Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1866

Allan Kardec

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Spiritism Obliges

Paris, April 1866 – Medium Mrs. B…



Those obligations are of two kinds:

Spiritism is an essentially moral science; therefore, those who claim to be its followers cannot, without committing a serious inconsistency, avoid the obligations it imposes. These obligations are of two kinds:

The first concerns the individual who, helped by the intellectual clarity that the doctrine spreads, can better understand the value of each of his acts, better probe all the folds of his conscience, better appreciate the infinite goodness of God, who does not want the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live, and to allow him the possibility of recovering from his falls, gave him the long series of successive existences, bearing the penalty of his past faults in each one, where he can acquire new knowledge and new strength, making him avoid evil and practice what is in accordance with justice and charity.

What to say about the one that enlightened about his duties to God and his brothers, remains proud, greedy, and selfish? Doesn’t it look like that light has blinded him, because he was not prepared to receive it? Since then he marches in darkness, although he is amidst light. He only holds the Spiritist name. The fraternal charity of those that truly see must endeavor to cure him from that intellectual blindness. But, to many that are like that, it will be necessary the light that the tomb brings, because their heart is too attached to material pleasures, and their Spirit is not mature enough to receive light. In a new incarnation they will understand that inferior planets, like Earth, are just a school where the soul begins to develop its faculties and aptitudes, to then apply them to the study of the great principles of the order, justice, love and harmony that rule the relationships between the souls, and the functions that they perform in the direction of the universe.

They will feel that called to such a honorable task, as to become a messenger from the Almighty, human soul must not shame and degrade itself to the contact of the filthy pleasures of voluptuousness; to the dishonorable temptations of greed, that subtracts from some children of God the enjoyment of the goods that were given to all; they will understand that egotism, born out of pride, blinds the soul and makes it violate the rights of justice and humanity, so that it engineers all the evils that turn Earth into a place of pain and atonement. Instructed by the tough lessons of adversity, their Spirit will mature through thoughts, their heart, after being crushed by pain, will become good and charitable. That is how something that seems bad to us, is sometimes necessary to reconduct the hardened ones. These unfortunate latecomers, regenerated by suffering, enlightened by this interior light that we may call the baptism of the Spirit, will carefully watch over themselves, that is, over the movement of their hearts and the use of their skills, to guide them according to the laws of justice and fraternity.

They will understand that they are not only obliged to improve themselves, a selfish thought that precludes the achievement of the objective defined by God, but that the second kind of obligations of the Spiritist, that necessarily results from the first, and the complete, is that of the example, that is the best means of propagation and renovation.

In fact, the one that is convinced about the excellence of the principles that are taught, and that must provide a lasting happiness, if they conform their conduct, that one can only wish to have those principles understood by the whole mankind, if he is truly animated by this fraternal charity that is in the essence of Spiritism. That results in the obligation of modifying one’s conduct according to the belief, and be a living example, as Jesus Christ was for humanity.

Weak sparks coming from the eternal focus of divine love, you will not certainly pretend such a vast radiation as the Verb of God incarnate on Earth, but each one in their sphere of action can spread the benefits of good example. You may have virtue loved, surrounding it by the enchantment of that constant benevolence that attracts, captivate and finally shows that the practice of good is something easy; that generates the intimate happiness of the conscience that is submitted to its rule, for it is the accomplishment of the Divine will that made us say, through the intermediary of your Christ: Be perfect as your father that is in heaven is perfect.

Well, Spiritist is not but the true application of the moral principles taught by Jesus, with the only objective of making it understood by all, so that all can progress more rapidly, so much so that God allows the universal manifestation of the Spirit, coming to explain to you what seemed obscure, teaching you the whole truth. It comes, like the well understood Christianity, to show man the absolute need for interior renovation, by the very consequences of each one of his actions, each one of his thoughts, for not a single fluidic emanation, good or bad, escapes one’s heart or brain without leaving an impression somewhere. The invisible world that surrounds you is that Book of Life where everything is inscribed, with an incredible fidelity, and the Scale of Justice is not but a figure that reveals each one of your actions, each one of your feelings. It is, in a way, the weight that overloads your soul, precluding it from elevating, or that brings the equilibrium between good and evil. Happy is the one whose feelings come out of a pure heart. It spreads around a smooth atmosphere in which virtue is loved and attracts the good Spirits; the humbler the person the greater the power of radiation, and consequently, the more detached from the material influences that attract the soul and prevent it from progressing.

The obligations imposed by Spiritism are then of an essentially moral nature, because they are the consequence of the belief; each one is the judge and the defendant in their own cause; but the intellectual clarities that it brings to the one that truly wants to know thyself and work in one’s advancement are such that they scare the feeble away, and that is why it is rejected by so many people. Others promptly conciliate the reformation that their reason demonstrates to be a necessity with the demands of present society. It results in an a heterogeneous mixture, a lack of unity that makes the present time a transient state. It is very difficult to your poor corporeal nature to eliminate its imperfections to then cover the new man, that is, the man that lives according to the principles of justice and harmony, desired by God. With persevering efforts, nevertheless, you will get there, because the obligations imposed to the conscience, when sufficiently enlightened, has more power than human laws will have, laws that are based on the embarrassment of a religious obscurantism that cannot withstand examination. But if you are more educated and understand better, thanks to the lights from above, you must also be more tolerant and only employ reasoning, as a means of propagation, because any sincere belief is respectable. If your life is a beautiful model in which each one may find good examples and solid virtues, where dignity is allied to a gracious amenity, rejoice because you have understood, at least partially, what Spiritism obliges.

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