With this edition ends the methodical study of "The Gospel According to Spiritism" by Allan Kardec, the third of the works of the Kardecian Pentateuch. The answers to the questions suggested for discussion are at the end of the text below.
Questions for discussion
A. Does Spiritism respect the prayers of other religions?
B. How do the Superior Spirits regard the Lord's Prayer?
C. Should we pray at the Spiritist meetings?
D. How does Kardec instruct us to treat the obsessed?
Reading text
388. In the previous item, we saw what the law is, the immutable law, in accordance with the goodness and righteousness of God. The guilty and unhappy Spirit can thus save itself. God's law establishes the conditions, which makes it possible. However, what the Spirit most often lacks is will, strength, and courage. When his spiritual benefactors, by means of prayers, inspire him courage, protect, and encourage him, if by means of their advice they enlighten him, instead of asking God to derogate His law, they become instruments putting into action another law - the law of love and charity. (Chapter XXVII, section 21.)
389. Prayer is the primary duty of every human being, the first act that should mark his daily return to his active life. Almost all of us pray, but very few know how to pray! (Chapter XXVII, section 22, Monod.).
390. We can say a prayer at any time, regardless of the regular prayers in the morning and at night and on the days consecrated to prayer. (Chapter XXVII, section 22, Monod.)
391. Prayer is the divine dew that quenches the excessive heat of the passions. The eldest daughter of faith, it leads us to the path that leads to God. In self-communion and loneliness, we are with God. (Chapter XXVII, section 23, St. Augustine.)
392. We should pray as Christ did when carrying His cross to the Golgotha. Let us carry our cross and feel the sweet emotions that enter our soul, though bowed by the weight of an infamous tree. He was going to die, but to live life in the heavenly abode of his Father (Chapter XXVII, section 23, St. Augustine.)
393. The Spirits have always said, "The form is worth nothing, the thought is all. Therefore, pray each of you according to your beliefs and in the manner that most touches you. A good though is worth more than a lot of words uttered with no real feeling from your heart. "(Chapter XXVIII, section 1.)
394. The Spirits never prescribe any absolute formula of prayers. When they transmit a formula to pray, it is just to firm an idea, and especially to draw attention to certain principles of the Spiritist Doctrine. They also do it in order to help those who feel embarrassed to express their own ideas, because some do not believe they have really prayed, if they do not repeat what the Spirits said. (Chapter XXVIII, section 1.)
395. The collection of prayers in Chapter XXVIII represents a selection made among many of the prayers dictated by the Spirits in several circumstances. They may have dictated others using different terms, appropriate to certain ideas or special cases, but the form does not matter, if the thought is the same. The purpose of the prayer is to raise our souls to God. The diversity of formulas should create no difference between those who believe in Him, even among the followers of Spiritism, because God accepts all when sincere. (Chapter XXVIII, section 1.)
396. Therefore, one should not consider this collection as a unique and absolute form of praying, but only as a variety in the set of instructions that the Spirits minister. Spiritism accepts as good all prayers of all religions, if when spoken they come from the heart and not just uttered by the lips. Spiritism imposes none of them, and it reproaches none. God is too great to repel the voice that calls Him, or sings praises, because the prayer is being said in one specific way instead of another. Whoever rejects prayers because they are not in accordance with the form he adopts only proves that he ignores God's greatness. (Chapter XXVIII, section 1.)
397. The main quality of a prayer is to be clear, simple, and concise, without useless phrases, or many names, which are mere sequin adornments. Each word mentioned must have its own scope, awake an idea, and vibrate a fiber of the soul. In a word, it must make you think. Only under this condition can the prayer reach its goal, otherwise, it is only noise. (Chapter XXVIII, section 1.)
398. The collection of prayers contained in the aforementioned chapter is divided into five categories: a) General prayers; b) Prayers for the one who is praying; c) Prayers for the living; d) Prayers for the dead; e) Prayers for the sick and the obsessed. In order to draw, in a special way, the attention on the purpose of each prayer and make its contents clearer, they all have a preliminary explanation, a kind of an explanatory memorandum, under the title of preface. (Chapter XXVIII, section 1.)
Answers to the proposed questions
A. Does Spiritism respect the prayers of other religions?
Yes, Spiritism considers the prayers of all religions good, if they come from the heart and not only uttered by the lips. It imposes no prayer and it reproaches none. (The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter XXVIII, section 1.)
B. How do the Superior Spirits regard the Lord's Prayer?
The collection begins with the Lord's Prayer. The High Spirits put this prayer in the first place, not only because it comes from Jesus himself, but also because it can feed all of them, according to the thoughts that combine with it. It is a perfect model of brevity, a true masterpiece of excellence in sublime simplicity, and it summarizes all the duties of man towards God, himself and others. It contains a profession of faith, an act of worship and submission, the application of the necessary things in life and the principle of charity. (Ibid., Sec. XXVIII, section 2.)
C. Should we pray at the Spiritist meetings?
Yes, there should always be a prayer in serious Spiritist Meetings, in those that sincerely desire the assistance of the good Spirits, and it should be said at the beginning and end of the meeting. (Ibid, Chapter XXVIII, sections 4 to 7.)
D. How does Kardec instruct us to treat the obsessed?
We recall that in cases of severe obsession, the obsessed is as if involved and impregnated by a pernicious fluid, which counteracts the action of the wholesome fluids and repels them. Thus, Kardec says that it is essential to free the obsessed from that fluid by means of an identical action as the one practiced by a healing medium, eliminating the bad fluid with the aid of a better fluid, which produces, to some extent, the effect of a reagent.
However, this mechanical action is not enough. One must also act on the intelligent being that produces the obsession, speaking with authority, always bearing in mind that, to secure the release, it is necessary to induce the wicked Spirit to renounce his evil designs and make it feel repentance and desire for good through instruction skillfully administered, aiming at its moral education. The task in such cases becomes easier when the obsessed, understanding its situation, cooperates with his will and his prayer. This is, according to the Encoder, the most powerful aid for the one who is acting over the obsessing Spirit.
According to Kardec, the healing of serious obsessions requires a lot of patience, perseverance, and devotion, and requires tact and skill, in order to guide towards good the Spirits that are often wicked, hardened, and tricky, because there are those who are extremely rebel. Whatever is the character of the Spirit, nothing is achieved by coercion or by threat. All influence lies in the moral ascendant. Another fact also proven by the experience as much as logic is the complete ineffectiveness of exorcisms, formulas, sacramental words, amulets, talismans, external practices, materials or any other signs.
Finally, Kardec teaches that obsession when it lasts it can lead to pathological disorders and sometimes it requests simultaneously or consecutive treatment, either magnetic, or medical, to restore the health of the body. Moreover, although the cause is destroyed, one still has to fight the effects. (Ibid., Chapter XXVIII, sections 81 to 84.)
(The End)
