Understanding the World of Illusion

 
A vast majority of humanity is asleep. They exist in a world of illusion and are victims of the forces surrounding them. An awakened soul is able to see what is real and what is not. We now explore the world of illusion, glamour and maya so one may develop the capacity to discern the world we live in and get a glimpse of who we really are.

Jonathan Swift’s book “Gulliver’s Travels” provides a good teaching aid to explain the esoteric concepts of Illusion, Glamour, Maya and the Dweller in the Threshold. The following is an excerpt of the Voyage to Liliput from where we will extract the pearls of wisdom –

On May 4, 1699, the Antelope set sail for the South Seas from Bristol. On board the ship was Lemuel Gulliver, a merchant marine surgeon with a spirit for adventure. Little did he know that this particular voyage was about to bring him to places beyond his wildest dreams.

Six months overseas, the ship encountered a storm in the East Indies which swept it to the big rocks; splitting it apart. Everyone was lost at sea, except Gulliver who drifted safely to an uncharted island. This island was known as the Empire of Lilliput which was inhabited by humans no taller than six inches. Initially, the Lilliputians were wary of the giant Gulliver and therefore tied him up while he was unconscious on the shore. They found out later that he was a good and harmless giant, and therefore set him free to wander within the empire. In return for services, and for complying with certain restrictions, the emperor provided a quantity of meat and drink sufficient for the support of 1724 Lilliputians. Among the services expected of Gulliver was the destruction of the naval fleet of the island of Blefuscu, the empire's dreaded arch-enemy who was poised to invade Lilliput.

To the Lilliputian's six thousand moon history, there were only two great empires that existed in this world - Lilliput and Blefuscu. These two mighty powers had been engaged in a most obstinate war for the past thirty-six moons. It all began when the proper way of breaking the egg was altered. It was the custom to break the egg on the larger end, but, while he was a boy, the emperor's grandfather happened to cut one of his fingers while breaking the egg according to the ancient practice. Since then, an edict was published commanding all the subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs. The people so highly resented this law that there had been six rebellions raised on that account, wherein one emperor lost his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire.

It was estimated that eleven thousand persons have suffered death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end. Many hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy: but the books of the Big-Endians have been long forbidden. During the course of these troubles, the emperors of Blefuscu did frequently expostulate by their ambassadors, accusing, Lilliputians of making a schism in religion, by offending a fundamental doctrine of their great prophet Lustrog, in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Brundecal. Now the Big-Endian exiles have found so much credit in the Emperor of Blefuscu's court; and so much private assistance and encouragement from their party at Lilliput that a bloody war had been carried on between the two empires for thirty-six moons with various success, during which time Lilliput lost forty capital ships, and a much greater number of smaller vessels, together with thirty thousand of their best seamen and soldiers, and the damage received by the enemy was reckoned to be somewhat greater.

To prevent the Blefuscu invasion, Gulliver devised an extraordinary stratagem. He swam unnoticed into enemy's channel where 50 men of war, and a great number of transports were anchored. After frightening the enemy away from the ships, he fastened a hook on each ship, and tied all the cords at the end. Pulling the cords on the other end, Gulliver moved the whole Blefuscudian fleet in order away from the enemy channel and arrived safely at the royal port of Lilliput,

The great Lilliputian emperor received Gulliver with all possible encomiums and bestowed the highest title of honor upon him. The jubilant emperor thought of nothing less than reducing the whole empire of Blefuscu into a province, and governing it by a viceroy, of destroying the Big-Endian exiles, and compelling the people to break the smaller end of their eggs, by which he would remain the sole monarch of the whole world. Gulliver diverted the emperor from this design by many arguments, and by plainly protesting that he would never be an instrument of bringing a free and brave people into slavery.

The matter was debated in council, and the wisest part of the ministry supported Gulliver's opinion. After all, the Brundrecal clearly states "That all true believers shall break their eggs at the convenient end." And which is the convenient end, seems in Gulliver's humble opinion, to be left to every man's conscience, or at least in the power of the chief magistrate to determine.

The story focused principally on the absurdity of people's lives when controlled by Illusion, Glamour and Maya. In the midst of all these absurdities, the need for enlightenment comes to fore.

The problem began in the realm of the mind. A wrong thought is what is known in the mysteries as Illusion.  In the case of the Liliputians, their belief of being superior to other people in doing the right thing led them to break the egg on the Small End, and any other way was wrong.

Because of the wrong thought, outrage emerges among the Liliputians whenever the egg is broken on the Big End; further fostering and reinforcing the negative emotions of hate and anger against the Blefuscudians. The ensuing wrong emotion is what the mysteries call Glamour. 

The wrong thought and emotion consequently materialize into wrong behaviour such as persecution and war. The negative actions resulting from illusion and glamour are what the mysteries collectively consider as Maya.

Now consider all the accumulated illusions, glamours and mayas that a Liliputian lives with all his life. The result of all these influences is what the mysteries call the Dweller in the Threshold. The Dweller now controls the behaviour of the Liliputian automatically without any further conscious and deliberate consideration. His behaviour becomes a victim of his beliefs and emotions. He is effectively programmed to think and act like an automaton.

Consider further a child born in Lilliputian society. From birth, he accepts the family’s and the society’s belief systems as truths without question. His life becomes almost predictable unless he begins to question as an adult the “truths” he grew up with. Jonathan Swift was an Irishman. The story he wrote was a farcical portrayal of the conflict between the Anglicans and Catholics of his times. You change the labels to Jews and Muslims, or to Whites and Blacks and the same pattern emerges all over again.

The concepts discussed beforehand affect us in our daily lives. We behave in the way we were conditioned to respond to stimulus. Labels elicit strong responses because of the power of thought association. The word Champagne, for instance, cannot be used for just any sparkling wine. Only sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of France can be legally called Champagne. The French are very aware of the importance and value of image association and will protect their proprietary rights over the brand name Champagne in international trade laws. The brand Dom Perignon automatically triggers images of the finest Champagne money can buy. Other sparkling wines, no matter how superior they may be, will never approximate the powerful image associations of French Champagne.

Ethnic labels also carry powerful thought associations. When one hears the phrase “German engineering” for instance, images of superior technical excellence are evoked. “Swiss precision” triggers the association of quality and accuracy to watches made in Switzerland. But just as positive images are associated with ethnic labels, negative responses can likewise be readily elicited. The recent passing of an Arizona state law concerning illegal immigration triggered concerns on the dangers of racial profiling. Minorities are concerned that images of illegal immigration associated to certain ethnic groups will result in undue harassment and violation on the right to privacy. Their concerns are valid and deserve serious consideration. 

Many nations have a pejorative kind of humour labeling the people of a neighbouring nation as stupid.  The English do this with Irish jokes, the French with Belgians, Americans with Canadians, Australians with New Zealanders, and so on. Humour is a conditioned response - a behaviour resulting from an attitude: “the other ethnic group is stupid.” This attitude is a result of a repeated thought: “my ethnic group is better than others.” This kind of illusion is the basis of all forms of racism.

How do we then deal with Illusion, Glamour and Maya?

To end Illusion, we have to dispel it in the mental plane by developing intuition and spiritual perception through meditation.  Through meditation, we come to realise and experience that we are not the mind, the emotion, or the body. We become aware of who we truly are - the immortal Soul.

To end Glamour, the object is to dissipate it in the astral plane by achieving illumination, lucidity and vision. The weapon is the path of character building where the baser desires are transformed into a life of virtue, and unconditional love of an illumined mind.

To end Maya, the objective is to devitalize it in the etheric plane through purification. The process is to free the etheric body from the controlling influence of matter through physical exercise, diet, breathing and energy manipulation.

To neutralize the Dweller in the Threshold, one has to achieve discrimination in the brain consciousness. We have to be constantly aware of why and how we react and respond to ideas, people, situations and other stimuli so that our behaviour becomes conscious and deliberate, instead of a blind conditioned response.  In so doing, we liberate ourselves from whatever programs that shackle and victimize us. The process will result in the absorption of the lesser light of the personality into the greater light of the Soul.

Let us use the story of Gulliver’s Voyage to Lilliput to see what may happen when the perception of truth is not distorted.

If the Lilliputians and the Blefuscudians believed that all of humanity is one and that they are no better than anyone else, it would not matter whether the egg was opened in the small, middle or big end of the egg. With this enlightened thought, mutual respect will move them to understand each other’s way of life. The right thought and emotion will translate into global peace and cooperation instead of a world of war and hatred.