The best way to understand lucidity is by its absence. Compared to his potential, it is accurate to say that man is a god in ruins, but what does ruin mean? It means emotionally baffled, hobbled, muddled and befuddled. You may not feel like these terms apply to you – I certainly didn’t during the thirty years when they did – but when you come out of the fog and look back you’ll agree that, if anything, I’m understating the situation and that, in your pre-awakened state, you were more like a beast of burden than a human being.