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SECTION THREE - THE ENDING OF GLAMOUR - Part 3

5. By an act of the creative imagination the worker endeavours to see and hear the soul—the source of light and power in the three worlds—breathing out the OM into the mind of the attentive waiting personality. There the light and power of the soul is retained and held by the positive personality, for a negative attitude is not desirable.

6. The retained light and power, combined with the dual light of the personality (focussed as we know on the mental plane) is seen generating an intense light which can be visualised as a searchlight of great brilliance and strength. It must be seen as a sphere of vivid brilliant light but not yet radiating out or projecting outwards.

7. When this act of visualisation is deemed to be satisfactorily accomplished, a pause then ensues wherein the aspirant focusses all the will he has behind the light thus created by the fusion of the three lights. This refers to the stage spoken of by Patanjali as that of the "mind held steady in the light." This use of the will—soul-personality will—is dynamic but at this stage quiescent and not magnetic or radiatory.

8. Next follows a process wherein the glamour to be dissipated and the searchlight of the mind are brought into relationship by the power of thought. The glamour and its quality and the searchlight and its power are recognised to be as they are, and the effect or effects to be brought about by that relationship are carefully thought out. This must not be done in such a way that the mind process, light [218] and power will strengthen the already powerful glamour. It must be done in such a way that at the close of the process the glamour will be appreciably weakened and eventually dissipated. This is an important realisation.

9. Having, as far as possible, achieved the needed concentration, realisation and relationship, the aspirant then (by an act of the will and of the creative imagination) turns on the searchlight and sees a vivid beam of light stream forth and pierce the glamour. He must visualise a broad brilliant beam, pouring forth from the illumined mind on to the astral plane. He must believe that this is so.

10. Then comes an important and difficult phase of the work in which the worker names the glamour and sees it in process of dissipation. He aids the process by saying with tension and inaudibly:

The power of the light prevents the appearance of the glamour (Naming it).

The power of the light negates the quality of the glamour from affecting me.

The power of the light destroys the life behind the glamour.

The saying of these three sentences constitutes an affirmation of power and of purpose and must be enunciated at a point of tension, with the mind held in steadiness and with a positive orientation.

11. Again the Sacred Word is sounded with intent to produce what in occult parlance is called an "Act of Penetration"; the light is then seen accomplishing three things:

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a. Making a definite impact upon the glamour.

b. Penetrating the glamour and being absorbed by it.

c. Dissipating it slowly; as time elapses the glamour will never again be so powerful and will eventually disappear altogether.

12. This is followed by a process of withdrawing wherein the aspirant consciously and deliberately withdraws the beam of light and re-orients himself upon the mental plane.

I would point out that glamour is never immediately dissipated. It is of too ancient an origin. But a persistent use of this formula will weaken the glamour and slowly and inevitably it will vanish and the man will walk free from that particular hindrance. This may seem like a very long formula but I have purposely detailed it in as full a manner as possible so that the aspirant may clearly apprehend what he is intended to do. After due practice and a faithful following of the required conditions, the aspirant will follow it well-nigh automatically and all that he will then need will be the formula reduced to the following brief outline:

Brief Outline of the Formula

1. The four Preparatory Stages:

a. Recognition of the glamour to be dissipated.

b. The stage of focussing the light of the personality, a dual light.

c. The stage of meditation and the recognition of the greater light.

d. The unification of the dual light of matter and the light of the soul, creating thus the searchlight of the mind.

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2. A process of alignment and of recognised integration.

3. A deliberate turning of the searchlight of the mind to the astral plane.

The Formula

4. Soul activity and the retention of the light.

5. The generating and visualising of the searchlight.

6. The evocation of the will behind the searchlight of the mind.

7. The generated unified light is turned upon the glamour by the power of thought.

8. The naming of the glamour and the triple affirmation.

9. The Act of Penetration.

10. The Process of Withdrawing.

You will see, brother of mine, that what I am in fact doing is teaching the coming generation how to destroy those forms of thought which hold the race in bondage and which in the case of glamour are the forms which desire, emotion, sensitivity to environment, developing aspiration and old ideals have taken and which prevent the light of the soul from illuminating the waking consciousness. The energies taking form upon the astral plane are not pure emotion and feeling, clothed in pure astral matter, for there is no such thing. They are the instinctual desires, evoked by the evolving substance of the physical plane and this, in its entirety and through the activity of the human family, is being redeemed and drawn upwards until some day we shall see the transfiguration of that substance and the "Glorification of the Virgin Mary"—the Mother Aspect in relation to divinity. They are also the descending thoughtforms which the developing human being is always creating and [221] drawing downwards into manifestation, clothing them with the substance of desire. When the descending forms of thought (a reflection in the three worlds of that vast "cloud of knowable things" in process of perception, as Patanjali calls it, and which hovers upon the buddhic plane, awaiting precipitation) and the ascending mass of instinctual demands from the lower aspect of the human unit and from humanity as a whole, meet at a point of tension then you have the appearance of what is known as the astral plane—a man-created sphere of activity. The subhuman kingdoms of nature know no astral plane; the superhuman kingdoms have surmounted it and discovered the secret of its delusion and no longer recognise it except as a temporary field of experience wherein man lives. In that sphere he learns the fact that reality is "none of these but only the One and the Other in relation with each other." This is one of the occult phrases which the disciple has to learn to understand and which is descriptive of manifestation.

b. The Dissipation of Group Glamour and of World Glamour

Group work in dissipating world glamour must be handled (as will be obvious to you) by those who are working at the dissipation of glamour in their own lives and have learnt to use the formula just given. The majority of those so working are sixth ray aspirants—those who have sixth ray personalities or whose soul ray is the sixth, plus those on all rays who have powerful sixth ray astral vehicles. These make the most effective workers in the group but are subject to one major difficulty. In spite of aspiration and good intention, they are seldom aware of the glamours which control them. It is exceedingly hard to induce the sixth ray aspirant to admit that he is held [222] by a glamour, particularly when it is glamour of spiritual connotation and of a very high order. In their case, the glamour is enhanced by the energy of devotion which stiffens it and brings in a quality which makes it most difficult to penetrate. Their complete assurance proves a serious obstacle to clear-sighted work because that has all to go before the work of dissipation can be carried forward successfully. First ray people can overcome glamour with relative ease once they become aware of it as a personality limitation. Third ray people are as susceptible to it as are those of the sixth ray and their devious, twisting, planning minds and the rapidity with which they can deceive themselves (and seek often to deceive others) greatly hinders their work of clearing away glamour. Their pronounced tendency to be the victims of glamour is evidenced by the inability of the third ray aspirant and disciple to convey his meaning clearly by speech. He has guarded himself for many lives by devious formulations of thought and of ideas and can seldom convey his meaning clearly. This is why sixth ray people and third ray people almost inevitably prove themselves unable to teach. Both these groups must, therefore, learn to use this formula and they would greatly hasten the process of dissipation if they would force themselves to speak or write their thoughts clearly, if they would never be ambiguous or deal in half thoughts, innuendo or suggestion. They should clearly enunciate the ideas with which they may be dealing.

The seventh ray person is faced with the difficulty of being able to create exceedingly clear-cut thoughtforms and the glamours, therefore, which control him are precise and definite and, to him, all compelling. They rapidly crystallise, however, and die their own death. Second ray aspirants are usually fully aware of any glamour which may be seeking to hold them because they have an innate faculty [223] of clear perception. Their problem is to kill out in themselves their rapid response to the magnetic pull of the astral plane and its many and widespread glamours. They are not so frequently responsive to a glamour as to all glamours in a relatively temporary manner but one which is nevertheless exceedingly delaying to their progress. Because of their clearsightedness, they add to this sensitivity to glamour an ability to suffer about it and to register their responsiveness as a sin and failure and thus delay their liberation from it by a negative attitude of inferiority and distress. They will profit enormously from a constant use of the formula until the time comes when they are aware of the glamour or glamours but are not touched by them. Fifth ray people suffer the least from glamour but are primarily the victims of illusion, and for them the Technique of the Presence is all-important because it brings in a factor which the true fifth ray person is apt to negate and refuse to admit, the fact of the Higher Self. He feels self-sufficient. They respond so easily and with such satisfaction to the power of thought; pride in their mental competence is their besetting sin and they are, therefore, set in their purposes and preoccupied with the world of the concrete and the intellectual. The moment that the Angel of the Presence is a reality to them, their response to illusion weakens and disappears. Their major problem is not so much the negation of the astral body, for they are apt to despise its hold, but they have a major difficulty in recognising that which the mind is intended to reveal—the divine spiritual Self. Their lower concrete mind interposes itself between them and the vision.

Fourth ray people are peculiarly prone to fall into glamour and thus to produce a condition which is one of extreme difficulty. I might define their problem by saying that they tend to bring their illusions down to the astral plane and there clothe them with glamour and have consequently [224] a double problem upon their hands; they are faced with a unification of glamour and illusion. They are, however, the group of souls which will eventually reveal the true nature of the intuition and this will be the result of their illusory glamorous fight in the world of appearances.

We come now to the consideration of the formula to be used by those who seek to serve humanity by deliberately breaking up and dispersing the glamours which hold the race in thrall and who know the need to do this in group formation. Certain individual characteristics are essential for the personnel of such groups. First of all there must be an ability to work "without attachment" to results and to use the formula for a given length of time (for instance, once a week for two years or more) without looking for results; they need to realise that they can never know whether they are successful or not, because the glamours they are attempting to dissipate are so widespread and general that effects cannot be grasped by their individual minds. They are too close to the picture; their perspective has necessarily to be that of the immediate foreground. Secondly, they must have an intelligent appreciation of what constitutes a world glamour so that they can occultly "name it" and, by so doing, contact it. They must, thirdly, be accustomed to the work of dispersing glamour in their own lives; the necessity to do this and their success in so doing are factors which indicate their suitability for the task.

They must, finally, love their fellowmen. This they must not do as the sixth ray person loves them, with an isolating devotion, but as the second ray person loves—with an all round appreciation of humanity, an understanding heart, plus a critical mind, which loves steadily in spite of error seen, with a clear sighted perception of the assets and the debits of an individual or a race. The ability to [225] do this is one of the factors which enables the sixth ray aspirant to transfer off the minor sixth ray and find his place upon the major second ray, as must all sixth and fourth ray initiates.

One of the requirements in this group work is a most careful choice of those who are to participate in the work. They must be chosen because they can work together. They must either know each other exceedingly well and be free from personality frictions or they must be relatively unknown to each other as personalities but are drawn to each other as soul-collaborators in this particular work. They must, as far as in them lies, endeavour to work with regularity so that a rhythm can be set up which will lead to a steady rhythmic impact of the light upon the glamour. They must also adhere faithfully to the formula given. This is one of the initial formulas and is most powerful because it is one of the very first to be used in group dissipation of glamour. This whole procedure is entirely new as far as man is concerned, and the work to be done will necessarily prove hard as it involves an interesting situation. The groups who will do this work of piercing the glamours which dim the vision of humanity and of dissipating them will be the first non-initiate groups to work this way upon the physical plane and to work consciously and with fixed intent. Hitherto the work has been carried forward by members of the Hierarchy, and then only with the idea of holding back the glamours until such time as humanity was ready to destroy that which it had created. Glamours have also been pierced before now by massed effort carried forward for a long time and usually without any very real conscious understanding. An illustration of this would be the work done by the Church in a diffused and vague way in piercing the glamour of material desire and material good by substituting the idea of a heavenly substitute. The work that is [226] now planned is dynamic and clear cut, consciously carried forward and specific in its impact. It is a definite method of handling and projecting the energy of light with the objective of destroying the impediments of an emotional-mental nature upon the Path of Return to God.

It is desirable and aids an easier and more concentrated form of work if the group can meet together for the use of the formula. If, however, this proves not possible, then the personnel of the group can arrange to work apart but with the idea of the work being group work firmly realised and with a steady recognition of the members who form the group body. This is necessary both for the "pooling of the light" and also for protection from the glamour to be attacked. This "pooling of the light" is a major requirement and must ever be borne in mind. Whenever possible, the rule should be that the work is done at some definite planned group meeting, even if this entails quite drastic sacrifice on the part of some of the members.

I advise that some glamour which all the group members recognise as a major hindrance to the progress of humanity be one of the first handled by the group. I would also advise that in the early stages of their work, they deal with a glamour affecting aspirants and that they do not attempt to tackle the more widely spread and deeply centred glamours of the race as a whole. Let them develop facility in handling some of the lesser and more easily visualised glamours. Then as time goes on and facility in the work is gained, the group can pass to the more difficult tasks and handle the glamours further removed from their own orbit of difficulties. It is surely needless for me to point out that the group members be but those who are endeavouring to keep their own lives free from glamour. I would also add that if a group member is in the thick of glamour himself and is occupied with wrestling with it, he should abstain [227] from the group work until he has freed himself with the aid of the individual formula.

Those who can face themselves with an open eye and who see the truth as it is, who can face the same facts in connection with humanity, and can stand serene and unafraid in the face of the worst kind of discoveries about themselves and the world of men, are those who will employ this technique with the most success. I would also remind you that the group will need to protect itself from the glamour or glamours which it is attempting to dissipate. Their individual tendency to glamour is the factor which gives them the right to serve in this way but it also lays them open to danger, and for this a protective formula will be necessary.

The formula will, therefore, be divided into three parts:

1. The Preparatory Stages.

2. The Use of the Protective Formula.

3. Group Formula for the Dissipation of Glamour.

The work done by the individual in dealing with his personal problems of glamour will greatly facilitate the preparatory work of the group.

You will note that in outlining to you this work, I make no reference to the type of room, to the position of the group members, to posture assumed, to the use of incense, or to any of the paraphernalia which so many occult groups deem of importance. The set physical rituals are today (from the angle of the Hierarchy) entirely obsolete and of no importance where disciples and advanced aspirants are concerned. They are of value to the little evolved in whom the sense of drama has to be developed and who need external aids, and they do provide a setting which serves to help beginners to keep the theme of their work and their objective in view. The only ritual which is [228] still regarded as of value to the human family as a whole—particularly to the advanced person—is the Masonic Ritual. The reason for this is that it is a pictorial representation of the process of Creation, of the relation between God and man, of the Path of Return and also of those great Initiations through the means of which the liberated initiate passes into the Council Chamber of the Most High. But with the exception of this, the small petty rituals of position and of physical relations in respect to attitude and seating arrangements are regarded as unnecessary and as usurping frequently the attention which should be given to the work in hand.

Those using these formulas are presumed to have acquired some measure of inner polarisation and to be able to withdraw themselves to their spiritual centre in any place and at any time. This is the centre of quiet thought from whence the work is carried on.

All that is needed as a preface to this group work is ten minutes of complete silence in which the group members attempt to set up that magnetic field of positive receptive activity (note here the paradoxes of the occult sciences) which will make the rest of the work possible.

The leader of the group (chosen in rotation so that all the members of the group occupy that position) starts the work by calling the names of the group members and as each name is called, the other group members look directly into the eyes of the one named, who rises and for a minute faces them. Thus a rapport and a relationship is established because the directive magnetic force of each soul is always reached from "eye to eye." This is the occult significance of the words "Can you look me in the eye?" or "They eyed each other" and similar phrases. Then, having established this interlocking relationship, the group sits in silence for ten minutes. This is done in order to withdraw the consciousness [229] from all world and personal affairs and centre it upon the work to be done. At the end of that time, the leader names the glamour with which the group is to be occupied. There will be no dissension anent the glamour at the time of the group meeting because the group members—outside the meetings and for a month prior to undertaking the task of dissipating the glamour will have made a study of it, its implications, its historicity and effects—psychological, individual, group and national, and also its widespread influence over humanity as a whole. The experience of the group in this type of work will determine the nature of the glamour to be dealt with. As I earlier pointed out, the inexperienced group of workers will begin by dealing with one of the glamours which hinder aspirants and will pass on from these to handle the more powerful and more widely dispersed glamours which trouble humanity as a whole. This preface to the work is frequently called the Act of Naming, because both the group members and also the glamour are named.

The next stage is similar to the preparatory stages in the formula for the dissipation of glamour for the individual. You have therefore the following:

THE PREPARATORY STAGES

1. The Act of Naming.

2. The Protective Formula.

The Protective Formula is very simple. The members of the group will say in unison:

"As a soul I work in light and darkness cannot touch me.

I take my stand within the light.

I work and from that point I never move."

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As they say this, each person in the group makes the sign of the Cross by touching the centre of the forehead, the centre of the chest, and each of the two eyes, thus forming the long limbed Cross of the Christ or of divine humanity. The Cross is not, as you well know, simply a Christian symbol. It is the great symbol of light and of consciousness and signifies the vertical light and the horizontal light, the power of attraction and the power of radiation, soul life and service. The Cross as now made in the Catholic Churches, touching the forehead, the heart and the two shoulders is the sign of matter. It signifies in reality the third Aspect. The Cross which the group will make is the Cross of Christ and of the Christ consciousness. Gradually the Cross of Christ (the Cross of the Risen Christ) will supersede the Cross of matter and of the Mother aspect. Its likeness to the swastika is obvious and will be one of the reasons for its disappearance.

3. The Preparatory Stages:

a. Focussing the dual personality light of matter and of mind.

b. Meditation on soul contact and the recognition of soul light.

c. The blending and fusion of the two lesser lights and of soul light. This is carried forward as a group, each member making his contribution and consciously attempting to visualise the process of blending the triple light which each contributes, into one sphere of light.

4. Then the group says in unison, at a signal from the leader:

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"The light is one and in that light shall we see light.

This is the light that turns the darkness into day."

O M.        O M.        O M.

The processes of individual and group alignment and integration can now be regarded as completed and when it is really correctly accomplished, each meeting thereafter should see a more rapid integration and fusion and a greater brilliance of the sphere of light thus created. The sounding of OM indicates both the fusion and the sphere of action because OM is first of all sounded forth by the group soul (the realised unity of the souls of all the group members) and then as the soul upon the mental plane, and finally as the soul ready to function as lightbearer and distributor of light upon the astral plane. These are all symbolic ways of registering the inner reality and are an attempt to externalise force, for that is what all symbols and symbolic ways of acting are capable of doing; they thus serve to keep the workers at a point of tension. This is an important recognition and should keep the workers from attributing undue power to the form aspect of the simple ritual and aid them in focussing their attention in the world of meaning and of subjective spiritual activity. These three stages are called:

1. The Act of Naming.

2. The Act of Protection.

3. The Act of Focussing the Light.

It will be apparent to you that much depends upon the ability of the group members to visualise clearly as well as to think clearly. Practice naturally tends to perfect both processes. At the close of these three stages, the group members are united as souls insulated against the attractive power of the glamour, and united as souls with mind and brain held steady and positive in the light. Their blended [232] light is looked upon by them as a great searchlight whose beams are to be directed through an act of the will downward from the mental plane on to the glamour existing on the astral plane and which has been brought into relation with the group by the very act of naming it. I am going into detail on this matter because the work is a new venture and I am anxious for you to start it with a clear understanding as to how the task is to be carried out. At the close of this instruction you will find the two long and two short formulas so that they can be seen and grasped apart from their explanatory context. This initial work should take fifteen minutes at first and later not more than five (excluding the ten minutes of silent preparation which precedes the formal work) for the group members will get used to working together and will eventually attain the objectives of the preparatory work with great rapidity.

THE TECHNIQUE OR FORMULA

5. Then together and in vocal unison the group says:

"Radiance we are and power. We stand forever with our hands stretched out, linking the heavens and the earth, the inner world of meaning and the subtle world of glamour.

"We reach into the Light and bring it down to meet the need. We reach into the silent Place and bring from thence the gift of understanding. Thus with the light we work and turn the darkness into day."

As they say this, the group visualises the turning of the great searchlight which they have jointly created by their unified light on to the glamour to be dissipated, holding the light steady [233] and realising mentally the work of dissipation it is intended to do. This is called the Act of Direction.

6. Then follows a pause for a few minutes in which the group attempts to throw behind the searchlight their united directed and dynamic will or intent; this carries along the projected beam of light the destructive quality of the spiritual will—destructive to all that hinders the manifestation of divinity. This is done by attaining a united point of tension, and the dedication of the individual and group will to the will of God. This is called the Act of Will and is carried on by each member of the group silently and with a deep realisation that all are thus accepted and that it is the group will which is being silently focussed. Then together they say:

"With power upon its beam, the light is focussed on the goal."

7. Then comes the Act of Projection and the saying of the words of power which—again naming the particular glamour which is the subject of attention and thus bringing it consciously into relation with the focussed light—begins the task of dissipation.

"The power of our united light prevents the appearance of the glamour of ... (naming it). The power of our united light negates the quality of the glamour from affecting men. The power of our united light destroys the life behind the glamour."

These words are very nearly the same as those in the individual formula and gain strength from the experience of the aspirant and from his familiarity with their use. This constitutes an Act of Affirmation [234] which is the second part of the Act of Projection.

8. Then comes an important aspect of the work in which the group members visualise the gradual dissipation and dispersal of the glamour by the penetration of the light into its darkness. They endeavour to see it disintegrating and the reality emerging, doing this by an effort of the creative imagination. Each will do this in his own way and according to his understanding and capacity. This is the Act of Penetration.

9. Now follows five minutes of silence and intensity of purpose while the group waits for the work instituted to go forward. Then follows the group withdrawal of its consciousness from the astral plane and the world of glamour. The group members refocus their attention first of all on the mental plane and then on the soul, relinquishing all thought of the glamour, knowing that the work has been successfully carried forward. They re-organise themselves as a group in relation to the kingdom of souls and to each other. Occultly speaking, the "searchlight of the soul is shut off." This is the Act of Withdrawal.

10. The OM is then sounded in group formation; and then, in order to emphasise that the group work is ended, each member of the group sounds the OM alone, saying:

"So let it be, and help me in my own life to end all glamour and untruth."

It will take aspirants some time to gain facility in this work, but it is surely obvious that in learning what is an [235] entirely new technique of service each step must be mastered and practised for quite a long time. Every new branch of learning takes some time to become familiar and this one is no exception. But the effort is well worth while both from the individual angle and as an act of service to humanity.

That all the groups may learn to function in the light and that glamour may disappear from all your lives so that you may walk freely in that light and use that light for others is the wish of my heart for you.

FORMULA FOR THE DISSIPATION OF GLAMOUR

(For the Individual)

Preparatory Stages.

1. Recognition of the glamour to be dissipated. This involves:

a. A willingness to cooperate with the soul.

b. Understanding the nature of the particular glamour.

2. The three stages of focussing:

a. Focussing the dual light of matter and mind in the mental body.

b. Focussing, through meditation, this dual light and the light of the soul.

c. Focussing these three lights and so creating the searchlight for the dissipation of glamour.

3. Preparedness through alignment and integration. This is the production of a field of magnetic thought substance.

4. The turning of the attention and of the searchlight of the mind on to the astral plane.

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The Formula.

5. The soul breathes out the OM into the waiting personality and the light and power thus generated are retained for use.

6. An intense light is slowly and consciously generated.

7. The spiritual will is invoked whilst the mind is held steady in the light.

8. The glamour to be dissipated and the searchlight of the mind are brought into relationship.

9. The searchlight is then turned on by an act of the will and a strong beam of light is projected into the glamour.

10. The glamour is named and the aspirant says with tension inaudibly:

"The power of the light prevents the appearance of the glamour (naming it). The power of the light negates the quality of the glamour from affecting me. The power of the light destroys the life behind the glamour."

11. The OM is sounded by the aspirant, producing an Act of Penetration. This produces impact, penetration and dissipation.

12. The aspirant, having done his work, withdraws himself consciously on to the mental plane and the beam of light fades out.

Brief Form of the Individual Formula.

1. The four preparatory stages:

a. Recognition of the glamour to be dissipated.

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b. Focussing the dual light of the personality.

c. Meditation and recognition of soul light.

d. Unification of the three lights.

2. The process of alignment and of recognised integration.

3. The turning of the searchlight of the mind to the astral plane.

The Formula.

4. Soul activity and the retention of the triple light.

5. The generating and visualising of the searchlight.

6. The evocation of the WILL behind the searchlight of the mind.

7. The searchlight of the mind is turned upon the glamour, directed by thought.

8. The naming of the glamour and the triple affirmation.

9. The Act of Penetration.

10. The process of Withdrawing.

FORMULA FOR THE DISSIPATION OF WORLD GLAMOUR

(Technique for a Group)

The Preparatory Stages.

1. The naming of the group members, followed by ten minutes silence.

2. The Protective Formula: The group members say in unison:

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"As a soul I work in light and darkness cannot touch me.

I take my stand within the light.

I work and from that point I never move."

As these words are uttered, each group member makes the sign of the Cross of Divinity.

3. The three preparatory stages:

a. Focussing the dual light of matter and mind.

b. Meditation on soul contact and recognition of soul light.

c. The fusion of the two lesser lights with soul light.

4. On a signal from the leader, the group says together:

"The light is one and in that light shall we see light. This is the light that turns the darkness into day."

O M.        O M.        O M.

The Formula.

5. Then together the group says:

"Radiance are we and power. We stand forever with our hands stretched out, linking the heavens and the earth, the inner world of meaning and the subtle world of glamour.

We reach into the light and bring it down to meet the need. We reach into the silent Place and bring from thence the gift of understanding. Thus with the light we work and turn the darkness into day."

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As these words are said, the group members visualise the great searchlight they have created turning its light upon the astral plane.

6. A pause follows and then comes the invocation of the spiritual will. When this has been done the group says:

"With power upon its beam, the light is focussed on the goal."

7. The glamour to be dissipated is named and the light is thrown upon it. The Words of Power are uttered :

"The power of our united light prevents the appearance of the glamour of... (naming it).

The power of our united light negates the quality of the glamour from affecting man.

The power of our united light destroys the life behind the glamour."

8. Visualisation of the light, penetrating into the glamour and producing its weakening and dissipation.

9. Five minutes of silence and intensity of purpose whilst the work is seen proceeding. Then the group members refocus themselves upon the mental plane, turning their attention away from the astral plane. The searchlight of the soul is shut off.

10. The sounding of the OM individually and aloud by each member.

Brief Form of the Group Formula.

1. The Act of Naming.

2. The Act of Protection.

3. The Act of Focussing the Lights.

4. The Act of Direction.

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5. The Act of Invoking the Will.

6. The Act of Projection and Affirmation.

7. The Act of Penetration.

8. The Act of Withdrawal.

Our consideration of glamour is nearing its close. We have carried a consecutive theme steadily and have traced the threefold aspect of the world illusion as it appears upon the mental plane, and there conditions the intelligentsia of the world; as it appears upon the astral plane where it constitutes the glamour to which the masses of men succumb; we shall now consider the world of maya in which we, physically, live and move and have our being.

I wonder if those who read my words appreciate the importance of this entire subject or if they are aware of the wide field of service which it opens up, making practical—as it does—all human living, and indicating likewise the steps whereby Reality can be known and all veiling forms disappear. Behind these words of illusion, glamour and maya, lies TRUTH. This truth is the clear consciousness of Being, of Existence and of essential, initial Reality. That is the reason that Christ stood mute before Pilate who symbolised the human intellect; He knew that no reply could convey meaning to that veiled, inhibited mind.

Illusion is the mode whereby limited understanding and material knowledge interpret truth, veiling and hiding it behind a cloud of thoughtforms. Those thoughtforms become then more real than the truth they veil, and consequently control man's approach to Reality. Through illusion, he becomes aware of the apparatus of thought, of its activity, expressed in thoughtform building, and of that which he succeeds in constructing and which he views as the creation of his intellect. He has, however, created a barrier between himself and that which is and, until he has exhausted [241] the resources of his intellect or has deliberately refused to utilise it, his divine intuition cannot function. It is the intuition which reveals true Being and which induces a state of spiritual perception. Then the technique of the PRESENCE becomes an established habit.

Glamour, in its turn, veils and hides the truth behind the fogs and mists of feeling and emotional reaction; it is of unique and terrible potency, owing to the strength of human nature to identify itself with the astral nature and to the vital nature of conscious and sentient response itself. As you know and have been taught, glamour can only be dissipated by the inflow of clear, directed light; this is true of the life of the individual or of humanity as a whole. Illumination reveals first of all the existence of glamour; it provides the distressing contrasts with which all true aspirants wrestle and then gradually it floods the life to such an extent that eventually glamour completely vanishes. Men see things then as they are—a facade hiding the good, the beautiful and true. The opposites are then resolved and consciousness is superseded by a condition of realisation—a realisation of Being for which we have no adequate term. The technique of LIGHT becomes a permanent condition.

3. THE TECHNIQUE OF INDIFFERENCE

We come now to a brief study of the third aspect of illusion, to which we give the name Maya, and to the technique which can overcome it. We will deal next with the Technique of Indifference which is concerned with the distribution of soul force upon the physical plane, via the etheric plane, leading to inspiration. This is related to the Science of the Breath.

What then is maya? This, my brother, is not easy to define because it is related to the form-building activity of [242] the planetary Logos Himself. However, a consideration of the analogy existing between the microcosm and the Macrocosm may help somewhat. The soul creates a threefold expression in the three worlds of human living. This is an occult truism. The outer form, the dual physical body (dense and vital or etheric) is produced, created, motivated, energised and conditioned by certain energies and forces, emanating from those levels whereon the soul has—rightly or wrongly—engineered a reaction of identification. Note this phrase, my brother. These make the man what he is; they give him his temperament, profession and quality upon the physical plane; they make him negative or positive to various types of impacting energy; they give him his character and make him what he appears to be to others; they produce his colouring, his capacities and his personality. With all of these the average man identifies himself; he believes himself to be the form, the medium through which he attempts to express his desires and his ideas. This complete identification with the transient creation and with the outer appearance is maya. It must be remembered that individual maya is a fractional part of the world of energies and forces which constitute the life expression of the planetary Logos, which condition our outer planetary life, and make our planet what it appears to be to the other planets.

The difference between man, the microcosm, and the planetary Logos, the Lord of the World, the Macrocosm, lies in the fact that the Lord of the World is not identified with the maya which He has created, and which has its purpose in eventually bringing about the release of the "prisoners of the planet." To that Maya, HE is supremely indifferent and it is this divine indifference which has led to the great theological illusion of an anthropomorphic Deity and to the belief (in the East) that our planet is but the background [243] or the plaything of the Gods. It is this cosmic indifference which has led to the human glamour concerning the "inscrutable will of God" and to the affirmation that God is far away and not immanent in every creature and in every atom of which creatures are made. These are some aspects of the glamours and illusions which must be dispelled and dissipated and, in the process, discovery will be made that the form is only maya and can be disregarded, that forces can be organised and directed by energy and that the world of thought, the field of sentient consciousness and the playground of the energies are something apart from the Thinker, from the One who feels and from the Actor and Player of the many parts which the Soul undertakes to play.

The disciple learns eventually to know himself to be, above everything else (whilst in incarnation), the director of forces: these he directs from the altitude of the divine Observer and through the attainment of detachment. These are things which I have oft told you before. These truths are, for you, only the platitudes of occultism and yet, if you could but grasp the full significance of detachment and stand serene as the observing Director, there would be no more waste motion, no more mistaken moves and no more false interpretations, no wandering down the bypaths of daily living, no seeing others through distorted and prejudiced vision and—above all—no more misuse of force.

Again and again, down the ages, the Masters have told Their disciples (as I have told you) that the occultist works in the world of forces. All human beings live and move and express themselves in and through that same world of ever-moving, ever-impacting, outgoing and incoming energies. The occultist, however, works there; he becomes a conscious directing agent; he creates upon the physical plane that which he desires, and that which he desires is the pattern of [244] things and the design laid down upon the trestle board of the spiritual consciousness by the great divine Architect. Yet he identifies himself not with the pattern or with the forces which he employs. He moves in the world of maya, free from all illusion, unhindered by glamour and uncontrolled by the mayavic forces. He is rapidly arriving, as far as his own little world is concerned, at the same "divine indifference" which characterises Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World; therefore increasingly he becomes aware of the Plan as it exists in the Universal Mind and the Purpose which motivates the Will of God.

It is this divine indifference which is responsible for the fact that in attempting to describe "Pure Being" or God, and in the effort to arrive at some understanding of the nature of divinity, the formula of negation has been evolved. God is not this; God is not that; God is no-thing; God is neither time nor space; God is not feeling or thought; God is not form or substance. God simply IS. God IS—apart from all expression and manifestation as the Manipulator of energy, the Creator of the tangible and the intangible worlds, the Pervader of life, or the Indweller in all forms. God is the ONE WHO can withdraw and, in withdrawing, dispel, dissipate and devitalise all that has been created—using those words in their fullest significance.

It will be obvious to you, therefore, that in these three activities of that Reality which is not identified with appearance, the will of God, the Destroyer aspect of Deity, is beneficently present. The act of abstraction produces the dispelling of the illusory world of thought; the withdrawal of the divine attention dissipates the sentient universe and brings glamour to an end; the cessation of divine direction brings death to the physical world. All these activities are evidences of the will or of the first aspect—the will-to-good which can and will function in perfection only when goodwill [245] is finally and fully developed on Earth, through the agency of humanity.