AGNI YOGA WEB TV

SERIES

„SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF AGNI YOGA“

BROADCASTING 1

Exercise „Elevation“

Dear Agni Yogis,

welcome to our new Series: "Spiritual Exercises of Agni Yoga". Let us start to train our soul, our Eternal Individuality, so that it grows and becomes greater and stronger.

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The practice of Agni Yoga is divided into two areas: We are working in order to build the New World and to create the New Man.

The second area is all about spiritual exercises: When you transform into an immortal, a spiritual warrior, or a spiritual disciple, and keep the corresponding consciousness uninterrupted; when you reserve in the morning before and in the evening after the worldly day fixed times for meditation; when you lead a spiritual conversation with a non-incarnated teacher; when you live in two worlds; when you respect the rules of nutrition; when you preserve vitality and joy of being in all circumstances; when you succeed to overcome bad qualities – all this and much more are nothing but spiritual exercises.

However, the Agni Yogi does not practise in an Ashram in the Himalayas or in an esoteric school on a Yoga-mat, but in the middle of everyday life.

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The most important exercise of Agni Yoga is your transformation from a material, mortal, into a spiritual, immortal being. We will turn to this topic in one of the next Broadcastings.

Today, we shall practice "Elevation" – an exercise that does not require any previous knowledge, neither of Agni Yoga nor of any other religion, doctrine or philosophy. Today, we are really addressing everyone.

Nevertheless, "Elevation" is the basis for all further spiritual exercises of Agni Yoga, and we shall return to it again and again.

Exercise “Elevation“

Nicholas Roerich “Mountain Peaks”

We are now starting with the exercise "Elevation".

Let us make a virtual journey. Come with me! We move in spirit to a mountain peak in the Alps.

This is not a dream. You will see: We are aiming at real effects.

Imagine what you see and feel up here on the summit. The best way is to close your eyes and to create an image within you.

1. What do you see?

What do you see up here?

Nicholas Roerich "Lake in the Mountains"

Above you a deep blue, sun-lit sky.

At eye level endless chains of majestic, snow-capped mountains.

At your feet magnificent nature: Trees, lush green meadows with grazing cows, mountain huts with unspoilt peasants. Here the world is still fine.

Deep down in the valley the life of the people: A highway, on which the cars are hurrying. A small town with people swarming like ants. Just a few hours ago, you were one of them and did your errands there. Soon you will be back down there.

How wonderful is the world in which we may live!

2. What do you feel?

What do you feel up here on the summit?

Purity

Titian “Annunciation”

Nicholas Roerich “Mount of five Treasures“

You feel pure, as in the old days, when you were a small, innocent child.

Up here you feel the golden core of your soul. In everyday life it easily vanishes under the thick layer of dirt which you have accumulated in the course of your life.

You restore the connection to your inner, true being, to which all these filthy accumulations are alien, obstructive and disgusting.

You recognize with pride, with fury and with shame: You are actually quite different from the person that you appear to be down in the valley.

You are longing to lead in the world as well a purer life that corresponds better to your true, higher self. You are longing to finally become the creature you should be, the creature that God has meant you to be.

The writer Ödön von Horvath says:

“In principle, I am quite different, but I rarely manage actually to live like that.”

Negative feelings such as irritation, anger, impatience, depression or hatred will not arise up here. You are actually unresponsive to them on this summit.

You have hardly any need for food, and no desire at all for material possessions or for delights such as alcohol, tobacco or sweets. You feel that your real, childlike, pure being in truth has no pleasure in these things. In an elevated atmosphere, such desires do not arise. This is accompanied by a gratifying feeling of liberation.

The mountains are important, since like a principle, they lead us out of the lower earthly conditions. On the heights one feels that one has been freed from ordinary earthly demands. (Agni Yoga 73)

The smoker has actually overcome his addiction to cigarettes, the drunkard the alcohol, the sick his depression – for the moment. You suspect: You can permanently get rid of your bad habits, if you succeed to preserve this high state of spirit down in the valley, in worldly life as well.

You see, we are not dreamers. Our virtual journey has a very tangible, material result: You have actually purified yourself. Depressed by the burden of everyday life, you have started our spiritual journey; elevated you rise from the meditation.

Power

Nicholas Roerich “Tsong kha-pa”

Let us continue the exercise “Elevation”. What else do you feel when you move in spirit to the mountain peak?

Nicholas Roerich "Himalayas"

You feel how strong and powerful you, your true being are. You feel a great superiority. You discover a power within you, great enough to cope with your lower self and all the adversities of everyday life.

This is first of all a power over the external conditions: At the top of the mountain you stand superior like a king over and above the circumstances, above all events and all people who approach you. You look at the world beneath you, at the circumstances prevailing there, and also at your own life down there, from above, with the spiritual eyes of your soul, from the higher standpoint of eternity.

At this height, nothing comes close to you, nothing can affect you, nothing can harm you. Up here you are much greater and more powerful than usually in everyday life.

It is essential that the art of thinking again rise above the external conditions, which are subordinate factors of existence. (Brotherhood 510)

This is not an illusion. The mountain peak – whether physically or virtually climbed – is a place where your higher self, the soul, awakens to its life, finds expression and brings to bear itself. As an spiritual being, it is actually not affected by the material conditions down in the valley.

You look at yourself from above, with the spiritual eyes of the soul. Your Eternal Individuality faces your body, your earthly, perishable personality. You recognize yourself.

You control yourself. In the state of "Elevation", your lower physical ego is in complete harmony with your higher spiritual self; it therefore expresses no negative thoughts or feelings like greed, egotism or depression.

The king sits on his throne. The captain is on the bridge of the ship. Your higher nature directs the vehicle – the body, controls its actions, thoughts and emotions, from the outside, from above.

On the summit you have established the rule of the spirit – over yourself and over the circumstances as well.

I set you above a precipice as on an inaccessible tower. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 66)

Joy

Nicholas Roerich “Krishna”

What do you finally feel up here?

Nicholas Roerich "Holy Himalayas, Sketch"

On the summit, only joy can reign: You rejoice at the world, which proves so beautiful when seen from above.

You rejoice at the people whom you meet here with their true nature: pure, powerful and in harmony with themselves.

You rejoice at the cosmic laws that create a wonderful, just and meaningful order. You experience again the instinctive blissful certainty of childhood: Everything that happens to you is exactly what you deserve – or what you need in order to proceed.

You feel the joy of being which lives in the heart and is independent of the external circumstances. Up here, you assume joy as a spiritual attitude which you can oppose to the attacks of chaos. You suspect how wonderful it would be to be able to maintain this attitude in the midst of the storms of the world.

You feel free from all sorrows. From this higher point of view you recognize how vain and small the everyday problems, sufferings, and affairs are, which torment you down on earth.

The entire earthly existence must be comprehended from the level of the Higher World. (Fiery World I, 508)

You are dwelling above the storms in the valley in a state of serenity, tranquillity and inner peace.

Earthly cares are like stones rolling down a mountain. The lower down they roll, the more violent the impact of the landslide. Would it not be better to ascend to the very summit where there are no falling stones? Upward striving also transforms our attitude toward earthly cares. Even though they continue, their meaning is altered. Thus one may perceive how many advantages the summit has over the canyon. (AUM 304)

You rejoice at the immeasurable possibilities that each day offers to your spirit for unlimited growth.

You feel indomitable strength within you. Based on it, you are even looking forward with joy to continue to struggle with the obstacles and difficulties of everyday life, which is waiting for you down below in the valley.

All of a sudden, you realize: Whether you are happy or sad, is your responsibility alone. You must not blame the external circumstances or other people.

You realize that happiness and suffering are not objective facts; they are states of your own consciousness. It is entirely up to you, it is completely in your power to establish one or the other state.

Therefore, the popular wisdom says:

He who does not carry heaven in his own heart will not be able to find it anywhere else.

Suffering does not come from without. It results from nothing else but your own negative thoughts. You can defeat it if you manage to find – as here on the mountain peak – a basis for positive, joyful thinking. This is possible down in the valley as well, even in the most terrible circumstances.

If you can follow me so far, you are on the way to that true wisdom which lives in the heart and goes far beyond intellectual knowledge. For it is said:

Joy is a special wisdom. (Community 156)

When joy keeps its glow even under the most difficult circumstances, the Agni Yogi is filled with impregnable strength. (Fiery World I, 561)

One of the most important paragraphs of Agni Yoga on the subject of "Elevation" runs:

When through the tatters of your temporary bodies shines the splendour of your spirit, are you not filled with strength and joy? Then am I near to you. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 277 [332])

To put it more simply: You feel yourself how you are elevated and full of power and joy, and how the forces of Heaven are near you, when the spirit – your Eternal Individuality – awakens to its life, finds expression and radiates from your perishable body.

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You have elevated yourself. If possible, you would never give up this wonderful feeling of purity, power and joy of being. Learn to enjoy and to love this sublime state of consciousness and prefer it to everything else!

3. Spiritual Reality

Let us take a short break for an explanation.

One of the most important teachings of Agni Yoga says: It does not matter whether you physically or spiritually climb a mountain peak, or visit a concert hall, a cathedral or another holy place. The effect is the same in both cases!

No routine practices or exercises are needed; only thought can elevate man. (Supermundane 853)

The state of elevation is a spiritual reality.

We can achieve this state by making a long, expensive and time-consuming physical journey to the Alps or the Himalayas and by arduously climbing a mountain peak physically for hours.

Or we can reach the same state much easier by stopping for a brief moment of rest, closing our eyes, and taking our spirit to the summit in a moment.

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You feel as pure, superior, peaceful, powerful and joyful – in a word: as "exalted" – after a meditation like this as after a physical mountain tour. Just as from the mountain peak, you return from the meditation with new – spiritual – forces to the earthly life, and are now better able to cope with its challenges.

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The spiritual path has the advantage that you do not have to wait for the weekend or for holidays. You can attain this splendid, elevated state of mind not only every day, but even several times in the course of a day.

The effect of a physical ascent fades away rapidly in everyday life. The effect of a spiritual ascent can be renewed every hour.

4. Elevation for the Advanced

Nicholas Roerich “Pearl of Searching”

For those of you who have already progressed in Agni Yoga or generally on the Spiritual Path, we offer two advanced versions of the exercise “Elevation”:

First: Place yourself in spirit on a mountain peak where there is a temple. Now, you not only climb a summit, but visit a sanctuary in order to detach yourself for a moment from the world and to uplift yourself spiritually, perhaps in order to pray or to meditate.

Nicholas Roerich „Hermitage of St. Sergius“

Secondly, you can go even further: You can imagine that there stands on the mountain top the Ashram in which your teacher lives. Then you visit Him in spirit! Through one moment in His presence alone yourspirit is elevated, namely, purified, comforted, nourished, and strengthened.

Nicholas Roerich „Star of the Morning“

A spiritual disciple will practice "Elevation" as follows: He will regularly visit his teacher in His abode in order to learn from Him, to practice under His guidance and to receive tasks and assignments from Him.

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You know: There, at the seat of your spiritual father, in the presence of your spiritual brothers and sisters (the other disciples of this teacher), is your true eternal home. From there you came when you were born; there you will return after the death of your body.

Nothing is more beautiful and more fruitful, than to call in up there regularly during material earthly life.

5. What else do you feel?

Let us continue the exercise “Elevation”. What else do you feel on the mountain top?

Consciousness of the Soul

Nicholas Roerich „Higher than Mountains“

Down in the valley, you are inclined to consider only that as real what you can see and touch.

Up here you sense your soul. In this holy place, remote from earthly life, far above the oppressive burdens of your material existence, your higher self awakens to its life.

It is your soul that is elevated, not the body!

You recognize: Your soul, as a spiritual being, has far greater possibilities than the body which is limited to the material; an infinite potential that you do not nearly make use of in full.

When, at night, there appears over the summit the starry sky with its billions of suns, whose light has travelled millions of years to reach you, you sense the eternity. You feel: You yourself are a part of this eternity. You – your higher self – are eternal and thus immortal.

Nicholas Roerich „Star of the Hero“

You do not feel small any longer, but great. For your soul – when it realizes its potential and begins to grow – is on the way to God!

If we recall the sensation of standing on a rock before a phenomenon of nature, does not the heart contract from rapture? After this stage, the sensation of embracing boundlessness will be realized. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 160)

You feel: As an eternal being you are a cosmic giant: indestructible, inviolable and invincible, and thus fearless, completely free and full of dignity.

Higher Communion

Nicholas Roerich „Holy Himalayas, Study“

You feel: Up here you are close to Heaven, physically and spiritually.

You experience with a certainty beyond all reason: They really exist, these higher powers that protect, warn, teach, guide, comfort and strengthen you.

You know: There is no insurmountable barrier between Them and you. There is a way to get in touch with Them: Use the potential of your spiritual being and open your inner senses – your heart!

You are already now receiving strength, consolation, and knowledge from Above.

When a traveller stands on a summit, does he not feel that his body is being raised as if he were a unifier of worlds? (Community 215)

Selflessness

Jacques-Louis David „The Act of Selflessness“

Nicholas Roerich „Blue Mountains“

You perceive a soul not only within yourself, but also in everything else that surrounds you.

You feel one with nature, with all the other creatures – plants, animals and human beings –, yeah, even with the whole universe! You feel that everything around you is animated with the same divine spark that you are carrying within yourself.

On the summit every selfish desire disappears. You feel: You must not and cannot separate yourself from the other souls. Up here there is no thought of striving for your personal benefit to the detriment of others.

Up here, you love all fellow human beings and all other creatures as well.

6. What is the Use of „Elevation“?

Why do we practise the exercise “Elevation”? What do we gain by that?

Purification

Tintoretto “Baptism of Christ”

By an "Elevation" you purify your higher, spiritual being, the soul.

If we want to use a scientific expression, we may say: You put your Eternal Individuality in a state of higher vibration. Thus, particles which are responsive to lower vibrations are driven out of your soul. Instead, you fill your spiritual being with particles which are susceptible to higher vibrations. We have already talked about this phenomenon in our Broadcasting on Meditation.

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During "Elevation" you experience: It is indeed possible to return to the original state of purity in which you were created.

What remains to be done is "only" to preserve this elevated state of mind permanently down in the valley. Then you can completely get rid of the bad qualities under which you are suffering, of the dirt, which tarnishes the gold of your soul.

Gain Vitality

You are strengthening the power of your spirit. Your Eternal Individuality grows and becomes stronger when it strives to control both itself and the material conditions. The power over yourself is the source of your power over the circumstances.

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During "Elevation" you take up energy from space. You refill your supply of psychic energy, this spiritual force, on which all your possibilities and higher abilities are based. After an "Elevation" you are again full of vitality.

Fundamentally man was striving to create a particularly exalted state of mind, thereby promoting the reception of higher energies. (AUM 4)

Gain Joy of Being

You experience: Your soul, your Eternal Individuality, can rejoice, even when your body suffers.

Your perishable personality does not have much to laugh about indeed in everyday life down in the valley. Therefore, "Elevation" is the way to regain your joy of being in every situation, to transform suffering into joy, and to turn difficulties and distress into opportunities for your further spiritual ascent.

Gain Knowledge

Raphael “The School of Athens”

In the state of the "Elevation" our knowledge grows.

Another means of cognition is: Man heroically uplifts his consciousness and then observes manifestations from above. Thus, the most complex manifestation will appear to be below his consciousness and will be easily apprehended. (Brotherhood 595)

On the summit we are closer to heaven – and thus to truth – than in the valley.

The meaning will be clear when you will look from the mountain tops. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 34)

From the standpoint up here we can see the life below in the valley more clearly. That what lies beneath us is easier to understand.

Mundane occurrences are best seen from the Summit. The higher one ascends the broader and more powerful is the vision; and the more powerful the vision the stronger the fusion into oneness. (Fiery World III, 19)

Up here our inner senses, above all the heart, are more open to the streams of knowledge that are continuously pouring down from the spiritual world to the earth at any moment.

Standing on the peaks where one may look down – and understand – the Word thunders its truth to the inner self – the inner senses; in the valleys however are but the whisperings of this truth, not easily heard, and most easily misunderstood (Teachings of the Temple Vol. II, Lesson “Truth and Authority”)

Living in your own Higher World

Every one of us feels from time to time an urgent desire to leave for a moment the everyday world with all its difficulties and distress. For this, however, you should not take refuge in watching television or visiting a football match.

It is much more creative to build your own wonderful world, your own personal paradise on the peak of a mountain, and to visit it regularly during "Elevation".

When our consciousness is completely transported into the domain where there is no fear and depression, then we are invulnerable to any filth. (Fiery World II, 72)

Then you actually fly to a better world, to your true, supratemporal homeland.

Hopeless grief reigns simply because of the inability to think or to imagine. No one cares to develop the imagination, but without these wings it is impossible to soar to the higher spheres. (Supermundane 110)

Nothing base or low comes near to you here, no enemy and no trouble.

One must think loftily in order to rise above the dust. (Fiery World I, 510)

Such an ascent is the right way to free yourself from the misery of the world.

When it is so burdensome on the Earth, thought can lift itself up to the Supermundane Spheres. (Fiery World III, 549)

Get rid of bad Habits

The practice of “Elevation” is the best way to get rid of cravings or bad habits (for example smoking, alcohol, sweets, overeating), of negative thoughts, of false attitudes such as doubt, anxiety, suffering, irritation, depression, moods, sadness, and of other encumbering properties.

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In the state of "Elevation" you are redeemed from all this, as in a church or a concert hall. You can learn to recreate this state of higher vibrations every time you threaten to crash. Thus, step by step, you will change your habits, and with them your nature, and actually become immune to such lower vibrations.

This spiritual way is better than a diet or other external measures, because thereby you can eradicate the tormentors from within you and thus drive them out once and for all.

The New Man

Nicholas Roerich “Lama”

There is so much talk about the "Man of the Future". On the mountain peak you feel that you can reach this higher level – indeed, that you have already reached it – for the moment!

The New Man differs from the old one by the elevated state of his consciousness, which we have described with "purity, power, and joy of being." In our meditation you have created this state. As long as you succeed to preserve it in material earthly life, you are indeed a New Man!

Spiritual Pleasures

Bellini “Christ on the Mount of Olives“

Even the spiritual man seeks pleasures – but not material ones. It is not goal-fitting to forbid yourself, or others, the gross earthly delights, or to suppress them artificially. The better way is: Fill your life with higher, with spiritual pleasures! Besides them, the desire for the lower material enjoyments will eventually die down by itself.

It is easy to say that people should not drug themselves, but one should show them elevated paths. (Supermundane 500)

So enjoy the magnificent state of "Elevation"! Rejoice up there at the majesty of the world and the greatness of your soul! This is the only joy that is possible always and everywhere, even in the most terrible external circumstances.

No other joys can be compared with those spiritual exaltations which are experienced by the true disciple. (Helena Roerich Letters Vol. I, letter of 24.06.1935)

Transfiguration of Life

C. H. Bloch “Transfiguration of Christ“

The exercise "Elevation" allows everyone to transform into a New Man. Within a moment, you become a new, a higher being.

It allows everyone at any time and in any place to live in his own personal heaven, in a New World.

It creates a true transfiguration of your life – independent of the external conditions.

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Would you not like to be rather great than small, rather pure than unclean, powerful than weak, joyful than sad, healthy than sick, above than below, sublime than depressed?

Do you not prefer to live in a beautiful rather than in an ugly world?

7. Practice

First Step

To practise "Elevation" means:

In the morning, before your worldly day begins, you must first of all establish the state of "Elevation": purity, power and joy of being.

You must not allow the earthly thoughts, projects, worries, and hardships to fall upon you as soon as you get up. You must first create the awareness of your Higher Self and your mission. Otherwise you will not be able during the day to think, feel, speak, and act from the higher standpoint of the mountain peak.

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Painful experience teaches: He who starts the day down in the valley, will in its course hardly have the possibility to ascend. You have to start the day on the top of the mountain, in the spiritual world.

From this height, you deliberately descend down to the earthly life. There you will be supported by the certainty that you will soon return to the summit, namely at the latest in the evening.

Therefore, the popular wisdom says:

When you begin the day with a smile, you have already mastered it.

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At noon, for a brief moment, you will take a "time out" from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, visit the mountain top, practise "Elevation" and restore the rule of the spirit.

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At the latest in the evening you have to reserve a fixed time for our exercise in order to recreate the state of "Elevation".

You will look back at the day from above. You will give yourself an account on how you have spent it, in order to learn how you can do better tomorrow.

You should consciously conclude the day, leave the earth and all earthly affairs, and – as at death! – return to your marvellous homeland, where there is no oppression.

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These three pillars of a spiritual day should gradually become a habit through a salutary discipline, such as for example the five prayer times of Islam. To establish the rule of the spirit also means: To uncompromisingly make sure, against all demands of the world, that your spiritual being is granted the space it needs to live.

The first practical step, therefore, is to establish, at least during these three times of the day, an elevated state of mind. If you succeed, you will not fall too deeply in the short intervals in between.

Second Step

An even greater challenge is to constantly maintain a state of higher vibration, not only on the mountain peak, but also down in the valley, in the middle of earthly life. That means: Always stay in "Elevation", never crash, do not allow yourself to be dragged down by adverse circumstances or human attacks – or at least rise again immediately after every crash.

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The crucial exercise therefore is: Create the state of "Elevation" in any situation. "Elevation" is a spiritual attitude which we must preserve in all circumstances, not only in the morning and in the evening on our mountain.

Each man experiences the manifestation of enthusiasm, but these sparks of lofty elation occur as isolated flashes and do not transform the whole life. But for all that, such states of the spirit are possible even amid trying conditions. Let us imagine such an exalted state as continuous, it will then bestow still higher enthusiasm. Of course, all existence shall likewise be elevated. (AUM 449)

You have to ask yourself at every moment: "Am I in (in the state of "Elevation "), or am I out? Am I up, or am I down?" What is required is constant vigilance.

It should not be thought that, in his consciousness, an Arhat could lose sight of the Guiding Will even for one instant. He proves to be a simple mortal, if he does not always solemnly bear the chalice of achievement. The power of His heart becomes dormant as soon as He ceases to feel the Hierarchic thread in His hand. In this realization of constant vigilance lies the uniqueness of an Arhat. (Fiery World I, 196)

When you feel pure, strong and joyful, you are up. When you feel unclean, weak or sad, you are down.

You are like a baby who is learning to walk. When you have stumbled, you have to get up again in spirit immediately before you continue to act on the material plane.

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Especially before meals you should carry out a short "Elevation". Thereby, you transmit your higher vibration to the material food and purify and elevate it.

In addition, this helps you to eliminate the desire of the palate and to make sure that you eat only that and only so much as your body really needs.

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One of the most important paragraphs of Agni Yoga on our topic runs:

There were those among the disciples and followers whose lives were filled with misery and daily hardship. The Teacher [Jesus] would first help them by uplifting their spirits, and only when balance was established would He discuss their problems. (Supermundane 151)

This tells us: In difficulties, facing important decisions, or before you are looking for the solution to a problem, always create the state of "Elevation" first. You should not think, feel, speak, or act in a downcast mood – that would only produce a negative impact on you and your environment.

As long as you are depressed, you will hardly find the best solution. Furthermore, it may be that in some situations there is no way out. Even this must not drag you down from your elevated state of mind.

Your motto, therefore, should be: first elevation, then problem solution.

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You should regard the exercise "Elevation" as successfully completed only once you have reached the state of mind that we have described as "purity, power, and joy of being." And you should return to the exercise whenever you have lost this state.

8. Service

At the end of this Broadcasting, let me point out: The exercise "Elevation" is not a selfish practice which only aims at your personal wellbeing. It is a service to mankind as well!

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The state of your mind has a great significance for the work you are doing on the material level: The bread you bake, the children you educate, the letters you write, the houses you build, the furniture you fabricate, the pictures you paint, the conversations you lead – everything you do succeeds in a state of "Elevation" better than when you are acting in a depressed mood or with negative thoughts or feelings.

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Depending on your inner condition, you radiate good or bad emanations at any moment. They exert a powerful effect on the people and even on the objects around you.

One should sow the good with every glance, every touch. And the heart will grow in this exercise of goodness. (Heart 410)

In a state of “Elevation”, you illuminate your whole environment by radiating warmth, light, love, joy and strength!

We must attain the stage where we radiate light from our innermost being, for it is then that we are true coworkers with the higher worlds. (Heart 38)

Through the radiant example of your own elevation, you show other people the beauty and dignity of this state of mind, and awaken in them the desire to elevate themselves as well.

It is impossible for anyone to either raise or lower his own individual vibration without raising or lowering everything connected with him. (Teachings of the Temple Vol. III, Lesson “To Templars”)

You prove your fellow human beings that suffering and desires can be overcome by this practice.

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He who has "elevated" himself is called upon, if possible, to help his fellow human beings to elevate themselves as well.

So everyone who prepares his heart and uplifts the hearts of those around him is already doing the will of the One who sent him. (Heart 332)

This is an endless task for every new day. Everywhere the people and the circumstances around you call desperately for "Elevation", in the family and in the circle of your friends and acquaintances as well as in public.

Here are two of the most important paragraphs of Agni Yoga:

How, then, does an Hierarch create on Earth? By uplifting all the surroundings. (Agni Yoga 663)

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 labor that must be performed by those who are launching the New World. (Heart 292)

You cannot esteem the value of the work on your "Elevation" highly enough: it has a world-wide significance!

Can one ascend and descend in isolation? Truly, no being can act without affecting his surroundings. Man must realize his responsibility toward the universe. A person, with each elevation of the spirit, is of substantial aid to others. But a person falling in spirit may thereby even kill someone. One can cite numerous examples, such as how one who became insane in Asia was the cause of the death of another in Europe, or how one who rose in spirit in America healed another in Egypt. (Agni Yoga 168)

May your mantram be:

I elevate myself

I am living in an elevated state of purity, power and joy of being

I elevate others