overcome their defects, improve themselves as people. And if having
a beautiful body will prove to be a source of temptation for them, they
prefer not to have it at the moment.
And proud spirits cannot fall into “the cult of the body”, that is to say,
they cannot feel unsatisfied with their body or ardently wish to be
beautiful to order to be attractive?
Of course, but for different reasons from vain spirits. The proud are
looking more to be loved than to be the centre of admiration. And
erroneously they think that being more beautiful they will be more
loved. If they are attractive, disappointment will come when they
discover that the people who are around them are not with them
because they love them, but because they are lured by their
physique, or some other attractiveness that they have, and that when
those people become bored or find some other more attractive
person, they will have no hesitation in leaving them.
And why do we identify so much with our body and so little with our
spirit if in fact we are the latter and not the former?
Because this is what is taught in your world: that the spirit does not exist
and that you are your body. And that in your hedonistic world the
qualities that are appreciated are material (physical beauty, wealth,
power) and the qualities of the inner self (sensitivity, kindness, humility,
modesty) are under-rated. In the spiritual world exactly the opposite
occurs. All the spiritual qualities are appreciated, humility being one of
the most valued, whereas the external ones have no value since they
are not qualities of the spirit. They are considered to be circumstantial
accessories, since they vary from one life to another, just as the actor's
wardrobe changes, when he changes plays. We can be good-looking
in one life and ugly in the next, rich in one life and poor in the next.
When spirits are disincarnate, they understand the differences very
clearly, and know that they incarnate to improve themselves spiritually.
But on incarnating, the association with the body and the forgetting of
the spiritual past, as well as the influence of the culture in which they
incarnate, make spirits weak willed in their intentions to improve
spiritually, and they end up completely identifying with their bodies,
rejecting spiritual manifestations in their minds, both those experienced
first-hand and by other people.
What are you referring to by spiritual manifestations?
All those that demonstrate the existence of spirits and their faculties,
such as contact with non-incarnate beings, astral journeys, extra-
sensory perception, intuition regarding your own feelings and those of