Intelligent beings of Creation, the Spirits, incarnated or in an extracorporeal condition, have thought as their only attribute ¹.

Living source of creation, the thought molded and emitted by the Spirit (thought-form) travels through the fluid ² residing in the vibratory range with which it tunes.

If thoughts have their transmission route in the fluid, it is evident that they promote transformations over it that characterize its quality.

Allan Kardec teaches us that:

“Since these fluids are the vehicle of thought and this can modify their properties, it is evident that they must be impregnated with the good or bad qualities of the thoughts that make them vibrate, modifying themselves by the purity or impurity of the feelings. Bad thoughts corrupt the spiritual fluids, as deleterious miasma corrupt the breathable air. The fluids that surround the bad spirits, or that they project are, therefore, vitiated, while those that receive the influence of the good spirits are as pure as their degree of moral perfection allows.”³

Man lives in the environment of his mental creation and coexists with those around him, influencing and being influenced. Under the individual bias of thought, Emmanuel warns us:⁴

“(...) man lives within the mental creations to which he originates.

Our thoughts are walls in which we cloister ourselves or they are wings with which we progress in asceticism.

As you think, you will live.

Our intimate life—our place.”

Through his mental creations, man is capable of building his own hell or Heaven in his consciousness.

The Master Jesus Christ called our attention to the imperatives of mental vigilance, in order to safeguard ourselves from the setbacks of physical life, which does not await us, and from the temptations that it usually offers us:

“Take heed that your hearts are not heavy with hangover, drunkenness, and anxiety of [physical] life, and that Day come upon you suddenly.” (Lk 21:34).

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation; indeed, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

“You have learned that it was said to the ancients, “You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman with an evil desire for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew, 5:27 and 28.)

To sin by thought is explored by Allan Kardec in the Gospel According to Spiritism, in particular, when he states, ⁵

“True purity is not only in acts; it is also in the thought, because he who has a pure heart does not even think about evil. This is what Jesus meant: He condemns sin, even in thought, because it is a sign of impurity.”

Later on, the Coder explains that,⁶

“A bad thought can have two origins: the very imperfection of our soul, or a disastrous influence exerted on it. In the latter case, there is always a hint of a weakness, which subjects us to this influence; there is therefore evidence of an imperfect soul. So that the one who goes bankrupt cannot invoke the influence of a strange spirit as an excuse, since that spirit would not have dragged him to evil if he considered him inaccessible to seduction.”

About the genesis of third-party thinking, it is necessary to remember the gregarious nature of the human being whose progress claims the life of relationship, in which, through our actions and words, we influence each other positively or negatively at all times.

It is the collective aspect of thought, which is both emitter and receiver of influxes and stimuli that are more seductive according to the degree of affinity they share.

From this comes the recommendations of the apostle of gentleness:

“Having as a helmet the hope of salvation.” Paul (I Thessalonians, 5:8)

“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Paul (1 Corinthians 5:6)

In this regard, Emmanuel clarifies, ⁷

The rays of our influence intertwine with the emissions of those who know us directly or indirectly, and weigh in the balance of the world for good or for evil.

In the collective environment, we educate ourselves for good and for evil.⁸ We are students and masters at the same time.

Furthermore, if man is the author and/or object of influence and, being constantly surrounded by spirits, it becomes simple to qualify the obsessive processes as a mere effect of his moral inferiority.

In the work Action and Reaction, Leonel, in a dialogue with Silas, asserts that “obsession” or “psychic delirium”:⁹

“(...) is nothing more than an abnormal state of the mind, subdued by the excess of its own creations pressing the sensorial field, infinitely increased by the direct or indirect influence of other minds, disembodied or not, attracted by its own reflection.

(...)

— Each one is tempted outwardly by the temptation he feeds in himself.”

The temptation that man builds in himself makes him vulnerable to his overfeeding with constant excitement promoted by the will of his adversaries, making him a prey to their hallucinatory games.

Mental invigilance is a serious situation of the Spirit that demands immediate repair from him.

Prayer in this context takes on a fundamental role, as it attracts the assistance of good spirits to serve as a buffer to the attacks of executioners in the cleaning of thoughts and as a procedure of courageous,¹⁰ reflected and impartial introspection of the being in order to identify the genesis of its weaknesses.

There is also instruction and charity as important tools in the zeal for the mental field. Uplifting reading leads man's thinking to high vibratory ranges, in addition to instructing him about the harmful effects caused by negative influences. Dedication to others, on the other hand, prevents man from episodes of self-pity and melancholy; attracts the assistance of spirits who sympathize with him; it elevates his thinking and refines his balance of values and predilections.

The guarding of thoughts refers to a permanent attitude, to a way of being of the soul, just as food is a vital attitude for the body.¹¹

Bibliographic references:

DIAS, Haroldo Dutra (Trans.), 1971- The new testament, translated by Haroldo Dutra Dias. – 1st ed. – 11 Prints – Brasilia: FEB, 2020.

EMMANUEL (Spirit). Living source. A psychographics by Francisco Candido Xavier. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2000.

KARDEC, Allan. The Book of Spirits. Translated by Salvador Gentile. Rev. by Elias Barbosa. Araras: IDE, 2009. 182 ed.

KARDEC Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Translated by Guillon Ribeiro. Brasilia: FEB, 2018. P. 316.

LOUIS, Andrew. Action and reaction. A psychographic by Francisco Candido Xavier. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2003.