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80 ESOTERIC ANTHROPOLOGY.
which nourishes our own individual or pervading soul,
and which may also enter into the spirit-life of those
around us. Thus; two persons living together grow to
think alike, feel alike, and even look alike, by partaking
of the same spirit-life, which everywhere molds the
material.
It will be seen that I am a spiritualist, a vitalist ; but
I am no less a materialist, and a chemist. I draw a
distinction between matter and spirit ; but it is not the
difference between something and nothing. With me,
matter is a temporary accident; spirit a more perma
nent and higher reality. Life is the phenomena of a
certain stage of development, in which spirit makes use
of matter, until it can do better without it.
This state of things, then, is a necessary condition of
our spiritual progress. To have the full advantage of it,
We must accept it honestly, fully, and for what it is
worth. Our earthly life is a real necessity, and a real
blessing, and we should endeavor to enjoy it in all its in
ourselves all the ad
tegrity and force. We should give
vantages of a full, healthy, integral life ; a life of energy,
activity, beauty, and enjoyment. The standard of a true
life is its amount of happiness; and happiness, as I have
said before, comes from the fullest and highest exercise
of all the passions of the human soul—from a life full of
the highest harmonies. There is no deeper falsehood
than the pretence of despising this life, its uses, and its
enjoyments. God has given it to us for a noble purpose,
and it is truly noble in us to enjoy what He has given us.
Our bodies, then, are worth understanding, and worth
taking care of. Let us now proceed to a consideration
of the functions of man.