Deep down in the lowest layers of the subconscious nature there lurk evil tendencies and evil memories belonging to the far past and not yet wholly wiped out by the spiritual rebirth. It is these tendencies which rise to the surface layers and challenge us at crucial moments when we seek initiation into the Higher Self or when we seek acceptance from a Master. In their totality they have been named by the Western Rosicrucians as the "dweller on the threshold." No man can be taken possession of by his Higher Self or enter into a permanent relation with a Master unless and until he develops within himself sufficient calm and sufficient strength to meet and overcome these arisen tendencies, whose character is marked by extreme sensuality or extreme cunning or extreme brutality, or even by a combination of two or three of these.
-- Notebooks Category 11: The Negatives > Chapter 2 : Their Roots in Ego > # 52
