591. Thus the I, in association with its "fate-element" and the "talent-kernels" residing in it, constitutes a governing or ruling factor amid an ocean of matter. Its manifestation and conscious life depend absolutely upon its ability to master and utilize the "solid", "liquid", "gaseous" and "radiating" states of matter. This utilization, again, may occur in two phases. It can be "perfect" and "imperfect". The I must actually control one state of energy by another. It must set a "solidifying" energy up against a "vapourizing" one if it wishes to create "solidity" or "materialization", while the opposite is the case when it wishes to create "disintegration" or "dematerialization'; then it has to set a "vapourizing" energy up against a "condensing" one. And this is in fact the general principle on which all manifestation depends, right from the individual's blasting of rocks, stones or blocks of granite, down to his innermost mental feelings of devotion, faithfulness or love, or when looking at it the opposite way, right from his creation of splendid groups of concrete buildings down to his violent outbursts of temper. These examples speak for themselves. One has to agree that the blasting of rocks is physical disintegration and that devotion, faithfulness or love constitute a mental condensing, just as one must also agree that violent outbursts or fits of rage constitute mental explosions or disintegration and that the creation of concrete buildings is the physical solidifying of matter.
      The condensation or disintegration of matter is thus the fundamental basis and means of assistance without which any form of manifestation would be an impossibility for the I. All manifestations are in reality only degrees of density in matter. And each of the I's wishes or desires can exist only as an attraction towards one or other of these degrees of density. If, for example, a being wishes to create a fountain in his garden, then he must actually carry out the necessary combinations of the "solid" and "liquid" substances or matter which he needs for the creation of such an object. He must use "solid" material for the pipes and the fountain and "liquid" material (water) for the actual "fountain". Or if it should be a balloon which the same person wishes to make, then he must use "solid" material for the "envelope" and "gaseous" for the content. But as with the fountain and the balloon so it is with all other kinds of creation. Every manifestation consists solely of a mutual support between the "solid", "liquid" and "gaseous" substances, that is to say, creating a point of balance between all the necessary substances.