enables them to reaffirm their individuality and their will, and be able
to experience what they feel in the absence of love, which will then
enable them to appreciate what they feel in the presence of love, as
they begin to feel it. For this reason, the first manifestations of egoism in
the first stage, which we will call primary vanity, in which young spirits
are found, are basically materialistic, pursuing the satisfaction of the
most primitive instincts. Covetousness, greed, lewdness, are aroused in
attitudes such as materialism and consumerism, hedonism, and at a
collective level in imperialism and colonialism, in other words, the
exploitation of other beings through the ambition for physical power
and wealth. It is the stage that still predominates in your planet,
because a good part of humanity is still in this stage of spiritual
adolescence.
As the spirit advances in the knowledge of feelings this materialistic
egoism begins to transform into spiritual egoism. It is a more advanced
phase of vanity. In this stage the spirit continues to cling to egoism, but
at the same time has already begun to develop feeling. Although
spirits in this stage are still unwilling to give, they are able to recognise
the presence of love and the wellbeing that this produces and they
endeavour to receive it. Greed starts to transform into attachment and
covetousness into absorbency. But this does not happen overnight but
rather it takes place gradually, through a transition phase, a half
vanity, in which all these egoistic manifestations (covetousness, greed,
attachment and absorbency) coexist in different degrees and this is
what predominates on Earth at the moment. It may take the spirit
thousands of years to become detached from only some of these
forms of egoism. But from a precise moment, when spirits begin to
acquire consciousness of their egoism and that by allowing themselves
to be driven by this egoism they are damaging other beings, they are
then more responsible for their actions, and consequently more
sensitive to the suffering that they generate. And so, at some time
during that process spirits will awaken their own feeling, will feel the
need to love and will discover that they need to love in order to be
happy.
What happens then?
The fight for love begins, the pride stage begins. In this stage spirits
begin to seek not only to receive love, but also to give it, but they will
find a great multitude of obstacles. They begin to perceive, to be
conscious, and experience at firsthand what incomprehension and
ingratitude really are. And the fact is that the majority, three quarters
of humanity, is still immersed in one of the phases of vanity. Although
those proud novice spirits are more advanced than the vain, they are