A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A.

Bailey, 1925 THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 951

Twelfth printing, 1982 (3rd Paperback Edition)
nearer to the physical plane, and in their descent assume
948 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE a steadily increasing control of the lunar natures, the
thoughts and desires of men are consequently purified
light which intensifies the maya already created. This
and refined. The solar fires put out the lunar light, and
secondary reflection has been produced by man himself
in the evolutionary attempt to balance the pairs of oppo- the lower nature is eventually purified and transmuted.
sites, and has produced a condition which must be sur- In time the solar Angels blaze forth in all their glory
mounted before the true occult balancing begins. It through the medium of the lower nature on the physical
might be regarded as the sumtotal of that great mani- plane, that lower nature providing fuel to the flames.
festation (created only by man) called "The Dweller on The hated "Dweller on the Threshold" thus gradually
the Threshold." dies for lack of sustenance, and disintegrates for lack of
One of the greatest impediments upon the Path of vitality, and man is set free.
Return and one for which man is distinctly responsible b. At present much of the manipulation of mental
within occult limits are those animated forms which he matter and its direction into forms of some kind or an-
has produced ever since the middle of the Atlantean root other emanates from lower levels, and is the result of
race when the mind factor began slowly to assume in- powerful desire based on physical attraction. The desire
creasing importance. The selfishness, the sordid mo- bodies, and not the mental bodies of the majority of men
tives, the prompt response to evil impulses for which the are the most powerful, and set up such a strong vibra-
human race has been distinguished has brought about a tion (due to the force of two groups of lunar lords) that
condition of affairs unparalleled in the system. A gi- the third group of lunar entities who construct the mental
gantic thought form hovers over the entire human body are swept into a willing response, and the whole
family, built by men everywhere during the ages, ener- threefold lower nature is immediately engaged in the dire
gized by the insane desires and evil inclinations of all process of feeding the dreaded "Dweller." This direc-
that is worst in man's nature, and kept alive by the tion of energy follows the line of least resistance. One
promptings of his lower desires. This thought form has of the primary works of the Ego, as we well know, is to
to be broken up and dissipated by man himself during impose a new rhythm upon his shadow and reflection,
the latter part of this round before the conclusion of the
the lower man, and it is this imposition which in time
cycle, and its dissipation will be one of the forces tending
deflects energy away from man's distorted creation and
to the production of interplanetary pralaya. It is this
piece of creative bungling, if so it might be called, which brings his vibration into tune with that of his solar Angel.
the Great Ones are occupied in destroying. Under the The devas who are the sumtotal of the energy of sub-
Law of Karma it has to be dissipated by those who have stance itself care not what form they build. They are
created it; the work of the Masters has to be carried on, The Ego, or Solar Angel is imprisoned.––S. D., I, 621.
therefore, indirectly, and must take the form of illumi- a. It has to liberate itself from the thraldom of sensuous perception.
nating the sons of men in gradually increasing degree, b. It has to see in the light of the one Reality.
c. See S. D., II, 578.
so that they can see clearly this "Dweller on the Thresh- d. To redeem humanity.––S. D., II, 257.
old" of the new life, and the antagonist who stands be- e. To endow him with human affections and aspirations.––S. D., II, 257.
tween the fourth kingdom of nature and the fifth. Every f. They give to men intelligence and consciousness.––S. D., I, 204.
time a son of man stands upon the Probationary Path
952 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 953
irresponsibly responsive to energy currents, and theirs those centers be channels for pure force and such an
is not the problem of dealing with sources of energy. entity as the ""Dweller" be an impossibility.
Therefore, the place of man in the cosmic plan becomes All that I have here said anent this "Dweller on the
more vital and apparent when it is realized that one of Threshold" of the Path between the two great kingdoms,
his main responsibilities is the direction of energy cur- the fourth and the fifth, can be studied by the student
rents from the mental plane, and the creation of that with a personal application. Facing each earnest aspir-
which is desired on higher levels. Men, as a whole, are ant to the Mysteries is that vitalized form which he has
undergoing evolutionary development in order that they himself constructed and nourished during the course of
may become conscious creators in matter. This involves his previous incarnations, and which represents the sum-
total of his evil desires, motives and thoughts. For ages
A realization of the archetypal plan, is has vampirized him, and for ages it has represented
An understanding of the laws governing the building that which he has failed to achieve. It affects not only
processes of nature, himself but also all those units whom he contacts and
A conscious process of willing creation, so that man meets. In its destruction he has to pursue methods simi-
cooperates with the ideal, works under law, and pro- lar to those followed by the Great Ones, and through the
duces that which is in line with the planetary plan, increasing power of his solar Angel through the force
and which tends to further the best interests of the race, of his Ego, and through a study of law, the knowledge of
A comprehension as to the nature of energy, and an the power of sound, and the control of speech, he
ability to direct energy currents, to disintegrate (or eventually bring about its disintegration. The old Com-
withdraw energy from) all forms in the three worlds, mentary says:
An appreciation of the nature of the devas, their con-
stitution and place as builders, and of the words and "The solar angel must put out the light of the lunar angels
sounds whereby they are directed and controlled. and then for lack of warmth and light, that which has served to
hinder no longer is."
When the energy currents of the human family are
directed from egoic levels only, when desire is trans- c. As yet but few of the human family work deliber-
muted, and the fifth principle awakened and finally illu- ately and consciously in mental matter only. The energy
minated by the sixth, then and only then will the strength exerted by men is mostly kama-manasic or desire coupled
of the impulse emanating from lower levels die out and with lower mind, with a preponderance, as might be ex-
the "Dweller on the Threshold" (who now haunts the pected, of desire force. This is to be inferred from the
human family) likewise die. In other words, when the second statement. The whole trend of evolution is to
dense physical body of the planetary Logos (composed bring about ability to build in mental matter, and two
of matter of the three worlds of human endeavor) is things lie ahead of the race:
completely purified and vitalized by the force of the life First. The gradual dissipation of the indefinite masses
flowing from etheric levels, and when all His centers of kama-manasic matter which surround practically
(formed of human units) are fully awakened, then will every unit of the human family producing a condition of
murkiness and fog within, and around, each aura. Grad-
 THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 1017 1040 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE
tratma or thread, and sever all connection with the low- tion instigated which is a continuation of the rotary mo-
est sheath. This lowest sheath then may persist for a tion of the individual atoms, and the modification pro-
short time, according to the strength of the animal life, duced on them by their group activity. This causes pro-
but more probably death would immediately ensue.4 gression and simultaneous rotation. The movement for-
Several magicians have perished thus. ward is modified considerably by the internal atomic
RULE IX. Condensation next ensues. The fire and activity, and this it is which causes that motion we call
waters meet, the form swells and grows. Let the spiral cyclic. It demonstrates in all forms as a tendency
magician set his form upon the proper path. to repeat, owing to the backward pull of the rotating
This rule is very briefly summed up in the injunction: atoms, and yet is offset by the strong progressive im-
Let desire and mind be so pure and so equally appor- pulse of the form activity. Students can work this out
tioned and the created form so justly balanced that it in connection with:
cannot be attracted towards the destructive or "left- The planetary Logos, as He manifests through the
hand" path. rounds, each one of which, in its earlier stages, re-
RULE X. As the waters bathe the form created, they capitulates all that has previously occurred.
are absorbed and used. The form increases in its Man, in the ante-natal period, in which he runs through
strength; let the magician thus continue until the the various stages of development.
work suffices. Let the outer builders cease their Spiritual man, as he creates that which will destroy
labors then, and let the inner workers enter on their the "Dweller on the Threshold."
cycle. This spiral-cyclic activity, which is distinctive of all
One of the fundamental concepts which is grasped by forms, can perhaps be comprehended more practically if
all magical workers, is that both will and desire are we study it as an expression of four laws, taking each
force emanations. They differ in quality and vibration, one briefly in turn:
but are essentially currents of energy, one forming an
initial vortex or center of activity, being centrifugal, and 1. The Law of Expansion.
the other being centripetal, and the main factor in the This law of a gradual evolutionary expansion of the
accretion of matter into a form around the central vor- consciousness indwelling every form is the cause of the
tex. This can be seen demonstrating in an interesting spheroidal form of every life in the entire solar system.
way in the case of the egoic lotus, where we have the It is a fact in nature that all that is in existence dwells
will aspect forming the "jewel in the lotus," or the inner within a sphere.6 The chemical atom is spheroidal: man
6
4
The courses open to the Divine Ego after separation are two.––S. D., The Atom.––S.D., I, 113, 566. It is on the illusive nature of matter
III,524. and the infinite divisibility of the atom that the whole Science of Occultism
a. It can start a fresh series of incarnations. is built.
b. It can return to the 'bosom of the Father' and be gathered back 1. Everything is atomic––God, Monads, atoms.
to the Monad. a. The sphere of solar manifestation. . . . . . . . . . . . . God
Two courses are open to the lower discarded self.––S. D., III, 525, 527. The mundane egg. The logoic auric egg. . . . . . . . Macrocosm
a. If with a physical body it becomes a soulless man. b. The sphere of monadic manifestation. . . . . . . . . . Monads
In this case there is hope. The monadic auric egg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Microcosm
b. If without a physical body it becomes a spook, or one form of the c. The sphere of the ultimate physical atom. . . . . . . .Atoms
Dweller on the Threshold.
1056 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE A Treatise on White Magic by Alice A. Bailey, 1934
Thirteenth printing, 1974 (3rd Paperback Edition)
tion, due, to the gradually increasing responsiveness of
the planetary Logos to His heavenly Prototype, whereby 184 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC
influences from the Great Bear draw, or occultly "at-
tract," the attention of the Logos, and bring Him more b. The aligning of the man on the physical plane with
into line with a greater impulsive Will. This shifting his ego, soul or higher self, on the mental plane and the
causes disruption in His lower manifestation, which is a subordination of the physical plane life and nature to the
condition on the cosmic Path of Initiation analogous to impress and control of the soul. This is covered suffi-
that undergone by a disciple. ciently in the first two or three chapters of Letters on
The planetary atom revolves upon its axis and comes Occult Meditation and these should be studied by aspirants.
periodically under influences which produce definite ef- c. The downflow of force via the sutratma, magnetic
fects. These influences are, among others, those of the cord, or thread from the soul to the brain via the mind
moon, and of the two planets which lie nearest to it on body. The whole secret of spiritual vision, correct per-
either side––nearer and farther away from the Sun. The ception and right contact lies in the proper appreciation
moon's influence is exceedingly strong, and has a curious of the above statement, and therefore the Yoga Sutras
resemblance (as far as the physical planet is concerned) of Patanjali are ever the text-book of disciples, initiates
to the "Dweller on the Threshold," which has such a and adepts, for therein are found those rules and methods
familiar and potent effect upon the human atom. The which bring the mind under control, stabilize the astral
resemblance must not be strained, for it should be borne body and so develop and strengthen the thread soul that
in mind that the moon has no effect upon the Heavenly it can and does become a veritable channel of communi-
Man Himself, as His stage of evolution negates such a cation between the man and his ego. The light of illumi-
thing, but that the influence felt is by the planetary nation streams down into the brain cavity and throws
Entity––the sumtotal of the elemental essences of the into objectivity three fields of knowledge. This is often
planet. Scientific occult students will learn much anent forgotten and hence the undue distress and premature
the planetary scheme when they consider the influence of interpretations of the partially illuminated disciple or
the moon's karmic pull upon the earth, coupled with probationer.
the effect of the two neighboring planets, occultly The light first throws into relief and brings into the
understood. foreground of consciousness those thought-forms and en-
Second, the planetary atom also revolves orbitally tities which depict the lower life, and which (in their
around its solar center. This is its expression of rotary- aggregate) form the Dweller on the Threshold.
spiral-cyclic action, and its recognition of the divine cen- Thus the first thing of which the aspirant becomes
tral magnet. This brings it under the constant impres- aware is that which he knows to be undesirable and the
sion of other schemes, each of which produces effects revelation of his own unworthiness and limitations, and
upon the planet. It likewise brings it under the inflowing the undesirable constituents of his own aura burst on
streams of energy from what are termed the zodiacal his vision. The darkness which is in him is intensified
constellations which reach the planetary scheme via the by the light which glimmers faintly from the center of
great center, the Sun. It will be apparent to any student his being and frequently he despairs of himself and
descends into the depths of depression. All mystics
bear witness to this and it is a period which must be
238 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC RULE EIGHT 239
The work of the initiate and the adept grows out of these phobias. This thought form grows in power as we pay at-
achievements and they need not be dealt with here. tention to it, for "energy follows thought", till we be-
The battle is spread over quite a series of lives, but in come dominated by it. Second ray people are peculiarly
some one life it becomes critical; the final stand is made a prey to this. For the majority of them it constitutes the
and Arjuna triumphs in the fight, but only by letting "dweller on the threshold", just as ambition and love
Krishna assume the reins of control, by learning mind of power, backed by frantic desire and unscrupulousness
control and by the revelation of the form of God. By form the "Dweller" for the first ray types. The crystal-
distinguishing between the soul and the form, and by a lized thought form of intellectual achievement for sel-
vision of the perfection of the glory which can radiate fish ends, and the use of knowledge for personality
from the forms "indwelt by God", he learns to choose objectives stand before the portal of the path in the
the way of light and to see his form and all forms as case of the third ray person, and unless broken up and
custodians of the light. So he buckles down to the work destroyed will dominate him and turn him into a black
of making the astral body simply a reflector of that light magician.
and by the quelling of desire, through the subjugation of You oft have been told that fear is an illusion. Yet
the "Agnisuryans" who constitute his astral body and this statement does not help. It is a generalization that
are the living substance of the astral plane, he learns one can admit, yet which remains profoundly difficult
to function as an adept on that plane, to pierce through to apply individually. The fears to which aspirants are
its illusion and to see life true. subject (note the mode of wording this) are seldom of
Speaking symbolically the substance of the astral plane a selfish nature except insofar as suffering has caused
is animated by three types of divine force, which, when them to recoil from a further continuation of untoward
brought together, produce the great Illusion. These are: happenings. Their fears are wrapt in seeming love
First, the force of selfish desire. This involutionary around their loved ones. Yet should each disciple ask
energy plays a big part in bringing about evolution, for himself a most practical question: How many of the
selfishness is the nursery of infant souls. Hence the as- torturing hours have been expended on realities and on
pirant refuses to be held by it. tangible happenings and how many on illusory premoni-
Second, the force of fear. This is the product of ig- tions and on doubts and questionings, based on that
norance, and in its initial stages it is not the product which has never happened? I would like to point out
of wrong thinking. It is basically instinctual and is found to my brothers that they need to do two things: To
dominating in the non-mental animal kingdom as well meditate on truth in daily life, using the concept of truth
as in the human kingdom. But in the human its power practiced and lived by as their seed thought in medita-
is increased potently through the powers of the mind, tion; to this end I would suggest that they memorize and
and through memory of past pain and grievance and use at all times when swept by illusory fears and need-
through anticipation of those we foresee, the power of less foreboding the following formula or prayer:
fear is enormously aggravated by the thought-form we
ourselves have built of our own individual fears and "Let reality govern my every thought and truth be
the master of my life."
Let each say this to himself as constantly as need re-
240 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC RULE EIGHT 241
quires, forcing his mind to focus attention upon the sig- "Dweller" becomes what is called a "manipulator of
nificance of these spoken words. souls" and uses the mind to destroy the real and to put
I would suggest also sound common sense and the a veil between the man and reality. It must be remem-
cultivation of an attitude of mind which refuses to permit bered that none of these names and these activities refer
time for illusory fears to grow. to the soul on its own plane but only to human souls in
Fear is the main obstacle frequently to a very vital incarnation on the physical plane. This must be stressed,
step forward which could be taken in this life, but may for on its own plane the souls of all men stand free from
have to be delayed to another if due opportunity is not illusion, and neither can be destroyed, deluded nor ma-
taken and the will nature powerfully excited. nipulated. It is only "the souls in prison" who are sub-
The first ray aspirant who fails to overcome his Dwel- ject to the activities of the forces of evil and only for
ler may become a "destroyer of souls", as it is called, a term. The first group works through governments,
and be condemned (until he learns his lesson) to work through politics, and the interplay between nations and
in the forces of matter, and with the forms which hold is relatively small in number. The second ray group
all souls in prison. This is the occult significance of the who delude and deceive, work through religious agencies,
misunderstood words death and destruction. Of this through mass psychology, and the misuse and misapplica-
type, the Devil is the great prototype. tion of devotion and of the arts. They are largest in
The second ray aspirant who builds his Dweller and number. The third group work primarily through com-
permits its steady and increasing control becomes a "de- mercial relations in the business world and through the
luder of souls". He is the true Anti-Christ, and through use of money, the concretization of prana or uni-
false teaching and the working of so-called miracles, versal energy, and the outer symbol of the universal flux
through hypnotism and mass suggestion he draws a veil and flow. These thoughts are suggestive but not vital,
over the world and forces men to walk in the great illu- dealing as they do with the cosmic tendencies.
sion. It is interesting to note that the work of the Devil, Thirdly, the force of sex attraction. This is a pull
the imprisoner of souls, is beginning to lose its power, from the physical plane and the swinging back of a type
for the race is on the verge of understanding that true of involutionary energy on to the path of return. Cos-
death is immersion in form, and that matter is but a part mically speaking, it manifests as the attractive force be-
of the divine whole. The thought form of this "Dweller tween spirit and matter; spiritually speaking, it is
on the Threshold" which humanity has built for millions demonstrated as the activity of the soul, as it seeks to
of years is on the verge of destruction. But the work draw the lower self into full realization. Physically
of Anti-Christ is only rising now to its height, and the speaking, it is the urge which tends to unite male and
delusion of riches, of possession, of false teaching will female for the purpose of procreation. When man was
increasingly hold sway but the term of the delusion will purely animal, no sin was involved. When to this urge
be shorter than the term of destruction, for all these fac- was added emotional desire, then sin crept in, and the
tors function under their own cycles and have their own purpose for which the urge manifested was perverted into
ebb and flow. the satisfaction of desire. Now that the race is more
The third ray person who also fails to shatter his mental, and the force of mind is making itself felt in
 RULE TEN 297 RULE TEN 309
In considering the sentient body of a human being I in unrestrained merriment and which is the opposite pole
will probably help the most if I deal with it in terms of of unrestrained weeping. I refer not here to true merri-
its moods and ordinary expressions for it is only in deal- ment nor the proper sense of humor, but to those hys-
ing with its effects and in seeking to master them that terical outbreaks of hilarity which are so common among
man arrives at knowledge of himself and so becomes a the rank and file of humanity and lead to reactions of fatigue.
Master. The most ordinary manifestations of astral activity 3. A devitalized condition of the physical body. This
are: is due to various causes such as:
I. Fear. a. A depleted etheric or vital body.
II. Depression or its opposite pole, hilarity. b. Physical disease, either inherent or brought over
III. Desire for the satisfaction of the animal appetites. from another life, accidental, or due to wrong emo-
IV. Desire for happiness. tional reactions, or produced as the result of group
V. Desire for liberation. Aspiration. karma, such as an epidemic.
c. Atmospheric. This is sometimes overlooked, but
In these five are summed up practically most of the the condition of the atmosphere, the nature of the
sentient experiences of man and we will consider each one climate, the density, humidity or dryness, the heat
from the following angles: or cold have a definite effect upon the psychologi-
cal outlook.
1. The cause.
2. The effect. You will find, if you study, that all subsidiary and
3. The method of direction. temporary causes of depression and its opposite can be
grouped under one of these three heads, and when one
You will note that I say `method of direction' not has ascertained the cause, the cures will become apparent.
method of control. Aspirants must learn that they are I have dealt somewhat at length with the two first
working with, and in, forces, and that right and wrong manifestations of astral force––Fear––fear of death, of
activity on the physical plane is due simply to a right or the future, of suffering, of failure and the many lesser
wrong direction of the force currents and not to anything fears to which humanity is subject––and Depression––be-
inherently wrong or right in the energies themselves. cause these two fears constitute for man the Dweller on
I. Fear. This is one of the most usual of the mani- the Threshold in this age and cycle. Both of them in-
festations of astral energy, and is put first because it dicate sentient reaction to psychological factors and can-
constitutes, for the vast majority, the Dweller on the not be dealt with by the use of another factor such as
Threshold and also in the last analysis is the basic astral courage. They must be met by the omniscience of the
evil. Every human being knows fear and the range of soul working through the mind,––not by its omnipotence.
the fear vibrations extends from the instinctual fears of In this is to be found an occult hint. I shall not deal
the savage man based on his ignorance of the laws and with the other factors listed such as desire for happi-
forces of nature, and on his terror of the dark and the ness, for the satisfaction of the animal appetites, and
unknown, to the fears so prevalent today of loss of
friends and loved ones, of health, of money, of popularity
 382 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC Discipleship in the New Age-Vol. I by Alice A. Bailey, 1944
Eleventh Printing, 1989 (4th Paperback Edition)
black and white magic, and one of the reasons of
the purifying waters of the flood being deemed necessary. 92 Discipleship in the New Age
c. The powerful thought-forms built up in the early of revelation. The demands of the soul and the suggestions of
Ibezhan mysteries and which (particularly in the Master might be regarded as in conflict with the demands
America) are as yet undestroyed. This gigantic of time and space, focused in the personality or the lower man.
"Dweller on the Threshold" of all the true Mys- You will have, therefore, in this situation a tremendous pull
teries has to be slaughtered before the aspirant between the pairs of opposites; the field of tension or the focus
can pass on. of the effort is to be found in the disciple "standing at the mid-
way point." Will he respond and react consciously to the higher
10. The work of the Ibezhan adepts and the mysteries pull and pass on to new and higher areas of spiritual experi-
of the Temple of Ibez are still persisting and are being ence? Or will he fall back into the glamour of time and space
carried on by the masters and adepts in physical incarna- and into the thralldom of the personal life? Will he stand in
tion throughout the world. They teach the meaning of a static quiescent condition in which neither the higher trend
the psyche, the ego or the soul and of the human unit, so nor the lower pull will affect him? One or other of these three
that the man may indeed be what he is, a God walking on conditions must distinguish him and must succeed upon an
earth, his lower nature (physical, astral and mental) earlier and vacillating experience wherein the disciple vibrates
between the higher and the lower decisions. It is at this
completely controlled by the soul or the love aspect, and process, the Master presides. He is able to do nothing because
this not in theory but in deed and truth. it is the disciple's own problem. He can only endeavor to
When this is the case, the physical body will have no enhance the desire of the soul by the power of His directed
lure for the real man, the emotional nature and desire thought. The personality can also do nothing, for at this point
body will no longer lead astray nor will the mind shut both the physical body and the astral vehicle are simply automa-
out that which is true and spiritual, but the God will use tons, waiting responsively for the decision of the disciple,
the three bodies as vehicles of service to the race. Then functioning in his mental body. Only the disciple can act upon
will the human kingdom be transcended and man pass the mental level of consciousness at this point of endeavor.
into the spiritual kingdom there to have further lessons Once he does so, the die is cast. He either moves forward
just as infant humanity when passing out of the animal towards the door of light where the Master takes his hand and
kingdom was trained and taught its functions and work the Angel of the Presence becomes potent and active in a way
which I may not describe to you, or he drops back temporarily
by the Ibezhan teachers.
into the life condition of the lower man; glamour and maya
In Atlantean days, the goal that the Hierarchy of
settle down anew upon him and the Dweller on the Threshold
Teachers set before Themselves was the awakening in
inserts himself between the disciple and the light from the open
man of the love nature, as a step towards the awakening
door and renews activity. The disciple either awakens suddenly
of the heart center. To do this, the Teachers at that time
to a wider grasp of reality and a deeper understanding of the
were Themselves focussed (deliberately and of intent)
Plan and his part in it, or the "veils of earth" close over his
in the heart center, and chose to work entirely through
head; the vision fades and he reverts into the life of an ordi-
that center, subordinating Their mental equipment and
nary human being, probably for the period of the incarnation
wherein the opportunity was offered to him. Should he, how-
ever, go forward through that door, then (according to the
initiation which becomes possible) will be the revelation and
its attendant consequences. The revelation will not be the
 Personal Instructions to Disciples 425 618 Discipleship in the New Age
emerge––the glamour of depression, based on a sense of spir- others is your great need just now. It will do much to bring
itual inferiority which is not warranted, being not based on your devious and involved mental attitudes and aspirations into
facts. As an instance of this––read the list of failings which you right order. Make life very simple, brother of mine.
give. My brother, even if there is some basis of truth in your
enumeration, still your replies remain untruthful for you omit June 1942
all recollection or reference to the other side of the picture.
You are centred in your mind in the involutionary reactions of BROTHER OF OLD:
the personality vehicles. Yet, you are, as you well know, in You have been drawn back into a phase of my work which,
preparation for certain steps forward upon the Path. A clear in the early days, you aided me to start. Opportunity opens up
vision of yourself is needed and at each turn upon the Way before you; you can be and do much. The success of this will
you have to face three realities: be dependent upon your ability to walk humbly and to recog-
nise the fact that ancient thoughtforms still exist upon the
1. The little or lower self. periphery of your consciousness, and that the Dweller on the
2. The Dweller upon the Threshold, in cases such as yours.
Threshold stands ready at all times to avail himself of the
3. The Angel of the Presence.
weaknesses to which you have been prone.
Be not so occupied with the personality self, seek more fre- I say not this in other spirit than that of warning you, and
quently the company of the Angel, which hides and veils (and I am happy to see you again within the sphere of action of the
yet reveals) the hidden glory of the spirit. Your faults are work. I look to you to aid and help. If you will always act in
there, as are the faults of all upon the Way. Many pass much full cooperation with your fellow workers, and if you will culti-
time and thus slow down their active spiritual expression by vate frankness and open-heartedness and clear speech, the end
an undue interest and a too intent focusing upon the liabili- is sure.
ties and limitations. Recognize this, my brother, and then pass
Spiritual radiation holds the key to your successful service,
on. They are not all you have to show; they do not give the
entire picture. and the careful watching of your lower sixth and third ray
Five years ago you evidenced much spiritual pride; you had tendencies. You must be prepared for tests and difficulties until
a strong sense of separativeness, and a highly developed critical you have proved yourself; these seldom come the expected
mind. Today these demonstrate far less than formerly, and you way. One of your major safeguards is ever, as I have already
are now quick to see any emerging wrong tendencies, and told you, to adhere to and carry forward the next duty and to
equally quick to repudiate them. concentrate upon that which has been undertaken. Avoid that
Humble love is for you the goal this year together with the which lies outside the periphery of the work, regarding any-
expression of a loving, understanding heart, thus aiding all you thing else as a sidetrack for you.
meet. Have no other aim. The practice of this will balance and My blessing rests upon you, and my confidence in your abil-
round out your undoubted head development. ity to stand steady and to avoid glamour is always present.
I shall not change your work greatly. Continue to ponder
upon the thoughts I earlier gave you as seed ideas for medita-
tion. Take them now, however, as the theme of your daily recol- December 1942
lection and not as seed thoughts for meditation. Follow the MY BROTHER:
group meditation with care for it will give you what you need. Life has been difficult for you since you have again sought
For you, during the coming year, the cultivation of a poised to work in connection with my plans. Things have not worked
out as you anticipated and you are full of inner distress, ques-
762 Discipleship in the New Age Discipleship in the New Age-Vol. II by Alice A. Bailey, 1955
Seventh Printing, 1986 (3rd Paperback Edition)
the standpoint of the highest occult training and when the dis-
ciple is in the Ashram itself, the centres are viewed as simply TALKS TO DISCIPLES 13
channels for energy. Until the time of the third initiation,
they assume temporary importance in the training process I intend to point out, but not dictate to you, modes of
because it is through them that the disciple learns the nature eradication.
of energy, its distinction from force and the methods of dis- The times are serious and the world disciples are hard
tribution––the latter being one of the last stages in the training pressed. The Hierarchy and its affiliated groups are seeking
process. active help and cooperation in the work of salvage. All
The constitution of the ego, or Soul, is the factor of para- disciples and aspirants are needed, and all can give much if
mount importance to the Master in the task of training the dis- the desire, the loving heart and the consecrated mind are
ciple for hierarchical work. This necessarily involves the three united in service. I ask aid in the task of reconstruction. I
higher centres (head, heart and throat). It is with the so-called ask for your consecrated help. I ask you to discipline your-
egoic lotus that He is concerned and this is a point which the selves anew, to hold back nothing, either objective or sub-
disciple is very apt to forget. The soul is pre-occupied with its jective. I ask for your wholehearted cooperation in the work
own life; the details of the personality life (its inadequate ex- of world salvage.
pression or shadow in the three worlds) simply make no impact
whatsoever upon the soul consciousness. As the violence of the Group Instruction
personality life grows, the soul which has been increasingly December 1941
the recipient of the best the aspiring personality has to offer My Brothers:
and which has been slowly turning its attention towards the I would like to start off this instruction with the simple
mind of the personality, becomes also aware of an opposing statement as to the task which all disciples of the Masters
factor to true soul expression upon the outer periphery of life. throughout the world are engaged in undertaking and
Then the battle of the higher pairs of opposites begins––the which you also should consciously consider. It is the task of
battle between soul and personality, consciously waged on both confronting the Dweller on the Threshold in your own life
sides. That is the point to have in mind. This conflict cul- and also in the group life, and then––from that vantage
minates, prior to each of the first three initiations, in the con- point of strength––face that Dweller on behalf of humanity
fronting of the two opponents; the Dweller on the Threshold and thus aid humanity to vanquish this ancient evil. To do
(of initiation, my brother) and the Angel of the Presence stand this presupposes crisis in your life and in the life of human-
face to face. But with that battle, we are not here concerned. ity. The handling of crises is the hallmark of the disciple,
We are occupied with the theme of the response to hierarchical and every crisis met and rightly handled provides (once the
energy as embodied in the Master's aura and from thence trans- difficulty is occultly "under the feet") the place from which
mitted to the disciple. The channel or channels of direction an extended vision can be gained, fresh knowledge can flow
(there are three of them) might be expressed thus: in and the transmuting light can shine from the Angel of
the Presence and thus produce results.
I. The Hierarchy. Each of you has passed through a cycle of real difficulty
1. The Master. and strain. This is true of all disciples. The past eighteen
2. The Ashram. months have been months of precipitation, producing a
3. The soul of the disciple. chemicalization, an interior process of upheaval and prob-
II. Humanity. ably outer behavior which may have caused concern to the
1. The disciple. Observer within. This however is but the reaction of the
14 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE TALKS TO DISCIPLES 31
personality to undue pressure and strain, to world conditions ing from a multitude of thinkers and minds. These work
and clearer vision. Vision reveals both the light and the both as individuals and as members of a group. There is also
dark, a thing which is oft forgotten. Disciples are fortunate emotional inspiration to which––in its most easily recognis-
if the major results work out in the physical body. The re- able appearance––we give the name of aspiration. All these
actions of the physical body are the least important and do are, esoterically considered, evocative of desire, to be trans-
the least harm to others. Where they work out in an emo- muted into will if (and only if) "the energy of the will-to-
tional or mental condition they are then apt to become a good is the emanating principle and the actuating result of
problem of fellow disciples, adding to their strain and neces- the inspired impulse; it must constitute the motivating im-
sitating an effort upon their part to carry the brother through pulse at the center of the disciple's being." Thus spoke one
with the least damage to the group. of the Masters not long ago to a disciple who sought to grasp
In this group work you need to remember that increas- the synthetic effect of inspiration. It is the Will and its im-
ingly there will be no individual life. This is as it should mediate evocation which is the major need of this particular
be. Increasingly disciples should be aware of each other and group of my disciples. The hierarchical Plan is the objective
tune in with ease on each other; increasingly the bonds of of that will; the purpose of Sanat Kumara is the revelation
illumined loyalty should control; increasingly you will par- which comes to those who demonstrate that will, and it is
ticipate in each other's attitudes and conditions and thus the strength of the divine Power which makes that will pos-
learn the basic lesson of understanding. Understanding is the sible. Strength is to Power what desire is to aspiration, or
secret behind all power to achieve identification with any what the personality is to the soul. It is the revelation of
form of divine expression; understanding is one of the prime quality.
factors in producing revelation, and this is one of the para- I have started this communication with this note of Will
doxes of occultism. In the world of human thought, under- because the use of that will (under instruction) is the ob-
standing follows the prescribed routine, it follows the pre- jective of your next year's work; as we proceed with the
sented fact. In the life of the spirit, understanding is a various phases of our study which I have earlier outlined, my
necessary predisposing cause of revelation. I would ask you use of this theme will emerge clearly in your consciousness.
to ponder on this, bracing yourself for revelation, through It has seemed to me necessary to open this instruction
a deep understanding of the initiator in yourself. Each of with a brief resume of the past teaching. The pressure of life
you has to initiate your own individual crises; there is no these days is very great; everybody is tired; you will there-
one else who is responsible. Each of you together initiates fore approach this fresh addition to the teaching with re-
the activity for which the group is responsible and for which newed zest if the past teaching is clearly apprehended and is
you have been brought together; each of you initiates him- clearly illumined in your minds.
self into the Presence, through the medium of the Angel, What is the task which confronts you, both as individuals
and into the shadow of the Dweller on the Threshold. and as a group? It is a fivefold task:
Through this process, full consciousness is achieved.
The work of this group, and of other groups similarly 1. To confront and deal adequately with your own per-
motivated, is to achieve these undertakings together: To- sonal Dweller on the Threshold.
gether to face the Dweller and triumph; together to arrive 2. To share––as a group––in humanity's effort to con-
at understanding; together to stand before the Presence be- front the group Dweller on the Threshold; this
cause the Angel's light reveals "that which the eye has never "Dweller" is constructed of the evil desires of all man-
seen;" together to walk the Path of Revelation; together to kind, of humanity's mistakes and weaknesses, thoughts,
 TALKS TO DISCIPLES 47 48 DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE
the "good." The will-to-good is the basic quality of divine connected is adequately strong, it will then dominate all your
purpose, involving planned activity and a definite goal to be actions, and all your thoughts (waking or sleeping); you will
achieved. It necessitates the ability to think in terms of the then find that the grip of the Dweller will be broken, that its
whole, an appreciation of the next step which humanity must life has been destroyed by the force of attrition and its form
take in the imminent Great Approach (for this must be a destroyed in the fires of sacrifice. Such, briefly, is the story;
reciprocal Approach), an understanding of the lessons of the I waste no time with elaborations, for there is much I seek
past and a vision, based––not on love or on soul-sight––but to give you in this instruction.
on a conviction as to the immediate purpose of Sanat I desire to give you the help you need for the coming
Kumara, as He works it out through the Christ and the year which faces you. Above all, however, I am endeavouring
planetary Hierarchy. This conviction is based, as far as the to make clear to future generations certain basic principles
Hierarchy is concerned, on pure reason; it is based, as far as and certain aspects of hierarchical truth which must in the
humanity is concerned, through its disciples, on intuitive New Age govern those who seek to tread the Path of Disciple-
perception, implemented by love and expressed intelligently. ship and who are willing to be prepared for initiation.
Upon this I would ask you to ponder, and as you ponder, Changes in curriculum and in techniques are being made by
make the needed changes in your personal approach to the the Hierarchy; the adaptation of old methods to modern
problem. needs and to more highly developed men is under way. I
The third point grows out of the above. You are all write not for you in reality. You have already had more than
pledged disciples, and as such your immediate personal prob- you have used. I write for the coming disciples and initiates
lem (in which I may not and therefore cannot help you) is of the next two generations.
to overcome and destroy the hold which the Dweller on the It is essential that disciples in all Ashrams consider these
Threshold may have upon you. We are back, therefore, to days what humanity's problems are, what they mean and
our starting point, and a question now arises in your minds: what their solution entails; they must know what the Masters
"How can I overcome this Dweller and yet at the same time of the Wisdom want done and then they must talk and write,
refuse to concentrate upon myself and my problems? This I act and live so that others too may understand.
am told by you not to do, and yet the Dweller is the sum- Humanity has never really lived up to the teaching given
total of all personality holds and defects, all potencies––emo- to it. Spiritual impression, whether conveyed by the Christ,
tional, mental and physical––which limit my expression as a by Krishna or by Buddha (and passed on to the masses by
soul. What can I therefore do?" Their disciples) has not yet been expressed as it was hoped.
My answer would be: You must first of all accept the Men do not live up to what they already know; they fail to
fact of the Dweller, and then relegate that Dweller to its make practical their information; they short-circuit the light;
rightful place as part of the Great Illusion, the great phan- they do not discipline themselves; greedy desire and unlaw-
tasmagoria of existence and as an integral part of the life of ful ambition control and not the inner knowledge. To put it
the three worlds. You must then proceed upon your planned scientifically and from the esoteric angle: Spiritual impres-
life service (What definite plan or plans have you, my sion has been interrupted and there has been interference
brother?) and act as if the Dweller existed not, thus freeing with the divine circulatory flow. It is the task of the disciples
yourself from all personality influence in due time and leav- of the world to restore this flow and to stop this interference.
ing your mind free for the task in hand. I could perhaps This is the major problem facing the Ashrams at this time.
word it another way. When your interest in hierarchical This year, I will make clear to you what work is asked of
work and the programme of the Ashram with which you are the group in relation to the planned group work, the group
 Glamour: A World Problem by Alice A. Bailey, 1950 Certain Preliminary Clarifications 21
Eighth Printing, 1988 (4th Paperback Edition)
Illusion is regarded rather the same way, only (as we
20 Glamour: A World Problem define it) we lay the emphasis upon the finiteness of man's
mind. The world of phenomena is not denied but we regard
As we proceed we shall divide our subject up into greater the mind as misinterpreting it and as refusing to see it as
detail, but in this instruction I only seek to get certain broad it is in reality. We consider this misinterpretation as con-
outlines into your minds so that the theme may fall into stituting the Great Illusion.
right places in your thoughts. The Dweller on the Threshold is usually regarded as
There are four phrases which have for long been ban- presenting the final test of man's courage, and as being in
died about among so-called occultists and esotericists. They the nature of a gigantic thoughtform or factor which has
are : glamour, illusion, maya and the expression, the dweller to be dissipated, prior to taking initiation. Just what this
on the threshold. They all stand for the same general con- thoughtform is, few people know, but their definition in-
cept or some differentiation of that concept. Speaking gen- cludes the idea of a huge elemental form which bars the
erally, the interpretations have been as follows, and they way to the sacred portal, or the idea of a fabricated form,
are only partial interpretations, and are almost in the nature constructed sometimes by the disciple's Master to test his
of distortions of the real truth, owing to the limitations of sincerity. Some regard it as the sumtotal of a man a faults,
the human consciousness. his evil nature, which hinders his being recognized as fit
Glamour has oft been regarded as a curious attempt of to tread the Path of Holiness. None of these definitions,
what are called the "black forces" to deceive and hoodwink however, give a true idea of the reality.
well-meaning aspirants. Many fine people are almost flat- I would point out here that (generally speaking) these
tered when they are "up against" some aspect of glamour, four expressions are four aspects of a universal condition
feeling that their demonstration of discipline has been so that is the result of the activity––in time and space––of the
good that the black forces are interested sufficiently to human mind. The activity of MINDS! Ponder on this
attempt to hinder their fine work by submerging them in phrase for it gives you a clue to the truth.
clouds of glamour. Nothing could be further from the The Problem of Illusion lies in the fact that it is a soul
truth. That idea is itself part of the glamour of the present activity, and the result of the mind aspect of all the souls
time, and has its roots in human pride and satisfaction. in manifestation. It is the soul which is submerged in the
Maya is oft regarded as being of the same nature as illusion and the soul that fails to see with clarity until such
the concept promulgated by the Christian Scientist that time as it has learnt to pour the light of the soul through
there is no such thing as matter. We are asked to regard into the mind and the brain.
the entire world phenomena as maya and to believe that its The Problem of Glamour is found when the mental
existence is simply an error of mortal mind, and a form of illusion is intensified by desire. What the Theosophist calls
auto-suggestion or self-hypnotism. Through this induced "kama-manas" produces glamour. It is illusion on the
belief we force ourselves into a state of mind which recog- astral plane.
nizes that the tangible and the objective are only figments
of man's imaginative mind. This, in its turn, is likewise
a travesty of reality.
22 Glamour: A World Problem Certain Preliminary Clarifications 23
The Problem of Maya is really the same as the above, ingly realized, and hence the vital necessity for right under-
plus the intense activity produced when both glamour and standing of the way of mind control.
illusion are realized on etheric levels. It is that vital un- Another point which should be noted is that in the
thinking emotional MESS (yes, brother of old, that is the crystallization of this material age comes the great oppor-
word I seek to use) in which the majority of human beings tunity to strike a deadly blow on the planetary Dweller on
seem always to live. the Threshold. The reaction at this time, through the stress
The Dweller on the Threshold is illusion-glamour-maya, of circumstances, is bringing about a more spiritual under-
as realized by the physical brain and recognized as that standing and a reorganization of human values, and this is
which must be overcome. It is the bewildering thoughtform part of the process whereby a vital part of the world
with which the disciple is confronted, when he seeks to glamour may be dissipated––if only all men of goodwill
pierce through the accumulated glamour of the ages and within the world aura adhere to their appointed task.
find his true home in the place of light. When the Buddha was on Earth and achieved illumina-
The above are necessarily only generalizations, and the tion, He "let in" a flood of light upon the world problem
result also of the activity of the analytical mind, but they through His enunciation of the Four Noble Truths. His
serve to embody a part of the problem in words and to body of disciples and His nine hundred arhats formulated
convey to your minds a definite thoughtform of what we those four great truths into a structure of dogma and doc-
shall later discuss in detail. trine that––by the power of collective thought––has greatly
As to the causes of this world condition, what can I helped in the attack upon the world illusion. Today the
say, brother of mine, which will convey meaning to your Christ is carrying forward the same great task and in the
minds? The cause lies far back in the consciousness of spiritual significance of His imminent Coming (and in the
the "imperfect Gods." Does that sentence really mean language of symbolism) He and His nine thousand arhats
aught to you? But little, I fear. We must descend into will strike a second blow at the world glamour. It is for
the realm of greater practicality and only deal with the this that we prepare. Only the intuition can dispel illusion
matter as far as it concerns humanity. Planetary illusion and hence the need of training intuitives. Hence the service
will later be briefly dealt with, but the immediate problem you can render to this general cause by offering yourselves
before man and the significant contribution of the disciple for this training. If you can overcome glamour in your
is the dissipation of much of the glamour in which mankind own lives and if you can, therefore, comprehend the nature
is immersed and which, during the coming Aquarian Age, of illusion you will help in
will largely disappear in connection with the astral life of
the race. The point I would here make is to call attention a. The destruction of the dweller on the threshold,
to the fact that it is in meditation and in the technique of b. The devitalizing of the general maya,
mind control that the thinkers of the world will begin to c. The dissipation of glamour,
rid the world of illusion. Hence the increasing interest in d. The dispelling of illusion.
meditation as the weight of the world glamour is increas-
26 The Nature of Glamour 27
devotee oft forgets) these three conditions (with the
preponderance of the effect in one or other of the
bodies) are seen as a whole, and to this whole the term
SECTION ONE the "Dweller on the Threshold" is applied. It is in
reality a vitalized thoughtform––embodying mental
THE NATURE OF GLAMOUR force, astral force and vital energy.
In the preceding pages we dealt with certain definitions The problem, therefore, before all of you in this group
of the words (frequently used interchangeably) dealing is to learn first of all:
with illusion and glamour. We found that:
1. To distinguish between these three inner illusory
1. Illusion is primarily of a mental quality and was aspects.
characteristic of the attitude of mind of those people
who are more intellectual than emotional. They have 2. To discover what conditions in the environment or
outgrown glamour as usually understood. It is the mis- in the individual constitution induce these situations of
understanding of ideas and thoughtforms of which they difficulty.
are guilty, and of misinterpretations. 3. To find out what methods are effective in inducing
2. Glamour is astral in character, and is far more potent a cessation of the bewildering deceiving conditions.
at this time than illusion, owing to the enormous ma- It must be remembered also that these distorting condi-
jority of people who function astrally always. tions, found in all of you, are the medium whereby you are
3. Maya is vital in character and is a quality of force. tuned in on the world glamour and illusion. The emphasis
It is essentially the energy of the human being as it has been laid in esoteric teaching on the training and libera-
swings into activity through the subjective influence of tion of the individual aspirant. This is, of course, necessary,
the mental illusion or astral glamour or of both in for the mass is made up of the individuals, and in the steady
combination. release from the control of these inner delusions will come
the eventual clarification of humanity. Therefore each of
4. The Dweller on the Threshold, always present, swings you in this group must of necessity work separately and
however into activity only on the Path of Discipleship, apart with himself, and learn to induce those conditions of
when the aspirant becomes occultly aware of himself, clarity and truth which will overcome the ancient rhythms
of the conditions induced within him as a result of his and deep-seated habits and thus steadily purify the aura.
interior illusion, his astral glamour and the maya sur- But this has now to be done as a group, and this group
rounding his entire life. Being now an integrated per- constitutes one of the first of the exoteric groups with
sonality (and no one is a disciple, my brother, unless which it is intended to work in the new age. Through the
he is mental as well as emotional, which is a point the activity of such groups, the world glamour will be dissipated,
28 Glamour: A World Problem The Nature of Glamour 29
but first of all the aspirant must learn to deal with individual As you deal with illusion and as you free your minds from
and group glamour. It is necessary to remember the fol- its effects, and as you dissipate the astral glamour in which
lowing three things. I am going to be brief and technical you are all more or less immersed, you will enter into a
in teaching this group, for my time is short and you have greater freedom of living and usefulness. As the maya
an adequate technical knowledge with which to understand of distorted energy currents ceases to swing you into lines
that whereof I speak. of undesirable activity, the light that is in you will shine
First, the united auras of the group members ever deter- forth with greater clarity. Incidentally the Dweller on the
mine the group condition, the group activity, usefulness, Threshold will slowly and surely disintegrate and leave your
problem and glamour. Hence emerges individual group way, to the door of Initiation, free and unimpeded.
responsibility and individual usefulness. Each of you either Strongly mental types are subject to illusion. This illu-
hinders or aids the group, according to his auric condition, sion is reality a condition wherein the aspirant is being
which is either in a state of glamour or illusion or is kept definitely controlled by:
relatively free from these conditions.
Second, that the first job that each of you has to do 1. A thoughtform of such potency that it does two
is to determine his own peculiar problem. In giving you things:
your individual instructions, I will take up with you in this a. Controls the life activity or output.
instruction where the particular tendency in this direction b. Tunes the aspirant in on the mass thoughtforms,
of each of you lies, and whether it is glamour, illusion or which are of a similar nature, and which are built by
maya to which you habitually succumb. I will deal with others under the dominance of a similar illusion.
directness, for I have tested your sincerity and believe in This, in its worst aspect, produces mental insanity or
your willingness to be told the truth. Once you have each idée fixe, but in its least dangerous and normal result pro-
determined the specific nature of your peculiar problem, duces the fanatic. The fanatic is usually––even if he realizes
you can then work with deliberation towards its solution–– it not––a bewildered man, who has a potent idea of some
with deliberation, brother of old, and with no speed, but kind or another, but who finds it quite impossible to inte-
with due care and caution and with right understanding. grate it into the world picture; to make those needed, and
Thirdly, you must remember that as I look at the indi- often divinely directed, compromises which profoundly help
vidual in any of these groups, I can at the same time gauge humanity; to find the time or place for the realities which
the quality of the group itself as a whole. The amount of are within his natural grasp.
inner light that can shine through and make its presence
felt in your auras can be seen by me and indicate to me 2. When a man is highly developed, the mental illusion
the strength and the efficiency and also the potency of your is built around a definite intuition and this intuition is con-
individual group influence, for the positive auras subordi- cretized by the mind until its appearance is so real that the
nate the negative auras. What is required is a combination man believes he sees so clearly that which should be done
of positive auras, deliberately subordinated to group work. or given to the world that he spends his time endeavoring
34 Glamour: A World Problem The Nature of Glamour 35
2. In speaking of the limitations of the planetary Logos can answer clearly questions which might be asked. The
of our planet. following three questions are basic:
In the above remarks I have given you much food for 1. What is the aura and how does it come into exis-
thought––not only as regards your own personal problems tence?
(for all of you are subject to these conditions), but I have
also indicated to you what is the nature of glamour. The 2. How can the aura be made the medium of light,
word is used in all esoteric books and teaching to cover the and the light which should shine through it be intensi-
conditions which are differentiated under the words maya, fied?
illusion and glamour itself. Later I will give you some 3. Have you noticed what is the effect which your own
teaching upon the causes of glamour and the methods of individual aura is making upon your environment and
its dissipation. But I have given you here enough for the how can you improve that effect?
present, for it is my desire that you ponder upon these
ideas during the next few months and learn somewhat of This will enable you to make practical application of that
the significance of these words which you so lightly use. which I seek to teach you. Forget not that as you look out
Watch yourselves and your daily life with discrimination, upon the world and your immediate environment, that you
so that you learn to distinguish between glamour, illusion look out through your aura and have, therefore, to deal
and maya. See whether you can discover the form which with glamour and illusion.
your individual Dweller upon the Threshold is likely to There are three further questions which you might put
assume as you come into conflict with it; and if you do to yourself, facing the issue in the light of your soul:
the same for your group brothers and the immediate world
need, you will lose no time in the work of your astral 1. Do I suffer primarily from glamour or from illusion?
clarification and mental release. 2. Do I know which quality or characteristic in my
I would ask you to study these instructions with peculiar nature facilitates my tuning in on the world glamour
care, for I am taking the time and trouble these busy days or the world illusion?
to meet your need and to bring as much light as I can, with-
out infringing your free will, to meet your need and clear 3. Have I reached the point where I can recognize my
your course to service. peculiar Dweller on the Threshold, and can I state what
I would suggest also that you find out all that you can form it takes?
anent the much misunderstood subject of the aura: search
out what is said in my books and in the writings extant in That you may indeed as individuals and also as a group
any good occult library. I seek no copying out of para- learn the meaning of true self-knowledge and so learn to
graphs but a formulation of your knowledge so that you stand in spiritual being, increasingly free from glamour and
illusion, is the prayer of your friend and brother who has
fought his way through to a greater measure of light . . .
 The Nature of Glamour 39 40 Glamour: A World Problem
will serve to guide your group and analogous groups in enter into that Presence where the two are seen as one,
the way of right activity. Secondly, I wish to recapitulate and naught is known but life and deity.
somewhat those things which I have already stated so as to In summarizing some of the information I have given
enrich your understanding of the various phases of the to you concerning the four aspects of glamour, I would
world glamour. This world glamour, the analytical mind offer the following tabulation for your careful considera-
has to differentiate into distinctive phases, calling them tion.
Illusion, Glamour, Maya and that synthetic thoughtform,
found on the Path of Discipleship, which is called by some Note:
schools of esotericism the Dweller on the Threshold. 1. A dawning sense of maya arose in Lemurian days,
As you will see from this, my brothers, we have set but there was no real glamour and illusion.
ourselves a large theme, which must be very carefully 2. Glamour arose in early Atlantean times.
handled. My task is a difficult one, because I write for
those who are still held by the varying aspects of glamour, 3. Illusion arose among advanced human beings in later
and usually by the secondary glamour and maya. Illusion Atlantean days and will be a controlling factor in our
does not yet fully play its part and the Dweller is seldom Aryan race.
adequately realized. I would here remind you of a stupen-
dous occult fact and will ask you to endeavor to understand 4. The Dweller on the Threshold arrives at full potency
that whereof I speak. The Dweller on the Threshold does at the end of this race, the Aryan, and in the lives of all
not emerge out of the fog of illusion and of glamour until initiates prior to taking the third initiation.
the disciple is nearing the Gates of Life. Only when he can 5. The subhuman kingdoms in nature are free from
catch dim glimpses of the Portal of Initiation and an glamour and illusion, but are immersed in the world maya.
occasional flash of light from the Angel of the Presence
Who stands waiting beside that door, can he come to grips 6. The Buddha and His 900 arhats struck the first blow
with the principle of duality, which is embodied for him in at the world glamour when He promulgated His Four
the Dweller and the Angel. Do you comprehend that Noble Truths. The Christ struck the second blow with His
whereof I speak? As yet, my words embody for you sym- teaching of the nature of individual responsibility and of
bolically a future condition and event. The day will surely brotherhood. The next blow will be struck by the New
come, however, when you will stand in full awareness be- Group of World Servers, acting under the direction of
tween these symbols of the pairs of opposites, with the Christ and His disciples, symbolically described as "Christ
Angel on the right and the Dweller on the left. May and His 9000 initiates."
strength then be given to you to drive straight forward
between these two opponents, who have for long ages 7. The Four Keynotes to the solution of the problem
waged warfare in the field of your life, and so may you of glamour are:
Intuition..Illumination..Inspiration...The Angel of the Presence.
54 Glamour: A World Problem 80 Glamour: A World Problem
c. Made his soul alignment consciously and easily, and and body; of life, consciousness and form, the three aspects
firmly established his technique of contact. of divinity––all of them equally divine.
d. Taken the first initiation. As the aspirant learns to free himself from the glamours
upon which we have touched, he discovers another world of
The word illusion is frequently lightly used to signify fog and mist through which the Path seems to run and
lack of knowledge, unsettled opinions, glamour, misunder- through which he must penetrate and thus free himself from
standings, psychic bewilderment, the dominance of the lower the glamours of the Path. What are these glamours, my
psychic powers, and many other forms of the world illusion. brothers? Study the three temptations of Jesus, if you
But the time has come when the word must be used with a would know clearly what they are. Study the effect that the
developed discriminating sense, and when the disciple must affirmation schools which emphasize divinity (materially
know clearly and comprehend the nature of that phenome- employed) have upon the thought of the world; study the
nal miasma in which humanity moves. For the purpose of failures of disciples through pride, the world saviour com-
clarity and in order to distinguish more definitely and effec- plex, the service complex, and all the various distortions of
tively between the forms of illusion in which the soul moves, reality which a man encounters upon the Path, which hinder
and from which it must liberate itself, it will be necessary for his progress and which spoils the service to others which he
us to separate the Great Illusion (in its various aspects) should be rendering. Emphasize in your own minds the
into its component parts in time and space, and this I at- spontaneity of the life of the soul and spoil it not with the
tempted partially to do when I defined for you the words glamour of high aspiration selfishly interpreted, self-cen-
Maya, Glamour, Illusion, and the Dweller on the Thresh- terness, self-immolation, self-aggressiveness, self-assertive-
old. I want you to keep very clearly in your mind these dis- ness in spiritual work––such are some of the glamours of
tinctions, and to study with care the tabulation earlier given the Path.
you. Next, we will consider glamour on the etheric plane and
Illusion, for our purposes, can be understood to signify the theme of the Dweller upon the Threshold, and thus com-
the reaction of the undisciplined mind to the newly con- plete the brief outline of our problem which the first part of
tacted world of ideas. This contact opens up from the mo- this teaching was intended to convey.
ment a man has aligned himself and brought the lower na- Before taking up this subject in some detail, I would
ture into touch with the higher. Ideas come to us from the like to add something to our previous consideration of the
plane of the intuition. The soul illumines the plane of the problem of glamour. In your last instruction, I elaborated
mind and the plane of the intuition so that they stand re- somewhat upon the subject of the various types of glamour
vealed to each other and their mutual relationship becomes and left with you the concept of their great importance in
then apparent. The mind of the man (which is slowly be- your individual lives. The battlefield (for the man who is
coming the center of his consciousness and the major reality nearing accepted discipleship or who is upon the path of
in his existence) becomes aware of this new and undiscov- discipleship, in the academic sense) is primarily that of
ered world of ideas and he seizes upon some idea or group
90 Glamour: A World Problem The Nature of Glamour 91
ity upon the Path of Return." This return is the objective of the personality, prior to illumination, to inspiration and to
the human family and the culminating goal of the four king- initiation. The personality, at this stage, is exceedingly
doms in nature. We could enlarge the concept by expressing potent, and the Dweller embodies all the psychic and mental
the truth in the following manner: forces which down the ages have been unfolded in a man
and nurtured with care; it can be looked upon as the potency
Process Correspondence Obstacle of the threefold material form, prior to its consecration and
1. Physical coordination.......Mineral kingdom........Maya.
dedication to the life of the soul and to the service of the
2. Astral orientation............. Vegetable kingdom.... Glamour.
3. Mental direction............... Animal kingdom........ Illusion. Hierarchy, of God and humanity.
4. Personality alignment...... Human kingdom.........The Dweller on The Dweller on the Threshold is all that a man is, apart
the Threshold. from the higher spiritual self; it is the third aspect of divin-
ity as expressed in the human mechanism, and this third
These processes have, therefore, their equivalents in all the aspect must eventually be subordinated to the second aspect,
kingdoms and lead up to: the soul.
The two great contrasting Forces, the ANGEL and the
1. The unfoldment of the divine consciousness.
DWELLER, are brought together––face to face––and the
This starts in the mineral kingdom.
final conflict takes place. Again you will note that it is a
2. The expression of the soul.
meeting and a battle between another and higher pair of
This is typified in the vegetable kingdom with its
opposites. The aspirant has, therefore, three pairs of oppo-
uses and beauty.
sites with which to deal as he progresses towards light and
3. The manifestation of the Christ.
liberation.
This is the recognized goal of the animal king-
dom which works towards individualization. The Pairs of Opposites
4. The revelation of the glory of God.
This is the objective before humanity. 1. On the Physical Plane...The dense and the etheric.
Fought out upon the Path of Purification.
4. Glamour upon the Higher Mental Planes...................
2. On the Astral Plane.....The well-known dualities.
The Dweller on the Threshold. Fought upon the Path of Discipleship.
We will now touch very briefly upon the problem of the 3. On the Mental Plane.....The Angel and the Dweller.
Dweller on the Threshold. This Dweller is oft regarded as Fought upon the Path of Initiation.
a disaster, as a horror to be avoided, and as a final and cul-
minating evil. I would remind you nevertheless that the I have, I should judge, given you enough to ponder
Dweller is the "one who stands before the Gate of God," upon; I would close it, however, by pointing out to you the
who dwells in the shadow of the portal of initiation, and very practical nature of that which I have communicated and
who faces the Angel of the Presence open-eyed, as the an- would urge you to find out in your own practical experience
cient scripture calls it. The Dweller can be defined as the
sumtotal of the forces of the lower nature as expressed in
102 Glamour: A World Problem The Causes of Glamour 103
this break in the continuity of the spiritual conscious- radiance." This is the task of the higher of the two
ness. I would here remind you that this sense of peace entities, with which the disciple or the initiate, con-
or perception of cleavage is in itself an illusion and of sciously and deliberately, identifies himself. With this
the nature of glamour, and is based upon the illusory process we will later deal. This is the problem which
sense of identification with that which is not the self, faces the initiate before he takes the final three initia-
or soul. The entire problem can be solved if the shift tions.
of the consciousness is away from identification with
the lower forms of experience into that of identification You must bear in mind that none of these three stages
with the real and true man. are, in reality, divided off from each other by clear lines
of demarcation, nor do they follow each other in a clear
4. Stage by stage, the man has progressed from sequence. They proceed with much overlapping and often
one state of illusion or glamour to another, from one with a partial simultaneity. It is only when the disciple
point of discriminative opportunity to another until he faces certain initiations that he awakens to the fact of these
has developed in himself three major capacities: distinctions. Therefore, it might be stated that:

1. The capacity to handle force. 1. In the first initiation the disciple demonstrates
2. The capacity to tread the middle way between that he has resolved the dualities of the physical plane
the pairs of opposites. and can rightly impose etheric energy (the higher of
3. The capacity to use the intuition. the two) upon physical energy.
2. In the second initiation, the initiate demonstrates
These capacities he developed by resolving the pairs that he can choose between the pairs of opposites and
of opposites on the physical, astral and lower mental proceed with decision upon the "middle way."
planes. Now he faces his climaxing resolution, equipped 3. In the third initiation, the initiate can employ the
with these powers. He becomes aware of those two intuition for the right perception of truth, and in that
great and apparently opposing entities (with both of initiation he catches the first real glimpse of the Dweller
whom he finds himself consciously identified)––the on the Threshold and the Angel of the Presence.
Angel of the Presence and the Dweller on the Thresh- 4. In the fourth initiation, the initiate demonstrates
old. Behind the Angel he dimly senses, not another his ability to produce complete at-one-ment between the
duality, but a great Identity, a living Unity, which–– higher and lower aspect of the soul in manifestation
for lack of a better word––we call the PRESENCE. and sees the Dweller on the Threshold merge into the
He then discovers that the way out in this case Angel of the Presence.
is not the method of handling force or of leaving behind 5. In the fifth initiation––and here words fail to
both pairs of opposites, or of right recognition through express the truth––he sees the Dweller on the Thresh-
the intuition, but that this Dweller and this Angel must
be brought together; the lower entity must be "blotted
out" in the "light," or "forced to disappear within the
 The Causes of Glamour 117 126 Glamour: A World Problem
is colored by past activity, as is the substance composing set out to dominate the undesirable condition that he arrives
all the vehicles. This adds to maya and glamour, the state later at a recognition of an essential duality. This is, for the
of illusion. time being, in no case an illusion. He discovers the relation-
ship between himself as a personality, the true Dweller on
4. The personality ray then emerges and intensifies all the Threshold, and the Angel of the PRESENCE––guarding
these three aspects of force expression, producing eventually the door of initiation. This marks a critical moment in
their synthetic work. Then we have the emerging of what the life of the disciple for it indicates the moment wherein
has been called "the threefold glamorous condition," into he can begin to tread the Path of Initiation, if he so desires
one major glamour. and possesses the required fortitude.
5. The soul ray or energy is all this time steadily in- In the last analysis, the partial subjugation of glamour
creasing its rhythmic potency, and seeking to impose its and escape from the complete thralldom of illusion are
purpose and will upon the personality. It is the united rela- indications to the watching Hierarchy that a man is ready
tion and the interplay between these two which––when a for the processes of initiation. Until he is no longer com-
point of balance has been achieved––sweeps the man on to pletely deceived and until he is somewhat free mentally, it
the Probationary Path, on to the Path of Discipleship, and is not possible for him to face the waiting Angel and pass
right up to the gate of initiation. There, standing before through the door. One thing I would here point out to you:
the Gate, he recognizes the final duality which awaits resolu- after passing through the door of initiation, the disciple
tion. The Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel of the returns each time again to take up anew his tasks in the
PRESENCE. three worlds of activity; he there reenacts the former proc-
The nature of these glamours differs with different esses––briefly and with understanding––after which he
people, for the ray quality determines the type of glamour proceeds to master the essentials of the next initiatory les-
or illusion to which a man will easily succumb, and that son. I am here putting a great deal of information in a very
kind of glamour which he will the most easily create. Dis- condensed form, but that is all that is possible at this time.
ciples have to learn to differentiate between: For a long time, the sense of dualism pervades the dis-
ciple's being and makes his life appear to be a ceaseless con-
1. The glamours or glamour already existent in his flict between the pairs of opposites. The battle of the
environment, to which he will easily be attracted, or contraries is taking place consciously in the disciple's life.
which he will easily attract, for they constitute the He alternates between the experiences of the past and a
line of least resistance. recollection of the experience of initiation through which
he has passed, with the emphasis, first of all, in the earlier
2. The glamour that he creates as he tackles life experiences; later, in the final great experience which is so
through the medium of a particular equipment, deeply coloring his inner life. He has prolonged moments
which is colored by the experiences of past incar- wherein he is the baffled disciple, struggling with glamour,
nations, and by the ray quality under which he has and brief moments wherein he is the triumphant initiate. He
come into being.
 The Causes of Glamour 127 128 Glamour: A World Problem
discovers in himself the sources of glamour and illusion and I say "substance" and not "form" for it is in reality sub-
the lure of maya until the moment arrives when again he stance which controls spirit for a long, a very long, cycle of
stands before the portal and faces the major dualities in his expression; it is not matter that controls, for the reason that
own particular little cosmos––the Dweller and the Angel. gross matter is always controlled by the forces which are
At first he fears the Angel and dreads the light which esoterically regarded as etheric in nature and, therefore, as
streams from that Angel's countenance, because it throws substance, not form. Remember this at all times for it holds
into vivid reality the nature of the Dweller who is himself. the clue to the true understanding of the lower nature.
He senses, as never before, the formidable task ahead of We will study, therefore, the basic essential contrasts
him and the true significance of the undertaking to which he which the disciple must intuitively grasp and with which he
has pledged himself. Little by little, two things emerge with must familiarize himself. We will divide what we have to
startling clarity in his mind: say into four parts, dealing briefly, but I trust helpfully,
with each:
1. The significance of his own nature, with its essential
dualism. a. The contrast between Illusion and its opposite....... Intuition.
2. The recognition of the relationship between the b. The contrast between Glamour and its opposite..... Illumination.
pairs of opposites with which he, as a disciple, has c. The contrast between Maya and its opposite.......... Inspiration.
to work. d. The contrast between the Dweller on the Threshold
and its opposite................................................ The Angel of the
Once he grasps the relation of the lower major duality (that PRESENCE.
of the personality and the soul) he is then prepared to pass
This, you will realize, is a large subject and deals with the
on to the higher reality, that of the integrated Self (per-
major problem of the disciple. I would refer you at this
sonality and soul) and its relation to the PRESENCE. In
point to what I have already said anent these four aspects
this statement, you have expressed in a few concise words
of glamour, and would ask you to refer with care to the
the result of the first three initiations and the two final.
various charts and tabulations which have been given to you
Ponder on this.
from time to time.
It will be of real value, I believe, if I relate for your
benefit the various contrasting characteristics of the intelli- a. The Contrast between Illusion and Intuition.
gent man and the disciple, using the word "disciple" to cover
all stages of development from that of accepted disciple to I have chosen this as the first contrast with which to deal
that of the Master. There is naught but the Hierarchy, as it should (even though it probably may not) constitute
which is a term denoting a steady progress from a lower the major glamour of the members of this group. Unfor-
state of being and of consciousness to a higher. This is in tunately the emotional glamour dominates still and, for the
every case the state of consciousness of some Being, limited majority of you, the second contrast, that between glamour
and confined and controlled by substance. You will note that and illumination, may prove the most useful and the most
constructive.
Illusion is the power of some mental thoughtform, of
some ideal, and some concept––sensed, grasped and inter-
152 Glamour: A World Problem The Causes of Glamour 153

definitely imperils progress and retards the steps of the the great human Dweller on the Threshold appear as an
disciple upon the Way. It can produce dangerous group integrated entity, or the Dweller in a national or racial
tension if present in any of you, and this induced group sense makes its appearance, spreading and vitalizing na-
tension can interfere with the free play of the power and tional, racial and planetary glamour, fostering and feeding
light which you are supposed to use, even when the other individual glamours and making the entire problem unmis-
group members remain unconscious of the emanating source. takably apparent. Only then can the relation between the
Irritation definitely generates a poison which locates itself soul of humanity and the generated forces of its ancient
in the region of the stomach and of the solar plexus. Irrita- and potent personality assume proportions which call for
tion is a disease, if I might use that word, of the solar drastic activity and intelligent cooperation.
plexus center and it is definitely contagious to an almost Such a time has now come, and in the two books,
alarming extent. So, my brothers, watch yourselves with Problems of Humanity and The Reappearance of the
care and remember that just in so far as you can live in Christ, and also in the Wesak and June Full Moon mes-
the head and in the heart, you will end the disease of sages, I have dealt with this most practical and urgent situa-
imperil and aid in the transference of the forces of the tion, which is in itself the guarantee of human progress
solar plexus into the heart center. toward its destined goal as well as the assertion of its
major hindrances to spiritual realization. The sections on
d. The Contrast between the Dweller and its opposite, the which we shall now be engaged are of prime importance
Angel of the Presence. to all who are in training for initiation. I said "in train-
ing," my brothers; I did not say that you would take
The entire subject of the Dweller and its relation to
initiation in this life. I know not myself whether you will
the Angel (a symbolic way of dealing with a great relation-
or no; the issue lies in your hands and in your planned
ship and possibility, and a great fact in manifestation) is
destiny––planned by your souls. Your problem is essentially
only now possible of consideration. Only when man is an
that of learning to handle the Dweller on the Threshold
integrated personality does the problem of the Dweller
and of ascertaining the procedures and the processes
truly arise, and only when the mind is alert and the intelli-
whereby the momentous activity of fusion can take place.
gence organized (as is becoming the case today on a fairly
Through the medium of this fusion the Dweller "disap-
large scale) is it possible for man to sense––intelligently
pears and is no more seen, though still he functions on the
and not just mystically––the Angel and so intuit the
outer plane, the agent of the Angel; the light absorbs the
PRESENCE. Only then does the entire question of hin-
Dweller, and into obscuration––radant yet magnetic––this
drances which the Dweller embodies, and the limitations
ancient form of life dissolves though keeping still its form;
which it provides to spiritual contact and realization assume
it rests and works but is not now itself." Such are the
potent proportions. Only then can they be usefully consid-
paradoxical statements of the Old Commentary.
ered and steps taken to induce right action. Only when
I have earlier defined for you in as simple terms as
there is adequate fusion within humanity as a whole does
possible the nature of the Dweller. I would like, however,
154 Glamour: A World Problem The Causes of Glamour 155
to enlarge upon one or two points and give one or two ness of the disciple. The Dweller or the personality
new suggestions which––for the sake of clarity and for your is then urged in two directions: one, towards the
more rapid comprehension––we will tabulate as follows: pursuit of personal ambitions and desires in the
1. The Dweller on the Threshold is essentially the per- three worlds; the other, in which the effort is made
sonality; it is an integrated unity composed of physical by the Dweller (note this statement) to take a stand
forces, vital energy, astral forces and mental energies, upon the threshold of divinity and before the Portal
constituting the sumtotal of the lower nature. of Initiation.
c. The stage wherein the Dweller consciously seeks
2. The Dweller takes form when a reorientation of the cooperation of the soul and, though still in itself
man's life has taken place consciously and under soul essentially constituting a barrier to spiritual pro-
impression; the whole personality is then theoretically gress, is more and more influenced by the soul than
directed towards liberation into service. The problem by its lower nature.
is to make the theory and the aspiration facts in ex-
perience. 5. When the final stage is reached (and many are now
reaching it today) the disciple strives with more or
3. For a great length of time the forces of the person- less success to steady the Dweller (by learning to "hold
ality do not constitute a Dweller. The man is not on the mind steady in the light" and thus controlling the
the threshold of divinity; he is not consciously aware lower nature). In this way the constant fluid changeful-
of the Angel. His forces are inchoate; he works un- ness of the Dweller is gradually overcome; its orienta-
consciously in his environment, the victim of circumstance tion towards reality and away from the Great Illusion
and of his own nature apparently and under the lure is made effective, and the Angel and the Dweller are
and the urge of desire for physical plane activity and slowly brought into a close rapport.
existence. When, however, the life of the man is ruled
from the mental plane, plus desire or ambition, and 6. In the earlier stages of effort and of attempted con-
he is controlled at least to some large extent by mental trol, the Dweller is positive and the Soul is negative in
influence, then the Dweller begins to take shape as a their effects in the three worlds of human endeavor.
unified force. Then there is a period of oscillation, leading to a life
of equilibrium wherein neither aspect appears to domi-
4. The stages wherein the Dweller on the Threshold nate; after that the balance changes and the personality
is recognized, subjected to a discriminating discipline steadily becomes negative and the soul or psyche be-
and finally controlled and mastered, are mainly three: comes dominant and positive.
a. The stage wherein the personality dominates and
rules the life and ambitions and the goals of man's 7. The astrological influences can potently affect these
life-endeavor. The Dweller then controls. situations and––speaking generally and within certain
b. The stage of a growing cleavage in the conscious- esoteric limits––it might be noted that:
156 Glamour: A World Problem The Causes of Glamour 157
a. Leo...........controls the positive Dweller. The soul ray controls for an entire life period. The
b. Gemini........controls the processes of oscillation. personality rays given above are for the Piscean Age
c. Sagittarius...controls the negative Dweller. which is now beginning to pass out; but these have
definitely and irrevocably conditioned humanity.
It might be added that the three signs––Scorpio, Sagit- You will note also that the first Ray of Will or
tarius, Capricorn––lead finally to the fusion of the Power is missing as is the fourth Ray of Harmony
Dweller and the Angel. through Conflict. This fourth ray is always active as
8. The soul ray controls and conditions the activity of it controls in a peculiar manner the fourth creative
the Angel and its type of influence upon the Dweller. It Hierarchy and might be regarded as forming the basic
affects karma, times and seasons. personality ray of the fourth creative Hierarchy. The
one given above is a transient and fleeting personality
9. The personality ray controls the Dweller in all the ray of a minor incarnation.
earlier states and up to the time when the soul ray
begins steadily to produce a growing effect. This per- 12. In the Aquarian Age which is rapidly coming, the
sonality ray is, as you know, a combination of three Dweller will present slightly different personality
energies which produce the fourth or personality ray, forces:
through the medium of their interrelation over a vast a. Personality ray..... 5th..... basic and determining.
period of time. b. Mind ray.............. 4th..... the creative effect.
10. Therefore, the five types of energy which I indi- c. Astral ray............. 6th..... conditioning incentives.
cated to you as of importance in your own lives when d. Physical ray......... 7th..... incoming ray.
I gave you indications as to the nature of your five 13. Each great cycle in the zodiac is in the nature of
controlling rays, govern also the relation between the an incarnation of the human family, and each great
Dweller and the Angel, both in the individual and in race is a somewhat similar happening; the latter is,
humanity as a whole. These five are the rays of the however, of more importance where the human under-
physical body, the astral ray, the mind ray, the per- standing and consciousness is concerned. The analogy
sonality ray and the soul ray. is to the few important incarnations in the life of the
11. The rays which govern humanity and which condi- soul in contradistinction to the many unimportant and
tion humanity and the present world problem are as rapidly succeeding incarnations. Of the important in-
follows: carnations there are three which are of major import:
the Lemurian, the Atlantean, and the Aryan races.
a. The Soul ray..........2nd.....humanity must express love.
b. The personality ray...3rd.....developing intelligence for 14. Each race produced its own type of Dweller on
transmutation into love-wisdom. the Threshold who was faced at the close of the spir-
c. Mind ray..............5th.....scientific achievement. itual cycle (not the physical which goes on to crystalliza-
d. Astral ray............6th.....idealistic development.
e. Physical ray..........7th.....organization. Business.
158 Glamour: A World Problem The Causes of Glamour 159
tion) when maturity was achieved and a certain initiation I will ask you, my brother, to do two things: study the
became possible for its advanced humanity. above ideas in the light of the present world crisis, and in
the light of your own soul-personality problem.
15. When a racial incarnation and a zodiacal cycle syn- Advanced humanity stands, as the Dweller, on the very
chronize (which is not always the case) then there threshold of divinity. The Angel stands expectant––ab-
comes a significant and important focusing of the at- sorbed in the PRESENCE yet ready to absorb the Dweller.
tention of the Dweller on the Angel and vice versa. Humanity has advanced in consciousness to the very boun-
This is taking place at this time at the close of the daries of the world of spiritual values and the kingdom of
Piscean era and when the Aryan race has reached ma- Light and of God. The Angel has "come to Earth" in
turity and a relatively high water mark of development. expectation of recognition––an event of which the advent
Discipleship is significant of maturity, and it is with of Christ two thousand years ago was the symbol and the
mature development that the Dweller is met. The precursor. This is the situation where all advanced aspir-
Aryan race is ready for discipleship. ants are concerned. It can be yours. It is the situation also
16. The development of sensitivity in the individual where humanity as a whole is concerned and the approach-
and in the race indicates the imminence of the recog- ing Hierarchy. The consciousness of humanity from the
nition of the Angel from both angles of vision and the higher and spiritual standpoint functions today through the
immediacy of the opportunity. This opportunity for steadily growing band of world servers, world aspirants
active fusion has never been so true as now. and world disciples, and their name is Legion.
Humanity today is the Dweller whilst the Hierarchy
17. The lines of demarcation as existing between the of Souls is the Angel and behind stands the PRESENCE of
recognized areas of influence between the Dweller and Divinity Itself, intuited by the Hierarchy and dimly sensed
the Angel are clearer than ever before in the history of by humanity but providing in this manner that threefold
the race. Man knows the difference between right and synthesis which is divine manifestation in form.
wrong and must now choose the way that he shall go. All these three have powerful emanations (though the
In the Atlantean racial crisis (which was also a com- emanation of the PRESENCE via Shamballa has been wisely
plete human crisis), the history of which is perpetuated held in leash since the human race came into being). They all
for us in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna––symbol of the have auras, if you care so to call them, and in the three
then disciple and the world disciple––was frankly be- worlds at present that of the Dweller is still the most power-
wildered. This is not so true now. The disciples of ful, just as in the life of the aspirant, his personality is as yet
the world and the world disciple do see the issues today the dominant predisposing factor. It is this powerful human
relatively quite clearly. Will expediency win or will emanation which constitutes the major glamour in the life of
the Dweller be sacrificed with love and understanding humanity and of the individual disciple. It is a synthesis of
to the Angel? This is the major problem. glamour, fused and blended by the personality ray but pre-
cipitated by the effect of the steadily influencing soul ray. It
160 Glamour: A World Problem 161
is the shadow or distortion of reality, now sensed for the
first time on a large scale by the race of men and thrown
into high relief by the light which shines from the Angel, the
transmitter of energy from the PRESENCE.
And so they stand––Humanity and the Hierarchy. And
so you stand, my brother, personality and soul, with free- SECTION THREE
dom to go forward into the light if you so determine or to THE ENDING OF GLAMOUR
remain static and unprogressive, learning nothing and get-
ting nowhere; you are equally free to return to identifica- We come now to the consideration of the third section
tion with the Dweller, negating thus the influence of the relating to world glamour. It is difficult to write clearly
Angel, refusing imminent opportunity and postponing–– about this matter because we are in the midst of its most
until a much later cycle––your determining choice. This is concentrated expression––the worst the world has ever seen
true of you and of Humanity as a whole. Will humanity's because glamour, incident to centuries of greed and selfish-
third ray materialistic personality dominate the present ness, of aggression and materialism, has been focused in
situation or will its soul of love prove the most powerful a triplicity of nations. It is, therefore, easily to be seen
factor, taking hold of the personality and its little issues, and most effective in manifestation. Three nations express
leading it to discriminate rightly and to recognize the true the three aspects of world glamour (illusion, glamour and
values and thus bring in the age of soul or hierarchical maya) in an amazing manner, and their powerful assault
control? Time alone will show. upon the consciousness of humanity is dependent not only
I will give you no more today. I am anxious for these upon the response of Germany, Japan and Italy to this
few essential statements to be mastered by all of you, prior ancient miasma but also upon the fact that every nation––
to our taking up Section III. I am anxious too for the United Nations as well as Totalitarian Nations––are
general group instructions, which you have lately received, tainted with this universal condition. The freedom of the
to take much of your time, interest and attention. Inner world is consequently largely dependent upon those people
group adjustments and more firmly established group re- in every nation who (within themselves) have moved for-
lations are urgently needed and upon these I ask you to ward out of one or other of these "glamorous illusions and
work. I would remind you here also that––as in all else mayavic impressions" of the human soul into a state of
in manifestation––there is a group personality and a group awareness wherein they can see the conflict in its wider
soul; you must learn clearly to distinguish between the two terms, i.e., as that existing for them between the Dweller
and to throw the entire weight of your influence, desire on the Threshold and the Angel of the PRESENCE.
and pressure on the side of the Group Angel. In this way These people are the aspirants, disciples and initiates
there might occur that stupendous recognition for which of the world. They are aware of the dualism, the essential
all initiation prepares the applicant––the revelation of the dualism, of the conflict and are not so preeminently con-
PRESENCE. scious of the threefold nature and the differentiated condi-
tion of the situation which underlies the realized dualism.
162 Glamour: A World Problem The Ending of Glamour 163
Their approach to the problem is therefore simpler and, lantean days and so long lost, and the recognition of the
because of this, world direction lies largely in their hands techniques which can bring in the new world era and its
at this time. cultural order can be clearly noted and appraised.
It is right here that religion has, as a whole, gone All generalizations admit of error. It might, however,
astray. I refer to orthodox religion. It has been pre- be said that Germany has focused in herself world glamour
occupied with the Dweller on the Threshold and the eyes ––the most potent and expressive of the three aspects of
of the theologian have been held upon the material, phe- glamour. Japan is manifesting the force of maya––the
nomenal aspect of life through fear and its immediacy, crudest form of material force. Italy, individualistic and
and the fact of the Angel has been a theory and a point of mentally polarized, is the expression of world illusion. The
wishful thinking. The balance is being adjusted by the United Nations, with all their faults, limitations, weaknesses
humanitarian attitudes which are so largely coming into and nationalisms, are focusing the conflict between the
control, irrespective of any theological trend. These atti- Dweller and the Angel, and thus the three forms of glamour
tudes take their stand upon the belief of the innate right- and the final form of the conflict between the spiritual ideal
ness of the human spirit, in the divinity of man, and upon and its material opponent are appearing simultaneously.
the indestructible nature of the soul of mankind. This in- The United Nations are, however, gradually and most
evitably brings in the concept of the PRESENCE, or of God decisively throwing the weight of their effort and aspiration
Immanent and is the result of the needed revolt against on to the side of the Angel, thus restoring the lost balance
the belief in God Transcendent. This spiritual revolution and slowly producing on a planetary scale those attributes
was entirely a balancing process and need cause no basic and conditions which will eventually dispel illusion, dissipate
concern, for God Transcendent eternally exists but can only glamour and devitalize the prevalent maya. This they are
be seen and known and correctly approached by God doing by the increased clear thinking of the general public
Immanent––immanent in individual man, in groups and na- of all the nations, bound together to conquer the three Axis
tions, in organized forms and in religion, in humanity as Powers, by their growing ability to conceive ideas in terms
a whole and in the planetary Life Itself. Humanity is to- of the whole, in terms of a desirable world order or federa-
day (and has been for ages) battling illusion, glamour and tion, and their capacity to discriminate between the Forces
maya. Advanced thinkers, those upon the Probationary of Light and the potency of evil or materialism.
Path, upon the Path of Discipleship, and the Path of Initia- The work being done by those who see the world stage
tion have reached a point where materialism and spiritual- as the arena for the conflict between the Dweller on the
ity, the Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel of the Threshold and the Angel of the PRESENCE might be itemized
PRESENCE, and the basic dualism of manifestation can be as:
seen clearly defined. Because of this clarity of demarcation, 1. The producing of those world conditions in which
the issues underlying the present world events, the objectives the Forces of Light can overcome the Forces of Evil. This
of the present worldwide struggle, the modes and methods they do by the weight of their armed forces, plus their
of reestablishing the spiritual contact so prevalent in At- clear insight.
 The Ending of Glamour 203 The Technique of Fusion 267
place to planned efforts to meet desire, involving the direc- Before Him lies the attainment of a still higher range
tive use of the mind. Thus the line of demarcation between of perceptions and, in order to garner the reward of those
the animal and the human has become increasingly appar- possible contacts, He has to master techniques and methods
ent and the first and basic expression of pure selfishness ap- of development which will make Him omnipotent and,
peared aeons ago. Later, as evolution proceeded and desire therefore, expressive of the highest of the three divine
shifted from one planned satisfaction to another, it began aspects. This development will put into His grasp poten-
to take on a less physical aspect and men sought pleasure in cies and experiences which can only be manipulated and
emotional experience and in its dramatization: this led to understood through the scientific activity of the WILL and
the establishment of the drama as its first artistic expres- this must be implemented from a point of tension, focused
sion; by means of this, down the ages, man has supplemented in whatever is meant by the word "Monad." Do you know
individual emotional and dramatic living with a vicarious what that means, my brother? I am sure that you do not.
submergence in it, thus exteriorizing himself and supple- Only the Masters of the Wisdom have any appreciation of
menting his personal dramas, desires, and objectives with these final unfoldments and then only in the sense of the
those which were developed by means of the creative im- Will-full aspiration––a phase of aspiration which is charac-
agination, thus laying the foundation for the recognition–– terized by the conscious will, just as the aspiration of the
intelligent and real––of the part in relation to the whole. disciple is characterized by sublimated desire. These things
Thus from earliest Atlantean times the foundation was laid are, however, beyond the comprehension of the average
for the unfoldment of the sense of mystical duality through disciple; their sole value is to depict the unending oppor-
the various stages of an anthropomorphic recognition of tunity which presents itself at every stage and point of
deity to the recognition of the real in man himself, until crisis upon the everlasting Way.
finally we arrive at the proposition which faces the disciple. We are concerned at this time with the great point of
Then the Dweller on the Threshold confronts the Angel of crisis which faces the disciple when he attempts to resolve
the Presence and the last and major conflict is fought out. the final pair of opposites, prior to certain major initiations;
This dualistic consciousness culminates at the time of this is the confronting the personality by the Angel of the
the third initiation in the final fight between the pairs of PRESENCE. There is no need for me to define the two aspects
opposites and the triumphant victory of the Angel––the of the disciple's nature, for that is what they essentially are.
embodiment of the Forces of Good in the individual, in the You have been told and have known that the Dweller upon
group and in humanity. Then dualism and the desire for the Threshold is the fully developed personality––the sum-
that which is material and not oneself (as identified with total of all the past and the composite presentation upon
the Whole) dies out. Unity and the "life more abundantly" the physical plane of all unresolved problems, all un-
is achieved. declared desires, all latent characteristics and qualities, all
The process followed by the disciple who is consciously phases of thought and of self-will, all lower potencies and
working at the dissipation of glamour in his life can be ancient habits of any of the three bodies (both bad and
good). These, in their totality, are brought to the surface
268 Glamour: A World Problem The Technique of Fusion 269
of consciousness, there to be dealt with in such a way that must be brought into play before the divine will can begin
their control is broken. The disciple is then free to take the to control. The disciple brings the two aspects of his nature
final initiations. This process is not consummated in one together in full consciousness and with clear intention
particular facing of the two antagonistic forces. It is a through a planned act of the will, and this act produces
threefold process, covering each of the three periods before a point of tension in the "center of the burning-ground
the first three initiations or (from the angle of the Hier- wherein the two can meet," as the ancient Archives put it.
archy) before the two initiations of the threshold and the I would call your attention to the fact that it is at a
first major initiation, the Transfiguration. "midway point" that the great submission of the lower to
For many lives, the disciple has been dwelling upon the the higher takes place. It does not happen when the disciple
threshold. He himself is the Dweller. Behind the slowly hovers uncertainly upon the periphery of the burning-
opening door he senses life, energy, spiritual embodiment, round or when he stands before the door with the burning
and the fact of the Angel. Between him and that door ground experience behind him. The essential point of crisis,
is a burning-ground; this he faces, and this he knows he producing the needed point of tension, is the result of the
has to cross if he seeks to pass through the door. The "invocative decision" of the personality which, in time,
question for him to answer is whether his will to achieve produces an "evocative response" from the Angel. The
is strong enough for him to submit his personal lower self two factors involved (and forget not, my brother, that all
to the fires of the final purification. The personal self is this takes place within the field of consciousness of the
now very highly developed; it is a useful instrument which disciple) move together and towards each other. In the
the soul can use; it is a highly trained agent for service; center of the burning ground they meet, and then the lesser
it is essentially a piece of adequate and useful equipment. light (a true light in its own right) of the personality is
It has, however, its points of weakness which are liable absorbed into the greater light of the Angel or soul. The
at any time to present points of crisis; it has likewise its Angel, therefore, "occultly obliterates" the Dweller who
points of strength which can be transmuted with relative becomes lost to sight in the radiant aura of the Angel. This
ease into points of tension; on the whole, it is a dependable has been symbolically portrayed for us in the picture book
instrument and one which can render good service. Can it of the heavens when, according to Catholic Festivals, the
and should it be sacrificed so that (esoterically speaking) Assumption of the Virgin takes place and the constellation
its life is lost and in its place consecration and devotion are Virgo is lost to sight in the radiance of the sun. There
substituted? This is a hard problem for all disciples to you have the three factors:
solve, to understand and to make effectively practical. Only
by crossing the burning ground three successive times are 1. The Virgin..... material form...... personality... Dweller
all impediments to the free use of the will destroyed. The 2. The Sun......... spiritual nature.... soul.............. Angel.
relation between the Angel and the Dweller must be re- 3. The Earth....... aspiring man....... the disciple...
leased, by means of the will, to full expression. I here The personality remains; it still exists but it is seen no more
refer to the spiritual will and to its three aspects which as of old. The light of the Angel envelops it; the burning
ground has done its work and the personality is now nothing
270 Glamour: A World Problem The Technique of Fusion 271
more or less than the purified shell or form through which the personal self in three successive stages is the immediate
the light, the radiance, the quality and the characteristics of and normal result. It was to this that John the Baptist
the Angel can shine. It is a fusion of lights, with the referred when he said "He shall increase but I must de-
stronger and the more powerful obliterating the lesser. crease." When he spoke these words, he spoke as a disciple,
How has this been brought about? I refer not here prior to the second initiation of the threshold. This occult
to the preparation of the Dweller on the Threshold for this waxing and waning is portrayed for us in the phases of
great event or to the aeon of disciplining, of preparation, the moon and, for the planet as a whole, in the sign Gemini,
of experiment and of experience from life to life which where the light of one of the twins is slowly dimming and
has made this consummating event possible and successful. the light of the other is gaining in intensity.
The two aspects in man can only meet in full power and When this "occult obliteration" has taken place, what
with intention and finality when illusion can no longer con- then is the destiny of the disciple? It is complete control
trol the mind, when glamour has lost all power to veil by the soul and this, in practice, connotes group realization,
and when the forces of maya can no longer hinder. Dis- group work, group service and eventually group initiation.
crimination, dispassion and indifference have produced the With these developments, it is not my intent to deal, for
dispelling through focused light, the dissipating potency I have covered much of these matters in my other books.
of distributed light and the directing power of light energy. Here I have been dealing in this short elucidation with the
Only five recognitions now control the disciple: effects that substances and the substantial forces, found in
the three worlds, produce in the disciple and as they affect
1. The fact of his discipleship.
the aspirant. I have not considered the problem of glamour,
2. The perception of the Angel, waiting and dynamic.
illusion and maya from the angle of average man. The
3. The invocative appeal of the Dweller on the Threshold.
latter is necessarily immersed in them, and under their con-
4. The necessity to use the will in a new and different manner.
stant impact he passes his life. By their means he learns.
5. The need to cross the burning ground.
He is not at the point where he seeks deliverance from
The issues are now entirely clear. It is a question of timing them as does the man upon the Path. I have, therefore,
and of decision. I would remind you that in all these proc- considered the problem from the angle of the disciples and
aspirants.
esses, it is the disciple who, in full consciousness, acts.
From them the WAY opens up, and for them comes
He initiates all the processes himself. It is not the Angel the conscious recognition of the light. The need for the
or the Dweller but the spiritual man himself who has to service of men and women, free from illusion and glamour,
employ the will and take definite forward moving action. has never been so dramatically present as it is today and
Once the disciple has taken the necessary steps and moved it is for these potential servers of a desperate necessity
irrevocably forward, the response of the Angel is sure, that I have written.
automatic and all-enveloping. Complete obliteration of That the Angel of the PRESENCE may make His
nearness felt and inspire you to pass courageously through
272 Glamour: A World Problem Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle by Alice A. Bailey, 1950
Seventh printing, 1971 (Paperback)
the fires of the burning ground is my earnest prayer; that
the fact of the PRESENCE may be sensed by you and lead Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle 79
you to greater activity––once the burning ground is passed
––is my deepest wish for you; and that the light may shine deva hierarchy. The angels and devas are to the vegetable
upon your way and bring a certain and assured consumma- kingdom what the spiritual Hierarchy is to humanity. This
tion of all the travail and struggle which has characterized is, of course, a mystery with which you have no concern.
your way of life is my heart's desire for you. To more But impressions and reactions are to be found in both these
active and steady enterprise I call you. kingdoms, and upon such response depends the evolution
THE TIBETAN. of the indwelling consciousness.
The animal kingdom has a peculiar relation to the
See also the Techniques of Fusion and Integration in A Treatise on fourth kingdom in nature, and the unfolding of the animal
the Seven Rays, Vol. II, Esoteric Psychology, pp. 345-401. consciousness proceeds along lines paralleling, yet dissimilar
to that of the human being who is beginning to respond to
the kingdom of souls, the fifth kingdom. It is the karma
and destiny of the fourth kingdom to be the impressing
agent for the third; the problem is complicated, however,
by the fact that the animal kingdom antedates the human
and had, therefore, generated a measure of karma––both
good and evil––prior to the appearance of mankind. The
"impressing process" carried forward by humanity is modi-
fied and often negated by two factors:
1. Human ignorance and selfishness, plus inability to
work consciously and intelligently with the embry-
onic minds within animal forms: this is true except
in a few (a very few) cases which involve the do-
mestic animals. When humanity is itself further
advanced, its intelligent impression upon the con-
sciousness of the animal kingdom will produce
planetary results. At present this is not so. It will
only come when the animal kingdom (as a result of
human understanding) becomes invocative.
2. The self-generated karma of the animal kingdom
which is largely being worked off in its relation to
mankind today. The karmic entity––holding a type
of rule within the third kingdom––is a part of the
planetary Dweller on the Threshold.
80 Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle The Externalization of the Hierarchy by Alice A. Bailey, 1957
Fifth printing, 1976 (2nd Paperback Edition)
You will note, therefore, the amazing planetary sequence
of impression––all of it emanating from the highest pos- THE GENERAL WORLD PICTURE 109
sible sources, though stepped down and regulated to the
receiving factors; all of it concerned to a greater or less 1. Upon the point achieved in racial evolution. This
degree (according to the quality of the mechanism of re- today warrants the building of a better vehicle for
ception) with the will and purpose of Sanat Kumara; all human and racial expression.
of it, during the aeons, achieving a group potency and a 2. Upon the karmic causes which––as far as present
responding sensitivity. humanity is concerned––can be traced back to an
The main factor preventing a completely unimpeded ancient conflict upon old Atlantis.
sequence of impression from Shamballa straight down into 3. Upon the coming into incarnation of certain potent
the mineral kingdom, via all the other kingdoms, is the personalities whose dharma or destiny it is to bring
factor of freewill, resulting in karmic responsibility. This about great evolutionary changes.
can be either good or bad. It is interesting to note here 4. Upon certain planetary happenings, connected with
that both the good and the bad karma produce conditions the life of the One "in Whom we live and move and
which not only have to be worked out, but that they lead have our being." These involve the impact upon
to conditions which delay what we––from our limited point our planet of Forces and Energies which will be in-
of view––might look upon as the liberation of the planet. strumental in altering the existing civilization and
The generating of good karma necessitates the "living culture, in climaxing karmic necessity and in thus
through" of conditions where everything (for the man re- engineering release, presenting humanity with that
sponsible or for any other form within its limitations) is stage in the experience of the disciple which we call
good, happy, beneficent and useful. The evil karma gen- "the meeting of the Dweller on the Threshold with
erated in any kingdom in relation to the "realm where the Angel of the Presence," and inducing as a con-
dwelleth the planetary Dweller on the Threshold" stands sequence a certain planetary initiation.
between the cosmic Door of Initiation and our planetary These four stages of the Law of Cause and Effect (as
Logos. This Dweller represents all the mistakes and errors it affects humanity at this time) might be called:
due to wrong reactions, unrecognized contacts, deliberate
choices made in defiance of known good, and mass move- 1. The perfecting of form expression..... Law of Evolution
ments and mass activities which are temporarily not pro- 2. The precipitation of karma................. Law of Cause
gressive in time and space. I realize that where these facts and Effect
apply to the subhuman kingdoms in nature you are not 3. The achievement of personality......... Law of Polar
aware of what I mean, but that does not alter the law or (The Dweller on the Threshold)......... Opposites
movements which are in no way related to human evolution. 4. The attainment of planetary Law of
In connection with the planetary Logos I would like to add initiation............................................. Initiation
that in that great planetary struggle and His subsequent
You may perhaps think at this point that I am being
academic and that the world stress at this time is such that
love, sympathy and kind words are needed far more than
 THE GENERAL WORLD PICTURE 137 170 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

ways according to the point of view and the background pressed by the light in the head, or by the head center and
of thought. It can be called the conflict between Christ its externalization, the pineal gland).
and anti-Christ but not as those who usually employ those You will, therefore, note afresh the practical significance
phrases understand them. No one nation is expressive of the of these fourth and fifth phrases of the Great Invocation.
spirit of anti-Christ, just as no one nation expresses the One serves to arouse humanity (as a planetary center) to
spirit of Christ. Christ and anti-Christ are the dualities of activity and realization and the other serves to aid the
spirituality and materialism, both in the individual and in Hierarchy in its ancient efforts so that the two are then
humanity as a whole. Or you can speak of God and the related to each other's magnetic fields and produce a blend-
Devil with the same basic implications. For what is man ing and a synthesis which will lead to a fuller expression of
himself but an expression of divinity (God) in a material the soul of divinity through the medium of humanity.
form (the Devil), and what is matter but the medium Ponder on this statement.
through which divinity must eventually manifest in all its In the esoteric teaching, this takes place in the life of
glory? But when that takes place, matter will no longer the individual when––by an act of the will––the center at
be a controlling factor but simply a medium of expression. the base of the spine is aroused and the fire and the light
The battle is therefore on between the form side of life of the personal threefold life (one aspect of which is often
and the soul. The Dweller on the Threshold (the threshold called the kundalini fire) is carried upwards and merged
of divinity, my brothers) is humanity itself with its ancient with the power and the light of the soul. The major ap-
habits of thought, its selfishness and greed. Humanity today proach of the two basic energies of form and soul (as an
stands face to face with the Angel of the Presence––the expression of spirit) are thereby related within the human
Soul Whose nature is love and light and inclusive under- being; the "marriage in the heavens" takes place and the
standing, The great problem today is which of these two task of the creative process of incarnation or individual
will emerge the victor out of the conflict, and which of manifestation is on the way to completion. Within the plan-
these two great agencies of life will determine humanities etary life, the same process goes on. The life of humanity
future and indicate the way which humanity will decide as a whole (which is intelligent form life) and the life of
to go. the Hierarchy (which is the life of the soul) under impulse
The issues at stake are clear to all right-thinking people. from the Spirit or will aspect as symbolized in Shamballa, are
Intolerance and an intense national pride and self-satisfac- fused and blended and then a new departure in the evolu-
tion can blind men to the facts of the case today, but there tionary process becomes possible. The kingdom of God,
are enough people thinking clearly to make the future of which is the kingdom of souls, and the human kingdom
right decision more probable than at any previous time in as mutually expressive and interrelated, are perfectly syn-
the history of the race. thesized and anchored on earth. The glory of the One can
then be faintly seen, which is the glory of Shamballa. The
Preparation for World Goodwill Dweller upon the threshold of divinity and the Angel of
The causes of the present war are ancient. This histor- the Presence then stand face to face.
ical sequence of the predisposing factors can be clearly This is the situation today. Tomorrow they will blend
traced in the exoteric records of all nations as well as in and synthesize and the glory of God will appear on earth.
the esoteric records of the Hierarchy. The inherent human The second great Approach will have been achieved.
292 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE 293

and out of the world of illusion. Each revelation brings him soul in man, the planetary Logos, some extra-
nearer to the world of causes. planetary Entity, some Cosmic Being, or an Ex-
At the present time, the Avatars most easily recognized pression of Cosmic Good.
and known are the Buddha and the Christ, because Their 2. Those Avatars who are embodiments of the Dweller
messages are familiar to all and the fruits of Their lives and on the Threshold, whether that Dweller is the human
words have conditioned the thinking and the civilizations Dweller on the Threshold, planetary Forces of
of both hemispheres; because They are divine-human Ava- Materialism, or some Aspect of Cosmic Evil.
tars and represent something which humanity can more Let me attempt to make this analogy a little clearer. Just
easily understand; because They are of like nature to man- as in the case of individual man there comes a point in his
kind, "flesh of our flesh and spirit of our spirit." They there- life experience when the Angel of the Presence is sensed,
fore mean more to us than any other Divine Emergence. known, seen and recognized as the revealer of divinity, so
They are known, loved and followed by countless millions. in the history of the race of men, the same great illumina-
I would ask you to ponder on the potency of the nucleus tion may come. Revelation confronts the aspirant. Revela-
of force which They have set up. The establishing of a tion confronts humanity. God is known within the human
nucleus of energy, spiritually positive, is the constant task heart. God is known by mankind. This recognition of divin-
of an Avatar. He focuses or anchors a dynamic truth, a ity in its varying aspects is naturally a progressive one––each
potent thoughtform or a vortex of attractive energy in stage and each life bringing its own revelation of the beauty
the three worlds of human living. Then, as the centuries of divinity and the glory of light more truly and clearly
pass, that truth and the effect of Their lives and words before the disciple. Similarly, there come cycles wherein
begin steadily to condition human thinking; the established the Dweller on the Threshold appears and confronts the
thoughtform acts increasingly as a transmitter of divine aspirant, challenging his purpose and progress and blocking
energy as it expresses a divine idea, and this in time produces the door which leads to expanded life and liberation. The
a civilization, with its accompanying culture, religions, poli- Dweller challenges the freedom of the human soul. So it
cies, governments and educational processes. Thus is history is also in the life of a nation, a race, and humanity as a
made. History is but the record of man's cyclic reaction to whole.
some inflowing divine energy, to some Avatar or some in- The Angel of the Presence indicates divine possibility,
spired Leader. reveals to the attentive disciple the next step towards libera-
Divine Intervention tion which must be made, and throws light upon the imme-
diate stage of the Path to Light which must be trodden. So
In considering the subject of Avatars I would like to does the Avatar Who reveals the Lighted Way to humanity.
point out that (from the standpoint of mankind at his The Dweller on the Threshold summarizes in itself the
present point in evolution) Avatars are of two kind, as evil tendencies, the accumulated limitations and the sum-
might be expected when the consciousness of humanity is total of the selfish habits and desires which are characteristic
subject to the control of the pairs of opposites. These two of the material nature of the disciple. The Angel of the
are: Presence indicates the future possibility and the divine
nature. So does the Avatar. The Dweller on the Threshold
1. Those Avatars Who are the embodiment of the indicates the past with its limitations and evil habits. So
Angel of the Presence, whether that Presence is the
294 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE 295
do those Avatars Who from time to time appear as the own place; the Path ahead lies clear; the disciple can move
embodiments of evil and of the lower nature of mankind. forward with assurance, and a better life dawns for him.
And, my brother, They do appear from age to age. So it is for humanity. A demand rises to the very gates
Some cycles in a disciple's life present one aspect of a of Heaven; the massed intent of humanity is that evil must
"confrontation" and some another. In one life he may be end and a better and truer life become possible. At the
entirely occupied with fighting the Dweller on the Threshold moment of greatest tension and of difficulty the demand goes
or with orienting himself to the Angel of the Presence and forth. Response comes. The Avatar appears and light pours
permitting the divine conditioning energy to flow into him; in making the way clear. New hope awakens and fresh de-
he may be succumbing to the influence of the dread sumtotal terminations are made. Strength to establish right relation-
of his evil and material desires or he may be drawing grad- ships streams through the body of humanity, and mankind
ually nearer to the Angel. But––and this is the point of emerges into a more spacious life, conditioned by truer
importance––it is he himself who evokes one or other of values. A fusion becomes possible between the outer world
these manifestations. So it is with humanity. The call of of daily living and the inner world of spiritual realities. A
humanities soul, or of humanities material nature, must fresh influx of love and light is possible.
evoke response, and thus an Avatar can manifest. It is the Today the moment of adequate tension in the life of
magnetic appeal or the massed intent of the disciple or of humanity has been reached. The Angel of the Presence and
humanity which produces the manifestation. In other lives, the Dweller on the Threshold are at grips. Humanity stands
the disciple may simply swing between the two poles of his apparently at its darkest hour. But the cry is going forth
being, with no conscious effort, no direct confrontation and for aid, for relief, for revelation, for light, and for strength
no clear understanding of life purpose. So does humanity. to shake off that which is evil. The massed intent of the
Eventually, however, there comes a life wherein the world aspirants is directed towards the world of truer values,
disciple is confronted by both the Dweller and the Angel towards better human relations, more enlightened living
simultaneously and the major conflict of his experience takes and a better understanding between all men and peoples.
place. So it is today in the world. The spiritual and the With massed intent they stand, and their ranks are steadily
material are in conflict and humanity itself is the battle- increasing. With an increased focus of the will-to-good, with
ground. a clearer apprehension of future possibility, with a fixed de-
Again, a correspondence to the Doctrine of Avatars can termination that the world move forward in conformity
be seen in the disciple's individual life. When he has with the divine pattern, and with an urgent cry for help,
achieved right desire and has made a true effort towards humanity stands expectant of relief. In every land there is
correct orientation, then––when the conflict between good a growing recognition that when mankind reaches the psy-
and evil is at its height––there comes a moment when he chological point where, having done all, there is naught to
demands more light, more power, more understanding, and do but stand, then some Expression of a divine determination
liberation to take his next forward step. When he can to intervene will appear; there is a growing belief that human
make this demand with firm intent and can stand steady effort towards righteous action will be supplemented by the
and unafraid, response will inevitably come from the very emergence of a divine Force, Person or Event which will
Presence Itself. A manifestation of light and love and power bring the conflict to an end.
will stream forth. Recognition of need has then evoked It might here be pointed out that in similar though
response. The conflict ceases; the Dweller departs to his somewhat less potent crises in the past, this divine interven-
296 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE 297
tion superseded human effort, but that it is hoped by Those and humanity, stands the Hierarchy of Love, stands Christ
Who are seeking to aid humanity that such intervention and His disciples, stand the Masters of the Wisdom. They
will today simply supplement human effort––a very different are united, all of Them, in one stupendous effort to aid
thing. mankind at this time to surmount the Dweller on the Thresh-
Therefore, humanity everywhere today awaits the Com- old and to come closer to the Angel. This necessitates some
ing One. The Avatar is sensed as being on His way. The greater help and this help will be forthcoming when human-
second Coming (according to prophecy) is imminent, and ity and the Hierarchy in one fused and blended effort stand
from the lips of disciples, mystics, aspirants and all enlight- with massed intent, invoking that aid and expecting it also.
ened people in all lands the cry goes up, "Let light and love
and power and death fulfill the purpose of the Coming The Appearance of Avatars
One." Those words are a demand, a consecration, a sacri- Since the year 1400 (a date to which I referred earlier)
fice, a statement of belief and a challenge to the Avatar there have been constant appearances of lesser avatars, called
Who waits in His High Place until the demand is adequate, forth in response to minor crises, to national dilemmas and
and the cry clear enough to warrant His descent and His religious necessity. They have taken the form of those men
appearance. and women who have championed successfully some truth
Demand without paralleling action is useless, just as or some right cause, some human right or correct human
faith without works is dead. It is here that there is a break demand. All these people have worked actively upon the
in the magnetic link which should unite the Avatar with physical plane and seldom received recognition for what
the demand for His coming forth. His emergence must be they truly were; only history, at a later date, laid emphasis
caused by a fivefold chain or thread of energy: the focused upon their achievement. But they changed the current of
will of the people, the massed intent of the world disciples men's thoughts; they pointed a way to a better life; they
and aspirants, plus their desire, their active participation in pioneered into new territories of human achievement. Such
the task of clearing the way for Him, and complete selfless- a one was Luther; another was Columbus; still others were
ness. Only when humanity has itself done everything pos- Shakespeare and Leonardo da Vinci––to mention only four
sible to adjust that which is wrong and to end that which who so lived and thought and acted that they conditioned
is evil, and has carried this effort even to the sacrifice of life after events in some field of human living and are still recog-
itself, can He, the Desire of all nations, appear. nized as pioneering souls, as leaders of men. With these
Today this is being attempted. The great event of the disciples I shall not deal. They embodied ideas and made
appearance of the Avatar can be made possible by a little history––not the history of conquest but the history of
increased effort. The mission of the Buddha at this par- progress. I seek to consider with you those still greater
ticular Wesak Festival is to add that new impetus, that fresh Appearances Who come forth from some hidden center,
illumination, and that added power and fixed purpose which remote from or near to humanity, and Who "release from
will enable mankind to surmount this crisis. From the side crisis the sons of men." These fall mainly into four rela-
of the spiritual Forces of the planet, everything will then tively minor groups:
have been done to make the appearance of the Avatar pos-
sible. From the side of humanity, I would ask you What 1. Racial Avatars. These Appearances are evoked by the
will be done? genius and destiny of a race. The typical man (in quality
Between the Source from which all Avatars come forth and consciousness, not necessarily physically) foreshadows
 EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE 355 356 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

sciousness of humanity is dependent not only upon the manent in individual man, in groups and nations, in organ-
response of Germany, Japan and Italy to this ancient miasma ized forms and in religion, in humanity as a whole and in
but also upon the fact that every nation––the United Nations the planetary Life Itself. Humanity is today (and has been
as well as the Totalitarian Nations––are tainted with this for ages) battling illusion, glamour and maya. Advanced
universal condition. The freedom of the world is conse- thinkers, those upon the Probationary Path, upon the Path
quently largely dependent upon those people in every nation of Discipleship, and the Path of Initiation have reached the
who (within themselves) have moved forward out of one point where materialism and spirituality, the Dweller on
or other of these "glamorous illusions of mayavic impres- the Threshold and the Angel of the Presence, and the basic
sions" of the human soul into a state of awareness wherein dualism of manifestation can be seen clearly defined. Be-
they can see the conflict in its wider terms, i.e., as that exist- cause of this clarity of demarcation, the issues underlying
ing for them between the Dweller on the Threshold and present world events, the objectives of the present worldwide
the Angel of the Presence. struggle, the modes and methods of re-establishing the
These people are the aspirants, the disciples and the spiritual contact so prevalent in Atlantean days and so long
initiates of the world. They are aware of the dualism, the lost, and the recognition of the techniques which can bring
essential dualism, of the conflict and are not so preeminently in the new world era and its cultural order can be clearly
conscious of the threefold nature and the differentiated con- noted and appraised.
dition of the situation which underlies the realized dualism. All generalizations admit of error. It might, however,
Their approach to the problem is therefore simpler and, be- be said that Germany has focused in herself world glamour
cause of this, world direction lies largely in their hands at ––the most potent and expressive of the three aspects of
this time. glamour. Japan is manifesting the force of maya––the crud-
It is right here that religion has, as a whole, gone astray. est form of material force. Italy, individualistic and mentally
I refer to orthodox religion. It has been preoccupied with polarized, is the expression of world illusion. The United
the Dweller on the Threshold and the eyes of the theologian Nations, with all their faults, limitations, weaknesses and
have been held upon the material, phenomenal aspect of nationalisms, are focusing the conflict between the Dweller
life through fear and its immediacy, and the fact of the and the Angel, and thus the three forms of glamour and the
Angel has been a theory and a point of wishful thinking. final form of the conflict between the spiritual ideal and its
The balance is being adjusted by the humanitarian attitudes material opponent are appearing simultaneously. The
which are so largely coming into control, irrespective of any United Nations are, however, gradually and most decisively
theological trend. These attitudes take their stand upon throwing the weight of their effort and aspiration on to the
belief in the innate rightness of the human spirit, in the side of the Angel, thus restoring the lost balance and slowly
divinity of man and upon the indestructible nature of the producing on a planetary scale those attitudes and condi-
soul of mankind. This inevitably brings in the concept of tions which will eventually dispel illusion, dissipate glamour
the PRESENCE, or of God Immanent and is the result of and devitalize the prevalent maya. This they are doing by
the needed revolt against the one-sidedness of the belief in the increased clear thinking of the general public of all the
God Transcendent. This spiritual revolution was entirely a nations, bound together to conquer the three Axis Powers,
balancing process and need cause no basic concern, for God by their growing ability to conceive ideas in terms of the
Transcendent eternally exists, but can only be seen and whole, in terms of a desirable world order or federation,
known and correctly approached by God Immanent––im-
 EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE 357 358 THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY

and their capacity to discriminate between the Forces of to a focused mental clarification of men's minds through-
Light and the potency of evil or materialism. out the world. These three imminent energies are
The work being done by those who see the world stage a. The energy of the intuition which will gradually dispel
as the arena for the conflict between the Dweller on the world illusion, and produce automatically a great aug-
Threshold and the Angel of the PRESENCE might be itemized mentation of the ranks of initiates.
as follows: b. The activity of light which will dissipate, by the energy
of illumination, the world of glamour and bring many
1. The producing of those world conditions in which the thousands on to the Path of Discipleship.
Forces of Light can overcome the Forces of Evil. This they c. The energy of inspiration which will bring about,
do by the weight of their armed forces, plus their clear through the medium of its sweeping potency, the de-
insight. vitalization or the removal, as by a wind, of the attrac-
2. The educating of humanity in the distinction between tive power of maya or substance. This will release un-
a. Spirituality and materialism, pointing to the differing told thousands on to the Path of Probation.
goals of the combatant forces. 4. Releasing new life into the planet through the medium
b. Sharing and greed, outlining a future world wherein of every possible agency. The first step towards this release
The Four Freedoms will be dominant and all will have is the proving that the power of materialism is broken by
that which is needed for right living-processes. the complete defeat of the Axis powers and, secondly, by
c. Light and dark, demonstrating the difference between the ability of the United Nations to demonstrate (when
an illumined future of liberty and opportunity and the this has been done) the potency of the spiritual values by
dark future of slavery. their constructive undertakings to restore world order and
d. Fellowship and separation, indicating a world order to lay those foundations which will guarantee a better and
where racial hatreds, caste distinctions and religious dif- more spiritual way of life. These constructive attitudes and
ferences will form no barrier to international under- undertakings must be assumed individually by every person,
standing, and the Axis order of master races, determined and by nations as collective wholes. The first is being under-
religious attitudes, and enslaved peoples. taken at this time. The second remains as yet to be done.
e. The whole and the part, pointing to the time which is 5. Bringing home to the nations of the world the truths
approaching (under the evolutionary urge of spirit) taught by the Buddha, the Lord of Light, and the Christ,
wherein the part or the point of life assumes its respon- the Lord of Love. In this connection it might be pointed
sibility for the whole, and the whole exists for the good out that basically:
of the part. The dark aspect has been brought about a. The Axis nations need to grasp the teaching of the
by ages of glamour. The light is being emphasized Buddha as He enunciated it in the Four Noble Truths;
made clear by the world aspirants and disciples who by they need to realize that the cause of all sorrow and woe
their attitudes, their actions, their writings and their is desire––desire for that which is material.
utterances are bringing the light into dark places. b. The United Nations need to learn to apply the Law of
3. Preparing the way for the three spiritual energies which Love as enunciated in the life of Christ and to express
will sweep humanity into an era of comprehension, leading the truth that "no man liveth unto himself" and no
 EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE 359 Esoteric Psychology I by Alice A. Bailey, 1936
Tenth printing, 1984 (4th Paperback Edition)
nation either, and that the goal of all human effort is
loving understanding, prompted by a programme of 342 A Treatise on the Seven Rays
love for the whole.
ward, the glamour is breaking down and the truer values of
If the lives and teachings of these two great Avatars group welfare, of group integration, and of group progress
can be comprehended and wrought out anew in the lives are emerging. The sense of insecurity which is such a dis-
of men today, in the world of human affairs, in the realm tressing aspect of the present upheaval is due simply to this
of human thinking and in the arena of daily living, the destruction of the old sense of values, to that dispelling of
present world order (which is today largely disorder) can glamour which reveals at present an unfamiliar landscape,
be so modified and changed that a new world and a new and to the fear and instability which man feels when he
race of men can gradually come into being. Renunciation comes up against the world "Dweller on the Threshold."
and the use of the sacrificial will should be the keynote for This has to be broken up and destroyed, for it blocks the
the interim period after the war, prior to the inauguration way to the new world of values. The great thought form
of the New Age. which man's greed and materiality have built, down the ages,
Students need to remember that all manifestations and is being steadily demolished, and mankind is on the verge of a
every point of crisis are symbolized by the ancient symbol of liberation which will take him on to the Path of Discipleship.
the point within the circle, the focus of power within a I refer not here to the final liberation, but to that liberation
sphere of influence or aura. So it is today with the entire which comes from a free choice, wisely used and applied to
problem of ending the world glamour and illusion which the good of the whole, and conditioned by love. Note that
fundamentally lie behind the present acute situation and I say, "wisely used." Wisdom, actuated and motivated by
world catastrophe. The possibility of such a dispelling and love, and intelligently applied to world problems, is much
dissipation is definitely centered in the two Avatars, the needed today and is not yet to be found, except among the
Buddha and the Christ. few illumined souls in every nation, in every nation, I say,
Within the world of glamour––the world of the astral without exception. Many more must love with wisdom and
plane and of emotions––appeared a point of light. The appreciate the group aspiration before we shall see the next
Lord of Light, the Buddha, undertook to focus in Himself reality to be known and to emerge out of the darkness which
the illumination which would eventually make possible the we are now in the process of dispelling.
dissipation of glamour. Within the world of illusion––the
world of the mental plane––appeared the Christ, the Lord 3. The Ray of the Fourth Kingdom
of Love Himself, Who embodied in Himself the power of We now touch briefly upon an obscure and difficult sub-
the attractive will of God. He undertook to dispel illusion ject and one that will appeal primarily to those types who
by drawing to himself (by the potency of love) the hearts work with the Law of Correspondences. Esotericists must
of all men, and stated this determination in the words, "And remember that every kingdom in nature constitutes a totality
I, if I be lifted from the earth, will draw all men unto me." of lives. Every atom in every form in nature is a life, and
(John 12:32). From the point they then will have reached, these lives form the cells of a Being's body or vehicle of
the world of spiritual perception, of truth and of divine manifestation. There is a Being embodied in every kingdom
ideas will stand revealed. The result will be the disappearing
of illusion.
 Esoteric Psychology II by Alice A. Bailey, 1942 312 A Treatise on the Seven Rays
Seventh printing, 1975 (2nd Paperback Edition)
There is a higher duality to which it is necessary that we
34 A Treatise on the Seven Rays refer. There is, for the disciples, the duality which becomes
obvious when the Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel
enlightened Being, for gain and loss are one; darkness and of the Presence face each other. This constitutes the final pair
light eternally reveal the True; love and desire eternally in- of opposites.
voke the Life. The Dweller on the Threshold is oft regarded as a disaster,
Naught disappears but pain. Nothing remains but bliss,–– as a horror to be avoided, and as a final and culminating evil.
the bliss of knowledge true, of contact real, of light divine, I would here remind you, nevertheless, that the Dweller is
the Way to God." "one who stands before the gate of God", who dwells in the
Such is the true goal, as yet unrealizable by us. What is it shadow of the portal of initiation, and who faces the Angel
that we are endeavoring to do? We are treading the Way of of the Presence open-eyed, as the ancient Scriptures call it.
Release, and on that way, all drops from our hands; every- The Dweller can be defined as the sum total of the forces of
thing is taken away, and detachment from the world of phe- the lower nature as expressed in the personality, prior to il-
nomenal life and of individuality is inevitably forced upon lumination, to inspiration and to initiation. The personality
us. We are treading the Way of Loneliness, and must learn per se, is, at this stage, exceedingly potent, and the Dweller
eventually that we are essentially neither ego nor non-ego. embodies all the psychic and mental forces which, down the
Complete detachment and discrimination must finally lead ages, have been unfolded in a man and nurtured with care.
us to a condition of such complete aloneness that the horror It can be looked upon as the potency of the threefold material
of the great blackness will settle down upon us. But when form, prior to its conscious cooperation and dedication to
that pall of blackness is lifted and the light again pours in, the the life of the soul and to the service of the Hierarchy, of
disciple sees that all that was grasped and treasured, and then God, and of humanity.
lost and removed, has been restored, but with this difference The Dweller on the Threshold is all that a man is, apart
––that it no longer holds the life imprisoned by desire. We from the higher spiritual self; it is the third aspect of divinity
are treading the Way that leads to the Mountain Top of as expressed in and through the human mechanism. This third
Isolation, and will find it full of terror. Upon that mountain aspect must be eventually subordinated to the second aspect,
top we must fight the final battle with the Dweller on the the soul.
Threshold, only to find that that too is an illusion. That high The two great contrasting forces, the Angel and the
point of isolation and the battle itself are only illusions and Dweller, are brought together––face to face––and the final
figments of unreality; they are the last stronghold of the conflict takes place. Again, you will note, that it is a meeting
ancient glamour and of the great heresy of separateness. and battle between another and a higher pair of opposites.
Then we, the Beatific Ones, will eventually find ourselves The aspirant, therefore, has three pairs of opposites with
merged with all that is, in love and understanding. The isola- which to deal as he progresses towards light and liberation:
tion, a necessary stage, is itself but an illusion. We are treading
the Way of Purification and step by step all that we cherish
is removed,––lust for form life, desire for love, and the great
glamour of hatred. These disappear and we stand purified and
 The Ray of Personality 313 Esoteric Astrology by Alice A. Bailey, 1951
Eleventh printing 1976 (3rd Paperback Edition)
THE PAIRS OF OPPOSITES
The Zodiac and the Rays 55
1. Upon the physical plane.......The dense and etheric
forces. 3. Upon the mental plane the Angel of the Presence and
These are faced upon the Path of Purification. the Dweller on the Threshold are brought face to face.
Their synthesis is brought about upon the Path of
2. Upon the astral plane.........The well-known dualities. Initiation.
These are faced upon the Path of Discipleship.
What is true of man in this connection is true also of
3. Upon the mental plane.........The Angel of the Presence humanity as a whole, of the planetary Logos of the Earth,
and the Dweller on the as of all planetary Logoi, and of a solar Logos. The an-
Threshold. alogy between the fusion of the pairs of opposites, for in-
These are faced upon the Path of Initiation. stance, upon the physical plane can be seen in the conscious
and directed fusion of the planetary forces with the energy
b. DEVELOPMENT AND ALIGNMENT OF THE BODIES of any specific planet or group of planets. The analogy,
involving discrimination to regulate and offset the force of
After these preliminary remarks, we can come now to a the pairs of opposites upon the astral plane, can be seen
study of the previous tabulation in connection with the when the energies of the sun sign and of the planets are per-
method whereby the soul appropriates the various bodies, fectly directed and adjusted. The analogy can also be
how they are developed and inter-related, and finally how carried forward onto the mental plane and when the ener-
coordination and alignment is brought about. The last part gies of the sun sign and the rising sign are coherently
of the tabulation was outlined in such a manner that many blended and expressed (in the case of both the individual
of the problems facing the psychologist at this time can be or a planetary Life) there comes a point of crisis wherein
dealt with from an esoteric angle, and perhaps some light on the soul and the personality are brought face to face. The
these problems may then be forthcoming. Angel of the Presence, distributing solar fire and holding
In the current occult literature, the careful student will focused electric fire, and the Dweller on the Threshold,
come to the conclusion that the emphasis has been laid upon expressing and utilizing fire by friction, know each other
the process whereby the ego or soul draws to itself the form, "with intimate occult knowledge." The door then stands
utilizing for that purpose a mental unit and two permanent open wide through which the life and light of the three
atoms, thus anchoring itself in three worlds of human expe- major constellations can––after the third initiation––be
rience. The matter, or rather the substance, aspect has been occultly available to the initiate, be he a liberated human
the subject of immediate importance. Hence this subject was being or a planetary Logos.
covered in my earlier books which are intended to aid in the When astrologers understand the true significance of
bridging process between the older "techniques of understand- the constellation Gemini, the Twins, and the dual forces
ing" and the esotericism which the new age will sponsor. We which pour through this sign (the "forces in conflict" as
should, however, bear in mind two things: they are sometimes called or "the quarreling brothers")
1. That such terms as "mental unit", "permanent atom", etc.,
164 A Treatise on the Seven Rays The Nature of Esoteric Astrology 207
him and the "doors of entrance" into all of them stand a faculty of the mind, as is so oft supposed, but it is
wide open. On the Mutable Cross and on the Fixed Cross essentially a creative power. It is basically an aspect of
we have the so-called green ray, controlling not only the thought and––coupled with imagination––is a creative agent
daily life of karmic liability upon the path of evolution, but because thoughts are things, as well you know. From an-
also controlling the experiences and processes of evolution. cient recesses of the memory, from a deeply rooted past
The reason for this is that Capricorn is an earth sign and which is definitely recalled, and from the racial and the
because the third and fifth rays work pre-eminently through individual subconscious (or founded and established thought
this sign, embodying the third major aspect of divinity, reservoirs and desires, inherited and inherent) there
active intelligence plus that of its subsidiary power, the fifth emerges from individual past lives and experience that which
Ray of Mind. These pour through Capricorn to Saturn and is the sumtotal of all instinctual tendencies, of all inherited
to Venus and so reach our planet, the Earth. Saturn is one glamours and of all phases of wrong mental attitudes; to
of the most potent of the four Lords of Karma and forces these (as they constitute a blended whole) we give the
man to face up to the past, and in the present to prepare name of the Dweller on the Threshold. This Dweller is the
for the future. Such is the intention and purpose of karmic sumtotal of all the personality characteristics which have
opportunity. From certain angles, Saturn can be regarded remained unconquered and unsubdued and which must be
as the planetary Dweller on the Threshold, for humanity finally overcome before initiation can be taken. Each life
as a whole has to face that Dweller as well as the Angel sees some progress made; some personality defects straight-
of the Presence, and in so doing discover that both the ened out and some real advance effected. But the uncon-
Dweller and the Angel are that complex duality which is quered residue and the ancient liabilities are numerous and
the human family. Saturn, in a peculiar relation to the sign excessively potent and––when soul contact is adequately
Gemini, makes this possible. Individual man makes this established––there eventuates a life wherein the highly de-
discovery and faces the two extremes whilst in the sign veloped and powerful personality becomes, in itself, the
Capricorn; the fourth and fifth Creative Hierarchies do Dweller on the Threshold. Then the Angel of the Presence
the same thing in Libra. and the Dweller stand face to face and something must then
Through Saturn and Venus, therefore, Capricorn is con- be done. Eventually, the light of the personal self fades
nected with Libra and also with Gemini and Taurus, and out and wanes in the blaze of glory which emanates from
these four constellations––Taurus, Gemini, Libra and the Angel. Then the greater glory obliterates the lesser.
Capricorn––constitute a potent quaternary of energies and This is, however, only possible when the personality eagerly
between them produce those conditions and situations which enters into this relation with the Angel, recognizes itself as
will enable the initiate to demonstrate his readiness and the Dweller and––as a disciple––begins the battle between
capacity for initiation. They are called the "Guardians of the pairs of opposites and enters into the tests of Scorpio.
the Four Secrets." These tests and trials are ever self-initiated; the disciple
puts himself into the positive or conditioning environment
208 A Treatise on the Seven Rays The Nature of Esoteric Astrology 209
wherein the trials and the discipline are unavoidable and finable and spiritual recognitions. Upon these we need
inevitable. When the mind has reached a relatively high not enlarge.
stage of development, the memory aspect is evoked in a new
and conscious manner and then every latent pre-disposition, There is little for me to add here in connection with the fact
every racial and national instinct, every unconquered situa- that Scorpio is upon one of the four arms of the Fixed
tion and every controlling fault rises to the surface of con- Cross. In the study of previous signs, much anent the Fixed
sciousness and then––the fight is on. The keynote of Scorpio Cross has already been covered and there is no need for me
is, however, Triumph. This is its major expression upon to repeat the information here. Desire in Taurus becomes
the physical plane. As a result of struggle and of victory, spiritual aspiration in Scorpio. The darkness of the experi-
the whole divine man––not yet perfectly expressing himself, ence in Scorpio becomes illumination in Taurus, for it must
if I might word the situation thus––is anchored upon the never be forgotten that where the pairs of opposites are
physical plane with such accuracy and clarity that there is no concerned they gain and profit from each other, for there
escape from the environing conclusions of the disciple's is a direct line of force and of contact between the two.
family, friends and group that he is a disciple. From that This is a fact which is seldom recognized.
angle he is meticulously watched; he learns the meaning of We come now to a consideration of the Rulers which
the word "example"; he is pilloried by those who are on- govern the sign, Scorpio. Their influence is potent in the
lookers and the first conscious stages toward group aware- lives of the average or undeveloped man who responds more
ness and group response, plus group service, are now taken. easily to the planetary influences in the twelve houses of his
Such is the outcome and the reward of the experience in personality horoscope than does the more advanced man
Scorpio. who is coming under the direct influence of the zodiacal
It is in this sign that the prodigal son comes to himself, signs. Through these Rulers, two rays are brought into a
and having eaten of the husks of life and having exhausted potent controlling position in Scorpio; they are the sixth
the resources of worldly desire and ambition––he says: "I Ray of Devotion and the fourth Ray of Harmony through
will rise and go to my Father." There are two such major Conflict, the latter having a peculiar relation to the mode
crises in the life of the aspirant: of human development and the former to the methods of
the Piscean age which is just passing. Mars and Mercury
1. When the intelligent man of the world comes to himself control and Mars is particularly active, owing to the fact
and then re-orients himself to the soul and its require- that Mars is both the orthodox planet controlling the per-
ments. This leads to the tests in Scorpio. sonality in Scorpio and also the esoteric planet conditioning
the unfoldment of the disciple. Mars is the dominating fac-
2. When the initiate of the third degree––upon a higher tor in the tests and trials of the disciple, prior to the expe-
turn of the spiral––re-orients himself to the Monad rience in Sagittarius and the initiation in Capricorn, and this
and passes through most subtle tests to certain unde- for the following reasons:
 Esoteric Healing by Alice A. Bailey, 1953 The Processes of Integration 507
Eleventh Printing, 1984 (5th Paperback Edition)
3. The personality life of the now coordinated individual
The Process of Restitution 443 persists for a large number of lives and also falls into
three phases:
true relationship and intercourse between the sexes. I refer
not here to the work of clairvoyants, no matter how poor, a. The phase of a dominant aggressive personality life,
nor to the taking possession of the body by entities of high basically conditioned by its ray type, selfish in nature
caliber, but of the unpleasant phenomena of the materializa- and very individualistic.
tion seance of ectoplasm and the blind unintelligent work b. A transitional phase wherein a conflict rages between
done by the old Atlantean degenerates and earthbound souls, personality and soul. The soul begins to seek libera-
the average Indian chief and guide. There is nothing to tion from form life and yet––in the last analysis––
be learned from them, and much to be avoided. the personality is dependent upon the life principle,
The reign of the fear of death is well-nigh ended and conferred by the soul. Wording it otherwise, the
we shall soon enter upon a period of knowledge and of cer- conflict between the soul ray and the personality ray
tainty which will cut the ground from under all our fears. starts and the war is on between two focussed aspects
In dealing with the fear of death, there is little to be done of energy. This conflict terminates at the third
except to raise the whole subject onto a more scientific level, initiation.
and––in this scientific sense––teach people to die. There c. The control by the soul is the final phase, leading to
is a technique of dying just as there is of living, but this the death and destruction of the personality. This
technique has been lost very largely in the West, and is death begins when the personality, the Dweller on
almost lost except in a few centers of Knowers in the East. the Threshold, stands before the Angel of the
More of this can perhaps be dealt with later, but the thought Presence. The light of the solar Angel then obliter-
of the needed approach to this subject can rest in the minds ates the light of matter.
of students who read this, and perhaps as they study and
read and think, material of interest will come their way The "control" phase is conditioned by the complete
which could be gradually assembled and published. identification of the personality with the soul; this is a re-
A Treatise on White Magic, pages 301-302. versal of the previous identification of the soul with the
personality. This also is what we mean when speaking of
Fear of death and depression constitute for man the the integration of these two; the two are now one. It was
Dweller on the Threshold in this age and cycle. Both of of this phase that St. Paul was speaking when he referred
them indicate sentient reaction to psychological factors and (in the Epistle to the Ephesians) to Christ making "out
cannot be dealt with by the use of another factor such as of two, one new man." It is primarily the phase of the final
courage. They must be met by the omniscience of the soul, stages of the Probationary Path (where the work con-
working through the mind––not by its omnipotence. In this sciously begins) and its carrying forward to completion
is to be found an occult hint. upon the Path of Discipleship. It is the stage of the prac-
A Treatise on White Magic, page 309. tical and successful server; it is that wherein the entire focus
The instinct of self-preservation has its roots in an
innate fear of death; through the presence of this fear, the
 The Processes of Integration 515 516 Esoteric Healing
The Elimination of the Personality Thoughtform muted by the Angel, is such that the personality completely
In dealing with this subject (and it can only be done disappears, with its demands and its aspirations. Naught
very briefly) two things must be borne in mind: is left but the shell, the sheath. and the instrument through
which the solar light can pour for the helping of humanity.
1. That we are considering solely an idea in the mind of This is true to a certain degree, but is only––in the last
the soul and dealing with the basic fact of the illusion analysis––man's attempt to put into words the transmuting
which has controlled the entire cycle of incarnation and and the transfiguring effect of the third initiation, which
so held the soul a prisoner to form. To the soul, the cannot be done.
personality connotes two things: Infinitely more difficult is the attempt I am here making
a. The soul's capacity for identification with form; to depict the attitude and the reactions of the soul, the one
this is first of all realized by the soul when the per- self, the Master in the heart, as it recognizes the stupendous
sonality is beginning to react to a measure of real fact of its own essential liberation and realizes, once and
integration. for all, that it is now incapable of responding in any way to
b. An opportunity for initiation. the lower vibrations of the three worlds, as transmitted to
2. That the elimination of the thoughtform of the per- the soul by its instrument of contact, the personality form.
sonality, which is consummated at the third initiation, That form is now incapable of such transmission.
is a great initiation for the soul on its own plane. For The second reaction of the soul, once this realization has
this reason, the third initiation is regarded as the first been focussed and admitted, is that––having achieved free-
major initiation, since the two previous initiations have dom––that freedom now conveys its own demands:
very little effect upon the soul and only affect the incar-
nated soul, the "fragment" of the whole. 1. For a life of service in the three worlds, so familiar
and now so completely transcended.
These are facts which are little realized and seldom empha- 2. An overshadowing sense of outgoing love towards
sized in any of the literature hitherto published. The empha- those who are, as yet, seeking liberation.
sis up till now has been upon the initiations as they affect 3. A recognition of the essential triangle which has now
the disciple in the three worlds. But I am specifically dealing become the center of the conceptual life of the soul:
with the initiations as they affect or do not affect the soul,
overshadowing its reflection, the personality, in the three * Hierarchy
worlds. What I have said, therefore, will have little mean- /|
ing for the average reader. / |
From the angle of the personal self, regarding itself as / |
the Dweller on the Threshold, the attitude or state of mind / |
has been inadequately portrayed as one of complete oblitera- Soul * / |
tion in the light of the soul; the glory of the Presence, trans- \ |
\ |
\ |
\|
*Humanity
 The Laws and Rules Enumerated and Applied 639 640 Esoteric Healing
I have several times used the expression "isolated form," elemental can be and frequently is an inchoate force, swayed
for it is this peculiar aspect of isolation which conditions entirely by desire, and no true personality integration is
the physical body of a man (or of any living form, for that present; it can, however, be a highly organized and potent
matter), rendering it detached, coherent and temporarily factor, producing what is called a high grade personality
living its own life in response to the imposition of the living- and an effective instrument for the spiritual man in the
ness of the incarnating soul. Temporarily, the united power three worlds of his evolution. This is followed later by
of the segregated and isolated atoms––particularly the the conflicts upon the Path of Discipleship and the Path
planetary structure of the spirit of the earth––is in abey- of Initiation. Then the livingness of the spiritual man, and
ance as regards individual reaction to the planetary life. his will to manifest divinely, dominate to such an extent that
Only the coherent, magnetic qualities persist in any form the death of the personality is brought about; this culminates
of activity and in conjunction with the will-to-live of the at the time of the third initiation. At that experience the
spiritual man or of any ensouling entity. This creates a monadic will comes in with such dynamic potency that the
coherent form, held together by two aspects of livingness: will of the elemental lives of the threefold personality is
that of the spirit of the earth and that of the spiritual man. completely negated.
Therefore––to use words in an effort to arrive at under- But (to return to our theme) the atomic substance,
standing––two aspects of life and two forms of will or pur- impregnated with the life of the spirit of the earth and
pose are brought together. The higher is evolutionary; the with the driving force of its inchoate will, demonstrates as
lower is involutionary in nature. It is this which creates the magnetic power and is constantly in conflict, within the body
conflict. One type of energy is evolutionary and the other of manifestation of the informing soul, with the life of the
is involutionary. It is these conflicting forces which present soul. This conflict or friction is the main cause of what
the problem of dualism––a dualism of the higher and the you call disease.
lower at many differing and varying stages. The final phase Disease is inharmony; it is the fault of fire by friction;
of the conflict is fought out, or rather wrought out, when diseased areas are areas of friction wherein the atomic sub-
the Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel of the Presence stance is temporarily asserting its own type of livingness and
face each other. It is in that consummating event that the responding (sometimes to the point of death) to the mag-
pull or conflict between the involutionary life and the evolu- netic pull of the will of the spirit of the earth. If that pull
tionary life, between the inchoate, magnetic will of the ele- proves adequately strong, the friction within the atomic
mental forces (inherent in the atoms of which all three structure, localized in the area of some etheric center, will
bodies of the personality are made) and the will of the be of such a nature that the quality of the disease increases,
spiritual man, on the verge of liberation from the magnetic the life of the spiritual man is slowly or rapidly withdrawn;
control of substance, is brought to the issue. the desire for existence, the spiritual will-to-be is not then
The spirit of the earth has its correspondence in the as strong as the will to be reabsorbed––the will of the atoms
created expression of the spiritual man; it is to be found constituting the physical body; the man, therefore, dies, in
in the existence of the personality elemental; this personality the usual sense of the term.
666 Esoteric Healing The Rays and the Initiations by Alice A. Bailey, 1960
Seventh Printing, 1988 (4th Paperback Edition)
upon which to work; there will be nothing they can influence,
and no mode of influencing man will then exist as far as evil THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 39
is concerned. I cannot expect you at this time to compre- One, I would call your attention to the fact that the initiate
hend the meaning of my words. They are, however, related has faced two major tests, symbolically described as "the
to the words in the Great Invocation which say, "and seal burning ground" and the "clear cold light." Only after he
the door where evil dwells." There is a door into an evil has successfully passed these can he––or the group, when
realm and into blackness, just as there is a door into a world consldering group initiation––move forward and outward
of goodness and light; the devil is to man who is dedicated into the wider reaches of the divine consciousness. These
and consecrated to evil what the Dweller on the Threshold tests are applied when the soul grips the personality and
is to the spiritual aspirant. the fire of divine love destroys the loves and desires of the
The main task of the spiritual Hierarchy has ever been integrated personality. Two factors tend to bring this about:
the slow moving forward of the innate conscience into
to stand between the Forces of Evil and humanity, to bring
greater control, and the steady development of the "fiery
imperfection into the light so that evil can "find no place" aspiration" to which Patanjali* makes reference. These two
for action, and to keep the door open into the spiritual factors, when brought into living activity, bring the disciple
realm. This the Hierarchy has done, with small help from into the centre of the burning ground which separates the
humanity; this situation is now changed and the world war Angel of the Presence from the Dweller on the Threshold.
was the symbol and the guarantee of that change; in it the The burning ground is found upon the threshold of every
Forces of Light, the massed United Nations, fought the new advance, until the third initiation has been taken.
Forces of Evil upon the physical plane and routed them. The "clear cold light" is the light of pure reason, of
There has been a far greater spiritual significance to the war infallible intuitive perception and its unremitting, inten-
than has yet been realized. It marked a world turning point; sive and revealing light constitutes a major test in its effects.
it reoriented humanity towards the good; it drove back The initiate discovers the depths of evil, and at the same
the Forces of Evil and made definitely clear (and this was time is enticed forward by the heights of a growing sense of
divinity. The clear cold light reveals two things:
new and needed) the true distinction between good and
A. The omnipresence of God throughout nature, and
evil, and this not in a theological sense––as stated by the therefore throughout the entire personality life of the initi-
church commentators––but practically and obviously. It is ate or of the initiate group. The scales fall from the eyes,
evidenced by the disastrous economic situation and by the bringing about––paradoxically––the "dark night of the soul"
greed of prominent men in every country. The world of men and the sense of being alone and bereft of all help. This led
(through the obviousness of the distinction between good (in the case of the Christ, for instance) to that appalling
and evil) has awakened to the fact of materialistic exploita- moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, and which was con-
tion, to the lack of real freedom and to the rights, as yet summated on the Cross, when the will of personality-soul
unclaimed, of the individual. Man's ability to resist slavery clashed with the divine will of the Monad. The revelation
has become apparent everywhere. That the strugglers to- to the initiate of the ages of severance from the Central
wards freedom are employing wrong methods and are en- Reality, and of all its attendant implications, descends upon
the one who is attempting to stand "in isolated Unity," as
Patanjali (to quote him a second time) calls the experience.+
––––––––––
* The Light of the Soul (Book II, Sutra I) page 119.
+ Ibid. (Book IV, Sutras 25,34) pages 420,428.
 THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 103 THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION 199
form. This is a somewhat new attitude which he is asked Master of the Masters, the Christ, except in so far as it en-
to take, because hitherto the emphasis upon his focus has ables the divine Participator Himself to face another area
been to regard himself as the soul, reincarnating when desire of darkness, veiling and hiding a still more supernal glory.
calls and withdrawing when need arises. The group life as The above paragraph is far beyond the comprehension of
a whole is here needed to make possible this shift in realiza- the average student, but will be comprehended by those
tion away from form and consciousness to the will and life whose eyes are open to be blinded.
aspect or principle. When this has begun to take place, one Students must remember that the four veils upon the
of the first recognitions of the initiate-disciple is that form, etheric plane are only the lower symbolic correspondences
and his consciousness of form and its contacts (which we to certain great areas of divine expression, and that ever the
call knowledge), have in themselves produced a great thought- glory must be approached through the darkness. Such is
form which has summed up in itself his entire relation to the Law. These higher veiling factors can be mentioned and
form, to existence and experience in the three worlds, to enumerated, but more information concerning these mys-
matter, to desire and to all that incarnation has brought teries, this separating darkness encountered by the initiate,
him. The whole matter looms, therefore, over-large in his may not be given:
consciousness. The detaching of himself from this ancient VEIL I. That which faces the disciple as he wrestles
thoughtform––the final form which the Dweller on the with the Dweller on the Threshold and becomes con-
Threshold takes––is called by him Death. Only at the fourth scious of the Angel of the Presence though as yet he
initiation does he realize that death is nothing but the sees Him not.
severing of a thread which links him to the ring-pass-not VEIL II. That which the initiate encounters at the
within which he has chosen to circumscribe himself. He fourth initiation and which forces him to cry out in
discovers that the "last enemy to be destroyed" is brought to his blindness: "My God, my God, why hast Thou for-
that final destruction by the first aspect in himself, the saken me." The words uttered by the Christ at that
Father or Monad (which moved originally to create that time, and as the Participator, have been forgotten by
form), the Life, the Breath, the directing energizing Will. the orthodox, though preserved by the esotericist. To
It is the will that, in the last analysis, produces orientation, them H.P.B. refers in The Secret Doctrine.
focus, emphasis, the world of form, and above all else (be- VEIL III. That mysterious blindness which overwhelms
cause of its relation to the world of cause), the world of the initiate when––as the Embodiment of all the forces
meaning. of the Spiritual Triad––He faces the Monad and is
Average man lives and has his being in the world of impelled forward by the "devastating Will" of the first
meaning; the initiate and the Master have their focus in aspect. Of this I may not write. It concerns the sixth
the world of Being. They are then naught but will, illu- and seventh initiations.
mined by love which links them with the world of meaning, VEIL IV. That "unknown impenetrable Void, the utter
and capable of intelligent activity which links them with the darkness of negation" which Those Who are in the
world of form, and is the indication of life. But the desire Council Chamber of the Lord of the World and Who
of the initiate is not now for activity, or even for the expres- are focused in Shamballa face when the time comes
sion of love. These qualities are integral parts of his equip- for Them to "negate" our planetary life-expression and
ment and expression but have dropped below the threshold experience altogether. They must then leave behind
of consciousness (a higher correspondence of the auto- all the seven planes of spiritual and human experi-
 From Bethlehem to Calvary by Alice A. Bailey, 1937 The Second Initiation 119
Sixth printing, 1976 (2nd Paperback Edition)
wish life of the race has been wrongly oriented and human
118 From Bethlehem to Calvary desire has been turned outward to the material plane, thus
producing the world of glamour in which we all habitually
of the lower nature; it is upon the mind that the Word
sounds forth, carrying illumination and insight, distorted as struggle. It is by far the most potent of our delusions or mis-
yet though the vision may be, and the light scarcely seen. taken orientations. But once the clear light of the soul is
But the Word is there. Some day each of us can say with thrown into it, this miasma of forces is gradually dissipated.
power: "It is written," and see that Word expressed in every This work constitutes the major task of all aspirants to the
part of our human nature as individuals and––at some dis- mysteries.
tant date––in humanity itself. This is the "lost Word" of "Illusion" is more mental in its impact. It concerns the
the Masonic tradition. ideas whereby we live, and the thought life which more or
Oriental philosophy refers frequently to four spheres of less (although mostly less) governs our daily undertakings.
life or four problems which all disciples and aspirants have We shall see, as we take up the consideration of these three
to face, and which constitute in their entirety the world in temptations, how in the first temptation Christ was con-
which we live. There are the world of Maya, the world of fronted by maya, with physical forces of such strength that
glamour and the world of illusion. There is also that mysteri- the devil could take advantage of them in an effort to con-
ous "Dweller on the Threshold" to which Bulwer Lytton found Him. We shall see how in the second temptation He
refers in Zanoni. All of these four Christ met and vanquished was tempted by glamour, and with the submergence of His
in the desert-experience. vital spiritual life by a misconception and an emotional use
Maya refers to the world of physical forces in which we of His divine powers. The sin of the mind, which is pride,
dwell, and with this the first temptation concerned itself. was called into activity by the devil in the third temptation,
Modern science has told us that there is nothing visible or and the illusion of temporal power to be used for right ends
invisible which is not energy, and that every form is simply we may be sure was presented to Him. Thus the possible
an aggregate of energy units in constant ceaseless motion, to interior weakness of the three aspects of Christ's nature was
which we have to adjust ourselves and in which we "live tested, and through them the vast sum total of the world
and move and have our being."39 Such is the outer form of
maya, glamour and illusion was poured in on Him. Thus
Deity, and we are part of it. Maya is vital in character, and
He was confronted with the Dweller on the Threshold,
we know little of its effect upon the physical plane (with
all that that term connotes), and upon the human being. which is only another name for the personal lower self, re-
"Glamour" refers to the world of emotional being and of garding it as a unified whole, as is only the case in advanced
desire, in which all forms dwell. It is this glamour which people, disciples and initiates. In these three words––maya,
colors all our lives and produces false values, wrong desires, glamour and illusion––we have synonyms for the flesh, the
needless so-called necessities, our worries, anxieties and cares; world and the devil, which constitute the threefold test
but glamour is age-old, and has us in so close a grip that that confronts every son of God on the verge of liberation.
there seems little we can do. The desires of men, down the "If thou be the Son of God command that these stone
centuries, have brought about a situation before which we be made bread." Let us use our divine powers for personal
turn back appalled; the rampant nature of our longings and physical ends. Let us put the material physical nature first.
wishes, and their glamourous effect upon the individual, pro- Let us assuage our hunger, whatever it may be, and do it
vide psychological laboratories with all their material; the because we are divine. Let us use our divine powers so as
39
Acts, XVII, 28.
 The Light of the Soul by Alice A. Bailey, 1927 BOOK I 21
Thirteenth Printing, 1989 (5th Paperback Edition)
by the lower personal self and not by the soul,
20 BOOK I it is impermanent and is simply held together by
the man's lower energy. When the man begins
and are consequently dissipated when attention to function as the soul this "image" he has creat-
is directed elsewhere. ed, through his "fancy" or his reaction to delusion,
"Energy follows thought" is a basic tenet of is dissipated by a supreme exertion. It has no
the Raja Yoga system and is true even where real existence once there is nothing in the aspir-
these images of fancy are concerned. These ant to feed it, and the realization of this enables
fancied images fall primarily into three groups, him to free himself from its thraldom.
which the student would do well to consider. This is one of the sutras which, though ap-
1. Those thought forms which he constructs parently short and simple, is of the most pro-
himself, which have an evanescent life and which found significance; it is studied by high initiates
are dependent upon the quality of his desires; be- who are learning the nature of the creative proc-
ing therefore neither good nor evil, low nor high, ess of the planet, and who are concerned with the
can be vitalized by low tendencies or idealistic dissipation of planetary maya.
aspirations, with all the intermediate stages to
be found between these extremes. The aspirant 10. Passivity (sleep) is based upon the
has to guard himself in order that he may not quiescent state of the vrittis (or upon the non-
mistake these for reality. An illustration might perception of the senses).
well be given here, in respect to the facility with
which people judge they have seen one of the Some explanation as to the nature of the vrittis
Brothers (or Masters of the Wisdom), whereas is perhaps necessary here. The vrittis are those
all they have perceived is a thought form of one activities of the mind which eventuate in the con-
of Them; the wish being father to the thought scious relation between the sense employed and
they are the victim of that form of incorrect per- that which is sensed. Apart from a certain modi-
ception called by Patanjali, fancy. fication of the mental process or an assertion of
2. Those thought forms which are created by the I-am-I realization, the senses might be ac-
the race, the nation, the group or the organiza- tive yet the man be unaware of them. The man
tion. Group thought forms of any kind (from is aware that he sees, tastes or hears; he says,
the planetary form to that constructed by any "I see, I taste, I hear," and it is the activity of
band of thinkers) form the sum total of the "great the vrittis (or those mental perceptions which
illusion." Herein lies a hint to the earnest as- have relation to the five senses) which enables
pirant. him to recognize the fact. By withdrawing him-
3. That thought form created by a man since self from active sense perception, by no longer
his first appearance in physical form, and called
the "Dweller on the Threshold." Being created
276 BOOK III
graphic film, registering all the desires and earth
experiences of our planet. Those who perceive
it will see pictured thereon:
1. The life experiences of every human being
since time began,
2. The reactions to experience of the entire
animal kingdom,
3. The aggregation of the thought-forms of a
kamic nature (based on desire) of every human
unit throughout time. Herein lies the great de-
ception of the records. Only a trained occultist
can distinguish between actual experience and
those astral pictures created by imagination and
keen desire.
4. The planetary "Dweller on the Threshold"
with all that appertains to that term and all the
aggregations of forms which are to be found in
its environment.
The trained seer has learnt to dissociate that
which pertains to his own aura and the aura of
the planet (which is in actuality the akashic rec-
ord). He can distinguish between those records
which are:
a. Planetary,
b. Hierarchical or pertaining to the work of
the twelve Creative Hierarchies as they bring to
concretion the plan of the Logos.
c. Imaginative forms, the result of the desire-
thought activity of the myriads of men, animated
by desire for some form of experience or other.
d. The historical record pertaining to races,
nations, groups and families in their two great
divisions on the physical plane and on the astral.