It would be of value to you here if I made clear that one of the first things a student has to remember is that - for the majority of human beings, for the huge majority - the influences and impulses which emanate from the astral plane are a predisposing factor in all matters with which the individual concerns himself, apart from those conditions which (being imposed upon him from his environment and the period in which he lives) are, for him, unavoidable. The astral plane is a center of dynamic emanating force, which is fundamentally conditioning in its effect because of the stage of the individual consciousness at which that majority finds itself. Men are swayed by the impulse of desire of a high or low caliber. This is, of course, a broad generalization, for that basic condition is becoming steadily modified by impulses coming from the mental plane. This necessarily complicates the problem. Influences emanating from the soul are also becoming appreciably present, and still further complicate the problem of the advanced human being. This "problem of complication" (if I might so call it) constitutes a "hard saying" for the student to understand in relation to his own physical condition or to that of any one whom he may be seeking to help. [54]