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Glamor - A World Problem - The Ending of Glamor
1. The Technique of the Presence As we enter upon our consideration of this subject, the student has three things to bear in mind: the existence of the Intuition, the fact of Illusion, and the over-shadowing Presence. This Presence is revealed by the intuition through the medium of the Angel and, when revealed and recognized, brings illusion to an end. The story of illusion is one which must not be confounded with glamor; illusion is related to the whole process of revelation. Glamor can be and often is related to the distortion of that which has been revealed, but it must be borne in mind that illusion is primarily concerned with the reaction of the mind to the unfolding revelation, [173] as the soul registers it and seeks to impress it on the highest aspect of the personal lower self. Illusion is, therefore, the failure of the mind correctly to register, to interpret or translate that which has been transmitted and it is consequently a sin (if you care for that word) of the intelligent and highly developed people, of those who stand on the Path and who are in process of becoming rightly oriented; it is also a sin of accepted disciples as they seek to expand their consciousness in response to soul contact. When they have "seen through illusion" (and I use this phrase in its esoteric sense) then they are ready for the third initiation. Our theme is, therefore, the theme of revelation and I would like to make some general remarks upon the subject, because thereby the problem of world illusion can be clarified and incidentally individual illusion also. The unfoldment of human awareness has been progressive down the ages, and has been dependent upon two major and related factors: The factor of the gradual development of the human mind through the processes of evolution itself. This might be regarded as the innate capacity of that which we call the mind, the chitta, or mind stuff, to become more and more sensitive to the impact of the phenomenal world, and to the impression from the higher worlds of being. The mind is the instrument which registers the process of "becoming" but it is also - during the later stages of human unfoldment - capable of registering the nature or function of being. Becoming is revealed through the medium of the intellect; Being, through the medium of the intuition. In all study of illusion, the instrumental nature of the mind must be remembered and its power to register accurately, to [174] interpret and transmit knowledge coming from the world of phenomena and wisdom from the realm of the soul. The factor of the method whereby humanity is made aware of that which is not immediately apparent. This is the method or process of what has been called "imposed revelation" or the impression conveyed to minds capable of reception of those ideas, beings, plans and purposes which exist behind the scenes, so to speak, and which are (in the last analysis) the factors which determine and condition the world process. These revelations or subjective, vital impressions are revealed by the intuition and have nothing to do with the knowledges, impressions and impacts which are related to the three worlds of human evolution, except in so far that (when grasped and apprehended) they have steadily transformed man's way of living, revealed to him his goals, and indicated his true nature. The revelations given throughout the ages and impressed on the minds of those trained to receive them deal with the great universals, are concerned with the whole, and lead to a developed appreciation of the oneness of life and with hylozoistic expression. Two paralleling processes have produced humanity and its civilization: One is the evolutionary process itself whereby the mind of the individual has been gradually unfolded until it becomes the dominant aspect in the personality; and at the same time a graded, wisely imparted series of revelations which have led humanity as a whole nearer to the inevitable apprehension of being; they have led him steadily away from identification with form and into those states of consciousness which are supernormal from the ordinary human angle but entirely normal from the spiritual. [175] Putting this concept specifically into occult terminology: Individuality has led to the steady perfecting of the mind with its perception, apprehension, analysis and interpretation whilst initiation, through the growth of the intuition, brings about (when the mental perfecting process has reached a relatively high degree of development) the apprehension of the world of spiritual values, of unified being and of intuitive understanding. This involves a consequent moving of the point of individual focus out of the world of phenomena into the world of reality. The lower use of the mind and its processes of unfoldment have produced illusion whilst the unfoldment of the higher mind and, later, its use as the transmitter of the intuition and of the higher revelation, will produce the transfiguration of the three worlds of phenomena in terms of the world of being. Illusion is frequently misinterpreted and misapplied mental perception of truth. It has naught to do with the mental phase of glamor, though illusion can be carried down into the world of feeling and become glamor. When this happens, its potency is exceedingly great because a thought-form has become an entity, with vital power, and the magnetic power of feeling is added to the cold form of thought. Ponder on this. But at the stage with which we are now dealing, which is that of pure illusion, a revelation has precipitated upon the mental plane and - owing to failure rightly to apprehend and interpret it or to apply it usefully - it has developed into an illusion and enters upon a career of deception, of crystallization and of misinformation.
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