The New Year has begun! With the resulting creative energies released during the Winter Solstice in December, the Capricorn full moon and the eight-day, special New Group of World Servers meditations, our fires of enthusiasm have once again been ignited with an expanding group consciousness, new insights, and contemplative ideas for the upcoming months and years.
For this issue of Meditation Monthly International we chose the theme of “spiritual testing”—a theme most appropriate for the one striving toward continuing spiritual unfoldment. We hope you enjoy this thought-provoking issue, which includes the new Bard’s Corner tale “The Magic of Beauty,” and find it helpful to your own experiences. Speaking of the Bard’s Corner, we realize there are a number of Meditation Monthly International readers who have a talent for creative writing. It is our belief that many inquiring minds would enjoy reading about the beauty of the Ageless Wisdom through short stories, dramas, essays, poetry and other creative styles of writing. It is to this belief that we extend an open invitation for you to submit your creative writings for possible publication in a future MMI issue.
Plans for the annual Spring Conference (April 6 – April 10), co-sponsored by the White Mountain Education Association and the T.S.G. Publishing Foundation, are in high gear and promise to be a wonderfully peaceful and enlightening experience for all who attend. We are looking forward to making new friends and enjoying the atmosphere of spiritual retreat in the pine forest of Prescott, Arizona. (Please note enclosed flyer.)
While the staff was creating this issue of MMI, I could not help but reflect upon the many available writings of some pure and advanced spiritual Teachers, writings in which they would occasionally reference certain tests of courage along their path of ascent. Torkom Saraydarian’s writings and lectures are pregnant with beautiful and inspiring tales of courage, fearlessness, dedication and endurance, woven like a tapestry throughout his many beautiful books and videos. And the life of the most beautiful Helena Roerich: many trials of the spirit are referenced in her newly published book At the Threshold of the New World. There are also the paths of trial found in the lives of Helena Roerich’s own students, which can be found in the two volumes of Letters of Helena Roerich.
Let me leave you with a Sufi tale of wise amusement. A certain conqueror said to Nasrudin: “Mulla, all the great rulers of the past had honorific titles with the name of God in them: there was, for instance, God-Gifted, and God-Accepted, and so on. How about some such name for me?”
“God Forbid,” said Nasrudin.
Shanti
Joleen D. Du Bois
Presidentj
joleen@wmea-world.org
Spiritual
Tests
by Joleen D. DuBois
When
one is on the spiritual path, any expansion of consciousness is normally preceded
by tests: 
tests
of a physical, emotional and/or mental nature.
One might ask, “What is the value of spiritual testing?” Each of us as human souls, in order to manifest our Divine Nature, our soul’s Purpose, must strive toward a balance between the inner and outer life, the mundane life and spiritual life. This is accomplished by balancing your life and activities with spiritual goals and intentions. It is through continuous spiritual testing then that an environment for equilibrium will be created, an environment through which soul advancement and return to Shamballa, the Father’s Home, will be possible. Spiritual testing is a method whereby the soul can advance; striving is the result of the soul’s urge for change. Striving brings about a balanced expansion of your nature, which rhythmically and naturally leads the human soul to identification with its True Self.
Each year, we find certain Cosmic and zodiacal impulses, which evoke from within our soul a yearning to surpass our present station in life—our present environment, situations, conditions and so forth. It is an impulse, which is felt all over the world during particular cycles. Some of the cycles are monthly, such as during the new and full moon cycles. Other cycles are yearly; others occur every seven years, 100 years, 250 years, 2,500 years, 25,000 years and 250,000 years. But no matter which cycle is active, whether planetary or Cosmic, the energy released in each cycle always brings about continuous spiritual testings—tests that will reveal where you as a soul are on the ladder of evolution. Each testing presents opportunities for the individual, group, nation and/or global community to strive toward Its Divine Purpose.
At the New Year, after having just passed through the Winter Solstice and the full moon of Capricorn, our soul has been charged with a new energy of striving. It comes in the form of hope, inspiration, and the urge to change, the urge to surpass our present stage of life. In order for the changes to occur, tests will be presented to the soul through which opportunity for advancement can take place.
Master M. tells us that the “Maitreya wishes
to hasten all.” As you carefully read through the esoteric Teachings, you
will discover that our planet is late on the path of its evolution. As
such, it is necessary to “hasten our steps on the spiritual path, if we
want to eventually be graduated from the school of the planetary experience
instead of falling into the labyrinth of a life of pain and suffering.”1
We know that within every person there is a plan, and this plan must manifest
in full blossom. This is our responsibility, and this responsibility must
be accepted and successfully met. This is accomplished through spiritual
testing and the urge to surpass our present station in life, the urge to
change and progress.
What are some of the tests?
________________________
1. Torkom Saraydarian, Talks on Agni (Sedona: Aquarian
Educational Group), p.71.
2. Torkom Saraydarian, Spiritual Regeneration (Sarasota: White
Mountain Education Association, Inc.), pp. 185-186.
“The Magic of Beauty”
by Shary Singer
On a hill in a land, in a
forest far away, there was a hut. In the hut lived an old man with very little
to call
his own. In the hut there was a fireplace and tools to keep the fire going and
cook his meals. There was a small bed to sleep on and a little table that would
fit only one person with little to put on it. In the corner was a hook to hang
his clothes on and by the door was his walking staff.
One day he decided he would call his dog and they would go to
the village with some trinkets that he had carved from some beautiful wood he
had found in the forest. He would take these carvings to trade for some supplies.
It was a long walk and he would set out in the morning when the sun was just
coming up over the hill.
The morning was clear and bright and as he walked he greeted the birds that
were awakening and looking for breakfast. They seemed to know him and came to
perch on his shoulders. He knew every living creature that lived in that part
of the forest and he loved them all.
On the way he stopped and greeted any people he passed or that passed him on their way into the village. They all knew of him, even the children who made up stories about him. They would fantasize about how he hunted the bears and fearsome predators, so to them he was fearless. Some told about how he worked spells and made deals with the spirits to protect him. Everyone wondered how he could live safely in the wilds of the forest and never seem to have any weapons, because they all feared the dark forest and wouldn’t dare venture into it without protection.
In the village there lived a shoemaker, who had a family and a nice home. He had a shop with lots of room for his workspace, with areas to display his shoes and other leather goods. In the shop there were men’s shoes and ladies’ shoes and farmer’s shoes and banker’s shoes. On the shelves he also displayed purses and pouches and anything you could think of that would be made of leather.
But the shoemaker was not a happy man. He had a
wife who was always urging him to try to better 
himself.
He had a daughter who was always complaining that they were not rich enough,
and a son who wasn’t interested in learning the trade and instead chased
girls and gambled at the Inn. The poor man was worried all the time about bills
and had no one to talk to.
One day the old man from the forest walked into the shoemaker’s store. He looked around and admired the beautiful shoes and leather goods. He asked the shoemaker if he would be interested in trading a pair of shoes for some of the intricate woodcarvings he had made. The shoemaker knew who he was, of course, and wondered what sort of carvings the man had, so he said he would consider it.
As the old man unpacked his work, the shoemaker
was amazed. The carvings were beautiful. 
They
were little forest animals and plants and groupings of both together, each one
so intricate that it looked like it could come to life at any moment. As he
examined each one the shoemaker’s heart felt fuller and fuller. The joy expressed
in the figures was overwhelming. The longer he held them the more he felt he
had to own them. He could just imagine his wife and daughter’s cries of joy
when they saw the beautiful carvings. The shoemaker offered the old man anything
he wanted. He told him to choose a pair of boots and a pair of shoes and a pouch
to carry his tools in. His generosity surprised the old man as he gathered up
the goods piled before him.
The shoemaker closed his shop early, taking some of the best carvings home to his wife. When he entered the house she yelled out at him, “Why, whatever are you doing home at this hour? You better have a good reason for closing the store this early!” He flinched but straightened his shoulders knowing that she would be as amazed as he had been by the old man’s beautiful carvings.
He pulled her into the parlor and sat her down on the chair. “Look at these
beautiful carvings I traded for. The old man from the forest brought them and
I knew you would love them, so I traded for all of them.” As he spoke he held
up the one that he thought was the best and most delicate.
“What is this! An animal, on a branch, looking into the water.
So what!” she exclaimed. “You closed down the store and dragged me away from
my baking for this! You better not have given him too much!”
The man just looked at her, seeming to see her for the first time. He realized that she had never shared his wonder at the beautiful things he saw. He saw for the first time how her heart was so caught up in “things” that represented wealth that she couldn’t see the beauty in a gentle curve of a branch or the delicate hairs on a little animal’s face. He wondered how he could have gone so long and not noticed how her mouth turned down in a permanent frown and how her eyes stared at him like little needles piercing his heart. He wondered if the old man would let him come and live in the hut in the forest.
As he sighed and started to reach for the beautiful
little wooden carving, the front door opened and in 
came
his daughter and the son of the Mayor. His wife stood up suddenly and brushed
the carving off the table. As it hit the hard wooden floor it broke into several
pieces and the shoemaker’s heart lurched as it crumbled irreparably.
The young man, upon seeing the shoemaker reach for something, walked over to him, and seeing the pieces of the carving exclaimed, “How beautiful! Where did it come from? Can it be fixed?” The shoemaker looked at him in amazement as the young man tried to piece the parts back together. His wife stopped and looked again at the little carving as if seeing it for the first time. “Oh, my! What have you done? You clumsy man. You have knocked it off the table and broken it! But what a beautiful piece!”
Again the shoemaker looked up in amazement, this time at his wife, as he heard the surprise in her voice and real admiration for the carving she had not liked just moments before. Was there magic in the carving? Or was she just responding to the admiration of the Mayor’s son?
“This? Oh, this is just a carving I traded the old man from the forest for this afternoon. It’s nothing really, just some wooden animals and a branch.”
“You don’t mean it surely,” The young man said.
“This is a work of art! Do you have more?”
“Yes. I have plenty more. Come over to my shop and I will show
you.” And they all went over to the shop.
As the word spread about the carvings and more people came to see them, the
shoemaker wondered if he should sell them. He asked his wife this the very next
day when he found her carefully holding one of the pieces and studying it with
a look of pure joy on her face.
“No, my husband. I don’t think you should sell them. What that
old man has put into these carvings is too precious to sell. I think you should
give them away.... just some of them. But I think we should share this magic
with others.”
The shoemaker stared at his wife. The corners of her mouth were no longer turned down and she was beautiful, just as she had been when he had married her so many years ago. The beauty of the carvings HAD been magic! The beauty had wiped away the troubles of his life, and when his wife had recognized the beauty, she had turned from her negativity too. It was the beauty and grace of the work of one old man, but it opened the eyes and hearts of many people to see more of the beauty around them.... There was indeed magic in the carvings.
These carving are work by Jack Sharp and Ric Eland and are available online.
.
.
.
Agni Yoga and the Tests of Life
A Compilation
The Silvery Tear—thus
We call the lofty degree of readiness for tests. The first word recalls
the silver
thread, the second—the chalice of patience. One should constantly
keep in mind that the concept of the supermundane lives side by side with the
earthly concept. The consciousness is very hard to maintain, for even good consciousnesses
think only along one line in the hour of testing. We should not console ourselves
with the thought that the silver thread is sturdy; let us rather safeguard it
as if it were something fragile. Moreover, let us not forget that the chalice
of patience is easily filled to overflowing, even in everyday life. It is not
difficult to pass judgment on another’s circumstances. Tests of equilibrium
should be carried out upon oneself. Each such victory will be in itself a true
success. 
(Brotherhood,
Verse 565)
If we desire to introduce Agni Yoga into life, its manifestations must be garbed in the most customary signs. Ask the disciple if he wishes to receive the support of the Teacher. Does he wish to receive spiritual and material help? Certainly he would wish this. Then let us enter the path of trial. Useful are the sudden tests of cold and hunger; useful the sudden tests of unbelief, of treason, of falsehood, and superstition.
Mark how the frail spirit bows under the wind, how he smacks for food, and how the lips violate the most sacred principles. But here walks he, poor, self-sacrificing, smiling at cold and hunger, trusting in the power of the Cosmic Principles in his ascent; eternally young, he is ready to understand the achievement of realization.
When you demand the application of Yoga in life, then you shall be true teachers. (Agni Yoga, Verse 176)
Tests are set for the pupil himself, as milestones on the path, which he notices when he crosses into the Subtle World. Thus we learn, for verification in various conditions; therefore it is necessary to understand the substance of work performed. How many unnoticeable labors in the physical world give splendid results in the subtle condition—thus it is necessary to evaluate labors broadly. Often we see that a seemingly abstract production results in the most concrete findings, while calculations which appear to be most exact give only an experiment in patience. The process of trial is most beneficial and enters into the system of the ancient Teachings. (Heart, Verse 116)
...People simply cannot understand why distinguished incarnations alternate with ones of hard labor. The illusion of having been a king or queen impedes one’s discernment even though perfectment is still needed. The earthly consciousnes does not realize how much an incarnation of hard labor can raise the consciousness above that of many sovereigns of this world. It is even more valuable when an understanding of the ascent of the spirit grows while in the earthly state.
Many learn about their distinguished incarnations and fall into pride. It is even worse when people glean from false accounts certain fantastic traits of character, and begin to emulate them, thus obscuring their path. Every old spirit has had some distinguished incarnations and gained knowledge of leadership. However, of the many needed qualities this ability is not of primary importance. The persecuted learn more than the persecutors, and all domains of hard labor are rife with discoveries. Tests are strewn at every crossroad. I speak of this because We, too, have encountered all tests. We have forgotten the pain, and the suffering has turned into joy. Our tormentors are themselves struggling somewhere and ascending through labor. Our Abode could not exist if We thought of threatening Our tormentors. The Law of Karma flows immutably. (Supermundane, Verse 35)
The happiness of the Teacher is in encouraging the disciples to dare toward Beauty. Long lists of tedious, torpid incidents do not promote this achievement. The Teacher himself must be aglow so that his approach alone may be passed on fierily. Such an everyday task is difficult, yet people are tested precisely in everyday life, which is the sister of Infinity. (Brotherhood, Verse 471)
In ancient communities each one undergoing testing was hailed. He was dealt with solicitously since it was known that it was inadmissible to forcibly interrupt the process of his experience. It was considered that each testing is a threshold to progress.
No one could twist the path of effects, but brotherly encouragement enabled him not to slacken his pace, even before the most frightful images. Of course, chaos in its terrible ugliness inevitably tries to impede the path of each one being tested. But let these images be dreadful; the manifestation of the most horrible one will be in itself the forerunner of the end of the test. (Brotherhood, Verse 483)
...It is our custom to test those who are
approaching the Brotherhood on liberation from habits. Such testing must
be unexpected. It is best to begin with small habits. Man is often concerned
with defending them more than anything else. They are considered to be
natural qualities, like birthmarks. Yet the newly born have no habits.
Atavism, the family, and school foster the growth of habits. In any case,
a routine habit is the enemy of evolution. (Brotherhood, Verse 529)
If you have any comments or questions please contact us - webmaster@wmea-world.org
Return to the Home page.