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Glamor - A World Problem - The Nature of Glamor
I would call your attention to the fact that the whole problem concerns itself with the use or misuse of force or energy, and that much will clear up in your minds if you will realize three things: That average man, in everyday life, and the aspirant upon the Path of Probation or Purification, works with the forces of life on the three planes of human endeavor, plus the principle of life itself. That the disciple begins to discriminate between the forces and energy. Upon the Path of Discipleship he begins to work with soul-energy. This eventually dominates the forces. That the initiate works, upon the Path of Initiation, with energy and learns to distinguish between the energy of life, the energies of the soul, and the forces of the phenomenal world. Another point also should be emphasized here and that is that the nature of these forces and energies, and their use and control have always to be realized and worked out in full consciousness upon the physical plane. Theory must become fact, and the battles which take place on the subtler levels of the astral and mental planes must be realized in the brain consciousness. It is there that the application is made. As these realizations and inner activities become practical parts of the disciple's life and their consequences become clear to his perception in waking consciousness, they form in time part of his quality equipment. He is in reality integrating and synthesizing experience in the three worlds and becoming a Master through conscious mastering. He grasps the fact that all that appears and all that happens is due to the circulation and constant mutation of force. He discovers then how these forces interplay in his own experiences [43] and nature, and grasps then the fundamental fact that only those forces which he himself can use and master in his own life as an individual can be employed by him in group activity and be used in the dispelling of the world glamor. It might be expressed in illustration thus: Through alignment and subsequent contact, the intuition is evoked, awakened and used. This is the great dispelling agency, and pours down from the plane of the intuition (the plane of buddhi) through the soul and the brain to the heart of the disciple. Through alignment and subsequent contact, the energy of the soul is evoked, awakened and used. This is the great dissipating agency, and pours down from soul levels (the higher levels of the mental plane) through the mind to the brain of the disciple carrying illumination to the astral plane. These two types of spiritual energy work differently upon the forces of the personality, and their purpose and activity have to be realized in the brain consciousness of the disciple as he works upon the physical plane. Then and only then can the light of the intuition and the light of the soul return to the astral plane through the conscious effort and the dynamic intelligent will of the serving disciple. Ponder on these points for they outline your way and your service... I have organized somewhat our ideas and outlined the plan under which we would approach this theme. I gave you certain basic concepts and a skeleton outline of the subject as a whole. (See the Table of Contents.) Today we will begin with our real discussion. As you know, it is not [44] my intention to write a long and ponderous thesis on this subject. The books which will be compiled from the instructions offered to these groups of disciples, will not be heavy treatises as are those on Cosmic Fire and White Magic. They will constitute a series of relatively short volumes, and must therefore be packed with information, and not discursive in style. Above everything else, my brothers, these instructions must be of a definitely practical value and must leave the student with the realization that he understands better the subtle world of thought currents and of forces in which he dwells; and that he knows better the means he must employ and the technique he must follow if he is to clear his path from darkness and confusion and follow on to light and harmony. Our study must be comparative also, and the reader must bear in mind that he will not be able to distinguish the truth or isolate that aspect of the teaching which is for him of paramount importance unless he applies that which is helpful, and ascertains clearly whether he is the victim of illusion or of glamor. In the last analysis, he must know where he stands before he can take his next needed step forward. The disciple is the victim and, let us hope, the dissipater of both glamor and illusion, and hence the complexity of his problem and the subtlety of his difficulties. He must bear in mind also (for his strengthening and cheer) that every bit of glamor dissipated and every illusion recognized and overcome "clears the way" for those who follow after, and makes easier the path of his fellow disciples. This is par excellence, the Great Service, and it is to this aspect of it that I call your attention. Hence my attempts in these instructions to clarify this issue. One of the problems which confronts the aspirant is the problem of duly recognizing glamor when it arises, and of being aware of the glamors which beset his path and the [45] illusions which build a wall between him and the light. It is much that you have recognized that glamor and illusion exist. The majority of people are unaware of their presence. Many good people today see this not; they deify their glamors and regard their illusions as their prized and hard won possessions. The very recognition, in its turn however, carries with it its own problems, so unable is the average disciple to free himself from the glamor-making faculties developed in the past, and so hard does he find it to preserve a due proportion and a proper sense of values in regard to the truths of the mental plane. A hard won truth and a principle of reality can be grasped, and then around it the disciple can build the easily formed illusions of the mind which is just beginning to find itself. The glamors of an emotional nature can emerge and gather about the ideal, for that is as yet unclarified and is prone to attract to itself that which - emotionally and sensitively - it believes itself to be and have.
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