1. Belief in life after death does not exclude the fear of moving from this life to the next. Many people are afraid not of death itself, but of the moment of migration. Are they suffering or not suffering in the transition between lives? That's what really worries them. This should be thought about, especially since no one can avoid it. It is possible to give up on earthly travel, but here everyone, both the poor and the rich, will make this transition, and no matter how painful it may be, neither nobility nor wealth can satisfy his bitterness.
2. It is enough to see the calm and serene death of some and the terrible agony of others to judge that feelings and sensations are not always the same for everyone at this moment. However, who can teach us in this regard? Who can describe to us the physiological process of the separation of the soul from the body? Who can tell us their impressions at this great moment? On this occasion, both science and religion remain silent. And why? Yes, because both the one and the other lack knowledge of the laws governing the relationship between spirit and matter. One stops at the threshold of spiritual life, the other - at the threshold of material life. Spiritualism, on the other hand, is the boundary that connects both; he can tell how the transition takes place both by a more precise definition, which he gives about the properties of the soul, and by the stories of those who have already ended their earthly existence. Getting to know the fluid connection that connects soul and body is the key to this phenomenon, as well as to many others.
3. Inert matter is insensitive, this is an undoubted fact. The soul alone can experience feelings of pleasure and sorrow. During life, everything that the body experiences is reflected in the soul, causing various impressions in it. The soul suffers, not the body. The body is only an instrument of suffering, and the soul is a sufferer. After death, the body, separated from the soul, can be chopped up with impunity; it won't feel anything. The soul that has separated from it is not impressed by the wounds inflicted on the body; it has its own sensations, not emanating from tangible matter.
Perisprit is the fluidic shell of the soul, from which it does not separate either before or after death, and with which it is one; because one cannot be comprehended without the other. During life, the perispritic fluid penetrates into the body in all its parts and is a conductor of the physical sensations of the soul; by means of the same vehicle, the soul influences the body and directs its activity.
4. The cessation of organic life leads to the separation of the soul from the body through the fluid connections that connected them. However, this separation never happens abruptly; The perispritic fluid is gradually separated from all organs, so that the separation is complete and absolute only when there is no longer a single atom of perisprit associated with the smallest particle of the body. The painful sensations that the soul experiences during this process depend on the number of points of contact between the body and the perisprit and on the greater or lesser ease or slowness of separation during the transition.
So, one should not hide from oneself that death, depending on the circumstances, can be more or less severe; and we will consider these different circumstances.
5. But first, let us take as the main the following four cases, which can be considered as extreme positions, between which there are many shades:
a) If at the moment of death the separation of the perisprit is complete, then the soul will definitely not feel anything.
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b) If during this moment the connection or cohesion of the two elements was in full force, then something like tearing occurs, which painfully affects the soul.
c) If the adhesion is weak, separation occurs easily and without shock.
d) If, after a person has died, there are still many points of contact between the body and the perisprit, the soul can feel the decomposition of its own body until the connection is finally broken.
It follows from this that the suffering that accompanies death depends on the strength of the cohesion between the body and perisprit, and that anything that helps to reduce this cohesion and the speed of separation makes the transition less painful. Finally, if the separation proceeds without any difficulty, the soul does not experience any unpleasant feelings.
6. During the transition from bodily life to spiritual life, another very important phenomenon occurs - this is anxiety, confusion of the spirit. At this moment, the soul experiences a numbness that paralyzes its abilities and feelings. She dwells, as it were, in catalepsy and therefore is almost never a conscious witness of the last breath. We say almost never, because there are times when she can be conscious, as we will see now.
So, embarrassment can be seen as a normal state of mind at the time of death; its duration is uncertain: it ranges from several hours to several years. As the confusion dissipates, the soul awakens from a deep sleep; thoughts are confused, vague, ideas are not clear, she sees everything as if in a fog; but little by little, enlightenment comes, memory returns, and eventually the spirit comes to life. But this awakening is different, depending on the individual: for some it is calm and produces a wonderful sensation; for others, it is full of terror and anxiety and gives the impression of a terrible nightmare.
7. The last breath, therefore, is not the most difficult, because as a rule the soul is then in an unconscious state; but before that, she suffers from the decomposition of matter during the agony, and after - from the agony of confusion. We hasten to say that this state is not general. The strength and duration of suffering, as we have said, depends on the affinity that exists between the body and the perisprit. The greater this affinity, the more efforts the spirit must make to free itself from ties, and the more its torment is stronger and more prolonged. But for some, this connection is so weak that liberation occurs by itself and painlessly. The spirit is separated from the body, like a ripe fruit breaking off a branch - this is a case when death is calm and awakening is peaceful.
8. The moral state of the soul most of all influences the ease of liberation. The affinity between body and perisprit depends on the attachment of spirit to matter. It is most powerful in people whose thoughts are focused on material life and its pleasures; but it is almost absent in those whose pure soul has previously merged into one with spiritual life. The slowness and difficulty of parting depends on the degree of purity and dematerialization of the soul, and it depends on each to make this separation or transition as easy and painless as possible.
So, having established this position both theoretically and as a result of observations, it remains for us to consider the influence of various kinds of death on the feelings of the soul at the last minute.
9. In natural death, which occurs from the depletion of the vital forces by illness or years, liberation occurs gradually; in a person, whose soul is dematerialized and thoughts are torn away from everything earthly, liberation occurs almost completely even before death; the body still lives an organic life, but the soul has already entered the spiritual life and is held in such a delicate connection that it is effortlessly interrupted with the last beating of the heart. In this position, the spirit can already possess all its clairvoyance and be a conscious witness to the cessation of the life of its body, from which it is glad to get rid of; for him, the confusion is very short-lived: it is a minute of calm, quiet sleep, from which he awakens with a feeling of unspeakable happiness and hope.
In a material and sensual person who lived more in body than in soul, for whom spiritual life is nothing, not even reality, in his view everything contributed to the strengthening of the bond with which he was attached to matter, and nothing helped to weaken it during life. With death, separation also occurs gradually, but with great effort. Convulsions of agony are signs of a struggle between spirit and matter: sometimes he himself wants to break the bonds that resist him; sometimes grabs the body to hold on; but an irresistible force tears it apart piece by piece with great effort.
10. The spirit all the more begins to cling to bodily life because he sees nothing after it; he feels that life is leaving him and is trying to keep it, and instead of freely surrendering to the movement that captivates him, he resists with all his might and can continue the struggle for days, weeks and even months. Undoubtedly, at this time the spirit does not use a clear consciousness: a vague state began long before death, but he suffers from this no less, and the chaos in which he is, the uncertainty of what will happen to him, even adds mortal melancholy.
Death eventually comes, but it's not all over: the confusion continues, he feels that he is alive, but does not know what kind of life it is - material or spiritual. He continues to fight until the last threads of the perisprit attachment are torn. Death put an end to the actual illness, but it did not stop its consequences; while there are still points of contact between the body and the perisprit, the spirit does not cease to feel their influence and suffers from this.
11. An absolutely different thing happens to a spirit that has already renounced matter during its lifetime, even in the most severe illnesses. The fluid connections connecting it with the body are weak and break off imperceptibly; then his faith and hope for the future, which he already sees mentally, and sometimes even real, enables him to look at death as a deliverance; and suffering is like testing. Hence, moral calmness and obedience to a higher will, which soften his suffering. Since these threads break at the very moment of death, he does not experience any painful reaction: during his awakening, he feels free, joyful and freed from a heavy burden.
12. In a violent death, the conditions are different. No partial separation could prepare the preliminary separation of the perisprite from the body; organic life in full force suddenly stops; the release of perisprit begins only after death, and in this case, as in others, it cannot happen instantly. The spirit, taken by surprise, is, as it were, stunned, but feeling that he continues to think, he is sure that he is still alive, and retains this illusion until the time when he realizes his position.
This intermediate state between bodily and spiritual life is the most interesting to observe, because it presents a strange spectacle of a spirit taking its fluid body for a material one and experiencing all the sensations of organic life. It represents an infinite variety of shades, depending on the character, knowledge and degree of moral development of the spirit. For exalted souls, it is short-lived, because their liberation was accomplished in advance, and death, even if unexpected, will only hasten its end; for others, this transition may take years.
This condition occurs very often even in cases of ordinary death and for some does not represent anything difficult, depending on the qualities of the spirit. But for others, this condition is terrible. It is terrible, especially with suicides. The body is connected to the perisprit by all its fibers, and all its convulsions are transmitted to the soul, which is experiencing terrible suffering.
13. The state of the spirit at the moment of death can be briefly described as follows: the spirit suffers the more, the slower the perisprit is released; the speed of liberation depends on the degree of moral development of the spirit; for a spirit free from matter, whose conscience is clear, death is a matter of a few moments, free from all suffering, and awakening is full of sweetness.
14. In order to work on your purification, to correct your bad inclinations, to conquer your passions, you need to understand all the benefits of improving in the future; to get comfortable with the future life, to have hope in it and to prefer it to earthly life, one must not only believe in it, but also understand it; you need to imagine it in the form that could be accepted by reason, which would be logical, agree with common sense and with the idea that you have about the greatness, goodness and justice of God.
Allan Kardek