An essay about
death
Part one
You would know
the secret of
death.
But how shall
you find it
unless you seek
it in the heart
of life?
The owl whose
night-bound eyes
are blind unto
the day cannot
unveil the
mystery of
light.
If you would
indeed behold
the spirit of
death, open your
heart wide unto
the body of
life.
For life and
death are one,
even as the
river and the
sea are one.
In the depth of
your hopes and
desires lies
your silent
knowledge of the
beyond;
And like seeds
dreaming beneath
the snow your
heart dreams of
spring.
Trust the
dreams, for in
them is hidden
the gate to
eternity.
Your fear of
death is but the
trembling of the
shepherd when he
stands before
the king whose
hand is to be
laid upon him in
honour.
Is the shepherd
not joyful
beneath his
trembling, that
he shall wear
the mark of the
king?
Yet is he not
more mindful of
his trembling?
For what is it
to die but to
stand naked in
the wind and to
melt into the
sun?
And what is to
cease breathing,
but to free the
breath from its
restless tides,
that it may rise
and expand and
seek God
unencumbered?
Only when you
drink from the
river of silence
shall you indeed
sing.
And when you
have reached the
mountain top,
then you shall
begin to climb.
And when the
earth shall
claim your
limbs, then
shall you truly
dance.
(Gibran Khalil
Gibran.)
There comes a
certain moment
of the human
being’s
existence when
it seems there
is no longer
psychological
pressure from
the heart and
from the mind.
Dreams are left
aside.
New hopes are
obscured by
mature
age. Life seems
to become
stationary...the
children are
already more or
less guided, one
does not have
the natural
challenges of
family life any
longer, the
time, weeks,
months and years
go on
indifferent and
steady. This set
of apathy is
common in many
of us who have
not yet learned
to cultivate the
precious time in
labour of the
collective and
individual good.
And
in the valuable
achievements of
the Spirit.
Reading the work
entitled
Worker of
Eternal Life,
written by
Andre Luiz,
dictated to the
much missed
Chico Xavier, we
find: “Our
friends from the
flesh sphere are
still very
ignorant in how
they deal with
death.(..)It is
for this reason,
for while, that
the dead who
deliver casts to
the lonely
morges of
destitution are
much happier”.
(page 224)
Such assertive
provoked great
impact in us and
made us to
reflect. Are we
educated enough
for death?
The important
question
unsettled us day
after day. We
concluded that,
despite the
valuable
spiritist
teachings, we
are not.
That is why we
have decided to
modestly
contribute to
the Christian
spiritist
thought through
this simple
essay.
The day will
inexorably come,
in which we will
leave the
planetary nest.
To reflect upon
this natural
transition is of
upmost
importance.
Thus, we went
through some
works of
Spiritism and
brief
commentaries
about the theme,
which are
inexhaustible.
To the contrary,
they promote
fraternal debate
based upon the
systemised
studies of the
spiritist
philosophy. It
is necessary
that the reader
understands that
a list of vain
guidelines with
the presumption
of teaching a
phenomenon which
will be unique
to each one of
us is not found.
It is important
to know that
which is richly
described in the
spiritist
literature so
that in the
moment of the
crisis of death
we do not
despair. But,
all the nuances
of the moment
will depend on
our modus
vivendi
while still
incarnated...Death
is not a
messenger of
transformations.
Each one dies
according to how
they live.
What is death?
During a broad
period of
terrestrial
history, death
was considered a
cessation of the
cardiac and
respiratory
functioning.
In fact, the
brain suffers
irreversible
damages if it is
deprived of
oxygen for
longer than four
minutes. Thus,
in olden times,
the used
criterion was
only to analyse
this function
(respiration) to
find death of a
person.
With the
scientific-technologic
coming,
particularly the
apparatus of
mechanical
ventilation, it
was possible to
reverse a state
of respiratory
arrest. In such
way that the
people who
previously were
considered dead,
thanks to drugs
and apparatus,
return to
organic life.
From the 1960’s
it became still
more important
to establish the
moment of death,
as that moment
was deemed
feasible for
organs
transplants.
From then on the
medical
authorities of
the world
established that
organic death
occurs when
“there is
complete or
irreversible
loss of the
brainstem”. That
is, when the
cerebral organ
no longer
presents
activity (which
is detectable
through specific
apparatus) death
ensues, even if
other organs are
fully
functioning.
Fear of Death
The illustrious
Codifier of the
Spiritist
Philosophy,
Allan Kardec, in
the work
Heaven and Hell,
had
the opportunity
to reflect and
write aboutthe
fear of death.
He begins his
explanation by
asserting to us
that the
certainty of the
immortality of
the soul is
intuitive in all
human beings,
independent of
the cultural
context in which
one lives. From
the savage to
the human being
considered more
civilised, the
belief in life
after molecular
breakdown is an
incontestable
certainty.
With regards to
this inner
sentinel singing
immortality in
our minds and
soul, the
feeling of fear
of the
phenomenon of
death still
persists. Why
does this occur?
Let’s see what
the egregious
Codifier tells
us in the
mentioned work:
1. Effect of divine wisdom.
There is in
every creature,
notably in the
human being, an
instinct of
conservation.
This
instinct is an
effect of divine
wisdom, because
it has as its
objective that
we avoid
withdrawing
ourselves
prematurely from
material
existence. The
din of daily
struggles,
survival, the
“whims” of life,
work, family and
hope in the
future, amongst
other factors,
give
psychological
sense to the
terrestrial
existence and
ensure that we
do not abandon
life.
2. Inadequate
Concept of the
Hereafter.
To reflect upon
and to try to
understand the
future is of
fundamental
importance to
those who
dedicate
themselves to
spiritist
studies. Many
times we carry
out a
superficial
reading about
the phenomena of
discarnation in
the literature
without paying
attention to “in
between the
lines”. In
unaccountable
times we are not
able to train
our minds to the
incontestable
truth of the
immortal Spirit,
because we value
more the things
that affect in
us the sensorial
impressions. To
give more value
to the spirit is
the goal of the
modern human.
3. Education
Historically,
the human being
has been
receiving an
education which
is not very
consoling with
regards to the
future. An idle
and tedious
paradise has
been presented
to humanity,
based on a
contemplative
beatitude; an
eternal hell
which is full of
terrible
tortures; a
punitive and
vindictive
god.., amongst
other facts.
Allan Kardec
asserts further:
“Centuries
succeed other
centuries and
there is no
solace of hope
for such
disgraced souls
and, for that
which is most
atrocious,
repentance
avails them
nothing. On the
other hand, the
battered and
distressed souls
in purgatory
wait for
intercession
from the living
who will pray or
make prayer for
them, without
making any
effort to
develop.” (page
23)
The exterior
practices, such
as baptism to be
saved, the
“buying” of
inductions which
serve as
intermediaries
for eternal
enjoyment etc.
correspond to what has been
historically
passed on to us.It
is to do with
ignorant
education that
castrates
reasoning within
us. And the
least reasoning
lead us to
believe that
they are no more
than futile
questions of the
inferior
morality of the
human being.
They are not
consistent with
the practice of
charity towards
the individual,
with his moral
transformation,
with his
contribution for
the edification
of a better
world...
4. Attachment to
material goods
Attachment to
material goods
is a reflex of
the mistaken
historic
education that
we have
received. It is
more attractive
to have things
than to be
better people.
We incessantly
seek fortune,
sensory
pleasures, the
fat from heavy
food, alcohol
etc. We give
value to such
insignificant
things that,
under our
erroneous view,
it is difficult
to delimitate
the frontier
between the
superfluous and
the necessary.
We would like to
open a bracket
in order to
reproduce a poem
from Fernando
Correia Pina
which reflects
this situation
that we live in
the world.
Let’s see:
Negative
Balance
It much more
painful to pull
a strand of hair
from a European
than to amputate
a leg, without
any type of
painkiller, of
an African. A
Frenchman feels
much more hunger
with three meals
per day than a
Sudanese with
one rat per
week.
A German with
flu is more sick
than an Indian
leper. An
American woman
suffers much
more with
dandruff than an
Iraq woman
without milk for
her children.
It is more
perverse to
cancel the
credit card of a
Belgian than to
steal the bread
from the mouth
of a Thai
person. It is
much more
serious to throw
paper on the
floor in
Switzerland than
to burn whole
forests in
Brazil.
The chador of a
Muslim woman is
much more
intolerable than
the drama of
thousands of
unemployed
people in Spain.
The lack of
toilet tissue in
a Swedish home
is more obscene
than the lack of
drinkable water
in ten villages
in Sudan.
Scarcity of
petrol in
Holland is more
inconceivable
than that of
insulin in
Honduras. A
Portuguese
person without
mobile phone is
more revolting
that a
Mozambique
person without
books to study.
A dried orange
tree in a Jewish
kibbutz is
sadder than the
demolition of a
home in
Palestine. An
English girl
losing a Barbie
Doll is more
traumatising
than a Ugandan
boy seeing his
parents killed
and these are
not verses;
these are debits
in an account
without
provision in the
West.
The chant of the
Portuguese poet
reflects the
chaotic world in
which we live
and the
inversion of
values we
cultivate.
Attachment to
material goods
is in such form
that we are
incapable (with
rare and
honourable
exceptions) of
sensitising
ourselves with
our other
unfortunate
brothers. As
long as the
situation does
not reach us,
then everything
is alright. The
reification of
terrestrial life
is an obstacle
to a better
comprehension of
future life.
The phenomenon
of death is
faced more
negatively than
with hope. The
ceremonies
around it are
full of sad
scenes that in
certain ways
cause more
dread. The idea
of loss surround
us at every
moment, however,
it is imperative
that this dreary
idea disappears.
Loss does not
exist. But only
a brief longing
which will end
as soon as the
moment of the
reunion
occasioned by
death, arrives.
Training for
death
The chapter
“Training for
death” available
in the work
Letter and
Chronicles”,
psychographed by
Francisco
Cândido Xavier
and of the
authorship of
Spirit Brother
X, is a
synthesis of our
behaviour before
our great
travel.
Firstly, the
illustrious
commentator from
the Beyond finds
himself
incapacitated by
the task of
bringing some
important
information to
our behaviour
before
discarnation.
However due to
his innumerable
texts of
uncommon beauty,
we are inclined
to follow his
safe guidelines
which are
presented below.
In the mentioned
text, Brother X
aims to suggest
changes which
are still
ingrained in us
and which, in
certain ways,
are difficult
obstacles when
we are still in
the spiritual
world.
He tells us:
“Start the
renovation of
your habits with
every day’s
plate of food. A
cemetery inside
the stomach is a
torment, after
the great
transition
(death). The
pork loin or the
veal steak,
seasoned with
salt and pepper,
does not place
us far from our
ancestors, the
Tamoios or
Kayapos (South
American Indian
tribes), who
devoured each
other. Rich
foods which are
ingested in a
gluttonous
manner
constitute
another
dangerous
obsession”.
(page 22)
The issue of
whether to eat
meat or not is
already an old
one for those
who are
dedicated to
spiritualist
studie
(1).
All our
idiosyncrasies
are taken with
us to the
spiritual world.
To reflect upon
our eating
habits and to
try to modify
them, making
them better, is
a task that we
cannot postpone
any longer.
Brother X
asserts with
much authority
that we must
modify our
eating habits
gradually. When
we highlight our
meat eating
habits in our
studies and
published
articles, we
receive
criticisms from
our spiritist
colleagues
saying that the
most important
point is moral
transformation.
It is obvious
that moral
values have
priority! We are
not even
discussing such
a point, but we
cannot ignore
the teachings
and
recommendations
widely
disseminated by
the benefactors
Spirits who make
such assertions
for our own
evolution and
improvement.
(This article
will continue in
the next
edition.)
(1)
Should the
reader be
interested, we
had the
opportunity to
publish a short
article about
the above
written theme
in the
International
Magazine of
Spiritism, in
October 2005, as
well as in the
174th
and 175th
of this
magazine,
available at:
http://www.oconsolador.com.br/ano4/174/especial.html
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