distortion to take place, so he can also rectify it. The power for it is within him. The problem is that man is not aware of it, or he doesn't want to change it. In order to understand what I mean by a distorted soul, let me shed some light for those who are open for it."
"Please be brief, as we are running late," said the chairman.
"At the beginning of the journey of each spirit, descending as far as into the ethereal and then into the gross matter, each spirit has the sense of belonging, or rather inclining towards, certain activities. These activities determine in what body he is going to be incarnated here on Earth. If these activities incline towards heavy, gross actions he will be incarnated into a male body, and if the activities incline towards fine actions, then the spirit will be incarnated into a female body."
"What are you trying to say?"
"The inclination towards certain activities determines in what body each individual is going to be incarnated the first time. We have the male bodies for gross and heavy actions, and female bodies for light refined actions. This is the way the spirit of each individual starts his journey here on Earth. I repeat, this is true of the first time. The law determines that each spirit be equipped with the analogous body."
"Is this not the way to be then?"
"Yes, this is the way to be, and many souls do that. However, many souls during the journeys on Earth, and after many reincarnations, start to play with thoughts of the opposite sex. This gradually becomes a wish, to the point that in their next incarnation here on Earth their wish is fulfilled, and they are born in a body of the opposite sex. So a male body can be occupied by a female spirit, and a female body be occupied by a male spirit."
"Isn't this all about free will?"
"You must understand that man has a free will and the choice is his, but freedom brings along personal responsibilities. Here are two examples to make it easier for you; one for each case.
"Say a man here on Earth starts to play with thoughts of the opposite sex. Let's say he plays with the thought of wearing women's clothes, which is a common wish for some men nowadays. If this man is not alert enough to eradicate these thoughts from his mind, eventually it will become a wish. The moment this happens, you can be assured that this man, in the next incarnation, or the one after, depending on the strength of his wish, will be born in a woman's body."
"I don't suppose you play with these kinds of thoughts, do you?" someone joked with lots of giggles in the assembly that forced the chairman to intervene.
"The vice-versa will happen if a woman starts to play with thoughts that belong to the opposite sex," continued the Teacher when the giggles had died down. "Let's say a woman starts to play with the thought of becoming a boxer, or joining the army, which is common these days. If she does not eradicate this idea which belongs to the sphere of masculinity, and pursues this, she probably will become a boxer, or join the army, but then her wish of becoming as strong as a man, or even as brutal as a man will be occupy her thinking to the point that she is going to be reincarnated in the body of man. So in this case we will have the opposite; namely a man occupied with a female spirit."
"Yes, but aren't they still children of God, using the freedom of the free will they are granted with?"
"As I stated many times, freedom of choice stipulates responsibilities. In neither case does the person feel genuine; not the man that is occupied by a female spirit, or the woman equipped by a male spirit. All this happens according to the law, for man has always the freedom of choice. But the souls that happen to shake off this wrong inclination towards the other sex, the moment they achieve it, it is as good as if it never happened. On the contrary, they will become stronger knowing that they overcame the obstacle, which they have managed to defeat their weakness. When the individual homosexual is aware of it and tries to rectify it, you can say that he has already found the road to the solution. He will find the courage, and in the end he will be victorious."
"Can states assist in any way in this?"
"Unfortunately, the states, because of their ignorance, or because of politicians using this as a potential electioneering purpose, use their citizens in the most careless way, doing a great disservice to them."
"What is your opinion about marriage? What do you think about marriage of the same sex? Do you accept it?" someone asked from the front row.
"Marriage between two individuals of the opposite sex is a natural process of two souls, attracted to each other, trying to be recognized in the eyes of their fellow man as having a joint adventure. If this marriage happens to be confirmed by their religious organization, if that makes them to feel more secure about their marriage, so much better for them. However, it is irrelevant when it comes to spiritual matters. What counts is the genuine attraction of these two souls. It is as if these two souls are born for each other and nobody in the world has the right to separate them."
"How about marriages of the same sex?"
"Well...when I was a kid, I would be watching the ants preparing themselves for the winter, working constantly and methodically carrying the food and whatever they needed for the hard days ahead. Some of them ignored this mundane daily routine. Rather than helping the rest with the work, they decided to grow wings, and to fly away from their responsibilities. When the winter arrived, they perished, frozen to death, where the rest of them appeared in the spring to continue with their lives."
"Do you put man on the same par with an ant?"
"We live in the epoch where many of the Earth inhabitants grow wings in order to disappear, in order to perish forever just because they don't want to face their responsibilities, or because they want to test the sweet life of delusion, regardless of the consequences. But we have seen nothing yet. This is only the beginning of the end."
"And who is to be blamed for that?"
"We live in the times of intellectual justification. Any conceivable or inconceivable idea, wish, or propensity, will flourish with the blessing of the states for the intellect will justify that. We live in times where the intellect has reached the zenith of its ability, and this ability, although man could and should use it for his advances, is being used it for his destruction. This ability of the intellect is used to suppress his spirit, and it does it in a most dubious way."
"Can you elaborate on this?"
"I will use your question as a paradigm. When this idea about same sex marriage came along, how did the intellectuals tackle this issue? They gathered round a table and said to themselves. 'These two individuals like to be together. Who are we to deny their rights? They love each other, so we don't have the right to intervene with their lives. It is about time this relationship is recognized also by the state. So...if the state doesn't officially recognize this couple, these two individuals will not be able to live together. Where in the world are two individuals prohibited to live together? Not even in the most brutal totalitarian regimes does this happen. Or...if the state doesn't recognize them, their love will be diminished so they will not love each other anymore'."
"Soon you will be a solitary figure in no man's land, with all these medieval ideas," said someone surely.
The Teacher continued, "I will take it further than that. I will challenge their 'progressiveness' and I will say... you know, we are three individuals and love each other, we live together and we are a happy trio, so we demand the recognition by the state, or...you know, we are four of us, we love each other, we are a beautiful quartet and we demand the state to recognize us. My sister and I or, my mother and I, or my dog and I are in love so we demand the recognition of the state. It may sound ridiculous today, but mark my words, whatever sounds ridiculous today, will be the norm tomorrow. Even today there is a pedophilia society, fighting legally for their 'rights'.
"As things are progressing, marriages will be irrelevant anyway, so what difference will it make? Some one heckled.
"For thousands of years marriage has served its purpose for the better or for the worse in man's history, but from now onwards, it is going
to be just for the worst, for the intellectuals have managed to make a mockery out of it, even sending away thinking people. The only ones to embrace this 'brilliant' idea will be the 'progressive' ones, without realizing one can progress upwards, but also downwards."
"Are you suggesting that man is retrogressing, and not progressing?"
"Definitely retrogressing, but how has mankind managed to fall so low? How can educated people in these troubled days have managed to lose the sense of right and wrong, whereas a peasant, or an elderly lady a hundred years or a thousand years ago, would recognize it in the most natural way?"
"How has mankind managed to fall as low as animals with the blessings of the states?" A young man obviously influenced by the sayings of the Teacher said, but was cut off immediately by the vice-chairman, telling the Teacher to be more precise.
"I could give you innumerable examples for it, but I should not have to. Everyone should be diligent enough to see these appalling changes taking place right in front of his eyes."
"You seem to blame many of man's troubles on the intellect," said the chairman, "so can you elaborate?"
"Man's intellect should be his best friend. Intellect is the tool God provides to man in order to facilitate his wanderings on Earth, but instead, it became his curse. In order