By Vinicius Lara
The question posed in this short article is, first and foremost, a concern for anyone who engages in spiritual practice of any kind. Based on the axiom that there is something in the subject that preexists incarnation, is shaped and perfected during existence, and progresses after death, educating the soul would be the fundamental motto of this long process of expanding consciousness toward truth, justice, and love. But who would be responsible for this function? This is some of what I will try to address in the following lines, and I hope to invite you, my reader, to reflect on these thoughts.
Initially—as we start from a spiritualist perspective—it is necessary to abandon the myth of the “blank slate,” which preaches the idea of an essential innocence attributed to children. According to the logic of reincarnation, spirits do not have calculable ages, so it is of no use to try to imagine what those “new” or “old” souls with whom we have contact might be like. After all, there is an immense night of millennia of reincarnation behind each one of us. From this perspective, the answer to the initial question of our conversation is radical (here taking the term in its root sense): the education of the soul always and inalienably belongs to itself, through its choices and the consequences of its choices. But is it really that simple? I don’t think so.
Although free will exists in the nature of the spirit, allowing it to choose which paths to follow, it is also true that there is a whole social mechanism that permeates our existence in the world, causing, in a dialectical way, both spiritual and material reality to intertwine and interpenetrate, generating a movement of collective improvement. Ortega y Gasset sums up the idea I wish to defend in a fantastic way when he states, in the introduction to his 1914 book Meditaciones del Quijote, “I am myself and my circumstances, and if I do not save them, I do not save myself.” Thus, I need to look at the dynamics between ideal, ethic, and social environment every time we think about any educational process, especially when this journey is intended to be spiritual. That said, we can answer our question in another way: the education of the soul is essentially up to the soul itself, but it is always supported – stimulated or confused – by its surroundings and its emotional and social relationships.
When we recognize the role of interpersonal relationships, and consequently, social relationships in the education of the soul/spirit, we look squarely at the problem, which is: in order to create a path to individual “salvation,” it is essential to consider collective ethics. Thus, the educational process of the soul begins – with reference to this incarnation – in the domestic environment that receives it, which is where it must learn the first steps of humanization (walking on two feet, speaking, communicating with gestures) and the foundations of what will become its individual morality in the future. All this through the example and observation of their parents – or those who fulfill parental roles – which reinforces once again the statement contained in question 582 of The Spirits’ Book, which associates parenthood with missions, it being the role of those responsible to guide the spirit that needs their support toward what is good and just.
Here, it is worth mentioning some relevant digressions about this “good” to which education should lead us. The notion of goodness is quite fluid and varies significantly between different cultures – and even within the same culture. When we talk about leading souls to goodness, we are referring to a good life, based on caring for oneself and others, much like a way of life, according to Jesus’ maxim. The subject is complex, I know, but it is important to highlight the fact that it is through home/family education that we can build the possibility of creating a more open ideal of the self, capable of looking to the future with a view to growing and improving. A sense of self, capable of opposing primitive impulses of satisfaction with destinies other than the most crude and violent ones. Thinking about living well and acting well, as opposed to simply satisfying desires, is exactly what will allow the mature spirit to choose assertively in the future. We live in a collective reality, so that the education of the soul begins at home, to be later expanded by these pluralities with which we must deal.
After this initial moment—which we can sociologically refer to as primary socialization—we are increasingly exposed to stimuli from the “outside world.” School, temples, clubs, friendships, work environment, in short, each new circle of relationships established by the individual will in turn be a new horizon of possible learning, which may reinforce, deconstruct, or dialogue with that first education received at home. It is at this moment that the spirit faces its greatest existential challenges, needing to make choices, often getting it right, sometimes getting it wrong, but increasingly feeling responsible for itself.
The beauty of the whole process seems to arise precisely from the flow of experiences, because it is at the intersection between existences that are just beginning and others that are already well advanced that we can learn and understand about the human condition, its challenges, limits, and also the possible sublimations for our intensities through the path of spiritualization and contact with God. Since the beginning of the world, it is through this dynamic that life is renewed, and there is nothing new in what I write, except, perhaps, a supposed greater responsibility on the part of those who consider themselves spiritual practitioners to perceive these movements and make the best use of them.
It is urgent to reestablish the responsibility and value of collectivism and our personal contribution to its construction, with the aim of bringing into concrete existence that which remains in the realm of the well-intentioned illusion of gourmet religiosity. In relationships between friends, students, colleagues at Spiritist institutions, but above all with our children, we need to restore contact with this humanity present in caring for ourselves and others. In short: it is up to the soul to educate the soul under the watchful eyes of God.
Vinícius Lara is a Spiritist, historian, and psychoanalyst.
Bibliography:
FREUD, Sigmund. O Eu e o Isso. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2014.
KARDEC, Allan. O Livro dos Espíritos. Rio de Janeiro: Federação Espírita Brasileira, 2006.
O mito da manifestação espontânea. CHRISTIANO. A Educação entre dois mundos: saberes espirituais dedicados à prática da evangelização infanto-juvenil. [psicografado por] Vinícius Lara. Mário Campos: Grupo Espírita da Benção, 2016.
