It's interesting when you read several books about the same subject and find out that they complement each other rather than contradict each other. I was reading a chapter called "Blessed are the poor in spirit" from the book Gospel according to Spiritism today and it made me remember the book The Astral City. I already mentioned both books previously in my posts. In my last post, I talked a bit about The Astral City, but there is a specific part of chapter 14 of this book that I remembered when reading chapter 7 of the Gospel according to Spiritism. If you haven't read any of these books, they're Spiritist books and I can explain why one made me think of the other.
In Astral City, Andre Luiz (the author) is a doctor who had no religious beliefs before the death of his body and was completely unprepared for the spiritual life. When he got to the other side and saw how things work there, he started to realise how certain things are important there and not here, at the same time that some things are important here but not there. His diploma in Medicine didn't mean so much in the spiritual world and what really mattered was his spiritual values and his morals. He wasn't prepared morally to be a doctor in this place he was living in, in the spiritual world. The Governor of the Astral City says something on these lines to Andre Luiz in the book:"For us here, a degree is a mere identification card. The person who receives such a card is given the opportunity to study and cooperate with the Lord in His Divine work on the planet. This principle is applicable to all earthly activities, regardless of their nature or class conventions..." (From the book The Astral City, chapter 14, page 67). He said that to Andre Luiz when he offered to work in the Astral City, because Andre was thinking about practicing Medicine there straight away.
The Governor also said: "You, my brother, were granted a medical card, and consequently were admitted into the temple of Medicine. However, your line of conduct does not justify my endorsing your present wish. How could I appoint you to treat spirit patients when on Earth you insisted on limiting your professional observations to the physical body?... As you are already aware, a doctor cannot draw the line at diagnosis and terminologies, he must go deeper and scrutinize the innermost recesses of the soul. On Earth, many of your colleagues become true slaves to academic convencionalism because of their professional life. Very few succeed in crossing prejudices. The rare exceptions are scoffed at by society and looked down upon by their colleagues." (From the book The Astral City, chapter 14, page 67).
The Governor of the Astral City also told him that, even though Andre Luiz didn't attend poor patients who couldn't afford treatment with the intention of really helping them, while on Earth, he attended around 6.000 patients for free. Maybe he did it not caring about them as much as he should have, but from 6.000 people, 15 continuously prayed for him and that counted in his favour in the spiritual world. From 6.000 people, who were helped by him, only 15 prayed for him!!! So it got me thinking how sad it must be to be in the other side and not receive prayers from people who you love or that you helped, when you need the most, because they might think that you're gone for good and there is no life after death...or they simply think that prayers are a waste of time! How sad is to think that prayers don't matter and how sad it is to not be remembered after the death of our body...It would sadden me to not receive prayers, I think... If you have someone that you love and this person already passed away, try to always pray for them because they will benefit a lot from your prayers. If you don't believe in God, at least remember the ones who went to the other side with love, and they will still feel your love, even if you don't believe they will. Love doesn't die anywhere and it can always benefit the object of our love wherever they are... If anything, please pray for me after I'm gone from this side of life ;)
Then we can see that the Governor explained to Andre Luiz the reason why only having a diploma and knowledge isn't enough in the spiritual world and why he wasn't ready to be a doctor there. It does not mean that we shouldn't study while on Earth or shouldn't acquire scientific knowledge, not at all! It means that only knowledge will not give you everything you need, as many people believe... We value diplomas, titles and scientific knowledge a lot, but fail to acquire spiritual knowledge, faith and morals, which always stay in second plan.
This is exactly what chapter 7 of the Gospel according to Spiritism talks about. It basically explains what Jesus meant when he said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew, 5: 3). It means that Jesus referred to the poor in spirit as being people that are humble; it doesn't have anything to do with people who lack intelligence. We see so many people that feel that they are better than other people because they have the knowledge and a diploma, but forget that they don't need only knowledge to be a good person. Many brilliant minds used their intelligence to do evil. People need to be humble and we need to believe in something greater than ourselves to learn to be truly humble. A person is not humble only because they are not proud or arrogant. A person is truly humble when they can admit that someone is superior to them, either morally or intellectually. Unfortunately, most of people that have the knowledge, do not have the humbleness to admit that there is a God who created all things and who is a Superior being to us...
The Governor also said: "You, my brother, were granted a medical card, and consequently were admitted into the temple of Medicine. However, your line of conduct does not justify my endorsing your present wish. How could I appoint you to treat spirit patients when on Earth you insisted on limiting your professional observations to the physical body?... As you are already aware, a doctor cannot draw the line at diagnosis and terminologies, he must go deeper and scrutinize the innermost recesses of the soul. On Earth, many of your colleagues become true slaves to academic convencionalism because of their professional life. Very few succeed in crossing prejudices. The rare exceptions are scoffed at by society and looked down upon by their colleagues." (From the book The Astral City, chapter 14, page 67).
The Governor of the Astral City also told him that, even though Andre Luiz didn't attend poor patients who couldn't afford treatment with the intention of really helping them, while on Earth, he attended around 6.000 patients for free. Maybe he did it not caring about them as much as he should have, but from 6.000 people, 15 continuously prayed for him and that counted in his favour in the spiritual world. From 6.000 people, who were helped by him, only 15 prayed for him!!! So it got me thinking how sad it must be to be in the other side and not receive prayers from people who you love or that you helped, when you need the most, because they might think that you're gone for good and there is no life after death...or they simply think that prayers are a waste of time! How sad is to think that prayers don't matter and how sad it is to not be remembered after the death of our body...It would sadden me to not receive prayers, I think... If you have someone that you love and this person already passed away, try to always pray for them because they will benefit a lot from your prayers. If you don't believe in God, at least remember the ones who went to the other side with love, and they will still feel your love, even if you don't believe they will. Love doesn't die anywhere and it can always benefit the object of our love wherever they are... If anything, please pray for me after I'm gone from this side of life ;)
Then we can see that the Governor explained to Andre Luiz the reason why only having a diploma and knowledge isn't enough in the spiritual world and why he wasn't ready to be a doctor there. It does not mean that we shouldn't study while on Earth or shouldn't acquire scientific knowledge, not at all! It means that only knowledge will not give you everything you need, as many people believe... We value diplomas, titles and scientific knowledge a lot, but fail to acquire spiritual knowledge, faith and morals, which always stay in second plan.
This is exactly what chapter 7 of the Gospel according to Spiritism talks about. It basically explains what Jesus meant when he said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew, 5: 3). It means that Jesus referred to the poor in spirit as being people that are humble; it doesn't have anything to do with people who lack intelligence. We see so many people that feel that they are better than other people because they have the knowledge and a diploma, but forget that they don't need only knowledge to be a good person. Many brilliant minds used their intelligence to do evil. People need to be humble and we need to believe in something greater than ourselves to learn to be truly humble. A person is not humble only because they are not proud or arrogant. A person is truly humble when they can admit that someone is superior to them, either morally or intellectually. Unfortunately, most of people that have the knowledge, do not have the humbleness to admit that there is a God who created all things and who is a Superior being to us...
I am copying part of chapter 7 from the book "Gospel according to Spiritism" below for you to see how much this chapter complements chapter 14 of the book "The Astral City". If you haven't read The Astral City, try to keep in mind what the Governor said to Andre Luiz as per above and think about it:
"WHAT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE WORDS 'POOR IN SPIRIT'
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew, 5: 3).
2. Sceptics have mocked this maxim, as they have mocked many other things they do not understand. By 'the poor in spirit' Jesus did not mean those devoid of intelligence, but the humble, in as much as He said that the Kingdom of Heaven would be for them and not for the prideful.
Men of knowledge and imagination, so called by public conviction, generally hold such high opinions of themselves and their superiority that they consider everything divine as being undeserving of their consideration. By concentrating all their attention upon themselves, they are then unable to lift up their eyes to God. This tendency to believe they are superior to everything else very frequently leads them to deny anything which might be above them, even Divinity itself, for fear it might belittle them. Or if they condescend to admit its existence, they then contest one of its most beautiful attributes, that of providential action over things of this world, because they think they alone are sufficient to govern. Taking the intelligence they possess as a measure for universal intelligence, and judging themselves able to understand everything, they are unable to believe in the viability of that which they do not know. They consider their judgement to be law.
If they do not admit the existence of the invisible world and of a superhuman power, it is not because it is beyond their capability, but because their pride makes them revolt against the idea of something above which they are unable to place themselves and which would bring them down from the pedestal upon which they like to contemplate. Hence they only have scorn for everything that does not belong to the visible and tangible world. They attribute to themselves such imagination and learning that they cannot believe in things which, according to their way of thinking, are only good for simple people, taking for poor in spirit all who take such matters seriously.
By saying that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the poor in spirit, Jesus teaches that no one will be admitted without simplicity of heart and humility of spirit; that the ignorant person who possesses these qualities will be preferred to the wise person who believes more in himself than in God. In all circumstances Jesus put humility into the category of virtues that bring Man near to God and pride into the category of vices that keep Man away from God. The reason for this is clear, for to be humble is an act of submission to God, whereas pride is a revolt against Him. For Man then, there is far greater value for his future happiness by being poor in spirit, as the world would understand it, and rich in moral qualities." (From the book Gospel according to Spiritism, chapter 7, page 139).
It makes sense to me to think that life continues and there are also other lives to be lived through reincarnations, otherwise, I don't personally see the fairness in God. I do not believe that people go to hell or heaven after death, as our hell or our heaven is already inside us, depending on who we choose to be. I believe that the spiritual world is made of responsibilities, duties and work, even more than on Earth, but the currency there is not money. The currency is love, good morals, good heart, charity, wisdom, knowledge and God (not necessarily in this order!). I also think that every good deed counts in our favour, when we do them for the right reasons. We need to see beyond the material side of things to really prepare ourselves to the real life which is the spiritual life. Think about that! :)
I will also leave you with a link to a very interesting article about a Professor who seems to not be afraid of being scoffed at or looked down upon by his colleagues. I respect him for that!
Professor dares to discuss life after death in his classes
Take care!
Mrs. P
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