Separation of Soul
and Body

We present in this issue the topic #75 from the Systematized Study of the Spiritist Doctrine, that is being presented weekly, according to the programme elaborated by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB), structured in 6 modules and 147 topics.

If the reader uses this program for a study group, we suggest that questions proposed be discussed freely before the reading of the text that follows. If you would like to study alone, we ask you to try to answer the questions at first and only then read the text that follows. The answer key can be found at the end of the lesson. 

Questions

1. Is the separation of the soul from the body a painful process?

2. Is disincarnating the same for everybody?

3. Is this separation effected instantaneously, and by means of an abrupt transition?

4. What factors can influence the disengagement to happen more easily?

5. How is the separation of soul in cases of suicide? 

Text

Disincarnating is not the same for everybody 

1. The certainty of future life does not exclude the apprehensions of the man about disincarnating. Many are those who do not fear the future life, but the moment of death. Is it painful? Trying to answer these questions, Kardec inquired the Spirits who told him that the body often suffers more during life than at the moment of death, when the soul is usually unconscious of what is occurring to the body. The sensations experienced at the moment of death are often a source of enjoyment for the spirit, who recognizes them as putting an end to the term of his exile. 

2. It is needed, however, that we consider disincarnating is not the same for everybody and, to the contrary, there is a great variation, as big as the differences of lives adopted by the incarnated ones. Observing the calmness of some sick ones and terrible convulsions of others, it is possible to foresee that the sensations are not always the same. 

3. The soul disengages itself gradually. It does not escape at once from the body, like a birdwhose cage is suddenly opened. The two states touch and run into each other. 

4. Some factors can influence the disengagement to happen more easily, related to the moral state of the man while incarnated. Affinity between the body and the spirit which affinity is always more or less tenacious in proportion to the preponderance of materiality in the affections of the spirit during his earthly life. It is, in fact, only rational to suppose that the more closely a spirit has identified himself with matter, the greater will be his difficulty in separating himself from his material body; while, on the contrary, intellectual and moral activity, and habitual elevation of thought, effect a commencement of this separation even during the life of the body, and therefore, when death occurs, the separation is almost instantaneous. 

The disengagement of the soul is never instantaneous, but gradual 

5. Talking about natural death for being old or sick, disengagement is smooth. He who dematerialized and the thoughts are not earthly anymore, disengagement is almost complete at the time of death, it means, the body still having organic life, the Spirit starts penetrating the spiritual life, connected to the matter by such a fragile bond that is loosen as the heart stops beating. 

6. In the case of those whose life has been grossly material and sensual, this deliverance is much less rapid, and sometimes takes days, weeks, and even months, for its accomplishment. 

7. Not being aware of the spiritual life makes the Spirit to be attached to material life, narrowing his horizons and resisting, managing to make life last longer, consequently, his agony, for days, weeks or months. In such cases, death does not imply the end of agony, because the perturbation goes on and he, feeling alive, not able to define his state, feels the disease who put an end to his days, remaining this sensation indefinitely, once the perispirit is still connected to the body.  

8. The contrary happens to the man who got spiritualized in life. After his death, he is not affected. His waking up in the Spirit-world is like from a long sleep, eager, to start a new phase in his life.  

In suicide, separation of soul is indeed painful 

9. In cases in which death has resulted from violence, and not from a gradual extinction of the vital forces, the bonds which unite the body to the perispirit are more tenacious, and the separation is effected more slowly. The Spirit is stunned, does not understand his state, remaining in illusion for more or less time, according to his development level. 

10. The study of a great number of individuals after their death has shown that affinity which, in some cases, continues to exist between the soul and the body is sometimes extremely painful for it causes the spirit to perceive all the horror of the decomposition of the latter. This experience is exceptional, and peculiar to certain kinds of life and to certain kinds of death. It sometimes occurs in the case of those who have committed suicide. 

11. The true Spiritist, according to Kardec, does not only believe, because he understands, and understands, because he thinks. The future life for him is a reality, a reality that he touches and sees each time so much that he has no doubt. The corporeal existence, so limited, is nothing compared to the spiritual one. It does not matter his problems, if he understands it is for his own good to pass through this with resignation. 

12. The soul often feels the loosening of the bonds that attach it to the body. Perturbation after the transition is short, because he understands his new situation. 

Answer Key 

1. Is the separation of the soul from the body a painful process? 

A.: Kardec inquired the Spirits who told him that the body often suffers more during life than at the moment of death, when the soul is usually unconscious of what is occurring to the body. The sensations experienced at the moment of death are often a source of enjoyment for the spirit, who recognizes them as putting an end to the term of his exile. 

2. Is disincarnating the same for everybody? 

A.: No, disincarnating is not the same for everybody and, to the contrary, there is a great variation, as big as the differences of lives adopted by the incarnated ones.  

3. Is this separation effected instantaneously, and by means of an abrupt transition? 

A.: The soul disengages itself gradually. It does not escape at once from the body, like a bird whose cage is suddenly opened. The two states touch and run into each other. 

4. What factors can influence the disengagement to happen more easily? 

A.: He who dematerialized and the thoughts are not earthly anymore, disengagement is almost complete at the time of death, it means, the body still having organic life, the Spirit starts penetrating the spiritual life, connected to the matter by such a fragile bond that is loosen as the heart stops beating.  

5. How is the separation of soul in cases of suicide? 

A.: The study of a great number of individuals after their death has shown that affinity which, in some cases, continues to exist between the soul and the body is sometimes extremely painful for it causes the spirit to perceive all the horror of the decomposition of the latter. This experience is exceptional, and peculiar to certain kinds of life and to certain kinds of death.  

Bibliography:

The Spirits’ Book, by Allan Kardec, items 154 and 155.    

Heaven and Hell, by Allan Kardec, Part 1, items 2, 8, 9 and 14.