courage

Courage Certainty makes a person fearless, courageous, their own mistakes and failures. They are fearless in and daring. He knows what he is doing and why he understanding and seeing their own stupidity. They is doing it. It creates balance between the centers, have daring in breaking down their own limitations.

The Ageless Wisdom, p. 259 and their relationships become harmonious. This brings energy, joy, and health.

The Blessed One said: Because you do not cavil I The Ageless Wisdom, p. 73 will unveil to you the most profound knowledge Radiant Suns are daring, courageous, and fear- which, when assimilated in realization, will make you less. Fearful people are flickering lights or darkened free from evil. sparks because they live in darkness. Courage, darThe highest of all sciences, the deepest of all proing, and fearlessness are characteristics of radioac- found revelations, the supreme of all purifying tivity. Radiant Suns have the courage to stand against knowledge which is very easy to practice, and which Dear Reader, Thank you for taking an interest in the works of Torkom Saraydarian. We hope that this booklet will help you in your daily life and also give you a glimpse of what Torkom’s books are about. This booklet just scratches the surface. His complete list of books and lecture tapes presents the full wealth of knowledge.

While we do offer this booklet for free, we deeply appreciate any donation you can make to help cover our expenses.

If you did not get this booklet from our website we ask that you visit it so you can see everything that we have to offer. www.tsgfoundation.org Thank you again for your interest TSG Foundation Courage Š 2002 The Creative Trust All Rights Reserved: No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the copyright owner or his representatives. Contact publisher for details.

Printed/Produced in the United States of America Published by: T.S.G. Publishing Foundation, Inc. Post Office Box 7068 Cave Creek, Arizona 85327-7068 United States of America www.tsg-publishing.com Note: Meditations, visualizations, and other health information are given as guidelines. They should be used with discretion and after receiving professional advice.

This compilation was reprinted by permission of the copyright owner from the following books: The Ageless Wisdom The Bhagavad Gita The Buddha Sutra

Challenge for Discipleship The Flame of the Heart Joy and Healing

New Dimensions in Healing Other Worlds The Psyche and Psychism

Spring of Prosperity Talks on Agni Thought and the Glory of Thinking

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you will understand by direct intuition in accordance with your level of achievement, will be given to you.

Those persons who do not approach this teaching with courage and fearlessness will not be able to attain Me. They will come back to the path of birth and death.

The Bhagavad Gita, 9:1-3, p. 54

Try to encourage creativity.

Each one must try to manifest his own beauty, his own glory.

Only through manifesting the glory within you do you reach higher states of consciousness.

Buddha Sutra, p. 230

What are the requirements of the disciple in the heart? ...The fourth requirement is courage and daring. The disciple in the heart does things no matter what obstacles appear on his path. You cannot discourage him. You beat him down ten million times, and somehow he still stands up.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 21

Daring and courage come into being when a person is in contact with the Self.

The degree of your daring and courage is proportional to the degree that you have transformed yourself into your real nature. As you become more soul, more Self, you become more daring and more courageous because you are inspired more and more by the Beauty, Goodness, and Truth that radiate from your true Self. . . .

The moment you lose yourself and your own interest in the spiritual welfare of others, you have courage and daring. The moment you try to use other people and serve your lower self, you lose your courage and your daring.

Daring is the ability to serve the Self. Courage is the ability to continue that service in spite of conditions. When you demonstrate daring and courage in the field of humanity, the Great Ones see your light and say, “A warrior is coming from darkness to light. Let Us accept him as a seed of the coming Race.”

One must remember that true daring and courage are always charged with wisdom and foresight.

Challenge for Discipleship, pp. 54-55

The readiness of the disciple puts the Great Ones in action to transmit Their wisdom, cour. . . The Great Ones also watch how much age, and blessings to the disciple and make him an daring and courage you have in your service. Daroutpost of Their consciousness. ing makes you concentrate all your energies beChallenge for Discipleship, p. 112 yond the fears and limitations of your threefold personality. Courage makes your heart steadfast The Presence within us encourages us when and fearless in front of the obstacles accumulated we are on the right path even if we are told that on the path of your service. Courage gives strength we are wrong or that we are following a dangerto your arms, stability to your nerves, and clarity ous or risky path. It encourages us even if we see to your mind. Without these characteristics, you failure to the end of our path. If the encouragecannot make yourself ready to be part of the fu- ment of the Inner Lord is followed, we become ture race. successful in spite of the whisperings of possible Courage is an awareness that you are a soul. failures.

Courage comes from soul consciousness.

Man’s vision is short. He would see those hidChallenge for Discipleship, p. 54 den factors which could assist him and lead him to success if he would trust the Inner Voice without a doubt.

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Sometimes Its courage leads us toward a steep, dangerous path, but as long as we follow Its direction, we surmount difficulties and dangers with joy and victory. One of the duties of the disciple is to learn how to sense and trust the current of encouragement coming from the Transpersonal Self.

Encouragement is also given when the disciple falls into difficulties but tries to overcome them and tread the path of perfection.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 158

. . . A friend does not leave you when you fail.

He stands by you in your crisis with his courage and wisdom. You do the same for him when he is in crisis.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 199

Harmlessness is not weakness but a sign of strength and courage.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 261

In The Bhagavad Gita we see Arjuna defeated by his own knowledge and his own courage and heroism when he faced a very difficult battle. In great confusion, he fell down in the chariot with despondency. Arjuna’s devotion and true enlightenment began when he surrendered himself to his Teacher and asked him, “I ask Thee, my Lord, what is my dharma? I am confused and bewildered. What would be best for me to do? Please tell me clearly. I am Thy disciple. I have taken refuge in Thee. Please instruct me.”

It is exactly at this moment that Arjuna recognized Krishna as his Teacher and announced that he was His disciple. The great wisdom of Krishna was given to him beginning at this moment, and the future Hero in Arjuna began to unfold and bloom as he heard the wisdom of his Teacher and conquered all his inner and outer enemies.

. . . Be always optimistic. Optimism attracts help from Higher Forces. An optimist has more friends than a pessimist. Optimism is the intuitive understanding that the human soul is going to be victorious in all conditions. Pessimism is the belief that the forces of darkness will undermine the world and create chaos. You help the dark forces Challenge for Discipleship, p. 320 by being a pessimist. You serve higher forces by being an optimist. Optimism channels the energy When people do regular meditation, the color of courage, daring, and striving, while pessimism of their face changes. The light in their eyes shines; channels depression, inertia, and apathy. they walk in rhythm and balance; they radiate joy.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 204 They become more creative; they love labor; they have enthusiasm, striving, courage, and daring.

Watchful eyes follow your steps, and when Challenge for Discipleship, p. 391 you are ready, they promote you to a greater field Inspired speech brings you courage and darof service where you will have longer hours of work, heavier problems, greater demands of cour- ing. It expands your consciousness and your love age and daring, and deeper loneliness. But you for humanity and Nature.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 398 will feel a tremendous kind of joy, which will fill your entire being. Such a joy will be yours when Sometimes it is easy to heal someone from the you realize the honor and the trust given to you by granting to you a greater field of responsibil- illness of self-deception, but it is very difficult to ity, in which you will be able to express your grati- heal people who are deceived by others. Also, one can see his own act of deceiving, but he needs tude to the One Who is your Inner Essence.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 250 greater courage, honesty, and intelligence to cure one whom he deceived.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 446

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The moment of confession and forgiveness creates an atmosphere into which are drawn various angels and dark forces. They wait anxiously to see what is going on. If the confessor is revealing the totality of himself with the right motive, with trust, and with regret about his own errors, the angels will rejoice, and they will inspire courage and reveal to him things related to Infinity and not related to short-range interests. But if the confessor, with various motives, wants to use the situation for his personality advantage, hiding the facts and his intentions, the dark forces will rejoice and inspire him to continue his treacherous path.

Advanced initiations are taken during such occasions when the psychic energy and fire can purify one’s mechanism and kindle the centers to a degree that otherwise would be impossible. The jump of natural progress occurs on such occasions.

But catastrophes of various kinds also occur at these times wherever pressure accumulates and is not conducted toward creative activities by “lightning rods.”

We are told that during the time of such psychic pressures people must exercise fearlessness and courage and also strive to expand their consciousness in order to be able to absorb the pressure or Challenge for Discipleship, pp. 464 - 465 the shock and use it for the benefit of humanity.

A Commentary on Psychic Energy, p. 26

. . . Hope can change the chemistry of the secretions of the glands and the condition of the . . . Remember the words of Christ: “Be coublood circulation. It releases energy from certain rageous because I overcame the world.” Courage etheric centers and gives us courage and strength, is an ability to break your mechanical way of livbringing great changes in our electromagnetic ing. You need courage to start this discipline.

A Daily Discipline of Worship, p. 23 field or in our aura.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 488

The psychological and physiological effects of hope are: — balance of mind — stability in confusing conditions — control over negative elements within us and around us — aspiration — joy — physical strength — better circulation of the blood — courage and daring — regulation of the glands and the functions of the organs — healing — inspiration Challenge for Discipleship, p. 490

Hope is not only an energy which gives you courage, daring, strength, and tranquility, but it is also a step-by-step process of illumination.

Challenge for Discipleship, p. 494

Lord, I want to talk to You. I know You will keep silent, and maybe You will only smile, but I need to talk to You. For me You are an everlasting Beauty.

I read many pages from the book of Saviors, Your Image is unique.

I can’t resist Your Beauty.

The inspirations that come from Your Image in my heart will enable me to conquer all obstacles, in all cultures,

Courage 5

to reach You and to share with You the supper of Love, of Service and Sacrifice.

The inspiration coming from You is my light my courage, my path, and my joy.

to destroy our past self-images and release ourselves into new opportunities.

Dynamics of Success, p. 42

. . . 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.1

Courage means to stand against the obstacles Dialogue with Christ, p. 1 and find ways and means to annihilate them. The “sword” is your truth, your spiritual values, your faith.

First, develop courage because in business, in If you have that sword, you can destroy the veils that success, you always need courage. Do not talk are forming between you and reality.

Earthquakes and Disasters, p. 18 about courage but try to exercise it. Some people say very courageous things to others, but they are Meditation balances you. It gives you cournot courageous. You are going to be courageous.

What does being courageous mean? To be coura- age and daring, fearlessness and energy.

Earthquakes and Disasters, p. 38 geous means to open yourself and let your spirituality flow out. Instead of handicapping yourOne wonders why in our recent psychology self, restricting yourself, and imprisoning yourself and psychiatry there cannot be found any serious within your own failure images and obstacles, anstudy or discussion about hope. Hope certainly nihilate them with your fiery spirit. You are blocked has a great effect on our emotions, our glands, by your past failures, past defeats, your hatred, and our behavior. Hope can change the chemismalice, slander. Instead of being handicapped by try of the secretions of the glands and the condisuch elements, release your spirituality and let your tion of the blood circulation. It releases energy Real Self face the life. from certain etheric centers and gives us courage Courage is a state of consciousness in which and strength, bringing great changes in our elecyour own hindrances cannot block your progress. tromagnetic field or aura.

Courage steps on your vanity, ego, separatism, Earthquakes and Disasters, p. 41 hatred, revenge, and treason and conquers them.

That is courage. You are going to develop courThose people who change crises into a proage. You decide to exercise freedom in your ex- cess of purification and opportunities for transpressions, in your service, in your relationships, formation, victory, and achievement are called “the without being the slave of the hindrances that you hopes” of the nation and the world, who stand in had in your nature. front of humanity as paths leading toward greater Most of us are hindered. That is why we do achievements, new courage, daring, and striving. not have courage. Our mother, our father, our Earthquakes and Disasters, pp. 44-45 priest has said, “You are stupid, you are good for nothing,” and when we accepted such an image, we became “good for nothing.” Courage means 1. Agni Yoga Society, Community, par. 48.

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Hope is not an emotional attitude but a clear This is the age in which the heart must be mental and intuitive insight, charged with cour- put on the throne. In all human endeavors we age and determination to achieve. must try to bring the influence of the heart into Earthquakes and Disasters, p. 48 our daily relationships and daily labor. If there is heart in a family, that family is blessed. If there is Every organization and every group has its intellect but no heart, that family will not stay toown heart. The heart is a mechanism which re- gether. ceives, assimilates, and transmits life energies to A scientist who is a top man in computers keep the forms in line with the Purpose of life and came to see me. First he spoke about how miracuto reveal the Purpose of life. Each heart translates lous computers are, and he explained things which the same Purpose in different magnitudes, accord- evoked my admiration. After he talked about the ing to the unfoldment and level of the heart. machines for a while, he said, “I came for counIn the human heart these seven cosmic ener- seling. I am married and have three children, but gies are assimilated and changed into twelve ra- we are very unhappy. My wife and I cannot get diations or twelve streams of energy. These are along. I don’t know what to do.” . . . The energy which gives courage, daring, “Did you ask your heart?” I asked him. striving, and patience.

“What?”

The Flame of the Heart, pp. 29-30 “Did you ask your heart?”

“What heart?”

The fourth energy of the heart is the energy “Your heart.” which gives you courage, daring, striving, and pa“Are you serious?” tience. It is this energy of the heart that inspires “Yes I am. Did you ask your heart?” you to have courage and daring and challenges “Well, I need a reasonable analysis of my situyou to strive and transcend your level of beingation.” ness.

“Can your computer do it?”

The Flame of the Heart, p. 37 “What are you saying?”

“I am saying that you must try to approach The energy of courage, daring, striving, and patience is a stream of energy which comes from your heart and see if your heart has something to tell you.” your heart.

“I need your advice.”

The Flame of the Heart, p. 39 “I am not joking. I am giving you the best Those who follow their heart may temporarily advice. You think your wife is wrong, don’t you?”

“Yes.” fail from the viewpoint of the personality. Such a “Well, ask your heart if that is true.” failure does not bring sorrow and suffering but inHe got up, turned his back to me, and a few spires courage, leads them into greater striving, and minutes later he turned and looked into my eyes makes them able to make greater decisions.

The Flame of the Heart, p. 52 with a strange smile and said, “You know, my heart says I am wrong. I knew about it long ago.” . . . To heal a sick heart, you must bring into “Why didn’t you listen to your heart?” it love, inclusiveness, purity, joy, courage, the spirit “I thought it was a sign of weakness.” of sacrifice, and forgiveness.

“Really?”

The Flame of the Heart, p. 53 “But great courage is needed to admit the revelation of the heart.”

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“Well, now you know what to do. Follow your A virtuous person is more successful, progresheart and obey it. Do not escape. Do not create new programming. Follow your heart, and you sive, and creative than a person of vices. Vices block the energies coming from your Core and make will know what to do.”

The Flame of the Heart, pp. 53-54 you the slave of the forces coming from the environment. Vices block your vision, your thinking, The heart forgives, but as it forgives, it be- your sense of timing, and the flow of your energy comes more watchful of the future actions of the resources. But when you increase in virtues, they one who was the adversary. If the mind forgives, make you fearless and courageous. They make you it forgets and gives the adversary another chance strive. to continue his destructive work. When the heart The Flame of the Heart, pp. 112-113 strikes, the destruction of the enemy is final beEach of the three tongues of the flame of the cause all courage and energy stream forth from the heart. The heart destroys hindrances and paves heart is compsed of many elements. The first, enthusiasm, is composed of courage, daring, onethe way for the regeneration of righteousness.

The Flame of the Heart, p. 55 pointedness, patience, perseverance, and fiery action. All of these things, in a package, compose There are two kinds of people: those who live enthusiasm. Wherever you see enthusiasm, there for the flame of the heart, and those who live for you will find courage and a dare-devil spirit, permatter, for their self-interest. Those who live for severance, and patience. the flame of the heart are those who spread joy, The Flame of the Heart, p. 146 who transform people, who manifest beauty, who . . . Positive emotions are intuitive currents protect life, and who inspire courage, striving, and which carry with them the high voltage of enthulabor.

The Flame of the Heart, p. 62 siasm, courage, daring, and fearlessness.

The Flame of the Heart, p. 159

The heart can be developed by rendering courageous and fearless service for humanity, by living an unselfish and heroic life, by deepening and expanding your love and making it more inclusive, and by feeling the pains of people and sharing their sufferings.

Unfold your heart through your prayer, meditation, patience, solemnity, courage and fearlessness, benevolence, purity, love, creativity, beauty, striving, silence, caution, and through the vision of the future. These are the wings of your The Flame of the Heart, p. 98 heart. The whole of space, with its billions of stars, is waiting for your flight.

When the heart and mind are developed harThe Flame of the Heart, p. 192 monious-ly, the person develops fearlessness, courPeace uses weapons age, and patience, and in the meantime a sense of of spirit — timing and preciseness. beauty, justice, compassion; Such a person does not rush like a bull tojoy, courage, fearlessness, ward a red flag but takes his time, examines, deprosperity, cides the moment of action, and takes wellcreativity, harmony, planned steps with courage and fearlessness. Pacooperation. tience is the fulcrum of the balance between the With these heart and mind.

The Flame of the Heart, pp. 105-106

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spiritual weapons you will protect the Great Peace and pass its torch to the hands of coming generations.

Hiawatha and the Great Peace, pp. 184-185

The eleventh sign of a servant of the Hierarchy is sacrifice and heroism. In the smallest labor, the servant of the Hierarchy demonstrates a sacrificial spirit, and in the time of crisis the spirit of heroism radiates out from him. He demonstrates courage, fearlessness, and daring. He sacrifices his time, money, properties, and even his life if necessary. He lives a dangerous life, but he is not a fool; he is not careless. He is cautious and extremely observant. He knows that life is dangerous, and he also knows that the shortest and fastest path is the most dangerous path.

Hierarchy and the Plan, p. 62

The Watchful Eyes follow your steps, and when you are ready, they promote you to a greater field of service where you will have longer hours of work, heavier problems, greater demands of courage and daring, and deeper loneliness. But you will feel a tremendous kind of joy which will fill your entire being. Such a joy will be yours when you realize the honor and trust given to you, by granting to you a greater field of responsibility, in which you will be able to express your gratitude to the One Who is your Inner Essence.

Joy and Healing, pp. 104-105

Enlightenment is courage, is daring, is humility and endurance, is gratitude, compassion, simplicity, serenity.

The Legend of Shamballa, pp. 86-87

Most of the sources of irritation can be handled through conscious positive resistance.

This can be learned as an art, if one has the spirit of a sportsman. For example, all dangerous moves of a tennis player can be taken as an impetus for a better return. Or the organizational activities of the dark forces can evoke greater solemnity, wisdom, and daring from you. Thus most of the unfavorable conditions of life, instead of creating irritation, evoke courage, reasoning, stability, balance, daring, and wisdom from you.

Survival is the drive to persist through your physical body, then to persist through your astral body, then to persist through your mental body in order to learn and experience through these bodies all that occurs during your journey. The survival drive helps you protect and develop the bodies through which you will graduate from lower spheres and enter higher spheres where you will use higher bodies. The drive for survival cultivates in you daring, courage, and endurance.

Irritation, The Destructive Fire, p. 24

The Mysteries of Willpower, p. 82

Joy gives courage, inspiration and vision. It Mental will is developed purifies, heals, and sanctifies.

1. When all atoms and levels of the mental Joy and Healing, p. 90 nature begin to integrate and unify 2. When the human being tries to educate . . . When a new and greater field of service is himself given to you, joy opens to you. Whenever you are 3. When he meets problems and tries to solve faithful to the field of labor, you are in joy and them you do your best there.

4. When he tries to be creative

Courage 9

5. When he tries to protect the principles of Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, and Freedom 6. When he exercises daring, courage, and fearlessness 7. When he engages himself in sacrificial service 8. When he cultivates the art of concentration, the art of meditation, and the art of contemplation The Mysteries of Willpower, pp. 212-213

Willpower gives us persistence and courage.

It makes us the ruler of our vehicles and to stand in the darkness of the hour unshaken and fearless, having command over our body, emotions, and mind.

During the day, try to catch any negative emotions and change them into positive ones through imagination. For example: . . . Change fear into courage.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 187

Through experience I found out that acts of daring and courage consume a great amount of blocked and accumulated energy within our aura, if they are carried out through creative imagination, visualization, and identification. Actually, when an inner urge to dare and to be courageous is blocked by circumstances, an inner tension builds up and becomes trapped in the aura.

Trapped courage or daring turns into fear, into hatred, into isolation, or into violent action.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 246

The Mysteries of Willpower, p. 255

Your Soul inspires you with great ideas and I once saw my Teacher in tears. When I asked courage. A man who has Soul contact is so courathe reason, he said, “I had an opportunity to en- geous because he knows that his Guardian Angel courage someone, but I didn’t.” is always there to protect him in very subtle ways.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 25

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 271

In your darkest hours the Soul fills your heart Even in the Subtle Worlds we have those who, with joy, courage, and inspiration. like our mothers, try to encourage us to find the The best things that Gandhi did were not path of striving toward perfection if the spark of shown in the film about his life. He was in the such a striving is already lit within our heart.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 26 Himalayas for one month, praying and fasting; then he came back to the multitudes. Millions of Actually, the Teachings of Krishna, Buddha, people were waiting for him. He took the New and Christ will be recognized in coming centu- Testament and read the Beatitudes and then said ries as scientific prescriptions for health, happi- to the people, “Go and live accordingly.” ness, success, prosperity, and joy. Love, patience, When he was in prison they asked him what solemnity, magnanimity, silence, courage, purity he wanted. He said, “Give me The Bhagavad Gita.

— all these and other virtues keep the channels I want to study it.” And he translated it, day and open in the threefold vehicles of the personality night crying, translating that book. Then from through which not only prana but also energies prison he wrote to a friend, “From the inspiration from higher planes circulate and help the person I received in reading the Gita, I found the courto bloom and unfold his spiritual beauty. age and power to remove the British Empire from New Dimensions in Healing, p. 54 India.”

Why did we not see these things in the film?

Meditation balances you. It gives you cour- Let the leaders of the world know that reading age and daring, fearlessness and energy. such books and living in the inspiration of God New Dimensions in Healing, p. 153

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may lead them to great victories. Do not have faith ness, the soul will control the habit of smoking. in your bombs. Instead have faith in Almighty Direct suggestion cannot help karmic conditions and alleviate them, but it strengthens the soul and God. This is what the Great Ones do.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 271 makes him act intelligently, with courage and joy in his karmic conditions. Our karma increases if The Solar Angel, like a mother, leaves your we fight against it, but it exhausts itself if the soul hand free at the time of many crises to develop in cooperates with the karma. you the spirit of initiative, courage, daring, and New Dimensions in Healing, p. 390 striving.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 279 Thought-creativeness is the condition in which you provide creative thoughts, beautiful In olden days the great Sages emphasized the thoughts, thoughts of success, striving, daring, and higher virtues such as patience, simplicity, cour- courage and fill your room, your office with such age, daring, and honesty as medicine for our thoughts. You can even send these thoughts to subtle bodies. A truly virtuous man lives a long, the locations where you want to present an opcreative life, not only here on earth, but he enjoys portunity for people to be inspired by your the subjective planes, too, without being attached thoughts. The important point in thought-creto any of them. ativeness is that you do not impose either yourself New Dimensions in Healing, p. 329 or your thoughts on anyone, but you create an atmosphere of sunshine and beauty, with a pure, de. . . Nature encourages those who assist people tached attitude. to achieve health, happiness, success, enlightenNew Dimensions in Healing, p. 397 ment, and prosperity by their own efforts to the degree that their karma tolerates. Nature encourDuring your sleep you have the opportunity ages people to save themselves by their own hands to do the following: and feet and “be a refuge for themselves.�

1. Meet your Inner Guide New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 370-371 2. Meet your Teacher 3. Meet your co-workers Have someone in your mind every day and 4. Become aware of the Divine Plan send him your love, compassion, energy, and 5. Learn how to live in Beauty, Goodness, thoughts. Dramatize your visualization. See him Truth, and Joy without the sense of sepasitting depressed and give him courage; see him ratism rising, smiling, and talking with you, then danc6. Clean the causes of future troubles built ing, running, and working. See yourself opening by your thoughts, emotions, words, and a path for him, removing an obstacle on his path, deeds holding his hand when he is in fear, or inspiring 7. Confront people and encourage them to him with great courage and daring. If he does strive and advance on the path of perfecnot immediately receive your energy, he will evention tually, especially when he is asleep.

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 419-420 New Dimensions in Healing, p. 380

. . . An Initiate creates right relationships and With direct suggestion, without hypnosis, bridges cleavages through all his words and exthere is no imposition but an affirmation that the pressions; he reveals and dispels the causes of cleavhuman soul does not need to subject himself to the habit of smoking, and, because of this aware-

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ages and encourages both sides to work for unity and synthesis.

climb higher and higher up the cliff. Make it as real as possible.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 473

There are seven methods through which the Self, or true identity, can be revealed. One must do extensive study on these seven methods and really understand their nature in order to reveal his own true identity and then use these methods as a great means of healing.

These seven methods are based on the following seven words: — Self — Beauty — Joy — Courage — Love — Harmlessness — Gratitude New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 487-488

EXERCISE ON COURAGE The next element is courage. The standard procedure for courage follows: 1. Relax.

2. Take five deep breaths, filling all your aura with a golden light.

3. Visualize a courageous person — physically courageous, emotionally courageous, mentally courageous, and spiritually courageous.

4. Find out the differences between these four.

5. Visualize yourself performing a courageous act. Speak something out of your courage.

Think something courageous. Visualize a complicated and dangerous situation and be courageous.

6. Remember a moment in your life when you were courageous. Remember each courageous moment in your life.

7. Visualize yourself trying to jump from a high cliff into a lake. Every time you jump,

Once someone asked, “If my mind does not like me to jump, shall I still try to jump?” The answer is yes. The routine formation of your thought patterns must be broken. That is how crystallizations are broken. It is our past failures that prevent us from doing daring, courageous things. This failure pattern must be broken within our mind, and an image of success must replace it. There is a great difference between an image of failure and an image of success and achievement.

The failure image freezes the circulating energies; the success image polarizes them toward greater achievements.

A failure image is a crystallized image. A success image is an image of flowing energies, like an image of a tree or a rock reflected in streaming water.

It happens often that we cannot control our visualizations when failure images interfere. This is why we must repeat the exercise until visualization and creative imagination obey the success image.

For example, when you are diving from a cliff into the lake but instead you land on the shore on your head, this is an indication that the failure image is controlling your visualization and imagination.

You must be able to imagine and visualize the way you want. If you want to fly, you must be able to fly; if you want to dive, you must be able to dive. When you are able to visualize the way you want, this means you have destroyed many crystallizations. Every inner success becomes a success in your outer life.

Your visualization or creative imagination must follow your will, your thought. You think about jumping from a two-hundred foot building and landing very safely, and if you cannot do this in your visualization, it means that

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thoughtforms are controlling your intention or decision and you have crystallizations in your aura.

Courageous acts destroy these crystallizations.

Often our logic is the crystallization of our failures and weaknesses. Once I told my students to visualize a car with square wheels and to drive the car. After ten minutes I asked them what happened.

Here are some of their replies: “I put my car on top of an icy hill and slid down.”

“I changed the tires and drove.”

“I imagined my car was on a train, and I was moving fast.”

“I imagined I was driving on the square wheels. It was bumpy but as I went faster and faster, it smoothed itself and became very comfortable.”

The mind must be able to visualize things that are impossible or difficult in order to break crystallizations and not build patterns of escape.

Visualize impossible things that your heart desires, and you will be closer to reality than before.

Remember that to travel to the moon was an impossibility because of the images people built about the future. Someone broke that image, and the journey to the moon became possible.

For billions of people, the only reality from which no one could escape was death. But someone thought about resurrection and made it possible. It is now a challenge for humanity.

Courage has an important mission. Courage destroys many crystallized forces within your aura formed during the time of your failures. Any time you fail, you crystallize a force in your aura. Continuous failure leads you to the grave.

When you are going downhill in your life, try to do the exercises on courage so that you loosen your aura and melt away the crystallizations. Crystallizations freeze the circulation of energy in your system. Failure is an icing process. Success is a melting process in the aura. Crystallized particles of aura travel and block the interrelationship of the

centers or enter into the centers and distort their natural function. Courage has a potent effect on crystallizations. It melts them and causes the circulation of forces in the organism.

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 499-501

EXERCISE FOR MENTAL BREATHING Sit and be calm — physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Use your creative imagination and visualize you are sitting in light. Let your mental body, which is all around your body, inhale the light and exhale it, purifying and strengthening itself.

Do this twenty times, but very slowly.

Next, think about a virtue like gratitude.

Imagine yourself being grateful. See how your physical body looks if you are grateful, how your emotions feel when you are grateful, how your mental body acts when you are grateful.

Then think about the quality of gratitude.

Does gratitude lead you to inertia, apathy, depression, death? Or does gratitude make you active, excited, busy, or emotional? Or does gratitude bring rhythm, harmony, regularity, and integration into your system?

Then think and meditate about the purpose of gratitude. What does gratitude really exist for?

Is the purpose of gratitude to heal, to expand your consciousness and the field of your contacts? How can you use gratitude to reach higher levels of beingness?

Then think what is the cause of gratitude.

From where does it originate? Does it originate from a greater source, or is it a fabrication of your imagination? How does gratitude come into being?

After these questions are considered properly, then go to exhalation: How can I manifest or express gratitude with my actions, emotions, thoughts, and creativity? When you try to find the answer to this question and begin to practice it, you are in the process of mental exhalation.

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Learning, knowing, and discovery is inhalation. Practical application of these things is exhalation.

You can also use other seed thoughts such as joy, beauty, freedom, and courage. In mental breathing you take a virtue and visualize the embodiment or symbol of that virtue, and then exhale it to your emotional and mental spheres and inhale it through your emotional and physical lungs. This is an exercise of actualizing a virtue in your life.

Another form of mental breathing is to learn, understand, and assimilate a subject and teach it to others, or write about it, or express it through your life or creativity. This is a form of mental breathing, which must be harmonious with other forms of breathing if you want to have right synchronization.

Sometimes the angels do not heal us if pain and suffering are needed for our transformation and for an understanding of the deeper facts of life. But they help us to bear the suffering, learn great lessons, and obtain wisdom through the suffering. Their inspiration and presence make us courageous and help us face our problems with serenity, understanding, and even with joy.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 565

Politically speaking, we must elect those people who know how to sleep because the greatest leaders are those leaders who can visit, during sleep, the realms of Light and receive direction, courage, and fearlessness. These are the three most useful gifts of the higher realms.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 586

In olden monasteries, under the strict supervision of highly advanced and benevolent TeachYou must also develop sensitivity to feel the ers, disciples often underwent serious struggles. presence of angels. It is not necessary to see them For example, the struggles would include: or hear them or touch them. You must first of all accustom yourself to feeling their presence. There MENTAL: . . . Let him do things he has never done, for are a few signs which are possible proofs of their example: knitting, sewing, cooking, riding a horse, presence: cleaning, building, repairing. If he knows how to 1. Silence within yourself do the thing, change it. If he learns how to do it, 2. A feeling of joy change it, but never try another one if the first 3. A feeling of expansion one is not done. Give courage, inspiration, for ex4. A feeling of oneness with all ample, but do not help or make it easy for him.

5. A feeling of deep gratitude New Dimensions in Healing, p. 621, 624 6. A feeling of forgiveness 7. A sense of peace The combination of ugly thoughts, negative 8. The flow of creative ideas emotions, criminal acts, and irritation produces a 9. Deeper contacts with sources of great very malodorous aura which, like a magnet, atideas tracts vultures. These vultures, like the vultures of 10. Feelings of courage, daring, and striving Prometheus, eat the substance of life within our 11. A feeling of self-renunciation aura and deprive us of the spirit of striving, cour12. A feeling of being protected age, daring, and the joy of labor.

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 662-663 These are some of the signs which indicate that angels are around you.

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 529-530

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 557-558

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MEDITATION ON A VIRTUE 1. Relax your physical body. Align your physical, emotional, and mental vehicles.

2. Visualize yourself as the human soul standing in the light of your Inner Guide.

3. In your visualization see the name of any virtue you want written in any color of your choice on a wall or on a monument or rock.

4. In your creative visualization see yourself dramatizing the virtue. Create the location, the weather, the light, the color, the personnel, and enact the virtue as if you were the embodiment of the virtue. Coordinate your thoughts, emotions, and actions in the spirit of the virtue, and actualize it with living enthusiasm.

5. As you achieve a certain degree of success in embodying the virtue in your life and beingness, visualize a few other people with the same virtue.

6. See them manifesting the virtue in their acts and relationships, ad develop great gratitude and joy because of their achievements.

7. Visualize a meeting in which you sit with those heroes who embody the virtue and discuss: “How can we spread this virtue all over the world and invite people to cultivate it in their lives?” Carry on the discussion as realistically as possible, and when the discussion is over, watch them slowly depart.

8. Sit for a few minutes in silence, and then record your discussion on paper for future use.

NOTE: This meditation can be done for fifteen to twenty minutes daily, using a different virtue each month. . . . Suggested virtues: — striving — courage — daring

— discrimination — solemnity — harmlessness — service — compassion — patience — fearlessness — gratitude — responsibility New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 675-676

You must develop courage. Courage means to jump over obstacles, face dangers, and live a dangerous life. When you meet hindrances, do not give up. Overcome them by the power of your courage.

Courage means not to identify with your personality. Identify with your True Self. When you are identified with your True Self, nothing is impossible. Courage is the ability to make impossible things possible.

“Be courageous; I overcometh the world,” said Christ.

If you are a personality, you would like to do it; but if you are a soul, you can do it.

Courage overcomes the obstacles coming from beloved ones and enemies. With courage you overcome illusions, glamors, inertia, vanity, financial conditions, and health.

When you are on the path of perfection, everything that opposes you increases your wisdom, energy, ingenuity, and power. You bless the opportunities, complications, and hindrances because you realize that they make you progress and grow faster than with easy conditions.

Courage is a great transformer.

We never grow if we do not confront obstacles or hardships.

One of the games of life is to create obstacles.

All creation and manifestation is an obstacle put there for the spirit to overcome.

Growth only exists when there are obstacles and you conquer those obstacles by courage. If there are no obstacles, there is nothing to con-

Courage 15

a. Find ways to let your mate express his quer. If there are no difficulties, life is so uninterinner light, love, and beauty through esting. It is the difficulties that temper the spirit his own ways and means. and make it invincible. b. Do not force your will as to what you Everything is a limitation so that you exercise think should be done, but encouryour courage to destroy limitations and release age the person to do those things that your Self. This is your game — physical limitaare a part of his vision. tions, emotional limitations, mental limitations — New Dimensions in Healing, p. 697 and the labor to overcome these limitations is called courage, which eventually makes you a liberated In the human heart these seven cosmic enersoul.

Then you must exercise more courage to gies are assimilated and changed into twelve rabreak the ring-pass-not of the planet, the solar diations or twelve streams of energy. These are 1. The energy which heals system, and the galaxy . . . to fly toward Cosmos.

2. The energy which gives serenity and peace Who knows what obstacles God has prepared in 3. The energy which gives joy and leads us Cosmos! into sacrificial service Courage gives your aura greater beauty.

4.

The energy which gives courage, daring, Courage makes your aura palpitate with magnifistriving, and patience cent rhythm and color.

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 687-688

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 702-703

When the teachers tell us to be fearless or not to fear, they are telling us not to act against the Law of Love and Compassion, not to break the Law of Justice. Fearlessness is impossible when a man continuously violates the laws and principles of Nature and lives a life harmful to others.

Fear is generated within us if we do not meet our tasks and responsibilities or waste our time and energy trying to achieve non-essentials. Fearlessness needs a life of purity, harmlessness, courage, labor, and daring, or else our fearlessness will be a sign of insanity.

No one can really heal a sick person permanently if his heart is spiritually dead or polluted by vices. Spiritually dead hearts are very dangerous. They not only contaminate people with destructive emanations, but they become graves for the incarnating human soul for many centuries.

To heal a sick heart, you must bring into it love, inclusiveness, purity, joy, courage, the spirit of sacrifice, and forgiveness. These create miraculous changes in the bodies of sick people. Heal the heart and the man will be healed.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 689

Right meditation leads you into taking greater responsibilities in the affairs of the world and makes you able to meet the needs with honesty, with integrity, with beauty, and with courage.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 693

SEVEN TOOLS IN LOVE RELATIONSHIPS 1. Freedom

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 705-706

How to develop the heart? These are simple steps which gradually feed the heart and help it bloom.

1. Try to have short visits with sick people and take them flowers and different gifts. Talk with them; give them courage; speak about the future, about victory, and about beauty.

There is a special wisdom that grows in our heart as we visit sick people and give them hope and joy.

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2. The next step to develop the heart is to inspire people with hope, courage, and the future and uplift their heart into the light of joy. A disciple is a man who radiates courage, hope, and optimism and inspires victory and joy. As you give more joy, more love, and more hope, your heart petals open more. The “life more abundant” increases in your heart, and its joy and bliss spread into your life. . . . A disciple, because of his unfolding heart, serves with his money, time, talents, power, and position. All these are tools in his hand for the field of his service.

New Dimensions in Healing, pp. 714, 715

Tolerance challenges and encourages people to strive, but it never forces things on others. Tolerance opens a great path for the consciousness.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 719

The life that we live in this incarnation and the lives that we lived in the past are just like a rosary or a necklace with hundreds of beads. These beads are white and black. The white ones are the days or the moments of beauty, joy, and ecstasy; and the black ones are the days of failures, pain, and suffering. The white ones are sources of energy, inspiration, and courage; and the black ones are sources of confusion, depression, and failure.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 759

Remember that energy is one, but you can translate it in different forms and colors. In the same way, you have one electricity, but it manifests itself as light, heat, motion, cooling, sound, color, etc. Thus the released energy is one, but according to the hidden factors in your nature, you translate the energy as courage, love, optimism, vitality, healing force, power of concentration, or radioactivity.

New Dimensions in Healing, p. 761

At the Fifth Initiation the Initiate hears the call from Sirius and makes a contact with that great source of Light. This call is a call of encouragement, affirmation, and challenge for higher striving on the Path of Resurrection. It is at this moment that the Purpose of the Path is revealed to Him. New Dimensions in Healing, p. 805

No battle is an easy one. Once you are a warrior, you can be under continuous attack by dark forces — who carefully watch all your steps. This is why you must arm yourself with weapons of the spirit to conquer your enemies. These spiritual weapons are your — Discipline — Pure and powerful thoughts — Pure aspirations, goodwill, and spirit of right human relations — Courage, daring, and striving — Sense of unity and synthesis — Integrity, honesty, and nobility — Sincerity and simplicity — Love, dedication, and devotion to a great cause — Spiritual maturity — Good Karma — Silent mouth — Harmlessness — Watchful spirit — Sensitivity and magnetism You use all these weapons to dispel the darkness, hatred, revenge, ignorance, separatism, and inertia. Of course, your army is formed by millions and backed by the Hierarchy of Light and the Tower of Shamballa, the Lord of which is aware of everyone who fights in the name of Beauty, Goodness, Righteousness, Joy, and Freedom.

Other Worlds, pp. 182-183

Courage cannot be achieved unless a man is ready to risk all that he has and is. It is obtained when one renounces all attachments. No one can

Courage 17

function courageously if he clings to attachments.

Fiery baptism creates courage because it eliminates all attachments. This is why without courage one cannot enter the Fiery World.

Other Worlds, p. 450

In the pure Teaching of Great Ones, we often hear strong emphasis on courage. Courage is the moment when you release the Immortal Spark within you, which shines with the splendor of freedom, joy and fearlessness. When you remove the hindrances around the Spirit and let It jump out of the fence of matter and declare Its victory over matter, you have courage. The increasing fire of the Teaching is spread only by those who have courage to stand for its principles and sacrifice for its goals.

No advanced Teaching is given to you except when you prove your courage. Courage expands your consciousness beyond your personality interests and hindrances.

The Teaching forges courage.

The Psyche and Psychism, p. 476

THE SIGNS OF HAVING BUILT THE BRIDGE 14. Increasing courage, daring, fearlessness and striving.

The Psyche and Psychism, pp. 529, 539

A CREATIVE MEDITATION ON COURAGE

5. Try to write your own definition of courage. Think deeper and add to it, or improve it until you really like it. Ask silent questions and see if your definition really answers the questions: a. How do people become courageous?

What is the difference between a courageous man and a cowardly man? b. What is the impact of a courageous man on the consciousness of society? c. What is the real cause of courage?

Where can courage be used in our lives? d. Does courage affect the physical body, emotions or mind? e. Can you develop courage in others?

How? f. Is there any relationship between courage and beauty? Why does courage attract people? g. Am I courageous? What is the proof of it? What did I feel when I was courageous? h. What are the obstacles to courage and how can I eliminate them? i. How can courage be developed in children? j. Is courage related to honesty?

6. Try every day for a week to answer these questions in writing. Start the meditation with prayer and end it with thoughts of gratitude. This meditation can be done thirty to sixty minutes a day. After one week, change the subject, formulate similar questions and go ahead.

1. Calm your physical, emotional and mental bodies and then concentrate your mind on the subject of courage.

2. Take a pencil and paper and write your subject on it. Do not close your eyes. MediChange the subject every week for two years. tation can be done with or without closing In the third year meditate one month on each the eyes. subject, either with the eyes opened or closed.

3. Try to think and write a story in which one The Psyche and Psychism, pp. 569-570 or more persons are courageous.

4. Then write down the definitions of cour. . . Every day at any time, have a special moage which you have heard or read. ment to express gratitude to your Solar Angel, to your Guardian Angel. Just a simple but sincere

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expression of your gratitude is needed, and for Courage is psychic energy which leads us to only a few seconds. This will release energy from a planned and contemplated act of sacrifice. your Inner Guide and flood your life with courWhat is psychic energy? The psyche is you, age, joy and enthusiasm. the real you. If you are able to detach yourself The Psyche and Psychism, p. 823 from your physical, emotional and mental vehicles, and from their distortions, inertia, glamors and Evolution means to organize substance into illusions, you will find your true Self. The moment mechanisms through the keynote of the principles. of finding your Self is a moment of radioactivity. ...

This radioactivity is called psychic energy. It comes These are the virtues to be worked on for each from the core of your being, and when it maniprinciple: fests through sacrificial deeds, we say that man has courage.

First Principle In every act of courage, we have three major — Power elements: — Strength a. Contact with your true Self — Courage b. Careful planning or contemplation — Fearlessness c. Selflessness — Rulership In this case, contact with your true Self means — Daring to have an experience of freedom from all limit— Enthusiasm ing walls of your personality in which you see the The Psyche and Psychism, p. 903-904 vision of your future becoming.

The planning and contemplation may take The twelve virtues of the Inner Lotus are raone minute or one year, but your action is defidiations of the twelve petals of the Lotus. They nitely conscious and you have full knowledge of are the twelve lights that light the path of man the possible consequences. You are using your distoward the Heart Center of the planet. They are crimination; you are using your intelligence in the virtues which decorate the fields, the path, each act of courage. An act of courage is not an and the plateaus of life. act of foolishness. A true act of courage carries a They are the techniques of Self-actualization deep wisdom, a clear discrimination and a develand the means to contact the presence in nature: oped skill-in-action.

1. striving The next element is selflessness. Selflessness is 2. courage the foundation of courage. To be courageous 3. daring means to give yourself for others, to detach your4. discrimination self from your self-pity, touchiness and security.

5. solemnity Before a man reaches the full expression of 6. harmlessness courage, he learns to welcome blows on behalf of 7. service others. He stands for the true rights of others; he 8. compassion protects them from any kind of evil attack but he 9. patience does this without expectation. Through such a life, 10. fearlessness he attracts the attention of his Higher Self and 11. gratitude eventually stands within his own inner Light. No 12. responsibility one can have a virtue if he is not sacrificial in his The Psyche and Psychism, pp. 939-940 own nature. Selflessness is the road leading us to our true Self.

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Courage cannot be attained in one day. You work for it for centuries. Every little act of selfless service, every little act of welcoming risks on behalf of others slowly carries you up to your true Self. Watch the building process of a great palace or temple. It is not built in one day. It grows, stone by stone, very gradually. The masons build it with extreme care. Thus courage is built.

Psychic energy will never express itself unless you build a path for its expression, and the path of expression is nothing else but your sacrificial deeds for others. Courage, the energy flowing from your core, is group conscious in its action. If an act is separative, stupid, unrighteous or selfish — no matter how big an act it appears to be — it is the result of your glamors, illusions, fears, vanity or greed.

True courage has an ever more inclusive goal: When it radiates itself, it is for a group need, a national need, an international or global need.

Courage has eight landmarks in its expression: 1. Absence of Fear. When courage radiates outward, it wipes away all fear because at the moment of its flow, you are at the center of your true being and not identified with your physical, emotional and mental nature. When you are truly your Self, fear does not exist for you. You have fear only when you are identified with your not-self or with your false self, with your garments, with the clothes that you wear as your physical, emotional and mental vehicles. Nothing in these vehicles should prevent you from making a sacrificial act. That is why they must be trained from childhood to be sacrificial, to be obedient to the inner command, to the urge of the Indweller.

When you are concentrating on yourself or are identified with your vehicles and their interests, you cannot perform courageous acts. Often courageous acts go contrary to the interests of these vehicles if they are not purified. Radioactivity starts 1. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. 1 par. 2.

when you begin to decentralize yourself. Decentralization releases your true Core and your essence radiates. Now you are not a crystallized energy or ridge but an energy flow, a psychic flow.

In such a state you are turning into energy, into a flow, and dissipating all crystallizations and attachments. Such a state of being makes fear impossible to exist. Every time you are in fear, you cannot perform sacrificial actions.

2. Discrimination. We cannot release true courage unless we are instinctively, intuitively and intelligently discriminative of how, when and where to use courage.

There is a very fine dividing line between a courageous act and a foolish act. A courageous act has pure discrimination. All courageous acts must be harmonious with the divine Plan, with the line of evolution, with the karmic secrets. This needs the power of discrimination. Discrimination is called Buddhi in Sanskrit and that is spiritual insight, intuitive perception, penetrative insight into the causes of things on subtle planes of existence. That is why a truly courageous man is also a true disciple, a true initiate, a true prophet who stands for righteousness. He acts when he penetrates into the causal world and sees the necessity to act. It is not the courage of the western movies where they kill each other “courageously” for money, treasures and properties.

3. Vision for a greater whole. Courage is motivated by a sense of unity. As it deepens, man achieves greater purity and radioactivity and embraces greater units within his heart. All his acts eventually turn into acts that unify the whole of mankind and create greater understanding between nations and between the kingdoms of nature.

Such courage turns into a unifying energy.

The greatest courage is the courage that unifies and faces all attacks of those whose life is dedi-

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cated to dividing, to separating and to exploiting.

Such a man stands for one humanity and faces all those problems which are the result of separative interests. M.M. refers to this point when He says: . . . Try to unfold the power of insight, That you may perceive the future unity of mankind . . . . 2 Courage not only works for the greater whole, but also makes others work for the greater whole.

Courage is so contagious. One courageous man can set aflame the hearts of thousands of people and lead them into courageous action. Because of one courageous man, spiritual evolution goes forward.

Courage electrifies you because it releases your true Self from its hindrances and chains. It touches your Inner Core and helps you see the real issue. Once you touch your Inner Core, you are radioactive, fearless and clear-sighted. One courageous man can change the destiny of a nation or even the destiny of the world, if he is in the right position.

Each courageous man who comes to the world, such as Socrates, Gandhi or Christ, uplifts the whole world to a higher degree of understanding and cooperation. Courage must expand and involve the whole. If it does not expand it turns into selfishness, cruelty, crime, and destroys itself.

Insight can be defined as causal perception.

You can see the causal world, the causes which are producing various effects. A courageous man does not act on the grounds of effects but on the grounds of causes. A man who is the slave of effects and results cannot be a cause and cannot be a courageous man because he functions through his personality incentives.

Insight also can be defined as a vision which can see the future culmination of the causes not yet in action. This means that a man of insight can see the seeds and simultaneously see the seeds 3. Agni Yoga Society, Hierarchy, par. 161.

4. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 3.

blooming and becoming a beautiful flower or a huge tree. He is seeing the cause, and, within the cause, the effect of the cause. His consciousness is not only embracing the past and the present, but also the future. In this case we define the present as the process of molding the future.

Thus the man of insight “perceives the future unity of mankind” and does not waste his lives fighting for separative goals, which is common for average persons. A courageous man is one who proceeds against the tide, against the current. In separative goals, one always puts the interests of the personality first. Goals that lead you toward unity are based on your Soul-consciousness or your basic insight of the future.

4. Courageous people are linked with a great source of energy with which they can do almost anything. We read in the Teaching: Not only the direct link with the Lord but even an unconscious striving towards Hierarchy creates a glimpse of communion with cosmic forces.3 . . . Fate can be overcome if thou manifest the Christ, Who sacrificed Himself for Truth.4 It is impossible to be a courageous man without such a link or communion and without the manifestation of Christ through all your activities. A “direct link with the Lord” is the cause of inexhaustible energy. To manifest Christ means to be fused with the Lord with such intensity that He lives through you and wipes away all that limits you on your path to divinity.

A greater voltage of psychic energy comes from the Hierarchy, especially from the Heart of the Hierarchy, the Christ. Fusing ourselves with Him provides us with an inexhaustible supply of psychic energy which turns into courage in all our endeavors in any field.

Courage 21

Fate is the prison which we build through all activities on the three planes of the personality. It is this prison that conditions our present and future life. It is possible to destroy this prison through manifesting the Christ, or letting Him stream forth into all our activities, feelings, emotions and plans.

Fate is the controlling machine that we created in the past and now we are mechanically conditioned by it. Once we transcend it, it loses its control over us because our will no longer takes its orders from that control mechanism, but receives its orders from enlightened centers of spiritual realms.

5. Persistence. M. M. says: . . . Nothing can divert the fiery man from his goal. Neither by day nor by night does he forget his predestined path. He is indifferent as to where his ascent will be accomplished. The condition of his body has lost importance for the striving spirit. . . .5 Persistence is a continuous effort and striving toward the goal. That is what real concentration is: when your goal, like a huge magnet, attracts you, polarizing all elements around you to serve your ascent.

Only through persistence does psychic energy pave the way for victory. No obstacle can hinder our path if we do not give up. Persistence allows psychic energy to gather its momentum, its right voltage and sharpness. Courage never gives up because as the obstacles meet courage, courage increases its strength. All great works in any field of human endeavor are the result of persisting courage because the courageous one knows instinctively that the victory will be won.

your failures and successes you now know what to do. Courage automatically uses those ways and means which lead you to success. This does not mean it does not create new ways for achievements, but it uses all available data to secure its success.

Experience is an ever-growing ability to understand the laws and principles of nature; this brings success which, in turn, helps your achievement. Experience even helps you to see that there are failures which are really successes and there are successes which lead you to failure. Any time a success stops, it turns into failure. Any time a failure is stopped, it turns into success.

7. Joy. There is no courage without joy. Joy radiates from courage. If there is no joy in a courageous act, you will find that the motive power of such courage is not the psyche or psychic energy but a glamor, illusion or a post-hypnotic suggestion. Through joy, courage becomes contagious. It radiates and magnetically gathers all those who are willing to cooperate with the act of courage.

M. M. says, ... joy is a special wisdom.6

Joy provides the energy that flows into the courageous act and protects the flow from any sidetracking influences. It keeps the vision of the achievement present in the eyes of the courageous man, thus providing steady inspiration for his efforts.

Joy heals the wounds received on the path of a courageous life. Joy disperses any negative accumulations in the aura of the courageous one. It builds a shield around the person through which all of the arrows of the adversary cannot penetrate.

6. Experience. Experience is the knowledge Joy changes bitterness into love; it nourishes the M. M. says: which is accumulated within your consciousness nerves and strengthens the heart.

7 A smile carries power. through your failures and successes. Because of 5. Agni Yoga Society, Fiery World, Vol. I, par. 161.

6. Agni Yoga Society, Fiery World, Vol. II, par. 258.

7. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 50.

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If there is no joy in your efforts, you are destined to failure, or your efforts will lose the goal and turn away from it and change into an effort of self-seeking. All negatively polarized force eventually comes back and strikes the source. All positively charged energy creates no reaction that can hinder your path. Joy gives the quality of positivity to all your actions on all personality levels. Never was a command rejected when it was given with joy. Joy carries the command to your innermost Center, where you can see it as it is. You obey the command, not because it is given by someone, but because it is a necessity, a task, a responsibility.

Joy is the manifestation of the Creator’s Power, illuminating a world in darkness.

And Our Teaching enables all to share it, through labor. 8 Look at the Milky Way. What a tremendous beauty and expression of power! What a great manifestation of joy! It is this joy that penetrates your Innermost Being and leads you to greater works of courage. The power of the Creator releases the power of creativity in you. It is in this creative labor that you share in the joy of the Creator.

greater enthusiasm and paves the way for greater success. The Ageless Wisdom tells us that no virtue is granted to you or given to you; you work for it. If you are a musician, a great talent, or a genius, you worked for it, age after age, striving in the same direction, having the same interest and knocking on the same door on different levels and with greater and greater intensity. And when, life after life and age after age, you are running with the same striving and enthusiasm, you are releasing the talent within you, the genius within you. That is how virtues come into being.

If you have any virtue, you worked for it by exercising your courage.

If something is given to you, you don’t have a personal virtue or any merit because of it. You must have a virtue as a goal in front of you and work for it, develop it, unfold it and open your nature toward greater beauty. If you do not do it, no one is going to do it for you. Virtues are expressions of your Inner Divinity. The synthesis of all the virtues is your real Self. Gradually, your personal virtues change into group virtues, into global virtues, as your Self merges Himself deeper into the Great Existence.

8. Virtue. A courageous man is a man of virtue. All vices and character defects create fear, short-sightedness, instability, lack of persistence and failure.

A virtue is the flowering of the psyche or of the psychic energy. An energy release from our Innermost Core turns into a destructive energy when it hits vices located in the lower mind, the astral body or the etheric body. A real act of courage cannot be performed before we clean all our vices to such a degree that they are not restimulated, creating a chaotic condition in the personality, or do not leak the energy or misdirect the energy into the channels of vices.

Virtues provide those conditions in which a released energy gathers momentum, creates

One may ask, does one face dangers on the path of courage? Dangers are the conditioning factors for courage. They keep the person alert and up-to-date. Dangers are those obstacles which we created in the past. They must be faced and overcome in the present.

M. M. says, “. . . danger is the crown of achievement.” When we are in the presence of a courageous man, we feel a dynamic power radiating from him which gives us a sense of freedom, a feeling of detachment, a fearlessness.

M. M. says: In the whispering of leaves, in the plash of waves, in the murmur of the breeze, I am with thee.

8. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 240a.

Courage 23

Amidst the cruel and dark ones Amidst treason of the spirit, Amidst strife and sorrow My Shield is over thee.9 What is the shield of which he is talking? It is not a shield that protects your body. It may do so sometimes, but not always. It is the shield that protects the courageous man from losing his path.

You may suffer. You may die. You may even be beaten to death, but the shield is there to protect your predestined path, your treasure, your Soulvision. That is why it is told by Christ: For how can a man be benefited, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul, or even weaken it?10 For a great Truth, you stay there; you lose your body, but you save the Truth. The shield of the Master is with you in life or in death, inspiring you in your great labor of courage. The shield makes you fearless and persistent on your path of spiritualization and service.

“The whispering of leaves” may refer to transient values; “the plash of waves,” our emotional glamors; “the murmur of the breeze,” our illusions. In all these He is there as the vision of changelessness, as the example of victory, of labor, of courage.

Possessions, reputation, vanities, pride, titles, “whispering leaves, plash of waves, murmur of breeze. . .”, through all these the courageous man follows his vision. “I am with thee.” Amidst all these passing waves, focus your consciousness upon the image of mastery.

Often we have the notion that courage is always an outgoing act. This is not true. The courageous man challenges his own personality. He faces himself as he is, as he was, and then he tries to surpass his level through labor and discipline.

9. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 235.

10. Luke 9:25 11. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 262

The courageous man is also a shock absorber; many tensions are released because of him. He is led by his Soul to places where he can assimilate tension and prevent great catastrophes or calamities. That is why we are told that Christ took our burdens on His shoulders. Because of His sacrifice, He gave us an opportunity to check our conduct and follow the right path.

The courageous man also considers people’s ideas, opinions or attitudes toward himself. He does not limit himself by their responses nor is he influenced by them, but he observes them carefully to see his reflection on the mirror of the attitude of people who are associated with him. a. These attitudes can be based on their own glamors, illusions or hangups. b. Their reaction can be the result of his own failure or inefficiency. c. Their response can be a direct recognition of true value coming from Soul levels.

In all these reactions the courageous man learns. He adjusts himself with real values and learns to manage himself better to create more favorable responses. If he gains any insight into the reactions of others toward himself, he feels very grateful and corrects whatever the insight indicates because his Soul can sometimes instruct him through the Souls of others.

This is the reason a disciple is not a hermit.

He is involved in this life with its complexities, glamors, illusions, vanities, cruelties, pleasures and traps. He is related to those who love him and to those who hate him, and he can learn equally from both. . . . Steel is tested by fire, but the strength of spirit grows through the breath of life.11 The breath of life is our daily field of labor and relationship: our duties, responsibilities, obli-

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gations and all that is involved in all of these. A courageous man does not lose his path, and the strength of his spirit grows through all frictions, tests, successes and failures in the fire of life. Those who do not have psychic energy are easily discouraged, especially by their own faults, and they run away from their marathon race.

One day I was riding with a very respectable friend. He was driving 70-75 miles per hour. Then suddenly he slowed down. “What is the matter?”

I asked.

“A policeman!”

“Yeah?” And we stopped.

“Good morning, gentlemen, you were driving a little fast.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you were doing 75 miles an hour.”

“No, I was driving only 65.”

After seeing his ticket, my friend was very depressed. “What is the matter?” I asked.

“I did not pass the test again.”

“What test?”

“I was driving 75 and I lied. I did not have the courage to tell the truth. My gosh, I am ashamed of myself.”

The breath of life is the breath that we have in our lungs. As long as we breathe, we are under the test of courage; and it is only in life that we reach maturity.

We read again in the Teaching: Strive for the life glorified, and for the realization of purity.

Put aside all prejudices — think freely.

Be not downcast but full of hope.

Flee not from life, but walk the path of salvation.12 A courageous man strives for a “life glorified.”

A glorified life comes into being when the light of love, the beauty, the power of the Inner Self, pour out and fill all the activities, emotions and thoughts 12. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 1.

13. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 330.

14. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. II, par. 174.

of the man with radiance. This is how he guides, heals and uplifts.

The path of salvation is the path of becoming oneself. As we become more ourselves, we become less identified with the not-self, and this increases our courage to a very high degree. That is why the great Sage says: . . . have no regrets. Traveler, thou must renounce all possessions that impede thee.

And the more thou renounceth, the lighter thy path. . . .13 We need great courage to renounce. People think that to renounce means to leave your family, your home, your responsibilities and escape and search for salvation. The true renunciation is a stage of consciousness which is not affected in the daily battle by the glamors and illusions of life, but always maintains the position of a true observer. He stands as a detached, indifferent observer. There is another saying of M.M.: . . . when the first wanderers from Asia were on the march they destroyed bridges and crossings behind them, so that retreat would not enter their minds.14 That is how courage is invoked and evoked: burning the bridges behind us so that we do not turn to the life of greed, hatred, exploitation, depression, inertia and darkness; so that we do not return to our old self, to our half-human, halfanimal nature and live in our past weaknesses.

Many of us have moments in which we leave behind our “bridges”, then we return to the old habits of our physical, emotional and mental nature. A courageous man keeps the frequency of his level of achievement and tries to raise it more and more like a mountain climber who never steps back but strives forward toward the summit. Courage has a close affinity with endurance and persistence, and they grow together.

Courage 25

One day a young boy told me that he was still smoking marijuana occasionally when he was in the company of his friends. “You know, I want to be social. All my friends smoke, so how can I insult them by not smoking?”

It takes courage to stand against the tide and be an example of purity. This boy had not burned his bridges. He had passed over to the other side but he kept the bridge there to use as an escape.

Courage is cultivated when you stand for your spiritual decisions. If you turn back to your past, to your drinks, cigarettes, your shallow life, you lose your energy of courage.

Lessons of courage cannot be learned from books or schools. We learn them by practicing them. Live a courageous life and you will increase your courage. The victory must be won within ourselves or facing our daily obligations, responsibilities and obstacles with courage and a smile.

All Great Ones are graduates of the university of life’s daily battle.

M. M. says: . . . 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.15 Courage creates an immunity within our aura, some kind of shock-absorbing shield which bounces back many psychic attacks or efforts of obsession and possession. It absorbs heavy emotional and psychic shocks accruing within our planet and solar system. Courage is the best antiseptic for many crimes. Courage can cleave harmful veils of dark accumulations of glamor and evil.

Courage can attract healing energies from the planet and from space. Courageous people spread harmony, health, serenity and love. Courageous 15. Agni Yoga Society, Community, par. 48.

16. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 6.

17. Agni Yoga Society, Fiery World, Vol. III, par. 466.

people are radioactive centers of psychic energy.

They are points of spiritual tension.

Spiritual tension is not strain. It is a tremendous radio-activity that flows out of you; and because of this radioactivity, you are a center of peace since no disturbances can penetrate through your field of radioactivity and bother you. Thus, you have a shield or an intense atmosphere around you through which the mechanical thinking and solar plexus emotions of other people cannot penetrate. You are a living fortress and you know within your own heart that you are safe and beautiful and nothing will hurt you. That radioactivity starts within us when we touch our Soul-consciousness and release it into all our activities and expressions.

Courage is a state of consciousness in which there is no fear, no hatred, no selfishness. It is a state of consciousness in which there is tremendous freedom — freedom from identification with any personality level and its associates. Courage has innate wisdom.

The fire of fearlessness will brighten thy hearth. We send the light to those who smile at darkness.16 . . . Fear is a fire extinguisher. Thus it is time to accustom oneself to the Supermundane World. Fear spreads throughout the aura and acts widely. Indeed, one who is afraid already weakens all those present.

Courage must be natural. . . . daring emanates from broad realization. . . .17 Courage is always fearless and fearlessness provides energy for the heart, the nervous system and the muscles. Fearlessness makes our feelings accurate and our logic and intuitive perception clear.

Fearlessness is like a fire which burns emotional

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and mental obstacles and allows the energy of courage to radiate.

Fearlessness is an inner intuitional perception that success is guaranteed. It is a spiritual realization that nothing can hurt the real, inner man, that the man can do without all to which he is temporarily attached. Fear is the result of identification with all that is transient.

The light of the Great Ones reaches only those who are standing in the fire of fearlessness because only through such people, the Plan will manifest and the Purpose will be fulfilled.

“Courage must be natural” means that man is not courageous through or because of suggestion, but that he has developed his consciousness and transformed his nature to such a degree that his Innermost Core begins to release itself and manifest through all of his activities.

Fear often manifests itself as depression, selfpity or touchiness, which are diseases in the emotional body. Hierarchical light can be distorted if directed to such polluted spheres.

“To smile at darkness” means to have the innate conviction that the obstacles, hindrances and problems of life are our friends and the best teachers. We welcome them and learn their lessons. Face darkness with courage and the light will appear.

It is the light of the One Who watches you; because you are fearless you can use it. The light can be a hint, a vision, a thought, an idea, an urge.

Be not bold in the daily life.

Be more simple.

My friends, let not the personal affect thy auras.18 Courage is closely related to an impersonal state of consciousness. A courageous man is heliocentric; he is group-conscious. He is motivated for the group work, even to the degree that he is ready to sacrifice himself for the group well-being. Simplicity is the ability of direct expression of our innermost Self. Anything that obscures or dis18. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. I, par. 8.

torts such a pure radiation emanates from our selfish attachments. Courage needs freedom from attachments; freedom for courage is the absence of personal attachments and concerns.

Our aura is affected any time we express ourselves through selfish motives, by fear or hatred, or by any thought or emotion which is not motivated by joy, Beauty, Truth and Goodness. Let our aura radiate the glory of the inner Self; let it carry joy, fearlessness, love and healing energies.

Another characteristic of courage is striving.

M. M. says: Strive for the life glorified.

Glorification is the process of transmutation and transfiguration, when your Inner Glory gradually manifests Itself. To strive means to try to change both your level of consciousness and being. When a man tries hard to manifest his true Self through all his activities, we say that he is striving.

Courage can manifest when man is striving and expanding his mastery over his vehicles and conditions. Striving purifies the channel through which the energy of courage flows. It makes the human soul identify with his Central Core where the glory exists. Glory is the hidden Self in everything. A glorified life is a life that sees such a reality and lives in that reality.

M. M. also says: Strive . . . for the realization of purity.

Purity here means a very high stage of conductivity of spiritual energies. Only through the realization of purity can the psychic energy of courage electrify all the expressions of man and make him a “burning bush.”

When your psyche, or your Inner Core, begins to manifest without distortion and friction through your mental, emotional and physical activities, we say that you have achieved the realization of purity. Only pure channels can manifest psychic energy, courage.

Courage 27

The courageous man never thinks about his security. Being focused mostly in his higher planes, he is always secure as far as his spiritual essence is concerned. For him, there is no other reality to worry about.

Midst the concepts of courage, the most invincible is the courage of the flaming heart, when in full decisiveness, in full realization of achievement, the manifest warrior knows only the path of advance. To this achievement of courage only the extreme degree of the courage of desperation is comparable. With the same speed that the courage of the flaming heart overcomes the future, desperation flees from the past. Thus, where the courage of the flaming heart is lacking let there be the courage of desperation. Only thus can the warrior conquer, when the offensive is great. . . .19

ing men are torches in the dark deserts. They lead, they encourage, they lighten the souls of people and inspire them to strive.

The Psyche and Psychism, p. 1047

Fearlessness is not irrationality, or stupidity.

It is based on the conviction that: 1. No matter what happens, the future will be brighter and brighter.

2. The Divinity in man eventually will conquer fear and death.

3. The nature of Life is love. “There is no fear in love. Perfect love casteth out all fear.”

The Great One said to His disciples: “Be courageous, [fearless] for I over-cometh the world.”

We may ask, if there is a situation which is really scary, or if there is a great danger for a person, how can we inform him without making him The Psyche and Psychism, pp. 969-982 afraid or full of fear?

Fearlessness must be the reaction of the person to a given situation. If the person is not yet . . . Can a stronghold prevail without fearless to face any situation with courage and courage and solemnity? In the most limited circumstances courage gives sweep to the hodaring, then the best thing to do is first to evoke his Soul, his Spirit, by using for example, the words rizons, and solemnity leads to the Heights. of The Bhagavad Gita: One should be tireless in the quest for courIt is the unborn, the eternal, the changeless, age and solemnity. . . . during the best mothe Self. ments let us recall fire, courage, and solemIt cannot be killed, even if the body is slain.21 nity. Love, which is comprised in pure solemnity, is always in need of defense against dark maligners. Courage becomes a shield, Or speak about the lives of heroes and show how 20 and fire welds its streams into a fiery sword. things became possible with courage, daring, posiThe Psyche and Psychism, p. 1006 tive attitude and labor.

Then with great simplicity explain the situaA fearless man cannot be controlled and used. tion. It is possible that you already awakened so You cannot brainwash a fearless man. Fearlessness much psychic energy in him that he will be able increases the light of intelligence. Courage and to balance the reaction of his personality with that daring break fear. A courageous man brings a energy. great amount of psychic energy to the world and Sometimes it is amazing to see how people dispels fear. Daring paves the way for joy and are aflame with the fire of spirit and conquer obachievement of the Spirit. Courageous and dar- stacles. A fearless man speaks always of courage, 19. Agni Yoga Society, Heart, par. 476.

20. The Bhagavad Gita, translated by H. (Torkom) Saraydarian, 2:20 21. Agni Yoga Society, Heart, par. 497.

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labor and striving. He makes it clear to you that there is always the possibility of overcoming the dark hours or using them to fulfill your karma.

A fearless man inspires you with joy and the spirit of daring. He inspires you to face life in joyful expectancy; he reveals to you that the law is good and loving and nothing can happen to stop your progress toward light.

The Psyche and Psychism, p. 1064

False goals are ones built for us by others. Even if they are good goals, they cannot evoke courage from us until we develop response to them. A goal for which we are not ready is a false goal.

The Purpose of Life, p. 155

Ask, “Am I going to face the tribulations as well as the successes that may come on my path with courage, faith, solemnity and joy?” Do you want to develop these things? You are going to develop them for yourself, for if we all have these virtues then I am stronger and you are stronger and unitedly we can do greater things.

The father image in the psychology of a child is stability, solidity, leadership, daring, courage, firmness, making visions practical, sacrificing for achievements, being a refuge and protection, understanding the problems of life, and giving direction.

Responsibilities of Fathers, p. 6

Joy gives courage, inspiration, vision. It purifies, heals and sanctifies.

In the light of a joyful man, people see themselves as they are. All shadows of doubt disappear.

They become inspired by a greater vision. The energy of courage starts to flow through their nerves. They make difficult decisions, and joy enflames their hearts toward greater beauties. . . .

The Science of Becoming Oneself, p. 188

Suppose you are meditating on courage.

What is the quality? You can find this out if you have the quality of courage, if you are courageous, if you have done acts of courage. If you cannot find the quality of courage, you must develop it The Questioning Traveler and Karma, p. 12 in yourself by doing courageous acts. Then you will find out what its quality is. ...Thus we arrive again at the education In meditation this happens naturally: first you of the heart energy. Let us again remember assume; then you are challenged to prove your that this education should begin with the assumption; then you try, and in trying you deminutest sensations and the most usual acvelop the quality of courage to the measure of your tions. This circum-stance complicates the sincerity. situation, because people usually like to say You will then see the real quality of any cou“Let me fight a giant, but spare me from rageous act. You will see how much inertia it concatching fleas.” Yet giants are rare, whereas tains, how much motion, how much rhythm. fleas are innumerable. One must pass The Science of Meditation, pp. 135-136 through these dark swarms. The house has to be protected from them. The venom carTreasures are found on the level of our conried by the giant is less than that of the flea. sciousness, as well as on the level of our daring The appearance of the giant also evokes unand courage.

The Sense of Responsibility in Society, p. 108 usual courage, but courage is also necessary against gnats and fleas, and usually people “The Teacher wants to see how courageously suffer from fleas rather than from giants.22 The Questioning Traveler and Karma, p. 44 you can proceed.” The Teacher does not accept

22. Agni Yoga Society, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Vol. II, par. 37.

Courage 29

weakness. He wants you to be courageous because he knows that it is the energy of courage that transmits the power of the spirit. Fear does not let your intuition work. Courage works under the inspiration of the intuition, which uses the mind creatively. Many difficulties are put on the path of great labor. One of the tasks of the disciple is to remove them from the path, proceeding courageously.

Talks on Agni, p. 110

You must have courage and daring in order to complete your spiritual building. If you proceed in fear, you will destroy your own work through doubtful or wrong actions. Always try to walk fearlessly, and you will not take wrong steps.

Fear clouds your vision with wrong ideas of where to go and what to do. With courage, you act upon the facts in the light of reality.

Talks on Agni, pp. 139-140

Maitreya sends courage. Maitreya will accept the gift. Maitreya feels its love.

Maitreya sends blessings upon the joyous labor. Maitreya bestows labor upon Earth in the name of miracle. Walk joyfully. It is a joy to Me to lead the smiling ones. Discern the Teaching of Light in each manifestation.

Resourcefulness is a quality of My pupils.23 Why does Maitreya send courage? Because the disciples of Christ today and in the future need courage. Just like the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, the disciples of today are presenting a new Teaching to the world, and this requires a great deal of courage.

A new Teaching always meets every point of resistance which it is possible to have directed against it. It meets resistance from family, established traditions and beliefs, and the contemporary educational system.

The courage which disciples of the new Teaching must have is not emotional excitement which grows cold when night comes. Their cour-

age is a steady, burning flame in their hearts which warms them during storms of protest, attack, and prejudice. It is an intellectual and highly charged courage which gives them the strength to meet each and every obstacle thrust in their way.

Talks on Agni, p. 205-206

Courage is one of the fundamental qualities of the heart. If you do not have courage, you can never improve. You must have the courage to stand against crystallized ideas and say, “I know you are teaching these things, but I do not think they are right.” It takes courage to stand on your feet and say, “My heart says that I must not hate. Well, I don’t want to hate.” Can you say that? If you can’t, be my guest; hate more and more. Let him kill you. You will kill him in the next life; then he will kill you again . . . like a seesaw . . . and the world will become the battlefield for blood and suffering.

There is no end to this, and it can never take you to perfection.

Talks on Agni, p. 249

Courage is not to be confused with recklessness. Courage is self-forgetfulness with clear reason and logic. Courage requires a clear mind and daring.

Talks on Agni, p. 264

Courage means to stand against the obstacles and find ways and means to annihilate them. The “sword” is your truth, your spiritual values, your faith. If you have that sword, you can destroy the veils that are forming between you and reality.

People see the moral and spiritual degeneration in the world today and become very pessimistic about the future of the planet. The challenge of discipleship is to see the condition of the planet as it really is, but inspire courage in oneself and in others to stand up and try to improve the world situation.

Talks on Agni, p. 323

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It is also possible that you can be defeated by your own success, developing pride, separatism, forcefulness, etc. Then it will be good to ask, “What virtues do I need to develop when great success comes my way, so that I do not become a victim of vanity and spiritually fail because of my financial or other successes?�

Conquerors of spirit penetrate into the greater laws and principles of Creation and through them try to meet their essential Divinity.

Great creative people conquer the hearts and minds of humanity without guns and bombs and encourage them to strive forward toward their spiritual goal.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 42

When you cross a wide river on a one foot wide hanging bridge, you had better charge your steps with the conviction that soon the other shore will be reached. In every step forward, feel the joy of the other shore. Thus, courage is active joy, and it inspires trust.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 202

Fighting on the physical plane against evil is a fight against the germs that a factory produces.

No permanent victory can be reached if the factory itself is not destroyed by the power of thought.

But there is a great difference between the weapons used by both parties. The dark ones use hatred, malice, fear, and revenge and try to destroy those who walk in the light.

The disciples cannot use such weapons, but in their combat they use the vision of the future, the highest good of everyone concerned, fearlessness, compassion, courage, daring, light, nobility, detachment, and the lightning of willpower. Their thoughts as well as their expressions are highly controlled and are in line with the steps of evolution.

Imagine a dark room in which one is trying to find something lost. Suddenly a beam of light streams into the room, enabling that person to see and to find the object. A similar thing happens to a man who suddenly receives a beneficent thought-beam from a friend. His mind rejoices in the thought, and in it he finds certain solutions Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 212 to his problems. This is how help is attained with thought, sending to friends beams of loving Imagine how man evolved. Millions of years thoughts, enlightening thoughts, encouraging thoughts, elevating thoughts, and joyful thoughts. ago we were not even human, and millions of years Such thoughts are as precious as the beam of light later we will say that millions of years ago we never acted like humans. As we evolve, our concepts in a dark room.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 43 change. As we get closer to the Archetypal man, we see how far we are from it. But no matter how Good and creative thoughts follow their origi- far or close we are, we are going toward our destinators with their fragrance and beauty and en- nation, toward a state of Cosmic beauty. If we hold courage them to strive higher and higher on their such a vision, we create a tremendous amount of courage within us and nothing in our life can stop Path.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 65 our progressive victory and achievements.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 251

Inspiration. Higher thinking inspires people, Health comes when the mind thinks in terms gives hope and future to them, encourages and strengthens them, and opens new doors and new of... courage.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 275 paths in their souls.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 138

Blessing is the process of transmission of psychic energy through fiery thoughts. Bliss radiates

Courage 31

out from psychic energy, and if transmitted propTo propagate the Teaching means to destroy erly it . . . brings in illumination and courage . . . . all dark seeds and crystallizations which have penThought and the Glory of Thinking, pp. 278-279 etrated into your mind. It also means to work against glamors, illusions, and inertia. Because Your future course will depend upon your these things stand as foundations for people’s lives, past karma, your psychic energy, your thought you must be courageous and risk your life to remove power, and your accumulated wisdom, courage, such limitations. and daring.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 440 Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 294

Every person charged with energy is a powLike a tuning fork, direction sounds every erful station of influential waves which protects, time you think wrongly, speak wrongly, and act enlightens, encourages, and strengthens people wrongly. It warns you and encourages you to with whom it comes in contact. choose a better thought, a better word, and a betThought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 455 ter action.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 323 To face reality needs courage and fearlessness.

The light of Intuition, with the sense of reality, Higher warnings inspire you not only with also brings in courage and fearlessness. Actually, courage but also with stability and serenity. fearlessness and courage are achieved only in the Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 320 realization of one’s own Reality. . . . It is only with the courage obtained by Virtues increase our energy because they cre- the light of reality that you can fight those hinate harmony between man and the principles of drances that try to keep you in the world of unrethe Universe. Love, joy, dedication, sacrifice, ser- ality and pull you down to the level of deception vice, compassion, gratitude, courage, striving, and and illusion. daring — all these virtues increase our vitality.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 536 Virtues release psychic energy into our whole system. . . . Moments of contact with the Intuitional Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 351 Plane [are] . . . moments when you are absolutely fearless, daring, and courageous. . . . Achievement is the result of beauty, courThought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 543 age, joy, striving, daring, and fearlessness.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 352 In any emergency when energy is needed to combat a situation, one must evoke for a few minTransmutation of our vehicles expresses itself utes the energy of beauty — a beautiful piece of in all our relationships. Solemnity, sincerity, uni- music, a lofty idea or vision, an uplifting paragraph, versality, beauty, courage, striving, and purity be- a heartfelt prayer toward the source of beauty. All come expressions of our life. these can create miracles and in critical times inThought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 384 spire one with courage, energy, balance, stability, and The Teaching warns us against ugly thoughts wisdom. and encourages us to cultivate our gardens with flowers of thought.

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 416

Thought and the Glory of Thinking, p. 549

A Great Master was once asked, “How do the Masters know all of these things?” He replied,

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“We don’t need to know. We can connect Our ‘telephone line’ and immediately receive an answer.” This is an example of the extension of the human triangle into the Planetary Triangle: Love, Compassion, Wisdom — the Hierarchy. Courage, daring and great works of construction and destruction are a connection through Shamballa, the center where the Will of God is known. In Christian literature, Shamballa is known as, “My Father’s House.” Christ once said, “There are many mansions in My Father’s House.”

Triangles of Fire, pp. 91-92

Obedience to higher principles creates right human relations. Obedience improves your willpower. You demonstrate more endurance, patience, strength, stability, courage, and daring as you come closer to your Solar Angel, your Inner Guardian. You can use these qualities in your com-

About the Author Torkom Saraydarian (1917 – 1997) was born in Asia Minor. Since childhood he was trained in the Teachings of the Ageless Wisdom.

He visited monasteries, ancient temples, and mystery schools in order to find the answers to his questions about the mystery of man and the Universe.

He lived with Sufis, dervishes, Christian mystics, and masters of temple music and dance. His musical training included the violin, piano, oud, cello, and guitar. It took long years of discipline and sacrifice to absorb the Ageless Wisdom from its true sources. Meditation became a part of his daily life, and service a natural expression of his soul.

Torkom Saraydarian dedicated his entire life to the service of his fellow man. His writings and lectures and music show his total devotion to the higher principles, values, and laws that are present in all world religions and philosophies. These works represent a synthesis of the best and most beautiful in the sacred culture of the world. His works enrich the foundational thinking on which man can construct his Future.

Torkom Saraydarian wrote a large number of books, many of which have been published. All of his books will continue to be published and distributed. A few have been translated into Armenian, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Dutch, and Danish.

He left a rich legacy of writings and musical compositions for all of humanity to enjoy and benefit from for many years to come.

Visit our web site at www.tsgfoundation.org for interviews and additional information on Torkom Saraydarian.

About the Publisher T.S.G. Publishing Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit, tax exempt organization.

Founded on November 30, 1987 in Los Angles, California, it relocated to Cave Creek, Arizona on January 1, 1994.

Our purpose is to be a pathway for self-transformation. We are fully devoted to publishing, teaching, and distributing the creative works of Torkom Saraydarian.

Our bookstore in Cave Creek and our online bookstore at our web site www.tsgfoundation.org offers the complete collection of the creative works of Torkom Saraydarian for sale and distribution.

Our newsletter Outreach contains thought-provoking articles and is available both in print and from our website with free email notification.

We also conduct weekly classes, special training seminars, and home study meditation courses.

The Torkom Saraydarian University Torkom Saraydarian dreamed of a training center, often calling it the University, where men and women can be trained in the theory and application of Higher Principles and Values of the Ageless Wisdom. He called such higher education “Aquarian Education� and continuously encouraged his students to form such an institution in the future.

There is an increasing need for leadership in the field of esoteric knowledge. More and more people are becoming disillusioned with the teachings given to them by opportunists, by people who have good intentions but are full of glamors and vanities, or by people who want to use the Teaching as a business to raise money.

Great damage is done to people who approach the Teaching with sincerity in their heart and are caught in groups, institutions, or organizations that are only for social activities or that function as traps for exploitation. Some of these searchers gradually forget about their quest and adapt themselves to their environment. Some of them totally suppress their aspiration and spiritual striving because of their disillusionment.

Only a small percentage, through discrimination, continue their search to find the proper field where they can grow and serve.

The number of true searchers is increasing. We must prepare ourselves to meet their need and at the same time safeguard ourselves from the dangers of falling into vanities, glamors, or of using the searchers for our own interests.

Torkom Saraydarian, Leadership I, p. 16.

Our first training courses were launched in September 2000. We have classes on site as well as by correspondence. For information on classes and online registration visit our website at www.torkomsaraydarianuniversity.org or write to us.

Torkom Saraydarian Book Publishing Fund Torkom Saraydarian dedicated his entire life to serving others in their spiritual growth. At the time of his passing, more than 100 manuscripts had been written and prepared for publication. This work represents a seamless tapestry of Wisdom and we are dedicated to publishing the entire collection.

He had the unique wisdom and dedication to write all of these magnificent books in one lifetime. Now it is our turn to do the work. Together we can make his dream a reality and bring his legacy to fruition.

We depend on contributions for the publishing of the books. A special fund, The Torkom Saraydarian Book Publishing Fund has been established for the completion of this legacy. Contact us for details about the Book Fund and an update regarding remaining manuscripts.

As we go to press with this book we have at least 75 titles not yet published! We need your help to release these treasuries of Wisdom.

You can contribute funds for an entire book, or give any amount you wish on a continuous basis or a one-time contribution.

Thank you for your loving and continuous support.