What Attributes Do Our Spirits Have?

An attribute is defined as, "a usually good quality or feature that someone or something has."  In the material world, we might say, "Both candidates possess the attributes we want in a leader," or "The interviewer asked me what I considered to be my best attribute."  We are all spirits just "living in the material world" (as Madonna once sang), but what attributes should we anticipate upon our return to the spiritual world?

Spirit Attributes

Immortality
Individuality
Intelligence, Thought, and Reason
Conscience
Free Will and Responsibility

IMMORTALITY - This is a quality attributed to the soul, by which it survives the death of the physical body.  In other words, our material body is similar to a costume or clothing that is discarded after each incarnation - but our soul (our spirit) continues to live on.

INDIVIDUALITY - From the moment a spirit is created, it maintains its individuality.  We all have our own personal characteristics, tendencies, vices and virtues, moral and intellectual advancements, etc. The eternal spirit retains this individuality at all times, from one incarnation to the next and between incarnations.  In other words, the progress we make in this existence is added to our perispirit.  The inferior characteristics of a spirit, are never eternal. In obedience to the law of progress, each spirit will evolve at its own rate and one day reach the highest level of purification.

INTELLIGENCE, THOUGHT AND REASON - Intelligence is an attribute of the spirit, which allows the spirit to generate thought, to reason, and to act with pre-meditation. The spirits tell us (in Question 72 of The Spirits' Book) that while intelligence is an attribute of each being that has it, and it constitutes the individuality of those beings, it would not be an exact comparison to say that each intelligent being draws a portion of intelligence from the universal source and assimilates.  We humans have yet to fully understand this concept.  In other words, if a university offers the same course to everyone, not everyone will learn the same lesson.  We learn from instinctive behaviors and learned behaviors.  Instinct is a form of unreasoning intelligence, through which all beings provide for their needs.  It varies according to the species.  In humans, it does not diminish as intelligence grows. There's no distinct line between instinct and intelligence, and they often blend; however, their actions are more distinguishable. While the actions stemming from intelligence come from thought and deliberation, those stemming from instinct are almost always spontaneous.

CONSCIENCE - Conscience allows spirits, both incarnate and discarnate, to pass moral judgment over our own thoughts and actions.  We have been given the tools to discern good from bad.  Since our creation as spirits, we have forgotten or misunderstood the law, and God has willed it to be recalled to our memories, through revelations, intuitive suggestions from good spirits, and our own experiences over multiple existences.  Our ability to determine good from bad depends on our level of evolution.  When we incarnate in a physical body, we preserve an intuitive memory of the law, depending upon our moral and intellectual advancement.  This memory of good and bad will suffer the influence of our lower instincts, and it is through the process of reincarnation that we gradually work to lift that veil of imperfections "until we reach the plentitude of psychic perfection and an integral knowledge of our own self." (This quotation is from the Spirit Emmanuel, received through medium Francisco Cândido Xavier in the book, "Emmanuel.")

FREE WILL AND RESPONSIBILITY - Free will refers to the ability of a spirit to follow the path that it creates for itself, making its own decisions and choosing its own acts. The discarnate spirit enjoys that liberty when it has reached a level of evolution in which it is allowed to chose, whether alone or with guidance of mentors, the trials and expiation of its next incarnation.  The incarnate spirit conserves this freedom of action in order to fight against the struggles of the material life.  These struggles serve as trials that test some knowledge previously gained, or as expiations that that afford ways to make amends for past wrong-doings.  The spirit develops free will as it gains self-awareness throughout the course of its incarnations.

Free will is a right that a spirit holds by nature. The spirits teach us that an alteration of our mental faculties, through a natural or accidental cause, is the only case in which man is deprived of his free will.  However, it must be understood that spirits do not have absolute freedom, meaning a freedom of action with no consequences.  The more enlightened a spirit's conscience is, the greater its free will, and the more accountable it will be for its actions. 

The spirits tell us (in Questions 825 and 826 of The Spirits' Book) that we do not experience absolute freedom of action because we need one another.  They explain that only a hermit in a desert enjoys such freedom, for as soon as two people find themselves together, they have reciprocal rights and duties to respect, whereby they are no longer absolutely free.  Also, our evolutionary progress depends our abilities to interact appropriately with our fellow human beings - so the life of a hermit does not allow for such an advancement.  

While an absolute freedom does not exist, the spirits tell us (in Questions 833 and 834 of The Spirits' Book) that there is one condition in which we can enjoy absolute liberty, and that is in our thoughts. 

---

Resources

Palhano Jr., Lamartine. "Espirito e Espiritualidade" [Spirit and Spirituality]. Teología Espírita [Spiritist Theology]. Rio de Janeiro: Centro Espírita Léon Denis [Leon Denis Spiritist Center]. 2001. pgs 89-93. 

Kardec, Allan. "Elementary Principles of Spiritism." Christian Spiritism (a compilation of two Kardec books: Spiritism Reduced to Its Simplest Expression and What is Spiritism).  Trans. Allan Kardec Educational Society (translated from original French editions, published 1860 and 1859, respectively). Philadelphia, PA. Allan Kardec Educational Society. 1985. (About The Spirits), pgs 125-129.

Kardec, Allan. "Spirits." The Spirits' Book.  Trans. Allan Kardec Educational Society (translated from 2nd edition in French). Philadelphia, PA. Allan Kardec Educational Society. 1996. pgs 31-32