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Glamor - A World Problem - The Causes of Glamor
d. The Contrast between the Dweller and its opposite, the Angel of the Presence The entire subject of the Dweller and its relation to the Angel (a symbolic way of dealing with a great relationship and possibility, and a great fact in manifestation) is only now possible of consideration. Only when man is an integrated personality does the problem of the Dweller truly arise, and only when the mind is alert and the intelligence organized (as is becoming the case today on a fairly large scale) is it possible for man to sense - intelligently and not just mystically - the Angel and so intuit the PRESENCE. Only then does the entire question of hindrances which the Dweller embodies, and the limitations which it provides to spiritual contact and realization assume potent proportions. Only then can they be usefully considered and steps taken to induce right action. Only when there is adequate fusion within humanity as a whole does [153] the great human Dweller on the Threshold appear as an integrated entity, or the Dweller in a national or racial sense makes its appearance, spreading and vitalizing national, racial and planetary glamor, fostering and feeding individual glamors and making the entire problem unmistakably apparent. Only then can the relation between the soul of humanity and the generated forces of its ancient and potent personality assume proportions which call for drastic activity and intelligent cooperation. Such a time has now come, and in the two books, Problems of Humanity and The Reappearance of the Christ, and also in the Wesak and June Full Moon messages, I have dealt with this most practical and urgent situation, which is in itself the guarantee of human progress toward its destined goal as well as the assertion of its major hindrances to spiritual realization. The sections on which we shall now be engaged are of prime importance to all who are in training for initiation. I said "in training," my brothers; I did not say that you would take initiation in this life. I know not myself whether you will or no; the issue lies in your hands and in your planned destiny - planned by your souls. Your problem is essentially that of learning to handle the Dweller on the Threshold and of ascertaining the procedures and the processes whereby the momentous activity of fusion can take place. Through the medium of this fusion the Dweller "disappears and is no more seen, though still he functions on the outer plane, the agent of the Angel; the light absorbs the Dweller, and into obscuration - radiant yet magnetic - this ancient form of life dissolves though keeping still its form; it rests and works but is not now itself." Such are the paradoxical statements of the Old Commentary. I have earlier defined for you in as simple terms as possible the nature of the Dweller. I would like, however, [154] to enlarge upon one or two points and give one or two new suggestions which - for the sake of clarity and for your more rapid comprehension - we will tabulate as follows: The Dweller on the Threshold is essentially the personality; it is an integrated unity composed of physical forces, vital energy, astral forces and mental energies, constituting the sumtotal of the lower nature. The Dweller takes form when a reorientation of man's life has taken place consciously and under soul impression; the whole personality is then theoretically directed towards liberation into service. The problem is to make the theory and the aspiration facts in experience. For a great length of time the forces of the personality do not constitute a Dweller. The man is not on the threshold of divinity; he is not consciously aware of the Angel. His forces are inchoate; he works unconsciously in his environment, the victim of circumstance and of his own nature apparently and under the lure and the urge of desire for physical plane activity and existence. When, however, the life of the man is ruled from the mental plane, plus desire or ambition, and he is controlled at least to some large extent by mental influence, then the Dweller begins to take shape as a unified force. The stages wherein the Dweller on the Threshold is recognized, subjected to a discriminating discipline and finally controlled and mastered, are mainly three: The stage wherein the personality dominates and rules the life and ambitions and the goals of man's life-endeavor. The Dweller then controls. The stage of a growing cleavage in the consciousness [155] of the disciple. The Dweller or the personality is then urged in two directions: one, towards the pursuit of personal ambitions and desires in the three worlds; the other, in which the effort is made by the Dweller (note this statement) to take a stand upon the threshold of divinity and before the Portal of Initiation. The stage wherein the Dweller consciously seeks the cooperation of the soul and, though still in itself essentially constituting a barrier to spiritual progress, is more and more influenced by the soul than by its lower nature. When the final stage is reached (and many are now reaching it today) the disciple strives with more or less success to steady the Dweller (by learning to "hold the mind steady in the light" and thus controlling the lower nature). In this way the constant fluid changefulness of the Dweller is gradually overcome; its orientation towards reality and away from the Great Illusion is made effective, and the Angel and the Dweller are slowly brought into a close rapport. In the earlier stages of effort and of attempted control, the Dweller is positive and the Soul is negative in their effects in the three worlds of human endeavor. Then there is a period of oscillation, leading to a life of equilibrium wherein neither aspect appears to dominate; after that the balance changes and the personality steadily becomes negative and the soul or psyche becomes dominant and positive.
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