III,
343)
Our thoughts are actually making the earth
sick!
The consequences of this
garbage of thought cause the illness of the planet. (Fiery World I, 428)
Malice and hatred are enveloping Earth with a ruinous
shroud. Do not think that these reminders are simply abstract moral precepts.
The planet is ill, and people add to its destruction. (Supermundane 845)
Because the aura of the earth is brown, no higher rays or energies can
get through down to us.
The strata above the earth are so filled with the
display of lustfulness that rays piercing these strata must be increased
three-fold. (Fiery World III, 326)
Spatial currents, beneficial in their essence, can
become destructive when they contact the foul atmosphere of Earth. Often the
most beneficial chemical compounds can be made into virulent poisons by the
addition of a single ingredient. The same takes place when spatial currents are
affected by the brown gases of Earth.
The planet itself is not to blame for these harmful
fumes. It is the king of the planet, man, who produces the poisons. No
emanations are as powerful as those of man, who is capable both of healing and
poisoning everything around him. It is not so much the infectious sickness of
people that poison the atmosphere, but their irritation, anger, and malice.
(Supermundane 413)
This disturbs or even blocks the connection with higher, purer spheres.
The centre of all manifestations is mankind.
Vibrations are so disharmonious that it is difficult to establish a connection
with the Higher Worlds. Therefore the lower strata can
admit the infiltration of low vibrations, while higher radiations do not reach
the Earth. (Fiery World III, 331)
"Is not the destruction of the environment the
main reason for the dire condition of the earth?"
No, in fact, mental pollution is far worse than any
physical soiling!
For the sake of Cosmos, man must not think hideously.
(AUM 439)
A small thought—unrealized, erratic, and unstable—will
not give a creative impulse, and can even inflict harm. Insignificant thoughts
form, as it were, ugly conglomerates and pollute space. We call them spatial
slime. Much energy is wasted in transmuting these stillborn monsters.
One can imagine how greatly spatial production could
be increased were it not for these progenies of men. The average result of
civilization is complete degeneration in quality of thought. Not rare are the
instances of the harm of petty thoughts! (Fiery World I, 549)
Precisely this thought pollution is responsible for epidemics,
diseases, climate changes, deserts, droughts and even earthquakes!
Man has created and is creating his own environment in
a much more specific way than is generally understood. He is responsible, for
all the pestilence, famine and plague which devastate the earth. He has made
his world what it is by the exercise of the all-powerful energies of Will, Desire and Mind, and he alone can change it. (Teachings of
the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 174 “Peace on Earth”)
Certainly, much can be improved in the human
consciousness if we know that even earthquakes are called forth by the spirit
of humanity. (Hierarchy 165)
A strong spirit can save a whole area from earthquake.
Thus, in the ancient days, the Great Teachers sent their advanced disciples to
places threatened by earthquakes. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 16.07.1935)
"I am sorry, but I can't believe that! This is
superstition from the darkest Middle Ages! How can mere thoughts have such
far-reaching material consequences?"
To understand this, you should regard the earth as a
whole as a living organism.
The planet is a living organism. Everything related to
the planet is coordinated as the organs of a single body, therefore it is
impossible to regard each being as an isolated individual. All beings belong to
one organization, and they must regard themselves as responsible members of a
community. (AUM 163)
True, a planet is a living organism, for in the Cosmos
not a single atom is devoid of life, consciousness, or spirit, and in the
ancient philosophical writings one encounters the comparison of Earth with a
huge animal, having its own peculiar life and, therefore, its own
consciousness, or revelation of spirit. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter
of 19.03.1936)
Then you will recognise the scientific fact that, as with the human
body, so also with the earth, the spiritual causes of diseases are of much
greater importance than the physical ones.
Would a year of famine, of drought, of disease not be
the result of mass degeneration of thought? (Agni Yoga 22)
Without a doubt, there is a disturbance of climatic
conditions. Isn’t humanity’s spirit responsible for this dangerous
manifestation? (Heart 464)
But the salvation of the planet as well is in our
hands!
Good thoughts will be the best purifier of one’s
surroundings. (Brotherhood 195)
Rendering the planet healthful rests in the hands of
all humanity. First of all, it must be understood that
man makes healthy not only himself but also all his surroundings. (Brotherhood
211)
Discipline of thought will inevitably lead up to the
highest fiery spheres. Instead of becoming a source of infection man can become
a purifier of space. (Fiery World I, 549)
Section IV: Control of
Thoughts
1. Responsibility for Thoughts
In view of their enormous importance, we realise the great
responsibility for our thoughts.
Since thought is energy and does not decompose, then
how responsible is mankind for its every thought! (AUM 549)
I remind you of how great is the
common responsibility before Light if each thought can either obscure or
purify space. (Hierarchy 173)
Energy of such power, influence and effects you must not send out into space unchecked!
Space realises its tensions which conform to the
actions and thoughts produced on the Earth. The more responsible is humanity
for all its monstrosities, for the Subtle World is thus held back in its
development, just as is the whole chain of evolution on the Earth. (Fiery World
III, 240)
From this responsibility follows the absolute necessity to control your
thoughts.
You must become and remain master of your thoughts.
2. Purification of Thoughts
Tintoretto "Baptism of Christ”
Mastery means above all purification of thoughts. Just as with the
physical body, for the education of the body of thoughts as well a thorough
cleansing is of the utmost importance.
We rejoice at diversity of thinking, but each thought
must be pure as a diamond. (Agni Yoga 345)
Tell all who hope to be with Us that they should keep
watch on their thoughts. A heroic deed is born of pure thoughts. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 298 [302])
"What exactly does purification mean?"
As unusual as it may sound, it is about thinking right and overcoming
wrong thinking. You can and must practise this!
"What are wrong thoughts? Are there any such
thoughts at all?"
Wrong thoughts
are bad, negative, harmful, useless or unwanted ones;
those of destructing and causing damage; all forms of selfishness from petty
egotism to greed and violence; doubt, fear, belittlement, denial, weakness,
ignorance, lack of joy, unkindness, impatience and so on: all thoughts that are
not in accordance with the soul, with the Divine within you.
Right thoughts are those of vitality, joy of being, creative
construction, love, confidence, trust, firmness, unselfishness, patience and serenity.
3. Observation of Thoughts
Nikolaus Roerich "Tsong kha-pa"
The first step towards mastering thoughts is to continually observe and
monitor their ever-changing activity. If you want to direct your thoughts, you
must first look at them objectively from above, from the standpoint of your
Eternal Individuality.
Regard thought as a real force in life, then gain firm
control over the flow of thought. (Agni Yoga 101)
Take care about your thinking! (Community 101)
Then you should examine every thought for its value.
One must keep watch over one’s thoughts, in order to send those of the best quality. (Fiery World II,
240)
How carefully must the disciples examine the quality
of their thoughts! Has not the worm of egoism, or conceit, or the manifestation
of self-love hidden somewhere? The ability to admit this honestly is something
that each spirit must develop within himself. (Hierarchy 44)
Finally, you can detect and reject unwanted thoughts.
May everyone observe himself in
order to naturally purify his thinking. A man is capable to notice a
confusion of thought; then he should give himself an account of which thought
he needs most. It is not easy to detect the little worms at the bottom of
consciousness. But if a man takes the trouble, he can begin to expel
unnecessary impulses little by little. (Supermundane 733)
While observing you learn to distinguish: Which are your own inner
thoughts, and which are sent to you from outside?
One should learn to discriminate as to which thought
is manifested from without, and which has been conceived within. (Brotherhood
381)
4. Do
not think small, think big
The next step is:
Get into the habit
of thinking only great, good and important thoughts!
At times people are
ready to recognize the power of thought, but they do not apply this recognition
to themselves. They dream about great thoughts but will not put the small ones
in order. They will ask how to set thought into motion. One has
to start by disciplining the smallest thoughts; only when that is done
can one create a thought that moves mountains. By following this advice about
putting small thoughts in order, one begins to bring health to the heart. One
must help the heart by putting thoughts in order. (Heart 495)
Can one imagine
people as thinking only of that which is useful? Of course
one can; harmful and undisciplined thoughts are primarily useless. One can
accustom oneself to useful thoughts, and such an exercise will be the best
preparation for the Fiery World. The habit of harbouring good thoughts is not
attained quickly. (Fiery World I, 307)
Vain thoughts
assail and torment you like a swarm of annoying insects.
They weaken your
spiritual power, your psychic energy.
When we speak of
psychic energy, we must first of all remember the
causes and effects of our small daily thoughts. These worms weaken the higher
energy. A disorderly heap of garbage will obstruct any construction. Our
enemies are the small, annoying flies. (Agni Yoga 629)
They prevent great
deeds.
People should
understand what a petty thought is. Like an insect it undermines all of the strongest intentions. The most persevering
character weakens from the pricks and stings of small thoughts. When the time
comes for action, people cover themselves with a cloud made from fragments of
small thoughts. The noblest decisions are blotted out beneath a layer of
shameful thoughts. The main thing that hinders a heroic
deed is not so much doubt as the shapeless thoughts born of old habits.
(Heart 523)
Trivial thoughts
stand in the way of the realisation of your ideals.
Disorderly thoughts
are like lice and fleas, for they harm the subtle substance. They often carry
deadly poison. Precisely the smallest thoughts are madness and therefore the
main obstacle in bringing the subtle and dense worlds together. (Heart
495)
You must not under
any circumstances give insignificant, petty thoughts the same space as great
ideas!
When you observe nagging
thoughts, you may notice that usually they are of the most everyday nature. In spite of their small significance, they attempt to
contend with the greatest ideas. One should carefully cleanse the brain of
these unbidden guests. (Fiery World II, 100)
Great deeds result
from great thoughts!
He who can observe
small thoughts will be able to make great decisions. The quality and sequence
of small thoughts lay the road for great actions. (Agni Yoga 629)
If your thoughts
dwell predominantly on small things, you yourself will sink into
insignificance.
To direct the
spirit, it is necessary to banish unnecessary thoughts. (Leaves of Morya's Garden I, 18 [19])
"What are
great thoughts?"
Occupy your
thoughts with the highest, not with the everyday matters, or you yourself will
become commonplace! Think of the eternal, the soul, not of the transient, the
body; of the high, the Hierarchy, not of the low, chaos; of the beautiful, not
of the ugly; of the creative, not of the destructive; of the ideal, not of the
dreary earthy reality.
The main thing is
that petty thoughts which cut through the basis of thinking should not rise up. These small flies are difficult to exterminate;
they also give a grey colour to the radiation. Man assumes that no one and nothing interferes with his thoughts, yet
at the same time his consciousness is full of tiny tadpoles, and his thinking
turns into a quagmire. (Brotherhood 393)
5. Expel
negative Thoughts
You can command
yourself:
I do not want to
think like that!
(for
example, bad about a fellow man), or:
I do not want to
think about this topic now!
(for
example, about a distressing problem).
Just as you say to
another person: "Leave me alone, I don't want to talk about this
now", so your soul can force the transient personality not to pursue a
certain thought.
You have to scare away bad thoughts like a flock of black
ravens.
Drive out small
thoughts, they are stifling to us. (Leaves of Morya's
Garden II, 206)
Pure thoughts carry
one as wings; dark thoughts screen the horizon like flocks of black ravens. The
spirit must realize this. The spirit must pronounce condemnation of its dark
thoughts. Only a pure striving thought will bring
success. (Infinity II, 749 [349])
You need not let
unwanted thoughts or moods arise in the first place, you can nip them in the
bud or chase them away immediately.
It is more
difficult to arrest a thought than to generate it. A great deal of suspicion, a
great deal of envy, a great deal of revenge can be stopped through liberation
from intrusive thoughts. (Fiery World II, 380)
The main thing is to destroy the germs of base thoughts, which
are more infectious than any disease. (Leaves of Morya's
Garden II, 157)
Some people are so
stubborn that they are outright obsessed with certain thoughts or feelings, for
example of sadness or revenge. They got stuck in them and cannot get rid of
them. Thus they torture themselves.
They have made
themselves slaves to their own evil thoughts! (Michelangelo
“Slave in Chains”)
A yogi knows how much his every thought has power over him. (Agni Yoga
173)
Usually, people are
enslaved by their thoughts. (Fiery World II, 227)
You can end this
unworthy slavery only by consciously freeing yourself from these possessors and
mercilessly chasing them away with all your might.
This relates both
to your own thoughts as well as to those that are sent, inspired
or imposed from outside.
Much harm results
from these fleas of thought, which unexpectedly jump at and bite people.
(Supermundane 46)
It is not easy to
free oneself from thoughts flying in from without, and it is difficult to cast
off sad and burdensome reflections. Nothing so impedes advancement as grievous
immobile thoughts. Most often such heavy thoughts are sent from without, and
many eyes watch with malice, awaiting the suppression of energy. Learn to expel
this obvious burden immediately. Thus, let us be doubly vigilant in mastering
thought. (Fiery World II, 227)
Exercise:
Solemnity
Nicholas
Roerich “Warrior of Light”
Always maintain a
solemn state of mind. Move and think slowly, calmly, prudently and with full
awareness of your dignity.
As if you were
strolling in white robes in a sacred grove. (Arnold Böcklin
"Sacred Grove")
Solemnity must be
cultivated. The ability to direct one’s feeling upward will bestow solemnity
and a fiery current. (Fiery World II, 325)
In this way you
reliably ward off unwanted thoughts.
The co-workers need
to preserve a sense of solemnity, for this feeling will not permit petty
irritations and decay. (Heart 435)
Solemnity is indeed
a cleanser for body and spirit!
It must be realized
what purification is vouchsafed at being filled with health-giving
solemnity. (Brotherhood 295)
6.
Thinking based on the Cosmic Order
Wrong thoughts
usually arise from ignorance.
You lay the foundation
for positive and right thinking by expanding your consciousness and increasing
your knowledge:
You must know the
fundamental laws of existence, of the beautiful and just Cosmic Order, such as
in particular: Karma and rebirth, evolution and Hierarchy, immortality of the
soul and uninterrupted continuation of life, the meaning of life, the meaning
of suffering and the benefits of obstacles.
Let us look at some
examples:
"I am afraid
of death" is wrong thinking. Correct is:
"♫ I am looking forward to my
death. ♫" (Johann Sebastian Bach)
For this you must
know that your true being is immortal, that it lives on in a wonderful Higher
World and will one day return to earth in a young, beautiful body.
*****
"I am
hungry", this is how your transient being thinks.
Your Eternal
Individuality thinks: "My tool, the brother donkey, announces the need for
fuel. I decide if, when, what and how much it gets."
*****
The ignorant
thinks, "I am wounded."
The immortal
thinks, "I am invulnerable. My vehicle, which in any case becomes more and
more useless as I grow older, seems to have been damaged once more. I am no
more affected by that than a rider is by injury to his donkey."
*****
Wrong thinking is,
"I hate you”, or “I despise you." Better is, "I love you, even
though you are my enemy, because I perceive the hidden beauty of your
soul."
*****
The impatient
thinks, "But now I really can't wait any longer!"
Correct, however,
is: "As an immortal being, I have unlimited time at my disposal." For
a soul living eternally, composure is the only appropriate state of mind.
*****
The wrong attitude
is: "I feel violated and so I am suffering." (Van Gogh "Old Man in Sorrow")
On
the basis of the Cosmic Order, you think: "I am inviolable and, as a being of
spirit from a Higher World, unaffected by all the suffering that is simply
inevitable on the material plane."
The very feeling of
violation is the best proof that the bitter experience is still necessary for
you to perfect yourself, to progress on the Spiritual Path and to attain
inviolability.
Most suffering is
caused by our fellow men. There are countless examples: Why are people to whom
we have given so much, or children whom we have brought up and supported with
so much love, effort and sacrifice, so ungrateful? Why
do they treat us so badly?
The proper way of
thinking is: Look lovingly at these tormentors as your little, slightly
retarded brothers and sisters who do not know what they are doing. Keep your
distance from them, however, do not harbour hatred or resentment, but forgive
them.
In the Broadcasting
"Exercise Invulnerability" you find many more examples of how
injuries, humiliations, failures and more can be overcome through right
thinking.
*****
In irritation you
think, "I am annoyed by an obstacle or a difficulty."
As opposed to that,
your Higher Self thinks, "I love obstacles because they give me opportunities
for ascent and allow me to grow greater."
*****
A weak spirit fears
trials, but a strong one rejoices in them because now it can prove its progress
and show what it has learned.
*****
For proper thinking
based upon the Cosmic Order it is of great importance to know the Law of Karma.
"How do you
mean that?"
Well, if you know
this law, you think quite differently from the old man, for example:
If you are
deceived, think:
Your deception is really useful to me. (Leaves of Morya's
Garden II, 123).
If someone steals
from you, think:
I guess the time
has come for me to receive something new, but actually it
would be better for you not to touch my things. (Leaves of Morya's
Garden II, 123)
From the point of
view of Karma, it is better to pay than to receive.
It is better to be
the pursued than the pursuer. (Brotherhood 340)
If you are sold
into slavery, think like Plato:
Thanks! Evidently I can pay back some old debts. (Brotherhood
273)
It is not the circumstances
that create your Karma, but the thoughts they trigger within you.
How people treat
you is their karma; how you react is yours.
*****
However, there are
also events you have nothing to do with. Think of the fate of Job, who became
the victim of a kind of bet between God and the devil (see the book
"Job" in the Bible). Or of moods triggered by heavy cosmic
currents. Then a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi will bring you to the right
thinking:
Lord, give me the
strength to change the things I can change; the serenity to endure the things I
cannot change; and the wisdom to distinguish between the two. (Nicholas Roerich „Francis of Assisi“)
Practical
tip: Research of Causes
In many cases, for
example if you have a tendency to irritation or depression,
you have to research the causes of such negative thoughts in order to get rid
of them. Mostly, the reason is egotism or unkindness.
Of course, at the moment of the mood you do not have the opportunity to
investigate the causes. However, when calmness returns, you can think about
this weakness, prepare yourself for the next attack which will inevitably come,
and supply yourself with thoughts to the contrary.
7.
Replace negative Thoughts with positive ones
It is a great art and
wisdom to always perceive the positive, the promising, the future-oriented in
all things.
Do not allow a
negative, gloomy thought to arise in the first place, replace it immediately
with a positive one.
Chase away every
impure thought; replace it with a thought of benevolence. (Helena Roerich
Letters Vol. I, letter of 17.08.1930)
All you have to do is change the direction of your thinking: Do not
continue and deepen the old thought, but immediately begin a new, better one.
You can dispel
darkness and gloom by changing the direction of thoughts. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 177)
Replace the images
of strawberry punch or young women in your mind with the picture of your
teacher's ashram. (Nicholas Roerich
"Star of the Morning ")
"That sounds
easy, but I find it very difficult! Are there any tools to help me?"
Practically the
most important advice of Agni Yoga on our topic is:
One should build up
a stock of good thoughts; only they will make possible an easy ascent to the
Heights. (Supermundane 808)
If ever you are in
need, go to that pantry room and draw on what you have accumulated in good
times.
These uplifting
thoughts can and must be so strong that they overcome those which drag you
down.
Let us look at some
examples of thoughts you may put in your storeroom:
*****
Direct your
thinking to the future instead of to the past.
Not only, but especially
older people tend to cling to the past because they no longer pursue a goal and
see no future ahead of them but death. They torment themselves with thoughts of
past insults, misfortune or injustice, of mistakes
they themselves or others made decades ago. How often are you brooding still today, when it is long too late:
“What better thing
should I have said at that time? Shouldn't I have behaved differently?”
People are grieving
over an unhappy love long past, divorce, death, bad upbringing by their
parents, and so on. When such thoughts assail you, only one thing helps:
Let go! Draw a
radical line under the past! Build a new world of thoughts and strive towards
the future!
Hasten to purify the
spirit by broad creative thoughts about the wonderful future. (Helena Roerich
Letters Vol. I, letter of 17.08.1939)
Ask yourself, even
if you are already 70 years old:
Where do I want to
be in 50 years from now, then of course in the World Beyond? What do I have to
do today to reach this goal? How can I change my earthly life so that already
now it comes as close as possible to the paradise I am dreaming of? (Rembrandt "Old Man ")
Stop wishing for a
better past! Rather take care of a better future!
*****
Others are worrying
already today about future events, which may or may not ever happen: They rack
their brains about what they might do in case that this or that misfortune
should befall them.
An old woman
agonises over how she will cope if her even older husband dies. Then she dies
first, and all her worries were in vain. An employee expects only the worst
from his new boss, even though he doesn't even know him, and then he turns out
to be extremely pleasant. (Grant Wood "American Gothic")
Such an almost
morbid tendency to pessimism, to expect only the worst from the future and from
any change at all, assails each of us from time to time. You must postpone such
thoughts until they actually have to be dealt with.
The worries of today’s day are well enough for you, as the Bible says:
Have no care for
tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. (Matthew 6, 34)
*****
You need a guiding thought
for your life in general and for the work of each day in
particular.
Continuous thought
about what one reveres most is the surest way. One must first
of all concentrate upon what one has chosen as the guiding concept.
(Supermundane 451)
It defines the
direction, the path and the goal of your life and of
each individual day as well. You enforce it against all other thoughts.
Anything that contradicts it is discarded.
"Can you give
an example of such a guiding thought?"
You are walking the
path of the Great Soul. May every step bring you closer to your goal.
When action
premises a great goal, each step must conform to the destination. (Fiery World
III, 313)
You are doing the
work and fulfilling the tasks of a Great Soul. May each of your acts contribute
a stone to the building of the New World.
With such a great
purpose in mind, negative thoughts have no chance of survival.
*****
"What other
thoughts are there that move mountains?”
One of the most
important and uplifting is:
You can do
anything! Everything is possible! (Community 102; Heart 250; Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 175 [199], 275 [328]; Community 36; Agni
Yoga 364; Infinity I, 100; Brotherhood, 93)
Nurture this
thought, "My Higher Self is great and strong. In eternity I can accomplish
anything I set my mind to."
*****
And yet another
useful thought for your storeroom: Harken to the wise counsel of Solomon:
This too shall
pass! (Fiery World I, 371)
Keep in mind: That
what is currently afflicting you, similar things and much worse, you have
already experienced – and survived – a thousand times over in
the course of your eternal existence. You cannot turn off the storms of
life. You can only remain calm yourself. The storms will pass.
Our thoughts are
like the weather – they just pass through. (Pema Chödrön)
*****
However, when you
encounter evil, you must not give in, but take up the fight.
The thought of
battle is also a positive thought! (Luca Giordano
"Archangel Michael")
If you are
attacked, you should not offer the spectacle of a helpless sheep (Community
186) but defend yourself. In this way you will work your way out of
misfortune.
*****
Finally, it helps
to take up some work. There is always something to do. Activity frees you from
bad thoughts.
Exercise:
Turn Suffering into Joy
The best and most
important example of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones is:
Turn suffering into
joy!
Keeping joy in all
circumstances is the panacea for bad thoughts and the synthesis of all efforts
to control thoughts. If you react joyfully to whatever happens, wrong thinking
will not arise in the first place.
We have already
discussed several times how you can achieve this feat. Watch again the
Broadcastings "The Secret of Immortality", "The Significance of
Consciousness", "The Meaning of Suffering" and "Joy at
Obstacles". You will find: This difficult but salutary exercise, this
wonderful transformation, ultimately succeeds through your changing your
thinking.
*****
Once you have
allowed a negative thought to come up and be sent out into the world, you
cannot eliminate it again. You may, however, immediately set against it and
make follow behind it an even stronger positive thought in
order to neutralise the effect of the negative one as far as possible.
As an entity of the
spiritual plane, thought cannot be annihilated. It can be opposed by a similar
entity of greater potentiality. (Hierarchy 211)
Exercise:
Spend one day without negative Thoughts
Practise staying
without negative thoughts for a longer time and eventually for a whole day. You
will see how difficult that is!
It is a good
exercise to occasionally spend a day without disparaging. (Fiery World I,
538)
We can put it even
better: Practise thinking positive only and keeping joy for a whole day.
It is necessary to
devote a certain time to the mastering of thought. (Agni Yoga 345)
8.
Direct your Thoughts through the Heart
We had already spoken
many times about the basic exercise of transferring your consciousness into
your Eternal Individuality (Broadcastings "The Secret of
Immortality", "Transformation into a spiritual Being", "1st
Pillar: Defence of the Higher Consciousness" and "Exercise
Invulnerability"). From this higher standpoint you must also observe,
admit, nurture and carry on your thoughts, or reject
and discontinue them.
Let your soul
think!
Think in a way that
is in accordance with your Higher Self. The Eternal Individuality, the Divine
within you must express itself, especially through your thoughts!
Crucial for the
mastery of thoughts is, here as everywhere else: Listen to your soul! If it
says: "I don't want to think like that", don't do it either.
Before you allow a thought
to come up, consult your soul. (Nicholas Roerich „Higher than
Mountains“)
“How do I know what
my Eternal Individuality wants and what it does not want?”
The answer is:
Your soul speaks to
you through your heart!
The heart is the
most important organ of your Eternal Individuality. It reliably warns you of
everything that goes against your true nature. It infallibly tells you which
thoughts are in harmony with your Higher Self and
which are not, which are right and which are wrong.
Direct every
thought through the heart!
Purify it in the
fire of the heart!
Even in thinking,
one should form the habit of directing thought, so to speak, through the fire of
the heart. One can feel in this action a moment of bliss, as it were, evoking
the warmth of the heart. The feeling of warmth or heaviness or tremor will
confirm the participation of the heart’s energy. (Fiery World I, 633)
It is even more
difficult to attain thought of high quality. A person will often mentally
repeat to himself, “I will think purely.” But his being is accustomed to
egoistic thinking, and a most undesirable form of thought results. It is
necessary to exercise thought, not mentally, but with the fire of the spirit,
until all ambiguity of thought disappears. (Agni Yoga 345)
*****
Accustom yourself to
harken to the voice of your heart! Carry out without fail what it tells you to
do, regardless of the material consequences! To suppress or disregard it is a
grave offence against your true Self!
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)
Your heart warns
you before against and complains after every unworthy deed.
Often a thought
escapes you before you have consulted your Higher Self. But your heart always
speaks up afterwards and points out your mistake. In former times, this was
called "bad conscience".
Listen at least to
this remorse! Make a firm resolution not to repeat the same mistake at the next
opportunity – which must inevitably come!
Practical
tip: Pause
Live more slowly!
Pause! Do not blurt out with a thought straight away.
Give your soul time
to observe what is going on around you! Make a habit of always consulting your
heart before you allow your transient personality to generate a thought!
Take twice as much
time and ponder three times before you give birth to a negative thought of
blame, condemnation, denial or dejection!
9.
Banish distracting thoughts
Another important
exercise is to dispel distracting thoughts.
You learn to focus
on one single thought and to eliminate all others.
Once you have
mastered this game, you can like Napoleon open and close the drawers of your
brain at will.
When you are at an
important work, only that one drawer may be open, all others, especially those
with personal thoughts, must remain firmly closed.
If it is difficult
sometimes to concentrate thought, also it is not easy sometimes to get rid of
thought. However, this quality also must be attained. One must know how to set
aside, as it were, a useless intrusive thought. To this end one may perform
little exercises, forcing oneself to consciously turn off a thought, as if
massaging the brain. (Fiery World II, 99)
Example
Meditation
Emil
Nolde "Moonlight Night”
The most important
area of application for this exercise is meditation. Is really
only the drawer of devotion open? Are all others firmly closed? You must
not let yourself be distracted by worldly thoughts.
"Often I do not even succeed in concentrating completely on
the Master in the few seconds it takes to say the words "Morya
Maitreya" seven times in spirit. Even in that very short time,
inappropriate, earthly, personal thoughts keep interfering and distracting
me."
Yes, we all feel
the same way in the beginning. This shows how extremely important, but also how
difficult it is to master one’s thoughts, and how necessary constant training
is.
You can and must
learn and practise to completely switch off all your thoughts of earthly
matters and worries for a certain time, otherwise no Higher Communion will be
possible.
Practical
Tip: Visualisation
Closing your eyes
alone is of no use, because the distraction comes from
within you.
People break up
their impulses by a multitude of petty thoughts. Some have tried blindfolding
themselves and stopping up the ears and nose in order not to be diverted by
external sensations. But is the distraction an external one? It actually lies in an undisciplined consciousness.
(Brotherhood 586)
What helps,
however, is visualisation, which we have already talked about in the
Broadcasting "Participation in the Life of the Higher World": Put the
image of your teacher before your eyes. Step in front of him in spirit. Then
his presence arises as a spiritual reality in which no idle thoughts can come
up.
Incidentally, it is
the purpose of the much-maligned portraits of saints to facilitate
concentration.
10. Think
briefly, clearly, concentrated and purposefully
Mastery of thought
has another aspect besides cultivating positive and rejecting negative
thinking:
You must also learn
to improve the quality of your thoughts.
Think briefly,
clearly, concentrated and purposefully!
Most people are
hardly able to think clearly. Consequently, they cannot express themselves
plainly and comprehensibly and thus will certainly not be able to act
powerfully and purposefully.
Learn to think
beautifully and briefly. (Community 101)
How repulsive are
those who cannot get to the point even of a simple story or a small concern but
lose themselves in a multitude of trivialities that have nothing to do with the
matter at hand and are of no interest to anyone.
I understand how difficult
it is to capture the fleas of thought. That is why I repeat: Ventilate the
folds of your brain so that the tiny jumpers will have no chance to lodge their
progeny there. The legacy of shaggy thinking engenders small bugs and cuts
short the best paths. If the vermin of the body cause a person to be shunned,
how much more repulsive must be the vermin of the spirit! We need to avoid
muddled thoughts. (Leaves of Morya's Garden II, 298
[302])
Someone wants to tell
you about the touching misfortune of a relative unknown to you, and instead of
getting to the point, he first tells you where that person lives, how old he
is, how many children he has and what his wife is like – in other words, things
that have nothing whatsoever to do with the matter and are of not of the least
interest to you.
Such a person is
also not in a position to solve any problems
whatsoever, because he does not recognise the core, the essence of the question
at all.
Often people do not
notice that many thoughts rage simultaneously within them. As they swarm about
like flies, it is impossible to discern which thought has the most
significance. Future apparatuses will demonstrate the harm of such confused
thinking. (Supermundane 733)
What a chaos such
people will cause after their death in the World Beyond, where the whole
reality is created by their thoughts! Therefore, mastery of thought is an
indispensable preparation for a meaningful life in the Higher World.
Practical
Tip: Regular Thought Control
In the evening you
should give yourself an account of what you have thought during the day.
How beautiful it
would be if everyone, on completing his day, would ask himself about the
quality of his thought during those hours! Worthless thoughts could be
eradicated as soon as they arise. (Heart 16)
Going even further,
carry out an inspection of your thoughts at each new part of the day, at each
change of work, before leaving home and on your return. Make sure: Was it right
what I thought before? What do I want and need to think about in the next part
of the day?
Elevate your
thoughts again! Rekindle the fire of enthusiasm!
11.
Fiery Condition
Without coercion
and discipline, you can control your thoughts by creating a sublime state of
mind of a high vibration (see the Broadcasting " Exercise the Fiery
Condition"). In the Fiery Condition you are not susceptible to low
vibrations and therefore not to wrong thinking either.
According to the
law of correspondence, you attract what is in accordance with your mood, with
the state of your being; this also applies to thoughts.
Is it not true that
when we are in an elevated mood, good, high thoughts flow to us?
Have you ever had bad
thoughts in meditation or while you were moved by the music of the great
masters or by the solemnity of a cathedral? Do not desires,
cravings, envy, ambition, depression and selfishness remain silent? (Herbert von Karajan)
You can gradually
get rid of low thoughts altogether by learning to keep your mind constantly –
even after meditation, the end of the concert or leaving the church – in a
Fiery State of calmness, sublimity and solemnity
Not for a single
hour should one extinguish within oneself the flame of lofty thinking. The
highest sage loses his power if he ceases to think about the future Abode. It
is beautiful if someone is able to always preserve
lofty thinking within himself. (Supermundane 651)
Section V: Calling forth and turning off Thoughts at
Will
Since times
immemorial, the education program of a spiritual disciple included the practice
of evoking and suppressing thoughts at will. Thereby you free yourself finally
and completely from the patronisation by intrusive thoughts.
In the school of
thinking you learn to generate thoughts or feelings such as joy, sadness, fear,
courage and the like from within yourself and to
silence them again, independent of the external circumstances.
Elisabeth Haich
describes these exercises vividly in the esoteric classic
"Initiation". She learned in the Egyptian temple school to experience
the most diverse states of mind for no external reason at all, for example:
We begin to immerse
into the deepest dejection, then we experience slowly increasing indifference,
then we go higher and higher until we have reached the utmost happiness and
finally the highest feeling of bliss.
Further, we must
experience opposite mental states one after the other without transition. For
example: greatest sadness and without transition greatest cheerfulness; or:
fear – and then switch in a flash to self-confident courage.
The point of this
exercise is that we are not at the mercy of external events or our moods, but
able to determine our mental state ourselves and thus maintain our mental
balance under all circumstances.
People believe that
there must always be a reason to be happy or cheerful. These exercises give us
the conviction that every state of consciousness comes from ourselves and
always arises from within. One person can laugh, another cry, and a third
remain completely indifferent in the face of the same event.
As a final result, the disciple must attain the ability to
unshakably maintain a perfect state of mental peace under all circumstances and
never to fall out of it again. (Chapter "Preparatory Years") (Stepan Vladislavovich Bakalovich "Egyptian Priest Reading a Papyrus")
This practice shows
how relative and insignificant your thoughts are!
They are triggered
in ever new forms by the constantly changing outward conditions of life. You
can and must learn to live in your own thought-world in all circumstances.
Through long tests
the great saints learned to call forth a thought and then to free themselves
from it. (Fiery World II, 382)
*****
Likewise, you can
learn to direct your thoughts in such a way that you do not see or hear
something unwanted, even though it catches your eyes or rings in your ears.
One more
significant experiment: Learn to see without looking and to hear without
listening. That is, you must be able to aim your vision into the spiritual
realms to a degree that, in spite of open eyes, you
will not see that which is before you, and in spite of open ears, you will not
hear evident noise. (Hierarchy 68)
By a quite ordinary
command of the heart one can force oneself to not hear or see. In that way a
person can learn to pass by the very horrors of the lower spheres. (Heart
559)
"Impossible! I
can't avoid hearing a loud sound near me! How am I supposed to ignore the noise
that prevents me from falling asleep?”
This is not that
unusual though. You have already experienced yourself: When you are absorbed in
intensive work, you do not notice at all of what is going on around you, and
you do not hear the ringing of the telephone or of the doorbell.
You can actually
“think away” all possible sensory perceptions!
This proves how
your thoughts control your organism.
Under the influence of thought it is possible not to
hear even nearby music—thus is demonstrated the power of thought over the
physical organism. (Brotherhood 309)
*****
It is something
else and even more difficult not to think about a certain subject at all.
For example, if you
are afraid of spiders when going to the cellar, you have to
practise not thinking about spiders at that very moment. Otherwise
you will attract them or see spiders in every corner, which someone else who
does not have this particular fear and whose mind is somewhere else will not
even notice.
Or when you are
lying awake for a long time and fear that you might not be able to fall asleep
at all, you must learn not to think of the desire to fall asleep, otherwise
sleep will certainly not come.
The solution can
only be to think of something else: When you go to the cellar, think of the
delicious apples you wish to bring up from there, then the thought of spiders
will not arise.
If you cannot fall
asleep, transfer yourself in spirit to the Higher World, to your Heaven, to the
ashram of your teacher and take part in life there, then you will imperceptibly
move into the realm of dreams automatically.
It is still more
difficult to command oneself not to think. The ability to control thinking
depends upon continual exercise. Each day one can force oneself not to think of
some definite thing. But one should beware of self-delusion lest the command
not to think contain a thought within itself. To completely suspend a thought
and a preconception is already a great mental discipline. (AUM 404)
Section VI: Mental Control of Desires
The most important
application of thought mastery relates to the desires of the body. They are
ultimately created by your thoughts and feelings, by the images and fancies in
your mind. If you want to get rid of them, you have to
expel them from there.
*****
It is not the
highest attainment to retreat to a place like a monastery where you have no
possibility to satisfy your cravings for e.g. tobacco,
alcohol or women. External measures such as a simple life are almost worthless
if your thoughts continue to pursue desires.
Of
course you have now more chances before you than my zoophagous
friend Mr. Sinnett, who were he even to give up
feeding on animals would still feel a craving for such a food, a craving over
which he would have no control and, — the impediment would be the same in that
case. (Mahatma Letters 11 of 30.06.1882)
The decisive and
only valuable achievement is inner liberation!
We have read about
great saints who scorned earthly luxury and freed themselves of earthly
accumulations; but, first of all, they had to conquer
their own thoughts. (Fiery World II, 382)
Abstinence is more
difficult in thought than in action. (Fiery World III, 582)
You have truly
overcome your desires only if in everyday life, in the midst
of smokers and drinkers, they no longer have any attraction for you.
One cannot judge
the character of an anchorite or an ascetic unless one knows the level and
quality of that person’s thought. (Heart 50)
You overcome bad
habits, bad qualities and base desires by purifying
your thoughts.
Renunciation is a
cleansing of thought. (Community 85)
At first, of
course, you can practise, as we have just discussed, to simply eliminate the
thought of a desire with willpower.
In the long run,
however, it will only help to eradicate the evil at its root. As long as there is still desire within you, it will break
out again and again. This means: You must hunt down the dragon of desire that
continues to lurk within you.
By an effort of the
will man can reject a thought, but this does not mean that he can free his
consciousness from the roots of that thought. One may assume that his thinking
has changed, but the smallest reminder will prove that the viper continues to
live in the depths, ready to reawaken. One can observe the
fleeting circumstances that may revive a thought that was assumed to have been
driven away long ago. (Supermundane 579)
"How do I
achieve all this practically?"
Ask yourself: Which
of the two aspects of your being is expressing the desire? Your transient
personality or your Eternal Individuality? The animal or the divine within you?
Your spiritual or your physical Self?
When your body
desires something your soul does not want, you must relentlessly assert the
primacy of the spirit.
If you reliably do
this again and again, as soon as a desire arises, it will disappear completely
over time: This is how you starve the dragon within you.
Once you have
recognized that your motives are questionable, as they are in most cases, reach
down into the desire back of the motive, and if that desire be selfish, crude
or ill formed, speak to it with all the concentrated will power at your
command, and say, "I do not desire this thing, though my mind or body may
desire it. It is not in accord with universal law,
therefore it is not my real desire." If you do this often enough and with
sufficient intensity you will one day find that
particular desire shrivelling up, going out, and know yourself free from it,
with a higher desire in its place. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 149
“Self-Examination”)
This does not mean
that you no longer have wishes. They just cease to enslave you.
Then what does it
mean to say that a yogi is free of wishes? Let us take the precise meaning of
the words: a yogi has freed himself, not from the possibility to wish but from
the yoke of wishes. He feels free because he is not a slave to wishes. On the
path of goal-fitness, a yogi relinquishes wishes in an appropriate manner in
the name of the most essential.
Pay attention to
those who stand at the Wailing Wall. What arrested their way? The most minute, almost
indistinguishable wish burdened them and obscured their vision. How monotonous
has their world become! Their wishes, like parasites, sucked out their energy.
Wish can be worms and chains, or sparks and wings. The liberated one soars in
realization. The one enslaved wails in despair. (Agni
Yoga 259)
Section VII: In Temptation
The ability to
control your thoughts is developed and tested nowhere else than in everyday
life. Every single day offers you many opportunities to prove your progress:
Constantly, several times a day, you fall into temptation.
"What do you
mean by temptation? That what the Church calls 'sin'?"
No. We are now
talking about desires or moods of your transient personality which you know
perfectly well to be wrong, which you actually do not
want, and which nevertheless manage to overpower you again and again:
You feel the desire
for alcohol, cigarettes, chocolate or sexuality. You
become aggressive, irritated or depressed. (van Gogh "Mourning Old
Man")
Now it comes to a
battle of giants within you yourself:
To a battle of
thoughts.
Your thoughts are
always inclined to give in to a mood or to argue with your Higher Self and find
reasons why that what is forbidden and actually not
even wanted might be permitted or even be a pleasure "just this one
time". The soul must defend itself against these arguments of the
intellect.
You have to put on an armour made of thoughts.
"How can I arm
myself?"
We repeat: You can
perform the ritual "Initiation to Agni Yoga". You can, as we have
just discussed, dispel the negative thoughts. You can, as we also said, build
up a stock of thoughts to deal with temptations.
Practical
Tip: Quotations from the Teaching on Index Cards
Compile a collection
of particularly beautiful and helpful quotations from the Teaching. Write them
down on index cards that you always carry with you. Whenever black thoughts
assail you, take out and read some of them to get up again.
The Teaching should be read under different conditions, yet the effect
will not be always identical. At a time of consternation
the Teaching will bring tranquillity, at a time of affliction—consolation, at a
time of doubt—affirmation. (Fiery World II, 285)
We shall now
discuss the most important thoughts that you can use in an emergency to ward
off temptations.
1.
Obedience, spiritual Discipline
Basically, it is
quite easy to overcome temptations: You "only" have
to be obedient to what has been ordered by the teacher who knows better
than you.
You
"only" have to stick to the rules and
customs that apply in the Supratemporal Community to which you belong and to
which you wish to return at the latest after your death. Everything that is not
available in your Heaven (for example alcohol, nicotine, chocolate, meat) you
should not enjoy in your earthly life either.
You
"only" have to keep the vow you made in the
morning.
You
"only" have to transfer your consciousness
into your Eternal Individuality, harken to the voice of your heart and carry
out what it tells you to do. Your soul as a being of spirit does not want all
that what your perishable personality begs for like a dog,
and is not affected by its caprices.
What could be more
destructive than failure to carry out commands that the heart gives. (Heart
486)
You must
"only" remain true to yourself. The great secret of the Spiritual
Path and of any higher way of life is this:
Remain relentlessly
yourself!
Loyalty,
steadfastness, and unshakeable determination build a stronghold against doubt,
wavering, and treason. (Supermundane 858)
Only those who have
proved faithful to themselves and to Truth through everything, will be allowed further
intercourse with Us. (Mahatma Letters No. 44 of February 1882)
This of course
means your Higher Self, your true identity as a
disciple of the Brotherhood or a king of the spirit.
Until man can learn
to be true to his Higher Self, true to his plighted words, true to his
obligations he can make no great advance on the ladder of life, no matter what
else he may do on other lines to effect such advance,
for the foundation stone underneath that ladder is Loyalty and without Loyalty
life has no meaning. Only thus can he win the right to the title of Warrior of
Light. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 146 “Soul Memory”)
Crashes, mistakes
happen again and again, that is human. The essential thing is that you first
identify and then do not repeat them.
2. Take
Refuge in the Higher World
When tempted, take
refuge in the pure, holy, solemn atmosphere of the Inner Monastery! Restore the
consciousness of your true existence, of your participation in the life at the
foot of the Holy Mountain. In a world of such a high vibration, the attack
vanishes at once.
When our
consciousness is completely transported into the domain where there is no fear
and depression, then we are invulnerable to any filth. (Fiery World II, 72)
All that you seek,
for which your transient personality craves: oblivion,
distraction, rest, relaxation and enjoyment, you attain much better, more
safely and without regret in meditation than through primitive material aids.
*****
Stepping before the
Teacher is a true panacea against all kinds of temptations! Under his eyes, at
his feet, in his real presence, you are completely immune, here there can be no
unworthy behaviour. (Emmanuel Lambardos "Saint John the Evangelist and Prochoros")
Thoughts about the
Beautiful lead to the Teacher. Even in the most difficult hours, thoughts about
the Beautiful will create the best bridge to the Brotherhood. Thoughts should
be directed to the Beautiful, as a salutary medicine. People do not understand
what a powerful remedy has been given to them. They prefer to complain, feel
discontent, and weep, not understanding that such ways only limit the best
possibilities. (Supermundane 135)
*****
Do not always think
of yourself only, but also of the Supermundane Community to which you belong:
You love your teacher, your disciples, fellow disciples
and friends, you do not want to disappoint them!
Old governesses
used to say to children who had done something wrong, “Now your angel is
weeping,” and this warning reached to the very depths of the children’s hearts.
Truly, each unkind action causes someone to suffer. (Supermundane 431)
"Will my
family turn away from me if I become weak?"
I would not put it
that way. You yourself are moving away from them! You leave your Heaven.
Exercise:
Take Refuge in the Teaching, in the Teacher and in the Community
Therefore, we
introduce a new exercise: Step before the teacher not only in the morning, at
noon and in the evening, but always when dark thoughts befall you. Your mantram is:
I take refuge in
the Teaching, in the teacher and in the community.
Man must know how
to control his thoughts. Even when burdened by problems, he
can allow himself a moment of rest and aspire towards beautiful dreams.
(Supermundane 647)
3.
Pursue a Goal
In practical
everyday life, the most important thought for overcoming temptations is:
Set yourself a
long-term goal, so great and so glorious that you will gladly forego a small,
temporary pleasure for it, and in view of which moods vanish into thin air!
Without an ideal to
pursue, your life is meaningless and you are
disoriented in the face of moods.
Love, the fire of enthusiasm
for the ideal, gives you the strength to overcome temptations.
When it burns, you
need nothing else and want nothing else.
How insignificant
are the desires and whims that beset you compared to the beauty and sublimity
of your ideal!
When you consider
this relationship, you feel how foolish it would be to gamble away something so
great for something so small.
*****
"What kind of
goal could that be?"
That is for each
one to find out himself. The most important goal of an Agni Yogi is the New
Construction:
You want to grow
greater. You wish to progress on the Spiritual Path, the Path to God. You want
to develop more and more the potential that lies dormant within you. You wish
to become a New Man, an immortal spirit being of the sixth race.
You want to
approach the Holy Mountain of Shambhala.
You want to be a
disciple of the Brotherhood. You wish to prove worthy of your teacher and bring
him joy. After your death, you want to return to the Supratemporal Community to
which you belong and would not like to find the gates closed. If you give in,
you are no longer a disciple and cease to be a member.
How hideous is the
husk of petty carnal desires, from which it is so easy to free oneself—one has
only to think of the Hierarchy of Light. (Heart 274)
You want to
contribute to the establishment of the New World, of a higher culture, of the
rule of the Mahatmas.
*****
Devote yourself to such
a high goal with all the fibres of your being! Then you will say to yourself:
I want that goal, therefore I also want the means!
We greatly
appreciate the ability to continue to strive toward the chosen goal whatever
the difficulties. But first one must have a goal and realize that without it
there can be no advance. (Supermundane
174)
Every tennis
professional and every concert pianist will tell you:
Reaching the goal
has a price.
The higher the goal
you set for yourself, the greater the price you will have to pay.
"What is that
price?"
To renounce
everything that makes it difficult or impossible to achieve your goal.
So when tempted, ask
yourself a simple question:
"Does what my transient personality torments me with bring me
closer to the goal I have firmly set for myself, or does it move me away from
it? I love my ideal! I want to reach it at all costs! Is it then sensible and
goal-fitting to act in this way?"
Helena Blavatsky
explains this using the example of the temptations of food:
Eat only when you are hungry and drink when you are
thirsty, and never otherwise.
If some particular preparation attracts your palate, do
not allow yourself to be seduced into taking it simply to gratify that craving.
Remember that the pleasure you derive from it had no existence some seconds
before, and that it will cease to exist some seconds afterwards; that it is a
transitory pleasure, that that which is a pleasure now will turn into pain if
you take it in large quantities; that while there is another object that can
give you eternal bliss, this centering your
affections on a transient thing is sheer folly; that you are neither the body nor the senses, and therefore the
pleasure and the pains which these
endure can never affect you really, and so on. Practise the same train of
reasoning in the case of every other temptation, and, though you will often
fail, yet you will achieve a surer success. (Helena Blavatsky, Some Practical
Suggestions for Daily Life, No. 1)
Practical
Tip: Cost-Benefit Calculation
You make yourself
aware of the damage you will suffer if you give in to temptation.
You will move away
from your goals. Above all, you will become smaller. You think of the remorse
that will inevitably follow because you have been unfaithful to yourself and to
your guiding ideal.
The satisfaction
derived from the gratification of personal will and desire is infinitesimal by
comparison with the remorse and sorrow which will follow when the soul memory
has flashed a completed scene of the results of such selfish gratification. (Teachings
of the Temple Vol. I, Lesson 146 “Soul Memory”)
You make yourself
aware of the benefits you will reap if you overcome temptation.
It is precisely
through this victory that you get one step closer to your goal! Above all, you
grow greater.
Decidedly, every
disequilibrium must be eliminated in a natural way. No passionate imbalance can
be arrested by command or by compulsion. One must recognize the usefulness,
then comes true evolution. But without realization it is impossible to overcome
the lower earthly passions. (AUM 291)
Therefore, we
should not speak of renunciation at all when you reject a cigarette, a glass of
wine, meat, a piece of chocolate or a mood:
In fact, abstinence
is a gain for you!
Exercise:
Rejoice in Temptations as Opportunities
We observe: If you
stand firm in temptation, you take a step forward. If you give in, you fall
behind.
Thus, temptation is
not a misfortune that you have to cry or feel sorry about, but on the contrary
a good fortune: namely an opportunity to grow, to advance towards your goal!
If it were not for
the many temptations, obstacles and difficulties on
your path, you would have no possibility at all to realise your ideal!
Therefore, the attitude of an Agni Yogi is:
I rejoice in temptations!
(Nicholas Roerich “Krishna”)
I muster all my
strength and go joyfully into battle in order to pass
it victoriously! I will overcome and thus take not only myself but also
humanity as a whole a step forward!
*****
This is easy to
say, but difficult to realise. It requires constant spiritual practice in
everyday life to acquire and safely maintain such an attitude.