"Lead us from Darkness to Light
From Ignorance to Wisdom
From Death to Immortality"
The Upanishads
From Ignorance to Wisdom
From Death to Immortality"
The Upanishads
The Atman must be regarded as One and the same in waking, dream and dreamless sleep. For that One who has transcended the three states, rebirth does not exist.
~ Amratind Upanishad
*****
Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.
The Upanishads
****
We are like the spider.
We weave our life and then move along in it.
We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream.
This is true for the entire universe.
The Upanishads
****
There is a Spirit which is pure and which is beyond old age and death...This Atman, the Spirit in man.
~ Chandogya Upanishad
~*~~*~~*
THE NATURE OF GLAMOUR
From Glamour: A World Problem by Alice Bailey
1. Illusion is primarily of a mental quality and was characteristic of the attitude of mind of those people who are more intellectual than emotional. They have outgrown glamour as usually understood. It is the misunderstanding of ideas and thoughtforms of which they are guilty, and of misinterpretations.
2. Glamour is astral in character, and is far more potent at this time than illusion, owing to the enormous majority of people who function astrally always.
3. Maya is vital in character and is a quality of force. It is essentially the energy of the human being as it swings into activity through the subjective influence of the mental illusion or astral glamour or of both in combination.
4. The Dweller on the Threshold, always present, swings however into activity only on the Path of Discipleship, when the aspirant becomes occultly aware of himself, of the conditions induced within him as a result of his interior illusion, his astral glamour and the maya surrounding his entire life. Being now an integrated personality (and no one is a disciple, my brother, unless he is mental as well as emotional, which is a point the 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 the "Dweller on the Threshold" is applied. It is in reality a vitalised thoughtform—embodying mental force, astral force and vital energy.
The problem, therefore, before all of you in this group is to learn first of all:
1. To distinguish between these three inner illusory aspects.
2. To discover what conditions in the environment or in the individual constitution induce these situations of difficulty.
3. To find out what methods are effective in inducing a cessation of the bewildering deceiving conditions.
~*~~*~~*~
From Ponder On This
A compilation from the works of Alice Bailey
It is a platitude and a truism to state that humanity is today passing through a crisis of immense proportions. The causes of this crisis must be sought in many factors. They lie in the past; in the growth, through evolution, of certain basic tendencies in man; in past mistakes, present opportunities, and the powerful activity of the Hierarchy of Love. The future is of great promise, provided man can learn the lessons of the present which have been closely presented to him; he must accept them and understand clearly the nature of his problem and of the crisis with its many ramifications and various implications.
I have listed some of the reasons for the present world unrest in another book (Education in the New Age, pp. 116-125) reminding you that some of the causes lie in so remote a past that history knows nothing of them. You would find it useful to re-read those few pages at this point, for in them I sought to give some insight into the essential situation which confronts mankind due to certain evolutionary developments:
1. The point reached by humanity itself
2. The emergence of the new racial type
3. The ending of the Piscean Age
4. The coming in of the Aquarian Age.The remaining four causes which we will consider later might be enumerated as follows:
5. The time of the end. The judgment of people. This period of judgment is a group interlude to the full emergence of the New Age influences.
6. The levelling of all classes and distinctions so that the spiritual values may appear and the spiritual Hierarchy manifest on earth.
7. The fact of the Approach of the Hierarchy towards external contact with humanity. I would suggest that you read my earlier writings on the Great Approaches.
8. The power and significance, politically considered, of the Great Invocation.
for more see : http://www.lucistrust.org:8081/obooks/?q=node/161
~*~~*~~*~
THE GREAT INVOCATION
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the center where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men--
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the center which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
"The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept— the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out."
Alice A. Bailey
NOTE * The use of the term man, literally interpreted is mind. We are the Mind of God.
~*~~*~~*~
DEFINITION OF THE INTUITION
From Alice Bailey
Glamour: A World Problem
The intuition is not a welling forth of love to people and, therefore, an understanding of them. Much that is called the intuition is recognition of similarities and the possession of a clear analytical mind. Intelligent people who have lived in the world for some time and who have experienced much and who have contacted many other people can usually sum up with facility the problems and dispositions of others, provided they are interested. This they must not, however, confound with the intuition.
The intuition has no relation to psychism, either higher or lower; the seeing of a vision, the hearing of the Voice of the Silence, a pleased reaction to teaching of any kind does not infer the functioning of the intuition. It is not only the seeing of symbols, for that is a special sort of perception and the capacity to tune in on the Universal Mind upon that layer of Its activity which produces the pattern-forms on which all etheric bodies are based. It is not intelligent psychology, and a loving desire to help. That emanates from the interplay of a personality, governed by a strong soul orientation, and the group-conscious soul.
Intuition is the synthetic understanding which is the prerogative of the soul and it only becomes possible when the soul, on its own level, is reaching in two directions: towards [3] the Monad, and towards the integrated and, perhaps (even if only temporarily) coordinated and at-oned personality. It is the first indication of a deeply subjective unification which will find its consummation at the third initiation.
Intuition is a comprehensive grip of the principle of universality, and when it is functioning there is, momentarily at least, a complete loss of the sense of separateness. At its highest point, it is known as that Universal Love which has no relation to sentiment or to the affectional reaction but is, predominantly, in the nature of an identification with all beings. Then is true compassion known; then does criticism become impossible; then, only, is the divine germ seen as latent in all forms.
Intuition is light itself, and when it is functioning, the world is seen as light and the light bodies of all forms become gradually apparent. This brings with it the ability to contact the light centre in all forms, and thus again an essential relationship is established and the sense of superiority and separateness recedes into the background.
Intuition, therefore, brings with its appearance three qualities:
Illumination. By illumination I do not mean the light in the head. That is incidental and phenomenal, and many truly intuitive people are entirely unaware of this light. The light to which I refer is that which irradiates the Way. It is "the light of the intellect," which really means that which illumines the mind and which can reflect itself in that mental apparatus which is held "steady in the light." This is the "Light of the World," a Reality which is eternally existent, but which can be discovered only when the individual interior light is recognised as such. This is the "Light of the Ages," which shineth ever more until the Day be with us. The intuition is therefore the recognition in [4] oneself, not theoretically but as a fact in one's experience, of one's complete identification with the Universal Mind, of one's constituting a part of the great World Life, and of one's participation in the eternal persisting Existence.
Understanding. This must be appreciated in its literal sense as that which "stands under" the totality of forms. It connotes the power of recession or the capacity to withdraw from one's agelong identification with form life. I would like to point out that this withdrawal is comparatively easy for those who have much of the first ray quality in them. The problem is to withdraw in the esoteric sense, but to avoid at the same time the sense of separateness, of isolation and of superiority. It is easy for first ray people to resist the tendency to identify themselves with others. To have true understanding involves an increased ability to love all beings and yet, at the same time, to preserve personality detachment. This detachment can be so easily founded on an inability to love, in a selfish concern for one's own comfort—physical, mental or spiritual, and above all, emotional. First ray people dread emotion and despise it, but sometimes they have to swing into an emotional condition before they can use emotional sensitivity in the right manner.
Understanding involves contact with life as an integrated personality, plus egoic reaction to the group purposes and plans. It connotes personality-soul unification, wide experience, and a rapid activity of the indwelling Christ principle. Intuitional understanding is always spontaneous. Where the reasoning to an understanding enters, it is not the activity of the intuition.
Love. As earlier said, this is not affectionate sentiment, or the possession of a loving disposition; these two later aspects are incidental and sequential. When the intuition is developed, both affection and the possession of a spirit [5] of loving outgo will, necessarily, in their pure form, be demonstrated, but that which produces these is something much more deep and comprehensive. It is that synthetic, inclusive grasp of the life and needs of all beings (I have chosen these two words with intent!) which it is the high prerogative of a divine Son of God to operate. It negates all that builds barriers, makes criticism, and produces separation. It sees no distinction, even when it appreciates need, and it produces in one who loves as a soul immediate identification with that which is loved.
These three words sum up the three qualities or aspects of the intuition and can be covered by the word, universality, or the sense of universal Oneness.
I cannot enlarge further upon the subject of Intuition. It is too vast a matter, and too abstruse. All I can do is to put before you its three aspects and then to urge upon you the need to submit to that training and to apply to yourselves that discipline which will work out in your life as love, light and understanding.
THE MODE OF AWAKENING THE INTUITION
There are many ways in which the intuition can be drawn into activity, and one of the most useful and potent is the study and interpretation of symbols.
Symbols are the outer and visible forms of the inner spiritual realities, and when facility in discovering the reality behind any specific form has been gained, that very fact will indicate the awakening of the intuition.
The study of symbols tends to bring this about and when carried out with faithfulness and diligence, will produce three effects:
1. It trains in the power to penetrate behind the form and to arrive at the subjective reality.
2. It tends to bring about a close integration between soul-mind-brain, and when that is brought about, the inflow of the intuition and, consequently, of illumination and truth becomes more rapidly possible.
3. It will put a strain upon certain unawakened areas in the brain and arouse into activity the brain cells there found, and this is the first stage in the experience of the aspirant. With the majority of true aspirants, the centre between the eyebrows is awakened, whilst the centre at the top of the head is vibrating very gently, but is not in full functioning activity. This higher centre must be awakened more fully before aspirants can measure up to their full opportunity.
In the study of symbols, I would urge upon you the necessity always to put before yourselves the goal of arriving at the underlying concept of any symbol studied. This concept will ever be synthetic. It will not be detailed and in sections. You may have to arrive at this concept through a study of detail and through arriving at the significance of various sections or parts of the symbol under consideration. When, however, your analysis is completed, you must not rest satisfied until you have summed up the meaning of the symbol in some synthetic idea, concept, meaning or name.
Symbols have to be studied in three ways:
a. Exoterically. This involves study of its form as a whole, of its lines, and therefore of its numerical significance, and also study of its sectional forms—by which I mean its arrangements, for instance, of cubes, triangles and of stars and their mutual inter-relation.
b. Conceptually. This involves arriving at its underlying idea, which may be expressed in its name; at its [8]meaning as that emerges in the consciousness through meditation; and at its significance as a whole or in part. You should, when doing this, bear in mind that the idea connotes the higher or abstract intent; that the meaning is that intent expressed in terms of the concrete mind; and that its significance has in it more of an emotional quality and might be expressed as the type of desire it arouses in you.
c. Esoterically. This would cover the effect of the force or energy upon you and of the quality of the vibration it may arouse in you perhaps in some centre, perhaps in your astral body, or perhaps only in your mind.
This study, rightly undertaken, would lead to the unfoldment of the intuition, with its consequent manifestation on the physical plane as illumination, understanding and love.
It is a delicate art, this art of symbol reading, of "spiritual reading," as our ancient master, Patanjali, calls it. This power to interpret symbols ever precedes true revelation.
Students should ascertain, therefore, after due study of the form aspect, what the symbol is doing to them, what feeling it evokes, what aspirations it arouses, and what dreams, illusions, and reactions are consciously registered.
I would ask you to render not only an intelligent interpretation of the symbol, but also a recognition of the more subtle reaction of your sensitive feeling nature to the symbol as a whole. Study a total of four symbols a year. First, approach the symbol from its form aspect and seek to familiarise yourself with its outer aspect, with the sum total of lines, triangles, squares, circles, crosses and other forms of which it is composed, and as you do this endeavour to comprehend it from the standpoint of the intellect, using your memory and what knowledge you have, to understand it exoterically.
Then as soon as the symbol is truly familiar to you and can be recalled to mind with little effort, endeavour to sense its quality, to contact its vibration and to note its emotional effect upon you. This may vary from day to day or it may always be the same. Be simply honest in your noting this astral reaction to the symbol and see where such reactions lead you, remembering always that they are not intuitional but are reactions to the feeling or astral body.
Finally, take note of what you have found to be, for you, the basic quality of the symbol and then (as in meditation work) lift the whole subject into the mental realm by bringing the focussed attentive mind to bear upon it. This will lead you into the realm of concepts.
I would like to make clear to you that there is no set interpretation of any symbol, and that for each human being that symbol—whatever it may be—will convey unique meaning. The balancing in the mind of form and concept, of expression and quality, of sign and meaning is vital to the growth of the disciple and the aspirant.
The great need for most students is to arrive at meaning and to work with ideas and concepts. This activity will necessitate the use of the mind to understand, to grasp and to interpret. It requires the development of that mental sensitivity which will enable its possessor to respond to the vibrations of what we call the Universal Mind, the Mind of God, the Instigator of the Plan. It presupposes a certain ability to interpret and the power to express the idea underlying the symbol so that others may share it with you. This thought of service and of growth in usefulness must be steadily borne in mind.
What is there in this objective world that is not the inadequate symbol of a divine idea? What have we in our outer manifestation but the visible sign (at some stage of the evolving purpose) of the plan of the creating Deity? What are you yourself but the outer expression of a divine idea? We must learn to see symbols all around us and then to penetrate behind the symbol to the idea which it should express.
It is an ancient statement of fact, which Plutarch expresses for us in the familiar words, that "An idea is a Being incorporeal, which has no subsistence of itself, but gives figure and form unto shapeless matter and becomes the cause of the manifestation." The figure and form you have registered with your brain and memorized, and likewise its activity in time and space, along with its innate capacity to build the form and express through that form a concept or idea. As you work inwards, you are also becoming aware of the nature of the motivating idea through the study of its form and its demonstrated activity, and you are discovering the field of ideas of analogous nature in which the idea embodied in the symbol finds itself. This field of ideas, inter-related and mutually explanatory, is now open to you and you will increasingly find yourself in a position to move in this world of concepts with freedom. To work and live in the world of ideas now becomes your objective and main effort. You train yourself in the recognition of ideas and concepts as they lie behind every form; you begin to think clearly about them and to see the direction in which they lead you and where, within the Eternal Plan, they fit.
If aspirants will do three things:
a. Develop the power to visualise,
b. Train the mind to intuit reality,
c. Rightly interpret that which is seen,
they can provide a demonstrating laboratory for the trained Observers of the world.
One of the things which the developed intuition can do is to break the glamour and illusion which invade the life. One of the things that a group of aspirants, whose intuitional interplay is established, can accomplish, is to aid in the work of smashing world glamour. Such work can be done when you have awakened the intuition, and when your inter-related understanding is firm and true. The Hierarchy will be able to use the world aspirants as an instrument for the breaking of group glamour wherever it may be found. I refer to this possibility in order to incite you all to more rapid and steady growth and effort.
You have been told that one of the needs lying before all aspirants is to arrive at that intuitional knowledge and that intelligent understanding of glamour, both individual and planetary, which will enable them most definitely to work at its dispelling.
Very little has been written or taught hitherto anent the subject of glamour, and it may mean much of value if we undertake the consideration of this subject, of its causes, and its effects, and also deal with the technique whereby it can be dissipated and dispelled.
What I have to say to you as regards the subject of Glamour falls into certain broad generalizations such as:
I. The Nature of Glamour.
II. The Causes of Glamour.
III. The Dissipation of Glamour.
As we proceed we shall divide our subject up into greater detail, but in this instruction I only seek to get certain broad outlines into your minds so that the theme may fall into right places in your thoughts.
There are four phrases which have for long been bandied about among so-called occultists and esotericists. They are: glamour, illusion, maya and the expression, the dweller on the threshold. They all stand for the same general concept or some differentiation of that concept. Speaking generally, the interpretations have been as follows, and they are only partial interpretations, and are almost in the nature of distortions of the real truth, owing to the limitations of the human consciousness.
Glamour has oft been regarded as a curious attempt of what are called the "black forces" to deceive and hoodwink well-meaning aspirants. Many fine people are almost flattered when they are "up against" some aspect of glamour, feeling that their demonstration of discipline has been so good that the black forces are interested sufficiently to attempt to hinder their fine work by submerging them in clouds of glamour. Nothing could be further from the truth. That idea is itself part of the glamour of the present time, and has its roots in human pride and satisfaction.
Maya is oft regarded as being of the same nature as the concept promulgated by the Christian Scientist that there is no such thing as matter. We are asked to regard the entire world phenomena as maya and to believe that its existence is simply an error of mortal mind, and a form of auto-suggestion or self-hypnotism. Through this induced belief we force ourselves into a state of mind which recognises that the tangible and the objective are only figments of man's imaginative mind. This, in its turn, is likewise a travesty of reality.
Illusion is regarded rather the same way, only (as we define it) we lay the emphasis upon the finiteness of man's mind. The world of phenomena is not denied, but we regard the mind as misinterpreting it and as refusing to see it as it is in reality. We consider this misinterpretation as constituting the Great Illusion.
The Dweller on the Threshold is usually regarded as presenting the final test of man's courage, and as being in the nature of a gigantic thoughtform or factor which has to be dissipated, prior to taking initiation. Just what this thoughtform is, few people know, but their definition includes the idea of a huge elemental form which bars the way to the sacred portal, or the idea of a fabricated form, constructed sometimes by the disciple's Master to test his sincerity. Some regard it as the sum total of a man's faults, his evil nature, which hinders his being recognised as fit to tread the Path of Holiness. None of these definitions, however, give a true idea of the reality.
I would point out here that (generally speaking) these four expressions are four aspects of a universal condition that is the result of the activity—in time and space—of the human mind. The activity of MINDS. Ponder on this phrase for it gives you a clue to the truth.
The Problem of Illusion lies in the fact that it is a soul activity, and the result of the mind aspect of all the souls in manifestation. It is the soul which is submerged in the illusion and the soul that fails to see with clarity until such time as it has learnt to pour the light of the soul through into the mind and the brain.
The Problem of Glamour is found when the mental illusion is intensified by desire. What the Theosophist calls "kama-manas" produces glamour. It is illusion on the astral plane.
The Problem of Maya is really the same as the above, plus the intense activity produced when both glamour and illusion are realized on etheric levels. It is that vital unthinking emotional MESS (yes, brother of old, that is the word I seek to use) in which the majority of human beings seem always to live.
The Dweller on the Threshold is illusion-glamour-maya, as realised by the physical brain and recognised as that which must be overcome. It is the bewildering thoughtform with which the disciple is confronted, when he seeks to pierce through the accumulated glamour of the ages and find his true home in the place of light.
When the Buddha was on Earth and achieved illumination, He "let in" a flood of light upon the world problem through His enunciation of the Four Noble Truths. His body of disciples and His nine hundred arhats formulated those four great truths into a structure of dogma and doctrine that—by the power of collective thought—has greatly helped in the attack upon the world illusion. Today the Christ is carrying forward the same great task and in the spiritual significance of His imminent Coming (and in the language of symbolism) He and His nine thousand arhats will strike a second blow at the world glamour. It is for this that we prepare. Only the intuition can dispel illusion and hence the need of training intuitives. Hence the service you can render to this general cause by offering yourselves for this training. If you can overcome glamour in your own lives and if you can, therefore, comprehend the nature of illusion you will help in
a. The destruction of the dweller on the threshold,
b. The devitalising of the general maya,
c. The dissipation of glamour,
d. The dispelling of illusion
~ Amratind Upanishad
*****
Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.
The Upanishads
****
We are like the spider.
We weave our life and then move along in it.
We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream.
This is true for the entire universe.
The Upanishads
****
There is a Spirit which is pure and which is beyond old age and death...This Atman, the Spirit in man.
~ Chandogya Upanishad
~*~~*~~*
THE NATURE OF GLAMOUR
From Glamour: A World Problem by Alice Bailey
1. Illusion is primarily of a mental quality and was characteristic of the attitude of mind of those people who are more intellectual than emotional. They have outgrown glamour as usually understood. It is the misunderstanding of ideas and thoughtforms of which they are guilty, and of misinterpretations.
2. Glamour is astral in character, and is far more potent at this time than illusion, owing to the enormous majority of people who function astrally always.
3. Maya is vital in character and is a quality of force. It is essentially the energy of the human being as it swings into activity through the subjective influence of the mental illusion or astral glamour or of both in combination.
4. The Dweller on the Threshold, always present, swings however into activity only on the Path of Discipleship, when the aspirant becomes occultly aware of himself, of the conditions induced within him as a result of his interior illusion, his astral glamour and the maya surrounding his entire life. Being now an integrated personality (and no one is a disciple, my brother, unless he is mental as well as emotional, which is a point the 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 the "Dweller on the Threshold" is applied. It is in reality a vitalised thoughtform—embodying mental force, astral force and vital energy.
The problem, therefore, before all of you in this group is to learn first of all:
1. To distinguish between these three inner illusory aspects.
2. To discover what conditions in the environment or in the individual constitution induce these situations of difficulty.
3. To find out what methods are effective in inducing a cessation of the bewildering deceiving conditions.
~*~~*~~*~
From Ponder On This
A compilation from the works of Alice Bailey
It is a platitude and a truism to state that humanity is today passing through a crisis of immense proportions. The causes of this crisis must be sought in many factors. They lie in the past; in the growth, through evolution, of certain basic tendencies in man; in past mistakes, present opportunities, and the powerful activity of the Hierarchy of Love. The future is of great promise, provided man can learn the lessons of the present which have been closely presented to him; he must accept them and understand clearly the nature of his problem and of the crisis with its many ramifications and various implications.
I have listed some of the reasons for the present world unrest in another book (Education in the New Age, pp. 116-125) reminding you that some of the causes lie in so remote a past that history knows nothing of them. You would find it useful to re-read those few pages at this point, for in them I sought to give some insight into the essential situation which confronts mankind due to certain evolutionary developments:
1. The point reached by humanity itself
2. The emergence of the new racial type
3. The ending of the Piscean Age
4. The coming in of the Aquarian Age.The remaining four causes which we will consider later might be enumerated as follows:
5. The time of the end. The judgment of people. This period of judgment is a group interlude to the full emergence of the New Age influences.
6. The levelling of all classes and distinctions so that the spiritual values may appear and the spiritual Hierarchy manifest on earth.
7. The fact of the Approach of the Hierarchy towards external contact with humanity. I would suggest that you read my earlier writings on the Great Approaches.
8. The power and significance, politically considered, of the Great Invocation.
for more see : http://www.lucistrust.org:8081/obooks/?q=node/161
~*~~*~~*~
THE GREAT INVOCATION
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the center where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men--
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the center which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
"The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept— the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out."
Alice A. Bailey
NOTE * The use of the term man, literally interpreted is mind. We are the Mind of God.
~*~~*~~*~
DEFINITION OF THE INTUITION
From Alice Bailey
Glamour: A World Problem
The intuition is not a welling forth of love to people and, therefore, an understanding of them. Much that is called the intuition is recognition of similarities and the possession of a clear analytical mind. Intelligent people who have lived in the world for some time and who have experienced much and who have contacted many other people can usually sum up with facility the problems and dispositions of others, provided they are interested. This they must not, however, confound with the intuition.
The intuition has no relation to psychism, either higher or lower; the seeing of a vision, the hearing of the Voice of the Silence, a pleased reaction to teaching of any kind does not infer the functioning of the intuition. It is not only the seeing of symbols, for that is a special sort of perception and the capacity to tune in on the Universal Mind upon that layer of Its activity which produces the pattern-forms on which all etheric bodies are based. It is not intelligent psychology, and a loving desire to help. That emanates from the interplay of a personality, governed by a strong soul orientation, and the group-conscious soul.
Intuition is the synthetic understanding which is the prerogative of the soul and it only becomes possible when the soul, on its own level, is reaching in two directions: towards [3] the Monad, and towards the integrated and, perhaps (even if only temporarily) coordinated and at-oned personality. It is the first indication of a deeply subjective unification which will find its consummation at the third initiation.
Intuition is a comprehensive grip of the principle of universality, and when it is functioning there is, momentarily at least, a complete loss of the sense of separateness. At its highest point, it is known as that Universal Love which has no relation to sentiment or to the affectional reaction but is, predominantly, in the nature of an identification with all beings. Then is true compassion known; then does criticism become impossible; then, only, is the divine germ seen as latent in all forms.
Intuition is light itself, and when it is functioning, the world is seen as light and the light bodies of all forms become gradually apparent. This brings with it the ability to contact the light centre in all forms, and thus again an essential relationship is established and the sense of superiority and separateness recedes into the background.
Intuition, therefore, brings with its appearance three qualities:
Illumination. By illumination I do not mean the light in the head. That is incidental and phenomenal, and many truly intuitive people are entirely unaware of this light. The light to which I refer is that which irradiates the Way. It is "the light of the intellect," which really means that which illumines the mind and which can reflect itself in that mental apparatus which is held "steady in the light." This is the "Light of the World," a Reality which is eternally existent, but which can be discovered only when the individual interior light is recognised as such. This is the "Light of the Ages," which shineth ever more until the Day be with us. The intuition is therefore the recognition in [4] oneself, not theoretically but as a fact in one's experience, of one's complete identification with the Universal Mind, of one's constituting a part of the great World Life, and of one's participation in the eternal persisting Existence.
Understanding. This must be appreciated in its literal sense as that which "stands under" the totality of forms. It connotes the power of recession or the capacity to withdraw from one's agelong identification with form life. I would like to point out that this withdrawal is comparatively easy for those who have much of the first ray quality in them. The problem is to withdraw in the esoteric sense, but to avoid at the same time the sense of separateness, of isolation and of superiority. It is easy for first ray people to resist the tendency to identify themselves with others. To have true understanding involves an increased ability to love all beings and yet, at the same time, to preserve personality detachment. This detachment can be so easily founded on an inability to love, in a selfish concern for one's own comfort—physical, mental or spiritual, and above all, emotional. First ray people dread emotion and despise it, but sometimes they have to swing into an emotional condition before they can use emotional sensitivity in the right manner.
Understanding involves contact with life as an integrated personality, plus egoic reaction to the group purposes and plans. It connotes personality-soul unification, wide experience, and a rapid activity of the indwelling Christ principle. Intuitional understanding is always spontaneous. Where the reasoning to an understanding enters, it is not the activity of the intuition.
Love. As earlier said, this is not affectionate sentiment, or the possession of a loving disposition; these two later aspects are incidental and sequential. When the intuition is developed, both affection and the possession of a spirit [5] of loving outgo will, necessarily, in their pure form, be demonstrated, but that which produces these is something much more deep and comprehensive. It is that synthetic, inclusive grasp of the life and needs of all beings (I have chosen these two words with intent!) which it is the high prerogative of a divine Son of God to operate. It negates all that builds barriers, makes criticism, and produces separation. It sees no distinction, even when it appreciates need, and it produces in one who loves as a soul immediate identification with that which is loved.
These three words sum up the three qualities or aspects of the intuition and can be covered by the word, universality, or the sense of universal Oneness.
I cannot enlarge further upon the subject of Intuition. It is too vast a matter, and too abstruse. All I can do is to put before you its three aspects and then to urge upon you the need to submit to that training and to apply to yourselves that discipline which will work out in your life as love, light and understanding.
THE MODE OF AWAKENING THE INTUITION
There are many ways in which the intuition can be drawn into activity, and one of the most useful and potent is the study and interpretation of symbols.
Symbols are the outer and visible forms of the inner spiritual realities, and when facility in discovering the reality behind any specific form has been gained, that very fact will indicate the awakening of the intuition.
The study of symbols tends to bring this about and when carried out with faithfulness and diligence, will produce three effects:
1. It trains in the power to penetrate behind the form and to arrive at the subjective reality.
2. It tends to bring about a close integration between soul-mind-brain, and when that is brought about, the inflow of the intuition and, consequently, of illumination and truth becomes more rapidly possible.
3. It will put a strain upon certain unawakened areas in the brain and arouse into activity the brain cells there found, and this is the first stage in the experience of the aspirant. With the majority of true aspirants, the centre between the eyebrows is awakened, whilst the centre at the top of the head is vibrating very gently, but is not in full functioning activity. This higher centre must be awakened more fully before aspirants can measure up to their full opportunity.
In the study of symbols, I would urge upon you the necessity always to put before yourselves the goal of arriving at the underlying concept of any symbol studied. This concept will ever be synthetic. It will not be detailed and in sections. You may have to arrive at this concept through a study of detail and through arriving at the significance of various sections or parts of the symbol under consideration. When, however, your analysis is completed, you must not rest satisfied until you have summed up the meaning of the symbol in some synthetic idea, concept, meaning or name.
Symbols have to be studied in three ways:
a. Exoterically. This involves study of its form as a whole, of its lines, and therefore of its numerical significance, and also study of its sectional forms—by which I mean its arrangements, for instance, of cubes, triangles and of stars and their mutual inter-relation.
b. Conceptually. This involves arriving at its underlying idea, which may be expressed in its name; at its [8]meaning as that emerges in the consciousness through meditation; and at its significance as a whole or in part. You should, when doing this, bear in mind that the idea connotes the higher or abstract intent; that the meaning is that intent expressed in terms of the concrete mind; and that its significance has in it more of an emotional quality and might be expressed as the type of desire it arouses in you.
c. Esoterically. This would cover the effect of the force or energy upon you and of the quality of the vibration it may arouse in you perhaps in some centre, perhaps in your astral body, or perhaps only in your mind.
This study, rightly undertaken, would lead to the unfoldment of the intuition, with its consequent manifestation on the physical plane as illumination, understanding and love.
It is a delicate art, this art of symbol reading, of "spiritual reading," as our ancient master, Patanjali, calls it. This power to interpret symbols ever precedes true revelation.
Students should ascertain, therefore, after due study of the form aspect, what the symbol is doing to them, what feeling it evokes, what aspirations it arouses, and what dreams, illusions, and reactions are consciously registered.
I would ask you to render not only an intelligent interpretation of the symbol, but also a recognition of the more subtle reaction of your sensitive feeling nature to the symbol as a whole. Study a total of four symbols a year. First, approach the symbol from its form aspect and seek to familiarise yourself with its outer aspect, with the sum total of lines, triangles, squares, circles, crosses and other forms of which it is composed, and as you do this endeavour to comprehend it from the standpoint of the intellect, using your memory and what knowledge you have, to understand it exoterically.
Then as soon as the symbol is truly familiar to you and can be recalled to mind with little effort, endeavour to sense its quality, to contact its vibration and to note its emotional effect upon you. This may vary from day to day or it may always be the same. Be simply honest in your noting this astral reaction to the symbol and see where such reactions lead you, remembering always that they are not intuitional but are reactions to the feeling or astral body.
Finally, take note of what you have found to be, for you, the basic quality of the symbol and then (as in meditation work) lift the whole subject into the mental realm by bringing the focussed attentive mind to bear upon it. This will lead you into the realm of concepts.
I would like to make clear to you that there is no set interpretation of any symbol, and that for each human being that symbol—whatever it may be—will convey unique meaning. The balancing in the mind of form and concept, of expression and quality, of sign and meaning is vital to the growth of the disciple and the aspirant.
The great need for most students is to arrive at meaning and to work with ideas and concepts. This activity will necessitate the use of the mind to understand, to grasp and to interpret. It requires the development of that mental sensitivity which will enable its possessor to respond to the vibrations of what we call the Universal Mind, the Mind of God, the Instigator of the Plan. It presupposes a certain ability to interpret and the power to express the idea underlying the symbol so that others may share it with you. This thought of service and of growth in usefulness must be steadily borne in mind.
What is there in this objective world that is not the inadequate symbol of a divine idea? What have we in our outer manifestation but the visible sign (at some stage of the evolving purpose) of the plan of the creating Deity? What are you yourself but the outer expression of a divine idea? We must learn to see symbols all around us and then to penetrate behind the symbol to the idea which it should express.
It is an ancient statement of fact, which Plutarch expresses for us in the familiar words, that "An idea is a Being incorporeal, which has no subsistence of itself, but gives figure and form unto shapeless matter and becomes the cause of the manifestation." The figure and form you have registered with your brain and memorized, and likewise its activity in time and space, along with its innate capacity to build the form and express through that form a concept or idea. As you work inwards, you are also becoming aware of the nature of the motivating idea through the study of its form and its demonstrated activity, and you are discovering the field of ideas of analogous nature in which the idea embodied in the symbol finds itself. This field of ideas, inter-related and mutually explanatory, is now open to you and you will increasingly find yourself in a position to move in this world of concepts with freedom. To work and live in the world of ideas now becomes your objective and main effort. You train yourself in the recognition of ideas and concepts as they lie behind every form; you begin to think clearly about them and to see the direction in which they lead you and where, within the Eternal Plan, they fit.
If aspirants will do three things:
a. Develop the power to visualise,
b. Train the mind to intuit reality,
c. Rightly interpret that which is seen,
they can provide a demonstrating laboratory for the trained Observers of the world.
One of the things which the developed intuition can do is to break the glamour and illusion which invade the life. One of the things that a group of aspirants, whose intuitional interplay is established, can accomplish, is to aid in the work of smashing world glamour. Such work can be done when you have awakened the intuition, and when your inter-related understanding is firm and true. The Hierarchy will be able to use the world aspirants as an instrument for the breaking of group glamour wherever it may be found. I refer to this possibility in order to incite you all to more rapid and steady growth and effort.
You have been told that one of the needs lying before all aspirants is to arrive at that intuitional knowledge and that intelligent understanding of glamour, both individual and planetary, which will enable them most definitely to work at its dispelling.
Very little has been written or taught hitherto anent the subject of glamour, and it may mean much of value if we undertake the consideration of this subject, of its causes, and its effects, and also deal with the technique whereby it can be dissipated and dispelled.
What I have to say to you as regards the subject of Glamour falls into certain broad generalizations such as:
I. The Nature of Glamour.
II. The Causes of Glamour.
III. The Dissipation of Glamour.
As we proceed we shall divide our subject up into greater detail, but in this instruction I only seek to get certain broad outlines into your minds so that the theme may fall into right places in your thoughts.
There are four phrases which have for long been bandied about among so-called occultists and esotericists. They are: glamour, illusion, maya and the expression, the dweller on the threshold. They all stand for the same general concept or some differentiation of that concept. Speaking generally, the interpretations have been as follows, and they are only partial interpretations, and are almost in the nature of distortions of the real truth, owing to the limitations of the human consciousness.
Glamour has oft been regarded as a curious attempt of what are called the "black forces" to deceive and hoodwink well-meaning aspirants. Many fine people are almost flattered when they are "up against" some aspect of glamour, feeling that their demonstration of discipline has been so good that the black forces are interested sufficiently to attempt to hinder their fine work by submerging them in clouds of glamour. Nothing could be further from the truth. That idea is itself part of the glamour of the present time, and has its roots in human pride and satisfaction.
Maya is oft regarded as being of the same nature as the concept promulgated by the Christian Scientist that there is no such thing as matter. We are asked to regard the entire world phenomena as maya and to believe that its existence is simply an error of mortal mind, and a form of auto-suggestion or self-hypnotism. Through this induced belief we force ourselves into a state of mind which recognises that the tangible and the objective are only figments of man's imaginative mind. This, in its turn, is likewise a travesty of reality.
Illusion is regarded rather the same way, only (as we define it) we lay the emphasis upon the finiteness of man's mind. The world of phenomena is not denied, but we regard the mind as misinterpreting it and as refusing to see it as it is in reality. We consider this misinterpretation as constituting the Great Illusion.
The Dweller on the Threshold is usually regarded as presenting the final test of man's courage, and as being in the nature of a gigantic thoughtform or factor which has to be dissipated, prior to taking initiation. Just what this thoughtform is, few people know, but their definition includes the idea of a huge elemental form which bars the way to the sacred portal, or the idea of a fabricated form, constructed sometimes by the disciple's Master to test his sincerity. Some regard it as the sum total of a man's faults, his evil nature, which hinders his being recognised as fit to tread the Path of Holiness. None of these definitions, however, give a true idea of the reality.
I would point out here that (generally speaking) these four expressions are four aspects of a universal condition that is the result of the activity—in time and space—of the human mind. The activity of MINDS. Ponder on this phrase for it gives you a clue to the truth.
The Problem of Illusion lies in the fact that it is a soul activity, and the result of the mind aspect of all the souls in manifestation. It is the soul which is submerged in the illusion and the soul that fails to see with clarity until such time as it has learnt to pour the light of the soul through into the mind and the brain.
The Problem of Glamour is found when the mental illusion is intensified by desire. What the Theosophist calls "kama-manas" produces glamour. It is illusion on the astral plane.
The Problem of Maya is really the same as the above, plus the intense activity produced when both glamour and illusion are realized on etheric levels. It is that vital unthinking emotional MESS (yes, brother of old, that is the word I seek to use) in which the majority of human beings seem always to live.
The Dweller on the Threshold is illusion-glamour-maya, as realised by the physical brain and recognised as that which must be overcome. It is the bewildering thoughtform with which the disciple is confronted, when he seeks to pierce through the accumulated glamour of the ages and find his true home in the place of light.
When the Buddha was on Earth and achieved illumination, He "let in" a flood of light upon the world problem through His enunciation of the Four Noble Truths. His body of disciples and His nine hundred arhats formulated those four great truths into a structure of dogma and doctrine that—by the power of collective thought—has greatly helped in the attack upon the world illusion. Today the Christ is carrying forward the same great task and in the spiritual significance of His imminent Coming (and in the language of symbolism) He and His nine thousand arhats will strike a second blow at the world glamour. It is for this that we prepare. Only the intuition can dispel illusion and hence the need of training intuitives. Hence the service you can render to this general cause by offering yourselves for this training. If you can overcome glamour in your own lives and if you can, therefore, comprehend the nature of illusion you will help in
a. The destruction of the dweller on the threshold,
b. The devitalising of the general maya,
c. The dissipation of glamour,
d. The dispelling of illusion
