The principle of happiness and unhappiness

Paulo Degering R Jr
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As far as our state of mind is concerned, the feelings that affect us the most are those of happiness and unhappiness… Or, at least, we believe so. In this way, society in general lives in a search for happiness, almost always without lasting results, happiness that, when not achieved, refers to the general states that often lead to the abysses of depression or melancholy.

I begin by saying, dear reader, that the almost total absence of current direction and understanding is due to the forgetfulness of Rational Spiritualism. Having transformed man into a biological machine, lacking a soul, materialism took from morality its primordial essence, which the Spirit in its role of first cause of everything that goes on in the matter.

Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo says:

Religious doctrines and also materialistic thought are heteronomous, as they assume that morality would be based on pain and pleasure, which are innate impulses and linked to instinct and survival, sensations that arise from physiological changes, proper to the body. biological. The false idea of divine punishment for the guilty creature dogmatically points to the existence of physical pain after death, caused by the environment of hell, for all eternity. On the other hand, pleasures and eternal contemplation for the elect in Heaven. Spiritism, on the other hand, will demonstrate, for the first time, in its autonomous morality, the existence of intimate sensations proper to the spirit, which are happiness and unhappiness, giving these terms specific definitions.

KARDEC, Allan. Heaven and hell. Editor FEAL, 2021. Editor's Note.

Spiritism, which developed from Rational Spiritualism – the “movement” that formed the most illustrious thinkers of the 19th century, had, in a very summarized way ((I recommend, for better understanding, the study of the work Heaven and Hell, by Allan Kardec , by the publisher FEAL, with comments by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, and the work “Autonomia: a História Nunca Contada do Espiritismo”, by the same author. Another suggestion is search for videos featuring Paulo, on YouTube)), in morality, the concepts of happiness and unhappiness are very well defined as achievements from the soul, whereas, of the body or matter, are part of emotions, be they the fear, a sadness, a happiness, a rage, etc. Also, in the matter aspect, we must mention the sensations, as the pleasure and the ache, which are the immediate result of the physical impression captured by the nerves and carried to the brain.

As incarnate Spirits, we are all subject to the conditions of matter. As evolved as a Spirit may be, the fact of receiving a hammer to the hand will cause a lot of pain, perhaps the same as for everyone else, but the detail is that the superior Spirit will not cling to that pain or to the individual who eventually provoked it — which is a very important one.

We thus have, well separated, what belongs to the Spirit and what belongs to matter. In a very simplistic way, and counting on the reader's willingness to believe that what I am saying is based on studies of the original works of Allan Kardec, from what he can check for himself, we conclude that the emotions of the body has nothing to do, a priori, with the feelings of soul or spirit. Happiness has to do with the achievements of the Spirit, while unhappiness has to do with his inferiority. A spirit, incarnated, can be very unhappy, despite being rich and with all resources of pleasures and joys within your reach, while another may be very happy living in a mud hut. A spirit incarnated in a healthy body can be very depressed or angry, while another, in a deformed or sick body, can be very calm, happy and kind.

To form a better understanding, let's talk about unhappiness. It is often confused with human emotions and pain, but, as we have seen, it does not reside in them. Unhappiness is actually how far the Spirit is away from happiness. This seems pretty obvious, but let me explain: happiness is living under God's law, that is, living in goodness. The absence of it, unhappiness, is living far from the good, under the empire of imperfections that lead us to error and suffering, which is the result of actions performed, and not divine punishment.

Here is the great key to understanding morality and the human being's necessary search for happiness: it does not reside in the fleeting things of matter, nor in pleasures, nor in passions. she resides in the soul, as a result of an inner, individual and non-transferable achievement.

Paulo Henrique, in the same work, says:

Already in the law that governs the human spirit, which has its main life in the spiritual world, the improvement of faculties through its effort is its goal, making use of reincarnations as a means of progress. Happiness is not like the physiological sensation of pleasure; it is an intimate state or sensation of the spirit, inherent to its intellectual-moral perfection. Every act of good corresponds to a feeling of happiness, and the development of virtues, knowledge and skills makes this condition progressive, until the full happiness of pure spirits. On the other hand, the condition of imperfection is inherent to moral suffering, which will last until the spirit overcomes imperfection by its effort. These are intimate states and feelings of the spirit, in no way dependent on something external to them. These are the laws of the soul, which govern the moral world. Thus Kardec expressed himself, in item 2 of Chapter VIII:

“As all spirits are perfectible, by virtue of the law of progress, they carry within themselves the elements of their happiness or future unhappiness and the means of acquiring one and avoiding the other by working towards their own advancement. (p. 132)”

The elements of your happiness or your unhappiness are in the spirit itself; it is up to him to provide one or the other. In this way, happiness is not a concession or a divine grace, but an achievement of the being itself. Nor is unhappiness a punishment, but a condition created when the spirit develops an imperfection that ends when the spirit itself undoes it.

ibid.

We can be very happy to experience relaxed and fun moments with friends, but once these moments are over, what remains it is our state of mind. We can be happy buying things to dress us well or eating tasty delicacies... But, after these actions, the same state of mind still remains. And here we come to something very important: this constant pursuit of happiness in things and occasions, instead of seeking it in the inner conquest, often leads us to imperfections!

Man, when seeking the satisfaction of his desires and instincts, confusing this search with the search for happiness, can “exaggerate the dose”. Let us take the example of the purchase of material goods: a person who links possessions to the feeling of happiness, when he cannot satisfy this desire with his own resources, may be led to commit the crime of robbery or theft, in order to satisfy this desire. there. Just in this example, we have greed and selfishness being cultivated. If repeated, forming habits, they can settle in the soul, as imperfections, which will produce sufferings that, to be overcome, will have to be overcome. understood and actively faced, for the will of the Spirit, which commonly takes more than one incarnation to achieve.

Paulo Henrique continues:

Every imperfection is the result of the free choice of the spirit, which, by attachment to matter, uses the faculties of the soul to act in order to conquer pleasure (sensation) and joy (emotion). This act of abuse, turned into a habit, is imperfection, which has as an inherent consequence moral suffering, or unhappiness (sensation of the spirit). This condition is transitory, because, overcoming imperfections, the spirit returns to the path of good and frees itself from unhappiness.

ibid.

The opposite is also true: the spirit that confuses unhappiness with the pains and negative emotions of matter, in order to see itself far from them, can launch itself on an endless search, which, often, also puts it in contact with bad habits that can make an imperfection appear.

This understanding, which seems very simple in principle, and which is of paramount importance, it's not very easy to be internalized. How will she be? Through study, which leads to knowledge, which strengthens reason. The Spirit only changes, really, when you see its imperfections and mistakes and when, actively, of its own accord, it starts to seek to overcome them. Therefore, the invitation to studies remains, and the one being carried out by the Spiritism for All Study Group (EPT), on the work O Céu e O Inferno (FEAL publisher, based on the 1st edition of the unadulterated original) is one of the best in this sense.

Here, before ending, we have one more reflection. We talk about the formation of imperfections arising from bad habits… That's why we can't help but talk about early childhood education. The child, by virtue of a bad habit, taught or reinforced from the cradle, can also acquire an imperfection, from which it will be very difficult to get rid of. Therefore, parents, the time has passed to focus on the study of morals and education, in order to better educate children, from their first acts in material life, helping them, through the charity that is our responsibility, to help these Spirits to reach happiness sooner, as we wish we had.

We hope that very soon we will be able to start a series of articles related to this topic. Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive them too – just enter your email in “SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER”, beside or below the article!

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