At this stage of life, instinct (it can hardly be called intuition) is the guiding factor rather than thought or reason. But even at this early period in man's life a higher consciousness is demanding recognition. There is something pressing from the center of his being that can not and will not be ignored. Dim tho it may be at first, as time goes on it becomes more and more a controlling and directing force. Instinct gives way to thought and reason, and man enters the second plane in his evolution. A new world is opened to his vision, and the work of reconstruction is begun. I would not be understood as saying that any marked change takes place at any given moment, because in all probability the change is a gradual one. It may be like the bud that has been swelling for days, or even weeks, when, lo! in the twinkling of an eye the blossom is unfolded. Doubtless there is a time when man first realizes the consciousness of a thinking, reasoning power as something distinct from and even superior to the sensuous animal life. He now finds himself between two planes of existence. The things that appeal to him from the purely physical side and the appeal that comes to him from his dawning intellectual powers cause a conflict that never ceases until the spiritual supremacy in life is attained.

It is really at this stage that a distinct sense of what is termed good and evil enters man's consciousness. In the light of the new development, desires and habits acquired on the lower plane are looked upon as hindrances to intellectual progress. The struggle between living a new life and dying to the old one has begun, because life on this phenomenal plane of existence is one of constant change; the things that we live and believe to-day pass away, and behold! on the morrow a new order - for men "mount on stepping-stones of their dead selves to higher things." Not that the old has been evil, but with the coming of the new there is a larger interpretation; new ideals enter the mind, and failure to live up to these higher ideals constitutes sin, or lack of conformity to one's knowledge of law and order. Every new and larger ideal of life brings with it increased responsibilities, and the failure to meet these responsibilities brings about a state of mental unrest and dissatisfaction which in turn finds expression in the physical organism - first producing weakness, then disease.

We must regard man as a unit. The soul is not separate or distinct from mind, for mind is its offspring - the something wherewith it becomes related to the phenomenal universe, as the body is, in turn, related to mind. What the mind thinks the body becomes, and when the mind thinks its noblest and truest thoughts of life the body responds by giving external expression to those thoughts. Mind is related to life in two ways; we might say that it stands between the phenomenal universe on the one hand and the unseen world of causes on the other. In the first stages of its development it turns almost exclusively to the outer, believing that reality is to be found there, as well as everything needful to satisfy its life, having as yet little if any knowledge of the spiritual force or power that gave it being. We now have what might be termed the carnal mind, or the mind not yet illumined by the indwelling spirit. We can not look to the purely spiritual side of life from the animal plane, and account for success or failure from that point of view; but we must go right to the physical - to man's sense-nature - to find the determining point. Take two individuals, then, in whom the sense-nature is equally developed, and who possess a perfect development of the animal functions. We find in one case a degree of moderation - that is, a certain amount of temperance in the use of material things - which is missing in the other. Again, we find that one has a degree of perseverance that is not possest by the other.

The purely animal quality known as instinct is not a much higher attribute when manifested by man; but when man accepts the guidance of his instinct he is led into the right course of action. When a man tries to do a thing, and persists in the effort even after repeated failures, his success is inevitable. It may at first seem very difficult, yet his instinct forbids discouragement. On this plane of existence we find men who are most successful - who develop and express genuine power because they follow its true lines.

Even on the physical plane, therefore, we find that the man who uses both moderation and perseverance accomplishes more than the one who is lacking in either of these qualities. Little by little, the man who uses moderation in all he undertakes - who perseveres and keeps firmly in mind the thing he wishes to accomplish - is certain to succeed. Moreover, because of the concentration of his force, he is becoming strong mentally and physically, for mental strength is manifested in and through the physical. The other sort of man becomes weaker each day instead of stronger, and finally Nature abandons the attempt to utilize his powers in her economy. We say that a tree is cut down because it encumbers the ground. This means that the life that has come into existence has not used its intelligence to its fullest capacity; that it must go out of its physical form and later begin the work of construction anew. Some people are spiritually lazy, others are mentally lazy, and some are physically lazy. We can not feel strong nor equal to the duties to which we are assigned if we are victims of laziness - a condition that always results from failure to use power in the right way.

Let us examine the result of the right use of power on all three planes. We can trace the operation of the evolutionary principle in all forms of life, from the lowest creatures known to science up almost to the manifestations of divinity; hence, we should be able to discern the reasons why evolution should take place. We are born with certain appetites and desires; also with instincts and a degree of intelligence that knows how to use those qualities in the right way. Some people say that the sense-nature of man is not good, and that it must be overcome or represt; others insist that the intellectual side of man's being is of no consequence - that the spiritual side alone is important. Yet the fact remains that every phase of man's life - from the lowest sense plane to the highest spiritual plane - is a vital factor of his being; but its beneficence is dependent upon its right use.