Agni Yoga Society, Inc., New York

www.agniyoga.org

© 1951 by Agni Yoga Society.

Published 1951.

Reprinted under a new title 1978 (“New Era Community” instead of “Community”).

Reprinted December 2016. Updated August, 2021.

Wayfarer, friend, let us travel together. Night is near, wild beasts are about, and our campfire may go out. But if we agree to share the night watch, we can conserve our forces.

Tomorrow our path will be long and we may become exhausted. Let us walk together. We shall have joy and festivity. I shall sing for you the song your mother, wife and sister sang. You will relate for me your father’s story about a hero and his achievements. Let our path be one.

Be careful not to step upon a scorpion, and warn me about any vipers. Remember, we must arrive at a certain mountain village.

Traveler, be my friend.

We are dissipating superstition, ignorance and fear. We are forging courage, will and knowledge.

Every striving toward enlightenment is welcome. Every prejudice, caused by ignorance, is exposed.

Thou who dost toil, are not alive in thy consciousness the roots of cooperation and community?

If this flame has already illumined thy brain, adopt the signs of the Teaching of Our mountains.

Thou who dost labor, do not become wearied puzzling over certain expressions. Every line is the highest measure of simplicity.

Greeting to workers and seekers!

COMMUNITY

1. Family, clan, country, union of nations—each unit strives toward peace, toward betterment of life. Each unit of cooperation and communal life needs perfecting. No one can fix the limits of evolution. By this line of reasoning a worker becomes a creator. Let us not be frightened by the problems of creativeness. Let us find for science unencumbered paths. Thus, thought about perfectionment will be a sign of joy.

2. Depression is the enemy of each improvement. There can be no constructive building in doubt. There will be no learning under fear. Observation is a step toward justice. Selfhood is betrayal of self-renunciation. Without achievement there is no path.

3. Monasteries were often called communities. The communal life has long been a sign of cooperation and of mutual respect. So too each workshop can be a cell of a community in which everybody contributes his skill. Altruism is a requisite if one is to devote one’s talent to the common work.

4. Unity is pointed out in all beliefs as the sole bulwark of success. Better attainments can be affirmed if the unity of coworkers is assured. One may cite a great number of examples when mutual trust among the coworkers helped in lofty solutions. Let people, from home and hearth up to the spacial preordinations, remember about the value of cooperation. The seed of labor withers without the moisture of reciprocity. Let us not look backward too much. We hastening fellow-travelers shall become weary if we jostle each other. We shall realize a beautiful meaning if we can introduce the great concept—friend. Community may consist only of friends.

5. The path of life is one of mutual help. Participants in the great task cannot be humanity-haters. This term denoting a shameful hatred is a long one. But perhaps people will the better remember it and be ashamed.

6. Also let us not forget that realization is simplified through clear consciousness. But let us not lose the shortest Path. Time is precious. We should not deprive anyone because of our sluggishness. Laziness and ignorance sleep in the same cradle.

7. Malice admits leprosy and pestilence. Malice can transform a peaceful fireside into a swarm of snakes. Qualities of malice are not befitting the community. The common task is General Welfare.

8. Cooperation must be based upon sound rules. This teaches orderliness; that is, it helps the acquirement of a rhythm. Thus even in daily work are expressed the great laws of the Universe. It is especially needed to become accustomed from childhood to continuous labor. Let the better evolution be built upon labor as the measure of value.

9. And another absolute condition must be fulfilled. Labor must be voluntary. Cooperation must be voluntary. Community must be voluntary. Labor must not be enslaved by force. The condition of voluntary agreement must be laid into the foundation of advancement. No one may bring dissolution into the new house. Workers, builders, creators, can be likened to high-soaring eagles. Only in a broad flight does the dust and rubbish of decay fall away.

10. A lofty quality will enter into pure labor through love of a favorite craft. A beautiful quality will be affirmed throughout life. Nothing will remain in darkness. Ignorance will be a shameful offence. Darkness is infectious but Light is attractive. Hence, let us affirm the love of a favorite craft, which uplifts the life.

Science should indicate the best quality. Science should attract the strongest energies. Let the knowledge of the spirit shine over every workbench.

11. Many falsehoods have been piled around the concept of labor. Only recently was labor scorned and considered harmful for health. What an outrage this is—this regarding of labor as harmful! Not labor is injurious but the ignorant conditions surrounding labor. Only conscious cooperation can render healthy the sacred labor. Not only must the quality of labor be high, but there must be strengthened the mutual desire to make the conditions of labor clearly understood. One must not curse labor, one should set forward the better worker.

12. There should be instilled respect for craftsmanship, in order that it be understood as a higher distinction. Ancient working community-guilds left testimony of their vitality. One can see how people cultivated their skills toward perfection. They knew how to shield each other and how to guard the dignity of their community. So long as people do not learn to defend the merit of their fellow-workers they will not achieve the happiness of Common Good.

13. The concept of justice proves itself upon the foundation of labor. Likewise courage grows easily in the vouching for each other. Indeed, all as one, yet each one contributing his own best aptitude. Let us not destroy, but let us bring forth the warmth of the heart.

14. Our feeling is one of absence of specialty, because We live for the whole complex of life. Every specialist approaching Us inevitably loses his monochromatic eye-glasses. Therefore, make every effort that the specialty should become but one of the dishes at your table. As birds over the Earth, as bees above all the flowers, we can embrace the entire universe.

Without a specialty it is easier to prepare oneself for the current task in evolution—intercourse with distant worlds and the transformation of the Astral World, the world of dark earthly survivals. The adoption of the concept of Community will open the gates for next achievements, and their dates depend upon people themselves. Therefore, let us take up broadly the quest of Community.

15. Out of a wild jungle I can raise a grove, but a stone polished by worshipping foreheads will not produce a seed.

16. Among the mechanical attainments of modern civilization, the means of transportation deserve special attention. This devouring of space is already to a certain extent a victory over the supermundane spheres. But a circle of low materialism holds these conquests within the limits of low matter and the result is more harm than good. The chief danger in this haste of locomotion lies in a heightened feeling of irresponsibility. Passing beyond the limits of the ordinary, man becomes light, but because of the crudeness of feelings he loses the consciousness of responsibility.

He who can fly at a speed of 400 miles an hour or who can fly higher than others, acquires the psychology of a boxing champion, and the realization of spiritual responsibility leaves him.

It is possible to ennoble the conquest by stripping it of all sporting significance and directing it to labor. Hurry to save the unfortunates, fly for the unifying of humanity! Then will these conquests enter into evolution, for people must bring into ordinary usage the supermundane strivings, not forgetting about responsibility. As yet these conquests remain in the stage of ugly centaurs. When people will comprehend whither and for what reason they must fly, then will it be possible to improve the flying apparatus tenfold.

It is possible to whisper a great number of useful experiments into the strata of space. Atomic energy, condensation of prana, colored rays in space, harvest in connection with repeated explosions, and many another have been destined for humanity.

17. Many a time you have heard about following Our indications, and you could convince yourself that precise fulfillment of the indication is practical and beneficial. This is the first step. After this, self-action must begin. Knowing the foundation of Our Teaching it is necessary to prove to be disciples creating in full co-measurement and immutability. When the Teacher says, “Now you yourselves display the effect of My indications,” it does not mean to recall old habits, to quarrel with one another, to become offended and to hurt each other. This can be left to the mule drivers. But it should be for you to remember about Our Community and emulate it in harmonious labor. When the time comes to change the course of the ship, the indication will come. But do not expect an indication about a patch for the boot. Otherwise we shall soon congratulate each other on our birthdays.

It is necessary to assimilate permanently the dignity and the worth of the true work, and to relegate childish habits to the archives. Without betraying one’s principles it is possible to find hundreds of worthy solutions. I wish to see you upon the next step.

18. Some dream of casting themselves at the feet of the Teachers, but do not dare to go with Them into battle. But precisely now is the time of battle, and We can only call to battle. With the full knowledge of the truth of Good, on personal responsibility, We affirm the battle but a lawful one.

19. Master the problem of remaining cool throughout the entire Battle. The Battle of Light is just beginning—millions are in it without knowing the final result. But you know, and this knowledge should make you wise and prompt a worthy decision. Your spirit must take wing in the name of Truth. How is it possible to be uplifted by the achievement of the evolution of the World? My Ray carries My request that nothing be done to hinder its light. Instead of wings of achievement it is easy to grow black horns—wings of false reasoning. The dark spirits have black emanations resembling horns.

20. It is necessary to strive toward the utmost, the absolute. The utmost absolute gravitation will be toward the far-off worlds. Earthly beauty is lost in the glory of the super-stellar rays. Earthly science, remembering with difficulty yesterday and ignorant of tomorrow, is insignificant, and contributes nothing to the knowledge about the course of luminaries coming into existence.

How may one approach the above-mentioned Absolute? It cannot be done through technical means or earthly science, nor by descriptive art. It is possible only through the expansion of consciousness, when the earthly being is engulfed by the emanations from the distant spheres. Thus, those who are approaching Us, or rather the boundaries of the orbit of Earth, lose their specialty. Only in the realization of all-comprehensiveness may one endure the brilliance of the luminaries. But in order to contain this scintillation, one must set alight one’s inner fires.

The element of fire is most striking, transcendental, and if you wish to classify Our Community according to the elements, refer to the great fire which gives all, purifies all, and requires nothing.

21. We are not lovers of the world of bodily survivals, the lower Subtle World—the Astral World—but, like everything else that exists, it cannot be avoided in spiritual development. The world of bodily survivals contains certain elements needed for the intercourse between the worlds. For example, the means of transportation are very little understood by the dwellers of the Subtle World. Although they have the possibility to strive upwards they are busy with the constructing of dark houses, in imitation of the earthly ones. But if still during their lifetime they had broadened their consciousnesses, they would have been able to measure the hem of the garment of the Mother of the World.

The better possibilities can be awakened by those who are able to perceive with a spiritual consciousness. But for the preservation of consciousness it is necessary to sense this during one’s lifetime. Then the state of the contemporary world of physical survivals will be almost erased. Not the prayer “rest in peace,” but “learn in the space of the Light.” With all your consciousness remember the problems of evolution. When the striving for repose disappears then are the Gates drawing near.

22. One may reach Us only in harmonious agreement. We need not deification but a certain quality of spirit, as a lamp of concordant tension. A flickering lamp is unbearable for prolonged work. The same laws apply in everything, and according to the law of justice a flickering lamp injures itself. I counsel My lamps not to blink. The dynamo is not damaged because of the quality of the lamps, but uncoordinated voltage often results in a grievous—zing! And the basic metal must be provided anew. The laws are identical in everything.

23. There is no soulless justice, but only shining goalfitness. Indeed, the glorious goalfitness cannot tyrannize, but reveals the gates of beauty. And the call of goalfitness fills the space with the rapture of victory. Events and creations constituting goalfitness are not small outworn fragments but are the precious parts of the Cosmos.

Only a realization of Cosmic individuality can illumine the steps of evolution. Otherwise, in the earthly understanding evolution will remain only profitable investment of capital. You already know that capital deprived of goalfitness is only a millstone about the neck. And, as a manifestation of infection forms spiritual and bodily ulcers, likewise does a manifestation of the lunacy of covetousness bring harm to the spirit and the body.

On the Earth we are much concerned about the body; therefore it is necessary to penetrate into the origins of illnesses. A physician could say to the patient “You have an attack of cupidity,” or “the anemia of self-conceit,” or “stones of treachery,” or “a rash of gossip,” or “a stroke of hatred.”

At cemeteries we so love to recall the merits of the departed one; it would not be amiss to set forth the true causes of the diseases—the spectacle would be instructive.

Friends, I repeat—hold your thoughts pure, this is the best disinfectant and the foremost tonic expedient.

24. What is prophecy? It is foretelling the destiny of a definite combination of particles of matter. Therefore, prophecies can be fulfilled but also may be spoiled by an unfitting attitude, exactly as may be spoiled a chemical reaction. This indeed cannot be understood by people, though they can apprehend the meaning of a barometer.

Prophecies can be divided into the dated and undated. When we have to do with a dated prophecy it means we must understand all the intermediate conditions. A great date consists of lesser dates; therefore it is right to observe the small date.

It must be remembered that the dark ones are working upon small dates, trying to complicate the big one.

25. Can prophecies remain unfulfilled? Indeed they can. We have a whole storehouse of such lost prophecies. A true prophecy foresees the best combination of possibilities, but it is possible to allow them to escape.

The subject of fulfillment of prophecies is very profound; in it are combined cooperation and higher knowledge of the spirit. The unwise say “What a kitchen!” But a kitchen is easily transformed into a laboratory.

Since time immemorial prophecies have been issued from Our Community as benevolent signs for humanity. The paths of prophecies are diverse: either they are suggested to particular people, or they may be inscriptions left by some unknown hands. Prophecies best of all inform mankind. Indeed, the symbols are often obscured, but the inner meaning creates a vibration. Certainly a prophecy requires alertness and aspiration.

26. If matter is everywhere then even light leaves behind its protoplasm. All manifestations of light cannot be regarded as accidental. Certain eyes are able to catch the network of light. Because of the loftiness of the energy of light, all these formations are very beautiful. Dissonance of sound is far more frequent. The protoplasm of light is not something abstract, its sediments adorn the vegetable kingdom. The rhythm of waves and sands and the crust of the planet are notably stabilized by the nodes of light. Learn to love the formations of light. It is not so much the images impressed upon canvas as the caught vibrations of light that have significance. The quality of the glance is completely unappreciated. It is like a ray for the photographic film. It must be kept in mind that through the spiritual gaze we establish the image of the elemental spirits. Similarly does the physical glance arrest in space the network of light. The significance of this cooperation should be known. Each movement of man is bound with the essential nature of the elements.

I point out also the significance of the music of the Pythagoreans at sunrise. Light is the best purifying filter for sound. Only the savagery of humanity could lock up sound in the dust of darkness.

27. Pure thought saturated with beauty points out the path to truth. The interdictions and the prescripts of renunciation in the Teachings were given in condescension toward a limited consciousness. But a broadened consciousness frees man from many fetters and affirms progress. Adorned lives allow departing freely and generously in order to return as victors. He who proceeds with a consciousness of beauty cannot be confused. Only confusion can bar the way.

It is not quite correct to say that beauty will save the world. It is more accurate to say that the realization of beauty will save the world.

One can walk through obstacles of ugliness toward a beacon of beauty, scattering seeds without number. When one can create a garden of beauty there is nothing to fear. There is no weariness when the garden of the spirit admits the newcomers.

28. The manifestation of petrification of the Earth has reached the utmost limits. We consider that extreme measures are needed in order that the spirit be re-awakened. The Teaching is not attained through smiles alone. The appearance of deserts has denoted long ago the beginning of savagery. Signs were given long ago and time for reflection thus granted. Indications have been made manifest, but no one harkened.

29. The teaching of the New World will solve all discomforts. Verily, only the shield of the Community can give meaning to the sojourn on Earth. How indescribably beautiful it is to think about cooperation with the far-off worlds. This cooperation, begun consciously, will draw into the orbit of communication new worlds. And this heavenly cooperative will broaden its possibilities infinitely.

If all possibilities are stipulated by a community, then their manifestation will take place through the channel of the spirit. It has been said that sound will be the first to reach through. Let these fragments be rudimentary, like the first jagged edges of an eolith. Let whole years pass before the understanding of a complexity of meaning be achieved. Yet it is unquestionable that this conquest will begin not in the observatories and not in the optician’s shop. Harkening of the spirit will bring the first tidings; not for master degrees, but for life which forges evolution. The Teaching can point out to the sensitive ones—on awakening, remember the far-off worlds; on going to sleep, remember the far-off worlds.

Hearing any fragments of sound, do not reject them, for each fragment may increase the possibilities of humanity. Gradually unknown words may come through; one should not be surprised at this, remembering that when dates approached in times past the consciousness likewise became expanded.

You understand that Earth cannot live without community. You understand that without the broadening of the heavenly ways the existence becomes nil. The New World is in need of new boundaries. The seekers must have a path. Is it narrow throughout the entire horizon? It is fortunate that the seekers do not have to bend the ear down to earth but may turn their gaze upward into spiritual heights. It is easier for the ray to seek out uplifted heads. And every movement of the world is conditioned by the community.

30. Broadening of consciousness is occasion for congratulation. No laboratory can give this perception of continuity of endless possibilities. Only personally, consciously and freely is it possible to adapt out of space uninterrupted steps. The Teaching may open the door, but one can enter only by oneself. Not reward, nor justice, but the incontestable law carries the incarnate spirit upward, in an ascending spiral, provided that it has realized the necessity of motion. The Teacher can in no wise advance this consciousness, for any suggestion would violate the personal attainment.

It is one thing to discuss abstractly distant worlds; it is another to realize oneself a participant there. Only he who has not closed for himself the path to beauty may understand how near to him is the manifestation of the far-off worlds.

The ear can catch fragments of the Great Breath, but the knowledge of the spirit gives man a place in Infinity.

It is useful to look back upon remote epochs, when this consciousness was awakened. We see that not in a day of flowering of science but during the proclamation of religion was the cosmic consciousness awakened; for not hypotheses but only knowledge of the spirit leads to the starry paths. I regret that no astronomical calculations could advance the moment of communication, for the same reason that the ant does not shoot with a gigantic cannon. It is indeed essential that such achievement be manifested by means of the spirit. Here we are speaking materially, as it were, but without the spirit it is impossible to apply this energy. Indeed the spirit gives a certain quality to matter. The condition of the Earth requires an extraordinary physician. The planet is sick, and if efforts to push it forward do not succeed, then it may be better to remove it temporarily from the chain—it may become as the moon. Hotbeds of the lower strata of the Subtle World have become dangerously intolerable. Also it is impossible to forget how humanity has fallen under the influence of the lower levels of the Subtle World.

The community will help all, but broadening of consciousness will help the community.

31. The Teacher values the desire to wash the dust from the great Images. The Teacher values the desire to affirm the simple expression of great words. The Teacher values the desire to eliminate verbosity. In order to isolate the essence, it is necessary to approach from the fundamental.

One should know that not a single monument has been handed down to us without mutilation. It is possible to mold as from clay the imprints of a community of rational cooperation and striving beyond the limits of the visible. The Teaching may be expressed under the slogan: “Let him who differs prove the opposite.” It is better to measure backwards than to be covered with indelible dust. Indeed, knowledge of the guiding principle illumines the mutilated symbols.

You know how people speak about you during your lifetime. What then will it be centuries hence? Yet the principle inevitably grows, and the impulses of its growth shake the earthly firmament.

Departed nations have left a patina on the freedom of the spirit. You may ask, “Where then are the persecuted?” Proceed according to these signs. You will perceive as persecuted the first Christians and the Buddhists, but when the temples turned away from Christ and Buddha, then persecutions ceased.

I direct you to keep the Teaching simple; not necessary are complicated expressions, for life is beautiful in simplicity. Often one is obliged to dig around a plant, therefore repetitions are unavoidable.

32. The evolution is important not of earthly humanity but of humanity of the Universe. If this simple formula could be adopted by human hearts, the whole starry vault would become tangible. Verily, it would be easier for the beings of other worlds to pierce through the stifling atmosphere of Earth if toward them were coming appeals from earthly incarnates.

Where then are the nearest worlds, whither we could direct our consciousness? Jupiter and Venus.

Think deeply about the word for “human” in Russian, chelovek. It denotes the “brow” (chelo)—the “thinker”—passing through the “ages” (vek). All the changes of incarnations and the entire value of the consciousness are expressed in a single word. Can you name another language in which the incarnate dweller is so spiritually designated? Other languages do not express the idea of action well. The Master can tell you the words for “human” in a hundred languages, but they are either presumptuous or inexpressive.

33. Of what use are miracles, which are contrary to nature? Here is a miracle—when thou canst bestride thy steed and with the manifested sword defend the Community of the World. As simply will the New World begin. Like ripened fruit will facts be collected. The Teaching of magnets is indeed not of miracles, but of a manifestation of the law of gravity. Conceal not the revelation of the spirit, and the sword will be of service to the ascent of evolution.

I can give joy only to him who has adopted the community not in conjurations, not with incense burning, but in daily life. The Teacher can send a helping ray, but He will not engage in combat if the given sword be turned against the friends of the community. The sword will then turn into a lightning scourge.

34. How is it possible to move hearts? By not losing simplicity. Success will come not with magic but with the word of life. We can carry out our lesson by knowing how to approach the very simplest. I am thinking how to give to the toilers the radiance of the far-off worlds. When the most humiliated one will look up into the heavens, then is it possible to expect the rainbow ribbon from the far-off worlds.

35. Paracelsus used to say: “per aspera, ad astra.” Later, this remarkable maxim became a device upon shields and coats of arms, losing all meaning. True, understanding its meaning it is difficult to attach oneself to Earth alone. As a smoke escaping through a chimney, the attained spirit rushes into manifested space. What kind of dimensions for it can earthly garments offer? What kind of mobility can the spirit manifest on the surface of the Earth? What thoughts can it share with and upon the earthly sphere?

It is asked why We waste so much energy over the Earth. Not for the sake of Earth, but for rectifying the path. When a criminal rips up the rails, often the engineer takes much time to repair them. If We could immediately transfer from the Earth those who have consciousness of the Cosmos, could there possibly be any restraining Our wish to do so? Our striving is to hasten this process. I feel that perhaps soon cosmic conditions will permit the beginning of these labors for communication with the far-off worlds. In this, all considerations of beauty, and of impetuousness in personal sending, are needed. It is true, above so-called beauty there is the all-embracing concept of the betterment of the Cosmos. The rainbow ray can exceed the imagination. A silvery light marks the beginning of the rainbow. The rainbow viewed under earthly conditions resembles make-up at close range. Few can have a prescience of the supermundane rainbow.

36. I feel how the stratification of events is bringing waves of acceleration. These waves are of service in the cosmic structure.

I write down My notes of possibilities and come to the conclusion that all is possible just now. It is a rare thing when higher faith travels along the path with higher unbelief; when blasphemy and glorification can be in the same chorus; when fury and tranquility give birth to joy. When misfortune is manifested as a sign of success and when withdrawal serves as a sign of nearness, then the currents of emanations of the luminaries are blended with the inner fires. Such a time denotes a new cycle, and the Community itself, not even yet adopted, serves as a bridge.

Let us end on a lighter note. Is it possible to speak about stock exchange speculations on Jupiter, or about brothels on Venus? The concept is simply unthinkable. Even a chimney sweep going to visit washes his face. Could people possibly be worse? The time has come to set the Earth on a new path.

37. Abilities for a distant sending are extremely rare. As always it is necessary to distinguish the quality of the result. The sendings may be restless, and like flies be brushed away; they may be oppressive, like a coffin lid, and inspire terror; they may be as the whizzing of arrows, and these bring agitation without any understanding. It is rare when sendings are clear; it is rare when they call up cooperation of the corresponding centers. This may depend partially on the auras, but the principal factor is the quality of the sending. This quality is called utility of the will, which means understanding of the voltage of tension of the correspondent. In order for an electric lamp to light up, a certain voltage is necessary. Not only the contents of the sending but also the quality is important. The knowledge of the spirit gives the sending usefulness. An effect of the usefulness of the sending will be joy of reception, for everything properly proportioned will be a joy.

38. The manifestation of the pure Teaching must be linked with trust. Afterwards it will be necessary to develop such trust that the most apparent evidence cannot shake it. My Ray knows where evil is.

39. Create an atmosphere of readiness for action. When a blow is struck many old obstructions fall unexpectedly. Many battles are past, still more are ahead. Every atom of the Cosmos is battling. The quiet of death is not known to Us.

40. The New Teaching respects the Bearers of the earlier Teachings, but it proceeds without the baggage of times which have been ended. Otherwise the load of text-books would take on unwieldy dimensions. The most practical thing would be to destroy all commentaries made after three centuries from the departure of a Teacher. At some time or other it is necessary to clean up the book-shelves. From this cleaning the Images of the Teachers of Light will gain in greatness.

41. We drive out all fear. We throw to the wind all the many-colored feathers of fear: blue feathers of frozen terror, green feathers of trembling betrayal, yellow feathers of secret crawling away, red feathers of frenzied heart-beat, white feathers of reticence, black feathers of fall into the abyss. It is needful to repeat about the multiformity of fear, otherwise there remains somewhere a small gray feather of complaisant mumbling or even some fluff of hurried bustle, but behind these will be the same idol of fear. Each wing of fear bears one downwards.

The Blessed “Lion,” garbed in fearlessness, ordained to teach the manifestation of courage.

Swimmers, if you do everything possible within your strength, whither can the most destructive wave carry you? It can only bear you upwards. And thou, sower, when thou wilt distribute the seeds, thou mayst expect a harvest. And thou, shepherd, when thou dost recount thy sheep, thou wilt kindle a manifest light.

42. The Cosmos is in process of creation through pulsation, that is, by explosions. The rhythm of the explosions gives harmony to the creation. Indeed, knowledge of the spirit carries the thread of the Cosmos into manifested life. With a shining sword the new step should be cut free. It is necessary to recognize when to hold back the flowers of light lest they again be dissolved in the mist of the elements.

The gardener knows when it is time to gather the flowers, for he planted the seeds now hidden. Not he who purchased the seeds in the bazaar; not he who in idleness ordered the seeds to be sown, but the gardener of spirit who at the start of bad weather buried the seeds in the spring-time earth.

Yes, yes, he, the gardener of the spirit, will know the time of sprouting; he will distinguish the young stalks from the weeds, for he has performed the most hidden labor and to him belongs the best blossom.

Verily, it is a great thing to flash the sword at the right moment, and at the time of explosion to raise the arm.

Verily, here again currents of the Cosmos are descending upon the ready Earth; this is why the knowledge of the spirit is precious.

This heavenly rainbow is reflected in the drops of earthly dew. Does not knowledge of the spirit discern the light? Materia Lucida to the wild spirit is a curling chaos, but for the knowing spirit it is the harp of light. Like chased harp strings rush the waves of luminous matter, and on them the spirit creates mysterious-sounding symphonies. Between the worlds, thread-like, stretches Materia Lucida. Only enormous distance blends together the waves of threads into the vibration of the heavenly rainbow.

One can begin to strive toward the far-off worlds by following a thread of Light realized by the spirit—this is a very scientific experiment. As has been said, small actions require assistance and apparatuses, but nothing external is needed for a great action.

43. I sense that the Teaching may become a heavy hammer for timid ones. Even recently terror would have pierced the heart at the very mention of community, but already now several obstacles have been overcome. Yet one more difficult trial for humanity follows the discarding of the worn-out concept of property. Assimilating the significance of the spirit, it is especially difficult to refrain from miracles. Even the Arhats chosen by Buddha put aside this possibility only with difficulty.

Three Arhats importunately besought Buddha to permit them to try a miracle. Buddha placed each one in a dark room, and locked them in. After a long time the Blessed One called to them and asked what they had seen. Each one told about different visions. But Buddha said, “Now you must agree that miracles are not useful, because you did not perceive the main miracle. For, you could have sensed an existence beyond the visible, and this sensation could have directed you beyond the limits of Earth. But you continued to be conscious of yourselves as seated on the Earth and your thoughts attracted to the Earth waves of the elements. The swelling of the Elements evoked agitations in various countries. You caused rocks to fall and destroyed ships with a hurricane. You saw a red beast with a flaming crown, but the fire attracted by you from out of the abyss burned the houses of defenseless ones—go and bring help! You saw a dragon with the face of a maiden, simultaneously causing waves to wash away fishing boats—hasten with assistance! You saw an eagle flying, and a hurricane destroyed the harvest of toilers—go and bring amends! Where then is your usefulness, O Arhats? An owl in the hollow of a tree has passed the time more usefully. Either toil on the Earth in the sweat of your brow, or in a moment of solitude lift yourselves above the Earth. But let not the useless commotion of the elements be the occupation of the wise.”

Verily, a feather falling from the wing of a small bird produces a thunderclap in the far-off worlds.

Inhaling air, we are attuned to all worlds. The wise one proceeds from the Earth upwards, for the worlds will reveal to each other their wisdom. Repeat this parable to those who demand miracles.

44. The essence of striving to the far-off worlds is contained in the assimilation of a consciousness of our life in them. The possibility of life on them becomes for our consciousness, as it were, a channel of approach. Indeed, this consciousness must be dug through as a channel. People are able to swim, yet a considerable portion of them do not swim. Such an obvious fact as the far-off worlds completely fails to attract humanity. It is time to cast this seed into the human brain.

Those who are unfortunate and without kin may more easily accept this thought. Earthly fetters are not so lasting for them. In the worst position of all are people provided with comforts. Easily enough can the blind accept this thought, but it will be most difficult for the cross-eyed, because a false crossing of currents will always distort the distance of the striving. Try rifling a cannon with different spirals: the result will be a poor one. True, what has been said refers only to a certain state of cross-eyedness which involves the nerve centers.

45. I point out that it is important to send good arrows opportunely, and that the spirit then feels at ease. Like a gray swarm infecting the air, fragments of alien thoughts rush about and gradually encumber space. Then comes the arrow of the spirit, which is like lightning. It not only reaches the designated person but also purifies space. This purifying of space is not less important. A purer arrow, being a stronger magnet, draws to itself the gray fragments and bears them backwards. In such a manner the gray thoughts, with their weight, are returned to the fountainhead, but without injury to others. These gray thoughts, as products of combustion, settle upon the aura; and it is the sower who reaps. It is wise to send the word—touch not! Indeed, this formula will bring the least counterblow. Precisely, this is an ancient protective formula. It is practical to send either a good call or a defensive formula. Any malicious sending is impractical. True, it is possible to admit the sword of indignation of the spirit, but only in rare cases, for indignation of the spirit wears away the sheath.

46. Never did I speak about any ease in bringing the new consciousness into life. Not the destroyers, but the moldy, conventional virtue is the enemy. The destroyers know the instability of that which they destroy, and the principle of remittal is easier for them. But rosy-cheeked virtue loves its chest of savings and will always defend it with eloquence. Such people recite the sacred words of the Scriptures, and will find subtle arguments why they are indeed ready to surrender it not to this but to that man who does not yet exist.

Conventional virtue manifests superlative cupidity and loves to tell lies. And such handsome, rosy-cheeked teachers of virtue are these, and so oily in their affection! Achievement, human achievement, is unknown to these teachers of virtue, and their resplendent garments are starched with slavery!

47. In schools respect must be taught for the pronouncement of a concept. Of course parrots can senselessly project into space concepts often of great significance. But people must understand that the word is the pedal of thought—that each word is a thunder-bearing arrow.

Loss of the true significance of concepts has contributed much to contemporary savagery. People strew pearls about like sand. Verily, it is time to replace many definitions.

48. Precisely, without fear and as much as possible doing things oneself. Correct is the manifestation of personal responsibility. Neither miracles, nor quotations, nor actions; but affirmation strengthened by personal example. Even a mistake in daring is more easily remedied than is abject mumbling.

Precious is the action which is not in need of any apparatuses or assistants. He who discovers a precious formula cannot cry it out of the window, because the resulting harm would obliterate the best usefulness.

Indeed, as a sealed vessel, as an unplundered mountain, as a bow tensed with an arrow—thus stand! And as a drink from the vessel is flaming, and as the mountain is inexhaustible, and as the arrow is lethal—thus act! For who dares to affirm that difficulty is not the speediest attainment! Rivers of milk will turn sour, and shores of jelly are inconvenient for sitting. Thus, in the armor of personal responsibility let us make haste.

Take notice, there has been success only where there has been complete courage. Small doubts create a slavish timidity.

Precisely in the days of grave sickness of the planet it is important to be filled with courage. By groping one does not pass, but the sword can cleave the harmful veils. Very grave is the moment, and it is necessary to intensify all courage.

49. The more anyone renounces, the more he receives. But nations have forgotten how to renounce; even the smallest thinks only how to receive. Meanwhile, the planet is ill and all is sinking in this sickness. And someone wishes to evade the final battle through infection of the whole planet. And some hope to be setting sail in broken fragments, forgetting that the ocean is also departing. It is easy to picture that the planetary body can be just as sick as any other organism, and the spirit of the planet is affected by the condition of its body. How to name the illness of the planet? Best of all as a fever from poisoning. Suffocating gases, from the accumulations of the lower strata of the Subtle World, cut the planet off from the worlds which could send assistance. The Earth’s destiny can be ended by a gigantic explosion if the thickness of the cover be not pierced. A stupendous acceleration is forcing all lines to shake. It could have been expected that acceleration was urgent for a certain country, but it is needed for the whole planet.

50. It does not matter how the New World will enter—in a caftan, a frock coat, or a shirt. If we establish the cosmic significance of the community, then all the details are no more than the dust under foot. One may forgive any absurdity if it be not against the New World.

51. When I repeat one word many times, this signifies a filling of space. With loss of rhythm there has been a degenerating into mumbling. The wash of waves breaks down rocky cliffs. Likewise, in a procession there must be the rhythm of sound. Rhythm of sound keeps a crowd from empty prattle.

52. How is it possible to penetrate into the secret recesses of the spirit? Only through the unusual. The legend about the holy robbers has as its basis the spirit sharpened by the unusual. Whereas a soft-skinned baker rarely receives the key to the spirit, unless the daily play of the flame will reveal to him the light of the elements.

Suitable herbs must be gathered, but the place of their growth must be sought without prejudice.

53. I shall explain why We speak of the “attack of Purusha.” It were well if people could master the same principle of general tension. A manifestation of common danger must evoke such a general tension. The first condition of progress is liberation from usual occupation. The usual brain centers must droop in order that a new combination of nerve currents may be revealed. The same principle is used in the avoiding of fatigue. And such new tension, if it be devoid of the personal element, is called an attack of Purusha.

In order to play the game of hidden twig, the searcher must look for it—not the one who hid it. Not without reason do the Hindus call the Highest Being the Player. Verily, the Earth is to be saved by earthly hands, and the Heavenly Forces are sending the best manna; but if ungathered it is transformed into dew. How then not to rejoice when gatherers are found? When, ignoring derision, these seekers proceed, remembering Our Shield.

It is never possible to evoke the tension of Purusha without mobility of thought.

The spirit must strive by a single channel, as a bullet in a gun barrel. The manifestation of newly arising circumstances must not mar the rifling.

54. Light extinguishers are the particular servants of the dark forces who are occupied with putting out fires in the Subtle World. The stronger the attack of darkness the more actively do they destroy each point of light. We do not know a time of greater darkness in the Subtle World. Every false Olympus has sunk into twilight. But just now is no time to be occupied with them; now is the time to consider the earthly plane. The world in its present state is like the sea in a tempest.

55. Striving is the boat of the Arhat. Striving is the manifested unicorn. Striving is the key to all caves. Striving is the wing of the eagle. Striving is the ray of the sun. Striving is the armor of the heart. Striving is the lotus blossom. Striving is the book of the future. Striving is the world manifest. Striving is the multitude of stars.

56. Why is the discovery of signs of the future likened to weaving? In weaver’s work the warp is of a definite hue, and groups of threads are divided according to color. It is easy to determine the warp and one can easily find the group of threads, but the design of this group permits different combinations, depending upon a thousand current details. Indeed, the inner relationship of the subject himself will be the principal condition. If his aura should be too unsteady, then the prognosis will be a relative one. Then it will resemble a certain game, wherein, being given a few scattered points, one must identify a definite figure.

Where, then, is the best ferment with which to steady the wavering of the aura? The best ferment is striving. It is impossible to sting or to smash an impetuously directed body. Striving in motion attains validity, and becoming lawful it becomes irresistible, for it enters into the rhythm of the Cosmos.

Thus proceed in the small and in the great, and your texture will be unmatched, crystal, cosmic; in brief—beautiful.

Striving, nothing else, results in mastery over the elements, for the basic quality of the elements is striving. In this state you coordinate the elements with the higher creativeness of the spirit and become the keepers of the lightning. Man shall become keeper of the lightning. Believe it, by striving only will you conquer.

57. Is it indeed possible that a tocsin is not heard in each movement of the planet? Is there not an anguished cry in every movement of all beings? Does not a rebellion ring out with each movement of the spirits leveled to the ground in servility?

But have there been better times?

It is better if an abscess be cut open, and it should be possible afterward to close the opening. But first it is needful to draw out the pus; therefore, We do not take halfway measures. We expect broad actions, and at the time of a tocsin it is impossible to think about a piece of yarn.

58. You already know the usefulness of obstacles; you already know the advantage of disappointments. There can even be a usefulness of terrors. Indeed, for Us and for you there are no terrors in the usual sense. On the contrary, a terror without fear is transformed into an act of cosmic beauty.

Is it possible to think about beauty without a chord of rapture? At present We shout, We send signs of battle, but above all there is rapture in the face of great solutions. Courage opens all doors. “It is impossible,” we utter ourselves; whereas, all that exists cries out, “It is possible!”

Each epoch has its own word. This word is as a key to the lock. Ancient Teachings continually spoke about a potent word which was contained in a precise and brief formula. Immutable, like a crystal of known composition, it is impossible to alter in any way the words of these formulas: impossible either to lengthen or to shorten. The guaranty of Cosmos is in the casting of these words. The absolute darkness itself shudders before the blade of the World Command, and it is easier for rays and gases to smite the darkness there where has struck the Sword of the World.

Let us receive the command of the Cosmos not slavishly but tempestuously! Hence, the time comes when the Light-Force burns the darkness. The time is imminent, and the hour cannot be set back.

It is possible to investigate the secret words of all epochs and see a spiral of piercing light. A legion of worms cannot alter the tip of the spiral, and obstacles merely intensify the ray of light. The law of reflexion creates new forces. And where the speaking one is silent the mute shall speak.

59. A clear brief command is difficult, but on the other hand it is stronger than a magic wand. Affirmation is easier, but a command is like an unexpected pillar of flame from a volcano. A concentrated feeling of personal responsibility lies in a command. A declaration of inexhaustibility of forces sounds in a command. The impetuousness of the Cosmos is manifested in the vehemence of the command, as a crushing wave. Wipe away the tears of benignancy. We are in need of sparks of indignation of the spirit!

What a dam do regrets make, yet wings grow on the end of the sword! Sands can kill, but for Us a cloud of sand is a flying carpet.

60. Much can be forgiven him who even in darkness has preserved the concept of the Teacher. The Teacher uplifts the dignity of the spirit. We liken the concept of the Teacher to a lamp in the darkness. Therefore, the Teacher may be called a beacon of responsibility. The bonds of the Teaching are like a saving rope in the mountains. The Teacher is revealed from the moment of kindling of the spirit. From that moment on the Teacher is inseparable from the disciple.

We do not see the end of the chain of Teachers, and the consciousness imbued with the Teacher elevates the attainment of the disciple as a precious, all-penetrating aroma. The bond of the disciple with the Teacher forms a link of protection in the uniting chain. Within this defense deserts bloom.

61. My Hand sends the solution amid the crags of the world. Regard the plank roof as more solid than iron. Regard a fixed moment longer than an hour. The lengthened path is shorter than the vertical precipice. You will ask, “Why enigmas, why esotericism?” The ball of events is full of many-colored threads. Each ladle is dipped from a well of a different color. Among events are many rushing ones; these distant friends, unconnected externally, fill our basket, and the ultimate light triumphs.

62. One may rejoice when suggested thoughts coalesce with one’s own thinking; because in recognizing cooperation there are no boundary lines of separation of labor—there are only effects. It is impossible to dismember the functions of the Cosmos when actions are flowing like a river.

What significance has the structure of the waves which bear a useful object? The important thing is that the object be not lost!

63. The main misunderstanding will be of the fact that labor can be relaxation. Many amusements will have to be abolished. Chiefly, it must be understood that the products of science and art are for education, not diversion. Many amusements will have to be destroyed as hotbeds of vulgarity. The forefront of culture must sweep away the dens of fools passing time over a mug of beer. Likewise, the use of profanity must find a far more severe penalty. Likewise, manifestations of narrow specialization must be disapproved.

64. It is important to speak about the necessity of commensurateness. I consider it needful to distinguish between recurrent and non-recurrent things. One may put aside an object of daily life, but one must seize upon the calling dates without delay. It may be affirmed that a moment of cosmic possibility is irreplaceable. There are dishes which can be digested only in a certain order. The hunter does not go hunting from indolence; he finds out the best hour and nothing detains him.

It is possible to find My Stone in the desert, but it may be lost again if it be not lifted up immediately. Those who know Me realize the significance of immediateness, but the new ones must keep this law in mind if they wish to draw near. Verily I say—the time is short! I say with solicitude—lose not an hour, for the threads of the ball are multicolored. Not in the pleasantness of repose but in the darkness of the storm is My Voice useful to you: learn to harken!

I know people who have let the call escape them on account of their porridge. But My arrow is let fly in the hour of need. My Hand is ready to lift up the veil of the consciousness; therefore, co-measurement of the small and the great, of the recurrent and the non-recurrent is needed. Exert yourselves to understand where is the great! I say—time is short!

65. Our condition for the coworkers is a complete desire to apply in life Our fundamentals, not in theory but in practice.

The Teacher bears the flame of an unquenchable achievement. The Teaching is interrupted neither by weariness nor by distress. The heart of the Teacher lives by achievement. He has no fear, and the words “I am afraid” are not in His vocabulary.

66. The evolution of the world is built on revolutions or explosions of matter. Each revolution has a progressive movement upwards. Each explosion, as a constructive agent, acts spirally. Therefore, it is in the nature of each revolution to be subject to the law of the spiral.

The earthly structure is like a pyramid. Now, from each point of the progressive spiral try to lower the four sides of a pyramid. You obtain, as it were, four anchors, lowered into the lower strata of matter. Such a construction will be fantastic, because it will be constructed upon dying strata. Now let us try to build from each point upwards a rhomb, and we get a body of conquests of the upper strata outstripping the movement of the spiral. This will be a worthy construction! Indeed, it must start into the unknown, expanding parallel with the growth of the consciousness. Therefore, construction in revolution is a most dangerous moment. A great number of imperfect elements will press the structures downward into strata of outworn and poisoned substance. Only reckless courage can turn the structure upwards into strata untried and beautiful in the maintenance of new elements. Therefore, I speak and shall say again that outworn forms must be avoided in the structure. Sinking back into the old receptacles is inadmissible. The understanding of the New World in all its austerity is needed.

67. What is required in Our Community? First of all, co-measurement and justice. True, the second results entirely from the first. Indeed, one must forget about good-naturedness, for this goodness is not the good. Goodness is a surrogate of justice. The spiritual life is governed by co-measurement. The man who does not differentiate the small from the big, the insignificant from the great, cannot be spiritually developed.

One talks about Our firmness, but this is only the result of Our developed co-measurement.

68. Do understand the name of the son of fear and doubt—his name is regret. Indeed, regret after entering upon the Great Service cuts off all the effects of former labors. He who doubts binds a stone to his leg. He who is afraid constrains his breathing. But he who is regretful of his labor in behalf of the Great Service terminates the possibility of approach.

How then not to distinguish that courage which leads to attainment? How not to remember the hand that arrested the dagger of the enemy? How not to gird on the force that gave up all for the growth of the world? Understand, I shall repeat without end, so long as the bridge of the rainbow does not yet encompass all colors.

Cedars preserve a healing tar, but one may smile when the heavenly sap goes into boot grease. Hence, let us guard the principal paths by applying details to useful advantage.

69. Growling and savage yelping fill the air of Earth. Beastly roaring has replaced human song. But how beautiful are the fires of achievement!

70. My Hands know not repose. My Head upholds the weight of the works. My Mind searches out the solidity of solutions. The power of experience defeats alien infirmity. At the point of loss do I pour in the new possibilities. On the line of retreat I build strongholds. In the eyes of the enemy I wave the banner. I call the day of fatigue a day of repose. I recognize a manifestation of non-understanding as rubbish on the threshold. I can conceal the sacred in the folds of a working garment. A miracle means for Me only the mark of a horseshoe. Courage means for Me only the arrow in the quiver. Resoluteness for Me is only the daily bread.

71. First of all forget all nationalities, and apprehend the fact that the consciousness is developed by perfecting the invisible centers. Some await a Messiah for a single nation, but this is ignorant; for evolution of the planet can be only on a planetary scale. Precisely, the manifestation of universality must be assimilated. Only one blood flows, and the external world will no more be divided into races of primitive formation.

72. The Community, as Fellowship, can unprecedentedly accelerate the evolution of the planet and give new possibilities of intercourse with the forces of matter. It must not be thought that community and the conquest of matter are found on different planes. One channel, one banner—Maitreya, Mother, Matter!

The Hand which discerns the Threads points out the path to Our Community. Indeed, We shall not speak about a precise time when Our place started. Cataclysms molded the favorable conditions, and with Our knowledge We can guard the Center against unbidden guests. The existence of violent enemies has permitted Us to close the entrances still more tightly and to instruct neighbors in an effective silence. To transgress and to betray means to be destroyed.

73. The essence of the New World contains a vacuum which is called the node of immobility; in it are being collected the sediments of manifestations of incomprehension of the tasks of evolution. When the brain leads close to these paths of incomprehension of the spirit, the access to Our sendings is almost lost. Can people possibly forget creativeness, directed to the adornment of life?

74. It is necessary to investigate the undeferrable. It is needful to preserve personal enthusiasm. It is needful for each one to walk independently—no hand on the shoulder, no finger on the lips. Woe to him who delays the guard. Woe to him who spills rice on the shield. Woe to him who carries water in his helmet. And most of all—woe to gray fear. Verily, the net of the world has been cast. It cannot be drawn up without a catch. Truly, not even the very least will be forgotten. The seed has been paid for. Violence was not admitted. Let each one proceed, but I pity those who do not attain. How dark is the return path! I know nothing worse than to cross the neighbor’s path. Say to each one, “Walk alone until you receive the command of the Teacher.” One should rejoice at the churning and hissing of the sea. Manifest an understanding of the great time. Uplift the chalice; I summon you.

75. Truly, one may look forward to the fulfillment of all prophecies. I do not see the dates being altered. Think through the film of events, and comprehend how unimportant is the exterior; only the inner significance is vital. The sowing of generations begins to sprout; the seed is beginning to shoot up.

76. One must know the process of Battle called the casting down of the rocks. When the Battle reaches a certain tension the Leader tears away portions of the aura and casts them at the hordes of enemies. True, the auras of the warriors are violently torn also; therefore at this time the protective net is not strong, but the enemies are smitten especially vigorously. The fabric of the aura burns more severely than lightning. We call this method heroic. It must not be thought that we are traveling on a luxury train—we are walking over an abyss on a plank. Tufts torn from the aura leave it like the riddled wings of an eagle. It must be remembered that we ascend the walls without any cover. When a glass is broken it may not rattle at once, but when it reaches the lower gorges the crunching of its fragments is heard. You yourselves will understand the rest. The very greatest Forces are in Battle for the salvation of humanity.

77. A manifestation must be understood as evidence not to the eye but to the consciousness. In this lies the difference between your and Our understanding. What you call a fact is a result, whereas We can discern the true fact, invisible to you.

A blind one judges lightning by the thunder, but one who sees is not afraid of thunder. Thus, it is necessary to learn to distinguish true facts from their effects.

When We speak about a destined event We see its true origin; but whoever will judge according to visible effects only will be behindhand in his judgment. When We say—“Go against evidence,” We mean—“Do not fall under the illusion of transitory events.” One must clearly distinguish the past from the future. Indeed, humanity suffers from this lack of discernment, whirling around in the illusions of effects.

A creative spark is contained in the process of an event, but not in its effects. Occupied with effects, humanity is like a blind man who can sense the thunder only. It is possible to set forth a distinction between those who judge by events and those who judge by effects.

Speak to your friends, that they should learn to observe the real according to the outbreak of the events. Otherwise they remain readers of a newspaper edited by a knave.

Strain the consciousness to grasp the starting point of events, if you wish to be associated with the evolution of the world. One can name numberless examples of pitiful, culpable and tragic misunderstandings, as a result of which dates were jumbled.

The oak grows from the acorn under the earth, but the fool notices it only when he stumbles over it. Many stumblings sully the earth’s crust. Enough of errors and lack of understanding in the hour of world tension!

It must be understood how carefully must one expend energy. It must be understood that only the right doors will lead into the chamber of the Common Good.

78. In each book there must be a chapter about irritation. It is imperative to expel this beast from the house. I welcome austerity as well as decisiveness. I enjoin you to abolish jeering jests. Each one should be helped to get out of entanglements. One should nip each bud of vulgarity. Each one must be permitted to have his say, and patience must be found to listen. The empty rumor must be cut short, and ten words must be found against each word defaming the Teacher. Indeed, remain not silent at an arrow directed at the Teacher. Mother and Teacher—these two concepts must be safeguarded in each book. The light of greatness is not to be extinguished.

79. In cosmic constructions service requires a change of consciousness. There may be mistakes. One may be absolved in the greatest mistake provided that the source is pure; but the measuring of this purity is possible only for an enlightened consciousness. Joy in Service can be experienced only through an expanded consciousness. It must be remembered that each three-year period represents a step of consciousness; in the same way each seven-year period represents a renewal of the centers. Learn to understand that the dates of the consciousness are not repeatable and therefore are not to be allowed to escape.

It is proper to ask a man who is thinking about entering upon the path of Great Service what he intends to give up. Does he expect only to secure the realization of his most sweet dreams? Or is it agreeable to him for a grain of faith to acquire earthly riches and to occupy a position foreign to his consciousness?

It is impossible to enumerate the means of expansion of consciousness, but in them all lies the realization of truth and self-sacrifice.

80. It is necessary to understand clarity of thinking and to apply it to the future—thus is it possible to avoid roughness of form in actions. One should not ape others. Precious is each grain of decisiveness. I wish to saturate you with daring. It is better to be considered unusual than to be garbed in the uniform of triviality. It is needful to read My Teachings. It is necessary to strive to apply them to each act of life, not on holidays only. Say to yourself: “Is it possible to strive in the mornings and be a parrot in the evenings?”

81. It is wise to draw a line between past and future. It is impossible to calculate all that has been done—it is incommensurable. It is better to say: “Yesterday is past; let us learn how to meet a new dawn.” We all grow, and our works are expanding with us. After twenty-seven years no one is a youth, and we all can then understand the achievement of Service. It is unworthy to rummage in yesterday’s dust. Henceforth let us establish a new step. Let us begin to labor, surrounding ourselves with a thousand eyes. Let us acquire purity of thought and co-measurement of actions. Thus let us fill our days; let us become used to mobility and decisiveness. Likewise, let us not forget that there is nothing on Earth higher than the given Plan for the Common Good. Let us manifest understanding of the Teachings of life. As Moses brought forth human dignity, as Buddha impelled toward the broadening of consciousness, as Christ taught the good of giving, so now the New World is directed toward the far-off worlds! Ponder, what comparisons surround us! Ponder about the cornerstone. Reflect about the given path. Ponder how the boundaries of the Cosmos touch you. Recall the steps of wondrous tensions not in a book but in life. Reflect that so much has not been taken up and absorbed and yet you stand in your place. Therefore, be not disheartened by mistakes, but ascend by the Hierarchy of the Teaching.

82. On the day of beginning the new step let us speak without reproach about the great times when we learn to break away from the Earth and already in the body become associated with the Higher Worlds.

No one is refused anything; come, stretch forth your hand to the altar of the spirit. Affirm the spirit as of matter and remember how the heart trembles before the radiance of the mountains.

My Word must affirm you in the beauty of achievement. Facing the path, let us abandon the rules of actions; let us again gather the consciousness above the firmament. It is beautiful to have already the subtle body and find the spirit no more troubled before distant flights. Therefore, let us rejoice at each movement on the crust of Earth—let us learn, as it were, to fly therein.

To fly—what a beautiful word! In it is already contained the pledge of our destination. When matters are grave, think about flights; let each one think about wings. I send to the daring ones all the currents of space!

83. Verily, it is necessary to have ten exit lanes for one fire. Strong is an action when there are ten solutions behind it. The inexperienced need a fire behind them, but those who have been called may find all the entrances open.

One must be able to understand how bends the sword blade of the enemy; to smile when the trampling of the enemy’s horse is heard; to understand not to stoop when the arrow flies above the head.

84. It is difficult to absorb the large, but it is still more difficult to absorb the small through a broadened consciousness. It is difficult to apply to a small reality a measure of great understanding. How could one insert a big sword into a small scabbard?

Only a tested consciousness understands the value of the seed of reality. Rulership is not in crowns nor in crowds, but is in the cosmic expanse of ideas. Thus, the Teachings of life complement each other, having no need to attract multitudes.

You were told that I would give a third book when the community is accepted. Yet multitudes are not needed by Us; only the consciousness of those who accept are needed by Us. That is why We give the third book. Therefore We reiterate about the facets of Truth, and hence We prefer to bless upon birth instead of taking upon Ourselves funeral processions.

For some it is necessary to trumpet the Teaching into the ears, for others one may only set the landmarks, for still others it is possible only to give monosyllabic hints, if their consciousness can contain ever-so-little. How then does the Teaching welcome those who can take in each and every crumb, esteeming the universal significance of each of them!

The crumbling of eons shifts entire worlds. For that reason your thoughts are directed toward preservation of mental energy.

85. Each organism is moved by a particular energy, but it is necessary to establish the precise direction of the basic aspiration. Once the disciples asked the Blessed One how to understand the fulfillment of the commandment of renunciation of property. After one disciple had abandoned all things, the Teacher continued to reproach him in the matter of possessions. Another remained surrounded by things yet did not draw reproval. The feeling of ownership is measured not by things but by thoughts. Thus, the community must be accepted by the consciousness. One may have objects and yet not be an owner.

The Teacher sends the wish that evolution grow lawfully. The Teacher can distinguish those who have liberated their consciousness. Thus said the Blessed One; and He asked in general not to think about ownership of property, for renunciation is a cleansing of thought. For only through purified channels can basic striving make its way.

86. I call to mind a tale heard by Akbar. A sovereign asked a sage, “How do you tell a nest of treason from a stronghold of loyalty?” The wise man pointed to a crowd of gaily dressed horsemen and said, “There is a nest of treason.” Then he indicated a solitary wayfarer and said, “There is a stronghold of devotion, for solitude can betray nothing.” And from that day on the sovereign surrounded himself with fidelity.

The Teacher has accepted the full measure of faithfulness. My Hand is to the hand of the wayfarer as fire in the darkness. My Shield has the tranquility of the mountains. I know, I know, how straitened it is for My Community. The revelation of the bases of construction is manifested in quietude.

Understanding of matter can grow only where treason is impossible.

87. When a difficulty with an inheritance presents itself, it may be said that it is possible to leave to the community the wish that the use of certain objects be given over to a certain person for a trial period of three years. Thus the inheritance will be turned into a worthy cooperation. One may entrust specially chosen people to look after the quality of certain works. It is needful to fill the consciousness with a realization of continuous test, for people still do not know how to work under test. Meanwhile the whole substance of the world is engaged in mutual testing. But one should understand that testing means also improvement.

88. We always begin with a very small outline. This is an experiment very many centuries old and is also a basic cosmic principle. A solid and indivisible seed will produce a growth of elements. But wavering and lack of sensitiveness, repeatedly manifesting, result in haziness. The sensitiveness of the vital principle compels economizing with firm seeds. Thus, the chemist values indivisible bodies. Truly, the structural unit must be inviolable when it has been called forth by the necessity of evolution. One should understand the distinction between that which is admitted and that which is incontestably given.

89. Our Community does not need affirmations and oaths. Genuine are the expenditures of labor, and unforgettable are the manifestations of obligation. Can there possibly be prolixity where lives have been taken into custody—where an hour may become the longest measure? Could one betray the possibilities of a time when spirit and movement are being denied? It is necessary to overcome timidity, to sense the vortex of the spiral, and in the heart of the vortex to have the tranquility of courage.

So much have I said about courage and against fear, because We have only a cosmic scientific method! At entrance one must make accounting to oneself as to where is fear and whether the courage is steadfast.

I do not see a single detail of dialectics or methodics. We know only the austere flowers of necessity. And it is necessary to reach Us carrying a realization of immutability.

Austerity is not insensibility, and immutability is not limitation. Through all the gravitation of the firmament you will sense the vortex of space, and you will stretch forth your hand to the far-off worlds. It is impossible to force the perception of the manifestation of the worlds; but, indeed, through this cognizance do we accept responsible labor and devote ourselves to the real possibilities of evolution.

90. In order to understand mobility of action, one should muddy the surface of water in a basin and observe the immobility of the lower strata of the fluid. To move it, it is necessary to stir the surface sufficiently strongly that the rhythm may carry to the bottom without break. Negative forces do not have a conduit to the bottom, because for this it is needed to decompose the primary substance; such an experiment is beyond their strength.

Newcomers often inquire where the boundary line is between a mobile stratum and an incontestable foundation. Indeed, there can be no established boundary, but the law of refraction is established, and an arrow cannot reach without intersecting the predetermined line.

How then to prevent the dealing of a blow to the strata? Indeed, it is necessary to provide for firm pillars, which will break up a current. I have mentioned the spindle of the spirit as the center of a spiral. Keep this structure in mind, because inflexibility, surrounded by centrifugal motion, can resist all agitations. The structure of Our Community calls to mind the same spindles surrounded by powerful spirals. It is the best structure for the battle, the end of which is a foregone conclusion. Thus, it is necessary to understand Our structures materially. And why is an unintelligible abstraction necessary, when the principle of the Cosmos is one? The system of the growth of crystals also demonstrates how multiform is the world of gravitation. Seekers can understand that one has to proceed along material lines in pursuing higher knowledge. Whoever does not love the clarity of crystals will not reach Us. Unrepeatable purity means perfection of form. One may show a crystal to a child, and the child will grasp the perfection of it. Indeed, the structure of the crystal of the community will yield perfection of form.

91. Why is it necessary to be awkward? Why is it necessary to create an impression of ignorance? Why must those who adhere to Us be neglectful? Why must they adopt quarrelsome manner when a dispute is going on? Why must they prattle without end? Go around unwarranted dirt. You see how necessary it is to emphasize each detail; otherwise the customs of Our Community will not be strengthened in you.

The discipline of freedom distinguishes Our communities. Not only is the spirit disciplined, but also the qualities of external actions. It is not Our custom to grieve too much. It is not Our custom to censure too much. It is not Our custom to count on people too broadly. It is not Our custom to expect too much. It is needed to be able to replace a complicated plan with a simpler one—never the reverse—for Our adversaries act from the simple to the complex. Ponder how to strengthen your friends.

Maintain pure air in your dwellings, project to those who come best wishes, and await Us intently. Let each community await its Teacher, for a community and a Teacher constitute the ends of one and the same column. Even in daily trifles it is necessary to remember the foundation of the house. Again we arrive at the necessity of altering the quality of the consciousness; then the transition is easy.

92. Menacing hands do not reach you when you proceed surrounded by the spiral of devotion. If through lower physical sight the eye could see the armor of devotion, then the man would already not be in a state of lower consciousness. Lessons of former lives do not reach closed eyes. Verily, without wings over the abyss remains each one who approaches Our Community in an outworn consciousness. Each one who attempts to approach Us in pride will be struck as if by an explosion of ozone. But how to explain that We do not smite, that the proud one smites himself? In the same way perishes he who enters a powderhouse in metallic footwear. Knowing how to use steel spikes on shoes makes a fair runner, but any workman will advise to wear soft slippers when walking on an explosive surface. Hence, there is needed a buffer for a saturated atmosphere.

I refer to the Blessed One. When He went into the mountains, He apportioned his time to facilitate the passage. By this is attained economy of energy. In truth, this is a unique economy, admissible and justified; otherwise chasms may be formed between the worlds, and who knows with what gas they may be filled? I can advise you to conserve energy, for each useless waste smites space at far distances as if by a wire. It is important to care for the Cosmos in each blade of grass, if we are ready to become citizens of the universe.

93. I speak about the quality of travels. It is necessary to assimilate the knowledge of how to travel! It is necessary not only to break away from home, but also to conquer the very concept of home. It would be more precise to say that one should broaden the concept of home. Where we are—there is home. Evolution casts off the meaning of home as a prison. Progress in liberating the consciousness will yield the possibility of becoming flexible. And not achievement, not privation, not exaltation, but quality of consciousness enables one to break away from a long-occupied place. In a long-occupied place there is so much smokiness, so much sourness and dust. We are opposed to the solitary life of hermitage, but small cottages with moldy atmosphere are worse than caves. We summon those who can give expanse to thought.

I wish to see you moving over the face of the world when all national boundaries, because of their multitude, will be erased. How can we fly when pinned by a small nail! Reflect upon the need of travel for humanity.

94. Often you talk about the imperfections in existing books. I say more: The errors in the books are equal to a grievous crime. Falsehood in books must be prosecuted as a grave calumny. The falsehood of an orator is prosecuted according to the number of his listeners. The falsehood of an author should be prosecuted according to the number of copies sold of his book. To fill the people’s libraries with falsehood is a grave offense. It is necessary to perceive the true intent of the author in order to estimate the quality of his errors. Ignorance will be the worst basis. Fear and meanness occupy the next place. None of these qualities are befitting the community. To accomplish their removal in the new construction is a necessity. Prohibitory measures, as usual, are not suitable; but a discovered error must be removed from the book. The necessity of such removal, and the reprinting of the book, will bring the author to his senses. Every citizen has the right to prove an error. Indeed, one should not impede new views and structures; but incorrect data must not bring one into error, because knowledge is the armor of the community and the defense of knowledge is the duty of all the members.

No more than a year must elapse before books are verified, otherwise the number of victims will be great. It is especially necessary to stand guard over the book when its merit is shaken. The library shelves are full of abscesses of falsehood. It should not be permissible to preserve these parasites. You may propose to someone to sleep on a poor bed, but it is impossible to suggest reading a false book through.

Why turn over to a lying buffoon the best corner of the fireside? Precisely, bad books litter up the consciousness of children. The problem of the book must be dealt with!

95. Once a woman stopped between images of the Blessed Buddha and Maitreya, not knowing to Whom to offer her reverence. And the image of the Blessed Buddha uttered these words, “According to My teaching, revere the future. Standing in defense of the past, direct your gaze toward the dawn.”

Remember how We labor for the future, and direct all your being into the future! In rays of knowledge We bring a Teaching strange to the world, for the light of the world is covered by darkness.

96. The acceleration of dates is necessary; otherwise ignorance will become solidified. All ulcers have been crowding upon the threshold of the New World. The whirl has swept up heaps of rubbish. Knowing how to face courageously the abominations of ignorance brings about unusual measures. Finally, one should know how to point out the merit of useful people. Why should able people perish amidst chains or prejudices?

Children must be asked whether they can stop fearing to appear absurd in the eyes of the crowd. Are they ready to give up personal comfort for the sake of the New World? It were best to put the questions sternly, for the manifested flame does not fear the wind.

Devotion carries over the abyss, but the palpitation of sensitiveness must give wings to this devotion.

97. On the path do not rest under a rotting tree. In life have no dealings with people with extinguished consciousness. An undeveloped consciousness is not as infectious as an extinguished one. The extinguished consciousness is an actual vampire. It is impossible to fill from without the abyss of the ignorant consciousness. Precisely these people absorb one’s energy uselessly. As a result of being with them, enormous fatigue is felt. They must be avoided like a stench in order to bar the way to the fluids of decomposition. It is difficult to distinguish the boundary line between lack of development and extinction. But one quality will be unquestionably indicative: Lack of development will or may be accompanied by the palpitation of devotion, but an extinct crater is full of cinders and brimstone. The Teaching does not refuse to expend energy on the undeveloped, but there is a degree of extinction at which the abyss is not to be flooded with a new substance. Only a cataclysm, with its terror of unexpectedness, can melt a congealed lava.

Remember the treasure of the consciousness. Tremor of the substance of the Cosmos manifests the pulsation of the awakened consciousness. Indeed, the rainbow of knowledge flows out of the tremor of the consciousness—a visible stream from an invisible source.

Through all experiences of the past and all attainments of the future, remember about the consciousness.

98. When it is cold even a dog warms one. There are unprecedentedly few people; therefore it is even impossible to drive away wretched adversaries, if in them the cell of the spirit has not been overgrown with weeds.

I wish to recall to you how the Blessed One showed consideration even for the adversaries. This book is read at the entrance to the community. The newcomer must be forewarned about many perplexities. It often appears that contradictions are insoluble. But, wayfarer, where are the contradictions when we see only an abundance of road signs? The abyss is barred by the mountain, and the mountain is bounded by the sea. Shoes for the mountains are not suitable for the sea. But those who enter are obliged to change hourly their armor. Not only mobility, not only quickness of thought, but the habit of changing weapons is needed. It is not so easy to become accustomed to change of weapons. Beside the feeling of ownership stands habit, and it is difficult to replace addiction to objects by adaptability of consciousness. For superficial thinking it may seem mere playing upon words, but how necessary it becomes for the leaders guiding the destinies of nations to understand this distinction of concepts!

It is impossible for a poisoned consciousness to distinguish the moments of freedom and of bondage. The man who is lost in conjecture as to where is slavery and where freedom is unable to think about the community. The man who oppresses the consciousness of his brother cannot think about the community. The man who distorts the Teaching cannot think about the community. The basis of the community lies in freedom of thinking and in reverence for the Teacher. To accept the Teacher means to fall in line with the workers fighting the fire. If everyone rushes to the fire from the wellspring without any order, the wellspring will be trampled without benefit.

It were better to understand carefulness within one’s consciousness; this will safeguard the concept of the Teacher. Definitely the Teacher, definitely knowledge, definitely evolution of the world—these will serve as paths to the far-off worlds!

About the far-off worlds We shall write in the book Infinity. Now, let us call to mind that the gates of the Community lead to the far-off worlds.

99. A seal is the guardian of a secret. Secrecy has existed in all times. Where the knowledge is small, secrecy must be used. It is fearful to reflect that a certain quality of the consciousness is in no wise different now from the level of the stone age. Alien thinking, not human, does not wish to move forward; indeed, does not wish it.

The Teacher can pour out knowledge, but it serves far more for the saturation of space; therefore, a teacher is not lonely even without visible disciples. Remember this, you who draw near to the community! Remember the secret—not to despair.

The secret of the future lies in the impetuosity of striving. The eruption of a volcano cannot be delayed; likewise, the Teaching cannot be deferred. The indication of a certain time permits no delay—whether it flows into the chalice of the consciousness or ascends into space. It is impossible to calculate when the individual consciousness is the more important and when the factor of space. And in that moment when the nearest one does not harken, the echo of space rumbles. Therefore, approaching the community, do not despair.

The book Call knew no obstacles. The book Illumination is like a rock. The book Community is like a ship before the tempest, when each sail and each rope comes to life.

The manifestation of the community is like a chemical combination; therefore be pure, be penetrating, and forget the chains of negation. Through forbiddance and denial do not emulate tyrants and fanatics. Through ignorance and self-conceit do not become comparable to gilded fools.

Indeed, the community does not admit the thief, who through theft affirms the worst aspect of ownership. Manifest austerity, know how to respect secrecy so as not even to repeat a date to oneself—be as a wave which washes away a stone but once.

100. Understand the Teaching; understand that without the Teaching one cannot get along. This formula must be repeated, for in life much is done without the Teaching. The Teaching must color every act and every speech. This tinting, as of a beautiful textile, will adorn the effects of speech. According to the effects must the quality of a sending be judged. One should become accustomed to the fact that the sending itself can appear unintelligible, for only its inner meaning has a shield.

Accustom yourselves to placing significance in each speech, eradicating needless babble.

It is difficult to renounce the feeling of ownership; it is like wise difficult to overcome babbling.

101. Know how to take it when you are called materialists. In actions and in thinking we cannot be isolated from matter. We turn to higher strata or to the crudest aspects of the very same matter. It is possible to prove scientifically this inter-relationship. It is likewise possible to demonstrate scientifically how the quality of our thinking acts on matter.

Egotistical thinking attracts the lower strata of matter, for this form of thinking isolates the organism—as a single magnet which cannot attract more than its own intensity allows. It is another matter when thinking proceeds on a world scale; there results, as it were, a group of magnets, and an access may be obtained to higher strata.

It is easier to observe one sensitive apparatus which fixes the quality of thinking. It is possible to see spirals going upwards or descending into a darkish vapor—the most graphic illustration of the materialistic process of thinking through the quality of inner potential. These simple manifestations have a dual significance: first, they detect the ignorant ones who imagine matter as something inert and lacking anything in common with the seat of consciousness; second, they have a significance for those seekers who will be responsible to themselves for the quality of their thinking.

It is instructive to observe how thought infects space—an analogy may be obtained in likening it to the process of gunfire. The bullet flies far, but the dispersal of the smoke depends upon atmospheric conditions. The density of the atmosphere forces the smoke for a long time to cloak the sunrise. Hence, take care about your thinking. Also, learn to think beautifully and briefly. Many do not see the distinction between thought for action and a reflex of the brain. It is necessary to know how to cut short reflexive spasms that lead to semi-consciousness. The development of reflexive activity is similar to intoxication.

The community is arrived at in clarity of thinking. The manifestation of thinking produces a clear, inexpressible responsibility. We are very solicitous that the realization of responsibility should not forsake you.

102. It is necessary to guide the education of a people from the initial instruction of children, from as early an age as possible. The earlier, the better. You may be sure that overfatigue of the brain occurs only from awkwardness. The mother approaching the cradle of her child utters the first formula of instruction: “You can do everything.” Prohibitions are not needed; even the harmful should not be prohibited. It is better instead to turn the attention simply to the more useful and the more attractive. That tutorage will be best which can enhance the attractiveness of the good. Besides, it is not necessary to mutilate beautiful Images for the sake of an imagined childish non-understanding; do not humiliate the children. Firmly remember that true science is always appealing, brief, precise and beautiful. It is necessary that families possess at least an embryo of understanding of education. After the age of seven years much has been already lost. Usually after the age of three years the organism is full of receptivity. During the first step the hand of the guide must already turn the attention to, and indicate, the far-off worlds. Infinity must be sensed by the young eye. Precisely, the eye must become accustomed to admitting Infinity.

It is also necessary that the word express the precise thought. One must expel falsehood, coarseness and mockery. Treason, even in embryo, is inadmissible. Work “as grown-ups” is to be encouraged. Up until the age of three, a child’s consciousness easily assimilates the concept of community. 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.

The assertion “I can do anything” is not idle boasting but only the realization of an apparatus. The most wretched being can find the current to Infinity; for each labor, of quality, opens the locks.

103. The schools must be a stronghold of learning in all fullness. Each school, from the very primary up to the highest institution, must be a living link among all schools. Study must be continued during one’s entire life. Applied knowledge must be taught, without breaking away from historic and philosophic science. The art of thinking must be developed in each worker. Only then will he grasp the joy of perfectionment and know how to make use of his leisure.

104. Each school must be a complete educational unit. In schools there must be a useful museum in which the pupils themselves take part. There must be a cooperative, and the pupils must also be taught such cooperation. All phases of art must be included. Without the paths of beauty there can be no education.

105. The study period will be a most agreeable hour when the teacher justly appraises the aptitudes of the pupils. Only discernment of capabilities makes for a just relationship toward the future workers. Often the students themselves do not understand their destination. The teacher, as a friend, prepares them in the best direction. No compulsion is applicable in schools. Only persuasion can be suitable for stimulating learning. More experiments, more discourses—what a joy there is in the application of one’s forces! Little ones love the work of the “grown-ups.”

106. When the family does not know how, let the school teach cleanliness in all ways of life. Dirt comes not from poverty but from ignorance. Cleanliness in life is the gateway to purity of heart. Who then is unwilling that people be pure? One should equip schools in such a way that they will be conservatories for the adornment of life. Each object can be considered from the standpoint of love. Each thing must be made a participant in the happy life. Cooperation will help to find a way for each household. Where one person alone does not find the solution, there the community will be of assistance. Not prizefighters but creators will be the pride of the country.

107. The school must not only instill a love for the book but teach how to read—and the latter is not easier than the former. It is necessary to know how to concentrate thought in order to penetrate into a book. Not the eye but the brain and the heart do the reading. The book does not occupy a place of honor in many homes. It is the duty of the community to affirm the book as a friend of the home. The cooperative, first of all, has a book-shelf whose contents are very extensive. There will be accounts of the treasures of the motherland and of her links with the world. The heroes, the creators and the toilers will be revealed; and the concepts of honor, duty, and obligation to one’s neighbor, as well as mercy will be affirmed. There will be many examples prompting learning and discoveries.

108. The school will teach respect for useful inventions, but will warn against a machine slavery. All forms of slavery will be destroyed as signs of darkness. The teacher will be a guiding tutor—a friend who points out a shorter and better path. Not the process of compulsion, but the smile of summons. But, if into the schools of life treason will have seeped, then the severest judgment will put an end to such madness.

109. The schools will determine where is laziness, where an unusual structure of character, where madness and where the necessary understanding.

110. Among the school subjects let there be taught the fundamentals of astronomy, but let it be presented as the gateway to the far-off worlds. Thus schools will stimulate the first thoughts about life in the far-off worlds. Space will become alive, astrochemistry and rays will round out the presentation of the magnitude of the Universe. Young hearts will feel not as ants upon the earth’s crust, but as bearers of spirit responsible for the planet. Let us fix our attention on schools, for from them will issue the affirmation of cooperation. There will be no construction without cooperation. There will be no security of state and union while outworn egoism holds sway.

111. Many warnings were given against selfhood. This deadly sister of ignorance smites and extinguishes the best fires. Do not consider a reminder about egoism out of place during the establishment of cooperatives. On the contrary, each statute must be written not for oneself but for others. Among various appellations the word friend will be a most hearty one. Indeed, the heart does not admit egoism. The heart lives in self-abnegation. Thus, strong is the heart when it is concerned about the future, not thinking about self.

112. It is a most useful thing to be able to combine the tenderness of love with the austereness of duty. The new life will not be deterred by contrasts. It will not exert compulsion with one yoke, but will bestow breadth of receptivity. It is not fitting for people to sit in a chicken-coop. It is time to know the planet and to assist it. People cannot lull themselves by calculating how many years are yet left before the sun will be extinguished. A great number of various conditions may upset all calculations. It also cannot be forgotten that people can gnaw each other in two. This consideration must not be forgotten, since malice is deluging the Earth.

113. Cupidity is coarse ignorance. Only true cooperation can save from such a malignant mange. A greedy man has a stamp on his face. He is not concerned with the heart; his cup is a bitter one. And for the greedy man the Subtle World is only a source of torment.

114. People study the life of bees, of ants, of monkeys, and they are amazed at migratory birds, at their order and precision of course; yet from all this they draw no deductions for the betterment of earthly life. Natural history must be taught in schools as completely and attractively as possible. By examples from the vegetable and animal kingdoms one should give to understand what treasures are contained in man. If the comparatively lower organisms sense the fundamentals of existence, then so much more must man apply his efforts for a successful improvement. Many valuable indications are revealed everywhere. From the very first lessons let pupils rejoice at the wonders of life. Likewise let them apprehend how to make use of flights and of clairaudience. Thus, clairaudience will be a natural condition. Likewise the Subtle World will be studied, along with subtle energies. There will be no dividing line between physical and metaphysical, for all exists—which means that everything is perceptible and cognizable. And so, superstitions and prejudices will be shattered.

115. No one dares to stand up against the school, but few there are who think about its improvement. School programs are not looked over for years at a time, and meanwhile discoveries are on the march. New data are rushing in from all sides: the air spheres and the depths of the oceans and the mountain treasuries all relate wonderful facts about themselves. Haste is needed, else excavations will alter the data of conventionalized history. In the new schools prohibitions must be removed, in order that pupils may see reality—which is wonderful if truthfully revealed. Broad is the field of mental competition!

116. Shield children from everything false; guard them against worthless music; protect them from obscenity; protect them from false competitions; protect them from affirmation of selfhood. The more so, since it is necessary to inculcate a love for incessant learning. The muscles must not gain the upper hand over mind and heart. What sort of heart takes a liking to blows of the fist?

117. It is absurd to think that perspiration is only a physical manifestation. During mental work a particular emanation valuable for the saturation of space issues forth. If bodily perspiration can fertilize the earth, then that of the spirit restores prana by being chemically transformed in the rays of the Sun. Labor is the crown of Light. It is necessary that school pupils remember the significance of labor as a factor of world-creation. As a result of labor there will be steadfastness of consciousness. It is necessary to emphasize strongly the atmosphere of work.

118. It may be asked, “What signs in a teacher should be valued?” You already know about the quality of action, and thus can apply new methods in action. One should prefer that teacher who proceeds in a new way. Each word of his, each act of his, bears the stamp of unforgettable innovation. This distinction creates a magnetic power. Not an imitator, not a commentator, but a powerful miner of new ores. One should take as a basis the call of innovation. The time has come when it is possible to go only forward. Let us preserve the call of the will in an incessant run and not linger over the precipice.

One must tell the builders of life to find new words, forged by new necessity. Realization of the newness of each hour will provide the impulse.

Point out to friends what happiness it is to be eternally new. And each electron of the New World will give new power. Apprehend the power of the new call. You can apply it in the life of every day. You know well enough that My words are for application.

119. You think rightly that without the achievements of technic the community is impossible. Every community is in need of technical adaptations, and Our Community cannot be thought of without simplification in life. Needed is the manifested possibility of applying the attainments of science; otherwise we will become mutually burdensome. As practical realists We can boldly affirm this. Moreover, We can persistently reproach all pseudo-realists. Their subservient science and blindness prevents them from attaining that for which they are striving.

Precisely like the Pharisees of old, they conceal fear before admitting that which is already obvious to others. We do not love the ignorant, We do not love cowards who in their terror trample the possibilities of evolution.

Extinguishers of fires, haters of the Light, are you not all alike, from whatever side you come crawling! You wish to put out the flame of knowledge; but the ignorant community is a prison, because community and ignorance are incompatible. It is necessary to know. Believe not, but know!

120. We are ready to support each inventor, for even the smallest inventor is trying to introduce an improvement into life and is anxious to bring about economy of energy. The Teacher recognizes guaranty of and care about the conservation of energy. This persistent economy warrants trust in the disciple. Indeed this economy is far from stinginess. The general who is careful in guarding his select troops is acting advisedly. Each possibility becomes our warrior, but one should understand things in the larger aspect.

How important it is to be circumspect with inventions in order not to deprive them of direct goalfitness! Let a consciousness of world evolution help to find the proper arrows. Your ears must harken to the steps of evolution, and resoluteness must not be deceived.

How wrong is slovenliness in an inventor, how pernicious is an ill-considered reaction, how inexcusable is an error of ignorance!

We can evaluate the work of the inventor on a world scale through realization of the direction of world evolution. It will be difficult to understand the applicability of the laws of dynamics so long as the fundamentals of matter have not been assimilated.

121. The new consciousness, supported by technical means, will give a powerful impetus to knowledge. Indeed, the community must be a most sensitive apparatus for the process of evolution. Indeed, in a conscious community no individual can make affirmation about an already molded world-study. Every dull barrier is swept away by the sharpened vibration of the collective. Even a hint at completion makes sojourn in the community impossible. Who then will assume the stigma of stupidity?

Even a worm will set no limits to his passageways of darkness—and you, looking into Infinity, you cannot resemble the worm!

The imperfect ingenuity of some people has guessed at invisible rays and inaudible rhythms. With crude imagination, with crude implements, nevertheless certain cosmic currents have been apprehended. But even a fool knows that the imagination can be refined and the apparatuses improved. Starting with self-improvement you proceed toward Infinity. I shall repeat about the possibilities of improvement so long as the most obdurate one remains unashamed of his limitation.

One cannot be a community member who limits his own consciousness, thereby emulating the female foot of old China. The darkness of habit evoked also this ugliness.

What community member could wish to cover himself with the mold of superstition? Certainly, one does not now make use of the inferior, primitive type of locomotive. It is equally certain that one cannot remain in an infantile understanding of reality.

A childish materialism proves to be a narcotic for people, but enlightened knowledge will be a ladder of victory.

Without negations, without superstitions, without fear, proceed to the true community. Without any miracles you will find serene reality, and as with the prospector’s pick you will discover hidden treasure in the depths. Grow to love the fearlessness of knowledge.

122. It is necessary to indicate the quality of knowledge required. Knowledge must be untrammeled. Each conditioned, shackled science causes irreparable damage. The free combination of elements will result in unprecedented new attainments.

Who can dictate to the chemist that he employ only one group of elements? Who can force the historian and the philosopher not to touch historical facts? Who can order the artist to use only one color? To knowledge all is disclosed.

The only key to preeminence in the domains of knowledge will be greater convincingness and attractiveness. If you wish to attract with your knowledge, make it attractive—so attractive that the books of yesterday appear as dried leaves. The victory of convincingness liberates from intolerable prohibitions.

Most of all, take care to expel prohibitions from the lives of pupils. For the community dwellers this is particularly easy, because their book can be especially inspiring and attractive. Indeed, a clerk’s account of the community is intolerable. The contemptible pedant thrusts away each one who does not prove to have an untalented, cold attitude toward beauty. Around the community there must be an inspirational quality.

Plants reach out toward the light—this law of primary consciousness is immutable. Proceed by the path of immutability and build life! There is nothing abstract, and life absorbs each thought. Therefore be realists of true reality.

123. Collectivism and dialectivism are two aids in thinking about materialism. The essence of materialism holds a particular mobility, ignoring not a single manifestation of life. The Teacher reveals only the necessary landmarks. One can develop propositions by thinking along suggested paths. Materialism must be well-grounded, so that all contemporary scientific attainments may enter constructively into the concept of spiritualized materialism.

We have spoken about subtle bodies, about magnets, about the luminosity of the aura, about the radiation of every object, about shifting of sensitivity, about change of ponderance, about the penetrating of one stratum of matter through another, about the sendings of thought through space, about the actuality of cementing space, about the feeling of the centers, about understanding the word matter. Much of that which is invisible but perceptible by apparatus must be appreciated by him who wishes to apply the means of technic in life. It is necessary to replace fanciful drivel with sound reason.

We, the Bearers of the Spirit, have the right to require respect for and recognition of matter.

Friends, matter is not manure but a substance radiant with possibilities. The want of humanity is because of its despising of matter. Sumptuous assembly halls have been built, but hymns to knowledge have not been sung.

124. It is asked how to approach the Teaching. Indeed, for this it is necessary to regenerate the consciousness, and the consciousness is reborn after having the Teaching. At the start it is necessary to discover and cleanse the consciousness. Opening of the consciousness is accomplished instantly—by one stroke of the will. Have the desire to open up your consciousness!

125. 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. You approach by round-about ways, you surmount the fatigue of the working day, you bear a particle of the common good; but the accumulated objects of the familiar room break up your striving, and imperceptibly you become dusty boarders. Moreover, 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. 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, dealings in small affairs, censure, anger. Upon being assembled, remain seated several minutes in silence. If then one of you will not find the strength to enlighten his consciousness, let him silently go back into cold and darkness. We are enemies of all compulsive magic, but a natural control of consciousness must become the prerequisite of real construction. Surely for one hour one can dismiss personal ventures. If this be difficult, how then can you think about progress and growth of consciousness? An ox knows about chewing its cud but does not advance farther than digestion. Make an effort to give your discourses beauty, simplicity and purity.

The most unusual problems of knowledge, the most audacious forms of beauty, should force you out of your musty corner. Understand, I wish to see you, at least for a while, particular and able to absorb. These seeds of cooperative thinking will give you the perseverance for attainments. Not only resolve but also persistence is needed.

Understand concentration as a test of consciousness. Let Me see you proceeding aspiringly and consciously. I am speaking for immediate fulfillment.

126. Do you feel the actual harm caused by erroneous actions? Do you not perceive that the harm brought by your egoism first of all touches you directly? But in the plan of actions you are not alone, and each step of yours also concerns those who are responsible who proceed in self-sacrifice. Much that is irreparable is done during light-minded gatherings. The Teaching has pointed out many times the bond of the collective. It is needful to safeguard those who run risks for the hastening of results. Mentally beware of pernicious, harshly clouded moods. Furthermore I ask, “Have you learned to read the books of the Teaching? Is there a desire to anchor your thought to one pillar?” We are very fond of beautiful parables but we forget that in each of them is contained the cost of a life.

In connection with the evening gatherings, it is ingenious to note unusual contents of speech or a very strange expression. But reflect—does there not hang on each letter of this expression a great number of lives? To each one must flash the consciousness of the importance of the hour for which he has been called. When long ago light-mindedness was spoken about, it was necessary at once to take into the consciousness the seriousness of the moment and to compel oneself to accept a feeling of responsibility. Outside of current affairs, outside of individual and group achievements, it is needful to sense evolution with all its peculiarities. Thus, think clearly. Strive to improve your gatherings.

127. If some very ignorant and unawakened person will say of the Teaching that it is apparently quite a different kind of communal teaching—know how to reply justly. Say that every community based on labor and the knowledge of reality does not harm the processes of perfectionment of humanity. Due to the motion of the Cosmos, it is impossible to remain immobile. There is either backward or forward movement. All who realize consciously the community move forward. And there cannot be communities opposed to each other; just as one cannot contrast different aspects of the sensation of hunger. Thus, against the community will speak only he who has begun to move backwards, entering into the formation of cosmic refuse.

Inexperienced community members have a considerable amount of suspiciousness and conceit, but a community is regarded by Us as an accepted form of life. And We can speak about it with all the lucidity of long experience. We are not frightened by any mental confusion. We have seen enough cosmic refuse and We are not disposed to be a part of it.

We shall defend with all forces of knowledge the community—based upon fellowship.

128. You are often astonished that the Teacher foresees the smallest details. But who told you that these details are small? Often a leg is broken from a most insignificant stone, and a blade of grass casts one over the precipice.

Even in daily life you save your near ones from dangers. Then, in Our Community, are not the lives of the coworkers protected in a larger scope? The lips of Friends do not keep silent, but it is necessary to learn to harken to the call of warning.

In small groups it is easy to adjust one’s attention, but the cooperation of mankind obliges one to become accustomed to unexpected manifestations. I am not exaggerating: each minute is insecure, but at the same time one should not become accustomed to this continuous insecurity, lest the vigilant sensitiveness be lost. Indeed, as an eagle on the summit, do not lose keenness. Sharp-sightedness grows only through perils.

Welcome dangers!

129. Beware of obtrusion, not only in relation to alien entreaties but be careful that you yourselves do not become obtrusive. It is impossible to calculate the harm of obtrusion, and 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. Only an exceptional ignorance in the followers can place the Teaching in a cringing position of falsehood and ignominy. One may pity those who, scantily informed, have taken on this purposeless labor.

But do not think while censuring alien obtrusion that it is as easy to avoid obtrusiveness of one’s own. There is but a fine line between affirmation and obtrusion. It is easy to degrade oneself to no avail. Every drop falling aside turns into burning acid. But a forced swelling means only dropsy, and you know that its cure is impossible. Therefore—only quality, not quantity.

He who knocks takes the responsibility upon himself, but the forcibly enticed one will be as a millstone on the neck of the bell-ringer.

Therefore, ring the bell only at the right time. Thus you will avoid coercion.

130. Who, then, should be treated especially austerely? Definitely oneself. How should one carry the Teaching? Within oneself alone. How to pass between hypocrisy and insolence? Not by rows of witnesses but only in self judgment! Each one respects his own dignity, and each one appraises the pearl of his consciousness. The Teaching of life is appraised by the pearl of consciousness. Are we likely to cast out the treasure of existence?

One must know to carry the Teaching as the last fire, the last food, the last water. One must manifest love and sparingness as toward the last possibility and the last drop of water. By acting within oneself one can show the measure of devotion. One must know how to create a world of personal responsibility for one’s own consciousness; then censure will be turned into true judgment.

131. On quality of advice. Often advice does not achieve its purpose for the reason that it is given as if for oneself. The condition of the brother is not taken into consideration, and the adviser puts himself in the place of the advised. Then the sympathy and pity and solicitude flow about the adviser himself. From such counsels one must of course expect harmful results—not only for the case itself but also in regard to the sufferer. His consciousness is pierced by an alien thinking as if by spikes. These clefts are healed with difficulty, for such counsels may be practically applicable yet their execution demands a quite different aura.

Indeed, as you well remember, the correlation of auras with the spatial substance gives quality to the result. Precisely, not the size but the color gives a particular approach to the action. The size of the aura will give tension to the action, but the path will be determined by the color. Thus, it is impossible to set any specific way of action under an alien color combination. A casual predetermination causes a mixture of rays and paralyzes the will. The infirmity of many workers is explained by the mixture of heterogeneous color groups. Here would be very useful a simple physical apparatus for the determination of basic radiations. Think, what an alleviation for the workers and what a deepening of intensity—true economy! Besides the increase in productivity, it is necessary to perceive how the correlation of colors will affect the well-being of the workers. A great deal of malice and misunderstanding will disappear, without threats and prohibitions.

Builders of life! Do not forget how easy it is, with simple technical equipment, to establish comfortable conditions for the workers. Not a foggy philosophy, not lazy musings, but a few physical implements will bring real assistance.

Already in America, Germany and England, basic radiation is being determined. Even this crude stage of investigation will help in primary groupings, and later perhaps you could approach the methods of the Eastern Laboratories. First of all, expel all ignorance, and without bombast simply know more! Mass leadership involves a broadening of consciousness.

Likewise, broaden the scope of primary schools. This is My Advice for immediate application!

132. Do not choke yourselves with verbosity. In verbosity resourcefulness and flexibility become lost. Verbosity cuts a furrow like a screw, and nothing new can pass through this orifice. All kinds of bullets are cast in the factory, but the factory does not produce a new banner. A community without flexibility and resourcefulness becomes very boresome. How then will you find for each one his particular bullet if all must fit one and the same rifling? Here comes a child, here a girl, here a warrior, here an old man—one should not give the same advice to all or one’s guests will take flight.

Of course you will say, “We know perfectly well how to act.” Then I will have to answer, “So much the worse, if you know and do not act. Much courage is required to listen to your cut and dried speeches.” It is imperative to learn to speak more briefly and concisely, otherwise the community will be undone through boredom. Boredom is a dangerous beast! Flexibility and resourcefulness alone preserve the freshness of the tree of freedom.

133. The community, being a fellowship first of all, sets as a condition for entrance two conscious decisions: labor 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 labor there may be a broadening of consciousness. But many people, not bad otherwise, do not envision the results, being frightened by incessant labor 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—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. If, however, a formal entrance into the community itself be allowed, one will be obliged periodically to eject the unfit ones. In other words, the community will cease to exist altogether. It will be simply an institution under a false label, beside which the Sanhedrin of the Pharisees would be a highly righteous establishment.

Friends of the community provide the possibility of having a reservoir without danger of betraying the bases of the Teaching. Friends of the community do not conceal their weaknesses, and this gives the possibility of successfully strengthening them. Indeed, We use the word friends because for the Occident this term is more understandable. Among Ourselves We call them disciples of a certain degree, but the West poorly contains Our concept of discipleship. Therefore, let us keep to the better-known designation—friends of the community.

It is absurd for the West not to accept Our simple propositions, fortified by long experience.

Our Communities are old! Have not the best people understood the community, not proposing any other form? From the community to the far-off worlds!

134. Acceptance of the commissions of the Community is shown by certain signs. Let us look at sincerity and pity. Sincerity is nothing but the shortest attainment. Vainly do sentimental people load sincerity with romantic tatters. Sincerity is a concept real and invincibly acute. That sincerity is similar to a properly directed spear thrust and is not a diffused goodness can be shown by example. Each doubt lessens the power of the blow. Therefore, for Us sincerity is the shortest attainment. Quite another matter is pity. Pity is a puddle in which the faithful foot may slip. The one who pities descends to the level of the pitied. His force is dissolved in twilights of that which he pities—a most whining result.

Pity must not be confused with compassion. In compassion nothing is dissolved, but crystals of action grow. Compassion does not weep, but helps.

Let us consider accusation and manifestation. Accusation is practical for the accused. The accusation is either merited—and then the alien formulation is instructive, because it always differs from your own understanding—or, as happens more often, the accusation is unmerited—and then you can calmly observe how your action has been refracted in the malice of ignorance.

Manifestation must be understood not in the sense of importunity but as related to the quality of being invisible. The dream of peoples about a cap of invisibility can be brought into life without sorcery. It is possible to divert attention from oneself, but this is far more difficult than to attract. Thus, it is necessary to know how to understand the impulse of the observers. In carrying out missions the ability to be invisible is important.

Let us look at communion and striving. During communion it is necessary to maintain the realization of one’s need. Do not ask any advices; let them be given. Let not your striving turn into a chase; otherwise idlers and guards will rush after you. Thus realize the burden of missions.

Of fear and betrayal I spoke long ago.

135. Nothing is finite, nothing is immovable; therefore let us be consciously concerned with that which may be foreseen. When I succeed in foreseeing needed actions, I do not consider this as final. On the one hand, you and a great number of karmic circumstances can disturb the level of that which has been foreseen; and on the other, We and a new karma can improve the correlation of the components.

Verily, when something can be simplified and adorned, it is our duty to do so. Blindly to be attached to something borne by the current would be like being in a shipwreck. One must comprehend the significance of the current. The indicated mobility is only a preparation for the realization of the great current. As an unfailing spiral fed by the forces of matter does the eternal current rush along. Thought can overtake the light that follows the current.

After the details of the everyday routine one should turn to manifestations of the great Motion. One should fly upwards and thus tear oneself away from Earth. Bring the realization of the great current to your work bench and give wings to your labor. How else will you infuse perfect technic into your craft? Saturation with the tremor of possibilities will give rhythm to the labor. From each seed consciously manifested rises a silver thread to the far-off worlds. Thought pierces the strata of the atmosphere and weaves the web.

How to explain that without the unity of the worlds life on the earthly crust is an absurdity! Realization of the smallness and imperfection of the Earth can aid toward gravitation to the far-off worlds.

Let us not forget that we are micro-organisms populating the folds of the planet’s crust. One must learn to think. No lecture can teach how to think. The quality of thinking is formed in solitude through rational striving. Indeed, thought strikes the spark of life from the substance of matter.

136. Have you noticed what a difference there is between action in compliance with an external order and that under the realization of an impulse? If I order water to be brought, the water may be obtained. But if he who draws the water is imbued with a realization of the necessity for doing so, then more than half the obstacles in the way will be removed. Therefore, We avoid external commands, preferring to guide the will in order that the consciousness should realize the need of action. Apart from obvious consequences, the karma created by this external command is important.

Pay attention that commands be prepared beforehand, so that they may enter the consciousness of the executors. Without cooperation a command is like the flight of an arrow against the wind. Even the unexpectedness of a command must be foreseen. The unexpectedness is thus transformed into an outlived tension.

Know how to evoke cooperation not only in actions but also in thinking. Only then is it possible to send a coworker on a distant journey. The fact of having received a commission obligates one to independent actions. The current will carry the striving ones.

137. A cosmogonic Hindu tale relates: “There lived long ago a terrible monster who devoured people. Once the monster was pursuing an intended victim and the man, seeking to save himself, plunged into a lake. The monster sprang after him, but the swimmer threw himself on the back of the monster and took firm hold of its projecting crest. The monster could not turn over on its back because its belly was unprotected. It rushed about in a furious course, waiting for the man to become exhausted. But the thought came to the man that, in maintaining his desperate plight, he was saving humanity, and with this pan-human thought his strength became unlimited and inexhaustible. The monster, meanwhile, increased its speed until sparks formed a fiery wake. Amid flames the monster began to rise above the earth. The universal thought of the man had uplifted even the enemy.

When people see a comet they give thanks to the valiant one, eternally striving, and the thoughts of the people speed outward to give new strength to the rider of the monster. White, yellow, red, and black people direct their thoughts to him who long ago became fiery.”

Strive to the guiding thought about help to humanity. Think clearly that you are performing not a personal act, nor a group act, but an absolutely useful act. That done by you timelessly and without the limitation of space becomes a labor for the unification of the worlds. Preserve this guiding fiery thought.

When one is guided daily one may lose consciousness of the guiding thought. Weak minds think that they remain without connection with the guide—the details of daily routine reduce them to ordinariness. But, indeed, amidst daily routine it is possible to grow flaming thought. As a metal is forged with an ordinary hammer, and as seed filled with the great substance of life is gathered with an ordinary sickle, so amid ordinary matters look for the thread of greatness.

138. About uplifting the enemy. The Teaching of the Community has very solicitously in mind the upliftment of enemies. For this, one should not harass the enemies with direct proposals. But personal aspiration toward world tasks can attain such tension that inevitably the enemy is drawn in the same direction. We must not forget that the enemy by his very enmity is already connected with us. In this bond lies the weakness of the enemy. Hating us, the enemy begins to fill his being with a picture of us. The enemy chains his consciousness to us and often ends up as a simple imitator, to which fact indeed he will never confess. The enemy will imitate first in an external way, and then, when his hatred has led him to this point, the cosmic grandeur of the task may entice him inwardly.

When we know that the enemy is attached to us we can look upon him as a foolish member of the household. Thus, penetrate into the essential nature of the enemies and you will find a place for them. They may serve beautifully as the legs of your workbench. Out of the obstinacy of ignorance they intensify their forces in order to stick to you. But you have nothing to conceal because you work for humanity, and the enemy must become an imitator or else perish. This perishing, indeed, is not by your hand but is from a spark of the world apparatus. Therefore I insist on fiery striving.

139. One should expel all words of negation. He who denies is poor; he who affirms is rich. He who denies is immobile; he who affirms is propelled. He who denies is constantly wrong; he who affirms is always right. He who affirms can be relatively right in place and time; he who denies is absolute in deadliness. Ignorance is the mother of negation. Expelling negation, the Teaching enslaves no one. The denier is already a slaveholder, for he does not wish to let his interlocutor go free from his circle. The Teaching of the Community must be active in the opening of all paths.

140. If your interlocutor expresses stubbornness and extreme ignorance, ask him if he has traveled much. You will doubtless receive the reply that his travels have been no farther than a sparrow’s flight. Besides, arriving in new places he but falls into the old conditions as a result of not knowing the language and of general lack of knowledge. Such a man will be particularly argumentative, not being ashamed of his ignorance. Truly, the experience of journeying gives the best key to the realization of cosmic lives. The true traveler reflects lucidly on the path which lies behind and clearly expresses the desired direction. He will appraise former circumstances and will foresee the better possibilities.

Traveler, how do you imagine the path beyond the limits of the earthly crust? So many forces have been expended for defining the life beyond! It seems to people that they will at once sink into a state of groundlessness. This faint-heartedness is a result of undeveloped observation.

Experienced traveler, you know that on Earth are expressed the embryos of all possibilities. You know the imperfection of the past and you will perceive the embryonic future combinations. The imperfection of the traversed path will call to mind the rudimentary life of the worlds of lesser consciousness. Glimpses of solutions in new combinations will attract you, wayfarer, to paths preordained in all their super-stellar reality. To you mystic signs are not needed; you walk the visible path and each blade of grass sets before you a register of the forces of nature. Phantoms are for him who sits by the stove, and for you are the waves of luminous matter. Seals of forbiddances are for him who sits in the chicken-coop, and for you are the real forms of rays. For them magic and miracles, and for you the creative power of pure strata of matter.

Traveler, I rejoice to encounter you, I rejoice to see how steadfastly you proceed. Traveler, you know what you are seeking; help may be given to you!

141. We approve an abridgement of language. Combinations of new definitives are desirable. Such a new language releases from immobility of speech. It is of no purpose to worship dead words. It is far more joyful to see how the meaning of a sound effect penetrates and convinces. Everyone understands that not words convince but the sendings of the brain center. Sugary speech can attain its goal because of its impression upon the listener. One is more likely to conquer by a silent gesture than by cold rhetoric.

When people say, “This is the language of my father,” ask them: “Are the worn-out shoes of your father still usable?”

Every science is in need of new formulas. Likewise, the certain periods of life bring new expressions. One must rejoice at each new expression. Nothing is worse than the embrace of a corpse! As it is, you are attached to a sufficient quantity of dead objects. The burying of each dead letter is accompanied by lamentations, as if there do not exist progressive actions of enormous significance! Certain people are illiterate and covered with stench and nasty insects. Which of the old worn-out prejudices to mourn? The whole trunkful of insects must be burnt, and this will not be a destruction but a renovation.

Seek renovation in all of life.

142. Rightly has it been observed that the protection and preservation of the offspring of animals must be provided for. Maternity means the same for them as for humanity. When animals are spared they will repay us in milk, wool and labor. The problem of animals living near man is a very important one. One may visualize how the atmosphere is altered when there are friends around the dwelling. Ask the Arab about the horse or a Northerner about the reindeer—he will speak not as about animals but as about his family.

One may pass from animals to plants. You already know that it is beneficial to sleep on cedar roots. You know what collectors of electricity pine needles are. Not only do plants serve salutarily by their extracts, but the plant emanation produces a strong effect on the surroundings. One may see how man can be helped by a bed of flowers consciously combined. Absurd are mixed flower beds whose mutual reactions destroy their good effect. Matched or homogeneous ones can answer the needs of our organism. How many useful combinations there are in fields covered by wild plants! Combinations of plants which are natural neighbors must be studied as instruments of an orchestra. Those scientists are right who look upon plants as subtly sensitive organisms. The next steps will be the study of the reaction of groups of plants on each other as well as upon man. The sensitivity and reciprocal action of plants upon surroundings is indeed astonishing. Plants are manifested, as it were, as a binding substance of the planet, acting on a network of imperceptible interactions. True, the value of plants was long ago foreseen, but group reciprocal actions have not been studied. Until recently people have not understood the vital capacity of vegetable organisms and have senselessly cut clusters of heterogeneous plants, not caring about the meaning of what they were doing. A man with a bouquet is like a child with fire. Exterminators of the vegetation of the planet’s crust are like state criminals.

Remember, We do not like cut flowers.

143. You are beginning to do a great deal correctly. You abolish handshaking and thus recognize the potency of contact. You avoid handwriting and thus recognize the stratification of living energy. You abbreviate the language and thus recognize the need of cosmic conservations. You establish Societies of Mutual Aid and thus recognize community. You begin a re-estimate of transitory values and thus recognize evolution. You abolish the usage of compulsion and thus recognize the Teacher. You abolish foul language and thus recognize the value of sound. You abolish vulgar dancing and thus recognize the significance of rhythm. You abolish vulgar shows and thus recognize the importance of color. You abolish sloth and thus recognize the power of energy. You abolish tardiness and thus recognize the will. If the scientific significance of your actions is not always clear to you, still, in manifesting the inevitability of evolution, you are acting properly.

You see how much We are in agreement with you—only an especially slow-witted person can think about contradiction of ways.

Like healing flowers rise the seedlings of the consciousness of peoples! The channel of the people’s striving carries humanity to new knowledge. You may express this affirmation by poetic metaphor or by dry formula, but the meaning of the people’s current remains undisturbed. One may wish either to proceed by the difficult way or to apprehend the usefulness of cooperation, but the direction of evolution remains unchangeable.

Thus, regeneration of the world, cooperation, mutual help, and community will flourish.

144. We shall say to him who fears all changes: “Dissolution is evident in you.” This process begins much earlier than the physical illnesses. How can one observe the first signs of disintegration? Only in an immobility of admissions. How is it possible to determine when the disintegration becomes dangerous for the social order? When the indolent consciousness considers the community a harmful nonsense. It is best to by-pass such living corpses. Some kinds of people cannot comprise the community, but all those in the category of attacking ones must be indignantly excluded from social intercourse. It must be understood that even the smallest contact with these organisms is harmful. Here there can be no question of kinship. Honored is old age in a body with a clear consciousness; for in the essential nature there is then no old age. But premature decay surrounds one with an intolerable stench.

When Buddha called a man malodorous, he had first of all in mind the spiritual consciousness. This gangrenous process is not subject to cure. In Our structures avoid touching such people. Spending time on them is equal to depriving a waiting, hungry man of a morsel of food.

How eagerly is each word about the New World awaited! The striving of new consciousnesses will result in new combinations. We await those who pronounce the new day a desired one—who regard the best past day worse than each new one. They are right; for each new day is clothed with prana of the new evolution. The air, actually changed by the disintegration of the worlds, becomes new. How necessary it is to study the composition of the atmosphere by the most sensitive apparatuses! The composition of the air is a vital part of biology. Up to the present we have spoken roughly about the air, forgetting its psychic effect.

145. About the development of possibilities through action. When a determined action is created it resembles the movement of a ship. The cloven atmosphere sends out splashes of intensified matter. They are all found in the magnetic sphere of action and are temporarily subjected to it. The intersected strata of the atmosphere are very divergent; and the usefulness of the stirred-up particles is quite unexpected. In truth, he has mastered action who can take into account the activated particles of matter and, cognizing them, compress them into unity.

Long ago I spoke to you about concentration upon action. Indeed, an unshakable striving must be in each action. And yet he will be wrong who scatters the sparks of a blow—these are beneficent details. The husbandman knows the accounting of his seeds and the fisherman lets no fish escape over the net. The fires of unexpectedness bring light on the path.

Summon from the abyss of matter luminous messengers. It is necessary to evaluate the many possibilities which fall into the induced spiral. It is inexcusable to allow these pertinent possibilities to escape. I do not say that it is necessary to torment oneself grievously upon the extent of action. One must with keen sight sweep the circle of reaction, and the possibilities will fall like ripe fruit. One should study the quality of the atmosphere. One should study the quality of action. Actions may become nonsensical and the atmosphere may overflow with waves of different length. Thus it is possible to guard against madness.

146. Dueling is madness. There are no situations in which a brawl can solve a dispute. The loftier the subject the more unbefitting is the brawl. It is possible to show the necessity of destroying an enemy, but such destruction is not a result of an affront. Nothing can offend the conscious fighter.

147. That man is called hero who acts selflessly, but this definition is not complete. He is a hero who acts self-sacrificingly, unwaveringly, consciously, and who, acting in the name of the Common Good, thus brings nearer the current of cosmic evolution.

Heroes may be encountered in present-day life. One should not consider this concept inapplicable. If we fear to introduce such a concept, we ourselves break away from the path leading into the region of truth. One should recognize heroism in life; one should fearlessly recognize the presence of the enemies; one should remember that the sword is the staff of the hero. Knowing how to turn sword into staff must find a place in the day’s work.

How all magical formulas droop before the irrepressible leap over the abyss to the life-giving Sun! Only those who cognize reality can speak about the Sun without superficial tearfulness.

We wish to see you steadfastly conquering. Each victory teaches prudence, but this restraint palpitates with flights. Be not afraid of big definitions, but, setting forth for an achievement, see that you have food prepared for the morrow. He who moves toward achievement must proceed as if summoned by a work bell. For the striving one the thinnest surface is sufficient. Aspire!

148. People do not eat corpses, yet slaughtered animals are eaten. One must ask, “Wherein is the difference—is not a slaughtered animal a corpse?” We advise not to use meat for reasons of simple goalfitness. Indeed, anyone understands that to make use of decomposing cells is harmful. But when does this decomposition begin? At the moment of cessation of the functions of life the body loses its protective radiation and decomposition sets in immediately. Therefore, worldly wisdom about not eating corpses is hypocritical. We recommend farinaceous food, dairy products and vegetables, where there is less decomposition.

True, the life process of plants resembles that of animals, but one can see that the decomposition of plants begins much later. Vegetables are better used either fresh or dried in great heat. It is better to use unleavened bread made without fats. There are enough fatty substances in butter and vegetable oil.

Your term vegetarianism is unfortunate; it emphasizes a division according to principle and not according to essence.

In the community food must be vegetable, for the members of the community must follow the utmost goalfitness.

On the path let us not be finicky. Let us not forget the usefulness of resin in all its forms. On the path let us remember that eating twice a day is sufficient. Let us not sit too long at table.

149. Maintain a correlation between expansion and strengthening. Remember, not only the leap but also the retention of the new ground. Many examples may be cited wherein expansion resulted in no possibilities. Naturally, we must understand expansion in regard to the consciousness. If a victory of the consciousness be not consolidated technically, then instead of an even light the consciousness will become filled with sharp, painful sparks. As in all life, it is necessary to understand the moment of assimilation. Man, living fully, begins to notice, as it were, a pulsation of his experiences. This pulsation proceeds apart from the quantity of labors and apart from external impulses. It is necessary to safeguard this pulsation inwardly and not attribute it to overfatigue or to an accidental effect. In these moments the consciousness becomes accustomed to some new acquisition. Through inexperience people often begin to be alarmed by a temporary silence of the consciousness, but such a consolidation leads to the next leap. During such a period of assimilation of the consciousness do not disturb it with problems. The butterfly is making ready new multicolored wings—do not harm the cocoon.

To observe the movements of the consciousness one should take photographs of physical radiations. This process of photography must be carried out very precisely. You have heard about the visible symptoms of illnesses, of their being reflected on photographic prints. Besides these perturbations there may be observed, as it were, blue spots floating in the field of radiation. One may know that the consciousness is being condensed in these moments. Then a photograph may show something like flaming streams sweeping away the blue condensations, which means that the hero is ready for the next achievement. From an accurately made photograph of such radiations there could result an important popular understanding of the concealed qualities of man’s organism.

One might even provide a so-called fully scientific institute, where each passer-by could enter, sniff at the screen and the plate, and inspect the sleeves and pockets of the operator. Nowhere is there to be any deception; indeed, it will be as one would wish it to be—clear, free of charge and with the permission of the government, and without the requirement of a preliminary bath. But the last is not easy, because for the photograph it is necessary to rub the body strongly with alcohol—to remove perspiration.

It is necessary to strengthen the consciousness!

150. Acceleration of mutual understanding is not determined by the words pronounced but by the extent to which the centers of the brain are stimulated. Here is a remarkable experiment: a speaker establishes a current of understanding and then suddenly changes the language, selecting a tongue unknown to his listener, and the phenomenon of understanding continues on. Indeed, you know and have perceived silent suggestion, when a spacial thought is communicated with lightning speed. It is interpreted in the tongue nearest to the listener, but the issuing language might have been completely different.

The experiment of transmission of thought is no longer unusual, but the quality of the sending and receiving is insufficiently investigated. Observed least of all is the moment of establishing the circuit of understanding, after which formal words become superfluous. The stability of this current depends least of all upon tension of the brain-muscles. People would rather burst their blood-vessels with tension than manifest a new understanding.

You have long known a dissolving sound which acts not by tension but by quality. Understanding is similar to this sound. In antiquity it was said: “Open the gates of understanding, otherwise my lightning will reduce your lock to ashes.” Indeed, the lightning of thought—this primary creation of all being—pierces all locks.

A moment approaches when the eyes of the listener darken and across the physical radiation there run sparks of unrelated color—this color pertains to the radiation of the sender. Indeed, light has succeeded in flashing out most rapidly, affecting the light of the listener’s consciousness. It means that the field has been occupied and is prepared for further reception.

During experiments of transmission of thoughts it is important to question the entire district in order to determine how the field of effectiveness of the sending spreads. Thus, it is possible to establish a spirality of movement. From this it may be understood that sendings into space will not be successful in the sense of a definite date. Picturing an immediate goal, one may encompass a larger space beyond it in any given direction.

Let us end with a smile: Do you not imagine the thunder of thoughts in space? One disciple asked, “If thought is ponderable, then must not space be overburdened with thoughts and gravitation thus disturbed?” What do you think?

151. Another instructive experiment. A man is placed in the middle of a dark, spacious room. Along the walls noiselessly move several questioners who put to him short, sudden questions. In the darkness it is almost impossible to determine the exact direction of the voice. But—what is also remarkable—when the question is sent into space and the person who stands in the center is inwardly ignored, the voice often seems to come from the opposite direction. In this way it can be seen that not an external organ but an inner sending has the primary significance.

Indeed, a spark of light is the first to hit the target. The knowledge of how to sway the crowd lies not in eloquence but in the understanding of the nodes of the crowd and in the timely sending thither of a light-bearing thought. The lack of understanding as to how to address oneself into space and the fixation on a single listener are equally harmful. Likewise We advise making use of the phonograph for scientific data. But one cannot expect to kindle emotions by means of mechanical transmission.

The personal electrification of the crowd is useful in that the kindled nodes become, as it were, resonators and energize a considerable periphery around themselves. How then to discover the most efficient and resounding nodes of the crowd? But between the speaker and the crowd fly balls of light, and the centers of energies blaze clearly if the orator is not a babbler but a leader for the Common Good.

Make an effort to compare the physical radiations of a babbler and a leader for the General Good. How scintillating is the radiation of the leader, what direct arrows spurt from his shoulders, and what purple waves flow outward in defense and engender new might! But the radiation of a babbler is furrowed with zigzags, the ends of which turn inwards.

Apparatus for photographing the physical radiations will soon be given to children as holiday presents, and the wiseacres will again warn the children against a dangerous occupation: “One may live nicely the whole life through without knowing oneself.”

152. We condemn every delay. Riddance from delay is accomplished by two particular external qualities in life: precision in labor, and vigilance. Precision in labor must be developed in each worker.

A complete instantaneous transfer of attention allows any moment of labor to crystallize. Through discipline it is possible to attain a clear-cut isolation of each thought. The leaps of bloated rabbits are ineffective. Side by side with precision stands eternal vigilance. Not the cold advice of decadent wiseacres: “Be not surprised at anything!” but the flaming call—“Be eagle-eyed!” Such intensity is not a taut cable ready to break, but the rainbow of foresight.

It must not be thought that vigilance can make a man cold and aloof. A warrior on guard is filled with the light of possibilities. True, he is astonished at nothing, for he foresees the birth of new possibilities.

When you proclaim—“Always ready!” you are, as it were, following Our call. For him who is always ready it is possible to test the whole furnace of tension.

Day and night Our coworkers are prepared for all the scintillation of the Cosmos. In their readiness they will pass invisibly by day and will find at night the radiant path. Nothing will alarm you when you are constantly alert. The character of the seeker does not permit the ship to be ice-bound.

We condemn delay.

153. Someone will say: “Is vigilance, or co-measurement, or mobility, or devotion difficult? Here, I feel that I can contain all these conditions; will you not take me on the distant journey into the Community?” But has this hasty traveler thought about a certain requisite in the qualities mentioned by him? Steadfastness was forgotten. Little fires flickering only for an instant contain all the qualities of flame, but darkness engulfs them as swiftly as a brazier does a snowflake. One cannot trust an isolated moment of containment; only steadfastness, tempered by toil and by obstacles, results in a trustworthy containment.

A true musician does not think about each finger’s calling forth a sound; only a pupil considers which fingers are convenient to use. The true coworker does not think about the intended application of the qualities of labor. The music of the spheres is blended with the song of progress of labor.

Ponder how like a fiery ladder is steadfastness.

154. Someone decides: “I will cross upon the fiery ladder.” Do so, to each one the path is open. But remember, if fear comes the steps melt into liquid flame. Whither will you go, not having acquired the quality of labor? When We say it is better to sleep on cedar roots, the follower can carry out easily the advice. It is easy to sleep, and especially when so advised. But when one is told to take up constant watch, then the steps become burning hot. One thing must be repeated: not easy is the ladder.

Poor is the leader who conceals real danger. It can be conquered only with the help of complete knowledge.

I see approaching another unreasonable person—this one is still more imperfect. He censures: “Of what use is a solemn prophecy?” We shall say, “The solemnity of a forewarning is proportionate to the degradation of your squeaking at danger. O thou biped, how many times you have lost your face at the first difficulty! We have seen you blacker than charcoal, and your negation has filled you with stench. Badly do you fare, having burned your steps and now asking alms of the abyss.”

A new interrogator: “How to reconcile the Teaching with science?” If science teaches authentic knowledge, then the Teaching is science. What purpose can science achieve when it is swollen with prejudices? He who is perturbed by solemnity of affirmations views science from his den of vulgarity. He who thinks about the community is not harmed by crawling reptiles.

I say to you that I know all the complexity of the construction. I do not conceal how far the stones must be carried nor how great is the aridity. Precisely this realization, precisely the countlessness of the stars, gives affirmation to the fiery steps.

155. The structure of the community loves intensity. One can observe how intensity is of assistance during various manifestations. Even a simple tenseness of the body reinforces elementary manifestations. Not only overburdening of the nerve centers but also muscular contractions create a strengthened emanation of feelings. Not sitting in calm comfort, but distending one’s limbs in toil will produce a saturation of energy. But indeed bodily tension is only for the most elementary manifestations; tension of the brain centers is needed. Continual intenseness will be the best.

Let us give you a picture of Our Community. Our resources are intensified for the Common Good. Everyone works in full readiness. Our wireless communication has brought an urgent appeal—personal action is needed. The Elect Council designates an executive agent. Sometimes the agent knows the whole process of the task, but sometimes he is given only an intermediate action. Often there is time enough only for choosing the necessary clothing, and perhaps a book which has just been started goes into the library unread. Often the duration of the commission is indeterminate. Often the results of the errand are not to be seen. What then induces the selected one joyfully to take himself off? What helps him to hasten into the cold and over the blocks of ice? What sort of order can evoke this strenuous labor? This jubilant readiness grows from habitual watchfulness.

When I advise you to develop intenseness and vigilance, I do not speak for the purpose of burdening you. My counsels foresee exultation as a final result. Those who fear intense labor are afraid of the forms and laws of energy. Let them proceed formlessly toward the decomposing moons. Let them supplement with their own dissolution that which is subject to fundamental re-formation.

Know how to foresee the jubilation!

156. It can be seen that the path of those who bear a mission is not a restful one. People think of a procession of some kind of magicians, almost as with the cap of invisibility.

But the World Community is built with human hands and feet, and therein lies the beauty of the construction. Yet rarely in the cities does the messenger of the Community meet with a welcome. The very soul of the city growls at him. Indeed, the very existence of the Community is denied in the city. The very atmosphere does not permit the messenger to take any rest.

Here he, the lonely one, crossed, swam, flew through the prescribed spaces, and he already communicates and transmits his message. Who has received him? First, distrust—does the Community exist? Second—can the Community be active and take part in distant matters? Third—is not the appearance of the messenger and the need for the indicated action simply a coincidence? I recall that one such messenger, indignant at the mediocrity of the last remark, replied: “You who talk about coincidence, do not forget that you yourselves are a coincidence of particles of matter. But if your coincidence has been unsuccessful, the laws of matter provide a reason for it.” However, when monetary matters are turned to, and those dealing with the transmission of objects, thoughts begin to coincide propitiously. Facts and warnings are listened to attentively. The city dweller is not averse to squeezing out a useful information, even though it be from the Community. Thus, outside of a few coworkers, the messenger encounters about him an abyss of greed. Give money, give advice for the morrow, do away with the enemy—then vanish quickly and do not disturb our digestion with thoughts about world fellowship.

Indeed, realization of cooperation and community goes on, but the thinking of the average citizen is sunk in stagnation.

We summon those coworkers who know the difficulties. We call to those who will not turn back. We summon those who know that joy is a special wisdom.

We may give the most arduous instructions, but Our counsels lead to rejoicing!

157. When We dispatch a messenger We wish him success in encountering the dragon. Indeed, this is no harmless, betailed, pre-glacial dragon, but the cruel human egoism, reaching the point of the dangerous paroxysms called terror or frenzy of egoism. Where do these dragons nest? It is affirmed that the most evil nests will be in luxurious palaces, or behind the counter of the money-changer, or in the merchant’s shop. But I am likely rather to find a harmless money-changer and an honest merchant than to pierce the armor of negation and non-admittance. The denier is not only prepared to defend his own ignorance, he dreams of surrounding all humanity with a wall of terror.

Where then is the primary cause of the frenzy of egoism? Man, sowing terror, is himself senselessly fearful. In the denier sits not only ignorance but also a base fear. Tell children the symptoms by which to recognize the nest of egoism. They must understand that the egoist first of all admits nothing, whereas the seeker of the Common Good sets as his first task the absorption of possibilities.

Our messenger has but to proclaim any elementary truth to be suspected of some sort of machinations of the Community. He may pronounce, “Energy and light,” apparently the simplest of concepts, but the city-dweller already senses some attempt against his comfort. The city-dweller is so accustomed to considering himself something dense and dark that he does not admit that he could prove to be a source of physical light. But even children are not astonished if an electric spark emanates from them.

It is essential to examine the programs of schools and to strengthen the line of authentic knowledge. Superstition drives people into the crevices of terror. This straightening out of school thinking must be attended to immediately, otherwise one more generation of brainless ones will disgrace the planet. Natural science must be augmented in cognition of the significance of this term. Biology, astrophysics, chemistry, will attract the attention of the youngest child’s brain.

Allow children opportunity to think!

158. Magnetism and gas formations, both dynamic factors, are absolutely not studied. Magnetism attracts attention when a horse is unable to lift its shoe from the ground. Gases are mentioned when people and animals fall dead. Only about such crude manifestations do people talk, but magnetism and gases operate throughout the entire surface of the planet. No place is indifferent, each locality is individual according to qualities of deeply practical significance.

One may be amazed at the naivete of people who settle down in a place without any understanding of its local conditions. One may understand how many possibilities perish and how many calamities could be averted.

You yourselves have performed the experiment with the hazel branch and have been amazed how this most ancient and primitive apparatus became tense, trembled, and went into motion, reacting to underground waters and minerals. Indeed, the source of this obvious reaction lies not in the branch but in the human apparatus. With what detail and fervor must one study, therefore, the reaction of each locality upon man and upon entire groups of people! Many regions are replete with popular rumors about the peculiarities of character of their inhabitants: in some places people suffer from goitre; in some they lose their teeth; in some leprosy makes its nest; in some the spleen becomes blighted, or the heart becomes enlarged, or the character sluggish; in some places there is vigor and animation. A great number of such features catch the eye. It may be observed that these peculiarities are not a matter of racial or climatic conditions. The very structure of the ground underfoot may contain the principal causes of the differences in popular characteristics. There is a broad field for study if approached with keen eye and without prejudice.

159. Not only do people not pay attention to the emanations of the earth, they do not take into account the quality of the water used, although they have become accustomed to medicinal treatments with waters. For their protection people have devised the use of boiled water, forgetting that certain water organisms cannot live in boiled water. True, many microbes perish in the boiling, but, on the other hand, upon cooling the boiled water actually absorbs a great quantity of dead particles from the atmosphere.

If you wish to reduce brain receptivity, drink cold boiled water which has been kept for a long time—it communicates to the organism a sluggish staleness.

We teach the use of boiled water only in its fresh, very hot state.

We make use of springs, admitting for purification alum or pumice. Tufa, which is found around geysers, is also useful as a purifier of water. Pure water not only quenches thirst but also ozonizes the whole atmosphere.

We treat wounds by immersion in pure water. Light and water are Our remedies. Our efforts are directed to the simplest expedients. At the formation of new communities, follow simplicity of method in all processes. It is necessary to begin to deal with oratorical blind speech. Take the talkative traveler to the bank of a mountain spring—let him become ashamed!

This morning, imperceptibly, the song of the spring drove away fatigue. This emanation of energy is equal to a strong electrical stimulus.

160. We avoid suggestion except in certain instances when a direct danger can be avoided. It is a different matter when you see an already molded consciousness awaiting a spark from without, but any forcible invasion is condemned. This principle must be affirmed in the community, especially since you know the unlimited effectiveness of the will. When you know that not only people and animals but even objects are moved by the will, then you know that a wave of the will must be directed precisely and circumspectly.

You know that the shifting of objects by the will is not an exaggeration. There is no magic in it; a magnet, rather, will give you the correct way of thinking. Likewise, elder-wood figurines under electricity will provide a visual comparison.

We particularly study the will, which can be sharper than an arrow. It is impossible to guard against these arrows. One could hold out a shield if one knew the precise direction of the arrows. But who can know this direction?

161. Observe the indications of seismographic curves. The points are disposed not along the equator, nor along a meridian, but form their own curves. Sometimes an increased activity of quakes and shiftings coincides with the intensity of so-called sun-spots resulting from a tension of the solar system. One need not be a prophet to understand that brain action in these periods will flow in a specific way.

Social aspirations likewise have their curves of expansion. One should be cautious not to interrupt this succession of events. Crevices of shiftings in the ground and in people’s aspirations are alike.

The New World must manifest the sensitivity of the best seismograph.

If someone complicates the procession of peoples, he may receive the wreath of ignorance. His action cannot be justified by ignorance of the laws, and it is equally improper for a leader to change the direction into reverse. No one can be guided by the personal, but, by comparing the values as to the Common Good, it is possible to choose the quickest path.

One must not spill a single possibility.

It seems that what is stated is simple boresome truth, yet no one applies it; the plan of actions is carried out in a dark room—not on the watchtower.

To observe, it is necessary not to look for what one wishes to see but to search for reality.

162. Whoever makes assertions about his devotion to the real and the authentic must particularly welcome the discernment of reality. Not hypocritical stammering before the method of a recognized authority, but the struggle and burning in quest of reality. Verily irresistibly, verily unalterably, in such vehemence of striving that neither lofty mountain nor small hill hides space.

In upward flights we learn the great gift of patience. Radiant, creative patience does not resemble the murky cloak of non-resistance to evil. Stooped non-resisters sit like unsuccessful fishermen. Their stake of a length of yarn cannot check the dance of the elements. Creative patience holds the key to the New World; therefore, patience creates a power which is intensified with each hour of reality.

Non-resistance is like a long-opened flask of perfume, but creative patience is like old sealed wine.

Watch the intensity of creativeness in each social structure. True is that structure wherein manifold creativeness is given wings. If it becomes burdensome for creativeness, this is a true sign of error in the structure. Do not let these errors build nests. Summon masons, re-lay the walls, until the song will resound again freely.

Once, according to an old legend, there came a messenger from a distant world to give people equality, brotherhood and joy. Long since had people forgotten their songs. They remained in a stupor of hate. The messenger banished darkness and crowdedness, smote infection, and instituted joyful labor. Hatred was stilled, and the sword of the messenger remained on the wall. But all were silent and knew not how to begin singing. Then the messenger assembled the little children, led them into the woods, and said to them: “These are your flowers, your brooks, your trees. No one has followed us. I shall rest—and you fill yourselves with joy.” Thereupon, timidly they ventured into the forest. At last the littlest one came to a meadow and sighted a ray of the sun. Then a yellow oriole sounded its call. The little one followed it, whispering. And soon joyously he sang out, “The sun is ours!” One by one the children gathered upon the meadow, and a new hymn to Light rang out. The messenger said: “Man has again begun to sing. Come is the date!”

163. Creativeness is the basis of evolution. With what then is it possible to strengthen the acts of creative power? Only with cheerfulness. Joy is a special wisdom. Cheerfulness is a special technique. This enhancement of vigor arises out of a conscious realization of the creativeness of elements. Truly, creative patience and cheerfulness are the two wings of the worker.

We do not quite approve the sentimental word inspiration. When the consciousness is at work it does not go calling on inspiration like a basement lodger visiting his benefactor to ask favors. Then the division into week days and holidays is resumed, and again one will begin to celebrate birthdays. Our Community has but one ceaseless holiday of labor, in which cheerfulness serves as a wine of joy.

It is impossible to be satisfied with inspiration only. One may succeed in arresting the consciousness upon a step of creative patience and to sing like the birds, for whom song is an expression of being, but one has to remove scarecrows set against the song. The quality of the song is equal to the quality of the labor. It is necessary to proceed briskly, as in the ancient simile of the arrow in flight.

Does it not seem strange that I speak so often about patience, about obstacles, about vigor, about the endlessness of struggle? Precisely, at different times and on different sides do I forge the armor of fearlessness. Remember, this tempering cannot be completed in a single hour. In different temperatures is the sword tempered; even Buddha affirmed that at the happiest hour one should recall the misfortunes, but without diminishing joy.

But tempered joy knows no fears. Joy is a special wisdom.

164. The physician foresees the trend of the disease and you take the prescribed measures. The astronomer foresees the solar eclipse and you provide yourselves with the necessary dark glass. The social psychologist foresees the trend of events and you, crying “Prophet!” in terror hide yourselves in the darkest corners. You do this ostensibly in preservation of scientific methods, but in reality hypocrisy and fear prevent you from deliberating as to where is the greater actual knowledge—in the short-sighted opinion of the physician who judges only by external touching or in the far-sighted marksmanship of the social prophet in whom experience is coupled with immutability. Remember your social prophets who hundreds of years in advance indicated coming events to humanity. You call them neither mystics nor hypocrites. Together with Us you call them far-sighted psychologists. In this definition We shall agree with you, and pause. Besides, remember that the censured word prophet means “one who prognosticates.” Social prophets have foretold the trend of events, which means that this concept is no less real than medicine and astronomy.

Mahatma denotes a great soul which encompasses the manifestations of the New World. But let us not be intrusive; this peculiarity is censured in the community. Agreement is attained not by jostlings but by a whisper in a sensitive ear. Manifest the understanding that there is a sensitive ear for which Infinity is transformed into the limits of human possibilities. He is right who can completely cover the judgments of his adversary without touching upon the beginning or end. For this one has to be—if only in small measure—a prophet, or rather a truly far-sighted one.

165. During the organization of the communities, see that under a mask of fulfillment of the rules cupidity be not concealed. Destruction of creative conquests follows sinister cupidity. It may be said that this worm is far too firmly nested in man’s ignorance. The more necessary, then, to know the cause of its germination. The most harmful cause will be in permitting privilege. With all strength it is necessary to destroy this evil ghost. The organization of the community first of all foresees equality. Admit any form of inequality and at once you come up against the perniciousness of privilege. The fact of inequality creates a seesaw—the greater rise of one creates a still greater rise of another. The only way to avoid an unsettling of the pillars is by maintaining equality.

Cynics may be found who will say, “Let them sway freely, the more energy will there be in space.” The remark is not devoid of sense, but indeed the common work is so much in need of solicitude that a true economy of forces must be adopted. The most economical principle is equality, which destroys privilege and cupidity.

166. The true fire-blossom is actual selflessness; however, it must not only be evident in actions but must live in the consciousness. Behavior, like wandering shadows, is an inaccurate reflection, and the vortex of shifting conventions conceals the meaning of action. Is it possible to judge conduct without knowing cause and effect? Then a savior will appear to be an offender, and a giver will seem a miser. But it is not easy to establish in the consciousness selflessness—individuality is unavoidable. And the blending in of selflessness can take place only with a clear realization of the future. Selflessness is not built on past experience; only a true perception of the future can mold an inner judgment about the boundaries of the possible. Whoever thinks in the stillness of the night that the past has taught him the value of selflessness is a prisoner.

One should sing a hymn to selflessness in the rays of the sun, as a bird does, in its own way of expression, knowing the future day on which it has been decided that the migration is to start. The concept of migration has significance for the realization of selflessness.

The future may be understood as the turn from night to day. The slumberers will sleep through it, but the Community stays on watch. Our Guard does not regard a single patrol as insignificant.

167. It has been said often—“Rest can be found not in sleep but in change of labor.” True, some may discontinue sleeping and obtain poor results. As a preliminary it is necessary to teach the nerve centers to work in groups. One must disconnect the work of the centers. One must learn to unite the most unexpected groups and then quickly change their combinations. Thus, a street musician playing several instruments simultaneously performs one of the useful exercises. Dictating to several copyists at the same time is useful. A combination of reading and dictating is useful. Contrasting movement of the arms is useful. Stoppage of breathing and thinking is useful. One can enumerate a great number of exercises of the will about which it would be fitting to say, “Bees create their hives with patience.”

168. Express your wishes cautiously. Every one knows many parables and fairy tales which describe the ugly consequences of careless wishes. Remember about the rajah who wished to receive a beautiful palace, and did receive it, but who, on entering it, thought about an attacking tiger, which then appeared and tore him to pieces. Under the symbols of allegories there is much reality. If people would realize the power of the will, many manifestations would receive a practical explanation. Indeed, not a forcible tension of the will but the dynamic quality of concordance of the centers produces the effect of fulfillment. Hence, an oft-repeated desire, like a blunt blade, does not cleave space. Whereas, the ringing of unexpected concordance breaks the densest surface.

Tales about sorcerers sending deadly diseases are not fictions, but there is no sorcery in them—merely exercise of the will. The weakest hypnotist can compel one to experience the effect of drowning. He can even order one to die on a definite date. Such cases have been recorded.

Now, imagine the will brought up in favorable conditions and you will readily agree that the “deadly eye” of the East has a basis.

One can have no doubt in the potency of the will, but it is another matter to determine its power in life. How to find and discern the conditions under which a desire can pierce the being identified by our will? It is particularly necessary to watch the sparks of our consciousness. Even when a body is almost invisible the lightning of thought nevertheless flashes, and on the point of this lightning is life and death.

There was a certain ruler who said to some criminals: “You cannot live more than a day,” and at night they were found lifeless. The responsibility for such sendings is great. And each hour we send arrows in all directions.

Be careful in expressing wishes.

169. During treatment of illnesses through a command of the will, remember that one must not try to overcome infectious diseases by suggestion. A common error is the lack of knowledge of how to discern the circle of possible effect. Furthermore, the treatment of infectious diseases by suggestion may work irreparable harm. It is better not to touch a dog guarding the gateway; if one begins to whip it, its rage will increase tenfold. Likewise with microbes, they can be vanquished by rays or by the counteraction of the forces of the organism, but the whip of the will forces many centers to droop, and the fire will engulf new domains. Rays undercut the roots of the infection, but the will leads it to new activity.

Indeed, it is difficult to diagnose a disease in its embryonic state; only examination of the secretions and a picture of the radiations will give determinative results. If the secretions can sometimes lead into error about the true cause, then the hieroglyphics of radiation will reveal the basis of the disease. Each peculiarity of the action of the organism gives a color and sign on the graph. Observations can be carried on in every hospital.

170. We have spoken about conditions and about distinctions. Naturally, the question arises—what is usual and what unusual? We regard everything as being usual. In the conception of a man of small consciousness a great deal is unusual. The usual and the unusual are divided only according to the degree of consciousness. It is truer to say—absorbed and unabsorbed, realized and unrealized. With Us the unusual is understood differently. Each type of consciousness has its usual grouping of the centers, just as you distinguish types of thinking as mathematical or philosophical. From these circles of consciousness often stands out a grouping of centers not native to any of them. These branchings of consciousness are truly unusual; indeed, they give their possessor many possibilities but little earthly happiness. And rarely can the possessor himself point out the symptoms of these branchings of the consciousness. This unusual feature is drowned in the routine of the consciousness. Even an experienced psychologist will find with difficulty these unexpected blossoms.

While diseases are clearly reflected upon the radiation, the unusual branchings of the consciousness are formulated with difficulty. True, radiations give the complete picture of a man, but everything psychically unrealized gives a wavering outline, difficult to fix. Here is the domain of the unusual for a certain group of consciousness, and such blossoms among stones are particularly precious.

Reflect upon psychosis, reflect upon criminality, reflect upon unbalancedness!

171. To some it may seem that much of what has been said here is widely known. It is necessary to affirm concepts of different order; only thus occurs assimilation in the consciousness. One may picture two conversationalists of approximately the same development who yet do not understand each other. Perhaps between their consciousnesses only a few small links are missing, yet this small difference forces the cog-wheels of thinking to turn differently, with the result that altogether different levers are set in motion. But talking a matter over in the fullest will not harm anyone. After all, We are pronouncing no revelation, nor are We preaching. We simply are arriving at the conditions under which the consciousness can assimilate united labor. In this way, into the field of vision enter various details already pondered upon by someone but which for strengthening the chain must be affirmed in their state as of this moment!

Indeed, it is necessary to cleanse the chain of thinking. One should summon all solicitude for the successful progress of cooperation. True, in the communal consciousness there is no offense, but by untimely formulations of thought it is possible to inflame one’s companion so as to bring harm to the work; therefore, We watch over the gradual growth of consciousness. It is not Our task simply to inflate the dimensions of consciousness. Only organic development and diversity of intake determines the actual capacity of the treasury.

While sitting on the bank of the brook, picture to yourself and remember Our discourses. Not one of its waves can be repeated, yet to the eye they all appear alike.

Preserve the consonance of cooperation.

172. Someone may have doubts as to how to reconcile the assimilation of consciousness with the exchange of thoughts known as a dispute. Is a dispute necessary? Will not a dispute be a manifestation of dissimilarity? With Us a dispute does not exist as such; it is expressed in a mutual enrichment of consciousnesses. Precisely, a lengthy assimilation permits transformation of contradiction into an enrichment of the store of knowledge. Contradictions are usually only different aspects of one and the same manifestation. True, when contradictions issue from ignorance, then the dispute turns into a pit of rubbish.

Let the consciousness illumine the cellar of thinking, and ludicrous disputes will turn into rational discussions, of advantage and of joy.

173. It is noted that certain people, as it were, carry success with them. Superstition calls them lucky. Science attributes their success to strength of will. We shall add that usually these people have an assimilated consciousness. They become representatives of the collective, consequently drawing in a force intensified by many participants, who at that time do not even suspect the outflow of energy. It is not at all required that the whole collective know each other. Through the nodes of transmission a wave of energy is transmitted instantaneously; therefore the presence of the international collective is much needed for actions. Hence, a wave of internationalism is needed, because the diversity of dynamics will then produce greater tension.

In Our Community one finds many nationalities and diverse specialties; this is practical for the condensation of the waves of the will. It is possible to preserve the whole potential of individuality and to attune the consciousnesses harmoniously. We are opposed to exclusive specialization; in the best construction of a collective this condition finds its place.

Not long ago you conversed about the significance of rays in wireless transmission. Rays do contribute to the unifying of the collective over far distances. Indeed, these rays, which until recently were denied, actually are weaving a new cover for the planet. The rays have a preeminence over other waves in that they pass through more readily, without disturbing the gravity and the atmosphere. Sound, indeed, attracted the earlier attention of humanity. Light and color have not attracted as much study, but, as the sound is only a reaction of light, the enhanced cognition will be directed toward the significance of light and highest energy—luminous matter. Materia Lucida has attracted all the best minds, and even if they did not find its conscious application, yet they have considered recognition of its significance inevitable in the forthcoming evolution.

Rays and light waves carry the solution of the next evolution.

174. Exteriorization of sensitivity has long been known. It has been attained either mechanically or by order of the will, and has served as a most sound reason for burning at the stake. Even now contemporary inquisitors, trying to discover a tail of necromancy, drive the bold search underground.

Great minds have solicitously sensed the achievements of knowledge. A community member must be open to all new possibilities.

If the principle of a manifestation has been found, its dimensions depend upon technique. Thus, transference of sensitivity can take on the most diverse dimensions. Let us say—in a certain location there must be founded a new community. The place may have all the necessary signs, but surrounding conditions may temporarily constitute a grave danger. Then let us take a new location and transfer to it the possibilities of the first. In our consciousness we have not broken away from the possibilities of the first place, and we experience the effect of the first decision in laying the foundations for the future structure. Whether something is to be on the fiftieth parallel or twenty degrees farther south, it is essential to preserve the enlightenment of constructiveness.

The tale about an invisible city with the ringing of bells recalls the man who was not aware of an important sensation, as a result of a transfer of sensitiveness. Perhaps My example is not yet clear to you, but the principle of transference of sensitivity can be amplified to include entire nations. Through this principle many dangers may be avoided. If it be admitted that the human organism is a most powerful psychic instrument, then it is impossible to attribute the same power to the physical apparatus. The physical apparatus is subservient to that higher energy which we call psychic construction. This energy may be compared qualitatively with light alone.

We have just spoken about the power of rays and about their new application; it is impossible to neglect the possibilities of the human organism. How can we study the far-off worlds if we pay no attention to our own functions? With difficulty do you discover rays, but do you study their action upon the brain and other centers?

175. You know of many experiments in thought-reading. Western people, being told about it, have no idea how inherent to the East is this psychological quality. In their ignorance they even call it superstition. Whereas, if thought is an organic creation, then it can be laid open. Even meagre physical apparatuses can catch the tension of thought. Even the thermometer and electrical apparatuses react to the rising of thought. Thought even changes the temperature of the body. To such an extent does the psychic apparatus dominate the physical that it is even correct to identify the psychic apparatus as a part of the physical. There exists an apparatus which writes down the flow of thoughts; this flow also is reflected in a radiation and may be detailed by the comparative method. This system is pleasing to Western thinking.

There are few attempts to connect mechanics with the psychic. Whereas, you know how a scientific attitude toward the psychic alleviates and transforms all existence. I have said that the community is impossible without technics; in this concept is included both physical and psychic technics, as otherwise the community members will begin to resemble mechanical toys.

I reiterate that attention to the possibilities of the psychic apparatus is undeferable.

176. Psycho-mechanics will be a true determinant of the application of psychic energy. One may observe interesting experiments in connection with factory work. Each experienced workman knows that machines require rest. It is difficult to explain more in detail this fact, but it is well known even to those who have no conception of psycho-mechanics.

We used to perform experiments in textile factories, where there were hundreds of looms and up to a hundred more or less experienced workmen. The looms, irrespective of the experience of the operator, demanded rest beyond the apportioned period. By submitting the operators to a psychic test, it was clearly perceived that in the hands of those possessing psychic energy the looms were less in need of rest, as if a living current were communicated to the loom and prolonged its vitality. This living coordination between worker and machine must be applied in the communities of labor. It is possible to attain this advantageous condition only through study of psycho-mechanics.

It is the task of the government to bring into life the most productive conditions, by taking necessary measures and by directing scientists to facilitate the life of the collective up to the point of anonymity.

We know that sometimes the symbol of an individual personality is important for nations, but, for all that, anonymity remains the ideal of true evolution. This is one of the conditions of realization of the brevity of earthly existence, and it is the best way to successful cooperation. The antipode of anonymity will be the self-delineations of ancient kings unknown at present to anyone. These inscriptions evoke nothing but a smile, and most often have nothing to do with the intention in behalf of the Common Good. To avoid such an antipode, the community will indeed strive for anonymity. But without psycho-mechanics such anonymity will be ugly. Only he can become anonymous who has established his own place among manifestations and objects. He can give up his “I” who has become conscious of space. Thus can the communities approach indestructibility.

We do not value communal moths. Do not forget that drunkenness is the enemy of psycho-mechanics. Do not think that psycho-mechanics is only for chosen ones; it is the property of a prudent collective and is tested upon all daily manifestations.

177. Is it possible to acquire psycho-technics without a Teacher? It is impossible. This technic is accompanied by dangerous processes. Do you send your children into a physical laboratory without a guide?

How to find the Teacher? Let us not forget that the laws of the will possess the property of attracting the attention of whomsoever the call concerns. One’s Teacher is not necessarily discovered in a neighbor’s house; it is possible to guide at a distance. But moments occur when an experienced forewarning is unavoidable.

A series of psychic manifestations is closely connected with atmospheric and astrochemical events. There exist invisible but perceptibly deadly magnetic storms; the physical guide will give useful advice on how to avoid the danger contained in each metal. There are psychic storms in which the hand of the Teacher becomes indispensable.

You know that physical manifestations react on large groups of people. This cannot be called insanity, but is a particular manifestation of collective unity. One may visualize the influence of subterranean gases and of the dust of atmospheric bodies. Some paralyze psychic actions, but on the other hand there are such exciters that the Pilot must take urgent measures. Speaking about the possibilities of psycho-technics, We have no intention of destroying anyone’s apparatuses. We, as Members of the Community, pursue the task of true economy, and each psychic apparatus must be safeguarded. Carefulness is the more needed because often the potential of psychic energy does not coincide with intellect, and it is necessary to determine the quality of psychic possibility. Forcing psychic energy into a direction foreign to it will be a most dangerous aspect of compulsion.

Precipitations of luminous matter and astrochemical rays communicate to psychic energy an unusual sensitivity and saturate it periodically with rays. Indeed, the quality of the consciousness will provide the determining factor, therefore let us treat psychic energy with solicitude.

178. Let us recall the qualities absolutely inadmissible in the community; ignorance, fear, falsehood, hypocrisy, cupidity, usurpation, drunkenness, smoking, and obscenity. Someone may say, “Do you wish to collect angels?” We then shall ask, “Are all those on earth liars or drunkards? We know many who are courageous and sincere.” Again they will say, “The requirements are too high.” We shall reply, “Can it be that you have only foul-talkers and self-seekers? All these requirements are frightening only for the lowest citizen, who hides his wealth under his threshold. In the Himalayas, We have long ago found people to whom the above stipulations are no bugbear.”

I advise to observe the community members. If someone cannot contain all the conditions, let him be deprived of all possibilities of cooperation. Let him act as a beast until he feels drawn toward humankind.

As long as the consciousness has not accepted the community, the smallest thing seems insurmountable. It is possible to renounce every weakness if the task of the future is clear. Think about being annexed to the future and fear of the present will dissolve. Do not take what has been said as a pompous phrase, but, masons, square up your stony hearts. After the heart the brain petrifies.

Can one doubt that you would want to conquer your defects? For a beginning, do not lie, be not afraid, and learn each day. It is not necessary to repeat this to community members, but there can be pseudo-members, and these must be isolated as if infected with syphilis.

I wish that My counsels might reach the schools. I wish that children might remember the Friends who have dedicated themselves to the Community of the World.

179. Let us imagine that you see a man doing harm who yet has a spark of psychic energy. You naturally will begin to speak to him about the better qualities of man, who is in the process of evolving. Your interlocutor, as it usually happens, will immediately agree with you without thinking it refers to himself. It would be of no avail to tell him that he is acting wrongly, but it is possible to say that his action does not follow the trend of evolution. It is not a matter of bad or good, it is only that his conduct is not goalfitting, and therefore not practical. If your companion pretends to be a community member, the conversation becomes simpler. For then, as adherents of the community you may demand the guarding of the foundations of evolution. Even for breeding pigs there are required definite conditions of life. How then can a man who decides on achieving the social life remain in his former vulgar haunts? How can falsehood or cowardice live under the mask of cooperation?

Least of all does verbal affirmation interest Us. The significance for Us lies in the state of consciousness and action. As physicians observe the inner sensations and the fluctuations of the patient’s condition, and pay no attention to his whims, so do We pay no attention to verbal assurances but weigh the quality of action. Ancient methods of testing are used by Us. The testing is of long duration and unexpected. Do you remember the exercises of Buddha with his disciples relating to unexpectedness?

Could unexpectedness test fear or falsehood? Precisely, unexpectedness. Necessity will not be the deciding factor. A thief before a judge seems a model of honesty. Look at him not before the judge but in the darkness of an alley. Do not reject testings, for the solution of life’s achievement must be tested by the fire, as steel. Those who trust words are either inexperienced or are not steadfast. Experiment can pass into immutability only through unalterable striving.

Do you know how to strive?

180. Whether I am hurrying on or motionless, still I am striving. Whether I am learning or giving out knowledge, still I am striving. Whether alone or in a crowd, still I am striving.

How to intensify striving? Where are its roots and conditions? About quality of labor and action you have already heard. These are the conditions: full overburdening and the realization of the insecurity of life. Overburdening sets the body in the direction of tension. Realization of the danger of each hour of life will provide sensitivity and the knowledge of irrevocability.

If a mote in the eye turns into a beam, then a feather from the wing of a bird in the space produces thunder in the far-off worlds. How then to explain, to occidental minds, the sensitiveness of the cosmic apparatus? How to explain that forced explosions are more ruinous than the destruction of a heavenly body, for the destruction of a heavenly body takes place in conformity with all the surrounding conditions. You yourselves do not place a factory over a dangerous cavern, but select a better place—and We also speak about the best conditions.

It is possible to create a symphony of explosions, and it is possible to create harmonies of machines. Even those with defective hearing notice that sometimes they hear a low voice better than an outcry—it means that the quality is important, not tension alone. Indeed, the quality of each action imposes a deep responsibility and is full of the danger of irreparable harm.

One should become used to the brink of the abyss, in full consciousness of the surrounding depths, and one should not be afraid to act under overburdening. Thus, experienced coolies carry their burdens up the mountain with songs. This song, washed with toil, will not disturb space.

We have been in your theaters and We see little need for them. Song, color and sound must not be shut up in artificial hot-houses. These values must accompany life, anonymously surrounding people with the caress of beauty.

The great artist Asvaghosha preferred the bazaar and the public square, in order to find the way to the people’s heart. Beauty teaches aspiration.

You know and understand the lofty concept Avatar, but in order to attain it, it is needful to become Avakara—the fierily inspired.

181. True, true, true—precision in time must be observed. Let us look at it not only from the standpoint of integrity of principle but also from that of practicality. He who sets a definite date sends out a spatial command; the one who agrees to this date closes the current. A stream of energy of the will fixes, as it were, an astral form of the decision. To this bridge approach boat-loads of possibilities, strengthening and supplementing the original proposition. It is easy to imagine what happens if one side of the bridge disappears. Spatial dates are far more precise than the mechanism of your clocks; splendid possibilities may crumble away like sand and, being not repeatable, disappear.

Reflect on what a problem it would be for statistics to compare the success of opportune decision with the failure of tardiness. Obviously, instructive results would be obtained, and the ignorance of tardiness would be regretted. True, very many people live like pigs, devouring precious blossoms. One cannot but protect space against their thoughtless ignorance. If they could catch a glimpse into space, disfigured by them, they would themselves say: “Prohibit this defilement!”

Guard the purity of space. Be responsible for co-measurement. You must not set fire to alien currents! So many beautiful “sacred vessels” have been lost because of carelessness! And you yourselves will shake space with lamentations when it will be already irreparable. Whereas, there was an hour when a single gesture would have preserved for you the needed and wished for.

Teach every child to understand the significance of dates. Otherwise, one more generation of flabby and spineless ones will devour each other.

In the community exactitude of dates is established as a fundamental.

182. True, true, true—people must settle themselves in tested localities. Even a bear shows greater care in selecting his den. Plants will indicate the better possibilities. Look for cedars and pines, heather and oak, grass and flowers of vivid color. Natural electrification in a locality is necessary. Large, long needles of evergreen are the best condensers of electricity. Heights above eleven thousand feet, devoid of vegetation, provide useful prana.

183. What more nearly compares with Our Community—a choir of psalm-singers or an armed camp? Rather the second. One can imagine how it must conform to the rules of military organization and leadership. Is it possible to establish the paths of advancement of the Community without repulse and attack? Is it possible to take a fortress by assault without knowing its situation? The conditions of defense and attack must be weighed. Needed is experienced knowledge and keen vigilance. They are wrong who consider the Community a house of prayer. They are wrong who call the Community a workshop. They are wrong who regard the Community as an exclusive laboratory. The Community is a hundred-eyed guard. The Community is the hurricane of the messenger. The Community is the banner of the conqueror. In the hour when the banner is furled, the enemy already undermines the foundation of the towers. Where, then, is your laboratory? Where is your labor and toil? Verily, one patrol left out opens ten gates. Only vigilance will provide the rampart for the Community.

Victory is only an obligation. Strengthening of forces is only a manifestation of a new vortex. Realization of power is only a test. Challenge is only light-mindedness. As an ocean wave does the Community advance. As the thunder of an earthquake resounds the Teaching of immutability.

Before the rising of the Sun let us proceed in ceaseless vigil.

184. Often community members ask whence come the assaults of anguish which they sometimes experience. One must know that without these spasms of anguish no progress is possible. After crossing over a precipice you feel a weakening of the leg muscles. During the expansion of consciousness you cross over many invisible precipices. Nodal growths of the consciousness result in leaps, and psychic spasms contract the nerve centers. One should not be afraid of these spasms, a brief rest will right these contractions. Growth of the consciousness is more difficult to trace than the growth of a hair. The consciousness conquers and eradicates. The burning of crossed bridges does not reveal the progressive sign-posts, but it leaves open the one possibility of assault. It is valuable not only to strive forward but also to destroy the rubbish behind one. Just now you perceive how the majority of people could have advanced, but they cling to age-old rubbish. Guard both My signs—the sign of Service and the sign of Community. One is breaking away from the old, the other is evolution.

One may discover aspiration—do not close the door!

When you are writing books, see that each one is complementary and independent of the others. So too in action, see that each member individually can express the whole group.

185. What to consider a manifestation of work is a difficult question. We know that the answer is in the quality, and not in volume and quantity. But new people often do not see the quality, and for them the sign of external volume overshadows the substance. Because of light-mindedness they are occupied with blowing bubbles, and then take the rainbow of decomposition for the light of illumination. Even sufficiently experienced minds are busying themselves with mechanical calculations instead of confronting the substance. How to tell them that only quality will illumine and affirm them? Distinguish great works from corpses.

186. Every community is in need of defensive resources. We are not conquerors by force, but nevertheless We keep an account of Our enemies, and We are not deceived about their numbers. Rays, gases, and aerial out-posts will be the best external measures, but the most effective resources will be in the products of psychic energy. By no means do We intend to present a spectacle of defenseless sheep! Real knowledge is ever ready to reply! We are not interested in frightening anyone, but We must issue the warning: “Beware, ignorant one!” Now is the time to whisper to all those who are united in community, “Be conscious of your psychic commands.” There are and will be instances when in full consciousness you can take upon yourselves the responsibility for a decisive order. But intensify at that time all keen-sightedness, in order to perceive clearly the circumference of your target. A most ugly consequence will issue from a mis-directed order. On the way the most unexpected manifestations may be touched, and who can control the consequences of an ill-sped arrow? Long ago did I say to the enemy, “I will receive into My shield all thy arrows, but I shall send thee only one.” In these words is Our entire Advice.

It is necessary for each community member to know the technique of battle, and particularly it is important to distinguish pseudo-members and to expel them beyond the wall. No length of beard, no counting of chains, no lameness, no assurances, no casual signs are of value as testimony. Only full consciousness, clear in its daily vigilance, sincere in sleep, can present the countenance of true longing. Often sleep is more sincere than wakefulness. Each sincerity has the right to be armed. And an unalterable command both engenders and smites.

187. How is it possible to feel oneself protected to the utmost? Only by establishing the closest bond with the Teacher. Only in active cooperation and in reverence is concealed the best possibility of passing through the dangerous spheres. The bond with the Teacher is a living penetration into the future.

There are earthly ancestors and cosmic ancestors; sometimes these concepts coincide, but because of imperfection they are often separated. Thus, there is a chain of earthly ancestors and also a rainbow of cosmic ancestors. It is not difficult to discern which manifestation will be the path of evolution.

Indeed, each Teacher has His own Guide, and the evaluation of thought ascends into the far-off worlds. Reverence of the Teacher and the constructiveness of striving to the far-off worlds are as a rainbow unified by the essence of light.

Learn to understand how lofty is the concept of the Teacher. Draw this line from horizon to horizon, from arrival to departure. Know how the Teaching of Light has been revealed to you, and remember the silvery thread of the bond. The bond with the Teacher is light as the eagle’s wing, and the eagle’s eye looks ahead. What else could you prefer, if your consciousness has been opened? The building of the community can help in gathering thoughts. Of course, not caravan donkeys but eagles have been indicated in the comparison.

The hand of the Teacher summons to the threshold of the community. And from the mountain We see where the wheel of necessity is flying.

188. He has been called a victim of misfortune who entered the community out of desperation. Suffering complete failure, a man has offered up his misfortune, and the wage of failure has been unhappiness. But indeed, he who brings forth failure regards himself as the greatest depositor: he has sacrificed, he also has renounced, he too has chosen, and he is waiting and presenting a bill.

We prefer the sacrifice of success. He who has much to renounce expects payment least of all. Thus, lay out the community following the land-marks of sacrifices.

189. The fisherman returns joyfully with his prize catch. Mankind was not made for misfortunes. Man is this same joyous fisherman with a multiform catch. True, the catch is different, but the joy is the same and inalienable—the joy of thought about the future. Neither fish nor birds nor animals know of the future. But man definitely knows the unavoidableness of a future. In this call of space is contained immense joy. He who is afraid of the future is still in an animal state, and the world feast is not yet for him.

To learn to enhance and to uplift thought about the future means to occupy a place in it which will grow together with the consciousness. He who does not await external aid knows the value of his own hammer. Whoever knows the path into the future can carry his catch without fear. Whereas, a part of humanity does not even see the thread into the future. Broken loose and swept about like autumn leaves, they raise the dust from alien bazaars. A cloud of dust will veil the gates of the community, and dusty thinking will turn all into rubbish.

When it is dark and threatening, then keep the consciousness upon the future. We call the future a flying carpet. Teach children to fly high. Replace the legend about the ark with one about the air-ship.

190. One may ask how to know a newcomer. Indeed not by words. Better take the old method of the East—by the eyes, the gait, and the voice. Eyes cannot deceive, and, though gait and voice can indeed conceal the truth through a particular skill, the combination of all three is unmistakable.

Can people naively think that they are able to conceal falsehood merely by arrogant words? Words are not worth a nod of the head. Flight reveals the species of birds. The bird of prey reveals itself from afar. The cry of the eagle does not resemble the nightingale’s song.

What then to do, when some people insist that all Hindus look alike—that it is impossible to distinguish Chinese, Mongols, and Arabs, one from another! Is it possible to trust these people to distinguish the differences in eyes and walk? For them all people walk on two legs and all stare.

Lack of analysis can offend the most patient guide. Many cannot even determine the occupation of a person by peculiarities of his dwelling. The lack of observation is striking. People are unable to notice objects which threaten the crowns of their heads. They cannot enumerate ten objects about them. They cannot point out the simplest details of their surroundings. For them everything is nothing—nil, naught and nowhere. This is not even a degree of indifference, but is the stupidity of ignorance. Walk away from such bipeds!

One should develop observation in children from the earliest days. Indeed, the consciousness of children is alive from the first hour, but not for those to whom all Hindus look alike.

Power of observation, or rather keen-sightedness, is the beginning of the eagle eye, about which you have long known. To hear about keen-sightedness for some already means to foresee, and to foresee means to perceive the path of the world toward community.

191. Analysis, diagnosis, control, cooperation, prognosis, appear to be favorite subjects in the West. We also pronounce these terms. One might wonder wherein is the distinction. The distinction is great: for the West these themes constitute table-talk and, at best, stipulations which are observed by no one. In Our Community these terms are not uttered but are applied hourly in life.

Can the above-mentioned concepts be applied in city life? Just now We were speaking about the absence of observation power, without which diagnosis is impossible. We spoke about lack of patience, and this means analysis is impossible. Lack of courageous steadfastness excludes control. Falsehood and hypocrisy will not admit cooperation. Fear will becloud any prognosis. There remains to set the longest tables and to repeat in chorus half-understood words.

Better to leave to corrupt cities this privilege of apishness; quite opportunely have these townsfolk begun to graft on themselves monkey glands. Indeed, each one receives according to his merit. No one has told them about a more goalfitting means of restoring strength, which is to place the patient in a lengthy bath and subject him to an alternating current and a certain composition of mineral water, the treatment being accompanied by definite suggestion. Rational means will be disclosed when the community will take on a conscious character, and nothing will be borrowed from the monkeys.

When the banner of the community is unfurled as a realization of necessity, then life will become winged in each day’s action. As long as it is thought that the community is an experiment, so long will the community be found in the alchemist’s jar. Only a firm realization of historic necessity will bring the community into life.

Think, ponder sternly on the immutability of the community. The best joy emanates from austerity.

192. The development of the power of observation will permit due attention to surrounding conditions. Anyone will understand that if the walls of your room were covered with an arsenic substance, or with a preparation of sulphur, or of resin, or mercury, or musk, then such coverings would have an influence on the condition of the organism—this is a crude example. But now ask your biochemists and technologists what influence the material of dwellings has on the physical and psychic foundation. What is the difference between a house of brick and one of basalt, or between one of granite and one of marble, between an iron and a wooden one, between an oak and a pine one? To what kinds of organisms is an iron bed suitable and to what kinds a wooden one? Who needs a woolen carpet and who a wooden floor? About many conditions technology will be as uninformed as was the cave age. And yet, who would not agree that wood and minerals have an important medicinal significance? It means that essential analysis is at a standstill in the absence of observation. Investigation has gone along a channel of usualness, and for overzealous investigators somewhere a bonfire is already prepared. You may be sure that the spirit of the inquisition is still not very far away; the difference will be in the garb and in the means of eradicating new quests.

193. The Teacher Milarepa often conversed with animals. Near his retreat bees nested, ants built cities, parrots flew about, and a monkey was accustomed to perch himself in imitation of the Teacher. The Teacher said to the ants: “Tillers and builders, no one knows of you, yet you raise up lofty communities.” He said to the bees: “You gather the honey of knowledge and of the best forms, let no one interrupt your sweet labor.” He remarked to a parrot: “By your screeching I see that you are preparing yourself to be a judge or a preacher.” And he admonished the mischievous monkey: “You have destroyed the ants’ structure and have stolen another’s honey. Perhaps you have decided to become a usurper.”

Who, if not the usurper, appropriates another’s labor and casually wrecks structures under the heel? Many centuries have passed since the time of the Teacher Milarepa, but usurpers, with the psychology of monkeys, live as before. In the basis of such vegetative state lies a frightful irresponsibility. What then lies in the basis of irresponsibility? Precisely the very same ignorance and fear of the future. No punishment, no restriction will make amends for ignorance.

Large and small usurpers, it is needful for you to learn to recognize the curative power of the honey and of the ant’s sweat. It would seem that this thought is old enough, yet certain joints of the human consciousness have become so rusty that scores of centuries could not turn them.

Over dessert you will talk about prognosis, but the stars seen through the window will attract less attention than a moth near the candle.

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.

194. Visiting your countries, I noticed that the word control is much feared there. Whereas, this concept is quite readily acceptable to Us. The hand which knows its work is not afraid to share it with a friend. This means that good-will and knowledge are needed, and it can easily be perceived that then psycho-mechanics could exercise control over any concealed action. Already it is possible to see through walls, already it is possible to record all sounds and thoughts. For concealment an unusual courage of consciousness is needed, and it is impossible to attain it without lengthy preparation. The attainment of equilibrium of conditions is possible only through raising the quality of labor. Then each one can apply self-control. Then each one can ask any outside controller to show personally what is better. The voluntary controller must himself know how to work more thoroughly. Therefore, it has been established with Us that every criticism must be based on better knowledge. This experience creates a convincingness which is spread far and wide.

You yourselves know what missions mean. Authenticity creates power, authenticity does not fear. Following authenticity one may be assured as to timeliness of decision and amplitude of means.

Poor is the leader who puts into practice a plan only for a day or for a night. One cannot proceed with confidence thinking about the mediocrity of the leader. Security may be verified, for the Community does not fear control. The needed solution comes not by falling into darkness but in the smile of expectation, regardless of appearance.

In knowledge is the end of fear.

195. Write down about psychic infection. It is an old theme, yet up to now unapplied in life. As before, people fear physical infection even to excess, forgetting the main channel of all infections. Is it possible to keep on killing, cursing and raging without spatial stratifications resulting? All is precipitated solidly and heavily, creating above the site of an event a shroud similar to harmful gases. Can it be expected that the poisonous radiations of malignant energy will be dispersed? On the contrary, they will become condensed and will affect the prana. Never settle on bloody places.

New works must be on a new place.

196. Manifestations must be accepted in full reality. For materialists this condition is especially obligatory. But indeed, materialists more than others tint various manifestations with their own color, thus impeding the evolutionary process. We, as experienced Builders-realists, can see the harm of intolerance, based on the coarsest ignorance. Where then is reality when thinking is constrained? Instead of a thousand formulas only five are known! Affirmation becomes distortion if beforehand a stereotype of conventionalities has been forged. The smile of knowledge breaks open the flood-gate of deliberate obstruction. The builder cannot have fantasies about the ground under the building. Such an attitude is criminal, since the material point of view gives unlimited lawful possibilities.

Fetishism by its very nature is limited. But precisely matter manifests victory through understanding of freedom. Realists must be free, as otherwise the light of realism sinks into the darkness of fetishism. Penetration into the nature of spirit-matter as the radiant crown of humanity creates the jewel of life.

Hasten to discard worn-out things!

197. It will be asked, “What care are you taking of the established communities?” Let us consider the most recent. What can be said on its anniversary? No one has fallen back, yet the general results are weak. Cooperation by leaps and bounds hinders understanding of co-measurement. A particle of dust occupies more attention than a rock. Noticeable is conflict about precedence, therefore it is better to select a temporary chairman. The matter of the attraction of new ones is worse. Words about the Teaching are not found, and there is no defense against slander. One may open to those who knock, but the sword of the spirit must be kept always sharp. One may regret the lost coworkers. It is necessary to work more compactly, otherwise you will postpone dates. I would be glad to summon you nearer—provide the opportunity. My Hand is with you in each courageous action.

198. In the recent past, in accordance with the plan of My Friend, We often visited Western cities. At that time We encountered casual individuals who suspected something about Us. The most persistent inquiries were addressed to Us—about the methods of psycho-mechanics and demands for the most precise biochemical formulas. Besides, with the conceitedness of the West, these people were never concerned about their own consciousness and did not attempt to learn whether they possessed the corresponding physical qualities. It is sad to contemplate that this importunity was unaccompanied by any aspirations for social welfare. As the caveman with his club hastened to gather colored sea-shells as his exclusive property, so did these dwellers of stone palaces try to appropriate for themselves qualities foreign to them. Moreover, the caveman adorned himself with the shells, but the contemporary wiseacres degraded knowledge into after-dinner coffee talk—it was a spectacle of shameful lightmindedness.

In accordance with the plan of My Friend, We had enough patience to spend time even on correspondence. But it was impossible to attract anyone to constructive work.

He cares least of all about his consciousness who can place it in a little purse with copper coins. Is it possible to forget about the state of consciousness, when we come in contact with the subtlest energies? Indeed, We do not ignore the methods of Western science, but We place psychic energy as the basis.

After establishing the fact that psychic energy is necessary both for oneself and for experimental processes, We are primarily concerned about the creation of favorable conditions for the accumulation of this energy.

He who wishes to plow must have his plow. He who wishes to attain must understand his weapon. The people of the West have overshadowed their consciousness with the weightiest thoughts, but the joy of knowledge has become something almost indecent. Joy of realization must become the prerogative of the New World.

199. It may be asked: “How is it that in Your Community there is a place set aside for ancient structures and books? Why does not this antiquity have an influence on striving into the future?” There are two reasons: first, the propelled consciousness does not look back; second, structures were created and objects gathered together only for the advancement into the future. The stratification of striving into the future fills the whole existence of the Community. The entire attraction of objects is drowned in the current of aspiration. Pillars of basalt do not evoke past events, but by their stability they affirm their fitness for the future. The books do not carry thought back into the past but bear testimony just for the future. Transference of the whole consciousness into the future can affirm the existence of the Community. I shall not tire of repeating that community must be accepted by the consciousness. No external assurances serve to convince Us. Indispensable is that quality of the consciousness which sleeping or waking speaks the same; for any other solution is inadmissible even in the form of a jest.

The future of humanity, the future of the Cosmos—is there anything more sacred? Yet this exultant sacredness is not in a gilded enclosure but in the arrow of striving, in the point of the rhomb by which the completeness of the square has moved into the future.

Among aeroliths there is one metal which possesses the quality of condensing electrical energy. Possession of this metal gives the possibility of receiving strong splashes of sparks and even a flame. This saturated flame must light up the consciousness, being strengthened and growing brighter. Purchased fireworks of illumination are not needed. Better paucity of number than falsehood in the name of the future of humanity.

200. Community—cooperation—is the sole rational means of human living together. Solitude is the solution of the problem of life outside the community. All intermediate manifestations are different steps of compromise and are doomed to dissolution. People speak about an inherited theocratic power—the very construction is absurd. The words heritability and Theos are incompatible. And who will define the degree Theos? Only consciousness of cooperation—community—affirms the evolution of the biological process.

He who wishes to devote himself to the true community acts in agreement with the fundamentals of Existence.

The conscious community excludes two enemies of society: precisely inequality and heirdom. Any inequality leads to tyranny. Heirdom is a compromise, and it brings in corruption of the foundations. Needed is clarity of construction, a dislike of conventionalities, and faith in children as a symbol of the progress of mankind.

Only from within the community can we think about the future. Let us shift the consciousness to the betterment of all life, and the struggle for existence will be replaced by the conquest of possibilities. Thus think about the community. Improve your consciousness.

201. Even when the consciousness is being notably deepened, there can be difficult hours. It may seem that the bond with the Teacher does not exist, and that the Teacher does not exist, but he who knows says: “Maya, begone! I know my bond with the Teacher.” A great deal may appear in the way of personal ideas apart from the Teaching, and he who knows will say: “Maya, begone! I know the foundations of the Teaching.” It may seem that one is deprived of all coworkers while obliged to try to take up the burden, and he who knows will say: “Maya, begone! I know that true coworkers are scattered over the face of the Earth!”

Maya of all ages knows when to touch the brain. From the depths of former experiences Maya evokes a fine thread of waverings, covers reality with evidence, and sweeps away the furrow of attainments. Multi-colored Maya, it is time to know thee, and to say with full authority: “Maya, begone!”

202. Often the community is accused of doing violence to the freedom of individuality. This charge is applicable to any compromise state but not to the community. In a conscious community there is a place for every labor. Each one may select his task at will, for every labor is sharpened by new attainments. There is not the tedium of mechanical performance, for the worker is at the same time an experimenter. He understands the significance of the problem of introducing perfectionment of work without disturbing the general complex of rhythm.

Let us cite the example of Our Community. Our Friend, the chemist V., wishes to occupy himself with a new analysis of rays—no one prevents him. Our Friend K. wishes to improve the radio by applying new light waves—no one hinders him. Our Sister P. is occupied with the social problem of a neighboring country—no one interferes with her. Our Sister U. is occupied with agriculture and introduces many adaptations—no one hinders her. Sister O. loves medicinal plants and problems of education—no one hampers her. Brother H. has devised a remarkable loom, and also works on the reorganization of communities. Brother M. is occupied with historical researches. Our shoemaker writes remarkable philosophical treatises. Each one decisively finds work to suit Himself and can change it at will. Thus, necessary is both the desire to work and the open consciousness through which each labor becomes attractive. For the labor is performed for the future, and each one carries his best stone. Here and now, before the face of the mountains, We are speaking for the future. And you shall transmit these words to the valley dwellers, and once again they will remember about the possibility of the existence of the Community.

203. You have already heard from reliable travelers how guides refuse to lead them in certain directions. They would rather let themselves be killed than would lead you forward. So it is. The guides have been psychologized by Us. But if a reckless traveler nevertheless goes forward, a mountain landslide begins to rumble before him. If the traveler surmounts this obstacle, then a shower of stones will carry him away, for the unwelcome one shall not attain his destination.

204. Secrecy is a sign of lack of knowledge. At times Our Community is accused of reclusion and of unwillingness to help people. You yourselves know and have seen Us in various places and have seen Our agents.

Our material sendings have not been small. You know that Our letters reach swiftly and Our messengers are not late. Tell this to the young friends.

If a material bond is hardly noticeable, the cause must be sought in the discord of consciousness. If We do not hasten with some manifestation, it means We do not wish to injure anything by prematureness. We never waste a stroke amid lack of will. We never put in a word the meaning of which is not understood. We always abstain from mad expenditure of energy, for through experience We know how precious is an arrow of energy. Have no doubts that beyond the limits of ponderable matter we are submerged in the interaction of the subtlest energies, and the expenditure of a single grain of these precious treasures must be a rational one. For centuries We have been filling Our libraries, and it would be only reasonable to guard them against fire. On certain symbols there are two spirals, and as it is possible to ascend by the one, it is equally possible to descend by the other. Let those remember who do not hesitate to say: “We have already achieved.” But those who suspect Our Community of inaction simply are uninformed.

205. We have no need for well-meaning Nicodemuses who come by night and keep silent by day in the Sanhedrin. Each one must guard the secret entrusted to him, yet he must have ready a word about Us. Firm words can stun the adversaries. Say that it is curious to see one speaking about that which he knows not. If they speak against the hidden treasures, say that even the sea is full of sealed bottles. If they speak against the Community, say that he who reveres Christ, Buddha or Moses does not dare to speak against the Community of Good. The worst thing is to bring false accusation, for in it is falsehood, and slander, and betrayal, and ignorance. Say: “Since the Teacher exists, why not make use of His wise counsels? You do not make use of them for you know not how to receive them. Hasten to become aware of the Mahatmas not in history but in life, and in the meantime keep your ignorance to yourselves.”

206. Indeed, the battle is against the evident. Reality is not the obvious. The evidence presented by outward signs does not represent actuality. The old teachings of positivism replaced authenticity with evidence, and for them there is only one excuse: they had no microscopes nor telescopes—neither downward nor upward. But the inquiring mind is not concerned with the conventional evidence; it wants reality in the setting of cosmic laws. It understands that the pearl is invisible in the depths and that layers of air can conceal a flock of eagles.

Not long ago We spoke about the defense of reality. Remember that it is not the illiterate people who will be furious against reality, but these little literates will violently defend their short-sighted evidence. They will think that the world enclosed within their horizon is the actual one, and that all else remaining invisible to them is a harmful fiction. What lies at the base of this beggarly narrowness? In an altered aspect it is that very same idea of personal ownership. This is my own pigpen and therefore everything outside of it is not necessary and pernicious. This is what is apparent to me and therefore nothing outside of it exists. The well-known fable about the elephant and the seven blind people is sufficient as an example.

Indeed, as We say, the Community battles for reality. You have another kind of ally: those who strive for the truth, for whom evidence is nothing but an unclean glass. If chemical and biological evidence is complicated, then still more complex is the evidence of the planes of structure of life and actions. Without the development of consciousness we shall dwell in a continuous mirage; as in catalepsis, we shall be twisted in frozen terror.

Begone, Maya! We wish and shall know reality!

207. Do not encourage cosmogonic discussions until the consciousness is affirmed. Follow goalfitness of instruction in schools. Provide the hastening ones with opportunity for speediest advancement. If a lively ship must reduce sail in order to even up a formation, will this not be a killing of possibilities? Do you know how the harmony in the ship’s sailing effort has been created? And has it not been constructed for resisting the utmost peril? How to make use of it for conveying frozen vegetables? Always preserve a possibility of responsible advancement. From the first year of school let not slow pace be a handicap for rapid pace. Let the teacher keenly discern those able to proceed swiftly. It is not necessary to praise them, but one should clear the path for them. One should create intermediate courses; the fleet ones can run up these steps. Do not conceal difficulties from them. For a certain type of consciousness every movement leading to achievement is already a light and a joy.

The teacher must also be depended upon to determine quickly the direction of thinking of a pupil, because erroneous equipping is a heavy offense and by it the best workers may be lost. Each inflexible program is a corpse which is intolerable under the sun of knowledge. It is necessary as quickly as possible to stabilize the school by examining the consciousness of the teacher. Create for him a better situation in order to repose in him a responsibility for the consciousness of the community workers.

It will be inexcusable if schools of the future, like those in which recent generations have been maimed, are reminiscent of the stockyards. Fanaticism and forbiddances are replaced by possibilities.

Introduce the study of handicrafts, allow freedom of choice, and demand quality of work. For this every teacher must understand the meaning of quality.

208. It is desirable to widely gather young coworkers. The Teacher would prefer to see an intense searching rather than petty gossip. Darkness lies over those who are afraid; real harm is less noticeable to them than one new hair on the head of a neighbor. Is it possible to think about the community when occupied with gossip? But the difficulty is lessened when we know that the soldiers of slander may be kept beyond the walls of the new cities.

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.

Someone asks, “Why pay so much attention to slander?” The inquirer does not know about economy of energy.

It is not necessary to grieve about the road’s being littered, but woe to those who strew the rubbish!

209. You have already seen how I put questions to a newcomer. From the replies it was possible to form an opinion about the qualities of the newcomer. Each one of you will be obliged to teach those who come to you. If they begin with a question, reply with a question of your own. You know how the quality of a question gives direction to the next question. It is inadmissible to allow inexactness to creep into the essence of the question. Often this first diffusiveness lies like a grease spot on a coverlet and becomes indelible. The hour will approach when you will tenaciously insist on questions on the part of the one with whom you speak. But the first question must come from you. And first of all ask what has drawn him to you. And then ask him to tell when for the first time he felt the worthlessness of contemporary life; and then let him relate how the first conception of the Teacher arose in his consciousness. Let him tell how he understands achievement. Does he feel the difference between the evidence and the reality; and can he realize the community within his consciousness? Thus, it is necessary to get at the weeds of desires and dreams. Be not afraid to appear stern; certainly far worse are soft, rumpled cushions. Sternness will produce roots, and if there be also an indication of intensity, then will be created the manifestation of the bridge.

You must exclude all questions about former family life. By one such question it is possible to sink into commonplaceness, whereas it is necessary by all means to preserve the unusualness of reality.

Reality prepares the path in a flash of lightning.

210. Our Community cannot be accused of scholasticism. Rather, the inexperienced may be stunned by the intensity of tempo and by apparent suddenness. Life itself gives agility to the Community. New combinations are engendered, requiring immediate departure or hurried return.

In Our old letters you have read how true Our prognosis of social events has been. Even today you have confirmation about the state of consciousness in the World. The sensitiveness of Our apparatus permits reading the waves of incautious thoughts of the world. It is exactly like an editorial room.

It is a mistake to picture Our Community as sitting in the shade, singing praises to an invisible Creator. Each construction must be commensurate with the conditions of the step of evolution. We realize what a tensed rhythm the present requires.

He can come to Us who seeks harmonious order in labor. He can come if he finds the way.

211. Gratitude is the setting for justice. The community must know the essence of gratitude. Each goalfitted action is not reduced to nothing but carries along gratitude. The essence of gratitude will be adjoined with the closest harmony of consciousness.

Affirmation of cooperation is not the result of a formal examination. Only through action and resoluteness is it possible to approach the heart of the Community. Teach not to let possibilities slip by. If resoluteness and action lead to gratitude, then imprudence and negligence create an obstacle difficult to remove. The coworker who neglects action through immobility is left to his own devices. This is not a penalty, but a practical means for showing him his failure. Rarely, it is true, one does recognize his own failure, and then a small independent exercise is put to him: something goes with difficulty, something creaks and does not come off. One should not suspect magical measures; the attention of the Community has simply flown away temporarily, and the stilts of inexperience sway in the wind. In any case, the effect of the collective, which represents the Community, will be a strong one, and without this concentration it is difficult for one to proceed who has already once tried the path of good of the Community.

It is in the very nature of humanity to listen to each bit of news about the Community. Some may attempt to talk about the impossibility of community, but no one dares make affirmation about its being harmful. We summon to the absolute, We propose incontestable actions, We wish to see will and independence. Nothing of doubt must penetrate the consciousness of the workers. We have assembled great stores of knowledge and We make use of them not for self but for Truth. And the crude “I” has already been replaced by the creative “We.”

Teach to understand the Community as a seething source of possibilities!

212. He who affirms the Community contributes to the hastening of the evolution of the planet. Each and every petrifaction and immobility signifies a return to primitive forms.

Pay attention to the history of the past; you will perceive clear jolts of progress, you will see graphically that these jolts coincide with manifestations of the idea of community—cooperation. Despotic states have been destroyed, attainments of science have been secured, new ways of labor have arisen, benevolent boldness has shone forth, when the banner of cooperation was unfurled.

If humanity had thought more often about cooperation, it already long ago would have entered into universal understanding of the Common Good.

213. Tell the hypocritical meditators: If meditation means tension of energy and accumulation of force for a leap upward, then the “Lion” could have ordained such activity. But if meditation means indolence and indifference, then it is impossible to suppose that this shameful pastime was ordained as a noble practice.

A great deal must be removed from the path. It is necessary to examine everything imbedded. We have become accustomed to accept occasional stumps as guiding landmarks, but, as worthy members of a rational society, all are responsible for each foolish survival. One should not consider oneself the victim of the general senselessness.

One should not reconcile oneself to the thought that someone else is at fault. It were better to calculate soberly one’s own feelings. It were better, without a crooked smile, to consider that it is possible to reform beginning with today, and to examine the quality of each of one’s actions. In this, one should begin checking the most trivial matters. Have you slept too long? How have you spoken with those around you? Have you deferred an urgent task? Have you told false dates? Have you forgotten solicitude about the Common Good? Thus question yourself without hypocrisy.

214. Examining one’s own actions, it is easier to observe clearly the conduct of others. You know well enough how much We are opposed to prejudices and survivals. Indeed, with this viewpoint We advise to regard cautiously alien customs. Often in their basis lies mature knowledge, and while as realists we must wash away all alluvia, to break up the significance of the rational basis would be unwarranted.

If an architect sees a firm foundation, he makes use of it for a new construction. Needed is a world economy of resources. The luxury of destruction has departed into the pages of history. The world is not in need of new elements but of new combinations. And the path of the new conqueror is illuminated not by the red glow of fires but by sparks of re-attracted energy. The currents of possibilities are unified inseparably. Great danger lies in disturbing the current of energy. Caution has been spoken about, not only for economizing on energy but also for avoiding danger. It is easy to sever an underground conduit and deprive an entire city of light. One could easily destroy a useful foundation and bring for a long time a harmful confusion. Therefore We commend a resolute prudence and deplore the luxury of destruction.

215. The solar ray withers and destroys, but light restores. Needed is saturation but not a sharp blow. The builders should know how to saturate the atmosphere. The pledge of success lies in saturation of the atmosphere, which restores all that exists.

Thus, it is necessary to build so that all the past conforms with the future.

All that is erroneous and fortuitous is destroyed, but the thread of knowledge must remain inviolate. This is not a concession to the past but the current of eternity.

If people would learn to sense the wave of santana, they could receive the consciousness of the Cosmos.

When a traveler stands on a summit, does he not feel that his body is being raised as if he were a unifier of worlds? Indeed, not breaking away from the Earth, but containment of the capacity for unifying is what makes man a creator.

An alien teaching insists upon manifestation of subservience, but the community is so saturated with possibilities that the Sole Hierarchy will be the step of knowledge. No one designates the Hierarch, but those who listen and realize thus recognize this step. The Teacher will be the natural leader.

In Asia the concept of the Teacher is recognized to be legitimate. The Buddha has ordained that every future Teacher is to be especially revered. In this disclosure of possibility lies the entire pledge of the future.

Saturation of the atmosphere will raise up the coming solution of the world.

216. Beware of those who have no time. Being falsely busy indicates first of all inability to make use of the treasure of time and space, and such people can execute only the primitive forms of labor. It is impossible to attract them to construction. We have already spoken about the falsifiers of dates, who steal someone else’s time; now let us speak about paltry idlers and dullards, who clutter up the path of life. They are busy as a pepper-box; they always have a bitterness against labor; they are as puffed up as turkey-cocks; they account for a quantity of stench from smoking; they bring the place of labor into a state of stupefaction. They think up a hundred pretexts to fill in the cracks of rotten work. They cannot find an hour for the most urgent. In their stupidity they are ready to become arrogant and to deny that which is most essential for them. They are as unproductive as are the thieves of another’s time. They must be excluded from the new structures. For them can remain the carrying of bricks.

We know many workers who find an hour for the most important; it does not seem to them that they are too occupied. Whoever is not grudging in his work will receive bounteously. This quality of containment of labor is indispensable for the expansion of consciousness. Can anything replace the joy of the growth of consciousness?

In Our Hindu writings you have encountered the expression play applied to cosmic concepts. The play of the Great Mother of the World—is it not visible to the illumined consciousness? And the drama of blood—is it not changed in the light of radiant matter? Yet for the radiant play it is necessary to have a prepared hour.

217. There are two kinds of skepticism: one benevolent, as in him who seeks confirmation; the other fainthearted, as in a proprietor resisting innovations. The manifestation of the second is customary in circles of poor education. Never begin a dispute with people of this kind. Propose to them to read and to add to their education. The first kind of sceptics represent for Us an agreeable manifestation, for out of their ranks are obtained useful coworkers. Indeed, they are usually far more cultured and their former experiences are richer. Thus, they can more easily compare data of different domains of knowledge. In fact, they are already prepared for acceptance of the community, and for them comparisons will be only a removal of temporary cataract.

As realists We know reality, and We rejoice when someone searches by the path of reality. This reality does not allow one to attach significance to ignorance. Snow carried away by the spring sun does not occupy attention, but if it creates a swamp we pitch our camp on a higher spot.

218. A certain state of matter composes the human individual calling up into life a conscious individualization, and from this moment is begun the conflict against the community. When, as is said, the beast in man awakens, precisely then individualization, without any nourishment by the consciousness, turns into a cruel egoism. Then begins a campaign against enlightenment and cooperation. Such egoism does not become a noble realization of personality, but returns to the animal state, at the same time losing the group values of animals. Such a man is worse than a beast. Is it possible to build a community out of these beast-like people who have no common language? Then the builders must reexamine the bases of human individuality. Each framework, each conventional program must be verified, but only courageous people who depart from the fetters of conventionalities can make the examination. Thus, it is necessary to safeguard the achievement of human personality.

There will be found conquerors of the beast, but seek them without old formulas. If your surroundings turn you to worn-out thinking, then it were better for you to burn up this milieu than to become its servants.

We have known such builders in old armchairs; We have seen such prophets with checkbooks, and noisy leaders at public dinners. No old walls, nor even bank sanctuaries, will strengthen the consciousness of the community. If the community member dreams of resembling the capitalist even in an external way, it means the foundation of his community is rotten.

Destroy the beast-man. Men with tails, and centaurs, do not enter into evolution. Needed is active realization of the community.

219. All coercion is condemned. Involuntary servitude, forced marriage, and compulsory labor all arouse indignation and condemnation. But of all forms of coercion, the most criminal and monstrous spectacle is the compulsory community. Every kind of coercion is doomed to meet with a reaction, and the worst form of coercion is doomed to elicit the worst reaction.

Yet the world community is ordained—it means that elements which do not hold the concept of the community must be convinced of its immutability. Is not one persuaded through words? Yet it is not the words but the thought that convinces and regenerates the consciousness. Thought can be sharpened only by psychic energy. The development of this energy will provide an outlet for the builders of the community. If they themselves are convinced of the immutability of the community, no one can prevent them from sending powerful thought for the purpose of convincing the opponents.

It is necessary to understand the significance of psychic energy in the approaching evolution, and to study scientifically its manifestations. There is no need to test it by the method of spectacular tricks. With all solicitude and responsibility should one approach the discovery of humanity’s treasure. There is not much time for turning many opponents into useful coworkers. True, if you approach them with frightening warnings, this will be crude and unworthy of true community members.

Luminous, all-conquering thought will fully conform to the conditions of the coming New Era of cooperation.

Do you think that the above is Utopia? Then reach Us, and become convinced as to how the conscious human thought operates!

220. When We speak about the beauty of the coming evolution, We are called Utopian optimists. When We speak about the terrors of contemporary life, We are called visionary pessimists. But We can be neither optimists nor pessimists, We are realists—actualists.

You can imagine the number of people who are striving toward Our Community. So many testimonies, so many approving attitudes, but into the basis of judgments only reality is placed. Thus comport yourselves in the founding of new communities. See that family ties have no significance. See that former friendship and enmity be carefully examined; that no testimonies bend a resolution—personal examination, personal testing, personal responsibility. I advise you to begin the testing with a proposal to rest, not to work. Each one who is glad not to work is no coworker of yours. You may ask whether the services of the newcomer are recognized by ungrateful humanity. Each complainer is no coworker of yours. You may ask whether he himself is responsible for the past or others are. Your coworker will not impose responsibility for his past on others. Furthermore, note that, left alone, he does not move objects about. The man who is imbued with the importance of what is around him, does not disturb any process unknown to him. The man who knows something of the essence of objects, displays care with reference to your arrangement. Look after the silent ones especially sharply.

It may be known that at present many are ready to accept the community, and many can cultivate their psychic energy. Be able to point out to them that first of all they should learn to recognize the presence of this energy. One can cultivate and increase only that which is realized.

Not right are those who wish to test their psychic energy without sensing its presence. This will not be realistic.

221. When We speak about the formation of psychic energy into a conscious weapon, it may be asked, “With what to begin?” One must begin with realization of its presence. For this realization it is necessary to begin with one of the most fundamental concepts. Sometimes this unfittingly has been called faith, but it is better to call it trust. Faith corresponds to self-hypnosis. Trust conforms to self-analysis. Faith is indefinite in its essence. Trust confirms infallibility. We proceed by the path of infallibility. It is no superstition to cognize the power of the human apparatus. It is enough to ponder upon the processes of thinking or of a reflex, or even of digestion. One could easily note the action of nerve centers, yet something unifies their activity consciously, without entering the boundaries of the reason. This organ has been called the spirit, but again this definition is not clear, as in it there is no striving.

The great Aum is psychic energy fed with prana. It may be regarded as a physical organ, for it is subject to changes. Perception of this all-connecting organ must fill each community member with joy. Such cooperation permits thinking in universal dimensions. With this realization there begins a perception of the possibility to master psychic energy.

Affirmation will assist the desire in bringing into action the discovered organ. Through realization of responsibility, the desire will lead to the discovery of the Teacher. The entire matter is in the quality and breadth of consciousness.

I have said, “It is possible,” but never have I forbidden. If you will search for the nearest correlate of psychic energy, you will find it to be action.

222. Even during a meal people are hesitant with unfamiliar tableware. It would be an irreparable error to send a thought without considering the quality of the recipient. Long since has the necessity of an intelligible language for each listener been spoken about, but in life this is very rarely applied.

For convincing by means of application of psychic energy, one should make use of the language of the one who is being persuaded. Many times you could have noticed that the language of the Teacher conformed to the expressions of the disciples. From this there have been derived absurd suspicions about counterfeitings, for to some it has seemed strange that the characteristic expressions of the disciple were passed on by the speech of the Teacher. But few have reflected that in such manner assimilation was made easier. It is also necessary to understand that during joint labor the modes of expression are generalized—the hieroglyph of understanding is deepened. But the ignorant continue to slander about counterfeiting, and do not wish to look at themselves and remember the difference in their expressions when dealing with different people. We merely broaden that very same principle. We propose to adopt the language of the listener in all its characteristics. It is no concern of Ours if the average-minded accuse Us; all We need is a good result. Even if you have to use the strangest expression in order to save from danger, you do not tarry in doing so. This condition is indispensable for perfectionment in thought transmission.

First of all you must test your resourcefulness and adaptability in the most diverse conditions. Ease of methods of thinking will create the wings of your thought. You may begin with the most characteristic expression of your listener. The habitual word becomes easily fastened in his consciousness, but for this one should observe sympathetically everything characteristic. One has to have a thousand eyes!

223. The methods of West and East in thought transmission differ. For suggestion the West has tried to apply direct aggressive action: touch, fixation with the eye, loud murmuring of a command, which in their primitiveness remind one of the lower conjurers of southern India. At best such a command is distinguished by temporal brevity, and usually involves the consciousness in only one definite action. The East, first of all, seeks an inner contact with the state of consciousness, which allows the consciousness to be filled more firmly and lastingly. The Westerner tries to pierce one with his gaze, but the Easterner, in sending a thought, will actually not look at one, because the effect of a glance would be to diminish the sharpness of the command. Indeed, the eyes of the sender will be open but he will form a picture of his correspondent, and in that mental image he can more fully encompass his essence. No tension will strengthen the effect, but only immutability of consciousness and trueness of tone of the psychic sounding. A rock splits from a detonation, not only from a blow. It is easy to achieve the most difficult if the consciousness is adequate and tranquility is not disturbed. The trouble is in the fact that people regard tranquility as inaction.

Action—energy—light!

224. It has been repeated again and again—know how to find joy in eternal labor and in eternal vigilance. You have heard music and singing in Our Community. These must be looked upon as a part of the labor. Usually, under the influence of sounds people fall into psychic inaction and are even incapable of creating forms. This results from the custom of understanding repose as torpor. One can become accustomed to making use of art as a condensation of forces. A work of beauty can produce not only a heightening of activity but also a sharpening of forces. But one should accept this fact consciously and learn to make use of emanations of creativeness.

Could a structure of a community be conceived without crystals of sound and color? Verily, this would be a mole’s hole! The bearers of sound and color must bring into the community an unspilled vessel. Knowledge and creativeness will be the Amrita of the Community.

It is impossible to glut oneself with knowledge; incalculable are the ascents of creativeness. In this infinity lies the stimulus of eternal labor. The worker may be saturated, and the watch is for him just the joy of conscious vigilance. One’s being quivers in spirals of light, and light rings out.

Indeed, creativeness is diffused throughout all labor, and some sparks of great Aum direct the current of life. That manifestation of creative power forms the nodes of evolution, and through it is fastened the thread of the Mother of the World, fastened in a labor of eternal action.

One need not smile at Our language of the symbols of the East. The symbols embody a complex description of the properties of matter. We see no need of revoking a brief hieroglyph intelligible to hundreds of millions of people; the more so since these brief signs are beautiful. And you, people of the West, have the right to make from the lengthy also only the beautiful.

Color and sound will be the Amrita of the Community. Knowledge will manifest an eternity of labor. Action surrounds great Aum.

225. The study of psychic energy is facilitated by the identicalness of basic laws. As with the external-physical conditions, so too the psychic are subject to the analogical process of formations and effects. Let us take the simplest example: a man goes with the wind or the current and preserves much energy. When the man enters the right current of evolution, he passes over obstacles with miraculous ease. The whole matter is simply one of judiciously determining the construction of evolution.

To proceed in the direction of evolution does not at all mean to be dragged along in the tail of the majority. The whole history of humanity indicates that it is the minority that has divined evolution. And these few have drawn from somewhere the strength to surmount the obstacles.

“Cosmic transformation in contact with the psychic energy creates the condition of a current of good fortune.” Thus spoke Buddha. He pointed out the distinction between evidence and reality. His likening of evidence to a mirage is applicable for any contemporary discourse whatever.

Is it possible to discern the real current of evolution if a blinding evidence screens reality and prejudice reigns as the established opinion? When will people realize the mirage of prejudice! In every prejudice is contained an evil design upon the human essence. This is not a moral but a practical warning. What sort of an idea about the community can be conceived by prejudiced people! It is absurd to speak with them about free broadening of consciousness; they have no conception of freedom, yet without freedom there is no finding the channel of the current of success.

Ponder the laws of psychic energy.

226. When a man finds himself in an imperfect community, in his fright he turns to opposition—this is wrong. He who understands imperfection must enter upon perfectionment. 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. The failure of one community must be grounds for new communal structures. Thus think about new possibilities.

We are realists and can freely manage space. Great Aum summons to action!

Tenaciously we keep aware of our new places and for us there is no long journey. Through the coils of the serpent we are climbing to the top of the hill. We have safeguarded our store of psychic energy and nothing can dissuade us.

An invited guest finding one door bolted does not leave but goes all around the house and examines all the entrances.

Be able to discover possibilities in imperfection!

227. A dead consciousness is as the husk of a lost seed. The concept of complete dissolution, that is, death, pertains to the products of psychic energy. One may imagine the atrophy of the consciousness which is not nourished by striving and imperceptibly disintegrates into the current of the subtlest energies—imperceptibly and irrecoverably.

People speak about the necessity of feeding the mind with books—this will be an external manifestation. But without aspiration the feeding of the mind will be a formal and fruitless process. Striving must come from within, without external causes. The obstacles of life cannot influence the quality of aspiration. The fundamental impulse, which has brought the human species out of the mineral cell, must not subside when the stone cell has gotten up on stilts. Then must follow a surfeit of everything that was, and irrepressible striving takes its place. Losing aspiration, man ceases to be a conscious being.

Moments of disintegration of the consciousness are characteristically reflected on the physical radiation. There can be seen something like puffs of gray vapor drifting downward from the solar plexus; this confirms the fact that we have to do with an energy—briefly stated, great Aum has turned to ashes. Already in childhood we see how aspiration is reduced to ashes.

Gardener, approach and remove with a smile the dust from the petal. A smile is like a wing of great Aum. Gardener, you have chosen the care of flowers. The blossom of the dawn resounds in the joy of the sounds of space. It is possible to think about the far-off worlds.

228. The time has come when We shall say to each worker: “You belong to Us!” The time has come when we shall reexamine the paths and signs, starting from the stellar ones; when we shall abbreviate languages and expressions of thought; when we shall reread the verses of antiquity for the last time.

Life has been divided according to periods and to styles, paying tribute to the measures of imperfect days. Who apportioned the constellations? Who apportioned the dialects? Has anyone called to mind the inheritances of all peoples? Style has determined the peculiarities of the age. The external notches of a design bear the prejudices and conventionalities of falsehood. It is time to divide inheritances only according to the inner potential. It is necessary to know the accruements of life. Coffin shapes must be left to the dead. True, one should sense the steps of culture, but disregard the zig-zags of effeminateness. Faint-heartedness shut up in awkward armor did not lead to pan-human joy, but the retort of a modest alchemist has often been illumined by the Common Good. Without superstition must we examine the milestones of the growth of humanity under the sign of the community. We must examine how the victory of the community grew, in the kindling fires of knowledge and beauty. True knowledge and beauty contain in themselves the best community.

We shall choose all the best and affirm that he who cognizes the best becomes a community member.

229. Firmness, calmness, resourcefulness, quickness—thus inquire of each one professing devotion to the community. Yet calmness may appear during sleep, firmness in inaction, resourcefulness at mealtime, and quickness in the obtaining of money.

Testing is applied continually in the community. The newest forms of life are not excluded from testing. You know that We are opposed to school tests announced beforehand. Likewise We are against announcing in advance the testing periods. These superficial acquisitions of knowledge and hypocritical lines of conduct do not hasten but delay development. I do not recall any outstanding public figure whose training was subjected to these hypocritical conditions.

Begin to build the community as a home of knowledge and beauty. There will be no conventional measuring sticks in this house. Each one will strive to know and to express his knowledge. Only unceasing cognition will be of assistance, only saturated labor will prevent from turning back into dark corners. But We wait for those who strive to abandon the old life. There is nothing worse than to bring along dried up crumbs. Such crumbs take away joy.

The new structure must stand apart from dwelling houses, so that everyday functions do not touch the building where the future of humanity is being forged. We agree that the community members do not set great store on life; thus they confirm the continuity of existence. But the quality of consciousness must be intensified by the solicitude of the community members. One is obliged to reiterate about consciousness, for people have not been accustomed to sense it.

Sentimentality is often taken for compassion, anger for indignation, and self-preservation for courage.

It must be understood how acutely necessary it is to purify one’s concepts not in thought alone but in action.

230. It would seem that an end has been put forever to the two Western inventions, mysticism and metaphysics. Any laboratory, moderately fitted out, tells enough about the properties of the one matter. But as soon as people go beyond the limits of yesterday’s experiment, they begin to cover up their helplessness with indefinite dusty nomenclature. They rise in opposition, covering with the bugbears metaphysics and mysticism all the scientific possibilities of the coming day. The metaphysics of yesterday has turned into the scientific knowledge of an average literate man. Mysticism has proved to be a historic fact, and the walls of the tomb have convinced many more, those of broadest consciousness.

And so, We shall ask: “Why then does the sceptical man in the street unceasingly spin legends and weave myths?” A thousand years suffice to polish a most exquisite myth, and a man of social standing is lauded onto a paper Olympus. And new-born sceptics hang upon the edge of his mantle, persuading their comrades to enthrone the new heaven-dwellers. A new tailor recuts the mantle and the myth is born. We are not speaking about these phoenixes just for a smile. It is necessary at last to assimilate the manifestation of reality. And any manifestation of ignorance must be realistically uncovered and thrust out of the community. Common myth-building is not inherent to the community.

With Our Community can proceed those who apprehend reality and true materialism. It is impossible to imagine a mystic or a metaphysician within Our enclosure. The metaphysician, receiving a blow, cries out, “I am stricken physically!” The mystic, upon perceiving the radiance of life, rubs his eyes.

Why are you living? In order to cognize and to perfect yourselves. Nothing misty should satisfy you.

231. Evidence is a hen’s reality. Only through intensified perfectionment can you approach reality.

Perfectionment may appear to be a clerical concept, but We understand perfectionment as the improvement of a real apparatus. Improvement of the apparatus in all its entirety is worthy of humanity.

Through understanding of the physical apparatus people must strive toward improved forms.

232. You know that the conditions of Our Community are not easy, but their fulfillment is facilitated by participation in all the other communities. Many social organisms pay no attention to the inner make-up of their members. After acquiring Our discipline, you cannot recognize a community there where only certain external signs of it are preserved.

We permit certain of Our discourses to be written down, not to draw reproach or opposition but for the consciousness of those who have at some time heard about Our Community—who have learned something about an unrealized dream which somewhere has been brought into life. In the night hours someone was tormented with thoughts and forthwith enhanced the legend. To them is it needful to transmit Our discourses.

The geographer can be set at ease. We do occupy a definite place on the Earth. The conspirator can be comforted; in various parts of the world We have a sufficient quantity of coworkers. The dissatisfied community member can be affirmed in the realization of the practical existence of Our Community.

You have encountered in various countries Our evident, material, members and coworkers. Our discourses contain in themselves nothing abstract. We are at work along the line of great evolution. Each one approaching Our Community becomes an activist. Work for actuality.

233. Many times have we conversed about the broadening of consciousness and about the acquirement of many useful qualities. How then does this growth take place? If it is difficult to perceive the growth of one hair, it is much more difficult to detect the growth of consciousness. It is a mistake to think it possible to keep track of the growth of consciousness. As it happens the observing apparatus undergoes the same tension. Certainly, its antennae always search ahead. It is impossible to lose one’s attainment if the dynamical factors have not been paralyzed. Thus, it is possible only on rare crossroads to inspect one’s fundamental changes—this is a gift of evolution. One should not let dynamics pass into a painful self-control. In actions and in results is cognized the right direction. Therefore We prefer even a mistaken action to inaction.

234. The world has been split into two parts. Knowing the imperfection of half the manifestations of the new, foreseeing the cunning tricks of the old, We always remain in a world which is imperfect and new. We know all, We appraise all. You have a personal influence, people come to you with the question, “How to think?” Reply briefly, “With the New World; cast out all limited opinions.” Reflect how it is possible to depart from old habits. Exert yourselves to accept the full chalice.

Not words, but the filling of space impels you in an immutable command. The abolishment of fear will help you in a difficult hour. It is particularly difficult to conquer the consciousness of solitude. In wise narratives is often mentioned a lone battle. The warrior—he is also a scout, he is also an adviser, he is also a decider, he is also a hero. Take note that this word has been almost thrust out of the vocabulary of the old world. The hero becomes unacceptable in the life of petty hearts. As a stranger, he would be ashamed amid prosperity. Learn to be there where there are heroes. The world will be shaken with the reality of heroism.

One may speak today about the hero instead of about mechanics. Let children call themselves heroes and apply to themselves the qualities of remarkable people. Let them be given books of clear account, wherein the faces of toil and of will have been depicted without any soft coatings. Even for medicinal purposes this valiant call of life is irreplaceable.

Such material must be given without delay. For this, safeguard those few who can give. Their annihilation cannot be justified. Someone may say that again this is nothing new, but he himself does not even know how to manifest the indicated care. Needed is the manifestation of resourcefulness not in one’s cap but in the brain. The new world has revered Teachers and will have Them, in proportion to its consciousness.

235. Let us take up several childish concepts. What is new? Nothing. But there is only new realization of manifestations of the properties of matter, new for the contemporary level of mind. One must understand that the true affirmations are not in self-contained isolation but in true continuity. Manifestation can be strengthened only in a fearless affirmation of an order of succession. This consideration appears simple enough for children, and in it is contained the power of solidarity. Yet organized solidarity is still not realized. Often people try to limit a manifestation, bringing obvious harm. Any dismemberment is as an axe upon a living organism.

Maintain solidarity, almost forgotten on Earth. It is better to err in the order of succession than to break and dismember.

236. It may be asked what to do with traitors. Liars and sluggards are easy to expel, but it is impossible not to suppress treason.

We may cite a case when one of Our coworkers permitted treason. The sentinel on guard said to him: “Be your own judge.” As if nothing had happened, the traitor smirked at him and went on living. But in a year, deprived of sleep, he awaited death, fearing it. Fear of death is the weightiest self-judgment. Fear of death shuns growth and envies each one who welcomes a change of life. An indescribable terror is the fear of death; it is not a spur to flight, but a freezing paralysis. One may say to the potential traitor: “Beware the fear of death.”

We see indeed how the structure of the community wipes away the attributes of death; how the very process of crossing becomes generally imperceptible. How cemeteries are destroyed and prisons are done away with. Is not the prison the brother of the cemetery? Labor opens the prisons. Fire purifies the cemeteries. Labor and fire—the cause and effect of energy.

237. To renounce or to multiply? Indeed, to multiply sanguinely, joyfully, but for the Common Good. The smallest hint of sectarianism or bigoted limitation will contradict the sunlike evolution of the community. Austere joy avoids darkness. Moles of forbiddance and limitations will never see the sun.

It is possible for the consciousness to assimilate a slavish complaisance to such an extent that each new acquirement of knowledge will seem a crime or madness. Could then reality endure ignorant limitations? We may speak thus for We are not anarchists but community members.

Many times have We spoken about the discipline of the will and about the command of the consciousness. Long ago was established the courage of responsibility. Now we must direct our keenness toward the extermination of the narrowness of sectarianism and superstition. The sectarian dreams of seizing power for the subjugation of everything to his own inflexible consciousness. The superstitious man most of all is afraid lest he call up, as if by an accidental movement, any alien sign; and he thinks about himself a great deal. Superstition and sectarianism are signs of a very low consciousness, for the potential of creative power has been reduced to nothingness for one to whom the principle of containment is foreign.

In every way it is necessary to expose superstition and sectarianism. Do not feel reluctant to stop upon these questions, because in this way you will destroy falsehood and fear.

The community is the depository of all possibilities and all accumulations. Each one who diminishes the boundaries and the power of the community becomes a traitor. The community is the chalice of sunlike joy.

238. The coals of conflagration are rushing along, and the old world is summoning all its strength. How to perceive the windings of the boundary lines? They intersect countries, cities, homes, families—even people are separated by half-way thinking. Is it worth while to take into account all the tortuous turns of the old world?

In legends giants crossed the seas, breaking off monolithic rocks. Let us resemble the giants and our thoughts the monoliths. Let us dispel any timid half-wayness, as otherwise it will take possession of us and deliver us to a shameful execution by beating with accounting books. We know monolithic thinking.

When conflagrations are strong, think monolithically.

239. It happens that the most indisputable plan may be subjected to impediments. It will be asked how to find a solution without excessive expenditure of energy. There may be a change in the substance of the plan, or in its dimensions, or in location. To alter the plan in its essential nature is equal to betrayal. Curtailment of the plan in its dimensions is equal to short-sightedness. Our solution will be in a shifting of place, so that new conditions will still more enhance the basic significance. We do not approve of the principle “to fight and perish.” It is more courageous not to lose one’s forces and to conquer. But for this is needed full realization of the soundness of direction and the invincibility of tension.

We love arrow-shooting. The unwavering tension of the bowstring precedes the flight of the arrow. Space sings, and the spiral drawn into action increases the usefulness of the particles of matter. Thus new armor is being forged.

How fortunate it is if a new place can be found which enhances the potential of the preceding one. Do not limit a plan by deciding upon one place only—the essence of the plan is important.

Let us speak to those who by night slink along and whisper and by day are silent. Tell them about fitting words; otherwise they will sink into the darkness of the night. Propose to them, without a command of the consciousness, to make progress in a new life. The new life is still badly shaped; the essence of evolution is still not expressed. But he who knows whither he is going passes around the mire of the path.

240. Could one remain satisfied with a life of personal enrichment? Could one appropriate for oneself the free primary matter which saturates every object? Learn to sense the inevitable presence of matter in each object. Often people agree upon acknowledging the matter in a distant ether, but they consider it absurd to acknowledge the matter in objects fashioned for everyday usage. Whereas, recognition of lofty matter in each object raises one’s concept of all the details of life.

True, you will find mistrust everywhere. Indeed, people will speak about the metaphysics of your reasonings, precisely when you will be referring to scientific physical observations. Pay no attention to the arguments of the ignorant. Only one thing is important: to consider World Cooperation as an absolute necessity of evolution.

Ignorance, obstinacy, baseness, cannot serve as obstacles to the establishment of the community. It is necessary to accept the immutability of the evolution of cooperation. It is necessary to turn each hour of life into vital progressive movement. Can one live as a blind adder?

You know where you are awaited, and who looks forward to receiving your message. This will give wings to your hasty solitary journey.

241. When you come—come as if forever. When you depart—depart as if forever. When you come, possess everything because you have renounced everything. When you depart, leave everything because all has been assimilated. Affirm renunciation amid goods and chattels. Affirm possession in the midst of the desert. If you perceive a thirst for things, quench it.

Verbal renunciation is like the gesture of a monkey. Ask your interlocutor how he thinks about the community. Affirm your understanding from this thinking. A word contains a thousand thoughts. It is too crude to attribute to a word a precise expressiveness. Only comparison of concepts can determine the quality of thinking. Ask him what is for him most unacceptable. By what is he most attracted? Ask more than once, as otherwise the most important will be forgotten. People have not been accustomed to define clearly the unacceptable. Decrepit man does not agree, but fears to account for it to himself. A child is attracted to something but does not know how to reflect about the basic cause. The new age is in need of responsible clarity. How indispensable it is to force people to think about the causes of non-acceptance! Revelation of the causes is half-way to acceptance.

I have, because I have renounced.

242. One is obliged to encounter people who ridicule each word unintelligible to them. Their receptive apparatus is covered with callouses of ignorance. For example, if to them is said—“Shambhala,” they will take this concept of reality to be a fetish—superstition. What are the signs of the time of Shambhala? The signs of the age of truth and cooperation.

Trace how the word Shambhala is uttered in the East. Try to penetrate, even in a small way, into the ideology of this concept. Try to understand the rhythm of structure of speech about Shambhala, and you will perceive a great reality which causes the harp-strings of humanity to vibrate. Let reason help you to ponder on the values accumulated by the best strivings. In the book Community the concept of Shambhala cannot be omitted.

Friends, apprehend what a tensed and beautiful time the present is!

243. Departing from Our mountains, you will inevitably experience a feeling of anguish. This sensation, with a psychic basis, is unavoidably augmented by the impossibility of relating what has taken place. Apart from exceptional, indicated cases, no one who has been with Us will tell anything.

I advise him who wishes to reach Our Community to add to his knowledge. After the general school education, the people of the West usually forsake knowledge, or else they draw out from knowledge a tenuous thread of specialization instead of weaving the whole network of the catch.

When We say, “Know,” We are insisting upon a many-sided survey and mastery of possibilities.

The dream to return to the mountain valley, where it is possible to increase knowledge, will constantly lead to the attainment. It is necessary to remember that the influx of knowledge should be incessant. Chiefly, preserve the striving which propels all the systems of cognition.

Striving is the key to the lock.

244. We often speak to you about the new and the young. Once and for all, We wish it understood that under these concepts is meant not age in years, but newness of consciousness and the youth of striving. Length of beard has no significance, and of no value is the affirmation of being under age. The flame of aspiration does not depend upon the body. The magnet of the primary substance is manifested independently of events taking place. Indeed, the concept of the magnet transcends the physical sphere. Apply the magnet to the psychic domain and you obtain a most valuable observation. The association of ideas has a certain basis in the magnetic wave. If one will investigate the passage of magnetic waves, it will be possible to establish the advancement of ideas in the same direction. The quality of the ideas may be different but the technique of their spreading will be similar. A certain experiment on the connection of the magnet with thinking gives an adequate example of the influence of a physical invisible energy upon the psychic process. The qualities of magnets are diverse; they can be tuned like instruments. The scope of magnetic wave-length is inconceivable. Their reaction on people is not according to age but to psychic aspiration. For distant radiations, magnetic waves serve as an exceptional conductor. Thus, we began with distant horizons and end with that future task of humanity.

Observe, the system of exposition is followed not in monotony but in the spiral of diverse conditions of one aspiration.

Think about magnetic waves and about psychic striving.

245. Adaptability is the best means for conservation of forces. Often it is asked how to develop this quality. The development of adaptability actually takes place in the current of life. To all is known the sensation of the boundaries of spheres. When you go out of a playhouse into a gray street, it seems to you that you have fallen into a lower sphere. When after solemn festivities you turn to ordinary toil, you become struck with the sad everydayness. When out of the dismal cold you enter a beautiful building, it appears to be the crown of perfection. A sluggish adaptability produces a series of false concepts. This falseness makes you timid and awkward. People cringe before the mirage of an effect. They constrict their own concepts before something unexpected, whereas everything must take place in an opposite manner. Sternly accustom yourselves to the reception of contrasting sensations, to the grasping of unexpectedness. All is expected, because all is realized.

The falseness of a mirage compels one to be afraid of certain expressions. You begin to fear the word spirit, although you know that this is a certain state of matter. You fearfully avoid the word Creator, though you well know that each material formation has its creator. Falsehood and fear are poor advisers. A great number of superstitions can be cited which make adults comparable to children. We urge that you abandon all superstitions and learn reality in everything. Pity those who jump on one foot. This spectacle calls to mind a fairy tale wherein the nurse, in order to prevent the child from running away, suggested to him that it was a sign of high birth to walk on one leg.

246. The man who is not free, who thinks of himself, who acts for himself, is plunged into an ocean of false currents. The man even remodels his speech into a manifestation of external expression that is in conformity with his egotism. Pay attention to how accents are displaced on words of foreign tongue, in disregard of meaning and philology. People recut alien sounds to fit the custom of their own country. Indeed, the self-conceit of ignorance and a contempt for the neighbor are indicated in the distortion of speech. To reason out and to penetrate into the meaning of a neighbor’s feeling is incompatible with the coarseness of petty self-conceit. The feeling of irresponsibility and the undiscarded sense of ownership create the feudal lords of our contemporary times.

Notice that he who mutilates the meaning of speech, through senseless displacement of accents, will be a man who lacks comprehension of evolution. The sensitive man prefers to use simple expressions in order not to destroy a meaning unknown to him. No one can listen to a messenger who distorts the meaning of his mission.

Condemning one, turn to yourself! Unfair owner, do not forget that someone else’s infatuation for possessions is only a reflection of your own! First of all, be concerned with the scope of your own consciousness. If the beast of ownership has not been forever engulfed by your consciousness, you remain not free, enticed by the mirage of Maya. Learning, one may solve the difficult problem of possessions in the joy of enlightenment.

It is permitted the baker to eat all the bread, but he does not do it. The man who has cognized the essence of all things is not in need of them. The consciousness must be the object of primary consideration. Take realistically everything within the boundaries of all life.

He who is not free, who acts for himself, sinks into an ocean of false currents.

247. When lightning singes the wings, when thunder alarms the ear, when the anchors of earthly well-being disappear, then will Our messenger knock. The smile of contentment does not open the door to him. The wooden beam of self-conceit closes the entrance to him. The obvious will become apparent to him who wishes to receive the guest. Although the path of evolution is unalterable, each one disposes for himself. The sword-blade is being forged, but the pile of dross—contentment—grows. Signs of the extinction of light are appearing. In the forge the sword-blade has already been tempered. Affirmed are manifestations of a wonderful New World. There is still much rubbish, but the ashes of the dross is the cradle of the blade. One may know all the imperfection, but slander against the New World will be a stumbling block on the path. The Dragon is still alive. Every blade must be raised from the ashes. The spine of the Dragon has hidden the distant worlds. The enemy has concealed the entrance into the World of Light, but the stars will appear through the rifts in the spine. The pit of refuse does not bring despondency, but the golden spine of the Dragon raises as an allurement. Let us take up all swords directed at the Dragon and count them again attentively.

It is time to make ready the Banner of Maitreya.

Who said that the time of Maitreya is without lightning and without whirlwind!

We prefer to test you in flight.

248. With difficulty crumbles down the little house of decrepit prejudices.

First of all, let us keep in mind that it is impossible to retard the process of ripening fruit. Let us review the pages of history: The time came for liberation of thought, and the stakes of the Inquisition blazed; yet thought flowed on. The time came for people’s rule, and the firing squad began to thunder. The time came for the development of technics, and the retrogrades were terrified; but the machines moved on, pulsating in the tempo of evolution. Now has come the time for realization of psychic energy. All inquisitors, retrogrades, wiseacres and ignorant ones may be terrified, but the possibility of the new attainments of humanity has ripened in all its incalculable potentiality. Inquisitors and retrogrades may build jails and insane asylums which will be fit enough for them later in labor colonies. But to turn back the matured step of evolution is impossible. Just as it is impossible to deprive humanity of all the ways of communication.

The denier of evolution can withdraw into hermit life and dream about the delights of regress. But life itself, reality itself, will indicate new, incontestable manifestations. Only the judicious mind of a realist places these manifestations into a scientifically conceived, orderly scheme. All the near-sighted mystics and the petty conventional literati will be in the place of the ignorant. The banner of the newly realized energy is being raised. Each new acquisition must fill every heart with joy. The thinking of the community member must throb at the possibilities of new, useful studies of reality.

We summon to knowledge, for only knowledge can assist in absorbing the complex of apparent contradictions. The laws of great Aum are identical in all conditions.

Know, know, know, otherwise the little house of decrepit prejudices will not crumble away.

249. Be not late with the study of psychic energy. Be not late in applying it. Otherwise an ocean of waves will wash away all the dikes, turning the current of thinking into chaos. Adopt the slogan: “He who does not delay is not late.” Reject not the maxim of the realist about the preciseness in labor. Only without delay and in clarity of thinking is it possible to distinguish the constructions of communities.

Tell friends how difficult are the times, and that what is allowed to slip by does not return. Tell them that the Teaching of the Community must proceed in accord with the manifestations of energy. The usual mistake is to try to separate social from scientific constructions. It is difficult to picture the scientist apart from the social structure. During acceleration of evolution is it conceivable to remain in seclusion? Is it possible to sleep through the lightning manifestations? Fearlessly and without self-pity must one take up the burden of vigilance. There is no weariness when devastation is at the gates; when the power of psychic energy can gush forth in an irresistible current. Compare your situation with that in Holland, where the level of the sea is often higher than the land. What vigilance of watch must there be in guarding the canals and dikes!

Accept the flow of psychic energy as a bountiful wave. The loss of these possibilities represents an irreparable harm to the communities. Leave it to the old world to be afraid of the study of psychic energy. But you, young, strong and unprejudiced, investigate by all means, and accept the gift lying at your gates.

Observe with an eagle eye, and with the leap of a lion take possession of the ordained power. Delay not! Manifest a yearning for the teaching of reality.

250. The manifestation of atomic energy is connected with the investigation of psychic energy and with the study of the theory of magnets. Without these factors it is possible to appropriate only certain manifestations of primary energy. It is necessary to strive zealously toward simplicity in quests.

Say to them that desires to connect the thread of what is physically visible with what is physically ponderable but usually imperceptible to the eye must be expressed vehemently. Carry out an experiment of photographing physical radiations and formations. The strong tones of the radiation will be manifested even when photographing in daylight. Such prints may astound petty deniers. It would be possible also to show several other experiments known to you, but they would suspect you of the miraculous. For children even the dinner table seems an unheard-of miracle. We, however, knowing children’s habits, will speak in the scientific terms of yesterday.

It is strange to observe by what unexpected paths humanity approaches the new entrances. The tactics of approach of the adversary may become amazingly complicated. It is impossible to guess how an outworn thinking will turn about in order not to disturb its own little house of cards.

Where then is the finite? Yet like a hammer strikes the Infinite. From this very same Infinity wings grow through courageous cognition.

Do not struggle against the slowness of ascent of certain characters—they are afraid they will appear ridiculous. Others seek their way in their individual expressions. So much the better; let them discover for themselves, as it were. But awaken the quests for knowledge. Let them manifest their conjectures.

Let them accumulate experience in full individuality.

We prefer the alertness of experience to the tear of faith.

251. Contemporary industry and the entire production of objects has become so unbalanced, in quantity and quality, that for the time being they preclude the possibility of a proper distribution of things. Forcible and indiscriminate distribution engenders craftiness and lies. Can one expect new possibilities in inaction, or should one deepen the consciousness in its essence? You remember the words of Buddha about the disciple surrounded with things yet consciously renouncing personal ownership. It is useless to try to take away objects forcibly and thus create a passion for trash. The most important thing is to carry out rationally an educational program on the debasing significance of possession. It is not important that someone remain in his own armchair, but it is important that youth realize the absurdity of having its own chair. It is necessary that this consciousness be manifested not as a denial but as a free conquest. When, liberated from craftiness, people will learn of the impracticality of personal ownership, then a collective of coworkers will grow up.

252. The poisonous breath of possession can be destroyed only by a clearly conceived school program. Literature against possession does not exist. Only a few have conquered the dragon of trash. But many dream about personal acquisitions. How veracious must historical comparisons be! How strictly must be collected biological details, in order to demonstrate the illegality and the futility of possession. The laws of the properties of matter testify that possession does not conform to the nature of man.

Understand, it is necessary to put oneself wholly into the conquest of the fundamentals of liberation. Be able to look courageously into a shallow well—how quickly the surface grows scummy, and there is a thorny growth above the stagnant water. Let us deepen what has been started.

253. Indeed, imagination is only reflection. From nothing, nothing is born. It is difficult to imagine the indestructibility in space. An evident destruction of complete manifestations penetrates the brain. The destruction of whole epochs appears obvious. How to understand the reality of the densification of space? Many symptoms are before the eyes, yet people do not know how to correlate what is taking place. Let us take an example: it is already known that psychic energy can imperatively ask humanity for admittance. Already noticed is the manifestation of strange illnesses in which vital energy flows away without visible causes. But here the cause and effect are not correlated.

Thus, a case known to you could have taught you how necessary is the study and application of psychic energy. A wave of psychic energy would have restored vitality and bestowed a new joy of being. But for this it is needful to be conscious of psychic energy, that is, to enter into the rhythm of evolution. Instead of that, the sick are stuffed with mixtures and potions. There where help would be easy they begin to prepare submissively for death.

When We summon to the realization of psychic energy, We are not thinking of turning people into magicians; We are only indicating the next step of evolution and urging in the name of the community not to let the date slip by. Hasten to supply yourselves with strength and thus assist the proximate evolution.

Certainly evolution will take place, but why be crushed when a song of joy has been ordained!

254. When you meet with a valuable object on the road, covered with mud, you do not pass haughtily by. You pick up your find and cleanse the mud from it. Likewise when you encounter a valuable man covered with mire, you interrupt your pace and endeavor to cleanse him. It is the duty of the community member to affirm justice. The Teaching cannot reject true values. The community cannot deliberate as to whether he is ours or he is not ours. The community says that either he is valuable for evolution or he is not. The most severe choice is that according to essence. Austere goalfitness obliges one to preserve the true treasures. Lose no time in defending the values. Each hour counts. And reject expressions of uncertainty. And each value is to you as the sail is to the ship.

Great values have clearly been cast in the mud before you. The paths to the World Community are being definitely besmirched. Each one can endure the greatest misfortune if there is confidence in the Watch of the Community. It is necessary to preserve this confidence, otherwise it is the end!

Just as you would cleanse a poor found diamond, likewise should you cleanse the mud from the faces of great toilers!

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.

256. Roaring must be listened to without shuddering. It is necessary to understand where the source of the roaring is. The ear must distinguish the roar of the tiger from a cry of victory. It is necessary to appraise the outburst of cries by the intensified human consciousness, so as to pass over this noisy stream. The cost of the path amid hostile cries is much higher than that of the path of solitude.

257. The manifestation of diseases may be understood as pricks of pan-human substance. It is clearly evident that people of developed consciousness are often ill. Headache, ailments of the eyes, teeth, extremities, are referable to the psychic domains. You heard this long ago. Cancer, tuberculosis, diseases of liver and spleen, as well as enlargement of the heart—all these result from an unbalanced state of the psychic centers. Only the application of psychic energy can shield the better people. Otherwise, like sponges they will absorb the excess ills of humanity.

Not without reason do We insist upon realization of psychic energy—the time has come!

258. Let us turn once more to the mirage of Maya. Clearly there will loom before you the evident futility of working upon humanity. How obvious are the traits of mutual abasement! How prominent are hypocrisy and falsehood! How stifling the ignorance and deadly laziness! This mirage of evidence clouds the horizon of reality. But as the white elephant of Maitreya reality marches on.

When falsehood and self-conceit apparently rule, then indeed there has arrived a great turning point in evolution. The whisperer of the night departs into darkness.

The stronger the thunder, the more powerful the lightning. All reiterate—the New Age arrives in storm and lightning. For the lightning there are needed positive and negative energies. If Maya does not furnish the negative evidence, how then can flash forth the sword-blade of positive reality?

We say briefly that never before on the planet has thought about cooperation been raised to the extent that it is at present.

You will perceive all mirages and will know the unfailing reality of the approach of World cooperation. The force of reciprocal action must be great. The glare of the lightning’s hammer must be blinding and the thunder must be deafening. Each evidence must serve unfailing reality.

Let your friends enlighten their consciousness with the lightning of reality. Let us turn no more to the mirage of Maya nor dream of quenching thirst from its visionary lakes. Manifestation of evolution is immutable. The consciousness of immutability will illumine your path!

259. One may inquire how to name the method of the Teaching. It may be called the method of opening of the ways. Consider next the opening of the centers. Inner feeling must prompt as to how carefully one should safeguard the individuality. Least suitable of all is the system of the usual lectures.

There may be calls to the multitude, but construction proceeds by way of individual discourses. One of Our Teachers usually would just begin a proposition, leaving it to the disciple to complete the thought. Thus He built up a free interchange of thought.

The principle of freedom of approach, freedom of service, freedom of labor must be safeguarded. The manifestation of burden at the beginning is only a sign of imperfection. Affirmation of the manifestation of wisdom will be in the steadfast landmarks surrounding the projected figure of knowledge.

Opening the right door will give the right direction.

260. Let us affirm justice. Each one will receive his just deserts. The impetuous, the courageous, the cowardly, the lazy—all will come for their wages. Reassure them, cleanse them, and point to the entrance. He who can understand will knock until admitted.

The Teacher senses that the shield grows incandescent. There comes to life the ordained fairy-tale. Symbols and signs are passing by on the Earth, and only the deaf are not aroused. I perceive beauty. The Teaching is manifested in a special way, unique and unrepeatable, toward the same goal yet in a new flight—evident and invisible! Thus is it possible to define the step of the New World.

When the house was ablaze, people still played at dice and mistook the smoke of the fire for the smoke of the hearth.

Count the hours, for now it is impossible to reckon by days. Can it be that you hear not the noise of the wave!

261. In the life of every association there may occur a situation wherein a development in one certain direction may bring harmful results. Then the guiding leader must find a path of new tasks, broad enough to absorb the friction. Let us not call the friction rivalry or worse names. In dangerous straits ships go in single file; likewise, in the development of the community there may be need to disconnect the movement of the participants. Instead of possible harm, there may result an acquirement of new domains. When the muscles swell out, know how to provide an outlet for the energy. If crowding of movement is not forestalled, then dissention is assured.

Manifestation of diversity of tasks is indispensable, otherwise the forces of the growing consciousness will collide. It depends upon the leader to avoid turning useful forces into a jar of scorpions. Fortunately, there are so many current tasks that it is not difficult to direct the forces to an urgent problem. Often the growth of forces is confused with antagonism. Often instead of calm application of a possibility, the coals of hatred are fanned.

I advise all associations not to let this psychological moment slip by, but opportunely to provide a new task. I see that it is possible to avoid complications through a pledge of victory by the most practical methods. The Teaching of reality must respond to the sweep of the intricate current of evolution. The process of new world structures must be securely shielded.

262. With sadness do We look upon those who could not formulate right words. There was yet an hour for affirmation, but phantoms have overshadowed reality and the possibility has gone by. Where then, on what road, will you meet the messenger? How many seas will you swim in order to re-state one word not harkened to? How to recapture a lost opportunity? As a masterless house stands unapplied thought. An unusual light has flashed out, but it has been mistaken for a table candle.

Striving by way of the unusual has been confused with the customary porridge. Now one will have to search and to knock. No one will help, because the cause has produced its effect.

Point out to friends that they should follow the sparks of possibilities as keenly as a falcon. Find time to comprehend how suddenly the messenger comes and how contentment seals the eyes. Verily, each lost message lies as a heavy burden; therefore resound in time.

No one advises to receive the first messenger poorly in order that the second come more quickly. The world has one hope—to by-pass the unusual and to throw ashes upon any message about a new consciousness. Find words of worth and weight!

263. Testing and privation. How solemnly and pompously people deck out these concepts! But you know that testing is the improvement of quality and privation the acquirement of possibilities. Man tests himself, cognizing the properties of matter unknown to him. Man divests himself of ignorance and thus opens for himself new possibilities. Where there was despondency in ignorance, there comes jubilation over the attainment of knowledge.

It will be said, “We have renounced joy for the community.” Reply, “What a graveyard your community is, if it is built on Lenten oil!” How tearfully despondent are the privations! How they smack their lips at forbidden dainties!

The suffering of privations is unknown to Us, for containment excludes privation. Our Teaching represents the world as rich, joyous and attractive. Nowhere are fetters and floggings indicated. Like a ship filled with treasures does the indicated community rush along. Realization of the innumerable properties of matter brightly illuminates all. The matter of yesterday is clothed in a radiant fabric of energy, which is not in need of a new name but which penetrates all space and palpitates with the rainbow of human rejoicing.

Whither then have dissolved privations and gloomy testings, when one electron of a substance can pour out an entire stream of blessing?

Count the hours of the approach of new decisions!

264. Before departing accept a small reminder; it will not constrain the wayfarers. Knowing the place to find coworkers, you will never remain alone. It would be senseless to leave coworkers in ignorance. What then compels strangers not to trust to communication with Our Community? Either complete ignorance or envy. They wish to be admitted to the Central Apparatus, not having the slightest idea as to how to make use of it, and not thinking how responsible a matter it is to approach the Source of Energy. Affirmation of the Teaching of life permits approach to the most perilous levers. But without practical experience no explanation is of assistance.

Now, how is it possible to broaden the consciousness if past experience is not applied? True, enlightenment is possible, but this occurrence is so rare that it is not mentioned. Yet even experienced knowledge must be brought out; otherwise it will wander about like flakes of unsettled reactions. Amid the monotony of conventionalities only a few sense the reality of Cosmos. Among these scrolls of births, sicknesses, sorrows and deaths few will find the scroll of the path without end and without beginning. How to tell the hungry one about eternity? Based upon present experience, he will imagine eternal hunger. Who then, and where, is he who first breaking bread will lead to eternity? Bread of the Earth and Knowledge are manifested only in cooperation.

New coworkers, does joy glow within you when you think about the community?

265. When the direction has been ascertained, when the consciousness has been verified, when determination has been weighed, then must be found the word expressing the step. The Light-force burns the darkness—thus has been defined the current three-year period. But amidst these three-year periods there did terminate a seven-year period of enlightenment. As briefly we can define the new seven-year period—struggle is the name for it. Struggle in full consciousness, in resoluteness, with no retreat.

You know about the renewal of the organism every seven years; one may observe the same phases in actions. At present the indicated struggle takes on a new meaning. Humanity is clamoring at the impossibility of remaining in ignorance. The community stands as the only door to progress. Let the interpretations of the community be many and varied, yet its channel is one. Pushing off from the old shore, humanity inevitably will reach the indicated, evolutional, upright cliff of the New World. Only the blind do not perceive the unprecedented acceleration of the symptoms of evolution. Each branch of life points to the development of concepts. Manifestations of dates are affirmed not in the secret laboratory but in everyday life. Entire vortices of world energy illumine the future path. Such a manifestation of energy is naturally supported by all the elements. Gravitation toward evolution will compel all to rise into the struggle of worlds.

Those who speak about the approach of peaceful construction do not know the dates. The struggle responds to the cosmic current.

You set forth not in a tranquil hour but at the dawn of the New World. We wish to give you for your journey a magnet, as a reminder of the study of as yet hidden properties of matter. We give you also a chip from a meteorite. This fragment will remind you of the study of basic energy, of the great Aum.

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.

267. Two sailors were shipwrecked and cast away on a desert island. Both nearly perished from hunger and terror, for they considered themselves forever cut off from the world. A ship picked them up. And later there was erected on the island a strong lighthouse. These same two sailors remained at the lighthouse, to save the other perishing ones. Now their frame of mind was altered. They were happy, directing the light of rescue and no longer feeling themselves cut off from the world. This means that realization of communion with the world and of usefulness to others completely transforms people. Work in common is a pledge of success.

268. He who wishes to live, lives. Amazing is the ability to withstand danger when the meaning of life is clear. No one can affirm himself by spiritless commands only. Violence is a survival. It is necessary to strive toward different, effective measures. The study of energies will indicate how many of the subtlest possibilities have been given to humanity. But it should be kept in mind that the most frightful explosions can result from a single touch or vibration—thus it happens with the coarsest explosive substances. What then shall one say about the most powerful, the subtlest energies? And moving amid such unrealized forces—is thought.

269. Life will grow stronger not through mechanics but through the ideas of communal life. A man who joins a settlement cannot be an enemy of all his neighbors. Good relationships must be established, and only cooperation will lead to effective good. It is necessary to adopt a rational exchange—thus we arrive at that which is called the cooperative. But cooperation will not be durable if in its basis lie concealment and cupidity. Confidence is indispensable. Partnership based on trust was the first form of the cooperative. Indeed, everything must be perfected. Thus, since that time science has yielded so many new achievements that communal life can become not only a matter of business but also one of the heart. The Living Ethics enters as a consolidating principle.

270. It is necessary to strengthen each other. An entire science can be founded to elucidate the reaction of energies. Psychic energy itself, inherent in every man, is in need of hygiene. One need not assume in this anything supernatural; the new life will cognize substance in all infinitude. Therefore it is necessary to unite, affirming communal life on a world basis with lucidity and serenity.

271. The cooperative is not a shop but a cultural institution. There may be also trade within it, but its basis must be one of enlightenment. Only along such lines is it possible to apply cooperation to the new life. Such unity is not easy: people have been accustomed to combining commerce with cupidity. Such an error is difficult to eradicate. But undeferrably, by way of school education, should the significance of healthy exchange be brought out. Earning money is not greediness. To receive wages for work is not a crime. One can see that labor is the one just value. Thus, without agitations and confusion it is possible to expound everything under the banner of Enlightenment and Peace.

272. Peace is the crown of cooperation. We know many equivalent concepts—cooperation, collaboration, community, cooperative—these are most hearty, unifying fundamentals, like beacons in the darkness. People must not become afraid at the thought of a good fortune of their near ones, but must rejoice, because the happiness of a near one is our own happiness. The Great Helpers of humanity do not abandon the Earth so long as sufferings go unhealed. Wholehearted fellowship can easily heal the wounds of a friend—but it is necessary to develop the art of thinking in the name of Good. And this is not easy amid the day’s hustle and bustle. But the examples of the Great Helpers of humanity can encourage and infuse new forces.

273. Humanity must suffer very much before it comes to an understanding of the advantage of unity. Most destructive forces have been directed for the purpose of obscuring the embryos of unification. Each unifying agent is subject to personal danger. Each peace-maker is disparaged. Each worker is ridiculed. Each builder is called madman. Thus the servants of dissolution try to drive from the face of the Earth the Banner of Enlightenment. Work is impossible amid enmities. Construction is inconceivable amid explosions of hatred. Fellowship is battling with man-hatred.

Let us keep in memory these old truths.

274. Can there be in the community associations of women, men, and children? Assuredly there can. True associations can be formed following many categories—of age, sex, occupation, and of thought. It is necessary that such branches grow healthy; and not only should they not impede the strivings of people, but they should help each other—and this assistance should be voluntary. One should contribute to the success of each sensible act of unification. Indeed, when cooperations are of varied nature, then blossoming becomes especially possible. We do not put on shackles, but broaden the horizon. Let children take up the most introspective problems. Let women carry aloft the ordained Banner. Let men give Us joy by constructing the City. Thus, above the transitory will stand out the signs of Eternity.

275. When calculations become complex and Infinity is obscured, then will be remembered anew the simplest principle: from heart to heart—such is the law of fraternity, community, fellowship.

Toiler, when the energy is transmuted into an ocean of light, does thy consciousness quiver or expand?

Toiler, is thy heart fearful or exultant when before thee looms Infinity?

Agni Yoga Books

Leaves of Morya's Garden I

Leaves of Morya's Garden II

New Era Community

Agni Yoga

Infinity I

Infinity II

Hierarchy

Heart

Fiery World I

Fiery World II

Fiery World III

Aum

Brotherhood

Supermundane

Letters of Helena Roerich I

Letters of Helena Roerich II

On Eastern Crossroads

Foundations of Buddhism

Agni Yoga Glossary

Agni Yoga Society

www.agniyoga.org

Table of Contents

New Era Community

Agni Yoga Books