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Leonardo Marmo Moreira |
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Sleep
and its
implications
in terms
of
physical
and
spiritual
health
(Part 1) |
Introduction -
In our
physical
life, we
sleep
about a
third of
the time
of our
life in
the
somatic
body.
Considering
the
occurrence
of
emancipation
of the
soul
through
physical
sleep,
which
consists
of the
fundamental
and
general
emancipation
of the
soul,
i.e.,
common
to all
individuals,
it is
possible
to infer
the
great
relevance
of
physical
sleep
not only
for the
health
of the
somatic
body,
but also
for the
spiritual
growth
of the
reincarnated
Spirit.
The
Spirit
does not
necessarily
remain
emancipated
from the
body
(unfolded
from the
physical
body)
during
all the
time of
physical
sleep.
However,
much of
this
time can
represent
"emancipation
of the
soul,"
this
meaning
that all
incarnate
men and
women go
through
significant
periods
of
actual
spiritual
experience,
i.e.,
"outside"
the
physical
body.
The emancipation
of the soul -
Chapter VIII of
the second part
of The
Book of Spirits (LE),
entitled
"Emancipation of
the Soul,"
discusses the
question,
presenting
various
implications of
this reality
common to all
incarnated
Spirits without
exception. The
very objective
question 401 of
LE and the
extraordinary
answer to
question 402 of
LE provide
exceptional
introductory
material to the
subject. Let's
look at
questions 401
and 402 of the
LE:
During sleep,
does the soul
rest as the
body?
No, the Spirit
is never
inactive. During
sleep, the bonds
that bind it to
the body loosen
and the body
does not need
the Spirit. Then
it moves through
space and enters
into a more
direct
relationship
with the other
Spirits.
402. How can we
assess the
freedom of the
Spirit during
sleep?
We can do it
through the
dreams. When the
body rests, the
Spirit has more
faculties than
in the waking
state. It has
the memory of
the past and
sometimes the
foresight of the
future; it
acquires more
power and can
communicate with
the other
Spirits, be
it of this
world, or of
another. You
often say, "I
had a weird
dream, a
horrible dream,
but it has no
truth in it."
You are not
telling the
truth. It is
almost always a
memory of places
and things that
you saw or will
see in another
life or another
period of time.
The body is
asleep, and the
Spirit tries to
break its chains
to investigate
in the past or
the future.
Poor men, who
know so little
of the most
ordinary
phenomena of
life! You
believe you are
very wise, but
the smallest
things will
embarrass you. A
child asks you:
“What do we do
when we sleep? What
are our dreams?"
And you do not
know how to
answer.
Sleep partially
releases the
soul from the
body. When the
man sleeps, he
is momentarily
in the state in
which he will be
permanently
after death. The
Spirits that
soon detach
themselves from
matter, when
they die, they
had intelligent
dreams. These
Spirits, when
they sleep, seek
the company of
those who are
superior to
them: they
travel, talk and
are instructed
in their
company; they
work even in
works that are
complete when
they die. From
these facts you
must learn, once
again, not to be
afraid of death,
for you die
every day,
according to the
expression of a
saint.
This, for the
Higher Spirits;
because, for the
great majority
of men - who,
through death,
are to remain
long hours in
this
disturbance, in
that uncertainty
of which they
have spoken to
you - go to
worlds inferior
to the Earth,
where ancient
loves call them,
or in search of
perhaps even
lower pleasures
than the ones
they had here;
they will follow
doctrines even
more vile, more
ignoble, more
harmful than
those they
followed among
you. And what
causes sympathy
on Earth is
nothing other
than the fact
that we feel,
when we awake,
linked through
our heart to
those with whom
we have just
spent eight or
nine hours of
happiness or
pleasure.
What also
explains the
strong
antipathies is
that we feel,
deep in our
hearts, that
these people
have a different
consciousness
from ours,
because we know
them without
ever having seen
them. It is also
what explains
the
indifference,
because we do
not try to make
new friends when
we know we have
those who love
us and want us.
In a word: sleep
influences your
life much more
than what you
think.
Due to sleep,
the incarnated
Spirits are
always in
contact with the
world of the
Spirits, and
this is what
makes the Higher
Spirits agree,
without much
rejection, to
incarnate among
you. God wanted
them, during
their contact
with evil, to be
able to renew
themselves in
the source of
good, in order
not to fail,
they who came to
instruct others.
Sleep is the
door that God
opened for you
to contact with
your friends in
Heaven; it is
the recreation
after the work,
while awaiting
the great
deliverance, the
final freedom,
which must
restore them to
their true
environment.
The dream is the
remembrance of
what your Spirit
saw in your
sleep; but
notice that you
do not always
dream, because
you do not
always remember
what you saw, or
everything you
saw. That is
because you do
not have your
soul in all its
development;
there is often
nothing left but
the remembrance
of the
disturbance
which
accompanies your
departure and
your return, to
which is added
the memory of
what you have
done or what
concerns you in
the waking
state. Without
this, how would
you explain
these absurd
dreams to which
both the wisest
and the most
humble are
subject? Evil
Spirits also use
dreams to
torment the weak
and feeble
souls.
Besides, you
will soon see
another kind of
dream develop; a
kind as old as
the one you
know, but which
you ignore. The
dream of Joan,
the dream of
Jacob, the dream
of the Jewish
Prophets and of
some Indian
diviners: this
dream is the
remembrance of
the soul
entirely freed
from the body,
the memory of
this second life
of which I was
speaking to you
a moment ago.
Try to
distinguish well
these two kinds
of dreams, among
those you
remember;
without this you
would fall into
inconsistencies
and errors which
would be fatal
to your faith.
Dreams are the
product of the
emancipation of
the soul, which
becomes more
independent
because of the
interruption of
active life and
relationship.
Hence a sort of
indefinite
clairvoyance,
which extends to
the most distant
or unseen
places, and
sometimes even
to other worlds.
There is also
the memory that
recalls the
events of the
present or of
the previous
lives. The
oddity of the
images of what
happens or has
happened in
unknown worlds,
intercalated
with things of
the present
world, form
these bizarre
and confused
sets that seem
to have neither
sense nor nexus.
The incoherence
of dreams is
still explained
by the gaps
arising from the
incomplete
memory of what
appeared to us
in the dream.
Like a statement
in which phrases
or parts of
sentences have
been truncated
at random: the
remaining
fragments, being
reunited, would
lose all
rational
meaning. (Bold
is ours)
The Spirits
therefore defend
that there is a
certain
similarity
between the
emancipation of
the soul by
physical sleep
and the
disembodiment,
and that through
this relative
unfolding,
depending on the
intellectual-moral
evolution of the
Spirit and,
consequently,
its vibratory
pattern, the
kind of
spiritual
experience that
the Spirit will
have outside the
body will vary
significantly.
Spirits link
"intelligent
dreams" with the
ease of
detachment from
matter when
disincarnating. ("Sleep
partially
liberates the
soul from the
body.") When man
sleeps, he is
momentarily in
the state in
which he will be
permanently
after death.
Those who have
an easy
detachment from
matter when they
die had
intelligent
dreams”).
The "Falange of
the Spirit of
Truth" (FST)
suggests that,
to a large
extent, the
vibratory range
we will attain
when we are
disembodied
corresponds to
the vibratory
regions we visit
at night in our
partial
unfolding
through our
daily physical
sleep ("the
great majority
of men - who,
through death,
are to remain
long hours in
this
disturbance, in
that uncertainty
of which they
have spoken to
you - go to
worlds inferior
to the Earth,
where ancient
loves call them,
or in search of
perhaps even
lower pleasures
than the ones
they had here;
they will follow
doctrines even
more vile, more
ignoble, more
harmful than
those they
followed among
you. And what
causes sympathy
on Earth is
nothing other
than the fact
that we feel,
when we awake,
linked through
our heart to
those with whom
we have just
spent eight or
nine hours of
happiness or
pleasure.
And the
Spiritual
Mentors state
firmly: "In
a word, sleep
influences your
life more than
you think”.
The FST also
clarifies that
for Higher
Spirits, the
partial
unfolding by
physical sleep
is fundamental
for their
success in their
tasks, when in
reincarnation
mission. And
more than that,
for all
incarnated
Spirits, the
sleep phase and
the consequent
partial
unfolding by
physical sleep
creates deep
contact between
incarnate
individualities
and disincarnate
Spirits ("Because
of sleep,
incarnated
Spirits are
always in
connection with
the world of the
Spirits, and
this is what
makes the Higher
Spirits consent,
without much
rejection, to
incarnate among
you").
And the
Spiritual
Mentors go
further, and
commented that a
number of
obsessive
problems are
fostered or at
least
significantly
subsidized
during sleep ("Evil
spirits also use
dreams to
torment weak and
fainthearted
souls") (Emphasis
is mine).
In this way,
Spirits
emphasize that
sleep can help
or substantially
harm the lives
of all
incarnated
individuals, for
all of them
unfold partially
when they sleep.
In this sense,
it is important
to emphasize
that "the mind
moves matter",
to use the
phrase that
became the work
title of Hernani
Guimaraes
Andrade. Now the
mind is
basically the
immortal Spirit,
who "directs"
the perispirit,
which in turn
"controls" the
physical body.
Therefore,
partial
unfolding by
physical sleep
is a determining
factor for many
aspects of our
lives, including
spiritual,
perispiritual
and physical
health.
Furthermore, it
is relevant to
note that the
Spirits
emphasize not
only the contact
with the
disembodied
Spirits and
incarnated
equally
unfolded, but
also a greater
manifestation of
predominantly
soul
potentialities
of the soul away
from the
physical body.
In fact, at the
beginning of the
answer to
question 402,
the Spirits
stress that "when
the Spirit
rests, the
Spirit has more
faculties than
in the waking
state. It has
the memory of
the past and
sometimes the
forecast of the
future".
Therefore, the
soul outside the
body has greater
psychic
potentialities
and also greater
contacts with
the
disincarnated
Spirits and also
with the
incarnated
Spirits that are
equally
unfolded. Such
expansions,
which occur over
a long period of
time, every day,
and with all
people,
demonstrate how
the deepening of
the spiritual
study and
education in
general and
particularly
associated with
sleep, are
essential
efforts for our
evolutionary
process.
Question 403 of
LE reinforces
this idea that
our levels of
spiritual
perception are
greater when we
are outside the
physical body.
Let us see:
403. Why do we
not remember our
dreams always?
Sleep, as you
call it, is only
the body’s rest,
because the
Spirit is always
in motion. In
sleep it regains
some of its
freedom and
communicates
with those who
are dear to him,
whether in this
or in other
worlds. But
because the body
is of heavy and
gross matter, it
hardly preserves
the impressions
received by the
Spirit, even
though the
Spirit has not
perceived them
by the organs of
the body.
The explanation
given by the
Spiritual
Mentors to
question 403 of The
Book of Spirits demonstrates
that we can have
a level of
perception of
reality when in
partial
unfolding by
physical sleep,
much higher than
when in the
waking state.
This fact is
justified by the
semi-material
nature of the
perispirit,
which allows a
greater
understanding of
the spiritual
reality of the
"mind" as well
as a higher
level of
perception of
the spiritual
context in which
the soul is
inserted.
The emancipation
of the soul and
its own psychic
and mediumistic
implications - In
“The Book of
Mediums “(LM)
we have an
interesting
passage in
Chapter XIV,
entitled "The
Mediums",
inserted in the
second part of
the book. It is
the sixth topic,
called
"Somnambulistic
Mediums", which
includes the
interesting
items 172, 173
and 174. Our
main interest is
focused on item
173, which will
be copied as
follows:
173. One
of our friends
used as a
somnambulist a
little boy of 14
to 15 years old,
with a very
short
intelligence and
extremely
limited
instruction. In
a somnambulistic
state, however,
he gave proof of
extraordinary
lucidity and
great insight.
This mainly in
the treatment of
diseases, having
made numerous
cures considered
impossible.
One day,
attending to a
patient, he
described his
illness with
absolute
accuracy. "That
is not enough",
they told him,
"Now it is
necessary to
indicate the
medicine. “I
cannot do it”,
he replied, "My
angel doctor is
not here”. "Who
do you call the
angel doctor?"
“It is the one
who dictates the
remedies”. "So
it's not you who
sees the
medicines
yourself?" "Oh,
no. Am I not
saying that it
is my angel
doctor who
indicates them?"
Thus, in this
somnambulist,
the one who saw
the disease was
his own Spirit,
who did not need
assistance for
this. But the
indication of
the medicines
was made by
another Spirit.
If he was not
present, he
could say
nothing. Alone,
he was only a
somnambulist,
but when
assisted by what
he called his
angel doctor, he
was a “somnambulist
medium”.(Our
bold).
It is evident
that the young
boy, who in the
opinion of Allan
Kardec had "very
short
intelligence and
extremely
limited
instruction",
had a drastic
expansion in his
spiritual
capacity when he
was out of the
body, for he "gave
proof of
extraordinary
lucidity and
great insight”.
The
aforementioned
enlargement was,
a priori,
fundamentally
psychic, that
is, of the soul
itself
(soul-like
individuality),
when it provided
the diagnosis "with
absolute
accuracy". Therefore,
in this first
situation, the
boy was only a
"somnambulist",
that is, a
"psychic
paranormal". But
he only
recommended
medication when
under the
guidance of the
so-called "doctor
angel," in
which case he
was a "somnambulist
medium."
This extremely
didactic example
given by Allan
Kardec in LM
shows that the
Spirit, clothed
in his
perispirit or
spiritual body,
but
"emancipated"
from the
physical body,
has a
substantial
increase in its
intellectual
potentialities -
whether in a
strictly psychic
way or even
constituting a
psychic-mediumistic
phenomenon. (To
be continued on
the next issue).
References:
A. Kardec, The
Book of Spirits,
translation by
Jose Herculano
Pires, Allan
Kardec
Publishing
House, Sao
Paulo, Sao
Paulo. 62nd edition.
2001.
A. Kardec, The
Book of Mediums,
translated by
Jose Herculano
Pires, Allan
Kardec
Publishing
House, Sao
Paulo, Sao
Paulo. 1st
edition. 1973.
A. Luiz
[psycho-graphed
by Francisco C.
Xavier], Missionaries
of the Light,
Brazilian
Spiritist
Federation,
Brasilia,
Federal
District. 1st
Special edition.
2003.
M.P. Miranda
[psycho-graphed
by Divaldo P.
Franco], Torments
of Obsession,
Livraria and
Editora Alvorada,
Salvador, Bahia.
2nd edition.
2001.
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