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Glamor - A World Problem - The Causes of Glamor
Secondly: The stage wherein the man first of all becomes aware of the duality which can be expressed by the words "the man and the forces." He becomes alive to the fact that he and all humanity are the victims of forces and energies over which they have no control and which drive men hither and thither. He becomes aware also of forces and energies within himself over which he likewise has no control and which force him to act in various ways, making him frequently the victim of his own revolts, his own acts and selfishly directed energies. Here the man discovers (unconsciously at first and later consciously), the initial duality - the physical body and the vital or etheric body. One is the mechanism of contact upon the physical plane, the other is the mechanism of contact with the inner forces, energies and worlds of being. This vital body controls and galvanizes the physical body into an almost automatic activity. I referred to this duality in an earlier instruction. This stage is one of great difficulty for the man, as an individual, and for humanity as a whole. Men are still so ignorant of the "reality which shines under the envelope which envelops it" - as the Old Commentary calls it - that true perception is difficult and at first well-nigh impossible. Blindly and ignorantly men have to cope with this first pair of opposites. It is this that we see happening in the world at this time. The masses are awakening to the realization that they are the victims and [97] the exponents of forces over which they have no control and of which they have no understanding. They would like to assume control over them and are determined so to do whenever possible. This constitutes the major problem today in the economic field and in the field of daily living and of government. World tension today consists in the fact that physical force and etheric energy are at grips. Forget not what I earlier told you that etheric force is closely related to the Monad or the highest spiritual aspect. It is life itself on the verge of externalization. Hence the emphasis today upon the spirit of humanity, upon the spirit of a nation, and the spirit of a group. This is all the result of the battle going on between this pair of opposites in the field of human affairs and in the field of individual average human living. It is, however, this conflict - fought out to the point of synthesis and of at-one-ment - which produces the reorientation of the race and of the individual to the truer values and to the world of reality. It is this conflict - successfully waged - which lands the man, as an individual, and the mass, as a whole, upon the Path of Purification. When there is unification of these energies upon the physical plane, you then have one-pointed activity and a determination to travel in a specific direction. There follows the resolution (note this word and its usage) of the duality into a unity. This resolution works out in the early stages (where the average type of aspirant is concerned) into a temporary astral unity and then there emerges the one-pointed devotee. He is found in all fields - of religion, of science, of politics or in any other department of life. His etheric unity, producing reorientation - with its results of a clear vision, a grasp of truth, and a picture of the immediate way to go - serves temporarily to glamor the man with a sense of achievement, of surety, of power and of destiny. He goes [98] ahead blindly, furiously and ruthlessly until suddenly he is brought sharply up against changing conditions and recognizes another and far more difficult situation. The pairs of opposites upon the astral plane confront him, and he becomes Arjuna upon the field of battle. All his sense of at-one-ment, of direction, of sure and oft-times smug satisfaction disappears and he is lost in the fogs and glamors of the astral plane. This is the plight of many well-meaning disciples at this time and upon it I must for a moment dwell because this group, when it can work as a group, has for its intended task the dissolution of some of the world glamor. Some day (and let us hope that it will take place before long) this group and other such groups should work, as a group and under direction of their Master, in piercing the world glamor and letting in some light and illumination so that men may walk from henceforth more truly on the Way in safety. I have, therefore, chosen for participation in this work several aspirants whose tendency is to succumb to glamor, though two of them are less prone to it than are the others. Their relative freedom from it was one of the reasons why I chose them. These two are D. L. R. and D. P. R. Let these two keep their lives free from any tendency to glamor if they are rightly to serve their brothers as desired by me. I will give indication of their tendency in that direction in their personal instructions. The other group members are quickly prone to glamor, but this is a grief to them. It can, however, be as quickly turned into an asset. How can the world glamor be dissipated except by those who recognize it for what it is and who have wrestled with it in their daily lives? How can there be success in removing world glamor through illumination, unless this illumination is brought about by those who have learned to cast the searchlight of the soul into the dark places and the glamor which [99] surrounds them, as individuals, and then see it disappear? Be not discouraged by this "glamorous weakness" but regard your effort to understand the problem and your ability to arrive at the solution in your own lives as part of the contribution which you can make to this most stupendous of world problems. Solve your glamor by dwelling in the light and holding the mind steady in that light, and by learning to throw this light into the fogs of glamor on the astral plane. Do not attempt to solve it, as some aspirants so frequently do, by saying, "Now I understand," whereas all that they do (and many of you do the same) is to react to a self-evident occult platitude.
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