Agni means fire. Agni Yoga is a union through fire. In the ancient Wisdom bliss is not an emotional state of joy but rather a fiery energy. When the ancients were speaking about the intuitional plane, or even about intuition, they were referring to a spatial fire which burns all limitations and obstacles in the atmosphere of the pilgrim and releases him into the fire of space, into the first great step toward real unity. This leads to true renunciation.
When the ancients were speaking about peace, they were not referring to quietness, calm or stillness but they were referring to a great, subtle energy in the Great Existence, a fiery energy which cleans all karmic debts and releases man into the freedom of his Real Self. This is the true revelation.
When the ancients were talking about freedom, they were referring to a still greater fire, a greater energy which leads the pilgrim out of all conditioning factors and leaves him in absolute freedom to make his cosmic decision.
If his decision is to go forward toward the Great Existence, he then enters into the next fire, the fire of silence, where he meets the Fountain of Life. The Rajput sage, El Morya, says: �Agni Yoga directs humanity toward the simplest way.�
Again, �Some of the young may ask, �How shall one understand Agni Yoga?� Say, �As the perception and application in life of the all-embracing element of fire, which nourishes the seed of the spirit�.�
�All preceding Yogas, given from the highest Sources, took as their basis a definite quality of life. And now, at the advent of the age of Maitreya, there is needed a Yoga comprising the essence of the entire life, all-embracing, evading naught, as the unignitable youths in the biblical legend who valiantly sacrificed themselves to the fiery furnace and thereby acquired power ... It is precisely the element of fire which gives to this Yoga of self-sacrifice its name.
While in other yogas the dangers are diminished through exercise, in the Yoga of fire the perils are increased. Because fire, as an all-binding element, manifests itself everywhere and thereby admits realization of the subtlest energies. The fire will not lead away from life; it will act as a trustworthy guide into the far-off worlds. For what floods the immeasurable space? Thus let us smilingly contemplate the fiery life.�
�Let us see wherein lie the similarities and differences between Agni Yoga and the preceding Yogas. Karma Yoga has many similarities with it, when it acts with the elements of earth. But when Agni Yoga masters the ways of the realization of the far-off worlds, then the distinction becomes apparent. Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga are all isolated from their surrounding reality; and because of this they cannot enter into the evolution of the future. Of course, an Agni Yogi should also be a Jnana and a Bhakti Yogi and the development of the forces of his spirit makes him a Raja Yogi. �How beautiful is the possibility of responding to the tasks of the future evolution without rejecting the past conquests of spirit�.�
Agni Yoga surpasses the goal of the previous yogas since it is directed to the exploration of the intuitional, atmic, monadic and divine realms in man, in the planet, in the solar system and in the Cosmos. It is the process of building the higher part of the Antahkarana. The first part of the Antahkarana, which extends from the personality to the Soul, is built of mental substance. The second part, which extends from the soul-infused personality to the Spiritual Triad, is built of light substance.
The light substance is the fourth and third higher ethers. Let us remember that our buddhic plane is the physical substance of the Planetary Logos. His body is built of light.
The main purpose of this yoga is to raise the awareness of the man to the Spiritual Triad, and through it come in contact with the prime source of fire on the planet which in Oriental books is called the White Island or Shamballa or as Master Morya calls it, the Tower. It deals with energies emanating from the planet, the solar system and the cosmos. This is the yoga of the New Age.
The Rajput sage tells us that an Agni Yogi should take care of his vehicles of expression --- his physical body, his emotional body and his mental body --- keeping them as healthy as possible.
Due to his extreme sensitivity an Agni Yogi must be very cautious about his food, the cleanliness of his surroundings, his emotional reaction, his speech and his thoughts. It is suggested also not to eat meat, except smoked meat; not to use alcohol or any drugs such as opium, hashish, etc., and to do some short breathing exercises in the early morning. All �his actions must be infused with the purifying fiery striving,� living a sacrificing life upon all levels.
This is the key to Agni Yoga: live a sacrificial life for the whole nature, radiating bliss, joy, love and wisdom and give yourself without reservation.
Agni Yoga leads us to World Brotherhood. For an Agni Yogi, the groups and the nations are parts of the big group which is the One Humanity, without distinctions of race, creed, color, religion and national boundaries.
Through this great sacrificial striving and service, the Agni Yogi changes his etheric body into the higher ethers and makes all his centers radiate the fire of the inner jewels, with the overshadowing diamond, the SELF.
Here we must remember that the seven body centers are whirlpools of energy in the etheric body. Each center has a jewel in the center, a triangle of energy around the jewel, and the petals as radiating flames. Previous yogas were dealing with the physical-etheric body, with the emotional and mental bodies and with the Soul and Its expressions, but the Agni Yogi�s goal is the Self, the spark within man and the cosmos. This is beautifully expressed in an ancient mantram
:
�More radiant than the sun,
purer than the snow,
subtler than the ether
is the Self,
the spirit within my heart.
I am that Self;
That Self am I.�