154- Is the separation of the soul from the body a painful process?
“No. Frequently, the body suffers more during life than at the moment of death; the soul itself feels nothing at death. The suffering that is sometimes experienced at the moment of death is pleasure for the spirit, for it sees that the end of its exile is at hand.”
In a natural death that results from the depletion of organic vitality due to age, humans depart from life without even realizing it – like a light that goes out for lack of energy.
155- How does the separation of the soul from the body occur?
“Once the bonds that held the soul are ruptured, it disengages itself.”
– Does this separation occur instantly and through an abrupt transition? Is there a well-defined dividing line between life and death?
“No, the soul liberates itself gradually. It does not escape like a captive bird that is suddenly set free. These two states touch and blend with each other; this way the spirit disengages itself little by little from its bonds: they unravel; they do not break.”
The spirit is connected to the body during life by its semi-material envelope or perispirit. Death is the destruction of the body but not of the perispiritual envelope, which separates from the body when organic life ceases. Observation has shown that at the moment of death, the spirit’s departure does not occur suddenly; it occurs gradually and may vary in speed according to the individual. For some, it is very quick indeed, and in such a case one could say that the moment of death is also that of liberation, which actually happens soon afterwards. However, for others, especially those whose life has been materialistic and sensual, the separation takes much longer, sometimes lasting for days, weeks and even months.
This does not imply that there is any vitality remaining in the body or any possibility that it might return to life. It only means that an affinity persists between the body and spirit, an affinity that always depends on the importance that the spirit has given to matter during life. It is logical to believe that the more the spirit has identified with matter, the more it will suffer upon separating from it. On the other hand, intellectual and moral activity and elevated thoughts initiate this separation even during corporeal life, and when death finally occurs, the separation is almost instantaneous. All this is the result of studies involving individuals at the moment of death, and demonstrates that the affinity that persists between the soul and the body in some individuals can be extremely painful – the spirit may even experience the horror of decomposition. Such a case is exceptional and peculiar to certain kinds of death – suicide, for example.
156- Can the definitive separation between soul and body occur before the complete cessation of organic life?
“Sometimes, in the death throes, the soul has already left the body, which has nothing left in it except organic life. The individual no longer has any self-awareness, and yet a faint breath of life still remains. The body is a machine that is kept going by the heart and it continues to live as long as the heart circulates blood in the veins, and for that it does not need the soul.”
157- At the moment of death, does the soul sometimes experience a yearning or an ecstasy entailing a fore-glimpse of the world it is about to reenter?
“The soul often feels that the bonds holding it to the body are loosening, and consequently it employs all its efforts to sever them entirely. Already partially released from matter, it beholds the future unfolding before it and it enjoys the spirit state beforehand.”
158- Can the example of the caterpillar, which begins by crawling on the ground, then shuts itself up in its cocoon in apparent death to be reborn into a brilliant existence, provide us an idea of terrestrial life, which is followed by the grave and then a new existence?
“A pale idea. The image is good but you must not take it literally, as you are always prone to do.”
159- What sensation does the soul experience at the moment it realizes that it is in the spirit world?
“That depends. If it has done evil for the love of it, the spirit is at first ashamed of what it has done. However, it experiences something completely different if it has been morally upright. It feels relieved of a great weight and does not fear the most scrutinizing glance.”
160- Does a spirit immediately meet those whom it knew on earth, and who died before it?
“Yes, depending on the affection they had for one another. They almost always come to receive it as it strives to return to the spirit world, and they may even help free it from the bonds of matter. It also sees many whom it had lost sight of during its sojourn on earth. Additionally, it sees those who are in the errant state and goes to visit those who are still incarnate.”
161- In violent or accidental death, when the organs are not yet debilitated by age or disease, does the separation of the soul and the cessation of life occur simultaneously?
“Usually so. In any case, however, the instant that separates them is very short.”
162- After being beheaded, for example, does an individual remain conscious for a few moments?
“Frequently, it remains so for a few moments until the organic life is extinguished once and for all. However, many times the fear of death causes a loss of consciousness before the actual moment of execution.”
This question refers simply to the consciousness that victims may have of themselves by means of the body and not as a spirit. If they do not lose consciousness before execution, they may preserve it for a few very short moments, but they must necessarily lose it with the organic life of the brain. This does not mean, however, that the perispirit has completely disconnected from the body. On the contrary, in all cases of violent death, i.e., when death does not result from a gradual extinction of the vital forces, the bonds that join the body to the perispirit are more tenacious and complete separation is slower.
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