There is one Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality which, antecedes all manifested conditioned Being. It is beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression. Alice Bailey
Since ancient times human beings have searched for an understanding of reality to avoid submitting to deception. One of the world’s most ancient prayers, the Gayatri, expresses the aspiration for the Real:
Lead us, O Lord, from death to Immortality;
From darkness to Light;
From the unreal to the Real.
The human being is endowed with five senses—touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing—synthesized by a sixth sense, the mind. With these attributes at our disposal, with nearly universal education throughout the developed world, and, thanks to the printing press, the media and now the internet and artificial intelligence, we’re inundated by an incredible variety of sources of information coming to us almost instantaneously. Shouldn’t the spectacular growth of these resources make human minds ever more attuned to reality and immune to deception? For some, yes, but not for everyone. Why?
A number of factors might underlie the causes of deception. One is the sheer volume of information coming at us, exacerbated by smartphones which not only put access to information bases literally in the palms of our hands instantaneously, but which also generate an addiction that some cognitive scientists equate to the effect dopamine has on the brain. Another factor is the tendency of modern media, in the interests of providing balance and equal opportunity for opposing views, to adhere to what might be called “both-sides-ism” by giving a platform to untested and even illegitimate theories. As experience shows, this provides a medium for the distribution of unsubstantiated rumors, half-truths, and outright lies by the most unscrupulous among us.
While modern technology is providing many benefits, at the same time it has fostered the tendency to retreat into one’s own silo, allowing cyberspace to serve as a substitute for the give and take of relationships on the outer levels of life. This may be contributing to the growing sense of isolation felt by certain sectors of the population. Another factor is the unique period in history we’re living in, as powerful energies of a new age pour in while the energies of the past age still linger. Values are shifting and belief systems are being challenged, leaving many feeling adrift and uncertain about the future. In such a period, cleavages are developing, fostering a sense of alienation from the larger society and a determination to find other explanations for what is happening. This may help to explain why some people succumb more readily than others to wild claims and distorted “information”.
The vulnerability to deception in such times was recognized by the philosopher and historian Hannah Arendt, who believed there is a link between loneliness and the propensity to accept both authoritarianism and distortions of truth. In the early 1950s, having experienced first-hand the ravages of the World War, Arendt developed an understanding that viewed loneliness to be the predisposing agent for susceptibility to totalitarianism. A thoughtful examination of Arendt’s theory is found in an essay by Samantha Rose Hill : “Where Loneliness Can Lead”, published on Aeon—A World of Ideas. Hill writes, Hannah Arendt “argued that there was an increasing, general willingness to do away with theory in favour of mere opinions and ideologies. ‘Many,’ she said, ‘think they can dispense with theory altogether, which of course only means that they want their own theory, underlying their own statements, to be accepted as gospel truth.’” Does this sound an alarm for the present times? A sense of community, which is so necessary for overcoming loneliness, cannot be distilled into an “echo chamber” in which one’s own views, suspicions, and opinions not backed by evidence are shared by others. Too often that is just the case in which the internet enables one to join a community of fellow believers without the benefit of hearing contradictory ideas and opinions.
The depth of Hannah Arendt’s thought and research cannot be easily summarized in this brief comment, but her conclusions seem to have deep relevance to the willingness of so many in today’s society to accept delusions and lies, even when actual facts disprove them. It seems that a certain part of humanity today has become “rudderless”, without a system of beliefs, values, or history to stabilize the quality of their thought. Loneliness, alienation, a lack of shared identity with the larger—and rapidly changing—world all create a space for an authoritarian to step in. The cause might be that some feel ignored by the larger society, the government, and institutions in general. For others, rather than trusting their own lived experience, and lacking the social relationships which would test out such conclusions, loneliness causes the individual to lose a framework for his beliefs and ideologies, and thus to succumb to external authority. Beyond a solid foundation of education in history and citizenship—the responsibilities that citizens owe to the larger society—there is a need to teach children from a very early age to learn to think critically. It’s not sufficient to just encourage students to form opinions, but to discern the reasons that support those opinions or discount them; to look for evidence to substantiate their thoughts and feelings; and to recognize the difference between what is desirable and what is actual.
What can a spiritual perspective provide to the need to differentiate the real from the unreal, from maya and glamour? Maya is intrinsically embedded in material existence, whereas esoteric teaching says that glamour, the emotional counterpart of maya, is so subtle that it easily masquerades as truth. Its power is that it finds its point of entry into consciousness through those states of mind and those habits of thought which are so familiar as to be almost unconscious. Family life and the society in which one is immersed can provide a readymade set of assumptions that we imbibe from our earliest years and accept almost unthinkingly. These assumptions, if tinged by glamour, are fed by desire and prejudice, and they manifest most readily in three qualities: self-pity, criticism, and suspicion. Self-pity inevitably fosters the sense of isolation, and one can quickly see how Hannah Arendt’s ideas on isolation apply to the delusions that self-pity creates.
Criticism, the second source of glamour, is equally isolating but in different ways. Criticism distorts perception of the real by erecting a wall between oneself and that which is criticized, creating a cleavage that disrupts the capacity to see another human being as a living, aspiring soul and, often, a mirror image of what is unperceived in oneself.
Suspicion, the third quality, is uniquely deadly to the soul. Described in the writings of Alice Bailey as the most poisonous of all weaknesses, suspicion is usually false but, even when well founded, can poison the very roots of being, distorting attitudes to life and summoning the imagination as its servant. Suspicion lies, she wrote, but it does so with such apparent truth that it seems only reasonable. One helpful antidote to suspicion comes from the Toltec wisdom which warns, don’t make assumptions. Focusing only on the evident and the proven provides a check on the malevolence of suspicion.
Spiritual wisdom provides suggestions for finding one’s way out of glamour and delusion, beginning with the cultivation of humility, “the adjusted sense of right proportion” in Bailey’s words. Steering clear of implications that seem to feed the personality or to set one apart from others, or that appeal to the emotions, is also a helpful guideline. Esoteric teaching reminds us that all formulations of truth and belief are only partial and temporary, suited as they are to a particular time and condition. And, finally, it’s important to remember that the two “partners” of the true are the good and the beautiful. These are the three aspects of divinity and therefore the indisputable, irrefutable indicators of supreme Reality.
