Spiritist Doctrine

SPIRITIST DOCTRIN

"Spiritism realizes what Jesus said of the promised Comforter, by bringing knowledge of those things which allow Man to know where he came from, where he is going and why he is on Earth; so attracting mankind towards the true principles of God's Law and offering consolation through faith and hope."

- Allan Kardec.

The Spiritist Philosophy or Spiritism

What it is

Spiritism is a doctrine that deals with the nature, origin and destiny of spirits, and their relation with the corporeal world. Spiritism is simultaneously a science of observation and a philosophical doctrine. As a practical science, it consists in the relations that can be established with spirits. As a philosophy, it entails all the moral consequences that result from such relations.

Spiritism is the set of laws and principles, as revealed by Superior Spirits, contained in the works of Allan Kardec, which constitute the Spiritist Codification:

"The Spirits' Book"
"The Mediums' Book"
"The Gospel According to Spiritism"
"Heaven and Hell"
"The Genesis"

What it reveals

Spiritism reveals more profound concepts with respect to God, the Universe, the Human Being, the Spirits and the Laws which govern life itself. Furthermore, it reveals who we are; where we have come from; where we are going to; what is the objective of our existence; and what are the present and past causes of pain and suffering.

Spiritism philosophy

Spiritism touches on all areas of knowledge, human activities and behaviour by bringing new concepts about the Human Being and everything that surrounds it, opening a new era for the regeneration of Humanity.

Spiritists abide by the moral teachings of Jesus Christ as contained in the Gospels. Rather than seeing Jesus as a saviour of humanity from its sins, they see him as an example of moral perfection to be emulated. Spiritism teaches that man is solely responsible for his conduct, be they good or bad.

Spiritism can and should be studied, analyzed, and practiced in all the fundamental aspects of life, such as: scientific, philosophical, religious, ethical, moral, educational, and social.

What it teaches

God is the Supreme Intelligence, first cause of all things. God is eternal, immutable, immaterial, unique, omnipotent, supremely just and good.
The Universe is God’s creation. It encompasses all rational and non-rational beings, both animate and inanimate, material and immaterial.
In addition to the corporeal world inhabited by incarnate Spirits, which are human beings, there exists the spiritual world, inhabited by discarnate Spirits.
Within the Universe there are other inhabited worlds, with beings at different degrees of evolution: some equal, others more or less evolved than earthly Man.
All the Laws of Nature are Divine Laws because God is their author. They cover both the physical and moral laws.
A Human Being is a Spirit incarnated in a material body. The perispirit is the semi-material body which unites the Spirit to the physical body.
Spirits are the intelligent beings of creation. They constitute the world of the Spirits, which pre-exists and outlives everything.
Spirits are created simple and ignorant. They evolve intellectually and morally, passing from a lower order to a higher one, until they attain perfection, where they will enjoy unalterable bliss.
Spirits preserve their individuality before, during, and after each incarnation. Spirits reincarnate as many times as is necessary for their spiritual advancement. Spirits are always progressing. In their multiple physical existences, they may sometimes become stationary but they never regress. The speed of their intellectual and moral progress depends on the efforts they make to attain perfection.
Spirits belong to different orders according to the degree of perfection they have attained: Pure Spirits, who have attained maximum perfection; Good Spirits, whose predominant desire is towards goodness; and Imperfect Spirits, characterized by their ignorance, their tendency towards evil, and by their inferior passions.
The Spirits’ relations with Human Beings are constant and have always existed. The Good Spirits attract us towards goodness, sustain us in life’s trials, and help us bear them with courage and resignation. The Imperfect Spirits induce us towards error.
Jesus is the Guide and Model for all Humankind. The Doctrine He taught and exemplified is the purest expression of God’s Law.
The morality of Christ, as contained in the Gospels, is the guidance for the secure progress of all Human Beings. Its practice is the solution for all human problems and the objective to be attained by Humankind. Human Beings are given free-will to act, but they must answer for the consequences of their actions.
Future life reserves for Human Beings penalties and pleasures according to the respect they do or do not show for God’s laws.
Prayer is an act of adoration for God. It is found in the natural law and is the result of an innate sentiment in every Human Being, just as the idea of the existence of the Creator is innate.
Prayer makes Human Beings better. Whoever prays with fervor and confidence grows stronger against evil temptations, and God sends the Good Spirits to assist them. This assistance will never be denied when requested with sincerity.

Spiritist practice

All Spiritist practice is gratuitous, following the orientation of the moral principle found in the Gospel: “Give for free what you receive for free.”

Spiritism is practiced with simplicity, without any external forms of worship, within the Christian principle that God should be worshiped in spirit and in truth.

Spiritism has no clergy, nor does it adopt or use at any of its meetings or during its practices the following: altars, images, candles, processions, sacraments, concession of indulgences, religious vestments, alcoholic or hallucinogenic beverages, incense, tobacco, talismans, amulets, horoscopes, cartomancy, pyramids, crystals, or any other objects, rituals or external forms of worship.

Spiritism does not impose its principles. It invites those interested in knowing it to submit its teachings to the test of reason before accepting them.

Mediumship, which allows the Spirits to communicate with Human Beings, is a faculty which many individuals bring with them at birth, independent of whatever religion or beliefs they may come to adopt.

Spiritist mediumship practice is solely that which is exercised based on the principles of the Spiritism and within the Christian moral concepts.

Spiritism respects all religions and doctrines; values all efforts towards the practice of goodness; works towards peace and fellowship between all nations and all peoples, regardless of ethnics, colour, nationality, creed, cultural or social standing. It also recognizes that “the truly good person is one who complies with the laws of justice, love, and charity in their highest degree of purity” - Allan Kardec.

About the Spirits

Often, people have a very wrong idea about the state of spirits; they are not, as some believe, vague and indefinite beings, nor flames, like the swamp lights, or ghosts like those in tales of souls from another world. They are beings like us, having a body like ours, however, fluid and invisible in its normal state.

When the soul is united to the body during life, it has a double-envelope: one heavy, coarse and destructible which is the body, the other fluid, lightweight, and indestructible, called perispirit.

So there are three essential things in men:

The soul or spirit, a principle where resides intelligent thought, will and moral sense.
The body is the material envelope that connects the spirit with the outside world.
The perispirit is the fluidic envelope, light and weightless, which serves as the bond between the mind and the body.

When the material mantle becomes used and cannot work any longer, he dies and his spirit takes off like the fruit is stripped of their seed, the tree of its bark, the snake from its skin, in one word, as one leaves old clothes that no longer fits, is what is called death.

Death is nothing but the destruction of the material mantle; the soul leaves that body just as the butterfly leaves its chrysalis, but preserves its fluidic body or perispirit.

The death of the body liberates the spirit from that mantle that bound it to earth; once free, it is left with only its ethereal body, allowing it to travel through space and bridge distances with the speed of thought.

The union of soul, the perispirit and material body is the constitution of man; the perispirit and soul, once separated from the body, become the being called spirit.

Distinctions from Spiritualism

Perhaps two of the leading spiritual groups in the world today that propagate the teaching about the continuity of life after death - and offer proof by communicating with the dead - are Spiritism and Spiritualism. Although there are many similarities between the two, they differ in some fundamental aspects, particularly regarding man's quest toward spiritual perfection and the manner by which the followers of each practice their beliefs.

Although Spiritism also teaches the immortality of the soul and communication of the living with the dead, it differs from Spiritualism in its philosophy and practices.

Spiritism also teaches reincarnation or rebirth into human life after death. This basically distinguishes Spiritism from Spiritualism. According to the Spiritist doctrine, reincarnation explains the moral and intellectual differences among men. It also provides the path to man's moral and intellectual perfection by amending for his mistakes and increasing his knowledge in successive lives. For this reason Spiritism does not accept rebirth in animals as this would be retrogressive.