Planet Earth, according to the indications of Superior Spirits, represents a place of low physical and moral development. There are better places like Jupiter, but also lesser places like Mars.¹ Thus, we would be in a school for young spirits who still do not have superior knowledge and depending on the situation, need, experiences and experimentation to advance in the process of awakening and internalizing spiritual learning. At this point, it is essential to have the appropriate instruments and, therefore, two fundamental elements for the spirit arise: the material physical body and the perispirit.

The material body is the carnal garment that allows the spirit to be “buried” on Earth, since the spiritual plane is the primary one. Being incarnated represents an opportunity for the being to progress, even though it may go through experiences in other spheres as well.² through the incarnations on Earth, there is the test of the development of intelligence, as well as the training of mental emanations so that one can, in a promising future, radiate to different places or worlds. The physical body represents a blessing since it is through this carnal armor that allows the individual to polish his skills with more dexterity, or even defend himself from the enemies of yesteryear. However, it is essential that the being knows how to place the physical body under its orders and guidelines, instead of the other way around. In the eastern tradition, it says that the being is the rider and that the material body is the horse. Letting the horse lead the rider is a sign of impending disaster. The influence of matter leads to less noble passions. On the other hand, when the horse is at the service of the rider, the being advances in a productive way and with the right objectives. However, at some point they both separate.

Dying or disincarnating is part of the cycle of comings and goings between the spiritual and material planes. Being in the "restart sphere" is part of the being's journey towards its infinite improvement, highlighted by the identification of the being with the Creator. At this point, the incarnate does not come only with the clothing of the flesh. The spirit is always accompanied by the perispirit as a complementary instrument, “to be able to rise in the atmosphere and transport itself wherever it wants”.²

The perispirit is a semi-material envelope, also called an ethereal body. It is a vaporous body, coming from the universal fluid and which is adapted, or conditioned, to the world where the spirit lives. That is, it is useful while the being is learning on Earth, whether when incarnated or disincarnated. When this second situation occurs, there is the separation of the perispirit from the flesh and with losses even for the first one with the loss of its vital body. This, also called the 'etheric double', represents the most peripheral part of the perispirit and is “formed by neuropsychic emanations that belong to the physiological field and that, for this very reason, cannot move further away from the terrestrial organization, destined for disintegration, both what happens to the carnal instrument, on the occasion of renewing death” ⁴. As for the surviving parts of the perispirit, vital and astral body, they help in the maintenance of records of debits and credits of the individual against the greatness of eternity and infinity.⁵ Thus, it serves to maintain the dynamic balance of progress, rescue and duties assumed and fulfilled within the personal historical line. What is anticipated is that, as the spirit advances in its duties and balances the debts within the balance of destiny, the perispirit itself sublimates. Thus, the mode of conduct in life will also influence the very process of disincarnating and survival of the spirit and its perispiritual condition. With that, the detachment of the perispirit from the material physical body, with the disincarnating process, is not instantaneous or the same for everyone. As one reads in The Book of Spirits: “Observation proves that, at the moment of death, the disconnection of the perispirit is not completed suddenly; it operates only gradually and with a slowness that varies greatly according to individuals”.⁶

That is, depending on the type of life, more or less connected to the material and the sensual, the individual will have the separation facilitated or not. In painful cases, the spirit can be trapped in the decomposition of the physical body. It is the experience of free will and reaping the results of choices made in life. Thus, the recommendation of Paul of Tarsus: “Everything is lawful for me, but not everything suits me” (1Cor 6:12). Alternatively, in a complementary way by the spiritual instructor Gubio: “we are what we are. After the tomb, we only find paradise or hell created by ourselves”.

In other words, we are like the silkworm that ends up involved with the thread it expelled. With that, mental creations, mental attitudes have to be managed with care. According to Gubio:⁷ “Our perispiritual organism, sublime result of evolution, as far as the physical body is concerned in the sphere of the Crust, can be compared to the poles of a magnetic-electric device”.⁸ Thus, the perispirit is a tool for consolidating will and thought, and it is then up to the responsibility to use such a precious instrument. The perispirit is molded according to the individual's will in a subtle way and with flexibility and capacity for expansion and retraction, being able to transform itself into what the spirit wants.

In other words, the perispirit can represent a versatile tool for the individual to train his will and thought, energy and knowledge in order to be useful for a greater reality. On the other hand, when we abuse it too much, as well as of the incarnated experiences, we can damage the condensed fluid or perispirit itself. Which seems to legitimize the observation of the evangelist Luke (16:10): “He who is faithful with little is also faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with little is also dishonest with much”.

In a similar sense, there is the following observation from The Book of Mediums. “In the knowledge of the perispirit lies the key to countless problems that are still unsolvable”.⁹ Therefore, the perispirit is an essential element for the spirit to be able to follow its obligations, duties, rescues and missions, such as a subtle garment that reflects and is reflected in the moral condition and progress of the spirit. In the specific case of communication in the exchange between two perispirits, the question of affinity seems to be fundamental¹⁰.  It may  or may not facilitate communication exchanges, for example, between incarnated and disembodied, for example. Returning to the possibility of losing or damaging the perispirit, there is the phenomenon known as 2^nd death, that is, when the individual no longer needs it due to the advance or when he lost it due to the abuse of free will and contracted large debts. In the first case, it can be said that the perispirit gradually diminished to the point that the spirit no longer needed it. This is the case of pure spirits that represent entities of the first order¹¹.  Pure spirits are those who are not influenced by matter and have both knowledge and moral development in full. “Not being any longer subject to reincarnation in perishable bodies, it is for them eternal life, which they enjoy from the bosom of God”.¹²

In the Vedic tradition, there is the concept of samsara and it represents the cycle of rebirth and death that the individual needs to perform in order to reach perfection. Thus, pure spirits and the non-necessity of perispirit and reincarnation represent the release of this wheel and therefore, as expressed in The Book of Spirits, spirits in this condition “enjoy unalterable happiness”.¹³

The spiritist scale represents the degree of maturity of the spirit, whether in terms of moral development, superior knowledge, tendency to good, influence of matter and sanctifying works. In other words, the healthy loss of the perispirit is not a task that happens overnight, but requires commitment and discipline, knowledge and companionship over several periods.

On the other hand, for those who commit themselves profoundly to evil, there may also be the loss of the fluidic body and, in this case, there is the limitation of being by itself. This is the case of ovoids, which are human beings that lose their original shape and become limited, like small spheres, “bigger than a human skull”.¹⁴ In this case, the second death is temporary, because as the Spiritist Doctrine clearly indicates, there are no setbacks. Someday there will be reincarnation in the sphere of fresh start and again the opportunity will be given for regeneration and payment of debts. The Father will forget no child.

Therefore, the second death (loss of the perispirit) can represent both a blessing and a certain misfortune to the being. It is the extreme reward or punishment. To illustrate both situations, observe the narrative of the spiritual instructor Gubio:¹⁵

“You saw companions – continued the advisor – who got rid of it [the perispirit], heading for sublime spheres, whose greatness for the time being we cannot fathom, and you observed brothers who underwent reductive and disintegrating operations of the perispirit elements to be reborn in the terrestrial flesh. The former are ennobled and glorious servants, in their duty well done, while the latter are our colleagues, who already deserve reincarnation worked out by intercessory values, but, as much as it happens to respectable companions of these two types, the ignorant and the bad, the strays and criminals also lose, one day, their perispiritual form.

“Due to the density of the mind, saturated with inferior impulses, they are unable to elevate themselves and gravitate around the absorbing passions that for many years they elected as the center of fundamental interests. A large number, in these circumstances, especially those who participated in condemnable crimes, are attracted to those who associated with them in the crimes. If the disciple of Jesus remains connected to Him, through imponderable threads of love, inspiration and recognition, the pupils of hatred and perversity remain united, under the guidance of the intelligences that intertwine them in the network of evil. Enriching the mind with new knowledge, perfecting its faculties of expression, purifying it in the illuminating currents of good and enlarging it with the definitive incorporation of noble principles is to develop our glorious body, in the expression of the apostle Paul, structuring it in sublimated and divine matter.

In this way, the perispirit is a valuable, useful and subtle instrument. It cannot be abused in negative use. However, it can be said that losing it to light up to higher abodes can mean everyone's final destination. One day we will no longer need this tool, as we will have improved ourselves to the point of being able to supply with our skills, knowledge, love and our own lights. Just as a child learns to walk with both feet without needing to crawl anymore, human beings will one day manage to ascend to the upper heavens, detached from matter and with the subtlety that they will no longer need the perispirit. This is due to the affinity with God and love and universal intelligence will be such that there will no longer be any difference. The return to paradise only depends on us.

Therefore, we appreciate the evidence and honor the resources available to make progress fair and unquestionable. Let us especially honor our bodies as legitimate helpers who wish us well and sacrifice themselves for our cause. One day we will lose both the physical and ethereal bodies. May the spirit be free to help those who still seek God's peace and love from the Highest. The Universe as the Garden of Light of Creation.¹⁶

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