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1. "The Dweller on The Threshold is illusion-glamor-maya as realized by the physical brain and recognized as that which must be overcome. It is the bewildering thought-form with which the disciple is confronted when he seeks to pierce through the accumulated glamor of the ages and find his true home in The Place of Light. The Dweller on The Threshold is usually regarded as presenting the final test of a man's courage and as being in the nature of a gigantic thought-form or factor which has to be dissipated prior to taking Initiation."
2. "The Dweller on The Threshold, always present, swings into activity only on The Path of Discipleship (leading to The Path of Initiation) when the aspirant becomes occultly aware of himself, of the conditions induced within him as a result of his interior illusion, his astral glamor, and the maya surrounding his entire life. Being now an integrated personality, these 3 conditions are seen as a whole, and to this whole the term, Dweller on The Threshold, is applied. It is, in reality, a vitalized thought-form, embodying mental force, astral force, and vital energy."
3. "The Dweller on The Threshold does not emerge out of the fog of illusion and glamor until the disciple is nearing The Gates of Life. Only when he can catch dim glimpses of The Portal of Initiation and an occasional flash of light from The Angel of The Presence Who stands waiting beside that door can he come to grips with the principle of duality, which is embodied for him in The Dweller and The Angel."
"The day will surely come when you will stand in full awareness between these symbols of the pairs of opposites, with The Angel on the right and The Dweller on the left. May strength then be given to you to drive straight forward between these 2 opponents who have for long ages waged warfare in the field of your life, and so may you enter into The Presence where the 2 are seen as one and naught is known but Life and Deity."
4. "The Dweller is the sum total of all personality holds and defects, all potencies -- emotional, mental, and physical -- which limit your expression as a Soul. You must first of all accept the fact of The Dweller and then relegate that Dweller to its rightful place as part of The Great Illusion, the great phantasmagoria of existence and as an integral part of the life of The 3 Worlds (Physical, Emotional, and Mental). You must then proceed upon your planned life service and act as if The Dweller existed not, thus freeing yourself from all personality influence in due time and leaving your mind free for the task in hand."
"When your interest in hierarchical work and the program of The Ashram with which you are connected is adequately strong, it will then dominate all your actions and all your thoughts (waking or sleeping). You will then find that the grip of The Dweller will be broken, that its life has been destroyed by the force of attrition and its form destroyed in the fires of sacrifice."
5. "The Dweller on The Threshold is oft regarded as a disaster, as a horror to be avoided, and as a final and culminating evil. I would remind you, nevertheless, that The Dweller is The One Who stands before The Gate of God, Who dwells in the shadow of The Portal of Initiation, and Who faces The Angel of The Presence open-eyed, as the ancient scripture calls it. The Dweller can be defined as the sum total of the forces of the lower nature as expressed in the personality prior to illumination, to inspiration, and to Initiation. It can be looked upon as the potency of the 3-fold material form prior to its consecration and dedication to the life of The Soul and to the service of The Hierarchy, of God, and Humanity. The Dweller on The Threshold is all that a man is apart from The Higher Spiritual Self."
6. "The Dweller on The Threshold is essentially the personality. It is an integrated unity composed of physical forces, vital energy, astral forces, and mental energies, constituting the sum total of the lower nature. And The Dweller takes form when a reorientation of man's life has taken place consciously and under Soul impression. The whole personality is then theoretically directed towards liberation into service. When the life of the man is ruled from The Mental Plane and he is controlled at least to some large extent by mental influence, then The Dweller begins to take shape as a unified force."
"The stages wherein The Dweller on The Threshold is recognized, subjected to a discriminating discipline, and finally controlled and mastered are mainly three:
a. The stage wherein the personality dominates and rules the life and ambitions and the goals of man's life-endeavor. The Dweller then controls.
b. The stage of a growing cleavage in the consciousness of the disciple. The Dweller (or the personality) is then urged in 2 directions: one, towards the pursuit of personal ambitions and desires in The 3 Worlds; the other, in which the effort is made by The Dweller to take a stand upon The Threshold of Divinity and before The Portal of Initiation.
c. The stage wherein The Dweller consciously seeks the cooperation of The Soul and, though still in itself essentially constituting a barrier to spiritual progress, is more and more influenced by The Soul than by its lower nature."
"When the final stage is reached, the disciple strives with more or less success to steady The Dweller by learning to hold the mind steady in The Light, thus controlling the lower nature. In this way the constant, fluid changefulness of The Dweller is gradually overcome. Its orientation towards Reality and away from The Great Illusion is made effective, and The Angel and The Dweller are slowly brought into a close rapport."
7. "There are some cycles wherein The Dweller on The Threshold appears and confronts the aspirant, challenging his purpose and progress and blocking the door which leads to expanded life and liberation. The Dweller challenges the freedom of the human soul."
"The Angel of The Presence indicates divine possibility, reveals to the attentive disciple the next step towards liberation which must be made, and throws light upon the immediate stage of The Path to Light which must be trodden."
"The Dweller on The Threshold summarizes in itself the evil tendencies, the accumulated limitation, and the sum total of the selfish habits and desires which are characteristic of the material nature of the disciple. The Angel of The Presence indicates the future possibility and the divine nature. The Dweller on The Threshold indicates the past with its limitations and evil habits."
"Some cycles in a disciple's life present one aspect of a confrontation and some another, but it is he himself who evokes one or other of these manifestations. It is the magnetic appeal of the disciple which produces the manifestation. Eventually, however, there comes a life wherein the disciple is confronted by both The Dweller and The Angel simultaneously, and the major conflict of his experience takes place."
"When the disciple has achieved the right desire and has made true effort towards correct orientation, then when the conflict between good and evil is at its height, there comes a moment when he demands more Light, more power, more understanding and liberation to take his next forward step. When he can make this demand with firm intent and can stand steady and unafraid, response will inevitably come from the very Presence Itself. A manifestation of Light and Love and Power will stream forth. Recognition of need has then evoked response. The conflict ceases. The Dweller departs to his own place. The Path ahead lies clear. The disciple can move forward with assurance, and a better life dawns for him."
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