This teaching on world glamour, its causes and cures, is one of the specialised subjects first given to the group whose personal instructions appear in the two volumes of Discipleship in the New Age. The idea that a small group of dedicated aspirants could work together to help dissipate the heavy enshrouding glamours which oppress humanity and deflect the light of truth, was initially quite a startling one. Spiritual progress has for so long held no meaning for the individual other than his own personal growth, that to consider spiritual experience in direct relation to world conditions is for many a revolutionary idea. Nevertheless world glamour - the sum total of human ignorance, fear and greed - can only yield to the enlightened penetration of those in whom these emotional reactions have been transcended in whole or in part.
Glamour is, of course, the result of a negative emotional focus; just as illusion results from a negative or unclear attitude of mind out of touch with the reality behind the outer appearance; so a man becomes the victim of strong self-created thought-forms built on personality forces and self-interest.
This book deals with the misconceptions existing on all levels of the personality life - maya on the etheric level; glamour on the emotional plane; and illusion on the mental plane; climaxing in the sum total of all three combined in the personality - the so-called dweller on the threshold.
The correct methods of working to dissipate world glamour and dispel world illusion, confirm to modern psychological techniques accepted and practiced for individual benefit. A higher form of energy must be brought to bear on the blocked condition. This means in practical terms, maya must be subjected to the inspiration and idealism of the emotional plane; glamour to the illumination of the mental plane; illusion to the light of the intuition. a buddhic energy; and the dweller on the threshold must be confronted by the Angel of the Presence, the soul.
As this clarity and transformation of the personality proceed in the individual, he can begin to serve consciously, preferably in group formation, to lift and enlighten the world condition. Certain meditation formulas are given in this book which can safely be used by a group working together, but would require great care in the individual to prevent stimulation of any remaining personal glamours and illusions. We are working at all times with energy as an impersonal force, which can nevertheless produce a dangerous personal effect if the motivation is not selfless enough, the personality insufficiently pure or self-disciplined, and the dynamic power-to-work not sufficiently fused with love of humanity to create understanding and identification.
The need for the service of men and women free from illusion and glamour, has never been so dramatically present as it is today, and it is for these potential servers of a desperate necessity that I have written.
