he has "a mind." He is able to "know
himself" as a mental being, and to turn the gaze inward a little. This
period of development may be noticed in young children. For a time
they speak of themselves as a third person, until finally they begin to
say "I." Then a little later comes the ability to know their own mental
states as such--they know that they have a mind, and are able to
distinguish between it and the body. It is related that some children
experience a feeling of terror when they pass into this stage. They
exhibit signs of bashfulness and what is commonly termed
"self-consciousness" in that sense. Some tell us in after years that when
they became aware of themselves as an entity they were overcome with
alarm, as if by a sense of loneliness and apartness from the Universe.
Young people often feel this way for several years. There seems to be a
distinct feeling that the Universe is antagonistic to and set apart from
them.

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 limitation