Chapter 1

Is the originating principle of the passions intrinsically evil, even though it lies in Nature? [Question 907.]

“No; passion lies in the excess allied to the will, since the principle that gives rise to it was placed in man for good. It is the abuse made of them that causes evil.”

All the passions have their principle in some natural sentiment or need. The principle of the passions is not, therefore, an evil, since it rests upon one of the providential conditions of our existence. Passion properly so called is the exaggeration of a need or of a sentiment; it lies in the excess and not in the cause, and this excess becomes an evil when it has as its consequence some evil or other. Every passion that draws man nearer to the animal nature withdraws him from the spiritual nature. Every sentiment that raises man above the animal nature denotes the predominance of the Spirit over matter and brings him nearer to perfection.

Could man always, through his efforts, overcome his evil inclinations? [Question 909.]

“Yes, and sometimes by making very small efforts. What he lacks is the will. Ah! how few among you make any efforts! I believe the spirit of the age dominates you too much.”

a. Can man find in the Spirits effective assistance to master his passions? [Question 910.]

“Yes; if he asks God and his good genius, sincerely, the good Spirits will certainly come to his aid, for that is their mission.”

b. Are there not passions so vivid and irresistible that the will is powerless to overcome them? [Question 911.]

“There are many people who say: I will, but their will is only on their lips. They will, but they are quite content that it should not be so. When man believes he cannot overcome his passions, it is because his Spirit takes pleasure in them, in consequence of its inferiority. He who seeks to repress them understands his spiritual nature. To overcome them is, for him, a triumph of the Spirit over matter.”

What is the first source of man’s vices?

“We have said it countless times: egoism; from it derives all evil. Egoism itself has its source in the predominance of the animal nature over the spiritual nature.” [Question 913.] Egoism engenders pride, ambition, cupidity, jealousy, hatred, sensuality, and all the passions that degrade man and withdraw him from moral perfection.

Since egoism is founded on the sentiment of personal interest, it seems quite difficult to extirpate it entirely from the heart of man. Will it be possible to achieve this? [Question 914.] “Sooner than you imagine; we are working toward it.”

a. Yet, far from diminishing, egoism grows with civilization, which seems to excite and sustain it. How can the cause destroy the effect? [Question 916.]

“The greater the evil, the more hideous it becomes. It was necessary that egoism produce much evil, so that the necessity of extirpating it might become comprehensible.”

b. In what manner will it be possible to extirpate it?

“As they become enlightened about spiritual things, men will set less store by material things; this depends on education. And then, the human institutions that sustain and excite it must be reformed.”

c. What are, with this objective, the most important reforms that it would be fitting to introduce into human institutions?

“This is a new teaching we shall give you; but, we repeat, Humanity marches toward moral progress, in spite of appearances, and good will be born of the excess of evil. God watches over you.” When they have stripped themselves of the egoism that dominates them, men will live as brothers, doing one another no harm, helping one another reciprocally through the sentiment of solidarity. Then the strong will be the support and not the oppressor of the weak, and men will no longer be seen to lack the necessary, because all will practice the law of justice. Such is the reign of good, which the Spirits are charged with preparing. [Question 916.]

d. What must we do, while we await these reforms?

“Each one must contribute to it according to the measure of his strength.

Whoever wishes, from this life onward, to draw near to moral perfection, must expel from his heart every sentiment of egoism, for egoism is incompatible with justice, love, and charity.”

By what signs can one recognize in a man the real progress that is to raise his Spirit in the spiritual hierarchy? [Question 918.]

“The Spirit proves its elevation when all the acts of its corporeal life represent the practice of the Law of God, and when it leaves the sphere of material things to penetrate into the spiritual life, which it understands in advance.” The true man of good is he who practices the law of justice, love, and charity in its greatest purity. If he interrogates his own conscience concerning the acts he has performed, he will ask whether he has not transgressed that law, whether he has not done evil, whether he has done all the good he could, whether anyone has cause to complain of his egoism and his pride, in short, whether he has done to others all that he would have wished others to do to him. Imbued with the sentiment of charity and love of neighbor, he does good for the sake of good, without expecting reward, and sacrifices his interests to justice.

He is kind, humane, and benevolent toward all, because he sees brothers of his in all men, without distinction of races or of beliefs.

If God has granted him power and wealth, he considers these things as A DEPOSIT, of which he must make use for good, and he is not made vain by it, knowing that God, who gave him all this, can also withdraw it. If the social order has placed other men under his dependence, he treats them with kindness and benevolence, because they are his equals before God. He uses his authority to raise their morale and not to crush them with his pride. He is indulgent toward the weaknesses of others, because he knows that he himself needs the indulgence of others, remembering these words of the Christ: Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. He is not vengeful; after the example of Jesus, he forgives offenses, in order to remember only benefits, for he knows that he will be forgiven to the measure in which he has forgiven. He respects, in short, in his fellow men, all the rights that the laws of Nature grant them, as he would wish his own to be respected.” 130

Can we, at any time, redeem our faults? [Question 1000.]

“Yes, by repairing them. But do not believe that you redeem them by means of some puerile privations, or through posthumous donations, when you no longer need anything.”

a. Then will there be no merit in our securing, for after our death, a useful employment of the goods we possess? [Question 1001.]

“No merit is not quite the term, for that is always better than nothing. The evil, however, is that he who makes donations only after his death is almost always more egoistic than generous. He wishes to have the honors of good, without the labor of practicing it.” Evil is repaired only by the practice of good, and the reparation has no merit if it does not touch us in our pride and in our material interests.

Of what use, in our justification, is it to restore after death goods ill acquired, when they are no longer useful to us and we have already profited from them?

Of what use is the privation of a few futile pleasures or of some superfluities, if the evil we did to others remains standing?

Of what use, in short, is it to humble ourselves before God, if we preserve our pride before men?

[130] T.N.: More fully developed and with slight modifications, this passage was inserted later in The Gospel According to Spiritism, chapter XVII, item 3, under the title “The man of good.”