Ao fazermos o estudo do livro O Céu e o Inferno (( https://mundomaior.com.br/produtos/ceu-inferno-allan-kardec-feal/#:~:text=O%20C%C3%A9u%20e%20o%20Inferno%20%C3%A9%20uma%20das%20cinco%20obras,a%20respeito%20de%20seu%20destino. )), nos chamou a atenção a Nota do Editor 149 ((

With the spiritist autonomous moral theory, prejudices, privileges, pride, selfishness, fanaticism, incredulity, typical of the old world, no longer have any meaning. Competition, which highlights the most capable, proves to be unfair, and should be replaced by cooperation that integrates all of them in solidarity. The resources of education must be invested more widely among the simpler souls, so that they participate actively in society. On this path, humanity will find happiness: “Man is in solidarity with man. It is in vain that he seeks the complement of his being, that is, happiness in himself or in what surrounds him in isolation: he can only find it in MAN or in Humanity. You therefore do nothing to be personally happy, while the unhappiness of a member of humanity, of a part of yourselves, may afflict you.”

Allan Kardec. Heaven and Hell, NE 149 (p. 368). Kindle Edition.

This note he refers to an article that is in the Spiritist Magazine of March 1867. It is one of the Spiritist Dissertations of this edition.

He is particularly interesting for emphatically showing the importance of solidarity in our humanity. In addition, there is a good reflection on the paths that lead to happiness.

We fully share with you:

SOLIDARITY

(Paris, November 26, 1866 – Medium: Mr. Sabb…)

Glory to God and peace to men of good will!
The study of Spiritism must not be in vain. For certain
frivolous men, it's a diversion; for serious men it should be
for real.

First of all, I thought about one thing. you are not on earth
to live there in the manner of animals, to vegetate in the manner of
grasses or trees. The grasses and trees have life
organic, but they do not have intelligent life, as animals do not have
the moral life. Everything lives, everything breathes in Nature, but only the
man feels and feels.

How pitiful and foolish are those who
despise to the point of comparing themselves to a blade of grass or a
elephant! Let us not confuse the genera or the species. They are not
great philosophers and great naturalists who, for example, see in
Spiritism a new edition of metempsychosis and, above all, of
an absurd metempsychosis. Metempsychosis is nothing else

but the dream of a man of imagination. One animal, one
plant produces its congener, nothing more, nothing less. What is this
be said to prevent old false ideas from being again
believed, in the shadow of Spiritism.

Man, be man; I know where you come from and to
where do you go You are the beloved son of Him who made everything and gave you a
end, a destiny that you must fulfill without knowing it at all.
You were necessary to his designs, to his glory, to his own
happiness? Useless questions, because insoluble. You are; thirst
recognized for this; but being is not everything; it must be according to
laws of the Creator, which are your own laws. released on
existence, you are both cause and effect. at least how much
at present, you cannot determine your role, nor how
cause or effect, but you can follow your laws. Well, the
The main one is this: Man is not an isolated being, he is a collective being.
Man is in solidarity with man. It is in vain that you seek the
complement of his being, that is, happiness in himself or in what
surrounds him in isolation; cannot find it except in man or in
Humanity. So you do nothing to be personally happy, as much
as to the unhappiness of a member of Humanity, on a part
of yourself, may afflict you.

But, you will say, it is morality that you teach. Now, morality is a
old commonplace. Look around you: what else is there?
ordinary, more common than the periodic succession of day and
night, what need to feed and clothe yourself? IT IS
to this that all your cares, all your
efforts. And it is necessary, as the material part of the
your being But your nature is not double, and you are no longer spirit
than body? How, then, is it more difficult for you to hear remembering the laws
moral than physical laws, which you apply at all times? if you were
less preoccupied and less distracted this repetition would not be as
necessary.

Let us not stray from our subject. Well
understood, Spiritism is, for the life of the soul, what
Material work is for the life of the body. Take care of him with this
objective and rest assured that when you have done, for your
moral improvement, half of what you do to improve your
material existence, you will have made Humanity take a great step forward.

a spirit

Kardec built and presented, in the Spiritist Magazine of 1858 and in the Spirits' book, the Spiritist Scale (click here for 1858 Spiritist Scale ). He elaborated it for us to better identify the Spirits who communicated through mediums, thus facilitating the understanding and content of the communications.

However, when faced with item 100 of the Spirits' Book with the Spiritist Scale, everyone is looking for their defects and qualities in it... And they ask themselves: What class am I? Will I be a Spirit that has a lot to evolve or will I be a Spirit already able to teach and risk new horizons?

Some important points can be clarified for us to better understand what stage we are at. Let's go to them...

God is the creator of all things.

According to the communications of the Spirits, there are 3 general elements in the Universe: God, matter and Spirits.

God, matter and Spirits. These three things are the beginning of all that exists, the universal trinity.

Kardec, The Spirits' Book, issue 27

The Spirits also taught us, from the various communications, the understanding of the continuous creation of matter and Spirits by God:

This is how universal creation is made. It is therefore correct to say that the operations of nature, being the expression of the divine will, God has always created, creates incessantly, and will never cease to create.

Allan Kardec. GENESIS – Miracles and Predictions According to Spiritism, chapter 2 – God – item 18

We can deduce, then, that in Antiquity, at the time of Christ, in the Middle Ages, Renaissance, in short, EVER souls of all classes existed among us: from the simplest ignorant to the most advanced, superior spirits. This means that we will always have in our socializing incarnate souls who teach us to be better spirits, as well as others inferior to us that we can help for their progress. Souls who are of the same degree of advancement accompany us in our learning, always in cooperation.

Saint Vincent de Paul says exactly that in his communication published in the RE of 1859:

Never forget that the Spirit, whatever its degree of advancement and its situation, as reincarnated or in erraticity, is always placed between a superior, who guides and perfects it, and an inferior, before whom it has the same duties to fulfil.

Kardec, Allan. Spiritist Magazine 1859 (pp. 476)

And he even adds:

Be charitable, therefore, not only with that charity that leads you to take out of your pocket the offering that you give coldly to anyone who dares to ask, but go out to meet hidden miseries. Be indulgent towards the faults of your fellow men. Instead of despising ignorance and vice, educate and moralize them. Be meek and benevolent towards everything that is inferior to you. Do it even before the smallest beings of Creation, and you will have obeyed the Law of God.

Kardec, Allan. Spiritist Magazine 1859 (p. 477)

We understand, based on the teachings of Saint Vincent de Paul, that we should not worry about where on the Spiritist Scale our Spirit is. But how can we contribute to accelerating our progress and the progress of everyone on our journey!

We’re all born. We’re all going to die.

From this truth of life comes the preoccupation of the moment of death are always recurring issues.

In this article, we do not intend to close the subject, quite the contrary! We are only bringing a very small part of this vast subject. After all, we are all going to experience this event.

The Spirits explained that not all Spirits go through the same processes. Each being is a consciousness different from the other. So, The Book of Spirits brings the following conclusions in its chapter III – Return of the Corporeal Life to the Spiritual Life:

163. Leaving the body, is the soul immediately aware of itself? – Immediate awareness is not the term: it is disturbed for some time.

164. Do all spirits experience, to the same degree and for the same time, the disturbance that follows the separation of soul and body? – No, it depends on your elevation. The one who is already purified recognizes himself almost immediately, because he detached himself from matter during his corporeal life, while the carnal man, whose conscience is not pure, retains the impression of matter for much longer.

Comment: Here it is evident that each person experiences a type of perception of death, according to what he has experienced in matter.

Now, in this question 165, Allan Kardec manages to go deeper into the nature of the disturbance, as well as better describe what the Spirits taught in their communications. Note that there is nothing with a set time. This part of the answer, in our view, is the most enlightening.

165. Knowledge of Spiritism exerts some influence on the longer duration
or less of the disturbance? – A great influence, because the Spirit understands his situation in advance: but the practice of goodness and purity of conscience are what exerts the greatest influence.

Kardec continues explaining in the same item how the Spirit experiences these first moments:

“At the moment of death, everything is confused at first; the soul needs some time to recognize itself; she feels stunned, in the same state as a man who has come out of a deep sleep and is trying to understand the situation. The lucidity of ideas and the memory of the past return, as the influence of matter fades and that kind of fog that clouds his thoughts dissipates.

The duration of the after-death disturbance is very variable: it can be from a few hours, to many months and even many years. Those in which it is shorter are those who have identified during their lifetime with their future state, because they are immediately aware of their position. “

Comment: In our emphasis, it seems that he gives a kind of advice.

“This disturbance presents particular circumstances, according to the character of the individuals and above all according to the type of death. In violent deaths, by suicide, torture, accident, apoplexy, injuries, etc., the Spirit is surprised, amazed, does not believe that he is dead and stubbornly maintains that he did not die. However, he sees his body, he knows that it is his, but he does not understand that he is separate. He seeks out the people he loves, addresses them, and doesn't understand why they don't listen to him. This illusion is maintained until the Spirit's complete detachment, and only then does it recognize its state and understand that it is no longer part of the world of the living.”

Comment: There are several reports of Spirits who attend his funeral, who do not understand why they are lying inside the coffin. They are completely lost!

“This phenomenon is easily explainable. Surprised by the unforeseen death, the Spirit is stunned by the sudden change that takes place within him. For him, death is still synonymous with destruction, annihilation; Now, how he continues to think, how he still sees and listens, don't consider yourself dead. And what increases his illusion is the fact that he sees himself in a body similar to the one he left on Earth, whose ethereal nature he has not yet had time to verify. He considers it solid and compact like the first, and when his attention is drawn to this point, he is surprised that he cannot feel it. This phenomenon is similar to that of inexperienced sleepwalkers, who do not believe they are sleeping. For them, sleep is synonymous with the suspension of faculties; Now, as they think freely and can see, they don't think they are sleeping. Some Spirits present this particularity, although death did not take them unexpectedly; but it is always more widespread among those who, despite being sick, did not think about dying. We then see the singular spectacle of a Spirit who attends his own funerals like those of a stranger, speaking about them as if about something that does not concern him, until the moment he understands the truth.”

Comment: The Spirit confuses its spiritual envelope (perispirit) with its carnal body, so that it does not realize that it no longer has a carnal body!

The disturbance that follows death is not at all painful for the good man: it is calm and in every way similar to that which accompanies a peaceful awakening. For one whose conscience is not pure it is full of anxieties and anxieties.

Comment: Once again, the clarifications of the Spirits give us the tips on how to make the moment of death so much softer!

Surprisingly, in the last paragraph of this chapter, Kardec says clearly about the collective disincarnations that occurred in accidents or catastrophes!

“In cases of collective death, it has been observed that all those who perish at the same time do not always see each other immediately. In the turmoil that follows death, each one goes his own way or only concerns himself with those who interest him.”

Kardec, The Spirits' Book, item 165

Comment: Dying at the same time in the same accident doesn't mean much after disincarnation! Everyone pursues their interests.

We do not intend to close the matter! After all, from what you've read so far, it's not conclusive, because each one has its particularities! Throughout Kardec's coding there are many descriptions of that moment and more explanations that the Spirits brought.

But one thing we will never escape: the moment of death.

In this article, which presents the evocation of the Spirit of Mehemet Ali (Muhammad Ali), Kardec explores a questioning about the incarnation of this Spirit as an Egyptian priest, at the time of the pharaohs.

In the April 1858 edition, Kardec evoked this Spirit. At the time, he revealed that he was a priest at the time of ancient Egypt. More details Click here

It is important to remember that in the first communication, in April, this Spirit proved not to be elevated. He wasn't mean, but he was still on the "imperfection wheel." Therefore, in his speech, he presents some impatience and lack of benevolence.

Vamos, aqui, destacar algumas partes da longa conversa – evocação que entendemos como principais:

1. ─ In the name of Almighty God, I ask the Spirit of Mehemet-Ali to come and communicate with us. ─ Yes; I know the reason.

2. ─ You promised to come to us in order to instruct us. Would you be kind enough to hear us and answer us? ─ I don't promise, because I didn't make that commitment.

Curious how the characteristics of the evoked Spirit appear clearly as the communication develops. Here it clearly shows to be a non-superior Spirit.(Click here for more features)

Superior spirits are always good and benevolent; in his speech we never find acrimony, arrogance, harshness, pride, bravado, or stolid conceit. They speak simply, advise and withdraw when they are not heard.

Kardec, Allan. Spiritist Magazine: October: 1858

3. ─ Let us replace what you promised by making us wait. ─ You mean: to satisfy your curiosity. It doesn't matter! I'll lend a little.

Comment: Kardec continues to ask the questions he thought necessary to assess the state of knowledge and intentions of that Spirit, confronting science with its answers. Most likely testing the Spirit

4. ─ Considering that you lived in the time of the pharaohs, could you tell us for what purpose the pyramids were built?  ─ They are tombs; tombs and temples. There were large demonstrations.

5. ─ Did they also have a scientific objective? ─ No. Religious interest absorbed everything.

12. From the dual point of view of God and the soul, did the priests have healthier ideas than the people? ─ Yes. They had the light in their hands and while they hid it from others, they still saw it.

Comment: Here it becomes clear how religions are used to control the people, subjugating them, completely without individual autonomy. It is clear that the priests knew and taught the initiates, but did not instruct the population. To this day it is so.

14. ─ What is the origin of the worship given to animals? ─ They wanted to turn man away from God and lower him under himself, giving him inferior beings as gods.

15. – To a certain extent, the cult of useful animals can be understood; but that of unclean and harmful animals, such as serpents, crocodiles, etc., is not understood. ─ Man loves what he fears. It was a yoke for the people. The priests could not believe in gods made by their hands!

Comment: The priests knew the teachings and kept them for a small circle of initiates. They did not instruct the people in order to subjugate them. This shows how religions are not autonomous.

18. How to reconcile the Egyptians' respect for the dead with their contempt and horror for those who buried and mummified them?  ─ The corpse was an instrument of manifestations. As they thought, the Spirit returned to the body it had animated. As one of the instruments of the cult, the corpse was sacred and contempt persecuted anyone who dared to violate the sanctity of death.

Comment: Interesting: the individual, taught this way, died believing it. Therefore, although he found his body preserved, he continued there, manifesting himself. It could be, in this way, an obstacle to their progress, which leads to the conclusion that it would be better to die as part of the people. In the same way that, even today, there are those who stay by the coffin, not wanting to leave it, because they believe in this same modernized dogma (we cannot forget that Christianity brought many of these Egyptian dogmas mentioned here to their beliefs).

19. ─ Did the conservation of the body allow for a greater number of manifestations? ─ Longer, that is, the Spirit returned for longer, as long as the instrument was docile.

23. Did the teaching given in the Mysteries have the sole purpose of revealing extra-human things, or were the precepts of morality and love of neighbor also taught? ─ All this was very corrupted. The purpose of the priests was to dominate, not to instruct.

Comment: To this day they embalm the body! It's a very big attachment to matter!

This is one of the stories from the 1858 Revista Espírita, where Kardec studies the case of a 12-year-old boy who murders 5 other children. Briefly: a 12-year-old boy put five children in a trunk, locked the trunk, and left them there until they died. Having been seen by another girl, the 12-year-old boy was reported and then confessed everything, in the most cold-blooded manner and without expressing regret.

Here, too, a reflection on a crime such as these is in order. Could it be that, as many say, these five children were killed to fulfill the “redemption of past debts”? If so, what would be the degree of responsibility of the other? We deal with this matter in this other article, click here

Another question: is the spirit of the murderer boy necessarily evil? In The Spirits' Book, Kardec clarifies:

“In fact, consider that in your homes children are possibly born whose spirits come from worlds where they have contracted habits different from yours, and tell me how these beings could be in your midst, bringing passions different from those you nurture, inclinations, tastes, entirely opposites. to yours; how could they rank among you, but as God ordained, that is, passing through the tamis of childhood?”

OLE, question 385

Continuing in the article, Kardec interrogates the spirit of a medium's sister, “who passed away twelve years ago and always showed superiority as a spirit”. Let's present the main points of these questions and their answers:

2. ─ What motives would have impelled a boy of that age to commit such an atrocious action and with such cold-bloodedness? ─ Evil has no age. It is natural in a child and reasoned in an adult man.

Observation: “The child is not good or bad until he has the discernment of one or the other. It is what is called the state of innocence, which is somehow the sleep of consciousness.” Paul Janet, Little Elements of Morals. Already in the adult, or man who makes the distinctions of his moral conscience, who uses reason, he choose to do or not do an action, which results in a good or bad deed. Even so, if he acts in “evil”, it is only because he is not aware of the good, he has not progressed enough to understand.

3. ─ Doesn't its existence in a child, without reasoning, denote the incarnation of a much inferior Spirit? - It comes directly from the perversity of the heart: it is his own Spirit that dominates him and drives him to perversity.

5. ─ In his previous existence, would he have belonged to Earth or to an even lower world? ─ I'm not sure, but it must belong to a world much more backward than Earth. He dared (?) come to Earth. You will be doubly punished.

Comment: When the evoked Spirit explains about double punishment, we understand that he means that this Spirit has acquired some consciousness and he chose come to Earth. Here, being born, he preferred to experience his passions and imperfections, instead of trying to overcome them. Most likely, you still don't understand divine laws, such as the law of progress.

6. - At that age, would the boy enough aware of the crime he committed? Will you be responsible as a Spirit? ─ He was the age of conscience. This is enough.

7. ─ Once this Spirit dared come to Earth, for him very high, can he be constrained to return to a world in relation to his nature? ─ Your punishment is precisely retrograde; it is hell itself. This is the punishment of Lucifer, of the spiritual man who has lowered himself to the level of matter; it is the veil that henceforth hides from him the gifts of God and his divine protection. Make an effort, then, to win back those lost goods and you will have reconquered the paradise that Christ came to open for you. It is the presumption, the pride of the man who wanted to conquer what only God could have (?).

At this point, with answer 7, we have arrived at several understandings:

• To dare means to choose. The principle of autonomy is always present in Kardec.
• The Spirit does not retrograde. Here, it is a material retrogradation, according to the state of development of the Spirit. It is like the student who is forced to repeat the year, because, in fact, he has not learned;
• We understand that while the Spirit experiences negative habits, vices, he is far from understanding the good;
• It may look like the picture of falling into sin, but we can understand it from the point of view of sinking into habits that lead to imperfections.

It is the picture of original sin explained by Spiritism: the Spirit is not created full, pure and wise, but ignorant and simple and, when it lives in matter, it acquires experiences. When he errs, he does not commit a sin, but only errs. The error can be totally unconscious, from which learning is born, or it can be, in a certain way, conscious, that is, by choice, which is when the Spirit developed a habit that gave rise to an imperfection. Hence we have the following: if the Spirit no understands that imperfection causes delay and suffering, he just continues to follow in incarnations, until he acquires knowledge to understand the wrong he has done, and he repents. then pass to atone the fruit of your imperfections, by the free choice of your trials, through the incarnations, in order to deal with this habit, with a view to getting rid of it.

We all go through it, and all of us will reach relative perfection.

The questions follow the evoked Spirit:

8. In what way is the Earth superior to the world to which the Spirit of whom we have just spoken belonged? ─ There is a weak idea of justice there. It's a start of progress.

9. ─ Does it follow that in worlds inferior to Earth there is no idea of justice? ─ No. Men live there only for themselves and their motive is nothing but the satisfaction of their passions and instincts.

10. ─ What will be the position of this Spirit in a new existence? ─ If repentance erases, if not totally, at least in part, the enormity of your faults, then you will remain on Earth; if, on the contrary, he persists in what you call final impenitence, he will go to a place where man is on the level of animals.

Note: Kardec developed this understanding much later, in the work Heaven and Hell: “Repentance is useless when it is only a consequence of suffering. Beneficial repentance is that which is based on the regret of having offended God, and the ardent desire for reparation. I haven't gotten to that point yet, unfortunately. Recommend me to the prayers of all those who dedicate themselves to the suffering, because I need them”. Heaven and Hell, Allan Kardec

"O repentance sincere is an act of the Spirit's free will, predisposing him to free himself from the condition of unhappiness by his effort. Thus, the soul's repentance is not the fear of continuing to suffer, which constrains it, submitting it to an external will (heteronomy). In fact, he represents the awareness of divine laws, which makes him understand his own ability to achieve happiness through improvement (autonomy). This condition makes him recognize the strength of his will and awakens his self-esteem, leading him back to the path of good.”
In other words: if he repents, he can reincarnate here, which is a planet of proofs and atonements. If not, you will have to reincarnate on a planet that gives you the conditions to learn through the reincarnation exercise itself.

note by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo on Heaven and Hell

11. ─ So can he find on Earth the means to atone for his fault, without being forced to return to a lower world? ─ In the eyes of God, repentance is sacred, because it is man who judges himself, which is rare on your planet.

In this article from November 1858, the second article talks about the Plurality of Existences or Reincarnation. Kardec will make a very informative approach about reincarnation. It is an article of great interest, as it demonstrates the scientist, demystifying the encoder:

“The dogma of reincarnation is not new, say some; they resurrected him from the doctrine of Pythagoras. We never said that the Spiritist Doctrine was a modern invention. constituting a law of nature, Spiritism must have existed since the beginning of time and we have always endeavored to demonstrate that signs of it can be discovered in the most remote antiquity.”

RE, November 1858

Note: It says it was not new as it was in the Bible and was removed by the Second Council of Constantinople.

Spiritism is in everything and touches all areas of science. He, in himself, in his depth, is the science of everything. This effort by Kardec was very important, and it must be the same on our part, as it demystifies Spiritism.

The ancients, including Pythagoras (6th century BC), believed in metempsychosis, while Spiritism demonstrates the impossibility of this theory.

Metempsychosis: It is a fundamentally Eastern belief, mainly Hindu, linked to the dogma of the fall for sin, which has no basis in the reason developed by Spiritism.

It is interesting to note, however, that a Spirit, at the beginning of its evolution, can and will incarnate in animals: (AG, chap. XI, “HYPOTHESIS ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE HUMAN BODY” )

HYPOTHESIS ON THE ORIGIN OF THE HUMAN BODY

15. From the similarity of external forms that exists between the body of man and that of an ape, some physiologists have concluded that the former is only a transformation of the latter. In this there is nothing impossible and, if that is so, there is no reason for man to feel his dignity affected. The bodies of apes may well have served as a garment for primitive human spirits, necessarily not very advanced, who came to incarnate on Earth, because they were the most appropriate to their needs and the most adequate to the exercise of their faculties than the bodies of any other person. another animal. Instead of a special garment that was made for the Spirit, he would have found a ready-made one. He then dressed himself in the skin of a monkey, without ceasing to be a human spirit, as man sometimes dresses himself in the skin of certain animals without ceasing to be a man. Let it be understood that here it is only a question of a hypothesis which is in no way stated as a principle, but which is only presented to show that the origin of the body does not harm the Spirit, which is the main being, and that the likeness of the body of the man with that of the ape does not imply parity between your Spirit and his.

16. Admitting this hypothesis, it can be said that, under the influence and by the effect of the intellectual activity of its new inhabitant, the envelope has been modified, embellishing itself in the details, conserving in the whole the general form of the set. The improved bodies, when procreating, reproduced under the same conditions, as happens with grafted trees, and gave birth to a new species that, little by little, distanced itself from the primitive type, as the Spirit progressed. The simian spirit, which was not annihilated, continued to procreate for its use the bodies of apes, just as the fruit of the wild tree reproduces trees of this species, and the human spirit procreated bodies of men that were variants of the first mold in which it was established. The trunk forked; produced a branch, and it became a trunk. As there are no sudden transitions in nature, it is likely that the first men who appeared on Earth differed little from the ape, in outward form and, no doubt, little also in intelligence. There are still, in our days, savages who, by the length of their arms and feet, and the conformation of the head, bear so much resemblance to apes that they only lack hair for the resemblance to be complete.

Allan Kardec. GENESIS – Miracles and Predictions According to Spiritism

This is quite different, however, from supposing that a human spirit, due to a punishment, can be condemned to incarnate in a monkey, which, for him, would be a retrogradation.

Some contradictors say: “you already shared this idea, so the spirits only communicated concepts that they already accepted”. A mistake, as we will see below:

“When the doctrine of reincarnation was taught to us by the Spirits, it was so far from our thinking that, on the background of the soul, we had built a completely different system, shared, in fact, by many people. In this aspect, therefore, the Doctrine of the Spirits deeply surprised us; we will say more: it antagonized us, because it overthrew our own ideas. As can be seen, it was far from reflecting them. But that's not all: we don't give in to the first shock; we fight, we defend our opinion, we raise objections and we only surrender to the evidence when we realize the insufficiency of our system to resolve all the difficulties raised by this question..”

"In the eyes of some people, the word evidence will doubtless seem singular in such a matter; it will not, however, be inappropriate for those who are used to scrutinizing spiritist phenomena. For the attentive observer, there are facts which, although not of an absolutely material nature, nevertheless constitute true evidence, at least from a moral point of view..”

Today, we have not only the moral evidence, but the factual evidence of reincarnation, which, however, has not yet been (and will never be) proven in the laboratory.

“We have yet another refutation to oppose: it is that not only was it taught to us; it was also taught in many other places, in France and abroad: in Germany, Holland, Russia, etc., and this even before the publication of The Spirits' Book.

We also add that, since we dedicated ourselves to the study of Spiritism, we have obtained communications through more than fifty writing, speaking, psychic mediums, etc., more or less enlightened, with more or less limited normal intelligence, some even completely illiterate. and, consequently, absolutely strangers to philosophical matters; nohowever, in no case did the spirits contradict themselves on this issue..”

Observation: Most communications, as far as we know, were from mechanical psychic mediums, often put into somnambulistic sleep (called crisis, in season). But Kardec never stopped looking for value in other forms of communication and in manifestations in general, always seeking to highlight those that could arouse interest and demonstrate the reality of spiritual intervention. For his eyes as a researcher, even a mediumistic painting, as we will see later, could represent a phenomenon of interest.

Not only is this doctrine supported by evidence, but chiefly by reason. Without her does not exist autonomy, because the Spirit would not be given the opportunity to advance, through learning from successes and mistakes. This is what happens with the Doctrine taught by the Catholic Church and other religions, to the point that we are amazed today that there are still people who think like this.

The Doctrine of Reincarnation, as explained by Spiritism, is the only doctrine that fits all the pieces of the puzzle, explaining the differences between beings and divine goodness.

“We have reasoned, abstracting ourselves, as we said, from any spiritist teaching that, for certain creatures, lacks authority. It is not just because it came from the Spirits that we and so many others became fans of the plurality of existences.. It is because this part of the doctrine seemed to us to be the most logical and because it alone resolves issues that were hitherto insoluble..”

Let's see:

“If there is no reincarnation, there is, of course, only a corporeal existence. If our present corporeal existence is the only one, the soul of every man was created at his birth, unless the soul's antecedence is admitted, in which case it would be fitting to ask what it was before birth and whether the state in which it was born. that it was thought did not constitute an existence in any form. There is no middle ground: either the soul existed or it did not exist before the body. If so, what is your status? Was she or was she not aware of herself? If it didn't, it's almost as if it didn't exist. If it had individuality, was it progressive or stationary? In either case, to what degree had he taken the body? Assuming, according to popular belief, that the soul is born with the body, or, what comes to the same thing, that, before incarnating, it has only negative faculties, we ask: "

Kardec, RE November 1858

1. Why does the soul show such diverse aptitudes and independent of the ideas that education made it acquire? 

2. Whence comes the extranormal aptitude that many children show at an early age, for this or that art, for this or that science, while others remain inferior or mediocre throughout their lives? 

3. Whence, in some, the innate or intuitive ideas, which in others do not exist?

4. Whence, in certain children, the precocious instinct that they reveal towards vices or virtues, the innate feelings of dignity or baseness, contrasting with the environment in which they were born? 

5. Why, apart from education, are some men more advanced than others? 

6. Why are there savages and civilized men? If you take a newborn Hottentot boy and bring him up in our best high schools, will you ever make him a Laplace or a Newton?

Comment: This issue of the African savage is in line with the various, quite severe, criticisms of “racism” in Kardec. As, further down, Kardec repeats that “Regarding the sixth question, it will be said, without a doubt, that the Hottentot is from an inferior race”, we believe that we should take a moment to allude to Kardec's scientific context, which it was, by definition, racist, that is, classified the human being by races. See our article Click here

“Which philosophy or theosophy is capable of solving these problems? It is beyond doubt that either souls are equal at birth, or they are unequal. If equal, why, among them, such a great diversity of aptitude? It will be said that it depends on the organism. But then we find ourselves in the presence of the most monstrous and immoral of doctrines. Man would be a mere machine, a plaything of matter; he would no longer be responsible for his actions, as he could attribute everything to his physical imperfections. If souls are unequal, it is because God created them that way. In that case, however, why the innate superiority bestowed on some? Does this partiality correspond to the justice of God and to the love which he equally consecrates to all his creatures?”

Kardec, RE 1858

So far we have analyzed the soul by its past and its present. And what would be your future according to Kardec?

1. - If it is only our present existence that must decide our future, what will be the respective position of the savage and the civilized man in the future life? Will they be on the same level or apart in the sum of eternal bliss?

2. Will the man who has worked to improve himself all his life be on the same level as the man who remained inferior, not because of his fault, but because he had neither the time nor the possibilities to improve himself?

3. ─ Is the man who does evil because he has not been able to clarify himself subject to circumstances that did not depend on him?

Note item 2: We perceive here the contextual and philosophical knowledge of the Rational Spiritualists was present in these questions.

4. ─ We work to enlighten men, moralize them, civilize them; but for every one who becomes enlightened, there are millions who die daily, before the light reaches them. What is their fate? Are they treated as reprobates? If not, what did they do to be kept in the same class as others?

5. ─ What is the fate of children who die at an early age, before they can do good or evil? If they are among the elect, why this favor, when they have done nothing to deserve it? By what privilege were they released from the tribulations of life?

Kardec concludes the article:

“Is there a doctrine that can resolve these issues? Assume successive existences and everything will be explained according to the justice of God. What cannot be done in one life, will be done in another.. In this way, no one will escape the law of progress and everyone will be rewarded according to real merit and no one will be excluded from the supreme happiness to which he can aspire, whatever the obstacles encountered in his way.”

“These questions would easily multiply to infinity, because there are countless psychological and moral problems that only find a solution in the plurality of existences. We limit ourselves to formulating those of a more general order.”

Idem

Comments: Is there any urgency to make any progress? Many speakers have used an alarmist tone, saying that we have to change ourselves “for yesterday”, do the intimate reform, because “the planet” will enter a new phase, that of regeneration. If we suffer from an imperfection, the urgency is in our own time; if we are only in the process of learning, this will only take place in the time of each one, according to their will.

Our suggestions for a documentary and book about Reincarnation – Plurality of Existences: