The science of the Initiates speaks of two tendencies, two natures within the human being: an instinctive nature arising from old influences inherited from a very distant past, attached to matter, to physical life, to duality and its countless facets—our ego, our little self; and a spiritual nature seeking the world of unity, the immortal principle—the spirit, our true Self.

Physical life is based on the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch; and we try to take as much pleasure as possible from the sensations our eyes, ears, skin, and so on can provide. Yet, no matter how much these senses evolve, they will always remain limited because they belong to the material, tangible, and concrete plane. We imagine that all of life is there, but it is a life that conceals true life, true understanding, true intuition. True life is within us, in what is most subtle, with its treasures, its riches, and all the sensations of another quality.

These two natures share the same faculties of thinking, feeling, and acting, but in two opposite directions.

The personality is combative and tenacious; it has enabled human beings to withstand the aggressions and obstacles encountered along their path for millennia. That is why it is now so difficult to tame—it is always there demanding our attention, a tireless worker ready to express its need for domination, to satisfy its desires, and to fulfill its ambitions.

Individuality is of a supernatural essence; it dwells in sublime regions where it enjoys the greatest freedom and the greatest light. It abides in happiness and peace and possesses all powers. These two natures coexist within all of us, and both seek to make themselves heard; it is up to us to learn to discern their voices.

The tendency that characterizes the personality is to take and to keep for itself; whereas the fundamental quality of individuality is to give: it seeks to illuminate, to spring forth, to radiate with generosity and selflessness like the sun. It thinks only of helping, supporting, and projecting something of itself; it seeks to understand the plans of Heaven in order to carry them out.

Also read these excerpts on the two natures

Access to our Higher Self is only possible if we change our level of consciousness. The reality we perceive through our physical senses (touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight) is not the same as the one we perceive through our spiritual senses: the aura, the solar plexus, the Hara center, the chakras. These are two different worlds whose understanding requires different “instruments” that we must learn to use. It has been said, “Know thyself.” But true self-knowledge means knowing oneself on a higher level, in order to feel who we really are: a fragment of the Divine.

To find balance in our lives, we must ideally restore spirit and matter to their rightful places: accept matter, but make it subordinate and obedient to the spirit. Matter is the physical body, the world of possessions and affairs, and since this world was created, it is necessary for a certain kind of work. Only this balance can restore our health, beauty, strength, and happiness, provided we give priority to the spirit rather than to matter. Matter is governed by our instinctive nature, which is not easy to master, and if we try to fight it alone, it will always win. Its essential virtue is that it has ensured the survival and development of the human species since the dawn of time; it has had to develop so much energy to survive that it now yields only to the divine world.

Each time we refuse to be influenced by our instinctive and personal nature, we fuel within ourselves the fire of the spirit, we become more alive, and this life even ends up appearing as a light on our face. The “personality” is not an eternal reality; it is only a fleeting reflection of our true Self, whose most powerful formative factor is the spirit. The spirit always seeks to influence the personality in a positive way, advising it to be more reasonable, wiser, and sometimes even reproaching it. This voice may express itself more rarely and more softly, but it is there—it cannot be denied.

If we listen to this voice, we embark on a tremendous work of transformation, until the day when the two natures merge into a single perfect entity. In the meantime, our life is an alternation of luminous intuitions and clouds that come to darken our inner sky and limit us, followed by new clearings and new bursts of brilliance…

Also read these excerpts on the two natures

Personality is the egocentric tendency that constantly draws our consciousness toward the illusion of separateness:

« The most pernicious effect of personality is that it leads human beings down the path of separateness: it tears them away from the divine Source, which is the true Self for all, in order to make them live as a multitude of small, separate selves, with different desires, different feelings, different tendencies. It is therefore not the world, as some believe, that is an illusion (the ‘maya’ of the Hindus), but our personality, because it constantly pushes us to consider ourselves as beings separate from others and separate from the universe. The world is a reality, matter is also a reality. The illusion is to believe ourselves separate from this unique Being who is everywhere, but whom we can neither feel nor understand because our personality prevents us from doing so. »

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, Izvor 213, ch. III

Individuality, on the contrary, guides us toward « true reality », which is unity:

« The human being who identifies with their divine nature gradually transforms their entire life; they stop directing themselves according to their illusions and take on a new orientation that corresponds to the plans of the divine. They come to know the true reality, namely that there does not exist a multitude of separate beings, but a single Being that animates and manifests through all beings. Those who have understood this truth can no longer divide themselves or wage war: for them, the whole world is one collective being. »

Izvor 213, ch. V

Individual life must prepare the conditions for collective life, for cosmic and universal life. Once we have developed ourselves harmoniously, we enter as a member of the collective to allow it to benefit from our gifts. And we will lose nothing of what we have gained; on the contrary, it is at that moment that we truly become powerful.

The world will never be transformed as long as each person is content to develop and enrich themselves in isolation. We must all unite with the single aim of creating a formidable spiritual power to bring about peace and happiness for all beings on Earth.

Also read these excerpts on the two natures