001STSTITUTION OF MAN 117

The soul of man is immortal, and its future is
the future of a thing whose growth and splendour
has no limit.

The principle which gives life dwells in us and
without us, is undying and eternally beneficent, is
not heard or seen or smelt, but is perceived by the
man who desires perception,

Each man is his own absolute lawgiver, the
dispenser of glory or gloom to himself; the decreer
of his life, his reward, his punishment.

These truths, which are as great as is life
itself, are as simple as the simplest mind of man.

Put shortly, and in the language of the man of
the street, this means that God is good, that man
is immortal, and that as we sow so we must reap.
There is a definite scheme of things ; it is under
intelligent direction and works under immutable
laws. Man has his place in this scheme and is
living under these laws. If he understands them
and co-operates with them, he will advance rapidly
and will be happy ; if he does not understand them
—if, wittingly or unwittingly, he breaks them, he
will delay his progress and be miserable. These
are not theories, but proved facts.

We spoke last week of the development of
the group-soul of the animals, and we spoke of
the difference of that group-soul from the
individual soul which each man is. For man's
soul is a vehicle itself ensouled by that Divine
Spark which falls into it from on high.

It is the breaking away from the rest of the
group-soul and developing a separate ego which
marks the distinction between the highest animal
and the lowest man.