Are we all imperfect Spirits?

We are not all imperfect. This is a false idea, when understood from a certain angle, as we will demonstrate.

Spiritism demonstrates, complementing Rational Spiritualism, that imperfection is something developed by the conscious repetition (habit) of error. When it becomes an imperfection (it is called “acquired imperfection”), it can even become an addiction, which will require autonomous and conscious effort to be overcome, through the choice of tests and opportunities in new incarnations.

This is what evil consists of: moving away from the good, which is the morality of divine laws, through the development of imperfections. And not everyone does. The Spirit who has not developed imperfections, or the one who is bravely fighting to overcome them, is in the good or walking towards it... And this strengthens him enough to overcome, too, outside influences, and even to repel them.

But there is also the aspect of imperfection from the point of view that we are all perfectible. Thus, until we become relatively perfect Spirits (because only God can be perfect), we will be imperfect.

Both aspects of the term are treated by Kardec in the Spiritist Doctrine, and we can prove:

Those who are not only interested in facts and understand the philosophical aspect of Spiritism, admitting the morality that arises from it, but without practicing it. The influence of the Doctrine on your character is insignificant or null. They do not change their habits in any way and would not deprive themselves of any of their pleasures. The miser remains insensitive, the proud person full of self-love, the envious and jealous person always aggressive. For them, Christian charity is nothing more than a beautiful maxim. They are the imperfect spiritists.

KARDEC, Allan. The Book of Mediums, 23^The Edition. LAKE Publisher

The excerpt is part of the part in which Kardec is classifying the types of spiritualists. Ora, não haveria porque classificar uma parte deles como “imperfeitos” se somos todos imperfeitos. Isso demonstra que, nesse ponto, Kardec está tratando das imperfeições adquiridas, conforme explicadas acima.

We also talked about this in the recent article Intimate reform and Spiritism and, in the study below, the topic was addressed in groups.

It is a fact: we are far from perfection. In fact, we will never reach absolute perfection, for if we did, we would be like God. We will reach relative perfection… However, this does not make us imperfect, but only relatively simple and ignorant, that is, still developing will and conscience.

Em O Céu e o Inferno, na versão original e não adulterada (vide a edição produzida pela editora FEAL), essa filosofia está claramente exposta, em toda a sua racionalidade inatacável; contudo, desde o início da formação da Doutrina, essa informação já era conhecida. Basta verificar a Escala Espírita, em O Livro dos Espíritos, e veremos que, na Terceira Ordem – Espíritos Imperfeitos, estão apenas os Espíritos que desenvolveram imperfeições: “Predominância da matéria sobre o espírito. Propensão para o mal. Ignorância, orgulho, egoísmo e todas as paixões que lhes são consequentes”. E basta raciocinar: nem todo mundo desenvolve essas imperfeições, porque alguns podem escolher não repetir os erros, como já se encontra expresso em O Livro dos Espíritos:

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.

But how can this happen?

To understand this foundation of natural law, we need to understand that the simple and ignorant Spirit is the one in its first conscious incarnation, in the human kingdom. In this state, having just left the animal kingdom, it still retains all the remnants of instinct, which governed it unconsciously until then, in good, because good is being in the natural law, and the animal that kills another to feed itself is following the natural law, acting only to meet their instinctive needs, with intelligence, but without conscience. Upon entering the kingdom of man, the conscious Spirit begins to make choices — not between good and evil, but between acting in this or that way. These choices will produce results, which may be correct — they are within divine law — or an error — they are outside divine law, that is, they exceed rational necessity. The individual can then choose not to repeat this mistake, but they can also choose to repeat it, as it is something that, in some way, pleases their emotions or gives them pleasure. It is at this moment that imperfection develops, the error is repeated constantly. But he can also choose not to repeat the mistake, as he realizes that it has a bad effect on him. In this sense he is happy in his simplicity and ignorance, this happiness being relative to his present ability..

This is also in Kardec, in A Genesis:

“If we study all passions, and even all vices, we see that they have their principle in the instinct of conservation. This instinct, in all its strength in animals and in the primitive beings that are closest to animal life, dominates alone, because, among them, there is still no counterbalance to the moral sense. The being has not yet been born for intellectual life. Instinct weakens, on the contrary, as intelligence develops, because it dominates matter. With rational intelligence comes free will that man uses at will: then only, for him, does the responsibility for his actions begin.”

In the original version of this work, as presented in the FEAL edition, Kardec adds that:

“All men experience passions. Those who have overcome them, and are not, by nature, proud, ambitious, selfish, spiteful, vindictive, cruel, wrathful, sensual, and do good without effort, without premeditation and, so to speak, involuntarily, it is because they have progressed in the sequence of their previous existences, having freed themselves from this uncomfortable weight. It is unfair to say that they have less merit when they do good, compared to those who fight against their tendencies. It turns out that they have already achieved victory, while the others have not yet. But when they achieve it, they will be like the others. They will do good without thinking about it, like children who read fluently without needing to spell. It is as if there were two sick people: one cured and full of strength while the other is still convalescing and hesitates to walk; or like two runners, one of which is closer to the finish than the other.”

So, is one who has developed an imperfection inferior to those who have not? Is it a bad spirit? Should he be punished for that? No no and no!

He who developed an imperfection did so because he did not really know the good, otherwise he would have acted adversely. It's just a mistake — consciously repeated — and that's it. It is not a characteristic of the Spirit. God does not create anyone evil, nor does he create evil. Evil does not exist! It's just the absence of good. It is clear, therefore, that God would not punish his child for making mistakes. No: he gives him the ability to reason and autonomy, so that he himself can realize that the results of his mistakes cause him suffering and, realizing this, repent and demand correction of these imperfections.

It is at this point that modern spiritualism and the current spiritist movement diverge from the original spiritist morality: for these, when understanding the error, the Spirit is obliged to repair THE EFFECTS, while, for the latter, the Spirit is left free to choose how and when it will attempt to repair THE IMPERFECTION (in itself), which may or may not involve remediation of harmful effects that you have performed.

Here, a conclusion is in order: the doctrine of the “law of return” or karma, which has never been part of Spiritism, states that, when we do harm to a person, we will have to reincarnate with them to repair this error. However, it has already been established that we only do harm to ourselves – if, when making a mistake with someone, that person chooses to cultivate a feeling of anger, hatred or revenge, they are doing harm to themselves. It is, therefore, up to each person's autonomy to detach themselves from such feelings. If the executioner were forced to reincarnate with his victim to repair a mistake and, no matter how much he tried to have an irreproachable attitude towards good, the victim chose not to let go of such feelings, it means that the mistake would not have been paid for and would demand as many were incarnations necessary for this, linking the progress of the other, which has already returned to good, to the other's choice? What if, on the other hand, the victim didn't get attached, he moved on, but the tormentor continues with his imperfections? Will she have to reincarnate with him so that he, who still doesn't even understand her suffering, can “pay off his debts”? Does not make sense!

Returning to our point, we were talking about the return of the Spirit to good. In O Céu e o Inferno (FEAL publisher, based on the original, unadulterated version), we have the following:

“8th) 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.”

Since punishment – or punishment, as we do not know for sure what the intention of the original word was – is a consequence of the error made, the suffering inherent to imperfections will be a true punishment. It is not an arbitrary divine punishment, but a consequence of natural law. There is no condemnation: everything depends on the individual's willingness to repent and demand reparation for the imperfection, thus returning to good.

We conclude by reproducing, once again, Paul Janet's recommendation ((In Small Elements of Moral, available on here for download.)) regarding habits:

It is true that habits become, over time, almost irresistible. It is a frequently observed fact; but, on the one hand, if an inveterate habit is irresistible, the same is not true of a habit that begins; and thus man remains free to prevent the invasion of bad habits. That is why moralists advise us above all to watch the origin of our habits. “Be especially careful with the beginnings.”