AGNI YOGA WEB TV
SERIES
„SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF AGNI YOGA“
BROADCASTING 2
Transformation into a spiritual Being
Dear Agni Yogis,
we continue our Series "Experiment
Immortality" with the key practice of Agni Yoga: The transformation of man
from a material, mortal into a spiritual immortal being.
1. Complete Program for Renewal
There are some of you who told me: "I have
now watched almost 100 of your videos, from Karma and Rebirth to the Order of
the Economy and of the Family in the New World. What shall I now do, every
single day, in order to advance on the pathyou are describing so beautifully?
"
In a word, there is a risk that you overlook
the forest for the trees. We therefore propose to begin the practice of Agni Yoga
step by step.
We prepare a hand-rope
for those who have resolved to ascend. (Fiery World II, 469)
Agni Yoga offers a complete program for the
renewal of both the individual and the human society as a whole; for the
education of the man of the future and for the construction of the world of the
future.
We propose to accompany each of you who welcomes
assistance at each and every one of the steps that lead to this lofty goal.
Everyman I will go
with thee
and be thy guide
in thy most need
to stand by thy side.
2. The New World: Community of New Men
Nicholas Roerich “Zvenigorod”
The aim of Agni Yoga is to build a new step of evolution:
The New Man and the New World. In order to achieve this goal, we must first and
foremost create the man of the future. The more of him come to life, the more the
world of the future arises by itself through the formation of communities of New
Men.
On the other hand, the construction of a New
World is impossible with the old, materially-minded, selfish man.
*****
Thus, if you wish to contribute to making the
new step of evolution a reality, you must first work on yourself and transform
into a New Man. The world of the future is a community of immortals. If you wish
to join us, you have to gain immortality.
You yourself must be the change you wish to see in the world! (Gandhi)
3. Immortality: A State of the Consciousness
It may seem hard to understand, but it is true
nevertheless:
Gaining immortality is a spiritual exercise!
This is so because immortality is a state of the
consciousness!
In fact, you are an immortal when you think,
feel, speak, and act at all times and in all circumstances as an immortal; that
means when you appear on the material plane as a non-material spiritual being.
We had discussed this already in detail in our Broadcastings “The Secret of
Immortality”
*****
In practical terms this means: If you want to
transform into the man of the future, you have to take "only" two
steps:
First, in the morning, in meditation, you
establish the state of the consciousness of an immortal.
Secondly, in the course of the earthly day, you
make sure that you do not lose this position, that you act in the world at
every moment with the attitude of an immortal.
The most important practice of Agni Yoga comes
down to this one exercise, in principle quite simple, but not easy to implement
in everyday life.
Section I. In Meditation
Nicholas Roerich “Nan Shan”
Let us now look more closely at these two
steps: First, the creation of the state of consciousness of an immortal in
meditation in the morning, and later the preservation of a corresponding attitude
in the midst of everyday earthly life.
1. In the Morning
The path of the immortal begins in the morning
of each day. You have to spend at least fifteen minutes in order to transform
into a soul.
Each morning brings us
closer to the sun. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 253 [289])
Each tomorrow brings
new knowledge. I am now referring to those who are able to greet every morning
as the beginning of a new experience. (Supermundane 138)
2. Shift your consciousness to your Higher Self
This transformation is carried out like this:
You draw your consciousness out of your body
and shift it to your Eternal Individuality. Thus, you become a non-material,
invisible and immortal spiritual being. You affirm this by saying, "I am a
soul."
You begin with the practice to allow only your
true, higher self to think and to feel within your body, to speak from it and
to act with it.
*****
You take possession of your soul. Your
consciousness enters this spiritual shell, much as you climb a material
vehicle, for example a car. You learn to make use of your spiritual being just
as a child learns to use its body.
*****
How this is being done in detail, we have
described in the Broadcastings "The Secret of Immortality". Go
through every morning and memorize again:
1. The 7
steps to immortality,
2. The
essential characteristics of an immortal (new gender, new people, new religion,
new family, new home and new name, etc.) and
3. The
most important qualities of your new identity (invulnerability, invincibility,
fearlessness, freedom, selflessness, vitality and joy of being).
Your transformation becomes a reality when you
acquire these characteristics and reveal them in daily life.
3. Meditation
Nicholas Roerich "Buddha"
The morning meditation is indispensable to make
sure that your transformation does not remain abstract and theoretical. Only during
this time, when all earthly concerns remain silent, you can really be a soul.
Now you are actually experiencing what it means to be a spiritual being.
*****
You have to start the day with the sublime
consciousness of an immortal. You must establish the ideal state first before
you can put it to the test and apply it in practice in earthly life.
One should recall that
in the hour before dawn it was ordained that subtle and beautiful ideas be
brought to Earth. (Supermundane 105)
Think of yourselves as
heroes, and sense what heroic deed you can perform today. (Supermundane 513)
Bitter experience teaches: During the day it is
hardly possible to find that high state of mind, if you fail to establish it in
the morning.
The best connections
with the light are obtained in the morning. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 352
[356])
It is better to begin
the day with a blessing than in bitterness. (Fiery World I, 561)
The regular connection with the Higher World is
literally necessary for your survival! It alone provides your soul with the
energy which it needs to subsist on the material plane.
4. The State of Mind „Spiritual Being“
Nicholas Roerich “Higher than Mountains”
The morning meditation puts you in a state of
mind, which we had described in detail in the Broadcastings "The Secret of
Immortality". Let us summarize:
*****
Your consciousness rests firmly within your Eternal
Individuality. You think, feel, speak and act only as your soul wants you to do.
*****
You are invulnerable, thus invincible,
fearless, completely free, and in a calm and solemn mood.
*****
You do not want anything for yourself. You do
not need anything. You are perfectly happy and completely selfless.
*****
You are full of vitality and joy of being.
*****
During the time of meditation you are
completely pure. You control your body, your thoughts and your feelings. As in a
church or another sacred place, you have no desire for material things or for spiritual
poisons like meat, alcohol, tobacco or sweets, not even for food.
Negative feelings such as fear, irritability,
impatience or depression do not arise at all.
*****
Finally, you know the tasks that are set for
you, and the assignments which you have to fulfill this coming day.
5. At Noon
We shall discuss straightaway in more detail: This high state of
consciousness is constantly endangered. In everyday life you threaten to crash
again and again. In order not to fall too low and not to lose sight of the goal
of your day, you must take a short break at noon, go into meditation again, and
affirm your transformation into a spiritual being.
Thus strengthened, you get down to mastering the
second half of the day.
6. In the Evening
The path of the immortal ends in the evening of
each day. You have to spend again at least fifteen minutes to re-affirm your transformation
and to repair the damage your mental armour has suffered during the day.
How beautiful it would
be if everyone, on completing his day, would ask himself about the quality of
his thought during those hours! (Heart 16)
In addition, in the evening meditation, you will
render an account to yourself: Did you succeed in asserting yourself as a
spiritual being throughout the day?
The wise one will
realize what a responsibility he bears for the use of the treasure of the free
will. It is as if a purse full of gold were given him; it can be spent at his
discretion, but an account would have to be rendered. (Brotherhood 570)
Of course, you made many mistakes. You have
crashed again and again. That is no problem – provided you learn from these
mistakes!
The next morning, you will continue your path.
You will then strive to do better than the day before. That means not to repeat
these mistakes at this new opportunity that is granted to you.
We await those who
pronounce the new day a desired one—who regard the best past day worse than
each new one. (Community 144)
Each new day offers
new possibilities for approaching the limitless growth. (Infinity I, 113)
At your birth, you descended down to the
material level. At your death you will return to the Supermundane World. Man
tends to forget that he comes from above and belongs to the world up there.
It is therefore useful that you reflect this
eternal healthy rhythm of descent and ascent each and every day. Why wait dozens
of years – namely until your death – until you visit your homeland again?
Section II. In the World
The path of the immortal is being continued in
the material world during the day.
When you were capable of becoming a spiritual
being in the morning meditation, it is also possible for you to keep this
position in the course of everyday earthly life.
*****
Thus, the second part of the exercise “Transformation”
runs: You need to preserve throughout the day the sublime state of your consciousness
created in the morning and defend it in the midst of earthly life against all
attacks, temptations, and deep-rooted habits.
No one and nothing must be able to knock you
down from the height you have climbed in the morning.
*****
Something more is vital: Consciousness is
"only" an inner state. It must be reflected in an outward attitude vis-à
-vis the worldly circumstances.
Therefore, your transformation into an immortal
is complete only when you actually appear on the material level as a
non-material being, showing in every situation of everyday earthly life the
attributes of a spiritual being, namely invulnerability, fearlessness, freedom,
purity, vitality, joy of being and selflessness.
*****
In the morning meditation, you place your
Eternal Individuality in a sublime state. According to this image, you have to
shape the being that will later appear in the earthly world. You create an
ideal, and this you have to transform into a tangible material reality.
*****
You must not allow any gap to arise between
your spiritual nature on the one hand and its material expression on the other
hand. Both are – you are – a unity that cannot be divided into high (on the spiritual
level) and low (on the material plane). Your being, consisting of both body and
spirit, stands in its entirety either high or low at any given moment.
Now let us see how this second part of our
exercise can be successfully carried out:
1. Observation from Above
Nicholas Roerich "Tsong kha-pa"
In everyday life, the first step of the exercise
“Transformation" goes like this: You must learn, wherever you are and
whatever happens, to keep your consciousness within your Eternal Individuality.
You – your true, higher self –always stand behind and above your physical body, as well as above every situation.
*****
From this higher point of view you observe with
the eyes of your soul calmly and uninvolved what is going on around you. You
are not affected by what is happening. All this does not concern the spiritual
part of your being at all.
*****
From up there you look down not only at the
circumstances, but also at you yourself: What does your lower being think, what
does it feel? We had already said: You must identify neither with your body nor
with the feelings, instincts and thoughts of your perishable ego.
You learn,
to stand in spirit
above all those turning to you. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 289 [345])
2. Guidance from Above
The next step of the exercise “Transformation” runs:
Your Eternal Individuality should not just watch what is going on around it. It
is also to direct its vehicles, the four mortal bodies (physical body, body of
feelings, body of instincts and body of thoughts):
Your true, higher self determines what your
lower self feels and thinks and how it acts in the material world. The rider
must govern the donkey. When the donkey takes over command, both spoil their
mission.
*****
Therefore, you have to work on mastering your
thoughts and feelings. For it is not the external circumstances, but your own
thoughts or feelings that either keep you in a sublime state of consciousness –
and a corresponding attitude in the world – or cause you to sink to a lower level.
We shall discuss in one of the following
Broadcastings in more detail how this exercise "Quadriga" looks like.
3. Appearance as a Spiritual Being from a Higher World
Nicholas Roerich „From Beyond “
As an immortal, you are a king of the spirit among
mites, a spiritual being among material creatures, one of the first
representatives of the new step of evolution, of the humanity of the future, of
the New Race among the old men. You are like a biped among quadrupeds or an
eagle among chickens.
*****
You are a spiritual being. Your homeland is the
Supermundane sphere. You are only briefly and temporarily visiting the material
level. This world is foreign to you. You do not feel at home down here, any
more than a German, American or Russian soldier in Afghanistan.
You feel like Jesus:
My kingdom is not from
hence. (John 18, 36)
You, your true Eternal Individuality, as a
non-material being, are a stranger on this material earth, a guest from a
distant star, an extraterrestrial creature, an alien!
It would be correct to
think of Our co-workers not as dwellers of Earth, but rather as guests, filled
with memories of better worlds. Indeed, earthly life is not easy for them. They
are filled with the spirit of service to humanity, but this concept is little
understood on Earth. These toilers cannot find a common language with coarser
earthly people. (Supermundane 369)
As an immortal you stand one level higher than
the normal inhabitants of the planet you are visiting. It is as if you are moving
among children, whom you must treat with love and severity, but always from a
superior position.
Those who have risen must help their fellow men
to uplift themselves as well.
Here on this painting
you find yourself – your true self – depicted: A being from a purer sphere
leaves its height, crosses the border between the worlds, and descends into the
chaos of the earthly events, where it is already eagerly awaited. You help when
you are being called and where it is possible. However, you remain unaffected
by the worldly affairs. At the latest in the evening, you return to your
homeland where you can live in peace and quietness far above the madness down
here. (Nicholas Roerich "From Beyond")
You come from a better world, from Heaven; from
a paradise in which the cosmic laws and principles such as truth, justice,
beauty and love actually apply.
*****
The exercise "Transformation" is continued
as follows: You take a corresponding attitude and really do appear on the
material level as a stranger, as a spiritual being from a higher world.
You act as a representative of the Hierarchy,
as an ambassador of the king of a distant country called Shambhala.
May the people who you meet experience the same
that Knecht experienced in Hermann Hesse's "Glass Bead Game" when he
first met the music master:
He had experienced the process of vocation, which may well be called a sacrament: The ideal world, which until then had been known to the young mind only partly by hearsay, partly by ardent dreams, became visible and opened itself invitingly. This world existed not somewhere in the distance, in the past or in the future, no, it was here and it was active, it radiated, it sent messengers, apostles, envoys, men like this old Magister. And from this world, through one of these venerable messengers, a reminder and a call were sent to him, the little classical scholar!
When you leave your
heavenly home and enter an earthly room, this should be as if the spiritual
world breaks into the material sphere! May the people who you meet feel: In your
presence Heaven is open and the Higher Powers are near! (Titian “Annunciation”)
You are not an angel yet. But like an angel,
you have a mission to fulfill, as we said at the beginning:
You are to help the inhabitants of this planet
to build a new step of evolution. You are to elevate the world to which you have
been sent, and bring it closer to the conditions in the Higher World, your homeland
from whence you came.
You are called upon to contribute your part to
building the Kingdom of God on earth. This is done by enforcing down here the
principles of truth, justice, beauty, and love which prevail in Heaven.
It was said in
antiquity, “All people are angels.” Verily, people are messengers of the
far-off worlds. Hence great is their responsibility. They carry out little of
that what is entrusted to them and are not even distressed at losing the
treasure. Only a few individuals may sorrow that they have forgotten something
they have heard. Let people not forget that they are messengers and a bond with
the distant worlds. Such a consciousness in itself beautifies everyday life. (Supermundane
278)
4. Do not allow yourself to be dragged down
You can hardly imagine how difficult, arduous
and disgusting the stay on the material level is for your soul! You step down to
a barbaric world. This is like a descent to hell!
Legend has it that after his crucifixion Christ climbed down to the underworld in order to redeem the souls waiting there. "He descended into hell" says the Apostles’ Creed. (Domenico Beccafumi “Descent of Christ to the Underworld“)
Likewise, you too, on each new day, betake
yourself into circumstances that, as a being from the higher world, you can
only describe as complete chaos. Do not indulge in any illusions! Be prepared
for the worst! Do not expect any honey licking from the day that lies before
you, but nothing else than incessant struggle with chaos!
*****
When you appear down here as a spiritual being
from a higher level, there are many jealous, resentful, or malicious hands who know
only one end: to throw you off your pedestal.
Learn to rise above
the hands that drag one downward. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 352 [415]
As an alien, you must not adapt to the rotten customs
of the primitive civilization into which you have been exiled.
When the current
strives upward myriads of small sendings rush forth to impede it. Not only
conscious and malicious sendings but also chaotic particles move to restrain
the rising current. (Fiery World II, 108)
The ignorant inhabitants of this planet must
not succeed in dragging you down to their level.
Madmen have no right
to drag worthy ones along with them. (Fiery World II, 446)
On the contrary, your mission is exactly to
lift them up to your height!
How, then, does an Hierarch
create on Earth? By uplifting all the surroundings. (Agni Yoga 663)
When you sink to the level of the old, mortal men
around you, you stop being an immortal, a higher being.
It should not be
thought that, in his consciousness, an Arhat could lose sight of the Guiding
Will even for an instant. He proves to be a simple mortal, if he does not
always solemnly bear the chalice of achievement. (Fiery World I, 196)
In practical terms, this means above all: You
have to continue down here to live according to the rules and laws that apply
in your homeland, in Heaven. How do you want to bring the earth closer to Heaven?
Only by introducing down here the higher customs prevailing up there. This, in
turn, can only be achieved when you yourself live by these rules, convince your
fellow men through your practical example of their goal-fitness, and incite them
to imitation.
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)
How this can actually succeed, we shall discuss
in more detail in the Broadcasting on the construction of the world of the
future. In short, first of all, one thing is crucial: You have to implement The
10 Pillars of the Practice of Agni Yoga (see the Series “The 10 Pillars of the
Practice of Agni Yoga“) yourself and introduce them as far as possible to your
environment. The New World will arise by itself when more and more people live according
to these principles.
5. Keep your Position
Michael Lukas Leopold Willmann “The Angels‘ Ladder“
It is of the utmost importance that you
recognize: By transforming into an immortal, you take up a new position – like
the leader of a football team, the foreman of a construction crew, a teacher in
a school or the president of a company or a state.
You are new to this office. You still have to
learn to fill this dignity with life.
*****
We may as well say: You ascend to a higher rung
of the ladder of Hierarchy. This concerns much more than your present short
material earthly life. This applies to all worlds and all levels of existence,
to all eternity: You are taking over a new cosmic position!
A Christ is a cosmic position, a Buddha is a
cosmic position, an angel is a cosmic position. Likewise, to be a spiritual
being, a member of the 6th race, means to occupy a certain – of course lower –
position in the Cosmic Hierarchy.
*****
This your new, higher position is constantly in
danger. Even a formidable creature like Lucifer, who has reached a much greater
height than you and ascended to the rung of the angels, was still not immune
and has fallen.
Every new day you are being examined to see whether
you are worthy of this cosmic stage.
You ask why so many
tests are necessary. In the Community everything is attained by experience;
therefore, it is right to regard testings as growth. Tests lie as thresholds to
the gates of Beauty. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 337 [341])
Tell those who find
trials cruel that their goal-fitness lies in that the hardening of the spirit either
progresses or regresses. (AY 634)
You still have to prove that you are actually able
to keep yourself permanently on this higher level of evolution and belong to
the new 6th race. For the time being you are just a beginner. It is natural for
you to crash and to fall back again and again, like a baby learning to walk.
The testing of people
is unending. (Leaves of Morya’s Garden I, 362 [425]
Experienced people ask
for tests; otherwise upon what can they affirm their strength? (Fiery World I,
634)
It is crucial that you take every crash as an
opportunity to rise again and do better next time. Then you will stand greater
and stronger afterwards than before, and will actually have used the crash in
order to make progress in your ascent.
It is needful to deepen
the consciousness by continuous testing. One only needs to understand testing as
improvement. (Community 87)
Truly, anything of
good quality fears no test. Each test teaches new conditions which might
otherwise remain unnoticed. Whoever fears testing is an ignorant coward. (AUM
297)
Therefore, the last aspect of the exercise
"Transformation" that we want to discuss in this Broadcasting is:
As you descend into the world, your first
aspiration is not to earthly affairs. Rather, you firmly undertake to maintain the
position as a higher supermundane being, reached in the morning meditation, to preserve
the dignity of a spiritual being in every situation, and to fulfill your
mission as well as possible.
*****
This position is a spiritual reality which you
must defend against the material reality around you. You practice to maintain always
and in every situation the superior attitude, which rests on the higher point
of view of an immortal. When you fall down, you have to get up again immediately.
Your Eternal Individuality stands smilingly above the chaos of the world. You must
never lose that smile!
*****
The key to this tremendous project is: Base your
earthly daily life firmly on the three pillars of meditation in the morning, at
noon and in the evening. At least, at these three times of the day, you must be
a spiritual being with all the attributes described.
Then you will not fall too low in the two short
intervals in between. And when you make sure in the long run that you are a supermundane
being at least during these three times of the day, it will become ever easier
for you to keep this position even in the time between the meditations.
6. Outlook
The potential of an immortal spiritual being is
truly inexhaustible! There are no limits to the growth of your Eternal
Individuality!
Therefore, the exercise "Transformation"
has no end. It can and must be continued infinitely. We shall address more exercises
in the following Broadcastings in order to further advance on our common path
step by step.
*****
Next, you will have to strive to develop the
property of invulnerability. On it are based your invincibility, your
fearlessness, your freedom and your superiority. It is the very foundation of
your whole spiritual ascent. We shall discuss this in more detail in one of the
forthcoming Broadcastings.
*****
In the following exercises, we shall come back
again and again to the pattern explained today. Therefore, mark well this basic
principle:
In meditation, you create a higher state of your
consciousness, such as immortality, invulnerability, mastery of thoughts and
feelings, vigilance, etc. Then you apply this inner state to the outside material
reality by taking a corresponding attitude in every situation of your everyday
life.
Like this it goes on, on and on, step by step,
on the path to God.