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Chapter 2 - THE SECRET OF THE "I AM." - p. 12
The Ego --- The physical plane --- The mental plane --- The new plane of consciousness --- The Real Self --- The "I" --- The Temple of the Living Spirit --- Development of the "I Am" consciousness --- The Higher Reason.
"Lord of a thousand worlds am I,
And I reign since time began;
And Night and Day in cyclic sway,
Shall pass while their deeds I scan.
Yet time shall cease, ere I find release,
For I am the Soul of Man."
--- Charles H. Orr.
Many of us are accustomed to thinking of ourselves on the physical plane alone. When we think of the Ego --- the "I" of ourselves, we picture it as a human body with organs ranging from the finest --- the brain, down to those of coarser atomic structure. To one living on this plane of consciousness the body is the real self, and the Mind but an appendage to the body. Such a man speaks of "my mind" or "my soul," as he speaks of "my hat," "my coat," "my shoes" --- as things belonging to him, which he uses, but which are not him. To him the Body is the real man --- the Mind something useful to the body --- the Spirit a nebulous hypothetical something of which he has but a hazy idea and no consciousness. He lives on the physical plane alone.
Others picture their "I" as Intellect or Mind, having control of the body and its organs, and having its abode in the brain, or brains, of the human being. To these people the Intellect is the Real Self, in fact to many of this class the Intellect is elevated to the position of God, and they bow down to and worship it. They realize the subjection of the body to the Mind, and are aware of the wonderful power of the latter over the particular body under its control; the bodies of others; the minds of others. To them the Intellect is the highest self, identical with the Spirit. They are conscious of the wonderful workings of the mind, but are conscious of nothing higher. To some of them death seems to end all, their idea of mind being that it is a product of the brain. Others feel that somehow, somewhere, their Intellect will maintain its existence, but it is merely a belief or hope, based upon the words of others who have claimed authority to speak. They have no consciousness of pre-existence or future existence --- no perception of that REAL SELF which knows itself to be Eternal.
A third class have so far progressed along the Path of Life
