Karma does not exist: the laws of the soul according to Spiritism
According to the original work by Allan Kardec, Heaven and Hell, before adulteration ((The original work, from Editora FEAL, can be downloaded by clicking on here )), the laws of the soul are simple, logical and completely consistent with divine goodness. There is no karma, law of return, etc.
Briefly:
Happiness and Unhappiness
Joy, pain, pleasure, fear, sadness are emotions generated by physiological reactions. Good and bad Spirits pass through all of them, so that one can be good and be sad or bad and be happy.
Happiness and unhappiness are conditions of the Spirit. Happiness is being in good — the only thing that exists in Divine Creation — corresponding to being in a state of collaboration: learning, assisting, helping, teaching.
True charity, therefore, is doing good out of moral duty, without expecting a return or trying to control the result. That is why Kardec says that the motto of Spiritism would be “outside of charity there is no salvation”.
The problem is that the error persists
In the development process, making mistakes is part of it, coming from choice, from trying. The problem is persisting in the error, willingly.
When the individual persists in error, because he enjoys his false ideas, he moves away from good. Pride, selfishness and all other imperfections arising from them arise. Not everyone does this.
By repeating the error, the individual acquires an imperfection that settles in them. Far from the good, where happiness exists, he becomes unhappy, as he cannot find satisfaction. He may be happy, distracted by material things, but he is not happy. Not infrequently, he even commits suicide…
It is in this state that evil exists, and only in it: for the individual far from good, WHILE he is far from good.
Conscience: our only judge and executioner
The divine law is engraved in our consciousness (The Spirits' Book, q. 621). The individual remains in this state, knowing that they are making a mistake, but ignoring their conscience, for more or less time, until it awakens for some reason.
When conscience awakens, remorse comes, the awareness of having made the mistake. This causes great moral suffering and, even worse, when people make mistakes voluntarily.
The moral suffering caused by remorse lasts as long as the Spirit refuses to sincere repentance. It can last centuries.
Repentance leads the Spirit back to happiness
When the Spirit sincerely repents, moral suffering ends and happiness resurfaces with the will to return to good, with decision. The need for repair arrives.
Repair consists of CHOOSING a new incarnation, with certain tests and opportunities, aiming to overcome the imperfection created by one's own will. This is atonement, and is therefore not a divine punishment.
Repairing does not NECESSARILY mean being reborn with your victims, as they may already be long gone, while you were left behind, attached to the error. To repair is to correct the deviation taken, in the effort of detachment.
In this way, we see that autonomy and free will are the only rule of divine law. Everything according to our choices and our time, within divine law. But the Law determines that we will all achieve happiness, without exception.
Teachings of Jesus
We see, then, the figure of the parable of the prodigal son: despite the father's warnings, the son goes to the world of pleasures. He loses everything, becomes remorseful, suffers, regrets and then returns home, humiliated...
His father welcomes him not with a punishment, but with open arms, AND STILL HAS A PARTY, and then RESUMES WORK. Your son has already had the punishment, caused by his own conscience, true judge and executioner of ourselves.
Jesus always demonstrated a God of full love, not a God of revenge. It was like that with the thief nailed to the cross next door, it was like that with the adulterous woman and with so many others...
Spiritism, as a result of spiritist science, only reinforces what Jesus already demonstrated: there is no karma, there is no punitive God. The punishment is carried out by the individual himself, for deciding to move away from good.
True Spiritism does not teach karma, it does not judge the individual's past based on their present physical suffering, it does not affirm that physical suffering is deserving or repaying debts.
Recommended Books
– Heaven and Hell, from FEAL (unadulterated edition – link in bio)
– Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism, by Paulo Herinque de Figueiredo
– Neither Heaven nor Hell: the laws of the soul according to Spiritism, by Paulo Herinque de Figueiredo and Lucas Sampaio
Photo by Olga: https://www.pexels.com/pt-br/foto/mulher-de-vestido-amarelo-em-pe-no-campo-de-flores-de-petalas-rosa-1146242/