518. In the first kingdoms of the spiral, the living being has come from the "divine world" and the "kingdom of bliss" and therefore has not developed a physical organism, but on the contrary it has a strong desire for the culmination of the contrast to the methods and way of life of these worlds, and as this new way of life can only be experienced through a fully developed physical organism, then the longing or desire for everything that can serve to develop and perfect this organism will dominate, whether through its innate automatic functioning or "C knowledge", or through its beginning new "A" and "B knowledge". Thus, there is no more powerful driving force, nor higher goal in this being's consciousness than physical prowess, and through this the conscious or unconscious anticipation of physical perfection. The living being is wholly focused on serving himself. To serve one's fellow beings unselfishly is something which can only exist in the remote distance, well below the outer edge of its mental horizon and therefore as yet quite out of sight. All this special type of consciousness which reaches right from the beginning "plant" to the culminating "animal" is known in daily life under the concept of "selfishness".
      As the highest "self" or "I" of the living being may also be expressed as "ego", then "selfishness" can also be expressed under the term, "egoism".