Community, 266. We solicitously defer to your strivings, and We expect from you the same sensitiveness. We shield you on all paths and We expect the same considerateness.
Where there is even an embryo of cooperation, there repudiation is out of place. A sober mind clearly distinguishes friends.
According to Our custom, all arguments are assumed to have been exhausted before there is a severance. I see no obstacles to cooperation, but We can organize ten new groupings. Certainly the realization of World Cooperation must grow. The obstinacy of ignorance will be no obstacle.
Your books stand in Our libraries. Are Our books likewise to be found in your libraries? We can talk about your books. Have you read Ours?
We place knowledge in the foundation of the Community, setting no limits to it. We place experience and good-will in the foundation of the Community. We manifest the best conditions for the success of friends. Let Us know your intentions toward Us.
The Agni Yoga Discussion Forum
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/agni-yoga/
[Self-description in bold]
[AYDF] Welcome to the Agni Yoga Discussion Forum!
[THOTh] An "Agni Yoga Forum" would better indicate spiritual goalfitness. However, both the words "the" and "discussion" in the name may accurately reflect its history.Heart, 89: It may be asked, “Why these ethical discussions in the book Heart?” But first of all, one should remind about the hygiene of the heart. The hygiene of the heart should be regarded as a necessary activity. One should eschew all discussions about abstract ethics. Everything is good that is healthy in all dimensions. We insist that each one who has entered upon the path of the Teaching shall be primarily healthy in spirit. Can one walk in evil toward Light? Verily, Light will reveal each grain of evil!
[AYDF] What is Agni Yoga? It is a supreme synthesis of all highest yogas but Karma Yoga is an essential part of it.
[THOTh] Agni Yoga, or Living Ethics, is the Yoga of Fiery Synthesis. Period.Aum, 497: One needs to delve by degrees into the synthesis of the Teaching; only the rainbow of the synthesis can bestow advancement.
Brotherhood, 63: The rainbow is the symbol of synthesis.
Infinity I, 253: We are united in a synthesis of cosmic fusion. Only the synthesis of a full fiery consciousness, containing all fires of spirit and heart, can affirm psycho-spirituality and psycho-life.
[AYDF] Agni Yoga is the path of a conscious altruism, of balance between self-improvement and service for the Common Good.
[THOTh] Agni Yoga begins where the lower is transmuted into the higher, and transfigured into the One, the Monad. There is no "balance" between lower and higher principles. The higher always rules.Supermundane III, 668: Ethical principles should be seen as practical solutions for life ... goalfitness results from the application of higher principles; only in this way can seeming contradictions be reconciled. Not without reason did Buddha measure the disciples by their ability to contain.
[AYDF] It is the most recent and at the same time is the most ancient of all yogas.
[THOTh] There may be more yogas, yet to be revealed.Supermundane I, 96. ... the significance of synthesis. If this foundation is not accepted, the most useful works will be destined for destruction. The essence of Our Abode is not properly understood because people arbitrarily categorize. Some consider Us to be Hermits of Kailas, while others think that We are Beings of the Subtle World. Such distinctions destroy the synthesis of Our Existence.
Humanity can be divided into those who accept synthesis and those who deny it. Those who deny the benefit of synthesis do not recognize the history of the human race. The epochs of upliftment were also the epochs of an understanding of synthesis, when each harmonization of the centers resulted in a broadening of consciousness.
Please do not think that narrow specialization makes the glory of an era. Only benevolent, all-embracing synthesis can give impetus to the new progress of consciousness.
Thus, let us not forget that categorizing prevents a proper understanding of Our Brotherhood.
[AYDF] It is the ultimate shortcut to knowing oneself and to highest worlds.
[THOTh] No true Master teaches shortcuts, but discipline, steadfastness and courage.Supermundane IV, 767: People may ask which yoga is the shortest path to knowledge. You know the Agni Yoga—the fiery synthesis—but many have not yet familiarized themselves with this fiery knowledge. They would like to be directed to one of the earlier known yogas. I shall select the Karma Yoga: creativeness, conscious labor, striving towards higher quality, will lead to the Highest by the shortest path. However, Karma Yoga requires time, whereas Agni Yoga can be called the lightning-like way. Think how beautiful is the path of lightning, but do not forget how difficult the lightning-like tension is.
[AYDF] It is the path of all Messengers of Light, a common spiritual denominator cutting across nations, centuries, cultures and civilizations.
[THOTh] Indeed, it is the path of all Messengers of Light, excluding no one.Supermundane IV, 863: I have already spoken about containment, tolerance, and understanding, qualities that must be crowned by assimilation. Synthesis can be developed only through assimilation. What is assimilation? With the expansion of consciousness must come the absorption of what has been learned. It becomes, as it were, one’s own. With such a treasure the traveler enters radiant into the Supermundane World, for his inner light has been increased.
[AYDF] Agni Yoga is a path of Beauty, Love and Knowledge pursued consciously and in a balanced, commensurate way, full of Joy and Happiness. Agni Yoga emphasizes the importance of Joy as a conscious, active perception of Beauty, Love and Knowledge. Joy is the supreme wisdom.
[THOTh] Indeed, it is all that, plus the Path of Fearlessness.Illumination, II:IV:5 Simplicity, beauty and fearlessness—Christ and Buddha spoke of nothing more. And it is a blessing if the spirit vibrates to these covenants.
[AYDF] The recent Agni Yoga series was written by the Masters of Wisdom of the Orient first through Helena Blavatsky (then called "Secret Doctrine"), then Francia La Dew ( "The Teaching of the Temple"), next through the Roerichs family ("Agni Yoga, the Teaching of Living Ethics").
[THOTh] Inaccurate and incomplete. HPB was never called "Secret Doctrine." When HPB wrote the Secret Doctrine (1888) she was an initiate-disciple of Master M., working in close collaboration with Master D.K., since 1875 a Master of the Hierarchy of Light Who later provided the psychological key to the Secret Doctrine in the Treatise on Cosmic Fire (1925), penned by Alice A. Bailey (AAB).Community, 193: Destroy the worthless wherever it be concealed. Uncover ignorance under any mask whatever. The world is divided according to the quality of consciousness, and the degree of ignorance is the measuring rod. Indeed, you know that ignorance is not cured by leafing through books, but by the synthesis of containment.
[AYDF] The Forum has never been moderated and the rule of the game was that everyone should follow the principles of Beauty (no foul language, no boring intellectualizing, no personal attacks), Love (humility, compassion, mutual respect, kindness, friendliness, brotherly attitude), and Knowledge (sharing personal experience and knowledge, free thinking, open-mindedness).
[THOTh] This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. Members and leaders of this forum have intimidated, verbally abused and censored dissident voices regarding the currently accepted "doctrine of condemnation" about the AAB-DK teachings. [1]Community, 208: Let slanderers look over the list of everything slandered by them. Will not this be a list of human evolutionary discoveries? No slander has any influence on the effect of evolution. But slander is a devourer of vital fuel, and from the standpoint of goalfitness must be destroyed. An absurd abusive word is not often accompanied by clear-cut thought, but slander, by nature, is akin to everything reared in darkness, and thought carries it inaudibly like an owl in flight.
[AYDF] Agni Yoga followers are very tolerant to other paths and use the criterion "by their fruits shall ye recognize them" for making judgements about them.
[THOTh] We have never heard of a "follower" among true Agni Yogi. They are true leaders of the spirit. Still, what is stated about the followers of the AAB condemnation doctrine in the Agni Yoga Discussion Forum is not correct. They are viciously intolerant of anything but their point of view.Brotherhood, 41. What is the natural path? The most unrestricted way of learning, with tolerance and patience, without any sectarianism. Unrestricted cognition is not easily adopted. Everything connected with human labors is limited. ... Only limited people condemn. Not out of condemnation is perfectment born.
Brotherhood, 436. Joint brotherly service can begin when mutual recrimination has been abandoned. Discussion is not condemnation. There may be brotherly actions which are not immediately understood. It is possible to make inquiries about reasons, but it is inadmissible, through ignorance, to utter condemnation which is like a sharp knife.
[AYDF] Mahayana Buddhism and Sufism are the closest paths to AY but there are many others which share our values.
[THOTh] It is the HEART, friends, the faculty of PURE REASON, the INTUITIVE sense of straight knowledge, that is the closest path --the true "shortcut"-- to the Yoga of Fiery Synthesis.Heart, 89. Beware of senseless condemnation. Not only does it contain the property of decomposition but it delivers the weak denunciator into the power of the condemned. A weak but cruel heart can call forth a counteraction in the aura of the condemned. Usually the denunciator is not strong himself, otherwise he would not find time for condemnation. The injustice of condemnation, like any lie, weakens the already insignificant consciousness of the self-appointed judge; thence issues extreme harm for him, whereas the one who is unjustly judged only gains through strengthening his magnet by the attraction of new auras.
We do not condemn the Agni Yoga Discussion Forum,as it may be a useful experience for spiritual seekers interested in the historical and semantic roots of the AY Teachings. In fact, we highly respect the work of Mr. Daniel Entin and Ms. Joleen D. Du Bois.
However, spiritual seekers who practice the SYNTHESIS of the Teachings conveyed in the AAB-DK and the Roerichs books are warned to stay away from the relatively few self-appointed keepers of the "doctrine of condemnation" [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], the "HR supremacists" who have infested this forum, ready to attack the unwary traveler, in the passively accepting presence of those who tolerate such cruelty as part of the "Agni-Karma" Yoga experience, with few exceptions. [4 , 5]
We reiterate that there are relatively few "HR supremacists" associated with the AYDF, that is, those who fanatically condemn the AAB-DK Teachings as unredeemable Black Magic. Still, only one drop of a potent toxin is needed to poison an entire well. And until the "doctrine of condemnation" is banned from the AYDF (and from any spiritually oriented forum), students of the condemned creed, who may also study and practice AY, will only be accepted if they cover their dark skin and blend in as fair-skinned "straight" AY students. That is ethically wrong.
The moderators of any forum have the right to set the scope/tone of the discussions engaged in by the participants, who are guests expected to behave in accordance with the rules declared in the invitation. There is nothing wrong to focus on any particular teaching. However, if a specific way of thinking/feeling/acting is absolutely forbidden/unwelcome for whatever reason, such exclusions should be explicitly stated in the invitation to join the forum, as some of these are. There is no right to publicly chastise and ridicule any visitor/guest who thinks/feels/acts in the forbidden/unwelcome way if such warning is not given upfront. That is plain common sense and well accepted rules of civility that have been refused by the AYDF. So, the reason for this warning.Brotherhood, 33. One must learn not to irritate people to whom certain knowledge is inaccessible. Experienced observation whispers to one when discussion will be in vain.
AAB-DK students in particular:For you, the "Welcome to the Agni Yoga Discussion Forum!" actually reads:
DO NOT TRESPASS!Community, 255. Do not keep up discussions with the ignorant. Maintain obvious silence if you become aware of irresponsibility in your interlocutor. Affirm your own knowledge with silence. Let not other people becloud your view. Teach your young friends to keep silent where there is no bridge to one's consciousness. Teach them to brandish the sword only once, if an arrow of insult is let fly.
THOTh
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2005-06-30