We hereby continue the methodical study of "The Gospel According to Spiritism" by Allan Kardec, the third of the works of the Kardecian Pentateuch. The first edition was published in April, 1864. The answers to the questions suggested for discussion are at the end of the text below.
Questions for discussion
A. How should true forgiveness be, and what are its consequences?
B. What is the cause of most cases of obsession?
C. What is the moral defect considered an obstacle to progress?
D. Why should we be lenient towards others?
Reading text
145. Woe to the lazy Spirit, and to all those who are not open to understanding, because all resistance caused by pride, shall be sooner or later overcome. (Chapter IX, section 8, Lazarus)
146. Pride induces you to judge yourself to be more than you are and to accept no comparison, which might belittle you. You consider yourself better than your fellow men, spiritually and socially. The least comparison annoys you. And what happens then? You allow anger to overpower you. (Chapter IX, section 9, a Protecting Spirit)
147. Think about what causes these momentarily outbursts, when you become a beast, and are not able to control your mind and yourself. Think about this and most of the times you will arrive to the conclusion that it was because your pride was challenged. What makes you angry and deaf to wise words, if not your pride? (Chapter IX, section 9, a Protecting Spirit)
148. In his frenzy, a wrathful man hurls himself at everything, to brute nature, to lifeless objects, and breaks them because they do not obey him! Ah! If, cold blooded, he could only see himself at these moments! He would either be afraid of himself or would find himself ridiculous! Imagine the impression he makes on others! (Chapter IX, section 9, a Protecting Spirit)
149. If only man could see that anger in no way helps, but compromises his health and puts his life at risk, he would arrive to the conclusion that he himself is the first victim of anger. But another thought should restrain him: he is the cause of the unhappiness of those who have a relationship with him. Moreover, a Spiritist has an additional reason to control his anger because he knows that it is contrary to charity and Christian humility. (Chapter IX, section 9, a Protecting Spirit)
150. The individual who is prone to anger, almost always finds excuses for his character. Instead of confessing himself guilty, he accuses his body and, therefore, he is accusing God for his own faults. This is another consequence of his pride in the midst of all his imperfections. (Chapter IX, section 10, Hahnemann)
151. Undoubtedly, there are characters which tend more readily than others to violent acts, as there are flexible muscles which are better to perform movements of strength. However, do not believe that this is the main cause of anger. A pacific Spirit, even though in a bilious body, will always be pacific and a vicious Spirit in a lymphatic body will never be mild, and only violence will manifest itself. The body does not produce anger if you do not possess it, and therefore it is not the cause of other vices. All virtues and vices are inherent in the Spirit. Then, you can assure yourself that a man is only vicious if he wants to be and stay so, but if he wishes, he can always correct himself. (Chapter IX, section 10, Hahnemann)
152. "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy", said Jesus. Mercy is the complement to mildness, because the person who is not merciful cannot be mild and pacific. It consists in forgetting and forgiving all offenses. Forgetting all offenses is a characteristic of an elevated soul. Hatred and anger denote a soul without elevation or magnanimity. (Chapter X, sections 1 and 4)
153. "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses", thus said Jesus. Woe to those who say they will never forgive! If these people are not already condemned by mankind, then God will condemn them. What right has a person to demand forgiveness for his own faults, if he is unable to forgive others for their faults? Jesus teaches us that mercy has no limits when he says that we must forgive our brothers and sisters, not seven times, but seventy times seven times. (Chapter X, sections 2 and 4)
154. There are two different ways of forgiving. One is noble and great, truly generous without any hidden thoughts, which delicately avoids hurting the self-esteem and susceptibility of the adversary. The second is when someone who has been offended, or thinks to have been so, imposes humiliating conditions and makes the offender feel the weight of his forgiveness, thus further annoying instead of soothing. In these circumstances, a sincere reconciliation becomes impossible. In every dispute the one who is more conciliatory shows detachment regarding the matter, shows charity. Real greatness of soul will always attract sympathy from those who are impartial.
155. Death does not free us from our enemies; vengeful Spirits in the after life frequently pursue with great hate all those for whom they bear rancor. Therefore, the proverb "The poison dies with the beast" does not apply to mankind. The evil Spirit waits for the other, whom he hates, to return in a physical body, therefore less free and more easily to be tormented and hurt in his interests and even harming his dearest affections. Most cases of obsession are caused by this, mainly the cases that are much more serious, such as subjugation and possession. (Chapter X, section 6)
Answers to the proposed questions
A. How should true forgiveness be and what are its consequences?
There are two very different ways of forgiving: to forgive with your lips and to forgive with your heart. The true forgiveness, the way Christ forgave, casts a veil over the past and this is the only one that is taken into consideration, because God is not happy with appearances. He searches the innermost recesses of our heart and our most secret thoughts and is never satisfied with mere words or pretence. According to Paul (Spirit), complete and absolute forgiveness of all offences is peculiar to great souls, whereas hatred is always a sign of baseness and inferiority. "Do not forget that true forgiveness is better recognized for its acts, rather than by words". (The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter X, sections 5, 6 and 15.)
B. What is the cause of most cases of obsession?
As we know, death does not free us from our enemies. Vengeful Spirits in the after life frequently pursue with great hate all those for whom they bear rancor. Therefore, the proverb "The poison dies with the beast" does not apply to mankind. The evil Spirits waits for the other, whom he hates, to return in a physical body, therefore less free and more easily to be tormented and hurt in his interests and even harming his dearest affections. Most cases of obsession are caused by this, mainly the cases that are much more serious, such as subjugation and possession. The one who obsesses and the one who is obsessed are most of the times victims of a revenge, the reason being found in a previous life in which the one who now suffers caused his own present suffering by his procedure at the time. (Ibid, Chapter X, section 6. Also refer to Chapter XXVIII, section 81.)
C. What is the moral defect considered an obstacle to progress?
Pride. Pride, being the father of many vices, is also the negation of many virtues. It is found to be the motive and base for almost all human actions. This is the reason why Jesus tried so hard to combat pride because it is the main obstacle to progress. (Ibid, Chapter X, section 10.)
D. Why should we be lenient towards others?
We must be lenient towards all, because indulgence attracts, soothes, lifts, while severity discourages, moves away and annoys. Indulgence is a duty, because there is no one who does not need it himself. Indulgence advises us not to judge others with more severity than we judge ourselves, and that we must not condemn others for what we forgive in ourselves. Before we accuse someone, let us see if the same accusation could not be applied to us too.
When indulgent, you do not see the faults of others, or, if seen, you avoid talking about them, making them public. You rather hide the faults, so that they are only known by yourself and, if malevolence discovers them, you shall always have a reasonable and honest excuse. However, this excuse should not have the appearance of attenuating the fault, but, with perfidious intentions, it ends up by evidencing it even more.
Indulgence never deals with others' faults, unless it is to provide a service, but even in this case, it is careful enough to diminish them as much as possible. (Chapter X, sections 11, 12, 13 and 16.)
