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Spiritisit group in Holland "Spiritist Stories", a new book in Poland
A message to a globalized world (Part II) Leon Denis
Kindness F de Paula Vitor The Astral City - A story of a doctor's odyssey in the Spirit World Andre Luiz, through Francisco C Xavier Chapter 7 & 8. Also available at here or here . |
SPIRITIST GROUP IN HOLLAND
Recently a spiritist study group was formed in the north region of Holland. The group was denominated Allan Kardec Spiritist Study Association (Vereniging voor Spiritistische Allan Kardec) and it is located provisorily in Hoorn. It is a small group of friends, some of them just beginning their spiritist learning, however all brothered in the same will of study and diffusion of the Spiritist Doctrine. With the blessing of the divine Master Jesus, they wish to work hard to place those learnings in the practical life.
The association has a small library, in which most of the books are in Portuguese language. Right now, there are just copies of old translations of the Spiritist Doctrine basic books. The group, among other spiritist colleagues, is working with the strong purpose of making those books available to our Dutch speaking brothers and sisters. Whoever has interest in get more information or participate in our little study group please do not hesitate in contact us.
Klokketuin 15,1689
KN HOORN - HOLLAND
Tel.: 00 31 229 234527
E-mail: m.moraes@planet.nl
"SPIRITIST STORIES", A NEW BOOK IN POLAND
The book
"Spiritist Stories" which relates the history
of the Spiritist Movement (with an extensive summary
of the movement in Poland) is ready. It contains a presentation
of the fundamental basis of the Spiritist Doctrine,
with glossaries and lists of bibliographies - with summaries
in both Esperanto and French (B5format, 450
pages and 250 illustrations).This is the first really complete work on
Spiritism in Poland.
Address for
correspondence:
Towarzystwo
Spirytystyczne im Allana Kardeca
(e-mail: radio@radiopik.bydgoszcz.pl)
A
MESSAGE TO A GLOBALIZED WORLD (PART II)
Leon Denis
A society that has no hope nor belief
in a future state, is as a man lost in the desert, as
a leaf whirled by the gale. It is proper that ignorance and
superstition should be combated, provided a rational
belief be supplied in their place. To walk through life with
a firm step, secure from weakness and faltering, one must possess
a robust constitution, a faith that transcends the world of
matter: one must resolutely keep the goal in sight and unswervingly
strive o attain it.
A sound and enlightened conscience
is the surest defense in the battle of life.
But if we are persuaded of our ultimate oblivion, if we believe that life is to have no morrow and that death is the eternal extinguisher: then logically, personal interest and material satisfaction should have precedence over every other consideration. What are we for a future that we are never to behold? By what right are progress, reformation and sacrifice dinned into our ears? If our life is to be but flitting, then by all means let us make the most of the passing hour, culling its pleasures and turning away from its pain and its duties. Such is the inevitable conclusion of materialism as daily uttered and daily enacted about us.
What havoc would not be wrought by such a belief if unrestrictedly at work in the heart of a wealthy community, already so surcharged with luxury and physical gratification?
Nevertheless idealism is not quite dead. The human soul is, at times, aware of its own wretchedness, it experiences the inadequacy of this life and the necessity of a hereafter. Some kind of intuition still throbs in the soul of the people. For centuries deceived, they have become incredulous regarding all dogmas: incredulous but not skeptical. Vaguely, confusedly, the people still believe in justice, and still aspire. The Creed of Remembrance is exemplified by the touching manifestations of the second of November, when the people surge forth in crowds to seek the tombs of their beloved dead; it also bespeaks a certain confused instinct of immortality. No! the people are not atheists, since they have faith in an immanent justice, and in liberty: for both of these subsist by the sanction of the eternal and divine laws. The sentiment, the greatest and noblest that pertains to the soul, will prove our salvation: thence it would suffice that all should learn that this conviction, inherent in us, is likewise very law of the universe; that it rules all beings and all worlds; that through it right must finally triumph over wrong, and life must emerge from death.
Whilst aspiring to justice, the people are striving for its realization. This they seek in politics, in economics, in the devices of cooperative schemes. The power of the people has started a vast ramification of workmen's societies which is over spreading the earth: a socialistic gathering which embraces all nations, and, marching beneath one single banner, causes the same appeals and the same grievances everywhere to resound. Therein lies, and let us not deceive ourselves as to its importance, not only a most edifying spectacle for the thinker, but likewise a matter of weighty future consequence. It it seeks its aspiration from the materialistic and atheistic doctrines, it will become an instrument of destruction, for its action will take the form of violent outbursts and dire revolutions. Restrained by wisdom and moderation, it may effect much for the happiness of mankind. Let the beam of heavenly light descend upon these myriad toilers: let some divine ideal animate these crowds that hunger for progress; then at last, shall we see the old social forms dissolve and melt into a new world based upon universal right, justice and solidarity.
The present hour is a time of crisis and renewal. The world is in fermentation, corruption is in the ascendant: the mighty shadow spreads and the peril is great, but behind the shadow we perceive the light, and behind the peril, salvation. Society cannot perish: it it bears within it the germs of decomposition, there likewise are those of transformation and redemption. Decomposition confirms death, but it also heralds the new birth; it is the prelude to another life.
And whence will proceed this light, this salvation, the redemption? Surely not from the Church, which is incapable of regenerating the human mind. Not from science, which cares neither for conscience nor for character but only for that which concerns the senses: devotion, virtue, justice, love, all that enters into the making of noble characters and wholesome societies - none of these appertain to the domain of the senses.
That the moral level should
be raised, that the two streams of
superstition and skepticism, which terminate in a sea of
sterility, may be checked, a fresh conception of life and of
the universe is indispensable; one which,
based upon the study of nature
and conscience, upon the observation of facts and
the principles of reason, may at last determine the aim of
our life and regulate our onward progression. What
we require is a belief which affords
an
incentive for improvement, a moral
sanction and a strong conviction as to our ultimate fate.
But this conception and this teaching
we already have: and daily are they becoming better known.
Above the din of disputes, above the divergences
of philosophical schools, a voice has made itself heard - the voice
of the Dead. The Dead have revealed themselves from beyond
the grave, more alive than when they stood amongst us in the flesh; in
the light of their revelations the
veil has fallen, which hid from us the future life. Their
precepts will conciliate all conflicting creeds,
and will cause a new flame to arise from the ashes
of the past. In the Philosophy of the Spirits, we find
again that secret doctrine which ran like golden vein through
the quartz of the ages, but renovated and now cleansed
of its dross. Its shattered remnants have been gathered
and bound together by a powerful cement, and even
now frame an edifice vast enough
to accommodate all nations and all civilizations.
That the strength of its foundations might be beyond
suspicion, the new edifice has been erected upon the rock of
direct experience and of constantly renewed
faith. Thanks to it, the certainty of immortality
is being made manifest to all men, together with the innumerable
existences and the unceasing progress that await us in the successive
cycles of eternity.
Such a doctrine is bound to transform all the nations and classes of the world: conveying light where all is dark: melting, with its heat, the icy selfishness that lies at the heart of man: revealing to all men the laws that unite them with the bonds of a close solidarity. Its unification will be compounded of peace and harmony. Through it we shall learn to act with one heart and with one mind. Conscious of his strength, man will be able to advance with an assured tread toward his splendid destiny.
Leon Denis
Extracted from the book "Here and
Hereafter", a translation by Geoge G Fleurot of "Apres la mort", Chapter
8, pp.96 ("The moral crisis"), published by Willian
Rider and Son, Limited. 1910.
However, avoid mistaking kindness
for weak sentimentality;
for moral cowardice;
for subservience;
for omission;
for foolishness;
Learn that kindness, most of the
time, takes the form of sacrifices in the midst of problematic family members;
of loving care for those who are dependent on our affection; of humility
in situations that shatter our millenary pride; of attention and respect
for those who are our subordinate and responsible for
the simple tasks in our daily routine.
Kindness presented in these ways
constitutes one of the expressive manifestations
of love.
Be kind to yourself.
Be kind to those around you.
Be kind to those who perturb you
or do not understand you.
Be kind so that kindness may revitalize
your inner world, transforming
yourself into a good person, one
who is adjusted to the incorruptible
Laws of the Creator, and who
is marching towards completeness and
fulfillment, which constitute your
utmost aspiration.
A story of a doctor's odyssey in the Spirit World By Andre Luiz, through Francisco C Xavier CHAPTER 7 & 8. PDF version (~800 Kb) available at http://www.geae.inf.br/htdocs/en/books/AstralCity.PDF and http://www.geocities.com/xavnet2/moral/Messa1.htm
(Translated from the 25th Portuguese edition entitled "Nosso Lar". First Portuguese edition published in 1944 by Federação Espírita Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.)
I derived great pleasure from leaning out of my window and gazing at the vast horizon. I was impressed by the difference between my surroundings here and on Earth. Nearly everything seemed to be an improved copy of Earth: the colors were more harmoniously blended, and the very substance of things to be more delicate. The ground was carpeted with greenery and I could see large trees, rich orchards and delightful gardens everywhere. A range of hills with light-crowned summits stood beyond the plain on which the Astral City was situated, and graceful buildings appeared at regular intervals a short distance away. These buildings, of various styles, had one thing in common: a profusion of flowers at their entrances. I noticed some charming little bungalows among them, surrounded by colorful roses springing up from among the ivy that covered the walls in contrasting colors. Birds with brilliant plumage flew about, alighting in groups from time to time on the tall, bright white steeples that reached for the sky. As I continued to watch curiously from my window, I was surprised to find some domestic animals among the trees some distance away. During these periods of deep musing, my mind was filled with countless speculations. Considering that I found myself on an astral plane, I could not understand the similarity of things here to those on Earth. Lysias, my obliging and constant companion, was always ready to explain:
"Death of the physical body does not take man instantly to miraculous spheres. Every evolutionary process progresses trough graduation. There are countless planes for discarnate Spirits, just as there are many wondrous regions for those still in flesh. All souls, feelings, forms and things are governed by the principles of natural evolution and hierarchy."
Only the fact that I had stayed under treatment for so many weeks without a single visit from someone I had known on Earth worried me somewhat. Surely I was not the only one in my circle of friends and relatives to be struggling with the enigma of death. My parents had departed before me, as had various friends. Why, then, had none of them come to see me during my recovery, to bring a little cheer to my aching heart? I would have been satisfied with even a few moments of consolation. One day, when I could no longer silence my doubts, I asked my attendant: "Tell me, dear Lysias, is it possible to meet those who left the Earth before us?"
"Why, do you imagine yourself forgotten?"
"Yes, in fact, I do. Why has no one come to see me? On Earth I always relied implicitly on my mother's devotion. Yet to this day I have heard nothing from her, or from my father, who died three years before me."
"Well, you are mistaken about your mother. She has been helping you night and day since the crisis you passed through before you arrived here. She doubled he assistance when you fell ill for the last time. You aren't aware yet, are you, that your stay in the lower spheres lasted over eight years? In all that time she never lost hope, and often came to the Astral City to intercede on your behalf. She enlisted the services of Clarence, who began visiting you frequently until the moment when you, the conceited earthly doctor, remembered that you were also a child of God. Do you see now?"
I felt my eyes well with tears. I had not known that I had been away from the Earth for so long. I wanted to speak, to find out about those unperceived efforts, but my vocal cords seemed numb. My heart was too full to allow me to speak.
"On the day you prayed with all your
heart," continued Lysias, "when you realized that everything
in the Universe belongs to our Almighty Father, even your tears
were different. As you know, rain can at times be creative, at other times
destructive. The Lord doesn't wait for our prayers to love us. Yet, just
as a dirty mirror cannot reflect the light, it
is indispensable for us to cleanse ourselves and build
a receptive attitude in order to understand His infinite goodness. Thus,
it is not the Father who needs our penance, it is we who need it
for the inestimable service it renders us. Do you see? Clarence, in answer
to your devoted mother's pleas, had no trouble finding you it was
you who took so long to find Clarence. I was told that when
your mother heard you had broken through the shadows into the light,
she wept for
joy."
"And where is my mother now?" I cried at last. "If possible, I should like to see and embrace her, to fall on my knees at her feet."
"She doesn't live in the Astral City," he informed me, "she inhabits higher spheres where she works, not exclusively for you, but for the good of many."
Noting my disappointment, he added:
"She is sure to come and see you. When one earnestly wishes for something, it is already half obtained. Here we have your own example. For years you wandered at random, a prey to fear, distress and disillusionment. Yet as soon as you felt the necessity for divine assistance you expanded the range of your mental vibrations and obtained vision and help."
Encouraged by the explanation I had just received, I exclaimed resolutely:
"Then I wished it with all my heart, and she shall come."
Lysias smiled knowingly, and as he took his leave he added this friendly advice:
"Right, but keep in mind that all deserving petitions should contain three basic prerequisites: an active will, persevering work, and merit. In other words, one must first wish, then work towards that wish, and finally be deserving of what he requested."
He departed smiling, while I fell into deep meditation, wondering how such a vast program could have been expressed in so few words.
"We are now in the district of the Ministry of Assistance. Everything you see here, all of the buildings and houses, are either institutions where the activities of our jurisdiction are carried out or home for our working staff and instructors. In the Ministry, patients are assisted, prayers are heard and sorted, earthly reincarnations planned and rescue groups promoted on behalf of those inhabiting the lower spirit zones or suffering on Earth. Here all problems related to human suffering are examined and solutions studied."
"So there is a Ministry of Assistance in the Astral City?" I asked.
"And why not? All of our activities here are controlled by an organization which is constantly improving under the efficient supervision of those watching over our destinies. During our collective prayers, didn't you notice our Governor, surrounded by his seventy-two assistants? They are the Ministers of the Astral City. The colony, whose purpose is essentially work and accomplishment, is divided into six Ministries, each under the direction of twelve Ministers. The six Ministers are named: Regeneration, Assistance, Communication, Elucidation, Elevation, and Divine Union. The first four connect us with the Earth; the other two link us to the higher spheres. So you see our spiritual city is really a transition zone. The coarsest, most material activities are carried out by the Ministry of Regeneration. The most sublime is the Ministry of Divine Union. Clarence, our friendly instructor, is one of the Ministers of Assistance."
I never imagined the possibility of finding such a complete organization after the death of the physical body."
"Yes", Lysias continued, "the evil of illusion is very dense in the spheres of the flesh. The average man is unaware that all manifestations of order around him proceed from higher planes. Just as Nature becomes a garden when tended by man, so the mind, dull in primitive creatures, is transformed into a creative force when inspired by consciousness functioning in higher spheres. Every useful organization on the material plane has its first roots in higher spiritual worlds." "But those the Astral City have a history like the great cities of Earth?"
"Certainly. All of the planes near the Earth possess their own specific nature and unique history. The Astral City is an old settlement, founded by a group of distinguished Portuguese pioneers who, after passing on, settled in the spirits planes over Brazil in the sixteenth century. According to the annals of our Colony, these settlers at first encountered tremendous and exhausting difficulties here. There are obstacles in the invisible zones close to the Earth, just as there are on the Earth itself. Enormous areas with undeveloped potential here are comparable to the great tracts of forbidden terrain on Earth."
"The pioneers' work was indeed hard and discouraging, even for the stronger spirits. The area where delicate vibrations and majestic buildings now abound was also peopled with other more primitive inhabitants whose architecture reflected their elementary minds and who filled the atmosphere with their undeveloped thoughts. Still the founders did not lose heart. They proceeded with their efforts, following the example of the Old World settlers on the physical plane. Only they substituted persevering work, brotherly solidarity and spiritual love for violence, war and slavery."
By this time we had reached a large, artistically designed square, filled with beautiful gardens. In its center stood a magnificent palace crowned with majestic and lofty towers whose tips reached so high they disappeared from sight.
"Here, where the Government House now stands, the settlers placed the cornerstone of the Colony."
Pointing to the palace, he went on:
"This square is the converging point of the six Ministries I told you about. They start at the Government House and stretch out in a triangular shape. Our devoted Governor lives here. A staff of three thousand individuals assist him in his administrative duties. He is the most earnest and untiring worker in the Colony. The Ministers travel at times to other spheres to renew their energies and acquire new knowledge, and we, too, have our habitual amusements. Only the Governor has no leisure time whatsoever. While he insists that we take periodic vacations to rest, he himself works ceaselessly, sacrificing even his sleeping hours. It seems he finds his reward in never-ending service. I have been here for forty years, and except for the collective prayers, I have never seen the Governor at any public entertainment. Yet the radiation of his powerful mind reaches every branch of activity and his fatherly assistance involves everybody and everything here."
After a long pause, the friendly attendant continued:
"Only a short time ago, we celebrated the one hundred fourteenth anniversary of his magnanimous administration."
Lysias went on walking in reverent silence, while I, keeping pace with him, gazed in awe at the marvelous steeples which seemed to pierce the skies.
In the next issue of "The Spiritist
Messenger" - Chapter 11 and 12.
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