Agni Yoga
Agni Yoga or the Living Ethics, or the Teaching of Life, is a Neo-Theosophical religious doctrine transmitted by Helena Roerich and Nicholas Roerich from 1920. The term Agni Yoga means "Mergence with Divine Fire" or "Path to Mergence with Divine Fire". This term was introduced by the Roerichs. The followers of Agni Yoga believe that the teaching was given to the Roerich family and their associates by Master Morya, the guru of the Roerichs and of Helena Blavatsky, one of the founders of the modern Theosophical movement and of the Theosophical Society.
Agni Yoga is a path of practice in daily life. It is the yoga of fiery energy, of consciousness, of responsible, directed thought. It teaches that the evolution of the planetary consciousness is a pressing necessity and that, through individual striving, it is an attainable aspiration for mankind. According to Helena Roerich, Agni Yoga is the synthesis of all yogas. In all the ancient Hindu scriptures, the approaching Fiery Age was predicted. Agni–Fire, which to a varying degree is at the heart of all yogas, will saturate the atmosphere of our planet, and all the branches of yoga will be merged into a fiery synthesis. Agni Yoga is a fire baptism.
The most significant features of Agni Yoga are cosmism and universalism. They are expressed in the interpretation of any phenomena of human existence from the point of view of their cosmic significance and interrelation with the being of the universe.
Agni Yoga played a significant role in bringing knowledge of Asian religions to the Western world. Living Ethics has an international following and has thousands of adherents. The ideas of the Teaching of Life have exerted an influence on other esoteric movements and philosophies.
Birth of the new religion
Etymology and concept
The term Agni Yoga means "mergence with fire" in Sanskrit. This term was introduced to the Western public by Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich.Agni is the Vedic and Living Ethics' "god of fire", who marks immortality and is the symbol of life. Agni is one of the highest gods in the Rigveda. In Agni Yoga it is the creative fire of the universe, the root of the "Fire of Space"; and the "psychic energy", the powers of the human mind and heart, particularly those manifesting in love, thought, and creativity. In the original myth found in many Indo-European cultures Agni is a bird-like being, that brings fire from the gods to mankind. Alternatively, this messenger brings an elixir of immortality from Heaven to Earth. In the early Vedic literature, Agni primarily connotes fire as a god, reflecting the primordial powers to consume, transform and convey.
Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Yoga is a group of spiritual, mental, and physical practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. The term Yoga has been applied to a variety of practices and methods. In Hinduism these include Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Laya Yoga and Hatha Yoga. The term Rāja Yoga originally referred to the ultimate goal of yoga, which is Samadhi, but was popularised by Swami Vivekananda as the common name for Ashtanga Yoga. In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, Samadhi is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Aum or Oṃ,, is a sacred sound and a spiritual symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. This word has three phonemes: a, u, and m, though it is often described as trisyllabic despite this being either archaic or the result of translation. It signifies the essence of the ultimate reality, consciousness or Atman. The twelfth book of the scriptures of Agni Yoga is called "Aum". Aum, as this book says, was a synthesis of sonant strivings. Prayer and inward concentration are excellent attainments which render healthful the state of the spirit. Each one in his own way has contributed a manifestation useful to spiritual concentration, whether he sought the solution in music, in song, or in the dance; man was striving to create a particularly exalted state of mind, promoting the reception of the higher energies.
Ur or Aditi, in the Vedas and Living Ethics is the mother of the gods and all twelve zodiacal spirits from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born. As celestial mother of every existing form and being, the synthesis of all things, she is associated with space and with mystic speech. She is mentioned nearly eighty times in the Rigveda: the verse "Daksha sprang from Aditi and Aditi from Daksha" is seen by Theosophists as a reference to "the eternal cyclic re-birth of the same divine essence" and divine wisdom. "Ur is the root of the Light of Fire", it is stated in the holy writ of Agni Yoga.
Shambhala is the birthplace of Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu, who will usher a New Age – Satya Yuga. Shambhala is ruled by Maitreya. The Kalachakra Tantra prophesies that when all is lost, Kalki will emerge from Shambhala to vanquish the "Dark Forces" and usher a worldwide Golden Age. Shambhala is also called Shangri-La.
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Morya is one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom within modern Theosophical beliefs. He is one of the Mahatmas who inspired the founding of Theosophy and Agni Yoga. He has written and dictated the letters with the goal of elevating mankind and bringing a New Age. Master Morya will physically incarnate in order to be the Manu of the new root race.
Tara Urusvati is the spiritual name of Helena Roerich in Agni Yoga and Roerichism. She was a teacher and healer as well as the inspired co-author of the Agni Yoga series of books, the first English books about Living Ethics and the Roerichs' relationship with their guru. Each of the 935 paragraphs of the book "Supermundane" begins with the word "Urusvati". In the epilogue of the book "Agni Yoga" she is called the Mother of Agni Yoga.
Fuyama is the spiritual name of Nicholas Roerich in Agni Yoga and Roerichism. He was an internationally acclaimed artist, conservationist, archeologist, humanitarian and peacemaker. Nicolas Roerich called Urusvati "She Who Leads" in his creations.
Karma means action, work or deed. It also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual influence his future. Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and future suffering. With origins in ancient India's Vedic civilization, the philosophy of karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in many schools of Indian religions, particularly Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Karma works as one of the great principles of cosmic action. When man realizes the power of karma and strives to express the best aspirations, his path is parallel with the universal energy. The universal energy attracts the creative strivings. The future and the infinite are thus being built, written in the holy scripture of Agni Yoga.
Spiritual evolution is the philosophical, theological, esoteric or spiritual idea that nature and human beings and human culture evolve either extending from an established cosmological pattern, or in accordance with certain pre-established potentials. The phrase "spiritual evolution" can occur in the context of "higher evolution", a term used to differentiate psychological, mental, or spiritual evolution from the "lower evolution" or biological evolution of physical form.
The concept of spiritual evolution is also complemented by the idea of a creative impulse in human beings, known as epigenesis.
Agni Yoga, in general, is a Neo-Theosophical religious doctrine transmitted by the Helena and Nicholas Roerichs from 1920. The followers of Living Ethics believe that the teaching was given to the Roerichs' family and their associates by Master Morya, the guru of Roerichs and Helena Blavatsky, one of the founders of the modern Theosophical movement and the Theosophical Society. The Teaching of Life is a path of practice in daily life. It is the yoga of fiery energy, of consciousness, of responsible, directed thought. It teaches that the evolution of the planetary consciousness is a pressing necessity and that, through individual striving, it is an attainable aspiration for mankind.
The most significant features of Agni Yoga are cosmism and universalism. They are expressed in the interpretation of any phenomena of human existence from the point of view of their cosmic significance and interrelation with the being of the Universe.
Precursors of Agni Yoga
Theosophy
The Theosophical Society was officially formed in New York City on 17 November 1875 by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge, and others. It was self-described as "an unsectarian body of seekers after Truth, who endeavour to promote Brotherhood and strive to serve humanity". After a few years Olcott and Blavatsky moved to India and established the International Headquarters at Adyar, in Madras.Madame Blavatsky insisted that Theosophy is not a religion, although she did refer to it as the modern transmission of the "once universal religion" that she claimed had existed deep into the human past. The motto of the Theosophical movement is: "There is no Religion higher than Truth".
Theosophical organisations regard it as a system that embraces what they see as the "essential truth" underlying religion, philosophy, and science. Theosophical groups allow their members to hold other religious allegiances, resulting in Theosophists who also identify as Christians, Buddhists, or Hindus.
The term Neo-Theosophy was coined by Ferdinand T. Brooks around 1912. This term used by the followers of Helena Blavatsky to denominate the system of theosophical ideas expounded following the death of Blavatsky in 1891. This material differed in major respects from Blavatsky's original presentation, but it is accepted as genuinely Theosophical by many Theosophists around the world. Daryl S. Paulson associates "Neo-Theosophy" with Alice Bailey. She introduced the term New Age – Age of Aquarius.
Other Neo-Theosophists include Rudolf Steiner's contemporary Peter Deunov, and Samael Aun Weor. Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley were also influencers of the leading edge of the Theosophical movement. Some examples of Neo-Theosophists today include Benjamin Creme and Victor Skumin. So, in 1990, Skumin, based on the theosophical concept of spiritual evolution, proposed a classification of Homo spiritalis, the sixth root race, consisting of eight sub-races : HS-0 Anabiosis spiritalis, HS-1 Scientella spiritalis, HS-2 Aurora spiritalis, HS-3 Ascensus spiritalis, HS-4 Vocatus spiritalis, HS-5 Illuminatio spiritalis, НS-6 Creatio spiritalis, and HS-7 Servitus spiritalis.