The author dedicates this modest work to the great and noble spirits who have brought him out of the fogs of ignorance, opening before his eyes splendors and vast horizons, and made his heart, once cold with egotism, tremble for the miseries of humanity.

It is to these noble sentiments inspired by such elevated beings, that the author owes his desire to spread the light and consolation that enhalo the spiritist doctrine.

Sustained always by his invisible friends, he has written this manual to satisfy this desire.

May it bring light to consciences; peace and tranquility to hearts; may it serve to wipe away many tears; to guide many souls to the path of goodness, and the author's desires shall be satisfied!

Mexico, August 1909.

BHÎMA

This work, written by virtue of the summons of the Second Spiritist Congress of Mexico's Standing Committee, is intended for youth, workers and the general masses where the devastasting influence of materialism has not yet arrived.

We therefore address ourselves to the young people who have not yet begun to live, who have not yet imbibed from the impure fountains of materialism, who are open to admiring all that is great and beautiful; to those whose hearts have not fallen into the clutches of distressing skepticism, and who, with passion and enthusiasm, cherish noble ideals and generous feelings.

We also and equally address the worker, destitute of fortune, to whom there is no consolation in what his reason rejects; who finds no justice in materialism because it only demonstrates the triumph of the strongest, awarding the prize to the one most apt in struggle, and the one considered the weakest, the least apt in this unending struggle of the fittest, and who does not believe just that his destiny should be to perish, after a miserable and hard-working life, who does not believe it just to have come into this world only to enrich others and, by his privations, provide them such abundance that they may live in idleness while he is brought to his knees by work.

Thus it is for these workers who also have pure hearts, and whose consciences have not yet been polluted by materialism that we intend this work in which they will find the foundations of a very lofty philosophy to satisfy their most noble aspirations, and explain the meaning of life, the reasons for their sad situation, and will show them the law of retribution, open their minds to new and vast horizons, make them understand that our lives do not playout in the miserable ptach of an earthly existence, but for time they have Eternity, for space, the Universe; and finally, it will put them in a better condition to sustain their struggle for life, a struggle more ferocious each time, given the egotism of the rich and the ignorance of the poor.

To achieve our objective we will offer a brief overview of the Spiritist Doctrine. It is so beautiful and so simple that will be easily admired and understood by those persons to whom we address this work.

We will not make lengthy arguments nor cite numerous proofs in support of this doctrine, for the most demanding can find such arguments and proofs in specialized works.

Moreover, lengthy arguments generally serve to obscure the points we wish to clarify.

For these motives, we shall focus on presenting proofs that can be understood by all and making simple reasonings, those most appropriate for a true impression.

Our work will be to sow a seed in the furrow; that of our readers, to carefully cultivate the plant that germinates until it yields ripe fruit.

THE AUTHOR

Q. What is understood by Spiritism?

A. Spiritism is the science concerned with investigating the powers of the human spirit, its past before arriving in this world and its fortune upon abandoning it.


ANIMATING FORCES

Q. Can you tell me what powers animate our spirit?

A. These powers are enormous. In the first place there are intelligence and will, which, combined with service to higher spirits, can transform the world, as indeed it has been transfored by Buddha, Moses, Christ and many other great men.

These spirits possess a very clear intelligence which has guided them in fulfilling their mission and great will, which gave them the energy sufficient to continue on their paths though strewn with a thousand obstacles.


Q. What other powers does the spirit possess?

A. Intelligence and will in greater or lesser degrees may or may not be attributes of encarnated spirits, but in all human personalities there exist in embryo other powers susceptible to great development. These are called animating or psychic powers (from PSICHE, soul.)

These powers are not of an exclusively spiritual origin, but neither are they of material origin, and their complex and mixed nature serves admirably to demonstrate that our material body is ruled by a spiritual entity.

Q. How can you prove the existence of these powers?

A. By means of the following phenomena they produce: magnetism, hypnotism, suggestion, telepathy, somnabulism and ecstasy.

Q. Are these the only powers available to the human spirit?

A. There are others which I cannot classify as animating because they only manifest with the cooperation of spirits that inhabit the ether; for this reason they are called mediumistic. Spirits make use of them to communicate with the living.

Q. And do spirits communicate with all of the living?

A. Spirits utilize certain procedures in order to exert influence over the inhabitants of this world in general, though this influence goes unnoticed by the great majority. However, there are individuals gifted with special abilities that allow the spirits to manifest through them. Generally these people serve as intermediaries between the spirits who inhabit the ether and those living in this world, which is why they are called mediums. (Intermediaries.)

REINCARNATION

Q. Can you tell me something with respect to the state in which our spirit finds itself before coming into this world and about the fate that awaits our spirit upon leaving it?

A. The life of a spirit is eternal. Its origin is lost in the night of time, and its future is glorious and eternal. The spirit reincarbates a considerable number of times on our planet, until it acquires the knowledge and virtues necessary to pass into a higher world.

Updated July 4, 2009. To be continued.