The Fire of Love

Here in the Southern Hemisphere the season of Spring is now in full sway. Plants are greening and blooming, the seasonal winds are freshening the air and people are opening their doors like flowers unfolding to the warmth of the Sun. What inspiration and joy the plant kingdom brings as, perhaps more than any other kingdom in nature, it demonstrates true growth and purpose – rising against the gravitational pull to open to the Sun’s beneficent rays, responding to the magnetic power emanating from the mighty Heart of our system. And as we emerge from the protective Winter shelters, we are reminded by the natural world that great and subtle laws are guiding the planetary Life – in-breathing and out-breathing the rhythm of its life through all parts of the planetary expression.

Despite any despondency we may feel at failed ideals and aspirations, hope still blooms in so many little yet potent and unexpected ways as nature persists in all its irresistible fecundity and diversity. Can we not hear the planetary Being speaking of a vaster life than the petty ideals that have disappointed? Its great breath moves through all passes and passages and so sounds the joy of a life more abundant than any human imagining – and is so freely available if we let go the barriers between one another.

Every return of the seasons seems to echo the promise of the return of the World Teacher, anticipated in all religions, yet whose arrival will be other than as we may have become accustomed to think. As reflected in these words from the Bible:

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others;” I Thessalonians 5:2-6

A greater power, heart and mind is conceiving that mighty renewal of life which will be so much more than mere worldly expectations. The Tibetan Master tells us:

The vision which many have of the influence and work of the [coming] Avatar …is that of a Great Appearance which will end all strife, inaugurate the new era of peace and goodwill, soothe the hearts of the people and lead mankind into realms of beauty and of happiness. He will be the consummation of the wishful thinking of countless minds down the ages. He will be the solace of distressed humanity. He will sweetly love and quietly deal with His Own people and will sweep the evil doer out of the Earth and prevent him from again molesting the peace of the world.
I tell you that such a picture does not enter into the vision of reality at all. It is based on theological interpretations and human selfishness; it is founded on the misery of mankind and on the failure of disciples and aspirants everywhere to grasp the true nature of love and the real vision of the hierarchical Plan.
It is the Fire of Love which He will bring; it is the message of the purificatory fire which He will sound; He will not teach anent the waters of purification, as has hitherto been the symbolic imparted truth; He will impart the fire which burns and destroys all barriers in man’s nature, all separating walls between individuals, between groups and between nations…” Discipleship in the New Age I, page 722

And in the Agni Yoga writings we read:

Regarding the various qualities of love, let us note the love that holds back and the love that impels forward. Essentially, the first type is earthly, while the second is heavenly. What a multitude of creations have been destroyed by the first, and what a similar number have been winged on by the second! The first is aware of all the limitations of space and consciousness, but the second has no need to measure things by earthly standards. It is unimpeded by distances or considerations of death. While the first views the world as a planet, the second is not hampered even by the possibility that the planet may be destroyed, because all the worlds lie before it. Actually, the second love extends to the physical world as well as the Subtle and Fiery Worlds. It kindles hearts, giving them the highest joy, and is therefore indestructible. So let us expand the heart—not for Earth but for Infinity.” Heart, 242

Love in all its dimensions and frequencies weaves the connecting threads through which understanding flows and grows like a flower opening to the Sun. The dire situations in many places around our world require us to shift into a higher resonance of that mighty energy we call love. The pressing need impels us to expand understanding along with an expanding sense of self, of what humanity more truly IS, in order to resolve the conflicts that yet beset our search for harmony in living. This applies to the observable conflicts around the world and also to the less visible inner conflicts within our own psyche which lead to all the external strife. The shift is from desire, with its attachment to familiar yet failed ideals, to a more true reflection of that love which generates life more abundantly, expansively and inclusively. For then we enter the stream of life that flows through the divine Heart to be spread abroad.

In August 1940 the Tibetan (known as DK) advised a disciple about drawing in the heart’s love:

You are, under the glamour of idealism, apt to sacrifice the spirit of love in order to preserve the form of your ideal. …Ideals must go as they are now formulated because we are entering into a new age wherein all things will become new. They can safely be relinquished when their place is taken by a real soul love for humanity— inclusive, sane and practical. Ideals are formulations by the human mind. The [Spiritual] Hierarchy has no ideals. The Hierarchy is simply the channel for pure love and where love exists there is no danger of harshness, of cruelty, of misunderstanding, of evasion of facts or of harmfulness.
….Much also that many regard as harmless is definitely harmful in its general effects. Ideals, as usually held, feed pride, lead to stubbornness, and engender a separative superiority; they produce impractical attitudes and negative activities. The one who thus holds them frequently serves only in the limited field, conditioned by his chosen work and coloured by his idealism. He excludes the Whole and thinks in terms of the past and as he wants to think. There is no real understanding of an opposing idealism and often no real attempt to comprehend its basis. His emphasis upon his own ideals …prevents understanding, and he is so busy upholding them and defending them …and being conditioned by them that the larger human issues escape his attention…
…One thing only will prevent this happening: Loving understanding and a consequent sacrifice of the life to humanity as a whole. The greatest good of the greatest number becomes his life theme and to this the whole man is subordinated.” Discipleship in the New Age II, page 530 – 531

The heart is the point of balance where all things come together in true relationship. We have become greatly accustomed to the self-substantiating logic of the rational mind. Our next expansion of evolutionary growth requires the heart to bring greater understanding. In transmissions, offered to guide disciples in living the wisdom teachings in the current world context, we read:

There is another facet of meditation taught by Our Brother DK which remains sadly underutilized. It involves the building aspect of the mind, whose full capacity can be attained through the energies of the heart. If you would become builders of the future, you could start with even a single element known to you, adding fuel to that element every day, immersing it in the light of mind, ‘watering it’ through the tendrils of the heart. By this means you will pave the avenues and boulevards of the new City.
Building the new world also occurs through the total clearing of the mind, by withdrawing your awareness from all exterior stimuli and creating the experience of emptiness. Dwell in that space for a while, allowing the Silence to waft over you, filling you with itself until the self is no longer aware of breathing and the mind is devoid of thought. When the emptiness settles in, you will enter a state in which a higher octave of building work is possible, for there We can commune with you if invited to do so.” Instructions on Group Discipleship, August 13 2014

When we can share heart to heart we may enter the realm where the heart’s flow reflects soul to soul. Then loving understanding becomes the air we breathe and the sustaining ambience in which a harmonious balance embraces all the dimensions of being – attuned to the Great Heart at the centre of our world. The Tibetan Master reminds us:

…love brings all earthly karma to an end. Love induces that radiation which invokes and evokes not only the heart of God but the heart of humanity also. Love is the cause of all creation and the sustaining factor in all living.” Discipleship in the New Age II, page 541

And from the Agni Yoga teachings:

Let us accept love as the motive force in the expansion of consciousness. The heart will not be aflame without love; it will not be invincible, nor will it be self-sacrificing. So let us bring gratitude to every receptacle of love, for love lies on the border of the New World, where hatred and intolerance have been abolished. The path of love unfolds with the intensity of cosmic energy. So on this path everyone will find his place in the Cosmos. Not as dried leaves but as lotuses aflame will people find kinship with the Highest World.” Heart, 243

Just as a tiny seed has within it the power of a mighty tree, so love can call forth from the kernel of the smallest things an unsurpassable glory. Many great and inspiring world teachers have come from humble beginnings. And we are urged to: “start with even a single element” but at least to begin the way of the heart however simply. Perhaps amongst the least noticeable we will find the key that opens a new Age of Light wherein we live as souls in that greater love of which goodwill is the first faint reflection in the world. Let the kernel of the New Civilisation take root in our hearts.