Agni Yoga

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Agni Yoga
Founders
Theosophy (Blavatskian)
Maitreya Sangha

Agni Yoga (

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

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

esoteric movements and philosophies.[1]

Birth of the new religion

Etymology and concept

Portraits of two women who had a strong influence on the creation of Agni Yoga: Helena Roerich by Serov (left) and Helena Blavatsky by Schmiechen

Agni Yoga is a synthesis of all yogas. In all the ancient Hindu scriptures the approaching Fiery Epoch has been predicted. It is said that Agni – the Fire that is found in varying degrees at the foundation of all yogas will saturate the atmosphere of our planet tremendously, and all the branches of yoga will be fused into a fiery synthesis. Verily, Agni Yoga is a fiery baptism.

 — Helena Roerich[2]

The term Agni Yoga means "mergence with fire" in Sanskrit. This term was introduced to the Western public by Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich.[3]

Vedic literature, Agni primarily connotes fire as a god, reflecting the primordial powers to consume, transform and convey.[5]

Rāja Yoga originally referred to the ultimate goal of yoga, which is Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधि, Hindi pronunciation: [səˈmaːdʱi]), 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.[6][7]

Atman.[10] 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.[11]

Ur or Aditi (Sanskrit: अदिति "limitless"),[12] 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.[13] "Ur is the root of the Light of Fire", it is stated in the holy writ of Agni Yoga.[14]

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.[16]

Master Morya by Hermann Schmiechen, 1884.[17]

The creation of the human form is regarded as the highest cosmic task.

 —Infinity Part I, § 387[18]

It is a most heinous treason to know the Teaching and not apply it.

 — Agni Yoga, § 98[19]

Mahatmas who inspired the founding of Theosophy and Agni Yoga.[21] He has written and dictated the letters with the goal of elevating mankind and bringing a New Age.[22] Master Morya will physically incarnate in order to be the Manu ("progenitor ") of the new root race.[23][24]

Tara Urusvati (The Light of the Morning Star) is the spiritual name of Helena Roerich (1879–1955) in Agni Yoga and Roerichism.[25] 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.[26] Each of the 935 paragraphs of the book "Supermundane" begins with the word "Urusvati".[27] In the epilogue of the book "Agni Yoga" she is called the Mother of Agni Yoga.[28]

Fuyama is the spiritual name of Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947) in Agni Yoga and Roerichism. He was an internationally acclaimed artist, conservationist, archeologist, humanitarian and peacemaker.[29] Nicolas Roerich called Urusvati "She Who Leads" in his creations.[30]

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.[31] 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.[32]

biological evolution of physical form.[33]

The concept of spiritual evolution is also complemented by the idea of a

creative impulse in human beings, known as epigenesis.[34]

Agni Yoga, in general, is a Neo-Theosophical religious doctrine[35] transmitted by the Helena and Nicholas Roerichs from 1920. The followers of Living Ethics believe that the teaching was given to the Roerichs' family[36] 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.[37] 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.[38]

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.[39]

Precursors of Agni Yoga

The Voice of the Silence presented by Helena Blavatsky to Leo Tolstoy (Yasnaya Polyana, a writer's home)

"The

esotericism
."

—Scholar of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff, 1997.[40]

Theosophy

Main article:
Theosophy (Blavatskian)

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.[41]

Madame Blavatsky (Upasica – this spiritual name means a female lay disciple. So the "Teachers" called her

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".[43]

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

Buddhists, or Hindus.[44]

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.[45] Daryl S. Paulson associates "Neo-Theosophy" with Alice Bailey.[46] She introduced the term New Age – Age of Aquarius.[47]

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[48] and Victor Skumin. So, in 1990, Skumin, based on the theosophical concept of spiritual evolution, proposed a classification of Homo spiritalis (Latin: "Spiritual man"), the sixth root race, consisting of eight sub-races (subspecies): 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.[49]

Russian philosophy and Russian Cosmism

Main articles:
Russian Cosmism
Vladimir Solovyov by Nikolai Yaroshenko, 1892
Nikolai Fyodorov by Leonid Pasternak

Russian

Slavic culture.[50]

The discussion of Russia's place in the world has since become the most characteristic feature of Russian philosophy. Notable philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries include Vladimir Solovyev, Vasily Rozanov, Lev Shestov, Leo Tolstoy, Sergei Bulgakov, Pavel Florensky, Pitirim Sorokin. In its further development, Russian philosophy was also marked by deep connection to literature and interest in creativity, society, religion, and Russian cosmism.[51]

Vladimir Solovyov described his encounters with the entity Sophia in his works, such as Three Encounters and Lectures on Godmanhood. His fusion was driven by the desire to reconcile or unite with Orthodox Christianity the various iterations of the Russian

Patriarchate of Moscow.[52]

The cover of the book "The Will of the Universe; Unknown Intelligent Forces" by Tsiolkovsky, 1928

Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher, who was part of the Russian cosmist movement and a precursor of transhumanism. Fedorov argued that humanity is the culmination of evolution, as well as its creator and director. Humans must therefore direct evolution where their reason and morality dictate. Fedorov stated that the struggle against death can become the most natural cause uniting all people, regardless of their nationality, race, citizenship or wealth. He called this the "Common Cause". Fedorov thought that death and afterdeath existence should become the subject of comprehensive scientific inquiry, that achieving immortality and revival is the greatest goal of science.[53]

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a burst of scientific investigation into interplanetary travel, largely driven by fiction writers such as Jules Verne and Herbert Wells as well as philosophical movements like Russian cosmism. In 1903, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky published the first serious scientific work on space travel. His work was essentially unknown outside the Russian Empire, but inside the country it inspired further research, experimentation and the formation of the Society for Studies of Interplanetary Spaceflight.[54] Tsiolkovsky wrote a book called "The Will of the Universe; Unknown Intelligent Forces" in which he propounded a philosophy of panpsychism. He believed humans would eventually colonize the Milky Way. His thought preceded the Space Age by several decades, and some of what he foresaw in his imagination has come into being since his death. Tsiolkovsky did not believe in traditional religious cosmology, but instead he believed in a cosmic being that governed humans.[55]

The ideas of the Russian philosophers and cosmists later were developed by those in the transhumanist movement and Roerichism.[56][57] For example, the Russian scientist Victor Skumin argues that the Culture of Health will play an important role in the creation of a human spiritual society into the Solar System.[58][59]

Historical development

140th birth anniversary of Nicholas Roerich.[60]
NYC
, 1929 view.

Information about

Western countries in the first decade of the 20th century. In the United States of the 1920s, when the voices in religion were arguing over fundamentalism and modernism as the only available choice, and long before Shangri-La had become a popularly accepted myth, a vanguard movement was promoting the alternative of the wisdom of the Eastern world.[61]

Mahātmās, or simply as the Masters. The first person to talk about them in the West was Helena Blavatsky, after she and other people claimed to have received messages from them. These included Nicholas Roerich and Helena Roerich, too.[62] She emphasized that knowledge was the leading path of all great Teachers. Knowledge will permit a free and vital approach to the great Teaching, as vitally real as is the great Matter itself.[63]

When Nicholas Roerich died, his wife is believed to have carried on the work prescribed by Master Morya, "I exist only due to the ray of the Great Master, who said it was necessary for me to remain because no one could replace me as I worked under the highest Cosmic Sign, and this century was in need of my attainment". The main aim of Helena Roerich was to spread the message of Agni Yoga.[64]

The Agni Yoga Society in the State of New York

The Agni Yoga Society was founded in 1920 by Helena and Nicholas Roerich. It is a non-profit educational institution incorporated in 1946 under the laws of the

State of New York, and is supported entirely by voluntary contributions and membership dues. The organization was located in the building Master Apartments. The aims of the Society are embodied in the philosophy that gives it its name—Agni Yoga—as contained in the books of the Agni Yoga Series published by the Society. In them is found a synthesis of ancient Eastern beliefs and modern Western thought and a bridge between the spiritual and the scientific.[65]

Unlike previous yogas, 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. Though not systematized in an ordinary sense, it is a teaching that helps the student to discover moral and spiritual guide-posts by which to learn to govern his or her life and thus contribute to the common good. For this reason Agni Yoga has been called a "Living Ethics". Speaking about the role of personality in the spiritual evolution of mankind, Helena Roerich wrote:[66][67]

The greatest benefit that we can contribute consists in the broadening of consciousness, and the improvement and enrichment of our thinking, together with the purification of the heart, in order to strengthen our emanations; and by thus raising our vibrations, we restore the health of all that surrounds us. True, it is impossible to increase our store of psychic energy without the help of the Teacher; however if our hearts are open and purified, and if our organism permits it, the Teacher will not tarry in manifesting himself.

Latvian Roerich Society in Riga

The Latvian Roerich Society is one of the oldest society established by the Roerich family. In 1920 Vladimir Schibayev, while being in London, met Nicholas and Helena Roerich. In Riga they created a group of people to study Agni Yoga and other theosophical literature. In 1928, Schibayev went to India, to become the secretary of Roerich.[68]

In Riga the place of the leader of Latvian Roerich Society was taken by

clinical trials and many natural medications that they received from Svetoslav Roerich of the Himalayan Research Institute named Urusvati.[69]

In 1936

Republic of Latvia.[68]

Master Institute of United Arts in New York City

Nicolas Roerich is known as a thinker and a builder of life. His art and writings are an evocation to beauty, knowledge, and culture. His vision is captured in his philosophical statement of the Master Institute of United Arts which he formed in New York City in 1921:[70]

Art will unify all humanity. Art is one – indivisible. Art has its many branches, yet all are one. Art is the manifestation of the coming synthesis. Art is for all.

Louis L. Horch and Nettie S. Horch financed and directed the Master Institute that taught the fine and dramatic arts. For much of its existence, the Master Institute was housed in the Master Apartments, designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett in 1929 for Roerich and built on the site of the former Horch mansion at 310 Riverside Dr. in New York City.[71]

Roerich planned to realize the educational concepts at the institute. He invited as teachers such famous people as

Claude Bragdon, George Bellows, and Norman Bel Geddes.[73]

Some contemporaries were skeptical spiritual mission of Nicholas Roerich. But those who embraced his philosophy experienced something transformative in his canvases. Roerich's name is universally known not only as a master of the brush but also as a thinker and a builder of life. The works of the artist are an evocation to beauty, knowledge, and culture.[74]

Himalayan Research Institute named Urusvati in India

Naggar (Himachal Pradesh, India).[75]

Roerich's family moved to India in December 1923. They settled in Darjeeling, a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Lower Himalayan Ranges at an elevation of 6,700 ft (2,042.2 m).[76]

From 1925 to 1928, Roerich took part in a

religions, and geography was conducted. Rare manuscripts were found, and rich linguistic materials were collected. Special attention was paid to the problem of historical unity of cultures of various peoples. In 1925, Helena Roerich began to translate an extensive selection from The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett. She also wrote a book entitled "Chalice of the East", which was published under the pen name "Iskander Khanum". Helena Roerich's manuscript "Foundations of Buddhism" was published in 1926, at Urga, where her expedition was staying at the time. In this book, the fundamental philosophical notions of Buddha's teaching were interpreted.[77]

Prof. George de Roerich, director of the Himalayan Research Institute named Urusvati.[78]

The plethora of materials collected during the Central Asia Expedition became the foundation for the establishment of the Himalayan Research Institute named Urusvati in

Kulu Valley.[79]

The center engaged in scientific exchange with 285 institutes, universities, museums, and libraries around the world. George de Roerich was a world-renowned scientist, Orientalist, and guru.[80] His monumental translation of the Blue Annals (Tibetan: དེབ་ཐེར་སྔོན་པོ),[81] and his 11-volume "Tibetan-Russian-English dictionary with Sanskrit parallels" were published in 1934.[82]

One of his main focuses for the center was to bring people to the institute who practiced and lived the cultures being examined at the center. George Roerich was the director of the Himalayan Research Institute named Urusvati for 10 years.[83]

Svetoslav Roerich. Russian postage stamp

alchemical sources.[84]

The work of the Himalayan Research Institute was based on wide international cooperation.

philosopher and statesman Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the Swedish geographer and explorer Sven Hedin, and many others.[86]

The Journal of the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute (U.J.) published articles on various aspects of science and culture. The publications presented a multi-level perception of the authors who were looking for a new integration of different cultural models into the mainstream of Agni Yoga.[87]

Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City

Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York City