development is almost always due
to the phenomenon of mental inhibition experienced by the same being;
it definitely ceases to see the plan, evolution stops, and the
embryo, expelled before the time takes on the form of the evolutionary
stage it had reached at that moment; if it ceases to deal with a
single detail only that detail remains in _statu quo_, and is often
embedded in portions of the organism quite away from the point where
it would have been found had it continued to evolve; certain cysts
belong to this class.

The third factor, the Spirit, the Soul--or, to be more exact, the
incarnated divine ray--follows a line of evolution parallel to that of
the matter which constitutes its form, its instrument; this
parallelism is so complete that it has deceived observers
insufficiently acquainted with the wonders of evolution. It is thus
that scientific materialism has taken root. We will endeavour to set
forth the mistake that has been made, and call to mind the correctness
of the Vedantin symbol, which represents the soul as lame, incapable
of acting without the giant, force-matter; though the latter, without
the guidance of the former, could not advance along the path of
evolution.

This soul is a "no-thing," which, in reality, is everything; a ray of
the spiritual sun (_God_), a divine spark incarnated in the vibration
(_matter_) produced by the supreme Being, it is a "centre," capable
of all its Father's potentialities. These potentialities, which may be
grouped together under three general heads--power, love, and
wisdom--we may sum up in the one word: consciousness. It is, indeed, a
"centre of consciousness" in the germinal state, that is about to
blossom forth, realising all its possibilities and becoming a being
fully aware of its unity with the Being from which it comes and which
it will then have become.

In this development the vibrations of outer matter play the part of
the steel, which, on striking flint, causes the life latent within the
latter to dart forth. Each vibration which strikes the soul arouses
therein a dormant faculty, and when all the vibrations of the universe
have touched it, this soul will have developed as many faculties as
that universe admits of, until, in the course of successive worlds, it
becomes increasingly divine in the one Divine Being. In order that all
the vibrations of which a universe is capable may reach the soul the
latter must surround itself with all the different ty