|
Paulo da Silva Neto Sobrinho |
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How many
mediums
have to
transmit
the same
message
for it
to be
approved
by the
Universal
Control
of the
Spirit
Teachings?
Part 1
|
One of
the
major
problems
of The
Universal
Control
of The
Spirit
Teachings
is the
belief
that we
need
confirmation
of
thousands
of
Spirits
saying
the same
thing
about
the same
fact.
Many
fellows,
who
submit
certain
revelations
to The
Universal
Control
of The
Spirit
Teachings
almost
massacre
the
medium,
to the
point of
calling
the
Spirit,
who
dared to
bring
the
message,
a pseudo
wise
Spirit,
even
though
he was
not the
first
Spirit
to
deliver
such a
message,
and many
a times
our
companions
ignore
that the
same
message
has been
previously
transmitted.
It seems
that
these
fellows
want to
be
greater
than the
master,
as
Kardec,
referring
to
The Four
Gospels,
did not
disqualify
the
author
or the
alleged
Spirits
that
dictated
the
text, as
has been
done
regarding
two
certain
Spirits.
Let us
read the
text
from the
article
"The
Gospels
Explained,"
published
by
Kardec
in the
Spiritist
Magazine
in
1866:
The
author
of this
new work
believed
he had
to
follow
another
path;
rather
than
proceed
step by
step he
wanted
to
achieve
the goal
at a
single
stroke.
He
approached
certain
issues,
which we
do not
think
appropriate
to
address
yet, and
therefore
we
leave to
him the
responsibility
as well
as to
the
Spirits
who
commented
them.
According
to our
principle
which
rules
the
development
of our
opinion,
we
will
not,
until
further
notice,
approve
or
disapprove
his
theories,
leaving
to time
the care
of
confirming
or
contradicting
them.
It is
therefore
appropriate
to
consider
these
explanations
as
personal
opinions
of the
Spirits
who
formulated
them,
opinions
that may
be true
or
false,
and that
in all
cases
need to
be
sanctioned
by the
Universal
Control,
and
until a
wider
confirmation
determines
their
approval,
they
cannot
be
considered
part of
the
Spiritist
Doctrine.
(Kardec,
1993i,
pages
190-191,
emphasis
added).
It is
true
that
Kardec
addresses
a
specific
point of
view –
the
defense
of a
fluidic
body for
Christ.
However,
he does
it in an
elegant
way, and
there is
no
disdain
or
bitterness
in his
comments:
We said
that the
book of
Mr.
Roustaing
does not
diverge
from the
principles
contained
in
The Book
of
Spirits
and
The Book
of
Mediums.
Our
studies
lead us,
therefore,
to the
application
and
interpretation
of
certain
facts.
This is
the
reason,
for
example,
why he
considers
that
Christ,
rather
than a
carnal
body,
had a
fluidic
body
with all
the
materiality
appearances,
therefore
considering
Him an
“agenere”
*.
This
would
not be
understood
in the
eyes of
man,
therefore
His
spiritual
nature
was
passed
IN
APPEARANCE
(a word
constantly
repeated
in all
this
work)
through
all the
course
of
mankind.
This is
how we
can
explain
His
birth:
Mary
only
showed
an
appearance
of
pregnancy.
This
issue,
considered
as an
assumption
and key
stone is
the base
on which
we find
the
explanation
of all
the
extraordinary
and
miraculous
facts of
Jesus’
life.
No doubt
here
there is
nothing
impossible
for
those
who are
aware of
the
properties
of the
perispiritual
wrap.
Without
expressing
myself
in favor
or
against
this
theory,
I will
say that
it is at
least
hypothetical,
and
that, if
one day
it is
recognized
as
wrong,
the base
being
false,
the
building
will
collapse.
We
therefore
expect a
great
number
of
comments
that it
will
cause
among
the
Spirits
and
which
will
contribute
to
clarify
this
matter.
Without
prejudging
it, I
say that
serious
objections
have
already
been
made
regarding
this
theory,
and in
my
opinion
the
facts
can be
perfectly
well
explained
maintaining
the
bodily
conditions
of
mankind.
These
comments,
subject
to
future
confirmation,
do not
diminish
this
work,
which,
along
with
some
dubious
things
from our
point of
view,
also
contains
unquestionably
good and
true
points,
to be
usefully
studied
by
serious
Spiritists.
(Kardec,
1993i,
pages
191-192,
emphasis
added).
*Translator’s
Note:
They are
of
fluidic
nature
and
appear
and
disappear
in a
second
due to
the
disintegration
of their
fluidic-molecules.
They are
not born
and do
not die.
We don’t
know
where
they
come
from,
how they
do it
and
where
they go.
They
stay for
a very
short
time and
if you
try and
touch
them,
there is
only
space.
These
singular
beings
are “ageneres”.
(See The
Genesis,
Chapter
XIV,
item
36).
We note
that
Kardec
was
prudent,
and he
did not
condemn,
leaving
it for
the
Spirits
in the
future
to
manifest
themselves
about
this
matter.
He went
further,
recommending
its
reading
by
serious
Spiritists,
and this
surely
amazes
some
colleagues.
In
Genesis,
in "The
Vanishing
of
Jesus’
Body" we
have
some
comments
on the
issue
regarding
the
fluidic
body,
which we
believe
proceed,
if not
directly
dictated
to
Kardec
by the
Spirits,
or
indirectly
through
inspiration.
Closing
this
article,
Kardec
says:
If the
essence
of a
book is
its main
part,
the form
must not
be
disregarded,
and also
contributes
for its
success.
We are
of the
opinion
that
certain
parts
are
developed
at great
length,
and this
is
unprofitable
for
clarity.
In our
opinion,
if
limited
to the
strictly
necessary,
it would
have
been
able to
reduce
the work
into two
or even
into a
single
volume,
and it
would
have
gained
in
popularity.
(Kardec,
1993i,
page
192).
So, in
Kardec’s
opinion,
the work
was
prolix,
but he
never
recommended
that it
should
not be
read;
much
less did
he write
any
article
objecting
to any
of its
points.
We must
recall
that “The
Book of
Spirits
is not a
complete
treatise
of
Spiritism.
It just
sets its
basics
and its
fundamental
points,
which
must be
developed
through
study
and
observation”.
(Kardec,
1993i,
page
223,
emphasis
added).
If the
Encoding
(formed
by
The Book
of
Spirits
- which
unfolds
into new
publications
- The
Book of
Mediums,
The
Gospel
According
to
Spiritism,
The
Genesis,
and
Heaven
and Hell
– each
one
detailing
each one
of its
four
parts)
is not a
complete
treatise
of
Spiritism,
the
conclusion,
obviously,
is that
new
things
may
arise
out of
immovable
bases
which
are its
basic
principles,
including:
mediumship,
influence
of the
Spirits
in our
lives,
the Law
of
Progress,
reincarnation,
the
spiritual
world,
plurality
of
inhabited
worlds,
etc.
We end
with
another
statement
by
Kardec,
published
in the
Spiritist
Magazine
in
1868:
Therefore,
the
Doctrine
shall
not be
fixed,
except
regarding
the
principles
that, as
time
went by,
have
proven
to be
the
truth;
it only
accepts
the
other
principles,
as it
always
did,
as
hypothetical
examples
until
they are
confirmed.
If it is
shown
that the
Doctrine
is wrong
regarding
a
certain
point,
it will
change
on this
point.
(Kardec,
1993j,
page
377,
emphasis
added).
But the
way
things
are
going,
it
seems,
there is
not the
slightest
possibility
of
adding
anything
else,
since we
are
doing to
the
Spiritist
Doctrine
what the
Christians
did with
the
divine
revelations,
closing
them in
a book,
the
Bible,
and in
our case
in these
five
mentioned
books.
It is
obvious
that we
cannot
accept
any
novelty
without
first
passing
it
through
the
sieve of
the
Universal
Control
of the
Spirit
Teachings,
as
Kardec
states
in the
article
"The
Authority
of the
Spiritist
Doctrine
–
Universal
Control
of the
Spirit
Teachings"
(Kardec,
1993h,
pages
99-105);
because
if we
don’t do
this, we
will
fall
into a
blind
credulity,
i.e., we
cannot
consider
it
definite
while it
is not
accepted
as
reasonable
by the
majority.
This not
the
case,
mainly
in
Brazil –
some
accept
it
easily,
others
condemn
it
systematically,
while
there is
no
common
sense on
both
sides.
Unless
we were
too
hasty,
we did
not find
the
information
that an
established
number
of
Mediums/Spirits
is
required
to
fulfill
the
conditions
of the
Universal
Control
of the
Spirit
Teachings.
However,
there
are
three
control
conditions:
1st
control:
The one
of logic
and
reasoning;
2nd
control:
The
consistency
of
opinion
of the
majority
of the
Spirits;
3rd
control:
Conformity
regarding
the
contents
of the
messages
and
revelations
received
by the
various
Mediums,
unknown
to one
another
and from
different
places,
and
preferably
that are
not
aware of
what the
other
Mediums
have
said
before.
We copy
below a
text
from the
article
"My
first
initiation
into
Spiritism"
in
Posthumous
Works
(Obras
Póstumas):
However,
I was
not
satisfied
with
this
checking
– the
Spirits
had
recommended
this.
Circumstances
had put
me in
contact
with
other
Mediums
and,
whenever
I could,
I
mentioned
some of
the
questions
that
seemed
difficult
to be
explained.
This
is how
over ten
mediums
helped
in this
job.
Comparing
and
merging
the
answers,
coordinated,
classified
and
often
retouched
in the
silence
of
meditation,
I
prepared
the
first
edition
of
The Book
of
Spirits,
published
on April
18,
1857”.
(Kardec,
2006a,
page
301,
emphasis
added).
In
The Book
of
Spirits
– 1st
edition,
dated
April
18,
1857,
published
by IPECE
–
Instituto
de
Ensino e
Pesquisa
da
Cultura
Espírita
(Institute
of
Education
and
Research
of the
Spiritist
Culture),
I found
the
following
information:
[...] We
can
consider
that all
the
contents
of the
first
edition
of "The
Book of
Spirits"
was
obtained
only
with the
participation
of
physical
effects
mediums,
three
teenagers
with
relevant
mediumship:
Julie,
12
years;
Japhet,
15; and
Caroline,
14 years
old.
This
because
the
insertions
added by
Professor
Rivail
on the
compiled
texts
were
gradually
corrected
by
almost a
dozen
mediums
of
intellectual
effects.
Thus,
the
texts
were
corrected
or even
deleted
by a
group of
disembodied
Spirits,
which
worked
in the
homes of
Messrs.
Roustan
and
Baudin,
through
Julie
Caroline
and
Japhet.
[...].
(Kardec,
2004,
page
23).
In the
Spiritist
Magazine
of 1858,
Kardec
published
an
article
entitled
"The
plurality
of
physical
existences",
from
which we
copy
this
paragraph:
[...] We
still
have
another
objection:
it is
that
nothing
was
taught
only to
us; it
was
taught
in many
other
places,
such as
in
France,
and
abroad
in
Germany,
Netherlands,
Russia,
and so
on, and
this
occurred
even
before
The
Book of
Spirits
was
published.
We
also add
that
since we
began to
study
Spiritism,
we had
communications
received
by over
fifty
mediums,
in
writing,
verbally
or
through
clairvoyants,
and so
on. Some
were
more or
less
enlightened,
of a
normal
or
limited
intelligence,
some
completely
illiterate,
and
entirely
with no
knowledge
whatsoever
about
philosophical
matters,
and
that,
in no
case
were
these
Spirits
denied
about
this
issue;
and the
same
occurs
in all
the
circles
we are
aware
of,
where
the same
principle
was
professed.
This
argument
is not
without
reply,
we know
it,
therefore
we shall
not
insist
more
than
reasonable.
(Kardec,
page
295,
emphasis
added).
From
what we
understand,
Kardec
sought
to
confirm
the
information
on the
plurality
of lives
in
messages
received
by over
fifty
mediums.
However,
this is
a not a
new
point,
as it
may be
thought,
since in
April
1857,
this
principle
was
already
contained
in the
first
edition
of
The Book
of
Spirits.
Probably
since
Kardec
was not
yet
fully
convinced
of
reincarnation,
he
decided
to
insist
on this
point.
Let us
now see
the
Spiritist
Magazine
1864,
to see
about
new
information.
The
first
one is
in the
Article
"About
the
Perfection
of the
Created
Beings":
The
issue
regarding
animals
asks for
some
developments.
They
have an
intelligent
principle,
and this
is
undeniable.
Of what
nature
is this
principle?
What
relations
do they
have
with
man? Is
it
stationary
in each
species,
or
progressive
passing
from one
species
to
another?
What is
the
limit of
progress
for it?
Does it
develop
alongside
with
man, or
is it
the same
principle
that is
elaborated
and
experiments
life in
the
lower
species
to
receive
later
new
faculties
and go
through
human
transformation?
So many
questions
remain
with no
answer
until
this
day, and
the veil
that
covers
this
mystery
has not
been
raised
by the
Spirits,
since it
would
have
been
premature
to do
so: man
is not
yet ripe
to
receive
as much
light.
Several
Spirits,
and this
is true,
offered
theories
about
it, but
none had
a very
authentic
character
to be
accepted
as
ultimate
truth;
until
further
notice,
we can
therefore
only
consider
them as
individual
systems.
Only
the
concordance
can
confirm
them,
because
that is
the only
real
control
of the
teaching
of the
Spirits.
That is
why we
are far
from
accepting
as
irrefutable
truths
everything
that we
learn
individually:
a
principle,
whatever
it may
be, for
us does
not
become
authentic
if not
through
the
universality
of
teaching,
that is,
through
the same
instructions
given
regarding
every
point by
mediums,
who do
not know
each
other
and do
not
suffer
the same
influences,
notably
free of
obsessions
and
assisted
by the
good and
enlightened
Spirits,
and we
must
listen
to those
who
prove
their
superiority
through
their
good
thoughts,
the high
importance
of their
teachings,
never
contradicting
themselves,
and
never
saying
anything
that the
most
rigorous
logic
cannot
accept.
This is
how the
several
parts of
the
doctrine
in
The Book
of the
Spirits
and in
The
Book of
the
Mediums
were
controlled.
[...].
In
general,
there
could
not have
been a
great
prudence
regarding
the new
theories
which
can be
deceiving.
Also,
how many
of them,
since
the
origin
of
Spiritism,
were
prematurely
divulged
and then
had an
ephemeral
existence!
And
this
will
happen
to all
those
that
have an
individual
character
and have
not
suffered
the
control
agreement.
In our
position,
receiving
communications
from
almost a
thousand
reliable
and
serious
Spiritist
centers,
spread
over
various
parts of
the
globe,
we are
able to
see the
principles
on which
this
agreement
is
established;
it is
this
principle
that
guides
us and
will go
on
guiding
us in
what
refers
to the
new
areas
that
Spiritism
is
called
to
explore.
This is
why, for
some
time
now, we
notice
the
incoming
communications
from
various
places,
from
France
and
abroad,
a
tendency
to enter
a new
path
through
revelations
of a
very
special
nature.
These
revelations,
often
made by
veiled
words
went
unnoticed
by many
of those
who
received
them;
many
others
believe
that
only
they
know
their
meaning;
if taken
separately,
they
would be
of no
value to
us, but
the
coincidence
of their
repetition
gives
them a
high
degree
of
seriousness
and this
will be
taken
into
consideration
when the
time
comes to
decide
if they
should
or
should
not be
published.
(Kardec,
1993h,
pages
68-69,
emphasis
added).
(This
article
will be
completed
in the
next
issue).
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