Allan Kardec-THE Spirit's Book_ The Principles of Spiritist Doctrine (1989)

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ALLAN KARDEC
envy, ambition, nor any of the passions that make men unhappy. Their mutual affection is for
them a source of supreme felicity. They have none of the wants, sufferings, or anxieties of
material life; they are happy in the good they do, for the happiness of spirits is always
proportioned to their elevation. The highest happiness, it is true, is enjoyed only by spirits
who are perfectly purified; but the others are not unhappy. Between the had ones and those
who have reached perfection, there is an infinity of gradations of elevation and of happiness;
for the enjoyments of each spirit are always proportioned to his moral state. Those who have
already achieved a certain degree of advancement have a presentiment of the happiness of
those who are further on than themselves; they aspire after that higher happiness, but it is for
them an object of emulation, and not of jealousy. They know that it depends on themselves to
attain to it, and they labour to that end, but with the calmness of a good conscience; and they
are happy in not having to suffer what is endured by evil spirits."
968. You place the absence of material wants among the conditions of happiness for spirits;
but is not the satisfaction of those wants a source of enjoyment for mankind?
"Yes, of animal enjoyment; but when men cannot satisfy those wants, they are tortured by
them."
969. What are we to understand when it is said that the purified spirits are gathered into the
bosom of God, and employed in singing His praises?
"The statement is an allegorical picture of the knowledge they possess of the perfections of
God, because they see and comprehend Him; but you must not take it literally, any more than
other statements of a similar character. Everything in nature, from the grain of sand upwards.
'sings'-that is to say, proclaims the power, wisdom, and goodness of God; but you must not
suppose that spirits of the highest order are absorbed in an eternal contemplation, which
would be a monotonous and stupid would be a perpetual uselessness. They have no longer to
undergo the tribulations of corporeal life, an exemption which is itself an enjoyment; and,
besides, as we have told you, they know and comprehend all things, and make use of the
intelligence they have acquired in aiding the progress of other spirits; and they find enjoyment
in this order of occupation."