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Moral
embellishment
Second and final
part
Each incarnation
of the Spirit
entails an
intellectual and
moral
progression
“I tell you
that in the same
way there will
be more
rejoicing in
heaven over one
sinner who
repents than
over ninety-nine
righteous
persons who do
not need to
repent.” – Jesus
(Luke 15:7)
With our
reasoning we
shall follow the
oportune lessons
of Allan
Kardec’s fellow
and follower,
Léon Denis,
which are
registered in
the second part
of the singular
work: “ The
problem of the
Being, of
destiny and of
pain”:
“...
To be reborn is
no more
extraordinary
that to be born;
the Soul returns
to the flesh in
order that
whilst in the
flesh, it is
submitted to the
laws of
necessity. The
needs and the
struggles of
material life
are many others
incentives that
obligate the
soul to work,
increasing its
energy,
invigorating its
character. Such
results could
not be obtained
from free life
in Space by
juvenile
Spirits, whose
will is
vacillating. In
order to
advance, the
stimulus of need
and numerous
incarnations
become precious,
during which the
Soul will
encounter
itself, retract
into itself,
acquire
elasticity, the
indispensable
impulse to later
depict its
immense journey
in the Heavens.
The objective of
incarnations is
therefore, with
some luck, the
revelation of
the Soul to
itself or,
before, its own
worthiness
through the
constant
development of
its strengths,
of its
knowledge, of
its conscience,
of its will.
(...)
Before getting
in touch with
matter and
starting new
route, the
Spirit has to
choose the
environment
where it is
going to be
reborn for
earthly life;
but, this choice
is limited,
circumscribed,
determined by
multiple causes.
The antecedent
of the being,
its moral debts,
its merits and
demerits, the
role which it is
capable of
playing, all
these elements
are taken into
consideration in
the orientation
of the life in
preparation.
Hence the
preference for a
race, a nation,
a family and so
on... The
earthly Souls
that we have
loved attract
us; the ties
from the past
become
reconnected in
the designation
of the parents,
of alliances and
of new
friendships. The
places
themselves exert
a mysterious
seduction upon
ourselves and it
is rare when
destiny does not
re-conduct us
many times to
the regions
where we already
lived, loved and
suffered.
Feelings of hate
are also forces
that approximate
us to our past
enemies in order
that we erase
old hostilities,
with better
relationships.
So, we return to
re-find in our
path the largest
part of those
who were part of
our happiness or
carried out our
miseries.
The same happens
with the
adoption of a
social class,
with
environmental
and education
conditions, with
the privileges
of fortune or
health, with the
miseries of
poverty. All
these causes
which are so
varied and
complex, will
combine
themselves to
secure for the
new incarnated
the
satisfactions,
advantages or
tests which are
suitable to his
degree of
evolution, to
his merits or to
his shortcomings
and debts
incurred by him.
However, the
interested part
has always the
freedom to
accept or
postpone the
time for the
ineluctable
repairs. At
the very moment
of getting
connected with a
human embryo,
when the Soul
still has all
its lucidity,
its Spiritual
Guide unfolds
before the Soul
the prospect of
the existence
that waits for
it, shows it the
obstacles and
the ills that
will be
bristled, it
makes it
understand the
value of these
obstacles and of
these ills so as
to develop
virtues in
itself or to
eradicate itself
from its vices.
...
At the time of
the supreme
resolutions,
before the Soul
starts
descending to
the flesh, the
Spirit
perceives,
realises the
general meaning
of the life that
is about to
start. Life
appears to it in
its main lines,
in its
culminating
facts, always
modifiable,
though, by its
own personal
action and by
the use of its
own free will
because the Soul
is master of its
actions, but,
soon after the
Soul has decided
and from the
moment the tie
between the Soul
and the body
takes place,
that is, the
incorporation is
delineated, the
memory of
everything is
dissipated. The
existence is
going to unfold
with all its
foreseen,
accepted,
desired
consequences
without any kind
of intuition
about the future
surviving in the
regular
conscience of
the incarnated
being. Premature
knowledge of the
ills and
catastrophes
which await us
would paralyse
our efforts,
halting our
march forward.
Our future is in
our own hands
Architect of its
own destiny, the
Soul has to
subject itself
to the estate of
things that it
had prepared,
that it had
chosen...
Nevertheless,
after having
made a dark cave
and a liar of
evil out of its
consciousness,
the Soul will
have to
transform its
destiny in a
temple of Light.
The accumulated
faults will
cause more live
suffering to be
born. The
incarnations
which happen
will be hasher
and more
painful, the
circles of iron
will tighten
themselves up
until the Soul,
triturated by
the gearing that
causes and
effects have
created, will
understand the
need to react
against its
tendencies, to
overcome its
negative
passions and
change path.
From this
moment, just as
repentance
sensitizes the
Soul, it will
feel strength
and new impulses
will be born
within itself.
These new
impulses and
strengths will
lead it towards
more adequate
means for its
work of
reparation, of
renovation, and
step by step the
Soul will make
much progress.
Rays and
rarefied fluids
will permeate
the repented and
moved Soul, and
the need of
useful action
and dedication
will awake
within it.
However, it is
not without cost
that the Soul
will raise
itself, as
ascension will
not continue
without
difficulties.
The committed
faults and
mistakes
reverberate as
causes of
obstacles in
future lives and
the effort will
have to be as
much energetic
and prolonged as
the
responsibilities
will be heavy
and as extensive
as the period of
resistance and
obstinacy in
evil had been.
In the rough and
steep ascent,
the past will
dominate the
present for a
long period of
time, and its
weight will
cause the
shoulders of the
walker to sag
more than once;
but from High
Above, pious
hands will be
extended to him
and help him to
transpose the
most craggy
stretches.
Recognising the
immense
difficulty with
which spiritual
emancipation is
overloaded and
the superlative
efforts that the
Spirits must
employ in the
eagerness to
gain this
spiritual
emancipation,
Jesus1
affirmed: “There
will be more
rejoicing in
heaven over one
sinner who
repents than
over ninety-nine
righteous
persons who do
not need to
repent.”
Our future is in
our hands and
our facilities
towards the
greater good
increase in
direct
proportion to
the effort of
practicing it;
hence Jesus2
also affirmed,
that
“whoever has
will be given
more, and they
will have
abundance”.
Every noble and
pure life, every
higher mission,
is a culmination
of a past of
bitter
struggles, of
suffered
defeats, of
endless
beginnings, of
victories won
against
ourselves; it is
a culmination of
long and patient
works, an
accumulation of
the fruits of
science and
charity
gathered, one by
one, during the
Ages.
Each brilliant
ability, each
solid virtue,
reclaimed many
existences of
obscure work, of
violent combats
between the
Spirit and the
flesh, the
passion and the
duty...
To get to the
talent, to the
genius, the
thought had to
ripen slowly
throughout
centuries”.
According to one
of Léon Denis’s3
teaching,
each time the
Spirit
discarnates,
returning to the
Spiritual World,
... it
proceeds to the
balance of
profits and
losses;
progresses are
evaluated and
consolidated.
The being
examines and
judges itself;
it
thoroughly
investigates
its recent
history ,
written in its
own self, looks
at the fruits of
experience and
of wisdom that
was proportioned
by its last
life, in order
to mark more
deeply the
substance in
them.
Life in Space
is, for the
Spirit that
evolved, a
period of
review, of
self-communion,
in which
abilities, after
having wasted
them in the
exterior,
reflect
themselves, are
applied to the
study of inner
self, to the
examination of
conscience, to
an accurate
inventory of
beauty or
ugliness which
exist in the
Soul. Life in
Space is a
necessary and
symmetrical form
of earthly life,
life of balance,
in which the
forces are
reconstituted,
in which the
energies are
refreshed, in
which
enthusiasms are
revivified and
in which the
being prepares
itself for
future tasks; it
is the rest
after the work,
the calm after
the storm, the
quiet and serene
concentration
after active
expansion or
intense conflict.”
Socrates viewed
incarnation as a
means of
evolution
Through memory
regression
experiments with
several
individuals,
coronel A. De
Rochars
concluded that
rebirth favours
the evolutionary
process of
Spirits.
As he carried
out regression
to several
previous
incarnations, he
observed,
according to
Denis3,
the
spectacle of “...a
series of
individualities
each time less
morally evolved
as he went back
through the
course of the
ages. In each
existence one
atoned, by a
type of “penalty
of retaliation”,
the mistakes
from a previous
existence and
the time which
separated the
two incarnations
was spent in a
more or less
enlightening
environment,
according to the
state of
progress of the
individual”.
We must note
that these
experiences end
up endorsing and
ratifying
spiritist
teaching about
the need for
reincarnation
for moral
embellishment of
creatures,
giving emphasis
to the historic
process of
progress of the
Spirit which is
only admissible
in this way,
since in only
one incarnation,
the Spirit does
not reach the
level of
perfection that
exempts it from
cycles of
rebirth.
Two thousand
years ago,
before spiritist
codification,
Socrates already
had a notion of
the principle of
reincarnation as
a means of
evolution for
the Spirits
4: “The
soul in its
impure state
finds itself
oppressed, and
is once again
attracted to the
visible world by
the fear of that
which is
invisible and
immaterial. It
is a mistake
then, to say
that the gloomy
ghosts seen
round tombs and
monuments most
be the soul of
those who have
left their
bodies without
being absolutely
pure, and so
still conserve
part of their
material form,
which makes them
visible to the
human eye. In
fact they are
not good but bad
souls, dragging
with them the
penalties of
their first
life, who find
themselves
forced to wander
in such places,
where they will
continue to
wander till
their appetites,
inherent to the
material form
with which they
are clad,
recalls them to
another body.
Then, beyond
doubt, they will
return to the
same habits
which were the
object of their
preferences
during their
first life.*
Allan Kardec
adds
the following
commentary: “Not
only the
principle of
reincarnation is
found clearly
expressed there,
but also the
state of the
Souls that are
kept under the
subjection of
matter is
described as
Spiritism shows
in evocations.
Furthermore: the
topic above says
that
reincarnation in
a material body
is consequence
of the soul’s
impurity, whilst
purified Souls
are found
exempted from
reincarnations.
Spiritism
affirms the
same, only
adding that the
Soul, that the
good resolution
taken whilst in
the spiritual
world and that
it has acquired
knowledge, which
is brought with
it at rebirth,
less
shortcomings,
more virtues and
intuitive ideas
about what had
in its previous
existence. So,
each existence
marks in it a
intellectual and
moral progress.”
In items 6 and 7
of his
profession of
faith of 20th
century, Leon
Denis affirms:
“The
objective of the
Soul, in its
evolution, is to
reach and to
realise in
itself as around
itself, through
times and
ascending levels
of the Universe
and through the
blossoming of
the potencies it
has in bud
state, this
eternal notion
of the Beautiful
and of the Good,
which reflects
the idea of God,
the very idea of
perfection.
The explanation
for all the
problems of the
being derives
from the well
understood law
of ascension:
the evolution of
the Soul which
first receives
all its
ancestral
qualities
through
atavistic
transmission and
afterwards it
returns them
through its own
action, in order
to add new
qualities to
itself– the
relative freedom
of the relative
being within the
Absolute Being;
the slow
formation of
human conscience
throughout
centuries and
its successive
developments of
what it is to
come in the
infinites; the
unity of the
essence and the
eternal
solidarity of
the Souls,
marching towards
the conquest of
the High Peaks”.
Jesus warned us:
You are the
Light of the
World!
Dr. Alexander
Papaderos,
theologian
and educator,
tells: “I was
still a child
when the war
broke out.” One
day while in the
middle of the
road, I found
pieces of a
broken mirror
and I kept the
largest one with
me. I started to
play with it and
became
fascinated on
discovering that
I could make
light reflect
into dark places
where the Sun
had never shone
such as deep
holes, crevices.
I kept the small
piece of mirror
with me forever
and, on becoming
an adult I
realised that it
was not only a
child’s play,
but also a
metaphor of what
would become the
motto for a
whole life: I am
a fragment of a
mirror, which I
know nothing
about. With what
I have I can
reflect light,
truth,
comprehension,
knowledge,
towards the dark
places of a
man’s heart and
modify certain
things in
determined
people. Perhaps
other
individuals can
see this and do
as I do.”
A Friend Spirit
calls 5
:
With repentance
and desire to be
industrious, the
son should put
himself to work
courageously to
reclaim the soil
by sheer
will-power,
digging deeply
with the help of
repentance and
hope. Then
confidently sow
the good seed,
which he has
separated from
the bad, and
water it with
love and
charity. Then
God, the God of
love and
charity, will
give to him who
has already
received.
He will see his
efforts crowned
with success and
one grain will
produce a
hundred and
another a
thousand.
Courage,
workers! Take up
your harrows and
your ploughs;
work with your
hearts; tear out
the weeds; sow
the good seed
that the Lord
has given and
the dew of love
will cause the
fruits of
charity to grow.
*1
We should
also pay heed to
the call of the
illustrious son
of Foug 6:
“We
should raise our
eyes towards the
Future Without
Limits; we
should remind
ourselves that
this Future
belong to us,
our task is to
conquer it”.
Paul taught to
the
Thessalonians
7: “...Because
you are all
children of the
light and
children of the
day. We do not
belong to the
night or to the
darkness”.
And Jesus8
completes :
“You are the
Light of the
World! In the
same way, let
your light shine
before others!”
- KARDEC, Allan.
O Evangelho
segundo o
Espiritismo.
12th
edition. Rio:
FEB, 2006,
Introduction,
paragraph 4
- KARDEC, Allan.
The
Gospel
according to
Spiritism.
125th
edition, Rio de
Janeiro: FEB,
2006, chapter 18,
item 15.
*
1
Translator’s
note: passage
extracted from
the book “The
Gospel according
to Spiritism”
–
translation from
3rd
edition by Janet
Duncan,
Introduction,
volume 4.
*1
Translator’s
note: passage
extracted from
the book “The
Gospel according
to Spiritism”
–
translation from
3rd
edition by Janet
Duncan, Chapter
18, item 15 .
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