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Questions
1. What sensations does the soul experience because of the death?
2. Do all spirits experience, in the same degree and for the same length of time, the confusion which follows the separation of the soul from the body?
3. Does knowledge of Spiritism exercise any influence on the duration of this state of confusion?
4. What is the situation of people who cultivated hollow religions, which promise Heaven through opportunism?
5. In short, how to define the state of the Spirit because of death?
The length of confusion after death is variable
1. At the moment of death, everything appears confused. The soul takes some time to recover its self- consciousness, for it is as though stunned, and in a state similar to that of a man waking out of a deep sleep, and trying to understand his own situation. It gradually regains clearness of thought and the memory of the past in proportion to the weakening of the influence of the material envelope from which it has just freed itself, and the clearing away of the sort of fog that obscured its consciousness.
2. The duration of the state of confusion that follows death varies greatly in different cases. It may be only of a few hours, and it may be of several months, or even years. Those with whom it lasts the least are they who, during the earthly life, have identified themselves most closely with their future state, because they are soonest able to understand their pew situation.
3. The process of the separation of the soul from the body is slow and lengthy, according to the temper, moral character and spiritual acquisitions of each being. There are no two disincarnating alike. Each person awakes or takes time in confusion, according to their personality.
4. In this sense, religious behavior plays a large role. Those who are attached to materialistic ideas, hibernate, not rare, as to escape from reality, in an unconscious block of long time which haunts them in the shape of nightmares they cannot get rid of.
Many watch their own decomposition
5. Having accepted the idea of nothing, they get tired in agony, without relief, in cold regions where they were dragged to because of their mental state, when they don’t follow, shocked, the decomposition of their own body, as they try to recover its movements, unsuccessfully.
6. Those who cultivate hollow religions, which promise Heaven through opportunism, are surprised with a reality quite different from what they expected.
7. Those who believed in nonsense are victims of horrible hallucinations that they suffer indefinitely.
8. Those that have committed suicide discover that death does not exist.
9. Those that destroyed other lives, experience the afflictions they inflicted, indefinitely, and feel the crimes they committed.
Confusion is the normal state in the instant of death
10. The mental confusion accompanies the separation of the soul from the body. At the moment when this separation is taking place, the soul is seized with a sort of torpor that paralyzes its faculties, and at least to a certain extent, neutralizes its sensations.
11. The state of confusion may therefore be considered as the normal condition of the soul at the moment of death; its duration differs in different cases and may vary from a few hours to many years.
12. The moment when the body heaves the last sigh is, consequently, not the most painful, because in general, the so
ul is then in a state of unconsciousness. In cases of violent death, the conditions under which the process of separation is effected are not necessarily the same, in such a case, the disengagement begins to be effected after death has occurred, and as in other cases, it cannot be effected immediately. The Spirit unexpectedly seized upon death, is, as it were, stunned by the suddenness of the event; but, as he feels and thinks, he supposes himself to be still living the earthly life, and he retains this illusion until he has come to understand his real position.
13. The various states of the spirit at the moment of death may be summed up as follows: The more slowly a spirit’s disengagement is effected, the more severely does he suffer; the rapidity with which his disengagement is effected is in proportion to the degree of his moral advancement: for the spirit whose soul is already dematerialized, whose conscience is pure, death is but a momentary sleep, void of suffering, and the awakening from which is unspeakably delightful.
Answer Key
1. What sensations does the soul experience because of the death?
A.: At the moment of death, everything appears confused. The soul takes some time to recover its self- consciousness, for it is as though stunned, and in a state similar to that of a man waking out of a deep sleep, and trying to understand his own situation. It gradually regains clearness of thought and the memory of the past in proportion to the weakening of the influence of the material envelope from which it has just freed itself, and the clearing away of the sort of fog that obscured its consciousness.
2. Do all spirits experience, in the same degree and for the same length of time, the confusion which follows the separation of the soul from the body?
A.: Yes. The duration of the state of confusion that follows death varies greatly in different cases. It may be only of a few hours, and it may be of several months, or even years. Those with whom it lasts the least are they who, during the earthly life, have identified themselves most closely with their future state, because they are soonest able to understand their pew situation.
3. Does knowledge of Spiritism exercise any influence on the duration of this state of confusion?
A.: It exercises a very considerable influence on that duration, because it enables the spirit to understand beforehand the new situation in which it is about to find itself; but the practice of rectitude during the earthly life, and a clear conscience, are the conditions which conduce most powerfully to shorten it.
4. What is the situation of people who cultivated hollow religions, which promise Heaven through opportunism?
A.: These people are surprised with a reality quite different from what they expected.
5. In short, how to define the state of the Spirit because of death?
A.: The various states of the spirit at the moment of death may be summed up as follows: The more slowly a spirit’s disengagement is effected, the more severely does he suffer; the rapidity with which his disengagement is effected is in proportion to the degree of his moral advancement: for the spirit whose soul is already dematerialized, whose conscience is pure, death is but a momentary sleep, void of suffering, and the awakening from which is unspeakably delightful.
Bibliography:
The Spirits’ Book, by Allan Kardec, items 164 and 165.
Heaven and Hell, by Allan Kardec, Part 2, items 6, 7, 12 and 13.
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