performance of a group of athletes. To gain muscular strength one must
take part in the physical activities that produce it. He must live the
athletic life. To win spiritual strength and supremacy he must live
the spiritual life. There is no other way. He must first learn what
mental and moral qualities are essential, and how to gain them, and
then set earnestly about the work of acquiring them.

The first thing necessary is to get a clear understanding of the fact
that the physical body is not the self but only a vehicle or
instrument through which the self is being manifested in the visible
world. The body is as much your instrument as the hand is, or as your
pen is. It is a thing which you, the self, use and a clear conception
of this fact--a feeling that this is the fact--is the first step
toward that absolute control of the physical body that lays the
foundation for success in conscious evolution. When we feel that in
managing the physical body we are controlling something that is not
ourself we are fairly started on the right road.

Now, there are three things that a person must possess to be
successful in self-development. If he has not these three
qualifications he will make but little progress; but, fortunately, any
lacking quality can be evolved and if one does not possess these three
necessities his first work is to create them. These three things are
an ardent desire, an iron will and an alert intelligence. Why are
these three qualifications essential to success and what purpose do
they serve?

Desire is nature's motor power--the propulsive force that pushes
everything forward in its evolution. It is desire that stimulates to
action. Desire drives the animal into the activities that evolve its