cell”, the intelligent man should instead strive for release. Should he be promoted to the “pleasant cell”, this same prisoner will sooner or later return to the “dungeon”. So much so that we must seek to free ourselves from this life of captivity and return to our original abode, near God. This should be the true destination of all living things, whoever they are.

Logos 118

The mind is subject to all kinds of material experiences [joys and sorrows], and it is in the form of intelligence that it deliberates. The functions of the mind are threefold: thinking, feeling and wanting.

Illusive by material nature, the human being identifies with the material ego. The process works as follows: As soon as the spiritual being enters the prison of the material body, it forgets its true identity as a spiritual soul to identify itself with various designations responding to a bodily conception of existence. This material ego comes into contact with the different modes of influence of material nature; virtue, passion, ignorance, to which the senses will become attached. The mind allows one to experience various material experiences, while the intelligence has a power of deliberation allowing the being to choose what he thinks is best for him. The intelligent man can thus escape from the illusory material existence if he knows how to make judicious use of his intelligence. Indeed, if he becomes aware of the problems which attach to material existence, he will then seek to discover his real identity, the cause of the various sufferings which are imposed on him and the way by which he will be freed from it.

It is therefore recommended that discerning beings seek the beneficial company of holy men and great sages who have taken the path of salvation, and thus rise to a higher level, that of spiritual realization. Thanks to the teaching of these great souls, the incarnate and conditioned being can learn to get rid of the link that connects him to matter. Thus the intelligent man can gradually free himself from illusion and from the material ego, and access real existence, all of eternity, knowledge and bliss.

Logos 119

Let the atheistic materialists meditate on these words of the Supreme Eternal:

“Material nature, with all its physical laws, is one of my various energies; therefore, she is neither independent nor blind. If it acts in such a marvelous way, it is only