"Let us imagine a vessel or a retort filled with various metallic powders. The
powders are not in any way connected with each other and every accidental change in
the position of the retort changes the relative position of the powders. If the retort be
shaken or tapped with the finger, then the powder which was at the top may appear at
the bottom or in the middle, while the one which was at the bottom may appear at the
top. There is nothing permanent in the position of the powders and under such conditions
there can be nothing permanent. This is an exact picture of our psychic life.
Each succeeding moment, new influences may change die position of the powder
which is on the top and put in its place another which is absolutely its opposite.
Science calls this state of the powders the state of mechanical mixture. The essential
characteristic of the interrelation of the powders to one another in this kind of mixture
is the instability of these interrelations and their variability.
"It is impossible to stabilize the interrelation of powders in a state of mechanical
mixture. But the powders may be fused; the nature of the powders makes this
possible. To do this a special kind of fire must be lighted under the retort which, by
heating and melting the powders, finally fuses them together. Fused in this way the
powders will be in the state of a chemical compound. And now they can no longer be
separated by those simple methods which separated and made them change places
when they were in a state of mechanical mixture. The contents of the retort have
become indivisible, 'individual.' This is a picture of the formation of the second body.
The fire by means of which fusion is attained is produced by 'friction,' which in its
turn is produced in man by the struggle between 'yes' and 'no.' If a man gives way to
all his desires, or panders to them, there will be no inner struggle in him, no 'friction,'
no fire. But if, for the sake of attaining a definite aim, he struggles with desires that
hinder him, he will then create a fire which will gradually transform his inner world
into a single whole."