Introduction to 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, among them New Age and transhumanism.