That which is the Real Self of Man is the Divine Spark sent forth from
the Sacred Flame. It is the Child of the Divine Parent. It is
Immortal--Eternal--Indestructible--Invincible. It possesses within
itself Power, Wisdom, and Reality. But like the infant that contains
within itself the sometime Man, the mind of Man is unaware of its latent
and potential qualities, and does not know itself. As it awakens and
unfolds into the knowledge of its real nature, it manifests its
qualities, and realizes what the Absolute has given it. When the Real
Self begins to awaken, it sets aside from itself those things which
are but appendages to it, but which it, in its half-waking state, had
regarded as its Self. Setting aside first this, and then that, it finally
discards all of the "Not I," leaving the Real Self free and delivered
from its bondage to its appendages. Then it returns to the discarded
appendages, and makes use of them.

In considering the question: "What is the Real Self?" let us first stop
to examine what man usually means when he says "I."

The lower animals do not possess this "I" sense. They are conscious of
the outer world; of their own desires and animal cravings and feelings.
But their consciousness has not reached the Self-conscious stage. They
are not able to think of themselves as separate entities, and to reflect
upon their thoughts. They are not possessed of a consciousness of the
Divine Spark--the Ego--the Real Self. The Divine Spark is hidden in the
lower forms of life--even in the lower forms of human life--by many
sheaths that shut out its light. But, nevertheless, it is there, always.
It sleeps within the mind of the savage--then, as he unfolds, it begins
to throw out its light. In you, the Candidate, it is fighting hard to
have its beams pierce through the material coverings When the Real Self
begins to arouse itself from its sleep, its dreams vanish from it, and it