AGNI YOGA WEB TV
SERIES
EXPERIMENT IMMORTALITY
BROADCASTING
6
We are building the World of the Future
Dear Agni Yogis,
each of you perceives:
Our life on earth cannot go on
as before!
Everywhere we look there is
chaos, indolence, ignorance, malice, violence and war.
We humans ruin the world. We
are destroying the natural foundations of life, the animal and the plant
kingdom, the climate, the resources of the planet, ourselves and in the end the
whole earth. Are we not ashamed when we are watching the news in the evening of
the terrible sight that our homeland presents to the
rest of Cosmos?
Agni Yoga is a call! The
Mahatmas appeal to save the world!
The disciple asks: “How can
I help?” (Gudrun Stiasny
“The Wanderer through the Zodiac”)
I am glad that you ask. The
Brotherhood is urgently looking for volunteers willing to cooperate with them
on the Great Plan for the renewal of the World.
The time to talk is over. Now
it is time to act! We are starting today with a gigantic project:
We are building the world of
the future!
On the ruins of the old we are
building the New World.
We can replace a pit with a
true temple. Step by step we must fill the abyss with strongholds of Light. We
must put together the stones of good, over and above any personal moods. (Fiery
World I, 592)
I can already see your
doubting faces. You ask:
"How can we few,
insignificant little humans build a New World?"
You will see: The Mahatmas
have a plan for this project with very specific instructions on how to proceed.
This plan is published in the books of Agni Yoga and given to mankind for
execution. The goal of Agni Yoga is:
All over the world New Men are
to rise and to form germ cells of the New World!
There are many events, but you
must learn to discern amidst this multitude of dissenting voices the one plan
for achieving the New World. (Fiery World I, 492)
How you can transform into the
New, immortal Man, we have already discussed in the Broadcastings of the Series
“Experiment Immortality”.
The exercise "The Path of
the Inner Temple" shows you how you can create your own personal Heaven.
Today we shall be talking about how we can serve the common good and transform
this earth as a whole into a paradise.
*****
“We are building the world of
the future” - that is meant exactly as it sounds like: I do not intend to give
a lecture here and tell you how it works. Let us get down to work right away,
today, here and now.
Let us actually
start building the New World today!
Are you ready?
"Yes, we are ready!"
Then let us set off
together! Wherever each and every one of us lives and
stands, let us unite our efforts and direct them towards the New Construction!
We shall first discuss the
basics (1st chapter), then the path of the individual (2nd chapter) and finally
the path of the community (3rd chapter) towards the New World. At the end of
the Broadcasting, you will be invited to visit a stronghold of the world of the
future in Tabenisi.
FIRST CHAPTER : BASICS
Nicholas Roerich
"Glory of the Himalayas"
First, let us clarify the basics. Our common path necessarily consists
not only of steps of action, but also of steps of cognition.
Watch again the Broadcastings of the Series “The New World” and the
Broadcasting “The Hierarchy”. There is described in detail what the world of
the future will look like. Today, we must take for granted that you know the ideal to
the realization of which we are
striving.
Section I: World Government of the Mahatmas
In order to move forward
successfully, we require a goal, a path, and a plan.
1. The 7 Principles
of the New World
"What exactly is the goal we want to achieve?"
We want to build an ideal world, paradise, the Kingdom of God, Heaven on earth. Or in scientific language:
We intend to create a world in which the Cosmic Order prevails.
In practice that means: We establish the rule of
The 7 principles of the New World:
Truth, justice, beauty and love,
selflessness, service to the common good and hierarchy
These are universal principles
that claim to apply everywhere: In the family, in the state, on the whole
earth, on higher planets like Venus, in our solar system and in the entire
Universe. Where they rule there are higher civilizations. Where untruth or
ugliness prevails, we find a lower culture.
The establishment of these 7 principles brings about:
In our New World there is no suffering, need, selfishness, greed,
violence, destruction or exploitation of nature and fellow men, no war, no poverty and no unemployment.
2. Rule of the
Mahatmas
"What do we have to do in order to establish the Cosmic Order
everywhere on earth?"
We have to set up a World Government!
It is clear: An order that
applies in every corner of the earth can only be created by a global central
government.
“Who can form such a
government? I don't see anyone who is suitable for that."
Watch again the Broadcasting
"The Brotherhood of Shambhala". There we had already said: There is a
responsible representative of the Cosmic Hierarchy on our planet: The Mahatmas
of the Brotherhood of Shambhala.
They are destined to take
control of the entire earth. Only they are in a position
to enforce the Cosmic Order on a worldwide scale.
The Brotherhood of Shambhala
is the International World Government installed from even higher Above.
The earth of the future is a world community governed by the Mahatmas.
"How does this dream become true?"
Every single human being has to submit to the
World Government, to the rule of the Mahatmas.
Just like thousands of years ago an entire country, namely Egypt, so in
the future the whole earth will be ruled by the initiates.
"What do we have to do?"
Very simple:
We recognize the World Government instituted from Above.
At least we who have come together here are following the Highest Beings
that exist on earth! Let us stick to the laws they gave! Let us fulfill their instructions! Let us work together with them
on their Great Cause: On the creation of the next evolutionary stage, the
transformation of the earth into a paradise!
Our Path leads to the transformation of Earth into a palace. There are
no poor. Who is unwilling to accept riches? (Leaves of Morya’s
Garden II, 95)
Each and every one of you must join
the community of those led by the Brotherhood. If you do not merely want to
speak about practising Agni Yoga, but actually apply
it in life, you cannot get round this step.
3. Creation of a
World State
Nicholas Roerich
"Potala"
In order to make the rule of the
initiates a practical reality, our task is:
We shall be creating a World State under a World Government based in
Shambhala.
That is the vision of Agni Yoga! The previous individual states merge
into the new World State. Then, the heads of state will become mere district
governors who are appointed and led by the Mahatmas.
Help to build My Country! (Leaves of Morya’s
Garden II, 231, 266 [269])
"A gigantic project!"
Indeed! But there is no other way. Only like this can we establish the Cosmic Order
everywhere on earth, ensure the
rule of truth, justice, beauty and love and worldwide
eradicate violence and war, need and misery.
*****
"Why don’t we give the coming World State a name?"
Yes of course. How should we call a place where people are living
together in accordance with the Higher Will, where the word of God is not only
heard but actually carried out?
"A sanctuary!"
How do we name a place where people are dwelling in harmony with the
Cosmic Order in purity, calm, peace, beauty and
solemnity?
"A temple!"
Yes! Therefore, let us call the World State of the future, universally
understandable, based on a term coined by Mahatma Hilarion (see also Heart
339):
Federation Temple of Humanity.
Which, in German at least, can be understood both as “Temple of Mankind”
and as “Temple of Humaneness”. Thereby we express:
We want to turn the earth into a sanctuary.
Not only your body is a "Pharaoh", a "House of God".
It is actually the destiny of the earth as a whole to
become a temple!
You know the great symbol of driving the moneychangers out of the
Temple; but is not Earth itself a Temple? (Fiery World I, 83)
The term "Federation" expresses: The new World State is a
union of many smaller and larger communities and institutions, which is open
for others to join.
4. The Path
We are not dreaming! We continue our path towards a better future!
"How can we small, insignificant men in our grey everyday life
contribute to the creation of this World State?"
This is easier than you think. The territory of the Federation Temple of
Humanity is for the time being limited to Shambhala. We have got to expand it
step by step.
We must gradually conquer the world, that is, bring it under the
rule of the Mahatmas.
All we have to do is to perform two very simple
acts:
1. Each and every one of you becomes a citizen
of the new World State
2. Each and every one of you declares his home
to be part of the national territory of the State Temple of Humanity
From now on, your place of residence and work is an exclave that is
governed from Shambhala: an area in the middle of a foreign state, far away from home
and without physical connection to the seat of government.
"That sounds incredible!?"
It is not that unusual though. There are many such exclaves: Gibraltar
is ruled from London, Hawaii from Washington and
Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) from Moscow.
"So what shall I do?"
At least in your home you establish the Cosmic Order. At least here the
principles, laws, customs and traditions of the
Shambhala apply. At least here, the Mahatmas rule.
In this way, the ideal of the Temple of Humanity becomes a materially
embodied reality in the place where you are living and working.
When over time more and more individuals, then communities and
institutions and later entire villages, landscapes and states join the
Federation Temple of Humanity, the World State will arise quite naturally and
without coercion by itself.
*****
Now, we have already successfully completed the first step of our common
path:
We have exactly defined our goal: It is a World State led by the Mahatmas of
Shambhala called "Temple of Humanity". And we clearly see the path
that leads to this lofty ideal.
Each of you is in possession of a roadmap, a plan to get you on your
way.
Now let us discuss the details: What does the new World State look like?
What can and must each individual and what a community do to make it a reality?
Section II: The Federation Temple of Humanity
The Temple of Humanity is a new civilization, a higher culture that
arises wherever people choose to become members of this Federation. This idea
can be implemented at any time, at any place, and under any external
conditions.
Just as the Jewish culture has always flourished and continues to
flourish wherever Jews are living, in various countries all over the world.
1. Example: The
British Empire
We are founding an empire which is governed by the ruler of Shambhala.
That means:
Anyone who wants to join us, wherever he lives, must become a subject of
this great king.
*****
"How are the Mahatmas of the Brotherhood supposed to rule us when
they are so distant, physically not appearing, and we have never seen
them?"
Let us look at an example:
At the height of the British Empire, the King of England ruled over all
of Canada, large parts of today's USA, all of India, Australia and New Zealand
as well as large parts of Africa and the Middle East. The
vast majority of these overseas subjects have never been to England and
never met their ruler. Nevertheless, they were citizens of an empire and ruled
from London. Even in the smallest settlement in the Wild West, in the last
village in South Africa, in India or in the outback of Australia, English law
and British customs and habits prevailed. The king ruled through his viceroys,
these through their provincial governors, and so on down to the last mayor.
Queen Victoria was loved and adored even by those who had never seen her. (Lord Curzon, Queen Victoria)
In exactly the same sense, you too can regard
yourself as a citizen of the Kingdom of Shambhala and submit to the World
Government led by the Mahatmas. You know they exist. You do not have to see or
to speak to them. Through the books of Agni Yoga and through their authorized
representatives, their spirit can rule even
in the remotest corner of this earth.
2. Code of the
World State: The Agni Yoga
A government governs above all by making laws. Its rule is achieved by
the citizens obeying these laws.
“Are there such norms? Has the Brotherhood enacted a code of law? "
Yes!
The orders of the International World Government are laid down in the
books of Agni Yoga.
Agni Yoga forms the basic law, the constitution of the New State we wish
to create. These higher laws, as they rule in Shambhala, as of now also apply
to you if you want to be a citizen of the Federation Temple of Humanity.
If you are satisfied to evolve with the masses, well and good; if you
would pass beyond the masses, you must be subject to higher laws than those
which govern material substance. (Teachings of the Temple Vol I, Lesson 21
“Prayer”)
As for the Jews the Torah, for the Muslims the Koran, for the Christians
the Bible, for the Hindus the Bhagavad Gita and for the Buddhists Buddha's
testament, so for the New Man the Agni Yoga is the set of rules which govern
both his private and his public life.
*****
Our goal, the rule of the Mahatmas on earth, will become reality when we
who are gathered together here, and with us more and
more other people, begin to live according to the rules and customs proclaimed
by the Brotherhood. The occult law is:
Somebody has to start the New Construction
somewhere. Then the world of the future will arise over time by itself.
Because others will inevitably join us when they see from our living
example: The New World in which we are living is better than the old one in
which they are stuck.
3. Government of
the World State: Earthly Hierarchy
A government does not rule by laws alone. It also needs an executive
force: State officials who ensure that the laws are actually observed
and implemented locally on all levels.
Laws cannot regulate every conceivable individual case of daily life.
Nor can the Mahatmas themselves watch over and decide about the treatment of
the last school or kindergarten child, nor can they give specific instructions
for it.
"How then can the Mahatmas rule us?"
In order to create the World
State Temple of Humanity, we have to establish an earthly Hierarchy.
This Hierarchy, beginning at
the very top with the World Government in Shambhala, extends down to all large
and small human communities and institutions: States, regions, cities,
villages, administrative authorities, courts, commercial enterprises, churches,
kindergartens, schools, universities, families, and so on. Only in this way can
we make sure that the Cosmic Order rules everywhere on earth and that the
Higher Will is passed on from the very top and actually
carried out at the very bottom.
Everywhere, at all levels we
ask:
How would the World Government
act? How would Mahatma M. decide?
Everywhere we are thinking and
acting in His Spirit. This is how we actually make
possible the government of the earth by the Brotherhood of Shambhala. We had
already discussed this concept in the Broadcasting "The Hierarchy".
*****
In order to achieve this, we
need to educate and train suitable leaders - Hierarchs! -, who are able to recognize, to convey and to enforce the will of
the Mahatmas in their area of responsibility. Furthermore, we have to awaken people's willingness to submit to these
Hierarchs. We shall talk about that in a moment.
*****
The Mahatmas of course demand obedience, otherwise a government cannot
govern. But they also grant protection and help to those who submit to them.
A true government provides guidance, protection, and assistance.
This of course also applies to the Brotherhood. We have decided to
entrust ourselves to their leadership. In return they give us their support.
Then the higher powers are behind us, stand by our side. You can rely on it: If
they perceive that a future-oriented construction is being started here, they
will certainly see to it that interested parties and suitable co-workers will
find us.
If the world's greatest need – a higher type of humanity – is perceived
by the present human race and the evidence of the existence of such a type is
procurable, it stands to reason that those who have any interest in the
evolution of the present race will lose no opportunity for securing the proof.
They will follow up any and all methods which would
naturally lead to placing at least a few, prepared pupils under the direction
and instruction of those who constitute that typical grouping. (Teachings of
the Temple Vol. II, Lessons “Unity – spiritual and material” and “The World’s
Struggle”)
SECOND CHAPTER: THE PATH
OF THE INDIVIDUAL
Let us now inquire what each individual little man can and must do to
build the world of the future.
Section I: Establishing a Stronghold of the New World
The New Construction begins in the personal sphere, at home and at your
workplace.
1. New Construction
along the Personal Channel
"Aren't politicians responsible for building a better world?"
No! Certainly it is not a parliamentary
resolution or a presidential decree that will bring about the world of the
future! It is not to be expected that such a step will be ordered from above. Obviously our politicians, business leaders and church
dignitaries are neither willing nor able nor do they have the knowledge to
create the New World. Agni Yoga teaches:
There is only one way to build the New World: Starting from the bottom,
along the personal channel.
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)
We are a grass roots movement. We have to start
the New Construction from the very bottom, each where he is, separately and
individually, all by himself.
Hermann Hesse's novel “The Glass Bead Game” beautifully depicts how, in the midst of a materialistic society, the first seeds of
a new, spiritual culture blossom slowly and with great effort. This is also our
path.
The New World begins in the personal sphere of each
individual.
That means: In your home and at your workplace. From there, from below,
from house to house, the Cosmic Order will spread naturally with time over the
whole earth.
Every single person can and must contribute his stone to save the world!
A great many people prefer not to realize that they can take part in
world construction. Let them carry stones for the Invisible Temple. (Fiery
World I, 492)
You recognize the opportunity,
but also the responsibility:
It is you who causes the world to change!
As a next step, several such isolated supporters of the Temple of
Humanity will come together to form small communities. From such core groups
which others can join, the New Construction will emerge over time.
2. Transformation
into an immortal Being of Spirit
Nicholas Roerich
"Higher than Mountains"
We take it for granted that you have watched the Broadcastings of the
Series “Experiment Immortality” and already made some good progress on the path
of transforming into immortal beings of spirits. After all, we had already said
several times:
Only New Men can create the New World.
With the old, mortal, materially and egotistically minded people, there
is no state to be made, certainly not the world of the future.
The New World is a community of beings of spirit. (Nicholas Roerich "Zwenigorod")
Whoever wants to belong to us has to become an immortal. If you want to help building the
New World, you must first of all become a New Man
yourself! The first and inevitable step before you can think about changing the
world is: Cchange yourself!
You yourself must be the change you wish to see
in the world. (Gandhi)
A new banner requires new people. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 375 [440])
*****
We are now coming to a very
important step of cognition: The New World consists of two components:
Firstly, it has a social
aspect: The 7 principles of truth, justice, beauty and love, selflessness,
service to the common good and hierarchy that regulate our living together.
Second, the New World also has
a personal aspect. The best system cannot make the earth a sanctuary if the
people who inhabit it are aggressive, selfish, greedy, violent, irritable,
enslaved by base passions or haunted by doubts.
The New World, the next
evolutionary stage that we are talking about, is the home of the coming 6th
race. That means, of the New Man who has already developed his Eternal
Individuality, his Fiery Body to a certain extent; who
practises the exercise "Fiery Condition" and learns to keep his soul
in a state of high vibration in all, even the most terrible conditions.
Only when such people come
together, they can create around them an atmosphere of high vibration, such as
that prevailing in a temple: A world of calm, peace, joy
and solemnity - a paradise.
*****
We gain a surprising insight:
We save the world by climbing
the next level of evolution!
If you become the New,
immortal spirit Man of the sixth race, keep growing, overcome your egotism,
this greatest obstacle to the well-being of the earth, and develop the
spiritual potential hidden within you more and more - then at the same time you
are saving the world!
It is not only true: only the
New Man can create a New, better World. The reverse also applies:
As soon as the New Man
appears, the New World begins. (Nicholas Roerich
"Lama")
The reason for this is:
Today's humanity, like the dinosaurs, the Indians or
the Aborigines, is stuck in a dead end. With our outdated thinking and old
methods, we are simply unable to progress. We therefore threaten to be
eliminated from evolution or at least to lose touch with the development hurrying
forward, which in the long term will also end in doom.
What is the way out of a dead
end? There is only one: striving upwards! Advance to the next level!
The earthly world is like an
impasse—either ascent or destruction. (Fiery World I, 157)
“Paradise on earth, reign of
the Mahatmas, Temple of Humanity – well and good. These are dreams, impossible
to realize in today’s world. And anyway: I am a small man. I have no power and
no influence. I cannot contribute anything to the realization of this ideal. I
am up to my neck in the worries that my normal everyday life with family and
work gives me. I can't look after saving the world in addition to all
that!"
Your objection is
understandable - but not justified!
We have once again reached a
crucial point and come to a further step of cognition of the utmost importance:
If the whole earth is to become a sanctuary, that means concretely:
Every single place between
North Pole and South Pole, between Rome and Tokyo must become a temple! The
Confederation Temple of Humanity is made of many individual small temples!
Therefore, we require the
cooperation precisely of every single human being, right into the last corner
of the earth - no matter how big or small, powerful or
weak, influential or (apparently) meaningless he is!
Think every day about the
tasks that the New World poses. Strive to the New World as if it were something
standing right on the other side of the door. Nobody should just leave it to
others to take care of the New World, since every one of us has
to grasp what it means. (Heart 132)
Until every single person on
this earth has become a citizen of the World State and lives in a temple, our
project is not yet fully realized.
Now we understand why Agni
Yoga insists again and again: Do not withdraw from life! Do not go to the Himalayas!
Do not leave the usual sphere of life in which Karma has placed you!
Everyone must learn to build
the temple of the New World in his place!
Otherwise the world of the
future cannot become a reality.
4. Become Points of
Light!
To members of a higher civilization approaching in a spaceship, our
earth shows a dreadful sight: Egotism, strife and violence predominate. We
urgently need to present ourselves better to Cosmos!
Seen from space, the map of the world of the future is still white and
empty. Hardly any places can be entered in it yet. With your temple, a first
point of light appears on this map. When other people follow, a network of
points of light emerges over time: the earth becomes strewn with sanctuaries,
and the Temple of Humanity arises by itself.
Become a point of light!
Every single point of light is a stone for the construction of the
Temple of Humanity. It attracts attention. The Mahatmas will recognize your
efforts and send their help.
Like the light in the sombre valley seen by the mountaineer from his
peaks, every bright thought in your mind, my Brother,
will sparkle and attract the attention of your distant friend. Thus we discover our natural allies in the Shadow-world, and
it is our law to approach every such an one if even there be but the feeblest
glimmer of the true 'Tathagata' [Buddha] light within him. (Mahatma Letter No.
45 of February 1882).
Other people perceive like a lighthouse the wonderful world emerging
around you and will follow the path that you are showing them.
But also the dark forces will not fail to
notice the delicate little plant of the New Construction and will try
everything in their might to nip it in the bud. Therefore, be prepared for
attacks!
5. The Path of the
Inner Temple
Monopteros,
English Garden, Munich
"Should I now proceed as a craftsman and build a temple out of
bricks and marble columns?"
No of course not. When we say: Every place in the world shall become a
temple, that means: Everything, from the hut to the palace, has
to be transformed. But that is not achieved by physically demolishing the
buildings and rebuilding them. That is of no use. We have to
do something completely different:
The spirit of the New World, namely the Cosmic Order, must move into
every house – how ever it is built outwardly.
The temple is in spirit. (Heart 80)
The creation of the world of the future is a spiritual, an internal
process.
Living in the New World, in a sanctuary, is a state of the
consciousness!
The New World is born everywhere, but beyond boundaries and conditions.
The old world and the New World are distinguished through consciousness, not by
outer evidence. Age and circumstance bear no importance.
(Agni Yoga 55)
You establish your Inner Sanctuary wherever you live. We already talked
about this concept in the Broadcasting “The Path of the Inner Temple”. This is
the next indispensable basis of our great project: If you are unable to build
and fill with life the temple of the New World within you yourself, you
certainly will not succeed to erect it on the material level either.
Establishing the temple in the
heart is the first step in creating the New World.
Of course, in the material
world you will fail over and over again. Every day you
do what you can. More is not required. The main thing is: You must never give
up the foundation on which you stand: the sanctuary in your heart!
The New World is within you!
There it is to be built and to
be defended. Only if you yourself are constantly living in your Inner Temple
can you take the next step and transform your surroundings into a sanctuary.
You must first put your own life in order before you can proceed to establish a
higher order in the world!
6. Establishment of
a Stronghold of the New World
Banner
"Community of Maitreya"
We now come to the decisive step: Your personal contribution to building
the world of the future is:
You transform your home into a stronghold of the New World.
"How do I have to proceed practically?"
You join our movement and enlist as another confederate in the
Federation Temple of Humanity.
This is how you become part of the Great Plan! However, with us, there
are no passive, merely supporting members and no non-voting preference shares.
Only those can participate who make an active and practical contribution to the
New Construction. That means:
The world of the future will become a material reality when more and
more individuals set up there where they live a settlement, an outpost of the
Federation Temple of Humanity.
The Temple of Humanity, the Kingdom of Shambhala, is for the time being
an ideal which for the most part exists on the Subtle Plane only. Like
everything subtle, like every idea, it strives to be embodied on earth as a
material reality.
The Kingdom of Shambhala
remains unfinished as long as its lowest, the physical
level is not fully established, as long as it does not have a broad material
base.
You cause Shambhala to become
a material reality at least in one place in the world: in your home.
Do you realize at all what a
gigantic task that is? Your house becomes a place where, as in Shambhala, the
conditions of all three worlds prevail. You realize the unity of the worlds and
thus Heaven on earth in your home!
Shambhala is the indispensable site where the spiritual world unites
with the material one. In the Mountain Dwelling, the gates to the spiritual
world are open.
But to work there where the spirit has descended into matter, the conditions of
both planes must be met. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden
II, 88, 91)
The plan of Agni Yoga is:
There where you are living and working, you establish your own Higher
World.
Each spirit creates his own world, and the beauty or ugliness of the
created world depends upon the quality of consciousness. (Infinity II, 719
[319])
This is the beginning of a New Era, the world of the future - even if
initially only with you and a few others!
*****
“How do I set up such a stronghold? I have written “Little Shambhala” on
my door sign. How do I fill this ideal with life?"
You submit to the rule of the Brotherhood of Shambhala.
You become a citizen of Shambhala, of the Federation Temple of Humanity.
The world of the future gains a new citizen. You are sworn in on the
constitution and promise to abide by the laws of the state to which you belong
from now on.
You change your citizenship - at least in spirit. Your loyalty to your
former state, people, nation and family largely ends.
It now relates first and foremost to the Mahatmas.
Once children of many races, now men of one race – the race of the
Universal Brotherhood; once subjects to many kings, citizens of many countries,
now subjects of One King; citizens of one country – the Kingly Hierophant and
the country of the Great White Lodge. (From the Mountain Top II, Lesson “Many
in One”)
Your home becomes a part of the national territory of Shambhala, of the
Federation Temple of Humanity.
From now on it will be ruled from Shambhala. Here reigns as the highest
head of government Mahatma M.
By your accession, the territory of the World State of the future is
expanded!
"What exactly should I do?"
You introduce at your home the 7 principles of the New World: Truth,
justice, beauty and love, selflessness, service to the common good and
hierarchy.
These few, dry words are in reality the program
for a peaceful revolution! You overcome the terrible relativism which prevails
everywhere today: Which knows nothing for sure, does not firmly believe in
anything, drags everything down into the mud and for which nothing is sacred;
which claims that there are as many truths and justices as there are people;
which no longer dares to make any distinction and presents even the ugliest
fabrications as art.
In your house, there is only
one truth and only one justice, and you enforce them. In your place you fight
for beauty and harmony (see the Broadcastings “Expansion of Consciousness” and
“The New World: Administration of Justice, Property Ownership, Art, etc.”),
that is, for conformity with the Cosmic Order.
*****
We want to form communities
that submit to the World Government of the Brotherhood. If you wish to take
part and apply for admission, you must first prove that you alone can live
according to the commandments of the Mahatmas! If you do not even manage to
achieve that in your own private
rooms, you will certainly not succeed under the much more difficult conditions
of a larger group of people, let alone of the world community.
Your home is a place of purity and solemnity in the
midst of a depraved world. (Nicholas
Roerich "Holy City")
At least here, if nowhere
else, the Cosmic Order, the law of the Hierarchy, the Higher, Divine Will
reigns.
You do not admit anything
unclean. You do not allow anything low, such as quarrel and desires, egotism,
irritability, coarse or ugly thoughts, words or deeds.
As in Heaven, so on earth:
That what is not allowed in Heaven (for example alcohol) is not allowed with
you either. That what applies in Heaven applies at your place as well.
*****
Every visitor who enters your realm must adapt to the customs that are
in force here. As the English say so nicely:
My home is my castle.
Thereby they express: At least in your private sphere you are the
unrestricted ruler. Here, nobody else but you has
to decide. In this realm you are
the king and enforce the rules and customs of Shambhala. You watch over
compliance with the higher laws and do not tolerate any deviations. You do not
allow your sanctuary to be desecrated by unworthy behaviour.
In your house you are the representative of the Hierarchy who is responsible
for the observance of the Cosmic Order.
*****
In earlier, better days, there were many strongholds of the Brotherhood
scattered all over the world, including in India, Egypt, Russia, England,
France, Italy and Germany. When the situation
deteriorated, the Masters were forced to dissolve all
these ashrams and withdraw the few remaining co-workers to the main bulwark in
the Himalayas.
Many Ashrams were transferred to the Himalayas because the atmosphere of
other locations had become intolerable. The last Egyptian Ashram was
transferred to the Himalayas because of the well-known events in Egypt and the
adjoining regions. At the beginning of Armageddon all the Ashrams had to be gathered together in the Abode in the Himalayas.
(Supermundane 19)
We must gradually reverse this ill-fated development!
To do this, we have to start all over again and
build new settlements in many places. You contribute to this by turning your
home and workplace into an outpost of Shambhala.
“I still don't quite understand: What exactly is changing in my life?
Which laws and customs am I to introduce?"
A crucial question. The order which you establish in your home is shaped
by the 10 Pillars of the Practice of Agni Yoga, namely above all by
selflessness, service to the common good and integration into the Hierarchy. We
shall go into more details later in this Broadcasting.
Practical Tip
Nicholas Roerich
"Brahmaputra"
Every morning you pronounce seven times the words "Morya
Maitreya" (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 332
[388]), as a sign of your submission to the rule of the Mahatmas
You raise the banner of the Federation every morning. Yes, really, I am
serious: Roll it up in the evening, unfold it in the morning and put it on your
desk or hang it on the wall. (Banner
"Community of Maitreya")
You put a picture with the portrait of Mahatma Morya in a prominent
position, just as a photograph of the head of state hangs in every government
office around the world. There can be no unworthy behaviour under His image, before His face.
Living and working under the picture, in the presence and in the spirit
of the Brotherhood is the foundation of the New World!
Section II: Your Daily Program of Work
“That is still too general and too abstract for me. I have internalized
the earlier Broadcastings. I have made progress with the exercises of
transforming into a being of spirit and living in my Inner Temple. What
concrete and practical should I do now to set up a New World base here with me?
"
Well, here we are at the heart of this Broadcasting: Let us go through
the work program of the individual who wants to build the New World in his
place.
We repeat: What is our goal?
We want to build a world that is a temple. In which the Cosmic Order,
the 7 principles of the New World (truth, justice, beauty and love,
selflessness, service to the common good and hierarchy) actually
apply, and in which beings of high vibration create around them an
atmosphere of calm, peace, joy and solemnity.
Your great, wonderful task, the first, indispensable step towards this
paradise is:
Create such a world at your home and at work!
"How should I start?"
1. Meditation Room
Your work on creating Heaven on earth begins at home: First you make the
room in which you live a sanctuary. We already discussed how to do this in the
Broadcasting “The Path of the Inner Temple”.
You create through meditation
within yourself and then through your radiance in your room a solemn
atmosphere, and thus a sacred place is being produced.
*****
You have to drive the enemies of the New World,
namely low vibrations such as selfishness, envy, greed, irritation, rudeness,
wrath, anger, hatred, indolence, doubt, fear and dejection from your own heart
before you can think about eradicating them on the material plane. You must
keep your own vibration high; only thereby can you elevate your surroundings.
It is not a child’s play and no trifle, but a gigantic achievement when
the New World becomes a reality in your meditation room!
Thereby, you are doing a great service to humanity! This is the
beginning of a New Time!
Practical Tip
Do not forget: The New World
does not appear physically in your room! You do not tear down your house and
build a new one for it. Externally, the room in which you are living and
working remains almost unchanged!
You build the world of the
future by filling this room with a new spirit.
The New World is a superstructure, a spiritual order, a Subtle Reality
that is being erected over your whereabouts.
Like the state Federal Republic over the part of the globe called
"Germany".
You vault the Cosmic Order, the way of life of Shambhala over your place
of residence. You are building a spiritual reality that rises above the
material plane.
When you have created this spiritual paradise around you in the morning
meditation, you can take it with you wherever you go. We remember Yogananda:
Practise meditation, and you will find that you are carrying within your
heart a portable paradise.
This is how you bring the realm of the future into the world. Anyone who
visits you enters your sanctuary anyway. When you visit someone else, you
carry it with you. Thus, the temple in the heart is the basis for the temple in
your room, and this in turn is the basis for the world temple.
*****
Your main task is to defend
this spiritual reality, this thought structure during the day in the storms of
earthly life.
A stone house will last for
centuries once you have built it. The fragile spiritual order of the New World,
on the other hand, you must rebuild every single morning and maintain in the course of the worldly day.
From now on, most important of
all is: You actually are a New Man and you actually
live in Heaven.
Not until this Subtle Reality
is established do you take care of your tasks on the material level.
Your work on the spiritual
plane is paramount, that in the material world is subordinate.
2. Family
It will be more difficult to expand the New World to the whole apartment
in which you live with your family, partner and
children. Do not give yourself to illusions: this is a gigantic challenge, a
tough fight.
“My family does not share my ideal at all. They don't want to know
anything about Agni Yoga, the Mahatmas and the creation of a New World. "
Yes, it is indeed a general experience: A spiritually minded person
usually finds no understanding, no response and no
following among his own family. You must not close your eyes to the sad
realization: Often the strangeness, chaos, the evil world begins in your own
house, right behind the door of your meditation room.
It can often be observed that as one member of a family strives for
enlightenment, the other members will aggressively mock his aspirations.
Indeed, this one member needs all his courage to oppose the rude attacks of the
others. It rarely happens that an entire family strives toward the Light in a
united effort against darkness. (Supermundane 266)
Now you should not behave like a missionary. It is a wasted effort to
try to convert unwilling ones. Rather, proceed practically in two steps:
First step: Prevent by your mere presence, your radiation, your authority, your
spiritual help, that low vibrations, ugly thoughts, feelings, words or deeds come up in your family; that selfishness,
envy, greed, dejection, insult, hurt, irritation, doubt, quarrel or
aggressiveness arise which desecrate the sanctuary.
After driving these enemies of the New World out of yourself, you now
set about driving them out of your home, like Jesus the merchants from the
temple. (El Greco
"Christ driving the Traders from the Temple")
Instead, bring about high vibrations, elevating, uplifting, helpful and
useful thoughts, feelings, words and deeds which
promote the ideal of Shambhala. Expand your Inner Temple! Fight against screaming, emotions and quarreling, encourage self-control, the rule of the spirit.
Create the dignified and solemn atmosphere of a temple in your home!
May all family members help one another to keep the vibration of the
individual high and to raise it again immediately in the event of a crash.
In truth, this is not aloof or esoteric, on the contrary: Isn’t it the
dream of every family to create an oasis of purity, peace, tranquillity, joy, harmony and love in the middle of the storms of the world?!
A thorough purification of the atmosphere of the whole earth is
necessary. Agni Yoga speaks of "cleaning space". This has to start in the personal sphere of every single human
being.
Second step: Vault the superstructure of the laws and customs of Shambhala over your
entire family so that your home becomes part of the national territory of the
Federation Temple of Humanity.
Work together with your partner and your children to realize the 7
Principles of the New World (truth, justice, beauty and love, selflessness,
service to the common good and hierarchy)! At least in your home, overcome
hardship, suffering, egotism, war, poverty and unemployment.
Even the children can and must make their contribution, especially to
the work necessary in this small community. With your example, teach them to
stand up for the principles of the Higher World.
Man must develop within himself a persistent striving toward the Highest
and practise it in the smallest examples of daily life. (Supermundane 431)
*****
The family is the nucleus, the laboratory of the community of the
future.
In all Teachings the family is decreed to be a pillar of the entire
future. The family should be regarded as the hearth of awareness and
cooperation. (Heart 549)
In the family, everything can and must be tried out, practised
and realized which later is to become reality in the world community!
How do you want to live with your family in an Agni Yoga village or
state one day when you are not even able to keep the customs and rules that
apply there among yourselves?
The true family is the prototype of communal life. It can personify
cooperation and Hierarchy and all the conditions of Brotherhood. But such
families are extremely rare. It is impossible to think about building the state
without building the home. What conception of Brotherhood can the people have
who do not understand the dignity of state and home? No specific decree can
restore the feeling of dignity if it has been obliterated. (Brotherhood 57)
The main responsibility of the family is, of course, to raise our
children to become New Men. We shall talk more about this task later in this
Broadcasting
*****
The family is a huge training ground for you future builders of Higher
Worlds! Here you can practise, under all circumstances, in
the midst of all the unreasonableness and emotions, to preserve
unshakable calm and serenity, to maintain the Fiery State of the highest
vibration and to enforce the 7 Principles of the New World.
Just think of Socrates and his proverbial quarrelsome wife Xanthippe: It
was certainly not a coincidence, but rather karmically determined that one of
the greatest spiritual teachers of mankind had to undergo in his home such an
examination and above all teaching.
Practical Tip
Solve the normal everyday problems in the spirit of the New World. For
this, you do not even have to use the words Agni Yoga, Mahatmas, or next
evolutionary stage. Based on your ideal, you lovingly make practical
suggestions for improving life.
With your knowledge and your position as a being of spirit, may you be
like a big brother who helps his little siblings. (Titian "Tobias and the Angel")
3. Place of Work
Georges de La
Tour "Saint Joseph as a carpenter"
You continue to move forward by turning your workplace into a sanctuary,
a branch of Shambhala. That also is a gigantic challenge!
Let us first assume: You are self-employed, for example as a craftsman,
retailer, lawyer, farmer, architect or in a medical profession. Then it is up
to you to organize your business in such a way that the principles of the
Temple of Humanity apply, which we will discuss in more detail later: Selfless
professional work on an ethical basis without exploitation of nature or fellow
human beings, not for personal enrichment, but as a service to the common good.
You are realizing a dream: your work is now divine service!
In your work room there is a picture of Buddha, Jesus or one of the
Mahatmas on the wall or on your desk. Thereby you explain to those who come to
seek your help: I am selflessly serving the common good in the name of the
Hierarchy.
Let these co-workers be assured that an invisible thread is stretched
from their worktable to Us. We shall help them invisibly. (Supermundane 27)
That is not easy in a materialistic environment. With such an attitude,
you will have to do without many orders or customers.
*****
“I am not self-employed, but employed in a
capitalist company. I am in no position to enforce compliance with the work
ethics of Shambhala."
You have to make a living in the world as it
is. There, too, you can do a lot: First of all, you
must be careful not to take part in criminal practices.
Then, just like in your family, you can fight the enemies of the New
World in your work environment, namely low vibrations such as selfishness,
envy, greed, irritation, rudeness, wrath, anger, hatred, indolence, doubt, fear and dejection, and ensure that that there is calm,
peace, harmony and joy.
You can also vault your virtual sanctuary above your workplace and ban
words and deeds that are not in accordance with the dignity of such a place.
Wherever possible, you can raise the awareness that ethical
business practices will be more
successful in the long run. And in the interest of everyone, you can increase
the quality of the work in small steps, starting at your own workplace. Real
improvements will eventually find the approval of your superiors as well.
Searching for higher quality is already a striving into a better future.
(Supermundane 839)
If you cannot find a way to serve the common good in your job, you can
do voluntary, unsalaried work at the Red Cross, in the church or in one of the
many other charitable institutions.
4. The Meaning of
Everyday Life
"The everyday odds and ends in family and work and the grandeur of
the world of the future – isn't that mutually exclusive?"
No! We are here at one of the key messages of Agni Yoga! You must not
under any circumstances disdain everyday life!
In German, the word for “everyday life” is “Alltag”:
“Cosmos-day”.
People loathe especially the routine of daily life; for them it is the
symbol of weariness and descent, whereas for Us the daily routine is perfectment and ascent; it opens the gates to Infinity. One
can learn to love this daily routine, because it tempers the spirit and gives
one courage. (Hierarchy 176)
We can make a lot of lofty words about the world of the future and the
descent of the ideal of Shambhala to the material level - in the end it all
comes down
to one thing only:
We are to realize the New World in everyday life: in every family and at
every workplace – where else?
If you want to be an Agni Yogi, you have to
start building the New World in your home and in your profession - where else?
Heaven on earth means Heaven in everyday life - where else?
The New Era begins in our everyday life, in our All-tag!
Only then will the movement be permanent and solid.
In the most everyday life are laid the foundations of the world’s
grandeur. (Fiery World II, 97)
May one be able to say about our efforts:
A new epoch in world history is starting here and today, and you may say
you took part. (Goethe on September 20, 1792 in view
of the cannonade of Valmy, the unexpected success of
the troops of the French Revolution)
How do we want to set about building the realm of the future worldwide
if we do not even succeed to achieve this at home?
The great skill is: Let the sublime become reality – and that
particularly in everyday life.
To give just one example: If you cannot manage now, here
and today, at your home, to dispense with alcohol, meat, tobacco and sweets,
with irritation, dejection and envy, you will certainly not be able to do so in
a larger community either. The same is true of all other rules that apply in
Shambhala.
We see again (Broadcasting “The Supermundane World”): The question is
not: Are you going to Heaven? But: Do you already live in Heaven, or are you
driving yourself out of it?
May every hour in family and
profession be filled with work to build the New World!
Instead of retreating to a
monastery, as was suggested to spiritual people in earlier times, you build
your temple at your home and thus sanctify everyday life.
An experiment of worldwide
importance is taking place in your rooms!
Intellectuals experiment with ideas, while monks
experiment with their lives. (Raimondo Panik-kar)
This striving transfigures your whole life, as it gives each moment a
higher meaning!
Earthly man should remember his responsibility in the task of world
construction. (Supermundane 838)
This is the wonderful thing about Agni Yoga: There is nothing abstract.
Only that counts what improves your everyday life.
Everything you think and feel, say and do, even
what
you do not say and do not do,
either builds up the work of art of the New World or tears down the
construction erected with so much effort.
An unworthy desire, even a very slight one, can destroy an already
finished construction. (Heart 207)
5. Rule of the
Spirit
Emperor Augustus
You have to be strong and build up spiritual
power (psychic energy) if you want to enforce your ideals, your idea of a paradise
on this depraved earth.
You must first control
yourself and then the surrounding circumstances.
You have to
feel immediately and take countermeasures if you yourself or the situation
slips out of control.
Both things are related: As
soon as you let yourself go, as soon as you are no longer under the rule of the
spirit, if only for a moment, you lose your spiritual power and are unable to
establish the rule of the spirit in your surroundings either. We see again:
Power over circumstances flows from power over yourself.
If you do not master yourself, you cannot master the situation either.
6. The Desert
Princess
You may regard yourself as a missionary, a development worker or a being from a Higher World, from a more spiritual
sphere, who is establishing a centre of a higher culture among uncivilized
barbarians.
"Can you give an example from daily life?"
In 1870 the French lady Aurélie Picard met an
Arab prince, married him and followed him to his
homeland, the Sahara. There she encounters primitive conditions and cannot help
but introduce her French civilization: the house is thoroughly cleaned, sand
and vermin are removed; the family eats no longer on the floor with their
fingers, but at the table with knife and fork. The desert princess ensures that
in the village no more rubbish is being dumped onto the streets. She heals the
sick and sets up a school for the children. Around the newly built Kourdane Palace, Mrs. Picard makes the desert arable and
transforms it into a blooming garden. The bestseller “The Desert Princess” by
Roger Frison-Roche (title of the French original:
“Djebel Amour”) tells about her adventurous life
there.
You should look at your work in a
similar way: Practically oriented towards improving, embellishing
and elevating everyday life.
You are a Creator, a Builder of New Worlds! What can there be greater?
Section III: Your Relationship with the Environment
“I am not alone on this earth. What is the relationship between my
temple and my surroundings?"
1. Your Home: An
Outpost of the Temple of Humanity
We are pioneers building a New Land in the wilderness.
You live in the diaspora. Your home is an outpost and stronghold of a
higher civilization in the midst of a hostile
environment, similar to the forts of the white settlers on the land of the
Indians.
Your home and your place of work are part of the world of the future.
The people who come to you must feel:
Here is the New World!
They enter your temple and should leave it elevated.
How, then, does a Hierarch create on Earth? By uplifting all the
surroundings. (Agni Yoga 663)
Missioning is not the path of Agni Yoga. We do not stand screaming on
the market square, praising the high wisdom like sour beer.
One cannot view without contempt the selling of the Teaching in the
bazaar at a discount. Learn to understand that the Teaching, conscious of its
knowledge, will not expose itself in the bazaar. (Community 129)
Better convince your fellow men with your shining example. Show them a
more beautiful, more liveable world in a clearly visible way.
May your temple be a “monastery for the salvation of the world”: a
magnet, the centre of a movement that others can join.
Most of the people are not bad and well aware
that things cannot go on as before. They are full of the best intentions and
looking for opportunities to participate in a New Construction,
but cannot find them.
At the gates of the New World the crowds gather, yet they do not
perceive the access. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 237
[271]
Many pure spirits are ready to join in conscious labour, but they seek for the right approach. (Fiery World I, 489)
2. Fight
Nicholas Roerich
"Holy City"
However, your relationship to your environment must also be described
with the word “fight”.
Right outside your door begins the jungle, hell, the realm of the
monsters which try to flood your world and to tear it into the abyss. (Nicholas Roerich "Holy City")
Around your temple need and suffering prevail, the primitive conditions
of a backward civilization. Your national territory with its higher culture
must stand firmly and securely like an island of the blessed, like a lighthouse
in the dark, and give people hope.
As the Indians the forts of the white men, the surrounding chaos regards
your sanctuary as an enemy, which it wants to destroy, absorb
or tear down to its level. You must be prepared to face constant attacks and to defend your fortress by all means. You absolutely have got to preserve
the purity of the place and your personal dignity.
The New Construction can begin nowhere else but at the very lowest
level. We are building our temple in the middle of the deepest swamp, in the
hell of the terrible hostile to the spirit worldly conditions.
3. Elevation of the
Environment
Nicholas Roerich
"From Beyond"
When you leave your temple and go into the world, you are like a king
who climbs down from his castle into the village, among the people, to his
children, in order to clear the chaos prevailing there
and to restore order (truth, justice, beauty and love).
It is important that this concept does not just remain an abstract idea.
You really have to identify with the figure in
the white robe and act as a representative of a higher culture who descends
into a world of darkness, ignorance and barbarism in order to help and to
improve life there. (Nicholas Roerich
"From Beyond")
Your task is to raise your surroundings (in our example the Indians) as much as possible to the level of the
higher civilization of the New World.
He knows how hard it is, when surrounded by tigers, to rise up and carry others on into the higher spheres. But
this is the labour that must be performed by those who are launching the New
World. Yes, even the very beginning must be tangible. (Heart 292)
“That is still a bit unclear. Are there examples from everyday life?
"
A modern saint is the Japanese Mikao Usui, the
founder of the Reiki healing method. He went to the slums of Kyoto to donate
Reiki, that is, spiritual energy (in the language of Agni Yoga: psychic
energy). In this way he restored to the poor and the sick their vitality and
joy of being, which also improved their physical and spiritual condition.
Likewise, you too may pass on your own fieriness to other people
(whereby you spread the New, immortal Man). Likewise, through your own high
vibration, you can raise the vibration of your surroundings (whereby you spread
the New World). As we said in the Broadcasting “Exercise The
Fiery Condition”, this is the heroic deed of an Agni Yogi, which he performs on
each day of his normal everyday life.
Unlike Mikao Usui, you do not even have to go
looking for people in distress. The moment you leave your meditation room in a
fiery state of high vibration, you are already descending into a world full of
hardship, misery and suffering. In no time, you will
inevitably meet in your family, at your workplace or anywhere else in
your environment low-vibrating fellow men in urgent need to be uplifted.
This is the way for us, nowadays, to imitate in everyday life the great
spiritual warriors of all times and to lead a holy life in the middle of the
world!
Practical Tip:
Highness and Love
Nicholas Roerich
"Brahmaputra"
You must learn to keep a
certain distance from the people and the situation and not to let anyone or
anything get too close to you. Act like a lawyer or a doctor: You yourself are
not affected by the disputes of your clients or the ailments of your patients,
and you do not allow them to infect you.
You belong to the rulers!
But do not despise anyone!
Smile indulgently at your little brothers and sisters with their primitive
habits! Help them improve their lives! Your motto is:
Highness and Love.
When the savages, to thank you
for your troubles and worries, put stones in your way, annoy, mock, insult,
cheat, slander or humiliate you, or even tie you to the torture stake, you do
not scream and rage, but keep the composure of Jesus on the cross:
Father, forgive them; for they
know not what they do. (Luke 23, 34)
4. Conquest,
Expansion
Saint John of Capistran
That what does not grow and
gets greater is dead.
Like any other living
organism, the Federation Temple of Humanity and your personal temple as well
are geared towards growth.
Our goal is: To bring the
whole world around us under the rule of the Mahatmas - exclusively by peaceful
means, of course, without any kind of physical or psychical coercion. Their
national territory must constantly expand.
Conquering the world for the
Mahatmas: this is the adventure of our time! (Nicholas
Roerich "Tibetan Stronghold")
"That sounds a bit
martial and like colonialism."
No, basically it is about one
thing only:
To win people for the New
World!
Under My Banners will I
assemble new men. Dedicate yourselves to the task of gathering the people and,
with them, erecting My Temple. (Leaves of Morya’s
Garden I, 143 [160])
We want to inspire people to
live according to the same higher laws, manners, customs
and traditions as they exist in Shambhala. Here again, "succession"
is the magic word!
“Isn't that completely
unrealistic? In my multi-storey building are the statutes to be introduced that
apply in the highest earthly sanctuary?"
No! The Mahatmas expressly
urge us to imitate them. This is the only way to create a higher order on
earth!
People can imitate Us, for
each one can apply in life the principles of Brotherhood. Only dark deniers
speak about the absolute inapplicability of Brotherhood on Earth.
(Supermundane 47)
By imitating the basic labours
of the Brotherhood people may become united in useful cooperation. The
Brotherhood is not a myth, and treading in its steps
will be a decisive construction. It is not forbidden to copy anything lofty.
Placing before oneself a lofty task, it is possible to attain no small results.
(Brotherhood 434)
Practical Tip:
Elevate every Room
"Conquering the world,
expanding the national territory of Shambhala - these are again high-flying
ideas that have nothing to do with my everyday life!"
Well, let us start further
below and put it differently: You can transform other rooms in the same way as
you have transformed your own apartment.
You can fill every room you
enter (when visiting acquaintances, friends or
relatives, entering office rooms, government offices, etc.) with the pure,
solemn atmosphere of your sanctuary. Thereby you take possession of it for
Shambhala. Thereby you expand the national territory of the Temple of Humanity
in daily life. Thereby you realize the goal of making every place a temple.
This is a real conquest!
The external conditions in
foreign places you can influence to a limited extent only. But the subtle
atmosphere or backdrop, the background against which material life takes place,
you can shape considerably everywhere and under all circumstances.
You set up everywhere the
superstructure, the spiritual order of the New World.
Like St. John of Capistrano,
who with his spiritual strength managed to transform an entire military camp
into a sanctuary, as we have already discussed in the Broadcasting “The Path of
the Inner Temple”.
Success depends on the power
of your spirit, which has to assert itself against the
unspiritual influences of other people in the room.
Wherever you appear, you take
over the spiritual guidance, and the New World grows real!
You are a representative of
the Hierarchy and the New World. You know the world of the future and the way
to get there, the others don't.
This certainty, this
self-confidence is based on the fact that you are
already living in the New World. What you can and should pass on is not grey
theory, but your own practical living experience of how to improve life and
raise it to a higher level.
5. Conquer
Institutions
It is of crucial importance
that not only individual rooms become cornerstones of the Temple of Humanity;
we also have to conquer society’s institutions.
What is the real help for Our
Work? Of course, in cooperating to build our institutions. (Agni Yoga 246)
All governmental and other institutions: Authorities, courts, commercial
enterprises, craft businesses, law firms, hospitals, doctor’s practices and
other medical institutions, kindergartens, schools, universities, families and churches can and must become members of the
Federation Temple of Humanity, come under the leadership of a Hierarch and work
in the spirit of the New Age.
THIRD CHAPTER : THE PATH
OF THE COMMUNITY
So far we have talked about the path of the
individual. The key, the magic word for the creation of the New World however is:
"Community". It is not by accident that one of the books of Agni Yoga
bears this title.
The world of the future can
only be imagined as a community of New Men.
Isolated Agni Yogis, left to
their own, cannot establish the world of the future, however many they and
however great their efforts may be. We will conquer the world not as
individuals, but only as a community.
Only in unity is strength. The small, isolated efforts at saving the
planet are very weak. (Fiery World III, 426)
Truth, justice, beauty and love are to rule
among all people, in human society as a whole.
The community stands as the only door to progress. Pushing off from the
old shore, humanity inevitably will reach the indicated, evolutional, upright
cliff of the New World. (Community 265)
Forming Communities
"So how shall we build the world of the future?"
By joining forces with like-minded people, forming communities
and placing them under the rule of the Mahatmas.
We start with small core groups that others can join. Thus
larger communities arise. Soon a village, several cities and finally an entire
country will come under the rule of the Mahatmas. In the end, through natural
development, the world community emerges.
Thus, even in small core groups one can thrust forward the prototype of
world progress. (Fiery World I, 288)
In governmental and social construction one
should have in mind the workings of cosmic laws. Two harmonized auras can
create a New World. (Fiery World III, 66)
A group of twelve, systematically united, truly can master even cosmic
events. It must be understood that the enlarging of such a group can weaken it,
undermining the dynamic of the construction. Therefore
you notice that Our construction consists of small groups. (Agni Yoga 137)
The World State Temple of Humanity is created through merging many
small, medium, larger and largest communities.
Thus, beginning with the seed, the construction of a community can result in the Community of the World. (Infinity II, 683
[283]
One of the most beautiful statements of Agni Yoga is:
Let new communities arise as new springs in the desert. Around each
spring tender grass will become green and the streams from the springs will
eventually flow together in one current. (Community 226)
The picture of an oasis might seem perhaps a little worn out today, but
here it is completely justified:
We need to set up lighthouses, points of light, living, shining examples
of a more spiritual way of life in the midst of the
spiritual desert of today’s time.
Like the Christians in the declining Roman Empire, we are laying the
foundation for a higher culture.
Furthermore, we must create homesteads in which spiritual people, the
first representatives of the coming 6th race, can find refuge.
Section I: Study Evenings and Schools
“How are we going to proceed practically? What are the first
steps?"
1. Study Evenings
Let us start very practically, very simply, very small and from bottom
up: The first, most obvious, most natural and most
necessary step in forming a community is:
We meet once a week to study and discuss the books of Agni Yoga.
This does not require any material means, no rooms other than the
apartment of a participant and no living together.
If these “study evenings” not only theorize, but actually
advance the spiritual development of the individual members, you are
already doing extremely valuable, fruitful work.
The books of Agni Yoga are the basis for all of
our endeavours.
They are still new to all of us. Studying them thoroughly, really
internalizing them and putting their instructions into practice is therefore an
indispensable prerequisite for the New Construction.
*****
You will see: It turns out already here who is suitable to work in a
more ambitious community and who is not. Soon, after just a few weeks, the
wheat separates from the chaff:
There are those who simply do not manage to attend regularly or to show
up on time. There are those who, with their undisciplined nature, bring nothing
but chaos into the group, be it because they lack the necessary seriousness, be
it because their technology never works. Or those who are not interested in
Agni Yoga at all, but wish to present their own
worldview. There are others who are so deeply stuck in their personal problems
that they are not yet mentally free to really focus on Agni Yoga.
*****
When discussing the paragraphs it quickly
transpires who is a spiritual person: Some understand quite well what the
Master wants to tell us, contribute valuable examples to the explanation of a
passage, help other members to understand and give suggestions on how the
Teaching can be put into practice in daily life.
Others, on the other hand, gain no access, neither to the books nor to
the explanations given by the group, do not want to listen, talk too much or
persistently past the matter, ask questions or make
contributions that have nothing to do with the topic, and so on.
*****
Even in such a small group of the very first level it soon becomes
apparent: "where humans are, they are human": sympathies and
antipathies come to light, there is irritation, offence or even aggressiveness.
One of you, observing what is taking place, becomes a self-appointed
overseer and sinks into the pettiest irritation. The fabric of the communion is
torn and an unworthy mending is begun. (Community 125)
Not unlike later in a larger, physical community, we must find a way to
deal with the manifold, inevitable human weaknesses in a dignified and
goal-fitting manner.
When studying the books of Agni Yoga together, not only the individual
learns and develops, but also the community.
*****
Even by the comparatively simple test of “study evenings” it quickly becomes
clear: Who is eligible for secular and spiritual leadership of the group? Who
promises to become a good co-worker and disciple? Who only goes along passively
with the others, and who will even have to be excluded?
*****
According to the law of correspondence, when valuable work is being done
in the group, we can expect to attract like-minded spirits.
Of course, any new construction attracts the consciousnesses most akin
to it. (Agni Yoga 254)
Those who are committed to our work will perhaps be able to inspire
family members or friends to take part in such an evening. This is how the
community grows naturally.
*****
When such a core group is established - but only then! - you may dare to
go public: Offer introductory evenings to Agni Yoga for outsiders! Thereby you
are making a first contribution to anchoring Agni Yoga in society.
However, such a step needs to be carefully considered: The group must
already present a worthy sight. Nothing is more harmful than when newcomers
encounter disagreement, strife, quarrelling or trivial coffee table gossip with
everyday chatter. That turns against not only the group, but also against Agni
Yoga as a whole.
My young friends, again you have been gathered in the name of the
Teaching and again you have had an evening with guests. Whereas, it has been
said and repeated that the hour of discourse about the Teaching must be devoid
of ordinary gossip. Even though this hour may be more infrequent, yet its
quality must be upheld.
We urge you, even if for only an hour, to be consciously responsible
people. If an hour a week is difficult for you, then better meet only every
fortnight. Learn how to exclude at that time all troublesome beastly habits:
smoking, drinking, eating, shallow gossip, the turnover of your small affairs,
censure, anger. Surely for one hour one can dismiss personal ventures.
(Community 125)
You may also place advertising for such an offer.
"Isn't it unworthy to publicly extoll such a high teaching?"
No, not if it is done in an appropriate place and in an adequate,
dignified form. It is not forbidden to draw public attention to a public event.
When Nicholas Roerich organized an exhibition of his paintings, it was of
course also advertised. Failing this you cannot expect people to pour in.
Practical Tip:
Virtual Study Evenings
Of course, it is best to meet in person. However, the disciples do not
necessarily have to live in the same place and come together physically. With
today's technical possibilities, we can hold study evenings across national
borders, beyond the restrictions of time and space, for example via Skype or
Zoom.
Study evenings are the nucleus of the New Construction in all countries
all over the world.
2. Agni Yoga
Schools
Buddha Memorial
Park, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand
Whoever wants to become a member of a community of the New World must
learn, as when converting to Judaism, Christianity or
Islam, as in a Torah or Koran school or in confirmation classes, not only the
worldview of Agni Yoga, but also its customs and practices as well as their
application in daily life.
So let us take another step of paramount importance towards the building
of a community:
Above all else, we need schools that systematically teach both the
theory and the practice of Agni Yoga.
He who wants to participate in the construction of the world of the
future must know a lot: the laws of existence such as karma, rebirth, evolution and hierarchy.
He has to transform into an immortal being of
spirit. For this he needs help from those who have already climbed this level.
Finally, we have to teach him in theory the
rules of living together that Agni Yoga establishes, and train them with him in
practice.
To achieve this, we have to extract from the
thousands of pages of the Agni Yoga books a complete study and exercise
program.
This program must encompass all the knowledge of Agni Yoga and all
aspects of daily practice. Working out something like this is a gigantic
challenge! For this we need teachers, who in addition must be able to convey
this crystallized knowledge to newcomers simply and clearly.
“How can I help? I am not a teacher. I haven't even read all the books
of Agni Yoga yet."
It is important that you realize: Creating a complete and systematic
program of learning and practice is not a matter for one single teacher
alone. The result will be of high quality only if it is not thought out
theoretically but has been tried and tested many times over in practice. Its
suitability is proved only in everyday use. Based on the experiences we all are
making with this program, it must be constantly
revised and refined. You can make a valuable contribution to this by sharing
the experiences you have made.
*****
The Agni Yoga schools are intended for members and outsiders, newcomers,
beginners and advanced learners of all ages.
Establishing them is very important and extremely valuable, regardless of
whether we later actually come to the formation of a physical community or not.
A school like Plato's academy still today exerts an influence on mankind
through its writings, even if the ideal republic devised by Plato has not yet
become a reality on the material level. (Raphael
"The School of Athens")
At all times, in all cultures, religions and world views, schools where higher
knowledge was taught have been
centres for spreading a new, higher civilization - because parents entrusted
their children to them hoping that they would learn a better, superior way of
life there.
The teachers in these schools will be the future leaders of the
community.
Section II: Communities in Spirit
Once our small community has consolidated through study evenings and a
school, we can take the next step. We repeat once more: Our goal is:
We want to establish in one place in the world, for example in a
multigenerational house in the city, on a farm or in an entire village, a
physical Agni Yoga community of men, women and
children, of several families, who submit to the rule of the Mahatmas and form
part of the Federation Temple of Humanity.
This is a great, never
realized project. It requires thorough preparation and extremely careful
implementation in small steps if it is not to fail shortly.
The experiences of Agni Yogis
over the last few decades in various countries all over the world teach: The
time may not be ripe yet to form physical communities. Most of these projects
were only short-lived.
"Why is that so?"
The majority of people is not yet
fit for living in a community. They cannot or do not want to subordinate
themselves selflessly. They are not yet ready to be ruled by the Mahatmas or
their representatives as in ancient Egypt.
A yogi reveres Hierarchy. He
knows that there are many Hierarchs above him. But ordinary man faces a
difficult step in achieving an understanding of Hierarchy. People do not like
such a submission. They are self-opinionated, and in their egoism abandon all
thoughts of Infinity. In refusing to learn to love the beauty of Infinity they
cannot love Hierarchy. (Supermundane 911)
We see again how the New
Construction advances along the personal channel: Before we can think of
establishing physical communities, we must first sift through and train the candidates to such an extent
that they are suitable to become members. Therefore, the next step on our path
is:
We create communities in spirit.
We must strive for the formation of collectives of the spirit. (Fiery
World I, 231)
Or in the terminology of the digital age: of virtual communities. These do
not yet require living together physically, but they prepare for that.
"What is a community in
spirit?"
A true community arises
independently of the external circumstances through the connection of related
consciousnesses.
Life can be transfigured under
any and all conditions. A community of the spirit is
the highest transfiguration of life. Many of the
ignorant do not wish to understand that a community of the spirit does not
depend upon an external form. It is created there where the concept of the
broadening of consciousness is alive. (AUM 167)
The only true unity, unity in spirit and in consciousness becomes
stronger and more powerfully realized. Brotherhood can be realized only in
unity of the consciousnesses. The Teacher works for this unity of consciousness
with the closest disciples, but physical unity is not taken into consideration.
(Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II; letter of 10.09.1938)
We unite in the heart wherever we live.
The heart stands as the Temple of humanity. One cannot conceive of the
unification of humanity by means of the brain or the Kundalini, but the
radiance of the heart can bring together the most seemingly diverse organisms,
and that even over great distances. This experiment of bringing together hearts
over long distances is waiting for workers to carry it out. (Heart 339)
Spiritual communities can form beyond the boundaries of matter, time and space, of countries, states and peoples.
Spiritual cooperation will grow, unlimited by space. (Agni Yoga 273)
Community of the spirit is possible where there exists a living magnet;
then it is possible across all earthly boundaries to closely join each
cooperative or community. When a community lives in the sole service of Truth
there exist no obstacles. (AUM 168)
We need a very broad understanding of the concept of community in order to arrive at a spiritual world community.
One should understand community, not in the narrow sense, but in a very broad one—precisely as cooperation with all humanity, with all worlds, with all that exists. People suffer greatly from lack of a friendly attitude toward each other, therefore, to lock them up in closed communities will only strengthen their alienation from the world community, which contains all humanity and all planes of Be-ness. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 10.09.1938)
1. Community
through a new Spiritual Order
"How does a spiritual community form?"
We already quoted Wittgenstein, who aptly says:
Culture is the rule of a monastic order.
A higher culture, the New World, arises through our living together according to new,
higher rules, in an advanced
order of society.
We immortals get to a higher way of life not because it is prescribed
from above, but because it corresponds better than the old one to the eternity
of our nature. One of the most important quotes of Agni Yoga is:
People are ready to suffer the discomfort of any night-lodging for the
sake of tomorrow’s festival, but they are unwilling to lead an earthly life
which is commensurate with Infinity. (AUM 284)
"What does that mean exactly? How do we get to such a new way of
life? "
Let us give an example:
Imagine the white settlers and trappers in the Wild West setting out to
settle among the Indians in enemy territory.
It will not be much different when a community of Agni Yogis comes
together at the foot of the Altai Mountains to found a
village or even their own state, as Nicholas Roerich tried to do.
How do they proceed? They must
do physical labour on the outer plane: Building houses and a church, temple or ashram as the centre of the community, cultivating
and tilling the land, and so on.
Much more important for the
formation and cohesion of the community however is the spiritual work that all have to do together on the inner level:
You have to
determine the manners and customs according
to which your community of the future wants to live.
Especially today it is essential for people to find agreement regarding
how to live and make their way into the future. (Heart 295)
We certainly want to live differently than the old men in the old world.
Just like the emigrants from Europe wanted to create a New World in
America.
If we want to build the world of the future together, we first have to agree on the new spiritual order that is to rule
there.
Which rules and laws shall apply? Who lays
them down? Who monitors compliance? By what means, if necessary
by force? We need a rhythm of the day for common worship, training, and
service. How do we want to dress? Who runs the community and its institutions?
Who appoints these leaders, and by which procedure?
*****
We have to fix and define all this and much more among
ourselves in such a way that everyone agrees! And that before we start our
journey to the place in prospect and break the first sod there! It is a
tremendous mental achievement, an enormous amount of work that will take many
months to unite the various members with their different levels of
consciousness under one common spiritual roof.
This is how we form a
spiritual community:
1. We are committed to a
common worldview: Agni Yoga
2. We follow the higher
customs, traditions, rules and laws of the Brotherhood
3. We all practise the same
spiritual exercises
4. We work together towards a
common goal: the establishment of a stronghold of the New World
5. and we submit to a common
leader: the Mahatmas of Shambhala.
Whoever subscribes to these 5
principles belongs to us wherever he lives. You will see: A common philosophy,
common customs, common exercises, a common goal and a
common leadership weld us together more firmly and securely than living
together physically in a certain place.
Collaboration takes place on
the plane of unified consciousness, and because such co-workers are
approximately similar in their thinking, the unification forms a true
community. (Supermundane 131)
Spiritual communion is indestructible and distance has no meaning. (Supermundane
141)
These 5 foundations are the
indispensable basis that we must
first firmly anchor before we unite to form a physical community.
2. The 10 Pillars
of the Practice of Agni Yoga
"Now let us get more specific: What are these customs and laws on
the basis of which we are to establish our spiritual community?"
The order that we give our spiritual community is determined by the 10
Pillars of the Practice of Agni Yoga. These are the customs that apply in the
Brotherhood of Shambhala, and if we want our construction to follow this
example, we too must adopt them.
We had already talked about these 10 Pillars in a Series of its own.
Watch it again, if necessary, and make sure that you have not forgotten
anything. Today, we have to limit ourselves to a few
words about what these principles mean for the establishment of a community of
the future:
*****
The first Pillar is a higher
consciousness. The New Man and the New World arise independently of the
external circumstances in the consciousness and must be defended there.
Therefore, a higher consciousness is indeed the indispensable basis of our New
Construction.
We can also put it this way:
If you want to enter a community of the future, you must have previously
learned to maintain the Fiery State of your being under all circumstances (see
the Broadcasting “Exercise Fiery Condition”).
*****
The second Pillar is the
rhythm of the day. It allows us to give each of the 4 spheres of life (connection
with the higher world or meditation, service to the common good, service to the
neighbour and self-perfection) the appropriate room.
Many of you have mocked this
Pillar and said: I do what I want, whenever I want, and do not let myself be
forced into a corset. I want to leave it open whether this attitude is
promising for the individual.
At least in a community,
however, we cannot avoid deciding when we want to do what, if we want to do it
together: We have to agree when to visit the temple,
take our meals, do the necessary work, practise our exercises together, and so
on.
*****
Third, there are the rules
regarding nourishment based on spiritual principles. They are of the utmost
importance. New eating habits form an essential part of the New World.
In the Temple of Humanity, there is of course no alcohol, no meat, no
tobacco, no sweets and no gluttony.
You may be convinced: wherever people eat out of appetite and not
because of necessity, the old world still prevails!
*****
On the fourth Pillar: You do
not seem to particularly like the concept of obedience. Our Broadcastings on
this topic achieve but low viewing figures. However, this tenet is of
fundamental importance for the establishment of the World State of the future.
It is about the paramount principle of Hierarchy, of which we will talk in
detail shortly.
*****
We realize the fifth Pillar,
“Living in two worlds”, by vaulting the spiritual order of the Federation
Temple of Humanity over the material place in which our community exists. Thus,
we live in Heaven already on earth. With us, the conditions of both levels
apply.
*****
In the following we are going
to speak in detail about the sixth Pillar “Selflessness”, the seventh Pillar
“Connection with the Higher World - Meditation”, the eighth Pillar “Service to
the Common Good” and the tenth and last Pillar, “Education or Self-perfection”.
*****
The ninth Pillar, “Service to
the Neighbour”, is realized naturally and as a matter of course in a living
community in which all members help one another.
*****
You can find further rules for communities of the New Age in the
Broadcasting “The Hierarchy” and in the Series “The New World”.
There are also a number of lesser customs: The
people of the future will wear white clothes that do not emphasize the
physical. They renounce the coarse handshake in favour of the Gandhi greeting:
"My immortal soul greets your immortal soul". (Nicholas Roerich "Burning the Darkness" and
"Signs of Christ [Jesus and Morya]". Arnold Böcklin
"Holy Grove")
3. Spiritual
Community as preliminary Stage to physical Community
Before we actually set up a settlement, each
individual should first practise these rules in his Inner Temple. We have to make sure that they are really appropriate and also
practicable. May we gain experiences, share experiences
and help one another to reach the necessary level before we take the big step towards living together physically.
Some will say to you, “We are prepared to understand the Fundamentals of
Brotherhood. We are ready to build up cooperation, but we are surrounded by
such intolerable conditions that it is impossible to manifest greater
readiness.” In truth, there may be conditions that do not permit putting into
practice that for which the heart is ready.
Let us not expose innocent workers to danger; they can apply their
abilities under other conditions. For a time let them construct Brotherhood in
their thoughts. With such construction they can purify the surrounding space,
and such thoughts will be salutary. But let them not fall into conceit,
believing that it is sufficient to build mentally. No, the wayfarer will affirm
the manifestation of achievement by human feet and human hands. (Brotherhood
582)
The natural way is:
First, the community arises as an ideal in spirit – in the Subtle World
–, and only then on the material level.
One may read in ancient Covenants about Heavenly Cities; in fact, they
are being constructed in reality upon different
spheres, and thus a magnetic attraction is created. Can it not be that certain
cities already do exist, and named people live in them? One may walk into the
future as assuredly as if the delineations of the city were before the earthly
eyesight. (Fiery World II, 403)
One can realize only with difficulty how greatly needed for the earthly
plane is subtle construction. But many structures of the Subtle World are, as
it were, actual teraphim for the future of Earth. Often the completion of such
subtle teraphim is even more essential than the earthly structures. In them is
laid, as it were, the root of constructive thinking. Therefore
We rejoice when the prototype is already completed. (Fiery World I, 536)
With the spiritual community we create a Subtle Reality, which, as we have often
noticed, is just as real as a material one. Only in the end the complete
incarnation of the idea requires the final step of realization on the physical
level.
High in the heavens unfurled
God’s temple plan hangs for eyes unclouded, clarified of self, to see. Blest
indeed is he, who seeing, builds upon the screen of mind a replica of that
great plan which is eternal in the soul of time. Thrice blest is he who lays a
stone upon the breast of earth and lays so true to line that
other hands may build upon it and so may raise a simulacrum of that
first, most wondrous plan of all. A Temple made by human hands indeed shall man
yet build; a Temple worthy of the presence and the
peace of God. (From the Mountain Top I, Lesson "The Temple Plan")
To start with, we do not need
a village of our own in order to live according to our
habits. The Federation Temple of Humanity begins as a higher culture
independent of a people, a country or a state.
The advanced civilization of
the New World is independent of external conditions.
In the meantime, we are living
in the diaspora. As there is a Jewish culture in almost every country in the
world, as there are German, Russian and American Jews. Their Holy Scriptures,
laws, rules, customs and traditions unite them to a
living community at all times - even if the temple in Jerusalem and the Jewish
state were destroyed by the Romans 2000 years ago and only recently rebuilt.
*****
Of course we are dreaming,
like the Jews for two millennia (!), of our own Agni Yoga state, or of an
autonomous republic like that of the monks of Mount Athos. As
long as this is not yet possible, we must be content with preparing for
this lofty goal. We trust:
If only we work tirelessly,
our dream will come true when we
ourselves are ready and when the time has come.
"When will that be? How long do we still have to wait?"
Let us not be impatient. Do not worry. We have the whole eternity at our
disposal! We are working for the future! Perhaps only a future generation is
destined to physically realize the ideal.
Practical Tip:
Network of Temples
The Federation Temple of Humanity begins as a network of temples.
"Is there a historical example of such a New Construction?"
Yes. Study the history of the Cistercian order. In the Middle Ages,
under a great spiritual teacher, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, it spread across
Europe within only one generation and built hundreds of monasteries in France,
Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, England, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden as focal points of a new, higher culture.
The widely dispersed members were closely connected in spirit by their
common way of life based on a uniform rule applicable to all.
4. Association,
Cooperative, Order
Studying and teaching Agni Yoga are indispensable basics, but of course
not enough. They will allow you to address only certain people. The task of the
community as a germ cell of the New World goes far beyond that.
When you have established a spiritual order of living together and the
members have successfully practised this virtual community for a while in their
Inner Temple, you may proceed to take the next step.
At least eight Agni Yogis (one teacher and seven disciples) form an
association, a cooperative or an order.
“That again is typically German. If they want to put up a ladder for
picking apples from the trees, the Germans first found an association! "
Well, if we want to build a spiritual centre or a village, things are a
little different.
If we wish to establish a stronghold of the New World at a certain
place, we require an institution that is supra-personal, that means independent
of the ever changing members!
Only an association or an
order provides the high level of commitment and the permanent organizational
and legal framework necessary for our project.
If we want to rent or buy
land, houses or rooms, the beneficiary should be the community and not
individual members who may be gone tomorrow. For this we need financial
resources (for example a bank account) that belong to the community and not to
individual members.
The creation of such a legal
institution is a further step towards gradually embodying the idea of a
spiritual centre, which for the time being only exists as a thought building in
the Subtle World.
*****
The work of the group to found an association is initially of a spiritual nature, but
nevertheless of the utmost importance:
We need to draw up a
constitution and a mission statement in which we define the goals we want to
pursue and the paths we will take. For each field of activity, a person in
charge is appointed. Of course, according to the hierarchic principle, we need
a chairman. We have to fix the membership fees, and so
on.
Precisely outlined are the
statutes of the Community of Knowledge. (Agni Yoga 93)
The association already
appears in the outside world as part of social life. It is entered in the
register of associations or cooperatives. You may even be able to get it
recognized as a charitable institution.
Section III: The Agni Yoga Temple
With a teacher and seven
disciples who have demonstrated that they are ready, we can now embark on the
great adventure and dare to build a physical ashram.
1. Physical
Community
“What should we start with?
Rent a house, a farm in the country where we all move in?"
No, that is for a later stage.
Though it is true:
A community is formed
primarily through us working together.
Labour welds us together. With
it we act in and change the world. Successful service attracts new co-workers.
It is only at work that we really get to know each other and find out which
members are suitable for the world of the future and
which are not.
For that, however, we do not
have to live together. It is enough and a much better start if we meet during
the day for service and apart from that live in our families like all other
working persons.
It is never and nowhere
suggested that all should live in crowded communal quarters. This must be
understood in a broader way. Assuredly, not in all working communities do
people live together. They gather for common labour, but their personal lives
and daily routine go on separately. The idea of common labour does not
necessarily mean physical proximity. Precisely, there is no need to jostle one
another physically. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 17.01.1936)
The living together of whole
families, then of course including children, presents us with further, major
challenges that we can only face at a later stage.
Nowhere does the Teaching of
Living Ethics, or of New Life, insist upon living closely together. On the
contrary, it even warns against bodily jostling. It constantly repeats that
cooperation must be revealed in daily life, in all conditions in which we are
placed by life. Bodily crowding and all kinds of petty things in life create a
heavy atmosphere in which, instead of unity, a malicious disunity is sustained.
(Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of 10.09.1938)
In order to further strengthen
and develop the community, we may begin with living together for a few weeks
during the holidays.
In fact, communities are
possible only where the auras of the members are fully harmonized, but this is
so rarely achieved. After all, in many instances the co-operative principle
could be applied without insisting upon living together. It would be much
easier to experiment with communal living for a short period of several weeks
during the summer months. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of
17.01.1936)
The next step in building a
physical community is to create a centre where members are working together
during the day.
For every firm construction, first of all, it is necessary to have a powerful centre.
(Helena Roerich Letters Vol. I, letter of 02.06.1934)
That usually means renting
rooms.
Centres of this kind are
supposed to form all over the earth as germ cells of the New World, not only in
the country, but also in the big cities.
"Don't we want to give
them a name?"
Yes, as the basic institution
of the Federation Temple of Humanity, we propose to call them “Agni Yoga
Temple”. You see their logo here:
May this symbol become
worldwide a seal of quality for a first institution of the world of the future.
The Agni Yoga Temple is the
centre of every community of the New World.
This is how the first nucleus
of the world of the future is created: A teacher and a few disciples build such
a temple in a town or village. That is exactly what we shall be doing now! If
only we are attractive, in time more and more people will settle around us in order to participate in the better life we are leading
here.
Let us now take a closer look
at what is going on in such an Agni Yoga Temple: We repeat: What are the four
spheres of life of an Agni Yogi?
"Connection with the
Higher World or meditation, service to the common good, service to the
neighbour and education or self-improvement."
Exactly. Accordingly, an Agni
Yoga Temple serves four purposes: Here the members of the community meet
regularly to connect with the Higher World (what used to be called divine
service), to serve the common good and the neighbour, and to participate in
education and self-perfection.
2. The Agni Yoga
Temple as a Business Enterprise
The Agni Yoga Temple is first of all a commercial enterprise. Here we earn our daily
bread. It offers a field of activity for all possible professions. Everyone
finds a place according to his education and skills: craftsmen, artists, the
various health professions, psychologists, astrologers, lawyers, judges,
farmers, architects, and so on.
The distant goal must be:
The Agni Yoga Temple is a
place where we offer people everything they need for survival – physically and
spiritually.
Isn't that a wonderful dream
and Agni Yoga truly practised: People come to the temple not only on Sundays
for worship, but every day in order to look out for
what they need for the maintenance and growth of their body and soul. May the
Agni Yoga Temple be a place where the people from the surrounding area find
strength, joy, light, love, support, consolation and
guidance.
A beautiful example are the
sanctuaries of the ancient Greeks called Asclepeion
(namely dedicated to Asclepius, the god of healing). There, in the pure,
sublime atmosphere of a temple complex, the sick were
cared for, spiritually and physically elevated as well as healed. May the Agni
Yoga Temple reach a similar spiritual height and salutary effect. (Asclepeion of Kos)
"My dear Tsong, this is
once again quite high-flying and not feasible for us normal people!"
Yes, you are right, we are
still far away from a temple district on a holy mountain. Let us start small
and simple and according to our limited possibilities:
For example, we can sell
bread, other food or clothing that we have produced
ourselves, provide all kinds of craftsmanship services, take care of the
physical and mental health of our fellow men, offer legal advice or dispute
resolution, astrological advice, pastoral care or help with life’s problems in
all kinds of ways. In addition, every Agni Yoga Temple should have a bookshop
and a small publishing house which offer respectively produce valuable
spiritual literature. All this is feasible everywhere with simple means in any
rented rooms.
"Isn't that then a normal
business like any other in town?"
No. The business enterprise
Agni Yoga Temple differs from the companies and service providers of the old
economic system in two decisive points:
First: Our professional
work is service to the common good, divine service!
We do not put ourselves at the service of the egotism of the individual.
We do not primarily act in order to make profit. We
are content with low prices that only ensure a modest livelihood. We do not
participate in the omnipresent mutual cheating and exploiting. We offer our
employees a fair, surplus-oriented remuneration.
Our proud motto, like that of the Prince of Wales, is: “Ich dien” – "I serve".
Second: We provide our professional services strictly according to ethical
standards.
People do not want to be complicit in the exploitation and destruction
of their fellow men, of the bases of life, of the climate and ultimately of the
entire planet, or in the violence against flora and fauna.
Consumers are urgently looking for products and services on the ethical
purity, compatibility, sustainability and harmlessness
of which for people and nature they can absolutely rely.
They must be able to find these in the Agni Yoga Temple. Here the
economic order of the future is practised, which we talked about in detail in
the Broadcasting "The New World: New Order of Economy and Labour".
These dry words really mean a peaceful revolution, namely the overcoming of
capitalism through a higher form of economy.
"What if the Temple's income is insufficient to support all of the
staff?"
Then some or all have to take a “normal” job
outside the Temple and temporarily do temple work part-time or unsalaried in
their free time. In the long run it must be possible to earn a living from high
quality work.
Practical Tip
Only Agni Yogis can provide services in the Agni Yoga Temple. To all
professions without exception applies:
Only on the basis of Agni Yoga are you in a
position to effectively render assistance to your fellow men!
We are therefore forced to make a strict selection in
order to ensure the highest quality. A single "black sheep", a
single bad teacher or doctor who disappoints the legitimate expectations of the
customers, discredits the whole community.
The relentless law of the material plane reads: The Agni Yoga Temple must have
better doctors, craftsmen and lawyers who offer better services than the
competitors - and that even at lower prices!
3. The Agni Yoga
Temple as a Place of Education
Raphael
"The School of Athens"
At all times, a sanctuary has also been a place of education. In the Agni Yoga Temple are
located the study evenings and the school, which we have already talked about.
*****
Newcomers to our community must first begin an education. Only when they
transform into immortal spirits can they become members. They go through the
program of exercises that is described in the previous Broadcastings of the
Series "Experiment Immortality".
We have already said: So far, most Agni Yoga communities worldwide have
failed after a short time. That means: We first have to
make the people who come to us and want to work together with us fit for
community life. Inter alia the exercises "Fiery Condition", "The
Path of the Inner Temple" and "Living in the Ashram of the
Teacher" serve this purpose.
*****
An Agni Yoga community urgently needs to educate Hierarchs who are able to enforce the Cosmic Order in their area of
responsibility. A huge and completely new field of activity opens
up here: The old world has no concept for selecting teachers and leaders
and training them not only intellectually, but above all in terms of character
and spirit. We have to develop it.
The education never ends. Every member must strive to keep growing and
become more and more capable so that we can fill every position with a suitable
spiritual ruler. The dream of the high-minded among us is to climb ever upwards
in this Hierarchy.
We are not working for us. We are working for the future!
Therefore, a careful education of our children is of paramount
importance for the prosperity of our community. We depend on them to continue
our work one day! What we implant into them today, they will return to us
tomorrow!
He who receives today will give tomorrow. (Infinity I, 308)
We do not want to raise another generation of ignorants.
Therefore, we must by no means rely on the education of the schools and
churches of the old world.
It is a gigantic task to free our children from the burden of the
atavism of the past and to really elevate them a higher level than the old
generation.
We educate the young earthlings to New Men, to beings of spirit of the
6th race. We teach them from an early age love for the Mahatmas, admiration and
respect for their earthly representatives, selflessness
and service. We impart to them the basic knowledge and practical skills they
need in order to become valuable members of the
community of the future.
We make the children fit for the future in the truest sense of the word
– especially mentally.
How easily a child understands our values! How naturally it adopts their
realization!
What a mistake to think that one must give a child its own things! A
child can easily understand that things may be held in common. (Community 102)
On the other hand, how difficult will it be for an adult to integrate
into the world of the future if he has grown up as a child under the
application of principles exactly to the contrary!
4. The Agni Yoga
Temple as a Church
"Do you really want to introduce an old type of divine service with
liturgy, psalm singing and sermon?"
No, that is antiquated. We have already talked about the great spiritual
and practical importance of stepping before the teacher (see the Broadcasting
“Become a Disciple!”). The "divine service" of the New Era looks like
this: In the morning, at noon and in the evening, in the Agni Yoga Temple, we
are stepping before the Higher World, our Masters, the rulers of the earth, the
Mahatmas of the Brotherhood of Shambhala, not only individually, but in common.
This is how we affirm our
community, the connection with our leaders, and our incorporation into the
Hierarchy.
Together we report for
education and service.
We receive for the upcoming
day tasks for our personal development and assignments for service on earth.
It is of the utmost importance
that we give at fixed times the necessary room to the cultivation of this
spiritual foundation of our community.
The New Man and the
communities of the New World are being guided from Above.
We New
differ from the old men in that we are in constant connection with the Higher
World. Without that we would not be able to act in accordance with the Cosmic
Order and the will of the Brotherhood.
The word "religion"
comes from Latin "religare" "to
attach".
The “divine service” of the New Age is designed in such a way that we actually establish and keep alive the attachment of the
community to the spiritual world of Shambhala.
This does not require many words or great ceremonies. Together, we raise
our vibration and tune in to the Shambhala vibration.
*****
The Agni Yoga Temple is also the seat of the teacher. Here all matters
of the spiritual and worldly government of the community are being discussed
and decided.
5. First Basis of
the Community: Selflessness
There are two fundamental foundations for all communities of the future:
1. Selfless service and
selfless sharing
2. The hierarchic principle
When building an Agni Yoga
Temple, both are now becoming very concrete. Let us start with the principle of
selflessness. Everything, the entire functioning of the community is based on
the principle of sharing:
We share the necessary work
fairly among all members.
We share the proceeds we
generate together fairly among ourselves.
This is precisely where we
differ from the old world with its greed, and from the old, materially minded,
selfish men who do not want to know anything about sharing. Anyone who wishes
to become a member with us must acquire a completely new attitude:
I contribute as much as I can to the prosperity of the community.
I claim as little as possible for myself.
The old men’s competitive thinking revolves around amassing as much as
possible for themselves.
We New Men compete with one another to get
along with as little as possible!
It is not our aim to extort the highest possible prices for our
services, but on the contrary to offer them as favourably as we can. That is
only feasible if we are content with a modest standard of living.
*****
All work that is necessary in
the Temple (from shopping and preparing the meals via cleaning the house and
raising children up to professional offers to customers) is shared fairly
between all members. Everyone has to make a
contribution according to his abilities. If you do not want to work, you cannot
be a member.
If any would not work, neither
should he eat. (2 Thessalonians 3, 10)
In return, all the proceeds we
generate from the sale of our services go to a common fund, which means that
they are jointly owned and only then distributed fairly among the co-workers.
You see: A comparatively
modest project like a small temple offers a huge field of experimentation.
Here, the New World is tried out: No unemployment through sharing the labour;
no poverty through sharing the income.
*****
The main cause for the
catastrophic state of our earth, for the destruction of the bases of life, for
misery, suffering, violence, war, poverty and
unemployment is the egotism of the people.
The main contribution of the
Agni Yoga Temple to the salvation of the world is the formation of a model
community in which this selfishness is overcome.
*****
If you just start, you will soon notice how the principle of sharing is
theoretically good, beautiful and simple, but in
practice extremely difficult to realize.
A harrowing example of the practical problems involved in sharing labour
is Halcyon, the seat of the Temple of the People. Here the head of the
community (!) and chief physician of the clinic operated there(!), William H.
Dower, often had to do the milking of the cows himself because the assigned
staff had failed to carry out this task. (Paul E. Ivey, Radiance from Halcyon,
Minneapolis 2013, p. 137)
*****
“What does “justice” mean with regard to the
sharing of money? Is the same amount allocated to all? Do those who do more or “higher quality” work get a larger share? Or those
who need more, for example because they have children?"
Yes, we see: The application of a principle in everyday practice raises
many questions. Each community will have to sort out all that for itself. There
is no harm if there are different solutions depending on the level of
consciousness. We are all still on the
way.
*****
Let us cite as an example another particularly difficult case, taken
from real life: A member has an adult child that does not belong to the
community. The child becomes sick and needs an extremely expensive therapy. The
member feels obliged to support his child. His share is not big enough for
that. So he would have to leave the community in order
to earn the necessary money somewhere else. Shall we increase his share?
"How do you think about the case?"
It is hard to decide without knowing the individuals involved. The first
question is: What can the community afford at all? If we are speaking of
increasing the member’s share by 10 or 20 %, it will be easier to accommodate
him than if we had to double, triple, or quintuple his share in
order to cover the costs of the treatment.
Furthermore, the community must also ask itself: Is the member so
irreplaceable that we cannot afford to lose him?
In general, however, we must realize: As long as
someone still has such a heavy Karma to bear, he is not ready to be a member of
a spiritual project. He should actually recognize for
himself that he first has to solve his personal problems and must not burden
the community with something for which it is not responsible.
6. Second Basis of
the Community: Hierarchy
The hierarchic principle is the second fundamental foundation of the world of
the future. I cannot stress enough:
A New Construction according
to the principles of Agni Yoga is not possible without the establishment of a
hierarchy.
In an Agni Yoga community, the
hierarchic principle applies. Above must lead and below follow, otherwise there
will be chaos. Not the majority, but only the wise, the spiritually most
advanced members guarantee that the right solution for all questions of everyday life is found.
An Agni Yoga community that is part of the Federation Temple of Humanity
is under the leadership of the Mahatmas.
That we must always bear in mind. It is the very purpose of our
foundation to contribute a small stone to the building of the coming World
State, which will be ruled from Shambhala. In practical terms this means:
Down to the smallest questions of everyday life, what counts is not what
the individual or the majority thinks is right, but what the Mahatmas advise.
Our group is of course not yet
mature enough to be personally led by a member of the Brotherhood. Also, the Masters cannot decide on and execute the solution of every
small question of everyday life.
Therefore, we have to build up an earthly hierarchy which ensures that in
all our affairs the Higher Will is firstly recognized and secondly actually
implemented in practice.
*****
Behind these few, dry words is
in truth a task of gigantic proportions: You will soon discover: There is a
lack of resources everywhere: Where can we find suitable teachers and guides
who, according to their spiritual development, are capable to recognize the
will of the Mahatmas in each individual case of everyday life? And who in
addition have the authority to enforce it in the community?
Where are the co-workers who are able to
recognize the Hierarch as someone spiritually superior to them, and who are
also prepared to subordinate themselves to him? Unfortunately, the
consciousness of most is so little developed that they follow all sorts of
false prophets or unqualified teachers.
Hence the paramount importance of the education which we had already
discussed.
"Then do we have a dictatorship?"
No, a Hierarch is not a dictator. The community and its government will
of course consult. However, it will not always be possible to find unanimity.
Also, we do not always have months to debate. In some cases, a decision has to be made within
hours! Therefore, there is no other way than that at the end of the day
someone, namely the teacher, assumes responsibility, sums up the discussion and
makes a decision.
A true, wise leader is
characterized by the fact that he not only sticks to his own opinion but is
able to weigh the many divergent contributions of his colleagues, filter out
the best suggestions and unite them to a synthesis.
*****
At this point the suitable
co-workers are separated from the unsuitable ones. It has to
be stated thus clearly: The many esoterics who still
indulge in their sweet but unrealistic dreams of a community without hierarchy,
without leadership, have no place with us. They have not understood yet and
must still go through the bitter experience that:
A community without leadership means nothing but chaos.
Most spiritual communities have failed because there were either no
Hierarchy or no suitable Hierarchs.
"The Prussian spirit of command and obedience is not exactly what I
hope to find in a spiritual community!" (Olaf Gulbransson, Militarism)
That is not the point! The concept of hierarchy must not be a nightmare
for you. On the contrary, you will experience: It is a bliss when you are being
led by someone who is greater than you. When you can integrate yourself into a
community and feel safe there. When you find exactly the place you deserve
according to your spiritual development, with truly greater souls above and
smaller brothers and sisters below you. And when you may serve the Hierarchy
exactly there where you can contribute the greatest benefit!
7. Virtual Agni
Yoga Temple
The goal must of course be to make available physical rooms in as many
cities and villages as possible where co-workers can meet and provide services.
However, if that is not possible, we can also build a virtual Agni Yoga Temple:
Our business operations can also be carried out by using an online
platform for ethically pure services. Most of our services, especially the
particularly important spiritual help, can nowadays be provided via the
Internet and Skype or Zoom.
One can cooperate successfully while being in different cities and even
in different countries. With every new scientific discovery and invention distances
become of less and less consequence. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. II, letter of
10.09.1938)
The education as well can be done via the internet, for example on the basis of the Broadcastings of Agni Yoga Web TV.
We realize the church online as the members of the community connect in
spirit and meet in a temple of the Subtle World, the picture of which I will
show you at the end of this Broadcasting. There we can step before the Mahatmas
together in spirit beyond the limits of matter, time
and space.
8. Ethics Network
Finally, another promising possibility to work together in spirit is:
Build an ethics network online from providers who undertake to do their
professional work according to ethical standards.
Anyone who has converted his
business to ethically pure work, as we have just discussed, can offer his
services here.
With the help of the ethics
network, a consumer who is looking for a baker, farmer, doctor, craftsman or lawyer who regards himself as a servant of the
common good, will be able to discover what he is after in his vicinity. This is
where providers find those customers and customers those providers which they
are looking for and suit their demands.
*****
We are living in a time in
which the best that people have to offer, their work, is being misused in an
unprecedented scale for selfish and destructive ends. An ethics network shows a
way out of this vicious circle: It enables providers to earn a living with
valuable, ethically pure work. Consumers can get everything they need in terms
of food, goods and services from an ethically pure source.
In such a network, suppliers
and buyers do not have opposing interests, as in the capitalist economy, but
common ones!
*****
This is how you can lay an
essential foundation of the world of the future without even having to mention
the terms Agni Yoga, Temple, New Man or New World. We are already a big step
closer to our dream of a community with schools, doctors, courts
and business enterprises of our own, if there are such ethically working
institutions in our vicinity, for the benefit of us and of all other people.
Section IV: Larger Communities
The Agni Yoga Temple as well
is only a preliminary stage. We have dealt with it so thoroughly because, in
the current world situation, it seems to be the only realistic way of building
communities of the New World.
But we want more. The new
World State, the Federation Temple of Humanity, is a union of villages, cities,
regions and ultimately entire states. Therefore, at
the end of this Broadcasting we want to take at least a quick look at the next
level: A settlement of 20 or 30 families which is ruled from Shambhala.
1. New World
Settlements
Mont Saint
Michel, Normandy, France
Isn't this the dream of every
spiritual community: Acquiring land and erecting buildings there in order to live, to work and to manage a business
enterprise together in a self-determined and as far as possible self-sufficient
manner according to ethical principles. Well-known examples are Findhorn, Auroville, Taizé, Halcyon (the seat of the community Temple
of the People, which lives according to the Teachings of the Temple) and the
ashrams of many other spiritual teachers around whom followers have settled.
Another prominent and, with
its successes and failures, highly instructive example is the Israeli kibbutz,
which has attracted many young people from all over the world and represents a
significant attempt to bring about a more humane society.
However, I have
to pour a little water into the wine of your enthusiasm: Agriculture
means hard physical work such as digging out potatoes and pricking beets. That
is not necessarily the job of a spiritual person. For him, the spiritual help
that is given in an Agni Yoga Temple in a city might be a more appropriate
field of activity.
Our settlement can of course
offer both: agricultural products as well as spiritual services.
"Why do we need a village
at all?"
We have already said
(Broadcasting “The New World: Form of Government: Hierarchy”): Ultimately, the
New Man cannot develop his potential to the full when he is forced to live
among old men: When he is ruled by the ignorant, has an ignorant boss and his
children are raised by ignorant teachers. Ignorant or selfish politicians
elected by the ignorant masses lead the people into misery or even to war;
every single individual will have to bear the consequences of this misguided
system, and karmically even a part of the responsibility.
Therefore, in the long run, it
is an inevitable necessity which life itself enforces, that several immortals,
several New Men come together and establish their own institutions:
Kindergartens, schools, universities, government authorities, courts, business
enterprises, army, police, etc. which are all working according to the
principles of the Living Ethics.
Only with new institutions
will the world of the future really emerge!
That requires, however, that
several families live together in one place.
*****
The only way to convince our
fellow men of the greatness, beauty and superiority of
the social system of the future is visibility:
Let us show them a concrete, living, world-wide visible example of a really
functioning community, a sanctuary of the New World, which they can visit and
inspect. (Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, France)
Watch again the movie
"One Million Years B. C.". Not because it pictures humans grappling
with dinosaurs, but because a coarse, primitive tribe
is contrasted with a community of higher, finer customs. We have
to create such a higher culture that is visible to everyone at first
glance.
Let us set up a model
settlement where anyone interested can live and work together with us for a few
days or weeks and make the practical, lively experience of how much better
things are in the New World.
All men are longing for a
better life! As soon as they see and experience it, they will imitate it, whether
they are living in Siberia or on the Amazon. How marvelous
when we can call out to them:
We have built a wonderful
world for you! Join in!
Come, naked ones, and we will
clothe you; come, little ones, and we will raise you; come, mute ones, and we
will give you speech; come, blind ones, for you shall see the destined realm.
(Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 146)
2. Village and
Ashram
Nicholas Roerich
"Castle of Ladakh"
You should imagine the
settlements of the world of the future according to the image of a medieval
town: The castle towers above everything. The citizens are under the protection
of the lord of the castle and are led and governed by him. Their whole life
takes place within sight of the castle. (Homberg (Efze), Stolberg/Harz, Süllberg, Hamburg-Blankenese)
The first strongholds of the
New World are structured in exactly the same way: There is the Ashram, in which
the teacher, the spiritual and worldly leader of the community, lives with his
disciples, and below a village where the "ordinary" people,
co-workers and newcomers dwell. (Nicholas Roerich "Island of Rest")
This twofold structure of the
community is of the utmost importance and applies accordingly to the
preliminary stages of study evenings, Agni Yoga school, spiritual community and Agni Yoga Temple: We must not offer the same
to all, and we cannot ask the same from everyone:
On the one hand, we are to
enable real disciples to lead a spiritual life according to higher principles.
On the other hand, we must not scare off "ordinary" people who simply
want to make their contribution without taking over the obligations of a
spiritual disciple. We need both for the New Construction! This
is why the Mahatmas advise:
The community, being a
fellowship first of all, sets
as a condition for entrance two conscious decisions: labour without limit
and acceptance of tasks without rejection. It is possible to eliminate faint-heartedness
by means of a two-fold organization. As a result of unlimited labour there may
be a broadening of consciousness. But many people, not bad otherwise, do not
envision the results, being frightened by incessant labour and enormous tasks.
And yet they have accepted basically the idea of the community.
It would be harmful to include
these yet weak people in the community; but in order not to extinguish their
striving one should not cast them out. For this it is useful to have a second
organization: the friends of the community. Herein, without forsaking the
customary order of life, these newcomers can become more deeply conscious of
the community.
Such a two-fold organization
permits the preservation of a far more concentrated sincerity in the work. The
friends of the community provide the possibility of having a reservoir without
danger of betraying the bases of the Teaching. The friends of the community do
not conceal their weaknesses, and this gives the possibility of successfully
strengthening them. (Community 133)
"Who belongs to the
community and who to the friends?"
Here is the Master's
answer:
Now We assemble the spirits of
the sixth race, and Agni Yoga is the Call! (Infinity I, 188)
Anyone who has not yet heard
this call, who is not an Agni Yogi, who has not yet transformed into an
immortal or has fallen back into the mortal state, does not belong to the
upper, the leadership level of the community. Of course, he can belong to the
friends of the community and be a co-worker.
Agni Yoga emphasizes again and
again: When starting the New Construction, we must make a strict selection and
have no choice but to regularly exclude unsuitable candidates.
If, however, a formal entrance
into the community itself be allowed, one will be obliged periodically to eject
the unfit ones. In other words, otherwise the community will cease to exist
altogether. (Community 133)
"Isn't that heartless?
Don't we want to offer everyone a place? "
No, that is required by the
necessity of life itself. A few unsuitable participants ruin the whole
construction.
The multi-level structure of
the community gives us the opportunity to put everyone in the place where they
belong. Someone who proves to be unsuitable as a doctor should work as a nurse.
He who is not a cook can help in the kitchen, those who fail as teachers can
work in the garden, and so on. So we offer everyone,
including the very young and the very old, the opportunity for cooperation.
Everyone of goodwill can contribute something!
The complete exclusion from
the community will only be the very last resort against someone who disturbs
community life so persistently that he becomes unbearable.
3. Examples from
History
Ruins of the
Jesuit Reduction Sao Miguel das Missoes
"Are there other
historical examples besides Egypt for priestly kingship, for a theocracy, the
rule of Hierarchs in the name of God and according to the commandments of the
Holy Scriptures?”
Yes, countless! The most outstanding
is Mohammed, the only great teacher, philosopher, pro-phet
and founder of a religion who became a people's leader, spiritual ruler and statesman; who established a vast empire, a State of God, in
which the directives of the Koran are actually put into practice from the
governance of the state down to the smallest questions of everyday life. (Nicholas Roerich "Mohammed")
Other examples are Israel
under king Solomon (Tiepolo "Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba"); the rule of the Council of Sages under
Pythagoras in Kroton; India under Emperor Akbar the
Great; the states of the monks of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John, the
Knights Templar and the Teutonic Order in the Holy Land, on Rhodes, on Malta
and in East Prussia (Order of St. John Castle Krak des Chevaliers, Templar Fortress Montfort, Order of
St. John Grand Master's palace Rhodes, Order of St. John Fortress La Valetta,
Malta, Teutonic Order Fortress Marienburg); the
rule of Emperor Frederick II in Sicily (Hermann
Wislicenus "Emperor Frederick II") and
the states of the Jesuits in South America, which made do without private
property and without money, the much admired "Holy Experiment",
depicted in the valuable movie “Mission” (Ruins
of the Jesuit Reduction Sao Miguel das Missoes).
4. Become a Citizen
of Tabenisi
Nicholas Roerich
"Holy City"
“What exactly can I do here
and now to help save the earth and build a better world, not just me alone, but
in community with others? With whom can I associate myself?"
Join a community of the New
World!
In this Broadcasting we have
described the New Construction according to the example of the Tabenisi
community. If find like that appealing, come to us and
become a citizen of Tabenisi!
For this, you do not have to
leave your place of residence. Tabenisi is a supra-local community, a network
of members from all over the world. In order to form a
nucleus of the state of the future, we do not have to live together in the same
place.
We are united by a common
spirit!
Tabenisi is a supra-temporal
community: It also exists in the World Beyond. Thus, you can continue to remain
a citizen there even after your death. Who knows, maybe you were already one of
us before you were born?
Here you can see my wonderful
world:
The village:
Nicholas Roerich
„Tibet Himalayas“
The Ashram of the teacher:
Nicholas Roerich
„Stronghold of the Spirit“
The church:
Nicholas Roerich
„Hermitage of St. Sergius“
And here is the teacher's
meditation place, where he also meets his disciples:
Swetoslaw
Roerich „Damodar Kund“
I invite you all!
Why don't you visit us for a few hours or days and have
a look at Tabenisi? Participate in our life and try out our customs and
laws? Connect with the Higher World, learn, practise
and serve together with us?
You will find out:
As a member of our community, you lead a better, happier, more beautiful and more dignified life!
If you want to live in paradise already now, you find us here:
If you have any questions, please write to:
Live your dream! Come and see:
Here is the New World!
*****
“After so many Broadcastings with so much advice, I am about to lose
track. Can't you give me simple instructions for use that I can easily remember
and follow in everyday life?"
Well, let us summarize: The simple formula for building the New World consists of 3
steps:
First: You take a moment in the morning to raise your vibration,
establish the Fiery State and transform into a being of spirit: Here is the New
Man!
Second: You take a moment in the morning to establish there where you
are the spiritual order of the Temple of Humanity: Here is the New World!
Third: In the course of everyday life on earth
you defend your high vibration and the higher culture.
What is the greatest happiness of a human being?
When the dream of a better future comes true. In Tabenisi, we are
working on that every day! (Breughel
"The Tower of Babel")