[1] The vitality of the human organism is maintained at the transition from childhood to later life, because the organism is capable of change at that period. Later in life, it is no longer susceptible of change, and on this account cannot continue to exist with that other Self. LECTURE II. If we turn our attention to what was said by the teachers and leaders of ancient Egypt about the direction and guidance of the spiritual life of their country, we may trace a remarkable parallel between what is manifested in the individual life of man, and what governs human evolution as a whole. It is related that when a Greek once asked an Egyptian, who had guided and led his nation from ancient times onwards, he answered, “In far off times of yore, the gods ruled and taught us, and only afterwards men came to be our leaders.” The Egyptians named Menes to the Greeks, as their first leader on the physical plane to be recognized as a _human_ leader. That is to say, the directors of the Egyptian people alleged that in earlier times the gods themselves--as Greek records say--guided and led the Egyptian nation. Such an assertion, coming down to us from ancient times, must, however, be rightly understood. What did the Egyptians mean when they said, “Our kings and great teachers were gods”? The man who thus answered the question of the Greek meant that if any one had gone back into the ancient times of the Egyptian nation, and had asked those people who felt something within them like a higher consciousness, or wisdom from higher worlds, “Who are really your teachers?” they would have answered, “If I wanted to tell you about my real teacher, I should not point to such and such a person and say, ‘That is my teacher,’ but I should first have to put myself into a clairvoyant state, (it is known from occult science that this was comparatively easier in ancient times than it is now,) and then I should find my real inspirer and teacher, who comes to me only when the eyes of my spirit are opened.” For in ancient Egypt, beings who were not incarnated in a physical human body came down amongst men. In those remote ages, it was the gods who still ruled and taught the Egyptians, and by “gods” they understood beings who had preceded man in evolution.