In this issue, we continue the study of the book, What is Spiritism, launched in Paris in July 1859. This study will be divided into 19 parts. The pages cited in the text and suggested for reading refer to the 20th edition published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (Federação Espírita Brasileira). The answers to the questions suggested for discussion can be found at the end of this text.
Questions for discussion
A. Why are the Spirits not all equally perfect?
B. What is the practical use of Spiritism?
C. Can Spiritist ideas affect our mental faculties?
Reading Text
73. Spirits are not supposed to bring us Science already done. That would be very comfortable for us. God wants us to work, to exercise our brains, and thus acquire knowledge. The Spirits do not come to free us from this need. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 108).
74. The Spirits are not readers of “buena-dicha”. Spiritism is a science of observation, not an art to guess and speculate. We do not study Spiritism to take any material advantage of it. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 109).
75. The study of any Spirit always teaches us something useful. We always learn something with all of them. As for the enlightened Spirits, they teach us a lot, however always within the limits of the possible. We must never ask them what they cannot or should not reveal. Wanting to go beyond is to become subject to the manifestations of frivolous Spirits, always willing to talk about everything. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 109).
76. One cannot misunderstand pathological madness with obsession. The latter does not originate in a brain damage, but in the subjugation that some evil Spirits exercise over certain individuals and which often has the appearance of actual madness. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, pages 113 and 114).
77. Obsession is independent of any belief in Spiritism and has always existed. In this case, the common medication is helpless and even harmful. Spiritism offers us, however, the only way to cure it, acting not on the one that is ill, but working on the obsessing Spirit. Spiritism, therefore, is the remedy and not the cause of the evil. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 114).
78. In the worlds with a spiritual level more developed than that of our planet, the memory of the past is not at all painful; that is why its inhabitants remember their previous life as we remember today what we did yesterday. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 117).
79. The elements of conviction are not the same for everyone; what convinces one, does not produce any impression on others; therefore, it takes a little of everything. But it is a mistake to believe that physical experiments are the only way to convince. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 118).
80. The Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies was a scientific society, like many others, and its purpose was to study deeply the different points of the Spiritist Science and sought for clarification. It was the center to which converged teachings collected from all over the world and where issues related to the progress of Science were elaborated and coordinated. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 120).
81. The Company did not invite anyone to attend its sessions. It also did not perform demonstrations with the purpose of satisfying people’s curiosity. It carefully kept the curious away. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 121).
82. If Spiritism is a chimera, it will fall by itself; if it is pursued for fear, it is because they are afraid of it, and only something serious can cause fear. If, on the contrary, it is a reality, then it is in Nature, and no one has the power to revoke a natural law. (Chapter I, Second Dialogue, page 121). (Continued in the next issue).
Answers to the proposed questions
A. Why are the Spirits not all equally perfect?
The Spirits are not perfect individuals because, in fact, they are only the souls of men who disincarnated, and as we know, have not yet reached perfection. Spiritual progress is made gradually and sometimes very slowly. There are therefore Spirits of all degrees of intelligence and morality. (What is Spiritism, Chapter I, Second Dialogue, pages 106 and 107).
B. What is the practical use of Spiritism?
Everything that helps to lift an end of the veil that surrounds us, contributes to the development of intelligence, widens the circle of ideas and make us better understand the laws of Nature. The world of Spirits exists due to these laws and Spiritism makes us be aware of it, and shows its influence on the visible world. Moreover, it is the evident proof of the existence of the soul, of its individuality after death, of its immortality, and its future destiny. It is therefore the destruction of materialism, not only by reason, but by facts. In the same manner Astronomy dethroned the astrologers Spiritism came to dethrone the soothsayers, sorcerers and those who read the buena-dicha. Its practical utility is therefore demonstrated by itself. (Ibid, Chapter I, Second Dialogue, pages 109 to 111).
C. Can Spiritist ideas affect our mental faculties?
Obviously not, and experience proves this. When it is well understood, Spiritism, instead, preserves against insanity and suicide, because the true Spiritist sees this world with such a high standpoint, that the trials of life are for him like unpleasant incidents in a trip. What causes a violent commotion in an individual, for a Spiritist it affects him differently, because he knows the purpose of the vicissitudes and disappointments of life. (Ibid, Chapter I, Second Dialogue, pages 111 to 113).
