We should study the lives of Buddha and Christ for examples of techniques that will free us from glamour and illusion.
Robert: Welcome to Inner Sight. Inner sight is simply seeing that which is always present but not yet fully recognized. You have within you the ability to see yourself and the world around you in a new way with new eyes. So, stay with us and together we’ll look at the world and ourselves with inner sight. Our topic for today is glamour and illusion. We’re going to begin with our thought, “Let reality govern my every thought and truth be the master of my life.” So many questions occur to me. Is reality and truth what I perceive through my five senses? So, we’ll look to Sarah and Dale to answer these questions. First of all, where does that ancient prayer come from, and what does that have to do with glamour and illusion?
Sarah: I’m not sure where this prayer comes from. It’s mentioned in the books of Alice Bailey and all that she says is that it’s a very ancient prayer. Probably it’s an appeal that the human being has launched from time immemorial, when that person finds themself in a state of confusion, even despair and hopelessness where you can’t see your way out of a particular situation; that’s very human. We can assume that it’s a state that goes back to the earliest experiences of humanity. It’s an appeal for reality to govern our thinking when we find ourselves in a state of extreme fear, for example, of even panic, where your thoughts just sort of swim around like in a tide pool and you can’t control them. All kinds of images and fears and suspicions come into your mind and you don’t know what to think, and you don’t know what reality is. Then this appeal, this invocation in a sense–“Let reality govern my every thought and truth be the master of my life”–can have quite a calming and clarifying effect. I’ve worked with it — as many of us have — in times of panic or great fear, and there’s something very powerful about these words because it is such an ancient prayer that it works its own magic. Have you found that to be so?
Dale: Yes. It’s really an invocation to the soul to bring more light into the mind—into your mind and my mind and everybody’s mind—for greater truth, because then you can find your way out of this morass, this maze or this darkness that you find yourself in. The only way really is to call in those soul energies.
Sarah: I think it’s based on the recognition that what we are thinking, what is coming into our mind, isn’t necessarily reality. You have to start with that awareness. Every thought that comes into your head doesn’t necessarily come from a very high level. Fears, suspicions, hunches and suppositions can be not terribly high level at all, and they can be very far removed from reality. What we call our thinking is often more emoting, feeling, sensing, and this is where glamour and illusion can have such a grip on us, and we won’t even realize that our thinking is truly distorted. We say sometimes of people that he or she “couldn’t think her way out of a paper bag,” and we can find ourselves in that state sometimes. If you really are bothered about something and really confused, if you sit down and you try to think it through and identify the factors that you know are true and then identify the factors that are really only suppositions and hunches and suspicions, you might find that clarifying. I think that’s a way of enacting this prayer: if you identify for yourself what you know to be reality you might be surprised. It isolates the few components that really are true and everything else is just feeling and wondering.
Dale: You have to leave your mind open to…
Sarah: I thought you were going to say you have to leave your mind. (laughter) No, don’t. Take it with you at all times. You’ll need it.
Dale: (laughing) There comes a point in your life where, yes, you do have to leave your mind, maybe, but at this stage I think one should allow one’s concept of reality to change, because there is no one reality. In fact, if we really consider the question of reality, then what we see in the world is totally unreal. It’s comprised of everything that they call the “unreal”: everything in the tangible, physical world. Behind all of this physical world, there is what they call “reality with a capital R.”
Sarah: So, we’re making a mistake right from the beginning when we think that the world as we see, know, smell and taste it, is reality.
Dale: Yes, if we can begin to see it from the perspective of the soul and from the side of the spirit and on the inner side of life—because that’s where reality really exists—the world we live in now and this physical world that we’re so identified with is really just a very temporary and changeable state.
Sarah: You could say it’s also symbolic, isn’t it? The outer world is symbolic of conditions that are much more subjective and hidden. And when we are in a situation that is confusing, distorted and unpleasant, if we think of it as symbolizing an internal state, that might help to clarify our thinking and it might help us identify how we had a hand in creating it.
Dale: And if you think that you have the final truth of anything, then it’s probably a good possibility that you don’t. (laughter) You have to think about that and be open to it.
Robert: Well, it just reminds me of that thought that if you think you can, you can, and if you think you can’t, you can’t; you’re probably right. This also brings me to Buddha who said that your beliefs determine your reality. I guess there’s so many levels of discussing reality, but how do we know if we are suffering from glamour or if our thinking is distorted by illusion?
Sarah: Well, it’s very difficult for most human beings to identify glamour because it’s so embedded in us or we are embedded in it. We can usually identify glamour and illusion in others because we’re more detached from it and we can observe it and see it at work. In ourselves, it’s much more difficult to isolate and identify, but we’re given a few guideposts in the writings of Alice Bailey to identify glamour. One is the expression of criticism, when careful analysis of the situation would show that no criticism is really justified. That is probably an indulgence that a lot of us find ourselves in, where we criticize without really having any basis or right for criticizing; that’s an inlet for glamour. Another is criticism where there’s no personal responsibility involved, where it isn’t one’s place or right or duty to be finding fault and pointing it out. Think how that would stop most of us from criticizing. There are times when people in positions of responsibility — mothers and fathers, teachers, police officers, bosses and so on — have to point out mistakes and wrongdoing, but most of the time it isn’t your place or your right to criticize; remaining silent would help. So that’s another indication of glamour where you think it’s your right and your duty to criticize. Another is pride and satisfaction, particularly in one’s spiritual status. If you find yourself feeling that you’re quite superior and advanced, beware. A fourth is any sense of superiority or of separation from humanity: that you’re different, that you’re better, that you’re apart from, that you’re not like others. If you find yourself thinking like that, those are signs of glamour.
Dale: And those are the hardest to deal with because we’re so deeply immersed in this state of consciousness. I think it goes back to what we’ve mentioned before that a lot depends on where our consciousness is focused. If we tend to be focused on our emotional life, then that’s going to colour and it’s going to condition the way that we see the world and the way that we interpret the world around us. Everything is going to be seen through emotional “rose-coloured glasses.”
Sarah: I think an interesting question, though, for people is how to know when you are being emotional and when you are thinking.
Dale: Well, it’s hard to distinguish it because right now the consciousness is such that it’s mind and emotion working together. A good analogy is the symbol of fog; we’re walking around in a fog. It’s a good symbol because fog is air and moisture together, which is a symbol of mind and emotion mixing together, and it’s those two forces and energies that are so hard to distinguish and to separate.
Sarah: And again, that prayer: “Let reality govern my every thought and truth be the master of my life,” can help one to sort out emotion from real clear thought, if you work with that on a regular basis.
Robert: What are some of the familiar glamours, and are they related to the Hollywood type of glamour?
Sarah: Yes and no. When I think of Hollywood glamour, I think of Fredericks of Hollywood. Those people in our audience who might know that line of clothing will get a pretty good idea of the glamour that surrounds the female image. It’s hilarious, and it’s defeating to every young girl that thinks that’s the image she should grow up to become; it doesn’t happen. We have a society of girls who are increasingly anorexic and bulimic because they think they’re all supposed to look like Barbie. So, the Hollywood glamour does have kind of a vicious shadow side to it of empty beauty that is like a sword held over the heads of a lot of people who don’t measure up to that physical standard. There’s another element of glamour that’s given in the books of Alice Bailey that pertains more to the spiritual consciousness. There’s a lot of glamour associated with spiritual awakening and it can express itself in the most unusual ways. One of the classic examples of glamour on the spiritual path is the world savior complex, or the messianic complex: one who thinks he or she is here to save the world. I used to work in the library at the Lucis Trust, and several times people came in who told me—I shouldn’t laugh because they were serious—they told me, quite frankly, that they were Christ; and they believed it. These were people who were not crazy, but they were obviously a little bit devoid of a sense of proportion and balance because I’m pretty sure that—well, I mean, Christ exists in all of us, yes, the Christ principle—but they thought they were the representative of that great consciousness. So, the messianic complex is one, and another is the service complex: that you have to sacrifice your life in a kind of “hair shirt” way in order to please God, when in fact He wants us to live our lives as fully as possible. What are some other examples?
Dale: Well, it’s related to that: the glamour of destiny. That’s one which is sort of similar to what you were just referring to where one feels that he is the Christ and that the destiny for his life is that he should go around the world and proclaim that.
Sarah: Chosen for a special task.
Dale: Right. “This is my destiny, this is my Karma, my Dharma,” or whatever you want to call it, so one’s whole world is narrowed down to that little image of themselves. That can be a very destructive glamour to oneself and to those people around them. Similar to this, there’s the glamour of duty: “I feel that my duty is to carry on,” and this tends to get overemphasized, this sense of responsibility for carrying out this duty.
Sarah: That it’s all on their shoulders, rather than seeing the group aspect in correcting human problems.
Dale: Yes. The glamour of devotion: this leads to an undue stimulation of the astral nature.
Sarah: It would sacrifice everyone and everything in its path.
Dale: Yes, and one under this glamour sees only one idea, one person, one authority and one aspect of the truth, and it tends to feed fanaticism and spiritual pride.
Sarah: That’s more in the realm of illusion, isn’t it? The idee fixe, the correct but incomplete point of view. It’s right in its own context, but it doesn’t speak for the whole and doesn’t include the whole. That qualifies the thinking of many intelligent people.
Dale: Then there is also the glamour of ambition. Now we may not think that ambition is a glamour because it’s very, very common, and it’s an accepted characteristic in a lot of people to be ambitious, to get ahead; that’s what you have to do, you have to be ambitious. But it can lead one down the wrong path.
Sarah: Well, yes and no. I mean, I think everybody who tries to develop spiritually, to take themselves in hand, is driven by a certain amount of ambition. They want to grow. They want to become more than what they presently are. So, it’s probably the fire under us that propels us out of our self, our inertia and our self-infatuation. But it can get out of hand.
Dale: Yes, if ambition is so powerful that you just knock down everybody in your path to get to your objective, then you’re incurring more karma than is good.
Sarah: There’s a comment in the writings of Alice Bailey about how to counteract this kind of glamour on the spiritual path. She says, “emphasize the spontaneity of the soul.” Don’t spoil it with the glamour of a selfish aspiration or self centeredness, or self immolation that says, “I have to die for the Lord,” or the kind of “hair shirt” mentality or the aggressiveness of spiritual ambition or the self assertiveness in spiritual work. All of this evaporates when you just let in the light and love of the soul to guide you. You don’t have to force yourself so hard; I think that’s what she’s saying. Let the soul do its magical work without forcing it. So many people think of the spiritual path as a kind of a horse race, and they’ve got to win that race at all costs, and they become kind of competitive and hard on themselves if they aren’t doing, growing, expanding in consciousness in the way that they think they should.
Dale: Yes, I think in the religious communities they’ve gone through this experience: the glamour of the fanatic, self flagellation and self denial and all of that. Maybe it has some purpose, but I think it can go overboard and it defeats its purpose after a while, it gets so fanatical.
Robert: How can illusion and glamour be overcome?
Sarah: There’s a book that Alice Bailey wrote called Glamour: A World Problem that really goes into the problem in detail and gives instructions for meditation on eradicating glamour. But some of the basic ideas in her writings suggest that we should study the life of Buddha and Christ for examples of techniques that will free us from glamour and illusion. For example: Christ, when he was tempted in the wilderness — which is told about in the New Testament — was given three temptations, and each one of them he met with the enunciation of a clear-cut spiritual principle. Rather than indulging in endless arguments and back and forth dialogue, he defined a clear spiritual principle to dispel each temptation. I think that’s interesting because it lets in the light of reality of the mind in a clear, decisive way, rather than the fog of too much analysis, too much back and forth of the analytical mind. The Buddha taught that to overcome glamour you have to free yourself from attachment to all things; free yourself from desire. His whole life message was that desire is an endless pull that keeps one imprisoned and suffering and that the only release from this is detachment. He believed that every human being has the capacity to liberate himself. His final words in his last sermon were, “Be a lamp unto your own feet.” Shine your own soul light on your path; you can do it, bringing in the light of the mind. Christ taught that the liberation from glamour was through love, when he said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” This is the release from glamour.
Dale: As we move forward in consciousness, where the mind begins to act more in the dominant way, and we begin to live through the mind, then the factor of illusion takes over from glamour; it begins to rise above the glamour. We get caught up in these illusions and illusory ideas, and this is the product of the intellect. One of the characteristics of the over intellectual is to be so caught up in ideas and to think that these ideas are the truth and reality. There is a higher source; you were talking about the light of the soul — it’s more of that light, from the intuitive level — which is actually of a higher or deeper source than the mind — that rids us of the illusions of the mind. It’s the intuitive intuition.
Sarah: That’s why the practice of meditation is so important, because for most people that access to the intuition is developed only through meditation. It doesn’t happen overnight; it takes training—a lot of training, a lot of effort. But you’re right, that’s our escape from illusion: the development of the intuition. That’s why meditation practice is always emphasized in spiritual teachings. There are many methods, but if you’re interested in attaining this liberation, investigate meditation and choose one method that seems to work for you.
Robert: That’s about all the time we have for our discussion today. You’ve been listening to Inner Sight. Now we would like to close with a world prayer called the Great Invocation. It’s a call for light and love and goodwill to flow into the world and into our hearts. Let’s listen for a moment to these powerful words.
Sarah: Closes the program by reciting the adapted version of the Great Invocation.
(This is an edited transcript of a recorded radio program called “Inner Sight.” This conversation was recorded between the host, Robert Anderson, and the then President and Vice-President of Lucis Trust, Sarah and Dale McKechnie.)
(Transcribed and edited by Carla McLeod)
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