Holmes says that "The spirit of man, which is his self-knowingness, is the only part of him which has volition or self-choice; all else acts as automatic law." Basically he is making a standard Christian Science-inspired division here between the Spiritual, which is of God, and therefore the only real thing, and the material body, which is gross and must fall victim to the material laws of the Universe, as must all material things. The spiritual being is eternal, the physical only fleeting, and doomed to decay.
He seems to be implying here that the spiritual is conscious of itself, but in other parts of his book he says that this spiritual consciousness is subtle and difficult to cultivate. Indeed, many people may lead a whole lifetime ignorant of the reality of their spiritual self - they may even virulently deny such an entity.
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