Spirit Sympathy and Antipathy – Soul Mates
291. Besides the general sense of sympathy for similar beings, do spirits have any special feelings or sense of affection?
“Yes, just like incarnate people. However, the link between spirits is stronger when the body is gone because it is no longer subjected to the impulses of the passions.”
292. Do spirits feel hatred?
“Hatred only exists among impure spirits. These spirits spread hatred and cause confict among people.”
293. Do enemies on Earth hold fast to their resentment of one another in the spirit world?
“No, because they see that it was stupid and meaningless. Only imperfect spirits maintain their hostility until they are purifed. When spirits are dematerialized they forget the anger they felt as incarnate people as it was merely due to a material interest. As the subject of their disagreement no longer exists, they may happily see each other again, provided there is no hostility remaining between them.”
Two schoolboys often realize the silliness of their quarrels when they grow up, and no longer hold a grudge.
294. Is the memory of crimes or injuries they may have committed against one another as human beings an obstacle to sympathy between two spirits?
“Yes, it keeps them apart.”
295. How do those whom we have wronged feel after death?
“If they are good, they forgive you once you repent. If they are bad, they may cling to their resentment against you, or even track you down in another existence. This may be allowed by God as an atonement.”
296. Can a spirit’s individual affections change?
“No, because they cannot be mistaken. Hypocrites can no longer hide behind a mask in the spirit world and their sentiments, when pure, are unchangeable. The love uniting them is a source of supreme happiness.”
297. Does the affection of two spirits carry over from this world to the spirit world?
“Yes, if it is based on true sympathy. If physical causes have infuenced this affection more than sympathy, it ends with those causes. Affections are more solid and lasting among spirits than human beings because they are not subject to the whims of material interests and self-love.”
298. Are souls predestined to be together from inception, and do we each have our other half somewhere in the universe with whom we will be reunited one day?
“No, there is no destined union between two souls. Union exists between all spirits, but in varying degrees according to their ranking, or their degree of perfection. The closer to perfect, the more united they are. Disharmony produces all the problems of human life, while harmony generates perfect happiness.”
299. In what sense should we interpret the term half, sometimes used by spirits when referring to sympathetic spirits?
“That expression is inaccurate. If one spirit were the half of another, it would be incomplete when separated from its other half.”
300. When two perfectly sympathetic spirits are reunited, do they remain united for all eternity, or can they separate and unite with other spirits?
“All spirits who have reached perfection are united. In all other worlds, when a spirit ascends from a lower world to a higher one, it does not always feel the same sympathy for those it has left behind.”
301. When two spirits are completely like-minded, do they complement one another, or is this sympathy the consequence of their perfect identity of character?
“The sympathy attracting one spirit to another is the result of the perfect harmony of their predispositions and instincts. If one were needed to complete the other, individuality would be lost.”
302. Does a similarity of thoughts and ideas constitute perfect sympathy, or is the uniformity of knowledge also required?
“Perfect sympathy results from having an equal degree of elevation.”
303. May spirits become sympathetic in the future even if they are not so today?
“Yes, they all eventually will. A spirit who is currently in a lower sphere will advance to join another spirit in a higher world. Their reunion will occur sooner if the higher spirit fails any of its trials and remains stationary.”
a) Can two currently sympathetic spirits cease to be so?
“Absolutely, if one of them is lazy.”
The theory of soul mates is merely a fgurative representation of the union of two sympathetic spirits, and should not be taken literally. Spirits using this expression do not belong to the higher orders. Hindered by their narrow range of ideas, they have expressed their thoughts using terms that they employed during their physical lives. We must disregard this idea of two spirits created for each other, who must someday be inevitably reunited in eternity after having remained separated for a more or less long period of time.
