1. "Verily one should accept the symbol of the Summit as the goal in the ascent of the spirit. Each disciple should remember that avoiding of the Summit leads the traveller away from the path. Each excessive burden will hinder the traveller. The Summit is sharp-pointed, and each needless attachment to the earthly world brings the traveller to a halt. It is difficult to halt on the slope, so let us remember about the Summit when beginning the ascent." [Fiery World III, 22]
2. «…“Take everything but don’t look upon it as your own.” Simple logic shows how impossible it is to take earthly things with you. But objects have been created with the spirit taking part, which is why one should not despise them. Could you pass by the flowers of nature without a glance? But the creations of labor are also flowers – the flowers of humanity." [Leaves of Morya’s Garden II, 141]
3. "It is necessary to renounce everything in the spirit. Have everything, own everything, but renouncing everything in the spirit. This will be the right decision." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1954, 643]
4. "He who is attached to wealth, let him put it aside rather than allow his heart to be poisoned by it, but he who is not attached to wealth and who, possessing it, uses it righteously, will be a blessing to his neighbors. ... It is not life and wealth and power that make a man a slave, but only his attachment to life, wealth and power." Sayings of the Buddha. [Letters of Helena Roerich in 9 Volumes - 4. 062]
5. "Once the disciples asked the Blessed One how to understand the fulfillment of the commandment of renunciation of property. After one disciple had abandoned all things, the Teacher continued to reproach him in the matter of possessions. Another remained surrounded by things yet did not draw reproval. The feeling of ownership is measured not by things but by thoughts. Thus, the community must be accepted by the consciousness. One may have objects and yet not be an owner. … Thus said the Blessed One; and He asked in general not to think about ownership of property, for renunciation is a cleansing of thought. For only through purified channels can basic striving make its way." [New Era Community, 85]
6. "Rejection, detachment from the earthly must be manifested first of all in consciousness, in the spirit. Remember how it is said that a fasterer who caresses thoughts about food is worse than a person who eats meat. Moreover, it should always be borne in mind that the ready spirit easily refuses all excesses, he does not even think about it, everything comes to him naturally." [Letters of Helena Roerich in 9 Volumes - 2. 048]
7. "Refusal, as we know, must be manifested in consciousness, in spirit – and everything else will follow. So is the rejection of property. It is possible to live in complete poverty and be attached to property, just as it is possible to be among things and not be attached to property... Absolutely everything is measured only by the degree of consciousness. ... The ready spirit so easily refuses and breaks away from everything earthly. Everything is simple and natural for him." [Letters of Helena Roerich in 9 Volumes - 2. 055]
8. "You have correctly understood the required renunciation as liberation. What is needed in everything is not rejection or forced renunciation, but joyful liberation from the small to accommodate the Great..." [Letters of Helena Roerich in 9 Volumes - 7. 106]
9. "The expansion of consciousness reveals all these renunciations not as a very difficult achievement, but as a natural throwing off of worn-out rags and replacing more refined feelings with joy. Remember, as it is said in the first book of the Leaves of Moria’s Garden: "What was a fragrance will become a stench. The former song will become the noise of the wheel. The former shield will turn into an oven door. So grows the spirit..."" [Letters of Helena Roerich in 9 Volumes - 7. 111]
10. "Every joyous loss means measureless gain." [Leaves of Morya’s Garden II,191]
11. "There can be no victory over the world without detachment from it. We take possession of what we have given up and what no longer owns us. This paradox is the whole difficulty of reconciling the polarity of this pair of opposites. ...He owns everything who has given up everything. Everything is to him, who no longer needs anything. But as long as the lust for things, conditions and possessions will possess a person, he will be their slave, asking for handouts from the table of prosperity and abundance of earthly goods. But even rejection is not necessary, accommodation is needed: instead of small, personal, it is necessary to accommodate all the inexhaustible wealth of Infinity in the form of opportunities that lie before a person." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1955, 426]
12. "Whatever a person strives to achieve for himself personally in the earthly sphere, this acquired property becomes his chain, the iron ball on the convict's leg. If he seeks wealth – money make him his slave. Whether he succeeds in the sphere of personal feelings – the object of feelings owns him. Whether he is seeking power and fame, he is in thrall to his aspirations. And whatever wealth he has acquired, he is a prisoner of fear. The fear of losing property is the cruel result of all personal achievements.
But what can a person who has abandoned the personal and transferred his aspirations to the spheres of space cooperation be afraid of? Only in detachment from the personal is the true freedom that people so dream of. No one and nothing has power over such a person. He goes, doing the work of the common good, ready every minute to leave the earth for the higher spheres." [Excerpts by Boris Abramov from the book "Aspiring Heart" 1952, 126]
13. "The chained Prometheus is a symbol of the spirit, although he found fire, but he was not freed from the Earth. And it is necessary to be freed, and it is by the spirit and in the spirit. And there is no need to avoid living among people, no isolation, no refusal, no killing of the flesh – nothing is needed; one thing is required – to realize one's indestructible, imperishable, immortal essence, which has already passed through many forms and lives and will continue to pass, ascending to the stars. The eternal – in the spirit – must overcome the temporal and stand above it. ... The center of consciousness is as it was transferred from outside and concentrated inside, that is, the preponderance is given to the inner over the outer. It is necessary, finally, to understand and feel that everything external will go away sooner or later, but the internal will remain. Which is more important? The external matters only insofar as it can expand, enrich and multiply the inner wealth. The external is not an end, but only a means to an end. It is not self-sufficient. Therefore, it is impossible to rely on it. The tone is set by the spirit, the tone in which life should sound." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1955, 438]
14. "We are eternal travelers… My everything is always with me, everything else is someone else's." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1955, 105]
