The _spirit_ of St. Paul may be taken for our purposes to be the Sanskrit _Âtmâ_. Spirit is universal, indivisible, and common to all. In other words, there are not many spirits, one for each man, but solely one spirit which shines upon all men alike, finding as many souls--roughly speaking--as there are beings in the world. In man the spirit has a more complete instrument or assemblage of tools with which to work. This spiritual identity is the basis of the philosophy; upon it the whole structure rests; to individualize spirit, assigning to each human being his own spirit, particular to him and separate from the spirit of any other man, is to throw to the ground the whole Theosophic philosophy, will nullify its ethics and defeat its object. Starting then with _Âtmâ_--spirit--as including the whole, being its basis and support, we find the Hindû offering the theory of sheaths or covers of the soul or inner man. These sheaths are necessary the moment evolution begins and visible objects appear, so that the aim of the soul may be attained in conjunction with nature. In this way, through a process which would be out of place here, a classification is arrived at by means of which the phenomena of life and consciousness may be explained. The six vehicles used by the spirit and by means of which the Ego gains experience are: _Body_, as a gross vehicle. _Vitality_, or _Prâna_. _Astral Body_, or _Linga Sharîra_. _Animal Soul_, or _Kâma Rûpa_. _Human Soul_, or _Manas_. _Spiritual Soul_, or _Buddhi_. The _Linga Sharîra_ is needed as a more subtle body than the corporeal frame, because the latter is in fact only stupid, inert matter. _Kâma Rûpa_ is the body, or collection, of desires and passions; _Manas_ may be properly called the mind, and _Buddhi_ is the highest intellection beyond brain or mind. It is that which discriminates. At the death of the body, _Prâna_ flies back to the reservoir of force; the astral body dissipates after a longer period and often returns with _Kâma Rûpa_ when aided by certain other forces to séance-rooms, where it masquerades as the deceased, a continual lie and ever-present snare. The human and the spiritual soul go into the state spoken of before as _Devachan_ or heaven, where the stay is prolonged or short according to the energies appropriate to that state generated during earth-life. When these begin to exhaust themselves the Ego is gradually drawn back to earth-life, where through human generation it takes up a new body, with another astral body, vitality, and animal soul. This is the "wheel of rebirth," from which no man can escape unless he conforms to true ethics and acquires true knowledge and consciousness while living in a body. It was to stop this ceaselessly revolving wheel that Buddha declared his perfect law, and it is the aim of the true Theosophist to turn his great and brilliant "Wheel of the Law" for the healing of the nations. XXI.