As you know from the above, all our experiences of life take place through our senses. These experiences amount to, as I have mentioned previously, a reaction between a force emanating from within us and a force coming from the outside. The first force is the same as our will, the realising of our desires, wishes or intentions. The second force is composed of all influences from Nature, from our surroundings and from our fellow beings that have been released towards us and our organism. These two forms of force thus meet in our consciousness. Through their meeting the reaction arises that makes our thoughts circulate, our senses vibrate and our nerves register pain or pleasure. And the total process thus makes up our experience of life, or that which we call our fate or destiny. This whole circulation of energy in the individual can be perceived by it as either "pain" or "pleasure". No matter what experiences, what thoughts or what feelings the individual is experiencing, they could not possibly exist without representing to a greater or lesser extent the one or the other of these two contrasts. Every manifestation, action or experience that is registered by the individual's senses will thus solely belong to one or another step in the scale between pain and pleasure. The experience can represent a step that to an overwhelming extent is on the side of comfort, and the individual feels joy. Its fate is expressed as fortunate. But the experiences can also to an overwhelming extent be on the side of pain, and the individual feels sorrow and depression, perceiving his fate as unfortunate. Between the extremes of these two contrasts – sorrow and joy – the individual juggles with his fate or his experience of life. He either moves towards the sorrow-contrast or towards the comfort-contrast. The rudder in this course is his will, while his perception of life or existence is his "compass". As the attainment of the comfort-contrast, which means, the attainment of normal physical and spiritual comfort, is thus based exclusively on this "compass" or the being's perception of life, its whole fate-building in the direction of comfort will stand and fall with its perception. If it has a correct and absolutely true perception of life and existence around it – its fellow beings, animals, humans and everything else that comes under the concept of "Nature" – it will in every situation see the real connection between itself and the cause of the situation. This "compass" will then act absolutely correctly. But if it does not have this absolutely true perception of life or existence, it will be impossible for it to see clearly in the given situations. An exception to this is, however, to a certain degree plants and animals with their still perfect instinct. But human beings must in these situations act blindly. They are obliged to act in accordance with knowledge that they do not have. Their compass thus becomes misleading, and they are correspondingly off the course that leads towards true comfort, that is, a fortunate fate or existence that culminates in the perfect experience of life, which is expressed as "the kingdom of heaven". The course of the individual now goes towards dangerous mental and physical rocks. In the breakers of vices, excesses, hatred and anger many an earthly life is broken. It is the disablement resulting from this that we express as an unhappy fate or as the only thing that can exist as a contrast to the "kingdom of heaven", and which we express as "hell".