Spirituality for your everyday life.
The philosophy of spiritualism is based on a simple premise that man is a dual being and consists of spiritual and physical component. The physical component disintegrates at death but the spiritual component continues exactly the way it was but in some other form of existence which is the World of Spirits or heaven. Spiritualists further claim that the communication between living and the disincarnate is possible through clairvoyant or a medium. Usually there is also some practical emphasis on healing. Most of the spiritualists are Christian and consider Jesus to be a great divine being but none of them are dogmatically so. If one goes according to the metaphysics and cosmology then he will see that spiritualism is divided into two main groups commonly known as Anglo—American and the French.
Anglo American spiritualism derives mostly form the writings of Stainton Moses and Andrew Jackson. In its outlines it can be traced back to at least to the great Swedish scientist, psychic, and visionary Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), who claimed to be able to perceive and communicate with angels in “heaven” and “hell”. His voluminous writings became the basis for a new Christian sect; the Church of New Jerusalem Church, which gives an escoteric rather than exoteric interpretation in the Bible.
In the early twentieth century Anglo-American spiritualism was influenced by the ideas of Darwinism. In order to show what is meant here, a slight excursus is necessary. Darwin had said that more individuals are born than can survive and only survive who are best adaptable. This is done through natural selection and the blind hand of nature. But after few years darwin’s theory was destroyed by the discovery of Victorian colonist who said that things are getting better and better, so this gives an idea that worms evolve from a small form into higher form of life like fish, which then became reptiles and then mammals. The mammals were known to be almost the highest part. Mammals gave rise to man, who developed to the level of heathen, who in turn finally became the civilised and technological Christian European, who, as the highest specie of humanity, is at the summit of creation, and therefore has the responsibility to guide and teach those colonial peoples less developed than him.
This is the case of evolution and, apart from the rejection of colonial chauvinism, still means to the mass of educated humanity today. People may ask what all this has to do with Spiritualism. Many Spiritualist writers’ communications are in agreement that after death, the soul ascends through progressively higher stages, culminating in the return to the Godhead. Thus there is no such thing like reincarnation. Nothing unusual there; this in fact is a hypothesis held by many spiritual and religious teachings.
The most dubious part is the spiritual justification for the rejection of reincarnation. Reincarnation in a way says that Spiritualists cannot be true because existence is a continues process. When man dies, his/her soul evolves through the higher spheres to the Ultimate, God. Reincarnation would mean the return of the soul to a physical incarnation.
It is really very easy to see the fallacy in the argument
Now, it is easy to see the fallacy of this argument. As it assumes physical evolution like Darwinism and it has nothing to do with metaphysical ascent. It is seen to the same like the individual spiritual evolution. So Spiritualism is based not on spiritual knowledge, but simply on bad science.
Some of the other problems with Anglo-American Spiritualism is the constant down grading of body and physical existence. Physical existence is believed to be the most inferior state and existence in the spirit world so far. This is nothing different to the life denying attitudes and philosophies of ascetics and mystics. There is also a Hindu concept of Maya that explains that world is nothing but an illusion.
Clearly, this pleasant spirit-world is a reaction against the straightjacket heaven and barbaric hell of the fundamentalist Christian preachers of the time. Hence its great appeal to anyone with any sensitivity.
It does not mean that there is no validity in the spiritual ideas; these are nothing but reactions against the bigoted church. Although these factors come into mind but one must keep in mind that people must be vary of falling in a reductionist trap of explaining everything solely according to sociological or psychological factors. Every bit of it is naive acceptance of religious or spiritual acceptance of spiritual doctrine as absolute truth.
