And, although this feeling of separateness and apartness grows less acute as the man grows older, yet it is always present to a greater or less degree until a still higher stage—­the Ego-consciousness is reached, when it disappears as we shall see.  And this mental-conscious stage is a hard one for many.  They are entangled in a mass of mental states which the man thinks is “himself,” and the struggle between the real “I” and its confining sheaths is painful.  And it becomes still more painful as the end is neared, for as man advances in mental-consciousness and knowledge he feels more keenly and suffers accordingly.  Man eats the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and begins to suffer, and is driven out of the Garden of Eden of the child and primitive races, who live like the birds of the air and concern themselves not about mental states and problems.  But there is deliverance ahead in the shape of a higher consciousness, although but few realize it and still fewer have gained it.  Perhaps this lesson may point out the way for you.

With the birth of mental-consciousness comes the knowledge that there is a mind in others.  Man is able to speculate and reason about the mental states of other men, because he recognizes these states within himself.  As man advances in the Mental Consciousness he begins to develop a constantly increasing degree and grade of Intellect, and accordingly he attaches the greatest importance to that part of his nature.  Some men worship Intellect as a God, ignoring its limitations which other thinkers have pointed out.  Such people are apt to reason that because the human intellect (in its present state of development) reports that such a thing must be, or cannot possibly be, that the matter is forever settled.  They ignore the fact that it is possible that Man’s Intellect, in its present state of unfoldment, may be able to take cognizance of only a very small part of the Universal Fact, and that there may be regions upon regions of Reality and Fact of which he cannot even dream, so far are they removed from his experience.  The unfoldment of a new sense would open out a new world and might bring to light facts that would completely revolutionize our entire world of conceptions by reason of the new information it would give us.

But, nevertheless, from this Mental Consciousness has come the wonderful work of Intellect, as shown in the achievements of Man up to this time, and while we must recognize its limitations, we gladly join in singing its praises.  Reason is the tool with which Man is digging into the mine of Facts, bringing to light new treasures every day.  This stage of Mental Consciousness is bringing to Man knowledge of himself—­knowledge of the Universe—­that is well worth the price he pays for it.  For Man does pay a price for entrance into this stage—­and he pays an increasing price as he advances in its territory, for the higher he advances the more keenly he feels and suffers, as well as enjoys.  Capacity