f-conscious in a world of which I know nothing as
long as I permit myself to be governed only by the impressions of ordinary
reason and of the senses. The soul at this moment has the sensation that,
in the manner described above, it has given birth to a new being as its
own essential soul-kernel. And the being possesses totally different
qualities from those which were previously present in the soul.

The second experience of the soul is one in which man has his former
being, like a second independent one, alongside of himself. That which had
up to this time been imprisoned, evolves now into something we are able to
confront; we feel, in fact, at certain times outside of what we have been
accustomed to regard as our own being, as our own ego. It is as though one
now lived in two egos,--one, which we have hitherto known; the other, a
newly born being, superior to the first,--and we become aware that the
former ego acquires a certain independence in its relationship to the
second, just as the physical body has a certain measure of freedom in its
relation to that first ego.

This is an event of great importance, for through it man comes to know
what it means to live in that world which he has been endeavoring to reach
by means of training. It is this second, this new-born, ego which can be
led to cognizance of the spiritual world, and in it can be developed that
which has as much significance for the spiritual world as our sense organs
have for the physical world of the senses. Should this development have
attained to the requisite degree, the student will not only be aware of
himself as a new-born ego, but he will recognize the spiritual facts and
entities around him, just as he perceives the physical world through the
action of his physical senses; and this is a third important experience.

To meet properly this stage of spiritual training one must take into
account that with the strengthening of the forces of the soul a degree of
self-love and egoism appears with such intensity as is quite unknown in
the ordinary life of the soul. It would be a mistake for anyone to think
that it is only a case of ordinary self-love at this point. Self-love
becomes so strong at this stage of development that it acquires the
strength of a nature-force within the soul, and a vigorous training of the
will is necessary in order to conquer this powerful egoism. This training
of the will must go hand in hand with the rest of the spiritual tra