84 ROSICRUCIANCOSMO-CONCEPTION
beings who people the Earth no two look exactly alike, not
even twins when adolescent, because the stamp that is put
upon each by the indwelling individual Ego makes the
difference in appearance as well as in character.
That all oxen thrive on grass, and all lions eat flesh,
while “one man's meat is another man's poison” is another
illustration of the all-inclusive influence of the group-spirit
as contrasted with the Ego which makes each human being
require a different proportion of food from every other.
Doctors note with perplexity the same peculiarity in
administering medicine. Its acts differently upon different
individuals, while the same medicine will produce identical
effects on two anima ls of the sa me sp ecies, owing to the fact
that animals all follow the dictates of the group-spirit and
Cosmic Law—always act similarly in identical
circumstances. Man alone is, in some measure, able to
follow his own desires within certain limits. That his
mistakes are many and grievous, is granted, and to many it
might s eem b ett er if he wer e forced int o the right way, but if
this were done, he would never learn to do right. Lessons of
discrimination between good and evil cannot be learned
unless he is free to choose his own course and has learned to
eschew the wrong as a veritable “womb of pain.” If he did
right only because he had no choice, and had no chance to
do otherwise, he would be but an automaton and not an
evolving God. As the builder learns by his mistakes,
correcting past errors in future buildings, so man, by means
of his blu nders, and t he pain they caus e him, is attaining to a
higher (because self-conscious) wisdom than the animal,
which acts wisely because it is impelled to action by the
group-spirit. In time the animal will become human, have
liberty of choice and will make mistakes and learn by them