The Book From The Spirits
Allan Kardec The original title of this book: LE LIVRE DES SPIRITS
The translation of this book is based on a translation into Portuguese having as the original title “O Livro dos Espíritos” Second reprint in 2010 of a Second Special Edition edited by the BRAZILIAN SPIRITIST FEDERATION ISBN 978-85-60960-15-6
Translated by T. Jansen a retired Head Professor of English language at the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, State of São Paulo Brazil
Acknowledgement We wish to thank wholeheartedly Francisco Javier Gonzalez Rios and his wife Angelique for proofreading the translated version of this book. Translator’s Note.
Every work of translation implies in the reconstruction of thoughts expressed in a foreign language. Important is to convey the same thoughts without distorting them. On the other hand, the language used in this translation from a Portuguese edition is as current as possible in order to enable a more pleasurable reading. With this in mind the words Spirit and Soul will be understood as being entities so that the pronoun used will be it and not the personified formhe when refereeing to either one. On the other hand, it is important to point out that this book was compiled by Allan Kardec about the middle of the 19th century when Science was still in its cradle. At the early 21st century Science describes the existence of parallel universes, has come up with quantum mechanics and the holographic principle, as well as the theory of field unification. However, in spite of all the advances of Science, which have helped the understanding of the Spiritistic phenomenon, the reader will notice that the Doctrine of Spiritism still holds true and will certainly continue to inspire and influence humanity positively along its evolutive path.
Professor T. Jansen [email protected] Contents An introduction to the study of spiritism...... 7 Prolegomena...... 48
Part 01 – On the prime causes Chapter I - On God God and infinity. Proof of the existence of God. Attributes of Divinity. Panteism ...... 51 Chapter II - on the general elements of the Universe The knowledge of the beginning of things. Spirit and matter. The properties of matter ...... 57 Chapter III - On Creation Formation of worlds. Formation of living beings, Peopling the Earth. Adam. Human race diversity. Plurality of worlds. Considerations and biblical conformities regarding creation ...... 64 Chapter IV - On the Vital Principle Organic and inorganic beings. Life and death. Intelligence and instinct ...... 74
Part 02 - The spiritistic realm or the realm of the Spirits Chapter I - On Spirits The origin and nature of Spirits. The normal primitive realm. The form and ubiquity of Spirits. The perispirit. Different orders of Spirits. The Hierarchy of Spirits. The progression of Spirits. Angels and demons ...... 80 Chapter II - On the incarnation of Spirits The aim of incarnation. The Soul. Materialism ...... 102 Chapter III - On the return of a Spirit to the spiritual life once corporeal life is extinguished. The soul after death. The separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual perturbation ...... 110 Chapter IV - On the plurality of existences Reincarnation. The justice of reincarnation. Incarnation in different worlds. Progressive transmigrations. The fate of children after death. The sex of Spirits. Kinship and filiations. Physical and moral likenesses. Inborn ideas ...... 117 Chapter V - Considerations on the plurality of existences ...... 137 Chapter VI - On the Life of Spirits Roaming Spirits. Transitory worlds. The perceptions, sensations and sufferings of Spirits. A theoretical essay on the sensations in Spirits. The choice of trials. The relationships beyond the grave. Sympathetic and antipathetic relationships among Spirits. Remembrances of the corporeal existence, Memorial of the dead. Funerals ...... 147 Chapyer VII - On the return of a Spirit to a corporeal life The prelude of a return. The union of the soul and the body, The moral and intellectual abilities of man. The influence of the organism. Idiocy and insanity. Childhood. Earthly sympathies and antipathies. The forgetfulness of the past ...... 184 Chapter VIII - On the law of progress The state of Nature. The advancement of progress. Degenerated peoples. Civilization. The progress of human legislation. The influence of Spiritism on progress ...... 208 Chapter IX - On the intervention of Spirits in the corporeal world The ability Spirits have to penetrate our thoughts. The occult influence of Spirits in our thoughts and actions. Possessions. Convulsionaries. The Spirits dedicate to certain persons. Guardian angels, protecting, acquainted or sympathetic Spirits. Premonitions. The influence of Spirits in the events of life. The action of Spirits on the phenomena of Nature. The Spirits during battles. Pacts. Occult power, Talismans, Sorcerers. Blessings and maledictions ...... 231 Chapter X - On the occupation and missions of Spirits ...... 265 Chapter XI - On the three kingdoms Minerals and plants. Animals and man. Metempsychosis ...... 274
Part 03 - On moral law Chapter I - The divine or natural law Characteristics of the natural law. Knowledge of the natural law. Goodness and evil. Divisions of the natural law ...... 286 Chapter II - On the law of adoration The aim of adoration. External acts of adoration. The life of contemplation. Prayers. Polytheism. Sacrifices ...... 296 Chapter III - On the law of labor The need of labor. The limit of labor. Rest ...... 307 Chapter IV - On the law of reproduction The population of the globe. The succession and improvement of races. The obstacles to reproduction. Marriage and celibacy. Polygamy ...... 311 Chapter V - On the Law of Preservation The preservation instinct. Means of preservation. Enjoyment of Earthly goods. Needed and superfluous things. Voluntary privations. Mortifications ...... 316 Chapter VI - On the law of destruction Necessary destruction and abusive destruction. Destructive calamities. Wars. Murdering. Cruelty. Dueling. Capital punishment ...... 324 Chapter VII - On the law of society The need of social life. Solitary life - Vow of silence. Family bonds ...... 335 Chapter VIII - On the law of progress The state of Nature. The advancement of progress. Degenerated peoples. Civilization. The progress of human legislation. The influence of Spiritism on progress ...... 338 Chapter IX - On the law of equality Natural equality. Inequality of aptitudes. Social inequalities. Inequalities of riches. The trials of riches and misery. The equality of the rights of a men and a woman. Equality at the sepulcher ...... 350 Chapter X - On the law of liberty Natural liberty. Slavery. Freedom of thinking. Freedom of conscience. Free will (self-determination). Fatality. Knowledge of the future. A theoretical summary of the inconstancy of human actions ...... 358 Chapter XI - On the law of Justice, love and charity Justice and natural rights. The right of property – Theft. Charity and the love of your next fellowman. Motherly and filial love ...... 377 Chapter XII - On moral perfection Virtues and vices. Passions. Selfishness. The characteristics of a man of goodness. The knowledge of oneself ...... 385
Part 04 - On hopes and consolations Chapter I - The Earthly punishments and joys Relative happiness and unhappiness. Loss of those that are dear to us. Deceptions. Ungratefulness. Destructed affections. Atypical bonds. The fear of death. Distaste of life – Suicide ...... 399 Chapter II - On penalties and future joys Nothingness - The future life. Intuition of penalties and future joys. The intervention of God in penalties and rewards. The nature of penalties and future joys. Temporal penalties. Expiation and repentance. Duration of future penalties. The resurrection of the body. Paradise, hell and purgatory ...... 417 Conclusion ...... 448 Allan Kardec
AN INTRODUCTION
TO THE STUDY OF SPIRITISM
I
To designate new things, new words are needed. Language clarity demands it to avoid confusion inherent to the various senses of a same word. The words spiritual, spiritualist and spiritualism have a well-defined meaning. To give them another meaning in order to apply them to the doctrine of the Spirits would only multiply the already numerous causes of amphibology. Actually, spiritualism is the opposite of materialism. Whoever believes that there is something more than just matter, is a spiritualist. It does not follow, however, that he believes in the existence of Spirits or in their communication with the visible world. Instead of the words spiritual and spiritualism, we use spiritistic and spiritism to indicate the belief we will be referring to, whose form recalls the origin and the radical sense and, for this alone, bears the advantage of being perfectly intelligible, leaving to the word spiritualism its own meaning. So, it may be said that the spiritistic doctrine, or Spiritism, has as its principle the relation of the material world with the Spirits or beings of the invisible world. The followers of Spiritism are known as spiritists. As a specialty, The Book from the Spirits contains the spiritistic doctrine; as a generality, it belongs to the spiritualistic doctrine, presenting one of its phases. This is the reason to have the headline of its title bear the words Spiritualistic Philosophy.
II
There is another word, which is also important for everyone
7 The Book From The Spirits to agree upon because it makes up the closing of the arched roof of every moral doctrine and is the object of numerous controversies due to the lack of a well-defined meaning. This is the word soul. The divergence of opinions on its nature stems from the personal application everyone lends to the word. A perfect language in which every idea could be expressed having a unique meaning, would certainly avoid many discussions. According to some, the soul is the principle of organic material life. It has no existence of its own and ends with life; this is pure materialism. In this sense and by comparison, it is said that no sound can be produced if the musical instrument is cracked; it has no soul. According to this opinion, the soul would be the effect and not the cause. Others still think that the soul is the principle of intelligence, the universal agent from which every being absorbs a certain portion. According to these thinkers, there is only one soul in the whole universe, distributing sparks through different intelligent beings during their life time and returning each spark to the common source as a whole once ceasing to exist physically. This can be compared to water streams and rivers returning to the ocean from where they originally came from. This opinion differs from the previous one in that, according to this hypothesis, there is not only matter in us, but something subsisting beyond death. But, it is as if practically nothing subsists since once deprived of the individuality, we would not be conscious of ourselves any longer. Within this opinion, the universal soul would be God and every being a fragment of this divinity; a simple variation of pantheism. Finally, according to others, the soul is a moral being; distinct, independent from matter that keeps its individuality after physical death. This meaning is by far the most general one because under a name or another, the idea of this being that survives the body is found in the state of an instinctive belief, not derived from any teaching, among all the peoples in the world, no matter what degree of civilization each people has. The doctrine, according to which the soul is the cause and not the effect, is the doctrine of spiritualists.
8 Allan Kardec
Without discussing the merit of such opinions and considering only the linguistic aspect of the question, one may say that the three applications of the word soul correspond to three distinct ideas, which would demand three different words to express them. The word soul has then a triple meaning and each may be defined rationally based on a different point of view. Bad is the fact that the language has available only one word to express three ideas. The choice is indifferent; important is all to have the same understanding of the word that makes the problem boil down to a simple question of agreement. We think that it is more logical to take the ordinary meaning and that is why we say that the SOUL is the immaterial and individual being living in us that survives the body. Even if this being did not exist, being nothing more than a product of imagination, it would still be necessary to have a word to designate it. In the absence of a special word to translate each of the two other ideas to which the word soul corresponds, we designate vital principle as the principle of material and organic life; it is a principle that is shared by all living beings, from plants to human beings, no matter from which source it emanates. Since there may be life without having the ability of thinking, the vital principle is something distinct and independent. The word vitality does not give us the same idea. For some people, the vital principle is a property of matter, an effect that is produced when matter is under certain circumstances. According to others, and this is the most commonly found idea, the vital principle basis itself on a special fluid, spread all through the universe and from which each being absorbs and assimilates a portion throughout its life span, somewhat similar to the inert bodies absorbing light. This would then be the vital fluid in the opinion of some which does not differ from the animalized electric fluid having also received names like magnetic fluid, nervous fluid, etc. Be it as it may, there are some facts that nobody dares to object since they result from observation, namely, that organic beings have in themselves a intimate force determining life for as long as this force exists; that material life is common to all organic beings and
9 The Book From The Spirits depends neither on intelligence nor thought; that intelligence and thought are restricted to certain organic species; and finally, that among the organic species gifted with intelligence and thought, there is an organic species also gifted with a special moral sense giving it an undoubted superiority over all the other beings: the human species. It may be taken for granted that the word soul having multiple meanings, does not exclude neither materialism, nor pantheism. Spiritualism itself may understand the soul according to either one of the first two definitions, without affecting the distinct immaterial Being, to which then, it may give any name whatever. Thus, the word soul does not represent an opinion; it is a Proteus that every one adjusts to fit his own point of view. That is why there are so many endless disputes. The confusion would also be avoided on using the word soul in the three cases if a qualifier were added specifying which point of view or application of the word is being used. The word soul would then have a generic character, meaning the principle of material life, of intelligence and moral sense, all at the same time, similar to the word gas, for instance, that may be distinguished by using a qualifier with the generic term, like hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen. So, it may be said that it would be better to say vital soul – indicating the principle of material life; intellectual soul – the principle of intelligence and spiritistic soul – our individuality after death. As can be seen, all this is nothing more than a question of words, but a very important question when we have to make us be understood. As of this way of speaking, the vital soul would be common to all organic beings, like plants and human beings; the intellectual soul would belong to animals and human beings; and the spiritistic soul would refer to mankind alone. We think we should insist in these explanations for the reason that the doctrine of Spiritism basis itself naturally on the existence in us of a being independent from matter and that survives the body. As the word soul has to appear frequently within the contents of this book, the reader is requested to retain the sense it has been attributed in order to avoid any misunderstanding.
10 Allan Kardec
Let us now deal with the main object of this preliminary instruction.
III
Like everything that is a novelty, the doctrine of Spiritism has followers and opponents. Let us try to answer some of the objections of the latter by examining the validity of the reasons they base themselves on, without expecting to convince all of them for many believe that light was made only for them. We want to address those that have an honest intention, not those that bring along preconceived ideas or have decidedly stated being against everything and everybody, but all those who sincerely want to learn. We will show them that most of the objections against the doctrine stem from an incomplete observation of the facts, either because of a frivolous judgment or because of a hastened conclusion arrived at. Let us first recall in a few words the progressive series of phenomena giving rise to this doctrine. The first observed fact was the motion of various objects. They were ordinarily called turning or dancing tables. This phenomenon seems to have first been observed in The United States, or better, the phenomenon repeated itself there for History proves that this phenomenon goes back to the most ancient times by being produced surrounded by strange circumstances, such as unheard-of noises or rapping having no apparent cause. Next, the phenomenon spread itself quickly all over Europe and other parts of the world. Initially it brought about only disbelief, however, after a short time the multiplicity of the experiences did not allow for any doubt about its reality. If such phenomenon had limited itself to the motion of material objects, it would have been explained as having a purely physical cause. We are still far from understanding all the agents of Nature, or all the properties of the agents we know. Electricity multiplies everyday the resources it provides man with and seems
11 The Book From The Spirits to be destined to illuminate Science with a new light. Therefore, it would not be something impossible if electricity modified by certain circumstances, or by means of an unknown agent, were the cause of the observed motion. The fact that the gathering of many persons increases the potentiality of the action seemed to come in support of this theory, since one may consider the group of assistants to be like a multiple pile having its potential directly proportional to the number of its elements. The circular motion does not bear anything extraordinary; it is part of Nature. All the stars move in ellipsoid curves; so we could have there a reflection of the general motion of the Universe in a smaller scale, or better, a cause unknown until then, making small objects produce a force accidentally under certain conditions similar to what impels the worlds. However, the motion of a table was not always circular; often it was abrupt and disorderly making the object be shaken violently, dropped, taken into any direction whatsoever and contradicting all the laws of statics by lifting it and keeping it suspended. Even here there would not be anything that could be explained through the action of an invisible physical agent. After all, we have seen electricity tear down buildings, disroot trees, throw heavy bodies far away, attract or repel them. The unheard-of noises, the rapping, even if they were not one of the common effects of wood dilatations, or of any other accidental cause, they could quite well be produced by the accumulation of an invisible fluid; does electricity not produce stupendous noises? Up to now, as may be seen, everything seems to fit into the domain of purely physical and physiological facts. However, without leaving this scope of ideas, there was already material enough for a serious and worthy study calling the attention of scholars. Why did this not happen? It is hard to admit, but the fact derives from causes that prove, among thousands of other similar ones, the levity of the human spirit. The vulgarity of the main object, that had been the
12 Allan Kardec basis for the first experiments, was not indifferent to scholars. What influence does not a word have on more serious things? Without realizing that the motion could be applied on any object, the idea of the tables prevailed since it was the most convenient object and because different persons could sit around a round table, more so than at any other piece of furniture. On the other hand, superior men are at times so childish that it is not impossible for certain scholars to have considered the study of what was called the turning of the tables very depressing. It is even possible that if the phenomenon observed by Galvani had been observed by common people and received from them a burlesque name, this would have been relegated as being something magic. In fact, which scholar would think it to be worthy to spend his time on the dancing of frogs? Some quite modest scholars, however, agree that Nature may not have given them the last word, but they wanted to see it to tranquilize their consciences. However, it so happens that the phenomenon does not always fulfill the expectation and due to the fact that it does not manifest itself constantly at their will according to how it was expected during the experimentation, they simply concluded negatively. In spite of having enacted this, the tables – and there sure are tables – continued to turn around and we may say as did Galileo “yet they move!” It is worth adding that the facts multiplied themselves in such a way that today they enjoy their right to exist and it does not seem necessary to find a rational explanation any longer. Against the reality of the phenomenon, it may be induced that there is something about the circumstances for it not to reproduce itself always in the same way, as of the will and the demands of the observer. Are the phenomena of electricity and chemistry not subordinated to certain conditions? Is it licit to deny their existence because they do not happen but under certain conditions? What is there so surprising in a motion phenomena of objects by means of a human fluid also subjected to certain conditions and that does not take place when the observer, placing himself in his point of view, wants to make it follow what he whimsically imposes or wants to
13 The Book From The Spirits subject it to the laws of known phenomena without considering that for new facts there may and should be new laws? To know these laws, it is necessary to study the circumstances under which they take place and this study has to be the result of a perseverant, very thorough and sometimes quite long observation. Some persons, however, object Spiritism by saying that there are frequent fraudulent manifestations. The question is, in the first place, if they are sure that there is fraud and then, if they have not taken it as being a fraud simply because the manifestations are unexplainable, something similar to the peasant who was sure that a physics professor was a skilful manipulator on conducting his experiments. Admitting that this has often been noticed, would this be enough to deny the fact? Should physics be denied as such because some illusionists embellish themselves with the title of physicists? The character of the person and the interest he may have in eluding should be taken into account. Thus, would this then make everything be just a joke? It is acceptable to have a person to have fun for sometime, but lengthening it indefinitely would become boring to both the mystifier and to those being mystified. It should be added that a mystification that propagates itself from one extreme to the other of the world and among the most austere, venerable and enlightened personalities, must certainly be something at least as extraordinary as the phenomenon itself.
IV
As we have already said, if the phenomena we are concerned with had remained restricted to the motion of objects, they would be left within the domain of physical sciences. But this is not what happened. Soon there came a new cue of a remarkable order. It was discovered that the impulse on the objects was not only the result of a blind mechanical force, but that there was an intelligent cause in the intervention of this force. It is not known who discovered this, but once this path was opened, it led to a totally different field of
14 Allan Kardec observations. The veil was being lifted from many mysteries. In this case, would there actually be an intelligent force? If this force exists, what exactly is it, what is its nature and origin? Does it stand above Humanity? These are questions that arise from the previous ones. The first intelligent manifestations were produced through tables which rose and by means of one of its legs rapping on the floor, thus answering – yes or no – to a question made, as agreed upon. Up to this point there was nothing important for the skeptics for they might well have believed that everything was a sheer coincidence. Later on, more evolved answers were obtained with the aid of the letters of the alphabet by having a number of raps corresponding to the letter order number, giving rise to words and sentences that corresponded to the proposed questions. The precision of the answers and the correlation denoting the questions brought about great amazement. When questioned on its nature, the mysterious being stated that it was a Spirit or Genius, mentioned a name and presented various details about itself. There is a very important circumstance here which has to be pointed out. No one imagined Spirits as a means of explaining the phenomenon; it was the phenomenon itself that revealed the word. Often when dealing with science, a hypothesis is formulated to serve as the basis of reasoning. This was not the case here. However, such a way of exchanging information was dawdling and uncomfortable. A Spirit (and this is a new circumstance worth of being pointed out) indicated another way of doing it. It was one of these invisible beings that advised to adapt a pencil on a basket or some other object. Placed on a sheet of paper, the basket is put into motion by the same occult force moving the tables; instead of making simple regular movements, the pencil drew characters by itself forming words, dissertations many pages long on the highest philosophical, moral, metaphysical and psychological questions, among others, in such a speed as if it were written by hand. This advice was simultaneously given in America and in France as well as in several other countries. In Paris, on June 10, 1853, one of the most zealous followers of the doctrine since 1849
15 The Book From The Spirits was attending the call-up of Spirits and received the message “Go to the adjacent room to fetch the little basket; tie a pencil on it; place it on a paper; put your fingers on the border”. After a little moment the basket began to move and the pencil wrote the following message very legibly “I strictly forbid you to transmit to anybody what I have just said. After the first time, I will write better.” The object that adapts itself to the pencil is nothing more than an instrument, being completely indifferent to the nature or the shape it may have. Hence it was sought to give it a more comfortable disposition. Thus, many people make use of a small planchette. The basket, or the planchette, can only be put in motion under the influence of certain persons who are gifted with a special power called mediums, that is, they serve as an interface between the Spirits and men. The conditions giving a medium this power result from physical and moral causes at the same time, not yet perfectly known for there are mediums of all ages, men or women, independently of their intellectual evolvement. It is, nevertheless, an ability developed through exercise.
V
Later on it was recognized that a planchette was nothing more than an addendum of the hand so, the medium took the pencil directly in his hand and began to write through an involuntary and almost hectic impulse. Thus, communications became faster, easier and more complete. Nowadays this is the means usually made use of; with much more justification, as the number of persons gifted with this aptitude is considerable and growing every day. At last, experience has made us know many other varieties of this mediating aptitude, making us know that communication could also be transmitted through the spoken word, hearing, vision, touch, etc. and even through the direct writing of Spirits, that is, without neither the aid of the hand of a medium, nor of a pencil.
16 Allan Kardec
Once the fact was obtained, it was still necessary to testify an essential point – the role of the medium in the answers and the part that mechanically or morally he may have on the answers. Two capital circumstances, which an observer would not fail to notice, made it possible to solve the question. The first consists in the way of how the basket moves under the influence of the medium, when he only places his fingers on the borders of the basket. The examination of the fact shows the impossibility of the medium to impose a direction to the motion of the object. This impossibility becomes assured particularly when two or three persons place their hands on the basket at the same time. It would demand a truly outstanding previously agreed upon strategy. There would also have to be a unity of thought for spirits to answer a formulated question. Another not less remarkable fact will still increase the difficulty. This is related to the change of calligraphy according to the Spirit manifesting itself and it will be the same calligraphy whenever the same Spirit returns to write again. Thus, it would be necessary for the medium to have exercised him so as to give to his calligraphy twenty different forms and particularly remember which calligraphy corresponds to what Spirit. The second circumstance results from the nature of the answer itself which, in most cases, particularly when abstract as well as scientific questions are notoriously out of the knowledge scope of the medium and, quite often, not at his intellectual capability. Besides this, as it ordinarily happens, the medium is unaware of what he writes under the influence of a Spirit and frequently does not understand or comprehend the proposed question which may be in an unknown language to him while the answer may come in this language. Ultimately, baskets write many times spontaneously, without having made any question on any subject and totally unexpected. In some cases the answers disclose such a level of wisdom, of depth and opportunity, expressing such elevated and sublime thoughts, that it can only emanate from a superior intelligence, impregnated with the purest morality. At other times, they are
17 The Book From The Spirits so light-headed, so trivial that reason refuses to admit that the communication came from the same source. Such diversity of language may only be explainable in terms of a diversity of the intelligence manifesting itself. Are these intelligences inside or outside of Humanity? This is an aspect to be completely clarified through the explanation found in this book as expressed by the Spirits themselves. Therefore, this book presents the documented effects produced outside of the habitual surroundings of our observations; they do not occur mysteriously, but rather, they may occur in broad daylight when everybody may see and verify them; they do not constitute the privilege of a single individual for thousands of persons repeat them everyday. These effects have necessarily a cause and from the moment they denote an action of intelligence and a will, they leave the physical domain. Many theories have been put forward regarding these effects. We will soon examine them and see if they are capable of offering an explanation regarding all the observed facts. While we are not there yet, let us admit the existence of beings distinct from human beings for this is the explanation provided by the manifestations of intelligences and let us see what they tell us.
VI
As may be seen from the foregoing comments, the beings that communicate with us call themselves Spirits or Genius and at least some of them stated that they have belonged to men living on the Earth. They make up the spiritual world in the same way we make up the physical world during our life on the Earth. Let us briefly summarize the main points of the doctrine that Spirits have transmitted us, so that it may be easier to answer certain objections.
18 Allan Kardec
“God is eternal, unchangeable, immaterial, unique, all- powerful, sovereignly just and good. “He has created the Universe comprehending all beings that are animated, unanimated, material and non material. “The material beings make up the visible or physical world and the non material beings make up the invisible or spiritual world, that is, the world of Spirits. “The realm of Spirits is a normal, primitive, eternal and pre- existent world that survives everything. “The physical world is secondary; it may cease to exist or have never existed without altering the essence of the realm of Spirits. “Spirits coat themselves in a perishable material envelopment whose destruction through death restores their liberty. “Among the various species of physical beings, God has chosen the human species for the reincarnation of Spirits that have reached a certain level of evolution, giving them a moral and intellectual superiority over all other species. “The soul is an incarnated Spirit, being the body only its envelopment. “There are three things in man. First, there is a body or his material being analogous to animals and both are animated by the same vital principle. Second, there is a soul or an immaterial being, a Spirit that is incarnated in the body. Third, there is a link that binds the soul to the body, an intermediary principle between matter and Spirit. “Thus, man has two natures. Through the body he participates with the nature of animals sharing the instincts of the animals; through the soul man participates with the nature of Spirits. “The link or perispirit that binds the body and the Spirit is a kind of semi-material envelopment. Death destroys the coarser envelopment. The Spirit retains the perispirit making up an ethereal body, invisible to our normal state, but which may become accidentally visible and even tangible during the apparition phenomenon.
19 The Book From The Spirits
“Thus, a Spirit is not an abstract and indefinite being, only able to be conceived by thought. It is an actual, circumscribed being that in some cases becomes appreciated by our sight, hearing and touch.” Spirits belong to a different class of beings who are not all the same, neither in power, nor in intelligence; neither in knowledge, nor in morality. Those of the first order are the higher evolutive level Spirits distinguishing themselves by their perfection, their knowledge, their nearness to God, by the purity of their feelings and by their love of goodness; they are the angels or pure Spirits. The Spirits of the other classes are more and more distanced from this perfection, most of them showing a contamination of our passions like hate, envy, jealousy, pride, etc. They enjoy evil. Among the lower evolutive level Spirits there are also those who are neither very good, nor very bad, but disturbers and intriguers rather than perverse Spirits. Malice and its inconsequence seem to prevail in them. These are the frivolous and reckless Spirits. “Spirits do not remain perpetually at the same evolutive level. All improve as they pass through the different levels in the spiritistic hierarchy. This improvement takes place by means of reincarnation, which is imposed to some as atonement and to others as a mission. Material life is a trial they are obligated to go through repeatedly until they reach an absolute moral perfection. “On leaving the body, the soul returns to the world of Spirits from whence it left to pass through a new material existence after a longer or shorter length of time during which it remains as a roaming Spirit.¹ “If a Spirit has to pass through many incarnations, it follows that all of us have had many existences and that we will still have many more or less improved ones, either on the Earth on in other worlds.
¹Between this doctrine of reincarnation and of metempsychosis as admitted by certain sects, there is a characteristic difference, which is explained along the course of this book.
20 Allan Kardec
“The incarnations of Spirits always take place in human beings; it would be an error to believe that a soul or a Spirit could incarnate in the body of an animal. “The different bodily existences of a Spirit are always progressive and never regressive; but the rate of its progress depends on the efforts to reach perfection. “The qualities of a soul are the same as of the Spirit incarnated in us; thus a good man is always the incarnation of a good Spirit, a perverse man, of an impure Spirit. “The soul had its individuality prior to its incarnation and keeps it after it separates itself from the body. “On its return to the world of Spirits, a soul will meet all those it has known on the Earth and all its previous existences are recorded in the memory with the remembrance of all the practiced goodness and evil. “Every incarnated Spirit is under the influence of matter. A man, who overcomes this influence through the elevation and depuration of his soul, approaches the good Spirits in whose company he will be one day. Whoever lets himself be dominated by passions and places all his merriments in the satisfaction of his coarse appetites, approaches the impure Spirits by giving predominance to his animalistic nature. “Incarnated Spirits abide different globes in the Universe. “Non incarnated or roaming Spirits do not occupy a specific and confined region; they are everywhere in space and on our side, seeing us and elbowing us ceaselessly. There is a whole invisible population moving around us. “Spirits exert a ceaseless action on the moral world and even on the physical world. They act on matter and on thought making up one of the forces of Nature, the efficient cause of a great number of phenomena never explained before, or else, badly explained and that cannot be rationally explained but through Spiritism.
21 The Book From The Spirits
“The relationship of Spirits with men is constant. Good Spirits attract us toward goodness; they sustain us in our trials of life and aid us to bear them with courage and resignation. Bad Spirits impel us towards evil; they feel a great joy on seeing us succumb and become like them. “All communications of Spirits with men are either occult or ostensible. The occult ones are identified through the good or bad influence they exert on us, without the incarnated body being aware of it. It is up to our judgment to discern the good from the bad inspirations. Ostensive communications take place through handwriting, the spoken word or other material manifestations, almost always through mediums serving as instruments. “It is possible to evoke all Spirits. Both of those that have been animated obscure men as well as the most illustrious personalities, no matter what time in the past they have lived in; whether they were our relatives, friends, or enemies and one may obtain from them advice, information on the situation they are in after their physical life, on what they think of us, as well as the disclosures they may be permitted to make to us both through written or verbal means. “Spirits are attracted according to the sympathy inspiring the moral nature of the environment evoking them. High evolutive level Spirits enjoy sober meetings where the love of goodness, the sincere desire of being instructed and of improvement predominate the sincere desire of being instructed and of improvement predominate on the part of the members attending the meeting. The presence of high evolutive level Spirits displace lower evolutive level Spirits that, inversely, find free access and may perform freely among frivolous persons or impelled by sheer curiosity and wherever there are bad instincts. Far from obtaining good advice or useful information from them, it may only be expected to receive futilities, lies, poor jocosities or mystifications for they often take on venerated names in order to better induce towards error. “To distinguish the good Spirits from the bad ones is very easy. High evolutive level Spirits make constantly use of a worthy
22 Allan Kardec and sober language, pervaded with the highest morality, void of any lower passion; the purest wisdom is contained in their advice always aiming at our improvement and the goodness of Humanity. The language of low evolutive level Spirits, on the contrary, is inconsequent, quite often trivial and even coarse. If occasionally they say something good and true, in many other occasions they express falsenesses and absurdities, either due to malice or ignorance. They scoff at the credulity of man and have fun at the expense of whoever questions them by flattering his vanity, feeding his desires with fallacious hopes. In short, serious communications, in the broadest meaning of the word, are only made in serious séances where an intimate communion of thought reigns by having goodness as its aim. “The moral of high evolutive level Spirits, like Christ, may be summarized with the maxim of the Gospel, “To do to others what we would like others do to us”, that is, do goodness and not evil. In this principle man finds another universal rule of how to proceed, even regarding his smallest actions. “We have been taught that selfishness, pride and sensuality are passions that approach us to the animal nature, making us stick to matter; that whosoever detaches himself from matter already in this world by despising worldly futilities and loving his next fellowman, draws himself near the spiritual nature; that everybody is to be useful according to the gifts and the means God has put in his hands to try him; that the Strong and Powerful ones are to sustain and protect the Weak ones for whoever abuses of his power to oppress his fellowman, transgresses the Law of God. Finally, we have been taught that in the world of Spirits, the hypocrite will be unmasked and all wickedness disclosed; that the inevitable continual presence of those with whom we have proceeded badly constitutes one of the punishments that is in store for us; that the state of a lower or higher evolutive level Spirit corresponds to punishments and joys unknown on the Earth. “But Spirits also teach us that there are not irredeemable faults that expiation is not able to erase. The means of attaining
23 The Book From The Spirits expiation meets man in his different existences which allow him to advance according to his wishes and efforts in the course of progress towards perfection that is his final destination.” The foregoing is a summary of the Doctrine of Spiritism as the result of the teachings the high evolutive level Spirits have given us. Let us now see the objections that are made by opponents.
VII
For many people the opposition to scientific organizations constitutes if not a proof, at least a strong presumption against whatever there is. We are not those that rebel ourselves against scholars for we do not want to provide a convenient condition to be told that we cheat. On the contrary, we have them in high esteem and we would feel honored if we were among them. However, their opinions may not represent an irrevocable judgment in all circumstances. Considering that science comes from material observations of facts, the field is open to conjectures. Every one designs his own little system willing to sustain it with ardor and to make it prevail. Do we not hear everyday the most opposing opinions being alternatively professed and rejected, sometimes repelled as being absurd errors and soon afterwards proclaimed as being undoubted truths? Facts are the true criterion of our judges; facts are arguments having no contestation. In the absence of facts, doubt is justified in every pondered man. Regarding notorious things, the opinion of scholars is undoubtedly trustworthy for they know more and better compared to ordinary men. But, concerning new principles and unknown things, their opinion is almost nothing more than a hypothesis less subjected to prejudice. I would even dare say that a scholar has more impairments than anybody else because of his natural outlook, which takes him to subordinate everything to the point of view
24 Allan Kardec where he has mostly deepened his knowledge on. A mathematician does not see a proof if it is not mathematically demonstrated, a chemist refers everything to the action of chemical elements, etc. Whoever has become a specialist will link all his ideas with his adopted specialty. If you take him away from his specialty, he will almost always fudge by trying to submit everything to the same melting pot; a typical human weakness. Thus, it is better and trust worthier to consult a chemist on a question of chemical analysis, a physicist on electrical power or a mechanics engineer on driving forces. However, without affecting the esteem they are entitled to due to their special knowledge; they should allow me not to take into account their negative opinions on Spiritism more than the opinion of an architect on a question of music. Common sciences are based on the properties of matter which may be freely experimented and manipulated; spiritistic phenomena lie on intelligence endowed with a will of its own and they prove us at every instant that they are not subordinated to our whims. Therefore, observations cannot all be made in the same way; they require special conditions and different starting points. Wanting to submit them to the common investigation processes is to establish analogies that do not exist. Science as such is thus incompetent to express an opinion on the question of Spiritism. It does not have to occupy itself with this and whatever its judgment, favorable or not, it will not have any weight. Spiritism is the result of a personal conviction which scholars as individuals may acquire. Intending to bestow the question to Science would be equal to want to have proved the existence or not of the soul to be decided by an assembly of physicists and astronomers. Actually, Spiritism deals with the existence of the soul and of its state after death. Well, it is utmost illogical to imagine that a man is to be a psychologist because he is an outstanding mathematician or a notable anatomist. An anatomist on dissecting a human body seeks the soul and because he is not able to find it below his scalpel in the same way he finds a nerve, or because he did not see it rise from the body as a gas, he concludes that the soul does not exist by using exclusively a materialistic point
25 The Book From The Spirits of view. Does it follow then, that he is right in being against the universal opinion? No, he is not. Therefore, as you can see, Spiritism is not the competence of Science. When the spiritistic beliefs become popularized, when they will be accepted by human masses (and judging from the speed they are spreading, it will not take long), they will pass through the same things that happens with all new ideas meeting opposition, namely, that scholars end up capitulating to evidence. They will do so individually forced by evidence. Up to then it will be inopportune to deviate them from their special work and force them to busy themselves with strange subjects that are neither of their concern, nor on their work schedule. While this does not happen, scholars, having had no previous study on Spiritism or not having studied the subject thoroughly, make statements to deny its existence and scoff at whoever does not accept their concept, forgetting that the same thing happened with major important scientific discoveries honoring Humanity. They expose their names by enlarging the list of illustrious banishers of new ideas and enrolled as members of the scholarly assembly that in 1752 received with a loud laugh the memory of Franklin on the subject of lightning-rods, believing it unworthy to be mentioned in the communications directed to them. In the same way, it made France loose its advantage of having a steam engine navy by stating that the Fulton system was an impossible dream. However, these were questions concerning those fellowships. If the assemblies congregating the top scholars of the world had only scoffed and expressed sarcasms for the ideas they did not realize, ideas that, only a few years later, revolutionized Science, costumes and industries, how may one expect that a question alien to their habitual work should have a better reception? The errors of some eminent men, although deplorable, could not deprive their titles through which they have conquered our esteem in other respects; but, will it be necessary to contract an official diplomat to have common sense? Will it be assumed that outside of the official high-level schools, all are idiots? Scholars should turn their eyes to the followers of the Spiritistic Doctrine
26 Allan Kardec to see if there are only ignorant persons there and that if the immense legion of men of merit having embraced the Spiritistic Doctrine authorize them to be placed on the roll of naïve believers. The character and the knowledge of these men give weight to this proposition for they state that one is bound to admit that there is something different. It is worth to repeat once more that if the mentioned facts had been reduced to a mechanical motion of bodies, the quest for a physical cause of the moving table phenomenon would have been placed in the domain of Science. However, since it handles with a manifestation that is produced with the exclusion of the laws of Humanity, it is not within the competence of any material science for it may neither be explained in numbers, nor in terms of a mechanical force. When a new fact appears that has no relationship with any known science, a scholar has to abstract himself from his science to study it and he has to ask himself what is there that constitutes a new study, impossible to be carried out using preconceived ideas. Whoever thinks his reason to be infallible is actually near an error. Even those whose ideas are the falsest base themselves on their own reason and that is why they reject everything seeming impossible to them. Those who have earlier rejected the marvelous discoveries of which Humanity feels honored did so in the name of reason. What is called reason is often only a disguised pride and whoever considers himself to be infallible, compares himself to God. Thus, we wish to address ourselves to those who ponder; who doubt of what has not been seen, but believes that man has neither reached the climax nor that Nature has endowed him to read the last page of its new book by taking the future in terms of the past.
VIII
Let us add that to study a doctrine, such as the Spiritistic Doctrine, throwing us suddenly into an order of things both new
27 The Book From The Spirits and enormous, may only be achieved successfully by sober men that are perseverant and free from any prevention and having a steady as well as a sincere will power to reach a result. It is not possible to lend these qualifiers to those who judge with fickleness without having seen everything, who do not impel an indispensable continuity, regularity and reflective thoughts in their studies. It is even less possible to lend the qualifiers to someone who in order to avoid loosing his reputation of a man of character becomes tired of finding burlesque aspects in things that are true, or are taken to be so by persons whose knowledge, character and convictions give them the right to consider whosoever regards himself as being well-educated. Therefore, whoever thinks he is not worth to lend his attention to the facts, should abstain himself from expressing what he thinks. Nobody thinks of violating what you believe in, therefore, we expect you to agree to respect what others believe in. What characterizes a serious study is the continuity of it. Is it not astounding that many times no sensible answer is obtained to serious questions when the questions are suddenly proposed among a great number of other extravagant ones? Furthermore, it often happens that a complex question requires the solution of other preliminary or complementary questions before it is elucidated. Whoever wants to become proficient in a science has to study it methodically by starting at the beginning and following up the sequence as well as the evolvement of ideas. Of what help is it when a question is made at random to a scholar on a subject whose first words he ignores? May the scholar give him a satisfactory answer in spite of all his effort? May the isolated answer he gives be bound to be incomplete and almost always inapprehensible because of this, or else, will it not sound contradictory or absurd? The same thing happens with our relationships with Spirits. Whoever wants to learn with them has to take a course with them; but, in the same way we proceed here, we have to choose our lecturers and dedicate ourselves with all assiduousness. We have said that high evolutive level Spirits are attracted only to serious séances, particularly where there is a perfect communion of
28 Allan Kardec thoughts and feelings towards goodness. Levity and idleness makes them keep away as it happens among men, leaving the field open for the multitude of lying and frivolous Spirits that are always looking for friendly occasions to scoff at us and have a good time at our expense. What happens to a serious question in a séance of such an order? What happens is the same when a frivolous group having a good time is asked what the soul is or what death is like. If you want serious answers, you will have to act in all seriousness in the broadest sense of the word and fulfill all the demanded requirements. Only then will you obtain great things. Furthermore, be laborious and persevere in your studies for without this, the high evolutive level Spirits will abandon you as a professor does regarding negligent students.
IX
The motion of objects is an unquestionable fact. The question is to know if there is an intelligent manifestation through this motion and, if so, what the origin of such a manifestation is. We do not refer to intelligent motion of certain objects, neither to verbal communications, nor to the communication in which the medium writes directly. These kinds of manifestations are evident to those who have seen them and have studied them thoroughly, but it does not appear at first sight to be quite independent of a wish to form the conviction of a novice. Therefore, we will only deal with writings using any object provided with a pencil, objects like a basket, a planchette, etc. The way the fingers of the medium rest on the objects challenges, as we have said previously, the most consummated skillfulness in his ability of intervening in the drawing of the letters. But, let us admit that somebody is gifted with such a wonderful ability and that he is able to deceive the watch of an observer, how may the nature of the answers be explained when they are beyond the frame of ideas and knowledge of the medium? It must be pointed out that the answers are not monosyllabic, but rather, they are often contained in many pages and written at a
29 The Book From The Spirits surprising rate, either on a spontaneous subject or on a particular one. From the fingers of a medium less proficient in literature, there appear once in a while poems of impeccable grandeur and immaculacy that the best human writers would not condescend to write up. What makes these facts be even weirder is that they occur in all places and the number of mediums is enlarging all the time. Are they real, or not? For this question there is only one answer, see and observe, there will not be a lack of occasions to do so, but, above all, observe repeatedly, for a long time and by following the required conditions. How do the antagonists respond to this evidence? By saying that you are a victim of charlatanism or that you are a dupe of illusionism. First let us say that the word charlatanism does not apply where there is no material benefit. Charlatans do not carry out their jobs free of charge. It would be a mystification if much. But, through what single coincidence do these mystifiers from all over the world agree to proceed in the same way, produce the same results and supply identical answers on the same subjects in different languages, if not in form, at least in sense? It is hard to understand how austere and learned persons would lend themselves to carry out such maneuvers. What would their purpose be? How may we find the patience and the necessary ability in children for such results? If the mediums are not passive instruments, their indispensable ability and knowledge would be incompatible with the age of a child and with certain social positions. Then the antagonists say that if there is no fraud, there may be an illusion on both sides. The quality of the witness has a certain bearing according to good logic. Well, it is the case here to ask if the Doctrine of Spiritism having already millions of followers recruits the mediums only among ignorant people. The phenomena it basis itself on are so extraordinary that it instills doubt in us. However, what is not possible to admit is the assumption of some disbelievers to have the monopoly of common sense and that, without keeping the conveniences and respecting the moral value of their adversaries, consider as unqualified whoever does not follow their decisions. To the eyes of any judicious
30 Allan Kardec person, the opinion of those who are enlightened and have observed, studied and meditated on something for a long time, it may not be a proof, but at least an assumption in their favor since it has kept the attention of respectable men that have no interest whatsoever in propagating errors, nor time to waste in futilities.
X
Among the objections, there are some particular ones taken from observation and made by respectable persons. One of these objections fits to be the basis of the wording of some Spirits who do not seem worthy of the elevation attributed to supernatural beings. Whoever reads the summary of the doctrine will see that Spirits teach us that their knowledge, as well as their moral quality, is not the same and that Spirits are not to be taken literarily in everything they say. It is up to sensible persons to separate what is good from what is bad. Unquestionably there are those who deduce from this fact that only malevolent beings communicate with us whose sole occupation consists of mystifying us, not knowing the communications received in séances where only high evolutive level Spirits manifest themselves for otherwise, they would not think this way. It is a pity that chance has served them so badly, having shown them only the evil side of the world of Spirits for it dislikes us to suppose that a sympathetic trend attracts bad or lying Spirits, or those whose language is revolting or coarse, instead of good Spirits. At most it might be deduced this that the soundness of the principles of these persons is not strong enough to protect them from evil and that feeling a certain pleasure in fulfilling their curiosity, the bad Spirits take advantage of this to come near them, while the good Spirits distance themselves. To judge the question of Spirits in view of the foregoing facts would be little logical as it is to judge the character of the people of a country by what has been said in a meeting of irrational persons or persons having a bad reputation with whom circumspect and
31 The Book From The Spirits sensible persons do not have any relationship. Who thinks this way places himself in the situation of a foreigner who, arriving in a large capital through the most abject part of the outskirt, judges all the inhabitants through the costumes and the language of the people living in the small part of the outskirt. In the world of Spirits, there is also a good society and a bad society. Those who think in such a way should study what occurs among Spirits of a high evolutive level group and they will end up being convinced that the heavenly city does not only contain popular trash. Antagonists ask if the high evolutive group of Spirits come down to us. Our answer is that the antagonists should not stay in the outskirts, they should see, observe and judge; the facts are in the whole world, unless these words of Jesus are applied to them, some have eyes and do not see, others have ears and do not hear. As a variation we have the opinion of those who do not see, in the communication with Spirits and in all the material facts through which the communication takes place, more than the intervention of a diabolic power, like a new Proteus that takes on all forms to better deceive us. We do not think this opinion is susceptible of a serious examination; that is why we will not take more time to consider it. Furthermore, this opinion is refuted by what has just been said. If it were so, one would be bound to admit that the devil is sometimes very solid and thoughtful, especially very moral, or else, that there are also good devils. How is it actually possible to believe that God allows only the Spirits of evil to manifest themselves for us to feel lost without giving us the advice from the good Spirits as a counterbalance? If God cannot do it then He is not almighty; if He can, but does not do it, He denies his kindness. Both suppositions would be blasphemy. It should be noticed that to admit the communication with bad Spirits is to acknowledge the principle of manifestations. So, if they happen, it cannot be without the permission of God. Consequently, how is it possible to believe impiously that God allows only evil by excluding goodness? Such a doctrine is contrary to the simplest precepts of common sense and of Religion.
32 Allan Kardec
XI
Antagonists say it is queer that only Spirits of known characters are talked about and ask why they are the only ones to manifest themselves. There is still another error here stemming from a superficial observation, as do many others. Among the Spirits that come spontaneously to us, the number of unknown Spirits is much greater than the illustrious ones by having the former designating themselves by any name, many times by an allegoric or characteristic name. As to these who are evoked, provided it is not a relative or friend, it is natural to address those whom we know rather than those who are unknown to us. The names of illustrious characters call more attention; that is why they are noticed more. Opponents find it also odd that the Spirits of remarkable men respond in a friendly manner to our call and often deal with insignificant matters as compared with the matters they dealt with during their physical lives. There is nothing amazing for those who know that the authority or the consideration such men had in this world for there is no supremacy given to them in the world of Spirits. Spirits confirm this with the words of the Gospel “The great ones will be lowered and the little ones will be elevated.” This sentence should be understood regarding the category in which each of us will find ourselves among them. This is how whoever was first on the Earth may come to be one of the last ones among the Spirits. Therefore, whoever cured our head here may come and talk with us as the most humble worker for he has left behind all his greatness and the mightiest ruler may find himself well below the last of his soldiers.
XII
A fact demonstrated through observation and confirmed by Spirits is that lower evolutive level Spirits often usurp known and respected names. Who may thus state that those who say they
33 The Book From The Spirits have been, for example, Socrates, Julius Caesar, Charles the Great. François Fénelon, Napoleon, Washington, etc, were actually the characters they claim to have been? This doubt exists even among the most zealous followers of the Spiritistic Doctrine who admit the intervention and manifestations of Spirits, but query on how to testify their identity. In fact such a proof is hard to obtain. Although it can not be as authentic as a civil registration certificate, it may nevertheless be presumed according to specific evidence. When a Spirit we have personally known manifests itself, be it a friend or a relative, for instance, particularly after a short time after death, it usually happens that its language follows exactly the same pattern of the one the Spirit used when incarnated. This is already an evidence of identity. There will be no doubt, provided the Spirit speaks about private things, recalling facts of the family only known to the converser. A son will not mistake the language of his father or mother, nor are there parents that will not recognize the language of a son. In this kind of evocations, there are at times awesome intimate disclosures of such a nature that it will convince the most incredulous individual. The most recalcitrant skeptic becomes quite often awestruck with the unexpected made revelations. There is another quite characteristic circumstance that responds to support the identity of Spirits. We have said that the handwriting form of a medium usually changes when there is another Spirit evoked and that the handwriting is always the same when the same Spirit presents itself again It has often been noticed, regarding persons having died not too long ago, that the handwriting bears a remarkable similarity with the handwriting of the person when alive. Signatures have been obtained having a perfect accuracy. However, we are far away from wanting to make this fact be a constant rule. It is mentioned here only as something worth to be pointed out. Only Spirits that have reached a certain degree of purification are free from all bodily influence. When they are not totally dematerialized (this is the expression they use) Spirits maintain the greatest part of the ideas, of the power and even of the idiosyncrasies
34 Allan Kardec they had on the Earth which also constitutes a means of recognition also to be arrived at through a great number of detailed facts that only an accurate and prolonged observation may reveal. Writers discussing their own books or doctrines, approving or condemning parts of them, have been observed; other Spirits recall ignored or almost unknown circumstances of their lives and their death, all kinds of particularities, which at last may be moral, proving their unique evocable identities since it refers to abstracts things. Well, if the identity of an evoked Spirit may be established in some cases up to a certain point, there is no reason why it is not possible to do so in other cases. Regarding persons whose death has occurred a long time ago, we do not have the same means of verification, there will be always left available the language and the character for undoubtedly the Spirit of a well off person will not speak as does a perverse or dissolute Spirit. Regarding the Spirits that take on respectable names, these betray themselves soon through the language they use and of the maxims they formulate. For example, a Spirit calling itself Fénelon, offending good sense and morals even if only accidentally, would show his cheat with this simple act. On the other hand, if the thoughts it expresses are always pure, having no contradictions and always at the level of Fénelon’s character, there is no reason to doubt of its identity. Otherwise, we have to suppose that a Spirit that preaches only goodness is able to consciously lie for no usefulness at all. Experience has taught us that Spirits having a same level or class make up groups or families having the same character and the same feelings. The number of Spirits is incalculable and we are very far from knowing them all. Most of them do not even have names for us. Thus, nothing prevents a Spirit of the level of Fénelon to come in its place, often even at its request. The Spirit will present itself, as being Fénelon for it is identical and may replace Fénelon particularly because we need a name to firm our ideas. But what matters whether a Spirit is the Spirit of Fénelon? Provided everything the Spirit says is good and speaks as Fénelon would have spoken, it is a good Spirit. Indifferent is the name through which a
35 The Book From The Spirits
Spirit makes itself known for it often makes use of the stratagem to make us focus our thoughts on. However, the same thing is not admissible when an intimate invocation is made, but then, as has just been said, it is possible to establish the identity to a certain extent through patented proofs. It is undeniable that the replacement of Spirits may lead to a number of misconceptions, bringing about errors and very often mystifications. This is one of the difficulties of Practical Spiritism. However, we have never said that this science is an easy one to learn which is obviously not possible in any other science as well. It is never enough to repeat that Spiritism demands a constant study and sometimes for a long time. It is not licit to bring about facts; it is necessary to wait for Spirits to present themselves. Frequently their presentation happens through circumstances not thought of. The facts are numerous for the attentive as well as patient observer and that is why he discovers thousands of characteristic hues that are truly enlightening insights. The same thing happens with ordinary sciences. Whereas a superficial man sees in a flower nothing more than an elegant shape, a scholar discovers treasures to think of.
XIII
The foregoing observations lead us to say something about another difficulty, namely, the divergence observed in the language of Spirits. Since the language differs very much from one Spirit to another in terms of point of view and morality, it becomes obvious that a question may be solved by them having an opposite sense according to their rank, exactly like among men if the question were put forward to a scholar, to an ignorant or to a joker. As we have said, essential is to know whom we access. But, the antagonists ponder, how may it be explained that Spirits said to be of a high evolutive level order are not always accordant?
36 Allan Kardec
Let us first say that independently of the cause we have pointed out, there are other causes yet exerting an influence on the nature of the answers, like an abstraction made on the righteousness of Spirits. This is a main point whose explanation is achieved through study. That is why we say that the study f Spiritism requires a lingering attention, a thorough observation and, above all, continuity and perseverance as is required in all human sciences. Years are spent to graduate a physician plus three quarters of a life span to become a scholar. How is it possible to spend only a few hours to master the Science of Infinity? Nobody should elude himself, the study of Spiritism is enormous; all questions of metaphysics and social order are of interest; it is a world that opens itself to us. It would be astounding if it did not demand time to realize it, most certainly a long time. The contradiction, nevertheless, is not always as real as it seems. Do we not see every day men professing a same science diverge regarding a definition made on something, whether they use different words, or have diverse points of view, although the fundamental idea is always the same? Count up the definitions the word grammar has! We may add that the kind of answer often depends on the kind of question. Thus, it would be childish to point out a contradiction when there is often only a difference in wording. High evolutive level Spirits are not concerned with form at all. For them, the ground of thought is everything. Let us take the definition of the word soul, for instance. If this word is void of an invariable meaning, it is understandable that Spirits, like us, diverge on the definition they forward. One Spirit may say that it is the beginning of life, another may call it a spiritual spark and a third one may state that it is internal, that it is external, etc. All are right, each according to its point of view. It may even be said that some Spirits profess materialistic doctrines although it might not be so. Another seeming contradiction exists regarding God. He is the beginning of all things, the creator of the Universe, the supreme intelligence, the infinite, the Great Spirit, etc. etc. But, ultimately, it will always be God. Finally, let us mention the classification of Spirits. They make up an uninterrupted series, from the lowest grade up to
37 The Book From The Spirits the highest grade. Thus, the classification is arbitrary. There are those who group all Spirits into three classes, others in five, ten or twenty, at will, without incurring in error. All human sciences bear identical examples. Every scholar has his system; the systems change, but not the science. Botany may be learned by using the system of Linneu or of Jussieu, or even of Tournefort and it certainly does not mean that less botany has been learnt. So, let us not lend more importance to things of conventionality than it deserves and stick to what is truly important. In many cases, a meditation on it will make us discover a likeness of what seemed dissimilar at a first appreciation.
XIV
No time would be spent to comment the objection some skeptics make regarding the orthographic errors some Spirits commit if it did not give rise to the opportunity of an essential observation. It should be said that their orthographic errors are not always irreproachable; a great absence of reasons would be necessary for this to be the object of a serious criticism by saying that since Spirits know everything, they should also know orthography. It is possible to attribute multiple sins of this kind to more than one scholar on the Earth, which would not diminish their merit in any way. However, there is a more serious question. For Spirits, particularly for high evolutive level Spirits, an idea is everything, the form has no value. Since they are free from matter, the language they use among them is as quick as thought, for it is their thoughts that are used to communicate among themselves without anything in between. Spirits certainly feel very little at ease when they are obligated to communicate themselves with us by using long and embarrassing human language forms and have to fight with a poor and imperfect language to express their ideas. This is what they themselves tell us and that is why they often make use of curious means to shorten this inconvenience. The same would happen to us if it were necessary to express ourselves in a language having longer words or sentences and a greater poorness of expressions than of
38 Allan Kardec the language we are used to. This is the embarrassment felt by a genius who becomes impatient with the slowness of his pen that is always tardy in following its thought. Thus, it is understandable that Spirits do not pay much attention to the childishness of orthography, particularly when it refers to thorough and serious teachings. Is it not wonderful to have those expressing themselves indifferently in any language and understand them all? However, it should not be concluded that they ignore the conventional correction of a language. They do observe the language when necessary. So it is, for instance, with the poems they dictate that challenge almost always the critics of the most painstaking purists, in spite of the ignorance of the medium.
XV
There are also people that see danger everywhere and in everything they do not know. That is why some persons, having lost their reason against Spiritism while following these studies, hurry to make unfavorable conclusions regarding Spiritism. How may sensible persons see in this a valid objection? Is it not the same with all concerns of intellectual order motivating a weak brain? Who is able to survey how many crazy and maniacs studying mathematics, medicine, music, philosophy and other subjects, have been produced? Should these subjects be banned because of this? How to prove it? Well, work using the body mutilates arms and legs, which are the instruments for material action; work using intelligence mutilates the brain which is the instrument of thought. But having broken the instrument does not mean that the same has happened to a Spirit. The Spirit remains intact and provided it frees itself from matter, it will enjoy all the fullness of its abilities, as does every Spirit. In a description like this, a Spirit, like a man, is a martyr of work. All the great concerns of a Spirit may cause insanity: sciences, arts and even religion, have produced much of it. Insanity has as its primary cause an organic predisposition of the brain making it be more or less accessible to certain impressions. Once there is a
39 The Book From The Spirits predisposition to insanity, this insanity will take the character of a main concern which then turns into a fixed idea, being it either possible to happen with the Spirits he has been occupying himself with, or with God, angels, devils, fortune, power, an art, a science, motherhood as well as a political or a social system. Probably an insane religious follower becomes an insane follower of Spiritism if his dominating concern was Spiritism, in the same way that an insane follower of Spiritism would be insane in another aspect according to the circumstances. Thus, I say that Spiritism has no privilege at all concerning insanity. I even say further that if Spiritism is well understood, it becomes a means of preservation against insanity. Among the most common over excitations of the brain, deceptions, misfortunes and frustrated affections must be considered that are also the cause of frequent suicides. A true follower of Spiritism sees the things of this world from an elevated point of view; they seem to him very small, very unimportant compared to the future that awaits him; life shows itself so short, so fleeting to a spiritist that the tribulations are nothing more than disagreeable incidents along the course of a journey. What ordinarily produces a violent emotion in another person, will only affect him very slightly. Furthermore, a follower of Spiritism knows that the bitterness of life is a useful trial for his advancement; that if man suffers without complaining, he will be rewarded in the same measure of the courage with which he bore it. Thus, his convictions provide him a resignation preserving him from despair and, consequently, from a permanent insanity or suicide. He also knows what the fate of those who voluntarily shorten their days is through the presentation provided by the communication with Spirits. Such a picture will make man meditate and enable the number of people detained from this dismalness to rise constantly. This is one of the results of Spiritism, no matter how much all unbelievers laugh at it. I wish the solace that Spiritism provides to all those who have taken the trouble of probing the mysterious unknown deepness. It should also be mentioned that among the causes of insanity is dread and that the devil has already unbalanced more
40 Allan Kardec than one brain. How many victims have made those who stagger weak imaginations regarding this picture by making it become more and more dreadful through horrible minuteness? They say that the devil frightens only children or that it is a way of stopping them and of making them be sensible. In the same way works the idea of werewolves, however, when the children stop their fright, they are worse than before. To reach such a beautiful result, countless epilepsies caused by the staggering delicate minds have not be taken into account. Very frail would Religion be if its force became impaired by not having infused terror. Happily this is not so. Religion has other means to act on the souls. More effective and more serious are the means made available by Spiritism provided one knows how to use them. It shows the reality of things and only with this may the tragic effects of an exaggerated fright be neutralized.
XVI
There are two more objections left to be examined. They are unique and actually deserve to be examined because they base themselves on rational theories. Both admit the reality of all the material and moral phenomena, but exclude the intervention of Spirits. According to the first of the two theories, all the manifestations attributed to Spirits would not be more than magnetic effects. The mediums would be in a state that could be called wake somnambulism, a phenomenon that whoever has studied magnetism may testify. In this state, the intellectual abilities acquire an abnormal expansion and the circle of intuitive operations amplifies itself beyond our common frontier of conception. Thus, a medium would withdraw from him and through the effect of his own lucidity, everything he says and all the notions he transmits, even on subjects unknown to him in his usual state. It will not be us who are going to contradict the power of somnambulism whose wonders we have observed and studied in all
41 The Book From The Spirits its phases for 35 years. We agree that effectively many manifestations of Spirits are explainable through this means. However, a careful and lengthy observation shows redundancies of a great number of facts in which the intervention of the medium is materially impossible, unless he acts as a passive instrument. To those sharing this opinion, as well as to all others, we say “See and observe for you have not seen everything yet.” We will oppose ourselves now by making two considerations taken from their own doctrine. Where did the doctrine of Spiritism come from? Is it a system imagined by some men to explain the facts? By no means. Who then, has revealed it? Precisely the same mediums whose lucidity you exalt. So, if this lucidity is the way you suppose it to be, why do they attribute to Spirits what they themselves have drawn up? How could they have given precise information on the nature of these extra-human intelligences that are so logical and sublime we know of? In the first place, either they are lucid or they are not. If they are lucid and if we may trust their veracity, there would be no means to admit that they are not with the truth without any contradiction. In the second place, if all the phenomena would derive from a medium, they would always be identical in a particular individual; there would never be seen a same person using a nonsensical language; nor express alternatively the most contradictory things. This lack of unity in the manifestations obtained through the same medium proves the diversity of the sources. So, if it is not possible to find all the sources in a medium, one is bound to look for them as being external to him. According to another opinion, the medium is the only producing source of all manifestations; but, instead of extracting them from himself, as the followers of the theory of somnambulism intend it to be, the medium draws them from the environment. He will then be a kind of mirror reflecting all ideas, all thoughts and all the knowledge of the people surrounding him; he would not say anything that was not already known, at least to the persons around him. As a principle of the Doctrine of Spiritism, it is not licit to deny that the assistants exert an influence on the nature of the manifestations. However, there is a great difference between this
42 Allan Kardec influence and the influence that would make the medium be an echo of the thoughts of those surrounding him which thousands of facts contradict. Therefore, there is a serious error on the part of those who think so since this proves once more that it is dangerous to jump to conclusions. Thus, being impossible to deny the reality of a phenomenon which ordinary science is unable to explain and not wanting to admit the presence of Spirits, those who think so explain the phenomenon in their manner. The theory that sustains it would be plausible if it were able to comprehend all the facts. However, this does not happen. When with all evidence it is shown to them that certain communications of a medium are totally strange to the thoughts, knowledge and even to the opinions of all the assistants in frequently spontaneous communications contradicting all preconceived ideas, they do not feel embarrassed with so little. They answer by saying that the irradiation flows well beyond the immediate area encircling us; that the medium is the reflection of all humanity so that if the inspirations do not come from those around the medium, he will seek them elsewhere, in the city, in the country, in the whole globe and even in other spheres. It does not seem to me that in such a theory one may find an explanation that is much simpler and more probable than Spiritism since it basis itself on a much more marvelous cause. The idea that beings populate space and that in contact with us they tell us their thoughts, does not shock reason more than the supposition of this universal irradiation, coming from all points of the Universe, concentrating itself in the brain of an individual. Once more, this is a point which we never insist enough on, namely, that the theory of somnambulism, which might be called reflective, has been imagined by some men; that individual opinions were created to explain a fact, whereas the Doctrine of Spiritism is not a human conception. It was dictated by the intelligences themselves through their manifestations when nobody thought of it, when even the general opinion repelled it. So, we ask, where did the mediums soak up a doctrine that did not pass through the head of anybody on the Earth? We further question, by what strange
43 The Book From The Spirits coincidence do all the thousands of mediums, spread all over the Earthly globe having never met each other, agree to say the same thing? If the first medium that appeared in France had suffered the influence of opinions already accepted in America, bywhat peculiarity did he fetch it thousands of miles abroad and in the midst of people so different in terms of habits and language instead of taking them from around himself? There is also another circumstance which has not been given attention to. The first manifestations in France, as in America, have not been made through writing or spoken words, but rather through alphabetically encoded rapping. It was through this means that the intelligences, authors of the manifestations, declared they were Spirits. If it were possible to have the intervention of the thoughts of the mediums in spoken or written manifestations, this could certainly not be said regarding the rapping whose meaning could not be known beforehand. A great number of facts could be mentioned to show an evident individuality and an absolute independence of will on the part of the intelligence manifesting itself. Therefore, we recommend the dissidents to make a more careful observation and if they want to study it well, without bias and not jumping to conclusions without having seen everything, they will recognize that their theory is unable to explain everything. We will limit ourselves to propose the following questions, why does the intelligence manifesting itself refuse to answer certain questions on subjects perfectly known, as for example, on the name or age of the converser, what he has in his hand, what he did the day before, what he thinks of doing the next day, etc.? If a medium were a mirror of the thoughts of the assistants, nothing would be easier than to answer such questions. To this argument the opponents respond by asking in their turn, why do the Spirits that should know everything not answer such simple things? According to the axiom whoever has the power to do complex things, can also do simple things and so they conclude that it is not a Spirit answering. If an ignorant or a joker present in a séance is asked, for instance, why is it day at midday, would somebody earnestly believe
44 Allan Kardec that a Spirit would take the time to answer him seriously? Or may it be concluded that from the silence or the mockery given to the questioner, all the members of the séance are fools? After all, just because the Spirits are of a high evolutive order, they do not answer to such idle or ridiculous questions and do not accept to lower themselves. That is why they remain silent or say that they deal only with serious things. Finally, why does a Spirit often come and leave at a certain moment and after a short while return without having been requested? If the medium performs only by mental impulses coming from the assistants, it is obvious that under such a circumstance, all the wills put together would stimulate the clairvoyance of the medium. Therefore, provided the medium does not give in to the will of the assistants, but rather, corroborates with his own will, he will obey an influence strange to him and to those around him, an influence that for this simple fact testifies his independence and his individuality.
XVII
When the skepticism regarding the Doctrine of Spiritism does not result from a systematic opposition stemming from an interest of some kind, it is almost always the result of an incomplete knowledge of the facts which will not stop them from claiming that they know the facts thoroughly. One may have a great skill and even a great knowledge, but lack common sense. The very first indication of a lack of common sense is to believe that someone is infallible in his judgments. There are also a lot of people for whom the manifestations of Spirits is a sheer curiosity. We trust that reading this book will make you find something else than just a pastime by coming in contact with these extraordinary phenomena. The spiritistic science is made up of two parts. One is experimental regarding the manifestations in general and the other is philosophical regarding intelligent manifestations. Whoever
45 The Book From The Spirits has only observed the experimental part will find himself in the position of a person that only knows physics through recreational experiments, without having entered into the core of the science. The true Doctrine of Spiritism lies in the teachings Spirits have given us and the knowledge these teachings bear are too deep and extensive to be obtained through any other means except through a perseverant study carried out in silence and solicitude. It is only under these conditions that an infinite number of particularities may be observed which pass unperceived by a superficial observer. It is these particularities that lead to form an opinion. If this book presents as a result only the serious side of the question and brings about also serious studies, we will rejoice for having been elected to carry out a work for which we do not intend to have any merit on because the principles stated in are not our creation at all. The merit it presents belongs to all the Spirits that have dictated it. We expect that this book will bring about another result, the result of guiding men who want to clarify themselves by showing them through these studies a grand and sublime end, namely, of an individual or a social progress and by showing them the path leading to this end. Let us conclude by making a last consideration. Some astronomers by probing space have found voids in the distribution of celestial bodies which are not justified and do not fit into the laws of the whole. They think that these voids should be filled with globes that escaped their observation. On the other hand, they noticed certain effects unknown to them, leading them to say that there should be a world there for a void like that cannot exist and these effects are to have a cause. Then, judging from the cause to the effect, they were able to calculate the elements and later on the fact came to confirm their forecasts. Let us apply this reasoning to another order of ideas. If a series of beings are observed, it is discovered that they form a chain having no end, from coarse matter up to man and God, the alpha and omega of all things, what a great void! Would it be rational to think that the links of the chain end in man and that he may transpose the distance separating him from infinity without any transition? Reason tells us that between man
46 Allan Kardec and God there will be other links as the astronomers have said that among the known worlds there should be other unknown worlds. What philosophy has already filled this void? Spiritism shows it filled with beings of all orders of the invisible world and that these beings are nothing more that the Spirits of men in their different rank leading to perfection. Thus, everything becomes connected; everything is enchained, from alpha to omega. Those who deny the existence of Spirits should fill the vacuum Spirits occupy and those who laugh at them should dare to laugh at the works of God and at His omnipotence!
Allan Kardec
47 The Book From The Spirits
Prolegomena
Phenomena alien to the laws of human science take place everywhere, revealing the action of a free and intelligent will in the cause producing them. Reason tells us that an intelligent effect is to have an intelligent force as its cause and facts have proved that this force is able to make contact with men through material signals. Questioned about its nature, this force stated that it belonged to the world of spiritual beings stripped off from the physical enclosure of man. This is how the Doctrine of the Spirits has been revealed. Communications between the spiritistic and the corporeal world are within the natural order of things. They are not supernatural for there are vestiges of these communications among all peoples at all times. Nowadays they have become generalized and accessible to all. Spirits announce that we have reached the time marked by the Providence for a world wide manifestation and that, being the Spirits the ministers of God and the agents of His will, they have as their mission to instruct and clarify men, opening a new era for the regeneration of Humanity. This book is a compilation of the teachings received from the Spirits. It has been written by the order and dictation of high evolutive level Spirits to establish the basis of a rational philosophy, free from the prejudice of the trend of a system. Everything it contains is the expression of their thought and examination. Only the order and the orderly distribution of the written material as well
48 Allan Kardec as the notes and the form of some parts of the composition has been the work of the one that has received the mission of publishing the teachings. Among the many Spirits that have acted to carry out this book, some said to have lived on the Earth at different periods of time where they preached and practiced virtue and wisdom. Others, through their names, have not belonged to any character whose remembrance History has kept, but whose elevation is attested through the pureness of their teachings and by the closeness with those using venerated names. Spirits have given us in a written form the conditions regarding the mission of preparing this book through many mediums as quoted below. “Busy yourself with a great zeal and perseverance regarding the work undertaken in conjunction with us for this task is ours. In it we are setting the foundation of a new rising building which some day ahead will gather all men in a single feeling of love and charity. But before you divulge it, we will review it together so that everything will be thoroughly verified. “We will be with you whenever you ask us to help you in your work for this is only part of the mission that you are entrusted with and which one of us has already disclosed to you. “Among the teachings that are given to you, there are some to be kept only by you until a new order. We will tell you the moment they are to be published. While you wait, meditate on them so that you are ready when the time arrives. “Place the wine branch we have drawn as the headline of the book (2) for it is the badge of the Creator. There are gathered all the material principles which best represent the body and the Spirit. The wine branch is the body; the soul or the spirit is connected to matter represented by the grape. Man concentrates the essence of his Spirit through labor and you know that it is only through the labor of the body that a Spirit gains knowledge.
49 The Book From The Spirits
“Never let criticism dismays you. You will meet infuriated opponents, particularly among those who have an interest in abuses. You will meet them even among Spirits; that is why those that are not yet totally dematerialized often seek to place the seed of doubt due to malice or ignorance. Always go on. Believe in God and walk confidently for we will be here to sustain you and the time is near when Truth will shine coming from all sides. “The vanity of some men who think they know everything and explain it in their own way, will give rise to dissident opinions. But all those who keep in mind the great principle of Jesus will find themselves united in a single feeling, namely, the love of goodness, forming a fraternal bond covering the whole world. These will leave aside the miserable questions of the meaning of the words and only busy themselves with what is essential. The doctrine shall always be the same to all those receiving communications from high evolutive Spirits as far as its ground is concerned. “It is with perseverance that you will harvest the fruits of you labor. The pleasure you will experience by seeing the doctrine spreading and being well understood will be a reward whose integral value you will probably know much farther ahead than at preset. Do not become troubled by the thorns and stones disbelievers will place in your path. Keep confident for you will always be aided. “Remember that Good Spirits only dispense assistance to those serving God with humility and disinterest, rejecting whoever seeks in the pathway to Heaven a step to conquer the things on the Earth; they keep away from proud and ambitious men. Pride and ambition will always be a barrier between man and God. Both are a veil thrown onto the celestial clarity and God can not be helped by a blind to make light be perceptible.” Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Augustine, Saint Vincent-de-Paul, Saint Louis, Spirits of Truth, Socrates, Plato, Fénelon, Franklin, Swedenborg, etc., etc.
2 The facsimile of the wine branch as drawn by a Spirit.
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PART 01
On the prime causes Chapter I - on God Chapter II - on the general elements of the Universe Chapter III - on the vital principle
CHAPTER I
On God God and infinity Proof of the existence of God Attributes of Divinity Panteism
GOD AND INFINITY
1. What is God? “God is the supreme intelligence, the prime cause of everything.”3 2. What is supposed to be understood by infinite? “Whatever has neither beginning nor end, namely, the unknown; everything that is unknown is infinite.”
3 The text in quotation marks following each question is the answer the Spirits gave. To express the notes and explanations edited by the author, a smaller type has been made use of whenever there is a possibility of confusing them with the text of the answer. Whenever they make up a whole chapter and there is no possibility of any confusion, the same type is used for the questions and answer.
51 The Book From The Spirits
3. May it be said that God is infinity? “This is an incomplete definition due to the poorness of the human language, insufficient to define what transcends the language of men.” God is infinite in his perfection, but infinity is an abstraction. To say that God is infinity is to replace the attribute of a thing by means of the thing itself, it is like defining something unknown in terms of something else even more unknown.
PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
4. Where may the existence of God be found? “In the same axiom you apply to your sciences, namely, there is no effect without a cause. Seek the cause of everything that is not man made and your reason will give you an answer.” It is enough to cast an eye on the works of Creation to believe in God. The Universe exits, ergo there is a cause. To doubt the existence of God is to deny that every effect has a cause and further suppose that nothingness may produce something. 5. What may be concluded from the inborn feeling that all men have of the existence of God? “That God exists; from whence would this feeling come if it did not have a base? It still is a consequence of the principle – there is no effect without a cause.” 6. Could the intimate feeling we have of the existence of God not result from our education, thus resulting from acquired ideas? “If it were so, why would this feeling exists in your savages?” If the feeling of a supreme being were just the product of teachings, it would not be universal and would not exist but in those who have received such teachings as it happens with scientific notions.
52 Allan Kardec
7. Could it be possible to find the primary cause of the formation of things in the intimate properties of matter? “If so, what would be the cause of these properties? It is indispensable to always have a primary cause”
To attribute the primary formation of things to the intimate properties of matter would be like taking he effect for the cause. After all, the properties themselves like every effect are to have a cause. 8. What is to be thought of the opinion of those who attribute the primary formation to a casual combination of matter, or better, to chance? “Another absurdity! What man having good sense may consider chance to be an intelligent being? And, what is more, what is chance? Nothing.”
The harmony existing in the mechanism of the Universe discloses certain combinations and intentions and due to this, they reveal an intelligent power. To attribute the primary formation to chance is an absurdity for chance is blind and can not produce the effects that intelligence produces. An intelligent chance would not be a chance. 9. What reveals itself as intelligence in the primary cause that is supreme and superior to all intelligences? “You have a proverb that says ‘It is through the work that you know its author’. Well then, look at the work and seek its author. It is vanity that generates incredulity. A proud man does not admit anything above him. That is why he calls himself a strong spirit. A poor being that a blow of God may abate!”
The power of intelligence may be judged by its work. No human being is able to create whatever nature has produced; consequently, the primary cause is a kind of intelligence superior to human beings.
Whatever wonders human intelligence has produced; this intelligence itself has a cause and the greater the intelligence, the greater the primary cause has to be. That superior intelligence is the primary cause of all things, no matter what name it has been given.
53 The Book From The Spirits
ATTRIBUTES OF DIVINITY
10. May man understand the intimate nature of God? “No, he lacks the necessary sense for this.” 11. Shall man be given the ability of understanding the mystery of Divinity some day? “Only after man does not have his spirit obscured by matter any longer. When through his perfection he has come closer to God, he will see and understand Him.” The inferiority of the faculties of man does not allow him to understand the intimate nature of God. Since the childhood of humanity, man has often mixed up God with the creature whose imperfections are attributed to him; however, as moral sense evolves in man, his thought penetrates the core of things better; then he will make a better idea of Divinity and, although still incomplete, it will be closer to a more precise reasoning. 12. Although we may not understand the intimate nature of God, may we have an idea of some of his perfections? “Of some, yes. Man understands them better as he elevates himself above matter. He will have a glimpse of them through thought.” 13. When we say that God is eternal, infinite, unchangeable, immaterial, unique, all-powerful, sovereignly upright and good, do we have a complete idea of his attributes? “From your point of view, yes, because you believe you comprehend everything. However, you should know that there are things that transcend the most intelligent man which your language, restricted to your ideas and feelings and does not have the means to express. Actually reason tells you that God must have these perfections in a supreme degree, for if one of them were lacking, or were not infinite, God would not be superior to everything, consequently it would not be God. To transcend all things, God must be exempt of any imperfection that imagination may conceive.”
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God is eternal. If God had a beginning, He would have come out from nothing, or else, He would also have to have been created by a previous being. This is how we re-ascend to infinity and to eternity.
God is unchangeable. If God were liable to changes, the laws ruling the Universe would have no stability.
God is immaterial. This is to say that His nature differs from everything we call matter. Otherwise, He would not be unchangeable for He would be liable to the changes of matter.
God is unique. If there were many Gods, there would be no unity of sights, nor a unity of power to ordinate the Universe.
God is all-powerful. He is all-powerful because He is unique. If He had not the sovereign power, there would be something more powerful than Him or as powerful as He is and consequently He would not have created all things. Those things He had not created would have been created by another God.
God is sovereignly upright and good. The providential wisdom of Devine laws reveals itself not only in the smallest things, but also in greater things and this wisdom does not allow us to doubt neither of the sovereignty, nor of the kindness of God.
PANTEISM
14. Is God a distinct being or is He, as some think, the resulting force of all forces and of all the intelligences of the Universe put together? “If God were like that, He would not exist for He would be the effect and not the cause. He can not be both things at the same time. “God exists; of this you cannot doubt and He is essential. Believe me, do not go beyond. Avoid entering a labyrinth which you cannot manage to exit. This will not improve you, but rather, make you feel a little more proud for believing you know when actually you know nothing. Thus, leave all these systems behind; you have many things that are closer to you beginning with yourself. Study
55 The Book From The Spirits your own imperfections in order to free yourself from them which will be much more useful than to penetrate what is impenetrable.” 15. What is to be thought of the opinion according to which all the bodies of Nature, all beings, all the globes of the Universe, would be part of the Divinity and would all together make up the Divinity, or rather, what should be thought of the pantheistic doctrine? “Not being able to make himself be God, man wants at least to be part of God.” 16. Those who profess the pantheistic doctrine intend to find in it the demonstration of some of the attributes of God, namely, that the worlds are infinite making God also be infinite due to this; if there is no emptiness, or nothing nowhere, God is everywhere; being God everywhere, for everything is an integral part of God, He gives to all phenomena of Nature the reason of being intelligent. What may be against this reasoning? “Reason itself. Think maturely and it will not be difficult to recognize the absurdity.” This doctrine makes God be a material being that, although gifted with a supreme intelligence, would be a large speckle of what we are in a small speckle. So, if matter changes ceaselessly, God would not have any stability; He would be liable to all unpredictable changes, even to all the needs of Humanity; He would be lacking one of the attributes essential of Divinity, the immutability. The properties of matter cannot be linked with the idea of God without having Him be lowered in view of our understanding and there will not be enough subtleties of sophisms to solve the problem of His intimate nature. We do not know what He is, but we know what He should be and the system we are dealing with is in contradiction with His most essential properties. It mixes up the Creator with the creature, exactly as whoever intends that a resourceful machine is an integral part of the mechanic who designed it. The intelligence of God reveals itself through his works like a painter through his paintings, but the works of God are not God himself in the same way that the painting is not the painter who conceived and carried it out.
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CHAPTER II
On the general elements of the Universe The knowledge of the beginning of things Spirit and matter The properties of matter
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE BEGINNING OF THINGS
17. Is it given to man to know the beginning of things? “No, it is not. God does not allow everything to be disclosed to man in this world.” 18. Will man ever penetrate the mystery of things that are hidden to him? “The veil will be lifted from his eyes as he purifies himself; but to understand certain things he needs abilities he does not have yet.” 19. May man not penetrate some secrets of nature through scientific investigations? “Science has been given to man for his advancement in all things; however, man cannot go beyond the limits God has set.” The more man manages to penetrate into the mysteries, the greater will be his admiration regarding the power and wisdom of the Creator. However, be it due to his pride, or weakness, his own intelligence makes it be the tool of his imagination. He piles up systems upon systems and every passing day shows him how many errors he has accepted as truths and how many truths rejected as errors. These are some of the many other deceptions for his pride. 20. Is it given to man to receive communications of a higher order on what he misses in the evidences through his senses without using the means of scientific investigation?
57 The Book From The Spirits
“Yes, it is. God may reveal what is not given through science if He finds it convenient.”
It is through this communication that man gains the knowledge of his past and of his future within certain limits.
SPIRIT AND MATTER
21. Matter exists since all eternity, in the same way God does, or was matter created by God at a certain moment? “Only God knows it. But there is something that reason points out, namely, that God, being a model of love and charity, has never been inactive. No matter how far back you decide o set the beginning of his action, how can you ever conceive him being idle even for a little moment?” 22. It is usually defined that matter is what has extension, what is able to be detected by our senses, that which is impenetrable. Are these definitions correct? “Yes, from your point of view they are because you express yourself only in terms of what you know. But matter exists in states you ignore. It may, for instance, be so ethereal and subtle that it does not cause any impression on your senses. It is, nevertheless, always matter. However, it would not be matter to you.” a) What definition may you give us of matter? “Matter is the bond that binds the spirit; it is the instrument that the spirit makes use of and on which it exerts its action at the same time.” From this point of view it may be said that matter is the agent, the intermediary with whose help and on which the spirit acts. 23. What is a spirit? “It is the intelligent principle of the Universe.”
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a) What is the intimate nature of a spirit? “It is not easy to analyze a spirit by using your language. A spirit is nothing to you because it is not tangible. For us, however, it is something. Beware that no thing means nothingness which does not exist.” 24. Is the spirit synonymous to intelligence? “Intelligence is an essential attribute of a spirit. But both merge into a single principle so that it becomes the same thing to you.” 25. Is a spirit independent of matter or is it only a property of matter, like colors are regarding light and a sound regarding the air? “They are distinct one from each other, but the union of a spirit with matter is necessary to intellectualize matter.” a) Is this union also necessary for the manifestation of a spirit? (By spirit we understand here the principle of intelligence, an abstraction made of the individualities denominated by this name.) “It is necessary for you since you are not organized fitly to perceive a spirit without matter. Your senses are not suitable for this.” 26. May a spirit be conceived without matter and matter without a spirit? “Yes, it may doubtlessly through thought.” 27. Then are there two general elements of the Universe, matter and spirit? “Yes, and above all God, the creator, the father of all things. God, matter and spirit make up the beginning of everything that exists; the universal trinity. But to the material element, the universal fluid has to be joined to perform the intermediary role between spirit and matter, no matter how coarse matter may be, in order to have a spirit exert its action on it. Although it is licit to classify the universal fluid as a material element, it distinguishes itself from matter though its special properties. If the universal fluid were positively matter, there would be no reason for the
59 The Book From The Spirits spirit not to be considered as being matter as well. The universal fluid is placed between spirit and matter; it is fluid in the same way matter is matter, and susceptible through its countless combinations with matter to produce an infinite variety o things of which you know only a small part. This universal fluid, either primitive or elemental, being the main agent the spirit makes use of, is the principle without which matter would be in a perpetual state of division and would never acquire the qualities that gravity lends it.” a) May this fluid be what we call electricity? “We have said that the universal fluid is susceptible to form many combinations. What you call electrical fluid, magnetic fluid, are modifications of the universal fluid which is, properly speaking, only a more perfect matter, more subtle and that may be considered as being independent.” 28. Being a spirit a thing by itself, would it not be more exact and less liable of confusion to give to both general elements the designation of – inert matter and intelligent matter? “The words you use make no difference. It is your competence to formulate your language so as to understand each other. Your controversies stem almost always from the fact that you do not understand each other regarding the wording used because your language is incomplete to express what does not affect your senses.” An actual fact dominates every hypothesis. We see matter deprived from intelligence and we see an intelligent principle that is independent of matter. The origin and the connection of these two things are unknown to us. We ignore completely whether they have sprouted from a single source; whether there are points of contact between them; whether the intelligence has an existence of its own; whether it is a property or an effect; whether it is truly an emanation from Divinity. They are shown to us as being distinct; that is why we consider them forming two constitutive principles of the Universe. Above all this, we see an intelligence dominating all others by ruling them and distinguishing itself
60 Allan Kardec from them through essential attributes. This supreme intelligence is what we call God.
ON THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER
29. Is ponderability an essential attribute of matter? “Of the matter you understand, yes, but not of the matter considered as the universal fluid. The ethereal matter making up this fluid is imponderable to you. Nonetheless, it still is the principle of your ponderable matter.” Gravity is a relative property. Outside the sphere of attraction of the worlds, there is no weight, in the same way there is no upward or downward. 30. Is matter made up of a single or of multiple elements? “Of only a single primitive element. The bodies you consider as being simple are not actually elements, but rather, the transformations of primitive matter.” 31. Whence have the properties of matter come from? “From the modifications the elementary molecules undergo as an effect of their bonds under certain circumstances.” 32. According to what you have come to tell us, flavors, smells, colors, sound, poisonous or beneficial qualities of bodies are nothing more than modifications of a single primitive substance? “Yes, undoubtedly for they only exist due to the disposition of the organs destined to perceive them” The demonstration of this principle is based on the fact that not everybody perceives the quality of the bodies in the same manner. While something pleases the taste of a person, to another it is detestable; what some see as being blue, is red to others; what is a poison to some, may be harmless to others or even beneficial. 33. Is the same elementary matter susceptible to experience all modifications and to acquire all properties?
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“Yes, and this is what you should understand when we say that everything is in everything.” 4 Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon and all the bodies we consider a being simple, are just modifications of a primitive substance. Due to the impossibility of going back to the origin of this primary matter except through thought, these bodies are to us actual elements and we may think of them as such without any greater consequence until a new order shows up. a) Does it not seem that this theory agrees with those who do not admit matter to have more than two essential properties, namely, force and motion, understanding that all remaining properties are nothing more than secondary effects varying according to the intensity of the force and the direction of the motion? This opinion is correct. There needs only to be added that according to the disposition of the molecules as in an opaque body, the same body may become transparent, and vice-versa” 34. Do molecules have a determined form? “Certainly, molecules do have a form; however, you are not able to appreciate them.” a) – Is this form constant or variable? “Primitive elementary molecules have a constant form; secondary molecules are variable for they are nothing more than clusters of the former. What you call molecule is still far away from a primitive elementary molecule.”
(4) This principle explains the phenomenon know to all magnetizers which consists of giving, through the action of will power, to a substance like water for instance, various properties having a particular taste and even the active qualities of other substances. Provided there is not more than one primitive element and that the properties of different bodies are just modifications of this element, what follows is that the most inoffensive substance has the same principle than of the most deleterious one. Thus, water made up of one part of oxygen and two of hydrogen becomes corrosive by duplicating the rate of oxygen. Analogous transformations may be produced by the magnetic action through will power.
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UNIVERSAL SPACE
35. Is the Universal space infinite or limited? “It is infinite. If it is supposed to be limited, what is there beyond its limits? This confuses reason, I know well; however, reason also tells you that it cannot be otherwise. The same thing happens regarding the infiniteness in all things. It is not in the small sphere you are now in that you will be able to comprehend it.” Suppose there is a limit to Space, no matter how far away imagination puts its end, reason tells us that there must exist something beyond this limit and so, up to infinity for, although this something were an absolute emptiness, it still would be Space. 36. Is there an absolute vacuum somewhere in the universal Space? “No, there is not for vacuum does not exist. What seems void to you is filled with matter that fails your senses and instruments.”
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CHAPTER III
On Creation Formation of worlds Formation of living beings Peopling the Earth. Adam Human race diversity Pluraly of words Considerations and biblical conformities regarding creation
FORMATION OF WORLDS
The Universe comprises an infinite number of worlds we see and do not see, all animated and unanimated beings, all stars moving in space as well as the fluids filling it. 37. Was the Universe created or does it exist in all eternity like God? “It is obvious that the Universe has not created itself. If it existed in all eternity like God, it would not be the work of God.” Reason tells us that it is impossible for the Universe to have created itself and that its creation was also not by chance, thus it must be the work of God. 38. How has God created the Universe? “By using a current expression I say that it was through His volition. Nothing characterizes better this all powerful will than the beauty of the words in Genesis – “God said: Let there be light and light was made.” 39. Is it possible for man to know the manner worlds are formed? “All that may be said regarding this, so that you understand it, is that worlds are formed by the condensation of matter disseminated in Space.”
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40. Would comets be a beginning of the condensation of matter, worlds in the way of formation, as it is now thought of? “This is right. Absurd, however, is to believe in the influence of them. I mean the influence commonly attributed to them, for all celestial bodies influence specific physical phenomena in a certain way.” 41. May a world totally formed disappear and disseminate in Space the matter it is made up of? “Yes, it may. God renews the worlds in the same way He renews all living beings.” 42. Is it possible to know the time it takes for the formation of worlds, of the Earth, for instance? “There is nothing I may say regarding this for only the Creator knows it and quite insane would someone be who thinks he knows it, or knows the number of eons it takes for this formation.”
FORMATION OF ALL LIVING BEINGS
43. When did the Earth begin to be inhabited? “At the beginning everything was chaos, the elements were in confusion. Little by little every thing took its place. Then the living beings suitable to the condition of the globe appeared.” 44. Where did the living beings of the Earth come from? “The Earth contained germs waiting for a favorable moment to unfold. The organic principles were brought together from the moment the force maintaining them apart ceased and thus, the germs of all living beings were formed. These germs remained in a latent state of rest like a chrysalis or the seeds of a plant, until the propitious moment for the outburst of every species. The beings of each of these species gathered and then multiplied themselves.” 45. Where were the organic elements prior to the formation of the Earth? “They were in a fluidic state in Space, so to speak, among the
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Spirits, or in other planets waiting for the creation of the Earth to begin a new existence as a new globe.” Chemistry shows us the molecules of organic bodies joining in bonds to form crystals in a constant regularity according to the kind of molecules, provided they are under precise conditions. The slightest perturbation of these conditions is enough to block the gathering of the elements or, at least, to obstruct the regular disposition making up the crystal. Why would it not be the same regarding organic elements? For years have germs of plants and animals been preserved that do not evolve unless they are at a certain temperature and a have suitable environment. We have seen grains of wheat germinate after centuries. There is then a latent principle of vitality in these germs that just waits for a favorable circumstance to evolve. Whatever happens under our sight every day, why may it not have happened since the origin of the earthly globe? Would the formation of living beings after chaos, by means of the same force of Nature, diminish in some way the greatness of God? Far from this, for it actually corresponds better to the idea we have of His power exerting it on the infinite number of worlds through eternal laws. This theory does not solve the problem of the origin of the vital elements, it is true; but God has his mysteries and has placed boundaries to our investigations. 46. Are there still beings being born spontaneously? “Yes, there are, but the primitive germ already existed in a latent state. You witness daily this phenomenon. Do not the tissues of the human body and of the animals contain the germs of a multitude of maggots just waiting to unfold for the putrid fermentation which is necessary for their existence? It is a minute world that drowses and creates itself.” 47. Is the human species among the organic elements contained in the earthly globe? “Yes, and it came at its right time. This is what gave rise to the idea that man was formed from the mud of the Earth.” 48. May we know the moment man as well as the other living beings appeared on the Earth? “No, because all your calculations are but a dream.”
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49. If the germ of the human species was among the organic elements of the globe, why are men not formed spontaneously as at the origin of times? “The beginning of things is within the secrets of God. However, it maybe said that men, once spread throughout the Earth, have absorbed in themselves the necessary elements for their own formation in order to transfer them according to the laws of reproduction. The same thing happened to all the different species of living beings.”
PEOPLING THE EARTH. ADAM
50. Did the human species begin with a single man? “No, for the one you call Adam was not the first man, nor the only one to people the Earth.” 51. Is it possible to know when Adam has lived in the past? “At more or less the time you attribute it, about 4,000 years before Christ.” The man whose tradition has been kept under the name of Adam was one of those who survived the great cataclysms in a particular region that has revolved the surface of the globe in different ages and makes up the spine of one of the races peopling the globe at present. The laws of Nature are against the progress of humanity accomplished within a few centuries, a progress testified a long time before Christ as should have happened if man had existed on the Earth only since the time indicated for the existence of Adam. Many persons seem to be right in considering Adam a myth or an allegory personifying the first ages of the world.
HUMAN RACE DIVERSITY
52. Where do the physical and moral differences distinguishing the human races on the Earth come from?
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“They come from the climate, from life and social habits. It happens with them as it happens with two children of a same mother that if educated far apart and in different manners, they will not resemble each other regarding their moral.” 53. Has man appeared in many places on the globe? “Yes, and at different times. This is also one of the causes of the diversity of races. By having men spreading through different climates and by joining one race with another, new types have been formed.” a) – Do these differences consist of distinct species? “Certainly not. All are of the same family. Does the multiple variety of a same fruit be a reason for the fruits not to form a single species?” 54. Due to the fact that the human species has not come from a single individual, should men cease considering themselves as brothers? “All men are brothers in God because each is animated by a spirit and tends towards the same goal. You are always prone to take the words by their literal meaning.”
PLURALITY OF WORLDS
55. Are all the globes that move in space inhabited? “Yes, they are and man is far from being the first in intelligence, kindness and perfection, as he thinks he is. However, there are men that suppose they are very strong spirits. They imagine that this small globe has the privilege of containing rational beings. Pride and vanity! They think that God has created the Universe only for them.” God has inhabited the worlds with living beings, having all these beings competing with one another to reach the final aim of the Providence. To believe in the existence of living beings only in the planet we live on is to doubt the wisdom of God who has created no useless things. It is sure that He must have given a more serious destination to the worlds than to simply please our yes.
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Moreover, there is nothing in the position of the Earth, in its size, in its physical constitution that may induce man to suppose that it has the privilege of being inhabited by excluding thousands of millions of similar worlds. 56. Do all different globes have the same constitution? “No, by no means, but they resemble one another.” 57. By not having the worlds a single physical constitution, does it follow that the beings inhabiting them have different organizations? “Yes, they undoubtedly have, in the same way that your fish are made to live in the water and the birds in then air.” 58. Are the more distant worlds from the sun deprived of light and heat for the reason that the sun has only the appearance of a star? “Do you think then that there are no other sources of light and heat besides the sun? Do you not take into account electricity that in certain worlds perform a role unknown to you and far more important than it is to carry out on the Earth? Furthermore, did we not say that all beings are made up with the same matter than you are and with organs having an identical conformation with yours?” The conditions for the existence of the beings inhabiting different worlds have to be suitable to the environment in which they are to live in. If we had never seen fish, we would not understand that fish are able to live in water. So it happens regarding other worlds that no doubt have elements unknown to us. Do we not see on the Earth the long polar nights being illuminated by the electrical displays of the aurora borealis? What impossibility is there for electricity in some worlds to be more abundant than here on the Earth and carry out an overall function whose effects we do not understand? Therefore, it may well be that these worlds generate in themselves sources of light and heat necessary for their inhabitants.
CONSIDERATIONS AND BIBLICAL CONFORMITIES REGARDING CREATION
59. The peoples of the Earth have formed very divergent ideas regarding Creation according to their enlightenment. Supported
69 The Book From The Spirits by science, reason has recognized the inveracity of some of these theories. The theory that Spirits have presented us confirms the opinion long shared by the more enlightened men. The objection that may be made is of being the theory in contradiction with the text of the sacred books. But, a serious examination will show that the contradiction is more seemingly than real and that it stems from the interpretation made on what often had only an allegorical sense. The question of having Adam been the first man to be exclusively responsible for the origin of humanity is not the only one to which the religious beliefs had to adapt themselves. The motion of the Earth at a certain time in the past was so contrary to the words of the bible that it gave rise to persecution. However, the Earth keeps on turning in spite of the anathemas and nowadays no one is against it for otherwise, it ends up being a grievance to one’s own reason. The bible also says that the world was created in six days and places the moment of creation about 4,000 years before the Christian time. Before that the Earth did not exist; it was created from nothingness; the text is formal about it. Then, positive science appeared, the inexorable science, to prove the opposite. The history of the Earthly globe is written with irrecusable characters in the world of fossils, being proved now that the day of creation points to many more periods, each of them having perhaps hundreds of thousand of years. This is not a system, a doctrine, an isolated opinion; it is a fact as sure as is the motion of the Earth which Theology can not deny to admit, thus evidently showing us the error one is prone to fall in when expressions of an often figurative language are taken literally. Should one conclude then that the Bible is wrong? No, the conclusion drawn is that men were wrong in their interpretation of the Bible. By excavating the files of the Earth, Science has discovered in what order the living beings appeared on the surface, an order that complies with what is said in the book of Genesis. However,
70 Allan Kardec one should notice the difference in that the work instead of having been miraculously created by God in a few hours was accomplished always by His volition, but according to the law of the forces of Nature throughout millions of years. Does this mean that God is smaller and less powerful? Has he lost the sublimity of his work for not having had the prestige of instantaneousness? Undoubtedly, not. It would be a very scanty idea of Divinity not to recognize His omnipotence in the Eternal laws He has set to rule the worlds. Science, far from diminishing the Devine work, shows us the creation in a more grandiose aspect and closer to the notion we have of the power and majesty of God, more so for Science accomplishing it without derogation of the laws of Nature. Agreeing with Moses, Science places man in the last place in the order of creation of living beings. However, Moses points out that the universal deluge happened in the year 4,654 after the formation of the world, whereas Geology tells us that the great cataclysm happened before the appearance of man for we have not found any physical traces of man in the primitive layers of the Earth, nor of animals of the same category. However, there is nothing that proves it to be impossible. Many discoveries have already bought up doubts regarding it. It may be that sooner or later a material certainty of the anteriority of the human race will be found and then it will be acknowledged that regarding this issue as well as in many other issues, the biblical text contains a figurative language. The question is to know if the geological cataclysm is the same that Noah witnessed. Well, the time necessary to form layers containing fossils does not allow for any confusion and provided vestiges of the existence of man found prior to the great catastrophe, it will be proved that either Adam was not the first man or that his creation lost itself in the past. Against evidences there are no possible arguments; facts like the motion of the Earth that was bound to be accepted, so the six periods of creation will also have to be accepted. The existence of man prior to the geological deluge is still hypothetical. But there is something that is less hypothetical. Admitting that man has appeared for the first time on the Earth
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4,000 years before Christ and that 1,650 years later, all the human race was destroyed with the exception of only a single family, it results that the peopling of the Earth dates only from Noah onwards, that is, 2,350 years before our era. On the other hand, when the Hebrews emigrated to Egypt in the eighteenth century after the first appearance of man on the Earth, they found the country very inhabited and already quite advanced as a civilization. History proves that at the time India and other countries were also thriving without even taking into account the chronology of particular peoples going back to a much earlier time. In this case it means that from the twenty eighth up to the eighteenth century, a length of 600 years, not only the offspring of a single man would be able to people the enormous countries known at the time, supposing that the other countries were not peopled, but also that the human species would have been able to rise from absolute intellectual ignorance of a primitive state up to the highest intellectual development which is contrary to all anthropological laws. The diversity of races also corroborates this opinion. The climate and the habits certainly produce modifications in the physical environment; however, it is not known up to what point the influence of these causes can go. Nevertheless, the physiological examination shows among particular races that there are constitutional differences much greater than the climate is able to determine. The crossbreeding of the races gives rise to intermediary types. It then tends to erase external features, but it does not create them; just producing varieties. Thus, for there to have been crossbreeding, there had to be distinct races. However, how may the existence of them be explained by attributing them a same origin and, above all, within such a little period of time? How is it possible to admit that after just a few centuries some descendents of Noah have changed so much that they turned into the Ethiopian race, for example? In the same way, it is inadmissible to have a similar metamorphosis if there were a common origin for the wolf and the lamb, for the elephant and the aphid, for the bird and the fish. Once more, nothing may prevail against the evidence of facts.
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Instead, everything explains itself if it is admitted that man existed prior to the time which is commonly set for his appearance; that diverse is his origin; that Adam, having existed 6,000 years ago, has peopled an area still inhabited; the deluge of Noah was a partial catastrophe which is confounded with a geological catastrophe; and at last, paying attention to the allegorical form so peculiar to the oriental style, a form we are faced with in the sacred books of all peoples. This makes us see how prudent it is not to cast the unreflective defect by considering false the doctrines that may, sooner or later, as so many others, deny those who have fought against them. The religious ideas will be exalted for they are far from losing something and they will come to be placed side by side with Science. This is the only means of not opening a vulnerable side for skepticism.
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CHAPTER IV
On the Vital Principle Organic and inorganic beings Life and death Inteligence and instinct
ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BEINGS
The organic beings are the beings that have in themselves a source of an intimate activity that gives them life. They are born, they grow, they reproduce themselves by themselves e they die. They are provided with special organs to carry out different acts in life, organs that are suitable to the needs demanded for their own preservation. This class of beings comprises men, animals and plants. Inorganic beings are all those that lack vitality, self motion and that form themselves only through the aggregation of matter. Examples are minerals, water, air, etc. 60. Is it the same the force that binds the elements of matter in an organic and inorganic body? “Yes, it is. The law of attraction is the same for all.” 61. Is there a difference between the matter of an organic and inorganic body?” “Matter is always the same; however, in organic bodies it is animalized.” 62. What is the cause of the animalization of matter? “Its coalescence with the vital principle.” 63. Is the vital principle restricted to a particular agent or is it just a property of organized matter? In other words, is it an effect or a cause? “Neither one. Life is an effect due to the action of an agent
74 Allan Kardec on matter. This agent, without matter, is not life, in the same way that matter can not live without this agent. It lends life to all beings that absorb and assimilate it.” 64. We have seen that spirit and matter are two constructive elements of the Universe. Is the vital principle a third one? “It is undoubtedly one of the elements necessary for the constitution of the Universe, but it also has its origin in the modified universal matter. It is an element to you, as is oxygen and hydrogen which, however, are not primitive elements for all of them derive from only a single principle.” a)From this seems to result that vitality does not have its principle in a primitive agent, in a distinct primitive agent, but rather, in a particular property of universal matter, due to certain modifications. “This is the consequence of what we have said.” 65. Does the vital principle lie within some of the bodies we know of? “It has as its source the universal fluid. It is what you call magnetic fluid, or animalized electrical fluid. The vital principle is an intermediary state between Spirit and matter.” 66. Is the vital principle unique to all organic beings? “Yes, it is, but it is modified according to the species. It is the vital principle that lends motion and activity to organic beings distinguishing them from inert matter, for the motion of matter is not life. Life receives this motion, rather than giving it off.” 67. Is vitality a permanent attribute of the vital agent, or does it solely evolve through the functioning of the organs? “Vitality only evolves with the body. Have we not said that this agent without matter is not life? A coalescence of both is necessary to produce life.” a) May it be said then that vitality remains in a latent state when the vital agent is not united with the body? “Yes, that is correct.”
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A set of organs makes up a kind of mechanism receiving the driving action of an intimate activity or vital principle existing among the organs. The vital principle is a driving force of organic beings. At the same time that the vital agent drives the organs, the action the organs evolves the vital agent, almost as it happens regarding friction that builds up heat.
LIFE AND DEATH
68. What is the cause of death of all organic beings? “The depletion of the organs.” a) May death be compared to the ceasing of the motion of a disorganized machine? “Yes, it may for if a machine is badly set up, it stops its motion; if a body is ill, life extinguishes itself.” 69. Why does a lesion of the heart bring about death much faster than the lesion on other organs? “The heart is the machine of life; however, it is not the only organ whose lesion brings about death. The heart is not but an essential part of the body” 70. What happens to matter and the vital principle of organic beings after they die? “The inert matter decays and ends up forming new organisms. The vital principle returns to the mass whence it came from.” Once the organic being is dead, the elements making it up are subjected to new combinations resulting in new beings withdrawing the principle of life and activity from the universal source, absorbing and assimilating them to again return them to its source after ceasing to exist. Organs impregnate themselves, so to speak, with the vital fluid and this fluid lends to all parts of the organism an activity that makes them communicate among themselves in the case of some particular lesions and normalizes the functions disturbed momentarily. But when the elements essential for the
76 Allan Kardec functioning of organs are destroyed, or almost depleted, the vital fluid becomes powerless to transmit the motion of life and the being dies.
The organs necessarily respond to one another and from this reciprocating action results the harmony within the set of organs they are part of. If this harmony is destroyed for some reason, the functioning of them ceases, like the motion of the machine whose main parts have become disarranged. This is what happens, for instance, when a watch has its parts worn out, or suffers an accidental impact; its driving force becomes powerless to make the watch work again.
We may have a better idea of life and death by looking over an electrical appliance. It has electricity in a latent state like all bodies of Nature. However, the electrical phenomenon takes place only after the fluid is put in motion through a special cause. It may then be said that the appliance is alive. As soon as the cause of activity ceases, the phenomenon also ceases; the appliance returns to the state of inertia. The organic bodies are then a kind of voltaic cells or electric appliances in which the quantity of fluid determines the phenomenon of life. The ceasing of this activity brings about death.
The quantity of fluid is not absolute in all organic beings. It varies according to the species and is not constant, be it in every individual, be it in the individuals of a species. There are some individuals that are saturated, so to speak, with this fluid, while others have just an enough quantity of it. Consequently, some individuals lead a more active life; they are more tenacious and super- productive in a way.
The quantity of vital fluid depletes itself along life. It may become insufficient for the preservation of life if it is not renewed by absorbing and assimilating it from substances containing it.
The vital fluid transmits itself from one individual to another. Whoever has it in a greater portion may donate it to another having a smaller portion and in some cases extend a life that is about to extinguish itself.
INTELLIGENCE AND INSTINCT
71. Is intelligence an attribute of the vital principle?
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“No, it is not, for plants live and do not think; they just have an organic life. Intelligence and matter are independent entities since a body may live without intelligence, but it is only through material organs that it may manifest itself. It is necessary to have a spirit joining animalized matter to intellectualize intelligence.” Intelligence is a special ability, peculiar to some organic classes and, when joined with thought, gives them the desire of acting, the consciousness that they exist, that each has its individuality as well as the means of establishing relations with the outside world and of looking after their needs. Thus, one may distinguish 1st. unanimated beings having no vitality, no intelligence. They are the coarse bodies; 2nd. animated beings that do not think, made up of matter and gifted with vitality, but devoided of intelligence; 3rd. thinking animated beings, made up of matter, gifted with vitality and having one more intelligent principle granting them the ability of thinking. 72. What is the source of intelligence? “As we have already said, the universal intelligence.” a) May it be said that every being withdraws a portion of intelligence from the universal source and assimilates it in the same way it assimilates the principle of material life? “This is nothing but a simple comparison, yet inaccurate because intelligence is an ability of its own; of every being making up its moral individuality. Furthermore, as you know, there are things which man is not allowed yet to penetrate and this is one of them.” 73. Is instinct independent from intelligence? “Not exactly, that is why instinct is a kind of intelligence. It is an intelligence having no reasoning. It is through the instinct that beings look after their needs.” 74. Is it possible to set a line of separation between instinct and intelligence, that is, determine where one ends and the other begins? “No, it is not, because they often confound each other. But their actions may be well distinguished by analyzing whether they result from instinct or from intelligence.”
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75. Is it correct to say that the instinctive abilities decrease as the intellectual ones increase? “No, it is not. Instinct always exists, but man neglects it. Instinct may also lead towards goodness. It almost always guides us and sometimes having a greater reliability than reason. It never misleads. a) Why is reason not always an infallible guide? “It would be infallible were it not misrepresented by a bad education, by pride and by selfishness. Instinct does not reason; reason allows a choice and lends man his free will.” Instinct is a rudimentary intelligence differing from intelligence itself in that its manifestations are almost always spontaneous whereas the manifestations of intelligence result from a combination and from a calculated act. The manifestation of an instinct varies according to the species and their needs. In the beings having consciousness and a perception of external things, instinct allies itself with intelligence, that is, with will and freedom.
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PART 02
The spiritistic realm or the realm of the Spirits Chapter I - on Spirits Chapter II - on the encarnation os Spirits Chapter III - on the return of a Spirit to the spiritual life, once the fisical life is extinguished Chapter IV - on the pluraly of existences Chapter V - considerations on the pluraly of existences Chapter VI - on the spiritistic life Chapter VII - on the return of a Spirit to the physical life Chapter VIII - on the emancipation of the soul Chapter IX - on the intervention of Spirits in the physical realm Chapter X - on the occupations and missions of Spirits Chapter XI - on the three kingdoms
CHAPTER I
On Spirits The origin and nature of Spirits The normal primitive realm The form and ubiquity of Spirits The perispirit Different orders of Spirits The Hierarchy of Spirits Third order Spirits – Imperfect Spirits
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Second order Spirits – Good Spirits First Order Spirits – Pure Spirits The progression of Spirits Angels and demons
THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SPIRITS
76. What definition may be made of Spirits? “It may be said that Spirits are the intelligent beings of the creation. They populate the Universe outside of the material realm.” Note – The word Spirit as used here refers to the individuality of extracorporeal beings and not any longer to the intelligent element of the Universe. 77. Are Spirits beings that are distinct from Godhood or are they simple emanations, or part of it, and that is why they are called the children of God? “My God! They are the work of God just as a machine is the work of a man manufacturing it. The machine is the work of man, but it is not man himself. You know well that when somebody makes something beautiful and useful, man calls it as being his child, his creation. Well then, the same thing happens regarding God; we are his children for we are his creation.” 78. Did Spirits have a beginning or do they exist from all eternity like God? “If they did not have a beginning, they would be equal to God; instead they are His creation and are submitted to his will. That God exists since all eternity is incontestable. However, regarding how He created us and at what moment, we know nothing of. He must have been creating Spirits ceaselessly. But how and when each of us was created, I repeat, nobody knows; this is where the mystery lies.” 79. Since there are two general elements in the Universe, namely, the intelligent element and the material element, may it be said that Spirits are made up of the intelligent element in the same way inert bodies are made up of the material element?
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“Yes, evidently. Spirits are the individualization of the intelligent principle, as the bodies are the individualization of the material principle. Unknown to us is the moment and the mode of how this formation was operated.” 80. Is the creation of Spirits permanent or did it only take place at the origin of time? “It is permanent, that is, God has never stopped creating.” 81. Do Spirits form themselves spontaneously or do they stem from one another? “God creates them as He creates all other creatures, through His volition. But, I repeat again, the origin of them is a mystery.” 82. Is it correct to say that Spirits are immaterial? “How is it possible to define something when there is a lack of words for a comparison and a poor language? Is a blind born person able to define light? Immaterial is not quite the word; incorporeal would be more accurate for you should understand that being a creation, a Spirit has to be something. It is quintessentialized matter, but there is no analogy for you. It is so ethereal that it remains entirely out of the range of your senses.” We say that Spirits are immaterial because they differ from everything we know regarding the word matter. A group of blinds would lack words to express light and its effects. A blind born person believes to be able to perceive everything through his hearing, taste and touch. He does not understand the ideas which could only be given to him through the sense he lacks. We are all blind regarding the essence of beings that are above humans. We are not able to define them except through always imperfect comparisons, or else, through an effort of imagination. 83. Do spirits have and end? It is understood that the principle from which they emanate is eternal, but what we ask is if their individualities have an end and if, at a certain more or less long time, do the elements forming them not disseminate and return to the mass where they came from as it happens with material bodies? It is hard to conceive that something that has had a beginning is not to have an end.
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“There are many things you do not understand because you have a limited intelligence. However, this is not a reason to repel such things. A son does not understand everything that is understandable to his father, nor does an ignorant understand everything a wise man learns. We say that the existence of Spirits has no end. That is all we may say for now.”
THE NORMAL PRIMITIVE REALM
84. Do Spirits make up a realm that is apart, away from the realm we see? “Yes, the realm of Spirits, or of incorporeal intelligences.” 85. Which of the two realms, the spiritistic realm or the corporal realm, is the main realm within the order of things? “It is the spiritistic realm for it pre-existed and survives everything.” 86. May the corporeal realm stop existing or have never existed, without affecting the spiritistic realm? “Surely. They are independent. However, the correlation between both is ceaseless for they affect each other all the time.” 87. Do Spirits occupy a certain area and circumstance in space? “They are everywhere. They infinitely populate all infinite spaces. You have many of them constantly beside you; they watch you and act on you without you knowing it for Spirits are one of the powers of nature and the instruments God makes use of to carry out His providential designs. However, not all Spirits go everywhere and that is why there are areas that are restricted to less evolved Spirits.”
THE FORM AND UBIQUITY OF SPIRITS
88. Do Spirits have a determined, limited and constant form?
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“Not for you, but for us. A Spirit is, if you wish, a flame, a gleam or an ethereal spark.” a) Does this flame or spark have a color? “Spirits have a color that to your eyes goes from an opaque up to a brilliant coloration like the color of a ruby according to the more or less pureness of the Spirit.” Genii are ordinarily represented with a flame or a star on the forehead. This is an allegory resembling the essential nature of Spirits. They are placed on the forehead because the head is the seat of intelligence. 89. Does a Spirit spend time as it moves through space? “Yes, but at the speed of a thought.” a) Is the thought not the proper soul transporting itself? “When the thought is somewhere, the soul is also there for it is the soul that thinks. Thought is an attribute.” 90. Does a Spirit transport itself from one place to another perceiving the distance it travels and of the space it goes through or is a Spirit suddenly transported to the desired place? “Both things do happen. A Spirit may perfectly well, if it wants, become aware of the distance it travels, but also, this distance may disappear completely, depending on its volition as well as of its more or less depurated nature.” 91. Does matter represent an obstacle to Spirits? “No, not at all. They pass through everything. Air, earth, waters and even fire, all are equally accessible to them.” 92. Are Spirits gifted with ubiquity? In other words, may a Spirit divide itself or exist in many places at the same time? “There is no division of a same Spirit, but every Spirit is a center from which it irradiates into different directions. This is what makes a Spirit seem to be in many places at the same time. Look at the sun. There is only one, however, it irradiates in all directions and its beams of light go very far, but it does divide itself.”
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a) Do all Spirits irradiate with the same intensity? “No, they do not. It is far from this. The intensity depends on the degree of purity of every Spirit.” Every Spirit is an indivisible unit, but each may cast its thoughts to different sides, without fractioning itself on doing so. Only in this sense is one to understand the gift of ubiquity attributed to Spirits. What happens to a Spirit is the same that happens to a spark that projects its clarity far away and may be perceived from all points of the horizon; or else, what happens with a man that transmits orders, signals and motion to different points in various directions without changing place and without fractioning himself.”
THE PERISPIRIT
93. Does a Spirit as such have no covering, or else, as some think, does a substance of some kind always surround it? “Every Spirit is surrounded by a substance, vaporous to your eyes, but still quite coarse for us; however, it is vaporous enough for it to rise in the atmosphere and to transport itself wherever it wants to.” Surrounding the seed of a fruit we have the perisperm; in the same way there is a substance we may call the perispirit enclosing the Spirit. 94. From where does a Spirit draw its semi-material enclosure? “It comes from the Universal fluid of each globe, a reason for Spirits not to be the same in all worlds. On passing from one world to the other, a Spirit changes its enclosure as if it were a garment.” a) Thus, when Spirits abiding superior worlds come to our world, they take on a coarser perispirit? “It is necessary to coat them with your matter, as we have already said.” 95. Does the semi-material enclosure of a Spirit have a definite shape and may we perceive it?
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“It has the shape every Spirit wants it to have. This is the form in which a Spirit sometimes appears to you, whether in a dream or in a wake state, and may take on a visible form, even be palpable.”
THE HIERARCHY OF SPIRITS
96. Are all Spirits the same or is there a hierarchy among them? “There are different orders of them according to the degree of perfection they have reached.” 97. Are the orders or degrees of perfection of Spirits in a determined number? “They are unlimited in number for among them there is no boundary line drawn as being a barrier so that the divisions may be multiplied or restricted freely. However, considering the general characteristics of Spirits, they may be reduced to three main orders. In the first order, you will find the Spirits that have reached the highest perfection, that is, they are pure Spirits. The second order is made up of those that have reached the middle of the scale. It is the desire for goodness that predominates in them. To the third order belong the Spirits that are still at the lower end of the scale, that is, the imperfect Spirits. They are characterized by their ignorance, by desiring evil and by all the bad passions retarding their progress.” 98. Do the Spirits of the second order, which consider goodness their uppermost concern, have the power of practicing it? “Every Spirit has this power according to the degree of perfection it has reached. Thus, some have a scientific knowledge; others have a great wisdom and kindness. However, all still have to pass through trials.” 99. Those belonging to the third order, are they all essentially bad? “No, for there are those that do not engage in neither goodness nor evil; others instead, enjoy evil and become satisfied when they meet an occasion to practice it. There are also Sprits that are frivolous or careless, more annoying than malign, that enjoy
86 Allan Kardec more maliciousness than wickedness and their pleasure consists of mystifying and bring about contrariness which they laugh at.”
THE HIERARCHY OF SPIRITS
100. PRELIMINARY NOTES – The classification of Spirits basis itself on the degree of their advancement, on the qualities they have already achieved and on the imperfection they still have to free themselves from. Moreover, this classification is by no means absolute. Only on the whole do the categories bear definite characteristics. From one degree to the next, the transition is imperceptible and the shades of differences disappear at the boundaries as it happens in the kingdoms of nature, as well as with the colors of the rainbow, or else, as it also happens at the different periods in the life of a man. Thus, they may make up a greater or smaller number of classes, according to the point of view from which the question is considered. It happens here as it happens in all systems of scientific classification that may be more or less complete, more or less rational or even more or less convenient for intelligence. However, whatever it may be, it does not change the basis of science. Consequently, it is natural that, when questioned on this subject, there are Spirits diverging as to the number of categories, without this having any importance at all. However, there are those who cling to this seeming contradiction without considering that Spirits do not give any importance at all to what is conventional. For them thought is everything. They leave it for us to find the form, the choice of vocabulary and the classifications; in short, the systems. Let us still make another consideration that should never be overlooked, that among Spirits, as among men, there are those who are very ignorant, so that it will never be too cautious on accepting the trend of believing that because they are Spirits, every Spirit should know everything. Any classification demands a method, analysis and a thorough knowledge on the subject. So, in the realm of Spirits, those having a limited knowledge are the ignorant Spirits
87 The Book From The Spirits as it is in our world, unable to make a summary or formulate a system. They perceive or understand very poorly any classification whatever. They consider the Spirits that are of a higher evolutive level as belonging to the first category due to their incapability of appreciating the gradation of knowledge, of capability and of morality that distinguishes them, as it happens among us regarding the comparison between a rude man and civilized people. Even those who are capable of such an appreciation may diverge regarding particularities according to the point of view they have particularly in the case of a division having no absolute separation. Lineu, Jussieu and Tournefor, each had his own method, which did not change Botany as such. This is because none of them invented the plants or their characteristics. They just studied the analogies according to which groups or classes they would set up. This is how we also have proceeded. We have not invented Spirits or their characteristics. We saw, studied and judged them by their words and acts; next we classified them according to their similarities by basing ourselves on the data they supplied us with. Spirits at large admit three main categories, or three great divisions. At the bottom of the scale is the last division in which the imperfect Spirits are found. They are characterized by their predominance of matter over spirit and by their tendency for evil. The Spirits of the second division are characterized by having their spirit over matter and by the wish they have for goodness. They are the good Spirits. The first division comprises pure Spirits, the Spirits that have reached the highest degree of perfection. The foregoing divisions seem to be perfectly rational having good clarifying characteristics. All that is left now is to point out the most important shades of the set through a sufficient number of subdivisions. This was achieved with the help of the Spirits whose benevolent instructions have never failed. With the help of this layout, it will be easy to determine the order, as well as the level of evolutive superiority or inferiority of the Spirits that may come in contact with us and, consequently, the level of trust or of esteem they deserve. In a way this is the key for the
88 Allan Kardec spiritistic science for only this science may explain the abnormalities that communications bear by clarifying us regarding the intellectual and moral inequalities of Spirits. However, we should notice that Spirits do not exclusively belong to this or that division. Their progress will always be gradual and often more emphasized in one direction than in any other, thus, it may be that many may gather in themselves characteristics of different categories disclosed through their acts and speech.
THIRD ORDER SPIRITS – IMPERFECT SPIRITS
101. Main Characteristics – Predominance of matter over spirit, a propensity for evil, ignorance, pride, selfishness and all the bad passions that result from these characteristics. They have an intuition of God, but do not understand Him. Not all Spirits are essentially bad. In some it is more a question of being immature, not thoughtful and acting with wickedness. Some practice neither goodness nor evil, but by the simple fact of not practicing goodness, they already denote their inferiority. Others enjoy evil and rejoice when they meet an opportunity of practicing it. Intelligence may be allied with wickedness or malice in them; however, whatever degree of intellectual evolvement they may have reached, their ideas are little elevated and their feelings more or less abject. They have a restricted knowledge of the things of the spiritistic world and whatever little they know they mix it with the ideas and prejudice of corporeal life. They may not give us more than erroneous and incomplete notions; however, through their communications, even if imperfect, an attentive observer will find the confirmation of the great truths that high evolutive level Spirits teach us. The language such Spirits make use of reveals us their character. Every Spirit that makes use of a bad thought in its communication may be classified as belonging to the third order
89 The Book From The Spirits of Spirits. Consequently, every evil thought that is suggested to our mind comes from a Spirit of this order. The third order Spirits see the happiness of the good Spirits and this brings about a ceaseless torment because it makes them experience all the anguish that envy and jealousy may cause. They retain the remembrances and the perception of their physical life and this impression is often more burdensome than reality. Thus, they truly suffer from the blight they felt in life and the harm they have caused to others. Since they suffer for a long time, they think they will suffer for ever. To punish them, God wants them to think so. The third order of Spirits comprises five main classes as described below. 102. The tenth class. Impure Spirits – These Spirits have a tendency for evil which they make it be the object of their concern. As Spirits they work out perfidious counsels, they instill discord and distrust by masking themselves in all possible ways in order to better deceive. They clutch to men having a quite weak character that give in to their suggestions inducing men to have a down fall that makes these Spirits feel satisfied for having managed to retard the advancement of men and make them fail the trials they go through. During the manifestation of the tenth class Spirits, they become known through their speech. Triviality and coarseness of the expressions of both Spirits and men is always an indication of a moral inferiority if not intellectual as well. Their communications express the lowness of their general drift and they try to disguise themselves by speaking with seriousness, but they do not sustain their role for a long time and always end up betraying themselves. Some peoples have turned them into malefic deities; others call them demons, bad genii or Spirits of evil. When they are incarnated, the living beings they constitute show a propensity towards all vices generating vile and degraded passions like sensuality, cruelty, perfidy, hypocrisy, cupidity and sordid avarice. They practice evil for the sake of it, in most cases without having a reason for it and by hating goodness; they almost always choose their victims among honest
90 Allan Kardec people. They are a pest to Humanity, making little difference of what social brackets men belong to and a coat of civilization does not free them from opprobrium and dishonor. 103. The ninth class – Frivolous Spirits. A Sprit of this class is ignorant, malicious, giddy and quizzical. These Spirits intrude themselves in everything; they answer everything without bothering about the truth. They like to cause little displeasures and small merriments, to intrigue, to induce wickedly an error through mystification and smartness. To this class belong the Spirits ordinarily called elfins, hobglobins, and gnomes, among others. They depend on superior Spirits that often employ them as we do with our servants. In the communications of these ninth class Spirits with men, the language they make use of is quite often spirituous and facetious, but almost always having ideas without great thoroughness. They take advantage of human oddities and ridiculousness. They use supposed names more as malice than evil. 104. The eighth class - Faked-Wisdom Spirits. These Spirits bear a quite broad knowledge, but they think they know more than they actually do. Having accomplished some progress under different points of view, their language seems to have a seriousness of the kind that deceives regarding their capabilities and enlightenment. But, on the whole this is not more than a reflection of prejudice and of the systematic ideas they cherished in their earthly life. It is a mixture of some truths with a greater number of errors into which enter presumption, pride, jealousy and obstinacy that they were not able to free themselves from. 105. The seventh class - Neutral Spirits. These Spirits are neither good enough to practice goodness, nor bad enough to practice evil. They are inclined to both and do not surpass the ordinary Human condition, be it regarding moral or be it regarding intelligence. They cling to earthly things from whose coarse joys they long for. 106. The sixth class - Beating or disturber Spirits. These Spirits, properly speaking, do not make up a distinct class of Spirits due to their personal qualities. They may fit into all the classes of the third order
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Spirits. They usually manifest their presence through sensitive and physical effects, such as raps, abnormal motion and movement of solid objects, agitation of the air, etc. They present themselves more attached to matter than the other Spirits do. They seem to be the main agents of vicissitudes of globe elements whether they act on the air, water, fire, hard bodies, or in the entrails of the Earth. It is recognized that these phenomena do not derive from a haphazard or physical cause for they show an intentional or intelligent character. All these Spirits may bring about such phenomena, but Spirits of a higher order usually leave them ordinarily as an attribution to subordinated Spirits that are better fit for handling material things than things requiring intelligence. When higher order Spirits find it useful to produce manifestations of this kind, they make use of these sixth class Spirits as their helpers.
THE SECOND ORDER - GOOD SPIRITS
107. Main characteristics. – There is a predominance of Spirit over matter and a desire for goodness. Their quality and power for goodness are related with the degree of advancement they may have reached; some know science, others have wisdom and kindness. The more advanced Spirits join their knowledge with moral qualities. Not being yet completely dematerialized, they retain more or less the characteristics of their physical existence according to the category they belong to. Thus, through their speech as well as habits, some of their mania may be discovered. Otherwise, they would be perfect Spirits. These second order Spirits comprehend God and infinity and already enjoy the happiness of higher spheres. They are happy through the goodness they practice and the evil they impede. The love that gathers them is a source of unspeakable venture, which is not disturbed by envy or remorse, not even by any of the bad passions making up the torment of imperfect Spirits. However, every one of them still has to pass through trials until they reach perfection. As Spirits they evoke good thoughts and deviate men
92 Allan Kardec from the pathway of evil. These Spirits protect in life those who are worthy of protection and neutralize the influence of imperfect Spirits in those who do not deserve to suffer its consequence. When these Spirits were incarnated, they were kind and benevolent with their next fellowman. They were not affected by pride, selfishness or ambition. They did not experience hate, rancor, envy or jealousy; they used to practice goodness for the sake of goodness. To this order belong the Spirits designated by the names of good genii, protecting genii or Spirits of goodness. During the times of superstition and ignorance, these Spirits were elevated to the category of benevolent deities. The Spirits of this second order may be divided into the four main groups as shown below. 108. The fifth class - Benevolent Spirits.Kindness is the dominant quality of these Spirits. They feel pleased to render service to men and to protect them. However, their knowledge is limited. They have advanced more in the moral than in the intellectual sense. 109. The fourth class - Wise Spirits. These Spirits distinguish themselves by the broadness of their knowledge. They are less concerned with moral questions than with questions having a scientific nature for which they are better fit. However, they see science from the point of view of its usefulness and they are never dominated by any passion proper to imperfect Spirits. 110. The third class - Spirits of wisdom. What characterizes this third class is the moral quality of the highest order of these Spirits. Without having unlimited knowledge, they are gifted with an intellectual capability that enables them to make upright judgments of men and things. 111. The second class - Superior Spirits. These Spirits combine science, wisdom and kindness. Benevolence is always exalted in the language they use; it is a language invariably worthy, elevated and often sublime. Their superiority makes them be better fit than the others for giving us precise notions on the things of the incorporeal world within the limits man is allowed to know. They communicate themselves complacently
93 The Book From The Spirits with all those who seek the truth having a good intention and whose soul is already quite untied from the earthly bonds and so, they are able to understand him. They withdraw themselves from those who are only driven by curiosity or that flee from the practice of goodness due to the influence of matter. When they exceptionally incarnate on the Earth, it is to fulfill a mission of progress and so they offer us a kind of perfection that Humanity may aspire in this world.
THE FIRST ORDER – PURE SPIRITS
112. Main characteristics. – Matter has no influence on these Spirits. They have an intellectual and absolute moral superiority as compared with the Spirits of the other orders. 113. The first and sole class.The Spirits making up this class have passed through all the steps of the progress scale and have stripped off all the impurities of matter. Having reached the sum of perfection a creature is susceptible to; these Spirits do not have to pass through any more trials or expiations. Not being subjected to reincarnation in perishable bodies, they carry out the eternal life in the core of God. They enjoy an unalterable happiness because they are not submitted to the needs or vicissitudes of material life any longer. This happiness, however, does not consist of a monotonous idleness elapsing in perpetual contemplation. These Spirits are the couriers, emissaries and ministers of God whose orders they carry out for the maintenance of the universal harmony. They command all the Spirits that are beneath them by helping them in the work of their improvement and by assigning their missions. They assist men in their afflictions; incite them to practice goodness or to expiate their faults that keeps them away from the supreme happiness which is a very gratifying occupation. They are sometimes referred to as angels, archangels or seraphs. Man may establish communication with them, but it would be extremely presumptuous to have them constantly at his orders.
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THE PROGRESSION OF SPIRITS
114. Are Spirits good or bad by nature or do they improve by themselves? “It is the Spirits themselves that improve and by improving they change from one to the next more elevated order.” 115. Are some Spirits created as good and others as bad Spirits? “God has created all Spirits to be simple and ignorant, that is, void of knowledge. To each God has assigned a certain mission in order to enlighten them so as to make them progressively arrive at perfection through the knowledge of truth, bringing them close to him. It is in this perfection that they find the pure and eternal happiness. Spirits acquire knowledge by passing the trials God has imposed on them. Some accept the trials submissively and reach their assigned target much faster. Others only bear the trials by groaning and due to the fault that results from this, they remain away from perfection and the promised happiness.” a) – According to what you have just said, Spirits at their origin would be like small children, ignorant and inexperienced. Do they only gain the knowledge they lack little by little as they pass through the stages of human life? “Yes, this is a good comparison. A rebellious child remains ignorant and imperfect. Its gain depends on its greater of smaller docility. But, the life of man is limited while the life of a Spirits stretches out into infinity.” 116. Are there Spirits that remain eternally in lower orders? “No, all of them will become perfect. They change from one order to the other, but taking a long time to accomplish it. As we have already said previously, an upright and merciful father can not banish his children for ever. Being God so great, so good, so upright, would you want Him to be worse than you are?” 117. Does it depend on the Spirits themselves to have a quicker or slower progress towards perfection?
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“Yes, it certainly does. They will reach perfection quicker or slower according to their wish of attaining it and the submission they witness to the volition of God. Does a docile child not become instructed much quicker than a recalcitrant one?” 118. May Spirits degenerate? “No, because as they advance, they realize what keeps them away from perfection. Finishing a trial, every Spirit retains the experience derived from every trial which it never forgets. A Spirit may remain stationary, but it never moves backward.” 119. Could God not exempt Spirits from the trials they have to submit themselves in order to arrive at the first order of Spirits? “If God had created Spirits as perfect beings, they would not feel any merit in enjoying the benefits of such perfection. Where would be the merit without a struggle? Furthermore, the existing inequality among Spirits is necessary for their personalities. Moreover, the missions they have to perform at the different points of the scale are within the intent of the Providence for the harmony of the Universe.” If in our social life, all men may reach higher functions, would it not be the case of asking why does the ruler of a country not make a general of each of his soldiers? Why is not every subaltern employee in a high position? Why does not every high school student become a master? There is a difference between social and spiritual life. While the former is always limited and does not always allow man to go up all the steps, the latter is indefinite and offers to all Spirits the possibility of rising and elevating themselves to the highest stage of evolvement. 120. Does every Spirit pass through the drawplate of evil to arrive at goodness? “Not through the drawplate of evil, but through the drawplate of ignorance.” 121. Why have some Spirits followed the path of goodness and others the path of evil? “Do they not have a free will? God has not created hem bad. He has created them simple and ignorant, that is, having a fitness
96 Allan Kardec for both goodness and evil. The Spirits that are bad have become so through their own will.” 122. How may the Spirits at their origin, that is, when they still had no consciousness of themselves, enjoy the freedom of choice between goodness and evil? Is there some principle in them, any trend leading them towards a preferred pathway? “Free will develops as a Spirit becomes conscious of itself. There would not be any freedom if the choice were determined by a cause independent from the will of a Spirit. The cause is not in a Spirit, it is external to it, in the influences a Spirit gives in to due to its own free will. This is the meaning of the great emblematic figure of the downfall of man and the original sin: some have given in to temptation, others have resisted it.” a) – Where do the influences exerting on Spirits come from? “From the imperfect Spirits that seek to lay hold of them, rejoicing when they succumb. This is what the figure of Satan was intended to symbolize.” b) - Is such an influence exerted on a Spirit only at its origin? “This influence follows up the whole existence of a Spirit until it has managed to obtain so much control on itself that bad Spirits give up obsessing it. “ 123. Why has God allowed these Spirits to take the pathway of evil? “How dare you ask God to account for His acts? Do you think you can penetrate the intentions of God? However, you may ask if the wisdom of God is in the freedom of choice He leaves to everyone. Thus, everyone has the merit of his works.” 124. Since there are Spirits that follow the path of an absolute goodness right from the start while there are others that follow the path of an absolute evil, there must undoubtedly exist a gradient of values from one extreme to the other. Is this correct? “Yes, most certainly and those that are at the intermediary stages make up the majority.”
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125. May the Spirits treading on the pathway of evil reach the same degree of superiority of the others? “Yes, but the eternities will be longer to them.” By eternities should be understood here the idea that the lower evolutive level Spirits have regarding their suffering whose end is not given them to see, idea which is revived at every time they fail a trial. 126. Once arriving at the supreme perfection, do the Spirits that have threaded the pathway of evil have less merit to God than the others? “God looks in the same way at those that erred as He does to the others and loves them all with the same heart. The former are called evil Spirits because they have succumbed to the temptation of evil. Prior to this, these Spirits were just simple Spirits.” The Spirits that have followed the pathway of goodness since the beginning are not necessarily perfect Spirits. They are certainly not high evolutive level Spirits, but they have to gather experience and knowledge indispensable to attain perfection. We may compare them to children that no matter whatever the kindness of their natural instincts, they need to evolve, be clarified and not pass from childhood to adulthood without a transition. In short, in the same way as there are men who are good and others that are bad since childhood, there are also good Spirits since the origin, with the capital difference that a child has already well formed instincts while a Spirit is neither good nor bad at its origin and has all the tendencies to take either one or the other direction as a result of its free will. 127. Are Spirits created having equal intellectual abilities? “They are created equally however, not knowing where intelligence comes from, it is necessary for their freewill to follow its course. They advance more or less in terms of intelligence as well as of morality.” Spirits follow the path of goodness from its very beginning, but even though they are not perfect Spirits. It is certain that they do not have any bad inclination, but need to have the experience and knowledge indispensable to reach perfection. We may compare them to children that, no matter what kindness of
98 Allan Kardec natural instincts they have, they have to evolve and enlighten themselves and that they do not pass from childhood to matureness without a transition. Simply put, in the same way that there are men who are good and others that are bad since childhood with the capital difference that a child has instincts wholly formed while a Spirit is neither good or bad when formed; it has all inclinations and takes on one or the other course as an effect of its freewill.
ANGELS AND DEMONS
128. Do the beings we call angels, archangels and seraphs make up a special category, different from the other Spirits? “No, they do not. They are pure Spirits, that is, Spirits that are at the highest stage in the evolutive scale and have gathered all perfections.” The word angel usually evokes the idea of a moral perfection. However, it often applies to all beings, good or bad, that do not belong to Humanity. It is referred to as a good angel, a bad angel; an angel of light or an angel of darkness. In this case, the word is synonymous to Spirit or genius. Let us depict it here as having the best meaning. 129. Have all angels passed through every step of the evolutive scale? “Yes, they have, but the way we have mentioned before, some accepting their missions without grumbling and reaching perfection quicker than others that have spent more time to attain it.” 130. Being erroneous the opinion of those who admit the existence of beings created perfect and superior over all other creatures, how may it be explained that this belief is found in the traditions of almost all peoples? “Beware that the world where you are in now has not existed for all eternity and that there were already Spirits having reached the supreme stage well before the existence of the Earth. Men believe that they were like that all the time.”
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131. Are there demons; in the sense it is given to this word? “If there were demons, they would be the work of God. Would God be just and good if he had created beings destined to practice evil for all eternity and to remain eternally disgraced? If there are demons, they will be found in the lower world in which you abide and in others like it. It is these hypocrite men that make from a just God a bad and revengeful God and think to please Him through the abominations they practice in his name.” The word demon does not imply in an evil Spirit, except in its modern meaning for deriving from the Greek word daïmon means genius, intelligence and was applied indistinctly to good or bad incorporeal beings.
According to the ordinary meaning of the word demons, it is understood that they are beings essentially malevolent. Like all things, God would have created them. Well then, if God is sovereignly just and good, He could not have created beings predestined to evil and condemned to all eternity, otherwise there would be many sovereign powers as well.
The first condition of any doctrine is to be logical. The doctrine of the demons lacks this essential basis. It may be conceived that backward people, for not knowing the attributes of God, admit malefic deities in their beliefs and also admit demons, but it is illogical and contradictory to suppose that whoever makes kindness be one of the attributes of God, thinks Him to have created beings destined for evil and to have them practice evil permanently for this is the same as to negate His kindness. The partisans of demons base themselves on the words of Christ. It is not us who are to impeach the authority of their teachings which we wish to see more in the hearts than in the mouths of men; but, are those partisans sure of the meaning given to the word? Is it not known that an allegoric form constitutes one of the distinctive characters of their language? Is everything the bible says to be taken literally? We do not need any other proof than the one contained in this passage:
“Soon after these days of affliction, the Sun shall darken and the Moon shall not give off its light, the stars shall fall from the sky and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. In truth I tell you that this generation shall not pass without all these things having been fulfilled.”
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Have we seen Science contradict the form of the biblical text regarding the Creation and the motion of the Earth? Will not the same happen with some figures Christ has made use of when he had to speak according to his time and place? It is not possible for Christ to have said a falsity consciously. Thus, if there are things in his words that seem to shock reason, it is so because we either do not understand it well or we interpret it incorrectly. Men have done with the demons the same thing they have done with the angels. As they believe in the existence of perfect beings since all eternity, they have taken the lower evolutive level Spirits as beings permanently bad. By demons it is understood as impure Spirits that often are not worth more than the entities designated by this name, but with the difference of being their state transitory. They are imperfect Spirits rebelling themselves against the trials set for them and because of this they take a longer time to pass through them. However, in their turn, they will end up leaving that state when they wish to do so. Thus, the word demon may be accepted having this restriction. As it is understood at present by giving it an exclusive sense, it would induce in error by making a demon be thought as being a special creature created for evil. Satan is obviously a personification of evil in an allegoric form, since it is not possible to admit that there is an evil being battling Divinity as a power against power and whose only concern consists of being against its designs. Since man needs figures and images to impress his imagination, he has painted the incorporeal beings in material forms having attributes resembling human qualities or defects. Ancient people have represented Time with the figure of an old world, a sickle and an hourglass. To represent it using the figure of a lad would be a counter-sense. The same happens with the allegories of fortune, of truth, etc. Modern men represent angels and pure Spirits, by a radiant figure having white wings as a badge of purity. Satan, on the other hand, has horns, claws and animalistic attributes, the badge of despicable passions. An ordinary man, that takes everything literally, has seen in these badges real individualities like Saturn in the allegory of Time in ancient times.
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CHAPTER II
On the incarnation of Spirits The aim of incarnation The Soul Materialism
THE AIM OF INCARNATION
132. What is the aim of the incarnation of Spirits? “God imposes incarnation on Spirits with the aim of making them reach perfection. For some it is an expiation; to others a mission. But to reach this perfection, they have to suffer all the vicissitudes of corporeal existence; it is here that expiation lies. Incarnation still aims at another end, namely, of enabling a Spirit to bear the part reserved to it in the work of creation. To carry out creation, every Spirit takes on an instrument in every world that is in harmony with the matter essential in that world so as to fulfill the orders of God. Thus, by joining in the creation of general work, every Spirit advances by itself.” The action of corporeal beings is necessary for the running of the universe. However, in his wisdom God wanted every Spirit to find in this action the means of progressing and of coming near Him. In this way, by means of the law of the Providence, everything concatenates itself, everything is solidary in Nature. 133. Is there a need for incarnation to the Spirits that have been following the path of goodness since the beginning? “All Spirits are created simple and ignorant and they learn through the struggles and tribulations of corporeal life. Being just, God could not make some be happy without tiredness and hard work, that is to say, without any merit.” a) - But what is the use of Spirits to have followed the path of goodness if it does not exempt them from the sufferings of corporeal life?
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“They will reach the aim more quickly. Moreover, the afflictions of life are often the result of the imperfection of a Spirit. The lesser imperfections there are; the lesser are the torments. Whoever is not envious, jealous, greedy or ambitious, will not suffer the tortures stemming from these defects.”
THE SOUL
134. What is a soul? “A soul is an incarnated Spirit.” a) What was the soul before joining a body? “A Spirit.” a) Therefore, souls and Spirits are the same thing? “Yes, they are. Souls are nothing more than Spirits. Before joining a body, a soul is one of the intelligent beings dwelling in the invisible world and that temporarily clothes a carnal enclosure to purify and clarify itself.” 135. Is there anything else besides the soul and the body? “Yes, there is also the link joining the soul to the body.” a) What is the nature of this link? “It is made up of a semi-material having an intermediary nature between the Spirit and the body. It is necessary to be so for Spirits to communicate between themselves. It is through this link that a Spirit acts on matter and vice-versa.” Therefore, man is made up of three essential parts. 1st – a body or material being, analogous to the animals and animated by the same vital principle; 2nd – a soul, the Spirit that has its housing in the incarnated body; 3rd – an intermediary principle, or perispirit, a semi-material
103 The Book From The Spirits substance which serves as the first envelopment of the Spirit connecting a soul to a body like it is with a fruit, a germ, a perisperm and a peel. 136. Is the soul independent from the vital principle? “The body is nothing more than the envelopment, as is constantly being repeated.” a) – May a body exist without a soul? “Yes, it may, provided life ceases to exist in the body when the soul abandons it. Before birth there is still no definite union between a soul and a body while after this union has been set, the death of the body breaks off the link that fastened the soul and it abandons the body. Organic life may animate a body without life, but a soul can not dwell in a body deprived from organic life.” b) – What would our body be without a soul? “Simply a mass of flesh without intelligence, anything you wish, except a man.” 137. May a Spirit incarnate in two different bodies at the same time? “No, it may not, for a Spirit is indivisible and can not animate two distinct bodies simultaneously. (See “On bi-corporeality and on transfiguration” in chapter VII in The Book on Mediums.) 138. What may be thought of the opinion that considers the soul as being the beginning of material life? “This is a question of words which we have nothing to do with. Start understanding each other mutually.” 139. Some Spirits, and before them some philosophers, have defined the soul as being “an animating spark emanating from the great whole”. What is the reason of this contradiction? “There is no contradiction. It all depends on the meaning of the words. Why do you not have a single word for each thing?” The word soul is used to express quite different things. Some say the soul is the beginning of life and with such a meaning it may be right to say figurativelythat
104 Allan Kardec the soul is an animating spark emanating from the great Whole. These last words indicate the universal source of the vital principle of which every being absorbs a portion and that, after death, returns to the mass where it came from. This idea by no means excludes the soul of being a moral and distinct being independent from matter and that keeps on its individuality. To this being it is also given the name of soul and with this meaning it may be said that the soul is an incarnated Spirit. Then, even enlightened Spirits may express themselves differently regarding a soul. By giving different definitions, Spirits speak the way they were more or less used to. This results from the poorness of the human language that does not have a single word for every idea and leads to a great number of misapprehensions and discussions. That is why high evolutive level Spirits tell us that we should first understand each other regarding words.(5) 140. What may be thought of the theory that subdivides the soul in as many parts as there are muscles and thus, having each presiding one of the functions of the body? “Even this depends on the sense given to the word soul. If by soul is understood the vital fluid, this theory has a reason of being so; but if by soul it is understood to be an incarnated Spirit, the assumption is erroneous. We have already said that a Spirit is indivisible. It imparts motion to the organs by using an intermediate fluid without having to divide itself to do so.” a) However, some Spirits have given us this definition. “Ignorant Spirits may take the effect as being the cause.” The soul acts through the organs of man and the vital fluid that distributes itself among the organs, existing more of it in the organs that are the centers or focus of motion by animating them. However, this explanation does not apply if the soul is considered to be the Spirit dwelling in the body during the life span and leaving it at the occasion of death. 141. Is there any truth in the opinion of those who think that the soul is external to the body and circumvolves it? “The soul is not encaged in the body like a bird in a cage. It irradiates and manifests itself externally like a light through a
(5) See in the introduction the explanation of the word soul. Paragraph II.
105 The Book From The Spirits glass bulb, or like the sound around a sound center. In this sense it may be said that the soul is external without having this making up an envelopment of the body. The soul has two envelopments. The first one is subtle and light which you call perispirit; the other is the physical body that is coarse, material and heavy. The soul is the center of all envelopments, like a germ in a kernel, as we have said.” 142. What is there to say of the other theory according to which the soul in a child proceeds to complete itself at every period of life? “The spirit is a complete unit and is entirely in a child as it is in an adult. It is the organs, or the instruments of manifestations of the soul that evolve and complete themselves. Again, the effect is taken as being the cause.” 143. Why does not every Spirit define the soul in the same manner? “Spirits are not all equally enlightened on these matters. There are Spirits having still a limited intelligence and that do not understand abstract ideas. They are like a child is among you. There are also pseudo-wise Spirits that use bombastic words to impose themselves, as it happens among you. After all, even enlightened Spirits may express themselves by using different words whose meaning, however, is substantially the same, particularly when it is related to the things that your language shows to be powerless to describe accurately. They end up resorting to figures of speech and comparisons which you accept as realities.” 144. What is to be understood by the soul of the world? “It is the universal principle of life and intelligence bearing the individualities. But, those who make use of this expression do not comprehend one another in most cases. The word soul is so elastic that everybody interprets it by using his own imagination. They have even attributed a soul to the Earth. By the soul of the Earth is to be understood the set of abnegated Spirits that direct your actions towards goodness when you listen to them so that, in some aspects, they are the lieutenants of God regarding your planet.” 145. Why is it that so many philosophers, both ancient and modern, have been discussing on the psychological science for such a long time and have not arrived at the truth?
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“Those men were the forerunners of the eternal Spiritistic Doctrine. They have prepared the path for it. They were men and as such they mistook their own ideas for the true light. However, even their errors serve to point out the truth by using for and against arguments. Moreover, among the errors there are great truths which a comparative study makes available.” 146. Does the soul have a determined and confined seat in the body? “No, it has not. However, in great geniuses and in all those who think much, the soul resides particularly more in the head whereas it rests more in the heart of those who are sensitive and whose actions all aim at Humanity.” a) What may be said about the opinion of those who place the soul in a vital center? “This is to say that the Spirit dwells preferably this part of your organism due to it being the point of convergence of all sensations. Those who place the soul in what they consider as the center of vitality, confuse the soul with the vital principle. However, it may be said that the soul lies particularly in the organs serving for the intellectual and moral manifestations.”
MATERIALISM
147. Why is it that anatomists, physiologists and in general those who concentrate their studies on the science of Nature, are so often led towards materialism? “Physiologists report everything they see. A vanity of men who think they know everything and do not admit the existence of anything above their understanding. The science as cultivated by them fills them with immodesty. They think that Nature can not keep anything hidden.” 148. Is it not a pity to have materialism be a consequence of studies that on the contrary should show man the superiority of intelligence governing the world? Should it then be concluded that materialists are dangerous?”
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“It is not correct to say that materialism is a consequence of such studies. It is man that draws a false consequence, for the simple reason that he is prone to abuse of everything, even of the best things. Moreover, nothingness bothers materialists far more than they admit it and convicted materialists are almost always more like braggers rather than braves. As a majority, they are materialists only because they do not know how to fill the emptiness of the abyss that opens itself in front of them. Show them an anchor of salvation and they will hurriedly grab it.” As an aberration of intelligence, there are people that only see in organic beings the action of matter and attribute to it all of our actions. All they see in the human body is an electric machine. They have studied the mechanism of life only through the functioning of its organs in whose repeated extinction they observed as being the rupture of a wire and did not see anything beyond this wire. They sought to know if there was anything left back and as they did not find anything except matter which became inert, as they did not see the soul leaving the body and as they did not catch it, they concluded that everything was contained in the properties of matter and, therefore, an annihilation of thought follows the death of the body. If it were so, it would then be a sad consequence for goodness and evil would not mean anything. Man would have a reason to think only of himself and place above all things the satisfaction of his material appetites. The social bonds would be broken and the most holy affections would be broken up forever. Happily, these ideas are far from being so and may be taken as being very circumstantial, making up only personal opinions for no where have these ideas rendered the formation of a doctrine. A society founding itself on such a base would bring in it the germ of dissolution and its members would devour each other like fierce animals. Man has instinctively the conviction that not everything will end in him with his death. Nothingness infuses a horror in him. In vain he perseveres against the idea of a future life. When the supreme moment comes, there are only few that do not inquire what will happen to them because the idea of leaving back life forever always brings about bitterness. Who could actually face with indifference an absolute and eternal separation from everything that was the object of his love? Who could see opening in front of him a huge abyss having nothing in it where his abilities are buried for ever as well as all his hopes and say to himself without feeling terrified “Why is there nothing after me, nothing more but vacuum, everything is definitely finished; a few more days and my remembrance will have been erased from the memory of those that survive me; no vestige within a short time will be left of my
108 Allan Kardec passage on the Earth; even the good deeds I have carried out will be forgotten by the ungrateful people I have benefited. There is nothing to compensate all this, no other perspective except my body being gnawed by the worms!” Does a picture like this show something horrible, something frigid? Religion teaches us that it cannot be like that and reason confirms it to us. But, a vague and indefinite future existence does not present us what satisfies our wish for something positive. In many cases, this is the origin of doubt. We have a soul, good enough. But, what is our soul? Does it have a shape or any appearance? Is it a limited or is it an undefined being? Some say it is the blow of God, others a spark and yet others say it is a portion of the great Whole, the principle of life and intelligence. However, what is it that we end up knowing after all this? What importance is there to have a soul if after extinguishing our life it disappears in the immensity as do water drops in the ocean? Does the loss of our individuality mean nothingness to us? It is also said that the soul is immaterial. Well, an immaterial thing lacks proportion; consequently it means nothing to us. Religion further teaches us that we will be happy or disgraced according to our good or bad actions. However, what is this happiness that we are going to have in the intimacy of God? Will it be beatitude or an eternal contemplation having no other occupation than sing praises to the Creator? Are the flames of hell a reality or a symbol? The church itself gives them a figurative meaning; but then, what are those sufferings? Where is this place of torment? In one word, what is done, what can be seen in the other world that awaits us all? It is said that nobody has ever returned from there to tell us about it. It is an error and the mission of Spiritism is exactly to clarify us on this future up to a point, to enable us to touch it with a finger and to penetrate it with the eyes, no longer with reason alone, but through facts. Thanks to the communications of Spirits, it is not a simple conceit of a probability on which everybody may freely hypothesize or poets to embellish the communications with their fiction or even accumulate deceiving allegoric images. It is a reality that appears to us for it is the beyond grave beings that come to describe us the situation which they are in, report what they do, granting us to watch, so to speak, all their adventures of the new life they have there and showing us through this means the fate that is inevitably allotted to us according to our merits or demerits. Is there anything anti-religious in this demonstration? Assuredly not, for religious unbelievers find faith in Spiritism and weak believers a renovation of fervor and confidence. Spiritism is thus, the most powerful aid of religion. If Spiritism exists, it is because God allows it to invigorate our vacillating hopes and to be reconducted on the pathway of goodness through the perspective of a future life.
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CHAPTER III
On the return of a Spirit to the spiritual life once corporeal life is extinguished. The soul after death The separation of the soul from the body Spiritual perturbation
THE SOUL AFTER DEATH
149. What happens to the soul at the moment of death? “It becomes a Spirit again, that is, it returns to the world of Spirits from where it had left for a moment.” 150. Does the soul keep its individuality after death? “Yes, it does. It never loses it. What would happen to our soul if it did not preserve itself?” a) How does a soul verify its individuality since it does hot have a material body any longer? “It continues to have a fluid peculiar to the soul extracted from the atmosphere of your planet and which maintains the appearance of its last reincarnation, its perispirit.” b) Does the soul not take along anything from this world? “Nothing but remembrances and the wish to go to a better place, remembrances full of sweetness or bitterness according to the use the soul has made of life. The purer the soul is the better will it understand the futility of what was left behind on the Earth.” 151. What are we to think of those who say that after death the soul returns to universal whole? “Does the set of Spirits make up a whole? Does it not
110 Allan Kardec constitute a complete world? On attending a meeting, you are an integral part of it; but nevertheless, you always keep on your individuality.” 152. What proof may we have of the individuality of a soul after death? “Do you not have this proof with the communication you receive? If you were not blind, you would see; if you were not deaf, you would hear; for very often a voice peaks to you, disclosing the existence of a being that is external to you.” Those who think that through death the soul returns to the universal whole are wrong when they think it to be similar to a drop of water falling into the Ocean for the soul would lose its individuality there. They are right if by the universal whole they understand it to be a set of incorporeal beings, a set in which every soul or Spirit represents an element. If all souls would be mixed into a single amalgam, they would all share the qualities of the set; there would not be anything to distinguish one from the other. They would be void of intelligence and personal qualities when, on the contrary, in all communications they denote having a conscience of their self, bearing a will of their own. The infinite diversity they bear is in all aspects the consequence of being made up of different individualities. If, after death, there were only what is called the great Whole absorbing all individualities, this Whole would be uniform and then all the communications received from the invisible world would be identical. However, since we are faced with beings that are good or bad, wise or ignorant, happy or disgraced; that there are beings having all kinds of characteristics, namely, they may be merry or sad, frivolous or prudent, etc., it becomes evident that they are distinct beings. Individuality becomes even more evident when these beings prove their identity through unquestionable indications, individually verifiable particularities regarding their physical lives on the Earth. There may also be no doubt when they become a visible apparition. The individuality of the soul was taught to us theoretically as an article of faith. Spiritism enables it to become manifested and in a certain way material. 153. In what sense should eternal life be understood? “Eternal is the life of a Spirit; the life of a body is temporary and brief. When the body dies, the soul resumes its eternal life.” a) Would it not be more accurate to say that pure Spirits have an eternal life since they have reached perfection and are thus, not subjected to any more trials?
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“This eternal life is rather an eternal happiness. But this constitutes a question of words. Call things the way you want provided you do understand it.”
THE SEPARATION OF THE SOUL FROM THE BODY
154. Is the separation of a soul from the body painful? “No, it is not. The body almost always suffers more during its life time than at the moment of death; the soul takes no part in this separation. The suffering that sometimes is experienced at the moment of death is an enjoyment for the Spirit that sees it as the end of its exile.” At the natural death after the depletion of the organs due to old age, man leaves life without noticing it; it is like a lamp that stops burning because it rain out of fuel. 155. How is the separation of the soul from the body brought about? “Once the bonds retaining the soul are untied, the soul frees itself.” a) - Does the separation happen instantaneously through a sudden transition? Will there be any demarcation clearly drawn between life and death? “No, for the soul frees itself gradually; it is not possible to escape like a captive bird whose liberty is suddenly restored. The two states touch and confound each other, that is why the Spirit loosens itself little-by-little from the bonds. These bonds undo themselves; they do not break off.” During the life of a person, his Spirit is tied to the physical body through its envelopment or perispirit. Death is the destruction of only the physical body, not of the envelopment that separates itself from the body when its organic life ceases. Observation shows that the loosening of the perispirit does not happen suddenly at the moment of death; that it actually happens gradually at a variable rate among individuals. In some individuals the process is rather quick when it may be said that the moment of death is more or less the moment of liberation. In other individuals, particularly in those who had a wholly material or sensual life, the liberation takes a
112 Allan Kardec longer time, at times a few days, weeks and even months which does not imply that the physical body has no vitality, or that it may have a possibility of returning to life, but it results from a simple affinity with the Spirit, an affinity that is always proportional to the predominance the Spirit has given to the matter during life time. It is only rational to say that the more the Spirit has identified itself with matter, the more difficult will it be to free itself from it; whereas intellectual and moral activity, the elevation of thoughts, bring about the beginning of the liberation of the Spirit, even during the life of the physical body, so that, when the moment of death arrives, the liberation is almost instantaneously. The results from observation further prove that in particular individuals the persistent affinity between the physical body and the soul is sometimes very burdensome for a Spirit may experience the horror of decomposition. However, such a case is very exceptional and peculiar to certain kinds of life and certain kinds of death. It is also noticed to occur in some suicides. 156. May the definite separation of a soul from the body occur prior to the complete cessation of organic life? “A soul in agony has often already left the body; there is more than organic life. Man is not conscious of himself any longer; however, a breath of organic life is still left. The body is a machine which the heart puts in. The machine is there while the heart makes the blood circulate without needing the soul.” 157. At the moment of death does the soul ever feel any aspiration or ecstasy that may make the soul foresee the world it is about to enter again? “The soul often feels the loss of the bonds that attached it to the body. It then makes use of all efforts to untie the bonds entirely. Already partially loosened from matter, it sees the future unfold itself and enjoys in anticipation the state of a released Spirit.” 158. The example of a caterpillar that first crawls on the ground, then shuts itself up in a chrysalis in a state of a seeming death to, at last, be reborn having a brilliant existence, may this give us an idea of earthly life, of the tomb and finally of our new existence? “This is a very modest idea. The image is a good one; however, it is not to be taken literally, as it frequently happens with you.” 159. What is the sensation a soul feels at the moment it recognizes to be in the world of Spirits?
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“It depends. If you practice evil for the sake of evil, at first you will feel ashamed for having done so. With the soul of an upright person things are quite different. This soul feels sort of relieved from a great burden for it does not fear any inquiring look.” 160. Does a Spirit meet at once with those he knew on the Earth and that have died before? “Yes, it does according to the level of affection devoted to them and they reciprocated it with. Often acquaintances come to welcome the soul at the entrance of the world of Spirits and help it to detach the ties of matter. The soul also meets many persons it knew and lost sight of during its earthly life. The soul sees those who are roaming in the same way it sees those who are incarnated and goes to visit them.” 161. In the case of a violent and accidental death, when the organs have not been weakened by age or illnesses, does the separation of the soul and the ceasing of life occur simultaneously? “Usually it is like this, but in all cases there is a very brief instant between one and the other.” 162. After a beheading, for instance, does man keep the consciousness of himself for a moment? “He often keeps it for a few minutes, until the organic life is extinguished. But also, almost always, the apprehensiveness of death makes him lose that consciousness before the torment.” Here it has to do with the consciousness that a victim may have of himself as a man and through the organs, not as a Spirit. If he has not lost the consciousness before the torment, he may keep it for a brief moment. The consciousness, however, ceases necessarily with the organic life of the brain which does not mean that the perispirit is entirely separated from the body. On the contrary, in all cases of violent death, when death does not result from the gradual extinction of the vital forces, the bonds that attach the body to the perispirit are stronger and therefore the slower will be the complete release.
SPIRITUAL PERTURBATION
163. Does the soul have a consciousness of itself immediately after leaving the body?
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“Immediately is not exactly the word. The soul passes through a state of perturbation or confusion for some time.” 164. Does the perturbation that follows the separation of the soul from the body have the same intensity and the same duration for all Spirits? ‘“No, it does not. It depends on the elevation of every Spirit. The Spirit that is already purified, recognizes itself almost immediately for it has released itself from matter prior to the ceasing of the life of the body while the physical man whose conscience is not pure yet, keeps the impression of matter for a much longer time.” 165. Does the knowledge of Spiritism exert any influence on the duration of the perturbation? “Yes, it does to a great extent. That is so because a Spirit may understand its situation beforehand. But, the practice of goodness and a pure conscience exerts the greatest influence.” At the moment of death everything is confusing. The soul needs some time to recover its self-consciousness. The soul finds itself kind of stunned, in a state like a person waking from a fast sleep that tries to orient himself about his situation. The lucidity of ideas and the memory of the past return as the influence of the matter the Spirit has just left are being erased; it is like a kind of a mist blurring the thoughts that dissipates itself.
The time it takes for the perturbation following death to cease varies greatly. It may go from a few hours, to a few months and even many years. To those who identified themselves with the future state waiting for them while living on the Earth, it takes the shortest time to overcome the perturbation because they understand at once the situation they are in.
The perturbation presents particular circumstances according to the characteristics of the individual and mainly according to the kind of death. In the case of a violent death through suicide, condemnation, accident, heart stroke, injuries, etc. the Spirit becomes amazed and surprised and does not believe that the physical body has died. Obstinately it maintains that the physical body is not dead. However, the Spirit sees the physical body, recognizes that it is its body, but does not understand that the soul is detached from the body. The Spirit approaches the
115 The Book From The Spirits persons it cherished, speaks to them and does not understand why they do not hear him. A similar illusion lingers until the complete detachment of the perispirit is completed. Only then does the Spirit recognize it as such and understands that it does not belong to the number of live people. This phenomenon is easily explainable. Surprised by an unforeseen death, a Spirit, stunned by the sudden change that has taken place, still considers death as a synonym of destruction, of annihilation. After all, the Spirit continues to think, to see and to hear, thus feeling that it is not dead. The illusion is further increased by the fact that it sees a body similar in shape to the previous one, but whose ethereal nature the Spirit did not have time yet to study. The Spirit thinks it to be solid and compact as it used to be in the physical body and when the Spirit is called attention to this aspect, it becomes amazed by not being able to touch the body. This phenomenon is analogous to what happens with some inexperienced sleepwalkers who think they are not sleeping. This is so because they believe that sleep is synonymous to a suspension of abilities. So, since they are able to think freely and are able to see, they think they are not sleeping. A certain number of Spirits present this circumstance although the idea of death does not come to them unexpectedly. However, this is more generalized among those that, although ill, did not think of dying. The Spirit may then witness the single spectacle of seeing his own burial as if it were the burial of a stranger, speaking on this act as if it had nothing to do with the Spirit until the moment at which it becomes aware of the truth.
The perturbation that follows death has nothing burdensome to an upright man who keeps calm. It is similar in everything to a person that passes through all the phases of a tranquil awakening. To a person who still does not have a pure consciousness, the perturbation is full of anxiety and anguish that increases as his Spirit becomes convinced of its situation.
In the case of a collective death, it has been noticed that all that die at the same time do not always see each other soon after their death. Kept in the perturbation that follows death, every Spirit follows its own path, or else, it becomes only concerned with what is of interested to it.
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CHAPTER IV
On the plurality of existences Reincarnation The justice of Incarnation in different worlds Progressive transmigrations The fate of children after death The sex of Spirits Kinship and filiations Physical and moral likenesses Inborn ideas
REINCARNATION
166. How may the soul, that has not reached perfection during its corporeal life, finish its depuration? “By enduring a new existence,” a) How is this new existence accomplished? Would it be through its transformation as a Spirit? “The soul undoubtedly experiences a transformation through its depuration, but to achieve this it is necessary to pass through trials in corporeal life.” b) Does this mean that the soul passes through many corporeal existences? “Evidently.” 167. What is the intended aim of reincarnation? “Atonement and a progressive improvement of Humanity. Without this, where would justice be?”
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168. Is the number of corporeal existences limited or does a Spirit reincarnate forever? “Every Spirit takes one step forward on the course of progress at each new existence. Provided the soul is cleaned from its impurities, there is no need to pass through more corporeal life trials.” 169. Is the number of reincarnations invariable for all Spirits? “No, it is not. A Spirit that moves quickly will spare many trials.” 170. What does a Spirit end up being after its last incarnation? “It remains in the state of perfect happiness as a pure Spirit.”
THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION
171. What is the doctrine of reincarnation based on? “On the justice of God and on revelation for, as we ceaselessly repeat, a good father always leaves a door open for his children to repent themselves. Does reason not tell you that it would be unjust to deprive eternal happiness forever of all those on whom it did not depend on to improve? Are not all men the children of God? Inequity, implacable hate and punishments without remission are only found among selfish persons.” All Spirits tend towards perfection and God grants them the means to reach it by providing them trials of corporal life. However, God’s justice grants those who were not able to carry out or to finish the first trial to accomplish it through new existences. God would neither perform his work with equity, not according to his kindness if He were to condemn for ever those who may have found obstacles alien to their own will stemming from the environment they were placed in. If the fate of man were determined irrevocably only after death, the scales God uses to weigh the actions of all creatures would not be a single one and there would not be fairness in the treatment He gives to all.
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The doctrine of reincarnation, that is, the doctrine that consists of allowing many successive existences for a Spirit, is the only one that corresponds to the idea we have of the justice of God regarding men who find themselves in a lower moral condition; the only doctrine that may explain the future and vouch our hopes since God offers us the means of redeeming our errors through new challenges. Reason indicates this and Spirits teach us this. A man, who is conscious of his inferiority, draws from the doctrine of reincarnation comforting hopes. If he believes in the justice of God, he cannot be assured that he will find himself for ever at the same level of those who have accomplished more than he did. But his courage is vivified with the idea that inferiority does not disinherit him eternally from the supreme goodness and that through new efforts he will be able to achieve it. Who, on reaching the end of his carrier, has not deplored having gained so late an experience from which he is not able to take advantage any longer? However, this late experience is not lost; his Spirit will make use of it in a new existence.
INCARNATION IN DIFFERENT WORLDS
172. Do all the different corporal existences take place on the Earth? “No; we experience them in different worlds. The existences we have here are neither the first ones, nor the last ones; however, they are the most material and the farthest away from perfection.” 173. At each new corporeal existence does the soul pass from one world to anther or may the soul have many existences on the same globe? “The soul may live many times on the same globe if it has not improved enough to pass to a superior world.”] a) – Does this mean that we may reappear many times on the Earth? “Yes, by all means.” b) - May we return to this world after having lived in other worlds? “Undoubtedly. It is possible that you have already lived else where before.”
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174. Is it necessary to live on the Earth again? “No, it is not. But if you do not progress, you may go to another world that is not worth more than the Earth and may even be worse than the Earth.” 175. Is there any advantage of coming to live on the Earth again? “No particular advantage, unless it is a mission, case in which you progress as you would on any other planet.” a) Would it not be better to remain in the condition of a Spirit? “No, absolutely not. This would mean to remain stationary and what is wanted is to advance towards God.” 176. After having been incarnated in other worlds, may Spirits incarnate in this world without ever having been here? “Yes, they may, in the same way as you may incarnate in other worlds. All worlds are solidary so that, whatever is not carried out in one of them is carried out in another.” a) Thus, there are men that are on the Earth for the first time? “Yes, there are many of them having different stages of advancement.” b) Is it possible to recognize in some way that a Spirit is on the Earth for the first time? “This would not be of any avail.” 177. To reach perfection and attain the supreme happiness, the final destination of all men, does a Spirit have to go through every world existing in the Universe? “No, because many are the worlds corresponding to each stage of development and a Spirit leaving one of them would not learn anything new in any of the other worlds having the same level.” a) – How may the plurality of the existence of a soul on a same globe be explained? “Each time the soul occupies a different position compared to the previous incarnation, these different positions offer the soul various opportunities of acquiring experience.”
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178. May Spirits incarnate in a relatively inferior world in relation to the world they have already lived in? “Yes, when they are on a mission with the aim of aiding progress, case in which they accept joyfully the tribulations of such an existence for this will provide them the means of advancing.” a) – But, may this not take place through expiation as well? May God not ban rebellious Spirits to inferior worlds? “Spirits may remain stationary, but they will never retrograde. In the case of remaining stationary, their punishment is not to advance, having to resume their badly made use of existence in an environment convenient to their nature.” b) – Which souls have to resume the same existence? “Those that have failed in their missions or trials.” 179. Have the beings living in each world all reached the same level of perfection? “No, because to each happens the same thing that happens on the Earth, that is, some are more advanced than others.” 180. On passing from this planet to another, does a Spirit maintain the intelligence it had here? “Yes, by all means. Intelligence is never lost. However, it may happen that a soul does not have the same means to manifest it for it depends of its advancement and of the conditions of the body it takes.” (See “The influence of the organism.” Second Part, chapter VII). 181. Do the beings living in different worlds have bodies similar to ours? “They undoubtedly have bodies because a Spirit needs to be coated with matter to act on it. However, this envelopment will be more or less material as of the grade of purity that a Spirit has reached. This is what characterizes the difference among the worlds we have to pass through for there are many dwellings in the house of our Father which means that the dwellings have different levels. Some souls on the Earth know about this fact and are aware of it while other souls are not.”
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182. Is it possible for us to know the exact physical and moral state of the different worlds? “No, it is not, for as Spirits we may only answer according to the level of advancement you have reached. This means that we are not to disclose these things to everybody because not everybody is in the condition of understanding it and such disclosure would disturb them.” As a Spirit purifies itself, the body that envelops it also approaches the spiritistic nature. The matter of the body becomes less compact; the body ceases to crawl grievously on the ground, its physiological needs become more refined, not being necessary any longer to have living beings destroy one another to feed themselves. The Spirit finds itself more free and has a perception of long past things unknown to us. It sees with the eyes of the body what we only have a glimpse of through thought. From the purification of Spirits follows a moral improvement to the beings they make up when incarnated. Animal passions weaken and selfishness turns into a feeling of fraternity. Thus, wars are unknown in worlds that are superior to ours because nobody thinks of harming his next fellow-being. Consequently, there is no reason for hatred or discord. The intuition that the inhabitants have of the future, the sureness originating from a conscience without regret, makes death cause no apprehension to them. They face death head on, without fear, as a simple transformation. The life span in the different worlds seems to be proportional to the level of physical and moral superiority of every individual which is perfectly rational. The less material the body is the less it is subjected to the vicissitudes disorganizing it. The purer a Spirit is the less are the passions undermining it. This is a grace of the Providence by shortening sufferings this way. 183. Going from one world to another, does a Spirit pass through a new infancy? “Infancy is a necessary transition everywhere, but it is not everywhere also obtuse as it is in your world.” 184. Does a Spirit have the faculty of choosing the world where he passes to live in? “Not always. A Spirit may ask to be allowed to go to this or that world and may obtain permission to do so if it deserves it for
122 Allan Kardec the ability of Spirits to access different worlds depends on their level of elevation.” a) – If a Spirit does not ask for, what determines the world in which it will reincarnate? “The level of its elevation does.” 185. Is the physical and moral status of the living beings perpetually the same in every world? “No, it is not. Worlds are also subjected to the law of progress. All begin, like yours; having a lower status and the Earth itself will undergo an identical transformation. It will turn into a paradise when all men will have become good.” This is the way that the races inhabiting the Earth nowadays shall disappear one day and be replaced by more and more perfect beings for these newly transformed races will replace current races in the same way that the latter have replaced other even more coarser races. 186. Are there worlds where a Spirit ceasing to reincarnate in a physical body has only the perispirit as envelopment? “Yes, there are and even this envelopment becomes so ethereal that to you it is as if did not exist. This is the state of pure Spirits.” a) – This seems to result in that between the condition corresponding to the last incarnations and a pure Spirit there is not specifically a marked off dividing line, is there? “Such demarcation does not exist. The difference between one and the other condition fades away little by little and ends up being imperceptible as it happens with the night and the first brightness of dawn.” 187. Is the substance of the perispirit the same in all worlds? “No, it is not. It is more or less ethereal. When a Spirit passes from one world to another, it envelops itself in the matter of this other world, a change which takes place at the speed of lightning “ 188. Do pure Spirits inhabit particular worlds, or are they found in universal space without being linked more with one world than with the others?
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“They inhabit particular worlds and are not restricted to them like men are to the Earth, but better than other Spirits, they may be anywhere.” (7) The volume of each planet and their distance from the sun bears no relation with the level of advancement; on the contrary, Venus should be accepted as being more advanced than the Earth and Saturn less developed than Jupiter.
Many known Spirits that have animated personalities on the Earth said they were reincarnated on Jupiter, one of the worlds closer to perfection, having caused amazement to have on this advanced globe men whom the general opinion did not attribute such an elevation.
(7) According to the Spirits, of all the worlds making up our solar system, the Earth belongs to the less advanced inhabitants, both physically and morally. Mars would be even less advanced, being Jupiter superior by far in all aspects. The Sun would not be inhabited by corporeal beings, but simply a place for the meeting of higher level Spirits that irradiate from there their thoughts to other worlds which they direct through less elevated Spirits by transmitting them their thoughts using the universal fluid. From the point of view of its physical constitution, the sun would be as a focus of electricity. All the other suns would be analogous to our sun in nature and function. The volume of each planet and their distance from the sun bears no relation with the level of advancement; on the contrary, Venus should be accepted as being more advanced than the Earth and Saturn less developed than Jupiter. Many known Spirits that have animated personalities on the Earth said they were reincarnated on Jupiter, one of the worlds closer to perfection, having caused amazement to have on this advanced globe men whom the general opinion did not attribute such an elevation. There is nothing startling about this provided it is understood that possibly certain Spirits inhabiting that planet have been sent to the Earth to carry out a particular mission which in our eyes did not place them in the first foreground. It must also be understood that between the existence on the Earth and Jupiter, there may have been other intermediary existences where they improved themselves. Finally, it has to be considered that in Jupiter as in our world there are multiple levels of evolvement, also that the distance there between two levels would be like the distance between savages and civilized people among us. Thus, having a Spirit inhabiting Jupiter does not mean that it is at the same level of the most advanced beings, in the same was as nobody may consider himself as being a wise man of an institution just because he lives in Paris. The conditions of longevity are also not the same in any part when compared
124 Allan Kardec with the Earth and ages cannot be compared. A Spirit disincarnated some years was evoked saying that since six months ago it was incarnated in a world whose name is unknown to us. Inquired about the age it had in that world the Spirit said “I cannot appraise it because we do not count the time as you do. Also the existence modes are not identical. There we evolve much quicker. However, although it is only six of your months that I was there, what I can say is that regarding intelligence I felt as if I were thirty years old on the Earth.” Many similar answers have been given by other Spirits and this does not bear anything improbable. Do we not see here on the Earth an enormous number of animals reach the end of their normal life span in a few months? Why could not the same thing happen to man in other spheres? Let us notice besides this that the evolvement man reaches here on the Earth at the age of thirty may not be more than a kind of childhood as compared to what is expected him to reach. Very short sighted is whoever takes us as a model of creation and that there is nothing else possible for God to perform.
PROGRESSIVE TRANSMIGRATION
189. Does a Spirit enjoy the fullness of its abilities from the beginning of its formation? “No, it does not since there is also infancy for Spirits as there is for men. At the beginning the life of a Spirit is only instinctive. The soul is barely conscious of itself and of its acts and intelligence increases only little by little.” 190. What is the state of the soul at its first incarnation? “It is similar to the infancy of corporeal life when intelligence only unfolds and the soul rehearses to prepare itself for life.” 191. Are the souls of our savages in the state of infancy? “They are in a state of a relative infancy since their souls have evolved presenting already passions.” a) Passions then, are a signal of evolvement? “Of evolvement, yes; but not of perfection. They are a signal of the activity and consciousness of the self because intelligence and life in a primitive soul are in the state of a germ.”
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As a whole, the life of a Spirit bears the same stages of corporal life. It passes gradually from the state of an embryo up to infancy to end up in adulthood by passing through successive periods. This latter stage is the stage of perfection with the difference that for a Spirit there is no decline or decrepitude as in corporeal life; that its life having a beginning, will not have an end; that from our point of view, a very long time is necessary to go from the infancy of a soul up to its complete evolvement and that its progress is achieved not only in one world, but by living in various worlds. Therefore, the life of a Spirit is made up of a series of corporeal existences, each of which represents for the soul an opportunity for progressing, in the same way that a corporeal life is made up of a series of days, each of which man obtains a gain in experience and learning. But, as in the life of man, there are days that bear no fruits, in the life of a Spirit there are corporal existences that yield no results because the Spirit did not make use of its opportunities. 192. Is it possible for somebody having an upright behavior in its present life to overcome the whole ladder of improvement and become a pure Spirit without having to pass through the intermediate stages? “No, it is not because whatever man considers as being perfect is far from perfection. There are qualities unknown and incomprehensive to man. A man may be as perfect as the earthly nature allows him to be, but this is not an absolute perfection. A Spirit has to go through the same things a child that has to pass through youth before reaching maturity, no matter how precocious the child may be. Te same thing also happens with an ill patient that has to pass through convalescence before regaining his health. Furthermore, a Spirit has to progress in terms of knowledge and moral. If a Spirit has advanced in only one mode it is important to advance in the other in order to reach the upper end of the ladder of perfection. However, the more man advances in his present life, the shorter and less burdensome will the trials be in his future.” a) May a man at least in his present life prepare a future existence for himself with assuredness that his future existence will be less full of bitterness?
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“He may undoubtedly do so. He may reduce the extension and the difficulties on they way. Only if a man is careless will he remain at the same place. 193. May a man in his new existence end up being lower than he is at present? “Regarding his social position, yes; but not as a Spirit. 194. In a new incarnation, is it possible for the soul of an upright person to animate a rascal? “No, it is not because such Spirits do not degenerate.” a) May the soul of a perverse man become the soul of an upright person? “Yes, it may if the soul has repented itself. This then constitutes a reward.” The headway of Spirits is progressive, never retrogressive. They advance gradually within the hierarchy and never retrograde from the category they have managed to reach. In their different corporeal existences they may retrograde as men, but never as Spirits. Thus, the soul of a powerful and influential person on the Earth may later on animate the most humble of workers and vice-versa and that is why the categories among men are in the inverse ratio of the elevation of moral qualities. Herod was a king and Jesus a carpenter. 195. Does the possibility of improving in another existence not encourage some persons to persevere on the wrong path being dominated by the idea that they may correct themselves later on? “Whoever thinks like this does not believe in anything and the idea of an eternal punishment would not restrain him more than any other idea because his reason rejects it and a similar idea induces incredulity regarding everything. If only rational means were used to guide men, there would not be so many skeptics. Actually, an imperfect Spirit during its corporeal life thinks as you say; but, as soon as it finds itself freed from matter, it will think differently for soon it will find out that it has made a miscalculation and then, an opposite feeling will bring it into a new existence. This is the way progress is made and this is the reason for men on the Earth to advance unequally. Some have already the experience lacking to
127 The Book From The Spirits others, but which they will acquire little by little. It depends on them to speed up progress or to retard it indefinitely.” A man occupying a bad position wishes to change it as quickly as possible. Whoever is persuaded to believe that the tribulations the of earthly life are the consequence of his imperfections will seek to assure a new existence less burdensome and this idea will turn him away more quickly from the course of evil than the eternal fire which he does not believe in. 196. If Spirits can not improve themselves except through the tribulations of corporeal existences, it follows then that material life is a kind of melting pot or purifier which all beings of the world of Spirits have to pass through to reach perfection? “Yes, this is exactly it. They resemble each other in these trials by avoiding evil and practicing goodness, however, only at the end of a more or less lengthy time; depending on the efforts made. Only after many successive incarnations or purifications, will they achieve the purpose towards which they tend.” a) Is it the body that influences the Spirit for it to improve, or is it the Spirit that influences the body? “Your Spirit is everything; your body is simply the vesture that rots away, nothing else.” Fermented grape juice offers us a material similar to the different levels of purification of the soul. This juice contains liquor called spirit or alcohol, but weakened by a large number of strange materials which alter its essence. This essence only reaches an absolute purity after multiple distillations, leaving behind some impurities at each distillation. The physical body is the alembic in which the soul has to enter to be purified. The strange materials are similar to the perispirit which also purifies itself as the Spirit approaches perfection.
THE FATE OF CHILDREN AFTER DEATH
197. May the spirit of a deceased child be as advanced as the spirit of an adult? “There are times when it is even more so for it may happen that it has already lived much more and acquired a great sum of experiences, particularly if it has ceaselessly progressed.”
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a) – May then the Spirit of a child be more advanced than the Spirit of its father? “This happens frequently. Do you yourself not see it often happening on the Earth?” 198. Unable to have practiced evil, does the Spirit of a deceased child belong to any of the higher rank of Spirits? “If it has not practiced evil it has also not practice goodness and God does not exempt it from the trials it was to go through. If it was a pure Spirit, it was so not for having animated just a child, but because it had already progressed in reaching purity.” 199. Why is life so often interrupted in childhood? “The short life span of a child may represent for the Spirit animating it the complement of its previous existence that was interrupted before the moment it should have ended and the death of a child quite often also represents a trial or expiation for the parents.” a) - What happens to the Spirit of a child that dies early? “It restarts another existence.” If man had only a single existence and its fate were decided for eternity after extinguishing it, what would be the merit of half of the mankind that dies in childhood to enjoy with no effort the eternal happiness, with what rights would it become exempted from the conditions sometimes so hard which the other half of mankind is submitted to? Such an order of things would not correspond to the justice of God. With reincarnation the equality is real to all. The future affects all individuals, with no exception and with no bias to anybody. Late comers may complain only to themselves. It is bound for man to have the merit for his acts as he is responsible for them. Moreover, it is not rational to consider childhood as a normal state of innocence. Are there not children gifted with the worst instincts at an age in which education has not yet had its influence on them? Are there not some children that seem to bring from the cradle cunning, perfidy, betrayal, even an inclination for theft and killing in spite of being surrounded with good examples? Civil law exempts them from the responsibility of such crimes by saying that they acted without discernment. The law is right since they acted by instinct rather than by design.
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Where do such diverse instincts in children having the same age come from? Where does the precocity of such perversity come from if it is not from a low evolutive level Spirit since education has not contributed for this at all? The children bearing defects do so because their Spirits have progressed very little. So the children suffer the consequences as an effect of this lack of progress, not due to the acts the Spirits practiced in childhood, but in their previous existences. This is why the law is only one for everybody and everybody is reached by the justice of God
THE SEX OF SPIRITS
200. Do Spirits have sex? “Not as you understand it because sex depends on organization. There is love and sympathy among Spirits, but based on the conformity of their feelings.” 201. In a new existence, may the Spirit that animated the body of a man animate the body of a woman and vice-versa? “Yes, of course. The Spirits animating men and women are of the same nature.” 202. Does a roaming Spirit prefer to incarnate in the body of a man or of a woman? “It does not matter. What guides a Spirit in his choice are the trials it will have to go through?” Spirits incarnate as men or women because they do not have sex. Since Spirits have to progress in everything, each sex as well as each social position provides them trials and particular obligations and through them the opportunity of gaining experience. Spirits incarnating only as men would know only what men know.
KINSHIP AND FILIATIONS
203. Do parents transmit to their children a portion of their souls or are they
130 Allan Kardec restricted to lend them the animal life to which later on another soul comes to add a moral life? “They lend their children only the animal life for the soul is indivisible. An ignorant father may have intelligent children and vice-versa.” 204. Since we have had many existences, do our relatives extend beyond the existence of them at present? “It cannot be otherwise. The succession of corporeal existences sets links among Spirits that go back to your previous existences. That is why there is often a great sympathy between you and certain Spirits that seem unacquainted to you.” 205. In the opinion of certain persons, reincarnation seems to destroy family bonds by placing them in previous existences. “Reincarnation distends them; but does not destroy them. By setting up relatives based on previous affections, less precarious are the bonds at present among members of a same family. This doctrine enlarges the obligations of fraternity for in your neighbor, or in your servant, you may find a Spirit with which you may have been united through the closest ties of consanguinity.” a) – However, reincarnation diminishes the importance that some persons place on their ancestry since anybody could have had as a father a Spirit that could have belonged to another race, or that may have lived in a much different social condition. Is this correct? “This is true. But this importance stems from pride. It is the tittles, the social level and the wealth of the ancestor that are venerated. Somebody would blush on telling him that his ascendant is an honorable shoemaker, but would feel great pride in descending from a luxurious gentleman. But no matter what is said or done, this will not prevent things to be what they are for God has not made a survey of the vanity of men to formulate the laws of Nature.” 206. If there are no filiations among the Spirits of descendants of any family, does it follow that the cult of forefathers is ridiculous?
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“No, by no means. Every man should feel glad for belonging to a family in which elevated Spirits have incarnated. In spite of Spirits not stemming one from another, they do not have less affection for those they are linked through the bonds of a family. They are often attracted to a particular family through sympathy, or through previously established bonds. But, you can be sure that your ancestors do not feel honored with a cult based on pride. The merit they enjoy is not reflected in you, except in the size proportional to your effort of following the examples they left. Only under these conditions do Spirits feel grateful and the remembrances of them will even be useful.”
PHYSICAL AND MORAL LIKENESSES
207. Parents often transmit physical resemblances to their children; do the parents also transmit moral resemblances to them? “No, they do not since the souls and the Spirits are different from one another. The body derives from a body, but the Spirit does not originate from a Spirit. Among the descendents of the races there is only consanguinity.” a) – Where do the moral likenesses that seem to exist between parents and children come from? “What happens is that one Spirit is sympathetic to the other which attracts each other reciprocally through the similarity of their personal tendencies.” 208. Do the Spirits of fathers not exert any influence on the children after they are born? “On the contrary, they do exert a great influence. As we have already said, Spirits have to contribute for the progress of one another. The Spirits of parents have the mission of evolving their children through education. This mission becomes a task. Parents will be blamed if they fail in their performance.
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209. Why is it that good and virtuous parents bear children having a perverted nature? Or better, why do the good qualities of the parents not always attract through sympathy a good Spirit to animate their child? “It is not rare for a wicked Spirit to beg to be given good parents in the hope that the counseling of them will lead the Spirit to a better course and often God grants it.” 210. By means of thoughts ad prayers, may the parents attract a good Spirit to the evolving body of a child, preferably of a Spirit having a lower evolutive level? “No, they may not, but they may improve the Spirit of the newly born child entrusted to them. Bad children are a trial to parents.” 211. Where does the likeness in character come from, a likeness which often exists between two bothers, particularly if they are twins? “They are Spirits having a great sympathy for each other and that approach each other for having analogous feelings and for feeling happy of being together.” 212. Are there two Spirits, or better, two souls in children whose bodies are born physically connected even sharing some organs? “Yes, there are, but their likeness is such that it seems, in many cases, to be a single soul to you.” 213. Why do Spirits incarnate in twins by sympathy, from what originates an aversion that is sometimes noticed between them? “It is not a rule for Spirits to be sympathetic in twins. It also happens that wicked Spirits may want to fight together in the theater of life.” 214. What are we to think of stories about children fighting in their mother’s womb? “They are legends! To express how strong the hatred the children devoted to each other was, people created the figure of hatred being felt well before the birth. In general, do not take poetical figures too much into account.”
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215. What is it that gives rise to the distinct character noticeable in every people? “Spirits also gather in families, fashioning them through analogy by following their more or less pure tendencies according to the elevation they have reached. Well, the people of a nation are a large family made up of the gathering of sympathetic Spirits. The tendencies the members of such families bear on gathering together become the origin of the similarities existing among the individuals that make up the distinctive character of every people. Do you think that good and humanitarian Spirits seek rude and brutish people to incarnate? No, Spirits sympathize with collectivities in the same way they sympathize with individuals. The collectivity, in which they find themselves in, is the environment which is suitable to them. 216. In new existences, does a Spirit retain traces of the moral character of its previous existences? “This may happen, but as a Spirit improves, it changes. It may also happen that its social position will be a different one. If from a landlord he changes into a servant, its fondness will be completely different and you will hardly recognize the Spirit. If a Spirit is always the same in several incarnations, there may be certain analogies among its manifestations, but nevertheless modified by the habits of the position a Spirit is holding until a remarkable improvement changes the character completely as, for instance, from a proud and unkind Spirit it becomes humble and kind if it has repented itself. 217. Regarding past physical characteristics, does a Spirit keep the traces of them in its future existences? “The new body a Spirit takes on bears no relation with the previously destroyed one. However, a Spirit reflects itself in the body. Undoubtedly the body is only matter, nevertheless it models itself through the capabilities of the Spirit that imprints a certain characteristic, particularly in the face which makes it be true to say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, that is, the countenance of an individual reflects his soul in a special way. Thus, when a good, sensible and humane Spirit lives in a person that is excessively ugly, he will have something that pleases whereas there are nice looking faces that do not cause any impression whatsoever, sometimes even
134 Allan Kardec bringing about repulsion. You may think that only well molded bodies serve as envelopment to more perfect Spirits when you surely meet everyday upright persons having a malformed body. Without there being a pronounced likeness, the similarity in propensity and likenesses may, therefore, lead to what is called ‘a family trait’.” There is no essential relationship kept in an incarnated soul from the envelopment of a previous incarnation since the soul may have come from a very different place compared to where it is now. It would be absurd to think that along a series of existences there would be a likeness of some kind which could only be a random effect. However, the qualities of a Spirit frequently modify the organ used for manifestations and imprint the physical feature and even a special particular mark to its set of manners. This is how it is possible to meet expressions of grandeur and dignity in a corporeal envelopment having the most humbly appearance while in the envelopment having the appearance of a landlord one may frequently notice lowness and shame. One may quite often notice that particular persons, by elevating themselves from an inconspicuous position, take on habits and high society mannerisms without great efforts. It seems that such persons have come to meet themselves again in their environment. Others, in spite of having been born in a wealthy home and having had a good education, show themselves always as being amiss in that environment. How else is it possible to explain this fact if not as a reflection of what a Spirit has been before?
INBORN IDEAS
218. Once incarnated, does a Spirit keep some vestiges of the perceptions and knowledge it acquired in previous existences? “It keeps some vague remembrances that lead to what is called inborn ideas.” a) - Then the theory of inborn ideas is not chimerical, is it? “No, not at all, since all the knowledge acquired in each existence is never lost. Once a Spirit is freed from matter, it will always remember what it has learned. During an incarnation, it forgets this knowledge in part momentarily; however, the intuition it keeps from its past existences will aid its progress. If it were not like this, Spirits would constantly have to begin it all over again. At
135 The Book From The Spirits every new existence, the starting point for a Spirit is where it left has off at its previous existence.” b) - There should be then a close connection between two consecutive incarnations? “Not always as close as you think it to be since the positions of a Spirit is often quite different in two consecutive existences since there is a progress made during the interval of the two incarnations. (see item 216) 219. – What is the origin of the extraordinary abilities of individuals who even though they have had no formal education appear to have an intuition on some knowledge, like languages, calculations, etc.? “Remembrances from the past, a previous progress of the soul, but of which the soul is not conscious of. From where do you want this knowledge to come from? The body changes, but the Spirit does not, although it changes its envelopments.” 220. – Upon changing the body, may a Spirit lose some of its intellectual abilities, like not expressing, for example, a taste for arts? “Yes, it may if it has sullied its intelligence or made a bad use of it. Also, any ability may remain latent during an existence because the Spirit wants to exercise a different ability that has no relation with the previous one, but that may reappear in a future existence.” 221. – Should the feeling that man has, even if savage, concerning the existence of God and a forefeeling of a future life be attributed to a past remembrance? “This is a remembrance man keeps from what he knew as a Spirit before incarnating. But, pride too often stifles this feeling.” a) – Is it due to this same remembrance that certain beliefs concerning the Doctrine of Spiritism are noticed among all peoples? “This doctrine is as old as the world is; that is the reason we find it in all parts of the world which proves it to be true. By keeping the intuition of its condition of a Spirit, an incarnated Spirit has intuitively the awareness of the invisible world, but numerous times prejudice misrepresents this idea and ignorance mixes it up with superstition.”
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CHAPTER V
Considerations on the plurality of existences
222. Some say that the dogma of reincarnation is not new; that it has been in the doctrine of Pythagoras. We have never said that the Doctrine of Spiritism is a modern invention. Being a law of nature, Spiritism certainly has existed since the origin of times and we have always made and effort to demonstrate that traces of it can be found in early antiquity. Pythagoras, as we know, was not the author of the metempsychosis; he took it from philosophers of India and from Egyptians that had it since immemorial times. The idea of the transmigration of a soul made up an ordinary belief accepted by the most imminent men. How did man acquire it? Was it through a revelation or through intuition? It is not known. However, be it as it may have been, what is sure is that an idea existing for centuries and centuries, imposing itself on blooming intelligences, must be something serious. Therefore, the old age of this doctrine instead of being an objection would be a proof in its favor. However, the metempsychosis of the old times and the modern doctrine of reincarnation also bear, as we know, a great difference due to the fact that Spirits totally reject the transmigration of the soul of men to animals and vice-versa. By teaching the dogma of the plurality of corporeal existences, Spirits renew a doctrine that had its origin at the early times of the world and that has remained deeply seated in many persons up to nowadays. Spirits have simply presented it from a more rational point of view, more aligned with the progressive laws of Nature and more in accordance with the wisdom of the Creator, stripping off all the accessories of superstition. A fact worthy of being pointed out is that it is not only in this book have Spirits lately taught the doctrine; well before its publication, numerous communications of the same nature had been obtained in different countries, increasing significantly in number from then on. Maybe it would be the case
137 The Book From The Spirits here to look over why Spirits do not all seem to agree on this question. However, later on we will resume the subject. Let us look over the subject from another point of view and separate any intervention of Spirits by leaving them aside for now. Let us assume that this theory has nothing to do with Spirits; let us assume that Spirits have never been cogitated. Let us place ourselves for a moment in a neutral ground, admitting the same degree of the possibility for both hypotheses, that is, the hypothesis of the plurality and singleness of corporeal existences and let us see towards which side reason and our own interest will make us be attracted to. Many persons repel the idea of reincarnation for the simple reason that it is not convenient to them. They say that one existence is more than enough and therefore; they do not want to restart another similar incarnation. We know of some people that jump up furiously on thinking that they have to come back to the Earth. To these people we only ask if they imagine that God has asked for their point of view, or has consulted their propensity to regulate the Universe. There are only two possibilities, either reincarnation exists or it does not exist. If it does not exist, it will not matter if we are against it. We have to be submitted to reincarnation without having God asking us permission for it. This seems to be the case of an ill person saying that he has suffered much today and tomorrow he does not want to suffer anymore. Whatever his bad humor, he will not have to suffer less the next day, nor the days that follow until he finds himself cured. Consequently, if the people think that way and have to live again corporeally, they will do so; they will reincarnate. Rebel themselves will not help them, like children who do not want to go to school, or condemned prisoners to go to prison. They will go through whatever they have to. Such objections are too childish to deserve being examined more seriously. However, we say to those formulating such ideas that they can calm down because the Doctrine of Spiritism, concerning reincarnation, is not as terrible as they think it is; that if they had studied it thoroughly, they would not be so terrified; that the conditions of a new existence depend on them which will make their existence be happy or a disgraceful, according to what they have done
138 Allan Kardec in this world; that from this moment onwards they may elevate themselves to such a height that the swamp will not make them feel frightened any longer. We expect to address people that believe in a future beyond death and not those who create to themselves a void perspective or intend to see their souls drowned in a universal whole where they lose their individuality, like drops of rain in the ocean which ends up being almost the same. Well then, if you believe in any future at all, you surely do not admit that this future is the same for everybody for, otherwise, what use would goodness have? Why should man constrain himself? Why should man not satisfy all his passions, all his desires, although at the expense of others, since because of it he would not be any better or worse? You believe, on the contrary, that this future will be more or less happy, or unhappy, according to what you have done during your life and then you wish it to be as fortunate as possible since it is to endure eternally, right? But, do you by any chance have the intension of being one of the most perfect men that has ever existed on the Earth and thus having the right to attain the supreme happiness of the elected ones with a single jump? If not, then you admit that there are men having a value higher than you and with the right of a better place without resulting in finding yourself among the reprobates. Well then, place yourself mentally in this intermediate situation you have just recognized to be in for only an instant and imagine that somebody comes to tell you that you are to suffer because you are not as happy as you could be whereas in front of you are beings that enjoy a complete venture. Would you like to exchange your place with them? “Certainly” will your answer be, “What am I to do?” Almost nothing but redoing the work carried out badly by making it be better. Do you still hesitate in accepting the idea of many trial existences? Let us make another more prosaic comparison. Let us imagine a man that, without having reached extreme misery, suffers nevertheless hardships due a to lack of resources and somebody comes to him saying that there is a great richness he may enjoy provided he works hard for one minute. If he were the laziest person on the Earth, he would say that he would work hard for one minute, two minutes, one hour, a whole day if necessary. He thinks that it does not matter
139 The Book From The Spirits provided there will be abundance to him until the end of his days. Well, what is the duration of a corporeal life compared to eternity? It is less than a minute, less than a second. We have seen some persons reasoning that it is not possible for God in his goodness to impose on man the obligation of restarting a series of miseries and tribulations. Do they perhaps think that there is more kindness in God condemning a man to suffer perpetually due to some moments of error than in granting him the opportunity of repairing his faults? “Two industrialists hired two workmen, each able to aspire to become a partner of his respective boss. It so happened that these two workers made a bad use of their day, both deserving to be dismissed. One of the industrialists dismissed his worker in spite of his supplication and for not having found another job; he ended up dying in misery. The other industrialist said to his worker that he had carried out his work badly and that he owed him a compensation for this, allowing the worker to restart the work and recommending him to carry out the work well to keep him employed, telling him also to continue to aspire the higher position he had promised him.” It is needless to ask which industrialist was more humane. Would God, being clemency in itself, be more inexorable than a man? There is something pungent in the idea that our fate will be decided forever as an effect of some years of trials even though it did not depend on us to have reached perfection whereas the opposite idea is eminently comforting, giving us hopes. Thus, without being in favor or against a plurality of existences, without preferring one or the other hypothesis, we declare that if it were allowed men to choose, nobody would want the judgment be without appeal. A philosopher once said that if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him for the happiness of the human genus. God does not ask us for permission, nor does He consult our tastes. Either it is, or it is not. Let us see on which side the probabilities are and let us face the other point of view on the subject only as a philosophical study, always separating the teachings from the Spirits.
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If there is no incarnation, then there is evidently only one corporeal existence. If our present corporeal existence is unique, the soul of every man would have been created at his birth, unless an anteriority of the soul is admitted, a case in which it is proper to ask what it was prior to its birth and if the state which it was in was not an existence in any form. There is no half way, either the soul existed, or it did not exist before the birth of the body. If it existed, what was its situation? Did it have, or not have, awareness of itself? If it had, it is almost as if it did not exist. If it had individuality, was it progressive or stationary? In either case, what level did it reach on taking on the body? Admitting, according to ordinary belief, that the soul is born with the body or, what would be the same thing, that before incarnating the soul had only negative abilities, we ask, 1st Why does the soul show aptitudes so diverse and independent from the ideas acquired through education? 2nd From where does the extra aptitude come, the aptitude children have since early childhood for this or that art, for this or that science while other children remain inferior or mediocre during their whole life? 3rd From where do some individuals obtain inborn or intuitive ideas not present in other individuals? 4th From where do certain children acquire the precocious instinct they show towards vices or virtues and the inborn feelings of worthiness or baseness, contrasting strikingly with the environment they are born in? 5th Why are some men more advanced than others, leaving aside their education? 6th Why are there savage and civilized men? If you take a newly born Hottentot child and educate it in our best schools, will you make him be a Laplace or a Newton someday? What philosophy or theosophy is able to solve these problems? It undoubtedly ends up that either the souls are all equal at birth,
141 The Book From The Spirits or else, they are different. If they are equal, why is there such a great diversity of aptitudes among the souls? It may be said that it depends on the organism. But then, we would find ourselves in the presence of the most monstrous and immoral of doctrines. Man would simply be a machine, a plaything of nature; he would not be responsible for his acts because he could attribute his imperfections to his physical imperfections. If souls are different from each other, it is because God has created them so. However, in this case why is an inborn superiority granted to some? Will this unfairness correspond to the justice of God and to the love He consecrates equally to all creatures? Let us admit the contrary. Suppose there are a series of prior progressive existences for every soul and everything is explainable. On being born, all men bring an intuition of what they have learned previously. They are more or less advanced according to the number of existences each has had and more or less distant from the starting point. It happens here exactly what happens in the meeting of individuals of all ages where everyone will have an evolvement enabled by the number of years he has lived. The successive existences will be to the soul what the number of years is to the body. I have gathered a thousand individuals a certain day aging from one to eighty years; suppose that a veil covers all the days prior to the gathering; consequently, you believe that all have been born at the same occasion. You naturally ask why some are tall and others short, some are old and others young, some are learned while others are still ignorant. However, if the cloud hiding their past is dissipated, you will know that all have already lived a longer or shorter time and everything becomes clear. God in his justice cannot have created souls unequally perfect. With the plurality of existences, the inequality we notice does not bear any opposition to the most rigorous equity. What happens is that we see only the present moment and not the past. Does this reasoning be the basis to some system, to some groundless supposition? No, it does not. We have started from a warranted and incontestable fact, namely, the inequality of aptitudes, of intellectual and moral evolvement, verifying that none of the currently existing
142 Allan Kardec theories is able to explain the plurality of existences whereas it provides a simple, natural and logic explanation. Is it rational to prefer a theory that does not explain the plurality of existences than one that does it? Regarding the sixth question above, it may be said that Hottentots are an inferior race. We ask then whether the Hottentots are or not human. If they are, why has God deprived the Hottentot race from the privileges granted to the Caucasian race? If they are not, why try to convert them into Christians? The Doctrine of Spiritism has a much broader outlook than all this. According to it, there are not many genus of men, there are only men, whose Spirits are more or less advanced in terms of their evolutive level, but all susceptible to progress. Is not this principle closer to the justice of God? We have analyzed the soul regarding its past and present existence. If we consider the soul, having in view its future, we will face the same difficulties. 1st If our current existence is the sole existence deciding on our next fate, what will the positions of the savage and the civilized men respectively? Will they be at the same level, or will they find themselves further apart regarding the sum of eternal happiness each is entitled to? 2nd A man that has labored all his life to improve himself, will he be in the same category of another man that has remained at a lower level of advancement, not due to his fault, but because he did not have the time, nor the means for improving himself? 3rd An individual that has practiced evil because he was not able to instruct himself, will he be blamed for the situation of things whose existence did not depend on him at all? 4th An effort is continuously made to clarify, moralize and civilize men. But in contraposition to a man that becomes enlightened, there are millions of others that die every day before enlightenment has reached them. What is the fate of the latter ones? Are they going to be treated as reprobates? If not, what have they made to occupy the same category of the others?
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5th What fate is in store for those who have died in childhood, when they still were not able to practice neither goodness nor evil? Will they be placed among the elected ones? Why do they enjoy this favor without having done anything to deserve it? In virtue of what privilege are they exempted from the tribulations of life? Is there any doctrine able to solve these problems? If the plurality of existences is admitted, everything will be explainable conforming to the justice of God. Whatever is not achieved in one existence may be achieve in anther one. Thus, nobody escapes from the law of progress, everybody will be rewarded according to his actual merit and nobody will be left out from the supreme happiness to which all may aspire, whatever obstacle they may face in their path. The questions mentioned above multiply themselves easily up to infinity for numberless psychological and moral problems only find their solution in the plurality of existences. We have limited ourselves to formulate only those of a more general order. However, it may be claimed that the Church does not admit the doctrine of reincarnation; that it will subvert religion. We do not intend to deal with this question at this moment. It is enough to have demonstrated that it is eminently moral and rational. Well, whatever is moral and rational cannot be antagonistic to a religion that proclaims God to be the supreme kindness and reason. What would have happened to religion if being against the universal opinion, it had obstinately refused to give in to the evidence and banned from its midst all those who did not believe in the movement of the sun or in the six days of creation? What credit would a religion have deserved and what authority would it have among cultured people founded on expressed errors and forcing them to be articles of faith? As soon as the evidence appeared, the Church solidly placed itself on the side of the evidence. Once it has been proved that certain existing things are impossible without admitting reincarnation and that only through their means it is not possible to explain some points of the dogma, it is forceful to admit and recognize that there is only a seeming antagonism between the reincarnation doctrine and the dogmatic doctrine of the church. Further ahead we will show that the distance that separates successive
144 Allan Kardec lives and religion is much smaller than it is thought to be and that the doctrine of successive lives would not cause a greater harm to religion than did the discoveries of the movement of the Earth and the geological eras which at first sight seem to deny the sacred texts. Furthermore, the doctrine of reincarnation points out that many passages of the Scriptures in the Gospels are particularly formulated in an explicit way: “When they came down from the mountain (after the transfiguration), Jesus made this recommendation: do not say anything of what you have just seen until the Son of man has resuscitated from the dead. Then He asked the disciples, “Why do the scribes say that it is necessary that first Elias is to come? Jesus answered it by saying, “It is certain that Elias is to come first and that he will re-establish all tings. But I tell you that Elias has already come and they did not recognize him and made him suffer, as they wanted. In the same way they will put to death the Son of Man.” The disciples then understood that it was John the Baptist that He was talking about.” (Saint Mathew, chap. 17) John the Baptist had been Elias, a reincarnation of the Spirit or of the soul of Elias in the body of John the Baptist. In short, no matter how we express our view on reincarnation, whether we accept it or not, this will not be a reason for us not to pass through it, provided it exists in spite of all the beliefs that are against it. Essential is that the teachings of Spirits is highly Christian. It rests on the immortality of the soul, on future punishments and rewards, on the justice of God, on the free will of man, on the moral of Christ and it is not anti-religious. We have been reasoning by leaving aside any spiritistic teachings, as we have said, since they lack authority according to certain persons. It is not only because the plurality of existences has come from the Spirits that we and so many other people have become supporters of it, but because the plurality of existences appears to be the most logical doctrine and because only this doctrine solves questions that have been insoluble.
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Even if the authorship of the plurality of existences were only a single person, we would have adopted it just the same and would not have hesitated one second to renounce our previous ideas. On showing the error, self-esteem has much more to lose than to gain by remaining steadfast to a false idea. In the same way we would have rejected it, even if it came from Spirits, if it showed itself to be contrary to reason, as we have rejected many other ideas for we know from experience that one should not blindly accept everything that comes from Spirits in the same way one should not blindly adopt everything coming from men. We think that the best thing recommending the idea of reincarnation is logics, above everything else. However, another thing that reincarnation bears is that facts confirm it, positive facts, material facts, so to speak, which a thorough and substantial study discloses to whoever decides to observe with patience and perseverance and there will not be left any doubt in face of the facts. When these facts will have become generalized, like the formation and the movement of the Earth around the Sun, it will be bound to have everybody surrendering themselves to the evidence and those who oppose themselves will find themselves constrained and denying themselves. In short, let us recognize that the doctrine of the plurality of existences explains what without it would be unexplainable. It is also highly comforting and conforms to the most rigorous justice, which makes up the salvation anchor God in his mercy has granted to man. The words of Jesus himself do not leave any doubt on the plurality of existences when one reads in the Gospel of Saint John, chapter 3, 4 and 5. Replying to Nicodemus Jesus said “Verily, verily, I tell thee that if a man is not born again, he will not see the kingdom of God.” When Nicodemus enquires, “How can a man be born if he is already old? Can he enter again into his mother’s womb and be born a second time?” Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I tell you that if a man is not reborn from water and Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God. What is born as flesh is flesh and what is born as Spirit is Spirit. Do not be amazed when I told thee that it is necessary to be reborn.” (See item 1010 on “The resurrection of the body”)
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C H A P T E R VI
On the Life of Spirits Roaming Spirits Transitory worlds The perceptions, sensations and sufferings of Spirits A theoretical essay on the sensations in Spirits The choice of trials The relationships beyond the grave Sympathetic and antipathetic relationships among Spirits Remembrances of the corporeal existence Memorial of the dead. Funerals
ROAMING SPIRITS
223. Does the soul reincarnate soon after it has been separated itself from the body? “Sometimes it reincarnates immediately, however, ordinarily only after a more or less long interval. In more advanced worlds, reincarnation is almost always immediate. Being the corporeal material less coarse there, a Spirit incarnated in those worlds enjoys almost all the aptitudes of a Spirit, being its usual state like the state of a somnambulist among you.” 224. What happens to the soul within the intervals of reincarnations? “It becomes a roaming soul aspiring a new expected destination.” a) – How long may these intervals last? “They may last from a few hours up to thousands of centuries.
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Strictly speaking there is no extreme limit set for the roaming state, which may extend itself very much, but is never perpetual. Sooner or later a Spirit will have to return to a suitable existence in order to purify itself from the stain of previous existences.” b) – Does this duration depend on the will of a Spirit or may it be imposed as expiation? “It is a consequence of free will. Spirits know perfectly well what they do, but it also constitutes to some Spirits a punishment that God inflicts on them. Other Spirits ask to lengthen it in order to continue their studies that may be carried out advantageously only in the condition of a free Spirit.” 225. Is the roaming of Spirits a sign of inferiority? “No, it is not for there are roaming Spirits of different levels. Incarnation is a transitory state, as we have already said. A Spirit finds itself in its normal state when freed from matter.” 226. May it be said that all the Spirits that are not incarnated are roaming Spirits? “Yes, but only the Spirits that have to reincarnate are roaming Spirits. However, pure Spirits, the Spirits that have reached perfection, are not roaming Spirits. These Spirits find themselves in a definite state.” Concerning the intimate qualities, Spirits have different orders, or levels of advancement, through which they pass sequentially as they purify themselves. Regarding their level, they may be incarnated, that is, incarnated in a body; roaming, that is, without a material body and awaiting a new incarnation to improve themselves and pure Spirits, that is, Spirits that are perfect and do not need to incarnate any longer. 227. How do roaming Spirits instruct themselves? They certainly do not do it in the same way we do it, right? “They study and seek means to elevate themselves. They see and observe what happens at the places they go to; they listen to the speeches of wise Spirits and to the advices of the more elevated Spirits. All this transfuses in them ideas they did not have before.”
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228. Do Spirits retain some of their human passions? “Without the material envelopment, elevated Spirits leave evil passions behind and retain only the love for goodness. Regarding low evolutive level Spirits, they retain human passions for otherwise they would belong to the first order of Spirits.” 229. On leaving the Earth, why do Spirits not leave evil passions behind since they recognize the inconveniences of them? “You see persons excessively envious in this world. Do you think that as soon as they leave this world they lose this characteristic? Passions accompany the Spirit that has left the Earth, particularly if the passions were rather strong for a kind of atmosphere enfolding the passions by retaining what they have as bad due the fact that the Spirit does not find itself sufficiently detached from matter. Only for some moments does a Spirit have a glimpse of truth that seems to show it the good path.” 230. During the roaming, does a Spirit make any progress? “A Spirit may improve a lot if it wants to and has the desire to achieve it. However, it is in the corporeal existence that a Spirit puts in practice its acquired ideas.” 231. Are roaming Spirits happy or wretched? “It depends on their merits for they suffer as an effect of their passions whose essence they have retained, or else, they are happy according to the level of dematerialization they have reached. While roaming a Spirit perceives what it lacks to be happier and from then on it will seek the means to achieve it. However, it is not always allowed for a Spirit to reincarnate as wished which represents a punishment to the Spirit.” 232. May roaming Spirits go to every world? “It will depend on their level of advancement. Due to the simple fact of having left the body, a Spirit does not find itself completely detached from matter and it continues to belong to the world it has just left or to another world having the same level of progress, unless
149 The Book From The Spirits the Spirit has elevated itself during its life time which, by the way, is the aim towards which its efforts have to be directed, otherwise a Spirit will never improve itself. However, a Spirit may go to some higher level-world, but as a foreigner. Better saying, a Spirit will only have a glimpse of them from which originates a wish to improve in order to be worthy of the happiness enjoyed by the inhabitants of a higher level world and thus, also abide it in due time.” 233. Do already purified Spirits come down to lower level worlds? “Yes, they frequently do so with the purpose of helping the progress of those worlds. If it were not so, these worlds would be left to their own fate, without guides to direct them.”
TRANSITORY WORLDS
234. As it has already been said, are there actually worlds that serve as resting stations or points for roaming Spirits? “Yes, there are worlds specially destined for roaming Spirits, worlds which may serve as a temporary dwelling, a kind of bivouac, of fields where they rest after a too long roaming time, a condition that is always quite burdensome. Among others, these worlds are intermediate positions, rated according to the nature of the Spirits to which they may have access and where they enjoy a greater or smaller well being.” 235. While remaining in transitory worlds, do Spirits progress? “They certainly do. The Spirits going to such worlds take along the aim of instructing themselves in order to obtain more easily permission to pass to other places that are better and so reach perfection which the elected ones have attained.” 236. Due to their particular nature, are transitory worlds perpetually destined for roaming Spirits? “No, they are not. Their condition is merely transitory.”
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a) - Are these worlds inhabited at the same time by corporeal beings? “No, they are not. Their surface is barren. Those inhabiting there do not need anything.” b) – Is the barren condition permanent and does it originate from the particular nature they bear? “No, the transient worlds are only transitorily barren.” c) – This means then that the worlds of this category lack natural beauty? “Nature reflects the beauty of immensity which is not less wonderful than what you call natural beauties.” d) – Being the similarities of worlds transitory, will the Earth belong some day to this category? “The Earth has already belonged to it.” e) – In what era? “During its transformation.” There is nothing useless in Nature; everything has a purpose, a destination. There is no void anywhere, every portion of immensity is inhabited; there is life everywhere. Thus, during the long sequence of centuries prior to the appearance of man on the Earth, during all the slow periods of transition that the geological layers evidence, even before the formation of the first organic beings in the shapeless mass, in the arid chaos, where the elements found themselves in confusion, there was no absence of life. Beings free from our needs and physical sensations, found refuge there. It was the wish of God, in spite of still being imperfect, to have the Earth have a use. Who dares to state that among the thousands of worlds revolving in the immensity, only one, one of the smallest worlds, lost among the infinite number of worlds, enjoys the exclusive privilege of being inhabited? What then is the usefulness of the other worlds? Has God created them only to please our sight? An absurd and inadmissible supposition that is incompatible with the wisdom that glitters in all His works is inadmissible provided we contemplate the existence of all we are not able to perceive. Nobody will contest that in the existence of worlds still unsuitable for material life and, nevertheless, already inhabited by living beings appropriate to such environment, there is something great and sublime in it which enables us to find the solution of more than one problem.
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THE PERCEPTIONS, SENSATIONS AND SUFFERINGS OF SPIRITS
237. – Once a Spirit is back to the world of Spirits, does the soul retain the perceptions it had when on the Earth? “Yes, it does. It also retains other perceptions it did not dispose of because the body obscured them as if a veil had been cast on them. Intelligence is an attribute that the more it manifests itself freely in a Spirit the fewer obstacles the Spirit has to overcome.” 238. – Are the perceptions and the knowledge of Spirits unlimited? “The more they approach perfection, the more they know. If they are high evolutive level Spirits, they know a lot. Lower evolutive level Spirits are more or less ignorant of everything.” 239. – Do Spirits know the beginning of things? “This depends on the level of purity Spirits have reached. Low evolutive level Spirits do not know more than men do.” 240. – Regarding duration, do Spirits comprehend it as we do? “No, they do not, and what follows is that not always do you understand us when it comes to set dates and age.” Spirits live outside the time as we know it. Duration for them stops existing so to speak. Centuries that are so long to us, do not last to them more than a few moments that move within eternity, in the same way that geological relief becomes erased and vanishes for a person rising into space. 241. – Do Spirits have a more precise and accurate idea of the present moment than we have? “In the same way a person having good eyesight has a more accurate idea of things compared to a blind person. Spirits see things you do not. Thus, they appreciate everything in a different way you do. But this also depends on the elevation of them.” 242. – How do Spirits know the past? Is this knowledge unlimited to them?
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“The past, when we handle it, is the present. It is exactly like what happens to you when you recall something that has impressed you in your exile. As there is no material veil obstructing intelligence, we remember even what has already been erased from your memory. But Spirits do not know everything, like its own creation to start with.” 243. – How about the future, do Spirits know it? “This still depends on the elevation a Spirit has conquered. They often have only a glimpse of it, however, not always are they allowed to disclose it. When they see the future, it seems to be the present to them. The more a Spirit approaches God, the more clearly the future unveils itself. After death, a soul sees and learns in a glance its past migrations, but can not see what God destines for it. For this to happen, it is necessary to have a Spirit integrating itself in God after multiple existences.” a) – Do the Spirits that have attained absolute perfection have a complete knowledge of the future? “It may not be completely for only God is the sovereign Master and nobody can equal him.” 244. Do Spirits see God? “Only the highest evolutive level Spirits see and comprehend Him. Low evolutive level Spirits feel and guess Him.” a) – When a low evolutive level Spirit says that God prohibits or allows it something, how does the Spirit know that this comes from God? “A Spirit does not see God, but feels its sovereignty and when something is not to be said or done; it feels as through intuition the prohibition of doing something or saying it. Do you not have the same foreboding that looks like a secret advice to do this or that, or not to do it? The same thing happens, although at a much higher level. Just for you to understand, Spirits have a more subtle essence than you have and so they receive divine advice better. a) – Does God transmit an order to a Spirit directly or through other Spirits?
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“An order does not come from God directly. In order to communicate with God, it is necessary for a Spirit to be worthy of it. God transmits orders through Spirits having a level above them in terms of perfection and instruction.” 245. Does a Spirit have a confined sight, as do corporeal beings? “No, the sight resides in the whole Spirit.” 246. Do Spirits need light to see? “They see by themselves, without needing an external light. For Spirits there is no darkness, except for the Spirits that may be in darkness as expiation.” 247. To see what is happening at two different points, do Spirits have to travel to these points? Are they able, for instance, to see both hemispheres of the globe simultaneously? “As a Spirit is able to move wherever it wants to with the speed of thought, it may be said that a Spirit is able to see everywhere at the same time. Its thought is susceptible of irradiating; moving to many different points at the same moment, but this ability depends on its purity. The coarser a Spirit is the more limited is its sight. Only high evolutive level Spirits are able to cover a set of places with their sight.” The ability of seeing in a Spirit is a property inherent to its nature and resides in the whole being, as does the light in all parts of a luminous body. It is a kind of universal lucidity extending itself to everything, covering space simultaneously, embracing space, time and the things, a lucidity for which there is no darkness or material obstacles. It is understood to be so. In human beings, the sight is achieved through the working of an organ that light impresses. What follows is that if there is no light, man is left in darkness. As the ability to see constitutes an attribute in a Spirit independently of any external agent, its sight does not depend on light. (See, item 92, Form and ubiquity of Spirits) 248. Does a Spirit see things as distinct as we do? “More distinctly so, since the sight of a Spirit penetrates where your sight is not able to penetrate. Nothing obscures it.” 249. Do Spirits perceive sound?
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“Yes, they do. They perceive even sounds that are imperceptible to your obtuse senses.” a) – Is the hearing ability of a Spirit in the whole Spirit like the ability of seeing? “All perceptions constitute attributes of a Spirit and are inherent to its being. When a Spirit is in a material body, it only perceives what comes through the ducts of the physical organs. However, in the condition of a free Spirit, its perceptions stop being localized.” 250. If perceptions are the attributes of the nature of a Spirit, is it possible for a Spirit to abstract itself from perceptions? “A Spirit only sees and hears what it wants. This is said from an overall point of view and refers particularly to high level evolutive Spirits while imperfect Spirits often have to hear against their will whatever may be useful for their improvement.” 251. Are Spirits affected by music? “By the music of your Earth? What is this music compared to celestial music? Celestial music is a harmony that nothing on the Earth may give an idea of. One kind of music is to the other like a savage song is to a sweet flute. Even though, ordinary Spirits may experience a certain pleasure in listening to your music for they have not learned yet to appreciate the other more sublime music. Music has an infinite charm to Spirits because they have greatly evolved sensitive qualities. By celestial music I mean everything of the greatest beauty and delicacy that the imagination of a Spirit is able to conceive.” 252. Are Spirits sensitive to the beauty of Nature? “So different are the natural beauties of the worlds that we are far from knowing all of them. Yes, Spirits are sensitive to natural beauties according to their fitness in appreciating and comprehending them. For high evolutive level Spirits there are beauties of entirety that erase detailed beauties, so to speak.”
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253. Do Spirits experience our needs and physical sufferings? “Spirits know them for they have endured them, however, they do not experience them materially as you do. They are Spirits.” 254. Do Spirits feel tired or do they need to rest? “Spirits do not feel tired as you understand it; consequently they do not need a corporeal rest as you do for they do not have organs whose energies have to be replenished. However, a Spirit rests in the sense of not being in constant activity. A Spirit does not act materially. Its action is all intellectual and its rest is wholly moral. This means that there are moments at which its thoughts become less active than usual and it does not concentrate on a particular object. It is a true rest, but not comparable to the rest of a body at all. The kind of tiredness Spirits are susceptible to feel has to do with their lower evolutive level. The more Spirits are elevated the less they need to rest.” 255. When a Spirit says that it suffers, what is the nature of its suffering? “Moral anguish tortures Spirits and it is much more painful than all physical sufferings.” 256. How is it then that some Spirits have complained of feeling cold or hot? “It is a reminiscence of what they suffered during their physical life, reminiscence quite often as afflictive as was the reality. Many times what Spirits say that way is only a comparison due to which, in the lack of something better, they seek to express the situation they are in. When a Spirit remembers the body that enveloped it, it has the impression similar to a person that having taken off the overcoat thinks, after some time, that it still is on his shoulders.”
A THEORETICAL ESSAY ON THE SENSATIONS IN SPIRITS
257. The physical body is the instrument of pain. If it is not the primary cause, it is at least the immediate cause of it. A soul has the
156 Allan Kardec perception of pain; this perception is an effect. The remembrance of pain that a soul retains may be very burdensome, but does not have a physical action. In fact, neither coldness nor heat is able to disorganize the tissue of the soul that is not susceptible to freezing or burning. Do we not see every day a remembrance or an apprehensiveness of a physical illness bringing about the effect of this illness as if it actually exists? Do we not see it even bringing about death? Everybody knows that whoever has a limb amputated feels pain in the missing limb. For sure pain does not lie there and it is not even the starting point of the pain. What happens is that the brain has stored this impression. It is licit, therefore, to admit that something analogous happens regarding the suffering of Spirits after death. A thorough study of the perispirit which plays such an important role in all spiritistic phenomena; of vaporous or tangible apparitions; of the state a Spirit comes to find itself in at the occasion of death; of the idea that the person being still alive which is frequently manifested; of the moving situations revealed by suicides; of those who have let themselves be absorbed through material joys; and numerous other facts that have thrown much light on this question leading to explanations we will now summarize. The perispirit is a link that binds the Spirit to the body, which the Spirit withdraws from the environment and from the universal fluid. It also participates in electricity, in the magnetic fluid and in inert matter up to a certain extent. It may be said that the perispirit is the quintessence of matter. It is the principle of organic life, but not of intellectual life, which resides in the Spirit. Furthermore, it is the agent of external sensations. The organs in the body that serve as a conduit localize these sensations. Once the body is destroyed, these sensations become generalized. That is why Spirits say that they do not suffer more in the head than in the feet, or vice-versa. However, do not confound the sensations of the perispirit that has become independent with the sensations of the body. The latter serve only as a comparison, but they are not analogous. Once a Spirit is freed from the body, it may suffer, but this suffering is not corporeal, although it is not exclusively moral, as in the case of remorse, for Spirits complain
157 The Book From The Spirits of coldness and heat. It also does not suffer more in the winter than in the summer; we have seen Spirits pass through flames, without experiencing any pain. Consequently, temperature does not cause any impression on Spirits. The pain they feel is not a physical pain as we know it, it is rather a vague inner feeling which the Spirits themselves do not understand well, precisely because the pain is not localized and because it is not produced by any external agent; it is more a reminiscence than a reality, however, an equally painful reminiscence. Although sometimes there is more than this, as we well see. Experience tells us that, at the occasion of death, the perispirit detaches itself more or less slowly from the body and during the first few minutes after disincarnating the Spirit does not find and explanation for the situation it finds itself in. The Spirit does not believe that it is dead, that is why it feels alive; it sees the body knowing that it belongs to the Spirit, but does not understand that it is separated from the body. This situation lasts while there is a connection between the body and the perispirit. Once a suicide told us “No, I am not dead.” and added “However, I feel the worms nibbling me.” Well, it is unquestionable that the worms were not nibbling the perispirit and even much less the Spirit; the worms were nibbling only the body. But as the separation of the perispirit from the body was not complete yet, a kind of moral repercussion was taking place, transmitting to the Spirit what was happening to the body. Repercussion is perhaps not the right word for it may induce the supposition of a great material effect. It was rather a sight of what was happening to the body to which the perispirit was still attached that brought about an illusion taken as being a reality. Thus, there would not be any reminiscence in this case for the perispirit was not nibbled when the body was alive; it was a feeling of a fact that was actually taking place. This shows what conclusion may be derived from facts when thoroughly observed. During the physical life, the body receives external impressions, which the perispirit transmits to the Spirit making up what may be called a nervous fluid. Once the body is dead, the body does not feel anything any longer for there is no Spirit and perispirit in the body. Once the perispirit becomes detached from the body, it experiences
158 Allan Kardec a sensation, but as this sensation does not come through a limited duct, it becomes an overall sensation. Thus, a perispirit is really nothing more than just an agent of transmission for it is in the Spirit that resides consciousness, so, it is logical to conclude that if a perispirit were not to exist without a Spirit, the former would not feel anything just as a body that has died. In the same way, if a Spirit were not to have a perispirit, it would be inaccessible to any sensation of pain. This is what happens with completely purified Spirits. We know that the more purified a Spirit becomes the more ethereal is the essence of the perispirit from what follows that the material influence diminishes as the Spirit progresses, that is, as the perispirit itself becomes less coarse. But it is said that since it is through the perispirit that pleasant as well as unpleasant sensations are transmitted to a Spirit and being a pure Spirit inaccessible to the former, it is also inaccessible to the latter. So it actually is regarding the sensations coming solely from the influence of the matter we know of. The sound of our musical instruments, or the perfume of our flowers, causes no impression on a pure Spirit. However, it experiences intimate sensations having an indefinable wonder from which we are not able to have the slightest idea because we are like blind born persons regarding light. We know it is real, but by what means are these intimate sensations produced? Our science has not reached this point yet. We know that a Spirit has perception, sensation, hearing and sight; that these abilities are attributes of the whole being and not of only one part as it is in human beings; but how do they achieve them? We ignore it. Spirits themselves are not able to tell us anything on this due to the unsuitableness of our language to express ideas we do not have, precisely as it is due to a lack of suitable words of savages regarding our arts, sciences and philosophical doctrines. By saying that Spirits are inaccessible to the impressions of matter, as we know them, we mean that the ethereal envelopment of very elevated Spirits is not able to be compared to anything analogous in this world. The same does not happen to more dense Spirits that perceive our sounds and scents, but only through a limited part of
159 The Book From The Spirits their individualities as it occurred when they were incarnated. It may be said that the molecular vibrations are felt in them in their whole being and arrive at their sensorium commune which is the Spirit itself, although perhaps in a different way and also lending a different impression that modifies perception. Spirits hear the sound of our voice; however, they understand us without the help of words, only through the transmission of thought. To support what we say there is the fact that this penetration is easier the more ethereal a Spirit is. As to the sight of Spirits, their sight does not depend on light as ours do. The ability of seeing is an essential attribute of the soul to which obscurity does not exist. However, it is more extensive and penetrating in more purified souls. Therefore a soul or a Spirit has in itself the ability of having all perceptions, which are obliterated through the roughness of the organs in corporeal life at the rate at which the semi-material envelopment etherizes itself. Extracted from the environment, the semi-material envelopment varies according to the nature of the worlds. Passing from one world to another, Spirits change the envelopment just as we change clothes when we pass from winter to summer or from the pole to the equator. When Spirits come to visit us, the more elevated Spirits overlay themselves with a terrestrial perispirit and then their perceptions are produced as usual. However, all Spirits whether having a high or low evolutive level, do not hear or feel but what they want to hear or feel. Since they do not have sensitive organs, they may freely make their perceptions be active or nullified. Only one thing they are obliged to hear – the advices of good Spirits. The sight of a Spirit is always active, but a Spirit may become invisible to other Spirits. According to the category of a Spirit, it may hide itself from Spirits that are below its category, but not from Spirits of a higher category. At the first moments after death, the sight of a Spirit is always blurred and confused. It becomes clear as it detaches itself from the physical body and may reach the clearness it had during its earthly life, independently of the possibility of penetrating through opaque bodies. As to its extension through infinite space, of the future and of the past, it depends on the level or purity and the elevation of a Spirit.
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There are those who may object by saying that this theory has nothing soothing. They say they thought that once freed from our coarse envelopment, which is the instrument of our pain, we would not suffer any longer and now you tell us that we will still suffer. Oh, yes, it may happen that we continue to suffer, much and for a long time, but also, that we will cease to suffer, even from the moment we leave corporeal life. The suffering of this world often does not depend on us; however, many other times it results from our will. Recall the origin of each of the sufferings and you will see that the greater parts of such sufferings are the effect of causes that you could possibly have avoided. How much evil, how many illnesses does man not owe to his excesses, to his ambitions, in short, to his passions? Whoever has always lived soberly, not abusing of anything, being always simple in his tastes and modest in his wishes, will certainly avoid many tribulations. The same thing happens to a Spirit. The suffering a Spirit bears is always the consequence of the way it has lived on the Earth. It is sure that a Spirit will not suffer from gout or rheumatism any longer; however, a Spirit will experience other sufferings that will not be any lesser. We have seen that suffering results from the link that still binds a Spirit to matter; the freer a Spirit is from the influence of matter, or better, the more dematerialized a Spirit is the less painful will be its sensations. Well then, it is in your hands to free yourself from such influences from now on. Man has a free will which means he has the ability of choosing to do or not to do something. Thus, tame your animalistic passions; do not foster envy, jealousy or pride; do not let yourself be dominated by selfishness; purify yourself by fostering good feelings; practice goodness; do not lend importance to the things of this world that do not deserve it; thus, in spite of still having a corporeal envelopment, you will already be purified, you will already have freed yourself from the yoke of matter and you will not suffer its influence after you leave the physical body. No painful remembrance will come from the physical sufferings you may have had to withstand; no unpleasant impression will suffering leave in the Spirit because the suffering has only affected the body and not
161 The Book From The Spirits the soul. Your Spirit will feel happy for having freed itself from the sufferings and the peace of your conscience will exempt the Spirit from any moral suffering. We have questioned thousands of Spirits that have belonged to all social classes, that were in all possible social positions here on the Earth; we have studied every period of the life of the Spirits from the moment they left the body, we have followed up their life beyond the grave step-by-step to observe the changes that occurred in their ideas, their feelings and in this regard, it was not the Spirits coming from the more common men that provided us less precious element of study. We always noticed that the sufferings kept a close relation with the behavior the Spirits had and whose consequences they experienced; that the other life is a source of inexpressible venture to those that followed the path of goodness. Therefore, it may be deduced that Spirits suffer because they wanted it to be so. Consequently, they may only blame themselves, be it in the other world or in this one.
THE CHOICE OF TRIALS
258. When roaming, before beginning a new corporeal existence, does a Spirit have awareness and a foresight of what will happen to it along the course of its terrestrial life? “A Spirit chooses by itself the kind of trials it wants to go through and it is this choice that constitutes its free-will.” a) It is not God then that imposes the trials of life as a punishment? “Nothing occurs without the permission of God for it was God that has set all the laws ruling the Universe. Now you may ask why God has enacted this law and not that one. By giving a Spirit the freedom of choice, God leaves to the Spirit the whole responsibility of its actions and of the consequences they bring about. Nothing obstructs the future; in this way the path of goodness and/or evil will be open. If a Spirit comes to fall, there remains the solace that not everything is over and divine kindness grants the Spirit the
162 Allan Kardec freedom of restarting what was badly finished. Furthermore, it is necessary to distinguish which work results from the will of God and which from the will of man. If there is a danger threatening you, it was not you who created it, but rather, God. However, yours was the wish to be exposed to the danger for having seen in it a means for progressing and God allowed it.” 259. Since the choice of the kind of trials a Spirit has to suffer is up to a Spirit, does it follow that all the tribulations we experience in life, we have foreseen them and searched for them? “No, not all of the tribulations for you have not chosen and foreseen everything in the smallest detail. You have only chosen the kind of trials. The circumstances are on account of the position you are in; they are often the consequence of your own actions. Choosing, for instance, to be born among malefactors, the Spirit knew what temptations it would be exposed to, but ignoring the acts it would practice. These acts result from exerting its will, or of its free-will. The Spirit knows that by choosing a path, it will have to sustain a struggle of a certain kind. It knows, therefore, what the nature of the vicissitudes are going to be, but ignores if this or that success will be achieved. The secondary happenings stem from the circumstances and from the force of things. Foreseen are only the main facts, the ones that influence destiny. If you take a road full of deep furrows, you know you have to advance cautiously because there are many probabilities of falling; however, you ignore at what point you will fall and it may even happen that you do not fall at all if you exert a great caution. If you move along a street and a tile falls on your head, do not believe that it was written as it is ordinarily said.” 260. What makes a Spirit wish to be born among people leading a bad life? “A Spirit is bound to be placed in an environment where it may undergo the trial it has asked for. This means that to fight against the instinct of theft, it is necessary for the Spirit to find itself among people practicing theft.” a) Thus, if there were no people having bad habits on the Earth, a Spirit would not find the means suitable to the suffering of some kind of trials?
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“Would this be something deplorable? This is what happens in superior worlds where evil does not penetrate. This is the reason for these worlds to have only good Spirits. Bring about things so that soon the same thing may happen on the Earth.” 261. Regarding the trials a Spirit is to pass through in order to reach perfection, does the Spirit suffer temptations of all kinds of nature? Does a Spirit have to be in all circumstances that may incite its pride, envy, avarice, sensuality, etc? “Certainly not for, as you well know, there are Spirits that right from the beginning take a path that exempts them from many trials. However, a Spirit that allows to be drawn into a bad path runs all the danger of lurking it. A Spirit, for instance, may ask for richness and it be granted. Then, depending on the character of the Spirit, it may either become a miser or a spendthrift, be selfish or generous, or even run after all sensual joys. Therefore, it does not follow from this that a Spirit is bound to pass through all these tendencies.” 262. How may a Spirit that is simple, ignorant and lacking experience at its origin, choose an existence and be responsible for this choice having the knowledge of cause and effect? “God provides for this inexperience by delineating a path to be followed, as you do with a little child. However, God leaves it little by little as the free will of the Spirit evolves and is able to make its choices. It is only then that a Spirit may choose by itself and take the wrong path by not listening to the advices of the good Spirits. This is what may be called the fall of man.” a) When a Spirit enjoys its free will, the choice of a corporeal existence will always depend exclusively on its will, or may an existence also be imposed by the will of God as expiation? “God knows how to wait. He does not haste any expiation. However, God may impose a certain expiation when, due to its inferiority or unwillingness, a Spirit does not have the aptitude to understand what would be more useful. When God sees that such an existence will serve as a purification and progress for a Spirit, it will serve as expiation at the same time.”
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263. Do Spirits make their choice soon after their corporeal death? “No, for many Spirits believe in the eternity of punishments which, as has already been said, is a chastisement.” 264. What directs a Spirit in its choice of the trials it wants go through? “A Spirit chooses the trials leading to expiation of the faults and to make progress be more quickly according to the nature of its faults. Some Spirits, therefore, impose on themselves a life of misery and privations with the aim of withstanding them with courage; others prefer to try the temptations of richness and power, much more dangerous due to abuses and bad applications that may happen as well as to low level passions that one or the other Spirit may cultivate; at last, many Spirits decide to try the power they will have to show in their fights when in contact with vices.” 265. If there are Spirits that choose the contact with vice as probation, are there not others that seek it due to sympathy or to the wish of living in an environment of their taste or to materially give in to their material inclinations? “Yes, there are undoubtedly, but solely among those whose moral sense is still little evolved. The trial comes by itself and Spirits take a longer time to pass through it. Sooner or later, Spirits will understand that the satisfaction of their brutal passions has brought about deplorable consequences, which they suffer for a time that seems eternal to them. God will let them remain in this persuasion until they become conscious of the fault they have incurred in and ask by impulse for a grant to redeem it by means of useful trials.” 266. Does it not seem natural to have less painful trials be chosen? “It may seem so to you, but not to Spirits. As soon as a Spirit disconnects itself from matter, all illusions cease and the Spirit then starts to think in another way”
Under the influence of physical ideas, man on the Earth sees only the burdensome side of trials. That is why it seems natural for him to choose trials that may co-exist with material joys in his point of view. However, in the spiritual life, a Spirit compares these fleeting and coarse joys with the unalterable happiness,
165 The Book From The Spirits which the Spirit is allowed to have a glimpse of and soon no more impression causes the fleeting earthly sufferings in him. Thus, a Spirit may choose a very rude trial and be followed with a very anguished existence in the hope of quickly reaching a better condition similar to an ill person who often chooses the most disagreeable medicine to restore his health quickly. Whoever intends to link his name to the discovery of an unknown country, will not seek to thread along a blooming road. He knows the dangers he is taking the risk of, but he also knows that glory awaits him if he succeeds. The doctrine of freedom through which we have to choose our existences and the trials we have to undergo ceases to look strange to us provided we are aware that Spirits, once freed from matter, appreciate things in a different way compared to our way of appreciating things. Spirits aim a target, which is very different to them as are the fleeting joys of the world. After every existence, they see the step they have taken and understand what is still lacking to reach their target. Hence they voluntarily submit themselves to all hardships of corporeal life, asking for those hardships that allow them to reach the target more rapidly. Therefore, there is no reason for us to be amazed when a Spirit does not prefer a milder existence. However, it is not possible for a Spirit to enjoy life without bitterness due to the imperfect condition it still is in. The Spirit perceives it and precisely to reach and master it does the Spirit endeavor to improve itself. Do we not find examples of such choices every day? A man that passes a great part of his life working ceaselessly, without resting, in order to gather means to assure him a well being, does he not perform a task he has imposed on himself having in view a better future? The soldier that offers himself for a dangerous mission, a navigator that faces even greater dangers for the sake of science or private interest, what does everyone of these do if not subjecting or expose himself due to his interest or for his glory? Regarding competitive examinations are they not voluntary trials that competitors submit themselves to with the aim of advancing in the career they have chosen? No one passes to any position in the sciences, arts and industry, without having passed through a series of lower positions first which are also trials. Human life is, therefore, a copy of spiritual life; in the former we are faced in a smaller scale with all the mishaps of the latter. Well then, if in earthly life we often choose hard trials with the aim of rising to a higher position, why should it not be so for a Spirit that sees farther than the body does and understands that corporeal life is a mere short lasting incident, choosing a hard and troublesome existence as long as it leads toward eternal happiness? Those who say that they will ask to return as a prince or millionaire since it is up
166 Allan Kardec to man to choose his existence, are like short sighted men who see only what they touch, or else, like boys greedy of sweets that answer those questioning them that they want to be confectioners or candy makers. A traveler crossing a deep valley shaded by a thick fog is not able to capture in his sight the extension of the road he is on, nor its end. However, upon arriving at the top of the mountain, he is able to see how far he has already traveled and the distance still remaining to reach his destination. He descrisbes the end, sees the obstacles he will have to overcome and then sets the safest means to reach the end. An incarnated Spirit is like a traveler at the foot of a mountain. Once the Spirit is freed from the earthly limitations, its sight dominates everything, like the traveler having reached the top of the mountain. For a traveler, there is a rest after the weariness at the end of the journey; for a Spirit, there is a supreme happiness after the tribulations and trials. All Spirits say that during their roaming, they devote themselves to survey, to study and to observe in order to make their choice. Do we not have an example of this kind in our corporeal life? Do we not take years seeking a career which we have decided upon, being sure that it is the most suitable career to help us along the path of life? If our intention frustrates in one career, we turn to another. Each career we have clung to represents a step, a period of life. Do we not think everyday of what we will do the next day? For Spirits the diverse corporeal existences are but steps, periods, days of their spiritual life, which is, as we know, the usual life since a corporeal life is transitional and fleeting. 267. May a Spirit proceed to choose its trials while incarnated? “The wish a Spirit nurtures may influence the choice it is going to make, depending on the intention that enlivens it. It so happens that a free Spirit sees things almost always in a different way. It is the Spirit by itself that makes the choice; however, we say it once more, it is possible for a Spirit to do it while still in material life; that is why there are always moments at which the Spirit becomes independent from matter that serves it as a dwelling.” a) It is surely not as expiation, or as a trial, that many people wish grandeur or richness? It is it? “No, it is undoubtedly not. Matter wishes grandeur to enjoy it and a Spirit to know the hardships.”
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268. Does a Spirit have to pass through trials constantly until it reaches the status of a complete purity? “Yes, it does. But the trials are not as you understand them to be because you consider as trials only material tribulations. After all, if a Spirit has reached a certain elevation, although it is not perfect yet, it does not have to undergo trials. However, it continues to be subjected to non burdensome duties which aid its improvement, even if these duties consist only of helping others to improve themselves.” 269. May a Spirit mistake itself as to the efficiency of the trial it has chosen? “A Spirit may choose a trial that surpasses its forces and ends up succumbing. A Spirit may also chose a trial from which it derives no advantage, as it will happen if it seeks an idle and useless life. But, on returning to the world of Spirits, it finds out that it has not gained anything and it will ask for another trial allowing it to recover the lost time.” 270. To what may be attributed the vocation of certain persons and the will they feel to follow a preferred career over another? “It seems that you yourself may answer this question, for is it not the consequence of all that we have just said regarding the choice of trials and on the progress achieved in a previous existence?” 271. On studying the different conditions during the roaming through which a Spirit may progress, how does a Spirit think to achieve it if it reincarnates in a cannibal, for instance? “Spirits that are already advanced do not reincarnate in cannibals, but rather Spirits having the nature of cannibals or even inferior to them.” We know that our cannibals are not in the last position of the spiritual rank and that there are worlds where the nature and the ferocity have no similarity on the Earth. The Spirits that reincarnate there are, therefore, of a lower evolutive level than those who incarnate in our world. So, to reincarnate in our savages represents a progress as it would be for our cannibals to exert among us a profession obliging them to shed blood. They can not put their eyes higher up because their moral inferiority does not allow them to understand a greater
168 Allan Kardec progress. A Spirit advances only gradually. It is not allowed for a Spirit to jump the distance separating barbarism from civilization and this is one of the reasons showing us that reincarnation is necessary which truly corresponds to the justice of God. Otherwise, what would be of the millions of creatures that die every day in the greatest degradation if they did not have the means of reaching a higher level of purity? Why would God restrain them the favors granted to other men? 272. May it happen that Spirits coming from other worlds having a lower evolutive level than the Earth, or from very backward people such as cannibals, for instance, be born among civilized people? “Yes, it may. There are some that become lost because they wanted to rise very high. But, in this case, they become displaced among the men they were born because their costumes and instincts are in conflict.” Such beings offer us a sad spectacle of ferocity within civilization. By returning to the environment of the cannibals, they do not suffer degradation for they simply return to the place that is suitable to them and in doing so they may gain something. 273. Is it possible for a man of a civilized race reincarnate through expiation in a race of savages? “Yes, it is. But is depends on the sort of expiation. A lord that has treated his slaves with great cruelty may become a slave in its turn and suffer the maltreatments he had inflicted to his fellowmen. A man that has exerted direction for a certain time may, in a new existence, have to obey those who bowed themselves at his will. This will be an expiation God imposes on him if he had abused of his power. Also a good Spirit may want to incarnate among backward races by enjoying an influent position in order to make them progress.”
The relationships beyond the grave
274. Does the existence of different orders of Spirits bring about some kind of hierarchy of power? Is there among them any subordination and authority?
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“Yes, it does and to a great extent. Spirits have authority over one another corresponding to the level of evolvement every Spirit has reached, an authority that a higher level Spirit exerts as an irresistible moral ascendant.” a) – May lower level Spirits stay away from the authority of those who are in a higher evolutive level? “I said that authority is irresistible.” 275. The power and the consideration a man enjoys on the Earth, does it give him supremacy in the world of Spirits? “No, it does not for the humble ones are exalted and the proud ones are abased. Read the Psalms.” a) – How are we to understand this exaltation and abasing? “Do you not know that Spirits have different orders according to their merits? Well then, the greatest on the Earth may belong to the last category among the Spirits while his servant may be in the first category. Do you understand? Did Jesus not say that whoever humiliates himself shall be exalted and whoever exalts himself shall be humiliated?” 276. A Spirit that was great on the Earth and comes to find himself as a Spirit among those of a lower order, does the Spirit experience any humiliation because of this? “Yes, it does, sometimes quite strongly, particularly if the Spirit was proud and envious.” 277. The soldier that meets his general after a battle, does he still consider the general as his superior in the world of Spirits? “A title has no value; the actual superiority is what counts.” 278. Do Spirits of different orders mix themselves with one another? “Yes and no. That is, they see each other, but they distinguish one from another. They avoid or approach each other according to the sympathy or antipathy they nurture reciprocally, just as it happens among you. They make up a world of which yours is a
170 Allan Kardec pale reflection. Those having the same category gather through a kind of affinity and build up groups or families, united through the bonds of sympathy and by the aims they have in mind. The good Spirits by the desire of doing goodness; the bad Spirits by the desire of doing evil through the shame of their faults and by the need of being among those that are likewise.” As in a large city men of all social classes and of every status they see and meet each other; they gather without mixing with each other; where societies are constituted through the similarity of tastes; where virtue and vice elbow each other without exchanging a word. 279. Do all Spirits have a reciprocal access to the different groups or societies they make up? “The good Spirits go everywhere and so must it be in order to be able to influence the bad Spirits. However, the regions which the good Spirits abide are interdicted to imperfect Spirits in order to avoid them to disturb the good Spirits with their lower passions.” 280. Of what nature are the relationships between the good and the evil Spirits? “The good Spirits engage themselves fighting the bad trends of the others so as to help them to rise. That is their mission.” 281. Why do low evolutive level Spirits enjoy inducing evil in us? “Because of the resentment brought about by not deserving to be among the good Spirits. The desire predominating in them is to obstruct as much as possible the still inexperienced good Spirits to reach the supreme goodness. They want others to experience what they themselves experience. Does this not happen among you, too? 282. How do Spirits communicate among each other? “They see and understand one another. Words are material; it is the reflex of a Spirit. The universal fluid sets a constant communication among them. It is the vehicle of the transmission of their thoughts, as the air is regarding sound to you. It is a kind of universal telegraph connecting all the worlds which allows Spirits to exchange messages from one world to the other.”
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283. Are Spirits able to dissimulate their thoughts reciprocally? Are they able to hide away from other Spirits? “No, they are not. For Spirits everything is patent, particularly to perfect Spirits. They may stay away from each other, but they always see each other. However, this does not constitute an absolute rule for certain Spirits may very well become invisible to other Spirits if they think it is useful to do so.” 284. If Spirits do not have a body, how are they able to prove their individualities and distinguish themselves from one another? “They prove their individualities by means of their perispirit which makes them become distinguishable as it happens with the body among men.” 285. Do Spirits recognize each other for having cohabited on the Earth? Does a son recognize his father? Does a Spirit recognize a former friend? “Yes, by all means and it goes on from generation to generation.” a) – How do those who have met on the Earth recognize each other in the realm of Spirits? “By seeing their past lives, reading it as if they were a book and by seeing the lives of friends and enemies. There we see the passing of their corporeal lives, from one life to the other.” 286. On leaving behind its physical remains, does the soul in the realm of Spirits immediately see its relatives and friends that preceded the soul? “Yes, it does, but even here this is not the proper word. As we have already said, it is necessary to elapse some time for the soul to recognize itself and remove the material veil.” 287. How is the soul harbored on its return to the realm of Spirits? “An upright soul is harbored as a beloved brother who has long been awaited. A bad soul is harbored as a despicable being.” 288. What kind of feeling is brought about in impure Spirits with the arrival of a bad Spirit among them?
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“Bad Spirits become satisfied when they see beings that resemble them and are also deprived from the infinite venture, just as rascals are gratified to accept another rascal like them on the Earth.” 289. Are our relatives and friends used to coming to meet us when we leave the Earth? “Yes, they are. Spirits go to meet the soul they love. They felicitate it as if the soul was returning from a long journey, for having been able to dodge the dangers of the road and they help the soul to free itself from the corporal ties. This is a grace granted to the good Spirits to come to meet those whom the soul loves while the soul that is maculated remains in isolation, or else, is only surrounded by those Spirits akin to it. It is a punishment.” 290. Do relatives and friends always gather after death? “This depends on the elevation of them and on the path they follow on seeking progress. If a Spirit is more advanced and moves faster than another, they are not able to remain together, They will see each other from time to time, but will not be together forever, unless they are able to move side by side, or else, when they have equaled themselves in terms of perfection. Moreover, the privation of a Spirit to see its relatives and friends is often a punishment.”
SYMPATHETIC AND ANTIPATHETIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SPIRITS
291. Besides the overall sympathy stemming from the likeness existing among Spirits, do they devote reciprocal personal affections? “Yes, they do so in the same way men do, however, the bond that ties Spirits to one another is much stronger when they are free from the physical body because then this bond is not exposed to the variability of passions. 292. Do Spirits nurture hatred among themselves?
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“There is hatred only among impure Spirits and it is these Spirits that insufflate hostility and dissentions among men.” 293. Between two beings that were enemies on the Earth, will there be resentment of each other in the ream of Spirits? “No, there will not. They will understand that the hate each devoted to the other was stupid and the reason inspiring hate was childish. Only imperfect Spirits keep a kind of animosity while they do not purify themselves. If it was a simple material interest that caused the animosity, they will not think about it any longer, no matter how little demateriazed they are. Not having between them an antipathy and having the causes of their disaffections ceased to exist, they approach one another with pleasure.” It happens as between two high school students that, on reaching the age of reflection, recognize the puerility of their childish dissensions and stop disliking one another. 294. The remembrances of bad actions two men have practiced against one another; does this become an obstacle to have sympathy between them? “These remembrances induce them to stay away from one another.” 295. What is the feeling after the death of those against whom we have practice evil in this world? “If it is a good Spirit, it forgives you according to your repentance. If bad, it is possible that it retains a resentment of the evil you have done to the Spirit and it may often pursue you in another existence. God may allow this to be so as a punishment.” 296. Are the individual affections of Spirits susceptible of being altered? “No, they are not. The reason for this is that they are not mistaken. They lack the mask behind which hypocrites hide themselves. So, in being pure Spirits, their affections are unchangeable. The supreme happiness derives from the love that unites them.”
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297. Does the dedicated mutual affection of two beings on the Earth always continue to exist? “Yes, undoubtedly, provided that it originated from a true sympathy. However, if it is the result of a physical cause, it disappears with the cause. The affections among Spirits are more solid and lasting than on the Earth because they are not subordinated to the whims of material interests and of self esteem.” 298. Are the souls that are to unite predestined for this union since their origin and does every one of us have its other half in some part of the Universe which one inevitably will unite to some day? “No, there is no special and fatal union of two souls. The union that exists is of all Spirits, but at different levels, according to the category they are in, that is, according to the perfection they have reached. The more perfect Spirits are the more they are united. From disagreement originates all the evils of mankind; from agreement results a complete happiness.” 299. In what sense are we to understand the word half, which some Spirits make use of to designate sympathetic Spirits? “The expression is inaccurate. If a Spirit were the half part of another, they would both be incomplete when they were apart from each other.” 300. If two Spirits that are perfectly sympathetic unite themselves, will they stay together forever or may they separate themselves and unite themselves with other Spirits? “All Spirits are united reciprocally. I am speaking of those who have reached perfection. In the lower realms as soon as a Spirit elevates itself, it does not sympathize any longer as before with the Spirits remaining below it.” 301. Are two Spirits that sympathize with one another a complement to one another or is the sympathy the result of a perfect identity of character? “The sympathy attracting a Spirit to another results from the perfect agreement of the tendencies and instincts of each Spirit. If one were to complete the other, both would lose their individuality.”
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302. Does the necessary identity of the existence of a perfect sympathy consist in a similarity of thoughts and feelings as well as of a uniformity of acquired knowledge? “It consists of the equality of their evolutive levels.” 303. Spirits that are not sympathetic at present, may they become sympathetic in the future? “All will become sympathetic in due time. A Spirit that today is in a lower evolutive level will rise by improving itself to reach the level the other Spirit has. The meeting of both will be hastened if the more elevated Spirit does not bear the trials it was submitted to and thus, remains stationary.” a) – Being sympathetic to one another, may a Spirit cease to be sympathetic with the other? “Most certainly if one of them is lazy.” The theory of the eternal halves confines a simple figure represented by the union of two sympathetic Spirits. It has to do with an expression used even in vulgar language and that should not be taken literally. It certainly does not belong to elevated order Spirits that have made use of it. By obviously having a limited range of ideas, Spirits have expressed their thoughts by using words they were used to in their corporeal life. Thus, one should not accept the idea that two Spirits were created for one another and that they fatally have to unite themselves some day in eternity after having been separated for a more or less long period of time.
REMEMBRANCES OF THE CORPOREAL EXISTENCE
304. Does a Spirit remember its corporeal existence? “Yes, it does, that is, having lived many times on the Earth, it remembers what it was as a man and I assure you that the Spirit often laughs feeling penalized of itself.” This happens in the same way a man having reached maturity laughs at the follies of his youth or at his childishness in infancy.
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305. Does the remembrance of corporeal existence come to a Spirit complete and unexpectedly after death? “No, it comes to the Spirit little by little like an image that appears gradually as if coming out from a mist as it focuses its attention on it.” 306. Does a Spirit remember all the happenings of its life in great detail? Does a Spirit apprehend a set of them in a single action or in the form of a flash- back glimpse? “A Spirit remembers things in accordance with the consequences resulting from them for the status it has reached as a roaming Spirit. Therefore, you may well understand that there are many circumstances of its life which it will give no importance to and that the Spirit will not even try to recall.” a) – But if a Spirit would like to recall them, would it be able to remember them? “Yes and in the greatest detail. A Spirit is able to recall incidents related to facts, even the thoughts it had at the time. However, a Spirit will not recall it if it does not have a usefulness. b) – Does a Spirit detect the aim of terrestrial life regarding a future life? “Yes, a Spirit sees it and understands it much better than when in its physical body. The Spirit understands the need of its purification in order to reach the infinite and realizes that at every existence it leaves behind some impurities.” 307. How does the memory of a past life come to a Spirit? Could it be through its own imagination or like a picture displayed at his eyes? “They come in both ways. All the acts a Spirit has an interest in remembering come to its mind. The other acts remain more or less vague in the mind, or forgotten altogether. The more demateriazed a Spirit is the less importance material things will have. This is the reason why so often an evoked Spirit that has just left the Earth does not remember the names of the persons that were dear to
177 The Book From The Spirits the Spirit, nor a lot of things that seem important to you. It is so because if a Spirit does not mind it, it soon falls into oblivion. A Spirit will only remember perfectly well the main facts that have to do with its improvement.” 308. Does a Spirit remember all its existences previous to the one it has just had? “The whole past unfolds in the sight of a Spirit like a traveler recalling the stretches he has passed by. But, as we have already said, a Spirit does not recall all the acts in an absolute way. The Spirit will recall them according to the influence they had in the shaping of its present status. Regarding early existences, the ones that may be imagined as the childhood of a Spirit, these are lost in vagueness and have disappeared in the night of oblivion.” 309. How does a Spirit consider the body from which it has separated itself? “As a useless garment that was hampering the Spirit which it felt happy to free itself from.” a) – What is the feeling of a Spirit seeing its body in decomposition? “Spirits are usually indifferent regarding such a sight as there is no interest in it.” 310. After some time, does a Spirit recognize the bones and other objects that have belonged to it? “Yes, sometimes Spirits recognize them, depending on the more or less elevated point of view they haves on Earthly things.” 311. Does the veneration that is lent to the material objects a Spirits has left behind bring to its mind the attention to these objects? “A Spirit is always gratified for having been remembered and the objects that have belonged to the Spirit bring to its memory those persons it left in the world. But, what attracts the Spirit is the thought of the persons, not the material objects.” 312. Regarding remembrances of the sufferings that Spirits have passed through in their last corporeal existence, do Spirits preserve them?
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“This often happens and these remembrances make Spirits better comprehend the value of happiness they may enjoy as Spirits.” 313. A man that was happy in this world, does he deplore the lost happiness on leaving the Earth? “Only low evolutive level Spirits may feel longings for the enjoyments compatible with an impure nature like theirs, enjoyments that bring about expiation through suffering. For elevated Spirits, the eternal happiness is preferred a thousand times more than the fleeting enjoyments on the Earth.” This is analogous to a man that when mature lends no importance to the delightful times of childhood. 314. Whoever has begun an outstanding work having a useful purpose and sees his work interrupted by death, does his Spirit lament having left behind the unfinished work? “No, he does not because his Spirit sees that there are others destined to finish it. On the contrary, the Spirit will exert its influence on other human Spirits to conclude the work. The aim of the Spirit on the Earth was to render goodness to Humanity; the same aim the Spirit continues to have in the realm of Spirits.” 315. Whoever left back works of art or of literature, does the Spirit retain the same love for its works it had when alive? “According to the elevation of a Spirit, it will appreciate it from another point of view and often it happens that the Spirit will condemn what had caused its greatest admiration on the Earth.” 316. In the Spiritual realm, are Spirits interested in the work carried out on the Earth in terms of a progress in the arts and sciences? “Yes, they are, according to the elevation of a Spirit or the mission it may have to carry out. Often what seems magnificent to you means very little to certain Spirits that will then admire the work just like a scholar admires the work of a student. Spirits will only be attracted to what renders the elevation and progress of mankind.”
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317. After death, do Spirits preserve the love for their native country? “The principle is always the same. For elevated Spirits the native country is the Universe. On the Earth, the native country is to them where they find the greatest number of sympathetic persons.” The conditions of Spirits and the way they see things vary up to infinity according to the moral and intellectual evolvement level they have reached. Elevated order Spirits usually come near the Earth for a short time. Everything that is made on the Earth is very little compared to the greatness of infinity. The things men cherish so much are, up to a point, so childish to the eyes of elevated order Spirits where very little attracts them to our world, unless they are taken to the Earth with the purpose of aiding the progress of Humanity. Intermediate order Spirits are the ones that most often come down to our planet, although they consider things from a higher point of view than when they were incarnated. Common Spirits are the ones that mostly submit themselves and make up the mass of the invisible population of the Earthly globe. They retain almost the same ideas, tastes and trends they had when in a physical body. They intrude themselves in our meetings, business, entertainments in which they take a more or less active part according to their character. Not being able to satisfy their passions, they enjoy the company of those who give in to them and they exert their influence to foster passions. However, among them are serious Spirits that see and observe in order to instruct and improve themselves. 318. Do the ideas of Spirits change when they are roaming? “Yes, they do and very much so. The ideas of Spirits undergo great modifications as every Spirit dematerializes itself. A Spirit may often remain imbued with the ideas it had on the Earth for a long time; but, little by little the influence of matter decreases and the Spirit will see things more clearly. It is then that the Spirit seeks for means to become better.” 319. On having a Spirit lived a spiritual life before its incarnation, how can the amazement of returning to the realm of Spirits be explained? “This happens only at the first moment and is the effect of the disturbance following the awakening of a Spirit. Later on, the Spirit becomes aware of its condition as the remembrances of the
180 Allan Kardec past return to its mind and the impressions of Earthly life are erased. (See item 163 and the items that follow it)
MEMORIAL OF THE DEAD. FUNERALS.
320. Does it sensitize Spirits when those who were dear to them on the Earth remember them? “Yes, it does and much more than you can imagine. If the Spirits are happy, this fact increases their happiness. If they are disgraced, it will serve them as a lenitive.” 321. Is the Memorial Day to Spirits more solemn than other days? Does it please Spirits to meet those who go and pray at the tombs in a cemetery? “Spirits respond the call of those directing their thoughts to them from the Earth on this day as they do any other day.” a) – But is the Memorial Day special to the Spirits, a particular day to have a meeting at their sepultures? “On this day Spirits gather at the cemetery in a greater number because on this day the number of people calling them through their thought is also greater, However every Spirit goes there only for its friends, not for the crowd that is indifferent to it.” b) – In what appearance do Spirits come there and how would we see them if we they were able to make themselves visible? “In the appearance they had when they were incarnated.” 322. “How about the forgotten Spirits whose tombs no one comes to visit, also there, nevertheless, do Spirits come and do they feel any sorrow by seeing that there is no friend that remembers them? “What does the Earth matter to Spirits? We are attached to the Earth only by the heart. Once there is no one on the Earth devoting affection to a Spirit, nothing else binds a Spirit to this planet for the Spirit has the whole Universe before it.”
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323. Does the visit a person makes to a tomb bring about a greater contentment to a Spirit, whose physical remains are there, than a prayer a person makes at his home? “Whoever visits a tomb only expresses through it that he thinks of the absent Spirit. The visit is an external representation of an intimate fact. We have already said that it is a prayer that sanctifies the act of the recall. The place does not matter, provided the prayer is made wholeheartedly.” 324. Spirits of persons, who are paid homage to by erecting statues or monuments, do these Spirits attend the inauguration of either one and do they feel any pleasure in this? “Many Spirits attend such solemnities when possible; however, the homage paid to them sensitizes them less than the remembrance they retain from men.” 325. What makes some persons wish to be buried at a certain place and not at another? May it be that after dying their Spirits go to that place? Will this importance given to a material thing constitute an indication of the inferiority of a Spirit? “The particular affection of a Spirit for a certain place indicates a moral inferiority. What does it matter for an elevated Spirit to be buried here or there on the Earth? Does the Spirit not know that its soul will gather with those that are dear to the Spirit, although they will all stay separated from their respective bones?” a) – Should the gathering of the remains of all the members of a family be considered to be a futility? “No, it should not, for it is a merciful habit and a testimony of sympathy given by those who do so to those who have been dear to them. It is nevertheless, deprived of importance to Spirits. This gathering is useful for men for it makes them concentrate more on their remembrances.” 326. Is the soul returning to the spiritual life moved by the honors paid to the mortal remains?
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“When a Spirit has reached a certain level of perfection, it is free from Earthly vanities and understands the futility of all things. However, let it be known, there are Spirits that immediately after death experience a great pleasure with the received honors, or else, become annoyed with the little importance given to the physical remains. This is because they still preserve some of the prejudices of this world.” 327. Does a Spirit attend its funeral? “Yes, it often does so, but sometimes it is still disturbed, not realizing what is happening.” a) – Does a Spirit feel flattered on seeing many people attending its funeral? “More or less, depending on the feeling that permeates the gathered people.” 328. Does the Spirit that has just died attend the meeting of the heirs? “Almost always, to teach the Spirit and to punish those who are guilty; God allows this to happen because on this occasion the Spirit judges the value of the protests the heirs usually make against the incarnated Spirit. All the feelings are revealed to the Spirit and the deception caused by seeing the rapacity of those that share among themselves the property left behind clarifies the Spirit on the prevailing feelings. However, those who cause such deception will also have their turn.” 329. The instinctive respect existing at all times and in all peoples man has consecrated and consecrates to the dead, is it an effect of the intuition man has of a future life? “It is the natural consequence of this intuition. If it were not so, there would not be any reason for such a respect.”
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CHAPTER VII
On the return of a Spirit to a corporeal life The prelude of a return The union of the soul and the body The moral and intellectual abilities of man The influence of the organism Idiocy and insanity Childhood Earthly sympathies and antipathies The forgetfulness of the past
THE PRELUDE OF A RETURN
330. Do Spirits know when they will reincarnate? “They have a presage of it as it happens to a blind coming near a fire. They know they have to retake a body in the same way you know you have to die some day, but they ignore when this will happen.” (see item 166) a) – This means to say that reincarnation is a need for spiritual life in the same way death is for corporeal life? “It certainly is.” 331. Are all Spirits concerned about their reincarnation? “There are many Spirits that do not think on such a thing, they do not even comprehend it. It depends on a Spirit being more or less evolved. For some Spirits the uncertainty they have about the future that awaits them constitutes a punishment.” 332. Is a Spirit able to hasten or retard the moment of reincarnation?
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“Spirits may hasten it through a strong desire. A Spirit may as well hold it off by retreating on facing the trial for among Spirits there are also cowards and indifferent Spirits. However, none of them proceeds unpunished since it suffers due to it just like a person that refuses to take a medicine able to cure him.” 333. If a Spirit would consider itself as being quite happy in a medial condition among roaming Spirits and consequently have no ambition of elevating itself, could it extend this condition indefinitely? “No, not indefinitely, for sooner or later a Spirit will feel the need of progressing. Every Spirit has to elevate itself. That is the destiny of all Spirits.” 334. Is there a predestination of the union of a soul with this or that body, or is the choice of a body left to the last moment? “A Spirit is always designated beforehand. Having chosen the trial it wants to submit itself, the Spirit asks to be reincarnated. God, who knows, sees and foresees everything, foreknows that a given Spirit is to animate this or that body.” 335. Is it left for a Spirit to choose the body to incarnate in, or only the sort of life fit for a trial? “A Spirit may also choose the body for the imperfections this body presents will be trials for the Spirit, trials that will aid its progress if it overcomes the obstacles. However, not always is a Spirit allowed to choose its corporeal envelopment; it simply has the faculty of asking for this or that reincarnation.” a) – May a Spirit refuse at the last moment to reincarnate in a body it has chosen? “If a Spirit refuses to reincarnate, it will suffer much more than a Spirit that has not tried any trial at all” 336. Could it happen that no Spirit has accepted to incarnate in a child to be born? “God would provide for it. When a child has to be born vitally,
185 The Book From The Spirits it is always predestined to have a soul. Nothing is created without having an intention for this creation.” 337. May God impose the union of a Spirit to a certain body? “Yes, God may do so in the same way He may impose different trials, particularly when a Spirit is not fit to make a choice having no knowledge of the facts. Through expiation a Spirit may be constrained to unite itself to a certain child that by its birth and by the position it will occupy in the world, it may become an instrument of punishment.” 338. If it should happen that many Spirits presented themselves to take a certain body to be born, what would decide which Spirit the body would belong to? “Many Spirits may ask for it; but in such a case, it is God who decides which Spirit is the most capable one to carry out the mission the child is destined to. However, as I have already said, a Spirit is designated to reincarnate before the time is reached to unite itself to the body.” 339. At the moment of incarnation, does a Spirit suffer a disturbance similar to the disturbance it experiences when leaving a body? “Yes, it does and a much greater disturbance; above all, a much longer one. Through death, a Spirit leaves enslavement; through birth, it enters it.” 340. Is the moment a Spirit incarnates solemn to the Spirit? Does a Spirit practice it by considering it to be great and important? “A Spirit proceeds as a traveler who boards on a perilous voyage and does not know whether he will meet death in the waves he has decided to face.” A traveler boarding a ship knows the kind of danger there is ahead, but he does not know if there will be a shipwreck. The same thing happens with a Spirit. It knows the kind of trials it will submit itself, but it does not know if it will succumb. In the same way reincarnation is a kind of rebirth for a Spirit. It is a kind of death, or rather, of an exile or an imprisonment for the Spirit. A Spirit leaves
186 Allan Kardec the realm of Spirits for the corporeal world, as man leaves this world for the Spiritual realm. A Spirit knows it will reincarnate, as a man knows he will die. But, as it happens to man regarding death, a Spirit is conscious that it will incarnate only at the supreme moment, when the predestined moment has arrived. Then, like a man in agony, disturbance takes the Spirit over which lasts until the new existence has positively started. Thus, when the Spirit comes near the moment of reincarnating, it feels a kind of agony. 341. Surrounded by uncertainties regarding the eventualities of its triumph in the trials it has to bear in life, does a Spirit have a case of anxiety prior to its incarnation? “Yes, it does and a very great anxiety because the trials of its existence will retard or advance its progress, according to its ability of bearing the trials.” 342. At the moment of reincarnation, is a Spirit accompanied by its Spirit friends that come to attend its departure from the incorporeal world, in the same way that these Spirits welcome it when it returns? “This depends on the sphere that a Spirit belongs to. If a Spirit is in the sphere where affection reigns, the Spirits that love it will accompany it up to the last moment, encourage it and often even follow its steps throughout its new life.” 343. The Spirits we see in our dreams testifying affection and presenting themselves with unknown features are they sometimes Spirit friends that follow up our steps in life? “Yes, they visit us very frequently as you visit someone imprisoned.”
THE UNION OF THE SOUL AND THE BODY
344. At what moment does the soul unite itself to a body? “The union begins at conception, but is only completed at birth. Since the moment of conception, the Spirit designated to abide a certain body will connect itself through a fluidic bond that
187 The Book From The Spirits becomes stronger and stronger until the child sees daylight. The cry made by a just born child announces that the child is numbered among the living beings and the servants of God.” 345. Is the union of a Spirit with a body definite since conception? During this first stage, may a Spirit renounce abiding a body that has been destined to it? “The union is definite in the sense that no other Spirit may replace what was designated for that body. But, as the bonds tying a Spirit to the body are still very weak, they break off easily and may do so through the will of the Spirit if this Spirit retreats from the chosen trial. In such a case, however, the child will not be born alive.” 346. What does a Spirit do if the body it has chosen happens to die before its birth? “The Spirit chooses another body.” a) – Of what use are these premature deaths? “In most cases they are due to the imperfections of matter.” 347. What use is there for a Spirit to incarnate in a body that dies a few days after its birth? “The being is not fully conscious of its existence. Thus, the importance of death is almost non-existent. As we have already said, what there is in the case of premature death is more a trial for the parents.” 348. Does a Spirit know beforehand that the body of its choice does not have a probability of living? “Sometime it does; but if the body was chosen because of this circumstance, this means that the Spirit is running away from its trial.” 349. If for some reason the incarnation of a Spirit fails to happen, is this failure replaced at once by another existence? “Not always immediately. It becomes necessary to allow
188 Allan Kardec the Spirit to take the time to go through a new choice, unless the immediate incarnation is similar to the previous determination.” 350. Once a Spirit is united to the body of a child and when it is not possible to step back any longer, does it ever happen for the Spirit to deplore the choice it has made? “Do you ask as a man that complains of the life he has? If a Spirit wishes a different life from the life the body had, the answer is yes. If the Spirit repents itself of the choice it made, the answer is no for the Spirit does not know that it has made the choice. After incarnating, a Spirit is not able to lament a choice, which it is not aware of. However, a Spirit may think the burden is too heavy and consider it to be grater than its forces. When this happens, the Spirit resorts to suicide.” 351. During the interval between conception and birth, does a Spirit enjoy all its abilities? “More or less so, depending on the point a Spirit has reached along this interval for a Spirit is not yet incarnated, but only attached to it. From the moment of conception onwards, the Spirit begins to be taken over by perturbations warning it that the moment of a new existence has arrived. This perturbation increases continually until birth. During this interval, the condition of the Spirit is almost identical of an incarnated Spirit during a sleep. As the moment of birth comes nearer, the ideas of the Spirit are erased as well as all the remembrances of the past, which it ceases to be conscious of as soon as it enters into life at birth. However, these remembrances come back little by little on returning to the realm of Spirits.” 352. Does a Spirit recover its abilities immediately after birth? “No, it does not for the abilities of a Spirit unfold gradually along with the physical organs. The Spirit finds itself in a new existence so, it is necessary to learn to use the new instruments available. The ideas return little by little like it happens to a person that awakes and finds himself in a different setting he was in before.”
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353. If the union of a Spirit to a body is not completed yet, being definitely fulfilled only after birth, may it be said that the embryo is endowed with a soul? “The Spirit that is going to animate the body exits outside the body, in a certain way. The embryo has no soul properly speaking since the incarnation is only on the way of taking place. However, the embryo finds itself connected to the soul it will come to have.” 354. How may intra-womb life be explained? “It is like a plant vegetating. The child leads an animal like life. Man has his vegetal and animal life which is completed with the Spiritual life.” 355. Are there children that are generated not to live long as science tells us? What is the purpose of this? “This happens frequently and God allows it as a trial for either the parents or the Spirit designated to animate the child.” 356. Among the children born dead, are there some to which no Spirit was destined for the incarnation of a Spirit? “Yes, some of them are. Actually to such bodies no Spirit has ever been destined. Nothing had to be effectuated and such children are only a trial for the parents.” a) May the birth of a being like this come through? “Sometimes it may, but the child does not live.” b) – So, it follows then, that every child that lives on after birth is bound to have an incarnated Spirit? “What would the child be if it were not so? It would not be a human being.” 357. What are the consequences of an abortion to a Spirit? “It is a nullified existence which has to be restarted.” 358. Is it a crime to bring about abortion at any stage of pregnancy? “A crime is committed every time the law of God is broken.
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A mother, or whoever it may be, will commit a crime every time it takes the life of an unborn child. By doing so, a soul is prevented to undergo the trials for which the body being formed would serve as an instrument.” 359. In the case when a child means a risk to the life of the mother, is there a crime in sacrificing the former in order to save the latter? “It is preferable to sacrifice the being that does not exist yet rather then sacrificing the one that exists.” 360. Is it rational to pay the same attention to an embryo than is paid to a child that has lived for some time? “See in all this the will and the work of God. Thus, do not handle inconsiderately things you should respect. Why not respect the works of creation, sometimes still incomplete by the volition of the Creator? Everything occurs according to the intention of God and nobody is called to judge Him.”
THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES OF MAN
361. What is the origin of the good and bad qualities of a man? “These qualities come from the Spirit incarnated in a man. The purer a Spirit is the greater is the propensity of this man to practice goodness.” a) – What follows then, is that a good man is the incarnation of a good Spirit and of a vicious man, a bad Spirit? “Yes, but it should be said that a vicious man is incarnated by an imperfect Spirit, otherwise it could be understood that bad Spirits are always bad which you call demons.” 362. What is the character of individuals incarnating insensible and frivolous Spirits?
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“They are individuals that are stupid, malicious and quite often malevolent.” 363. Do Spirits have passions they do not share with Humanity? “No, they do not. If they had, we would have told you about them.” 364. Does the same Spirit lend men the moral qualities as well as intelligence? “It certainly does due to the level of evolvement the Spirit has reached. A man does not have two Spirits in him.” 365. Why are some very intelligent men, indicating that they are incarnated by elevated Spirits, also strongly vicious at the same time? “This is because the Spirits incarnated in those men are not yet pure enough and so the men give in to the influences of other less perfect Spirits. A Spirit progresses in an ascendant variable rate, but this progress does not take place simultaneously in all senses. During a certain period of its existence, a Spirit advances in science; during another, in morality.” 366. What may be said about the opinions of those who state that the different intellectual and moral abilities result from the incarnation in a man of various Spirits, each having a special ability? “Upon bethinking it you will recognize the absurdity of it. A Spirit has to have all abilities and to progress it needs a single will. If man were a mixture of Spirits, a single will would not exist and the Spirit would lack individuality for, after the death of the body, all those Spirits would be like a flock of birds escaping from a cage. Men often complain of not being able to understand certain things and, nevertheless, it is curious to see how they multiply the difficulties when they have very simple and natural explanations at hand. Furthermore, they take the effect for the cause. They do the same thing regarding the human creature what pagans did regarding God by believing in as many gods as there are natural phenomena in the Universe. Notwithstanding, sensible persons living with pagans only saw the phenomena as the effects of a unique cause, namely, God.”
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The physical and the moral world offer us several similarities regarding this subject. Scientists believed that matter had multiple forms while they observed the appearance of the phenomena. Nowadays it is understood that it is quite possible for different phenomena to consist only in variations of a same cause which is the soul or the incarnated Spirit and not of many souls, just like it is regarding different sounds of the organ which all come from the air and not from the kinds of air equal to the number of sounds. From a similar system would result that when a man loses or acquires certain abilities as well as certain inclinations, this would mean that many different Spirits have come to abide the man, or would have left him, which would turn this man into a multiple being, not having any individuality and, consequently, without any responsibility. Furthermore, this is contradicted by a great number of examples of manifestations of Spirits where they prove their personalities and identities.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE ORGANISM
367. By uniting itself to a body, does a Spirit identify itself with matter? “Matter is only the envelopment of a Spirit like a garment is to a body. By uniting itself to a body, a Spirit retains the attributes of its spiritual nature.” 368. After having united itself with a body, does a Spirit exert its full freedom and abilities? “The exertion of the abilities of a Spirit depends on the organs serving it as an instrument. The coarseness of matter weakens a Spirit.” a) – Being the material envelopment an obstacle to the free manifestation of the abilities of a Spirit, is this similar to an opaque glass regarding the irradiation of light? “Yes, like a very opaque glass.” The actions of coarse matter exerted on a Spirit may be compared to the action of a puddly swamp on a body stuck in it which impairs the freedom of the movements of the body.
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369. Is the free use of the abilities of a soul subordinated to the evolvement of the organs? “Organs are the instruments of the manifestation of the abilities of a soul, a manifestation that is subordinated to the evolvement and level of perfection of the organs as is the excellence of a piece of work to the tool suitable for its accomplishment.” 370. From the influence of the organs, may it be inferred that there isa relationship between the development of the brain and the moral and intellectual abilities? “Do not mix up an effect with the cause. A Spirit will always have available the abilities proper to it. Thus, it is not the organs that provide the abilities, but rather, it is the abilities that drive the evolvement of the organs.” a) – Should it then be deduced that the diversity of capabilities among men derive solely from the status of a Spirit? “The word solely does not express with all accuracy what happens. The basis of this diversity lies in the qualities of a Spirit that may be more or less advanced. However, the influence of matter must be taken into account since it more or less restricts the exercise of the abilities of a Spirit.” An incarnated Spirit brings with it certain propensities and if one admits that each propensity corresponds to an organ in the brain, the evolvement of these organs is an effect and not a cause. If the organs were the basis of the abilities, man would be a machine without free will having no responsibility for his acts. One would then be bound to admit that the greatest geniuses like scholars, poets, artists, are what they are because only chance gave them special organs from what follows that without the organs, they would never have been geniuses which means that the greatest idiot could have been a Newton, a Virgil or a Raphael provided they were equipped with certain differentiated organs. Such hypothesis is even more absurd if it is applied to moral qualities. Actually, according to this system, if Nature had gifted a Vincent DePaul with such or such an organ, he could have been a rascal and the greatest rascal would only need a certain organ to be a Vincent DePaul. On the contrary, let us admit that the special organs are
194 Allan Kardec consequences; that they have evolved as an effect of the exercise of abilities, like muscles as a response to movement and we will not arrive at any rational conclusion. Let us make use of a comparison, which although being very simple, is true nevertheless. Through some physiognomic signs it is possible to recognize if a person is drunk. Would these signs be what make this man be a drunkard, or is it his drunkenness that produces those signs? It may be said that organs receive the imprint of abilities.
IDIOCY AND INSANITY
371. Is there any basis when we say that the soul of cretins and idiots is of a lower nature? “There is no basis at all for this. They are provided with human souls often more intelligent than thought of, but that suffer from the insufficient means they have available to communicate themselves, in the same way that a mute person suffers the impossibility of speaking.” 372. What objective is there for the Providence to create disgraced beings like cretins and idiots? “The Spirits abiding the body of idiots are submitted to a punishment. They suffer as an effect of the constriction they experience and of the impossibility in expressing themselves through non evolved or dismantled organs.” a) – There is no basis then, to say that organs do not influence abilities? “We have never said that organs do not have any influence. They do have a rather great influence on the manifestations of abilities, but they do not originate the abilities. Here lies the difference. An excellent musician using a defective musical instrument will not produce music that is good to hear, but this does not make him be a bad musician.” It is important to distinguish a normal state from a pathological one. In the former moral overcomes the obstacles that matter imposes. However, there
195 The Book From The Spirits are cases in which matter imposes such a great resistance making the psychic manifestations become obstructed or aberrant as in the case of idiocy or insanity. These are pathological cases making the soul be restricted regarding its full freedom. Even human law exempts them from the responsibility of their acts. 373. What would the merit be of the existence of beings such as cretins and idiots who are unable to practice either goodness or evil and so are incapable of progressing? “It is an expiation resulting from an abuse of certain abilities. It is a momentary pause of advancement.” a) – Thus, may a body of an idiot contain a Spirit that may have animated a man of genius in a previous existence? “That is right. A genius often becomes a scourge when a man abuses of it.” A moral superiority is not always proportional to the intellectual superiority and great geniuses may have much to expiate. Thus, they often end up resulting in an inferior existence compared to their previous one, which is a cause of suffering. The hindrances a Spirit finds in expressing itself are analogous to handcuffs obstructing the movement of a vigorous man. It may be said that cretins and idiots are brain mutilated as a lame is of the legs and a blind of the eyes. 374. In the condition of a free Spirit, is it conscious of the mental state of an idiot? “It frequently is. It comprehends that the chains preventing it from flying are a trial and expiation.” 375. What is the situation of a Spirit in the insanity of the body? “When a Spirit is free, it receives the impressions directly and exerts its action on matter directly as well. However, when incarnated, a Spirit finds itself in very diverse conditions and in the restriction of only acting with the help of special organs. If the whole set of organs or part of them are changed, the Spirit ceases to act or receive impressions that depend on these organs. If a person loses the sight, he becomes blind; if he loses the hearing, he becomes deaf, etc. Imagine now the case where the organ ruling
196 Allan Kardec the manifestations of intelligence is somehow partially or wholly modified and it will be easy to understand that only when a Spirit has incomplete or altered organs at hand will there result a perturbation that the Spirit by itself and in its intimacy is perfectly conscious of, but whose course of action is not in its hands to stop.” a) – Does this mean that disorganized is always the body, not the Spirit? “Exactly, but it is worth not to lose sight of the fact that in the same way a Spirit acts on matter, matter also reacts on the Spirit within certain limits and what may happen is that a Spirit may be impressed temporarily by the alterations of the organs through which the Spirit manifests itself and receives impressions. It may even happen that with the continuing of insanity for a long time, the repetition of the same acts ends up exerting an influence on the Spirit of which it will not free itself from before releasing all material impressions.” 376. Why does the insanity of a man sometimes lead to suicide? “A Spirit suffers due to the constraint it finds itself in and the impossibility of expressing itself freely thus, it seeks death as a means of breaking up the chains.” 377. After death does the Spirit of an insane person resent itself of its disarranged abilities? “It may resent itself after the death of the body until it is completely disconnected from matter like a man that wakes and resents for some time the perturbation which sleep had thrown him into.” 378. How does the alteration of a brain act on the Spirit after death? “Just as a remembrance. A burden oppresses the Spirit and since it did not have the comprehension of everything that happened during the insanity, it will always require a certain time in order to become aware of everything. That is why the longer the insanity in the course of Earthly life the longer will also the uncertainty and constraint last after death. Once a Spirit is free from the body, it will resent the impression of the bonds that tied it to the body for some time.”
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CHILDHOOD
379. Is the Spirit animating a child as well evolved as it is in an adult? “It may be even more evolved if the Spirit has progressed. Only the imperfection of the organs of a child prevents it from manifesting itself. The Spirit will work according to the instrument it has available.” 380. By abstracting the obstacle, which makes the imperfection of the organs block a free manifestation, does the Spirit in a small child think as a child or as an adult? “It thinks as a child for it is obvious that the organs are not evolved yet so the organs of intelligence can not produce all the intuitive knowledge in a child as it does in an adult. A child then has an actual limited intelligence until the age the child matures its reasoning. The perturbation, which the act of incarnation produces on the Spirit, does not cease suddenly at birth. It dissipates only gradually as the organs of the child evolve.”
There is an observation that supports this answer. The dreams of a child do not present the same character as the dreams of an adult do. The dreams of a child are childish and their object indicates the concerns of their respective Spirits. 381. Upon the death of a child, does the Spirit regain its former vigor at once? “So must it be for the Spirit will be disengaged of its corporeal envelopment. However, a Spirit will acquire its former lucidity only after having been completely separated from the material envelopment, that is, when there is no bond left of it with the body.” 382. Does an incarnated Spirit suffer during the childhood of a body as the consequence of the restraint imposed by the imperfection of the organs? “No, it does not for this state corresponds to a need. It is part of the order of nature and according to the plan of the Providence. It is a period of rest for the Spirit.
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383. What is the usefulness for a Spirit to pass through childhood? “It is to incarnate with the aim of improving itself. A Spirit during this period is more accessible to the impressions it receives which are able to further its advancement to what all those entrusted to educate the child should contribute.” 384. Why is the cry of a child the first manifestation at its birth? “It is to stimulate the interest of the genitor and to bring about the necessary care. Is it not evident that if the manifestations of a child were all of merriment when it is not yet able to speak that those surrounding it would not be concerned about the care indispensable for the child? Thus, admire the wisdom of the Providence existing in everything.” 385. What is it that motivates the change that takes place in the character of an individual at a certain age, particularly after leaving behind adolescence? Is it because his Spirit modifies itself? “This is so because the Spirit resumes the nature that is proper to it and it shows what it was before incarnating. “You do not know what the innocence of children hides. You do not know what they are, or what they have been, not even what they will be. However, the affection you devote to them and the caresses are as if they were part of yourself. It is taken for granted that the love a mother devotes to her children is the greatest love a being may devote to another. From were springs this affection, the tender benevolence that even strangers bear regarding a child? If you do not know it, I will explain it. “Children are the beings that God sends into new existences. In order of not imputing excessive severity on them, God gave them all an aspect of innocence. Even if it is the case of a child having bad tendencies, their actions are covered with a coat of unconsciousness. This innocence does not mean a real superiority compared to what they have been before. It is an image of what they should be and, if they are not, the consequent punishment befalls exclusively on them again.
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“Nevertheless, it was not only because of them that God gave them an aspect of innocence; it was above all for their parents whose love needs the weakness characterizing children. This love would weaken enormously in view of a rough and unmanageable character while by judging their good and docile children, the parents dedicate them all attention and affection and surround them with the greatest care. However, from the moment the children do not need protection and assistance that they have received for fifteen or twenty years, there appears the actual and individual character in all its nakedness. They will continue to be good if they were basically good; but always tinted by the hues that the first childhood kept hidden. “As you can see, the processes of God are always the best and when we have a pure heart, it is easy to apprehend the explanation. “Indeed, imagine for a moment if in your home children are born whose Spirits do come from worlds where the Spirits have acquired habits that are different from yours and tell me how these beings could be amongst you by bringing along different passions from the ones you cherish, tendencies and tastes totally different from yours; how could they stay with you were it not as God has decided, that is, passing through the sieve of childhood? This sifting process mixes all ideas, all dispositions, all varieties of beings generated on the worlds where creatures thrive. On dying even you will find yourself in a state corresponding to a kind of childhood among new brothers. On returning to the extra-Earthly existence, you will ignore the habits, usage and relationships observed in this realm which is new to you. You will handle with difficulty a language you are not used to speaking, a language that is livelier than the one you use to express your thoughts. (see item 319) “Childhood has yet one more usefulness. Spirits only enter into a corporeal life for a self-amelioration or improvement. The daintiness of childhood makes Spirits become more amenable, more accessible to the advice of experience and to those responsible for making them progress. It is at this stage that it is possible to reform faulty characters and repress bad tendencies. Such is the obligation
200 Allan Kardec that God has imposed on parents, a sacred mission of which they will have to account for. “Thus, childhood is not only useful, necessary, indispensable, but also a natural consequence of the laws that God has set to rule the Universe.”
EARTHLY SYMPATHIES AND ANTIPATHIES
386. May two beings that knew and esteemed each other meet in another corporeal existence and recognize each other? “They do not recognize each other, but they may feel attracted to one another. The cause is quite often the same intimate bonds based on sincere affection. One of the two beings approaches the other in seemingly casual circumstances, but it actually results from the attraction of the two Spirits that seek each other among the crowd.” a) – Would it not be more pleasurable to recognize each other? “Not always for past existential remembrances would have greater inconveniences than you can imagine. After the death of both they will recognize each other and will know the time they have spent together.” (see item 392) 387. Does sympathy always imply in a former acquaintanceship? “No, it does not. Two Spirits that are in harmony will naturally seek each other, without having necessarily been acquainted as human beings.” 388. Meetings of some people that used to happen and that ordinarily is attributed to chance, are they not the effect of a certain sympathetic relation? “There are links among thinking beings that you do not know of yet. Magnetism is the mainspring of science which you will understand better some day,” 389. What about the instinctive repulsion some persons experience, where does it stem from?
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“They are antipathetic Spirits that guess and recognize themselves without speaking to each other.” 390. Is the instinctive antipathy always a sign of a mean nature? “The fact that two Spirits do not always sympathize with one another does not mean that the Spirits are necessarily bad. The antipathy between them may derive from the diversity in the way of thinking. As both of them elevate themselves, this divergence will vanish and the antipathy will cease to exist.” 391. An antipathy between two persons originates first in the Spirit that is worse or in the Spirit that is better? “In either one indifferently, but distinct are the causes and the effects in each. A bad Spirit feels an antipathy towards whoever may judge or unmask it. On seeing a person for the first time, the bad Spirit soon knows that it will be censured. The distancing from this person changes into hatred and envy inspiring it to practice evil. A good Spirit feels repulsion from the bad Spirit for knowing that it will not understand the good Spirit because its feelings are disparate compared to the bad Spirit. However, conscious of its superiority, the good Spirit does not nurse any hatred nor envy the other Spirit. The good Spirit restricts itself to avoid and deplore the bad Spirit.”
THE FORGETFULNESS OF THE PAST
392. Why does a Spirit lose its remembrances of the past? “Man can not know everything, nor should he. In his wisdom God wants it to be so. Without the veil hiding certain things, man would be obfuscated like a person that suddenly leaves darkness to enter into light without a transition. Not knowing his past makes man be more himself.” 393. How can a man be responsible for acts and redeem faults he does not remember? How is he able to make use of the experience of lives he has forgotten? It is thought that the tribulations of existence would serve him as a
202 Allan Kardec lesson if he were able to remember what could have caused them. Since he does not remember it, every existence is to him as if it were the first one and so he is always restarting. How may this be conciliated with the justice of God? “In every existence man is provided with a greater intelligence and able to better distinguish between goodness and evil. Where would be the merit of it if he were able to remember all his past? When a Spirit returns to its previous existence (the spiritual life), all his past life is extended before his eyes. He sees the faults he committed and that led to cause his suffering, as well as how he could have avoided them. He recognizes as legitimate the condition he finds himself in and so it seeks an existence where it willbe able to undo his wrongdoings. The Spirit chooses trials analogous to the ones it did not make progress with, or the struggles suitable for its advancement and asks more advanced Spirits about the new undertaking, being aware that the Spirit assigned to be the guide in the next existence will endeavor to lead him to repair its faults by giving it a kind of intuition on the faults it had incurred in. You have this intuition in your thought, in the criminal desire that often assaults you and at which you instinctively resist, attributing it in most cases to the principles you have received from your parents, when it actually is the voice of consciousness speaking to you. This voice, which is the remembrance of the past, warns you not to commit again the faults which you have already made yourself be guilty of. In the new existence if you suffer with courage the trials and resist evil, the Spirit elevates itself and ascends within the hierarchy of Spirits when it returns to the spiritual realm.” It is correct that we have no accurate remembrance of what we have been and of what we have done in previous existences during our present corporeal life; but from all of it we have the intuition, being our instinctive tendencies a reminiscence of the past. Our conscience, which is the desire we experience of not relapsing in the same faults, incites us to resist such tendencies. 394. In worlds that are more advanced than the Earth, where those abiding there are not forced by physical needs, by the illnesses afflicting us, do men comprehend that they are happier than we are? Happiness is usually quite relative. We feel it by comparison with a less pleasing condition. In brief,
203 The Book From The Spirits some of these worlds, even though much better than ours, but not having y e t r e a c h e d t h e s t a t e o f p e r f e c t i o n , t h e i r i n h a b i t a n t s m u s t h a v e r e a s o n s f o r disgusts, although these are different from ours. Among us, we have the rich, while they do not suffer the anguish of material needs, and the poor, who are not exempted from tribulations, both feel their lives embittered. So, I would like to know if the inhabitants of these worlds do not feel as unhappy as we do and if they do not lament their fate of being unable to recall less advanced existences which could serve them as a means of comparison. “This deserves two distinct answers. There are worlds, among the ones you mentioned whose inhabitants keep clear and accurate remembrances of their past existences. They may and they know how to enjoy the happiness God allows them to have. However, there are other worlds whose inhabitants think, as you say, that they are better off than you on the Earth that suffer great disgusts, even disgraces. They do not appreciate the happiness they have for the same reason of not remembering an unhappier condition. However, if they do not appreciate it as men, they appreciate it as Spirits.” On forgetting previous existences, particularly when they were embittered, is it not something providential that reveals divine wisdom? In more advanced worlds, it is when past existences do not mean a night mare any longer that disgraced lives are brought back to memory. In less advanced worlds, would the remembrances of all previous existences not worsen the current unhappiness? Let us conclude then, that everything God has made is perfect and it is not fit for us to criticize Him, nor teach Him how the Universe should be ruled. There would be very serious inconveniences if we were to remember our previous individualities. In certain cases, this would humiliate us excessively. In other cases, it would exalt our pride and block off our free will as a consequence. In order for us to improve, God gives us exactly what we need; the voice of conscience and the instinctive tendencies. God deprives us of what harms us. Let us add by saying that if we remembered our previous private acts, we would also remember the other men from which would perhaps result the most disastrous effects in our social relationships. If we cannot always feel honored of our past, it is much better to cast a veil covering it. This agrees well with the doctrine of the Spirits regarding more advanced worlds than our Earth. In those worlds where only goodness thrives, a recollection of past existences is not painful at all. It is
204 Allan Kardec because of this that on those worlds the beings there remember their previous existences as we do of what we have done yesterday. Regarding the stay in less advanced worlds, existence is nothing more than a bad dream as has already been said. 395. May we have some disclosures regarding our previous lives? “Not always. However, many know what they have been and what they were doing. If they were allowed to say it openly, they would make extraordinary revelations of their past existences.” 396. Some persons believe they have a vague remembrance of an unknown past, which comes to them like a fleeing image of a dream that is tried in vain to be retained. Is this not a case of simple illusion? “Sometimes it is a real impression, but also, often it is not more than a mere illusion against which man has to be alert for it may not be more than the effect of a super-excited imagination.” 397. In the corporeal existence having a more advanced nature than ours, are the remembrances of previous existences clearer? “Yes, they are for as the body becomes less material, man remembers of his past with a greater accuracy. Those who abide the more advanced worlds have this remembrance in a clearer form.” 398. Being the instinctive tendencies a remembrance of his past, may it be assumed that through the study of these tendencies it is possible for man to know his committed faults? “So it is up to a certain point. However, it is necessary to take into account the improvement that may have taken place in a Spirit and the decisions it has made during its roaming. It may happen that the current existence is much better than the previous one.” a) – However, may it also be worse, that is, may a Spirit commit faults in an existence which it had not committed in a previous existence? “It depends on the advancement of the Spirit in question. If the Spirit does not succeed in its trials, it will probably be dragged into new faults resulting from the decisions made. But usually these faults denote more a stationary condition rather than a regression.”
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399. Being the tribulations of corporeal life an expiation of the faults of the past and, at the same time, there are trials having in view its future, may it be said that from the nature of such tribulations it is possible to deduce of what kind its previous corporeal existence was? “Very often this is possible for everybody is punished for what he has sinned. However, it is not possible to derive from this an absolute rule. The instinctive tendencies are the surest indication of this since the trials through which a Spirit passes are both related to the past and concerned with its future.” Coming to the end of what Providence assigned regarding the roaming stage, a Spirit chooses the trials it wants to submit itself so as to hasten its advancement, that is, it chooses the means for improvement and such trials are always related to the faults it is bound to expiate. If the Spirit succeeds, it advances; if it fails, it has to restart.
A Spirit always has a free will. It is due to this freedom that a Spirit makes its choice of the trials of corporeal life when it is not incarnated and when incarnated, decides to do or not to do something and so makes the choice between goodness and evil. To negate man his free will is to reduce him to the condition of a machine.
Incarnated in a physical body, a Spirit temporarily loses its remembrances of previous existences as if a veil were covering it. However, a Spirit sometimes retains a vague consciousness of its previous lives which, under certain circumstances may be disclosed. However, this revelation happens spontaneously only to more advanced Spirits having a useful purpose and never only to satisfy a mere curiosity.
Regarding future existences, they can never be revealed for the simple reason that they depend on how a Spirit will make out in its present existence and of the choice it will make subsequently.
The forgetfulness of the practiced faults in past existences is no obstacle for the improvement of a Spirit since if it is sure that it does not remember them accurately, not less sure is the circumstance of having known them during its roaming period and of having wanted to mend them which guides the Spirit intuitively, giving it the idea of resisting evil, idea that is the voice of consciousness
206 Allan Kardec having the more advanced assisting Spirits supporting the Spirit by encouraging it to attend the good forwarded inspirations.
Man does not know the acts he has practiced in his previous existences, but may always know what sort of faults he became guilty of and which was the predominant feature. All that is necessary then to judge what he was is not by what he currently is, but through his tendencies.
The tribulations of corporeal life constitute the expiation of the faults of the past and, at the same time, the trials regarding the future. We cleanse ourselves and rise if we bear them resignedly and without grumbling.
The nature of these tribulations we suffer may also clarify what we have been and what we have done; in the same way we judge in this world the acts of a guilty individual by the punishment imposed by the laws. Thus, a proud person will be punished in his pride by humiliating him in a subaltern existence; a bad rich person or a niggard, through misery; whoever was cruel to others, will suffer the same cruelties; a tyrant through slavery; a bad son, through the ingratitude of his children; a lazy person, through forced labor, etc;
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CHAPTER VIII
On the emancipation of the soul Sleep and dreams Spiritistic visits between live persons Occult thought transmission Lethargy, catalepsy, seeming deaths Somnambulism Ecstasy Double sight A theoretical summary of somnambulism, ecstasy and double sight
SLEEP AND DREAMS
400. Does an incarnated Spirit stay willingly in its envelopment? “It is like a jailed man if you ask him whether he likes to be jailed. An incarnated Spirit always aspires its freedom. It wishes to be freer from its envelopment the coarser this envelopment is.” 401. During sleep, does the soul rest like the body? “No, it does not. A Spirit is never inactive. During sleep, the bonds tying it to the body loosen and not needing its presence, it casts itself through space and comes in a closer relation with other Spirits.” 402. How can we know about the freedom of a Spirit during the sleep of the body? “Through dreams. When the body rests, you can be sure that the Spirit has more abilities than when the body is awake. The Spirit
208 Allan Kardec will remember its past and sometimes foresee the future. It acquires a greater potentiality and is able to communicate itself with other Spirits, be they from this world or from others. You frequently say ‘I had an extravagant dream, a horrible dream, but totally implausible.’ You are mistaken. It is quite often a remembrance of places and of the things you have seen or that you will see in another existence or at another occasion. If the body becomes dull, the Spirit tries to break off its chains and look over either the past or the future. “Poor men that hardly know the most common phenomena of life! You think you are very wise and the simplest things mix you up. You do not know what to answer to the questions that all children make, ‘What do we do when we sleep? What are dreams?’ “Sleep releases the soul partially from the body. When man sleeps, for a period of time he turns into a state similar to which he turns into permanently after death. Intelligent Spirits have had intelligent dreams before they disincarnated and soon were able to detach themselves from matter. Spirits like these go to join the beings that are more advanced when the body sleeps. With them they travel, converse and instruct themselves. They even participate in work, which they find concluded after they die and return to the spiritual realm. This should teach you once more of not being afraid of death for you die every day according to the words of a saint. “So much regarding advanced Spirits. Concerning the great number of men who, when they die, they will have to spend many hours in perturbations, in uncertainty of which so many Spirits have already told you about, these Spirits go, while their bodies sleep, either to less advanced worlds than the Earth from where old affections call them or in search of pleasures perhaps even lower than the ones they enjoy so much here. They go to satiate themselves in doctrines even viler, meaner and more dismal than the doctrines they profess among you. What generates the sympathy on the Earth is the fact that men, on awakening, feel they are attached by the heart to those with whom they have just spent eight or nine hours of venture or pleasure. Also invincible antipathies may be explained due to the fact that we feel in our intimate being that
209 The Book From The Spirits the entities we dislike have a different consciousness from ours. We know them without ever having seen them with our eyes. This also explains the indifference of many men. They do not care to make new friends because they know that many Spirits love them and have them in high regard. In short, sleep influences much more than you might think. “Thanks to sleep, incarnated Spirits are always connected wit the world of Spirits. That is why advanced Spirits assent to incarnate among you without repugnance. God has willed that having to be in contact with vice, Spirits could go to re-quench themselves in the fountain of goodness in order of not equally failing when they propound to instruct others. Sleep is the door that God has opened to them so that they may be with their friends in heaven; it is a break after work while they wait for the great disengagement, the final release that will bring them back to the environment that is suitable to them. “A dream is the remembrance of what a Spirit has seen during a sleep. However, notice that you do not always dream. What does this mean? It means that you do not always remember what you saw, or of everything you have seen while you were sleeping. This is because you do not have the abilities of your soul fully evolved. Often you retain the remembrance of the perturbations your Spirit experiences during its departure or at its return being added with whatever results from what you have done or from the worries you had when awake. If it were not so, how would you explain the absurd dreams that both wise persons and the humblest and simplest persons have? It also happens that bad Spirits take advantage of dreams to torment weak and coward souls. “At last, soon you will see another kind of dream become popular. Although this kind of dream is as old as the dreams we have been commenting, but which you do not know of. Dreams like the dreams of Jeanne D’Arc, of Jacob, of the Jewish prophets and of some divine Hindus. They are remembrances kept by souls that disconnected themselves almost entirely from the body, remembrances of their second life to which we have just referred to.
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“Make sure you distinguish between these two kinds of dreams with respect of the dreams you remember of, otherwise, you will contradict yourself and commit errors that will be tragic to your faith.” Dreams are the emancipation of a soul that becomes more independent through the suspension of active life and of its relation with the body. In this way it enjoys a kind of an indefinite clairvoyance that extends itself to the farthest places and even to other worlds. Then there is also the remembrance the soul brings to the memory of the happenings of its previous existences. It is the odd images of what is happening or of what happened in unknown worlds mixed with things of the current world that make up the strange and confusing dreams making no sense and seeming disconnected. The incoherence of dreams may be further explained by the gaps we keep of an incomplete remembrance of what appeared to us when we dreamt. It is similar to a narration made up of broken phrases or of stretches presented at random. By putting them together, the fragments left over would have no rational meaning. 403. Why do we not always remember our dreams? “By what you call sleep is only a rest for the body since the Spirit is always in activity. It regains a little of its freedom during the sleep and attunes itself with the Spirits that are dear to it, be it in this world or in other worlds. But, since the matter making up the body is heavy and coarse, it hardly ever retains the impressions it has received because the impressions did not arrive by means of corporeal organs.” 404. What may be said regarding the meanings attributed to dreams? “Dreams are not as true as fortune-tellers understand them to be for it would be an absurd to believe that to dream of something announces something else. They are true in the sense that they present images that are real for a Spirit, but that often have no relation with what happens in the corporeal life. They are
211 The Book From The Spirits also a kind of foreboding of the future allowed by God, as we have mentioned before, or a view of what happens in another place to which the soul has transported itself at that moment. Are there not many cases of persons that during their dream have appeared to their relatives or friends in order to tell them what is happening to them? What are these apparitions if not the souls or Spirits of those persons communicating themselves with persons dear to them? When you are sure that what you saw actually took place, does this not become a proof that imagination has not taken part in the occurrence, particularly when what you have seen did not even pass through your mind when fully awake?” 405. It often happens to see things in dreams that seem a foreboding, which does not confirm itself at the end. What should this be attributed to? “These forebodings may confirm themselves only to Spirits. It means that a Spirit saw what it wanted; it went towards what it was seeking. It must not be forgotten that during sleep, the soul is quite under the influence of matter and that consequently, it never frees itself fully from its Earthly ideas which result in that the worries when awake may lead to the appearance of what is wished for, or else, of what is feared. This is actually what may be called an effect of imagination. Whenever there is an idea that worries us strongly, everything we see seems to be linked with this idea.” 406. When we see live persons in a dream, persons that are very close to us, practicing acts that absolutely they do not cogitate, is this not a pure effect of imagination? “You say of which they absolutely do not cogitate? What do you know about this? Spirits of those persons come to visit your Spirit as yours goes to visit them, without you always knowing what Spirits think. Furthermore, it often happens that you attribute what you wish to persons you know regarding what happened or that is happening in other existences.” 407. Is it necessary to have a complete sleep for the emancipation of a Spirit? “No, it is not. It is enough for the senses to become lethargic
212 Allan Kardec for a Spirit to regain its freedom. For a Spirit to emancipate itself, it takes advantage of every instant of respite the body grants it. As soon as there is a prostration of the vital forces, the Spirit loosens itself becoming freer the weaker the body is.” This is why the images we see in a dream we also see when we are only little asleep or having a short nap. 408. What is the reason for us to hear sometimes words uttered distinctly within ourselves that do not have any meaning regarding what worries us? “This is a fact; you even hear whole sentences, particularly when the senses become lethargic. It is almost always a weak echo of what a Spirit wants to communicate with you.” 409. At other times, in a state that is not yet the state of falling asleep, being with the eyes closed, we see distinct images or we perceive even faint details of figures. Is this an effect of the eye sight or of imagination? “Being the body lethargic, the Spirit seeks to loosen itself. It transports itself and sees. If the sleep were fast, it would be a dream.” 410. It also happens that during our sleep, or when we are just slightly asleep, ideas come to us that appear to be excellent and that become erased from our memory, in spite of the effort made to retain them. Where do these ideas come from? “They come from the freedom of the emancipated Spirit and once emancipated, it enjoys its abilities having much greater amplitude. These ideas are also frequently advices given by other Spirits.” a) – Of what use are these ideas and advices since we are not able to take advantage of them because they have been forgotten? “These ideas have to do more with the world of Spirits than with the corporeal world. It does not matter if a Spirit usually forgets these ideas when it is bonded with the body. At a due time these ideas will come back as an inspiration of the moment.” 411. Being loosened from matter and acting as a Spirit, does an incarnated Spirit know the time of death of its physical body? “Sometimes it happens that a Soul forebodes it. It also happens
213 The Book From The Spirits that a Soul has a full awareness of the time, which leads the physical body to have an intuition of the fact while being awake. That is why some persons predict with great accuracy the date they will die.” 412. May the activity of a Spirit make the body become tired during its rest or corporeal sleep?” “Yes, it may for a Spirit finds itself tied to the body like a captive balloon is to a pole. Just as the shakings of the balloon affect the pole, the activities of a Spirit work on the body and may make it become tired.”
SPIRITISTIC VISITS BETWEEN LIVE PERSONS
413. From the principle of emancipation of a soul, it seems that this brings about two simultaneous existences, namely, the existence of the body that allows us the ostensive relation of life and the existence of the soul providing us an occult relation of life. Is it so? “In the condition of emancipation, priority is given to the soul. However, there are actually not two existences. They are rather two phases of a single existence for man does not live in double.” 414. May two persons that know each other visit each other during a sleep? “Most certainly and many think they do not know that each is used to gathering and talking to one another. You may have friends in other countries without knowing it. It is customary to go and meet friends and relatives during a sleep. Almost every night you visit persons you know and that may be helpful to you.” 415. Of what use are these visits if we do not remember them? “On awakening you usually retain the intuition of this fact, from which some ideas originate and come spontaneously to you without you being able to explain their source. They are ideas that you acquire during these confabulations.” 416. May man bring about visits through his will? For instance, when he is
214 Allan Kardec about to sleep, may he say ‘I want to meet with such and such a person in Spirit and talk about such and such a thing’? “What happens is that when a man falls asleep, his Spirit wakes up and is often not willing to do what the man has decided because the life of him has little interest to the Spirit once it has loosened itself from matter. This refers to men already well advanced spiritually. The others spend their spiritual phase of Earthly existence in quite different ways. They surrender themselves to enslaving passions, or else, they remain inactive. So, it may happen that there may be reasons inducing a Spirit to go and visit those whom it wants to meet. But, the simple fact that a man wants it to happen when awake it is not a sufficient reason for such a thing to happen.” 417. May incarnated Spirits gather in a certain number of participants and form assemblies? “Undoubtedly, Spirits having old and recent friendship bonds are used to gathering in this way and feel happy to be together.” The word old must be understood as bonds of friendship set in previous existences. Upon awakening, we retain the intuition of the ideas extracted from these colloquies, but the source of the ideas remains unknown to us. 418. If a person thinks that one of his friends is dead, without this being true, is he able to meet him in Spirit and verify whether he continues to be alive? If so, may he have an intuition about him upon wakening up? “As a Spirit the mentioned person may see his friend and know his fate. If it has not been imposed as a trial to believe in the death of his friend, he may have a presentiment a bout him or a forewarning of his death.”
OCCULT THOUGHT TRANSMISSION
419. What brings about the idea of a discovery, for instance, to appear in many places at the same time? “We have already said that Spirits gather when the body is
215 The Book From The Spirits sleeping. Well then, on wakening up, every Spirit remembers what it has learned and man thinks it to be an invention of his own. Thus, many men may simultaneously discover the same thing. When you say that an idea is in the air, you are using a figure of speech that is much more accurate than you think. All men contribute to propagate it without suspecting of anything.” In this way our own Spirit often discloses to other Spirits the concerns of our waken life. 420. May Spirits communicate among themselves being their bodies fully awake? “A Spirit is not enclosed in a body as if it were in a box; it irradiates itself in all directions. It follows then, that a Spirit may communicate itself with other Spirits, even if the body is awake, although this is much harder to happen.” 421. How may it be explained when two perfectly awake persons have the very same idea instantaneously? “They are two sympathetic Spirits that communicate their thoughts and see one another, although their bodies are not asleep.” There is a communication of thought among Spirits that meet each other which causes two persons upon seeing each other also understand one another without the need of ostensible language signals. It may be said that they speak to one another using the language of Spirits.
Lethargy, catalepsy, seeming deaths
422. Lethargic and cataleptic persons usually see and hear what happens or is said near them without being able to express that they see and hear. Is it through the eyes and the ears that they have this perception? “No, it is through their Spirits. Every Spirit is conscious of it, but is not able to communicate itself. a) – Why not? “This is so because it opposes itself to the condition of the
216 Allan Kardec body. This particular condition of the organs proves that there is something else than just the body for when the body does not work any longer, its Spirit shows itself to be active.” 423. May a Spirit separate itself entirely from a body in lethargy so as to impose on it all the appearances of death and later on come to inhabit it again? “A body in lethargy is not dead for there are functions that continue to be carried out. Its vitality is in a latent state, as in a chrysalis, but not annihilated. After all, while the body is alive, its Spirit remains attached to it. Through an actual death and by the disintegration of the organs, the bonds attaching one to the other are totally separated and the Spirit does not return any longer to its envelopment. When a man that seems to be dead returns to life, this means that his death was not complete.” 424. May the bonds just about to be undone be restored through a care given in time and bring back to life a being that would certainly have died if it were not aided? “Undoubtedly and everyday you have a proof of it. Magnetism in such cases may be a powerful means of action for it replenishes the vital fluid to the body needed to keep the organs functioning.” Lethargy and catalepsy derive from the same principle, namely, a temporary loss of sensitivity and movement due to a still unexplained physiological cause. They differ from one another in that in lethargy the suspension of vital forces is overall and lend the body all the features of death; in catalepsy, the loss is localized and may reach a more or less extensive part of the body so as to allow intelligence to manifest itself freely which does not allow it to be confounded with death. Lethargy is always natural; catalepsy is sometimes magnetic.
SOMNAMBULISM
425. Does somnambulism have any relation with dreams? How may it be explained? “Somnambulism is the condition of the independence of a
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Spirit, more so than during a dream in which its abilities acquire greater amplitude. The soul has then perceptions not available in a dream, which is a kind of imperfect state of somnambulism. “In a state of somnambulism, a Spirit is totally freed from the body. Being in a kind of cataleptic state, the physical organs cease receiving external impressions. This state takes place mainly during sleep when the Spirit leaves temporarily the body that is having an indispensable rest. When the features of somnambulism take place, it is because the Spirit is concerned with one thing or another and applies itself on an action needing the use of the body. The Spirit thus makes use of the body as it does using a table or other material object during physical manifestations, or even of the hand of a medium in written communications. In dreams, which you are conscious of, the organs, including the memory, begin to waken. They receive the impressions produced by objects or external causes in an imperfect way and communicate them to the Spirit that also being at rest only experiences what is being transmitted to it in the form of confused sensations and quite often not having any apparent reason. These sensations are mixed with vague remembrances from either the present existence or from previous existences. Thus, it is easy to understand why a person having past through a state of somnambulism does not remember anything of what happened and why the dreams whose remembrances are retained do not make any sense most times. I say most times because it also happens that they are the consequence of an accurate remembrance of happenings of a past life and occasionally even a kind of intuition of the future.” 426. Does the so-called magnetic somnambulism have any relation with natural somnambulism? “No, because it is the same thing with the only difference that magnetic somnambulism is induced.” 427. What is the nature of the agent called magnetic fluid? “Vital fluid and animalized electricity are modifications of the universal fluid.” 428. What is the cause of somnambular clairvoyance?
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“As we have already said, it is the soul that sees.” 429. How can a somnambulist see through opaque bodies? “There are no opaque bodies except for your coarse organs. Have we not said way back that matter offers no obstacle to a Spirit that freely passes through it? You frequently hear a somnambulist say that he sees through the forehead, through the fist, etc. because being totally attached to matter you do not understand that it is possible to see without the aid of organs. A somnambulist himself thinks that he needs his organs to answer the wish you express. However, if you let him be free, he will understand that he sees through every part of his body, or rather, that he sees from the outside of his body.” 430. Since the clairvoyance of a somnambulist is from his soul or Spirit, why does he not see everything and mistake himself so many times? “In the first place, it is not allowed for imperfect Spirits to see and know everything. You must not ignore that they still share your errors and losses. Then, when joined in a body, they do not enjoy all the abilities of Spirits. God has granted man the ability of somnambulism for a useful as well as a serious purpose and not to learn what he is not supposed to know. That is why somnambulists are not able to say everything.” 431. What is the origin of the inborn ideas of a somnambulist and how is he able to speak accurately on things he ignores when awake and on things that are above his intellectual capability? “This is so because a somnambulist has more knowledge than you think he has. But such knowledge only drowses because being too imperfect; its corporeal envelopment does not consent to recall it. After all, what is a somnambulist? He is a Spirit like ours that finds itself incarnated in corporeal matter trying to carry out its mission and on falling in a state of somnambulism wakens from its lethargy. We have already told you repeatedly that we live many times. It is this change that causes the material loss of what a somnambulist or any other Spirit has learned in previous existences. Entering in a
219 The Book From The Spirits state you call crisis, a Spirit remembers what it knows, but always in an incomplete form. The somnambulist knows, but does not know where this knowledge comes from, or how he has the knowledge that he discloses. Once the crisis is over, all remembrances are erased and he returns to obscurity.” Experience shows us that somnambulists also receive communications from other Spirits that transmit what they are to say and complement their inability. This is confirmed mainly in medical prescriptions. The Spirit ofthe somnambulist sees the abnormal condition and another prescribes the medicine. This double action is sometimes patent and reveals itself furthermore through the frequent expression like they tell me to say, or they forbid me to say such a thing. In the latter case it is always dangerous to insist on a denied revelation because this gives rise to an opportunity of having other frivolous Spirits intervening that say things without scruple and do not care about the truth. 432. How may the far away sight of certain somnambulist be explained? “Does the soul not transport itself during sleep? The same thing happens in somnambulism.” 433. The greater or smaller presence of clairvoyance in a somnambulist depends more on the physical organization or solely on the nature of the incarnated Spirit? “It depends on either one. There are physical arrangements that allow the Spirit to loosen itself more or less easier from matter.” 434. Are the abilities that a somnambulist enjoys the same a Spirit has after death? “Yes, up to a certain extent. It is necessary to pay attention to the influence of matter to which the Spirit is still attached.” 435. Is a somnambulist able to see other Spirits? “Most of them see Spirits very well depending on their evolutive advancement level and on the nature of lucidity of his Spirit. However, it is very common for somnambulists not to recognize at first that they are seeing Spirits and take them as being corporeal beings. This happens to those who do not know anything
220 Allan Kardec about Spiritism and do not understand the essence of Spirits yet. The fact astonishes them and makes them believe that they see Earthly beings.” The same thing happens to the Spirits that think they are still alive after having left the body. They do not see anything different around them and it seems to them that Spirits have bodies like we have. They take the same Spirits presenting themselves as being real corporeal bodies. 436. A somnambulist that sees far off, does he see from the place his body is at, or from the place where his soul is at? “Why do you make a question like this? You know it is the soul that sees and not the body.” 437. Since it is because the soul transports itself that the phenomenon of somnambulism occurs, how can a somnambulist experience, on his body, the sensations of cold and heat existing at the place where his soul is, often far away from its envelopment? “In such cases, the soul has not left entirely the body; it remains tied by the bond connecting it which then performs the role of a conductor of sensations. When two persons communicate from one city to another by means of electricity, it is this electricity that makes up the bond connecting the thought. So it follows that they converse as if they were beside each other.” 438. Does the ability a somnambulist make use of the influence the state of his Spirit after death? “Very much so, as does the good or bad use man makes of all the abilities God has gifted him with.”
ECSTASY
439. What is the difference between ecstasy and somnambulism? “Ecstasy is a more refined somnambulism. The soul of a person in ecstasy is more independent.”
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440. Does the Spirit of a person in ecstasy actually penetrate more advanced worlds? “Yes, it does. It sees those worlds and understands the happiness of their inhabitants from which originates a wish of staying there. However, there are worlds inaccessible to Spirits that are not yet purified enough.” 441. When a person in ecstasy expresses the wish of leaving the Earth, does he say it earnestly? Does he not retain his instinct of conservation? “This depends on the purification level of the Spirit. If the Spirit verifies that its future situation will be better than its current life, it will endeavor to undo the bonds tying it to the Earth.” 442. If a person in ecstasy is left to himself, may his soul leave the body for ever? “Yes, indeed, the body may die. That is why it is necessary to call the soul back by appealing to everything binding it to this world, making the soul understand above all that it is much better not to stay there where it sees it would be happy than break off the chain keeping the soul tied to the Earthly planet.” 443. There are things that a person in ecstasy says he sees that are evidently a product of his imagination influenced by Earthly beliefs and prejudices, is it not right to conclude that not everything a person in ecstasy sees is real? “Whatever a person in ecstasy sees is real to him. But, since his Spirit is kept always under the influences of Earthly ideas, he may happen to see things in his own way, or better, he may express what he sees in a language molded by prejudices and ideas he is imbued with in order to be better understood. It is mainly in this sense that he may err.” 444. What confidence may one have in the revelations of a person in ecstasy? “A person in ecstasy is liable to mistake himself very frequently, especially when he intends to penetrate in what should continue to be a mystery for man because then he lets himself be taken over by his own ideas, or becomes deluded by mystifying Spirits that take advantage of his exaltation to fascinate him.”
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445. What deduction may be made from the phenomena of ecstasy and somnambulism? Does it not mean a kind of a future life initiation? “It would be more correct to say that through these phenomena man has a glimpse of his past and future life. Study them and you will find an elucidation of more than one mystery which your reason uselessly tries to find out.” 446. May such phenomena adapt themselves to materialistic ideas? “Whoever comes to study them earnestly and without bias can not be a materialist or an atheist.”
DOUBLE SIGHT
447. Does the phenomenon called double sight have any relation with a dream or somnambulism? “They are all the same thing. What is called double sight is still the result of the freedom of a Spirit without being the body asleep. The double sight or second sight is the sight of the soul.” 448. Is the second sight permanent? “Yes, but only the ability. The exertion of it is not. In worlds less material than yours, Spirits loosen themselves much easier and communicate with one another only through thought by having the articulated language abolished. For this reason the double sight in such worlds is a permanent ability for most of the inhabitants whose normal state may be compared to your lucid somnambulists. This is also the reason why these Spirits manifest themselves with a greater easiness than in those incarnated in coarser bodies.” 449. Does the second sight appear spontaneously or is it the result of the will of whoever has this ability? “In most cases it is spontaneous however; will power also frequently performs an important role in its appearance. For instance, some of the fortune tellers have this ability and if you care
223 The Book From The Spirits to pay a close attention, you will see that it is with their own will that they draw themselves into the state of having a double sight and what you call vision” 450. Is the second sight susceptible to be developed through exercise? “Yes, since through work always results progress and the dissipation of the veil covering things.” a) – Does this ability have anything to do with the physical organization? “There is no question about the organism contributing to its existence, but there are organisms that are unresponsive to it.” 451. Why does a second sight appear to be hereditary in some families? “Through the similitude of organization that is transmitted as are other physical abilities. Then, the ability evolves through a kind of education which is also transmitted from one being to the other.” 452. Is it correct to say that some circumstances bring about the second sight? “An illness, an approach of danger, or a great commotion may cause it. Sometimes the body may come to be in a particular state that enables the Spirit to see what you are not able to see with your physical eyes.” Times of crisis and calamities, great emotions, even an over excitation of the morale of an individual sometimes cause the appearance of a double sight. Providence seems to give us the means of invoking it when a great danger threatens us. Religious denominations and persecuted political parties offer a great number of examples of this fact. 453. Are those who have a double sight always conscious that they have it? “Not always. They consider it to be something perfectly natural and many believe that if every one observed what is happening with him, each of them would verify that he is just like the others are.” 454. May the perspicacity of some persons be attributed to a second sight, that is, persons who do not show anything extraordinarily, but perceive things with a greater precision than others? “It is always the soul irradiating more freely and perceiving things better than when matter veils it.”
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a) – May this ability bring about a foreknowledge of things? “Yes, it may. It also brings about premonitions for there are different levels of double sight making it possible for a same person to have all levels and for other persons to have only some of them.”
A THEORETICAL SUMMARY OF SOMNAMBULISM, ECSTASY AND DOUBLE SIGHT
455. The phenomenon of natural somnambulism is produced spontaneously and does not depend on any known external cause. But in certain persons gifted with a special organization, somnambulism may be artificially induced by the action of a magnetic agent. The state called magnetic somnambulism differs from natural somnambulism only by the fact that the former is an induced condition while the latter is a spontaneous condition. Natural somnambulism constitutes a notorious fact, which nobody cares to doubt about any longer, notwithstanding the marvelous aspect of the phenomenon it enables. Why then would magnetic somnambulism be more extraordinary or irrational? Is it only because it is produced artificially, as so many other things are? It is said that charlatans exploit it. This is one more reason for not leaving it in their hands. When Science will have taken over magnetic somnambulism, much less credit will charlatans have among people. While this does not happen, natural, as well as magnetic somnambulism is a fact. Since there is no possible argument against facts, it will go on gaining ground in spite of the unwillingness of some, even in the midst of Science itself where it penetrates through a great number of small doors instead of entering through a wide door. Once it is entirely there, it will be necessary to grant it its citizenship. For Spiritism somnambulism is more than a psychological phenomenon, it is a light projected on psychology. It is there that the soul may be studied for it is there that the soul displays itself. Well,
225 The Book From The Spirits one of the phenomena characterizing the soul is that clairvoyance does not depend on the organ of ordinary sight. Those who contest this fact base themselves on the fact that a somnambulist does not always see at the will of the experimenter as it may be done with the eyesight. How may the effects amaze us if the means are different? Is it rational to intend to obtain the same effects when the instrument is no longer there? The soul has its properties like the eyes have theirs. One should judge them individually and not by comparison. The clairvoyance of a magnetic somnambulist and a natural somnambulist originates itself from a single cause. It is an attribute of the soul, the ability inherent to all the parts of our non-corporeal being and whose limits are not different from what is assigned to the soul. A somnambulist sees at every place his soul may transport itself, no matter at what distance. In the case of a remote vision, the somnambulist does not see the things where his body is, but as if it were a telescope. He sees them as if he were where the things are because his soul is actually there. That is why his body becomes annihilated and deprived of its senses until the soul returns to inhabit the body again. This partial separation of the soul from the body constitutes an abnormal state susceptible to have a more or less duration, but not indefinite. That is why the body experiences weariness after a certain time, particularly when it lends itself to participate in an active work. The sight of a soul or of a Spirit is not restricted and has no particular setting. That is why somnambulists are not able to determine a particular organ. They see because they see, without knowing the reason or the mode, for in the condition of Spirits, the sight lacks a focus of its own. If they report the body, this focus seems to be in the centers where there is the greatest vitality, particularly in the brain, at the epigastrium area, or in the organ they consider the strongest point of engagement between the Spirit and the body. The lucidity power of somnambulist is not unlimited. Even if completely free, a Spirit has its knowledge and abilities restricted according to the level of perfection it has reached. More restricted
226 Allan Kardec will they be when engaged in matter whose influence Spirits are subjected to. This is the reason why clairvoyance is not universal, nor infallible. Less infallibility may be counted on the more somnambulism is deviated from the end intended by nature with the aim of a sheer curiosity or experimentation. In the loosening state in which the Spirit of a somnambulist is placed makes it contact and communicate in a much easier way with other incarnated or non incarnated Spirits. A communication is set through the contact of fluids making up the perispirit, serving as the transmission of thought like an electric wire. Therefore, a somnambulist does not need to express thoughts by means of articulated speech. He feels and guesses. This is what makes him be eminently impressive and subject to the moral atmosphere enveloping him. This is also the reason when a great number of attendants and the presence of curious persons more or less malevolent impair in an essential form the appearance of the abilities that contract themselves so to speak, only unfolding in all freedom in a friendly and sympathetic environment. The presence of evil minded or antipathetic persons produces in a somnambulist an effect similar to the contact of a sensitive hand. A somnambulist sees his own Spirit and body at the same time. They constitute two beings, so to speak, that represent a double corporeal and spiritual existence that confound each other through the bonds uniting them. A somnambulist does not always perceive such a situation and this duality makes him speak of himself as if he were speaking of another person. This is so because at times it is the corporeal being speaking to the spiritual being, at other times it is the latter that speaks to the former. A Spirit acquires an added knowledge and experience in every corporeal existence. It forgets the added knowledge partially when incarnated in a too coarse matter however; it remembers all of them as a Spirit. This is how certain somnambulists reveal knowledge above their instruction level and even above their apparent intellectual abilities. Therefore, from the intellectual and scientific inferiority of a somnambulist, nothing may be inferred regarding the knowledge
227 The Book From The Spirits possibly revealed in a lucid state. According to the circumstances and the aim in mind, a somnambulist may extract knowledge from his own experience, from his clairvoyance regarding the current things or from the advice received from other Spirits. But, if his own Spirit is more or less advanced, it is possible for him to say things that are more or less right. It is through the phenomenon of somnambulism, whether in a natural or magnetic mode, that the Providence proves to us in an undeniable way about the existence and the independence of a soul and makes us watch the sublime spectacle of its emancipation. In this way it opens us the book of our destiny. When a somnambulist describes what is happening far away, it is evident that he sees it, but not with the eyes of the body. He sees and feels himself transported to the place where he sees what he describes. He thinks he is there so, something from him is there and since it cannot be his body it must be his soul or Spirit. While man loses himself in the subtleness of abstract and inapprehensible metaphysics in search of the causes of our moral existence, God frequently places under our eyes and within our reach the most simple and patent means of studying experimental psychology. . Ecstasy is the state in which the independence of a soul with respect of the body manifests itself in the most sensitive way and becomes palpable to a certain degree. In a dream or in a state of somnambulism, a Spirit travels through the Earthly world. In ecstasy it penetrates an unknown world, the world of the ethereal Spirits with which it communicates itself, but without being allowed to trespass certain limits. If a Spirit trespasses these limits, the bond linking it to the body will immediately become disrupted. The Spirit is surrounded by a shining and unusual glint, it becomes inebriated by harmonies unknown on the Earth, it is invaded by an indefinable well being, enjoying beforehand the heavenly beatitude and it may well be said that a Spirit has a foot on the threshold of eternity. In a Spirit in ecstasy, the annihilation of the body is almost complete and it may be said that there is only organic life left. It is
228 Allan Kardec felt that only a single thread would break up forever the ties of soul with a little greater effort. In this state, all Earthly thoughts appear giving way to the refined feeling constituting the very essence of our immaterial being. Entirely given to such a sublime contemplation, a person in ecstasy faces life only as a momentary stop over. He considers goodness and evil, the coarse merriments and the miseries of this world as the futile incidents of a voyage whose end he is happy to see coming up. The same thing that happens to a person in ecstasy also happens to a somnambulist, that is, they may both have a more or less perfect lucidity and their Spirits be more o less fit to know and understand things according to the more or less elevated level of their Spirits. However, often they have more excitement than true lucidity, or better, often their exaltation impairs lucidity. That is why their revelations are often a mixture of truths and errors, of great things and absurd things, even ridiculous things at times. If the individual does not repress this exaltation, which is always a cause of weakness, low evolutive level Spirits are used to taking advantage to dominate the person in ecstasy by taking on appearances in his sight that make him cling even more to the ideas he has when awake. This is an obstacle, but persons in ecstasy are not all like that. It is up to us to coolly judge and weigh the revelations on the scale of reason. The emancipation of the soul takes place sometimes in a waken state and produces the phenomenon known as double sight, an ability thanks to which whoever has it, sees, hears and feels beyond the limits of human senses. He perceives what exists up to where his soul extends itself in its action. He sees through his common sight as if it were an optical illusion, so to speak. At the moment that double sight occurs, the physical state of the individual becomes slightly modified. The eyes bear something vague. He looks without seeing. His face reflects a kind of exaltation. It may be noticed that the sight organs keep alien from the phenomenon due to the fact that the vision persists in spite of the occlusion of the eyes.
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Those gifted with double sight feel it as being something natural as is the ability we all have to see. They consider it an attribute of their own beings that does not seem exceptional to them. Ordinarily forgetfulness follows this momentary lucidity whose remembrance becomes vaguer and vaguer until it ends up disappearing just like a dream. The power of double sight varies, going from a confused sensation up to a clear perception of the things both present or absent. When rudimentary, it lends tact and perspicacity to certain persons as well as self-confidence which one may call a precise moral glance. When it is little evolved, it wakens premonitions. Still more evolved, it shows the happenings that have occurred or are about to occur. Natural and artificial somnambulism, ecstasy and double sight are different effects, or different modalities of a same cause. These phenomena, like dreams, are part of nature. This is the reason why they have existed at all times. History tells us that they have always been known and even exploited since ancient times and it is in them that we find the reason for a great number of facts that prejudices have made them be regarded as supernatural phenomena.
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CHAPTER IX
On the intervention of Spirits in the corporeal world The ability Spirits have to penetrate our thoughts The occult influence of Spirits in our thoughts and actions Possessions Convulsionaries The affections Spirits dedicate to certain persons Guardian angels, protecting, acquainted or sympathetic Spirits Premonitions The influence of Spirits in the events of life The action of Spirits on the phenomena of Nature The Spirits during battles Pacts Occult power, Talismans, Sorcerers Blessings and maledictions
THE ABILITY SPIRITS HAVE TO PENETRATE OUR THOUGHTS
456, Do Spirits see everything we do? “Yes, they do since they are constantly around you. However, every Spirit sees only what it pays attention to. Spirits do not concern themselves with what they are indifferent to.” 457. May Spirits know our most secret thoughts? “They often come to know what you would like to hide from yourself. Neither acts nor thoughts are concealed from them.”
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a) – Thus, it is easier to hide anything from a person than hide it from the same person after death? “It most certainly is. When you think you are completely hidden away, it is common to have a multitude of Spirits watching you.” 458. What do the Spirits that surround and watch us think of us? “This depends. Giddy Spirits laugh at the annoyances they cause you and scoff at your fits of impatience. Serious Spirits pity your setbacks and seek to help you.”
THE OCCULT INFLUENCE OF SPIRITS IN OUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS
459. Do Spirits influence our thoughts and actions? “Yes, they do influence you much more than you can surmise. They influence you so much that ordinarily it is a Spirit that directs you.” 460. Along with our own thoughts are there others suggested to us? “Your soul is a Spirit that thinks. You do not ignore that often many thoughts come to you on a same subject and it also happens that he thoughts are sometimes conflicting. Well then, in a whole your thoughts are always mixed with ours. That is the reason behind your uncertainty. It so happens that you have in your head two ideas fighting each other.” 461. How may we distinguish the thoughts that are our own from the thoughts that are suggested to us? “When a thought is suggested to you, you have the impression that somebody speaks to you. Usually your own thoughts come first to your mind. Nevertheless, it is not of great advantage for you to set this distinction. Sometimes it is useful not to know the distinction. By not setting the distinction, man is able to work more freely. If he
232 Allan Kardec decides to practice goodness, he does so voluntarily. If he takes an evil path, his responsibility will be greater.” 462. Is it always from within themselves that intelligent persons and geniuses withdraw their ideas? “Sometimes the ideas come from their own Spirits, however, in many other cases the ideas are suggested by Spirits that think the person is able to understand them and the idea is worthy of being popularized. When such a man does not find the ideas in himself, he appeals to inspiration. In this way he makes a true invocation without suspecting it.” If it were useful to be possible to clearly distinguish our own thoughts from the thoughts suggested to us, God would have provided the means to achieve it in the same way He has granted us to differentiate day from night. When something is imprecise, it is so because the imprecision is convenient. 463. It is said that ordinarily it is the first impulse that is always good. Is this correct? “It may be good or bad, depending on the nature of the incarnated Spirit. It is always good when it comes from a Spirit responding to good inspirations.” 464. How is it possible to distinguish if a suggested thought comes from a good Spirit or from a bad one? “Study the case. Good Spirits guide you only to practice goodness. It is your obligation to discern it.” 465. What is the purpose of having imperfect Spirits inducing us to commit evil? “To make you suffer just like they do.” a) Of what nature are the sufferings they seek to hurt others with? “The sufferings that result from beings of a lower order and from brings distanced from God.” b) Does this decrease their sufferings? “No, it does not, but they do so because of envy, because they can not bear to see happy beings.”
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466. Why does God allow Spirits to incite evil in us? “Imperfect Spirits are proper instruments to test faith and the constancy of men practicing goodness. As a Spirit that you are, you have to progress in the science of the infinite. That is the reason for you to pass through the trial of evil in order to reach goodness. Our mission is to put you on the right path. When you have bad influences acting on you, it is because you attract them by wishing evil. Low evolutive level Spirits run to aid you in evil as soon as you wish to practice it. They may help you to practice evil only when you want evil. If you are prone to kill somebody, you will have a cloud of Spirits to feed this tendency intimately in you. But other Spirits will also surround you and endeavor to influence you with goodness which resets the balance of the scale and leaves you to be the master or you own acts.” This is how God entrusts our conscience to make the choice of the path we are to thread on and the freedom to give in to one or the other opposite influences being exerted on us. 467. May man free himself from the influence of Spirits seeking to drag him towards evil? “Yes, he may since such Spirits clutch only on those who call them through his desires or thoughts by attracting them. 468. Do the Spirits give up their attempt whose influence the will power of man repels? “What else would you expect? When they do not manage to accomplish their aim, they leave the field. However, they keep on peering us for a favorable moment, like a cat ambushing a mouse.” 469. By what means are we able to neutralize the influence of bad Spirits? “By practicing goodness and by placing in God all your confidence, in this way you will repel the influence oflower evolutive level Spirits and annihilate their wish to have you in their empire. Beware to respond to the suggestions of the Spirits that incite bad thoughts; that blow disagreements and insufflate bad passions. Suspect particularly of those flattering your pride, for they
234 Allan Kardec attack your weakest side. This is the reason why Jesus taught us in a dominical pray ‘My Lord! Let us not succumb to temptation, but deliver us from evil.” 470. The Spirits that seek to induce evil in us and that in this way put our firmness in goodness on trial, do they proceed this way to carry out a mission? If so, do they bear any responsibility? “No Spirit is entrusted with the mission of practicing evil. A Spirit doing so does it on its own which means that the Spirit is subjected to all the consequences. God may permit a Spirit to proceed this way to test you, but God never determines such a procedure. It is your duty to repel it.” 471. When we experience an indefinable anguish or anxiety, or a satisfaction we do not know the cause of, should we attribute it solely as being a physical disposition? “It is usually the effect of the communication your Spirit unconsciously makes with Spirits, or with the Spirits you have been with during your sleep.” 472. The Spirits that seek to attract us to evil are they restricted to take advantage of the circumstances we find ourselves in, or may they also create them? “They take advantage of current circumstances, but they are also used to creating them, driving you against your will towards what you covet. Thus, for example, a man finds a certain amount of money on a sidewalk. Do not think that Spirits have brought it there, but they may have inspired the man to go in that direction and then suggested him to keep it while other Spirits suggested taking the money to its owner. The same thing happens regarding all other temptations.”
POSSESSIONS
473. May a Spirit take over temporarily the corporeal envelopment of a live person, that is, intrude itself in an animated body and work in place of the other that is incarnated in this body?
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“A Spirits doe not inter into a body as you enter into a house. A Spirit identifies itself with an incarnated Spirit whose defects and qualities are the same in order to work together. But it is always the incarnated Spirit that acts the way it wants on the matter it finds itself enveloped in. A Spirit is not able to replace an incarnated Spirit since the incarnated Spirit has to stay connected to the body until the end of its existence.” 474. Since there is no possession so to speak, that is, the combination of two Spirits in the same body of a person, may the soul remain in dependency of another Spirit so as to become subjugated or obsessed up to a point where the will of the person becomes somehow paralyzed? “Yes, undoubtedly and these are true possessors. But it is important to know that this domination does not come into effect without the consent of the person suffering it whether due to his weakness or because he wants it. Many epileptics or insane persons, who were in a greater need of medical help than of exorcism, have been considered as being possessed.” The word possessor in a colloquial sense presupposes the existence of demons, that is, a category of naturally bad beings and the cohabitation of a being like this with the soul of an individual in his body. In this sense, there is no demon and since two Spirits can not inhabit the same body simultaneously, there are no possessors complying with the idea this word is associated with. The word possessor may only be admitted as expressing an absolute dependency in which a soul may find itself regarding imperfect Spirits subjugating it. 475. May a person stay away from bad Spirits and free himself from their influence by himself? “It is always possible for any person to free himself from the yoke provided he wants to and has a great will power.” 476. But may it not happen that the fascination exerted by a bad Spirit is such that the subdued person does not perceive it? If so, may a third person make the subjection cease? “If a subdued person practices goodness, his will power may be effective provided he appeals to the good Spirits because
236 Allan Kardec the worthier a person is, the greater will be his power on the imperfect Spirits to drive them away and to attract the good Spirits. However, nothing can be done if the subdued person does not lend his concurrence. There are persons that feel pleased to have a dependence which panders their tastes and wishes. However, whichever the case, whoever does not have a pure heart will not exert any influence at all because good Spirits do not respond to his call and bad Spirits do not fear him.” 477. Do exorcism formulas have any effectiveness on bad Spirits? “No, they do not. Bad Spirits laugh and become steadfast when they see somebody take it seriously.” 478. There are persons imbued with good intentions and that nevertheless are subdued. Which then is the best way to free us from obsessing Spirits? “The best way is to tire their patience by not giving any value to their suggestions, showing them that they are wasting their time. On seeing that they do not manage to influence a person, they withdraw themselves.” 479. Is a prayer an efficient means of curing an obsession? “A prayer is, above all, a powerful aid. But, believe it, it is not enough to have somebody mutter a few words to obtain what he wishes. God helps those who work and not those who restrict themselves only to ask for things. Thus, it is indispensable for a subdued person to carry out his part by destroying in himself the cause of the attraction of bad Spirits.” 480. What may be said about the banishment of demons as mentioned in the Gospel? “It depends on the interpretation of it. If you call demons the bad Spirits subduing an individual, as soon as the influence of the bad Spirit is destroyed, it will have been truly banished. If you attribute a bad Spirit to be the cause of an illness, when you have cured it, you are right in saying that you have banished the demon. A thing may be either true or false, according to the sense you lend to the words. The greatest truths are liable to seem absurd when
237 The Book From The Spirits attention is given only to its form, or when you consider an allegory as a reality. Understand this well and never forget it for it has a general application.”
CONVULSIONARIES
481. Do Spirits play any roll in the phenomenon happening with individuals called convulsionaries? “Yes, they do and a very important one in the same way that magnetism does because the cause of such phenomena stems from it. However, it is charlatanism that has often exploited and exaggerated it, ending up making it become ridiculous.” a) - What is the nature of the Spirits that generally concur in the production of this kind of phenomenon? “They are of little elevation. Do you think that high evolutive level Spirits enjoy such things?” 482. How is it possible to suddenly extend to all population the abnormal state of convulsionaries and of those suffering nervous breakdowns? “Through the effect of sympathy. Moral dispositions are communicated very easily in some cases. You are not so alien regarding the magnetic effects that you do not understand it and it is through sympathy with those causing it that some Spirits naturally take part in the fact.” Among the particular abilities observed in convulsionaries, some are easily recognized of which there are a great number of examples found in natural and magnetic somnambulism, such as, a physical insensibility, the reading of the mind, the transmission of pain through sympathy, etc. So, there is no way of doubting of those in whom such things show up, they are in a kind of wake somnambulism brought about by the influence each exerts on the other. They are both magnetizers and magnetized individuals at the same time. 483. What is the cause of physical insensibility observed in some convulsionaries, as well as in some other individuals submitted to most merciless tortures?
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“In some individuals it is exclusively the effect of magnetism acting on the nervous system, similar to the way certain drugs act. In other individuals the exaltation of thought dulls sensibility. It maybe said that in such case, life has withdrawn from the body and concentrated itself entirely in the Spirit. Do you not know that when a Spirit is deeply concerned with something the body does not feel, see or hear?” A fanatic exaltation and enthusiasm have provided multiple examples of calm and of a coolness that would not be able to triumph over an acute pain, unless it is admitted that the sensibility is neutralized as if it were anesthetized. It is known that in the ardor of a battle, there are fighters that do not perceive they are seriously wounded while in ordinary circumstances; a simple scratch makes them tremble. Since these phenomena depend on a physical cause and on the action of certain Spirits, it is licit to ask how a public authority could have made them cease in some cases. The reason is simple. The action of Spirits is secondary here. The Spirits do nothing more than take advantage of a natural willingness. The authority has not suppressed this willingness, but rather, the cause stimulating and exalting it. From an active form as it was, it turned into a latent one. The authority was right in proceeding this way because the fact resulted in abuse and scandal. It is known that such an intervention has no absolute power whatsoever when the action of Spirits is direct and spontaneous.
THE AFFECTIONS SPIRITS DEDICATE TO CERTAIN PERSONS
484. Do Spirits prefer certain persons affectionately? “Good Spirits sympathize with upright men or those who are susceptible to improve. Low evolutive level Spirits sympathize with vicious men or that may become vicious. Thus, their affection is the consequence of a similarity of feelings.” 485. Is the affection Spirits dedicate to certain persons exclusively moral? “A true affection has nothing carnal, but when a Spirit clings
239 The Book From The Spirits to a certain person, it does not do so only due to affection. The esteem that this person inspires or the remembrances of human passions may be aggregated.” 486. Are Spirits interested in our disgraces as well as in our prosperity? Do Spirits that like us become afflicted with the illnesses we suffer throughout our life? “Good Spirits do all possible goodness and feel pleased with your merriments. They become afflicted with your illnesses when you do not bear them with resignation because then you do not obtain any benefit from them, in this case likening yourself to an ill patient who refuses to drink the bitter beverage that would cure him.” 487. Regarding our wrongdoings, of what nature are our wrongdoings that mostly afflict Spirits? Are the wrongdoings physical or moral? “Your selfishness and the hardening of you heart. From this stems everything else. Spirits laugh at all the fanciful wrongdoings that derive from pride and ambition and rejoice with the wrongdoings that abbreviate the time of your trials.” Knowing that corporeal life is transitory and that all tribulations inherent to life are means to reach a better state; Spirits are mostly afflicted by our wrongdoings resulting from causes of a moral order rather than of our physical sufferings which are all fleeing. Spirits are little concerned with the disgraces that are restricted to our worldly ideas in the same way we do regarding the puerile pain of children.
Seeing bitterness as a means of advancement for us, Spirits consider it an occasional crisis resulting in the salvation of the ill. They commiserate our sufferings in the same way we commiserate the sufferings of a friend. However, seeing things from a different view than ours, they appreciate things in a different way as well. Then, while Good Spirits boost our zest, the other Spirits drive us to despair with the aim of jeopardizing us. 488. Do relatives and friends that have preceded us in another life devote us a greater sympathy than do Spirits that are unacquainted with us?
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“Yes, undoubtedly and almost always protect us as Spirits according to their power.” a) – Are they sensitive to the affection that we keep on devoting them? “Yes, they are very sensitive, but they forget whoever has forgotten them.”
GUARDIAN ANGELS, PROTECTING, ACQUAINTED OR SYMPATHETIC SPIRITS
489. Are there Spirits that link themselves to a particular individual to protect him? “There is a spiritual brother you call the good Spirit or the good genius.” 490. What are we to understand by guardian angel or protecting angel? “A protecting angel has a high evolutive level of advancement.” 491. What is the mission of a protecting angel? “It is like the mission of a father regarding his children; of guiding his dependant on the pathway of goodness, of aiding him by advising him, by comforting him in his afflictions, by boosting his zest in the trials of life.” 492. Does a protecting Spirit dedicate itself to an individual since his birth? “Yes, in fact from his birth up to his death and many times the Spirit accompanies him in his spiritual life after death and even through many corporeal existences which are nothing more than very short phases in the life of a Spirit.” 493. Is the mission of a protecting Spirit voluntary or obligatory? “A Spirit becomes obliged to assist you once it has accepted this incumbency. However, Spirits have the right to choose the beings they sympathize with. For some Spirits it is a pleasure; to others, a mission or obligation.”
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a) – By having a Spirit dedicating itself to one person only, does it renounce to protect other individuals? “No, but the Spirit will protect other individuals less exclusively.” 494. Does a protecting Spirit have to stay fatally with an entrusted being? “It frequently happens that some Spirits leave their protecting positions to carry out different missions. In such cases, other Spirits replace them.” 495. Is it possible for a protecting Spirit to abandon the being it is to protect because he rebels himself against its guidance? “A Spirit will go away when it sees that its guidance is useless and that the protected being has a stronger decision against submitting himself to the influence of low evolutive level Spirits. But the Spirit does not abandon him totally and always makes itself be heard. Then, it is man that shuts his ears. Protecting Spirits return if they are called. “The doctrine of guardian angels converts the most incredulous persons through their charm and sweetness. Does the idea of having always with you beings of a higher level of advancement not seem to be comforting? Guardian angels are always ready to advise and support you, to help you climbing the steep mountain of goodness; they are more sincere and dedicated friends than all the friends you have on the Earth. They are on your side by the order of God that has placed them there and they stay there for the sake of God, performing a beautiful, but hard mission. Yes, for they are with you wherever you are. Not even in prison, hospital, in dissolute places, in loneliness, are you separated from these friends you do not see, but whose mild inrush your soul feels at the same time you hear their pondered advices. “Oh! How good would it be if you knew this truth! Of how much help would it be in the moment of a crisis! How many low evolutive level Spirits could you free yourself from! But then, how many times does the constrained angel tell you ‘Did I not tell you
242 Allan Kardec this? However, you have not done it. Have I not shown you the abyss? Yet, you threw yourself in it! Have I not echoed in your consciousness the voice of truth? However, you preferred to follow the advices of lies!’ Question your guardian angels; set up between them and you this tender intimacy existent between good friends. Do not hide anything from them for they have the vision of God and you are not able to deceive them. Think of the future; seek to advance in your present life. In doing so, you will shorten your trials and you will make your existence much happier. Let us go men, courage! Once and for all, cast away all prejudices and preconceived ideas. Enter the new pathway that opens itself to you. Move yourself! You have guides; follow them for your target must not fail you because this target is God himself. “To those who considered it impossible to have truly elevated Spirits consecrating such a laborious task at all instants, we say that we influence your souls being millions of miles apart from you. Space means nothing to us and even if we live in another world, our Spirits conserve their contact with your Spirits. We enjoy qualities you do not understand, but you can be sure that God has not imposed on us tasks above our forces and that He has not left you alone on the Earth, without friends or support. Every guardian angel has a being to protect whom it watches like a father watches his child. A guardian angel feels glad when it sees you on the right path; suffers when you undervalue its advices. “Do not be afraid of tiring us with your questions. On the contrary, always try to be in contact with us. You will be stronger and happier. It is these communications of every one of us with your acquainted Spirits that makes all men be mediums who are ignored today, but that will manifest themselves in the future and will spread all over like an ocean having no shores, wiping out incredulity and ignorance. Scholarly men, instruct your fellow men; men of talent, educate your brothers. You cannot surmise whose work you are carrying out this way; the work of Christ and the work God imposed on you. For what reason has God granted you intelligence and knowledge if it were not to share them with your
243 The Book From The Spirits brothers, if it were not to make them advance on the pathway that leads to blessedness, to the eternal happiness?”
Saint Louis, Saint Augustine
The doctrine of guardian angels is nothing surprising because they watch the individuals they have decided to protect, in spite of the distance separating their world from ours. On the contrary, the doctrine is grand and sublime. Do we not see here a father watch his child, even if he is far away and help the child with his advice through the mail? So, what amazement is there for Spirits from another world to guide the inhabitants of the Earth they have decided to put under their protection since for them the distance from one world to the other is much smaller than the distance separating the continents on this planet? Do they not have available the universal fluid that entwines all worlds making them become solidary; a huge vehicle of thought transmission like the air is for transmitting sound to us? 496. A Spirit that abandons the human being to be protected, that stops doing him goodness, may it do evil to him? “Good Spirits never practice evil. A good Spirit will leave this to Spirits taking its place. You are used to blaming the bad luck of the disgraces that befall on you when actually they are due to your own faults.” 497. May a protecting Spirit leave the human being it is to protect at the mercy of another Spirit that wishes to harm him? “Evil Spirits gather to neutralize the action of good Spirits. But if the protected individual wants it, he may lend all his force to the protecting Spirit. It may happen that the good Spirit finds elsewhere a person to be helped. The Spirit then helps the person and returns to its individual being protected.” 498. Because a protecting Spirit is not able to fight against malevolent spirits, would a Spirit let its individual protected being mislay him in life? “No, it would not, but not because the Spirit is not able to, but because the Spirit does not want to. It does not want to because its
244 Allan Kardec individual protected being comes out more instructed and perfect from his trials. The Spirit tries to counsel him through the advices presented to him as good inspiring thoughts, which are almost never responded to. Weakness, oversight and the pride of men is what basically lends force to bad Spirits whose whole power comes as a result of you not presenting any resistance.” 499. Is the protecting Spirit constantly with its individual protected being? Are there not some circumstances in which it loses sight of him without abandoning him? “There are circumstances where the presence of the protecting Spirit is not necessary for the individual protected being.” 500. Then will there be a moment at which the individual protected being will not need the protecting Spirit any longer? “Yes, when the individual protected being is able to guide him by himself as it happens with students. A student may reach a point where he does not need a master any longer. However, this does not happen on the Earth.” 501. Why is the action of Spirits in our existence undisclosed to us and why do they not protect us in an ostensible way? “If you were to be told about every action of a Spirit, you would not be able to work by yourself and there would not be any progress in your future. For you to advance you need experience, obtaining it often through your own effort. It is necessary to exercise your forces without which it would be like a child that is not allowed to walk alone. The action of Spirits that like you is regulated in such a way as not to affect your free will for if you had no responsibility, you would not advance on your pathway leading towards God. By not seeing who helps him, man trusts his own forces. However, a guide watches man from time to time, shouts at him to warn him of danger.” 502. A protecting Spirit that manages to bring the individual it protects to the right path, does this Spirit profit some goodness from it? “This is considered a merit that is taken into account, be it for its progress or for its happiness. Spirits feel glad when they see their
245 The Book From The Spirits effort be successful which represents for a Spirit a triumph like what a triumph is to a teacher regarding his pupil.” a) – Is a protecting Spirit responsible for the bad results of its efforts? “No, because the Spirit has done everything that depends on it,” 503. Does a protecting Spirit suffer when it sees its individual protected being following a wrong path in spite of its warnings? Is there not an uneasiness regarding its happiness? “The errors of an individual cause a remorseful feeling in his protecting Spirit that deplores it. However, such affliction has no analogy with the anguish of Earthly fatherhood for the Spirit knows that there is a remedy for evil and whatever is not done today, shall be done tomorrow.” 504. May we always know the name of our protecting Spirit or guarding angel? “How do you want to know names inexistent to you? Do you think that Spirits are only those you know of?” a) – So, how may we invoke our protecting Spirit that is unknown to us? “Give it the name you like, of any advanced Spirit that inspires your sympathy or veneration. Your protecting Spirit will respond to your appeal with the name you invoke him since all good Spirits are bothers and help each other.” 505. Protecting Spirits having known names, are they always the names of Spirits of personalities that actually had these names? “No, they are not. Often those having known names are sympathetic Spirits having made use of such names on the Earth and respond to your call. You insist on names and a Spirit takes on a name that inspires your trust. When you are unable to carry out a certain mission yourself, do you not send another person in your behalf to do it and become responsible as if it were you doing it yourself?” 506. Will we recognize our protecting Spirits in the world of Spirits? “Certainly for quite often you have already known your protecting Spirit before reincarnating.”
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507. Do all protecting Spirits belong to the class of advanced Spirits? May protecting Spirits be found among average advanced Spirits? May a father, for instance, become the protecting Spirit of his son? “Yes, they may, but protection presupposes a certain level of advancement and an additional power or virtue granted by God. The father protecting his son may also be supported by a more advanced evolutive level Spirit.” 508. May the Spirits that were found to be in good conditions on leaving the Earth always protect those who are dear to them and that have survived them? “The power they enjoy is more or less restricted. The situation they find themselves in does not always allow them to have an entire freedom of action.” 509. When in a state of savagery or of a moral inferiority, do these men have their protecting Spirits as well? If so, do these Spirits belong to a level as high as those Spirits protecting more advanced men? “Every man has a Spirit watching him, but its mission is relative to the intended aim. You do not provide a child that is learning how to read with a philosophy teacher. The progress of an acquainted Spirit retains the relation with the protecting Spirit. Having a Spirit watching you, you may become at your turn the protector of another person that has a lower evolutive level and with your aid accomplish his progress, which will contribute to your evolvement. God does not demand from a Spirit more than the nature of it is able to respond to and more than is expected from his level of advancement he has already reached.” 510. As to a father who watches his son, does he continue to watch him on reincarnating? “This is harder to happen. However, in a certain way the Spirit of the reincarnated father may do so by asking in a moment of freedom to a sympathetic Spirit to assist it in this mission. Moreover, a Spirit only accepts a mission if it is able to carry it out up to its very end. “Once incarnated usually in a world where the existence is
247 The Book From The Spirits material, a Spirit is very much subjected to the body in order to be able to wholly dedicate itself to another Spirit, that is, to be able to assist it personally. Furthermore, those Spirits that are not yet at a high enough evolutive level are assisted by others that are higher, so that whenever a Spirit fails to be present, another replaces it.” 511. If every individual linked to a protecting Spirit as well as to a bad Spirit driving man towards error, does this not provide occasions of having a battle between goodness and evil? “Linked is not the right word here. It is true that bad Spirits seek to deviate man from the good path whenever an occasion appears. However, whenever one of them links itself to an individual, the bad Spirit will do it by itself because it expects to be listened to. Then, there will be a battle between the good and the bad Spirit, winning the Spirit man accepts the influence of.” 512. May we have many protecting Spirits? “Every man has always a more or less advanced Spirit that sympathizes with him, that dedicates its affection to him and is interested on him, having as well a bad Spirit around him assisting him to practice evil.” 513. Do the Spirits that sympathize with us act by fulfilling their mission? “At times they carry out a temporary mission; however, most times they are just attracted by the identity of thoughts and feelings of goodness as well as of evil.” a) - It seems licit to infer from this that the Spirits we are sympathetic to may be either good or bad, right? “Yes and whatever the character of a man may be, he will always meet Spirits that sympathize with him.” 514. Are the acquainted Spirits the same we call sympathetic Spirits or protecting Spirits? “There is a gradation in terms of protection and sympathy. Give them the names you wish. An acquainted Spirit is rather a homely friend.”
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From the foregoing explanations and the observations of the nature of Spirits that inspire affection for a man, the following may be deduced. A protecting Spirit, guardian angel or good genius is a Spirit that has as its mission to accompany man during his life and help him to progress. Such Spirit always has a higher nature compared to the individual it is to protect. Acquainted Spirits link themselves to certain persons through more or less lasting bonds with the purpose of being useful within the limits of their power almost always very restricted. They are good, but often have little advancement and are even quite giddy. They concern themselves with a good mind having particularities of the intimate life of the individual and they act only through the order or permission of protecting Spirits. Sympathetic Spirits are the Spirits that feel themselves attracted to our side through particular affections or also through a certain similarity of tastes and feelings either towards goodness or evil. The duration of their relations is usually subordinated to circumstances. A bad genius is an imperfect or perverse Spirit links itself with a man to divert him from goodness. However, it works through impulses of its own and not as to perform a mission. The tenacity of the bad action is in direct relation with a greater or smaller easiness of access found on the part of a man that always enjoys the freedom of listening to the voice or of shutting his ears. 515. What are we to think of persons that gather with certain individuals to lead them to perdition or to guide them towards a good pathway? “Certain persons actually exert a kind of fascination on others that seems irresistible. When this happens for evil purposes, their Spirits are of an evil kind that other also evil Spirits make use of in order to subjugate them. God allows this to occur in order to test you.” 516. May our good and evil genius incarnate in order to follow us more closely in our life? “This happens sometimes. However, what most frequently is observed is that they place in charge of this mission other incarnated Spirits they sympathize with.” 517. Are there Spirits that link themselves with a whole family to protect it? “Some Spirits link themselves with members of a certain
249 The Book From The Spirits family whose members live together and in harmony through affection; but, do not believe in protecting Spirits protecting the pride of human races.” 518. In the same way Spirits are attracted to certain individuals through sympathy, are they equally attracted to a group of individuals due to particular reasons? “Spirits like to be among those who are similar to them. They feel more at ease and sure that they will be heard. It is the tendencies of man that attracts a Spirit whether he is alone or a part of a collective whole, like a society, a city or the people of a nation. Therefore, Spirits having a more or less advanced level of evolvement according to their predominating passions and characteristics assist societies, cities or peoples. Imperfect Spirits keep away from those who repel them. It follows that the moral of a collectivity, as of individuals, tends to keep away bad Spirits and attract good ones that stimulate and nourish in them the feeling of goodness, as other Spirits may insufflate coarse passions in them.” 519. Do clusters of individuals such as societies, cities or nations, have special protecting Spirits? “Yes, they have, for the simple reason that because such clusters are collective individuals sharing a common goal, they need a higher direction.” 520. Do protecting Spirits of collectivities have a more advanced evolutive level than those that link themselves with individuals? “Everything is relative to the level of advancement, regarding either collectivities or individuals.” 521. May certain particular protecting Spirits help the progress of arts by protecting those dedicating themselves to the arts? “There are particular protecting Spirits assisting those who invoke them when they are worthy of such assistance. However, what do you expect us to do with those that think they are what they are not? It is not expected to have Spirits make blinds see, or deaf persons hear.”
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Ancient people have turned Spirits into particular divinities. Muses were nothing else than an allegoric personification of protecting Spirits of the arts and sciences in the same way that household gods symbolized the protecting Spirits of a family. Modernly you also have in the arts, in various industries, in cities and countries, patron saints that are nothing more than high advanced evolutive level Spirits having different designations. Having every man a Spirit sympathizing with him, it is clear that in collective bodies, the generality of the Spirits devoting sympathy is proportional to the generalities of the individuals; that strange Spirits are attracted to this collectivity by the similarity of taste and thought; in brief, that this cluster of persons, as much as the individuals, are more or less assisted and influenced according to the nature of the feelings dominating the elements making up the cluster. Regarding the peoples, what determines the attraction of Spirits are the customs and manners, the dominating characteristics as well as the laws of the people; above all the laws because the character of a nation is reflected in its laws. By making justice apply the law, men fight the influence of bad Spirits. Wherever laws consecrate unfair things, contrary to Humanity, the good Spirits remain in a minority and the multitude of bad Spirits that flock there keep the nation chained to their ideas and paralyze the partial good influences that end up lost in the whole like isolated corn stalks among hawthorns. By studying the customs of peoples or of any cluster of men, the idea of an occult population is easily formed that interferes in the way of thinking and in the acts of the population as a whole.
PREMONITIONS
522. Is premonition always a warning coming from a protecting Spirit? “It is the intimate and occult advice from a Spirit that likes you. It is also present in the intuition of a choice that has been made. It is the voice of instinct. Before incarnating, a Spirit is aware of the main phases of its existence, that is, of the kind of trials it will have to face. Having these phases an assigned character, the Spirit retains in its inner part a kind of impression of such trials and this impression, which is the voice of instinct, makes itself be heard when the moment of passing through the trials has come, thus becoming a premonition.”
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523. If premonitions and the voice of instinct are always somewhat vague, what should we do when we are uncertain? “Whenever you are uncertain, invoke your good Spirit, or pray to God the sovereign Lord of all and He will send one of His messengers, or one of us.” 524. Is the advice of protecting Spirits aiming only at our moral procedure or also at the procedure we are to adopt regarding the private matters of our life? “Protecting Spirits aim at everything. They strive to make you live the best way possible. But almost always you shut your ears to the beneficial advices and you become disgraced due to your own fault.” Protecting Spirits help us with their advices through the voice of conscience that they make resound in our inner being. However, as we do not always give it its due importance, they give us other advices that are more direct by using persons around us. Look into each of the various happy circumstances of your life and you will see that you have received many advices in many occasions that you did not take advantage of and that would have saved you much displeasure if you had followed them.
THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITS IN THE EVENTS OF LIFE
525. Do Spirits exert any influence in the events of life? “They certainly do for they give you advice.” a) - Do Spirits exert this influence only through thoughts that suggest, that is, do they have any direct action in the fulfillment of things? “Yes, they do, but Spirits never act by breaking the laws of nature.” We wrongly imagine that Spirits are only able to manifest their action through extraordinary phenomena. We wish Spirits would come to aid us by making miracles and we always fancy them as being ready to use a wand. Because it is not like this, the intervention Spirits have in the things of this world seems to
252 Allan Kardec be hidden from us. However, what is performed with the concurrence of them is very natural. So it is, for instance, when they bring about the meeting of two persons who will think it to be by chance; they inspire somebody with the idea of passing at a certain place; they call the attention of a person to a certain detail that may result in what they had in mind. Spirits work in such a way that man is sure that he is following his own impulse, thus always keeping his free will. 526. Having Spirits the power of acting on matter, may they bring about particular effects with the aim of causing an event? For example, a man has to die; he climbs a ladder that breaks and the man dies as a result of it. Did Spirits break the ladder so hat the destiny of that man could be fulfilled? “It is true that Spirits have an action on matter, but by obeying the laws of nature and not by revoking them as if suddenly an unexpected success occurs contrary to the laws. In the example you pointed out, the ladder was rotten and was not strong enough to bear the weight of the man. If it was the fate of the man to die that way, Spirits would inspire him to climb the ladder in question that would have to break with the weight of the man resulting in his death as a natural effect and without it being necessary for a Spirit to produce a miracle.” 527. Let us take another example in which matter in its natural state does not enter. A man has to die fulminated by lightning. He seeks refuge under a tree. A thunderbolt strikes and kills the man. May Spirits have produced the thunderbolt and guided it to where the man was? “Here the same thing happened as in the previous instance. The thunderbolt hit the tree at that moment because it was within the laws of nature for it to happen. It was not guided towards the tree because there was a man under it. This man might have been inspired to seek refuge under a tree which the thunderbolt hit. It is obvious that the tree would still be hit by the thunderbolt if there was no man hiding under it.” 528. In the case in which an evil intentioned person shoots another and the bullet passes close without hitting him, could it be possible for a kind Spirit to have deviated the bullet? “If the individual having been shot does not have to die this
253 The Book From The Spirits way, the Spirit will inspire him with the idea of making a deviation, or else, the Spirit may blur the shooter so as to have him aim incorrectly for once the weapon is triggered, the bullet moves along its straight line.” 529. What are we to think about the magic bullets of which some legends tell us about by saying that such bullets fatally hit the target? “This is pure imagination. Man likes wonderful things, but is not pleased with the wonders of Nature.” a) - May the Spirits directing the Earthly happenings be prevented from doing so by Spirits wanting the opposite? “Whatever God wants is carried out. If there is a delay in the action, or there appear obstacles, this is because He wants it so.” 530. May frivolous and sneering Spirits not create little embarrassments to the accomplishments of projects and so disarraying our forecasts? In short, are they not the cause of what we call the little miseries of human life? “These Spirits feel pleasure in bringing about annoyances to you representing trials designed to exercise your patience. However, they become tired when they see that they do not achieve anything. Nevertheless, it would not be fair, nor right, to impute them all your deceptions of which you are mainly responsible for due to your rashness. You can be sure that if a piece of your tableware breaks, it is more due to your lack of care than to the influence of a Spirit.” a) - These Spirits that bring about annoyances, do they act driven by a personal animosity or do they do so to anybody, without any predetermined cause, simply for the sake of practicing evil? “They are driven by both causes. Sometimes the Spirits molesting you are enemies you have gained in this or in a prior existence. At other times, there is no apparent reason for it.” 531. Does the malevolence of human beings causing evil on the Earth disappear with the ceasing of corporeal life? “Often human beings recognize the injustice with which they have acted and the evil they have caused. But, also quite often, they
254 Allan Kardec continue to pursue you full of animosity since God allows it in order to try you.” a) – Is it possible to put and end to this pursuit? By what means? “Yes, it is by praying for them and by returning to them the evil with goodness. They will end up understanding the injustice of their way of proceeding. Furthermore, if you know how to place yourself above their machinations, they will leave you when they notice that they do not gain any profit.” Experience shows us that some Spirits continue to exert their vengeance from one existence to the other and that, sooner o later, man will have to pay for the harm he has caused to others. 532. Do Spirits have the power of keeping off evil from particular persons and of befriending them with prosperity? “Only to a certain extent for there is evil that is contained in the decrees of Providence. However, the Spirits ease the pain by giving you patience and resignation. Know that it often depends on you to avoid misfortunes or at least to attenuate them. God has granted you intelligence for you to use it and it is mainly through your intelligence that Spirits help you by suggesting suitable ideas that are good for you. But, Spirits help only those who know how to help themselves. This is the sense of the words, ‘Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.’ “Furthermore, know that not always is there an evil what seems to be an evil to you. Frequently from what you consider an evil results a much greater goodness. You almost never understand this because you are concerned only with the present moment or with your own person.” 533. May Spirits make it possible to obtain richness for those who ask for it to happen? “Sometimes they do it as a trial, but almost always they refuse to do it in the same way you refuse the unsuitable wish of a child.” a) - Is it the good or bad Spirits that grant these favors?
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“Either one of them do. It depends on the intention. However, in most cases, those Spirits granting it are the Spirits that want to drag you towards evil and they use easy means of achieving it to facilitate the enjoyment that richness provides.” 534. Is it through the influence of some Spirits that the accomplishments of our projects seem to meet obstacles? “Sometimes it is the effect of the actions of Spirits; however, it is often so because you proceed wrongly in the working out and carrying out the steps of your projects. The position and the character of an individual have a great influence. If you insist on following a path that you should not, Spirits are not to be blamed for the failures. You yourself make up your bad genies.” 535. When something pleasing happens to us, is it the protecting Spirits we are to thank for? “Thank God in the first place for without His permission nothing happens; then the good Spirits that were the agents of His will.” a) - What will happen if we happen to forget to thank? “The same thing that happens regarding ungrateful persons.” b) - However, there are persons that neither ask for anything nor thank for anything and yet, they succeed in everything they do! “So it actually happens, but what is important is to see the end of it. They will pay a very high price for this happiness which they do not deserve, for the more they have received the more they will have to account for.”
THE ACTION OF SPIRITS ON THE PHENOMENA OF NATURE
536. Are the great phenomena of Nature, the ones that are considered as a perturbation of the elements, due to haphazard causes, or, on the contrary, do they all have a providential purpose?
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“Everything has a reason to exist and nothing happens without the permission of God.” a) - Do these phenomena always aim at man? “Sometimes they aim at man as an immediate reason. However, in most cases they have as its sole purpose the reestablishment of the balance and harmony of the physical forces of Nature.” b) - We realize perfectly well that the will of God is the prime cause in everything; however, knowing that Spirits exert an action on matter and that they are the agents of the will of God, may we ask if some among the Spirits do not exert a certain influence on the elements to agitate, to calm or to direct them? “They evidently do so. It could not be otherwise for God does not exert a direct action on matter. He appoints dedicated agents at all levels of development in every world.” 537. Ancient mythology based itself entirely on the ideas of spiritism with the only difference that Spirits were considered as divinities. These gods or Spirits were represented as having special attributions. Thus, some were in charge of winds, others of lightning, still others to preside the phenomenon of vegetation, etc. Is such a belief totally destitute of a base? “It is so little destituted of a base that it falls short from the truth.” a) - So, may there be Spirits inhabiting the inside of the Earth commanding the geological phenomena? “Such Spirits do not positively inhabit the Earth. They command those phenomena and direct them by following the attributions they are entrusted with. A day will come when you will receive explanations of all these phenomena and you will understand them better.” 538. Do the Spirits that command the phenomena of Nature form a particular category in the world of Spirits? Are they entities or are they Spirits that have incarnated like we have? “They have all been and will be incarnated.”
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a) Do these Spirits belong to a high level or a low level of evolutive advancement in the hierarchy of Spirits? “This depends on the role they play, that is, a more or less material or a more or less intelligent role. Some command, others perform. Those carrying out material things are always of a lower evolutive advancement level. It is among Spirits as it is among men.” 539. Is the production of particular phenomena, as for example, a tempest, the result of the work of only one Spirit, or do many Spirits gather forming great masses to produce them? “They gather in uncountable masses.” 540. Do the Spirits exerting an action on the phenomena of Nature operate by having knowledge of cause and using their free will, or is it by an instinctive and thoughtless impulse? “Some Spirits do, others do not. Let us make a comparison. Consider the myriads of sea animals that little by little build up islands and archipelagos that emerge from the sea. Do you not think that there is a providential purpose and that this transformation of the surface of the globe is necessary for a general harmony? However, the animals are of the smallest order carrying out the work by providing their needs without suspecting that they are the instruments of God. Well then, in the same way, the more backward Spirits offer their usefulness to the whole. While the animals rehearse for life before they have a full consciousness of their acts and fully enjoy their free will, they carry out particular phenomena of which they are the agents unconsciously. First they carry out their work. Later on when their intelligence has already reached a certain evolvement, they will direct the things in the material world. This is how everything is useful, how everything is interlinked in Nature, from the primitive atom to an archangel that also began as an atom. What a wonderful law of harmony that your limited mind is not able to apprehend in its whole.”
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THE SPIRITS DURING BATTLES
541. Are there Spirits assisting and aiding both of the armies during a battle? “Yes, there are. They stimulate courage.” Ancient people depicted the gods taking part in this or that nation. These gods were simply Spirits represented in the form of allegories. 542. Justice is always in one of the sides in a war, how may there be Spirits that take part in the battle for an unjust cause? “You know well that there are Spirits that only feel glad in dissensions and destructions. For them a war is a war. They are little concerned about the justice of the cause.” 543. May some Spirits influence a general in the design of his campaign plans? “Yes, they undoubtedly may do so. They may influence him in this sense as well as in every design of his.” 544. May bad Spirits suggest man wrong plans in order to lead a general to ruin? “Yes, they may, but does man not have his free will? If a man does not have a criterion enough to make him distinguish a false idea, he will suffer the consequence of it and he would do better if he were to obey instead of commanding.” 545. May a general ever be guided by a kind of double sight, by an intuitive sight, showing him the results of his plans beforehand? “This happens quite often with a man of genius. It is what is called inspiration that makes him work with a kind of certainty. This inspiration comes to him from Spirits directing him by making use of the abilities they see him gifted with.” 546. In the tumult of a battle, what happens to the Spirits of those that succumb? After death, do they continue to feel interested in the battle?
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“Some continue to feel interested, others move away.” In the case of fighters that are killed as in all cases of a violent death, such Spirits become astonished at first, sort of dizzy. The spirits think they are not dead. They feel as if they were still taking part in the action. The perception of the new actuality comes to them only little by little. 547. After death, the Spirits that were fighting when alive, to they continue to consider themselves as enemies and keep enraged against each other? “In these occasions, Spirits are never calm. It may happen that at the first instants after death a Sprit still hates and even pursues the enemy. However, after having reestablished the serenity in the ideas, the Spirits see that there is no basis any longer for their animosity. Nevertheless, it is not impossible for a Spirit to keep on a more or less strong vestige of the animosity, depending on its character.” a) - Do Spirits continue to hear the clang of the battle? “Yes, most certainly!” 548. A Spirit like a spectator that watches calmly a battle, does the Spirit notice the act of a soul separating from the body? How does this phenomenon present itself to the observation of a Spirit? “True instantaneous deaths are very seldom. In most cases, the Spirit whose body has just been mortally wounded does not have an immediate consciousness of this fact. Only after the Spirit begins to realize his new condition is that the assistants may distinguish the Spirit moving about the corpse. Seeing a dead body seems so natural to the Spirit that it does not cause any disagreeable effect. Having life concentrated wholly in the Spirit, it is only this Spirit that attracts the attention of other Spirits. It is with this Spirit that other Spirits talk with or give orders to.”
PACTS
549. Is there any truth in pacts with bad Spirits?
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“No, there are no pacts. However, there are humans having an evil nature that sympathize with bad Spirits. For example, do you want to torment your neighbor and you do not know how to go about it? Then you call low evolutive level Spirits, like you are, that only want to practice evil and that demand you also to serve them in their evil designs. But this does not mean that your neighbor is not able to free himself from the Spirits through a conjuration and the action of his will. Whoever tries to practice an evil action, by simply nursing the intention, calls bad Spirits to help him becoming obliged to also serve them because they also need him for the evil they want to practice. It is just in this aspect that a pact consists of.” 550. What is the sense of the fantastic legends where individuals that are said to have sold their soul to Satan in order to obtain particular favors? “Every fable contains a teaching and a moral sense. Your error is to take it literally. What you refer to is an allegory that may be explained by saying that whoever calls Spirits to help him to obtain riches, or any other favor, rebels himself against the Providence; renounces to the mission he has received and the trials he is bound to bear in this world. He will suffer the consequences of this act in his future life. This does not mean that his soul will be left condemned to disgrace forever. But, instead of his Spirit releasing itself from matter, it will burry itself deeper in the matter and his Spirit will not have the satisfaction in the world of Spirits for having enjoyed life on the Earth until it will have redeemed its faults by means of trials, perhaps even greater ones and more burdensome. He places himself in the dependence of impure Spirits to have his material enjoyments. Thus, there establishes itself implicitly a pact between the Spirits and the delinquent that leads to the loss of him, but that will always be easy to break off by evoking the assistance of good Spirits if he has a strong determination.”
OCCULT POWER, TALISMANS, SORCERERS
551. Is a bad man able to cause any harm to his next fellowman with the help of a bad Spirit dedicated to him?
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“No, he is not for God would not permit it.” 552. What are we to think of the belief that certain persons have the power of bewitching others? “Some persons have a strong magnetic force which they may make bad use of if bad are their own Spirits when it is possible to attract other bad Spirits. However, do not believe in a professed magic power for it exists only in the imagination of superstitious creatures that are ignorant of the true laws of Nature. The facts they quote as a proof of the existence of such a power are poorly observed and natural facts are usually misunderstood”. 553. What effect may be brought about by formulas and practices through which there are persons intending to attract the concurrence of Spirits? “The effect of becoming ridiculous if they are well intended. Otherwise, they become a rogue deserving punishment. All formulas are just charlatanry. There are no sacramental words, no cabalistic signals, not even a talisman that has any power whatsoever on Spirits for they are only attracted by thought and not by material things.” a) - But is it not true that some Spirits themselves have dictated cabalistic formulas? “Yes, some Spirits have actually issued signs, strange words or prescribed the practice of acts through which the so called conjurations are made. But, you can be sure that those Spirits deride and scoff whoever believes in it.” 554. Whoever trusts in what he calls the virtue of a talisman, being or not right, may he not attract a Spirit as an effect of this trust since what actually acts is the thought, not being the talisman more than a sign that just helps his concentration? “True enough, but it depends on the purity of the intention and the elevation of feeling which the nature of a Spirit is attracted to. So, being blunt enough to believe in the virtue of a talisman, an individual will have in mind more a material purpose than a moral one. Whichever the case, this superstition denounces an inferiority and a weakness of ideas favoring the action of imperfect and scoffing Spirits.”
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555. What is the sense we are to give to a sorcerer? “Those whom you call sorcerer are persons that, when well intentioned, enjoy particular abilities such as a strong magnetic force and a double sight. They do things that usually are not understandable and consequently are said to be gifted with a supernatural power. Have your scholars not been thought of as sorcerers in the minds of ignorant persons?” Spiritism and magnetism give us the key to an enormous number of phenomena from which ignorance has produced numberless legends of which imagination exaggerates the facts. A lucid knowledge of these two sciences that actually form a single science, show us the reality of things, their true causes and preserves us against superstitious ideas for it discloses what is possible and what is impossible, what follows the laws of Nature and what is not more than a ridiculous superstition. 556. Do some persons actually have the power of curing through a simple contact? “Magnetic force may reach up to this extent when aided by a purity of feelings and by an ardent desire of doing goodness for then the good Spirits come to help. However, you should distrust the way that very credulous and very enthusiastic persons tell you about things, always ready to consider wonderful what actually is very simple and natural. It is also important to distrust the kind of narratives these persons usually make use of to exploit the superstition of somebody.”
BLESSINGS AND MALEDICTIONS
557. May a blessing and a malediction attract goodness and evil on whomsoever they are cast? “God does not listen to an unjust malediction and whoever casts it will be considered guilty. As we are subjected to two opposite kinds of influences, goodness and evil, malediction may exert its influence momentarily, even on matter. However, such influence
263 The Book From The Spirits only happens by the will of God as an increase in the number of trials to the person being the target of it. Usually it is common to cast a malediction on bad individuals and blessings on good ones. Never are blessings and maledictions able to divert the Providence from the path of justice that never injures somebody receiving a malediction, unless he is bad and whose protection does not cover somebody unless he deserves it.”
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CHAPTER X
On the occupation and missions of Spirits
558. Is there anything else Spirits are entrusted to do but to improve themselves? “They cooperate with the harmony of the Universe by carrying out the will of God whose ministers they are. The life of a Spirit is a continual occupation, but that has no burden as life has on the Earth because there is no corporeal weariness, no anguishes stemming from needs.” 559. Do imperfect Spirits or of a low evolutive level of advancement also perform a useful function in the Universe? “Every Spirit has a duty to carry out. For the build up of a building, does not the lowest helper of a bricklayer cooperate as much as the architect?” 560. Does every Spirit have specific attributions? “We all have to inhabit every place and obtain the knowledge of all things by directing whatever is occurring in every place of the Universe. But as it is said in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. Thus, a particular Spirit fulfills its destiny in this world today; another Spirit fulfills it or has fulfilled it in a different period on the Earth, in the water, in the air, etc.” 561. The functions that Spirits perform on the order of things are they permanent for each Spirit and are they exclusive to particular classes of Spirits? “Every Spirit has to go through the different steps of the rank in order to improve itself. God who is just could not have granted science to some without making any effort while having others obtaining it after a painful effort.” This is what happens among men where nobody reaches the top degree of perfection in any art without having obtained the necessary knowledge by practicing every element of that art.
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562. Not having anything else to acquire, do the Spirits of the highest evolutive advancement level remain at an absolute rest or are they also involved in occupations? “What would you like them to do in eternity? An eternal idleness would also be an eternal torment.” a) - Of what nature are their occupations? “To receive orders directly from God, transmit them to the whole Universe and watch to have them fulfilled.” 563. Are the occupations of Spirits ceaseless? “Yes, they are ceaseless which means that their thoughts are always active for they live through thought. However, it is important not to compare the occupations of Spirits with the material occupations of men. This very same activity is a great enjoyment for Spirits due to the conscience they have of being useful.” a) - We realize this regarding the good Spirits, however, is it also valid for low evolutive advancement level Spirits? “These Spirits have occupations suitable to their nature. Would you entrust a manual worker or an ignorant person tasks that only an expert is able to carry out?” 564. Are there Spirits that remain idle, that do not occupy themselves with anything useful? “Yes, there are, but this is a temporary condition and depends on the evolvement of their intelligence. There certainly are idle Spirits as there are men that live only to themselves. This idleness becomes a burden to them and sooner or later, the desire to progress makes activity become necessary and they will feel happy to be useful. This refers to Spirits that have reached the point of having a self consciousness and becoming conscious of their free will for, at the origin, all Spirits are like just born children that produce more by instinct than by an expressed will.” 565. Do our works of art call the attention of Spirits and are they interested in them?
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“They are interested in what serves to elevate Spirits and their progress.” 566. A Spirit that has cultivated on the Earth an art specialty, that has, for example, been a painter or an architect, does it be interested preferentially on the works that were the object of its predilection during its Earthly life? “Everything confounds itself in an overall aim. If it is a good Spirit, these works of art will be of interest as an opportunity to provide help to the souls to uplift themselves to God. Furthermore, you have forgotten that a Spirit that has cultivated a particular art during its corporeal existence when you have known him, this Spirit may have cultivated another art in a previous existence for it is necessary to know everything to become perfect. Thus, according to the level of the evolutive advancement, it may happen that a specialty is nothing to a Spirit. This is what I meant by saying that everything confounds itself in an overall aim. Also remember that what you consider sublime in your backward world is not more than childishness when compared to what there is in some more advanced worlds. How do you expect the Spirits inhabiting these worlds, where there are arts you do not know of, to admire what to their eyes corresponds to works made by high school students? That is why I said that they are interested in what demonstrates progress.” a) - We realize it to be so regarding very advanced Spirits. However, our question refers to more common Spirits that have not yet elevated themselves above Earthly ideas. “It is different regarding these Spirits. They have a more restricted point of view with which they observe things. Therefore, they may admire what causes admiration to you.” 567. Do Spirits usually intermeddle in our pleasures and occupations? “The common Spirits, as you call them, do so. They surround you constantly and frequently take an active part in what you do, according to their nature. It must be like this because for men to be driven through different pathways, it is necessary to excite or moderate their passions.”
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Spirits occupy themselves with the things of this world according to their level of advancement or of the inferiority they find themselves in. High evolutive level Spirits undoubtedly have the ability of examining things in the greatest details, but they only do so when it is useful to their progress. Only low evolutive level Spirits care about the things of this world by giving them an importance relative to the remembrances they still retain and the material ideas that have not been extinguished in them yet. 568. Spirits that have a mission to fulfill, do they carry it out during their roaming or when they are incarnated? “They may do so in either condition. To some roaming Spirits this is a great occupation.” 569. Of what do the missions that roaming Spirits may be entrusted with consist? “They are so varied that it is impossible to describe them. There are even many that you will not comprehend. Spirits carry out the volitions of God and you are not granted to penetrate all His designs.” The missions of Spirits always have goodness as an aim. Be it as Spirits or as men, they are entrusted to help the progress of humanity, of peoples or of individuals, within a range of more or less broad ideas, of more or less special ideas and of following up the accomplishment of certain things. Some carry out more restricted or personal missions in a way, or even entirely local such as to assist the individuals that are ill, agonizing, to watch those whom they have guided and protected by giving them advice or inspiring good thoughts in them. It may be said that there are as many kinds of missions as there are kinds of interests to be guarded, both in the physical and moral world. A Spirit evolves according to the way it performs its task. 570. Do Spirits always perceive the intentions of what they are to carry out? “No, they do not. There are many Spirits that are blind instruments. However, other Spirits know very well the purpose of their acts.” 571. Do only advanced evolutive level Spirits carry out missions?
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“The importance of the missions corresponds to the capability and the advancement level of a Spirit. The courier that carries a telegram to its receiver carries out a perfect mission that is different from the mission of a general.” 572. Is a mission imposed on a Spirit or does it depend on its willingness? “A Spirit asks for it and rejoices when it is granted.” a) – May many Spirits ask for a same mission? “Yes, many candidates frequently show up, but not all are accepted.” 573. What does the mission of incarnated Spirits consist of? “It consists of instructing men, of helping them to progress and of improving their institutions by using direct and material means. However, the missions are more or less general and important. Who farms the earth performs a mission as noble as who rules or instructs. Everything in Nature is interlinked. At the same time that a Spirit depurates itself through an incarnation, it contributes in this way for the accomplishment of the designs of the Providence. Every one of you has a mission because all of you have some usefulness.” 574. What may the mission be of creatures that are voluntarily useless on the Earth? “There actually are persons that live only to themselves and that do not know how to become useful in whatever it may be. They are poor beings worthy of compassion for they will have to expiate their voluntary uselessness very hardly by beginning their punishment sometimes already in this world by means of boredom and disgust that life causes in them.” a) – Since Spirits have the freedom of choice, why do some of them prefer an existence that would not bring them any advantage? “There are also lazy Spirits among Spirits that withdraw from a life of labor. God consents them to do so. Later on they will understand the inconveniences of uselessness through their own
269 The Book From The Spirits experience and they will be the first ones to ask for an opportunity of recovering the lost time. It may also happen that they have chosen a useful life and that they withdrew from facing the work by letting themselves be carried away through the suggestions of Spirits inducing them to remain idle.” 575. The more common occupations seem to us more like duties rather than missions properly speaking. A mission according to the idea in this word is associated with what has an exclusive character of importance, above all, less personal. From this point of view, how may we recognize that man really has a certain mission on the Earth? “By the greatness of the results man manages to accomplish and by the progresses whose accomplishments lead his fellow-men.” 576. Men who have come to the Earth with an important mission and are conscious of it, are they predestined for this well before they are born? “Sometimes it is so. However, almost always they ignore it. Coming to the Earth they have in view a vague objective. It is after birth and according to the circumstances that their missions become clearer. God drives them towards the pathway where they are to accomplish the objectives.” 577. When a man does something that is useful, does he do it due to the mission he was previously entrusted with and that he is predestined to, or may he receive it as an unforeseen mission? “Not everything a man does is the result of a mission which he has been predestined to. Quite often it is the instrument a Spirit makes use of to have something done that it believes to be useful. For example, a Spirit may think it is useful to write a book that the Spirit itself would write if it were incarnated. The Spirit then seeks a writer that is best fit to understand it and to carry out the thought. The Spirit transmits the ideas of the book and directs the accomplishment of it. The writer did not come to the Earth with the mission of publishing such a book. The same thing happens regarding various artistic works and many discoveries. Nevertheless, we must add that during the corporeal sleep, the incarnated Spirit
270 Allan Kardec communicates itself directly with the roaming Spirit when both settle things regarding the work to be accomplished.” 578. May a Spirit fail in its mission due to his own fault? “Yes, it may if it is not a high evolutive level Spirit,” a) – What consequences will this failure bring about? “A Spirit will have to resume the task if it fails; this is a punishment for the Spirit. It will also suffer the consequences of the evil it may have caused.” 579. If every Spirit receives its mission from God, how are we to understand that God entrusted an important mission that is of an overall interest to a Spirit that may fail? “Does God not know if His general will win or be defeated? He knows, you can be sure, and His plans, when they are important, are not entrusted to anyone of those that leave things half done. The big question to you lies in the knowledge of the future that God has, but that is not granted to you.” 580. Does the Spirit that incarnates to face a certain mission have apprehensions similar to a Spirit that incarnates for trials? “No, it does not because such Spirit has an acquired experience.” 581. Men certainly perform a mission when they serve as guides to human beings by enlightening them with the illumination of a genius. However, there are some men that act mistakenly for they are aware of great truths, but propagate great errors. How are we to consider the mission of such men? “As being deceitful. They fall short regarding the task they have put on their shoulders. Nevertheless, it is necessary to take into account the circumstances. Men of genius have to speak according to the time they live in and thus, a teaching that appeared erroneous or childish at the time it was disclosed may in a later period be seen as most convenient.” 582. May fatherhood be considered a mission?
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“Yes, without any contestation, it is a true mission. It is also a very great obligation involving his responsibility for the future, more than man thinks it is. God has placed the child under the guardianship of the parents so as to have them directing the child to the pathway of goodness and has facilitated the task by giving the child a frail and delicate organization making it be prone to all impressions. However, there are many individuals that take a greater care to have healthy trees in his garden producing good fruits in abundance than to educate the character of his child. If ever a child is to fail due to the fault of the parents, they will have to bear the disgusts resulting from the failure and will have to share the sufferings of the child in a future life for not having done whatever was at their reach to make the child advance in the path of goodness.” 583. Are the parents responsible for the deviation of a child that sets out into the path of evil in spite of their care? “No, they are not. However, the stronger the propensity in a child, the heavier will be the task and the greater will be the merit of the parents if they succeed in the task of deviating the child from a bad path.” a) - If a child becomes a man of goodness in spite of the negligence and bad examples of the parents, do the parents benefit in some way from it? “God is just.” 584. Of what nature may be the mission of a conqueror that only aims at satisfying his ambition and that does not vacillate in face of any calamities he goes on spreading in order to reach his aim? “In most cases a Spirit is nothing more than an instrument God makes use of to have his intentions accomplished, representing these calamities a means He makes use of to make the people of a nation progress more quickly.” a) – Not having taken part in the production of the goodness resulting from the calamities a man has made use of since he aimed at whole personal purpose, whoever was the instrument of the calamities of this kind, will he derive a benefit from the resulting goodness?
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“Everybody is rewarded according to his work, to the goodness he intended to make and to the uprightness of his intentions.” Incarnated Spirits have occupations inherent to their corporeal existences. In the roaming condition, or of dematerialization, such occupations are suitable to the level of the advancement of every Spirit. Some Spirits roam though worlds and prepare themselves for a new incarnation; other more advanced Spirits are concerned with progress by directing the happenings and suggesting ideas that are for their benefit. They assist the men of genius that contribute to the advancement of Humanity. Some other Spirits incarnate with a particular mission of progress; still other Spirits take upon themselves the responsibility of the tutelage of individuals, of families, meetings, cities and the people of a nation of which they constitute their guardian angels, protecting geniuses and acquainted Spirits. Finally, there are Spirits that command the phenomena of Nature of which they become its direct agents. Ordinary Spirits interfere in our occupations and fun. Impure or imperfect Spirits wait under sufferings and anxieties for the moment God will provide them the means for advancement. If they practice evil, it is because of the resentment of still not being able to enjoy goodness.
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CHAPTER XI
On the three kingdoms Minerals and plants Animals and man Metempsychosis
MINERAL AND PLANTS
585. What do you think of the division of Nature in three kingdoms, or better, in two classes, namely, organic and inorganic beings? According to some, the human kind makes up a fourth class. Which of these divisions is preferable? “They are all good, according to the point of view of each. From a material point of view, there are only organic and inorganic beings. From a moral point of view, there are evidently four classes.” The four classes actually have particular characteristics, although they seem to mix themselves at their external borders. Inert matter making up the mineral kingdom has in itself only a mechanical force. Plants, even though they are made up of inert matter, are gifted with vitality. Animals, also made up of inert matter and equally gifted with vitality also have a kind of limited instinctive intelligence and a consciousness of their own individualities. Man, having every attribute of plants and animals, dominates all the other classes by having a special and undefined intelligence that makes him be conscious of his future, the perception of extra-material things and the knowledge of God. 586. Are plants conscious that they exist? “No, they are not. They do not think for they only have organic life.” 587. Do plants have feeling? Do they suffer when mutilated? “Plants receive physical impressions that act on matter, but they have no perception. Consequently, they do not feel pain.”
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588. Is the force that attracts plants to each other independent of the will of the plants? “That is right because plants do not think. It is a mechanical force that acts on matter without the plants being able to resist it.” 589. Some plants like the mimosa that has sensitive leaves and the venus flytrap, both carrying out motions denoting a great sensibility and, in some cases, show a kind of will as can be seen in the latter where the lobes capture a fly that sits on it to suck its nectar, seeming to create a trap to capture the fly and kill it. Are these plants gifted with the ability of thinking? Do they have a will and make up an intermediate class of beings between the vegetal and animal Nature? “Everything in Nature is transitional. This is the reason for one thing not to be like another, but all linked to one another. Plants do not think; consequently, they lack will. Not even an oyster that opens its shell; nor zoophytes think, they only have a blind and natural instinct.” Our human organism provides an example of analogous motions without the participation of our will in the digestive and blood circulation processes. The pylorus contracts itself when in contact with particular substances so as to refuse their passage. Probably the same thing happens with sensitive plants whose motion in no way implies in the need of perception and, even less so, of a will. 590. Is there not an instinct of conservation in plants and animals inducing them to seek whatever may be useful and avoid whatever may be harmful to them? “There is, if you wish, a kind of instinct depending on the extension given to the meaning of this word. However, it is totally mechanical. When you observe a chemical reaction, you observe two bodies uniting themselves because it is convenient to do so for each other, that is, there is an affinity between them. Thus, you certainly do not call this an instinct.” 591. In more advanced worlds, are the plants there of a more perfect nature as well as the other beings? “Everything there is more perfect. However, plants are always plants, as animals are always animals and men are always men.”
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ANIMALS AND MAN
592. Regarding intelligence, if we compare man and the animals, it seems difficult to set a boundary line between both for some animals show a remarkable superiority regarding particular men. May this border line be established in a precise way? “Regarding this subject, your philosophers are in complete disagreement. Some want man to be an animal and others the animal to be a man. They are all wrong. Man is a being apart from the others who may descend well below at times and may as well rise very high. By his physical aspect, he is like animals are and less gifted than many of them. Nature gave them everything what man is obligated to invent using his intelligence in order to meet his needs and his preservation. His body destroys itself as do the bodies of animals, but his Spirit is assigned to have a destination that only he is able to understand because only he is completely free. Poor men that belittle themselves below the brutes! Are you not able to distinguish yourselves from the brutes? You may recognize man by his aptitude of thinking on God.” 593. May it be said then than animals work only by instinct? “Even there is a system. It is true that in most animals dominates the instinct. But, you surely notice that many animals live by showing a remarkable will. This is so because there is intelligence, but very limited.” It is not possible to deny that some animals besides having instinct, they practice combined acts that denounce a will to operate in a particular sense and according to particular circumstances. Thus, there is a kind of intelligence in them, but whose exertion is almost limited to the usage of the means of satisfying their physical needs and to provide their own preservation. However, they do not create, nor perform any improvement. Whatever be the art with which birds carry out their work, they make today what they used to make in the past, neither better nor worse, according to a constant and invariable shape and proportion. Their offsprings, even if separated from the others of their kind, do not stop to build their nests having a perfect conformity with the previous nests without ever having been taught how to build it. The intellectual evolvement of some animals
276 Allan Kardec that are susceptible of learning which does not overpass very slight limits results from the action of man on a malleable nature for there is no progress there of their own. Even the progress they achieve through the action of man is brief and very individual for if an animal like this is left by itself, it does not take long for it to fall back into the limits Nature has set for it. 594. Do animals have any kind of language? “If you mean a language made up of syllables and words, no, they do not, but they have means of communicating among themselves. They say to each other much more than you may think, but this language they have is restricted to their needs as are the ideas they might have.” a) - However, there are animals that have no voice. These seem to have no language to use, right? “They understand each other by using other means. For you to communicate yourself with other men, do you have only words available? What about the deaf? If the life of relationship has been granted to animals, they have means of warning and expressing the sensations they experience. Do you think that fish do not understand each other? Man dos not enjoy exclusively the privilege of a language. However, the language of animals is instinctive and restricted by their needs and ideas while the language of man is able to be refined and renders its use in all the conceptions of his intelligence.” Actually fish like swallows emigrate in shoals, obedient to the guide leading them. They must have means of communicating a warning, of understanding themselves and to conjoin. It is possible that they have more penetrating eyesight that allows them to perceive the signals that they issue mutually. It is also possible that they might have a vehicle of their own to transmit certain vibrations through the water. No matter how it is, what is unquestionable is that there is no lack of means to understand each other, in the same way that animals having no voice, work nevertheless in groups. In view of this, what admiration may cause in us the fact that Spirits communicate among themselves without the aid of articulated words?’ 595. Do animals enjoy free will for the practices of their acts?
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“Animals are not simple machines as you think they are. However, the freedom of action they enjoy is restricted by their needs and cannot be compared to the freedom of man. Being much less evolved than man is, animals do not have the same duties man has. They have their freedom restricted to the acts of their material life” 596. From where comes the aptitude certain animals have to imitate the speech of man and why is this aptitude disclosed more by birds than by apes that bear a greater analogy with man? “The imitation of human speech is due to a particular conformation of the vocal organs and reinforced by the instinct of imitation. Apes imitate gestures; some birds imitate the voice.” 597. Since animals have an intelligence that enables them to have a certain freedom of action, would there be some principle independent from matter in them? “Yes, there is and it survives the body.” a) - Is this principle a soul similar to the soul of man? “It is also a soul, if you wish, depending on the sense you give to this word. However, it is less evolved than the soul of man. There is a distance between the soul of animals and the soul of man as there is between the soul of man and God.” 598. After death, does the soul of an animal keep its individuality and consciousness of itself? “Yes, it keeps its individuality; but not the consciousness of its self. Intelligent life remains latent in it.” 599. Is it granted to the soul to choose the kind of animal it is to incarnate? “No, it is not because they lack free will.” 600. By surviving the body it abided, does the soul of an animal enter a roaming state as the soul of man does? “It remains in a kind of roaming state because it is not conjoined with the body any longer, but it is not a roaming Spirit. A roaming Spirit is a being that thinks and works willingly. Such ability
278 Allan Kardec the soul of an animal does not have. The consciousness of itself is what constitutes the main attribute of a Spirit. Spirits in charge of this task classify the soul of an animal after death and the soul is made use of almost immediately. It is not granted for a soul of an animal to make contact with other creatures.” 601. Are animals subjected to a progressive law as man is? “Yes, they are and what follows is that in more advanced worlds where men are more advanced, so are the animals having available broader means of communication. However, they are always in a lower position than man and they are always submitted to him, having in them intelligent servers.” 602. Do animals progress by means of their actions as men do, or by means of the force of things? “By means of the force of things, this being the reason they are not subjected to expiation.” 603. In more advanced worlds, do animals know God? “No, they do not. For them man is a god like Spirits used to be gods to man.” 604. Since animals, even if more improved, existing in more advanced worlds are always inferior to man, it follows then that God has created intellectual beings destined to be inferior eternally which seems to disagree with the unity of design and progress that all his works bear. “Everything in Nature is interlinked by links you are not able yet to apprehend. Thus, seemingly disparate things have contact points that man at his present state will never come to comprehend. By making an effort of intelligence he may have a glimpse of them, but only when this intelligence will be at its maximum advancement level and free of the prejudices of pride and ignorance will he manage to clearly see them in the works of God. Until then very restricted ideas will make man notice things through a small and limited prism. Know that it is not possible for God to contradict himself and that everything in Nature harmonizes itself through
279 The Book From The Spirits overall laws which at every single point of them correspond to the sublime wisdom of the Creator.” a) – Is intelligence then a common characteristic, a point of contact between the soul of animals and of man? “Yes, but animals have only an intelligence of a material life. In man intelligence enables a moral life.” 605. Considering all the points of contact existing between man and animals, would it not be possible to think that man has two souls, an animal soul and the soul of a Spirit and that, if the latter would not exist, he could only live like an animal? In other words, that an animal is a being analogous to man only lacking the soul of a Spirit? Seeing it this way would it result that the good and bad instincts of man are the effect of the predominance of either of these two souls? “This is not correct because man does not have two souls. However, the body has its instincts resulting from the peculiar sensation of the organs. Double in man is only his nature. He has an animal and a spiritual nature. He participates through his body with the nature of animals and their instincts. Through his soul man participates with the nature of Spirits.” a) – So, besides its own imperfections that a Spirit has to free itself from, man also has to fight against matter? “The less evolved a Spirit is the tighter are the bonds binding it to matter. Do you not see it? Man does not have two souls; a soul is always unique in every being. The soul of an animal and of a man is distinct from one another up to a point where the soul of one cannot animate the body of the other. Even though a man does not have an animal soul, through his passions he levels himself down to an animal and that is why the body is a being gifted with vitality and instincts, but is unintelligent and restricted to the care its preservation demands.” Incarnated in the body of a man, a Spirit lends him the intellectual and moral principles making him more evolved than an animal. The two natures existent in him lend his passions two different origins; one comes from the instincts having the nature of an animal while the other comes from the impurity of the Spirit
280 Allan Kardec whose incarnation man is the image of and that more or less sympathizes with the coarseness of animal appetites. On purifying itself, the Spirit frees itself from matter little by little. Under the influence of matter the Spirit comes closer to the beast. Free from it, the Spirit elevates itself to its true destination. 606. From where do animals draw the intelligent principle that constitutes the soul of a special nature they are gifted with? “From the universal intelligent element.” a) – So, the intelligence of a man and an animal emanate from a single principle? “Undoubtedly, however, in man it has passed through an elaboration that places it above of what exists in animals.” 607. You said (item 190) that the state of the soul of man at its origin corresponds to the state of childhood in corporeal life. Where does the Spirit pass through this first stage of its evolvement? “In a series of existences preceding the period you call Humanity.” a) – Thus, it seems that one may consider a soul as having been the intelligent principle of the lower beings of creation. Is this correct? “Have we not already said that everything in Nature is interlinked and tends towards unity? It is in these beings, whose totality you are far from knowing, that the intelligent principle elaborates itself, individualizes little by little and rehearses for life as we have just said. It is a preparatory work in a way, as is germination, through which effect the intelligent principle undergoes a transformation and becomes Spirit. It then enters the period o humanization, beginning to have consciousness of its future, a capability of distinguishing goodness from evil and the responsibility of its acts. Thus, adolescence follows childhood then coming youth and maturity. In this order there is nothing humiliating for man. Do great geniuses feel humiliated for having been fetuses in the womb? If there is something that is humiliating, it is the inferiority of man compared to God and his impotency to probe the depth of the
281 The Book From The Spirits purposes and to appreciate the wisdom of the laws that rule the harmony of the Universe. Recognize the greatness of God in the wonderful harmony through which everything in Nature is solidary. To believe that God has made whatever it may be without a purpose and to have created intelligent beings without a future, would be to blaspheme his kindness that covers all his creatures.” b) – Does this humanization start on the Earth? “The Earth is not the starting point of the first human incarnation. The period of humanization usually starts in worlds still less advanced than the Earth. However, this is not an absolute rule for it may happen that a Spirit is fit to live on the Earth since its human beginning. This does not happen often, it is rather an exception.” 608. Does a Spirit have a consciousness of its existences before the period of humanity after death? “No, it does not for it is not at this period that its life as a Spirit has begun. It is even hard to remember its first human incarnations as it is hard for a man to remember the first moments of his childhood and even more difficult to remember the time he spent being nursed on the lap of his mother. This is why Spirits say they do not know how they began to be Spirits.” 609. Once in the period of humanity, does a Spirit retain traces of what it was previously, that is, of the state it was in during the period, which could be called ante-human? “This depends on the distance mediating between the two periods and the accomplished results. During a few generations a Spirit may retain more or less strong vestiges of the primitive state for nothing in Nature happens in an abrupt transition. There are always links connecting the ends of a chain to beings and happenings. However, those vestiges are erased by the evolvement of free will. The first progresses take place very slowly because there is no free will to aid it. The rate of progress increases as a Spirit acquires a more perfect consciousness of itself.”
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610. May Spirits not have been mistaken when they said that man makes up a separate being within the orderliness of creation? “No, because the question had not been well made. Furthermore, there are things that may be clarified only in due time. Man is actually a being apart since he has abilities that distinguish him from all other beings and he has a different destiny. It is the human kind that God has chosen for the incarnation of beings that may know Him.”
METEMPSYCHOSIS
611. The fact of having had the same origin in the intelligent principle, it this not the consecration of the doctrine of metempsychosis? “Two things may have had the same origin and not show absolutely any likeliness whatsoever later on. Who recognizes a tree with its leaves, flowers and fruits, in a shapeless kernel contained in a seed from which the tree appears? Provided the intelligent principle reaches the level necessary to become a Spirit, it enters the period of humanization where it does not retain the relation with its primitive animal state any longer. From the animal man keeps on only the body and the passions that arise from the influence of the body and of the instinct of preservation inherent to matter. Consequently, metempsychosis as you understand it to be, is not appropriate.” 612. May a Spirit having animated the body of a man incarnate in an animal? “No, it may not because this would mean to retrograde and a Spirit never retrogrades. A river does not flow back to its origin.” 613. Although it is erroneous as a whole, does the idea of metempsychosis not be the result of an intuitive feeling man has of its different existences? (see item 118) “This intuitive feeling is present in many other beliefs. However, man denatures it as he is used to denaturing the majority of his intuitive ideas.”
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Metempsychosis would be true if it indicated the progression of a soul, passing from a lower evolutive level to another of a higher level where it would acquire a development to change its nature. However, metempsychosis is false in the sense of allowing for a direct transmigration of the soul of an animal to a man and so reciprocally which would imply in the idea of retrograding or of a consolidation. Well, then, if such a consolidation is not possible to be operated between the corporeal beings of two different kinds of animals, this indicates that they are of a non-assimilating degree. The same thing should happen regarding the Spirits animating them. If a same Spirit were able to animate them alternatively, there would be an identification of nature which would be translated by the possibility of a material reproduction.
As Spirits teach us, reincarnation basis itself on the ascendant run of Nature and on the progression of man within its own kind which does not diminish his dignity at all. What lowers him is the bad use he makes of the abilities God has granted him to progress. Be it as it may, the oldness and the universality of the metempsychosis doctrine as well as the circumstance of remarkable men having professed it; prove that the principle of reincarnation is rooted in Nature. They are arguments in favor of the reincarnation principle rather than against it.
The start off of a Spirit is one of those questions that are linked with the origin of things and that God keeps a secret of. It is not granted to man to know them in an absolute form so that there is nothing else left to him than to create hypotheses and more or less probable systems about them. Spirits themselves tell us that they are far from learning everything about things they do not know of, however, they may express their more or less sensible personal opinions. So it is that, for instance, not all men think in same way regarding the relations existing between men and animals. According to some, a Spirit does not reach the human period before having passed through and individualized itself along the different advancement levels of the lower level beings of Creation. According to others, the Spirit of man has always belonged to the human race without having passed through the animal ascension levels. The former system has the advantage of depicting a target for future animals that would form the first links of the chain of thinking animals. The latter system corresponds more to the dignity of man and may be summarized as follows. Different kinds of animals do not originate intellectually one from the other, but through progression. So, the Spirit of an oyster does not turn into a fish, a bird, a quadruped, a simian successively. Each kind of
284 Allan Kardec animal constitutes an absolute kind of animal, both physically and morally. Every animal withdraws from the universal source the quantity of intelligent principle deemed necessary for the perfection of its organs and the work it has to carry out in the phenomena of Nature, a quantity that the animal restitutes after death to the reservoir from where it withdrew it. The animals of more advanced worlds than ours (see item 188) are equally made up of distinct races, suitable to the needs of those worlds and the advancement level of the men there. They aid men there, but they do not come from the Earth at all, spiritually speaking. However, it is different regarding man. From a physical point of view, he obviously is a link of the chain of living beings, however, from a moral point of view there is a rupture between an animal and a man. Man owns a soul or Spirit, a divine spark that renders him a moral sense and an intellectual capability, which animals lack and in man it is a main preexisting being, surviving the body and retaining its individuality. What is the origin of a Spirit? What is its starting point? Is it created from the individualized intelligent principle? All these questions are mysteries that are useless for us to try to look into and on which, as we have said, there is nothing more to do about than build up systems. What is constant, what stands out from reasoning and from experience, is the survival of the Spirit, the retention of its individuality after death, the progressiveness of its abilities, its state of happiness or disgrace depending on its advancement level on the pathway of goodness and all the moral truths resulting from this principle. Regarding the mysterious relationships existing between man and animals, we repeat, they are part of the secrets of God, as are many other things whose knowledge at present does not interfere in our progress and on which it would be useless to detain ourselves on.
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Part 03
On moral laws Chapter I – The divine or natural law Chapter II - The law of adoration Chapter III – The law of labor Chapter IV - The law of reproduction Chapter V - The law of preservation Chapter VI - The law of destruction Chapter VII – The law of society Chapter VIII – The low of progress Chapter IX - The law of equality Chapter X - The low of freedom Chapter XI – The law of justice, of love and charity Chapter XII – Moral perfection
CHAPTER I
On the divine or natural law Characteristics of the natural law Knowledge of the natural law Goodness and evil Divisions of the natural law
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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NATURAL LAW
614. What is to be understood by natural law? “Natural law is the law of God. It is the only and true law for the happiness of man. It shows him what he should do or should not do and man is unhappy only when stays away from the natural law.” 615. Is the law of God eternal? “It is eternal and unchangeable as God is.” 616. Is it possible for God to prescribe at a certain time what at another time He prohibited to men? “God makes no mistake. It is men that are obligated to change their laws for being imperfect. The laws of God are always perfect. The harmony ruling the material universe as well as the moral universe is based on laws set by God since all eternity.” 617. What is the comprehensiveness of the divine laws? Do they concern something else than just a moral procedure? “All the laws of Nature are divine for God is the author of everything. A scientist studies the laws that rule matter, a man of goodness studies and practices the laws of the soul.” a) – Is it prone for man to study either of them more thoroughly? “Yes, it is, but a single existence is not enough for that.” Actually what are a few years for the acquisition of everything a being needs so as to be considered as a perfect being although we consider only the distance separating a savage from a civilized man? For this the longest life span possible would still be insufficient. Still with a greater reason will it be in view of the short life span of the majority of men. Among the divine laws, some of them rule the motion and the relationships of coarse matter, namely, the physical laws whose study belongs to Science. The other laws have to do particularly with man by considering him and his relationship with God and his fellowmen. These laws contain the rules of the life of his body as well as the life of his soul. They are the moral laws.
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618. Are the divine laws the same for all worlds? “Reason tells us that they should be suitable to the nature of every world and to the progress of the beings inhabiting these worlds.”
KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATURAL LAW
619. Has God provided man with the means to know His laws? “Every man may know them, but not all understand them. Good men and those who decide to investigate them are the ones that best understand them. However, all will understand them some day for this is bound to happen for progress to be achieved.” The justice of the different incarnations of man is a consequence of this principle for in every new existence his intelligence is more evolved and he understands better what goodness and evil is. If everything had to be concluded in only one existence, what would be the fate of the millions of beings dying every day due to the brutishness of savagery or in the darkness of ignorance without having depended on themselves to be instructed? (see items 177 and 222) 620. Before joining itself to a body, does the soul understand the law of God better than after incarnating? “The soul will understand it according to the level of perfection it has reached and retains from it the intuition when united to a body. However, bad instincts make man usually forget it.” 621. Where is the law of God inscribed? “In the conscience.” a) - Since man brings along in his conscience the law of God, what need is there to have it being disclosed? “Man has forgotten and despised it so God wants it to be remembered.” 622. Has God entrusted certain men with the mission of disclosing His laws?
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“Yes, undoubtedly for here have been men with such a mission at all times. They are highly advanced evolutive level Spirits that incarnate to bring about progress to Humanity.” 623. Those who have intended to instruct men in the laws of God; do they not have mistaken themselves sometimes by using false principles to mislead others? “Yes, they certainly have misled men who were not inspired by God and that by ambition they have taken on a burden they were not entrusted with. However, since they were men of genius, even among the errors they taught, great truths are often found.” 624. What is the character of a true prophet? “A true prophet is a man of goodness, inspired by God. You may recognize him through his words and acts. It is impossible to have God using the mouth of a liar to teach the truth.” 625. Who is the most perfect prophet God has offered man to serve as a guide and example? “Jesus.” For men, Jesus represents the kind of moral perfection that Humanity may aspire. God has offered him as the most perfect example and the doctrine he has taught us is the purest expression of the law of the Lord because being Jesus the purest men of the many that have appeared on the Earth, the Divine Spirit enlivened him.
Regarding those who intended to instruct man on the law of God by teaching him false principles, this happened because they let themselves be dominated by too Earthly feelings, thus mixing up the laws regulating the conditions of the life of the soul with the laws ruling the life of the body. Many have presented simple human laws as divine laws to serve their passions and dominate men. 626. Have divine and natural laws been taught only by Jesus? Before his appearance, did the knowledge of those laws come only through intuition? “Have we not already said that the laws are written all over the place on the Earth? Since the earliest times all who meditated on wisdom were able to understand it and teach it. Through the
289 The Book From The Spirits teachings, which were spread, even if incomplete, they actually prepared the land to receive the seed. Being the divine laws written in the book of Nature, it was possible for man to know them as soon as he began to seek them. This is why the precepts men consecrated were proclaimed by the men of goodness at all times and also that is why the elements of the laws are found in the moral doctrine of all peoples coming out of barbarism, although in an incomplete form or modified by ignorance.” 627. Since Jesus has taught us the true laws of God, what is the usefulness of the teachings of Spirits? Do they have to show us something else? “Jesus often made use of allegories and parables in his speech because he spoke according to his time and place. Now it is necessary to have the truth become clear to the whole world. It is very necessary to have those laws explained and developed because there are only very few persons that understand them and even fewer that practice them. Our mission consists of opening the eyes and ears of all human beings by mixing up those that are proud and unmask the hypocrites, that is, those who dress the cloak of virtue and religion in order to hide their wickedness. The teachings of Spirits have to be clear and without misconceptions so that nobody may pretext ignorance and all may judge and appreciate them by using reason. We are in charge of preparing the kingdom of goodness, which Jesus has announced. Hence the need of having nobody interpreting the law of God according to his passions, nor falsifying the sense of a law full of love and charity.” 628. Why has truth not been placed at the reach of everybody? “What is important is that everything comes at its due time. Truth is like light; man has to become accustomed to it little by little, otherwise he becomes dazzled. “God has never allowed man to receive communications as complete and instructive as at present. In the past there were, as you know, some individuals having what they themselves considered as a sacred science and of which they made a mystery of to those they considered as being profane. From the knowledge you have of the
290 Allan Kardec laws that rule these phenomena, you should understand that these individuals received some sparse truths within a misconceived set and in most cases emblematic. However, to a scholar there is no ancient system of philosophy, no tradition, no religion whatsoever that is negligible for there are kernels of great truths in everything, although the truths seem contradictory among themselves, scattered among accessories having no basis, easily able to be coordinated when presented to you thanks to the explanations that the doctrine of Spiritism provides on a great number of things that had no purpose to you and whose reality is nowadays irrecusably demonstrated. Therefore, do not despise the object of study that these materials offer. They are full of such objects and they may contribute greatly for your instruction.”
GOODNESS AND EVIL
629. What definition may be made regarding morals? “Morals are the rules of proceeding well, that is, to distinguish between goodness and evil. It is based on the law of God. Man proceeds well when everything he does is for the goodness of all because then he obeys the law of God.” 630. How is it possible to distinguish between goodness and evil? “Goodness is everything that complies with the law of God; evil is everything that is the opposite of it. Therefore, to practice goodness is to proceed according to the law of God. To practice evil is to break the law of God.” 631. Does man have means of distinguishing by himself what is goodness and what is evil? “Yes, when man believes in God and wants to know it. God has granted intelligence to man to distinguish one from the other.” 632. Being subjected to error, may man mistake himself on appreciating goodness and evil and believe he is practicing goodness when actually he is practicing evil?
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“Jesus has said ‘Whatsoever you would like that men should do onto ye, do ye even so to them.’ This summarizes everything. You will never mistake yourself.” 633. The rule of goodness and evil that could be called the rule of reciprocity or of solidarity is not applicable to a personal procedure of a man on himself. Will he be able to find in a natural law the rule of this proceeding and a reliable guide? “When you eat too much, it makes you feel sick. Well then, it is God that gives you the admeasurement of what your need. When you exceed it, you are punished. Everything is like that. The natural law delineates the limits of the needs man has. If this limit is exceeded, man is punished through sufferings. If you always listened to the voice telling you that it is enough, you would avoid most of the evil of which Nature is accused of.” 634. Why is there evil in the nature of things? I mean the moral evil. Could God not have created Humanity in better conditions? “We have already said that Spirits have been created as simple and ignorant beings (see item 115). God leaves it to man to choose the pathway. It will be worse for him if he chooses a bad one; his pilgrimage will be longer. If there were no mountains, man would not understand that it may be climbed; if there were no rocks, he would not understand that there are hard bodies. It is necessary for every Spirit to gain experience, therefore, to know goodness and evil. That is the reason for a Spirit to incarnate in a body.” (see item 119) 635. Needs arise from different social positions that are different for every man. Does this not seem to infer that natural law is not a uniform rule? “Those different positions are of the nature of things and comply with the law of progress. This does not invalidate the unity of natural law which is applicable to everything.” The conditions of the existence of men changes in time and place resulting in different needs and suitable positions to meet these needs. Such diversity lies in the order of things and complies with the law of God, a law which is nonetheless a law regarding its principle. It depends on reason to distinguish between actual needs from fictitious or conventional needs.
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636. Are goodness and evil absolute for all men? “The law of God is the same for all men; however, evil depends mainly on the desire a person has to practice it. Goodness is always goodness and evil always evil, whatever the position of man. The only difference is the level of responsibility.” 637. Will a savage that feeds himself on human flesh by following his instincts be guilty in so doing? “I said that evil depends on the wish of doing so. Consequently, a man will be guiltier the more he knows what he is doing.” Circumstances lend a relative seriousness to goodness and evil. Often a man is less reprehensible for committing faults that are the consequence of the position society has placed him in. But his responsibility is proportional to the means available to comprehend goodness and evil. So, a man is guiltier in the eyes of God if he is learned and commits a simple injustice than an ignorant savage who gives in to his instincts. 638. Sometimes it seems that evil is a consequence of the force of things. For example, the need a man may find himself in, in some cases, to destroy even his own fellowman. May it be said that the law of God has been broken in this case? “Although necessary, evil is always evil. However, this need disappears as the soul depurates itself by passing from one existence to another. Thus, a man is guiltier when he practices evil if he understands it better.” 639. Does the evil a man practices not frequently result from the position others have placed him in? Who is guilty in this case? “Evil falls on whoever has caused it to happen. In such conditions, whosoever is led to practice evil due to the position his fellowmen have placed him in is less guilty than those who have proceeded that way and caused the evil and each will be punished not only for the evil committed, but also for bringing about the evil.” 640. Whoever does not practice evil, but takes advantage of the evil practiced by somebody else, is he guilty as well? “Yes, he is as guilty as the one who has practiced the evil.
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Taking advantage of evil is to participate in it. Maybe he is not able to practice evil; but finding the evil done and benefiting from it, shows his approval and that he would have practiced it if he could or had dared to. 641. Is wishing to do evil as reprehensible as it is to practice it? “It depends. Voluntarily resisting evil, particularly when there is a possibility of satisfying this desire, is a virtue. If evil is not practiced because of a lack of opportunity, whoever wishes it is guilty of it.” 642. To please God and to ensure his future position is it enough for a man not to practice evil? “No, it is not. It is his obligation to practice goodness up to the limit of his forces because man will be responsible for all the evil brought about by not having practiced the goodness he could have.” 643. Is there a possibility of not being able to practice goodness due to his position? “There is not a single person that is unable to practice goodness. Only a selfish person does not respond to the call of goodness. It is enough to have a relationship with other persons to have an opportunity of practicing goodness. In the existence of a person, every day offers an opportunity unless selfishness blinds the person. To practice goodness does not consist of only being charitable, but to be useful whenever possible and every time that assistance is needed.” 644. Regarding the surroundings of a man, do they not represent the primary cause of vices and crimes? “Yes, but even there is a proof of what a Spirit has chosen when it was free, led by the wish of exposing itself to temptation in order to have the merit of having resisted it.” 645. When man finds himself in some way immersed in an atmosphere of vice, does evil not become an almost irresistible dragging? “A dragging, yes; irresistible, no; for even in an atmosphere
294 Allan Kardec of vice, you come across great virtues. There are Spirits that had the force of resisting and, at the same time, received the mission of exerting a good influence on their fellowmen.” 646. Is the merit of the practiced goodness subordinated to particular conditions? “The merit of goodness lies in the difficulty of practicing it. There is no merit when goodness is practiced without any effort and when it does not cost anything. God gives a greater value to a poor who divides his only piece of bread with another then to a rich person that just gives away his left over bread as Jesus has pointed out in the parable of the obolus of the widow.”
DIVISIONS OF THE NATURAL LAW
647. Is the law of God contained entirely in the precept of the love towards your neighbor as Jesus has taught us? “Most certainly this precept contains all the duties of men to one another. However, it is necessary to show its various applications; otherwise men will continue to neglect them, as they are doing at present. Furthermore, the natural law covers all circumstances of life and this precept covers only part of the law. It is necessary to have precise rules for men; general and quite vague precepts leave a great number of doors open for interpretation.” 648. What may be said about the division of the natural law into ten parts, namely, worship, labor, reproduction, conservation, destruction, society, progress, equality, freedom and at last justice, love and charity? “The division of the law of God into ten parts is the law of Moses, being essential to cover all circumstances of life. Thus, you may adopt it, but without making it be something absolute as no other system of classification is. Every system depends on the point of view which considers whatsoever. The last law is the most important one for it enables man to advance more in the spiritual life since it summarizes all the others.”
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CHAPTER II
On the law of adoration The aim of adoration External acts of adoration The life of contemplation Prayers Polytheism Sacrifices
THE AIM OF ADORATION
649. What does adoration consists of? “Of the elevation of thought to God since it is through adoration that man approaches his soul to God.” 650. Does adoration stem from an innate feeling or does it result from teaching? “It is an innate feeling as is the existence of God. The consciousness man has of his feeling leads man to bow in front of whoever may be protecting him.” 651. May there have been peoples void of a feeling of adoration? “No, there have never existed atheistic peoples. Every people understand that above everything there is a Supreme Entity.” 652. May natural law be considered as the source of adoration? “Adoration is in the natural law for it results from an innate feeling in man. That is the reason for it to exist in all peoples, although under different forms.”
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EXTERNAL ACTS OF ADORATION
653. Does adoration need external manifestations? “True adoration is in the heart. In all of your actions, remember always that the Lord has his eyes upon you.” a) - Are external acts of adoration useful? “Yes, if it does not consist in a vain simulacrum. It is always useful to serve as a good example. But, whoever does so only through affectation or self-esteem, denying his seeming piety through his behavior, is a bad example that causes unthinkable evil.” 654. Does God have a preference for those who worship him in this or that way? “God prefers those who worship him from the bottom of his heart, sincerely, practicing goodness and avoiding evil, rather than whoever wants to honor God with ceremonies that do not make him be better than his fellowmen. “All men are brothers and the sons of God. He attracts to himself all who obey his laws through whatever form they express it. “Whoever ciphers his piety by using external acts, is a hypocrite. The individual whose adoration is affected and contradicts his behavior serves as a bad example. “I tell you that a person professing worship to Christ, but having a religion only on the lips and not in the soul is a hypocrite for he is proud, envious, hard and implacable regarding others, or ambitious of having the goods of this world. God who sees everything says that whoever knows the truth is a hundred times guiltier of the evil done than an ignorant savage living in a desert. Every man will be treated this way on the day of justice. If a blind knocks you down on passing by you, you forgive him; if it is a normal person, you complain having all the right to do so. “Thus, do not ask if there is any form of adoration that is more convenient because it would be the same as to ask if it pleases God to be worshipped in one idiom rather than in another. Once
297 The Book From The Spirits more I tell you that the hymns addressed to Him will reach Him only through the door of the heart.” 655. Is it wrong to practice external rites of a religion in which a person does not wholeheartedly believe in, doing so only to show human respect and not to scandalize those who think differently? “In this case, as in many others, it is the intention that constitutes the rule. He whose only aim is to respect other beliefs, does not do anything wrong in this case. He behaves better than a person who mocks a different belief because in this case he lacks charity. Whoever practices external rites to obtain a personal advantage and does so moved by ambition becomes despicable in the eyes of God and of men. It is not possible to please God when a person pretends to be humble in front of God only to obtain the praise of men.” 656. Is individual adoration preferable to adoration in common? “Gathering by the communion of thought and feeling renders a greater force for men to attract good Spirits. The same happens when men gather to worship God. However, do not believe that to worship God privately is less valuable for every person may worship God by thinking of Him.”
THE LIFE OF CONTEMPLATION
657. Is there any merit in the eyes of God for those who consecrate their lives to a contemplative life since they do not practice any evil and think only of God? “No, because it is true that they do not practice any evil and so they also do not practice any goodness becoming useless. After all, not practicing any goodness is already an evil. God wants man to think of him, but not only of him for He has imposed on man duties to be carried out on the Earth. Whoever spends all his time meditating and in contemplation is not worth of any merit in the eyes of God because he lives a wholly personal life that is totally
298 Allan Kardec useless to Humanity. God will demand an account of him regarding the goodness he has not practiced.” (see item 640)
PRAYERS
658. Does a prayer please God? “A prayer is always pleasant to God when it is dictated by the heart because for God the intention is everything. Thus, it is preferable to make a prayer using words coming from the heart than by reading off a prayer, in spite of sounding wonderful, particularly if it is read more with the lips than with the heart. It pleases God when a prayer is made with faith, ardor and sincerity, but do not believe that a prayer of a futile, proud and selfish man will touch Him, unless it means an act of sincere repentance on his part and of a true humbleness.” 659. What is the overall character of a prayer? “A prayer is an act of adoration. To pray to God is to think of Him; it is to come near Him; it is to communicate with Him. There are three things we may propose through a prayer, namely, to extol, to ask for or to express gratitude.” 660. Does a prayer make a man become better? “Yes, it does because whoever prays with ardor as well as trust becomes stronger against evil and God sends him good Spirits to assist him. This is an aid that is never refused to man when asked for in all sincerity.” a) - Why is it that certain persons that pray very much have nevertheless a bad character, being conscientious, envious, impertinent, lacking benevolence as well as leniency and are even vicious? “Essential is not to pray a lot, but to pray well. Those persons presume that the whole merit lies in the length of the pray and they close their eyes to their own defects. They make praying be an occupation, a means of passing their time, but never a study of them.
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The ineffectiveness is not due to the medicine in such cases, but rather, to the way it is administered.” 661. Is there any use in asking God to forgive our faults? “God knows how do distinguish goodness from evil; a pray does not hide faults. Whoever asks for forgiveness to God for his faults will only obtain it by changing his way of acting. Good actions are the best prayers. That is why actions are much better than words.” 662. Is it useful to pray for others? “The Spirit of whoever prays acts through its volition of practicing goodness. By praying for others it attracts to it the good Spirits and they associate themselves with the desired goodness.” A thought and a desire represent in us the power of action that reaches beyond the limits of our corporeal sphere. A prayer we make for others is an act of this desire. If it is ardent and sincere, it may call the help of good Spirits to aid whom we are praying for. Such Spirits will suggest good thoughts to him and lend the strength needed by the body and the soul. However, even here the prayer from the heart is everything, from the lips it means nothing. 663. May the prayers we make to ourselves change the nature of our trials and have its course deviated? “Your trials are in the hand of God and some of them will have to be borne up to the end; but God always takes into account a resignation. A prayer brings near you good Spirits giving you the force to bear the trials courageously and make them seem less rough. We have said that a prayer is never useless when well made because it strengthens whoever prays which is already a great result. Help yourself and heaven will help you, as you know well. Furthermore, it is not possible for God to change the order of nature at the wish of everybody for what seems to be a great evil to you because of your narrow point of view, is always a great goodness in the overall order of the Universe. Besides, how much evil is a man not responsible for due to his carelessness or his faults? He is punished for what he transgresses. However, his rightful supplications will be responded more often than you think. You usually think that God has not
300 Allan Kardec heard you because He has not made a miracle in your favor while He assists you by means so natural that they seem to be the result of a coincidence or the result of the force of things. Often, if not in most cases, God suggests you an idea that will make you come out of the difficulty by your own effort.” 664. Will it be useful to pray for the dead and for the suffering Spirits? And, if so, how may our prayers provide relief and shorten the suffering? Do prayers have the power of softening the justice of God? “A prayer can not have as an effect the change of the intention of God, but the soul of whom we pray for feels a relief because so it receives a testimony of the interest that inspires whoever asks for this person and also because this unfortunate person always feels a consolation when he meets charitable souls that sympathize with his pains. On the other hand, through a prayer whoever prays incites the unfortunate person to repent himself and to want to do whatever is necessary to be happy. It is in this sense the punishment may be shortened if he supports the prayer with his good will. The desire of improving awakened by the prayer attracts to his suffering Spirit better Spirits that will clarify, console and lend hopes. Jesus prayed to the lost lambs showing us that you will be guilty if you do not do the same to those who mostly need your prayers.” 665. What may be said about the opinion of those who reject the prayer in favor of the dead because they do not find it written in the Gospels? “Christ said to all men ‘Love one another’. This recommendation consists of having every man make use of all possible means to testify to other men his affection without entering into the details as to the way of attaining it. If it is true that the Creator, the image of perfect justice, can not exempt to apply it to all the actions of a Spirit, it is also true that a prayer you send to whoever inspires your affection constitutes a testimony that is bound to contribute to ease the sufferings and console him. He will be helped provided he shows even a slight repentance. However, he will never be left in ignorance of the sympathetic soul that he has occupied himself with. On the contrary, he will be left in the sweet belief that the mediation on this
301 The Book From The Spirits soul was useful. From this results necessarily a feeling of gratitude and affection on his part because he showed his friendship or his mercifulness. Consequently, the love Christ recommended men will grow in both reciprocally. Both then, complied with the law of love and of the unity of all beings, the divine law, which will result in the unity that is the aim and purpose of every Spirit.” 666. May we pray to Spirits? “Yes, you may pray to the good Spirits that are the messengers of God carrying out His will. However, the power of them depends on the evolutive level they have reached and always derive from the Lord of all things since nothing is done without His permission. That is why the prayers to them are only effective when they are well accepted by God.”
POLYTHEISM
667. What is the reason for the polytheistic belief, although false, to be one of the most ancient and widely spread belief? “The conception of a unique God could not exist in man if it were not the result of the evolvement of his ideas. Being incapable of conceiving an immaterial being, a being having no predetermined shape and acting on matter, due to his ignorance, man assigned corporeal attributes to God, that is, a shape as well as an aspect and since then everything that seemed to surpass the limits of his common intelligence was regarded as being a divinity. Everything that was not understood would have to be the work of a supernatural power which was a step further to make him believe in as many distinct powers as the effects he observed. However, at all times there were learned men that understood it to be impossible to have the existence of these multiple powers ruling the world without the presence of a single higher direction that subsequently lead to the conception of a unique God.” 668. Having been produced at all times and being known since the early ages of the world, have spiritistic phenomena not contributed for the diffusion of the belief in the plurality of gods?
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“Yes, undoubtedly by calling god anything that was super human, men took Spirits as being gods. Then followed the fact that when a man distinguished himself from all others through his actions, his temper or an occult power that common men were not able to understand, they turned him into a god and after his death, they worshiped him.” (see item 603) The word god used to have a very broad meaning. It did not indicate a personification of the Lord of Nature as it does nowadays. It was ageneric qualification applied to every being existent outside the ordinary conditions of Humanity. On having spiritistic manifestations disclosing the existence of incorporeal beings acting as powers of Nature, they called these beings gods, as we called them Spirits at present. It is a simple question of words with the only difference that in the ignorance they were they erected temples and shrines all over the world that were quite profitable to the gods while today we consider their gods as being simple creatures as we are, more or less perfect and without Earthly envelopments. If we study closely the different attributes of the pagan divinities, we will easily recognize all those gifted Spirits at different levels of the spiritistic rank, the physical state they find themselves in the higher order of worlds, all the properties of the perispirit and the role they play in the things of the Earth. By coming to enlighten the world with its divine light, Christianity did not propose to destruct anything in Nature. It rather came to orient the worship of the One responsible for the existence of Nature. Regarding Spirits, the remembrance of them is perpetuated with different names given by different peoples. Its manifestations have never ceased to be produced; they have been interpreted in different forms and often exploited under the prestige of a mystery. While for religion these manifestations were miraculous phenomena, for unbelievers they were always trickery. Today, due to a more serious study carried out at daylight, Spiritism has been stripped off the superstitious ideas that have shaded it for centuries and disclosed one of the most sublime principles of Nature.
SACRIFICES
669. The use of human sacrifices goes back into antiquity. How may it be explained that man was led to believe that such things might please God? “In the first place because man did not understand God
303 The Book From The Spirits as being the source of kindness. For primitive peoples matter overcomes spirit; they gave in to the instincts of a savage animal. That is the reason for them to be cruel for their moral sense was not evolved yet. In the second place, it is natural for primitive men to believe that an animated creature had a greater value in the eyes of God than a material body. This is what led them to immolate first animals and later on men. According to the false belief they had, they thought that the value of a sacrifice had to be proportional to the importance of the victim. In material life you also practice this when you have to offer a gift. You always choose a gift having a value according to the greater affection and consideration you wish to testify to someone. So it had to be regarding God among ignorant people.” a) - So, the sacrifice of animals preceded human sacrifices? “There is no question about this.” b) - Then, according to the explanation you have just given us, human sacrifices have not originated from a feeling of cruelty? “No, they have not. They came from an erroneous idea of how to please God. Consider what has happened to Abraham. With the passing of time, men began to abuse these practices by beginning to immolate their common enemies, even their personal enemies. However, God has never demanded sacrifices, neither of men nor animals. It is not possible to imagine that to worship God it is necessary to destroy creatures of God uselessly.” 670. Have human sacrifices ever pleased God when practiced with a pious intention? “No, never, however, God judges by intention, so it would be natural for ignorant men to suppose that they were practicing a laudable act by immolating persons of their own people. In these cases, God considered only the idea that commanded the act and not the act itself. As people improved, men came to recognize their error and to reprove such sacrifices which enlightened Spirits did not agree to. I say enlightened because although they had a material
304 Allan Kardec veil enveloping them, it was possible for them to have a glimpse of their origin and end by means of their free will. Many already understood intuitively the evil they were practicing although they would not cease the practice in order to satisfy their passions.” 671. What are we to think about religious wars? The feeling that impels fanatic people to exterminate as many persons as possible for having a different belief in order to please God; may this be equivalent to the feeling regarding its origin in times gone by when excited man sacrificed their fellowmen? “They are impelled by bad Spirits. By making a war against men they infringe the will of God who demands to love every brother as he loves himself. Every religion, or rather, every people worship the same God by whatever name they call him. Why then, do peoples make war among themselves based on a religion that is different from their own, or is it because they have not reached a high enough level of progress as compared to cultured peoples? If the people are forgiven for not believing in the words of the one animated by the Spirit of God who sent him, particularly who have never seen him and testified his acts, how do you expect them to believe in peace when you go and take his words to them with a sword in the hand? They have to be enlightened and we have to make every possible effort to make them know the doctrine of the Savior by using persuasion and with a lot of tenderness, never by means of iron and fire. Do the majority of you not believe in the communication we have with particular mortals? How do you expect to have strangers believe in your words when you deny the doctrine you preach with your acts?” 672. Does an offering of fruits of the place made to God have a greater merit in the eyes of God than the sacrifice of animals? “I have already answered this by stating that God judges by the intention of it and that for God the fact has little importance. It would evidently have been more pleasant for God to receive an offering of fruits of the place instead of the blood of victims. As we have said, and we always repeat it, a prayer uttered from the bottom of the soul is a hundred times more pleasant to God than
305 The Book From The Spirits all the offerings you may make to him. I repeat, the intention is everything, the fact is worthless.” 673. Would it no be a way to make those offerings be pleasant to God by consecrating them to lessening the sufferings of those who lack what is necessary and, in this case, the sacrifice of animals practiced having a useful purpose, would it not turn meritorious what was abusive when it was useless or served only to those who needed nothing? Would there not be something truly merciful in consecrating to the poor the first fruits God granted us on the Earth? “God always blesses whoever practices goodness. The best way to honor Him consists in lessening the sufferings of the poor and afflicted ones. I do not want to say with this that God disapproves the ceremonies you practice to forward your prayers. Much money is spent with this which could be applied more usefully. God loves the simplicity of everything. A man that clutches to exteriorities and not to the heart is a shortsighted Spirit. Say in all your consciousness if God should respond more to the shape than to what is intimate.”
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CHAPTER III
On the law of labor The need of labor The limit of labor. Rest
THE NEED OF LABOR
674. Is the need of labor a law of Nature? “Labor is a law of Nature and because of this, labor is a necessity. Civilization obligates man to work more because it increases his needs and enjoyments.” 675. Is work to be understood as being only a material occupation? “No, it is not because a Spirit works just like a body does. Every useful occupation means work.” 676. Why is labor imposed on man? “Because labor is the consequence of his corporeal nature. It is a kind of expiation and at the same time a means for the improvement of his intelligence. A man without work would always remain in his childhood in terms of intelligence. That is why his food, his safety and well-being depend on his work and activity. To a man having an extremely weak body, God has bestowed him with intelligence as a reward, but it is always through his work.” 677. Why does Nature alone provide all the needs of animals? “Everything in Nature works. Animals work like you do, but their work is limited to the care of their own preservation according to their intelligence level. It follows that their work does not result in progress whereas the work of man has a double purpose, namely, the preservation of the body and the evolvement of the ability of thinking which is also a need elevating him beyond himself. When
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I say that the work of animals is enciphered to take care of their own preservation I refer myself to the aim of their work. However, by providing their material needs, they unconsciously carry out the intents of the Creator and thus, the work they carry out also contributes for the final accomplishment of Nature, although you almost never find out the immediate outcome.” 678. In more advanced worlds, are men also submitted to the need of working? “The nature of work is related with the nature of needs. The less these needs are material, the less material is the work. But, do not deduce from this that man remains inactive or useless. Idleness would be a burden rather than a benefit.” 679. A man having enough material means to assure his existence, would he be exempted from work? “Maybe from material work, but neither from the obligation of becoming useful according to the means he has available, nor from improving his intelligence or the intelligence of others that also means work. Whoever God has granted enough means to assure his existence is certainly not constrained to earn his living with the sweat of his face, but all the greater will be his obligation of being useful to his fellowman and the greater are his opportunities of practicing the goodness providing his advancement.” 680. There are men that are incapable of working in whatever it may be in their existence, are they not useless in this case? “God is just and so He condemns whoever has become useless voluntarily in his existence for he lives at the expense of the work of others. God wants everybody to be useful according to his abilities.” (see item 643) 681. Does the law of Nature impose on children the obligation of working for their parents? “It certainly does, in the same way that parents have to work for their children. That is why God has made the love between children and parents be a natural feeling. It is this reciprocal feeling that makes the members of a same family feel impelled to mutually
308 Allan Kardec help each other which is forgotten very often in your society at present.” (see item 205)
THE LIMIT OF LABOR. REST
682. Being a rest the need for everybody that works, is it also a law of Nature? “It undoubtedly is. A rest serves to replenish the forces of the body and it is also necessary to lend a little more freedom to intelligence in order to let it elevate itself above matter.” 683. What is the limit of work? “The limit is the limit of the forces of a man. In short, God leaves man totally free regarding this matter. 684. What is the consequence to those who abuse of their authority by imposing an excessive workload on his workers? “This is one of the worst actions. Whoever has the power of directing is responsible for any excess of the workload imposed on workers under his command for, in doing so, he transgresses the law of God.” 685. Does man have the right of retiring in old age? “Yes, he has, for he is not obliged to anything but according to his forces.” a) - But what may a man do if he is old and has to work for his living, but is not able to? “The strong have to work for the weak. Not having a family, society has to act as such. This is the law of charity.” It is not enough to tell a man that it is his duty to work. Whoever has to work makes it also necessary to find something to busy him with, which does not always happen. When generalized, layoffs from work take on the proportion of a disaster, like misery. Economical science seeks a remedy for this in the balance between production and consumption. But this balance when possible to reach,
309 The Book From The Spirits will always suffer intermittences during which the worker has to go on living. There is an element that usually does not place a heavier weight on the scale and without which economical science would not be more than a simple theory. This element is education, not intellectual education, but moral education. However, we do not mean the moral education through books, but rather the art of creating a character by inducing habits for education is the set of all acquired habits. Considering the flood of individuals that are cast every day in the stream of population having no principles, no restraint and left on their own instincts, is it a wonder to see the terrible consequences of it? When this art will be known, understood and practiced, man will have the habits of respecting everything that is respectable in the world of order and have a foresight of himself and his fellow man. These habits allow man to cross the inevitable bad days with fewer burdens. Disorder and negligence are two diseases that only a good and well assimilated education may cure. This is the starting point, the element of a real wellbeing, the pledge for safety to all of us.
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CHAPTER IV
On the law of reproduction The population of the globe The succession and improvement of races The obstacles to reproduction Marriage and celibacy Polygamy
THE POPULATION OF THE GLOBE
686. Is the reproduction of living beings a natural law? “Evidently for without reproduction the corporeal world would disappear.” 687. If the population is constantly increasing as we see it happening, will there come a day when the population is excessive on the Earth? “No, it will not because God always provides and maintains a balance. God does not make anything that is useless. Seeing only a corner of the picture of Nature, man can not judge the harmony of the whole.”
THE SUCCESSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF RACES
688. There are human races that are decreasing in number at this moment; will there come a day when they disappear altogether from the Earth? “So will it be. Other races will take their place as other races some day will replace yours.”
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689. Are men at present forming a new creation or are they improved descendants of primitive beings? “They are the same Spirits that have returned to improve themselves in new bodies, but they are still far from perfection. Thus, the present human race, tending to invade the whole Earth due to its growth, shall replace extinguishing races. Each will have its stage of growth and of disappearance. Races will be replaced by other more improved races descending from the present races in the same way that civilized men of today descend from brutish and savage beings of primitive times.” 690. From a physical point of view, are the bodies of the present race of a special creation or do they come from primitive bodies through reproduction? “The origin of races is lost in the night of time. But since all the races belong to the large human family, no matter what the trunk of each race was, they were able to ally themselves and produce new types.” 691. From a physical point of view, what are the distinguishing and dominating characteristics of primitive races? “The evolvement of a brutish strength at the expense of their intellectual force. Now the opposite is happening for man uses more his intelligence than his physical strength. However, he produces a hundred times more because he knows how to make use of the forces of Nature what animals are not able to do.” 692. Is the improvement of animal races and vegetal species by science contrary to the law of Nature? Would it not be more compliant to this law to leave things follow its normal course? “Everything shall be done to reach perfection and man is an instrument which God makes use of to accomplish His ends. Being perfection the target towards which Nature tends, to favor this perfection is to respond to the views of God.” a) - But the efforts man usually makes to obtain the improvement of races come from a personal feeling and aim only to increase his enjoyments. Does this not diminish his merit?
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“Does it matter if his merit is null provided progress has been accomplished? It is meant for man to make his work become meritorious through his intention. Furthermore, it is through this work that he exerts and evolves his intelligence enabling him to derive a greater benefit.”
THE OBSTACLES TO REPRODUCTION
693. Are the human habits aiming to create obstacles to reproduction contrary to the law of Nature? “Everything that obstructs Nature in its headway is contrary to the overall law.” a) - However, there are species of living beings, like animals and plants, whose indefinite reproduction would be harmful to other species, even man would end up being a victim. Does man practice a reprehensible act by obstructing this reproduction? “God has granted man a power over all living beings that he shall use, but not abuse. Thus, he may regulate reproduction according to his needs. He should not oppose reproduction without a reason. The intelligent action of man is a counterbalance God has granted to restore the balance among the forces of Nature and it is also this that distinguishes man from animals for man works knowingly. But even the animals cooperate with the existence of such a balance due to the instinct of destruction they have been given making them obstruct the excessive expansion of animals and vegetables they feed themselves on to provide their own preservation. Such an expansion may even become dangerous.” 694. What are we to think of the usage of means whose end consists of avoiding reproduction for the satisfaction of sensuality? “This proves the predominance of the physical body over the soul and how much man is material.”
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MARRIAGE AND CELIBACY
695. Would a marriage, that is, a permanent union of a man and a woman, be contrary to the law of Nature? “It is a progress along the path of humanity.” 696. What effect would there be on human society if marriage were abolished? “There would be a regression to the life of animals.” The state of Nature is of a free and casual union of sexes. Marriage constitutes one of the first acts of progress in human societies for it sets a fraternal solidarity, which is found in every people, although having different conditions. The abolition of marriage would be a regression to the childhood of humanity placing man even below particular animals that give him an example of an ever-lasting union. 697. Is the absolute indissolubility of marriage in the law of Nature or only in human law? “It is a human law that is very contrary to the law of Nature. Man may change its laws while the laws of Nature are unchangeable.” 698. Does voluntary celibacy represent a state of meritorious perfection in the eyes of God? “No, it does not. Those who live like that are selfish and dissatisfy God by deceiving the world.” 699. On the part of particular persons, would celibacy not be a sacrifice aiming to enable them to be completely oriented to serve humanity? “This is very different. I said that celibacy is selfishness, but every personal sacrifice is meritorious when it is made having a good purpose. The greater the sacrifice the greater the merit.” It is not possible for God to contradict himself, not even if He considers bad what He himself has made. Therefore, there is no merit in a transgression of his law. But, if celibacy in itself is not a meritorious state, it may become so when the merriments of a family have been renounced as a sacrifice practiced for the
314 Allan Kardec benefit of Humanity. Every personal sacrifice aiming at goodness and without any selfish purposeelevates man above his material condition.
POLYGAMY
700. The numeric evenness existent more or less between sexes, does it indicate the proportion at which men and women should unite themselves? “Yes, for everything in Nature has a purpose.” 701. Is polygamy or monogamy more in conformity with the law of Nature? “Polygamy is a human law whose abolition brings about social progress. Marriage, according to the views of God, has to base itself on the affection of the beings uniting themselves. In polygamy there is no real affection; there is only sensuality.” If polygamy were in conformity with the law of Nature, it should tend to become universal which would be materially impossible in view of the evenness of both sexes. Polygamy should be considered as a usage or a particular legislation appropriate to certain customs that social improvement has made to disappear little by little.
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CHAPTER V
On the Law of Preservation The preservation instinct Means of preservation Enjoyment of Earthly goods Needed and superfluous things Voluntary privations. Mortifications.
THE PRESERVATION INSTINCT
702. Is the preservation instinct a law of Nature? “Yes, it undoubtedly is. Every living being has it no matter what its level of intelligence is. In some beings it is mechanical and reasoned in others.” 703. What is the purpose of God having granted to every living being the instinct of preservation? “All beings have to cooperate in the fulfillment of the plans of the Providence. That is why God makes man feel the need to live. Furthermore, life is necessary for the improvement of beings. Every being feels it instinctively without perceiving it.”
MEANS OF PRESERVATION
704. Having man been granted the need to live, has God provided him the means of achieving it at all times? “Yes and if man does not find them it is because he does not understand them. God could not have created in man the need
316 Allan Kardec to live without providing him with the means to achieve it. This is the reason for the Earth to produce in order to provide what is necessary to the inhabitants since only what is necessary is useful; what is superfluous is never useful.” 705. Why does the Earth not always produce enough to supply man with what he needs? “Because man is ungrateful and despises the Earth! However, the Earth is an excellent mother. Man often also accuses Nature of what is actually the result of his unskillfulness or lack of forethought. The Earth would always produce what is needed as if man were satisfied with what is necessary. If what is produced is not enough for his needs, it is so because he applies in a superfluous way what he could apply in what is needed. Look at the Arab in the desert. A man there always finds what to survive on because he does not create for himself fictitious needs. If a man has wasted half of the products to satisfy his fancies, what reason will he have to be amazed of not finding anything the next day? When the days of shortness arrive, he complains of lacking everything. In truth I tell you, Nature is not thoughtless, but man is because he does not rule his living.” 706. By goods of the Earth is to be understood only the products of the soil? “The soil is the prime source from which derive all other resources for they are simple transformations of the products or of the soil. Thus, by goods of the Earth should be understood everything that man may enjoy in this world.” 707. It is frequent to have particular individuals lacking the means of subsistence even when surrounded by abundance. What should this be attributed to? “To the selfishness of men who do not always carry out their duty. Then, in most cases, it is due to themselves. Search and you will find; these words do not mean that to find what you wish, it is enough to look at the Earth, but to look for it, not with indolence, but rather, with ardor and perseverance, without dismaying in front of obstacles which are quite often simple means the Providence
317 The Book From The Spirits makes use of to try out constancy, patience and firmness.” (see item 534) If it is true that Civilization multiplies the needs, it is also true that it multiplies the sources of work and the means for living. However, it is bound to be realized that regarding this, there is still a lot to be done. When Civilization will have finished its work, there will be nobody complaining of the lack of what is necessary, unless it is his own fault. Disgrace comes for many as a result of having followed a pathway different from the one delineated by Nature. It is then that intelligence fails him to achieve success. There is a place for everybody under the sun, but on the condition that everybody takes his place and not the place of others. Nature can not be held responsible for defective social organizations, nor for the consequences resulting from ambition and personal selfishness.
One would have to be blind in not recognizing the progress that more advanced peoples have made. Thanks to the laudable efforts that both Philanthropy and Science have ceaselessly made to improve the material condition of mankind and in spite of the ceaseless growth of populations, the insufficient production has been lessened, at least in a greater part and the more calamitous years at present can not be compared to the ones of the past. Public hygiene, an essential element for our health, which our forefathers did not know of, is the object of a clarifying solicitude. Misfortune and suffering find a refuge nowadays. Everywhere Science contributes to increase our wellbeing. May it be said then that we have reached perfection? No, by no means, but what has already been achieved gives us a glimpse of what may be accomplished with great perseverance, provided man shows himself informed to seek his happiness in positive and serious things and not in utopias that make him retreat instead of advance. 708. Are there not situations in which the means of subsistence do not depend on the will of man at all, being the deprivation of what he needs most peremptorily a consequence of a force of circumstances? “This is often a cruel trial man has to go through and which he knew beforehand he would be exposed to. His merit consists in submitting himself to the volition of God if his intelligence does not provide him he means of overcoming the difficulty. If death comes to take him, it is his obligation to receive it without grumbling and ponder that the hour of his true liberation has come and that
318 Allan Kardec his despair at the very moment of death may bring about the loss of the result of all his resignation.” 709. Whoever has been forced to sacrifice his fellowman in a critical situation to mitigate his hunger, has he committed a crime? If it is a crime, does man not have the need of living to attenuate it, a need that results from his instinct of preservation? “I have already answered this when I said that there is more merit in suffering all the trials of life with courage and abnegation. In such a case, there is a homicide and the crime of damnifying Nature, a fault that is double punished.” 710. In worlds having a more refined organization, do the beings there have a need for food? “Yes, they do, but their food is related to their nature. Such food would not be substantial to your coarse stomachs; in the same way that they would not be able to digest your food.”
ENJOYMENT OF EARTHLY GOODS
711. Is the use of the Earthly goods a right of all men? “This right stems from the need of living. God does not impose a duty on man without giving him the means of carrying it out.” 712. What is the purpose of God placing attractions in the enjoyments of material goods? “To instigate man to fulfill his mission and to try him by means of temptations.” a) - What is the aim of such temptation? “To restore reason in man and so preserve him from excesses.” If man were instigated only to use Earthly goods only because of their usefulness, his indifference would perhaps have endangered the harmony of the Universe. God has lent pleasure to the attraction of using Earthly goods for in
319 The Book From The Spirits this way man is impelled to comply with the volitions of the Providence. Also, by making the Earthly goods be an attraction, God wanted also to try man by means of temptation that drags him towards abuses which his reason is to defend him from. 713. Has Nature set limits for the enjoyments of man? “Yes, it has, so as to indicate the limit of what is necessary for your wellbeing. But through your excesses you reach glut and punish yourself.” 714. What are we to think of a man that seeks in the excesses of all kinds the refinement of his enjoyments? “Poor creature! Such a man is worth more pity than envy for he is very near of his death!” a) - Near his physical or moral death? “Near both of them.” A man that seeks in the excesses of all kinds the refinement of his enjoyments places himself below a brutish that knows how to restrain himself after having satisfied his needs. A brutish abdicates the reason God has granted him to guide him and the greater his excesses; the greater is the predominance he lends to his animal nature over his spiritual nature. Illnesses, disorders and even death result from the abuse while they are at the same time the punishment for transgressing the law of God.
NEEDED AND SUPERFLUOUS THINGS
715. How may man know the limit of what is necessary? “Whoever is prudent will know the limit intuitively. Many will know it through experience and at their own expense.” 716. In view of the organization Nature has given us, has it not set the limit of our needs? “It sure has, but man is insatiable. The organization Nature
320 Allan Kardec has given to man has set the limit of his needs; however, his vices have altered his constitution and created in him needs that are not real.” 717. What is to be thought of those who appropriate the goods of the Earth in order to provide for their excessiveness by impairing those lacking what is necessary to them? “They have forlorn the law of God and will have to account for the privations they may have brought about to others.” The limit between what is necessary and what is superfluous is not absolute at all. Civilization has created needs unknown to savages and the Spirits that have dictated the foregoing precepts do not expect that a civilized man should live like a savage. Everything is relative, being reason in charge to rule things. Civilization cultivates the moral sense and simultaneously the feeling of charity that leads men to render mutual support. Those who live at the expense of the privations of others exploit the benefits of Civilization from which they have only a thin layer of varnish like many others that have only the mask of their religion.
VOLUNTARY PRIVATIONS. MORTIFICATIONS.
718. Does the law of preservation obligate man to provide the needs of the body? “Yes, because without strength and health, work is impossible.” 719. Does man deserve to be reprehended for seeking his wellbeing? “The wish for wellbeing is natural. God only prohibits abuses because it is contrary to preservation. God does not condemn the search for wellbeing, provided it is not accomplished at the expense of somebody else and that it does neither diminish the physical strength nor the moral forces.” 720. Are voluntary privations with the aim of an equally voluntary expiation meritorious to the eyes of God? “The more goodness you provide for your fellowman, the greater merit will you have.”
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a) - Are there voluntary privations that are meritorious? “Yes, there are the privations of useless enjoyments because they release man from matter and elevate his soul. Meritorious is to resist the temptation that drags towards excess or to the enjoyment of useless things; meritorious is to take from what is necessary and give it to those that are in need. If privation is not more than a simulacrum, it will be a mockery.” 721. Is it meritorious from any point of view to have a life of ascetic mortifications that persons practice in the midst of various peoples since early antiquity? “Ask yourself to whom such kind of life is useful and you will have the answer. If it serves only to those practicing it making them become impaired to practice goodness, it is selfishness, no matter what excuse they use to color it. To deprive oneself and work for others is a true mortification according to Christian charity.” 722. Is it rational to obtain particular food as prescribe by different peoples? “Man is allowed to use any kind of food that does not harm his health. However, having a useful purpose in mind some legislators have understood to proscribe the use of certain kinds of food and in order to give a greater authority to their laws, they present them as emanated from God.” 723. Is the food of animals as compared to man contrary to the law of God? “Considering the physical constitution, meat feeds flesh, otherwise man perishes. The law of preservation prescribes as a duty that man is to keep his strength and health to comply with the law of labor. Thus, man has to feed himself according to the requirements of his organization.” 724. Would it be meritorious for man to abstain himself from animal food, or from any other kind of food, as an expiation? “Yes, provided this privation is to the benefit of others. To the eyes of God, there is only mortification if there is a serious and useful privation. That is why we call hypocrites all those who only seemingly deprive themselves from something.” (see item 720)
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725. What is to be said about mutilations operated on the body of man or animals? “What is the purpose of such a question? Once more, always inquire yourself if what you want to know is somehow useful. Whatever is useless does not please God and what is harmful will always be unpleasant. You can be sure that God is only sensitive to the feelings elevating a soul to Him. By complying with the law and not transgressing it, man may shake off the burden of his Earthly matter.” 726. Since the sufferings of this world elevate us if we bear them duly, does it follow that the sufferings we have created for ourselves also elevate us? “Natural sufferings are the only ones that elevate us because they come from God. Voluntary sufferings do not serve for anything if they do not collaborate for the goodness of others. It is believed that those who shorten their lives by means of an over human rigidity as do the bonzes, fakirs as well as some fanatic religious denominations, advance more on the path of progress. Why do they not preferably work to bring goodness to their fellowman? Clad the pauper; give solace to whosoever weeps; work for whoever is ill; suffer privations to relieve the unfortunate ones and then your life will be useful and so please God. To suffer voluntarily for your own benefit is selfishness; to suffer for others is charity; such are the precepts of Christ.” 727. Since we are not to create voluntary sufferings that have no usefulness for others, should we not take care of preserving ourselves from those whom we foresee will or do threaten us? “The instinct of preservation has been granted to every being to prevent dangers and sufferings. Fustigate your Spirit instead of the body, mortify your pride, suffocate your selfishness that is like a serpent gnawing your heart and you will do much more for your advancement than by inflicting rigors upon yourself, rigors that are not of this century any longer.”
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CHAPTER VI
On the law of destruction Necessary destruction and abusive destruction Destructive calamities Wars Murdering Cruelty Dueling Capital punishment
NECESSARY DESTRUCTION AND ABUSIVE DESTRUCTION
728. Is destruction a law of Nature? “It is necessary to have everything destroyed in order to have it reborn and regenerated. What you call destruction is nothing more than a transformation that has as its purpose the renovation and improvement of living beings.” a) - Has the instinct of destruction been given to living beings through providential intents? “Every creature is an instrument God makes use of to achieve the purposes aimed at. For living beings to feed themselves, they have to destroy each other, a destruction that has a double purpose. First, to maintain a balance of reproduction, which could become excessive, and second, through the use of the outer physical remains after having suffered the destruction; this outer physical part is a simple accessory and not an essential part of the thinking being. The essential part is the intelligent principle that can not be
324 Allan Kardec destroyed and is worked out in the different metamorphosis it has to pass through.” 729. If the regeneration of beings makes destruction be necessary, why does Nature surround them with means of preservation? “To avoid having destruction ahead of time. Every anticipated destruction obstructs the evolvement of the intelligent principle. That is why God made every being experience the need of living and of reproducing itself.” 730. Since death makes us pass to a better life by releasing us from the evils of this world, making death be more desirable than fearing it, why does man feel instinctively a terror and is always concerned about death? “We have already said that man has to seek lengthening his life to accomplish his task. That is why God has given him the instinct of preservation, an instinct that sustains him in his trials. If it were not so, he would very often give in to discouragement. The intimate voice inducing him to repel death tells him that he still may accomplish something for his progress. The threat of a danger constitutes a warning for him to take advantage of the dilation God has granted him. But, being ungrateful man often renders graces to his star instead of to his Creator.” 731. Why has Nature placed agents of destruction and the means of preservation side by side? “Because it is medicine beside evil. We have already said that it is to keep the balance and serve as a counterweight.” 732. Would the need of destruction be the same in all worlds? “It is more or less proportional to the material state of the worlds. It ceases when the physical and moral aspects become more depurated. Much different are the conditions of existence in worlds more advanced than yours.” 733. Will there always be a need of destruction among men on the Earth? “This need weakens in man as his Spirit overcomes matter. So it is that the horror of destruction grows with the intellectual and moral evolvement as may be observed.”
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734. Does man, in his present state, have an unlimited right of destruction over animals? “Such a right is regulated by his need of providing his livelihood and safety. An abuse never constitutes a right.” 735. What is to be thought of destruction when it overpasses the limits set by need and safety? Hunting, for instance, when it aims only at the pleasure of destroying without usefulness? “It is a predominance of bestiality over spiritual nature. All destruction exceeding the limits of necessity is a transgression of the law of God. Animals destroy only to satisfy their needs while having a free will, man destroys without any need. He will have to account for this abuse of freedom granted to him because this means that he has given in to bad instincts.” 736. Will there be a special merriment for the peoples that take their scrupulousness to extremes regarding the destruction of animals? “This excess regarding a laudable feeling as such becomes abusive and its merriment is neutralized by the abuses of many other types. Among such peoples there is more fear than a true kindness.”
DESTRUCTIVE CALAMITIES
737. With what purpose does God injure Humanity by means of destructive calamities? “To make Humanity progress more rapidly. Have we not already said that destruction is a need for the moral regeneration of Spirits? With every new existence, a Spirit takes one more step forward in his improvement. To appreciate any results, it is necessary to look over the aim. You look at the destructive calamities only from you own point of view and so you qualify them as calamities due to the losses they cause. However, subversions of this kind are frequently necessary so that the advent of a better order of things
326 Allan Kardec happens quicker and to accomplish in some years what otherwise would take many centuries.” (see item 744) 738. To achieve the improvement of Humanity, could God not have made use of other means instead of destructive calamities? “Yes and He does it every day for He has given everybody the means of progressing through the knowledge of goodness and evil. However, man does not take advantage of these means. Thus, it is necessary to have him punished for his pride and make him feel his weakness.” a) - But with the calamities both good and bad men are destroyed, would this be just? “Man relates everything to his body in his life; however, he thinks very differently after death. As we have said, the life of a body is very short. A century in your world represents less than a flash of light compared to eternity. So, the sufferings of a few days or months, of which you complain, are nothing. They represent a teaching given to you, which will serve you in the future. Spirits survive everything and make up the actual world (see item 85). They are the children of God and the object of his solicitude. Bodies are simple disguises through which Spirits appear in the world. With great calamities that decimate men, the spectacle is similar to an army whose soldiers end up with their uniforms badly torn, shabby or even worn out during a war. The general is more concerned with his soldiers than with their uniforms.” b) - But the victims of such calamities are victims nonetheless. “If you were to consider life as it is and the little it represents compared to infinity, you would give it less importance. In another life, these victims will find a wide compensation for their sufferings if they know how to bear them without grumbling.” Whether death comes through a calamity or through an ordinary cause, everybody will die at the moment the time for departure has struck. In the case of a calamity, the only difference is that more people die at the same time.
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If we were able to elevate us by thought so as to dominate Humanity and cover it as a whole, the feared calamities would not be more than passing tempests in the destiny of the world. 739. Are destructive calamities useful from a physical point of view, in spite of the evil they cause? “Yes, they are. They often change the conditions of a geographical region. But, the goodness resulting from such changes only future generations will experience.” 740. Are calamities also moral trials for man since it makes him have to cope with the greatest afflicting needs? “Calamities are trials that give man the opportunity of exercising his intelligence, of showing his patience and resignation on facing the volition of God. Calamities also offer the opportunity of man manifesting his feelings of abnegation, of disinterest and of love for his fellowman, provided he is not dominated by selfishness.” 741. Is it possible for man to avert the calamities afflicting him? “Yes, in part, however, not as it is usually understood. Many calamites originate from the imprudence of man. As man acquires knowledge and experience, he is able to avert calamities, that is, prevent them to happen by researching their causes. However, among the evils afflicting Humanity, there are some calamities having an overall character that are in the enactments of the Providence and of which every individual receives a more or less counterblow. Against these calamities man can not do anything but submit himself to the volition of God. However, man often worsens these very same calamities by being negligent.” In the front line of destructive calamities, natural and independent of man, should be placed pests, hunger, floods and inclemency fatal to the production on the land. But has man not found in Science, in the works of art, in the improvement of agriculture, in the rotation of crops as well as irrigation and in the study of hygienic conditions, the means of avoiding or at least of attenuating disasters? Certain regions once devastated by terrible calamities, does man not preserve them nowadays? What then, will man not be able to do for his material well being when he has learned how to take advantage of all the resources of his intelligence and when at the care of his personal preservation he knows how to ally himself to the true feeling of charity towards his fellowman?
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WARS
742. What impels man towards wars? “The predominance of the animal over the Spiritual nature and of an overflow of passions. In a barbarian state, peoples know only one right – the right of the strongest. That is why a state of war for those peoples is a normal condition. As man progresses, less frequent become wars because man avoids its causes in a humane way when he feels it necessary.” 743. Will wars ever disappear from the surface of the Earth? “Yes, when men understand justice and practice the law of God. Then, all peoples will be brothers.” 744. What has Providence objectified by making wars be necessary? “Freedom and progress.” a) - Since a war has to have the effect of producing the coming of freedom, how may it often have slavery as its aim and result? “A temporary slavery crushes the peoples in order to make them progress faster.” 745. What is to be thought about those who make a war for their own benefit? “They are very guilty and it will take many existences for them to expiate all the murdering they were the cause of. Every one of them will be held responsible for every man whose death he was the cause of to satisfy his ambition.”
MURDERING
746. Is murdering a crime in the eyes of God? “An enormous crime for whoever takes the life of another human being cuts off the thread of an existence of expiation or of a mission. It is here where evil lies.
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747. Is guiltiness the same in all murder cases? “We have already said that God is just by judging more the intention than the fact in itself.” 748. In the case of self-defence, does God excuse the murderer? “Yes, but only in the case of an absolute need. If the attacked person may preserve his life without attacking his attacker, he should do so.” 749. Is man guilty of the murdering practiced in a war? “Not when constrained by force; but, he is guilty of the cruelties committed, being also taken into account the feeling of humanity with which he proceeds.” 750. Which crime is more condemnable in the eyes of God, parricide or infanticide? “Both are equally a crime because every crime is a crime.” 751. How may it be explained that some peoples, being advanced from an intellectual point of view, allow infanticide as a custom and having it even be consecrated through legislation? “The intellectual evolvement does not imply in a need for goodness. A Spirit having a higher intelligence may be bad. This is what happens to Spirits that only live without improving themselves, that are only concerned to know.”
CRUELTY
752. May the feeling of cruelty be linked to the instinct of destruction? “Cruelty is the instinct of destruction in its worst form for if sometimes the instinct of destruction constitutes a need, with cruelty this never happens. Cruelty always implies an evil nature.” 753. What is the reason for cruelty to form the predominant character of primitive peoples?
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“In primitive peoples, as you call them, matter preponderates over Spirit. Those people give in to the instincts of coarseness and since they do not experience other needs beyond the need of the body, they become concerned only with their personal preservation, which makes them be usually cruel. Furthermore, peoples having an imperfect evolvement are kept under the ruling of also imperfect Spirits that are sympathetic to them until more advanced peoples come to destroy or weaken this influence.” 754. Would cruelty not derive from a lack moral sense? “You should have said a lack of moral sense evolvement; do not say a lack of moral sense for there is a moral sense in every human being as a principle. It is this moral sense that will make cruel beings become good and humane later on. Therefore, it exists in savage creatures, but as a kernel of the perfume of a flower that has not blossomed yet.” All abilities exist in man in a rough or latent state. They evolve according to the circumstances being more or less favorable. An excessive evolvement of some abilities detains or neutralizes the evolvement of other abilities in a man. The overexcitement of material instincts stifle, so to speak, the moral sense like the evolvement of a moral sense weakens the purely animal abilities. 755. How may it be explained that amidst the most advanced civilization there are occasionally individuals as cruel as savages? “In the same way as in a tree full of good fruits you will find real abortions. They are, if you wish, savages that have from a civilization only the outer layer or like wolves in the midst of sheep. Having a less advanced level of progress and being quite backward, they may incarnate among advanced men in the hope of also progressing. But, since the trial is too heavy a burden, their primitive nature will predominate.” 756. Will a society of goodness ever be expurgated of all malevolent individuals? “Humanity progresses. Those in whom the evil instinct dominates and that find themselves misplaced among persons of goodness will gradually disappear like a bad seed separates itself from the good ones when the seeds are sifted. But, they will disappear to
331 The Book From The Spirits be reborn in other envelopments. As they will then have a greater experience, they understand better goodness and evil. You have an example of this in plants and animals which man has been able to improve by evolving new qualities in them. Well then, only at the end of many generations will the evolvement be completed. This is the portrait of the different existences of man.”
DUELING
757. May dueling be considered as a case of legitimate self-defence? “No, for it is a murder and an absurd costume, well fit for barbarians. As a more advanced and more moral civilization, man will understand that dueling is as ridiculous as are battles that were once considered as being the judgment of God.” 758. May a duel be considered a murder on the part of the one who knowing his own weakness is almost sure he will succumb? “This is a suicide.” a) - And when the probabilities are the same for both duelists, will there be murder or suicide? “There will be one and the other.”’ In both cases, even when the probabilities are even for each combatant, each duelist incurs in guilt, first because he coolly attacks with a deliberated purpose against the life of a fellowman and also because he exposes his own life uselessly having no benefit to anyone. 759. What is the value of what is called point of honor in the question of dueling? “It shows pride and vanity; a double sore of Humanity.” a) - But are there not cases in which honor is truly engaged and where a refusal shows cowardice? “This depends on the usages and customs. Every country in every century has a different way of seeing it. When men are better and are morally more advanced, they will understand that the true
332 Allan Kardec point of honor is above the Earthly passions and that it is neither by killing, nor by letting him be killed, that grievances are ironed out.” There is much more greatness and a true honor by confessing his committed fault or by forgiving it if reason is on his side and, whatever the case, by despising the insults that do not reach him.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
760. Will capital punishment ever disappear from human legislation? “It will undoubtedly and its suppression will mark the progress of Humanity. When men are more enlightened, capital punishment will be completely abolished on the Earth. It will not be necessary to have men judging men any longer. I am referring to a time well ahead of your time.” Social progress undoubtedly has still a long way to go, but it would be unfair not to see in modern society a progress regarding the restrictions on capital punishment and the nature of crimes, which it is limited to. If we compare the safeguards justice seeks to enclose the defendant with what was practiced not too long ago regarding the same peoples, the advancement of the human kind on its path of progress is undeniable. 761. Through the law of preservation man is granted the right of preserving his life, but will man not make use of this right when he eliminates a dangerous member of society? “There are other ways for man to protect himself from this danger than just by killing. Furthermore, it is necessary not to close our door of repentance.” 762. May capital punishment have been eliminated from civilized society, were it not needed at less advanced times? “Needed is not the right word. Man always thinks that something is necessary while he does not find out something better. As he instructs himself he will better understand what is fair or unfair and repudiate the committed excesses in the name of justice at the time of ignorance.”
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763. Is the restriction of applied capital punishment the beginning of the progress of a civilization? “How can you doubt it? Does your Spirit not revolt itself when you read the description of human slaughtering made in the name of justice and quite often in honor of a Divinity; of the tortures inflicted on the condemned individual and even on the simple defendant in order to force a confession of a crime he often has not committed? Well then, if you had lived at those times, you would have thought it to be natural and maybe if you had been a judge, you would have done the same yourself. Thus, what seemed to be fair at some time seems barbarian at another. Only divine laws are eternal; human laws change with progress and continue to change until they are in harmony with the divine laws.” 764. Jesus said “He that taketh the sword shall perish by the sword.” Do these words not consecrate a reciprocal punishment and thus, does the death applied to a murderer not constitute an application of this punishment? “Be careful! You have mistaken yourself many times regarding these and other words. The reciprocal of punishment is the justice of God. It is God who applies it. All of you suffer this punishment at every moment for you are punished in what you have sinned, in this existence and in any other. Whoever has been the cause of suffering to his fellowman will be found in a condition in which he will suffer whatever he has made others suffer. This is the sense of the words of Jesus. But has he not also said to forgive your enemies? And has he not taught you to ask for God to forgive you in the same way you have forgiven the offenses of others, that is, in the same proportion? Try to understand these words well.” 765. What may be thought of capital punishment imposed in the name of God? “It is like man taking the place of God in the distribution of justice. Those who proceed like this show how far away they are from understanding God and that there is a lot to be expiated. Capital punishment is a crime and those imposing it overload themselves with many murders.”
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CHAPTER VII
On the law of society The need of social life Solitary life. Vow of silence Family bonds
THE NEED OF SOCIAL LIFE
766. Is social life part of Nature? “It certainly is. God has made man to live in society. He has not granted him speech and all the other abilities necessary for the life of relationships for nothing.” 767. Is an absolute solitariness contrary to Nature? “Undoubtedly because men seek society by instinct and all have to contribute for their progress by helping each other.” 768. By seeking society, does a man not do more than just obey a personal feeling, or does the feeling have some providential aim of a more general order? “Man has to progress. Being solitary makes progress impossible because man does not make use of all his abilities by lacking contact with other men. An isolated man becomes brutish and insulated.” No man has all complete abilities. It is through a social union of a couple that the abilities complete one another to assure both a well-being and progress. That is why needing one another; men have been made to live in society and not as solitary individuals.
SOLITARY LIFE. VOW OF SILENCE
769. It is understood that social life is part of Nature as a general principle.
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But, since all tastes are also part of Nature, why is an absolute solitariness reprehensible if it causes satisfaction? “It is a selfish satisfaction. There are also men that experience a satisfaction in inebriation. Does this deserve your approval? A life through which man condemns himself not to be useful to anybody can not please God.” 770. What are we to think of those who live in an absolute solitariness trying to escape the mischievous contact with the world? “It is a double selfishness.” a) – But is this retreat not meritorious if it has as the purpose of expiation by imposing on himself a painful privation? “The best expiation consists of making a greater number of good deeds rather than bad ones. Whoever isolates himself to avoid an evil falls in another for he forgets the law of love and charity.” 771. What are we to think of those who flee in order to devote themselves to the chores of relieving the unfortunate? “By lowering themselves, they elevate themselves. They have the double merit of placing themselves above material enjoyments and of making goodness by obeying the law of labor.” a) – What about those who seek tranquility in a seclusion, which certain kinds of work demand? “This is not an absolute retreat of a selfish individual. These individuals do not isolate themselves from society for they actually work for it.” 772. What may we think of a vow of silence prescribed by some sects since very early times? “First ask yourself if speech is a natural ability and why God has granted it to man. God condemns abuses and not the uses of the bestowed abilities. However, silence is useful for it is in silence that you put introspection into practice; your Spirit becomes freer and may come in touch with us. But the vow of silence is a non-sense.
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Those who consider such privations as acts of virtue undoubtedly obey a good intention. However, they are mistaken because they do not understand sufficiently the true laws of God.” An absolute vow of silence, in the same way as of a vow of solitariness, deprives man from social relations that may make it easier to meet opportunities of practicing goodness and to fulfill the law of progress.
FAMILY BONDS
773. Why is it that a procreator and an offspring of animals stop to recognize each other as soon as the offspring does not need care any longer? “Animals live a material life and not a moral life. The tenderness of a procreator for its offsprings basis itself on the instinct of preservation of the beings it gave birth. As soon as these beings can take care of themselves, the task of the procreator is finished; Nature does not demand anything else. That is why the procreator abandons the offsprings so that it can take care of the next offsprings.” 774. Due to the fact that animals abandon its offsprings after some time, there are people deducing that family bonds among men are more the result of social habits and not the effect of the law of Nature. What are we to think of this? “The destiny of man is very different from the destiny of animals. Thus, why compare man to animals? There is something else in a man than just his physical needs; there is a need for progress. Social bonds are necessary to assure progress and tight family bonds lead to social bonds. That is why family bonds constitute a law of Nature. God wanted to have men learning to love each other as bothers through this law.” (see item 205) 775. What would be the result of a looseness of family bonds to society? “A recrudescence of selfishness.”
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CHAPTER VIII
On the law of progress The state of Nature The advancement of progress Degenerated peoples Civilization The progress of human legislation The influence of Spiritism on progress
THE STATE OF NATURE
776. Are the State of Nature and the natural law identical things? “No, they are not. The state of nature is the primitive state. Civilization is incompatible with the state of nature while the natural law contributes for the progress of Humanity.” The state of nature is the childhood of Humanity and the starting point of its intellectual and moral evolvement. Being perfectible and bringing within him the kernel of his improvement, man was not destined to live eternally in the state of nature in the same way he was not destined to live eternally in childhood. The state of nature is transitory for man that leaves it due to his progress and of civilization. The natural law, on the contrary, conducts the whole Humanity and man improves himself, as he better understands it and practices it. 777. Having man less needs in the state of nature and being exempt of the tribulations he creates to himself when in a more advanced state, what may be thought about the opinion of those who consider the state of nature as the most perfect happiness on the Earth? “What do you want? It is the happiness of the brute. There are people that understand no other happiness. It is to be happy like animals are. Children are also happier than full adults are.”
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778. May man retrograde to the state of nature? “No, because man has to progress ceaselessly in the same way he is not able to return to the state of his childhood. If man has to progress it is because God wills it so. To think that man may retrograde to his primitive condition is to deny the law of progress.”
THE ADVANCEMENT OF PROGRESS
779. Does man have a force that impels him onward or is progress just the result of teachings? “Man evolves by himself in a natural way. But not all men progress simultaneously and at the same rate. It so happens that the most advanced individuals help the progress of the others through social contact.” 780. Does moral progress always follow up intellectual progress? “Moral progress derives from intellectual progress, but it does not follow it immediately.” (see items 192 and 365) a) - How may intellectual progress engender moral progress? “By making goodness and evil become understandable. From that point onwards man may choose. The evolvement of free will follows up intelligence and increases the responsibility of all acts.” b) - How is it then that often highly learned peoples are also the most perverted ones? “The aim is to have a complete progress. Peoples like individuals reach it only step-by-step. While the moral sense has not evolved in these individuals, it may even happen that individuals use their intelligence to practice evil. Moral and intelligence are two forces that become even only in time.” (see items 365 and 751) 781. Does man have the power of paralyzing the advancement of progress? “No, but sometimes he has the power of hindering it.”
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a) - What is to be thought of those wanting to paralyze progress and make Humanity retrograde? “They are poor creatures that God will punish! They will be overtaken by the torrent they seek to detain.” Being progress a condition of nature, man has no power to opposite it. It is a live force whose action may be retarded, but no bad human laws may annul it. When such laws become incompatible with man, they are disrupted along with those making an effort to keep them. It will be like this until the laws of man are placed in accordance with divine justice that wants to all to participate in goodness and not simply to comply with the laws made by the strong ones in detriment of the weak ones. 782. Are there not well intended men who obstruct progress believing they are furthering it due to their point of view that makes them see progress where it does not exist? “This is like small stones placed under the wheel of a big vehicle that does not prevent the wheel from advancing.” 783. Does the progress of Humanity always proceed at a progressive and slow pace? “There is a regular and slow progress resulting from the force of things. However, when the people of a nation do not progress as quickly as they should, God submits them to a physical or a moral shock from time to time which changes them.” Man does not remain indefinitely in ignorance because he has to reach the purpose Providence has assigned to him. Man instructs himself by the force of things. Moral revolutions, in the same way as social revolutions, infiltrate themselves in ideas little by little; they germinate for centuries and then break out suddenly producing a collapse of the worn down building of the past that stopped to be in harmony with the new needs and aspirations. In such commotion man always experiences nothing more than just a momentary disorder and confusion that harm his material concerns. But, whoever elevates his thought above his own personality, admires the intents of Providence by making goodness derive from evil. Tempests and storms clean the air after having agitated everything violently. 784. The perversity of man is very great. Does it not seem that instead of advancing he is recoiling at least in terms of moral?
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“You are mistaken. Take a close look at things as a whole and you will see that man is advancing because by better understanding what evil is, man represses abuses day after day. It is necessary to have evil reach the point of being excessive in order to understand the need for goodness and of reforms.” 785. Which is the greatest obstacle for progress? “Pride and selfishness is. I am referring myself to moral progress because intellectual progress is always taking place. At first sight it seems that intellectual progress doubles the activities of those vices by cultivating ambitions and the taste for richness which in their turn incite man to endeavor research to clarify the Spirit. Thus, everything is linked in the moral and physical world, so that even evil may sprout goodness. However, the lasting of this state of things is very short and it will change, as man better understands that besides the enjoyment the Earthly goods provide, there is a happiness that is much greater and infinitely more lasting.” (see Selfishnessin Chapter XII) There are two kinds of progress that mutually support each other, but that do not proceed side by side. There is an intellectual and a moral progress. Among civilized peoples, the former has received all kinds of incentives along this century. Because of this, it has reached a level never reached before. For the latter to reach this level there is still a long way to go. However, by comparing the social customs of today with the ones of some centuries ago, only a blind would deny the achieved progress. If this is so, why would there be a growing movement of stopping moral preference rather than intellectual progress? Will there not be a greater difference between the 19th and the 24th century regarding this than between the 14th and the 19th century? To doubt this is to think that Humanity has reached its peak of perfection which would be totally absurd or that it is not morally perfectible, a fact denied by experience.
DEGENERATED PEOPLES
786. History tells us that many peoples have fallen back into barbarism after having suffered shocks that have greatly turned them over. Where is progress in this case?
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“When your house threatens to fall apart, you have it demolished and a new one built that is more solid and comfortable. But, while the new house is not ready, there certainly is a disturbance and confusion in your dwelling. “There is also the following to be understood. You were poor and living in a shack; becoming rich, you left it to live in a palace. Then, a poor devil, as you were before, comes to take your place that you used to occupy and becomes very happy because he did not have a place to shelter himself. So, notice that the incarnated Spirits making up degenerated people are not the ones making up the people at the time of their splendor. The latter people having advanced began to inhabit more perfect places and progressed while the former being less advanced people took the place that was left vacant and that also, in their turn, they will leave it someday.” 787. Are there not rebellious races against progress by nature? “Yes, there are, but they annihilate themselves physically every day.” a) - What will be the future fate of the souls animating these races? “Like all other races they will reach perfection by passing through other existences. God does not disinherit anybody.” b) - Thus, it may happen that the more civilized people of today have been savages and cannibals in the past? “You yourself have been a cannibal more than once before being what you are today.” 788. People are individual collectivities that are like individuals passing through childhood, maturity and decrepitude. History confirms this truth; may it not serve as a mold to make us suppose that the more advanced peoples of this century will have their decline and extinction as it happened to peoples in ancient times? “Peoples only living the life of the body, whose grandeur depended solely on strength and territorial extension, are born, grow and die because the strength of a people depletes like it does in a man. Those peoples, whose selfish laws have obstructed the
342 Allan Kardec progress of enlightenment and charity, die because light eliminates darkness and charity eliminates selfishness. But, for peoples as for individuals, there is the life of the soul. Those peoples, whose laws are in harmony with the eternal laws of the Creator, shall live and will serve as a lighthouse to other peoples.” 789. Will progress make all the peoples of the Earth be united some day, forming a single nation? “Not a single nation; this would be quite impossible since the diversity of climate brings forth different customs as well as needs constituting nationalities which makes it be indispensable to always have laws suitable to the customs and needs. However, charity ignores latitudes and does not distinguish the color of men. When the law of God serves everywhere as the basis of human laws, peoples will practice charity among them like individuals. Then, they will live happy and in peace for nobody will care to cause harm to his neighbor, nor live at his expense.” Humanity progresses through the individuals who improve and instruct themselves little by little. When the number of such individuals preponderates, they take the lead and drag the others along. From time to time, there appear in their midst men of genius giving them an impulse; then come those who have the authority of being the instruments of God to make progress advance many centuries in a few years. The progress of peoples also enhances the justice of reincarnation. Laudable efforts are made by men of goodness to manage a nation to advance both morally and intellectually. Once transformed, man in such a nation will be more pleased in this world than in the other world. But during its slow advancement along the centuries, thousands of individuals have died every day. What is the fate of all those that have fallen along this path? Is it to keep them debarred from the happiness reserved to the ones arriving last because of their relative inferiority? Or will the happiness they are entitled to also be relative? It is not possible for divine justice to have consecrated such an injustice. With the plurality of existences, the right of happiness is equal to all because nobody is deprived from progressing. Those that have lived at the time of barbarism may return to live in a period of civilization of their own people or of another and it is obvious that all derive a benefit from this ascending progress. The system of believing in a single existence has another difficulty.
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According to this system the soul is created at the moment a human being is born. So, if a man is more advanced than another, it is so because God has created in him a more advanced soul. Why such a favor? What merit does this man have when gifted with a more advanced soul if he does not live longer than any other man? However, this is not the main difficulty. If men were to live a millennium it could be realized that during a thousand years there would be time enough to progress. But, every day creatures of all ages die; they ceaselessly renovate the surface of the planet so that every day a multitude of persons appears and another disappears. At the end of a thousand years, there will be no vestige of the former inhabitants of that nation. Nevertheless, barbaric as the people were, the nation has now become civilized. What exactly has progressed? Was it the individuals once barbaric? But these have died a long time ago. May it have been the just arrived individuals? But, if the souls of these individuals have been created at their birth, then these souls did not exist at the time of barbarism and we are bound to admit that the efforts spent to civilize a nation have the power of making God create more perfect souls rather than improve imperfect ones. Let us compare this theory with the one that the Spirits have presented us. The souls coming at the time of civilization have had their childhood like all others, but they had already lived before and become advanced as a result of their prior progress. They come attracted by the environment they sympathize with that has a progress similar to the progress they reached in their prior environment. Thus, the care dispensed to the civilization of a nation does not result in a future creation of more perfect souls, but rather with the attraction of the souls that have already progressed whether they come from amidst the people once in a barbarian stage or from somewhere else. Here we also find the key of the whole progress of Humanity. When all peoples are at the same level o progress, the evil Spirits feeling rejected and displaced will seek an environment in less advanced worlds that is convenient to them until they are worthy of returning to our transformed world. From this ordinary theory also results that the work of social improvement benefits only the present generations, being the results void for past generations that committed the error of coming too early and that remain being what they may be, that is, overloaded with the burden of their barbaric acts. According to the doctrine of Spiritism, subsequent generations also make use of past generations that return to live in better conditions and may so improve themselves in the focus of civilization. (see item 222)
CIVILIZATION
790. Is civilization a progress or, as some philosophers understand it, a decadence of Humanity?
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“It is an incomplete progress. Man does not pass suddenly from childhood to maturity.” a) Would it be rational to condemn civilization? “Condemn first those who abuse civilization rather than the work of God.” 791. Will civilization be perfected some day so as to make all those who produce wrongdoings disappear? “Yes, when morals have evolved as much as intelligence has. A fruit can not come before the flower.” 792. Why does civilization not effect at once all the goodness it is able to produce? “Because men are neither fit for it yet, nor willing to reach it.” a) Would it not also be because by creating new needs new passions are evoked? “Very true and, what is more, all the abilities of a Spirit do not progress simultaneously. Time is needed for everything. You can not expect perfect fruits from an incomplete civilization.” (see items 751and 780) 793. By what evidence is it possible to recognize a complete civilization? “You may recognize it through its moral evolvement. You believe that you are much advanced because you have made great discoveries and come up with wonderful inventions; because you dress yourself better than savages. However, you do not truly have the right to consider yourself civilized until your society will have banished the vices that dishonor it and you live like brothers practicing Christian charity. Until then you will just be a clarified society having covered the first stage of civilization.” Civilization presents various gradations, as does everything else. An incomplete civilization is a transitory state generating particular evils unknown to man in a primitive state. Nevertheless, it has a necessary natural evolvement that brings with it the medicine for the cause of the evil. As a civilization improves, it makes some of these generated evils cease, evils that will disappear altogether with moral progress.
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If two nations reach the top of the social scale, the most civilized of them will be the one where there is less selfishness, less greed and pride, where the habits are more intellectual and moral rather than material; where intelligence may evolve with the greatest freedom; where reciprocally there is more kindness, honest intentions, benevolence and generosity; where the prejudice of social caste and of birth are less rooted, that is why such prejudices are incompatible with a true love towards your next fellowman; where laws consecrate no privilege and are always the same to both the first and the last man in importance; where justice is exerted with less bias; where the weak ones always find the support of the strong ones; where the life on a man, his beliefs and opinions are willingly respected; where there is a smaller number of disgraced people; finally, where every man of good will is sure that the necessary means will not fail.
The progress of human legislation
794. Could society rule itself solely by natural laws, without the concourse of human laws? “Yes, it could, provided every member of society knew the natural laws well. If men wished to practice them, they would be enough. However, a society has its demands making it necessary to have specific laws.” 795. What is the cause of the instability of human laws? “During barbarian times it was the strongest ones that made the laws so as to suit them. As men came to better understand justice, it became indispensable to change the laws. The human laws become more stable the closer they come to true justice, that is, they will be more stable as they are made for all and identify themselves with the natural law.” Civilization has created new needs for man, needs related to the social position. Thus, it is necessary to regulate the rights and obligations of a man in his position by means of human laws. But, influenced by his passions he has sometimes created imaginary rights and obligations which natural law condemns and that nations cross out from their codes as they progress. Natural
346 Allan Kardec law is unchangeable and it is the same for all while human law is variable and progressive. In the childhood of societies, human law only consecrates the right of the strongest. 796. At the present state of society, does the severity of penal laws not constitute a need? “A perverted society certainly needs more severe laws. Unfortunately such laws are intended to punish evil after it has been committed rather than cutting it out by its root. Only education may reform men who will then not need such strict laws any longer.” 797. How may man be led to reform his laws? “This happens naturally by the force of things and by the influence of those guiding men along the path of progress. Many laws have already been reformed and many others will still be reformed. Just wait!”
THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITISM ON PROGRESS
798. Will Spiritism become a common belief or will it continue to be shared by some persons only as a belief? “It will certainly become an overall belief and will mark a new era in the history of humanity because it belongs to the natural order of things and a time will come when it will be placed among the knowledge of human beings. However, it will have to pass through great battles, more against interests than against convictions for it is not possible to dissimulate the existence of persons interested in fighting Spiritism, some due to their self conceit, others entirely due to material causes. However, as they will be left isolated, they will be forced to think as all the others do, otherwise they become ridiculous.” Ideas change only along time; never abruptly. From generation to generation ideas weaken and end up disappearing gradually together with those professing them who come to be replaced by other individuals imbued with new principles, as it happens with political ideas. Have a look at paganism. There is
347 The Book From The Spirits no one today that professes the religious ideas of pagan times. However, many centuries after the advent of Christianity, there were still some vestiges of it that only a complete renovation of races was able to erase. So it will happen with Spiritism. It progresses very much, but for two or three generations there will still be a ferment of incredulity that only time will eliminate. However, its progress will be more rapid than Christianity itself because it is Christianity that opens the path and serves as its support. Christianity had what to destroy; Spiritism has only to edify. 799. In what way may Spiritism contribute for progress? “By destroying materialism, which is the sore of society. Spiritism makes man understand where his true interests are. By lifting the veil of doubt in a future life, man will better realize that through the present moment he is given the opportunity of preparing his future. By abolishing the disservice of sects, casts and skin color, Spiritism teaches man the great solidarity that shall bring together all men as brothers.” 800. Is it not to be feared that Spiritism will not be able to triumph over the negligence of men and their clutching to material things? “Very little does a person know about men when he thinks that any cause may change men as by enchantment. Ideas change only little by little as individuals do and need some generations to take place so that the vestiges of old habits may be totally erased. Thus, a transformation occurs only gradually and progressively. At each generation a part of the veil is lifted. Spiritism has come to tear the veil from top to bottom. However, if Spiritism were able to correct only one defect of a single man, it would have enabled this man to take a step forward. It would have made a great goodness to the man for this first step makes it easier for that man to take other steps.” 801. Why have Spirits not taught us at all times as they teach us today? “Do not teach children what you teach adults and do not give a just born child a food it can not digest. Everything has its own time. Spirits have taught many things which men did not understand or have adulterated them, but which they may now understand. With
348 Allan Kardec the teachings of Spirits, although incomplete, men have prepared the land to receive the seed that will prosper.” 802. Since Spiritism has to achieve a progress of Humanity, why do Spirits not hasten this progress by means of manifestations so generalized and patent that conviction penetrates the most incredulous individuals? “You wish to have miracles; but God scatters them in a handful way in front of your eyes, but there are still men who deny them. Has Christ himself, by any chance, managed to convince the persons of his time through the wonders He produced? Do you not know at present of some persons that deny patent facts happening right under their eyes? Are there not those who say that they do not believe even if they see it? No, it is not through wonders that God wants to impel man forward. In His kindness, God lets man have the merit of convincing himself through reason.”
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CHAPTER IX
On the law of equality Natural equality Inequality of aptitudes Social inequalities Inequalities of riches The trials of riches and misery The equality of the rights of a men and a woman Equality at the sepulcher
NATURAL EQUALITY
803. Are all men equal in the eyes of God? “Yes, all men tend towards the same purpose and God has made his laws for all of them. You frequently say that the sun shines to all of us. This expresses a much greater and comprehensive truth than you think.” Every man is under the same laws of Nature. All men are born equally weak and find themselves subjected to the same pains. The body of a rich man destroys itself in the same way the body of a poor man does. God has not granted any natural superiority to any man, neither by birth, nor by death. All men are equal in his eyes. 804. Why has God not granted the same aptitudes to all men? “God has created all Spirits to be equal, but each has been living for a longer or shorter time, consequently Spirits have made a greater or smaller acquisition of experience. The difference among them lies in the diversity of the level of experience they have reached and in the will power with which they work, the will power being
350 Allan Kardec a free will. Hence it is the difference in their level of advancement which makes them have different aptitudes. These different aptitudes are necessary in order to make every Spirit be able to cooperate in the fulfillment of the intents of Providence at the limit oftheir evolvement in terms of physical and intellectual forces. Whatever one Spirit does not do, another one will do. Thus, every Spirit has its useful role to play. Furthermore, being solidary among themselves in all worlds, it becomes necessary to have the inhabitants of more advanced worlds come to inhabit yours to serve as an example.” (see item 361) 805. On passing from a more advanced world to a less advanced one, does a Spirit wholly retain its acquired aptitudes? “Yes, it does. We have already said that a Spirit having progressed does not retrogress. A Spirit in its free state may choose a coarser envelopment or a more precarious position compared to the positions it has already had, however, all this is to serve the Spirit as a teaching and help it to progress.” (see item 180) Thus, the diversity of aptitudes among men does not derive from the intimate nature of their creation. It depends on the advancement level the Spirit incarnated in a man has reached. Therefore, God has not created unequal abilities; however, He has allowed Spirits having different levels of advancement to be in touch so that the more advanced ones may help the progress of those left behind and also for men needing one another to understand the law of charity that exists to unite them.
SOCIAL INEQUALITIES
806. Is the inequality of social conditions a law of nature? “No, it is the work of man, not of God.” a) - Will this inequality disappear some day? “Only the laws of God are eternal. Do you not see them
351 The Book From The Spirits gradually disappearing every day? They will disappear when selfishness and pride stop predominating. There will only be left the inequality of merit. A day will come when the members of the great family of the children of God will cease to consider themselves as having a more or less pure blood. Only Spirits are more or less pure and this does not depend on any social position.” 807. What are we to think of those, who being in a higher social position, abuse and oppress the weak for their own benefit? “They deserve anathema! Pity of them! They will be oppressed in their turn by being reborn in an existence in which they will have to suffer everything they have made others suffer.” (see item 684)
INEQUALITIES OF RICHES
808. Do the inequalities of riches not stem from the inequalities of abilities through which some individuals own more means to acquire goods than the others do? “Yes and no. What do you say about roguery and theft?” a) - What about inherited riches, are they not the result of bad passions? “What do you know about them? Seek the source of such riches and you will see that the riches are not always pure. Do you know by any chance if the riches have not resulted from pillage or from an injustice? However, even if we disregard the origin of riches which may be bad, do you believe that the greediness for riches, even when decently obtained, the secret desire of owning it as quickly as possible are laudable feelings? This is what God judges and I assure you that His judgment is more severe than the judgment of men.” 809. Whoever inherits some riches, that initially were wrongly acquired, does he share any responsibility for this fact? “No, he undoubtedly is not responsible for the evil committed
352 Allan Kardec by others, particularly if he ignores it as it is possible to happen. But you should not forget that often riches only come to the hands of a man to give him the opportunity of mending an injustice. Happy for him if he understands it this way! If he does it in behalf of the one that committed the injustice, the mending will take into account both of them. 810. Without infringing the law, whoever wishes so may dispose his estate in a more or less equitable way. Whoever proceeds this way, will he be held responsible after death for the dispositions he has decided upon? “Every action produces consequences. If the actions are good; sweet will be the consequences and always bitter all the others. Bear this always in your mind.” 811. Is an absolute equality of riches possible and has it ever existed? “No, this is impossible. This opposes itself to the diversity of abilities and characters.” a) - However, there are men who think that this is the medicine against the evils of society. What do you think about this? “Such men are ambitious or systematically full of envy. They do not understand that the equality they dream of would be undone in a short time by the force of things. Fight selfishness which is your social plague and do not run after an idle fancy.” 812. By not being possible to have an equality of riches, will the same apply to well being? “No, for well being is something relative and all may enjoy it provided it is conveniently understood because a true well being consists of having every individual employing his time as he wishes and not to carry out work he does not like. As everybody has different abilities there will be no job left to be done. There is a balance in everything and it is man that disturbs it.” a) - Is it possible to have everybody understand each other? “Men will understand each other when they all practice the law of justice.”
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813. There are persons that end up in misery due to their own fault. Is society not to be held responsible for this? “Yes, it most certainly is. We have already said that society is often and mainly responsible for similar things. Furthermore, does society not have to look after the moral education of its members? Almost always it is a bad education that misrepresents the criterion instead of providing the means to stifle the obnoxious tendencies.” (see item 685)
THE TRIALS OF RICHES AND MISERY
814. Why has God granted riches and power to some men and misery to others? “In order to try them in different ways. Besides this, as you know, Spirits themselves have chosen such trials and they frequently fail them.” 815. Which of the two trials are more dreadful for man, misery or riches? “Either one is. Misery brings about complaints against Providence and riches incite all kinds of excesses.” 816. Being a rich individual subjected to greater temptations, on the other hand, does he not also have more means of practicing goodness? “This is exactly what he does not always do. He becomes selfish, proud and insatiable. With riches the needs of a man increase and he never thinks he has enough for him alone.” The high position of a man in this world and the power over his fellowman are trials as great and slippery as are disgraces because the richer and the more powerful a man is, the more obligations he will have to fulfill and the more abundant are the means available to practice goodness and evil. God tries the poor through resignation and the rich through the uses he makes of his riches and his power.
Riches and power bring about all passions. They make us clutch to matter and keep us away from spiritual perfection. That is why Jesus said, “In truth I tell
354 Allan Kardec you that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to inter the kingdom of heaven.” (see item 266)
THE EQUALITY OF THE RIGHTS OF A MAN AND A WOMAN
817. Are a man and a woman equal in the eyes of God and do they have the same rights? “Has God not granted the intelligence of goodness and evil as well as the ability of progressing to both of them?” 818. Where does the moral inferiority of women in some countries come from? “From the unfair and cruel predominance of a man over a woman that man has taken on. It results from the social institutions and from the abuse of strength over weakness. Among little morally advanced men, it is strength that imposes rights.” 819. What is the purpose of having women be weaker than men? “To determine particular functions to women. To a man is assigned the kind of rougher work because he is stronger, to a woman a more lighter work and to both of them the obligation of helping each other to bear the trials of a life full of bitterness.” 820. Does the physical weakness of a woman not make her naturally be dependent of a man? “God has given man strength to protect the weak and not to enslave them.” 821. Regarding the functions a woman is destined to by Nature, are they to have an importance as great as those bestowed to a man? “Yes, they are even greater. It is the woman that gives the first notions of life.” 822. Being equal in the eyes of God, should men also be equal before the human laws?
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“The first principle of justice is not to do onto others what you do not want others do to you.” a) – If it is so, should legislation consecrate the equality of rights for men and women in order to be perfect? “Of rights, yes, but not of functions. It is necessary for each to be in the place it has been set forth. A man should busy himself with the outer part of life and a woman with the inner part of it, each of them according to their ability. Human law should consecrate the equality of rights of both a man and a woman in order to be equitable. Any privilege granted to either one is contrary to justice. The emancipation of women follows up the progress of civilization. The enslavement of women is on par with barbarism. Besides this, male and female conditions exist only in the physical organization since Spirits may incarnate in either one; in this respect there is no difference among them. Consequently, they should enjoy the same rights.”
EQUALITY AT THE SEPULCHER
823. Where does the desire of man perpetuating his memory by means of mortuary monuments come from? “It is his last act of pride.” a) – But is the richness of mortuary monuments not due to the relatives of the deceased in most cases who want to honor his memory rather than the corpse? “It is a sign of pride of the relatives who want to glorify themselves. Oh, yes, it is not always for the corpse of the deceased that all the demonstrations are made. They are made with self esteem and for the world as well as bearing the ostentation of wealth. Do you think that the cherished remembrance of a dear being will last a shorter time in the heart of a poor creature that is not able to place more than a single flower on the grave? Do you think that the
356 Allan Kardec marble of a sepulcher avoids oblivion of the one who was useless in the world?” 824. Do you then disapprove all funeral pomp in an absolute form? “No, not when the aim is to honor the memory of a man of goodness who was fair and serves as a good example.” The grave is the meeting place of all men. It is there that all human distinctions end inevitably. In vain does a wealthy person try to perpetuate his memory by having built a sumptuous sepulcher. Time will destroy them as it will consume his body. Nature wants it this way. Less perishable than his sepulcher will be the remembrance of his good and bad deeds. The pomp of his funeral will not clean up his wickedness, nor will it help him to raise one more step in the spiritual hierarchy. (see item 320 and followings)
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CHAPTER X
On the law of liberty Natural liberty Slavery Freedom of thinking Freedom of conscience Free will Fatality Knowledge of the future A theoretical summary of the inconstancy of human actions
NATURAL LIBERTY
825. Is there any place in the world where man can boast of enjoying an absolute liberty? “No, there is not because all men need each other, whether small or great.” 826. Under what conditions may man enjoy absolute liberty? “Under the condition of being a hermit in a desert. As soon as two persons are together, there will be reciprocal rights between them that they are to respect; therefore, neither of them will enjoy an absolute freedom.” 827. The obligation of respecting the rights of others, does it take away from man the right of belonging to himself? “By no means because it is a right that comes to man from Nature.”
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828. How may liberal opinions conciliate with the despotism of particular men that are used to exerting despotism on their servers in their own home? “They have the understanding of the natural law, but they counterbalance it with their pride and selfishness. They may even be staging a designed comedy by sustaining liberal principles, understanding how things are to be, but not doing things that way.” a) - Are the professed principles in this world going to be taken into account in the next life? “The more intelligence man has to understand a principle the less reasons will he have for not having practiced it. In truth I tell you that a simple, but sincere man is more advanced on the path of God than another who intends to be like what he is not.”
SLAVERY
829. Would there be men destined to be the property of other men by nature? “Every absolute submission of a man by another is contrary to the law of God. Slavery is an abuse of strength. It disappears with progress as all abuses will gradually disappear.” Human laws consecrating slavery are contrary to Nature for it likens man to irrationalness and degrades him both physically and morally. 830. When slavery is part of the customs of a nation, is it reprehensible to whoever benefits from it, although this is done by complying with the usage that seems to be normal? “Evil is always evil and no sophism turns a bad action into a good one. However, the responsibility of evil is relative to the environment man has available to make him understand it. Whoever takes advantage of the law of slavery is always guilty for having transgressed the law of Nature. But, as in everything else, guiltiness is relative. Having slavery be introduced in certain nations, it has enabled man to take advantage of it in good faith as something that
359 The Book From The Spirits seemed natural to him. However, after evolving and above all by being clarified through the enlightenment of Christianity, the reason of man showed him that the slave was a fellow being like him in the eyes of God, so, there was no excuse left for him.” 831. Do the natural inequalities of aptitudes not place particular human races under the predominance of more intelligent races? “Yes, but to elevate these races and not to brutalize them even more through slavery. For a long time men have considered particular human races as working animals having arms as well as hands and thought they had the right to sell individuals of these races as load carrying animals. Those proceeding this way considered themselves as having a purer blood. Foolhardies! They see nothing more than matter. More or less pure is not the blood, but the Spirit.” (see items 361 and 803) 832. However, there are men that treat their slaves with all humanity; they do not let the slaves lack anything they need and they believe that freedom would expose the slaves to greater privations. What do you say about this? “I say that these men understand better their interests. The same care is given to their oxen and horses in order to obtain a good price on the market. They are not as guilty as are those who mistreat the slaves, but even though they dispose them as a merchandise by depriving the slaves of their right to belong to themselves.”
FREEDOM OF THINKING
833. Would there be anything in man escaping all restraints and through which he may enjoy an absolute freedom? “In his thoughts man enjoys an unlimited freedom for there is no way of blocking it. The action of thinking may be hindered, but not annihilated” 834. Is man responsible for his thinking?
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“Yes, in the eyes of God he is. It is only possible for God to know the thoughts and He will condemn or absolve man according to his justice.”
FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE
835. Is the freedom of conscience a consequence of the freedom of thinking? “Conscience is an intimate thought belonging to man, like all his other thoughts are.” 836. Does man have the right of setting up barriers against the freedom of conscience? “Not more than against the freedom of thinking. That is why God alone will judge the conscience of man. In the same way men rule the relationships among men through their laws, God rules the relationships between him and man through the laws of nature.” 837. What results from the hindrances placed in the freedom of conscience? “It compels men to proceed contrary to their way of thinking making them become hypocrites. Freedom of conscience is one of the characteristics of a true civilization as well as of progress.” 838. May whatever belief be respectable, even when notoriously false? “Every belief is respectable when it is sincere and leads to the practice of goodness. Condemnable are the beliefs that lead towards evil.” 839. Whoever scandalizes with his belief another that does not think the way he does, is this reprehensible? “This denotes a lack of charity and an attack on the freedom of thought.” 840. Is it an attack on the freedom of thought to impede beliefs able to bring about disturbances in societies?
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“Acts may be repressed, a belief is something intimate that is inaccessible.” Repressing the external acts of a belief when it harms others is not an attack on the freedom of conscience for such a repression does not eliminate anything at all from the freedom of the belief that remains integral. 841. To respect the freedom of conscience, should pernicious beliefs be left to propagate themselves or may one, without attacking the freedom of conscience, try to bring to the path of truth those who have been misled by obeying false principles? “You certainly may try and you even should; but teach as Jesus that gave the example by making use of gentleness and persuasion and not by force which would be worse than the belief of the one you wish to convince. If anything is imposed, it should be goodness and fraternity. We do not believe that the best way is to use violence. Conviction cannot be imposed.” 842. Through which means is it possible, among all the doctrines that foster the intention of being the only one expressing the truth, to recognize the doctrine that has the right of heralding itself as such? “It will be the doctrine that has the greatest number of men of goodness and the smallest number of hypocrites, that is, through the practice of the law of love in its greatest purity and in its widest application. This will be the signal of a doctrine that is a good one since every doctrine that has the effect of seeding disunity and set a line of separation among the children of God can be anything but false and pernicious.”
FREE WILL
843. Does man have a free will regarding his acts? “Whoever has the freedom of thinking has also the freedom of working. Without free will, man would be a machine.” 844. Does man enjoy free will since his birth?
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“There is freedom to act provided there is volition. At the early stages of life, freedom is almost non-existent but it evolves and changes its object with the unfolding of abilities. Being the thoughts of a child in accordance with what age demands, the child will have the necessary free will.” 845. Do the instinctive propensities man brings already from birth not constitute obstacles for his free will? “The instinctive propensities are of the Spirit before incarnating. Depending on the Spirit being more or less advanced, the propensities may drag man to commit reprehensible acts, which will be supported by Spirits that sympathize with these kinds of predispositions. However, there is no irresistible dragging once there is a will of resisting it. Remember that to will is to make it possible. (see item 361) 846. Does the organism not exert any influence on the acts of life? If this influence exists, will it not impair free will? “It is undeniable that matter exerts an influence on the Spirit by obstructing its manifestations. From this results that in the worlds where the bodies are less material than on the Earth, the abilities unfold more freely. However, this does not generate any ability. Besides, it is necessary to distinguish the moral from the intellectual abilities. On having a man the instinct of murdering, undoubtedly it is his own Spirit that has this instinct for it is not the organs that lend him this instinct. Like a brute and even worst than him becomes whoever nullifies his thought only to occupy himself with matter for he does not care to prevent himself against evil any longer. It is due to this that man commits a fault for he proceeds on his own will.” 847. Does an aberration of mental abilities deprive man from his free will? “Whoever has a disturbed intelligence due to any cause does not master his thoughts and thus has no freedom. This aberration often constitutes a punishment to the Spirit that in a previous existence may have been futile and proud or may have made a bad use of his abilities. A Spirit like this may be reborn in the body of an idiot as the
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Spirit of a despot may be reborn in a slave and a bad owner of riches in the body of a beggar. However, the Spirit suffers through the effect of this constraint of which it is perfectly conscious. This shows the action of matter.” (see item 371 and the items that follow) 848. May the aberrations of the intellectual abilities produced by drunkenness be an excuse for reprehensible actions? “No, it may not because the drunkard voluntarily deprived his reason to satisfy his brutal passions. Instead of one fault, he committed two faults.” 849. Which ability predominates in a man in the state of savagery, instinct or free will? “Instinct predominates which does not prevent him from acting in all freedom regarding certain things. But he applies this freedom like a child, according to his needs and this freedom enlarges itself with intelligence. Consequently, you who are more enlightened than a savage is, you are also more responsible for what you do than a savage is for his acts.” 850. Does the social position of a man not become an obstacle for the entire freedom of his acts? “It is undoubtedly that the world has certain demands, but God is just and takes everything into account. However, He leaves you the responsibility for not having made any effort to overcome the obstacles.”
FATALITY
851. Is there a fatality in the happenings of life according to the sense that is given to the word? That is, are all happenings predetermined? In this case what happens to free will? “Fatality exists only by the choice a Spirit has made before incarnating to undergo this or that trial. By choosing a trial the Spirit
364 Allan Kardec institutes in itself a kind of destiny that leads to the consequence of the position it happens to be in. I am speaking of physical trials for regarding the moral trials and temptations, a Spirit always masters its free will by either giving in or resisting evil for it retains its free will regarding goodness and evil. By seeing a Spirit becoming weak, a good Spirit may come to help it, but it cannot influence it so as to dominate its will. A bad Spirit, that is, a less evolutive advanced Spirit may affect and frighten the Spirit by showing and exaggerating a physical danger. But in spite of all this, the will of the incarnated Spirit does not cease to remain free form obstacles.” 852. There are persons that seem to be persecuted by fatalities independently of the way in which they proceed. Would this misfortune not be part of their destiny? “These fatalities may be trials. Spirits have to suffer what they themselves have chosen. However, even here you blame destiny for what in most cases is only the consequence of your own faults. Make sure to keep your conscience pure in the midst of the evils afflicting you and you will certainly feel much relieved.” It is the correct or the false ideas we make of things that lead us towards success or failure according to our character and our social position. We find it simpler and less humiliating for our self-esteem to attribute success to luck and our failures to destiny rather than to our own fault. We know that the influences of Spirits sometimes contribute to this, but it is also true that we may always dodge this influence by repelling the ideas they present us whenever the ideas are bad. 853. Some persons only evade a particular mortal danger to fall in another. It seems that they were not able to avoid death. Is there not a fatality in this? “In the true sense of the word, fatal is only the instant of death. When this moment arrives, you can not avoid it in any way.” a) - Thus, whatever the danger that threatens us, we do not die if the moment of death has not arrived yet? “No, you do not and you have thousands of examples. However, when the moment of departure has come, there will not
365 The Book From The Spirits be anything to avoid it. God knows before hand what will be the type of death of man and often your Spirit also knows this for it was disclosed to your Spirit when it chose this or that existence.” 854. If the moment of death is infallible, may it be deduced that the cautions we take to avoid death are useless? “No, since the cautions you take are suggested to you with the aim of making you avoid death that is threatening you. These cautions are one of the ways used to avoid death.” 855. What is the purpose of having Providence make us run risks of danger that are not to have any consequence? “The fact of having your life placed in danger constitutes a warning that you yourself desired to have in order to deviate evil and to become better. When you escape from this danger still under the impression of the risk you were exposed to, you think more or less seriously of improving yourself according to the more or less strong influence of good Spirits on you. Intervening a bad Spirit (I say bad by inferring the evil that still exists in the Spirit), you begin to think that you will escaped from other dangers in the same way and you let your passions set going again. Through the dangers you were exposed to, God reminds you of your weakness and the frailty of your existence. If you look over the causes and nature of the danger, you will see that almost always the consequences would be a punishment of a committed fault or negligence in complying with a duty. In this way God exhorts the Spirit to look into itself and amend itself.” (see item 526 and 532) 856. Does a Spirit know beforehand about the kind of death that will come? “The Spirit of a man knows that the kind of life it has chosen exposes the man to die more in this way than in that way. It also knows which struggle it will have to sustain to avoid death and if God allows it, the man will not succumb.” 857. There are men that confront the dangers of battles persuaded in a way that the moment of death has not arrived yet. Would there be any basis for this confidence?
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“Quite often man has the presentiment of his end, as he may also have a feeling that he is not going to die. This foreboding comes from his protecting Spirits warning him in this way to be ready to depart, or else, to strengthen his courage at the moment he needs it most. It may also come to him through the intuition he has from the chosen existence, or from the mission his Spirit accepted and that the Spirit knows it has to fulfill.” (see item 411and 522) 858. What is the reason for those who have a presentiment of death usually to fear death less than others? “Who fears death is man, not his Spirit. Whoever has a presentiment of death thinks more as a Spirit than as a man. He understands that death is the liberation of his Spirit and he awaits it.” 859. With all the accidents that supervene us during our life, are they the same as it is with death that can not be avoided when it has to happen? “They are ordinarily very insignificant things so that we may warn you of them making you sometimes avoid them by directing your thought because material sufferings are not pleasant to us. However, this does not matter in the life your Spirit has chosen. Truly speaking, fatality exists only at the moment at which you are to appear and disappear from this world.” a) – Would there be facts that are bound to happen and which Spirits may not revolt themselvees against them although they would like to? “Yes there are, but they are those you have seen and foreboded when you made your choice still in the state of a Spirit. However, do not believe that everything that happens is already written as it is often said. Any happening whatsoever may be the consequence of an act you have practiced under your entirely free will, so that, if you had not practiced it, the happening would not have taken place. Suppose you burn your finger, this is nothing more than carelessness and the effect on matter. God foresees only great pains and important facts able to influence morals because they are useful for your refinement and instruction.” 860. May man through his will and acts do things to make things not take place when they were bound to happen and vice versa?
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“He may if this apparent change in the order of facts fits in the sequence of the life he has chosen. Furthermore, man is expected to practice goodness for this contributes to the only aim of life and is granted to impede evil, particularly in the case where this evil may contribute to produce a greater one.” 861. A Spirit choosing the existence of a man committing a murder, did the man know that he would become a murderer? “No, because by choosing a life of struggle, the Spirit knows that it will have the occasion of killing a fellowman, but does not know if it will do it since crime almost always is preceded by a deliberation of practicing it. Thus, whoever designs something is free to carry it out, or not. If the Spirit knew beforehand that, as a man, it would have to commit a crime, then the Spirit would be predestined. However, no one is ever predestined to commit a crime and every crime, as any other act, results always from volition and free will. “Furthermore, you always mix up two very distinct things, namely, the material success in life and the act of moral life. Fatality, that does happen sometimes, it exists only related to those material successes whose cause lies outside of you, not depending of your will. Regarding the acts of moral life, these originate always from man; consequently, man always has the freedom of choice. Thus, moral acts have no fatality.” 862. There are persons that never manage to succeed in anything, that seem to be pursued by a bad genius in all their undertakings. May this not characterize a fatality? “It will be a fatality if you wish to call it like that, but it stems from the kind of chosen existence. It so happens that these persons wanted to be tried by a life of deceptions in order to exercise patience and resignation. However, do not believe that this fatality is absolute. It often results from the false path that these persons take having a disagreement with their intelligence and aptitudes. A person intending to swim cross a river without knowing how to swim has a great probability of drowning. The same happens regarding most
368 Allan Kardec happenings in life. Man almost always obtains a success if he only tries whatever is at the reach of his abilities. What makes him fail is his self esteem and ambition that deviate him from a suitable path and makes him think to have a vocation that is not more than a wish of satisfying particular passions. He fails due to his own fault. As an example, take a man who is a good worker and would like to earn his living honestly, but prefers to make bad poetry and ends up dying of starvation. There will be a place for everybody provided everybody knows how to place himself in the place fit for him.” 863. Do social customs not often obligate man to take a path preferably to another and is he not submitted to the direction of an overall public opinion regarding the choice of his occupation? Does what is called human respect not mean an obstacle to the exertion of free will? “It is men and not God that make the social costumes. If men submit themselves it is because it is convenient to them. Therefore, such submission represents an act of free will for if they had wanted, they could have freed themselves from such a yoke. Why then, do they complain? They lack a reason to accuse social costumes. The fault of everything they have to cast at the foolish self-esteem they are full of which makes them prefer to die of hunger than to transgress the costumes. Nobody takes their sacrifice into account, a sacrifice made for public opinion while God will take into account the sacrifice they have made due to their vanity. This does not mean that man is to affront opinions as a need to do so like some individuals in whom there is more originality than a true philosophy. So much nonsense is there when somebody seeks to have a finger pointed at him, or be considered a curious animal, as there is common sense in voluntarily stepping down the social scale without grumbling if it is not possible to remain at the top.” 864. In the same way as there are persons to whom luck is contrary in everything they do, there are others that luck seems to favor in everything they do and everything turns out right. What may this be attributed to? “Ordinarily this is so because such persons know how to conduct their enterprises. However, it may also be a kind of trial.
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Success inebriates men; they rely on their destiny and often they pay for their success through cruel reversals later on which prudence could have avoided” 865. How may it be explained that good luck favors some individuals under circumstances that have nothing to do neither with their volition nor intelligence, like gambling for instance? “Some Spirits have previously chosen certain kinds of pleasure. The fortune favoring them is a temptation. Whoever wins as a man, loses as a Spirit. It is a trial for their pride and for their greediness. 866. Does this mean that the fatality that seems to direct the material destinies of our life is also resultant from our free will? “You yourself have chosen your trial. The ruder a trial is and the better you bear it, the more you will elevate yourself. Whoever passes through a life of abundance and human venture has a pusillanimous Spirit that remains stationary. Thus, the number of unfortunate persons is much greater than of the happy ones in this world. It is important to know that the majority of Spirits seek more beneficial trials. They see very well the futility of your grandeur and enjoyments. Furthermore, the most fortunate life is always agitated, always disturbed, particularly in the absence of pain.” (see 525 and following items) 867. From where comes the expression “To be born under a lucky star”? “It comes from the ancient superstition that attached the destiny of man to the stars, an allegory that some persons make the foolishness of taking it literally.”
KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE
868. May the future be disclosed to man? “The future is basically hidden from man and only in rare and exceptional cases does God allow it to be disclosed.”
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869. What is the purpose of keeping the future hidden from man? “If man knew his future, he would neglect the present moment and would not work with the freedom he does because he would be dominated by the idea that if something has to occur, it is useless for him to busy himself with something else, or else, he would seek to obstruct its happening. God did not want this to happen in order to have everybody collaborating in the accomplishment of things, even those that a man would like to oppose himself to. So it is that even you often prepare happenings that will supervene along the course of your existence.” 870. But if it is convenient to keep the future hidden, why then does God let it be disclosed sometimes? “God allows it when the beforehand knowledge of the future facilitates the fulfillment of something instead of entangling it by obligating man to act diversely in the way he would act if the disclosure had not been made. Quite often it is also a trial. The perspective of a happening may bring about more or less good thoughts. If a man, for example, comes to know that he will receive and inheritance which he did not count on, this revelation may cause a feeling of greediness for more Earthly enjoyments. Due to the craving of owning the inheritance faster, he may even wish the death of the person he is going to receive the inheritance from. Or else, the perspective may inspire good feelings and generous thoughts. If the precognition does not happen, this becomes another proof of the way he bears the deception. Nevertheless, his good or bad thoughts that the belief in the occurrence rises in his inner being will have a more or less merit or demerit.” 871. Considering that God knows everything, not ignoring whether a man will fail a particular trial, what is the need of this trial since it does not aggregate anything to what God already knows regarding this man? “This is equivalent to ask why God has not created man perfect and finished (see item 119); why he has to pass from childhood to reach adulthood. (see item 379) A trial does not have the purpose of giving God elucidation on man for God knows perfectly well
371 The Book From The Spirits what he is worth, but rather to give man the whole responsibility for his actions, since he has the freedom of doing something, or not. Granted with the ability of choosing between evil and goodness, a trial has the purpose of placing him to battle against the temptations of evil and to confer him all the merit for his resistance. Well then, while God knows beforehand whether a man will make out well and in all his justice, God does not punish, nor reward an act that has not yet happened.” (see item 258) This principle also happens among men. No matter how able a student is, how sure it is that he will reach success, nobody will confer him any graduation without an examination. In the same way, a judge will not condemn a defendant without basing himself on a completed act and not on a presumption that he may or should have completed the act.
The more we think on the consequences that the future would have to man, the more we see how wise the Providence has been by hiding it. The sureness of a venturous happening would cast man into a state of voidness; an unfortunate happening would fill man with discouragement. In both cases the forces of man would remain paralyzed. This is why the future is not shown to man unless it is a target he has to reach through his own effort, but ignoring the course of action he will have to go through to reach it. The knowledge of all the incidents of the journey would embarrass his initiative and the exertion of his free will. He would let himself slide down the slope of fatal happenings without exerting his abilities. Whenever the happy outcome of something is assured, we no longer concern ourselves with it.
A THEORETICAL SUMMARY OF THE INCONSTANCY OF HUMAN ACTIONS
872. The question of free will may be summarized in the following way. Man is not fatally led to practice evil; the acts he practices have not previously been determined; the crimes man practices are not the result of a sentence of destiny. Through a trial or expiation he may choose an existence in which he may be dragged
372 Allan Kardec towards crime whether by means of the environment he finds himself in or the circumstances that may occur, but he will always be free to act, or not to act. Thus, free will exists for him. When in the state of a Spirit he makes the choice of the kind of existence and the trials, when incarnated, he exerts his ability of giving in or resisting the dragging to which we have all submitted ourselves voluntarily. It is the job of education to fight these tendencies. This will only be possible when it is based on a thorough study of the moral nature of man. Through the knowledge of the laws ruling the moral nature of man, it will be possible to modify nature, just as intelligence is modified through instruction and the physiological constitution by hygiene. Unattached to matter in the roaming state, every Spirit proceeds to choose its future corporeal existence according to the level of perfection it has reached and, as we have said, it is this choice that free will mainly consists of. Incarnation does not annul this freedom. If a Spirit gives in to the influence of matter, it is because it has failed the trials he has chosen by himself as a Spirit. To have somebody help him to overcome the trials, it is granted to invoke the assistance of God and of Spirits. (see item 337) Without free will, man would not be guilty for having practiced evil, nor any merit for having practiced goodness. This has been recognized in the world up to a point where censorship or praise is exerted regarding the intention, that is, the volition. So, whoever says desire says freedom. Therefore, man will not have to look for any excuse to account for his transgressions in his physical organization without relinquishing his condition of human being by comparing himself to a brute. If it is like this regarding evil, it could not be different regarding goodness. But when man practices goodness, he takes great care to register the fact on his account as a merit and does not think of gratifying his organs which proves that by instinct he does not renounce the most beautiful privilege of his species, namely, the freedom of thinking. Fatality, as it is ordinarily understood, presumes a prior and
373 The Book From The Spirits irrevocable decision of every successful event in life, no matter its importance. If such were the order of things, man would be like a machine having no volition. For what would his intelligence be since he would have to be invariably dominated by the force of destiny in all of his acts? If true, such a doctrine would contain the destruction of all moral freedom; there would not be left any responsibility for man, consequently, there would be no goodness nor evil, crimes or virtues. It is not possible for God who is supremely just to punish creatures for faults whose commitment does not depend on them, nor to reward for virtues having no merit. Furthermore, such a law would be the negation of progress because man would expect everything to come by luck; he would not have anything to improve his position on since he would not be able to be more, nor less. However, fatality is not a vain word. It exists in the position man occupies on the Earth and in the functions he carries out as a consequence of the kind of life his Spirit has chosen as a trial, expiation or mission. He fatally suffers all the unpredictable changes in his existence and all the good or bad tendencies that are inherent in him. It is here that fatality ends for his volition depends on giving in to these tendencies, or not. The details of the happenings are subordinated to the circumstances man himself creates through his acts. However, under these circumstances Spirits may influence man through thoughts that come to his mind. (see item 459) Therefore, there are fatalities in the happenings that come up for being the consequence of the choice a Spirit has made to exist as a man. There may be no fatality in the result of happenings since it is possible for man to change the course of action by means of his prudence. There is no fatality in the acts of moral life. Man is submitted to the inexorability and to an absolute fatality regarding his death; that is why he can not escape from the sentence marking the end of corporeal existence as well as from the kind of death that shall interrupt it. According to ordinary belief, man derives all his instincts from himself that come either from his physical organization for
374 Allan Kardec which he is not responsible, or from his own nature in which case he tries do excuse himself by saying that it is not his fault to be the way he is. The Doctrine of Spiritism shows undoubtedly to be much more moral. It admits free will in man in all its fullness and tells man that by practicing evil he gives in to a strange and bad suggestion which does not diminish his responsibility at all for he has the power of resisting which is obviously much easier than struggling against his own nature. Thus, according to the Doctrine of Spiritism there is no irresistible dragging towards evil; man can always close his ears to the occult voice speaking to his inner self trying to induce evil, as he can also close them to the material voice of whoever speaks to him ostensibly. He can do so through his volition by asking God for the necessary strength and claiming the assistance of good Spirits to aid him. This is what Jesus has taught us through the sublime prayer which is the dominical prayer where he tells us to say “Let us not fall into temptation, but free us form evil.” This theory of determining the cause of our acts is strongly pointed out throughout all the teachings that Spirits have given us. It is not only grand in terms of morality, but it also elevates man at his own eyes. It shows him that he is free to rid himself from an obsessing yoke as he is free to lock his house to avoid entering annoying persons. He ceases to be just like a machine by acting through impulse that does not depend on his volition to become a rational entity that listens, judges and chooses freely between two advices. Let us admit that in spite of this, man is not deprived from initiatives, he does not fail to act through his own impulses for he is definitely only an incarnated Spirit that retains in his corporeal evolvement the qualities and defects he had as a Spirit. Consequently, the faults we commit have as their source the imperfection of our own Spirit that has not yet achieved the moral superiority it will reach some day, but it does not lack free will. Corporeal life is given to a Spirit for it to expunge its imperfections through trials, imperfections that precisely make the Spirit be weak and more susceptible to the influence of other imperfect Spirits that make use of the weakness trying to make the Spirit fail in the
375 The Book From The Spirits struggle it has engaged itself. If in this struggle it succeeds, the Spirit elevates itself; if it fails, it remains to be what it was, neither better, nor worse. It will be a trial the Spirit will have to restart and it may spend a long time in this alternative. The more it refines itself the less weak points it will have and the less access it offers to those trying to attract it towards evil. Its moral force becomes stronger proportional to its elevation, thus repelling bad Spirits. When incarnated all more or less good Spirits make up the human kind and as our world is one of the less advanced ones, it is this world that has a greater number of bad Spirits than good ones. This is why we see so much perversity. So, let us make all possible efforts for not having to return to this planet after the present stay and for us to rest in a better world, in one of those privileged worlds where we remember our passage here as if it were a temporary exile.
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CHAPTER XI
On the law of Justice, love and charity Justice and natural rights The right of property. Theft Charity and the love of your next fellowman Motherly and filial love
JUSTICE AND NATURAL RIGHTS
873. Is the feeling of justice part of our nature or is it the result of acquired ideas? “It is so much in your nature that you revolt yourself at the simple idea of an injustice. It is undoubtedly that moral progress evolves this feeling, but it does not create it. God has placed it in the heart of man. It follows that often in simple and uncultured men you will find more precise notions of justice than in those who have accumulated a great knowledge.” 874. In being justice a law of Nature, how may it be explained that men understand it in different ways where something considered as just seems unjust to others? “It is because this feeling is mixed with passions that change it as it happens with the majority of other natural feelings that make people see things through a false prism.” 875. How may justice be defined? “Justice consists of everybody respecting the rights of all others.” a) What determines these rights? “Two things determine these rights, namely, the human law
377 The Book From The Spirits and the natural law. On having men formulated laws suitable to their costumes and characters; they have set changeable rights along the progress of enlightenment. Have a look to see if your rights today, although imperfect, are the same rights as of the middle Ages. However, the same old-fashioned rights that seem to be monstrous to you today were considered as being just and natural at that time. Thus, not always do the rights men write up match with the natural laws. Furthermore, these rights regulate only some of the social relationships for it is sure that in our private life there are an enormous number of acts whose sole competence is of the tribunal of conscience.” 876. Excepting what the human law consecrates, what is the basis of justice in agreement with the natural law? “Christ said ‘Do onto others whatsoever you would that others should do onto you.’ God has imprinted in the heart of man the rule of a true justice by making everybody expecting to see his rights respected. When you are unsure of how to proceed regarding your fellowman in certain situations, seek to know how you would like him to proceed with you in an identical situation. God could not have granted a more secure guidance than your own conscience.” Actually the true criterion of justice lies in the fact of everybody wanting for others what he would like to have for himself and not in wanting for himself what he would like for others, two things which are absolutely not the same. Not being it natural to wish evil to us, provided everybody takes his personal wish as a model, it is evident that never anybody will wish to his fellowman anything but goodness. At all times and under the ruling of all beliefs, man has always made an effort to make his personal right prevail. The grandeur of Christian religion lies in the fact that it has taken the personal right as the basis of his fellowman’s right. 877. From the need man has of living in society, does it give birth to special obligations? “Very much so and above all is the obligation of respecting the rights of your fellowman. Whoever respects these rights will always proceed with justice. Because in your world most men do not practice the law of justice, everybody makes use of retaliations.
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This is the cause of perturbations and confusions in which human societies live in. Social life confers rights and imposes reciprocal obligations.” 878. If a man may make a mistake regarding the extent of his right, what will make him recognize the limit of this right? “It is in the limit of the right regarding himself that he recognizes in his fellowman identical circumstances and reciprocity.” a) - But if everybody attributes to himself the rights that are equal to the rights of his fellowman, what will happen to the subordination to his rank or position? Will this not be the anarchy of all powers? “The natural rights are the same to all men; from those who are in the most humble condition up to those in the highest position. God has not used more refined clay to make some men than the clay to make the others and all are equal in his eyes. These rights are eternal. The rights man has set vanish with his institutions. Furthermore, everybody feels his strength or weakness and will always know he has a certain deference regarding those who deserve it for their virtues and wisdom. It is important to point this out for those who think themselves as being superior and know their obligations in order to deserve this deference. Subordination will not be affected when authority is deferred to wisdom.” 879. What would be the character of a person that practices justice in all its purity? “He would be a true upright person like the example of Jesus for he would also practice love to his fellowman and charity without which there is no justice.” 880. Which is the first of all natural rights of man? “It is the right to live. That is why nobody has the right to neither take the life of his fellowman, nor do whatever he wants that may imperil his corporeal existence.” 881. Does the right to live give man the right of accumulating wealth that allows him to rest when he is not able to work any longer?
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“Yes, but he should do it in family like a bee by means of an honest work and not in a selfish way. There are even animals that serve as an example of this foresight.” 882. Does man have the right of defending the wealth he may have managed to accumulate with his work? “Has God not said ‘Thou shalt not steal’? Has Jesus not said ‘Render onto Caesar what is Caesar’s’?” Whatever man gathers by means of an honest work constitutes a legitimate property of his which he has the right of defending because the property resulting from work is a natural right, as sacred as working and living is. 883. Is the desire to own natural? “Yes, it is, but when man desires to own only for himself and his personal satisfaction, it becomes selfishness.” a) - However, is the desire to own not legitimate since whoever has what to live on does not become a burden? “There are insatiable men that accumulate riches having no usefulness to anybody, but only to satisfy their passions. Do you think God sees this with good eyes? Whoever, on the contrary, gathers riches through his work with the aim of helping his fellowman, practices the law of love and charity and God blesses his work.” 884. What is characteristic of a legitimate property? “A legitimate property is the property that has been acquired without harming any one else.” (see item 808) By prohibiting us to do onto others what you would not like others to do onto you, the law of love and justice prohibits ipso facto the acquisition of riches by any means that are contrary to it. 885. Is the right of property unlimited? “It is undoubtedly true that everything that is legally acquired constitutes a property. But, as we have said, human legislation being imperfect, grants many conventional rights which the law of justice disapproves. This is why men amend their laws as progress advances
380 Allan Kardec and they better understand justice. What seems perfect in one century looks like something barbaric in another.” (see item 795)
CHARITY AND THE LOVE OF YOUR NEXT FELLOWMAN
886. What is the correct sense of the word charity as the way Jesus understood it to be? “It means benevolence to all, indulgence regarding the imperfections of others and the forgiveness of offences.”
Love and charity are the complements of justice because to love your next fellowman means to do all possible goodness that we would like to have done to us. Such is the meaning of the words of Jesus ‘Love each other like brothers’.
Charity according to Jesus is not restricted to alms, but covering all the relationships we have with our fellowmen whether they are lower, equal, or superior to us. Charity dictates indulgence because we ourselves need indulgence for it prohibits us to humiliate the unfortunate ones, contrary to what is usually done. Introduce a rich person and he will receive all attention and deference. If the person is poor, everybody seems to understand that it is not necessary to be concerned with him. However, the more deplorable his condition may be, the more care we should show in order to avoid increasing his unfortunate condition through humiliation. A truly good person seeks in his own eyes to elevate those who are inferior to him, thus decreasing the distance separating them. 887. Jesus has also said that you should love even your enemies. Will the love of our enemies not be contrary to our natural tendencies and will friendship not come from a false sympathy among Spirits? “It is sure that nobody devotes a tender and great affection for his enemy. This is not what Jesus meant to say. To love an enemy is to forgive and repay him with goodness. Whoever proceeds this way becomes superior to his enemies, whereas he will place himself below them if he seeks to revenge himself.”
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888. What are we to think of alms? “By condemning himself to begging, man degrades himself both physically and morally; he brutalizes himself. A society basing itself on the law of God and justice should provide the means for those who are weak to live, without making them feel humiliated. It should assure the existence of those who are unable to work, without leaving their life at the mercy of chance and to the good will of some.” a) - Is the giving of alms to be reprobated? “No, because what deserves reprobation is not the alms, but the way they are usually given. A man of goodness that understands charity according to Jesus goes to meet the disgraced ones without waiting for a hand to be held out. “True charity is always kind and benevolent; it lies both in the act and in the manner in which it is practiced. A service carried out with finesse has a double value. If it is carried out with arrogance, it may be accepted because need demands it, but it will certainly not move the heart. “You should also remember that in the eyes of God ostentation takes away any benefit. Jesus said that the left hand should ignore what the right one gives away. It is in this way that he taught us not to taint charity with pride. “One should distinguish alms properly speaking from beneficence. Not always the person having the greatest need is the one that begs. The fear of a humiliation discourages a true poor man that often suffers without complaining. This is whom the truly human man knows how to seek, without any ostentation. “Love one another; this is the whole law, the divine law through which God rules the worlds. Love is the law of attraction for living and organized beings. Attraction is the law of love for inorganic matter. “Never forget that a Spirit, whatever its evolutive level, in its situation of an incarnated entity, or in a roaming condition, is always
382 Allan Kardec placed between a higher evolutive level Spirit that guides and improves it and a lower evolutive level Spirit to which it has to comply with the same obligations. Thus, be charitable by practicing not only charity that makes you give coolly the obolus you take out of the pocket to the one that dares asking for it, but that leads you to meet hidden miseries. Be indulgent with the defects of your fellowman. Instead of a lack of regard towards ignorance and vice, instruct the ignorant and moralize the addicts. Be mild and benevolent with everything that you think is at a lower level. Be like this with all beings of creation and you will have obeyed the law of God.” Saint Vincent de Paul
889. Are there men that feel they are condemned to begging due to their fault? “Undoubtedly; but if a good moral education had been taught to practice the law of God, they would not have fallen in the excesses causing their downfall. Above all, it is on this that the improvement of your planet depends on.” (see item 707)
MOTHERLY AND FILIAL LOVE
890. Is motherly love a virtue or an instinct shared by man and animals? “It is both things. Nature has granted the love a mother has for its children in order to protect them. However, in an animal this love is limited to the material needs; it ceases when care becomes unnecessary. In man, it persists during the whole life containing devotion and abnegation which are virtues. It survives even after death and follows up a son beyond the grave. As you may well see, it contains something different of what animal love contains.” (see items 205 and385) 891. Being motherly love part of Nature, how are there mothers that hate their children and quite often since childhood?
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“Sometime it is either a trial the Spirit of a child has chosen or a question of expiation if the child happened to have been a bad father or mother, even a bad child in a previous existence. (see item 392) In all cases, a Spirit trying to create embarrassments to the child in order to fail the trial it has fetched must always vitalize the bad mother. But this transgression on the laws of Nature will not be left unpunished and the Spirit of the child shall be rewarded for having overcome the obstacles.” 892. When parents have children that cause them disgust, are they not excusable for not having had the tenderness they would have had otherwise? “No, because this represents an incumbency parents are entrusted with and their mission consists in endeavoring to lead the children towards goodness (see items 582 and 583). What is more, such disgusts are quite often the consequence of a bad pattern the parents have let their children take on since the cradle. The parents reap what they have seeded.”
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CHAPTER XII
On moral perfection Virtues and vices Passions Selfishness The characteristics of a man of goodness The knowledge of oneself
VIRTUES AND VICES
893. Which is the most meritorious of all virtues? “Every virtue has its own merit because all of them indicate progress on the path of goodness. There is always virtue where there is a voluntary resistance regarding a bad tendency. However, the sublimity of virtue lies in the sacrifice of a personal interest for the goodness for a fellowman without any hidden thought. The most meritorious virtue is the one that settles itself on a wholly disinterested charity.” 894. There are persons that practice goodness spontaneously, without having to overcome any opposing feelings. Will these have the same merit than those who see themselves in the contingency of having to struggle against their own nature and manage to win? “Only those who have attained progress do not have to struggle because they have struggled in the past and triumphed. That is why their good feelings do not demand any effort and their actions appear very simple to be carried out. Goodness has become a habit to them. They deserve to receive the laurels that used to be given to old warriors who managed to conquer their high positions. As you are still far from perfection, such examples amaze you
385 The Book From The Spirits due to the contrast they cause and the rarer they are the more you admire them. However, in more advanced worlds what constitutes a rule is what among you represents an exception. In every place in those worlds the feeling of goodness is spontaneous because only good Spirits inhabit them. There, a single bad intention would be a monstrous exception. That is why men are happy there. The same thing will happen to the Earth when Humanity will have changed, when it understands and practices charity in its true sense.” 895. By putting aside the defects and vices, which nobody can deny, what is the most characteristic signal of imperfection? “Personal interest is. The moral qualities are frequently like the gilt of a copper object that does not resist a touchstone. A man may have real qualities that make the world consider him a man of goodness. But, these qualities although they signal progress, they do not always bear certain trials and sometimes all it needs is to damage the thread of a personal interest to leave the bottom uncovered. An actually uninterested person is so rare on the Earth that when it happens, we all admire it as if it were a phenomenon. “Attachment to material things is notorious signal of inferiority because the more man clutches to the goods of this world, the less he will understand his destiny. Through his detachment, on the contrary, man shows that he faces his future from a more elevated point of view.” 896. There are disinterested persons who liberalize their belongings that end up having no real usefulness due to a lack of discernment. Do these persons have any merit? “They realize the merit of being disinterested, but not of the goodness they could have effected. Disinterest is a virtue, but thoughtless prodigality constitutes always at least a lack of good sense. In the same way richness is not granted to someone to have it kept in a safe, neither is it granted to others to have it be thrown away. It represents a deposit that will have to be accounted for in terms of all the goodness that could have been made, but was not; of all the tears that could have been stanched with the money that was given to those not needing it.”
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897. Will a person deserve disapproval if he practices goodness without aiming at any reward on the Earth, but expecting to have it be taken into account in the other life and that there he will come to improve his situation? Will this disapproval harm his progress? “Goodness is to be made charitably, that is, with disinterest.” a) - However, everybody nourishes the very natural wish of prospering in order to escape the burdensome state of this life. Spirits themselves teach us to practice goodness having this aim. Is it thus an evil to think that by practicing goodness we may expect something better than what we have here on the Earth? “Certainly not, but whoever practices goodness without any preconceived idea, only for the sake of being pleasant to God and to his suffering fellowman, has already reached a certain level of advancement which will allow him to reach happiness much quicker than his bother who, being more positive, practices goodness by design and not impelled by the natural ardor of his heart.” (see item 894) b) - Would there not be a distinction to be set between what we may do for our next fellowman and the care we take in correcting our defects? We realize that it is little meritorious to practice goodness with the idea that it is going to be taken into account in the other life, but is it equally an indication of inferiority to mend ourselves, overcome our passions, correct our character, with the purpose of approaching the good Spirits and of elevating ourselves? “No, absolutely not. When we say you should practice goodness, we mean to be charitable. Whoever proceeds calculating what each of his good actions may yield in a future life as well as in the Earthly life is selfish. However, there is no selfishness in a man who wants to improve himself in order to approach God for this is the target we all have to aim at.” 898. Being corporeal life only a temporary stay in this world and being the future the object of our main concern, will it be useful for us to make an effort to acquire scientific knowledge that is only related to material things and needs? “Yes, it will undoubtedly be useful. In the first place, this enables you to help your brothers; then your Spirit will rise more quickly if your intelligence is advanced. In the intervals of
387 The Book From The Spirits incarnations, you will learn in one hour what would require years to learn on the Earth. No knowledge is useless; everybody contributes more or less for progress because a Spirit to be perfect has to know everything and being progress carried out in all senses, all acquired ideas to aid the evolvement of a Spirit.” 899. If two rich men that use their riches exclusively to enjoy themselves personally, one having been born wealthy and has never felt any need while the other owes his riches to his hard work, which of them is more guilty? “The one that has known the feeling of tribulation for he knows what suffering is. He knows well the unrelieved sorrow; however, as it usually happens, he does not remember it any longer.” 900. Whoever ceaselessly accumulates wealth without practicing any goodness at all, will he have a valid excuse to justify the accumulation by saying that he did so to leave the greatest sum to his heirs? “This is a commitment with his bad conscience.” 901. Let us imagine two niggards, one of them denies himself the needs to live on and dies in misery on his treasure while the other niggard is so only to others, being spendthrift to himself while recoiling in face of even a small sacrifice in rendering a service or do any useful thing, he never judges too strongly what he spends to satisfy his tastes or his passions. Whenever asked for a favor, he is always in difficulty of attending it, but if you mention a fantasy, he will always show a great interest in it. Which of them is guiltier and which will be in a worse situation in the world of Spirits? “The one that enjoys his riches is more selfish than the other niggard. The latter has already received his punishment.” 902. Is it wrong to covet richness to have the means to fulfill the wish of practicing goodness? “Such feeling is undoubtedly laudable when it is pure. But is such a wish always much disinterested? Does it not hide any intention of a personal order? Is it not in the mind of the one who expresses such a wish to practice goodness for him in the first place?” 903. Does a man incur in guilt by studying the defects of others?
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“He will incur in a great guilt if he does so to criticize and propagate the defects because this means to fail charity. If he does it to obtain the benefit of avoiding them, such study may have some usefulness to him. However, it is important not to forget that indulgence regarding defects of others is a virtue contained in charity. Before censuring the imperfections of others, see if others may not say the same of you. Thus, make sure you have the opposite qualities regarding the defects you criticize existing in your next fellowman. This is the means of becoming superior to what you criticize. If you censure him for being a miser, be generous; if for being proud, be humble and modest; if for being rough, be mild; if for being narrow minded, be broadminded in all your actions. In short, act in such a way that the following words of Jesus can not be applied to you, you see a mote in the eye of your neighbor, but not a beam in your own eye.” 904. Whoever probes the wounds of society and exposes them in public, does he incur in guilt? “It depends on the feeling motivating the writer. If he only aims to explore scandals, then he does not do more than providing a personal enjoyment for him by portraying what constitutes a bad example rather than a good one. His Spirit enjoys this, but may come to be punished for the kind of pleasure it feels for having disclosed evil.” a) - In such a case, how may the purity of the intention and sincerity of a writer be judged? “It is not always useful to do so. If a writer writes good things, he takes advantage of them. If he proceeds badly, it is a question of conscience of his exclusive concern. On the other hand, if a writer makes an effort to prove his sincerity, support him in what he says through the examples he gives.” 905. Some authors have published very beautiful literary works presenting great morals that has helped the progress of Humanity, however, they themselves have not benefited from them. Will the goodness that their books have made be taken into account as Spirits?
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“Moral without actions is the same as a seed without the sowing. Of what use is a seed if you do not make it bring forth fruits to feed you? Such men incur in severe guilt because they had the intelligence to understand it. By not practicing the precepts offered to others, they renounced to reap the fruits.” 906. May a man be censured for being conscious of the goodness he practices and for having confessed it to himself? “If a man is conscious of the evil he practices, he should equally have it regarding goodness in order to know if he has proceeded well or badly. By weighing his acts on the scale of the law of God and, above all, the law of justice, love and charity, he will be able to say to himself if his actions are good or bad and so approve or disapprove them. Consequently, he is not to be censured for recognizing to have overcome evil tendencies because then he would commit another fault.” (see item 919)
PASSIONS
907. Will the principle originated from passions be substantially evil although it has its roots in Nature? “No, it will not. Passion lies in the excess to which volition has been added since the principle that originates passion was placed in man for goodness. That is why passions may lead man to accomplish great things. The abuse in the usage of passions is what causes evil.” 908. How may the limit be determined where passions cease being good and become bad? “Passions are like a courser that is only useful when it is controlled and becomes dangerous when it turns wild. A passion becomes dangerous from the moment you cease controlling it by causing harm to yourself or to somebody else.” Passions are boosters duplicating the forces of man and help him to carry out the intentions of Providence. But if instead of directing the passions man lets
390 Allan Kardec them direct him, he falls into excesses and the force managed through his hands that could produce goodness turns against him and crushes him.
Every passion begins with a feeling or some natural need. The beginning of a passion is thus, not an evil in itself for it basis itself on one of the providential conditions of our existence. A passion, strictly speaking, is the excess of a need or of a feeling. It lies in the excess and not in the cause and this excess becomes an evil when the consequence of it is a wrongdoing.
Every passion that approaches man to his animal nature, keeps him away from his spiritual nature. Every feeling that elevates man above his animal nature denotes a predominance of his Spirit over matter and approaches him to perfection. 909. May man always overcome his bad tendencies though his efforts? “Yes, he may and frequently by making very insignificant efforts. What man needs is volition. It is amazing to see how few among you make an effort of this kind!” 910. May man find in Spirits an effective assistance to overcome his passions? “If man asks God and his good Genius in all sincerity, good Spirits will certainly come to help him for this is their mission.” (see item 459) 911. Are there not any irresistible or so lively passions that make volition become impotent to dominate them? “There are many persons that say ‘I want’ but their volition is only on their lips. They want, but they remain very satisfied if it is not as ‘they want it’. When a man believes that he will be able to overcome his passions it is because his Spirit gives in to them as a consequence of its low evolutive advancement level. Whoever tries to repress his passions, understands his spiritual nature. To overcome passions is to him the victory of his Spirit over matter.” 912. Which is the most efficient way of combating the predominance of corporeal nature? “It is the practice of abnegation.”
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SELFISHNESS
913. Among all vices which one may be considered as being radical? “As we have already pointed out, it is selfishness.From it derives all evil. Study all vices and you will see that at the bottom of all there is selfishness. No matter how much you combat it, you will never extinguish it if you do not cut it at its root or destroy the cause of it. Thus, make all efforts you can to this effect for selfishness is the true sore of society. Whoever wants to approach moral perfection in this life should expunge his heart of every selfish feeling since selfishness is incompatible with justice, love and charity. Selfishness neutralizes all other qualities.” 914. Being selfishness based on the feeling of personal interests, it seems very difficult to extinguish it entirely from the heart. Will there come a time when this will be possible? “As men learn about spiritual things, less value will they give to material things. Then it becomes necessary to reform human institutions that entertain and excite their minds. This depends on education.” 915. Being selfishness inherent to the human species, will it not always continue to be an obstacle to the reign of absolute goodness on the Earth? “It is true that you have in selfishness your greatest evil, however, selfishness is attached to the low evolutive level Spirits incarnated on the Earth and not to Humanity itself. By having Spirits depurating themselves through successive incarnations, they divest their selfishness as well as their other impurities. Are there not men free from selfishness practicing charity? There are many more men of this kind than you may presume. You only do not know them because virtue flees from daylight. If there is one, why are there not ten? If there are ten, why not a thousand? And so on.” 916. Far from ceasing, selfishness grows with civilization that even seems to stimulate and keep it going. How may the cause destroy the effect?
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“The greater evil is the more hideous it becomes. It was necessary for selfishness to cause great evil in order to make the need to extirpate it be understood. When men are divested from the selfishness dominating them, they will live like brothers, without harming anybody, but rather aiding each other impelled by the mutual feeling of solidarity. Then their forte will be the aid and not the oppression of the weak ones and there will not be seen any man lacking the indispensable because everybody will be practicing the law of justice. This is the reign of goodness that Spirits are in charge of preparing.” (see item 784). 917. By what means may selfishness be destroyed? “Of all human imperfections, it is selfishness that is the most difficult one to uproot because it derives from the influence of matter; an influence that man, still very near his origin, has not been able to free himself from and whose retention contributes in everything, such as his laws, his social organization and education. Selfishness will weaken as moral life predominates over material life and, above all, with the understanding of what Spiritism grants regarding your future, your real future and not a future distorted by allegoric fiction. When well understood, when you have identified yourself with the costumes and beliefs, Spiritism will change habits, uses and social relations. Selfishness settles on the importance of personality. Spiritism, I repeat, when well understood, shows things from such a height that the feeling of personality vanishes in a certain way in face of the immensity. By destroying this importance, or at least, reducing it to its legitimate proportion, man necessarily has to combat selfishness. “It is the shock man experiences from the selfishness of others that makes him often be selfish for feeling the need of placing himself in a defensive position. By noticing that others think only of themselves and not of him, makes a man think more of him than of others. If the principle of charity and fraternity serves as a basis for social institutions, for legal relationships among peoples, among men, everybody will think less of his person as soon as he sees
393 The Book From The Spirits others thinking of him. All will experience the moralizing influence of the example and contact. In view of present extravasation of selfishness, it makes it truly be necessary to have a great virtue to have somebody renouncing his personality in the benefit of others who absolutely do not thank him for this. The Kingdom of Heaven is mainly open to whoever has such a virtue. It is to him that the happiness of the elected ones is reserved or, in truth I tell you, on the day of justice, whoever has only thought of himself will be put aside and shall suffer from the loneliness he will find himself in.” (see item 785) Fénélon
Laudable efforts have undoubtedly been employed to make Humanity progress. The good feelings are stimulated, fostered and honored more than at any other times. However, selfishness like a gnawing worm continues to bea social sore. It is an actual evil that spreads itself world over and which every man is more or less a victim of. It must be combated in the same way we combat an epidemic illness. To do so we have to proceed as physicians do, namely, go to the very origin of selfishness. It must be sought in every part of the social organism, from the family up to the peoples, from a shack up to a palace, in all causes and influences that profess, or in a hidden form stimulate, nourish and create the feeling of selfishness. Once the causes are known, the remedy will come by itself. All there will be left is to destroy the causes, if possible all at once or at least partially and the worm will be eliminated little by little. The cure may take a long time because the causes are in a great number, but it is not impossible. However, the cure will only happen if evil is uprooted, that is, through education, not the education that tends to produce men of knowledge, but through the education that tends to produce men of goodness. Education, conveniently understood, constitutes the key of moral progress. When the art of handling characters is known as it is regarding intelligences, it will be possible to correct them in the same way new plants are put in an upright position. However, this art requires great tact, much experience and thorough observation. It is a serious error to think that to exert this activity to obtain a real benefit, all that is needed is the knowledge of Science. Whoever follows up the child of both a poor and a rich
394 Allan Kardec person from its birth and notices all the pernicious influences acting on each child as a consequence of weakness, negligence and ignorance in directing each child, observing as well the frequency the means of moralizing them fails, can not fail to amaze himself on finding so many oddities in the world. Do with moral the same thing that is done with intelligence and you will see that if there are defaulting natures, much greater than expected is the number of those who only demand a good culture to produce good fruits. (see item 872)
Man wants to be happy and the feeling originating it is very natural. That is why he works ceaselessly to improve his status on the Earth and researches the causes of his evils to be able to remedy them. When man understands well that in selfishness lies one of the causes, the one that generates pride, ambition, cupidity, envy, hate and jealousy that hurt him and disturb all his social relations, bringing about dissensions, wiping out trust which obligates him to keep himself in a defensive position against his neighbor, at last, a feeling that makes his friend become his enemy. Man will also understand that this vice is incompatible with his happiness and we may also add with his own safety. The more he has suffered the effects of this vice, the more he will feel the need of combating it in the same way a plague, harmful animals and all other evils are combated. His own interest will end up inducing him to do so. (see item 784)
Selfishness is the source of all vices as charity is the source of all virtues. To destroy the former and evolve the latter, such has to be the target of all efforts if you want to assure your happiness in this world as well as in your future life.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A MAN OF GOODNESS
918. By what evidence is it possible to recognize the actual progress of a man, which will elevate his Spirit in the spiritual hierarchy? “A Spirit proves its elevation when all the actions of its corporeal life represent the practice of the law of God and its incarnated being understands the spiritual life beforehand.” Actually a man of goodness is the one that practices the law of justice, love and charity in its highest immaculacy. If he questions his own conscience
395 The Book From The Spirits on the acts he has practiced, he will ask if he has transgressed this law, if he has not practiced any evil, if he has carried out all the goodness he was able to, if there is no one that has any reason to complain of him, at last, if he has done to others what he would like others do to him. Having the feeling of charity and love towards his fellowman, he practices goodness for the sake of it without expecting any reward and he sacrifices his interest to have justice made. He is kind, humanitarian and benevolent with all because he sees all men as brothers without distinction of race or beliefs.
If God has granted him riches and power, he considers them as a DEPOSIT which he feels the obligation of having to use to practice goodness. He will not become conceited for he knows that if God has granted him riches and power, He may also take them away.
If social order has placed other men under his command, he treats them with kindness and complaisance because they are his equal in the eyes of God. He uses his authority to elevate their moral and not to crush them with his pride. He is forgiving regarding the weaknesses of others because he knows that he also needs the forgiveness of others and remembers these worlds of Christ, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” He does not look for revenge of any kind. As an example of Jesus, he forgives offences only to remember the benefits for he does not ignore that as he has forgiven, so will he be forgiven. At last, he respects all the rights that the law of nature has granted to his fellowman as he expects the same rights to be respected in him.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF ONESELF
919. What practical and effective means does man have to improve himself in this life and to resist the attraction of evil? “As a wise man of antiquity has told you, know thyself.” a) - We know all the wisdom of this maxim, however, the difficulty is precisely of everybody knowing himself, by what means may we achieve it? “Do as I did when I was on the Earth. At the end of a day I used to question my conscience, I reviewed what I had done and
396 Allan Kardec asked myself if there was no obligation missing, if no one had a reason to complain of me. This is how I began to know myself and to see what in me needed amendments. Whoever evokes every night all the actions practiced during the day and questions the goodness or the evil he has done, entreating God and his guardian angel to clarify him, will acquire a great force for improvement because, believe me, God will assist him. Thus, make questions to yourself, look over what you have done and with what aim you have proceeded under this or that circumstance, ask yourself if you have censured something that was carried out by others, if you have carried out some action you would not dare to confess. Ask still more, ‘If it were the wish of God to call me at this moment, would I have to fear the look of somebody on entering again in the realm of the Spirits where nothing can be hidden?’ “Look over what you may have done first against God, then against your fellowman and, finally, against yourself. The answers will give you either disregard to your conscience or an evil that must be cured. “Therefore, the knowledge of oneself is the key for individual progress. But, you may ask, how may somebody judge himself? Is it not the illusion of self-esteem that attenuates the faults making them become excusable? An avaricious person considers himself just by being economical and far-sighted; a proud person thinks of himself as being full of dignity. This is very real, but you have a means of verification that can not elude you. When you have a doubt about the value of your actions, ask yourself how you would qualify them if another person practiced them. If you censure another person, you cannot consider the same action as legitimate when you carry it out for God does not make use of two different mensurations on applying justice. Also try to find out what others think about your actions and do not despise the opinion of your enemies for they do not have any reason to mask truth and often God places them on your side as a mirror in order to alert you with more frankness than a friend of yours would do. Consequently, browse your conscience if you honestly feel the desire of improving yourself, of eliminating
397 The Book From The Spirits the bad tendencies you have as you do when you pull out the weeds from your garden. Make a trial balance of your moral day, like a merchant that evaluates his gains and losses and I assure you that the result of the former is going to be much greater than of the latter. If you can say that your day was good, you can sleep in peace and wait for your wakening in the other life without any fear. “Formulate to yourself clear and precise questions and do not fear to multiply them. It is worth to spend a few minutes to conquer an eternal happiness. Do you not work everyday with the aim of gathering means to assure your rest in old age? Does this aim not make you bear all weariness and temporary hardships? Well then, what is the rest of a few days troubled by the illnesses of the body compared to what a man of goodness expects? Is it not worth to make some efforts in this latter case? I know that there are many who say that the present moment is positive and the future uncertain. This is exactly the idea we are in charge to eliminate from your intimate being since we wish to make you understand this kind of future so as not to leave any doubt about it in you soul. That is why we have first called your attention by means of phenomena able to reach your senses and now we forward you instructions that each of you is in charge of spreading. It was with this aim that we have dictated The Book from the Spirits.”
Saint Augustine
Many faults we commit pass by unnoticed. Actually, according to the advices of Saint Augustine, if we questioned our conscience more often, we would see how many times we have failed without suspecting it only because we did not browse the nature and the reasons behind out acts. The interrogative form has something that is more precise than any maxim that we often fail to apply on ourselves. The former requires positive answers through either a yes or a no, which does not leave room for any alternative or for so many other personal arguments. It is through the sum of the answers given that it is possible to compute the sum of goodness or evil existing in us.
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PART 04
On hopes and consolations Chapter I - the Earthly punishments and joys Chapter II - the future punishments and joys
CHAPTER I
On the Earthly punishments and joys Relative happiness and unhappiness Loss of those that are dear to us Deceptions. Ungratefulness. Destructed affections. Atypical bonds The fear of death Distaste of life. Suicide
RELATIVE HAPPINESS AND UNHAPPINESS
920. May man enjoy a complete happiness on the Earth? “No, he may not because his life was granted to him as a trial or expiation. However, it depends on him to have his evils lessened and so being as happy as possible on the Earth.” 921. It is realized that man will be happy on the Earth when Humanity has transformed itself. But, while this does not happen, may man manage to achieve a relative happiness? “Man is in almost all cases the builder of his own unhappiness. By practicing the law of God, he will avoid many evils and provide his happiness as great as his coarse existence allows for.”
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Whoever finds himself well concentrated on his future will see his life as being nothing more than a passing temporary halt, like a momentary stopover in a horrible lodging. The traveler will comfort himself much better regarding some momentary annoyances on a trip that will take him to a better place the more he prepares himself before starting his trip. We are already punished for having committed transgressions of the laws that rule our corporeal existence by suffering the consequent evils of these transgressions and of our own excesses. If we gradually trace back the origin of what we call our Earthly disgraces, we will see that in most cases they are the consequence of a first digression from the upright path. We leave the upright path by turning into another bad path and from consequence to consequence we end up falling into disgrace. 922. Earthly happiness is relative to the position of each of us. What is enough for the happiness of a person, constitutes a disgrace to another. However, would there be a kind of standard of happiness shared by all men? “Regarding material life, it is to have what is necessary. Regarding moral life, it is the tranquil conscience and a faith in the future.” 923. What is superfluous for a person does not represent what is necessary for another, is it not reciprocal according to their respective positions? “Yes, it is so according to your materialistic ideas, to your prejudices, to your ambition and to your ridiculous extravagancies which the future will make justice of when you come to know the truth. Undoubtedly whoever had an income of fifty thousand and has it reduced to only ten thousand, will consider himself much disgraced for not being able to show the same ostentation any longer, to keep what you call his position like to own horses, have a footman, satisfy all his passions, etc. He believes that he lacks what is necessary. But, frankly speaking, do you think he is worthy of pity when on his side there are many persons dying of hunger and coldness, not having a shelter to rest their head in? In order to be happy, a wise person always looks at those below and not above him, except when he elevates his soul to infinity.” (see item 715) 924. There are evils that do not depend on the way man acts and that smite even those who are upright. Are there no means of avoiding them?
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“Man has to suffer them with resignation, without grumbling if he want to progress. However, consolation is always granted to him in his own conscience that provides him the hope for a better future provided he does what is needed to obtain it. 925. Why does God favor certain men with the gift of richness when they do not seem to deserve the richness? “This means a favor only in the eyes that only see just the present moment. But, you should know that richness is ordinarily a trial that is more dangerous than misery.” 926. By creating new needs, do they not bring about new afflictions to civilization? “The evils of this world are proportional to the rate of fictitious needs you create. Whoever knows how to restrict his desires and looks forward without envying those that are above him, will certainly save many disillusions in this life. Whoever has the least needs is the richest. “You envy the enjoyments of the ones that seem to be the happiest ones in the world. However, do you know what is in store for them? If their enjoyments are all personal, they belong to the number of selfish people and the reverse will then come. You should rather deplore them. God sometimes allows a bad person to prosper, but its happiness is not to cause envy because he will have to pay it with bitter tears. When an upright person is unhappy, it represents a trial that will be taken into account if he bears it courageously. Always remember the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are they that suffer for they shall be comforted.’ ” 927. Undoubtedly superfluous things are not bound to be indispensable to attain happiness; however, the same is not true regarding what is needful. Is the unhappiness not real when needful things are lacking? “Truly unhappy is a man when he lacks the needful things for his life and the health of is body. However, this privation may be his fault. So, he will have to blame himself for it. If it is caused by somebody else, the responsibility will be of whoever has caused it to happen.”
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928. God evidently indicates our vocation in this world through the specialty of natural aptitudes. Do not many evils stem from the fact that we do not follow our vocation? “Yes, this is true. Often due to pride or avarice, it actually is the parents that deviate the children from the path Nature has planned and they put the happiness of their children at risk as a consequence of this deviation. The parents shall account for it.” a) - Do you think it is right to have the son of a man having a high position in society to be a house painter, for instance, if he has the aptitude for this? “It is important not to fall into absurdity, nor to exaggerate anything for civilization has its requirements. Why should the son of a person having a high position paint houses like you say if he can do other things? He may always become useful according to his abilities provided he does not apply them wrongly. So, for instance, instead of a lawyer, he may become a good mechanic, etc.” The most frequent cause of deceptions takes place when men stay away from their intellectual sphere. The inaptitude for a career constitutes an inexhaustible source of drawbacks. Then self esteem obstructs the failed individual to resort to a more humble profession and shows suicide as a solution to escape from what seems to him a humiliation. If moral education had placed him above all the prejudices of pride, he would never have been caught unprepared. 929. There are persons that without any means, although there is a great abundance around them, have no other prospect than death. What course should they take under these circumstances? Should they let themselves die of hunger? “Never shall anybody have the idea of letting himself die of hunger. Man would always find the means of obtaining food if his pride did not come in between his need and his work. It is usually said that no work is dishonorable; it is not his condition that dishonors him. However, this maxim everybody says to others and not to himself.” 930. It is evident that if it were not for the social prejudices through which man lets him be dominated, he would always find a work providing him the
402 Allan Kardec means of living, although shifting his position. But among those not having any prejudice, or by putting it aside, are there not persons that find themselves unable to provide their needs as a consequence of illness or other causes that do not depend on them? “In a society organized according to the law of Christ, nobody is to die of hunger.” In an organized society that is stable and provident, a man will lack things he needs only as a result of his own fault. However, his faults are frequently the result of the environment he finds himself in. When man practices the laws of God, he will have a social order based on justice, on solidarity and he himself will be better. (see item 793) 931. Why are suffering classes more numerous than the happy classes in a society? “No society is perfectly happy and what you think as being happy often hides pungent afflictions. Sorrow is present in every place. However, to answer you I must say that the classes you call suffering are more numerous due to the fact that the Earth is a place of expiation. When the Earth is changed into the dwelling of goodness and good Spirits, man will cease to be unhappy and the Earth will become the Earthly paradise.” 932. Why does the influence of wicked people often surpass the influence of good people in our world? “Due to the weakness of the good people. The wicked are intrigant and bold while the good are shy. When the good ones want to, they will predominate.” 933. Usually it is man that causes his own material sufferings, would it also be so regarding his moral sufferings? “More so because material sufferings sometimes do not depend on his volition, but rather on hurt pride, a frustrated ambition, an anxiety of avarice, envy, jealousy, all kinds of passions, in short, they are a torture for the soul. “Envy and jealousy! Happy are those who do not know these
403 The Book From The Spirits gnawing worms! For those that have been stricken by envy and jealousy, there is no possible calm and rest. In their minds appear the objects of their longings, of their hatred and resentments like phantoms that do not give them peace of mind and pursue them even during their sleep. Envious and jealous persons are always burning in a ceaseless fever. Would this be a desirable situation and do you not understand that with all his passions man creates to himself the same voluntary torments making the Earth be a true hell?”
Many colloquial expressions paint forcefully the effect of certain passions. It is common to hear “puffed up with pride; dying in envy; burning with spite; devoured by jealousy; etc.” This is a very real situation. It may even happen for a jealous person not to have a specific object. There are jealous persons by nature, being jealous of everything that is more refined, of everything that is off the vulgar standard although they do not have any direct interest in it. They feel obfuscated with anything that seems to be above the horizon and they make up the majority in society. They do all they can to have everything reduced to the level at which they are. This is jealousy allied with mediocrity.
Ordinarily man is only unhappy through the importance he gives to the things of this world. Unhappiness is brought about by disillusioned vanity, ambitions and desires. If man places himself outside of the restricted circle of material life, if he elevates his thoughts to infinity which is his destination, the hardships of Humanity will seem unimportant as is the sadness of a child that becomes afflicted because it lost a toy that was its supreme happiness.
Whoever sees only happiness in the satisfaction of pride and of coarse appetites is unhappy when he is not able to satisfy them whereas whoever does not ask for superfluous things is happy with what others consider a calamity. This refers to civilized man for a savage by having fewer needs does not have the same reasons for greed and anguish. His way of seeing things is different. A civilized man reasons on his unhappiness and analyses it. That is why unhappiness hurts him. But he is also granted to reason on the means of obtaining consolation and of analyzing them. He finds this consolation in Christianity that gives him the hope of a better future and in the doctrine of Spiritism that assures him of this future.
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LOSS OF THOSE WHO ARE DEAR TO US
934. Does the loss of beings that are dear to us not constitute a legitimate cause of sorrow to us, more legitimate than irrecoverable and not dependent on our volition? “This cause of sorrow affects both rich and poor; it represents a trial, or expiation and all share the same law. However, you have a consolation in the fact that you are able to communicate yourself with your deceased friend by means of the communication available while you have not available other more direct and accessible means through your senses.” 935. What are we to think of the opinion of those who consider the communication beyond the grave a profanation? “There cannot be any profanation when there is meditation and the evocation is practiced respectfully and conveniently. The proof you have that it is like this you have in the fact that the Spirits consecrating affection aid and respond your call with pleasure. They feel happy for you to have remembered them and communicated with them. There would be profanation if it were carried out in a light-headed way.” The possibility of being able to put ourselves in contact with Spirits is a very sweet consolation for they enable us to talk with our relatives and friends that have left the Earth before us. Through evocation we make them come close to us, they come to place themselves beside us to listen and answer. In this way, all separation between Spirits and us ceases to exist, so to speak. They help us with their advice; they testify the affection regarding us and the joy they experience for us having remembered them. For us it is a great satisfaction to know that they are glad; to tell us of their new existence in great detail and to acquire the sureness that some day we will join them. 936. How does the inconsolable sorrow of those who survive reflect itself in the Spirits that have caused it? “A Spirit is sensitive to remembrances and to longings of
405 The Book From The Spirits those who were dear to it on the Earth; however, a sorrow that is ceaseless and contrary to reason moves a Spirit painfully because in this excessive grief, it sees a lack of faith in the future and of trust in God, consequently, an obstacle to the advancement of the mourners and perhaps to a reunion with them.” Being a Spirit happier in Space than on the Earth, to lament having to leave corporeal life is to deplore being happy. Let us imagine two friends that find themselves arrested. Both will reach their freedom some day, but one will obtain it sooner than the other. Would it be charitable if the one that continues in prison became sad because his friend was freed first? Would there not be more selfishness on his part than affection in wanting his friend share his suffering in prison for an equal length of time? The same thing happens with two beings that love each other on the Earth. The one who departs first is the first to be freed and all we should have to do is to compliment him, waiting patiently for the moment we will also be freed in our turn.
Let us still make another comparison on this subject. You have a friend near you that is in a bad situation. His health or his interests demand him to go to another country where he will be better off. He will leave you temporarily, but you always communicate with him; the separation is only material. Would his absence disgust you knowing that it is for his benefit?
From the warranted proofs of future life coming from the presence of Spirits around us, including those we love, of the continuity of affection and solicitude the Spirits showed when incarnated; through the granted relationships with them, the Doctrine of Spiritism offers us a supreme consolation at the occasion of one of the most legitimate sorrow. With the Doctrine of Spiritism there is no more loneliness, no more abandonment for no matter how secluded a person may be, he will always have near him friends whom he may communicate himself with.
We bear impatiently the tribulations of life. They seem so unbearable that we do not understand why we had to pass through them. However, when we have already borne them courageously, if we know how to impose silence on our grumblings, we will felicitate ourselves when out of this Earthly prison like an ill person felicitating himself for having been cured after having been submitted to a painful treatment.
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DECEPTIONS. UNGRATEFULNESS. DESTRUCTED AFFECTION
937. For a sensitive person are the deceptions stemming from ingratitude and the fragility of friendship bonds not a source of bitterness as well? “Yes, they are. However, you should deplore those who are ungrateful and unfaithful with you; they will be much unhappier than you. Ungratefulness is an offspring of shelfishness and a selfish person will meet insensitive persons later on as he himself has been. Remember all those who have done more good than you, who were more worthy than you and that received ungratefulness as a payment. Remember that Jesus himself was despised when he was in our world. He was outraged and belittled, treated as a rogue and impostor. So, do not be amazed if the same happens to you. Let the goodness you have done be your reward on the Earth and do not pay attention to what those who have received your benefit say. Ungratefulness is a trial for your perseverance in the practice of goodness; this will be taken into account for you and those who have been ungrateful to you will be punished the more they have been ungrateful.” 938. Will the deceptions coming from ungratefulness not make the heart become hard and shut sensitivity? “This would be an error because a sensitive person, as you say, will always feel happy for the goodness he practices. He knows that if this goodness is forgotten in this life, it will be remembered in another and the ungrateful one will feel ashamed and regret his ungratefulness.” a) - But this does not avoid his heart to become ulcerated. Consequently, may not come up to his mind the idea that it would be better if he were less sensitive? “It may if he prefers the happiness of the selfish one. A sad happiness this is! So, you may be sure that the ungrateful friends that abandoned you are not worthy of your friendship and that you
407 The Book From The Spirits made a mistake regarding them. Thus, there is nothing to lament for having lost them. Later on you will meet others who will know how to understand you better. Deplore those who proceeded with you in a way you do not deserve for very sad will be the reverse of the medal. However, do not concern yourself about it for it will be a way of placing yourself above them.” Nature has given man the need to love and be loved. One of the greatest enjoyments granted to him here on the Earth is to meet hearts that sympathize with him. This will give him the firstlings of happiness awaiting him in the world of perfect Spirits where everything is love and benignity. The selfish is excluded from this enjoyment.
ATYPICAL BONDS
939. Since sympathetic Spirits are induced to form a bond, how is it that among incarnated people frequently there is only affection on one side and the most sincere love is harbored with indifference and sometimes even with repulsion? Besides this, how may the most vivid affection of two beings change into antipathy and even into hatred? “Do you not see that this constitutes a punishment, although it is something short lasting? How many are there that believe they are deeply in love because they only judge through appearances and that, once obliged to live with the loved ones, recognize that they only experienced a material enchantment! It is not enough for a person to be enamored of another he likes and presumes to have good qualities. You will only know a person by actually living together. Many couples that seemed never able to become sympathetic to each other, after having studied each other, ended up evolving a tender love and a lasting relationship based on each other’s esteem. You must not forget that it is the Spirit that loves and not the body; consequently, after dissipating the material illusion, the Spirit sees reality. “There are two kinds of affection, namely, of the body and of the soul and it so happens that in many cases one is taken by the
408 Allan Kardec other. When pure and sympathetic, the affection of the soul is ever lasting; of the body it is ephemeral. That is why often those who think they love each other eternally suddenly begin to hate each other as soon as illusion fades away.” 940 - Is a lack of sympathy between two beings destined to live together not a source of unpleasantness, even more bitterly when it poisons the whole existence? “It certainly is very bitter. However, this is one of the unhappiness of which you are often the main cause. In the first place, the fault is of your laws. Do you think God may constrain you to stay together with someone who does not please you? Also, in these unions you usually seek the satisfaction of your pride and ambition, more than the venture of a mutual affection. Thus, you suffer the consequences of your losses.” a) - But in this case, is there not almost always an innocent victim? “Yes, there is and for this victim it is usually a hard expiation. But the responsibility of this disgrace will befall on those who have been the cause of it. If the light of truth has already penetrated the soul of the victim, there will be consolation in his faith in the future. However, as prejudices weaken, the causes of these intimate disgraces will also disappear.”
THE FEAR OF DEATH
941. For many persons the fear of death is a cause of perplexity. From where does this fear come if they have the future in front of them? “Such fear has no reason to exist. But what do you expect if they are persuaded in childhood that there is a hell and a paradise and that most certainly they will go to hell since they have also been told that what is in Nature constitutes a mortal sin to their soul! It so happens then that, if these persons have any judgment on growing up, they are not able not admit such a thing and become atheists or materialists. Thus, they are led to believe that beyond this life, there
409 The Book From The Spirits is nothing else. As they persist in their childhood beliefs, they fear the eternal fire that will burn them without devouring them. Death does not inspire any sort of terror to an upright person because he is certain of his future through his faith. Hope will make him expect a better life and charity, whose laws he obeys, assures him that he will meet no being whose look he will fear in the world to which he will have to go.” (see item 730) A carnal man being more attached to corporeal than spiritual life has material punishments and enjoyments on this Earth. His happiness consists of having all his wishes satisfied. His soul is constantly concerned and anguished by the vicissitudes of life and keeps him in perpetual anxiety and torture. Death scares him because he doubts the future and because he has to leave back all his affections and hopes.
The moral man who has placed himself above fictitious needs created by passions experiences already in this world enjoyments that a material man does not know of. The moderation of his wishes lends calmness and serenity to him. Pleased with the goodness he has practiced, there are no deceptions and the contrarieties flow over his soul without leaving any painful impression. 942. Are there not those who think that the advices to be happy on the Earth are banal; do they not see seditious truths in what they call common places? Finally, do they not say that the secret to be happy consists after all of each one to know how to bear his disgraces? “There are many who think so, but many are like a certain ill person to whom a physician prescribes a diet; he wants to be cured, but without changing his habits and so he continues with his dyspepsia.”
DISTASTE OF LIFE. SUICIDE
943. Where does the distaste of life come from, a distaste that affects certain individuals without any plausible reason? “It is an effect of idleness, of a lack of faith and of satisfaction
410 Allan Kardec as well. Whoever uses his abilities for a useful purpose, his work has nothing arid and life runs off more quickly. He bears the vicissitudes with more patience and resignation when he works aiming at the target of a more solid and lasting happiness waiting for him.” 944. Does man have the right of disposing of his life? “No, only God has this right. A voluntary suicide means a transgression of this law.” a) - Is suicide not always voluntary? “An insane that kills himself does not know what he is doing.” 945. What are we to think of a suicide that has as its cause the distaste of life? “Brainless are such persons. Why did they not work? Existence would not be a heavy burden to them.” 946. What about the suicide committed with the purpose of fleeing from misery and the deceptions of this world? “Poor are the Spirits that do not have the courage of bearing the miseries of existence! God helps whoever suffers and not those lacking energy and courage. The tribulations of life are either trials or expiations. Happy are those who bear them without complaining because they will be rewarded! However, those who expect salvation from what they call chance or luck are to be pitied. Chance or luck, by using their words, may in fact favor them for a moment, but only to make them feel cruelly the voidness of these words later on.” a) - Those who have led a victim to commit suicide as an act of despair, will they suffer the consequence of such procedure? “They will be severely punished for they will be held responsible for the suicide as if it were a murder.” 947. May it be considered as suicide whoever chooses to die of hunger due to a severe penury? “It is a suicide, but who were responsible for the cause or that may not have avoided the suicide are guiltier than him for whom indulgency waits for. However, do not think that he will be
411 The Book From The Spirits totally absolved if he lacked firmness as well as perseverance and if he did not make use of all his intelligence to come out of the slough. Above all, it is worst if the despair originates from pride. What I mean is that if it happens to men where their pride annuls the resources of intelligence, where they blush to earn their living with their hands preferring to die of hunger instead of renouncing to what they call their social position! Will there not be a thousand times more greatness and dignity in fighting against adversity, in facing the criticism of a world that is futile and selfish, where people are only willing to help those who do not lack anything and that turn away from you as soon as you need them? Sacrificing life to attend the demands of this world is a stupidity for it does not render any consideration for the value of a person. 948. When suicide is committed in order to escape from the shame of a wrong action, is it as reproachable as it is when caused by despair? “Suicide does not erase any fault. On the contrary, instead of one fault, there will be two of them. When courage is used to commit a fault, it is also necessary to have courage to bear the consequences. God may, depending on the cause, soften the strictness of His justice.” 949. Is a suicide forgivable if the purpose is to prevent shame to befall on the children or family? “Whoever proceeds this way does not do any good. But since he thinks that he does, God takes this into account for it is an expiation he imposed on himself. The intention attenuates his fault; however, it will always be a fault. Furthermore, eliminate abuses and prejudices from your society and such suicides will cease to occur.” Whoever takes his own life to flee from a shame resulting from a bad action proves that he values more the esteem of men than the esteem of God for he returns to the spiritual life full of his inequities, having deprived himself from the means of repairing it during his corporeal life. God is usually more inexorable than men. He forgives whoever repents himself sincerely by attending the reparation. A suicide does not repair anything.
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950. What are we to think of those who kill themselves hoping to arrive sooner in a better life? “This is another insanity! If he practices goodness, he will surely arrive there sooner since killing himself retards his entry in a better world and he will have to ask for permission to return in order to conclude the life he has put an end to under the inrush of a false idea. A fault, no matter of what kind, will never open the sanctuary of the elected ones to anybody.” 951. Is it not meritorious sometimes to sacrifice his life with the aim of saving another or being useful to his fellowman? “This is sublime depending on the intention and in such a case the sacrifice of life does not constitute a suicide. But, God opposes himself to any useless sacrifice and does not see it with good eyes if there is pride to stain it. Only disinterest makes a sacrifice be meritorious and sometimes whoever does it has an occult thought that decreases his worth in the eyes of God.” Every sacrifice of a man at the expense of his own happiness is a supremely meritorious act in the eyes of God for it results from the practice of charity. Being life the Earthly property which man gives his greatest value to, he does not commit a crime if he renounces his life for the well being of his fellowman; he carries out a sacrifice. But, before fulfilling it, he should meditate if his life would not be more useful than his death. 952. Does a man commit suicide if he perishes as a victim of a passion he knew would hasten his end, but he was not able to resist it any longer because his habit has changed his passion into a true physical need? “This is a moral suicide. Do you not realize that in this case the man is guilty twice? There is a lack of courage in him and a bestiality added by his oblivion of God.” a) - Is a person that takes his life due to despair more, or less guilty? “He is guiltier because he had the time to think of his suicide. Whoever commits suicide instantaneously is often associated with a kind of hallucination, something linked with insanity. The former will be punished more severely, that is why the penalty is always proportional to the cognition of the guilt one has of the committed faults.”
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953. When a person finds himself before an inevitable and horrible end, will he be guilty if he abbreviates a little his suffering by voluntarily hastening his death? “He will always be guilty if he does not pass through the whole time that God has decided for his life. Who may be sure that the end has come in spite of the appearances; that an unexpected aid does not come at the last moment?” a) - It is realized that suicide is condemnable under ordinary circumstances; but, may we picture the case in which death is inevitable and that life is only shortened a little? “It is always a lack of resignation and submission to the volition of the Creator.” b) - In this case, what are the consequences of such an act? “All expiation is always proportional to the seriousness of the fault according to the circumstances.” 954. Is the imprudence of jeopardizing life without any need blameworthy? “There is no culpability when there is no intention, or a perfect consciousness of the evil practiced.” 955. May the women that voluntarily burn themselves on top of the corpses of their husbands in some countries be considered suicides and suffer the consequences of a suicide? “They obey a preconception and often more so by force than by volition. They think it is an obligation and this is not characteristic of a suicide. They find an excuse in the moral nullity that characterizes most of them and the ignorance they find themselves in. These barbaric and stupid customs will disappear with the advent of civilization.” 956. May those who are not able to conform themselves for having lost persons that were dear to them achieve their aim by killing themselves to join them? “Much different is the expected result they will reap. Instead of joining with those who were the object of their affection, they
414 Allan Kardec will stay away from them for a long time for it is not possible for God to reward an act of cowardice and the insult they have committed by doubting His providence. They will pay for this instant of insanity with greater afflictions than they expected by shortening their life and they will not be rewarded with the expected satisfaction.” (see items 394 and following) 957. What are usually the overall consequences of a suicide regarding the Spirit? “Various are the consequences of a suicide. There are no set penalties and in all cases they always correspond to the causes that led to suicide. However, there is a consequence a suicide can not escape from, disappointment. But the fate is not the same to all of suicides; it depends on the circumstances. Some expiate the fault at once, others in a new existence which will be worse than the one whose course they have interrupted.” Observations actually show us that the effects of a suicide are not the same. However, there are some effects common to all cases of violent death and they are the consequence of a sudden interruption of life. First there is a more extended and tenacious persistence of the bond joining the Spirit to the body due to the fact that this bond is in its fullness of strength at the moment it is broken off , while in natural death, the bond weakens gradually and often is undone before life is completely extinguished. The consequences of such a state is the extension of spiritual perturbations following an illusion for a longer or a shorter time in which the Spirit keeps the impression that it still belongs to those who are alive. (see items 155 and 165)
The affinity that keeps on between the Spirit and the body produces in some suicides a kind of repercussion of the state of the body on the Spirit, so that, in spite of disliking it, the Spirit feels the effects of the decomposition of the body from which results a feeling full of anguish and horror, a condition that may also last all the remaining time that the body should have lived. This effect is not usual; but in no cases is the suicide exempt of the consequences of his lack of courage and, sooner or later, the suicide expiates the incurred fault in one way or the other. Thus, particular Spirits that were severely disgraced on the Earth said that they killed themselves in their previous existence and submitted themselves voluntarily to new trials in order to overcome them with
415 The Book From The Spirits more resignation. In some cases, a kind of a link with matter has been observed from which they helplessly try to disengage themselves from in order to fly to better worlds whose access, however, remains interdicted to them. A great part of suicides suffer the regret of having made something useless for they only meet deceptions.
Religion, morals and all philosophies condemn suicide as being against Nature. They all tell us that in principle no one has the right of shortening life voluntarily. However, why do we not have this right? Why is man not free to put an end to his sufferings? It was left for the doctrine of spiritism to show through the examples of those who have taken their lives that suicide is not a fault only because it is a transgression of a moral law, a consideration of little weight for those who practice it, but also a stupid act for the suicide gains nothing by practicing it. What happens is that Spiritism is not taught as a theory, but rather, through the facts that it enables to show us.
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CHAPTER II
On penalties and future joys Nothingness. The future life Intuition of penalties and future joys The intervention of God in penalties and rewards The nature of penalties and future joys Temporal penalties Expiation and repentance Duration of future penalties The resurrection of the body Paradise, hell and purgatory
NOTHINGNESS. THE FUTURE LIFE
958. Why does man instinctively feel a horror regarding nothingness? “Because there is no such thing as nothingness.” 959. Where does the instinctive feeling of a future life for man come from? “We have already said that before incarnating, a Spirit knew all these things and the soul retains a slight remembrance of what it knows and of what it has seen in the spiritual state.” (see item 393) Man has been concerned of his future beyond the grave at all times and this is very natural. Whatever importance is given to present life, man cannot avoid thinking of how short this life is and, above all, how precarious it is for at any moment life is subjected to be interrupted and no assurance is granted to him regarding the next day. What will happen to him after the fatal instant? This is a serious question for it does not deal with only a few years, but with eternity. Whoever has to stay a long time in a foreign country becomes concerned with
417 The Book From The Spirits how the situation is in his home country. Consequently why are we not to be concerned to see each other leaving this world since it is for ever?
INTUITION ON PENALTIES AND FUTURE JOYS
960. Where does the belief in the existence of future penalties and rewards as found in all peoples come from? “It is always the same thing. It is a presage of a reality brought to man by his incarnated Spirit. You know well that it is not in vain to have a voice speaking to you. Your error consists of not paying enough attention to it. You would become much better if you thought much and many times about it. “ 961. Which feeling dominates the majority of men at the moment of death: doubt, terror or hope? “Doubt in steadfast skeptics; terror in the guilty ones and hope in men of goodness.” 962. How may there be skeptics since the soul brings man the feeling of spiritual matters? “Skeptics are in a much smaller number than it is thought. Many pretend to be strong Spirits during their life only for the sake of pride. However, at the moment of death they stop being braggarts.” The responsibility of our acts is the consequence of the reality in the future life. Reason and justice tell us that on sharing the happiness we all aspire, you cannot confound good with bad individuals. It is not possible that God wants some men to enjoy goods without working while others only reach them with effort and perseverance.
The idea God gives us of His justice through the wisdom of his laws and through his kindness does not allows u to believe that good and bad individuals are in the same category in his eyes, nor lets us doubt that one individual will receive some day a reward for having practiced goodness and a punishment for
418 Allan Kardec having practiced evil. That is why the inborn feeling we have of justice gives us the intuition of future penalties and rewards.
THE INTERVENTION OF GOD IN PENALTIES AND REWARDS
963. Does God concern himself personally with every man? Is He not very great and we very little for every individual to have any particular importance in His eyes? “God is concerned with all the beings He has created, no matter how little they are. Nothing in His kindness is without a value to him.” 964. But, is it necessary for God to observe every act of ours in order to reward or punish us? Are the majority of these acts not insignificant to him? “God has his laws to rule all your actions. If you transgress them, it is your fault. It is undoubtedly that if a man commits any excess, God does not utter a judgment against him by saying, for instance, “you have been greedy, I will punish you”. God has set a limit and illness as well as death is often the consequences of excesses. This is a punishment; it is the result of having transgressed the law. So it is regarding everything else.” All our actions are submitted to the laws of God. There is no action, no matter how insignificant it may seem to us, that may not be a transgression of such laws. If we suffer the consequences of a transgression, we are to complain only to ourselves making us be in this way the cause of our future happiness or unhappiness.
This truth becomes evident through the following apologue. “A father provided his son with education and instructions, that is, the means of guiding himself. He gives him a field for him to farm and tells him, ‘Here are the rules to be followed and all the necessary instruments to make this field be fertile to assure your existence. I have given you the instruction in order to understand this rule. If you obey it, your field will produce very much providing for your rest in old age.
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If you disregard the rules, nothing will be produced and you die of hunger.’ The father lets him proceed freely.
Is it not true that this field will produce directly proportional to the care his farming will have and that any negligence will bring about a loss to his crop? Therefore, at old age the son will be either pleased or disgraced, depending on having or not followed the rules his father had drafted to him. God is even more thoughtful for he warns us at every moment that we are either practicing goodness or evil. He sends us Spirits to inspire us; however, we do not listen to them. There is still another difference, namely, God always grants man new existences, means of repairing his past errors while the foregoing mentioned son will not have any means left if he has made a bad use of his time.
THE NATURE OF PENALTIES AND FUTURE JOYS
965. Do the penalties and joys of the soul have any materiality after death? “They can not be material as common sense tells us for the soul is not matter. These penalties and joys have nothing carnal; however, they are a thousand times livelier than the ones experienced on the Earth since a Spirit is more impressionable once it is free because matter does not dull sensations any longer.” (see items 237 up to 257) 966. Why does man often have a coarse and absurd idea of the penalties and joys of future life? “Due to his intelligence that has not evolved enough. Does a child understand things like an adult does? This also depends on what a child has been taught; this is where a reform is needed. “Your language is very incomplete to express what lies outside of you. Consequently it was necessary to resort to comparisons and you have taken the images and figures as realities that were fit only for the comparisons. However, as man instructs himself, he will understand better what his language is not able to express.” 967. What does the happiness of good Spirits consist of?
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“It consists of knowing everything; of not feeling hatred, jealousy or envy, of having no ambition or any of the passions that cause the disgrace of man. The source of the supreme happiness is the love that unites them. They do not experience any needs, sufferings or anguishes of material life. They are happy due to the goodness they practice and the happiness of Spirits is proportional to the elevation of each one. It is true that only pure Spirits enjoy the supreme happiness, but not all the other Spirits are unhappy. Between the bad and the perfect Spirits there is an infinite rank in which the joy is relative to the moral state. Those that are already well advanced understand the venture of the Spirits preceding them that are aspiring to attain happiness. But this aspiration brings about a kind of emulation, rather than jealousy. They know that it depends on them to attain happiness. Consequently they work to achieve it, but with the calmness of a peaceful consciousness and glad for not having to suffer what bad Spirits suffer.” 968. You have mentioned the absence of material needs among the conditions of happiness of good Spirits. But, does the satisfaction of those needs not represent a source of enjoyments for man? “Yes, but the enjoyment of an animal. Whenever you are not able to satisfy these needs, you pass through a torment.” 969. What are we to understand when it is said that pure Spirits are gathered in the midst of God and that they busy themselves by intoning praises? “It is the merriment indicative of the knowledge they have of the perfection of God because they see and understand Him but, this is not to be take literally as many other things are. Everything in Nature, even a small grain of sand, sings, that is, it proclaims the power, the wisdom and kindness of God. However, do not think that the blessed Spirits are in contemplation for all eternity. This would be a stupid and monotonous blessedness. Besides this, it would be the happiness of selfish Spirits and the existence of them would be a total uselessness. They are exempt of the tribulations of corporeal life, which is already a joy. Then, as we have said, they know and understand all things; they lend a full usefulness of their
421 The Book From The Spirits acquired intelligence by aiding other Spirits. Busying themselves with this is a joy to them as well.” 970. What do the sufferings of little advanced Spirits consist of? “They are as varied as are the causes determining them and proportional to the level of inferiority as the joys are to advanced level Spirits. It may be summarized as envying what is lacking to them to be happy and of not attaining happiness; seeing it and not being able to reach it; they feel grief, jealousy and an undefined moral anxiety. The wish to have all enjoyments and not being able to be satisfy this wish, this is what tortures them.” 971. Is the influence Spirits exert one another always good? “Yes, on the part of good Spirits. Perverse Spirits try to deviate from the path of goodness and repentance all those who seem susceptible to let themselves be led and they are often the same Spirits that were dragged into evil during their Earthly life.” a) – Thus, death does not free us from temptation? “No, it does not, but the action of evil Spirits is always smaller on other Spirits than on men because the former lack material passions.” (see item 996) 972. How do evil Spirits proceed to tempt other Spirits if they are not able to count on passions? “Passions do not exist materially; they exist in the thoughts of low evolutive level Spirits. Evil Spirits influence these thoughts by leading their victims to the places where the spectacle of those passions is offered as is everything else that might excite passions.” a) - But what are these passions for if they do not have a real object any longer? “This is precisely where torment comes in; a miser sees gold that is not given to him to own; a libertine sees orgies in which the Spirit can not take part in; the proud Spirit sees honors that bring about envy and that it can not enjoy.”
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973. What are the greatest sufferings that evil Spirits are subjected to? “There is no description possible of the moral tortures that constitute the penalty of certain crimes. Even the Spirit passing through them would find it difficult to give you an idea ofit. However, undoubtedly the most horrible thing consists of thinking that Spirits are condemned without remission.” Man has an idea more or less elevated regarding the penalties and joys after death, depending of the level of his intelligence. The more man evolves the more this idea becomes refined and free from matter; he understands things from a more rational point of view, ceasing to take literally the images that are in a figurative language. By teaching us that the soul is a totally spiritual being, the more clarified reason tells us because of this that it can not be affected by the impressions that act only on matter. However, it does neither follow that the soul is exempt of sufferings, nor that it will not be penalized through its faults. (see item 237)
Communications with Spirits have resulted in showing the future of a soul, not in theory any longer, but in reality. It puts in front of our eyes all the adventures of life beyond the grave. However, they show them as the perfectly logical consequences of Earthly life and although tripped off from the fantastic ostentation that the imagination of man has created, they are not less personal for those who have made a bad use of their abilities. Infinite is the variety of the consequences. But, in general, it may be said that everybody is punished for what he has sinned. So it is that some are punish by the ceaseless vision of the evil they committed; others by regret, fear, shame, doubts, isolation, darkness or separation from their dear ones, etc. 974. Where does the doctrine of eternal fire originate from? “From the image similar to so many others that are taken as reality.” a) - But does its fear not produce good results? “See if it serves as a brake even among those who teach it. If you teach things that later one reason will come to repel, you bring about an impression that it will not be a lasting nor healthy one.”
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Being impotent to define the nature of those sufferings, man has not found a more expressive comparison than fire, for fire is for him the cruelest kind of torture and the symbol of the most violent action. That is why the belief in an eternal fire goes back to the earliest times by having more modern people inherited the idea from earlier people. That is also why man mentions in his figurative langue fiery passions, burning love or jealousy, etc. 975. Do little advancement level Spirits understand the happiness of the righteous? “Yes, they do and this becomes a torture to them because they understand that they are deprived of happiness due to their own fault. From this results that a freed from matter Spirit aspires a new corporeal life because every existence, if well made use of, shortens considerably the duration of this torture. It is at this moment that the Spirit proceeds to choose the trials through which it may expiate its faults. This is so because a Spirit suffers from all the evil it has practiced or of which it was a voluntary cause, for all the goodness it should have practiced and for all the evil resulting from not having practiced goodness. “For a roaming Spirit there are no veils. He finds himself as having come out of a mist and sees what distances him from happiness. However, it is then that the Spirit suffers because it understands how much it is guilty. The Spirit has no more illusions; it sees the things of its reality.” In the roaming state, a Spirit unveils on one side all its existences it has passed through and on the other side the future it is being promised and realizes what still is needed to attain it. It is like a traveler reaching the top of a hill. He sees the path he has covered and what still is needed to come to the end of his journey. 976. Does the spectacle of the suffering of low evolutive level Spirits not cause affliction to good Spirits? If so, does this disturbance not affect the happiness of good Spirits? “No, it does not because it does not bring about any reason for affliction since they know that evil will have an end. They help
424 Allan Kardec other Spirits to improve themselves and they reach out their hands to help them. This is their occupation which provides enjoyment when well succeeded.” a) - This may be understood when the Spirits are outsiders or indifferent, but does the spectacle of sadness and sufferings of those they have loved on the Earth not disturb their happiness? “If they did not see the sufferings, then they would be outsiders for you after death. Religion tells you that souls see you. But, Spirits consider your sufferings from another point of view. They know that sufferings are useful for your progress if you bear them with resignation. Therefore, they become more afflicted with your lack of zest retarding you than with your sufferings that are all temporary in themselves.” 977. Spirits not being able to hide their thoughts reciprocally and being all their acts of life known, should we deduce then that a guilty Spirit is perpetually in front of its victims? “Good sense tells you that it can not be otherwise.” a) - Is it not a punishment for a guilty Spirit to have all its reproachable acts disclosed and the constant presence of those who were the victims of its acts? “It is a punishment much greater than you think, but only up to the moment the guilty Spirits has expiated his faults, be it as a Spirit, be as a man in a new corporeal existence.” Being our past patent when we are in the world of Spirits, the goodness and evil we have practiced will also be equally known. Whoever has practiced evil will try to escape the look of its victims in vain. The presence of them will be a punishment to the Spirit and a ceaseless regret until its errors hare expiated whereas the Spirit of an upright person will find friendly and benevolent looks everywhere. For a bad individual there is no greater torment on the Earth than the presence of his victims, a reason for him to avoid them continually. How will it be when all the illusion of passions are dissipated, when his Spirit understands the committed evil and sees disclosed his most secret acts, when his Spirit will be unmasked of his hypocrisy and will not be able to avoid the sight of the victims?
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While the soul of a wicked individual is a prisoner of its shame, regret and sorrow, the soul of an upright one enjoys full serenity. 978. The remembrance of the committed faults that a still imperfect soul has, does it not dim its happiness even after having purified itself? “No, it does not because the soul has redeemed its faults and come out victoriously of the trials it was submitted for this purpose.” 979. Will the trials a soul still has to pass though to finish its purification not cause a painful apprehension to the soul affecting its happiness? “To a still stained soul, they will. This means that a soul can not enjoy perfect happiness unless it is totally pure. However, for a soul that has elevated itself, there is nothing painful in the trials it still has to go through.” A soul that has reached a certain level of purity enjoys happiness. A feeling of a grateful satisfaction dominates it. It feels happy for everything it sees, for everything surrounding it. The veil that covers the mysteries and the wonders of creation is lifted and the divine perfections in their entire splendor appear to it. 980. Does the bond of sympathy that gathers Spirits of a same order constitute a source of happiness? “The Spirits among which there is a mutual sympathy towards goodness find in their gathering the greatest enjoyments since they do not fear to see this sympathy dimmed by selfishness. They make up families in the entirely spiritual world by the matching of feelings in which their spiritual happiness consists of, in the same way that you group yourself into categories in your world to experience a certain pleasure when you are gathered together. In the pure and sincere affection each devotes to one another, they have a huge source of happiness since there are neither false friends, nor hypocrites.” Man enjoys this happiness first on the Earth when he meets souls with which he may form a pure and saint bond. The enjoyment will be inexpressible and unlimited in a more purified life for there man will meet only sympathetic souls which selfishness will not make them become cool.In Nature everything is love; it is selfishness that kills it.
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981. Regarding the future of a Spirit, will there be any difference between one who fears death in life and another who faces death with indifference and even with merriment? “The difference may be very great. However, it is often erased in view of the determining causes of the fear or wish. Whether man fears or wishes death, he may be propelled by quite different feelings and it is these feelings that influence the state of a Spirit. It is obvious, for instance, that whoever wishes death only because he sees it as the end of his tribulations is making a kind of complaint against the Providence and against the trials he is bound to bear.” 982. Will it be necessary to profess Spiritism and believe in the spiritistic manifestations to have the fate of our future life assured? “If it were so means to say that all those who do not believe or that did not have the opportunity of enlightening themselves, would be disinherited, which would be an absurdity. Only goodness assures future fate. Remember that goodness is always goodness whatever the path that leads to it.” (see items 165 and 799)
The belief in Spiritism aids man to improve himself by strengthening the ideas on certain points of the future. It hastens the advancement of individuals and crowds for it grants us to become acquainted with what we will be someday. It is a resting point, a light that guides us. Spiritism teaches us to bear the trials with patience and resignation; it keeps man away from acts that may retard his happiness, but nobody may say that without it, this happiness may not be attained.
TEMPORAL PENALTIES
983. Does a Spirit expiating its faults in a new existence not experience material sufferings? Is it correct then to say that after death there are only moral sufferings to a soul? “It is true that when a soul reincarnates, the tribulations of life are a suffering to it; but only the body suffers materially.
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“On speaking of somebody who died, you usually say that he ceased suffering. This does not always express reality. As a Spirit there is no physical pain; however, according to the committed faults the Spirit may be subjected to more acute moral pains and may even be more disgraced in a new existence. A bad rich person will have to beg and will be subjected to all privations originating from misery; a proud person to all humiliations; whoever abuses of his authority and treats his staff with hardness and a lack of regard, will have to obey a higher in rank that is more irritable than he was. Every penalty and tribulation of life is an expiation of the faults of a previous existence, if not the consequence of the faults of his present life. As soon as you leave this life, you will understand it. (see items 273, 393 and 399) “A man that thinks he is happy here on the Earth because he is able to satisfy his passion is the one that makes the least efforts to improve. Often he begins his expiations already in his Earthly life of a passing happiness, but will certainly expiate in another equal material existence.” 984. Are the hardships of life always the punishment of present faults? “No, they are not. As we have already said, they are trials imposed by God, or that you yourself chose as Spirit before incarnating for the expiation of the faults committed in a previous existence since a transgression of the laws of God and, above all, of justice, will never be left unpunished. If it is not punished in this existence, it will necessarily be in another. That is why someone who seems just often suffers. It is a punishment of his past.” (see item 393) 985. Is the reincarnation of a soul in a less coarse world a reward? “It is the consequence of the depuration of the soul in view of the fact that as Spirits become depurated, they incarnate in worlds more and more perfect until they have left matter totally behind and being cleansed from all impurities and then they will eternally enjoy the happiness of pure Spirits in the core of God.”
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In worlds where existence is less material than ours, less coarse are the needs and less acute the physical sufferings. There men ignore bad passions which in lower evolutive level worlds make men become enemies of one another. There is no reason for hate or jealousy. They live in peace because they practice the law of justice, love and charity. They ignore the bothering and scare that come from envy, from pride and selfishness, the causes of torments of our Earthly existence.” (see item 172 and 182) 986. May a Spirit that has progressed in its earthly existence ever reincarnate in our world? “Yes, it may, provided it has not managed to conclude its mission when it may plead for an opportunity to complete it in a new existence. But then the Spirit is not subjected to expiation.” (see item 173) 987. What happens to man that has not practiced any evil, but also has not done anything to free himself from matter? “This means that he has not taken any step towards perfection. His Spirit will have to restart an existence having a similar setting to the preceding one. This man remains stationary and may extend his expiation sufferings.” 988. There are persons that run their life out in perfect calmness; not needing to do anything by themselves, keeping themselves free from cares. Does this happy existence prove that those persons have no expiation of a previous existence? “Do you know many persons of this kind? You are wrong if you think they are in a great number. Quite often the calmness just seems to be so. Maybe they have chosen such an existence, but when they leave it, they realize that it did not serve them to progress. Then, like a lazy one, they lament the lost time. Remember that a Spirit can not acquire knowledge and rise to perfection unless it exerts its activity. If a Spirit falls into indolence, it will not advance. It is like the one that (according to your customs) needs to work, but decides to have a good time, or else, lies down with the intention of doing nothing. Bear in mind that everybody will have to account for the voluntary uselessness of his existence where uselessness is always fatal to
429 The Book From The Spirits future happiness. For every man the total of this future happiness corresponds to the sum of all the goodness he has practiced, being unhappiness proportional to the evil he may have practiced and whomever he has disgraced.” 989. There are persons that even though they are not positively bad, turn unhappy everybody around them through their character. What consequences will result from this? “Such persons are undoubtedly not good. They will expiate their faults by having always in their sight those whom they have rendered unhappy. Then, in a new existence, they will suffer what they made others suffer.”
EXPIATION AND REPENTANCE
990. Does repentance take place in the corporeal or spiritual state? “In the spiritual state; but it may also happen in the corporeal when you clearly understand the difference between goodness and evil.” 991. What is the consequence of repentance in a spiritual state? “The desire of a new incarnation to purify itself. A Spirit realizes the imperfections depriving it from being happy and that is why it aspires to have a new existence in which it may expiate its faults.” (see item 332 and 975) 992. What consequence does the repentance in a comporeal state produce? “It enables the Spirit to progress already in its present life if it has the time to mend its faults. Whenever conscience reproaches man and shows him his faults, he can always become better.” 993. Are there not men that having an evil instinct are impervious to repentance? “I have already told you that every Spirit has to progress ceaselessly. Whoever has only the instinct of evil in this life, in
430 Allan Kardec another will have an instinct of goodness; that is why man is reborn many times for it is necessary to have all progress and reach the target. The difference is only in terms of time; some spend more time than others because they want it. Whichever Spirit has already the instinct of goodness has already purified itself since it may have had the instinct of evil in a previous existence.” (see item 804) 994. A perverse person that does not recognize his faults during his life, will he always recognize them after death? “Yes, always and then he will suffer more because the Spirit feels in itself all the evil it has practiced, or of the evil it was voluntarily the cause of. However, repentance is not always immediate. There are Spirits that persist to remain on the bad path, in spite of the sufferings they go through. But, sooner or later, they recognize the wrong path they were following and repentance will come. In order to clarify them good Spirits carry out their work and also you may help them.” 995. Are there Spirits that without being bad remain indifferent to their fate? “There are Spirits that do not occupy themselves with anything. They remain in expectation. But, in this case, they suffer proportionally. There is to be progress in everything and in them progress manifests itself through pain.” a) - Do those Spirits not want to shorten their sufferings? “They do so, no doubt, but they lack enough energy to wish for what may relieve them. How many individuals among you are there who prefer to die in misery rather than work?” 996. If the Spirits see the evil that results from their imperfections, how is it that there are those who aggravate their state of low evolutive level they find themselves in, practicing evil as Spirits by deviating man from his righteous path? “This is how late repented individuals proceed. It may also happen that after having repented a Spirit lets itself be dragged again to the path of evil through the influence of other still further backward Spirits.” (see item 971)
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997. Spirits of a remarkable lower evolutive level are seen to be accessible to good feelings and sensitive to prayers made in their behalf, how can it be explained that other Spirits we presume to be more enlightened disclose a kind of hardness and a cynicism that no efforts can vanquish? “A prayer is only effective on Spirits that repent themselves. Regarding the Spirits that are impelled by pride, they turn themselves against God and persist in their madness sometimes even exaggerating it as some disgraced Spirits do. A prayer will not do anything to them until a flash of repentance is produced in them.” (see item 664) One should not lose sight of the fact that a Spirit does not change itself suddenly after the death of the body. If it lived a condemnable life, it was so because it was imperfect. Death does not make a Spirit become perfect at once. A Spirit may thus persist in its errors until it becomes enlightened through study, meditation and sufferings. 998. Is expiation carried out in the corporeal or in the spiritual state? “Expiation is carried during a corporeal existence by the means of trials a Spirits is submitted to and in the spiritual life by means of the moral sufferings inherent to the lower state of advancement of a Spirit.” 999. Is it enough to repent during lifetime to have the faults of a Spirit erased and to find grace in the eyes of God? “Repentance aids the improvement of a Spirit, but it needs to expiate its past.” a) - In view of this if the Spirit of a criminal would say that having to expiate his past there is no need to repent itself, what would result from this? “If such a Spirit were to persist in evil, this would make his expiation become longer and more painful” 1000. Are we able to redeem our faults already in this lifetime? “Yes, by mending them. Do not believe that you will redeem your faults through some childish privations, or by giving out alms
432 Allan Kardec after death when you no longer need your material belongings. Good does not value a sterile repentance that is always easy, needing only the effort of pounding on the chest. The loss of a finger when you are carrying out a job erases more faults than the torment of the body borne for years as an exclusive personal aim. (see item 726) “Only through goodness is evil able to be mended and the mending does not present any merit if it does not affect man, neither in his pride, nor in his material interests. Of what use is it as a justification to him to give back all material goods wrongly acquired after dying when they are useless and all benefits have been extracted? Of what use is it to deprive himself from some futile enjoyments if the harm caused to somebody else remains intact? At last, of what use is it to humiliate himself in front of God if in front of men he retains all his pride?” (see item 720 and 721) 1001. Will there be no merit in assuring a useful usage of the wealth left behind after death? “No merit is incorrect in this case. This is better than nothing at all. However, the disgrace refers to whoever gives away his belongings after death for it is always more a kind of selfishness rather than generosity. He wants to reap the result of goodness without the work of practicing it. A double benefit has whoever in life deprives himself of something, namely, the merit of sacrifice and the pleasure of seeing happy those who owe him their happiness. But there is his selfishness telling him that whatever he gives away, diminishes his enjoyments and as selfishness speaks louder than disinterest and charity, man saves what he owns using as an excuse his personal needs and the requirements of his position! Deplore whoever ignores the pleasure of giving out his belongings for he finds himself deprived from one of the most pure and gentle enjoyments. By submitting man to the trial of richness is very dangerous and slippery for his future. God has granted him the venture of generosity as a reward which he may already enjoy in this world.” (see item 814) 1002. What should a person do when he is about to die, recognize his faults and
433 The Book From The Spirits repent himself when there is no more time to mend them? Is it enough to repent himself in this case? “His repentance will hasten his rehabilitation, but it does not absolve him. Does he not have his future to unfold, a future that is never barred to him?”
DURATION OF FUTURE PENALTIES
1003. Is the duration of the sufferings of a guilty individual in a future life arbitrary or subjected to a law? “God never works by following whims and everything in the universe is ruled by laws through which His wisdom and kindness are disclosed.” 1004. On what is the duration of the sufferings of guilty individuals in a future life based on? “It basis itself on the time it takes for him to improve himself. Being the condition of suffering or happiness proportional to the level of purity of a Spirit, the duration and the nature of its sufferings depend on the time it will spend to improve itself. As a Spirit progresses and has its feeling purified, its suffering diminishes and the nature of the suffering changes.”
Saint Louis
1005. Is the time for a suffering Spirit as long as or shorter than when it was incarnated? “It seems to be longer to the Spirit. There is no sleep for the Spirit. Time sort of erases itself into infinity only to Spirits having reached a certain level of purity.” (see item 240) 106. May the sufferings of a Spirit last for ever?
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“They could if the Spirit had been eternally wicket, that is, if it never repented and improved itself, it would suffer eternally. But, God has not created beings having the destiny of remaining eternally evil oriented. God has only created them all as being simple and ignorant and so all have to progress taking a longer or a shorter time depending on the willingness of each one. This willingness may come tardy in the same way that there are children more or less precocious; however, sooner or later this willingness comes as an effect of the irresistible need a Spirit has to become happy. Thus, imminently wise and magnanimous is the law that rules the length of penalties for it subordinates the length of time to the efforts a Spirit makes. It ever deprives the self determination of a Spirit; if it makes a bad use of it, the consequences are inevitable.”
Saint Louis 1007. Are there Spirits that never repent themselves? “There are those that repent themselves very tardily, however, to think that they will never improve is to deny the law of progress or to say that a child will never become an adult.”
Saint Louis
1008. Does the length of penalties always depend on the willingness of a Spirit? Are there not some penalties that are imposed for a certain time? “Yes, penalties may be imposed on a Spirit for a certain time; but, God wanting only goodness for his creatures, always harbors repentance and the wish of a Spirit to improve itself is never left unattended.”
Saint Louis
1009. Thus, the imposed penalties will never be for all eternity?
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“Question you common sense, your reason, by asking if a condemnation for ever motivated by some moments of error would not be the negation of the kindness of God. Actually, what is a life span, even if it reaches over a hundred years, compared to eternity? Eternity! Do you understand well this word? Sufferings, endless tortures, hopelessness, because of some faults! Does your judgment not repel such idea? That ancient people considered the Lord of the Universe as a dreadful, jealous and vindictive God, is conceivable. In the ignorance they were, they attributed the passions of men to divinity. However, this God is not the God of the Christians that places love, charity, mercy and the oblivion of offences as the prime virtues. Could God lack such qualities He prescribes as being a duty to his creatures? Is there no contradiction in attributing Him an infinite kindness as well as an infinite vengeance? You say that God is above everything and that it is man who does not understand his justice. But, justice does not exclude kindness and God would not be good if He condemned the majority of his beings to eternal and horrible penalties. Would God have the right of making justice be an obligation to his children if He had not given them the means of understanding them? Moreover, by making the duration of penalties depend on the efforts of the guilty one, is not the whole sublimity of justice united with kindness? This is where you find the truth of the sentence ‘To each one according to his works.’ ” Saint Augustine
“Pursue to combat and to destroy the idea of eternal penalties by using all the means at hand. It is a blasphemous idea of justice and of the kindness of God; it is a fertile germ of incredulity, of materialism and of the indifference invading the masses of human beings from the moment intelligence began to evolve. A Spirit about to clarify itself, or even just pruned, soon apprehends the monstrous injustice. Its reason repels it and then it is not hard for it to encompass the same repudiation of the penalty revolting the Spirit and of the God it attributes it to, resulting in the countless evils that have fallen upon you and for which we have come to bring you remedy. The
436 Allan Kardec task we point out to you will be much easier because the defenders of such belief have avoided saying formally something regarding it. Neither the canons nor the Fathers of the Church have solved this serious question. Even though, according to the Evangelists and by taking the emblematic words of Christ literally, He has threatened the guilty ones with an eternal fire, nothing is found in his words able to prove that He has condemned them eternally. “Poor sheep that have gone astray! Learn to see the good Shepard coming to you who rather than banishing your presence for ever, comes personally to meet and lead you to the cote. Prodigal children, leave your voluntary exile; forward your steps to the fatherly dwelling. The Father reaches out his arms and is always ready to celebrate your return to your home.” Lamennais “Wars of words! Wars of words! Is the blood you have made be shed still not enough! Will it still be necessary to relight the fires of the stake? Eternal penalties and the eternity of punishments are being discussed. Do you then ignore that what you understand as being eternity is not what ancient people designated by this word? If a theologian looks up the sources he will discover there, as all of you may, that the Hebrew text did not attribute this meaning to the word and that the Greeks, Latin and modern people have translated it as endless and irremissible penalties. The eternity of punishments to ancient people corresponds to the eternity of evil. Yes, for while evil exists among men, punishments will last. Important is to interpret the sacred texts in a relative sense. So, the eternity of punishments is relative and not absolute. When the day comes in which every man is coated with the tunic of innocence through repentance, from this day onwards wailing and the gnashing of teeth will cease. It is true that you have a limited human reason, however, the way you have it, it is a gift of God and with the help of this reason there will be no man of good faith that will understand the eternity of punishments in other ways. After all, it was necessary to admit evil as being eternal. Only God is eternal and He could not have created an eternal evil; otherwise, it would be bound to take away from Him the most
437 The Book From The Spirits glorious attribute, namely, the sovereign power for whoever creates a destructive element of his works, is not sovereignly powerful. Humanity! Humanity! Do not throw your sad eyes into the depth of the Earth to seek there for punishments. Weep, wait, expiate and take shelter in the idea of a God intrinsically good, absolutely powerful and essentially just.”
Plato
“To gravitate towards the divine unity; this is the aim of Humanity. There are three things to achieve it, namely, Justice, Love and Knowledge. Three things are the opposite and contrary, namely, injustice, hate and ignorance. In truth I tell you that you have falsified the idea of God by not observing these fundamental principles as well as by exaggerating the severity of God. You double falsify it by letting penetrate in the Spirit of a creature the supposition that there is more clemency, more virtue, love and a true justice in it than what you attribute to the infinite being. You even destroy the idea of hell by making it become ridiculous and inadmissible to your beliefs as are to your hearts the horrible spectacle of executions and the stack fires of the middle age! Do you expect to keep it as a dream until all blind retaliations have been banished for ever from human legislations? Believe me dear brothers in God and in Jesus Christ, believe me; either you give in to let all your dogmas perish in your hands, preferably modifying them, or else, vivifying them by opening them to the healing emanating fragrance that the Good Spirits are now shedding upon you. The idea of hell with its blazing furnaces having their boilers steaming may be tolerated, that is, forgivable in a century of iron; however, in the 19th century, at most to frighten small children and as soon as they grow up a little, they soon cease believing in it. If you persist in this startling mythology, you will deceive incredulity, the mother of all social disorganization. I tremble by glimpsing a whole unsettled social order collapsing on its basis due to the lack of a penal sanction. Men of a strong and live
438 Allan Kardec faith, modernistic individuals of the day of light, let us proceed not to keep fables that become old and discredited, but rather to revive the true penal sanction capable of existing in harmony with your customs, your feelings and with the lights of your time. “Who is actually guilty? It is whoever through a deviation, through a false movement of the soul, distances himself from the aim of creation consisting in a harmonious cult of beauty, of goodness, idealized by the human archetype, by God-man, by Jesus Christ. “What is punishment? It is the natural consequence derived from a false movement; a sum of pains necessary to disgust man of his deformity through the experiencing of pain. Punishment is a spur stimulating the soul through bitterness to bend on itself to seek the harbor of salvation. Punishment has as its only purpose the rehabilitation and redemption. To want it to be eternal for a fault that is not eternal, is to deny all the reason of being. “In truth I tell you, stop placing in parallel Goodness in its eternity, the essence of the Creator, with Evil, the essence of the creature. In so doing, an unjustifiable penalty is created. Strive, on the contrary, to have a gradual softening of punishments and of penalties through incarnations and you will consecrate divine unity by having united feeling with reason.”
Paul, the Apostle
With the attractiveness of rewards and the fear of punishments, it is sought to stimulate man towards goodness and to deviate him from evil. However, if these punishments are presented to him in such a form that his reason refuses to admit them, they will have no influence on him. Far from this, he will reject everything, both form and ground. If, on the contrary, the future is presented to him in a logical manner, he will not reject it. Spiritism offers man this explanation.
The Doctrine of eternal penalties, in an absolute sense, makes the Supreme Being be a merciless God. Would it be logical to say that a ruler that is very good,
439 The Book From The Spirits very magnanimous, very indulgent, that wants around him only the happiness of everybody, but that, at the same time, is conscientious, revengeful, having an inflexible rancor and punishing three quarter parts of his subjects with extreme punishments for an offense, or the transgression of one of his laws, even when the subjects did not know the law? Would it not be contradictory? Well then, could God be less fair than a man? Here is another contradiction. If God knows everything, when creating a soul he knew whether it would fail, or not. This soul then was destined to eternal disgrace. Would this be possible or rational? With the doctrine of relative penalties, everything may be justified. Undoubtedly God knew that the soul would fail, but He gave it the means of instructing itself though its own experience, through its own faults. It is necessary to expiate its errors so as to better strengthen itself in goodness, but the door of hope is not shut for ever to the soul and God makes its redemption depend on all the efforts employed to achieve it. This everybody is able to understand and the most painstaking logic may admit it. There would be less skeptical individuals if future penalties were presented from this point of view.
In ordinary language the word eternal is often used figuratively to designate something long lasting whose end can not be predicted although it is well known that this word exists. We mention, for instance, the eternal glaciers of the mountains or of the poles, although we know that the physical world may have an end and, on the other hand, conditions of those regions may change with the normal shift of the axis of the Earth, or by means of a cataclysm. Thus, in this case the word eternal does not mean perpetual up to infinity. When we suffer of a lengthy illness, we say that our evil is eternal. So, why should we feel amazed then if Spirits that suffer for years, centuries and even for thousands of years, also express themselves this way? Particularly, let us not forget that the low level advancement of Spirits does not allow them to see the end of the path, making them believe that they will have to suffer for ever which is a punishment to them. The doctrine of material fire, of furnaces and tortures, taken from Tartar paganism, is completely forsaken nowadays due to the high theology and the startling allegoric pictures of them that are presented as positive truths only in schools by some more zealous than learned men that commit a serious error by doing so because the imagination of youngsters freeing themselves from the terrors may increase the number of unbelievers. Theology recognizes today that
440 Allan Kardec the word fireis used figuratively and that it should be understood to mean a moral fire. (see item 974) Those who have followed up, as we have, the ongoing of life and of the beyond the grave sufferings through the communication of Spirits, will become convinced that because in spite of not having anything material, they are none the less pungent. Even concerning the duration, some theologians begin to admit it in the restrictive sense mentioned above and think that actually the word eternal may refer to the penalties themselves as a consequence of an unchangeable law and not its application on every individual. Now that Religion will admit this interpretation, as well as some others also resulting from the progress of enlightenment, it will bring back many misled sheep.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
1010. Will the dogma of the resurrection of the body be the consecration of reincarnation taught by Spirits? “How would you like it to be different? As it happens with so many other words, these words seem to be impertinent in the understanding of some people because they take them literally. This leads them to disbelief. Give them a logical interpretation and those you call free thinkers will admit it without any difficulty, precisely for their reflected upon reason. Do not mistake yourself for what these free thinkers mostly want is to believe. They have like others, perhaps even more than the others, a thirst for the future, but they can not accept what science denies. The doctrine of the plurality of existences is consentaneous with the justice of God and only it explains what is unexplainable without it. How do you doubt then that this principle is found in religion? 1011. We may say then that through the dogma of resurrection the church itself teaches the doctrine of reincarnation? “Evidently. Furthermore, this doctrine results from many things that have passed unnoticed and that will shortly be understood in this sense. It will soon be recognized that Spiritism is implied in every part of the Holly Writings. Therefore, Spirits do not come to
441 The Book From The Spirits subvert religion as some people think. On the contrary, they come to confirm reincarnation, to ratify it by means of undeniable proofs. However, as the time has come of not using figurative language any longer, Spirits express themselves without allegories and lend things a clear and precise sense that may not be subjected to any false interpretation. That is why it will not take long to have a much greater number of sincerely religious people and believers.”
Saint Louis
Actually Science shows the impossibility of resurrection according to the popular idea. If the remains of the human body were to keep itself preserved homogeneously, although dispersed and reduced to powder, it would be possible to have it recovered at a certain moment. However, things are not like this. The body is made up of different elements like oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, among others. On decomposition, these elements disperse themselves to form new bodies, so that a same molecule of carbon, for example, may have come into the composition of other thousands of different bodies (we are thinking only of human bodies, not taking into account the bodies of animals); that an individual may perhaps have in his body molecules having already belonged to primitive men; that the same organic molecules being absorbed through food that possibly came from the body of an individual you have known and so on. Matter existing in a definite quantity and being its combination indefinite, how could each of those bodies restore itself with the same elements? This is a material impossibility. Thus, rationally it is not possible to admit the resurrection of a body unless as a symbolic figure of the reincarnation phenomenon. Consequently, there is nothing else to divert reason, to contradict what Science says.
According to the dogma, resurrection obviously takes place only at the end of times whereas it happens every day according to the Doctrine of Spiritism. But, in the picture of a final judgment, would there not be a great and beautiful image to hide, one of these unchangeable truths behind the veil of an allegory in the presence of which there would be no more skeptics provided reincarnation has its true meaning restored? Take the time to meditate on the theory of Spiritism affecting the future of souls and the fate of each as an effect of the different
442 Allan Kardec trials the souls have to go through and you will see that, excepting the multi- simultaneity, the judgment condemning a soul is not a fiction as unbelievers think it is. We notice further that the theory is a natural consequence of the plurality of worlds, an idea well accepted nowadays, while the Earth is the only inhabited world according to the doctrine of doomsday.
PARADISE, HELL AND PURGATORY
1012. Are there circumscribed places in the Universe for the penalties and joys of Spirits according to their merits? “We have already answered this question. Penalties and joys are inherent to the advancement level of Spirits. Each draws from itself the beginning of its happiness or misfortune. As Spirits are everywhere, there is no circumscribed place or enclosure destined particularly for either condition. Regarding incarnated Spirits, they are more or less happy or disgraced depending on whether the world it is incarnated in has a greater or smaller level of advancement.” a) Then, according to what you have come to say, hell and paradise do not exist in the way man imagines them to be? “They are simple allegories for everywhere there are happy and unhappy Spirits. However, also as we have already said, Spirits of a same level of advancement gather through sympathy; but they may gather wherever they want when they are perfect.” An absolute site for penalties and rewards exists only in the imagination of man. It comes from his tendency of materializing and circumscribing things whose infinite essence is not possible for him to understand. 1013. What is to be understood by purgatory? “Physical and moral pains; the time of expiation. Almost always you make your purgatory on the Earth where God obligates you to expiate your faults.” What man calls purgatory is also an allegory and as such it should be understood not as a certain place, but the condition of imperfect Spirits that are
443 The Book From The Spirits in expiation until they reach a complete purification that will make them become blessed Spirits. This purification is achieved by means of successive reincarnations where a purgatory consists of the trials of physical life. 1014. How may it be explained that Spirits whose superiority is disclosed by the language they make use of on answering to very serious persons regarding hell and purgatory in terms of ideas currently in use? “This happens because Spirits want to use a language that may be understandable to the persons questioning them. When such persons are imbued with certain ideas, Spirits avoid shocking them very abruptly in order not to hurt their convictions. If a Spirit would say to a Moslem without any oratory caution that Mahomet was not a prophet, the Spirit would certainly not be welcomed.” a) - One realizes that the Spirits coming to instruct us proceed that way. However, how is it that being questioned on their condition some Spirits answered that they suffered the tortures of hell or purgatory? “When Spirits of low evolutive advancement levels that have not yet completely dematerialized themselves, they retain a great part of their Earthly ideas and to present their impressions they make use of the words familiar to them. They are in an environment that allows them to probe the future only imperfectly. This is the cause for some roaming Spirits, or that have recently left the body, to speak as they would if they were incarnated. Hell made be translated as a life of privations, extremely painful, having an uncertainty about another life that is better; purgatory is also a life of privations, but being conscious of a better future. When we experience a great pain, is it not common to say that you suffer the torture of the damned? All these are only words and always uttered in a figurative sense.” 1015. What is to be understood by the expression – a soul in torment? “A roaming and suffering soul unsure of its future and to which you may provide the relief it often requests when communicating with you.” (see item 664) 1016. In what sense are we to understand the meaning of the word heaven? “Do you think it to be a place like the ancient Elysian Fields
444 Allan Kardec where all good Spirits are promiscuously gathered, without any other concern but to enjoy throughout all eternity a passive happiness? No, it is a universal place comprising planets, stars and all the upper level worlds where Spirits totally enjoy their abilities without the tribulations of material life or the anxieties peculiar in the state of inferiority.” 1017. Some Spirits have said that they inhabit the fourth, the fifth heaven and so on. What do they mean by saying this? “It is by asking them in which heaven they inhabit that you may have an idea of the many heavens arranged like the many floors of a building. Thus, they answer using your language. But, through the words – fourth and fifth heaven – they express different levels of purification and, consequently, of happiness. It is just as when a Spirit is asked if it is in hell. If the Spirit is unfortunate it will say – yes, because for that Spirit hell is synonymous to suffering. However, it knows very well that hell is not a furnace. A pagan would say that the Spirit is in Tartarus.” The same thing happens with analogous expressions, such as, the city of flowers, the city of the elected ones; first, second or third sphere, etc. which are just allegories some Spirits make use of as figures of speech, sometimes due to their ignorance of the reality of things and even of the simplest scientific notions.
According to the restricted ideas that were made in the past about the places of penalties and rewards and, above all, according to the opinion that the Earth was the center of the Universe, that the sky formed a vault and that there was an area of stars, heaven is placed at the top and hell at the bottom. This is from were the expressions come from, like to rise to heaven, to be in the highest of heavens, be thrown down into hell. Since Science has shown us that the Earth is the only one among so many millions of other planets, being a smaller world having no especial importance; that man has drawn the history of its formation and described its constitution; that he has proven space to be infinite, that there is no top or bottom in the Universe, it was necessary to renounce the idea of a heaven above the clouds and a hell in lower places. As with the purgatory, there is no place assigned to hell or heaven. It was left to Spiritism to give to all this more rational explanation, more grandiose and, at the same time, more soothing
445 The Book From The Spirits to Humanity. It may be said that each of us brings in himself his hell and his paradise. Purgatory we find in incarnations, in the corporeal or physical life. 1018. In what sense are we to understand the words of Christ, ‘My kingdom is not of this world’? “By answering this way, Christ was using a figurative sense. He wanted to say that his kingdom is solely exerted on pure and uninterested hearts. He is wherever the love for goodness dominates. However, avid for the things of this world and stuck to the goods of the Earth, men are not like Christ was. “ 1019. Will the kingdom of goodness ever be implanted on the Earth? “Goodness will rule on the Earth when the good Spirits dominate among the Spirits coming to inhabit it. They will make love and justice rule on the Earth, attributes which are the sources of goodness and happiness. It is through the moral progress and by practicing the laws of God that man will attract to the Earth good Spirits and distance the bad ones. However, the latter ones will only leave the Earth after pride and selfishness have been banished. “The transformation of Humanity has been predicted and the moment this will happen is nearing, a moment whose arrival hastens all men aiding progress. This transformation will take place through the incarnation of better Spirits that will make up a new generation on the Earth. Then, the evil Spirits that death is reaping day after day and all those that try to detain the goings-on of things will be excluded for they will feel displaced among the men of goodness whose happiness they want to disturb. They will go to new less advanced worlds to perform burdensome missions, working for their own advancement at the same time they will work for their still more backward brothers. In this banishment of the Spirits from the transformed Earth do you not perceive the sublime allegory of Paradise lost and the coming of men to the Earth in similar conditions, by bringing in them the seed of their passions and the vestiges of their primitive low evolutive advancement, do you not see in it the not less sublime allegory of the original sin? By considering it from this point of view, the original sin is linked with the still imperfect
446 Allan Kardec nature of man who, in this way, is only responsible for his own faults and not for the faults of his parents. “Therefore, all of you, men of faith and good will, work with zest and for the great work of regeneration. You will reap a hundredfold the seeds you have sown. Woe to whoever closes his eyes to the light! He prepares for himself long centuries of darkness and deceptions. Woe to whoever makes from the riches of this world the source of all his joys. He will have to suffer privations in a greater number than the enjoyments he now has! Woe, above all, to whoever is selfish! He will not find anybody to help him carry the burden of his miseries.”
Saint Louis
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Conclusion
I
Whoever knew about Earthly magnetism only about the magnetism related to the toy of a little duck figure that by the action of a magnet enables it to move in all directions in a washbasin filled with water, would hardly understand that it is where the secret of the mechanism of the Universe and of the movement of worlds are. The same happens in Spiritism when somebody only knows the moving of tables which he sees as entertainment, a social pastime, without understanding the phenomenon that is so simple and common that even ancient semi-savage peoples knew of, he does not know the link it may have with the most serious questions of social order. Actually, what relation do morals and the future of Humanity have with the movement of a table to a superficial observer? However, when you meditate on it, you will remember that a simple pan boiling with water lifts its lid continually, a fact which also has been happening since ancient times that has triggered the invention of powerful engines enabling man to cross space faster and so reduce distances. Therefore, let it be known to those of you who believe only on what belongs to the material world that it was from a turning table making you smile contemptuously that a science was created, as well as the solution to problems that no philosophy was able to solve. I appeal to all opponents of good faith and adjure you to say if you have spent some time to study what you criticize because good logic demands that criticism has a value only when who criticizes has the knowledge of what he talks about. Scoffing something you do not know, that has not been probed with the scalpel of a conscientious observer is not what to criticize means, but rather, it shows levity and a sad sample of a lack of criteria. Most certainly if we had presented this philosophy as the work of a human brain, less contemptuous
448 Allan Kardec would the treatment have been and would have received the honor of an examination from those who intend to direct public opinion. However, it comes from Spirits. What absurdity! They hardly give it a simple glimpse. They judge it by the title like the monkey of the fable that judged a nut by its shell. Make an abstraction of the origin of this book if you want. Suppose this book to be the work of a single man and say from the depth of your conscience after having read it seriously if there is anything to scoff on.
II
Spiritism is the most dreadful opponent of materialism. So, it is not amazing to have materialists as opponents of Spiritism. But since materialism is a doctrine whose followers hardly dare to confess that they are materialists (a proof that they do not consider themselves very strong and have their conscience to dominate them), they cover themselves with the veil of reason and science. Strange it is that those who are more skeptical speak even in the name of religion they do not know and do not understand better than they understand Spiritism. They take as their target what is marvelous and supernatural which they do not admit. They say that the fact that Spiritism is based on the marvelous can only be a ridiculous supposition. They do not remember that by condemning the marvelous and the supernatural without any restriction, they also condemn religion. Indeed, religion is based on revelation and on miracles. Well, revelation is a set of extraterrestrial communication. Since Moses every sacred author has been speaking about this kind of communication. Miracles are marvelous and supernatural par excellence facts since in the liturgical sense they constitute the derogations of the laws of Nature. Thus, by rejecting the marvelous and the supernatural, materialists reject the basis of religion. It is not from this point of view that we should face the question.
449 The Book From The Spirits
It is not the competence of Spiritism to examine whether there is a miracle or not, that is, if in certain cases it was the volition of God to abolish the eternal laws that rule the Universe. Spiritism allows a whole freedom of belief regarding this. Spiritism says and evidences that the phenomena on which the materialists base themselves has only a supernatural appearance. They seem supernatural to some persons only because they are unheard- of and different from known facts. However, they are not more supernatural than all the phenomena that Science explains today and that seemed marvelous in other times. All phenomena of Spiritism, without any exception, result from general laws. Spiritism discloses us one of the forces of Nature, an unknown force, or better said, not understood until now, but that observation shows to be within the order of things. Consequently, Spiritism basis itself less on the marvelous and supernatural than religion does. Thus, those who attack Spiritism from this side show that they do not understand it and even if they were the greatest scholars, we would tell them that their Science that has instructed them on so many things, has not taught them that the mastery of Nature is infinite which shows that they are only half wise.
III
You say that you want to cure your century from a mania that threatens to invade the world. Do you prefer the world to be invaded by the incredulity that you try to propagate? To what should be attributed the loosening of family bonds and the greater part of social disorder if it were not caused by the absence of all beliefs? By showing the existence and the immortality of the soul, Spiritism revives the faith in the future. It brings up subdued zest that allows man bear the vicissitudes of life. Would you dare to call this an evil? Two doctrines come into conflict here. One denies a future and the other proclaims and proves its existence; the former does not explain anything, the latter explains everything and so leads man to reasoning;
450 Allan Kardec the former is the enactment of selfishness, the latter offers a basis for justice, charity and love to fellow creatures. The former shows only the present moment and destroys all hopes; the latter comforts and unveils the huge field of the future. Which is most precious? Some persons among the most skeptical ones decide to be apostles of fraternity and progress. But fraternity implies in disinterest and in the abnegation of personality. Where there is true fraternity, selfishness is an abnormality. With what right may you impose a sacrifice on the one to whom you say that everything ends with his death; that tomorrow he will perhaps not be more than an old dismantled machine thrown into a trash dump? What purpose will man have to impose on himself any deprivation? Will it not be more natural to leave him live the best he can during the short moments still granted to him? This leads to the wish of owning a lot to enjoy life better. From the wish originates the envy of those owning more and it is a short pace from this envy to the wish of catching hold of those belongings. What stops him? A law? But a law does not cover all cases. You will say that what stops him is his conscience, his feeling of duty. Is it reasonable to put the feeling side by side with the belief that everything ends with life? Wherever this belief exists, only one precept is rational, namely, that everybody is by himself which makes the idea of fraternity, of conscience, of duty, of humanity and even of progress be only empty words. Ah! You who proclaim similar doctrines, you do not know how great the evil is that you cause to society, nor of how many crimes which you take over the responsibility of! For a skeptic such a thing does not exist. He pays homage only to matter.
IV
The progress of humanity begins with the law of justice, love and charity, a law that basis itself on the sureness of a future. Take away this sureness and you take away its corner stone. From
451 The Book From The Spirits this law derive all the other laws because it contains all the conditions of man’s happiness. Only this law may cure all the sores of society. By comparing different periods and the peoples, it may be evaluated how much conditions have improved as this law became better understood and practiced. So, if by applying the law partially or incompletely it renders man so much goodness, what will it not do when it becomes the basis of all social institutions! Would this be possible? It sure is possible for if it has already advanced ten steps, it is possible to advance another twenty, and so on. The future may be judged through the past. We already see that little by little the antipathy from people to people is being extinguished. In terms of civilizations, the barriers separating them are diminishing. From one end of the world to the other, civilizations reach out their arms. More justice presides the working out of international laws. Wars are becoming more and more seldom and do not exclude the feelings of humanity. Regarding relationships, evenness is setting in. Distinctions of races and casts are being erased while those professing different beliefs impose silence on the losses of the sect so as to mix themselves in the worship of a single God. We are speaking of peoples that lead civilization. (see item 789 and 793) However, we are still far away from perfection and many ancient ruins will still have to be demolished until there will not be any vestiges of barbarism left over. May these ruins preserve themselves against the irresistible force of progress, against this live force that is in itself a law of Nature? You will come to know it through the force of things. First because with the passing of generations, every day some champions of old abuses are extinguished which allows society to make up new elements free from old prejudices. Second because by wanting progress man studies its obstacles and makes an effort to remove them. Since the advance of progress is incontestable, there should be no doubt about the forthcoming progress. Man wants to be happy and this is a natural wish. So, by seeking to progress what he looks for is to increase his happiness without which progress would lack an object. Of what would happiness consist for him if it were not to improve his position? However, when man manages to have
452 Allan Kardec a sum of joys which intellectual progress has provided him with, he will see that this happiness is not complete. He will recognize that this happiness is impossible to attain without a security in the social relationships, a security that only though moral progress will enable him to find it. Thus, through the forces of the things themselves, man himself will direct progress towards the pathway and Spiritism will offer him the most powerful lever to attain such an aim.
V
Those who say that the Doctrine of Spiritism threatens to invade the world, they proclaim, ipso facto, the force of Spiritism for the idea could never have become universal if it were without a basis and lacking logics. Thus, if Spiritism thrives everywhere, particularly in the cultured classes, if it enlists new followers, it is so because it has a ground of truth as everybody may easily recognize it. All efforts of the detractors will be in vain and the proof is that the ridicule with which they try to characterize it is far from lessening the impetus and seems to have given Spiritism a new vigor, a result that fully justifies what Spirits have repeatedly said, “Do not forget that everything the opposition has made to you, will turn in favor of you and your greatest opponents will serve your cause without wanting it. The evil volition of men can not prevail over the volition of God.” Through Spiritism humanity has to start a new phase, the phase of moral progress, which is an inevitable consequence of it. So, do not be amazed at the speed with which the ideas of Spiritism propagate. The cause of this celerity lies in the satisfaction Spiritism brings to everybody that deepens his observations and that sees in them something more than just a futile entertainment. So, as everybody wants his own happiness above all, there is nothing amazing in everybody accepting an idea that makes him feel happy. The development of the ideas of Spiritism has three distinct
453 The Book From The Spirits periods; first is the period of curiosity that the peculiarity ofthe produced phenomenon arouses; second is the period of reasoning and philosophy; third is the period of application and of its consequences. The period of curiosity has passed; curiosity does not last long. Once curiosity is satisfied, the object changes. The same does not happen with whoever dares a serious meditation and reasoning. The second period has started and the third will inevitably come. Spiritism has progressed mainly after it became better understood in its intimate essence; after its range was perceived for it reaches the most sensible string in man, namely, his happiness, even in this world. This is the cause of its propagation. This is the secret of the force that will make Spiritism triumph. While its influence does not touch the masses, it continues to bring happiness to those who understand it. Even those that have not witnessed any phenomenon say that “apart from the phenomenon, there is a philosophy that explains what NO OTHER PHILOSOPHY has ever explained to me. In it I find solely through reasoning a rational solution for the problems that are at its highest level of interest to my future. This philosophy gives me calmness, assurance and confidence; it releases me from the torment of uncertainty.” Besides all this, the question of material facts becomes secondary. Would all those who oppose Spiritism like to have a means of combating Spiritism successfully? Here it is. Replace it with something better; indicate a MORE PHILOSOPHICAL solution that Spiritism has solved; give man ANOTHER SURENESS to make him happier, however, understand well the range of the word sureness for man accepts only as sure what seems logical to him. Do not simply say this is not so; such a statement is too easy to be made. Prove not through negation, but through facts that Spiritism is not a fact, that it has never been and is NOT POSSIBLE to be a fact. If it is not, say what is in its place. At last, prove that the consequences of Spiritism are not to make man become better and therefore happier by practicing the purest evangelical morals to which many praises have been made, but which is practiced very little. After you have accomplished this, you have the right to attack.
454 Allan Kardec
Spiritism is strong because it rests on a religious base, namely, God, the soul, the future penalties and rewards; above all because it shows that those penalties as well as rewards are natural corollaries of Earthly life and furthermore, in the presented picture of the future, there is nothing that the most rigorous reason may reject. What compensation do you offer to those suffering in this world, you whose doctrine consists just in denying the future? While you support yourself on incredulity, Spiritism supports itself on the trust in God; instead of inviting men to attain happiness, to have hope and a true fraternity, you offer them nothing as a perspective and selfishness as a consolation. Spiritism explains everything, you explain nothing. Spiritism proves through facts, you do not prove anything. How do you expect people to hesitate between these two doctrines?
VI
Whoever thinks that the force of Spiritism comes from material manifestations and that, therefore, by stopping such manifestations undermines it, has a very false idea of Spiritism. Its force lies in its philosophy, in the appeal it makes to reasoning and common sense. In ancient times it used to be the object of mysterious studies that were carefully hidden from ordinary people. Today, Spiritism makes no secret to anybody. It speaks a clear language, without ambiguities. There is nothing mystic in it, no allegories liable to come up with false interpretations. Spiritism wants to be understood by all because the time has come for man to learn the truth. Far from being against the diffusion of enlightenment, Spiritism wants it to reach the whole world. It does not demand a blind belief; it wants man to know why he believes in it. By basing himself on reason, man will always be stronger than he who does not base himself on anything at all. Would the obstacles that try to offer resistance to the freedom of its manifestations put an end to Spiritism? No, it would not because it would produce the same effect of all persecutions, namely, of inciting
455 The Book From The Spirits the curiosity of wanting to know what was forbidden. On the other hand if the manifestations of Spiritism would be the privilege of a single man and if this man were segregated, the manifestations would undoubtedly cease. Unfortunately for the opponents of Spiritism, the manifestations are at the reach of everybody and everybody resorts to it, from the least important individual up to the most graduated, from a mansard house up to a palace. Those who oppose Spiritism may forbid manifestations in public. However, it is known that to have manifestations from Spirits in public is positively not the best place, but rather, in privacy, making it possible for everybody to be a medium. Who is able to impede a family in their home; an individual in the silence of his office; a prisoner in his cell in spite of the prison enforcement offices and even in the presence of them, to communicate with Spirits? If this is prohibited in one country, is it possible to obstruct it in neighboring countries, in the whole world, since in both hemispheres there are mediums everywhere? To lock up all mediums it would be necessary to put in jail half of the human kind. If the opponents came even to the point of burning all the books on Spiritism, which would not be so easy, the next day all the books would have been reprinted for the source from where the books come from is unassailable and because nobody is able to lock up or burn Spirits, the actual authors of the books. Spiritism is not the work of a single man. Nobody may inculcate himself as being the creator of Spiritism for it is as ancient as creation itself. We find Spiritism everywhere, in every religion, mainly in the Catholic religion and in it with more authority than in any other religion. It is there that we find all the principles of Spiritism, namely, Spirits of all levels of evolutive advancement, their hidden and ostensible relationships with men, guarding angels, reincarnation and the emancipation of the soul during life, double sight, all kinds of manifestations, apparitions and even tangible apparitions. Regarding demons, they are nothing more than evil Spirits and besides the belief that they have been destined to remain perpetually in evil, the pathway of progress is always open to them, there is but a difference in names.
456 Allan Kardec
What does the modern science of Spiritism do? It gathers in the form of a doctrine what was widely scattered about. By using suitable words it explains what was only said in an allegorical language and it prunes whatever superstition and ignorance have been engendered so as to leave only what is real and positive. This is its role. No one is the founder of Spiritism. It shows what actually exists, it coordinates, but it does not create; that is why its basis encompasses all times and comes from everywhere. So, who would dare to be strong enough to unsettle it with sarcasms, or even with persecutions? If Spiritism is proscribed in one place, it revives itself elsewhere at the very same site from where it was banished because it is part of Nature and man is neither granted to annihilate a force of Nature, nor use a veto to the enactments of God. What interest would there be for all others to prevent the propagation of the ideas of Spiritism? It is true that they are against abuses stemming from pride and selfishness. But, if it is sure that there are those who benefit from abuses, they harm human collectivity as a whole. A community will be in favor of Spiritism having only serious opponents those who are interested in keeping their abuses. The ideas of Spiritism, on the contrary, are a pledge of order and calmness because by its influence men become better to one another, less greedy for material things and more relinquished to the enactments of the Providence.
VII
Spiritism comprises three different aspects, namely, manifestations, principles and the applications of the principles. Consequently, there are three classes, or rather, three levels of followers. First are those who believe in the manifestations and restrict themselves in testifying them; to them Spiritism is an experimental science. Second are those who realize the moral consequences. Third are those who practice or make an effort to practice this moral. Whatever the point of view, either scientific or
457 The Book From The Spirits moral, when these strange phenomena are considered, everyone understands that they make up a new order of entirely new ideas that is appearing and will certainly result in a thorough modification in the style of Humanity. They also understand that this modification is bound to operate towards goodness. Regarding the opponents of Spiritism, they may also be classified into three categories. First are those who systematically deny everything new or that originates from it by speaking without knowing the subject. To this class belong all those who do not admit anything if it is not testified by the senses. They have not seen anything; they do not want to see anything and much less probe it. They would rather feel annoyed if they were able to see the things of the Spiritual world clearly for they would have to admit not having been right. To them Spiritism is an unreality, a madness, a utopia, something that does not exist, and that is all. They are unbelievers by design. Beside them there may be placed those who do not pay the least attention to the facts, not even as a way of releasing their consciousness by saying “I wanted to see and did not see anything”. They do not realize that it takes much more than half an hour for a person to become acquainted with a science. Second are those who knowing very well what to think of the reality of facts, they combat Spiritism due to personal reasons. For them, Spiritism exists, but they are afraid of its consequences. They attack Spiritism as if it were an enemy. Third are those who find in the morals of Spiritism a too severe censorship of their acts or of their tendencies. Taking it seriously, Spiritism disconcerts them; they neither reject it nor approve it; they prefer to close their eyes. The first are driven by pride and arrogance; the second are driven by ambition and the third by selfishness. It may be conceived that these causes of opposition will come to disappear in time due to the fact that their opposition is not consistent at all. It would also be in vain to seek for a fourth class of opponents, those that show patent proofs against Spiritism through a substantial and persistent study on the question. All only deny Spiritism, none of them offers as an example of a serious and undeniable demonstration of what they deny.
458 Allan Kardec
It would be too much to expect human nature to change suddenly by the effect of the ideas of Spiritism. The action that Spiritism exerts is certainly not the same, nor of a same intensity in all those professing it. But the result of this action whatever it is, even if extremely weak, always represents an improvement. It will serve at least as a proof of the existence on an extra-corporeal world, which implies in the denial of materialistic doctrines. This is the result of only the observation of the facts, however, the effect is different to those who understand Spiritism philosophically and see in it something else than just a more or less curious phenomenon. The first and more overall effect consists in the evolvement of a religious feeling even in those who look with an absolute indifference into spiritual questions without being materialists. This results in a complete disesteem regarding death. We do not mean the wish of dying; far from this for a follower of Spiritism will defend his life just as anybody else does, but his indifference leads him to accept an inevitable death without complaints or regret, as something that is more to rejoice than to fear due to the sureness he has of the condition that will come next. The second effect, almost as general as the first one, consists of a vicissitude of life resignation. Spiritism allows us to see things from so high up that a Spiritism follower loses three quarters of the importance of his Earthly life, distressing himself much less with the trials coming along. This results in more courage on facing afflictions and a greater moderation in his desires. Also, it makes him banish the idea of shortening the number of days of his existence. That is why the science of Spiritism tells us that through suicide an individual always loses what he expected to win. The sureness of a future, the ability of becoming happy, the possibility of setting relationships with dear entities, offers a follower of Spiritism a supreme consolation. The horizon stretches itself up to infinity, thanks to the spectacle he watches ceaselessly of the life beyond the grave whose mysterious depths he is granted to probe. The third effect is to stimulate in man the indulgency regarding
459 The Book From The Spirits the defects of someone else. However, it must be said that the principle of selfishness, and everything deriving from it, is mostly strong-willed in man, consequently, the most difficult element to be eliminated. Everybody makes sacrifices voluntarily provided there is no cost and it does not deprive him of anything. For most men money has an irresistible attraction and very few understand the word superfluous when it concerns them. That is why abnegation of personality constitutes a very great progress.
VIII
Some persons ask whether Spirits teach any new morals or anything of a higher value than what Christ has taught us. If the morals of the Spirits are but the morals of the Gospels, what then is Spiritism for? This way of reasoning is again notably analogous to the reasoning of Caliph Omar regarding the library of Alexandria, “If it contains nothing more than what is in the Koran, it is useless and must be burned up. If it contains different things, it is harmful and must be burnt up as well.” No, Spiritism does not bring us any morals different from the ones Jesus has brought. But, we ask in our turn, “Before the coming of Christ, did men not have the law God given to Moses?” Is the doctrine of Christ not contained in the Decalogue? Therefore, could it be said that the morals of Jesus are useless? We further ask to those who deny the morals of Spiritism, “Why are the morals of Christ so little practiced? Why is it that exactly those who proclaim their sublimity are the first ones to transgress the capital precept of universal charity? Spirits come not only to confirm it, but also to show us its practical usefulness. They make understandable and patent the truths that were considered in an allegorical way. Together with morals, Spirits bring us a definition of the most abstract problems of psychology. Jesus came to men to show them the path of true goodness. Since God has sent Jesus to make man recall His laws that had been
460 Allan Kardec forlorn, why should God not send Spirits in order to recall men again with a greater precision of the laws they have forgotten by sacrificing everything with their pride and greediness? Who is it that may dare to impose limits to the power of God and ascribe precepts to him? Who may say that the predicted times have not come yet, as Spirits tell us, and that we have not reached the moment at which truths badly understood, or falsely interpreted, should ostensibly be disclosed to the human kind so as to hasten its improvement? Is there not something providential in these manifestations that are simultaneously produced in every place of the globe? It is not a single man or prophet that comes to warn us. The light appears everywhere. It is a totally new world unfolding itself in our eyes. In the same way that the invention of the microscope has disclosed us a world of the infinite small entities we never suspected to exist; that the telescope has shown us millions of worlds whose existence we also never suspected to exist, so do the communications of Spirits disclose us the invisible world that surrounds us, that elbows us constantly and that takes part in everything we do, even if we are not aware of it. After some more time will have elapsed, the existence of the invisible world in wait for us will become as incontestable as are the worlds of the microscope and of the disseminated globes throughout space. Will it have been worth then to make us know the whole world; to have been initiated in the mysteries beyond the grave? It is true though that these discoveries, if they may be called so, contradict in some way some accepted ideas. But is it not also true that all great scientific inventions have equally modified, even subverted, the most current ideas? And our self-esteem, did it not have to bow itself in face of the evidence? The same will happen regarding Spiritism that soon will take its place among the branches of human knowledge. The communications with beings from beyond the grave have resulted in our understanding of the future life, making us see it, initiate us in the knowledge of penalties and joys that are in store for us according to our merits and in this way to forward towards
461 The Book From The Spirits spiritualism those who saw only matter in man, as if he were an organized machine. Thus, we are right when we say that Spiritism has killed materialism with facts. Were this the only result, social order would be very grateful, however, Spiritism has achieved much more than this. It shows the inevitable effects of evil and, consequently, the need for goodness. Much greater than you imagine, and it is growing steadily, is the number of those in whom Spiritism has improved their feelings, neutralized evil tendencies and avoided them from practicing evil. It so happens that for those persons the future has ceased to be something indefinite, a simple hope, when they see and hear those who have died either lament or feel happy for what they have done on the Earth. Whoever witnesses such communication begins to meditate and feels the need of knowing, judging and mending himself.
IX
The opponents of Spiritism have not forgotten to arm themselves with some divergences of opinion on certain points of the doctrine. It is not amazing to find contradictory systems at the beginning of a science when observations are still incomplete and everyone considers his own point of view. In Spiritism three quarters of such contradictory systems have been eliminated in view of a closer study starting with the attribution made that all communications were with evil Spirits as if God made it impossible to send good Spirits to men; an absurd belief because the facts deny it and impious because it denies the power and kindness of the Creator. Spirits have always said that we should not trouble ourselves with these divergences and that unity would be reached. Unity has been achieved in the majority of points and the divergences tend to disappear more and more. Having been asked, while the unity is not achieved, on what may an unbiased and uninterested man base himself on to form a judgment; the Spirits answered the following, “No dark cloud can obscure the truly pure light; a spotless
462 Allan Kardec diamond has the highest value; thus, judge the Spirits by the purity of their teachings. Never forget that among Spirits there are those that still have not eliminated the ideas they had in Earthly life. You may distinguish them through the language they make use of. Judge them by the wholeness of what they say; see if there is a logical chaining in their ideas. If the ideas do not show ignorance, pride or malevolence; in short, if every word of them brings a stamp of wisdom that a true superiority manifests. If errors were not accessible in your world, it would be a perfect world and it is far from it. You are still learning to distinguish error from truth. You are still lacking experience to exert your judgment and advancement. Unity will be reached on the side where goodness has never mixed with evil; it is on this side that men will gather by the force of things for they will recognize that it is there that truth lies. “Furthermore, what matters to have a few dissidences when they are more in terms of form than of knowledge? You may notice that the basic principles are the same everywhere which will unite you in a single common thought, namely, the love of God and the practice of goodness. Whatever mode of progression is considered or the normal condition of a future existence, the final aim is only one, namely, to practice goodness. There is but one way of doing it.” If it is true that among the followers of Spiritism are those who have different opinions on some points of the theory, it is not less true that all agree upon the fundamental points. Therefore, there is a unity if the small number of followers that do not yet admit the intervention of Spirits in the manifestations is excluded because they attribute strictly physical causes to them contradicting the following axiom. Every intelligent effect should have an intelligent cause; or yet a reflection of our own thought which is denied by the facts. The other points are secondary and do not affect the fundamental basis. Thus, there may be schools that seek to clarify themselves about the still controversial parts of the science; there should be no rival sects. Antagonism might only exist between those who want goodness and those who want or practice evil. There is no sincere follower of Spiritism convinced of the great moral
463 The Book From The Spirits maxims as taught by Spirits that may want to practice evil, or wish evil to his fellowman, without any distinction of opinions. If some of these maxims are erroneous, sooner or later the light will shine when earnestly sought without any prevention. While this does not happen, there is a common bond that should gather them having a single thought, a single target, for all of them. Consequently, the pathway matters little since it leads to the same target. No school should impose itself through material or moral constraint and it would be on a false path if it casts an anathema on another because then it might be under the influence of evil Spirits. The supreme argument should be reason. Moderation better assures the victory of truth of your fellowman and never a cunning thought, or contrary to charity, may come from a pure source. At last, let us hear the counsels of the Spirit of Saint Augustine on this subject. “For quite a along time men have mutually been tearing themselves into pieces and anathematized in the name of a God of peace and mercy, offending Him with such sacrilege. Spiritism is a bond that will unite all men some day because He will show men where the truths and the errors are. However, there will still be scribers and phyrisees for a long time who will deny as they have denied Christ. Do you want to know under the influence of which Spirits the different sects have partitioned the world among themselves? You may judge it by the works and by their principles; good Spirits have never instigated evil; never have they advised or legitimated killing and violence; never have hey stimulated the hatred of parties, or the thirst for richness and honors, the eagerness for the estate of the Earth. Those who are good, humane and benevolent regarding every human being, these are the favorite of the good Spirits and the favorite of Jesus because they proceed along the path Jesus has indicated to come onto him.”
Saint Augustine
464