"Glamour is not dispelled by paying close attention to it.

It disappears by the power of

clear and steadfast meditation, and the freeing of one's self from self attention" Djwhal
Khul, As hanneled !y Alice A. !ailey
In my tra"els through life as a spiritual teacher, spiritual psychologist, and disciple on the
path, I ha"e become aware of many of the pitfalls and traps of the spiritual path. I
consider myself somewhat of an e#pert on this subject for I ha"e fallen into most of them.
I highly recommend you meditate and concentrate "ery deeply on the following list.
Although "ery short on words, they are profound in insight. $y purpose in sharing these
with you is to sa"e you suffering, %arma, and delay in your path of ascension that comes
from not learning these lessons. &he spiritual path is "ery easy on one le"el, and
incredibly complicated on another.
&here are glamours, snares, and traps that the negati"e ego and dar% forces pro"ide e"ery
step of the way. $a%ing mista%es and falling into these is o%ay. $y concern is helping
you to not stay stuc% in them for e#tensi"e periods of time. and in some cases for many
lifetimes. 'ith this brief introduction I will begin.
&raps, (nares, and )itfalls of the (piritual )ath
*. Gi"ing your personal power away. +&his applies to gi"ing it to other people, your
subconscious mind, to your negati"e ego, fi"e senses, physical body, emotional body,
mental body, inner child, to a guru, to the Ascended $asters, to God., )onder on this for
there is much wisdom in this short little sentence.
-. &rap number two, lo"ing others, but not lo"ing yourself.
.. &rap three is not recogni/ing your "negati"e ego" as the source of all your problems.
0. &rap four. 1ocusing on God, but not properly integrating and parenting your inner
child.
2. &rap fi"e. 3ot eating right and getting enough physical e#ercise which results in
physical illness, which then limits all other le"els.
4. &rap si# is people who are deeply into the spiritual life, but don't recogni/e the
psychological le"el that needs to be understood and mastered also.
5. &rap se"en, "$aterial desire".
6. &he trap and glamour of power. &his glamour is a trap of power that is held o"er others
once one becomes successful.
7. &rap nine is becoming too ungrounded which then has a deleterious affect on one's
physical body.
*8. &rying to escape earth, instead of creating hea"en on earth.
**. (eeing appearances instead of seeing the true reality behind all appearance.
*-. &rying to become God, instead of reali/ing you already are the 9ternal (elf, as is
e"eryone else.
*.. 3ot reali/ing that you cause e"erything.
*0. (er"ing others in total before you ha"e become self actuali/ed within yourself.
*2. &hin%ing that there is such a thing as "righteous anger". Anger is a big trap for people
*4. !ecoming an e#tremist, and not being moderate in all things.
*5. &hin%ing you ha"e to be ascetic to be spiritual.
*6. !ecoming too serious and not ha"ing enough joy, happiness and fun in your life.
*7. 3ot being disciplined and unceasingly continuing your spiritual practices.
-8. (topping your spiritual practices and studies when you get in"ol"ed in a relationship.
-*. )utting a relationship before self and God : a major trap.
--. ;etting your inner child run your life.
-.. !eing too critical and hard on yourself.
-0. Getting caught up in the glamour and illusion of the psychic powers.
-2. &he trap of owning your power but not learning to surrender to God simultaneously<
or surrendering to God, but not learning to own your power simultaneously.
-4. &he trap of losing your personal power when you get physically tired and e#hausted.
-5. &he trap of e#pecting God and the Ascended $asters to sol"e all your problems.
-6. &he trap of allowing yourself to go into "automatic pilot" and losing your "igilance.
-7. &he trap of gi"ing your power to channeled entities.
.8. &he trap of reading too much and not meditating enough.
.*. &he trap of letting your se#uality run you instead of mastering it.
.-. &he trap of o"er identifying with your mental or emotional body, and not achie"ing
balance.
... &he trap of thin%ing you need to be a "oice channel or see or e#perience all %inds of
psychic phenomena to be spiritual or to ascend.
.0. &he trap of forcing the raising of the %undalini.
.2. &he trap of forcing the opening of the cha%ras.
.4. &he great trap of thin%ing the spiritual path which you ha"e found is the "best".
.5. &he trap of judging people because of what initiation le"el they may be at.
.6. &he trap of sharing your "ad"anced" initiation le"el with other people.
.7. &he trap of telling people about the "good spiritual wor% you are doing", instead of
just ha"ing humility.
08. &he trap and illusion of thin%ing that negati"e emotions are something you ha"e to
ha"e.
0*. &he trap of isolating yourself from people and thin%ing that this is spiritual.
0-. &he trap of thin%ing the earth is a terrible place.
0.. Gi"ing your power to astrology and the influence of the stars.
00. !eing too attached to things.
02. !eing too non:attached to life. 3ot stri"ing for in"ol"ed detachment.
04. !eing too preoccupied with self and not being concerned enough about being of
ser"ice to others.
05. Getting stuc% in the numerous faulty theories of traditional psychology, which is only
a sli"er of the whole pu//le.
06. !eing too much the mystic or too much the occultist and not stri"ing to integrate the
two sides.
07. Gi"ing up amidst great ad"ersity is one of the biggest traps of all. 3e"er gi"e up=
3e"er gi"e up= 3e"er gi"e up=
28. !elie"ing that the suffering you are going through on whate"er le"el will not pass.
2*. 1ocusing too much on what initiation le"el you are at or when you are going to
ascend instead of focusing more on the wor% that needs to be done.
2-. Getting caught up in spiritual powers and the achie"ement of siddhas, instead of
recogni/ing that lo"e is the most important spiritual power of all.
2.. !ad mouthing other spiritual or metaphysical groups, and not unifying and
networ%ing with other groups e"en though they may be not in total alignment with all of
your beliefs.
20. Getting caught up in the dogma of traditional religion.
22. &hin%ing you need a priest to be an intermediary between you and God.
24. >sing your spiritual beliefs to create separatism or elitism or undo specialness.
25. !ecoming too fanatical in your beliefs.
26. !elie"ing you can achie"e enlightenment through drugs, or some %ind of pill is the
highest sense of illusion.
27. !elie"ing that other people don't ha"e to wor% at their spiritual path as you do.
48. )utting your relationship to your %ids before your self and God.
4*. Getting caught up in all the attractions of this most fascinating material world in
which we li"e.
4-. !ecoming too caught up in lo"ing one person, instead of spreading your lo"e out to
encompass many people, and all people in an unconditional sense.
4.. A major trap is getting caught up in duality, instead of achie"ing e"enmindedness,
inner peace, and e?uanimity at all times. 'hen you ha"en't transcended duality you are
li%e an emotional roller coaster flipping bac% and forth between the ups and downs of
life. &he soul and spirit thin% with a transcendent consciousness that is detached from the
merry:go:round.
40. &he trap of being a father or a son, or a mother or daughter in your relationships
instead of being an adult.
42. &he trap of thin%ing you need to suffer in life.
44. &he trap of being a martyr on your spiritual path.
45. &he trap of needing to control others.
46. &he trap of spiritual ambition.
47. &he trap of needing to be li%ed, lo"ed or appro"ed of.
58. &he trap of needing to be the teacher.
5*. &he trap of hypersensiti"ity or, on the other side of the coin, being too shielded. 5-.
&he &rap of ta%ing responsibility for other people.
5.. &he trap of being the sa"ior.
50. &he trap of ser"ing for selfish reasons, and thin%ing you are being spiritual.
52. &he trap of thin%ing you are more ad"anced spiritually than you really are, and on the
other side of the coin, thin%ing you are less ad"anced than you really are.
54. &he trap of fame.
55. &he trap of putting undo importance on finding your twin flame and soul mate and
not reali/ing your soul and $onad are, in truth, who you are really loo%ing for most of
all.
56. &he trap of thin%ing you need a romantic relationship to be happy.
57. &he trap of needing to be center stage or on the other side of the coin, always
choosing to be a wall flower.
68. &he trap of wor%ing too hard and becoming dri"en and running yourself down
physically. &he other side of the coin is to play too much and not get your wor% done and
be about the 1ather's business.
6*. &he trap of going to psychics and channels for guidance and not trusting one's own
intuition.
6-. &he trap of wor%ing with teachers on this plane or on the inner plane who are not
Ascended $asters, and are limited in the understanding and conception of reality.
6.. &he trap of ma%ing the spiritual path an interest rather than an "all consuming fire".
60. 'asting too much time watching &@, reading trashy no"els, seeing "iolent mo"ies.
62. 'asting enormous amounts of time and energy because of lac% of organi/ation and
proper time management.
64. &he trap of thin%ing that arguing with others is ser"ing you or that person.
65. &he trap of trying to win or being "right" instead of stri"ing for lo"e.
66. &he trap of putting too much emphasis on intuition, intellect, feeling, and instinct,
instead of reali/ing that they all need to be balanced and integrated in their proper
proportion. &he trap here is getting o"erly identified with one of them.
67. &he trap of de"otion to a guru, that ma%es you smaller instead of to the 9ternal (elf
which you are.
78. &he trap of trying to be open all the time, instead of %nowing how to open and close
your field as the need arises.
7*. &he trap of not %nowing how to say "no" to other people, your inner child, or the
negati"e ego when the need arises.
7-. &he trap of thin%ing "iolence or attac%ing others in any form will get you what you
want or is ser"ing God in any capacity.
7.. &he trap of blaming God, or being angry at God, or the Ascended $asters for your
problems.
70. &he trap of thin%ing that if your prayers aren't answered that God and the Ascended
$asters aren't answering your prayers.
72. &he trap of comparing yourself with other people instead of comparing yourself with
yourself.
74. &he trap of thin%ing that being poor is being spiritual.
75. &he trap of comparing and competing with others o"er one's initiation le"el and
ascension.
76. Ane of the biggest traps of all is allowing yourself to be a "ictim of other people and
of your own physical body, emotional body, mental body, desires, fi"e senses, negati"e
ego or lower self.
77. &he trap of studying too much and not demonstrating in the real world enough.
*88. &hin%ing your moodiness is a true reality of God.
*8*. &he trap of thin%ing your worth comes from doing and achie"ing things.
*8-. &hin%ing you don't need to protect yourself spiritually, psychologically, and
physically.
*8.. &he trap of thin%ing that glamour, maya, illusion, negati"e ego, fear, and separation
is real.
*80. &he trap of sugar, artificial stimulants, coffee and soft drin%s for physical energy.
*82. &he trap of trying to do e"erything yourself and not calling on God for help. &he
other side of the coin is calling on God for help and not helping yourself.
*84. &he trap of lo"ing people a little less because they are treating you badly, or setting a
negati"e ego e#ample. 3ot differentiating the person from the beha"ior.
*85. ;osing faith in the li"ing reality of your soul, your $onad, God and the Ascended
$asters, and &heir ability to help you if you will perse"ere and do your part.
*86. &hin%ing that other people can achie"e ascension but you can't, or at least not in this
lifetime.
*87. &he trap of trying to achie"e ascension to escape one's problems.
**8. &he trap of thin%ing that earth is a prison instead of recogni/ing it as one of God's
se"en hea"ens.
(ummation
I thin% this is a pretty complete list that should gi"e a lot of food for thought. &he lower
self, the powers of glamour, maya, and illusion, and the negati"e ego are incredibly tric%y
and elusi"e in nature.
As $aster Boda said, in the (tar 'ars mo"ies, "Don't underestimate the power of the
dar% side of the force." Ance you get caught up in it, it is often "ery difficult to see your
way out of it. &he common e#pression of how you can't see the forest for the trees applies
here. It is easier to see other people's "stuff" than your own.
(taying clear ta%es enormous "igilance, self discipline, commitment, self:introspection,
and de"astating honesty. If the ego can't ma%e you feel li%e an underdog it will ma%e you
feel li%e a top dog which is e"en more seducti"e. &he !ible says, "after pride cometh the
fall." ;et this be a warning to us all.
$y sincere hope is that by studying and meditating upon these insights, and instructions,
that you may a"oid some of the suffering and %arma I ha"e had to go through, and that I
ha"e seen many of my clients, students, and friends go through.
9"erything in God's uni"erse is go"erned by laws. &here are physical laws, emotional
laws, mental laws, and spiritual laws. !y learning to understand these laws and become
obedient to them we fulfill the law, which is the path of Ascension. &his boo% and this
chapter has been an attempt to elucidate some of these uni"ersal laws, so you, my friends,
may learn by "grace" instead of by "%arma" +suffering,===