Transcription
If you've studied near-death experiences for a while, you realize they sometimes leave you with more questions than answers. Like, what is the point of these near-death experiences? Why do some people have a life review? Some people don't. Why do some people see a dark void and others don't? Why do some people go to a hellish place while others go to a heavenly place? You end up having more questions than answers.
This book has made it all make sense. This book has answered all the questions I've had about near-death experiences. What happens after death? What's the purpose of life? It's cliché to say it changed my life, but it did change my life. I, there is no other book that I've experienced that is so insanely amazing to me.
Part One: How it Was Written
So there was a really educated man in the 1800s who decided to run an experiment with talking with spirits. Spirit communication was all the rage in Paris at the time, and he was like, you know what? If this is legit, I should be able to ask the same question to multiple different mediums. And if I get the same or similar answer from all these mediums that don't know each other, I'm gonna have to assume that this answer is coming from a singular source.
After this experiment, he was so shocked that he told his wife this. "It's amazing! Everything the spirits have told me has completely changed the way I see life, our responsibilities, and our future. Their teachings form a whole new way of understanding the world. One that makes sense, is clear and comforting, and answers so many big questions. I'm thinking about putting these conversations into a book. If they interest me this much, maybe they will help others too."
Part Two: The Book
So what is the name of this mysterious book, you might ask? It's called The Spirit's Book by Allan Kardec. What first got my attention was this book talks about near-death experiences, what it's like to die, what it feels like to die, and it describes pretty much word for word a lot of the things that Near-Death Experiencers regularly talk about. You know, seeing the bright light. It experiences things that don't exist on earth, like dazzling light, beautiful music, and an overwhelming sense of peace. The soul feels like it's getting a glimpse of heaven.
Talks about the, the music in heaven. "Do spirits enjoy music?" "Do you mean your kind of music? Compared to celestial music, your music is like a simple, primitive chant next to the majestic harmony of a beautiful choir. Celestial music is beyond anything anyone on earth could imagine. It's incredibly beautiful and delicate."
Being welcomed by your family members. "Does a spirit meet loved ones who died before it?" "Yes, if they cared about each other. Loved ones often come to welcome the spirit as it returns to the spirit world and may even help it separate from the body. The spirit might also see people it lost contact with while it was alive, and can visit those who are still living or in the spirit world."
It talks about when people first die, how they don't even realize that they're dead. "When the soul leaves the body, does it immediately know it's happening?" "Not right away. It usually feels confused for a little while."
"Do all spirits feel the same level of confusion after leaving the body?" "No, it's different for each spirit. Pure and advanced spirits become aware almost right away because they didn't focus too much on material things during life. But those who lived selfishly or made bad choices stay confused for a much longer time."
When someone dies, things can seem blurry and confusing at first. The soul needs time to adjust, like waking up from a deep sleep and trying to figure out what's happening. As the connection to the physical body fades, the spirit becomes clearer, and memories and thoughts return. This state of confusion can last anywhere from a few hours to several months or even years. Those who think about the afterlife while alive tend to adjust much faster because they immediately understand their situation. The confusion varies depending on the person's character and how they died.
For example, people who die suddenly, like in accidents, suicides, or other unexpected events, are often startled and confused. They may not even realize they've died. They might see their body and recognize it, but don't understand that they are no longer connected to it. They might try to talk to loved ones and feel frustrated when they don't get a response. This confusion continues until their spirit fully separates from the body. This reaction is natural. Sudden death can be shocking, and spirits often don't expect to still think, see, or feel after death. Since they imagine that death means total destruction, they may not believe they've died. Adding to their confusion, they still feel like they have a body, but they don't yet realize that it's not physical.
Some spirits don't realize they've died because they still think, see, and feel like they did before. This is especially common for people who don't think about death, even if they are sick. For kind and moral individuals, this state of confusion isn't scary. It feels calm, like gently waking up from a peaceful sleep. But for those with a guilty conscience, it can be full of worry and fear.
It talks about people that are in hospice and are on the verge of death. "Can the soul leave the body before the body completely dies?" "Yes. Sometimes the soul has already left during the final moments of life. The body might still show faint signs of life, like breathing or a heartbeat, but the person is no longer aware of anything because the soul is gone. The body is like a machine that keeps running as long as the heart pumps blood, and the heart doesn't need the soul to do that."
It talks about how we plan our challenges before we're born. "If our spirit chooses the kinds of challenges it will face, does that mean we plan all the difficulties in our lives ahead of time?" "Not all of them. You don't choose or foresee every single thing that happens in your life. Not even the smallest details. What you do choose are the general types of challenges. The specifics often depend on the circumstances of your life and the choices you make."
For example, if a spirit is born among people who do evil things, it knows it will face certain temptations, but it doesn't know exactly how it will act in each situation. Its actions depend on its free will. When a spirit picks a particular life path, it knows the kinds of struggles it might encounter, but not every single event. Only the major moments that shape its destiny are planned. Think of it like walking on a bumpy road. You know you'll have to be careful not to trip, but you don't know when, or even if you'll stumble. You might avoid tripping altogether if you're paying attention. Similarly, if you're walking on a sidewalk and a tile falls on your head, that doesn't mean it was meant to happen or was planned in advance.
It touches on a lot of religious things, like are heaven and hell real places? What are angels? What are spirit guides? This is the first book in the world that ever talked about spirit guides. "Do some spirits stay connected to certain people to protect them?" "Yes, spirit friends, what you would call guardian angels or spirit guides."
"What is a guardian angel?" "A highly advanced spirit guide who watches over and protects you."
"What do spirit guides do?" "They're like parents to their children. They guide you to make good choices, give you advice, comfort you when you're struggling, and help you stay strong during life's challenges."
"Why is the help of spirit guides so discreet? Why don't they protect us more openly?" "If you always relied on their support, you wouldn't make decisions on your own, and your spirit wouldn't grow. Progress comes from experience, and you must gain that through your efforts. It's like learning to walk. If you are never allowed to take steps on your own, you'll never learn. Spirit guides help in ways that don't interfere with your free will because personal responsibility is essential for growth. Even though you may not see them, your guides always watch over you, occasionally stepping in to warn you of danger."
I don't know how familiar you are with near-death experiences, but they were not talked about before like 1975, 1970s. Dr. Raymond Moody was the first person to take near-death experiencers seriously. He interviewed them and wrote all the things that he figured out in this book called Life After Life. I highly recommend it, but before the 1970s, nobody talked about this stuff. So the fact that this book was written in 1857, and it says word for word so many of the things that near-death experiencers talk about, that really made me sit back and go, "I gotta pay attention to this. This is special. This book is special."
What I also like is that this book was way ahead of its time socially. This book was written in 1857, quite a few years before slavery was outlawed in the United States. It says slavery is wrong. It says racism is wrong. 1857. "Are some people naturally meant to be the property of others?" "No, every form of one person controlling another goes against God's law. Slavery is an abuse of power, and like all abuses, it will fade away as humanity progresses. For far too long, people have treated certain races like beasts of burden, with hands claiming the right to buy and sell them. They believed themselves to be of 'purer blood.' How misguided to focus only on physical differences! What truly matters is the spirit, which knows no such divisions."
It said men and women are equal and deserve equal rights. This is, again, 1857. Women didn't get the right to vote in America until the 1920s. "Shouldn't laws ensure equal rights for men and women to be fair?" "Equal rights, absolutely, but not necessarily the same roles. Everyone has unique strengths and should take on responsibilities that suit their abilities. For laws to be fair, they must guarantee equal rights for men and women. Privileges given to one over the other go against justice. As societies progress, women gain more rights, while their oppression reflects a lack of advancement. Gender differences are purely physical. Spirits can be either male or female. Spiritually, there is no difference. Because of this, both should have the same rights."
And then it backs it all up with scientific discoveries, which is something I need. My brain is like, "Okay, if this book is so special, if he's really talking to these highly advanced spirits, they should be able to be telling him things that are gonna get proven true in the future." And every single time it makes a scientific statement, every single time that has eventually come true. And the book says, "This is what they'll find in the future." States it plain as day. To me, that's incredible. There's over 25 different scientific discoveries that this book predicted, some of 'em 150 years before it became well-known science.
It said that the molecule is not the smallest particle. "We're gonna find much smaller particles." Also, what you call a molecule is still far from being the smallest, most basic building block.
It said that there's more planets in the universe than we can count. This book came out in the 1800s. We only knew of eight planets in our solar system. We didn't discover the first planet outside of our solar system until 1992. This book was written in 1857 and it was saying, "Hey, not only are there more planets outside of our solar system, there are more planets than you can count." And reading that in a religious book or a book where they're talking to spirits really made me sit up and pay attention.
Part Three: How Do We Advance?
Kardec asks the spirits, "How do we advance as spirits?" And it basically says, "Get rid of envy, jealousy, selfishness, pride, and vanity, and work on being selfless and kind. That's it." The teachings of higher spirits can be summarized by one simple rule from Jesus: "Treat others the way you want to be treated." This means choosing to do good instead of harm. By following this rule, people can always know the right way to act, even in small everyday situations.
Part Four: New and Improved
So this book was written in the 1850s, and the language is a little bit difficult to understand. A lot of the words that they use, we just don't use anymore. But I was so blown away by this book that I kept recommending it to friends that I thought would be interested, and every single one of my friends was like, "I tried to read it, but it's just too hard to read." And I was so excited about this book that I wanted to share it with all of you. But I kept thinking, well, if I can't get my friends to read this book, how am I gonna get strangers on the internet to read this book? If I make videos about the book, I'll have to go through and update all of the language in the book to make it so I can make videos about it. Because I can't just read this old-timey English to people and expect 'em to understand it, 'cause I can barely understand it sometimes. So I went ahead and modernized the book. It's a thick book though. So it took me a long time. That's why I was gone for a year. Turns out modernizing a book is really difficult.
So this book is old, so it is in the public domain. There's a free version of the book from the 1850s that you can, uh, download for free. Link is in the description. If you're not a big reader, don't worry. I'm gonna be making many videos about this in the future.
All right, so that's it for this video. If you wanna purchase the book, links are in the description. It's amazing. Changed my life and, uh, I, I hope I get to share more of it with you. So stick around, subscribe if you haven't subscribed, and, uh, thanks for watching. Hope to see you again sometime. Bye-bye.