Tag: Theosophy

Dweller on the Threshold

The Dweller on the Threshold is an entity we encounter in both Theosophy and the Arcane School of Alice A. Bailey. Below are some quotes on the Dweller on the Threshold in the writings of Alice A. Bailey(AAB) and Djwhal Khul (DK). Links on these pages  are to the online books at the Lucis Trust website.

 In Scorpio, two most occult factors emerge from the past and begin to engross the attention of the disciple. One is memory and the other is, as a consequence of the memory, the Dweller on the Threshold. Memory in the sense here involved is not simply just a faculty of the mind, as is so oft supposed, but it is essentially a creative power. 

 It is basically an aspect of thought and—coupled with imagination—is a creative agent because thoughts are things, as well you know. From ancient recesses of the memory, from a deeply rooted past which is definitely recalled, and from the racial and the individual subconscious (or founded and established thought reservoirs and desires, inherited and inherent) there emerges from individual past lives and experience that which is the sum total of all instinctual tendencies, of all inherited glamours and of all phases of wrong mental attitudes; to these (as they constitute a blended whole) we give the name of the Dweller on the Threshold. This Dweller is the sum total of all the personality characteristics which have remained unconquered and unsubdued and which must be finally overcome before initiation can be taken. 

 Each life sees some progress made; some personality defects straightened out and some real advance effected. But the unconquered residue and the ancient liabilities are numerous and excessively potent and—when soul contact is adequately established—there eventuates a life wherein the highly developed and powerful personality becomes, in itself, the Dweller on the Threshold. Then the Angel of the Presence and the Dweller stand face to face and something must then be done. 

Esoteric Astrology , 3. Spiritual Effects of the Zodiacal Constellations. – Part 5

 Upon the mental plane the Angel of the Presence and the Dweller on the Threshold are brought face to face. Their synthesis is brought about upon the Path of Initiation.  Continue reading “Dweller on the Threshold”

Alice A. Bailey On Planetary Evil

Alice A. Bailey (AAB) and Djwhal Khul (DK) writing on planetary evil imply that evil is a necessary part of Creation as Spirit is projected into matter. They also distinguish between planetary evil and cosmic evil.

Below are some quotes from the writings of AAB and DK on the subject of evil, particularly planetary evil.

First. It should be remembered that the whole subject of planetary evil (and students must distinguish carefully between planetary and cosmic evil) lies hid in the individual life cycles and in the history of the Great Being who is the planetary Logos of the Earth.  Therefore, until a man has taken certain initiations and thus achieved a measure of planetary consciousness, it is useless for him to speculate upon that record.  H. P. B. has touched, in the Secret Doctrine [S. D., III, 62; Section 6, page 67] ,  upon the subject of “the imperfect Gods,” and in these words lies the key to planetary evil.

Second.  It might briefly be said that, as far as our humanity is concerned, the terms planetary evil and cosmic evil might be interpreted thus:

Planetary evil arises from certain relations existing between our planetary Logos and another planetary Logos.  When this condition of polar opposition is adjusted, then planetary evil will cease.  The adjustment will be brought about through the mediation (occultly understood) of a third planetary Logos.  These three will eventually form an equilateral triangle, and then planetary evil will cease.  Free circulation will ensue; planetary obscuration will become possible, and the “imperfect Gods” will have achieved a relative perfection.  Thus will the karma of the manvantara, or secondary cycle, be adjusted, and so much planetary karmic evil be “worked off.”  All the above must be interpreted in its esoteric sense and not its exoteric.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire , 2. The Nature of Magic

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What is Maya?

Maya is a word you will come across in studying many New Age writings including those of Helena p. Blavatsky (HPB), Alice A. Bailey (AAB), Joseph J. Dewey (JJD), and others. On the Theosophy Wiki it is described as:

Maya … is a Sanskrit word that in Indian religions has multiple meanings. Usually translated as “illusion” (from mā “not” and yā “this”), it points out the fact that we do not experience the reality but only a false image perceived by our minds, as when one pursues a mirage in the desert or mistakes a rope for a snake. 

HPB wrote in the Secret Doctrine about Maya:

The Universe is called, with everything in it, Maya, because all is temporary therein, from the ephemeral life of a fire-fly to that of the Sun. Compared to the eternal immutability of the One, and the changelessness of that Principle, the Universe, with its evanescent ever-changing forms, must be necessarily, in the mind of a philosopher, no better than a will-o’-the-wisp. Yet, the Universe is real enough to the conscious beings in it, which are as unreal as it is itself.  -.S.D. Vol 1, Page 274, HPB

Alice A. Bailey mentioned Maya over 200 times in her writings, two of which are:

The word Maya is one which has to be properly understood by you in order that you may catch the spirit of the ancient philosophy. The derivation that is given for the word is Ma + Ya or not that. Maya is therefore a power that makes a thing appear as what it is not, or a power of illusion that arises out of limitation in the ancient concept of a true unity periodically appearing as multiplicity by the power of Maya that coexists with that unity.  –A Treatise on Cosmic Fire , DIVISION C. SEVEN ESOTERIC STANZAS. – Part 8, AAB

But as the wheel turns and experience after experience is entered into, the desire nature reaches. Form consequently ceases, objective manifestation is no longer sought after, and liberation from maya or illusion takes place. -The Light Of The Soul , BOOK IV. – ILLUMINATION – Part 1, AAB

Joseph J. Dewey describes Maya as one of three deceptions:

The three deceptions are not that complicated. It is important, however, that you understand them well enough so you can explain them in your own words without quoting some other teaching.

The first is Maya and you must pass through this deception before you can go on to the second which is glamour. Then you must pass through glamour before you can unravel deception.

Continue reading “What is Maya?”