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Survival or immortality of the soul? |
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Modern man,
who explores
the bottom
of the
oceans and
increasingly
dominates
the infinite
cosmos, does
not yet know
his own
nature. In
general, he
knows the
outside
world, but
he is not
aware of
himself; he
knows who he
is, but he
does not
know what he
is.
We are not
referring to
materialists.
They think
they already
know what
they are:
just a
thinking
matter. I
refer to
Spiritualists,
that is, to
those who
believe
that, after
death,
something
continues,
something
survives...
This
"something"
is usually
called soul
or Spirit.
And when one
speaks of
this matter,
so abstract
for many, it
always
reminds us
of death.
The issue
"death" is
not
sufficiently
analyzed by
people. On
the
contrary,
one
generally
avoids
discussing
the subject,
acting like
the ostrich
that is said
to put its
head under
the sand
when it
presents a
danger. In
relation to
death, most
people act
childishly,
if not
irrationally.
When one
asks someone
if he
believes in
the
immortality
of the soul,
the answer
is usually
positive.
But when
that same
person
speaks of
his friend,
who died, he
says that heloved him,
always using
the verbs
related to
the deceased
in the past,
in the same
way that he
expresses
himself
about his
car
destroyed by
fire when he
says he liked it.
This person,
indeed, is
right when
using the
verb in the
past when
talking
about the
car, because
it no longer
exists. But
if he
believes
that his
friend
survives
death, why
does he use
then the
same tense?
This clearly
demonstrates
the
fragility of
his
conviction
regarding
immortality...
Another
curious
position
about death:
no one fears
a living
friend, but
after his
death they
fear his
body, which
has become a
corpse, and
also fear
his soul,
which has
become a
ghost ...
This is so
disturbing,
that we have
already
heard
something
like this:
"I loved my
mother very
much, but
she did not
appear to
me!" The
dearest
mother
turned into
a ghost!
Unfortunately,
such events
are not as
rare as one
might think.
When we ask
someone, who
says he has
a soul or
Spirit,
where he
wants to be
buried, the
person
usually
answers: "I
want to be
buried in my
city, near
my parents,
relatives
and
friends". If
we ask that
same person
where his
soul will
go, the
answer will
undoubtedly
be: "It will
go to
Heaven"; or
to another
good place,
according to
his
religious
conviction,
even because
no one plays
with such a
serious
subject.
However, we
could
object:
"What does
it matter if
it goes to
Hell or to
any other
place, since
it is your
soul who
will go and
not you? You
said that
you will be
buried in
your city".
This subject
was once
presented to
a select
non-Spiritist
audience,
interested
in research
on
extra-physical
phenomena.
When they
heard this
question,
the crowd
stirred and
began to
murmur until
one of them
said, "I
will not be
buried
there. It
will be my
body". Faced
with this,
the audience
calmed down,
until the
speaker
said: "You
did not
solve the
problem. On
the
contrary,
you made it
even more
difficult,
to the point
of making it
contrary to
reason”. The
audience
became
uneasy
again.
To
understand
well why the
problem
became
complicated,
let us leave
the field of
the
Spiritual
things for a
moment and
move on to
the field of
grammar and
logic. The
grammars of
all
languages
teach that
the
possessive
is the word
that
indicates
someone who
can claim
the
possession
of
something,
that is, of
the
possessed
object.
Therefore,
if it is
said, "My
watch" - it
means that
the watch
belongs to
me, that I
am its
owner. In
case someone
tries to
touch it,
I'll say,
"Do not
touch that
watch
because it's
mine”!
So far, the
referral of
the subject
is logical,
of course.
But when we
look at the
use of the
possessive
case in the
above
phrases, the
question
becomes more
complicated.
Let's see: a
creature
died. Body
and soul
parted. The
body was
buried and
the soul
"went to
Heaven". If
someone
threatens to
touch that
body, who
will say,
"Do not
touch that
body because
it is mine"?
Or if
someone
tries to
touch the
soul: "Do
not touch
that soul
because it
is mine"?
Who is this
being that
has this
body and
soul?
Is this a
philosophical
problem with
no solution?
No,
absolutely
not! Second
position -
not only
Spiritist in
particular,
but
Spiritualist
in general -
perfectly
logical, one
should write
off the
sentence "my
soul",
replacing it
with "I". I
am the
possessor of
the body or
rather I was
the owner of
the body
that died. I
was its
temporary
user. I,
soul or
Spirit,
before the
dead body
can say,
"This body
was mine. I
used it
during the
time in
which it
lived". The
body can
never say:
"This soul
was mine".
Thus we
arrive to
the
conclusion
that I,
Spirit, am
immortal,
not capable
of being
destroyed. I
use a
material
body these
days. This
body will
die one day.
Not me! The
body is not
an essential
part of the
human being.
It is only a
temporary
clothing of
the immortal
Spirit, and
it may last
from a few
seconds to a
little more
than a
century. As
much as we
respect it,
as an
imperative
instrument
for the
evolution of
the Spirit,
the body
must be
regarded as
an
instrument,
as an object
and not as a
subject. And
for those
who have not
yet divested
themselves
of the habit
of visiting
cemeteries,
it should be
remembered
that the
components
of the body,
within a
short time
after
burial, will
become part
of other
organisms,
animals or
vegetables...
And an even
blunter
conclusion:
The body is
disposable...
It is me,
soul or
Spirit, who
thinks,
learns,
feels,
hates, and
loves... Not
the body.
The body is
only an
instrument
of temporary
use of the
immortal
Spirit. When
my body
dies, I will
leave it as
clothes I
wore and
enter into
another
dimension of
the infinite
Universe,
using a more
subtle body.
However, I
cannot see
this
dimension
today,
because I am
limited by
the material
body. But
when I
leave, I
will take
everything I
have
learned, all
the progress
I have made
in the field
of
intelligence
and feeling,
that is,
everything I
have
incorporated
into this
evolutionary
period that
I have lived
in the
material
world.
Thinking in
this way,
one can
develop a
new state of
consciousness,
which can be
called
"Spiritual
citizenship".
It is a
citizenship
that is not
national,
not even
planetary,
but cosmic.
This
Spiritual
citizenship
is a
condition
before life,
very
different
from that:
"I am a man
and I have a
soul". On
the
contrary,
the creature
says, "I am
an immortal
Spirit. I
have a body,
in which I
am
temporarily
incarnate".
The idea of
being
mortal and
having an
immortal
soul imposes
suffering.
Note that,
according to
this
misplaced
position, it
is not I who
am immortal,
but she,
my soul.
The idea of
being
mortal and
having an
immortal
soul
contains a
sense of
destruction,
for at least
half of the
being would
be destroyed
by the
phenomenon
of death.
Why can we
say that it
is an idea
of
destruction,
of loss?
Because the
creature
becomes
accustomed
to
concentrating
all its life
potential in
the body and
not in the
Spirit, to
the point of
saying:
"When I die,
I want to be
buried here
or there".
Man feels
more like a
mortal body
than like an
immortal
Spirit. So,
he suffers!
He suffers
because his
reason tells
him that at
death his
body will
soon be
consumed,
rotting
rapidly, and
that the
constituent
elements of
his body
will take
part in the
formation of
new plants
and animal
organisms.
According to
this
mistaken
point of
view, the
soul is only
part of the
being. That
is why he
says, "When
I die, my
soul goes to
Heaven".
According to
this
position,
death
destroys
the self,
for it says:
"I want to
be buried"
here or
there. Well,
only what is
dead is
buried! It
may be
argued,
however,
that the
soul is
indestructible.
This is
true, but it
is treated
as a third
person: it,
whose nature
and destiny
are not
clearly
defined by
theologians.
Not well
defined by
the
theologians,
but clearly
defined by
Paul the
Apostle in
his First
Letter to
the
Corinthians
in chapter
15: "But
one shall
say: How
shall the
dead rise?
And with
which body
will they
come?"
The Apostle
teaches that
the soul has
another body
beyond
material,
that is, a
Spiritual
body,
indestructible,
subtle: "And
there are
heavenly
bodies and
terrestrial
bodies, but
one is the
glory of the
heavenly and
the other of
the
earthly”.
And,
pedagogically,
it
demonstrates
the complete
destructiveness
of the
physical
body, when
comparing it
to the seed,
which really
disappears
to give rise
to the
plant: "So
is the
resurrection
of the dead. The
body is sown
in
decomposition;
it will rise
up a body in
incorruption".
"It is sown
an animal
body, it
will rise up
a Spiritual
body. If
there is an
animal body,
there is
also a
Spiritual
body".
And in
anticipation
of those who
would create
the evil
theory of
the
resurrection
of the
flesh, he
warns: "And
now I say
this,
brethren:
that flesh
and blood
cannot
inherit the
Kingdom of
God, nor
corruption
inherit
incorruption".
As can be
concluded,
the Apostle
Paul taught
that the
material
body will be
buried and
simultaneously
the
Spiritual
body will be
released.
The
Christians
perfectly
understood
the
Apostle's
statements,
because
Jesus
demonstrated
the
independence
of the
Spirit in
relation to
matter,
when, for
forty days,
He appeared
and
disappeared
in the
period of
the
so-called
resurrection
until the
ascension.
It should be
noted that
Jesus, as
the
Evangelist
relates
(John 20:
11-16) was
completely
clothed,
according to
the Jewish
custom, to
the point
that, in his
first
appearance
to Mary
Magdalene,
she thought
that the man
she saw
behind her,
was a
gardener.
But the
question
arises:
where did
Jesus get
those
clothes? He
had been
crucified
naked, or
almost
naked,
because the
soldiers,
before
crucifying
Him, took
off His
clothes: "And
when they
had
crucified
Him, they
divided His
garments,
casting lots
(...)" (Mt,
27:35)
Moreover, He
did not wear
the shroud,
nor the
handkerchief
that had
been over
His head,
with which
he could
cover His
body, for
these pieces
were in the
tomb,
according to
the Apostle
Peter, when
he entered
the place:“(…)
and went
into the
sepulcher,
and saw the
sheets on
the ground,
and that the
handkerchief
which was
upon His
head was not
with the
sheets, but
wrapped in a
different
place" (Jo
20: 6, 7)
From where
had Jesus
taken those
robes he
wore? It is
clear that
neither His
body nor His
garments
were
material,
since they
were in
another
vibratory
range, in
another
dimension,
still
unknown by
Science.
It should
also be
noted that
Jesus, from
His
resurrection,
no longer
acted as
usual, that
is, as an
incarnate
Spirit,
limited by
matter. He
went through
a closed
door,
according to
the
Evangelist's
account:
"And when
the evening
of that day
arrived, the
first day of
the week,
and the
doors were
shut where
the
disciples
had
gathered,
afraid of
the Jews,
Jesus
arrived and
stood in the
midst of
them and
said: “Peace
be with you”
(Jo 20:19).
Jesus joined
two
disciples,
who were
going to
Emmaus, and
talked with
them, not
being
recognized.
At
nightfall,
the two of
them stopped
in front of
an inn and
invited the
stranger to
dinner with
them.
Sitting at
the table,
the three
men, at the
moment when
He prayed
and shared
the bread,
Jesus
revealed
himself, as
the
Evangelist
reports: "Then
their eyes
were opened
and they
recognized
Him, and He
disappeared
from them".
(Lc 24:31).
Why did
Jesus appear
in clothes
that He did
not have;
why did He
suddenly
appear to
the two
disciples
and vanished
from their
sight? Why
did not
Jesus stay
in someone
else's
house, as He
usually did?
For forty
days He
appeared and
disappeared
suddenly,
having no
record of
staying in
someone's
house or
having eaten
regularly,
as He did
before the
resurrection.
Why did
Jesus do
this? He
wanted to
draw a very
clear line,
separating
the two
periods of
His life
among men:
during the
first He had
been
incarnate,
when He had
acted as an
ordinary
man, bounded
by matter;
during the
second, (the
forty days
until the
Ascension),
He wanted to
show that He
was still
alive, but
He no longer
had a
material
body, He was
no longer
incarnate.
The Apostle
Paul, to
whom Jesus
appeared on
the road to
Damascus,
was
judiciously
convinced
that Jesus
no longer
had a
terrestrial
body but a
celestial or
Spiritual
one, as He
wrote in his
letter to
the
Corinthians.
Jesus gave
His last
lesson,
leaving the
most
beautiful
lesson about
immortality.
A lesson
without
words that,
according to
Him, would
be decoded
later,
eighteen
centuries
later: "I
still have
much to tell
you, but you
cannot bear
it now. (Jo
16:12). But
when that
Spirit of
truth comes,
he will
guide you
into all
truth
(...)". (Jo
16: 12-13). "But
the
Comforter,
the Holy
Ghost, whom
the Father
will send in
my name, he
shall teach
you all
things, and
remind you
of all
things
whatsoever I
have said
unto you" (Jo
14:26).
Based on the
teachings
and examples
of Jesus,
one can
arrive to
the
conclusion
that we are
essentially
Spirits, now
incarnated.
One day we
will leave
our earthly
body, as
Jesus left
His, keeping
only the
celestial,
immortal
body,
according to
the Master,
in a genial
way taught
and
exemplified!
It remains,
however, for
many people,
a question
that
invariably
appears when
these
comments are
made: If the
tomb was
empty and
the body
with which
Jesus
appeared was
Spiritual,
where was
His physical
body? The
Master, of
course,
could not
explain the
matter to
those with
whom He had
lived, as is
evident from
His words
already
quoted: "I
have much
more to say
to you, but
you cannot
bear it
now" (Jo
16:12).
Fulfilling
the promise
of Jesus,
the
Comforter
comes to
recall His
lessons and
explain many
facts that
were
recorded by
the
Evangelists,
but which
were not
understood
at the time,
such as the
sudden
apparitions
of Jesus in
the upper
room and in
the fishing,
and His
disturbing
disappearance
before the
companions
to Emmaus,
as already
mentioned.
These facts,
taken by
miracles by
many
theologians,
find in
Spiritism
clear and
logical
explanations,
not in the
field of
theological
speculations,
but within
the
objectivity
of Science,
in the
researches
of the
phenomenon
of
materialization
- now called
ectoplasm by
parapsychologists
- carried
out by
several
scientists,
including
the figure
of Sir
William
Crookes, the
celebrated
English
physicist,
who could
prove that
the Spirit
Katie King,
with her
materialized
Spiritual
body, was
limited
within the
material
plane as if
incarnate,
becoming
visible,
audible and
tangible. (Spiritist
Facts,
William
Crookes, History
of Spiritism,
Arthur Conan
Doyle)
As to the
disappearance
of the
physical
body of
Jesus, one
can read a
clarification
on the
dissipation
of the
remaining
fluids in
corpses, in
Andre Luiz's
book Obreiros
da Vida
Eterna(Workers
of Eternal
Life)
(Chapters 15
and 16). It
is a pious
operation
carried out
by Spiritual
benefactors,
who
dissipate in
the
atmosphere
the fluids
remaining in
the body,
before
burial, in
order to
protect it
from
profanation
that could
be carried
out by
inferior
Spirits.
In parallel,
one can
conclude
that the
Master
himself has
been charged
with
dissipating
the
remaining
energies in
His body,
and in so
doing, He
completely
dematerialized.
It is easy
to
understand
this,
remembering
that if the
empty tomb
of Jesus has
already
caused so
many wars,
imagine what
would cause
the desire
to possess
some bones
of His body.
In this
context, it
is easy to
imagine that
the body of
Jesus should
really
disappear,
for the
priests, as
soon as
resurrection
was
announced,
would rescue
it, in order
to show it
in public,
denying the
victory of
life over
death.
Moreover, if
the shroud
that is in
Turin is
authentic,
it attests
that there
was a
phenomenon
on it
capable of
leaving the
figure of a
human body
imprinted
which,
according to
scholars,
coincides
with what is
known about
the body of
Jesus, both
as regards
the physical
characteristics
and the
sufferings
that were
imposed upon
Him.
However,
this
impression
on the
fabric was
not caused
by
radiation,
heat,
dyeing, or
painting. To
this day, it
is not known
what caused
those
impressions
that allow a
computer to
restore the
figure of a
corpse that
had been
scourged and
crucified
before being
deposed on
one end of
the cloth
and covered
with the
other.
In
conclusion,
it can be
said that
Spiritism,
in decoding
the message
of Jesus,
clarifies to
us what we
truly are:
Immortal
Spirits,
temporarily
incarnated
in mortal
bodies!
Therefore,
when the
phenomenon
of death
occurs, it
is improper
to say survival
of the soul.
Only those
who are in
danger of
dying
survive. The
soul, which
is immortal,
only frees
itself from
the physical
body.
Translation:
Eleni
Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br