A question that always comes to my mind and I believe that comes to the minds of many is: what to do in the face of the enemies of Spiritism? Should we expose them or would doing so be uncharitable?

Many recommend that we continue on our way, doing our part, without even mentioning these individuals. Certainly, spending precious time just refuting or criticizing the enemies of the Spiritist Doctrine would be spending precious time in an endless war. No, I don't see that as useful. However, I think from another side: what about those who hear them?

Who are the enemies of Spiritism

Here it is necessary to make an important distinction: Spiritism has its declared enemies, but it also has them in its ranks. The first are those who openly criticize the Spiritist Doctrine and, almost always without even knowing what they are talking about, attack it from all sides. These are the any less dangerous. The second type of enemies are those who call themselves spiritists, study the surface of the Doctrine, but, voluntarily or not, attack it from within with the dissemination of the most false ideas, arising from the blind acceptance of spiritist communications. These are the most fearful enemies, and Spiritism has them among incarnate and discarnate people.

It will be very difficult and inadvisable to summarily judge the intentions of others. In some, they may be quite apparent and even declared; in others, they may even be good, but, as the individual is prone to pride and vanity, among other imperfections, they become null or even harmful due to the effects they produce. Even here, we have another problem, as these effects are often not directly noticeable, but are built up by a series of factors, over time, idea after idea, always originating from the blind acceptance of the isolated opinions of incarnated and disembodied Spirits.

A very simple way to see what I say, for the spiritualist who studies Kardec's works, is to do a search for “Spiritism” on YouTube and you will very easily find large channels that, claiming to speak of Spiritism, teach and support absurd and harmful ideas. to Spiritism, among some successes. Most of the time they are not enemies of Spiritism and even wish to do good, but, due to their resistance to studying the science they claim to embrace, they serve to disseminate ideas that are contrary to the Doctrine.. This is how we see channels like “Root Spiritism“, for a time the largest Brazilian channel called “spiritist”, stating and teaching, among other errors, that Spirits incarnate only for expiations, which would be, according to him, debt payments — a complete doctrinal distortion that leads to several effects negative, as I demonstrated in this article. Eduardo Sabbag, owner of this channel, recently made appearances on the channel House Prayer Platform, where the main “speaker” states, supposedly mediated, that he would be the reincarnation of Allan Kardec and in several moments compares himself to Jesus, to then bring up themes linked to ufology and the ramatissista ideas, supported and disseminated especially by the medium Hercílio Maes. He also participated in the Spiritist Channel, by Luiz Fernando Amaral (who presents himself as a “teacher” on this channel) who, among some successes (when Kardec resumes) makes several mistakes, when starting from the blind acceptance of communications from Spirits, mainly given via novels.

All these mistakes would be easily avoided by studying the Revista Espírita and other works by Kardec.

Here is where we find the greatest difficulty that currently plagues Spiritism and hides the doctrine under a thick layer of false ideas: when people, so-called spiritists, forget to (or refuse to) study Kardec's works and pass by to admit “news” that were born from indispensable scientific method. We have already addressed this issue several times, with the articles “The role of the researcher and the medium in communications with the Spirits" and "Should we publish everything that the Spirits say?” the most interesting of them.

Spirits linked to evil, enemies of Spiritism, use individuals who do not study spiritist science and who accept and publish everything, to hinder the advancement of this doctrine whose philosophy has the potential to transform the world. Due to the vanity of believing themselves full of wisdom because, invariably, they believe themselves to be surrounded only by Spirits of the highest evolution, they serve the purpose of mystifying Spirits.

So, what to do if they don't want to study? What can we do if they respond with resistance and brutality when we point out that something they disclose is not in accordance with Spiritism?

We certainly cannot force them to an understanding that they do not want to acquire, and it will be up to time and the punishment offered by their own consciences to pay for the harm they have done by diverting or delaying many with their ideas and their resistance to studying. Unfortunately, these people find, in digital media, a means of controlling their ideologies, simply by removing comments or blocking users who disagree with them.

They are great channels. They have hundreds of thousands of followers. There are certainly, among these, a large number of people who just want to believe and who do not make an effort to reason, perhaps even due to lack of knowledge (which they could be helping to reduce). But, sooner or later, their consciences will awaken and then they will start looking for answers.

I think the best we can do is produce material pointing to true doctrinal understanding. This way we can give people the chance to search for a certain subject, or even through these channels, to find content from spiritist science. Let us learn to demonstrate our errors, without falling into a greater error, which would be to take derogatory accusations to a personal level. We can disagree and point out the error in your ideas, like Kardec did, based on Spiritism for this, as Kardec recommends in the Spiritist Magazine of 1863:

“This is how the detractors of Spiritism proceed: through their slander they show the weaknesses of their own cause and discredit it, showing what regrettable extremes they are forced to resort to in order to support it. What weight can an opinion based on manifest errors have? One of two: either the errors are voluntary and then bad faith is seen; or they are involuntary and the author proves their inconsequentiality by speaking about what he does not know. In one case, as in the other, you lose your right to trust.

Spiritism is not a work that marches in the shadows. He is known; its principles are formulated clearly, precisely and without ambiguity. The slander could not, therefore, affect him. To convince her of imposture, just say: read and see. Without a doubt, it is useful to debunk it. But it must be done calmly, without bitterness or recrimination, limiting oneself to opposing, without superfluous words, what is to what is not. Leave the anger and insults to your adversaries, and keep to yourself the role of true strength: that of dignity and moderation.”

Spiritist Magazine, March 1863. Emphasis mine.

So, let's not waste time on personal attacks. Of course, these people will victimize themselves, aiming to manipulate their target audience. faithful. Let's not make the same mistake. Let us act like a good researcher, a good scientist, who discusses facts and evidence, and not about opinions, much less about the people who issue them. That's what Kardec has always done.

“You will have to fight not only against the proud, the selfish, the materialists and all those unfortunate people who are imbued with the spirit of the century, but also, and above all, against the mob of deceiving Spirits who, finding in your midst a rare gathering of mediums, as in this regard you are the most fortunate, will soon come to assault you, some with wisely combined dissertations, in which, thanks to pious tirades, they will insinuate the heresy or some dissolving principle; others with communications openly hostile to the teachings given by true missionaries of the Spirit of Truth. Oh! Believe me, do not be afraid to unmask the deceivers who, new Tartuffes, would introduce themselves among you under the guise of religion.”

Spirit of Erastus, Spiritist Magazine of 1861. Emphasis mine.

Another idea that reigns in the Spiritist world: mediums would be indebted Spirits who are born to redeem debts from past lives.

I would like people who repeat these ideas to show where they appear in Allan Kardec's work. It will be a difficult task, as they will not find it. Mediumship is a choice, often aiming to lead the individual to the study of Spiritism, but many end up stumbling along the paths of vanity and pride and waste this opportunity.

This idea comes from false ideas linked to karma, as always. We've dealt with this several times.

We don't have much to say about this, because the idea is easily overcome. We just want to say that, to be a good medium, it is important to know how to deal well with this true science that allows us to communicate with Spirits. Allan Kardec's studies, organized by the Spirit of Truth, provided the basis for this science and were the only ones to approach, with scientific methodology, mediumistic phenomena. Don't leave this study aside if you want to be really useful.

You need to be very careful. It is not that outside of Kardec there is no truth: it is that, without a scientific method in communicating with Spirits, lies, illusions and truths are admitted, blindly and indiscriminately.

It is very clear to observe that Ramatis (or every Spirit that identifies with this name) transmits rational and scientific absurdities, many of which have already been refuted by elementary science.

These Spirits start from the wrong idea of the fall through sin, and thus teach, because they believe or because they want to mystify, false ideas linked to a punishing God, who punishes error. It is exactly the principle of errors in religions and, in this sense, there is nothing about Spiritism there – just study Heaven and Hell, Genesis and the Spiritist Magazine, from 1858 to 1869, to make sure of this.

Through a medium, any Spirit can speak. If, on our side, we believe blindly, we will be easily fascinated by mystifying Spirits.

Leia o artigo “The role of the researcher and the medium in communications with the Spirits“.

“Canal Espírita”, by Luiz Fernando Amaral, on YouTube, is a channel that already has almost eight hundred thousand followers, with thousands of views. Due to its size and the expressiveness it has in this environment, it is worrying to see, there, the circulation and dissemination of certain ideas that are even contrary to the Spiritist Doctrine. In a way…

In no way do I doubt Luiz Fernando's good intentions. I just don't understand why there is resistance to studying and promoting Spiritism as it really is, since this knowledge helps us make fewer mistakes and be more useful.

By leaving Kardec, we leave aside the efforts of the Spirit of Truth himself

Many do not think that, by leaving Kardec aside to focus on “news” that do not come from the scientific method, they leave aside the efforts of superior Spirits and the Spirit of Truth himself, who coordinated the initiative for the birth of the Spiritist Doctrine. This is not about the opinion of one man, but about the Comforter promised by Jesus. Kardec did not end up in his position by chance: it was planned by a superior effort. The method he developed — universal agreement submitted to the criterion of reason — is required and cannot be abandoned!

Now, do we want to treat Spiritism as something lesser? As a minor “effort”, surpassed by the mere ideas of anyone who comes to give their opinion? Now, spiritists, let us put our hands on our conscience!

I am not of the opinion, because it is not a fact, that Spiritism was ended with Kardec; however, because it is a science, to be continued, it necessarily lacks the scientific method, so that we cannot simply accept any ideas and communications as if they were true, no matter which medium they are given or what name the Spirit presents.

In the same way, we cannot simply discard communications from Spirits outside of coding. Once again: we need a scientific and rational method, not just blind acceptance or denial.

False ideas, arising from isolated opinions

Luiz Fernando, on Canal Espírita, among some videos in which he returns to Kardec, frequently makes videos promoting and reinforcing false ideas that have infiltrated the Spiritist milieu. We count, among them, those linked to karma or even the “exile” of Spirits, in addition to the ideas linked to Umbral, unverified generic psychographics, spiritual animal colonies, etc. Ideas that the study of Spiritism quickly demonstrates as uncertain or misleading. And what's the problem with that?

The problem is that, slowly and persistently, blindly accepted ideas are undermining Spiritism and increasingly hindering its progress and its real potential to advance humanity. Due to a lack of knowledge and commitment to science born from the efforts of elevated Spirits, but also due to an attachment to ideas born in novels, slightly inferior, or even imperfect, Spirits are allowed to spread their harmful ideas in the Spiritist environment.

Allan Kardec was emphatic in demonstrating, as a result of his long years of studies, that the Spirits, after leaving the body, continue to be who they were. Many, the vast majority, continue to carry false ideas and attachments. They do not gain full knowledge of the world of Spirits simply by leaving the body. Others are declared enemies of Spiritism, because they find in it the demolition of the ideas they cling to, out of ignorance. This is the reason why many of them present ideas contrary to what has been demonstrated by the study of thousands of evocations and communications from thousands of Spirits, by thousands of mediums, everywhere.

Reluctance to study

But Luiz Fernando, on Canal Espírita, unfortunately seems to choose only to be reluctant, and I say this because of the way he has already responded to me by highlighting inconsistencies between Spiritism and certain ideas disseminated by him, born from isolated opinions. He recently recorded a video criticizing anyone who recommends returning to Kardec, because it seems to be more pleasant to disseminate ideas born from novels and supposed unverified psychographics. Instead of deciding to open Revista Espírita and study, he chooses to affectively refute criticism of his videos with ideas contrary to Spiritism and believes that, being a medium, he would only be guided by good Spirits. Furthermore, he tries to form the idea that criticizing him is giving rise to “low vibrations”.

Yes, we need to resume the development of spiritist science. But, to do so, we first need to revisit it as a science, understanding its principles and methods, developed at the expense of Kardec's health and resources, for years on end. Today, due to the reluctance to study, people make mistakes in the most insignificant, most absurd things, while so simple they could be avoided with a more careful study of Spiritism.

Once again, we recommend everyone to return to study the Spiritist Magazine and Kardec's other works, especially when speaking to many. Even when we study, sometimes we make mistakes, but at least we won't have our conscience accusing us of not having sought to know the knowledge that we insistently used to knock on our door and which, today, is three clicks away.

I hope that my colleague is touched on his conscience as soon as possible. You have huge potential on your channel. All that remains is to use this potential to spread real Spiritism, away from false ideas. Furthermore, I hope he stops taking these issues personally, especially when it comes to science. I myself receive a lot of criticism and I am grateful for it, as there are frequent opportunities to consult my conscience about what I do, never believing that I would be free from mistakes because I believed that only good Spirits would be around me.

“You want to do good, I have no doubt. He wants to talk about Spiritism, because he believes it is good content. But the Spiritism you know is that of the novels, and not the original. It thus reproduces ideas born from the isolated opinions of certain Spirits, which are often incomplete, misleading and even contrary to Spiritism and reason. The effect is the opposite: far from helping people climb steps, it often keeps them away from the stairs.

Spiritism exists in the works of Kardec, well described in Revista Espírita, and was developed based on the scientific method. It has not been completed, but, to be developed, it needs the same method.”

Paulo Degering R. Junior

If spiritists knew what the Spiritist Center is, what its function and significance really are, Spiritism would be the most important cultural and spiritual movement on Earth today. We have in Brazil – and this is a universal consensus – the largest, most active and productive spiritist movement on the planet. The expansion of Spiritism in our land is incessant and continues at an accelerated pace. But what we do, throughout this vast spiritist continent, is an immense effort to churchify Spiritism, to pair it with decadent and outdated religions, forming mystical and, therefore, fanatical nuclei everywhere, disconnected from immediate reality.

José Herculano Pires — The Spiritist Center

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The Luz Espírita portal, supported by biased surveys de Carlos Seth e outros, continua fazendo uma “campanha esdrúxula” ((Tomo a liberdade de utilizar o mesmo termo usado por eles contra quem eles discordam)) contra aqueles que concluem diferentemente deles, baseados em pilhas de evidências que eles escolhem desconsiderar. Notório dizer que, “do lado de cá”, longe de descartarmos as evidências por eles encontradas, apenas verificamos que elas não provam a impossibilidade de que as adulterações tenham ocorrido. Tudo o que eles têm são evidências de que Kardec havia iniciado a produção de novas edições de O Céu e o Inferno e A Gênese, mas não que ele as tenha concluído nem que as obras impressas após sua morte não tenham sofrido alterações. Além disso, não fazem o principal: explicar as diferenças absurdas, não anunciadas e mesmo contraditórias entre uma edição e outra.

The point is that we do not want to obtain a monopoly on common sense and truth, thing they insist on doing, without trying to do what matters most: explain the reason for the grotesque differences between the editions in question. We highlight, for example, some differences between the fourth edition of Heaven and Hell, recorded after Kardec's death, and the third edition (same as the first). Respectively:

Fourth edition of Heaven and Hell

Registered after Kardec's death.

• Chapter VIII became chapter VII;
• Most of the philosophical rhetoric with which Kardec opened the chapter was removed
• O título “As penas futuras segundo o Espiritismo” tornou-se “Criminal code of the future life“.

7th — The Spirit suffers for the evil he has done, so that his attention is incessantly focused on the consequences of that evil, he better understands its inconveniences and is motivated to correct himself.

8th — Since God's justice is infinite, a rigorous account of good and evil is kept; if there is not a single bad action, a single bad thought that does not have its fatal consequences, there is not a single good action, a single good movement of the soul, the slightest merit, in a word, that is lost, even in the most perverse, because it is a beginning of progress.

9th — Every fault committed, every evil done, is a debt contracted that must be paid; If it is not so in one existence, it will be so in the next or subsequent ones, because all existences are in solidarity with each other. Whoever pays it off in the present existence will not have to pay a second time.

10 - The Spirit suffers the penalty of its imperfections, whether in the spirit world or in the corporeal world. All the miseries, all the vicissitudes we endure in corporeal life are the result of our imperfections, expiations of faults committed, whether in the present existence or in previous ones.

Heaven and Hell, 4th edition.

Item 10 is, perhaps, the biggest proof of tampering (click to read the article).

Third edition of Heaven and Hell

Published and registered by Allan Kardec.

Chapter VIII — Future penalties according to Spiritism

7. God's justice being infinite, a strict account of good and evil is kept; if there is not a single bad action, a single bad thought that does not have its fatal consequences, there is not a single good action, not a single good movement of the soul – in short, the simplest merit – that is lost, even in the most perverse , because it is a beginning of progress.

8. The duration of the punishment is subject to the perfection of the guilty spirit. No sentence for a fixed time is pronounced against him. What God requires to put an end to suffering is repentance, atonement and reparation — in short: a serious, effective improvement, as well as a sincere return to goodness.

The spirit is thus always the arbiter of its own destiny; he can prolong his sufferings by his hardening in evil, alleviate them or abbreviate them by his efforts to do good. A sentence for any given period of time would have the double disadvantage of either continuing to affect the spirit that had been perfected, or ending while it was still in evil. God, who is just, punishes evil while it exists; and ends punishment when evil no longer exists. Thus this expression is confirmed: I do not want the sinner to die, but for him to live, and I will accuse him UNTIL HE REPENTS.

9. Since the duration of the punishment is subordinated to repentance, it follows that the guilty spirit that did not repent and never perfected itself would always suffer, and that, for it, the punishment would be eternal. The eternity of punishment must then be understood in a relative sense, and not in an absolute sense.

Heaven and Hell, 1st to 3rd editions.

We can notice a stark difference between the editions. Likewise, the fifth edition of A Gênesis contains inexplicable changes between the edition published by Allan Kardec and the edition recorded almost three years after his death.

We spare no effort

We have already addressed the topic several times. Those mentioned above do not spare words and derogatory terms to try to discredit those who conclude differently from them. We, therefore, do our part, based on abundant evidence, and with the certainty that the other party never took the time to read and calmly reflect on all of it. We do not say: “this is the final truth”, but we say: “do not be guided by anyone who tries to take a monopoly on the truth”.

It is interesting to note how the other party's texts are always in love, that is, they carry a great note of emotion and apparent anger or envy. This already denotes an urgency to provoke belief by means other than those of reason. In fact, in his desire to dominate the truth, Carlos Seth has already committed gaffes as banal as wanting to say that Talking about Rational Spiritualism would be bringing a division to the spiritist environment.

It is even more interesting to note that they Never they mention the name of Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, nor do they bring their evidence and arguments to the discussion. They just say that they have already refuted everything — which we profoundly disagree with. They do the same with Simoni Privato, although they still mention its name.

Well, without trying to prolong this subject in a tiring manner, we are always grateful for the free propaganda that they themselves carry out against ideas that they cannot accept.

It is not my custom to address groups or individuals in particular. In this case, in relation to the group “Casa Plataforma de Pração”, I think this is essential, since it uses the name of Spiritism.

I want to start by reminding you that the Mediumship is not exclusive to any religion, nor to Spiritism. Everyone can practice it, good or bad. The problem is when you put aside a science and its knowledge, obtained through hard research work, while, lightly, using the name and terms of that science to give yourself credibility. Amazingly: the main character of this sect claims to be Kardec himself and constantly compares himself to Jesus, lowering the Master to the level of a lowly worldly man.

Even more serious is when, putting aside this science, but using its name, allow yourself to deceive and be deceived precisely because of the errors that would be avoided by the real knowledge it brings.

Spiritism, as we know from our studies, does not cast anathema. Rather it says: to each according to his works. In fact, in no way do I come to judge the intentions of this group, which may be commendable... But I think it is up to us to point out and defend Spiritism when others launch false ideas in its name.

What we unfortunately see, on the aforementioned group's channel, is a great danger that they themselves run: mediums who have given themselves over to blind belief in what the Spirits say, if they say so. They give in to fascination and obsession and lightly, without knowledge, they cite Spiritism, only to deny it.

I do not believe it is necessary to go back to the countless points where spiritist science demonstrated the serious problems into which the practices adopted there throw them. We have some articles that talk about this, like The role of the researcher and the medium in communications with the Spirits, Obsessed and Subjugated — The Dangers of Spiritism and The fight against an obsessive spirit.

There, on the channel of the Casa Plataforma de Oração group, we see not only a persistent action of Spirits who use venerable names to launch the most complete absurdities, which should not happen among people who study Spiritism. We also see frequent reference to Spiritism, but not as sources of studies.

Refer only in name and terms, but only disseminate ideas contrary to the Spiritist Doctrine and they attack the defenders of spiritist science, calling them “impressed spiritists”, for demonstrating that Spiritism contradicts what they say.

The position they adopted is regrettable, much more so for them, who will have a lot to atone for in the future, but also for those who listen to them. Many neophytes may fall into one of their videos, believing that they are talking about Spiritism, and thus accepting the most absurd and even harmful things.

That's just what I want to highlight, adding: it's a shame that, instead of seeking healthy mediumship, offering to cooperate, they choose to fall into the most terrible mistakes, so often found by Kardec in the study of Spiritism. They go so far as to admit the absurd ideas that were born from the book “Letters of Christ”, where it is stated that Jesus, before “awakening” to his mission, would have been a braggart, a drunkard and a womanizer. But it doesn’t stop there: the main “medium” there even compares himself to Jesus Christ!

Let this serve as a warning to those who have doubts: what is practiced there is mediumship, practiced without any care, and not Spiritism. If Spiritism were present, through the study of Kardec's works, born of serious scientific methodology, we would not see regrettable mistakes, completely absurd ideas and attacks on reason in their meetings, recorded on video.

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In the modern Spiritist Movement, considerably removed from Spiritism, there is an insistent, almost imposing idea of carrying out an intimate reform. The need to follow the Gospel, using, for this purpose, the well-known family reading meetings of the Gospel According to Spiritism, which almost always recommend randomly opening a book that should be studied like the other works of Allan Kardec.

I wouldn't be crazy enough to say that Jesus' moral reform and moral teachings aren't important. Quite the contrary: there are many, and also not few times in which Kardec or the Spirits speak of the important moral reform brought about by Spiritism, a Doctrine capable of, by reasoning, instigate human beings to better resolutions. No, that's not the problem.

What I want to highlight is that there is a false idea reigning in the Movement, among many others: that the Earth, being a planet of proofs and atonements, only receive Spirits in expiations, that is, Spirits with inclinations past. This is not true, as I will demonstrate below.

Evidences

Evidences are all the difficulties we face in life, and that are not always the result of our choices. We may, for example, live in a city where, at a certain point, a nearby dam bursts, causing a flood and taking our home or our lives. This is a test that we did not want, but that we will pass, because it is part of the laws of matter. We can also spend years being medicated with a medicine that causes us adverse effects and destroys our health. This is also proof, as would be the eruption of a dormant volcano, close to where we live. It's part.

Sometimes, however, we go through trials that result from our choices. Still here, sometimes the result is indirect or involuntary: we can choose to carry out an act that gives undesirable results, causing us a test.

But there are tests that are directly the result of our past choices, as Spirits. Regretful of a moral deviation, we choose a certain kind of tests and opportunities that will give us the chance to face and correct this deviation. Here the term “intimate Reform” would fit, according to the understanding of Spiritism. And here is the key to the problem: not everyone developed imperfections in the past, and not everyone, in the moment we live in, is experiencing expiations.

121. Why do some Spirits follow the path of good and others the path of evil?

“Don’t they have free will? God did not create evil spirits; He created them simple and ignorant, that is, having as much aptitude for good as for evil. Those who are evil became so of their own free will.”

The Book of Spirits

imperfections

Imperfection, according to what we can infer from the study of Spiritism, is everything that arises from the free exercise of will in the repetition of an error, creating an imperfection, which will require expiation.

We are all created simple and ignorant, all having the same opportunities to follow the path forward. Everyone on this path will make mistakes, because it is impossible not to make mistakes when we are ignorant. How many times do we make mistakes, trying to get it right? However, not everyone clings to mistakes, developing imperfections. Some learn from mistakes and quickly overcome them.

133. The Spirits who From the beginning they followed the path of good?

“All are created simple and ignorant and are instructed in the struggles and tribulations of bodily life. God, who is just, could not make some happy, without toil and work, therefore without merit.”

The) - But, then, what is the use of spirits to have followed the path of good, if this does not exempt them from the sufferings of bodily life?

"They reach the end faster. Furthermore, the afflictions of life are often the consequence of the imperfection of the Spirit. The fewer imperfections, the less torment. He who is not envious, nor jealous, nor avaricious, nor ambitious, will not suffer the tortures that originate from these defects.”

The Spirits' Book. Emphasis added.

Note that Kardec understood, questioned and was not denied: there are those who have always followed the path of good, which doesn't mean they didn't make mistakes, but just that they didn't stick to the mistake.

Do you doubt what I say? That's good, that means you're reasoning. But, to reason well, it is necessary to be based on something. I therefore suggest reading questions 114 to 127 of The Spirits' Book, in addition to this one. I'm not getting all this out of my head either, as I highlight here.

Spiritist Scale

Furthermore, note that the Spiritist Scale (100 to 113), which was just a classificatory outline proposed by Kardec, says the following about imperfect Spirits:

“101. General features. – Predominance of matter over spirit. Propensity for evil. Ignorance, pride, selfishness and all the passions that are consequent to them.”

Ignorance, certainly, since it is not possible to know the divine law, in reality, and still practice evil. That would be retrograding, which the Spirit does not do. But note that, along with this, there are pride, selfishness and all the passions that are consequent to them – imperfections developed by attachment to what satisfies materialistic desires.

Something else to highlight: note that Kardec classifies the first class as “First order – Pure Spirits”, and not as “Perfect Spirits”. Kardec does not address a “duality” between perfect and imperfect Spirits. And we saw, above, that a Spirit he can, apparently, occupy the second class from the beginning – and, if you disagree, please, let's talk.

Atonement

Atonement is something that is well defined in Heaven and Hell, in its unadulterated edition, found at Editora FEAL. Kardec defined, as a result of long years of study, that it is the free and conscious effort of the Spirit that honestly seeks to repair a detour it has taken:

8) The duration of the punishment is subject to the perfection of the guilty spirit. No sentence for a fixed time is pronounced against him. What God requires to put an end to suffering is repentance, atonement and reparation - in short: a serious, effective improvement, as well as a sincere return to good ((Didatically, we can interpret atonement as serious and effective improvement, and reparation as a sincere return to good. In item 23, Kardec defines repentance as 'a fact of man's free will'. In other words, the imperfect spirit first becomes aware and chooses to overcome its condition, then chooses the tests as atonement, aiming for your improvement, thus returning to good, achieving happiness by developing the faculties of your soul. (N. do E.) )).

The spirit is thus always the arbiter of its own destiny; he can prolong his sufferings by his hardening in evil, alleviate them or abbreviate them by his efforts to do good.

A sentence for any given period of time would have the double disadvantage of either continuing to affect the spirit that had been perfected, or ending while it was still in evil. God, who is just, punishes evil while it exists; and ends punishment when evil no longer exists.

Thus this expression is confirmed: I do not want the sinner to die, but for him to live, and I will accuse him UNTIL HE REPENTS ((If the wicked does penance for all the sins he has committed, if he keeps all my precepts and acts according to equity and justice, he will certainly live and not die - I will no longer remember the iniquities that he has committed; he will live in the works of righteousness that he has done - I want the death of the wicked, says the Lord God? And Do I not want him to be converted, to turn away from the evil path and live? (Ez, 18:21-23; 23:11.) (N. do A.) )).

Heaven and Hell, publisher FEAL

World of Trials and Atonements

We can easily verify, finally, that the Earth, as it is a world of trials and expiations, is neither a world of trials alone nor a world of expiations alone. It's from one and the other. Therefore, there are incarnated Spirits who chose expiations and others who did not. They are just going through tests, which are all the difficulties that offer us a chance to learn and advance.

Who are those, therefore, who undergo atonement? Can we point the finger and classify them? “This one is good, it’s just a test”; “ah, that one over there is evil, selfish, it’s an atonement”. I don't risk it. But, in fact, there is something logical to take away from here: an incarnated Spirit can be, right now, developing an imperfection, an attachment, something that I didn't have before. Perhaps, before, I was without attachments. It is not, therefore, atoning, but it will atone.

This is the function of a planet like ours: to provide, in contact with raw matter, the conditions for each person to hone.

A Spirit can be in the range of evolution in which the Earth gives it conditions for learning, without it having any moral regrets that it needs to face.

Intimate Reform or Moral Reform

Spiritism offers a strong subsidy, a strong lever for the moral reform of our world, which is in a regrettable situation, for sure. At the individual level, we need to ask ourselves: do we lack all of a reform? Or do we just need learning? This is a question that only each person, with their own conscience, can answer.

The fact is that it is necessary Careful by blindly adopting certain ideas. Believing that everyone born here is atoning for something, that everything we go through is an atonement and, even worse, that expiation is to pay past debts through a kind of punishment, leads us to negative results in the way we act towards life and others.

Negative results of belief in karma

1. Guilt and Self-censorship: Individuals who believe this may carry a burden of constant guilt, believing they are paying for past mistakes. This can lead to self-censorship and a life full of restrictions, afraid of making new mistakes.
2. Discouragement: The belief that the current life is a punishment for past actions can discourage people from pursuing their goals and dreams, as they may believe they do not deserve success or happiness.
3. Lack of Empathy: The idea that the suffering of others is the result of karmic debts can lead to a lack of empathy and compassion for those in difficult situations. This can undermine solidarity and social support. Unfortunately, we see this lack of empathy constantly.
4. Negative resignation: People can become resigned to difficulties, passively accepting suffering as an inevitable destiny, instead of seeking solutions and improvements in their lives ((Resignation can be positive, when it represents the realistic acceptance of limitations after exhausting efforts to deal with a situation)).
5. Injustice: Belief in karma in this way can justify or perpetuate social and economic inequalities, as people may believe that those in privileged positions deserve it because of past actions ((The original understanding of karma ties into the idea that actions have its consequences. This emphasizes personal responsibility for actions and the implications they have.)).

In short, this belief can have negative effects on mental health, well-being and interpersonal relationships, in addition to contributing to the perpetuation of inequalities and injustices. It is important to remember that beliefs about karma vary greatly between different belief systems and cultures, and not everyone interprets karma in the same way.

Wonclusion

Perhaps many of us are in need of reforms, in the sense that we have strayed from the good because of this or that attachment and now we need to lead ourselves back to the good. But, how to change what you don't know?

There is no point in seeking an empty, baseless transformation, just trying to blindly follow other examples. It is necessary to understand what is done and why it is done. Hence the importance of Spiritism.

780. Does moral progress always accompany intellectual progress?

"It follows from this, but does not always follow it immediately.” (192–365.)

a) — How can intellectual progress engender moral progress?

"Making good and evil understandable. Since then, man can choose. The development of free will accompanies that of intelligence and increases the responsibility of actions.”

The Spirits' Book. Emphasis added.

Furthermore, the idea that we are all atoning for past deviations leads to external pressure to correct ourselves for things we don't even understand. This would be an artificial correction, which is not sustainable and takes us down a complicated path: if the change is not built on real understanding, in a progressive way, we impose ourselves a step bigger than our legs. When we try to take the leap and therefore fall, we believe that we are not strong enough, completely abandoning our attempts.

Unfortunately, many still add the false idea that this life would be the most important of all and that, if we do not correct ourselves, we would be doomed to be chaff, “exiles” from Planet Earth – another false idea, initially born from the book “ Capela Exiles”, which is not doctrinal.

Yes: everyone must observe themselves and try to correct themselves in what they understand they do wrong. But this is not done through pressure, nor by blindly following something. It is necessary to understand, and the change has to be made step by step. You don't build a building from top to bottom.

The path of good

The individual who seeks the path of good, looks at himself and analyzes himself. Judge yourself, observing mistakes and successes. Evaluate where you can improve and where you can correct, if you think there is something to correct. More than that: to pursue good, one must do good, and knowledge of Spiritism allows this process to be more successful, because true good is useful and, to be useful, it is necessary to know what is said and what what is done.

Many, due to lack of doctrinal knowledge (Kardec's works), are of little use. While they give bowls of soup, which momentarily satisfy the stomach's hunger (something important and venerable, of course), they do not satisfy the hunger for understanding and knowledge, which definitively elevates the Spirit to new heights and can even give him new perspectives for face that situation and get out of it.

Some, while delivering the bread, believe and say that the person who suffers from material ills is going through it because deserve. Yes, I've heard spiritualists say that. This is often the result of artificial intimate reform, which tends to look only at oneself, without seeking knowledge, forgetting that one must be truly useful to others.

There are elderly people, children and babies being murdered or captured by the terrorist group Hamas, currently generating a war between Israel and Palestine. And what will Spiritism say? Why does God allow such a thing? Would these people be paying off debts from past lives with this suffering?

Amazingly: there are judges on duty who want to say that the massacre of young people at the rave was related to divine punishment, for having a party, supposedly with drugs, in the “Holy Land”. A complete is evil nonsense!!

Once again we need to remember: to speak according to Spiritism, it is necessary to look for what exists developed by the necessary scientific method, something that, to this day, has been done just by Kardec. And here's a golden tip:

Se alguém disser falar do Espiritismo, mas diz que as vítimas de quaisquer calamidades ou crimes estão “pagando” por dívidas de vidas passadas, ou que é efeito do “karma“, or who are repaying debts from past lives, stop following them and go look for what spiritist science says. We are here stating, emphatically: this is not Spiritism! Spiritism can be found in the recommended works at the end of the text.

Spiritism does not talk about karma, nor about paying debts for incarnation

It is a never-ending struggle, and every time any critical event occurs that shakes the population, we have to return to the same subject, in the name of true Spiritism. Now there is war in Israel. Last year, it was the terrorist attacks to Brazilian schools. Before, a climate disaster or cataclysm like the one who undermined Petrópolis or the sad accident with the Chapecoense team. And frivolous individuals always appear, who have never studied Spiritism, saying truly absurd things that do not correspond to the Spiritist Doctrine or claiming to have received psychographs from the victims, stating that they were “evil soldiers who committed cruelty in the past” (sic! ).

We are obliged to do our part, remembering that we are alive in dense matter, subject to the laws of matter and also to the criminal decisions of other people, which never, ever, under any circumstances, serves to “redeem debts from past lives”!!

Read too: Should we expose the enemies of Spiritism?

Apart from the tests imposed by the choices of others or by the force of nature, or even those that result from the present actions of the individual himself, there are also types of tests that the Spirit may have chosen to go through, but not to “pay” for anything:

• The Spirit can choose trials simply to learn and progress.
• You can also choose certain tests because you understand that you have overcome a certain imperfection, choosing then go through challenges and opportunities with a view to letting go of this imperfection, which makes you suffer.

This appears in original, unadulterated edition of Heaven and Hell, from the publisher FEAL.

God does not take revenge!

The Book of Spirits

Talking about the destructive scourges, we can apply part of the understanding to these events as well:

738.

The) - But both the good and the wicked man succumb to these scourges. Will this be fair?

“During life, man refers everything to his body; however, he thinks differently after death. Now, as we have said, the life of the body is very little. A century in your world is nothing more than a lightning in eternity. Therefore, nothing is the suffering of a few days or a few months, about which you complain so much. They represent teaching that is given to you and that will serve you in the future. Spirits, which pre-exist and survive everything, form the real world (85). These are the children of God and the object of all their solicitude. Bodies are mere disguises with which they appear in the world. On the occasion of great calamities that decimate men, the spectacle is similar to that of an army whose soldiers, during the war, had their uniforms damaged, torn, or lost. The general cares more about his soldiers than about their uniforms.”

B) - But that doesn't mean they are no longer victims of these scourges.

“If you considered life for what it is, and how little it represents in relation to infinity, you would give less importance to it. In another life, these victims will find ample compensation for their sufferings, if they know how to bear them without murmuring.”

The Book of Spirits

Spiritism, far from talking about karma and paying debts, demonstrates the opposite!

We also recommend caution with these theories that are events related to the planetary transition, as they are theories that do not find support in Spiritism.

Let's return to Kardec. Is important. Enough opinions. Spiritism is a science! If more people were defending the Doctrine, others would have a better chance of finding good content, not content based on false ideas.

It is worth recalling what appears in The Spirits' Book about wars:

742. What drives man to war?

“The predominance of the animal nature over the spiritual nature and the overflow of passions. In the state of barbarism, peoples only know one right: that of the strongest. That is why, for such peoples, war is a normal state. As man progresses, war becomes less frequent, because he avoids its causes. And when it becomes necessary, he knows how to do it with humanity.”

743. From the face of the earth, will war ever disappear?

“Yes, when men understand justice and do the law of God. At that time, all peoples will be brothers.”

744. What did Providence aim at, making war necessary?

“Freedom and Progress.”

The) - If war must have the advent of freedom as its effect, how can it often aim and result in subjugation?

“Temporary subjugation, for press peoples, in order to make them progress more quickly.”

745. What is to be thought of him who stirs up war for his own benefit?

“This is the big culprit and many stocks will be necessary for him to atone for all the murders he has caused, as he will answer for all the men whose death he has caused to satisfy his ambition ((Which means: when this Spirit understands the evil he has caused, his conscience will accuse him of height to which your imperfections have reached. This is the reason for demanding many incarnations in atonement, choosing proofs that can help you to rescue yourself of their deviations. It doesn’t mean that he will have to reincarnate with each of his victims, even though most of them don’t get attached to the fact and follow their path of evolution (Our notes))).”

The Book of Spirits

Our condolences to the victims of this sad war between Israel and Palestine. Let us pray that these Spirits do not get attached to the evil of others and can move on. This is one of the best effects of Spiritism, which, unfortunately, they probably did not know about.

Curiosities

Kardec several times performed evocations of Spirits killed in wars, from simple soldiers to officers. We have, for example:

• A Senior Officer killed in Magenta
• Materiality from beyond the grave: the Zuavo of Magenta
• The Spirit of a soldier killed in war: the Drummer of Beresina

“Brazil, Heart of the World, Homeland of the Gospel”, is a work by Chico Xavier, attributed to the Spirit of Humberto de Campos Veras. A very strange work, it introduces a series of ideas contrary to Spiritism, revolving mainly around the role of the supposed Spirit of Ismael, who many believe to be the “spiritual protector of Brazil”, but who, in fact, is nothing more than another enemy of Spiritism — perhaps the greatest of them. For a long time, this Spirit has been disseminating false ideas among those who blindly accept them and, thus, has been causing enormous disservice and delay in the propagation of Spiritism in your reality. In Roustaing, he found the worker of the wrong path.

The following excerpt was taken from the book “Final Point: the reunion of Spiritism with Allan Kardec”, and highlights evidence that this work was probably tampered with by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation:

[…] Julio Abreu Filho, first translator of the 12 volumes of the Revue Spirite, denounced that exactly one year before the appearance of “Brazil, heart of the world, homeland of the Gospel”, the book Crônicas de Além-Túmulo, also psychographed by Chico Xavier and signed by Humberto de Campos himself, had been released, and on whose pages you can find a similar message in which only Kardec, Denis, Delanne and Flammarion are mentioned, and Roustaing is nowhere mentioned. Given the report of a possible interpolation, which could be resolved very easily by showing the originals of the book in question, FEB reported that it had ordered its incineration. The fact is similar to Berthe Froppo's complaint in the 19th century, that Leymarie had burned numerous documents from Kardec's archive.

Ah! How much this Doctrine needs defenders, which, even though it comes from Spirits and is immortal, depends on human work to be taken up and developed in the necessary way, because, unfortunately, the bad Spirits have found many defenders, ready to listen to them blindly. .

Spiritists: forward!

“Spiritism in Prisons” is an article originally published by Allan Kardec in the Revista Espírita of February 1864, and tells the story of a criminal who, having discovered Spiritism in his reality, transformed himself and even began to practice mediumship in prison – something inconceivable for the modern spiritist movement, which proclaims that it should only be practiced within spiritist centers, which is fake.

I leave the article in full for your reading:

Spiritism in prisons

In the November 1863 Magazine, we published a letter from a convict detained in a penitentiary, as proof of the moralizing influence of Spiritism. The letter transcribed below, from a convict in another prison, is an example of this powerful influence. It is from December 27, 1863. We transcribe it verbatim, in terms of style. We only correct spelling errors.

"Sir,

“A few days ago, when they told me for the first time about Spiritism and revelation from beyond the grave, I laughed and said that this was not possible. I spoke like an ignoramus, which I am. A few days later they were kind enough to entrust me, in my horrible position in which I find myself now, with your good and excellent Spirits' Book. At first I read a few pages with disbelief, not wanting, or rather not believing, in this science. Finally, little by little and without realizing it, I took a liking to him; then I took it seriously; Then I read your book a second time, but then with a different spirit, that is, calmly and with all the little intelligence that God gave me.

“I then felt the awakening of this old faith that my mother had placed in my heart and that had been dormant for a long time. I felt the desire to clarify myself about Spiritism.

From that moment on, I had a very determined thought, that of becoming aware, learning, seeing and then judging. I set to work with all the belief that one can have and that one must have in God and his power. I wanted to see the truth.

I prayed fervently and began the experiments.

“The first ones were null, without any results, but I wasn’t discouraged. I persevered in my experiences and, my word, I redoubled my prayers, which perhaps were not fervent enough, and I immersed myself in the work with all the conviction of a believing and waiting soul.

“After a few nights, as I can only carry out the experiments at night, I felt, for about ten minutes, trembling in the tips of my fingers and a slight sensation in my arm, as if I had felt a small stream of warm water running, which stopped at the fish. I was then well collected, all attentive and full of faith. My pencil drew some lines that were perfectly legible, but not quite correct enough to prevent me from believing that I was under the weight of a hallucination. I then waited patiently for the following night to begin the experiments again, and this time I thanked God with all my heart, as I had obtained more than I dared to hope for.

“Since then, every two nights, I have been entertained by the Spirits who are good enough to respond to my appeal and, in less than ten minutes, they always respond with charity. I write half a page or whole pages that my intelligence could not do alone, because, sometimes, they are philosophical and religious treatises that I have never thought of or put into practice; because he told me, at the first results: Aren't you the plaything of a hallucination or of your will? And reflection and examination proved to me that I was very far from that intelligence that had drawn those lines. I hung my head, I believed, and I couldn't go against the evidence unless I was completely crazy.

“I sent two or three of these communications to the person who had been kind enough to entrust me with your good book, so that he could confirm whether I was right. I come to ask you, sir, you who are the soul of Spiritism, to be kind enough to allow me to send you what I seriously obtain in my conversations from beyond the grave, if, however, you think it is good. If this is to your liking, I will send you the conversations held with Verger, the one who injured the archbishop of Paris. To ensure that the demonstrator was himself, I evoked Saint Louis, who responded affirmatively, as well as another Spirit in whom I have a lot of confidence, etc……………”

The moral consequences of this fact can be deduced by themselves. Here is a man who had abjured all belief and who, wounded by the law, finds himself confused with the rubbish of Society. This man, in the middle of the moral swamp, returned to faith. He sees the abyss into which he has fallen; he repents; he prays and, let's say, ah! He prays more fervently than many people who exhibit devotion. To do this, all he needed to do was read a book where he found elements of faith that his reason could admit, which revived his hopes and made him understand the future. Furthermore, what is noteworthy is that at first he read with caution and his disbelief was only overcome by the ascendancy of logic. If such results are produced by a simple reading, done, so to speak, in secret, what would it be if the influence of verbal exhortations could be added to it!

It is quite certain that, in the state of mind in which they find themselves today, these two men (see the fact reported in last November's issue), not only will they not engage in any reprehensible conduct during their detention, but they will enter the world with the resolution to live there honestly.

Considering that these two culprits were able to be led back to good by the faith they found in Spiritism, it is evident that if they had had this faith previously, they would not have committed evil. The Society is, therefore, interested in propagating a doctrine of such great moralizing power. This is what we begin to understand.

Another consequence to be drawn from the reported fact is that the Spirits are not detained by the locks, and that they go to the bottom of the prisons to take their consolations.

Therefore, it is not in anyone's power to prevent them from manifesting themselves in one way or another. If not through writing, it will be through listening. They face all prohibitions, they laugh at all interdictions, they cross all sanitary cordons. What barrier, then, can the enemies of Spiritism oppose?