24. What are the limits of incarnation?
In actual fact, incarnation does not have clearly defined limits if we are thinking only of the envelope which constitutes the physical covering of the Spirit since the materiality of this covering diminishes in proportion as the Spirit purifies itself. In certain worlds more advanced than Earth, this covering is already less compact, less heavy, more refined and consequently less subject to vicissitudes. In worlds of still higher elevation it is translucent and almost fluidic. It dematerializes by degrees and finally becomes absorbed in the perispirit. According to the kind of world in which it lives, the Spirit reclothes itself with a covering appropriate to that world.
The perispirit itself undergoes successive transformations. It becomes more and more etheric, until it reaches complete depuration which is the state of all pure Spirits. If special worlds are destined for more highly advanced Spirits, they do not remain prisoners there as in the inferior worlds. The special state of detachment in which they find themselves allows them to travel to any part of the Universe to which they may be called on missions.
If we consider incarnation from the material view point, such as can be verified here on Earth, we can say that it is limited to inferior worlds. But it depends on each Spirit to liberate itself more or less quickly, by working towards purification. We should also consider that in the discarnate state, that is to say in the intervals between bodily existences, the situation of each Spirit depends on the nature of the world to which it is linked, by the degree of advancement it has acquired. Thus in the spiritual world we are more or less happy, free or enlightened, according to the degree of dematerialization achieved. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1859).
