HEALTH AND THE HUMAN MIND "Heinrichs, Willard" 1988 p. 1
A STUDY BY
Rev. Willard L. D. Heinrichs
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION 1
PART I:
WHAT IS HEALTH 1
Health of Mind as Provided For by the Lord 1
Health of Mind as Consciously Perceived by the Individual in a Given
Stage of Development 16
Health of Mind as It Can Be Seen Objectively by Others Associated
with the Individual 30
The Fundamental Importance to Mental Health of Maintaining Sound
Bodily Health 37
Sound Mental Health for the Purpose of Eternal Reception of What Is
Celestial and Spiritual 46
PART II:
THE HUMAN MIND AND ITS ENVIRONMENT--HEREDITY 48
HEREDITY 49
1) Where do we get our hereditary evil? 49
2) Is there a difference between the heredity received through the
father and that received through the mother? If so, what are the
differences? 50
3) What is the cause of this difference in what is received from the
father by heredity and what is received from the mother? 50
4) Where in the mind do all hereditary evils have their seat? Is our
soul all bad from birth, or is there something good about it? 52
5) How do evils become impressed or imprinted on the external of
our soul so as to become a part of our childrens heredity? 54
6) When the Word speaks of hereditary evils, what is meant? What
is it that children receive from parents? 54
7) As a result of hereditary tendencies to evil being transmitted from
parents to children over many successive generations, what is the
quality at birth of the natural man at this day? 54
8) While a person at this day may be inclined from heredity to
every genus and species of evil, what factors may cause a certain
genus or species of evil to be excited more than others? 55
9) To what genus or species of evil will we most likely be inclined? 55
10) In view of the above teachings, may a different genus or species of
evil than prevailed in our parents become dominant in us? 56
11) As a result of our natural heredity having become as depraved and
distorted as it is at this day, what important faculty do we not naturally
or spontaneously possess that was enjoyed by people in most ancient
times? 56
12) If we dare not trust our instinctual or natural affections and thoughts
to acknowledge what is good and true, what hope is there that we may
ever come to embrace what is good and true and be led to heaven? 57
13) If our heredity is as bad as the Word teaches, where do infants and
little children get their obvious innocence? 57
14) In general nothing can exist that cannot be turned to some use.
Can we then regard our heredity as totally useless, or can it too be
turned to some use? 58
15) If hereditary evil, and principally the tendencies to love self more
than others and the world more than heaven, can be turned by the
Lord to serve for use in a childs development, what attitude should
we take towards its manifestation in the young? What should we do
with it? 58
16) If parents and teachers have a responsibility to try to temper,
bend and correct hereditary inclinations, what evils in the young
should be of special concern? 59
17) From the latter part of the above passage the teaching is clear that
there are some forms of love of self and of the world which, although
internally corrupt, may nevertheless serve an important use prior
to regeneration. How shall we respond to teaching such as this? What
bearing has this teaching on the movement in western society to
promote self love, self esteem or a good self image? 60
18) While other people may see indications of the character of our
heredity in almost any period of our life, when are we likely to first
begin to notice our hereditary evil as being evil? 69
19) When it becomes possible to identify for ourselves our hereditary
evils, to what should we direct our attention? 69
20) What are some of the indications or symptoms that we should be
alert to if we are serious in our intention to discover and resist our
hereditary inclinations? 70
21) Is it really that necessary to deliberately examine ourselves in
order to become aware of our hereditary evils? Do not people usually
recognize when their inclinations and delights are evil and opposed
to heavenly loves? 71
22) When do we begin to be able to make what is hereditary actual
with ourselves? 73
23) How shall we know when an evil from being hereditary with us,
has become actual and can be considered as a sin? 74
24) When, if ever, might we discover how much of our hereditary evil
has become actual? 80
25) Do we bear any blame or do we suffer any punishment for those
evils which we have not made actual? 80
26) What hope is there for the recovery of mans spirit from the
effects of hereditary and actual evil? How may the evil heredity
of man begin to be broken and changed? 81
27) If people do respond to the Lords call for sincere repentance,
what hereditary tendencies to evil are first to be broken and rooted out? 82
28) In shunning evils as sins against the Lord, is there any one evil
to which we especially might direct our attention so as to cooperate
with the Lord in breaking up our hereditary evil and rendering it
milder in offspring? 82
29) Can our personal hereditary and actual evils, through regeneration,
be exterminated in us so as to vanish or become null and void? 85
30) How does the Lord then provide that angels may not be bothered
by these evils? What awareness do the angels have of the evils
which affected them before they entered into the heavenly state? 86
Heredity and Natural Good 86
31) Can there be at this day such a thing as hereditary good or
inherited tendencies to naturally love what is good and think what is
true? 87
32) If so, does this mean that the appearance of a natural good tendency
in a child indicates that the natural heredity of that child is somewhat
recovered, that it is not altogether interiorly corrupt? 87
33) How may we cone to possess as a part of our heredity the natural
good which properly deserves to be called natural good, either
natural good from the love of good, or natural good from the love
of truth? 87
34) How might a person come to possess as a part of their heredity
those natural goods which only outwardly appear good: the
natural good of the love of evil and the natural good of the love of
falsity? 88
35) Are there any symptoms or indications that one might look for in
oneself in order to discover the presence of either or both of the
misleading natural goods? 88
36) Is it very probable that we might be affected by such deceptive,
evil tendencies? 89
37) While giving careful attention to the sobering teaching regarding
so-called natural goods, what other teaching might we bear in
mind so as to he inspired and encouraged to renounce such
pseudo-good in ourselves and soften its impact on our children? 89
38) In what form might such an hereditary trait be expected to appear? 89
39) It is said that from their parents offspring derive such natural
inclinations and faculties, but is this the true origin of these most
desirable hereditary traits? 90
40) Is there any important distinction between natural good, as it has
been described in the teachings that have just been presented, and
spiritual good in the natural of man? 91
PART III:
THE HUMAN MIND AND ITS ENVIRONMENTREMAINS
ENVIRONMENT AND REMAINS 92
1) From whom do we receive remains? 95
2) Why then in the church do we so often refer to angels when we
are discussing the implantation of remains? 95
3) Do spirits in the world of spirits who are associated with our
exterior or natural mind, have any role in the implantation of remains? 96
4) Do parents and other people have any role in the implantation of
remains or is this a process that is of primary concern to those in the
spiritual world? 97
5) Just how important is it that we have remains, or could we get along
without them? 99
6) When we speak of remains what is that we are talking about? 100
7) Why does the Word for the New Church usually refer to remains as
states of love or affection but occasionally speak of them as things
learned from the Word? 101
8) What does the Lord do with our remains as they are being implanted? 102
9) Why does the Lord store up or treasure up our remains in this manner? 103
10) What awareness might we have of this process of implanting and
storing up remains? 103
11) Does the storing up of remains beyond our ability to interfere with
them therefore mean that they are of no real use until such time as
we are in a holy state wherein we will not defile or profane them? 104
12) Hereditary tendencies to love what is evil and to think what is false
are said to be impressed upon the natural or external man, especially
in the sensual. Where are remains implanted? 105
13) Before reaching maturity, in which period of our life are we most
receptive to the implantation of remains? 107
14) What are meant by the first remains that are sometimes mentioned
in the heavenly doctrines? 107
15) What is different about the implantation of first remains from that
of later states of affection? 108
16) When are our remains as good affections of the will and truths of
the understanding first brought to our consciousness so as to be
recognized and subsequently enjoyed? 108
17) When man can be regenerated to what use does the Lord then put
our remains? 109
18) Having once been introduced into our natural mind during the
process of regeneration, can we expect our remains to continue to be
consciously present in the states that follow? 110
19) Are there any times, other than when we are being regenerated,
that remains may have a perceptible, conscious effect on our external
life in this world? 111
20) Besides the first remains, which are the remains of infancy, and
the later remains that are implanted in childhood, the Word mentions
still other remains which are referred to as new remains. When
and how may we acquire these remains? 112
21) How are these new remains as to their implantation and their
quality to be compared to the remains of earlier states? 113
22) Are all the remains that a person receives in adult life goods of
intelligence? 115
23) Is there any particular period in life when an individual, acting in
freedom according to reason, should give especial attention to
receiving goods of intelligence? 116
24) Is the quantity and quality of our remains a matter of any importance? 119
25) While we are still in the world, what ability, if any, do we have to
evaluate or judge the quality and quantity of remains within
ourselves and with other people? 119
26) What essential quality must be present in the life of anyone, of
whatever religion they may be, in order for them to continue being
gifted by the Lord with remains for their eventual salvation? 120
27) What is the relationship between remains and the Ten Commandments? 120
28) Are there, however, any specific evils involved in the ten precepts
that especially threaten remains, evils that especially need to be
shunned? 121
29) If those evils which destroy remains are shunned, when might we
be able to experience a full awareness of and delight in our remains? 122
30) If all of a persons states return to his consciousness in the other
life, will not the evil states, including those that have been rejected
through repentance, return also? Would not the evil states then
defile and destroy all the delight of the good states? 123
31) What of those people who have chosen the life of evil in this world,
what happens to their remains when they betake themselves into
eternal life in hell? 124
32) In contrast to the evil, how does the Lord introduce remains into
conscious and active service with those who are being prepared for
heaven, who are regenerate or are becoming regenerate? 125
33) What is the relationship between remains and the new will and
conscience? 130
34) What is the relationship between the new will and conscience,
that are begun from remains and the three degrees of the human mind? 134
35) What is the essential character and operation of the new will and
understanding as they appear as either perception or conscience in the
degrees of the human mind? How are these manifestations to be
distinguished from a false conscience? 138
PART IV:
SPIRITUAL ENVIRONMENT AND EQUILIBRIUM 142
PART V:
THE LORDS LIFE AND MANS PERCEPTION OF IT: THE AS IF
FROM SELF 162
APPENDIX I--CONDITIONS FOR FREEDOM OF CHOICE 175
APPENDIX II--TENTATIVE DIAGRAMS OF THE HUMAN SOUL
AND MIND 178
INTRODUCTION
It is to be acknowledged from the outset that men since the dawn of recorded history to the present day have struggled with little success to produce an adequate definition and description of the human mind. This being the case, it is not surprising that people have experienced the utmost difficulty in coming to any sort of general agreement as to what constitutes a state of health in the human mind. Does this then mean that it is vain to think that anyone will ever adequately define and describe the essential constituents of mental health? I think no t. It is my conviction that the Lord is Divinely equal to the task. After all it is He who created the human mind, and it is He Who provides for its health. I believe that the Lord wants us to know as much as we can about our minds and this for the reason that He wants to engage us as fully as possible in a cooperative venture of producing and sustaining a state of health, that is, a state of wholeness, a state of holiness or a state of heaven in our minds now and forever. I further believe that it is in the Word for the New Church and especially in the Heavenly Doctrines that we can find the most complete and satisfying explanation from the Lord as to what it is to be mentally healthy.
In the study that follows I have tried to draw out and organize some of the teachings of the Heavenly Doctrines that seem most relevant to this important subject. Also, from a conviction that the Lord can speak to this topic much more convincingly than mere finite intelligence, I have sought, whenever possible, to proceed with the discussion through resorting to direct quotations from the Heavenly Doctrines.
The initial impetus to make this study arose out of a research project sponsored by the Academy of the New Church. The research team included T. Dudley Davis and Lynne D. Griffin from the secondary school faculties and myself from the theological school faculty. The objective of the project was to produce a statement of aims and a syllabus for a health education course to be offered in the secondary schools. My role in this project was essentially supportive. I would seek to draw out from the Word for the New Church teachings which seemed to have direct relevance to the various aspects of the subject of mental health as it was to be developed from the course outline. Most of the teaching so drawn was expected to be of greatest use to the instructor seeking the guiding principles from the Word which should be implicit in the course to be offered. Some teachings, whose significance could be easily grasped by the students would, of course, be introduced explicitly into the classroom presentation and discussion.
From that beginning a five part study slowly evolved whose central concern is to seek to define from the Word what is involved in a state of mental health and how the Lord provides for and is able to sustain such a state. In part one the primary focus is a response to the most general question: What is health? In addressing this most general inquiry five subordinate questions were raised and used to guide the development of the subject. First, how has the Lord provided for our mental health? Second, if the Lord is able to provide for such a state, how will individuals within themselves consciously perceive this state in any given stage of development? From this concern the focus then shifts to the outward manifestation of a state of mental health. How might other people be able to assess objectively the state of another persons mental health? Since the mind of man during his natural life functions within the physical body, another question must be raised: What is the relationship between sound mental health and the health of ones body? In view of the fact that the natural mind, at least as to its external, will cease to be conscious with the death of the body, the further question must be addressed: What is the final or eternal purpose in seeking to achieve and sustain a state of health in the natural mind?
A search of the Heavenly Doctrines, seeking answers to these questions, brought to light a series of Divine provisions that are absolutely necessary if people are to experience enduring health or wholeness in the natural mind. These might be summarized as follows: Human beings are created to act from freedom in accordance with reason. This of necessity involves being able to act from ones own freely chosen loves or affections and their delights, for all freedom is of love. If this condition is to become permanent, producing what is called the state of heaven, one should chose to act from real or heavenly freedom in accordance with true reason, or reason that is enlightened from Divine truth. For this state to come into being one must Se led into the acknowledgment that all life, love and its free and rational use are from the Lord. This will be accompanied by the further acknowledgment that all good affections and true thinking that appear in our conscious mind are generated there by the Lord through association with unseen spiritual companions who have chosen the eternal state of heaven, and that all evil or destructive lusts with their fantasies and false thinking are aroused into consciousness by spiritual companions who have chosen the eternal state of hell.
When one chooses to act from these acknowledgments, the mind is able to be kept by the Lord in a marvelous equilibrium between contending spiritual forces. In this state of spiritual equilibrium the Lord can grant to people a perceptible state of mental peace and tranquility, of delight and inward joy. He can retard and remove such leading constituents of mental illness as anxiety and agitation, of depression or melancholy, and dejection.
Further, the context in which these developments can occur and appear objectively to others is clearly established. Health of the natural mind should not be expected in a state of withdrawal from other people, but in a state of out ward-looking useful interaction with others. It will achieve its fullest expression especially in that activity which we call our job or occupation.
Fundamental to such interaction and a full enjoyment in it is sound bodily health. The doctrines repeatedly assert the well known principle of a sound mind in a sound body, explaining that this is in accordance with the underlying reality which exists in all relationships between what is spiritual and what is natural: Influx is in accordance with the state or form of the receiving vessel.
Finally there are those Divine teachings which remind us that the cultivation of a state of soundness in the natural mind must have an end or purpose that reaches beyond this life and this natural world. Health in the natural mind is given by the Lord in order that we may eternally receive what is celestial and spiritual, what is loving and wise, and be conjoined with the Lord in a state of heavenly use and joy forever.
With some of the fundamental principles requisite for mental health established in part one, the focus of the second and third parts of this study is on two of the most significant elements imprinted in the human mind which influence mental health. Implicitly these parts are directed toward resolving the age old psychological controversy of nature versus nurture. The Lord alone can resolve this controversy and He does so in the teaching of revelation relating to the two elements just referred to which are heredity and remains. If one is to avoid a doctrine of determinism in regard to mental and spiritual health, avoid too heavy an emphasis on the impact of either heredity or environment, there must be an adequate appreciation of the teaching of the Word relating to hereditary inclinations and what are known as remains. These are the principle elements impressed in the human mind by means of which the Lord provides for that equilibrium of spirit in which alone man can act in freedom in accordance with reason.
In part two that element which is innate in the very organics of the mind, hereditary inclination, is systematically explored. Since the table of contents provided for this study represents very fully the content and direction of the discussion on heredity, not much more needs to be said here by way of introduction. It should be observed, however, that while the central focus of part two is hereditary tendencies to evil, there is also some discussion from the Word of other related and very important issues. These issues include such things as the place or use of self love, of self esteem, the distinction between hereditary and actual evil, the distinction between actual evil that is of our own fault and that which is not of our own fault, the existence and variety in character of hereditary or natural good, and the distinction between such good and genuine, spiritual good.
Part three of this study, as already indicated, is concerned with remains, the other vital element which must exist in the human mind if that mind is ever to experience a state of equilibrium, if it is to be free to act in real freedom or from a love of good, in accordance with an enlightened reason that affirms what is Divinely true. Part three then involves a systematic discussion of how the Lord, acting directly from Himself and indirectly through our spiritual and natural environments, provides that remains, states of affection and necessary spiritual knowledge, will be imprinted in the interior organics of the human mind. These states are not innate, but begin to be implanted at birth and may continue to be introduced into the mind even to the end of life in this world. These states called remains are what the Lord uses to offset or balance the influence of our hereditary inclinations to evil. Out of remains the Lord in adult life may gradually fashion a new will and new understanding in our mind which appear in our consciousness as conscience. Again, since the table of contents accompanying this study represents fully the content and direction of the discussion on remains, nothing further needs to be noted here in the introduction.
Having dealt with heredity and remains, the two most dynamic factors which especially influence the states of the developing human mind, in part four of this study we focus on the spiritual mechanism which the Lord uses to balance the impact of these contending influences. As already observed, where there is this balance there is equilibrium and a person can act in freedom in accordance with reason, can enjoy health of mind. The spiritual mechanism that the Lord employs to produce this state of equilibrium and health involves the whole panorama of spiritual associations that constitute the environment of our spirit. Thus, in part four, in a summary fashion we explore some of those many teachings which explain how the hells, acting through evil genii and spirits, seek to arouse our inclinations to evils of every kind, and how they occupy or operate into those evils which have become actual with us. Of necessity, on the other hand, our discussion explores some of the many passages which describe how the heavens, acting through angels in every degree and through good spirits in the world of spirits, seek to stir up our remains and so assist the Lord in the formation of a new will and understanding within us. It is through these competing spiritual influences of heaven and hell then that the Lord provides for an equilibrium in which mankind can experience that freedom so necessary for mental health and the full enjoyment of human life.
The fifth and final part of this study seeks to bring the discussion of health and the human mind full circle. We return to that most fundamental provision that the Lord has made for mental health: that man should act from freedom in accordance with reason. Now, however, the focus is shifted slightly to a companion provision, presented in the Apocalypse Explained as the first law of the Divine Providence. This companion provision is concerned with that most basic condition of human consciousness which enables man to enjoy freedom and reason, or liberty and rationality. Very simply stated, the Lord has provided that from sense and perception man cannot know otherwise then that life is in him;... (AE 1138:2). The Lord has so created the human soul and mind that it can consciously experience His life as if it were its own. Indeed it can use His life as if it were its own. It can even use that life to act against the very Source of Life. Still if that life from the Lord is to produce a state of health, wholeness or heaven in the mind, man should acknowledge that the goods and truths which belong to love and faith which he thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, are not from him but from the Lord (AE 1138:2). The final portion of this study then is concerned with the most basic condition for human consciousness and the perception of health in that consciousness, it is concerned with what is often called the as if from self.
Before passing on from an introduction to the study itself, some observations should be included relative to the various formats used in presenting the teaching in the five successive portions of Health And The Human Mind. The most prominent format used in this study, especially in the first three parts, is one that progresses by means of questions and answers. I propose what appear to be a series of relevant questions and seek to answer these questions by direct reference to teachings of Divine revelation. The use of such a format would seem to have authorization in a number of passages in the Heavenly Doctrines, but especially in the following from the Arcana Coelestia: In all perception whatever there is both a propounding and a reply (AC 2080).
In part one the questions are of a general character and are, for the most part, implicit in the discussion. In parts two and three, however, the questions are much more particular and are quite explicit. This format seemed especially appropriate in these parts due the manner in which the teachings on heredity and remains are presented in the Heavenly Doctrines. While there are numerous passages touching on these subjects, there are no extended series systematically presenting the particulars of doctrine that are involved. In fact, most of the particulars of doctrine included in these subjects are concentrated in a relatively small number of passages. It was thought that these particulars might be drawn out most effectively and appear most distinctly if I were to approach these passages with a series of questions arranged in some sort of rational and developmental progression.
Parts four and five do not employ in any noticeable way the question and answer format. In respect to part four especially, such a format did not appear to be either necessary or particularly appropriate in presenting the relevant teaching. The subject of mans spiritual associations appears in numerous, extended and systematic presentations in the Heavenly Doctrines. Rather than seeking in this instance to draw out the particulars of doctrine so as to appear in bolder relief, the challenge seemed to be to seek to consolidate the many series of teachings on mans spiritual associations into as simple and coherent a statement of the doctrine as possible. As regards part five, the doctrine relating to the as if from self is quite plainly and systematically presented in at least two series in the Heavenly Doctrines, namely in the Apocalypse Explained and in The Divine Providence. Again, it did no t appear necessary to emphasize the particulars of doctrine in these series through a question and answer format. Instead there is a reliance on extended direct quotation and a brief commentary highlighting some of the more important and relevant aspects of the teaching.
Enough has now been said by way of introduction. Let us proceed to the central focus of this study--how the Lord provides for a state of health in the conscious human mind.
September 1988
Willard L.D. Heinrichs
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HEALTH AND THE HUMAN MIND "Heinrichs, Willard" 1988 p. 2
PART I
WHAT IS HEALTH
WHAT IS HEALTH
HEALTH OF MIND AS PROVIDED FOR BY THE LORD
The Lords most fundamental provision for mental health is expressed in the very first law of the Divine Providence: It is a law of the Divine Providence that man should act from freedom in accordance with reason (DP 71 and following).
This teaching especially relates to freedom of spirit, and not so much to freedom of the body. The Lord provides especially for the freedom to will and to think as one pleases. This freedom is to be distinguished from freedom to act and to speak as one pleases. Freedom of spirit can be sustained while freedom of body may be restricted to a greater or lesser degree. In a state of order, however, the two freedoms make one. What one wills, he can do, and what one thinks he can speak (cf. DP 129, 136:2, 4, 139:3).
Without the freedom to act in accordance with ones reason nothing can be attributed to a person as their own, they can have no sense of identity.
Whatever a man does from freedom in accordance with his thought is appropriated to him as his, and remains. (DP 72)
In order to act in freedom in accordance with reason the Lord endows every human being with two faculties or capacities. From the faculty of rationality or reason man can understand, and from the faculty of liberty or freedom man can think, will, speak and do what is understood, (see DP 73)
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By rationality is meant the capacity to understand what is true and thereby what is false, also to understand what is good and thereby what is evil; and by freedom is meant the capacity to think, will, and do these things freely (DLW 264).
When we associate health of mind with the fundamental provision of being able to act in freedom according to reason, we must immediately realize that this involves being able to act from ones chosen loves and to enjoy so acting.
It must be known that all freedom is a property of love, insomuch that love and freedom are one. And as love is the life of man, freedom also belongs to his life. For every enjoyment that man has is from his love; no enjoyment is possible from any other source; and acting from loves enjoyment is acting from freedom; for man is lead by enjoyment as a thing is borne along by the current of a river (DP 75).
The importance of possessing the capacities of freedom or liberty and rationality or reason is clear from many teachings of the Word. These capacities distinguish man from beast. Upon them mans very humanity depends, also his eternal life.
Man has these two capacities from the Lord, and they are from Him every moment; nor are they taken away, for if they were, mans human would perish. In these two capacities the Lord is with every man, good and evil alike; they are the Lords abode in the human race: from this it is that all men live forever, both the good and evil (DLW 240, and DLW 263).
While both the good and the evil enjoy the capacities of freedom and reason we should carefully distinguish between their exercise in the good and in the evil.
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...It is one thing to act from freedom in accordance with reason, or to act from liberty and rationality, and it is another thing to act from freedom itself in accordance with reason itself or to act from liberty itself and rationality itself. For a man who does evil from the love of evil and confirms that evil in himself, acts from freedom in accordance with reason; and yet his freedom is not in itself freedom, or freedom itself, but it is an infernal freedom that is in itself slavery; and his reason is not in itself reason, but is either a spurious or false reason, or what is made to appear by confirmations to be reason (DP 97)
Still it is of critical importance for people to be able to use their two God-given faculties in these diametrically opposite ways.
Nevertheless they are both of the Divine Providence; for if freedom to will evil, and to make it appear by confirmations to be in accordance with reason were taken away from the natural man, liberty and rationality, and will and understanding with them would perish, and he would have no ability to be withdrawn from evils and reformed, and thus conjoined with the Lord and live forever. Consequently, the Lord guards freedom in man, as man guards the pupil of his eye. And yet by means of freedom, the Lord continually withdraws man from evils; and so far as he is able to withdraw him by means of freedom, He implants what is good by means of freedom (DP 97).
People should realize, however, that using their two faculties improperly has very far-reaching consequences as regards the state of their spiritual health, mental health, and even bodily health.
The origin of evil is from the abuse or the capacities proper to man, that are called rationality and freedom (DLW 264 title)
The most obvious abuse of these two faculties involves the exercise of them to confirm (make firm in ones love and life) what is evil and false.
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A bad man abuses these capacities to confirm evils and falsities (DLW 265, 267).
What are the consequences of this abuse?
Evils and falsities confirmed in man are permanent, and come to be of his love, consequently of his life. Such things as have come to be of the love and life are engendered in offspring as hereditary tendencies toward evil (DLW 265, 268, 269).
Quite apart from the spiritual and natural mental consequences, which will be discussed shortly, there are serious physical consequences of the abuse of ones faculties of freedom and rationality. The first three teachings noted below describe how the body can be corrupted from within by a natural mind that is involved in abuses of various kinds.
As death is from no other source than sin, and sin is all that which is contrary to Divine order, therefore evil closes the very smallest and most invisible vessels, of which are composed the next larger ones, also invisible for the vessels which are the smallest of all and wholly invisible are continued from mans interiors. Hence comes the first and inmost obstruction, and hence the first and inmost vitiation into the blood. When this vitiation, increases, it causes disease, and finally death. If, however, man had lived a life of good, his interiors would be open into heaven, and through heaven to the Lord; and so too would the very least and most invisible little vessels (the traces of the first threads may be called little vessels, on account of the correspondence). In consequence man would be without disease, and would merely decline to extreme old age, even until he became again a little child, but a wise one; and when the body could no longer minister to his internal man or spirit, he would pass without disease, out of his earthly body into a body such as the angels have, thus out of the world directly into heaven (AC 5726).
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What are the evils, or abuses of freedom and rationality that generate these physical consequences? They are indefinite in number, as many as there are evils. Still the following two passages note some of the more general evils that cause problems in the body.
Diseases ... correspond to the cupidities and passions of the lower mind, which are also their origins; for the origins of diseases are, in general, intemperance, luxury of various kinds, mere bodily pleasures, as also feelings of envy, hatred, revenge, lewdness, and the like, which destroy mans interiors; and when these are destroyed the exteriors suffer, and drag man into disease, and so into death. It is known in the church that the death of man is from evils, or on account of sin; and it is the same with diseases, for these belong to death (AC 5712).
CONCERNING DISEASES
All diseases, with man, exist from no other source [than that just described, i.e. adulteries, strifes, revenges, cruelties, etc.], and very many only from cupidities, as for instance, from excessive indulgence of various vices, and from the number of them, as from the various bodily delights from lascivious practices, and from anxiety about the future. These are the real causes of all diseases. Nor is death itself from any other source, than by reason of sin. These things vitiate the blood: when this is vitiated, they obstruct and choke up the very small vessels--wherefore diseases break out. Hence it is that diseases correspond to those spheres which are from hell. If mankind had lived in a state of good, then a man would wane, even to the utmost feebleness of age; and then, when the body could no longer minister to the internal man, that man would pass away from its earthly body, without disease (SD 4592).
Besides the more general teachings there are some which are quite specific when treating of abuses of freedom and rationality which damage not only the lower mind but also the body.
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What is said here relating to drunkenness would certainly apply equally with substance or drug abuse of any kind.
CONCERNING DRUNKENNESS
I spoke with spirits concerning drunkenness, and it was confirmed by them that it is an enormous sin, as well as that man becomes a brute, (and) no longer a man; because that man is a man lies in his intellectual faculty, thus he becomes a brute, besides which he brings damage on his body, and so hastens his death, besides wasting in extravagance what might be of use to many.--1748, June 27. And it appeared to them so filthy that they abhorred such a life, which mortals nevertheless have introduced amongst themselves as a civil life (SD 2422).
(As to the evils of spirit with which drunkenness corresponds see AC 1072, 5120:8, 9, 9553:2, 8904:5; AR 721, 376:31)
Not only can disorder in the natural mind cause problems in the body from within, but it can also cause problems from without. A perverted state of the lower mind spontaneously disposes the body to draw into itself disease producing agents from the natural environment.
That the blood in the lungs purifies and nourishes itself correspondently to the affections of the mind is as yet unknown; but in the spiritual world it is very well known, for angels in the heavens find delight only in the odors that correspond to the life of their wisdom, while the spirits in hell find delight only in the odors that correspond to a love opposed to wisdom; these are foul odors, but the former are fragrant. It follows that men in the world impregnate their blood with similar things according to correspondence with the affections of their love; for what the spirit of a man loves, his blood according to correspondence craves and by respiration attracts. From this correspondence it results that man as regards his love is purified if he loves wisdom, and is defiled if he does not love it.
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Moreover, all purification of man is effected by means of the truths of wisdom, and all pollution of man is effected by means of falsities that are opposite to the truths of wisdom (DLW 420) (Div. Wisdom X:6:3; DLW 421).
Fundamental to an adult, healthy use of our two essential faculties is the recognition and acknowledgment that all life, love and its free and rational use are from the Lord. We can freely use what is the Lords as our own, but it is the Lords with us, and we should humbly and cheerfully acknowledge this. When the Most Ancient people ceased to acknowledge this, they ceased to enjoy the Garden of Eden state. As represented in the third chapter of Genesis, when these people turned from this truth they brought upon themselves extreme unhappiness both spiritual and natural. Surely what is revealed about the fall of the church with the most ancient people, and what is explained in the following passage, applies to all people.
It shall now be explained how it comes that an angel perceives and feels as his, and thus receives and retains that which yet is not his; for, as was said above, an angel is not an angel from what is his, but from those things which he has from the Lord. The essence of the matter is this: Every angel has freedom and rationality; these two he has to the end that he may be capable of receiving love and wisdom from the Lord. Yet neither of these, freedom nor rationality, is his, they are the Lords in him. But since the two are intimately conjoined to his life, so intimately that they may be said to be joined into it, they appear to be his own. It is from them that he is able to think and will, and to speak and act; and what he thinks, wills, speaks, and does from them, appears as if it were from himself. This gives him the ability to reciprocate, and by means of this, conjunction is possible.
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Yet so far as an angel believes that love and wisdom are really in him, and thus lays claim to them for himself as if they were his, so far the angelic is not in him, and therefore he has no conjunction with the Lord: for he is not in truth, and as truth makes one with the light of heaven, so far he cannot be in heaven; for he thereby denies that he lives from the Lord, and believes that he lives from himself, and that he therefore possesses Divine essence. In these two, freedom and rationality, the life which is called angelic and human consists. From all this it can be seen that for the sake of conjunction with the Lord, the angel has the ability to reciprocate, but that this ability, in itself considered, is not his but the Lords. From this it is, that if he abuses his ability to reciprocate, by which he perceives and feels as his what is the Lords, which is done by appropriating it to himself he falls from the angelic state. That conjunction is reciprocal, the Lord Himself teaches (John xiv. 20-24; xv. 4-6); also that the conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord, is in those things of the Lord that are called His words (John xv. 7) (DLW 116).
Many passages in the Heavenly Doctrine forcefully draw our attention to the fact that the basis for enjoying health of mind in every degree is the humble acknowledgment that not only is all that is good, both spiritual and natural, from the Lord, but also that all that is evil, both spiritual and natural, is aroused in us from hell. Health therefore depends upon the proper reaction to this reality.
Spirits who reason much in the other life have little perception of what is true and good, and therefore they cannot be admitted into interior angelic societies; for nothing of intelligence can be communicated to them there. These spirits also have reasoned among themselves about the influx of all thoughts and affections, and said, If this be so, no one can become guilty and suffer the penalty of any fault. But they received for answer that if a man would believe as the case really is, namely, that all that is good and true is from the Lord, and all that is evil and false is from hell, he then could not become guilty of any fault, nor could evil be imputed to him;
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but because he believes that it is from himself, he appropriates evil to himself, for this is the effect of his faith; and in this way evil adheres and cannot be separated from him; nay, such is man that he would be indignant if any one should say that he thinks and wills from others, and not from himself.
It is an eternal truth that the Lord rules heaven and earth, and also that no one besides the Lord lives or himself, consequently that everything of life flows in--the good of life from the Lord, and the evil of life from hell. This is the faith of the heavens. When a man is in this faith (and he can be in it when he is in good), then evil cannot be fastened and appropriated to him, because he knows that it is not from himself, but from hell. When a man is in this state, he can then be gifted with peace, for then he will trust solely in the Lord. Neither can peace be given to any others than those who are in this faith from charity; for others continually cast themselves into anxieties and cupidities, whence come disquietudes. Spirits who desire to direct themselves, suppose that this would be to lose their own will, thus their freedom, consequently all delight, thus all life and its sweetness. This they say and suppose, because they do not know how the case really is; for the man who is led by the Lord is in freedom itself, and thus in delight and bliss itself; goods and truths are appropriated to him; there is given him an affection and desire for doing what is good, and then nothing is more delightful to him than to perform uses. There is given him a perception of good, and also a sensation of it; and there is given him intelligence and wisdom; and all these as his own; for he is then a recipient of the Lords life. It is known in the learned world that the principal cause, and the instrumental cause, act together as a one; man, being a form recipient of the Lords life, is an instrumental cause, and the life from the Lord is the principal cause. This life is felt in the instrumental cause as of it, when yet it is not of it (AC 6324, 25).
He who lives in good, and believes that the Lord governs the universe, and that all the good which is of love and charity, and all the truth which is of faith, are from the Lord alone; nay, that Life is from Him, and thus that from Him we live move, and have our being, is in such a state that can be gifted with heavenly freedom, and together with it with peace;
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for he then trusts solely in the Lord and has no care for other things, and is certain that all things are tending to his good, his blessedness, and his happiness to eternity. But he who believes that he governs himself is continually disquieted, being borne along into cupidities, and into solicitude respecting future things, and thus into manifold anxieties; and because he so believes, the cupidities of evil and the persuasions of falsity also adhere to him. Good spirits wondered exceedingly that the man of the church at this day does not believe that all the evils and falsities within him flow in from hell, and all the goods and truths from the Lord; when yet he has learned this from the Word, and also from the doctrine of faith; and, when any one has done a grievous evil, everybody says that he has suffered himself to be led by the devil; and when any one has done good, that he has suffered himself to be led by the Lord (AC 2892, 93).
In the following passage we sec how Swedenborg was led into the acknowledgment of the true origin all that was aroused into his consciousness.
I was told from heaven that, like others, I believed that I thought and that I willed from myself, yet in fact nothing was from myself, but if good it was from the Lord, and if evil it was from hell. That this was true I had a living proof in various thoughts and affections induced upon me, and gradually it was granted me to perceive and to feel it; and thereafter as soon as any evil glided into my will, or any falsity into my thought, I inquired into its source, and this was disclosed to me, and I was permitted to speak with those from whom it came, to reprove them, and to compel them to withdraw, and thus to take back their evil and their falsity and to keep them to themselves, and no longer to infuse any such thing into my thought. This I have done a thousand times; and I have now continued in this state for several years, and continue in it still; and yet I seem to myself to think and to will from myself, like others, with no difference; for it is of the Lords providence that it should so appear to every one, as has been shown above in its proper place. Novitiate spirits wonder at this state of mine, for it seems to them that I have no thought or will at all from myself, and am therefore like an empty something.
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But I laid open the mystery to them, showing that while I think interiorly and perceive what flows into my exterior thoughts, and whether it is from heaven or from hell, and reject what is from hell and receive what is from heaven, I still seem to myself to think and to will from myself, as it seems to them (DP 290).
It should be clearly understood that although we should acknowledge that all evil is from hell this does not mean that we avoid responsibility for that evil that we have freely embraced and made of our love and life. For such evil we must acknowledge guilt and then shun it and send it back to hell.
Actual repentance is to examine oneself, to recognize and acknowledge ones sins, to hold oneself guilty, to confess sins before the Lord, to pray for help and power to resist them, and thus refrain from them and begin a new life; and all this you must do as if of yourselves. Do so once or twice a year, when you come to holy communion; and afterward, whenever the sins of which you have found yourselves guilty recur yourselves, We will not do this because it is a sin against God. This is actual repentance. Who cannot understand that he who does not examine and see his sins remains in them? For every evil is delightful to a man from his birth; it is delightful to him to take revenge, to commit whoredom, to defraud, to blaspheme, and especially to exercise dominion from self-love; and does not this delight prevent your seeing these sins? And if, perchance, you are told that they are sins, do you not from their delight excuse them, and even prove to yourselves by means of falsities that they are not sins? And, therefore, you remain in them, and afterward commit them more frequently than before, and this even until you do not know what sin is, or indeed whether there is any such a thing. With any one who actually repents, it is different. His evils, such as he has recognized and acknowledged, he calls sins, and therefore begins to shun them and turn away from them; and finally to feel their delight to be undelightful. And so far as this is done he sees and loves good, and at length feels the delight of good, which is the delight of the angels of heaven. In a word, so far as any one puts the devil behind him, he is accepted by the Lord, and is taught, led, withheld from evil, and kept in good by Him; and this is the way, and the only way, from hell to heaven (TCR 567).
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(For a summary discussion of the teachings presented on pages 8 through 11 see DP 320-21.)
Before leaving the subject of what health of mind is as provided by the Lord, it might be useful to return briefly to a teaching in The Divine Providence which stresses the intimate connection between freedom and love: It must be known that all freedom is a property of love, insomuch that love and freedom are one (DP 73:2). Health of mind, obviously is to be associated with acting from ones chosen loves and to enjoy so acting. But just as acting from freedom in accordance with ones reason, by itself, does not produce lasting health and happiness of mind, so acting from just any chosen Love and its delight does not ensure lasting health and happiness. This can only result from seeking to act from the fords love. The following passages beautifully describe the quality of that love which should actively and perceptibly move all people. These teachings reveal the very key to eternal health and happiness.
DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM MUST NECESSARILY HAVE BEING (esse) AND HAVE FORM (existere) IN OTHERS CREATED BY ITSELF.
It is the essential of love not to love self but to love others, and to be conjoined with others love. It is the essential of love, moreover, to be loved by others, for thus conjunction is effected. The essence of all love consists in conjunction; this, in fact, is its life, which is called enjoyment, pleasantness, delight, sweetness, bliss, happiness and felicity. Love consists in this, that its own should be anothers; to feel the joy of another as joy in oneself, that is loving. But to feel ones own joy in another and not the others joy in oneself is not loving; for this is loving self, while the former is loving the neighbor.
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These two kinds of love are diametrically opposed to each other. Either, it is true, conjoins; and to love ones own, that is, oneself, in another does not seem to divide; but it does so effectually divide that so far as any one has loved another in this manner, so far he afterwards hates him. For such conjunction is by its own action gradually loosened, and then, in like measure, love is turned to hate.
Who that is capable of discerning the essential character of love cannot see this? For what is it to love self alone, instead of loving some one outside of self by whom one may be loved in return? Is not this separation rather than conjunction? Conjunction of love is by reciprocation; and there can be no reciprocation in self alone. If there is thought to be, it is from an imagined reciprocation in others. From this it is clear that Divine Love must necessarily have being (esse) and have form (existere) in others whom it may love, and by whom it may be loved. For as there is such a need in all love, it must be to the fullest extent, that is, infinitely in Love Itself (DLW 47, 48).
It is the essence of Love to love others outside of oneself, to desire to be one with them, and to render them blessed from oneself. The essence of God consists of two things, love and wisdom; while the essence of His love consists of three things, namely, to love others outside of Himself, to desire to he one with them, and from Himself to render them blessed. And because love and wisdom in God make one, as has been shown above, the same three things constitute the essence of His wisdom; and love desires these three things, and wisdom brings them forth. The first essential, which is to love others outside of ones self, is recognized in Gods love for the whole human race; and for its sake God loves all things that He has created because they are means; for when the end is loved the means also are loved. All men and things in the universe are outside of God, because they are finite and God is infinite. The love of God goes forth and extends not only to good men and good things, but also to evil men and evil things; consequently not only to the men and things in heaven but also in hell, thus not only to Michael and Gabriel but also to the devil and satan; for God is everywhere, and is from eternity to eternity the same, He says also:
That He makes His sun to rise on the good and on the evil, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. v. 45).
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But the reason why evil men continue to be evil, and evil things continue to be evil, lies in the subjects and objects themselves, in that they do not receive the love of God as it is, and as it is inmostly in them, but as they themselves are; in the same way as thorns and thistles receive the heat of the sun and the rain of heaven. The second essential of the love of God, which is a desire to he one with others, is recognized in His conjunction with the angelic heaven, with the church on earth, with every one there, and with every thing good and true that enters into and constitutes man and the church. Moreover, love viewed in itself is nothing but an endeavor towards conjunction; therefore that this aim of the essence of love might be realized man was created by God into His own image and likeness, with which a conjunction is possible. That the Divine love continually seeks conjunction is evident from the Lords own words:
That He wishes them to be one, He in them and they in Him, and that the love of God might be in them (John xvii. 21-23, 26).
The third essential of the love of God, which is to render others blessed from Himself, is recognized in eternal life, which is the endless blessedness, happiness, and felicity that God gives to those who receive into themselves His love. For as God is love itself, so is He blessedness itself; for all love breathes forth delight from itself, and the Divine love breathes forth blessedness itself, happiness, and felicity to eternity. Thus God from Himself renders the angels blessed, and men after death; and this He does by conjunction with them.
That such is the nature of the Divine love is known from its sphere, which pervades the universe, and affects every one in accordance with his state. It especially affects parents, and is the source of their tender love for their children (who are outside of themselves), and their desire to be one with them, and to render them blessed from themselves. This sphere of Divine love affects not only the good, but also the evil, and not only men but also birds and beasts of every kind. What else does a mother think about when she has brought forth her child than uniting herself with it, as it were, and providing for its good? What other concern has a bird, when she has hatched her young from the egg, than to cherish them under her wings, and through their little mouths put food into their throats.
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It is known that even serpents and vipers love their offspring. This universal sphere especially affects those who receive within themselves this love of God who are such as believe in God and love their neighbor. Charity with such is an image of that love. With those who are not good, friendship simulates that love; for at his table a man gives his friend the better things, kisses him, caresses and holds his hand, and proffers him useful offices. This love is also the sole origin of the sympathies and endeavors after union of those who are homogeneous or similar. This same Divine sphere is also operative in things inanimate, as trees and plants, but by means of the sun of the world, and its heat and light; for its heat enters them from without and unites with them, causing them to germinate, bloom, and bear fruit; and these resemble blessedness in things animate. The suns heat does this because it corresponds to spiritual heat, which is love. Representations of the operation of this love are also found in the various subjects of the mineral kingdom. Types of this are presented in the exaltation to use of these, and their consequent preciousness (TCR 43, 44).
From these very central teachings in the Word for the New Church, it is clear what kind of love is necessary to produce a useful, healthful and happy life to eternity. From the following teaching it is equally clear what loves, if they are confirmed, will ultimately produce a useless, sick and unhappy life to eternity. It will be observed in a later discussion in this essay, however, that not all forms of love of self and the world are evil and destructive. (See DLW 396; AE 1144:2; AC 6933-6938)
From this description of the essence of the Divine love (TCR 43, 44) the essential nature of diabolical love can be seen. This can be seen as being an opposite. Diabolical love is the love of self. That is called love, although viewed in itself it is hatred; for it loves no one outside of itself; neither does it desire to be joined with others in order to benefit them, but only to benefit itself. From its inmost it continuously aspires to rule over all and to possess the goods of all, and finally to be worshiped as God.
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This is why those who are in hell do not acknowledge God surpass others power; thus they acknowledge lower and higher, or lesser and greater gods, according to the extent of their power. And as this is what every one there has at heart, every one burns with hatred against his own god, and this latter against those who are under his sway, regarding them as vile slaves, to whom he speaks courteously so long as they worship him, but he rages as if with fire against all others, and inwardly, or in his heart, against his own vassals. For the love of self is the same as that of robbers, who kiss each other so long as they are engaged in robberies but afterwards burn with a desire to kill each other, in order to take all the plunder. In hell, where it rules, this love causes its lusts to appear at a distance like various kinds of wild beasts, and some like crocodiles and poisonous serpents; it causes the deserts, which are places of abode there, to consist of nothing but heaps of stones or bare gravel, with bogs interspersed in which frogs croak; and it causes doleful birds to fly and screech above their huts. Such are the doleful creatures (ochim), the wild beasts of the desert (tziim), and the wild beasts of the islands (ijim), mentioned in the prophetic parts of the Word, where the love of rule from self-love is treated of (Isa. xiii. 21; Jer. 1:39; Ps. lxxiv. 14). (TCR 45) (For a brief description of what happens when one first enters hell sec HH 574. For a brief description of the horrible character of daily life in a milder hell see HH 586.)
HEALTH OF MIND AS CONSCIOUSLY PERCEIVED BY THE INDIVIDUAL IN A GIVEN STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT.
In speaking of health of mind here, our concern continues to be with acting in freedom according to ones reason which involves being able to act from ones love and, at least temporarily, enjoy so acting. It should be observed at the outset, that there are certain conditions, and states, which either wholly or partially preclude such health of mind for a portion or, perhaps, for all of ones earthly life. Severe physical impairment is one such condition, however it may have been induced.
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It has been said that every man is born into that capacity, namely, rationality, but by this is meant every man whose externals have not been injured by some accident, either in the womb, or by some disease after birth, or by a wound inflicted on the head, or in consequence of some insane love bursting forth, and breaking down restraints. In such the rational cannot be elevated; for life, which is of the will and understanding, has in such no bounds in which it can terminate, so disposed that it can produce outmost acts according to order; for life acts in accordance with outmost determinations, though not from them. That there can be no rationality with infants and children, may be seen below (n. 266, at the end) (DLW 259) (cf. DP 98; AE 349:3, 6; ISB 1, 12e, 13e; DLW 275e; AC 3484; SD 3635; HH 569).
The development of mental illness in a condition of physical impairment is according to the well known principle of the Word for the New Church that influx is according to the state of the receiving vessel. It is the mind that acts upon the body and not the reverse. The mind, however, cannot function properly if its receiving vessel is in a perverted condition.
Nature cannot dispense life to anything, since nature in itself is wholly inert. For what is dead to act upon what is living, or for dead force to act upon living force, or, what is the same for the natural to act upon the spiritual, is entirely contrary to order, therefore so to think is contrary to the light of sound reason. What is dead, that is, the natural, may indeed in many ways be perverted or changed by external accidents, but it cannot act upon life; on the contrary life acts into it, according to the induced change of form. It is the same with physical influx into the spiritual operations of the soul; this, it is known, does not occur, for it is not possible (DLW 166)
Apart from those who suffer severe physical impairment, especially where the brain is affected, it should be noted that there is a significant period in the life of each one of us where, independent of the guiding care and influence of mature people, we could not achieve and enjoy any measure of mental health.
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The important role that adults have in maintaining the mental well-being of infants and children must be obvious when we reflect on the fact that the immature of themselves just cannot act in freedom according to reason.
Man has the power to will, because the Lord, from whom that capacity comes, continually gives the power; for, as was said above, the Lord dwells in every man in both of these capacities, and therefore in the capacity, that is, in the power, of being able to will. As to the capacity to understand, called rationality, this man does not have until his natural mind reaches maturity; until then it is like seed in unripe fruit, which cannot be opened in the soil and grow up into a shrub. Neither does this capacity exist in those mentioned above (n. 259) (DLW 266) (cf. DP 98:6; AC 1893, 10225, 5126; HH 352:2).
Although ones dependence on adults for the maintenance of mental health surely diminishes as one grows toward maturity, that dependence in some measure continues until at least the twentieth year. While many passages in the Word do not speak in terms of years, others do, associating developing states with quite specific time frames. Arcana Coelestia 10225, which serves as something of a summation for many preceding passages relating to states, teaches that
when a man attains the age of twenty years he begins to think from himself. Of the preceding age, which is childhood, it is said that it is a state of instruction and of memory-knowledge and not as yet a state of intelligence, because at that time the child does not form any conclusions from himself, neither does he from himself discriminate between truths, nor even between truths and falsities, but from others;
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he merely thinks and speaks things of memory, thus from mere memory-knowledge; nor does he see and perceive whether a thing is so, except on the authority of his teacher, consequently because another has said so.
Since there may be many, and also conflicting, authorities and sources of instruction, it is often not clear that the child is thinking from others. There may be every appearance that the child is thinking from himself and is capable of taking full responsibility for himself when this is not yet the case. He may be thinking for himself, but he is still in some measure thinking from others, in accordance with their reason or rationality.
Only in the period of life from twenty to sixty years of age, that period which includes adolescence, young manhood or womanhood, and manhood or womanhood, does one begin to think from self and thus begin to act in accordance with ones own reason.
This state is called a state of intelligence, because the man then thinks from himself, and discriminates and forms conclusions; and that which he then concludes is his own, and not anothers. At this time faith begins, for faith is not the faith of the man himself until he has confirmed what he believes by the ideas of his own thought. Previous to this, faith was not his, but anothers in him, for his belief was in the person, not in the thing. From this it can be seen that the state of intelligence commences with man when he no longer thinks from a teacher, but from himself, which is not the case until the interiors are opened toward heaven. Be it known that the exteriors with man are in the world, and the interiors in heaven; and that in proportion as light flows in from heaven into what is from the world, the man is intelligent and wise; and this according to the degree and quality of the opening of his interiors, which are so far opened as the man lives for heaven and not for the world (AC 10225:5).
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When mans interiors can be opened with the onset of maturity, then there can be inflowing of spiritual light into all three degrees of the mind. With this comes the ability to act in freedom according to ones own reason. With this comes responsibility for ones own mental health and the enjoyment or lack of enjoyment experienced in the chosen state.
By the influx of spiritual light into all three degrees of the mind man is distinguished from beasts; and, as contrasted with beasts, he can think analytically, and see both natural and spiritual truth; and when he sees them he can acknowledge them, and thus be reformed and regenerated. This capacity to receive spiritual light is what is meant by rationality (referred to above), which every man has from the Lord, and which is not taken away from him, for if it were taken away he could not be reformed. From this capacity, called rationality, man, unlike the beasts, is able not only to think but also to speak from thought; and afterwards from his other capacity, called freedom (also referred to above), he is able to do those things that he thinks from his understanding (DLW 247).
In order to appreciate how in adult life people are able to act in freedom in accordance with their own reason it is important to call to mind the fact that the natural conscious mind has both an internal and external. There is an internal and external thought. Up to the onset of adult life a person operates primarily from the plane of external thought. This thought is stimulated from within by the affection of knowing, which arises from remains, and also by natural affections and inclinations which arise from parental heredity. When a person mentally grows to adult life a communication is opened between the interiors of the natural mind and the rational above or within it. (See AC 5126, AC 3701; TCR 42) This makes possible an influx of light from the rational or spiritual into the natural.
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The internal of thought with a person may now become predominant and the individual from his interior thought ... can view his exterior thought, reflect upon it and pass judgment on it, deciding whether it is evil or not evil. The mind of man owes this characteristic feature to the faculties which he has from the Lord, called liberty and rationality. Unless man had from these an external and internal of thought he would not be able to perceive and view any evil in himself and be reformed; in fact, he would not be able to speak, but only to utter sounds like beast (DP 104). We might, add that without this capacity for a double thought in the conscious mind, a person could do nothing as of (himself) to cooperate with the Lord in the establishment and maintenance of mental health.
The following passages from The Divine Providence provide us with the fundamental teaching relating to this capacity for double thought and how it may be both used and abused in according with ones freedom.
EVERY MAN HAS AN EXTERNAL AND AN INTERNAL OF THOUGHT
By the external and the internal of thought are here meant the same as by the external and the internal man, and by these are meant the external and the internal of the will and of the understanding, for the will and the understanding constitute man; and as these both manifest themselves in thoughts the terms the external and the internal of thought are used. Now, since it is not the body but the spirit of man that wills and understands and consequently thinks, it follows that this external and internal are the external and internal of mans spirit. The action of the body, whether in word or in deed, is only an effect from the internal and external of mans spirit;
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for the body is only an obedient instrument (DP 103).
Every man who has reached maturity has an external and an internal of thought, and therefore an external [and an internal] of the will and the understanding, or an external and internal of the spirit, which is the same as the external and the internal man. This is clear to anyone who observes carefully the thoughts and intentions of another as exhibited in his speech and actions, and who observes also his own thoughts and intentions when he is in company and when he is alone. For anyone can talk with another in a friendly way from external thought, and yet be at enmity with him in internal thought. Anyone can talk about love towards the neighbor and love to God from external thought and at the same time from its affection, when nevertheless in his internal thought he cares nothing for the neighbor, and does not fear God. Anyone can talk about the justice of civil laws, about the virtues of moral life, and about matters of doctrine and the spiritual life from external thought and at the same time from external affection, and yet when alone by himself he may, from internal thought and its affection, speak against the civil laws, against moral virtues, and against matters of doctrine and the spiritual life. Those do so who are in the lusts of evil and who yet wish it to appear before the world that they are not in them.Moreover, many question within themselves, when they listen to others speaking, whether these interiorly within themselves are thinking the thoughts which they are expressing in speech, and whether they are to be believed or not, and also what their intentions are. It is well known that flatterers and hypocrites have a double thought; for they can restrain themselves and take care not to disclose their interior thought; and some can conceal it more and more interiorly and, as it were, block up the doors lest it should appear. That both exterior and interior thought are given to man is clearly evident from this fact, that from his interior thought he can view his exterior thought, reflect upon it and pass judgment on it, deciding whether it is evil or not evil. The mind of man owes this characteristic feature to the faculties which he has from the Lord, called liberty and rationality. Unless man had from these an external and an internal of thought he would not be able to perceive and view any evil in himself and be reformed; in fact, he would not be able to speak, but only to utter sounds like a beast (DP 104).
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The internal of thought is from the lifes love and its affections and consequent perceptions; while the external of thought is from the contents of the memory which minister to the lifes love as confirmations and as means to further its end. From infancy to early manhood man is in the external of thought from an affection for knowing, which then constitutes its internal. There also emerges from his lifes love, which is innate from his parents, something of its lust and consequent inclination. Later, however his way of life determines his lifes love, and its affections and consequent perceptions constitute the internal of his thought. From his lifes love there is formed the love of means; and their delights with the knowledges thereby called forth from the memory constitute the external of his thought (DP 105).
(For the full presentation of this teaching and its application in repentance, reformation and regeneration, see DP 100-128.)
Having observed the great distinction that exists between the conditions under which the immature, as opposed to the mature, may enjoy mental health, we draw attention to the three general kinds of loves or freedoms from which people may enjoy acting. While the following teaching has primary application to adults, it also has application to children, depending on the kind of influence that is predominant in a childs environment in any given state. With this in mind we might reflect on what is said about natural freedom, rational freedom, and spiritual freedom.
Natural freedom every one has by inheritance. From it man loves nothing but self and the world; his first life is nothing else. And as from these two loves all evils spring, and thus it comes that evils belong to the love, it follows that thinking and willing evils is mans natural freedom; and when he has confirmed evils in himself by reasonings he does evils from freedom in accordance with his reason.
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Thus his doing evils is from his faculty that is called liberty; and his confirming them is from his faculty that is called rationality. A mans desire, for example, to commit adultery, to defraud, to blaspheme, to take revenge, is from the love into which he is born; and when he confirms these evils in himself, and thereby makes them allowable, then, from the enjoyment of the love of them, he as it were freely in accordance with reason thinks and wills them, and, so far as civil laws do not prevent, speaks and acts accordingly. It is from the Lords Divine providence that man is permitted to do this, because he has freedom or liberty. Man is in this kind of freedom by nature, because of inheritance; and all those are in it who by means of reasonings have confirmed it in themselves from the enjoyment of love of self and the world. Rational freedom is from the love of reputation with a view to honor or gain. The enjoyment of this love lies in appearing externally as a moral man; and because men loves such a reputation, he does not defraud, commit adultery, take revenge, or blaspheme; and because he makes this a matter of reason he acts from freedom in accordance with his reason in sincere, just, chaste, and friendly ways; and furthermore, from this reason he can advocate such conduct. But if this rational is merely natural and not also spiritual, such freedom is merely external freedom, not internal freedom; for he does not love these goods in the least inwardly, hut only outwardly for the sake of his reputation, as has been said, and for this reason the good deeds that he does are not in themselves good. He may even assert that these things ought to be done for the public welfare; but this he says not from any love for the public welfare, but from a love for his own honor or gain. His freedom, therefore, derives nothing from a love for the public welfare, neither does his reason, since this assents to his love. Consequently, this rational freedom is a more internal natural freedom. This freedom, too, by the Lords Divine providence remains with every one. Spiritual freedom is from a love for eternal life. Into that love and its enjoyment no one cones except he that thinks evils to be sins and in consequence does not will them, and at the same time looks to the Lord. As soon as one does this he is in that freedom. For ones ability not to will evils because they are sins, and not to do them for that reason, comes from the more internal or higher freedom which is from his more internal or higher love. At first such a freedom does not seen to be freedom, and yet it is; and afterwards it so appears, and then man acts from freedom itself, in accordance with reason itself, in thinking, willing, speaking, and doing what is good and true.
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This freedom increases as natural freedom decreases and becomes subservient; and it conjoins itself with rational freedom and purifies it. Any one may come into this freedom if he is but willing to think that life is eternal, and that the temporary enjoyment and bliss of life in time are but as a fleeting shadow, compared with the never ending enjoyment and bliss of a life in eternity; and this a man can think if he wishes, because he has rationality and liberty, and because the Lord, from whom these two faculties are derived, continually gives the ability (DP 73:3-7).
In regard to the immature, the individual would not be acting from a confirmed freedom or love, natural, rational, or spiritual, because no independent rationality and reason is as yet possible. In respect to natural and rational freedom, he or she would be acting primarily from inherited tendencies to love self and the world and from the adult examples to which the child is exposed. In regard to spiritual freedom, the action would be from remains, states of affection imprinted in the mind by the Lord by means of the childs environment, spiritual and natural. As to the thought or reason accompanying the freedom or love that was active, this, as noted before, would be borrowed from others, although to the immature, it would appear to be his or her own.
When we speak of a persons perception of mental health, inevitably we must speak of a perception of peace and tranquillity and of joy and delight, those things which stand in contrast to such leading constituents of mental illness as anxiety and depression or melancholy. Again, we find from many teachings of the Word that perceptions of peace, tranquillity, joy and delight are inexorably associated with acting in freedom in accordance with reason, with action in agreement with ones freely chosen love.
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Again the Word reveals that genuine and enduring peace, tranquillity, joy and delight, genuine and enduring health of mind can only result from acting in accordance with good loves. The following are but a small sampling of the kind of teaching that is given.
These teachings describe at length the wonderful states of mind and life enjoyed by those in good loves and their delights. At the same time they contrast these states with those experienced by people who are in evil loves and their delights. In sympathy with teachings noted earlier (i.e. DLW 47; TCR 43-46) it is obvious that peace in inmosts, rest of the interior mind, tranquillity in the exterior mind, and joy therefrom can only he given by the Lord to those who predominantly love and seek to serve others outside of themselves--their God and the neighbor. Where love of oneself and of mere worldly things predominates there can be no enduring peace, rest, tranquillity and joy. There is no peace for the wicked and so for them there is no enduring health of mind.
I have also spoken with the angels about peace, saying that it is called peace in the world when wars and hostilities cease between kingdoms, and when enmities or discords cease among men; also that internal peace is believed to consist in rest of mind when cares are removed, especially in tranquillity and delight due to success in business. But the angels said that rest of mind and tranquillity and delight due to the removal of cares, and success in business appear to be peace, but really are peace only with those who are in heavenly good, for only in that good is peace possible. For peace flows in from the Lord into the inmost of such, and from their inmost descends and flows down into the lower faculties, producing rest of the interior mind (mens), tranquillity of the exterior mind (animus), and joy therefrom.
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But to those who are in evil, peace is impossible.1 It appears indeed as if they had rest, tranquillity, and delight when things succeed according to their wishes. But it is external and not at all internal, for inwardly they burn with enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, and many evil lusts, into which their exterior mind (animus) is carried whenever any one is seen to be unfavourable to them, and which burst forth when they are not restrained by fear. Consequently, the delight of such dwells in insanity, while the delight of those who are in good dwells in wisdom. The difference is like that between hell and heaven. (HH 290)1 (The lusts that originate in love of self and of the world wholly take away peace (AC 3170, 5662). There are some who think to find peace in restlessness, and in such things as are contrary to peace (AC 5662).
There can be no peace unless the lusts of evil are removed (AC 5662).
All delights flow forth from love, for that which a man loves he feels to be delightful. No one has any delight from any other source. From this it follows that such as the love is, such is the delight. The delights of the body or of the flesh all flow forth from the love of self and love of the world, consequently they are lusts and their pleasures; while the delights of the soul or spirit all flow forth from love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, consequently they are affections of good and truth and interior satisfactions. These loves with their delights flow in out of heaven from the Lord by an inner way, that is, from above, and affect the interiors; while the former loves with their delights flow in from the flesh and from the world by an external way, that is, from beneath, and affect the exteriors. Therefore, as far as the two loves of heaven are received and make themselves felt, so far the interiors of man, which belong to his soul or spirit and which look from the world heavenwards, are opened, while so far as the two loves of the world are received and make themselves felt, to that extent his exteriors, which belong to the body or flesh and look away from heaven towards the world, are opened. As loves flow in and are received, their delights also flow in, the delights of heaven into the interiors and the delights of the world into the exteriors, since all delight, as has been said belongs to love (HH 396).
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The delights of heaven are both ineffable and innumerable, but he who is in the mere delight of the body or of the flesh can have no knowledge of, or belief in a single one of these innumerable delights, for his interiors, as has just been said, look away from heaven towards the world, thus backwards. For he who is wholly in the delight of the body or of the flesh, or what is the same, in the love of self and of the world, has no sense of delight except in honor, in gain, and in the pleasures of the body and the senses, because these so extinguish and suffocate the interior delights that belong to heaven as to destroy all belief in them. Consequently, he would be greatly astonished if he were told that only when the delights of honor and of gain are set aside, other delights are given, and still more if he were told that the delights of heaven that take the place of these are innumerable, and are such as cannot be compared with the delights of the body and the flesh, which are chiefly the delights of honor and of gain. All this makes clear why it is not known what heavenly joy is (HH 398).
One can confirm how great the delight of heaven must be from the fact alone that it is the delight of everyone in heaven to share his delights and blessings with others; and as such is the character of all in the heavens it is clear how immeasurable is the delight of heaven. It has been shown above (n 268), that in the heavens there is a sharing of all with each and of each with all. Such sharing goes forth from the two loves of heaven, which are, as has been said, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor. To share their delights is the very nature of these loves. Love to the Lord is such because the Lords love is a love of sharing everything it has with all, since it wills the happiness of all. There is a like love in every one of those who love Him, because the Lord is in them. From this comes the mutual sharing of the delights of angels with one another. Love towards the neighbor is also of such a nature, as will be seen in what follows. From this it can be established that it is the nature of these loves to share their delights. It is otherwise with the loves of self and of the world. The love of self takes away from others and robs others of all delight, and directs it to itself, for it wishes well to itself alone, while the love of the world wishes to have as its own the things belonging to the neighbor.
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Therefore these loves are destructive of the delights of others; or if there is any disposition to share, it is for the sake of themselves and not for the sake of others. Thus in respect of others it is the nature of those loves not to share but to take away, except so far as the delights of others have some relation to self. That the loves of self and of the world, when they rule, are such, I have quite often been permitted to perceive by living experience. As often as the spirits who were in these loves during their life as men in the world drew near, so often did my delight recede and vanish. Furthermore, I was told that at the mere approach of such to any heavenly society the delight of those in the society diminished just in the degree of their proximity; and what is wonderful, the evil spirits are then in their delight. All this made clear the state of the spirit of such a man while he is in the body, since it is the same as it is after it is separated from the body, namely, that it longs for or lusts after the delights or goods of another, and finds delight so far as it secures them. All this makes clear that the loves of self and of the world tend to destroy the joys of heavenly and are thus direct opposites of heavenly loves, which desire to share (HH 399).
A man who is in the love of self and of the world perceives while he lives in the body a sense of delight from these loves and also in the particular pleasure derived from these loves. But a man who is in love to God and in love towards the neighbor does not perceive while he lives in the body any distinct sense of delight from these loves or from the good affections derived from them, but only a blessedness that is hardly perceptible, because it is hidden away in his interiors and veiled by the exteriors pertaining to the body and dulled by the cares of the world. But after death these states are entirely changed. The delights of love of self and of the world are then turned into what is sinful and direful, because into such things as are called infernal fire, and by turns into things defiled and filth corresponding to their unclean pleasures, and these, wonderful to tell, are then delightful to them. But the obscure delight and almost imperceptible blessedness of those who had been while in the world in love to God and in love to the neighbor are then turned into the delight of heaven, and become in every way perceived and felt, for the blessedness that lay hidden and unrecognized in their interiors while they lived in the world is then revealed and brought forth into evident sensation, because such had been the delight of their spirit, and they are then in the spirit (HH 401).
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Heavenly joy itself, such as it is in its essence, cannot be described, because it is in the inmost of the life of angels and therefrom in every single thing of their thought and affection, and from these in every particular of their speech and action. It is as if the interiors were fully opened and unloosed for the reception of delight and blessedness, which are distributed to every least fibre and thus through the whole. Thus, the perception and sensation of this joy is so great as to be beyond description. For that which starts from the inmosts flows into every particular derived from the inmosts, propagating itself always with increase towards the exteriors. Good spirits who are not yet in that joy, because not yet raised up into heaven, when they perceive a sense or that joy from an angel from the sphere of his love, are filled with such delight that they come, as it were, into a delicious swoon. This sometimes took place with those who were desirous of knowing what heavenly joy is (HH 409).
When certain spirits were desirous of knowing what heavenly joy is, they were allowed to feel it to such a degree that they could no longer bear it; and yet it was not angelic joy; it was scarcely in the least degree angelic, as I was permitted to perceive by sharing it, but was so slight as to be almost frigid; nevertheless they called it most heavenly, because to them it was an inmost joy. From this it was established, not only that there are degrees of the joys of heaven, but also that the inmost joy of one scarcely reaches to the outermost or middle joy of another; also that when anyone receives his own inmost joy he is in his heavenly joy, and cannot endure what is still more interior, for such a joy becomes painful to him (HH 104).
HEALTH OF MIND AS IT CAN BE SEEN OBJECTIVELY BY OTHERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INDIVIDUAL
One of the common symptoms associated with mental illness is withdrawal. The individual tends to mentally withdraw, but may also withdraw physically from normal interaction with others. In terms of our previous definition of mental health, acting from freedom in accordance with reason is diminished, and, in some states almost disappears, as in the case of a catatonic schizophrenic.
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Speaking generally, the Word teaches that such things as the depression and phantasies accompanying these states are dispelled by varieties, and thus by mingling with societies (SD 3625). In the same series of teachings it is asserted that man can be drawn out of these states by faith in the Lord. We are told that those who are in faith are liberated by the Lord, however infested by spirits, and this by innumerable methods, both external and internal. (SD 3628)
In many, many passages faith in the Lord is inexorably associated with the life of use, exercising ones freedom and rationality in an outward looking, useful interaction with other people. So we find the clear teaching that unless use be the affection or occupation of man, he is not of sound mind (Divine Love XV). The reference here is principally to spiritual insanity, but the application to natural insanity seems obvious.
But on the other hand, all those who in the world have loved uses and who have performed uses from the love of them, think sanely in their spirits, and their spirits think sanely in their bodies; for with such, interior thought is also exterior thought, and from the former through the latter is their speech, and likewise their action. Affection of use has kept their mind in itself, nor does it suffer them to stray into vanities, into what is lascivious and filthy, into what is insincere and deceitful, into the mockeries of various lusts. After death they are of a like character; their minds are in themselves angelic; and when the outer thought is taken away, they become spiritual, and angels, and thus recipients of heavenly wisdom from the Lord.
From all that has been said, it is now plain that unless use he the affection or occupation of a man, he is not of sound mind (Divine Love XV).
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There are three things that flow in as one from the Lord into our souls: these three as one, that is, this trine, are love, wisdom, and use; but love and wisdom alone have only an ideal existence, because they exist only in the affection and thought of the mind; while in use they have a real existence, because then they exist also in bodily act and operation, and where they exist really, there they have permanent existence. But as love and wisdom have their existence and permanence in use, it is use that affects us; and use is the faithful, sincere, and diligent discharge of the duties of ones employment, The love of use and the consequent pursuit of use prevents the mind from becoming dissipated, and from wandering about and drinking in all the cupidities that flow in with their allurements through the senses from the body and the world, and that scatter to the four winds the truths of religion and morality together with their goods. But the application of the mind to use holds and binds these together, and disposes the mind into a form receptive of wisdom from these truths, and at the same time expels to the circumference the illusions and mockeries both of falsities and vanities (TCR 744:3) (cf. CL 16:3) (AE 1226:6).
Surely the following teachings, which specifically relate to use as it is considered in the spiritual world, showing how one should reward ones self in the performance of use for the common good, and the happiness a life of use produces, have application in human society in the natural world.
That love is the fundamental principle from which and by which heaven exists and subsists, is evident from the circumstance, that there must be such harmony and unanimity, and hence so universal a consociation, that the whole heaven, the whole world of spirits, that is, the whole human race from its first creation, should form a ONE, as all and every particular in man, in whom there are indefinite things, forms one body, and thus constitutes one man; in which body if anything were to prefer itself to any other thing, and not to love another thing better than itself (it could not subsist).
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He who is in genuine love has an idea of the common good and of the universal human race, in respect to which every individual man should be as nothing, as is known; wherefore unless a man regards himself as nothing in respect to the common good, and loves his neighbor better than himself, he can by no means be in the unanimous body (heaven), but he necessarily expels himself from it, so much as he removes himself from that love,--1748, November 23 (SD 4046).
CONCERNING USE
I conversed with spirits concerning use. They were indignant that I had so much to say on this subject; but it was said in reply that use is all in all that in the world, in a kingdom, the main question is in regard to use: and so in respect to a man (we ask) what use does he subserve? If he is not useful he is rejected as worthless. How much more then in the Lords kingdom, where use is everything. There was then represented, according to the ideas of angelic spirits, a sphere as an aura of uses, and it was said that in the Lords kingdom there is nothing but use. (One of the above mentioned class) being in such a sphere began to hurry away, saying that he could not respire there.--1749, March 12 (SD 4173).
THAT EVERY ONE IN THE OTHER LIFE MUST PERFORM USE, AND FROM USE, POSSESS HAPPINESS.
Hence it was spoken concerning those in the other life that (they) all must perform use, so that there must be no one who does not perform use to this world, the human race the world of spirits (and) to heaven: finally, that in heaven their felicity consists in the performance of use, so that thence they obtain felicity from the Lord. That (their) felicity (springs) from performing use is evident from this, that the Lord grants them to love ends, which are uses, etc. --1748, September 13 (SD 3147).
The severe debilitating effect on mind and body caused by a lack of determination to any useful pursuit is especially clear from the following teaching which specifically speaks to cold and
unhappiness in marriage.
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XIII. OF THE EXTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD, THE FOURTH IS LACK OF DETERMINATION TO ANY STUDY OR BUSINESS, WHENCE COMES WANDERING LUST.
Man was created for use because use is the containant of good and truth, and from the marriage of these is creation and also conjugial love, as shown in the chapter on the Origin of Conjugial Love. By study and business is meant every application to uses; for while a man is in some study and business, that is, in some use, his mind is limited and circumscribed as by a circle, within which it is successively co-ordinated into a form truly human. From this as from a house he sees the various concupiscences as outside himself, and from sanity of reason within, banishes them and consequently banishes also the beastly insanities of scortatory lust. With such men, therefore, conjugial heat remains in greater fullness and for a longer period than with others. The contrary is the case with those who give themselves up to sloth and idleness. Their mind is unrestrained and unbounded, and the man then admits into the whole of his mind a manner of vain and frivolous thin s which flow in from the world and the body and carry him along into the love of them. That conjugial love also is then cast into exile is evident; for from sloth and idleness, the mind is rendered stupid and the body torpid r and the whole man becomes insensible to ever vital love, especially to conjugial love, it being from this love as from a fountain that the activities and alacrities of life emanate. The conjugial cold with such men is, however, different from that cold with others. It is indeed the privation of conjugial love, but from defect (CL 249).
In yet another teaching the proper use of rationality is not only associated with insight in respect to ones inborn character and the will to take remedial action, but also and especially with ones life in ones use or function.
It is to be known concerning the rational man in general that it is said to receive life, to be in the womb, and to be born, when the man begins to think that the evil and falsity in himself is that which contradicts and is opposed to truth and good, and still more is this the case when he wills to remove and subjugate this evil and falsity.
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Unless he can perceive and become sensible of this, he has no rational, however much he may imagine that he has. For the rational is the medium that unites the internal man with the external, and thereby perceives from the Lord what is going on in the external man, and reduces the external man to obedience, nay, elevates it from the corporeal and earthly things in which it immerses itself, and causes the man to be man, and to look to heaven to which he belongs by birth; and not, as do brute animals, solely to the earth in which he is merely a sojourner, still less to hell. These are the offices of the rational, and therefore a man cannot be said to have any rational unless he is such that he can think in this manner; and whether the rational is coming into existence is known from his life in his use or function (AC 1944).
Lest, however, we should gain the impression that the sane and healthy life looks only to the steadfast performance of useful work, and excludes any concern for self and the world, the Lord provides us with other teachings which direct our attention to a broader view of our relations with other people in society. The life of a healthy Christian is full and rich, but always guided by an acknowledgement of the Lord and attention to His commandments.
WHAT IT IS TO LIVE AS A CHRISTIAN. THAT IT IS NOT DIFFICULT IN THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINE, AS IT WAS IN BABYLON DESTROYED.
Two things are requisite: (1) To believe in the Lord, that is, to believe that all good and truth is from Him. (2) To live an honest life, consequently, to shun outward evils, which also are contrary to the civil laws.
A Christian lives as anyone else in external form; he may grow rich, but not by craft and trickery; he may eat and drink well, but not place his very life in those things, and find his delight in superfluities and also in drunkenness, that is, live for appetite; he may be well, and even, according to his condition, handsomely, housed; he may associate with others, like other men, amuse himself in their society;
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discuss the affairs of the world and the various things in domestic matters: in a word, without any difference in externals, to such an extent that no difference is apparent. Neither is it necessary that he should appear devout, so as (to go about) as it were with a sorrowful countenance and with shaking head, and with sighing; but that he be cheerful and merry; nor (need he) give his goods to the poor, except so far as the affection of the neighbor prompts him.
He ought to be a moral man, and a good one; but, with him, the moral man, because he reflects that all good and truth is from the Lord, is a spiritual man. Not so, however, with those who do not believe in the Divine, but (regard) self and the world in all things, or with whom moral life is for the sake of self and the world: their moral life is natural, and not in the least spiritual (SD 5793-5795)
The Heavenly Doctrines, as will be seen from teaching presented in the next portion of this discussion, provide both general and particular standards whereby some sort of objective assessment can be made of a persons health of mind. Our attention is drawn to three general and related areas of use which ought to he integral parts of life: uses for sustaining the body, uses for perfecting the rational, and uses for receiving what is spiritual. More particularly, in regard to first and third areas, we are invited to take note of seven constituents of a healthy life internal and external: nourishment, clothing, habitation, recreation, enjoyment, protection, and preservation of state. (See DLW 330-333) To what degree and in what balance do these areas of use and their constituent parts appear in the life of a given individual?
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THE FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE TO MENTAL HEALTH OF MAINTAINING SOUND BODILY HEALTH
In keeping with the root meaning of the word health, the Heavenly Doctrine clearly associates health with wholeness (see for example AC 2581). For one to be whole or healthy the spiritual mind, the natural mind, and the body must all be in a sound condition, capable of functioning in correspondence and harmony with one another. This necessary relationship and the final use or purpose implicit in this relationship are presented in summary form in the following passages.
Inasmuch as the end of creation is an angelic heaven out of the human race, and thus the human race itself, all other created things are mediate ends, and these, as having relation to man, with a view to his conjunction with the Lord, refer themselves to these three things in him, his body, his rational, and his spiritual. For man cannot be conjoined to the Lord unless he be spiritual, nor can he be spiritual unless he be rational, nor can he be rational unless his body is in a sound state. These three are like a house; the body like the foundation, the rational like the superstructure, the spiritual like those things which are in the house, and conjunction with the Lord like dwelling in it. From this can be seen in what order, degree, and respect uses (which are the mediate ends of creation) have relation to man, namely, (1) for sustaining his body, (2) for perfecting his rational, (3) for receiving what is spiritual from the Lord (DLW 330).
Uses for sustaining the body relate to its nourishment, its clothing, its habitation, its recreation and enjoyment, its protection and the preservation of its state. The uses created for the nourishment of the body are all things of the vegetable kingdom suitable for food and drink, as fruits, grapes, grain, pulse, and herbs; in the animal kingdom all things which are eaten, as oxen, cows calves, deer, sheep, kids, goats, lambs, and the they yield; also fowls and fish of many kinds. The uses created for the clothing of the body are many other products of these two kingdoms;
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in like manner, the uses for habitation, also for recreation, enjoyment, protection, and preservation of state. These are not mentioned because they are well known, and their mere enumeration would fill pages. There are many things, to be sure, which are not used by man; but what is superfluous does not do away with the use, but ensures its continuance. Misuse of uses is also possible, but misuse does not do away with use, even as falsification of truth does not do away with truth except with those who falsify it (DLW 331).
Uses for perfecting the rational are all things that give instruction about the subjects above mentioned, and are called sciences and branches of study, pertaining to natural, economical, civil and moral affairs, which are learned either from parents and teachers, or from books, or from intercourse with others, or by reflection on these subjects by oneself. These things perfect the rational so far as they are uses in a higher degree, and they are permanent as far as they are applied to life. Space forbids enumeration of these uses, by reason both of their multitude and of their varied relation to the common good (DLW 332).
Uses for receiving the spiritual from the Lord, are all things that belong to religion and to worship therefrom; thus all things that teach the acknowledgment and knowledge of God and the knowledge and acknowledgment of good and truth and thus eternal life, which are acquired in the same way as other learning, from parents, teachers, discourses, and books and especially by applying to life what is so learned; and in the Christian world, by doctrines and discourses from the Word, and through the Word from the Lord. These uses in their full extent may be described under the same heads as the uses of the body, as nourishment, clothing, habitation recreation and enjoyment, and preservation of state, if only they are applied to the soul; as nutrition to goods of love, clothing to truths of wisdom, habitation to heaven, recreation and enjoyment to felicity of life and heavenly joy, protection to safety from infesting evils, and preservation of state to eternal life. All these things are given by the Lord according to the acknowledgment that all bodily things are also from the Lord, and that a man is only as a servant and house-steward appointed over the goods of his Lord (DLW 333).
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In order to appreciate the importance of having a sound body, if the mind is to be sound, one must have a right conception of what the mind is and how it is related to the body. Many teachings could be noted, but the following is sufficient to indicate very clearly that the mind, which involves mans will and understanding, while spiritual and discretely different from what is material, nevertheless is composed of organized substances and is not some abstract thing, airy or ethereal, without substance and form.
Because the will and understanding are the receptacles of love and wisdom, these two are organic forms, or forms organized out of the purest substances; for such they must be to be receptacles....
...How can love and wisdom, which are life from the Lord, act upon what is not a subject, or upon what has no substantial existence? Without organic forms, how can thought inhere; and from thought inherent in nothing can one speak? Is not the brain, where thought comes forth, complete and organized in every part?....
Do not, I pray, think of these things from an idea of vacuum. Vacuum is nothing, and in nothing nothing takes place, and from nothing nothing comes forth. (On the idea of vacuum, see above, n. 82) (DLW 373) (See DLW 40-43, 209, 257, 260; DP 279, 319; Div. Wis. V; AC 2487, 3318:2, 6326; AE 775)
As to how the organized spiritual substances of the mind affect the material substances of the body, which provides them with a natural clothing, let us note what is said in the following common teaching,
It is well known that the will and understanding rule the body at pleasure, for what the understanding thinks, the mouth speaks, and what the will wills, the body does. From this it is plain that the body is a form corresponding to the understanding and will.
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And because form also is predicated of understanding and will, it is plain that the form of the body corresponds to the form of the understanding and will. But this is not the place to describe the nature of these respective forms. In each form there are things innumerable; and these, in each of them, act as one, because they mutually correspond. It is from this that the mind (that is, the will and understanding) rules the body at its pleasure, thus as entirely as it rules its own self. From all this it follows that the interiors of the mind act as a one with the interiors of the body, and the exteriors of the mind with the exteriors of the body. (DLW 136)
In other passages relating the manner in which the mind, that is, mans willing and thinking affect and rule the body, our attention is drawn especially to the physical brains. Who could conclude otherwise than that the health of the brains must be a matter of central concern if the body as a whole is to be effectively governed by the mind? (cf. DLW 259)
Love and wisdom, and the will and understanding therefrom, make the very life of man (n. 363, 364). The life of man is in first principles in the brains, and in derivatives in the body (n. 365). Such as life is in first principles, such it is in the whole and in every part (n. 366). By means of these first principles life is in the whole from every part, and in every part from the whole (n. 367) (DLW 375).
In further explaining the manner in which the mind acts into and with the body our attention, in many passages is drawn to the overriding, dynamic correspondence that exists between the spiritual activities of will and understanding and the natural motions of the heart and lungs of the body. This important concept is introduced in the following teaching.
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There is a correspondence of the will and understanding with the heart and lungs, consequently a correspondence of all things of the mind with all things of the body. This is new: it has hitherto been unknown because it has not been known what the spiritual is, and how it differs from the natural; therefore it has not been known what correspondence is; for there is a correspondence between things spiritual and things natural, and by means of correspondence they are conjoined. It is said that heretofore there has been no knowledge of what the spiritual is, or of what its correspondence with the natural is, and therefore what correspondence is; yet these might have been known. Who does not know that affection and thought are spiritual, therefore that all things of affection and thought are spiritual? Who does not know that action and speech are natural, therefore that all things of action and speech are natural? Who does not know that affection and thought which are spiritual, cause man to act and to speak? From this who cannot see what correspondence is between things spiritual and things natural? Does not thought make the tongue speak, and affection together with thought make the body act? There are two distinct things: I can will without acting; and the body, it is known, neither thinks nor wills, but thought falls into speech, and will descends into action. Does not affection also beam forth from the face, and there exhibit a type of itself? This every one knows. Is not affection, regarded in itself, spiritual, and the change of countenance, called the expression, natural? From this who might not conclude that there is correspondence; and further, a correspondence of all things of the mind with all things of the body; and since all things of the mind have relation to affection and thought, or what is the same, to the will and understanding and all things of the body to the heart and lungs,--that there is a correspondence of the will with the heart and of the understanding with the lungs? (DLW 374)
Lest there be any doubt about this vital, corresponding relationship a whole series of passages is devoted to illustrating how the affections of our will affect our heart and pulse rate, the vital heat in the body, and even the color of our blood. In regard to the thoughts of our understanding, our attention is called to the obvious link between these and the respiration of our lungs, and the speech which comes forth from our lungs (see DLW 378-383).
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While the Word constantly emphasizes the fact that all the life of the body and all of its sensation, motion, speech and action are from the mind acting in the body, still the body and its health are a matter of great consequence. This was shown in a previous discussion where the effect of bodily impairment on rationality was under consideration (see DLW 259, 166; also DLW 330). The principle involved here is stated many times in the Word in various forms. The following are but two examples.
The mind ... behaves according to the state of the recipient parts that belong to the body, just as the sight is according to the state of the eye. (AC 8378)
Every ... influx is circumstanced in its subjects, or objects, according to their disposition, nature,
form... (SD 2149).
The general principle is that the influx or operation of the spiritual in the natural is according to the state or condition of the natural (See AC 3484; ISB 1, 12e, 13e; AE 349:3, 6; DP 98; SD 3635).
On this account it should not surprise us at all to find that the Word repeatedly announces the principle of a sound mind in a sound body.
A man must by all means care for his body, as that it may be nourished, and clothed, and may enjoy the delights of the world; but all these not for the sake of the body, but for the sake of the soul, namely, that the soul may act in a sound body correspondently and rightly, and may have the body as an organ entirely compliant to it.
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Thus the soul must be the end. Yet neither must the soul be the end, but only a mediate end, for the sake of the uses which it must perform in both worlds; and when a man has uses as the end, he has the Lord as the end, for the Lord makes disposition for uses, and disposes the uses themselves (AC 5949).
In speaking to the principle of sound mind in a sound body a number of subordinate principles are provided. Those people who are considering fasting or dieting would do well to bear in mind
such teaching as the following.
...The nutrition of a man ... has as its end that he may have a sound mind in a sound body. If man deprives his body of its nourishment, he deprives himself also of the condition needed for his end; and therefore he who is a spiritual man does not despise nourishment, nor even its pleasures; and yet he does not hold them as his end, but only as a means that is of service to his end. From this as an example we can judge of all other things (AC 3951:3).
Every one ought to take care of his body in respect to its food and clothing. This must come first, but to the end that there may be a sound mind in a sound body. And every one ought to take care of his mind in respect to its food, namely, in respect to such things as belong to intelligence and wisdom, to the end that his mind may thus be in a state to serve the Lord: he who does this, takes good care of himself for eternity. But he who takes care of his body merely for the sake of the body, and does not think of soundness of mind, and who does not take care of his mind in respect to such things as are of intelligence and wisdom, but in respect to such things as are contrary thereto, takes bad care of himself for eternity. From all this it is evident in what way every one ought to be neighbor to himself, namely, not in the first place but in the last; for the end must not be for himself, but for others; and where the end is, there is the first (AC 6936).
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The teaching just referred (AC 6936), in addition to emphasizing the need to take care of the body, establishes the principle that taking care of the body is not an end in itself. Just as one must avoid depriving the body of what it needs, so one must avoid making bodily well-being an overriding concern or mental health and spiritual health will suffer.
While, on the one hand, the principle of a sound mind in a sound body forbids the neglect of the body, so, on the other hand, it forbids the over-indulgence of the bodily appetites.
Take the nourishment of the body and the nourishment of the soul: one who is in merely external pleasures, makes much of himself, indulges his stomach, loves to live sumptuously, and makes the height of pleasure to consist in eatables and drinkables. One who is in internal things also finds pleasure in these things, but his ruling affection is to nourish his body with food pleasurably for the sake of its health, to the end that he may have a sound mind in a sound body, thus chiefly for the sake of the health of the mind, to which the health of the body serves as a means (AC 4459:6).
A new state begins in the man who is being regenerated, when the order is changed, as takes place when interior things obtain dominion over exterior things, and the exterior things begin to serve the interior, both as to the things of the intellect and as to those of the will. With those who are being regenerated, this is observed from the fact that something within dissuades them from allowing sensuous delights and bodily or earthly pleasures to reign, and to draw over to their side the things of the intellect to confirm them; and when this is the case the prior state is at its last, and the new state is at its first (AC 5159).
Such teachings as the following illustrate how over-indulgence of the bodily appetites not only undermines physical well being, but also erodes mental and spiritual health (See also AE 617a:2).
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CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE INHABITANTS OF JUPITER
As regards the taste of foods; they do not prepare their foods according to the taste, but according to the use afforded to the body. That which is more useful to the body is likewise to them the more savory and as it were the sweeter; in consequence, they are not carried away by the sense of taste into luxury by which the health of the body is undermined, and hence the mind, which is healthy in a healthy body, suffers. If the well-being of the body is consulted it is for the sake of the interior man. On our earth where the sense of taste rules, the case is different, and so the body becomes sick and the mind insane (SD 596).
They said moreover that they do not prepare their food with reference to the taste, but chiefly with reference to use; adding that the food which is useful is to them savory. There was a discourse among the spirits on this subject, and it was said that this is advantageous for man, because in this way he has at heart a sound mind in a sound body; otherwise than with those with whom the taste rules, for then the body sickens, at the least is inwardly languid, and consequently also the mind, because this behaves according to the state of the recipient parts that belong to the body, just as the sight is according to the state of the eye. Hence the insanity of placing all the delight of life, and what they call the summum bonum, in luxury and pleasure. From this also comes corpulence in matters of thought and judgment; and quickness in the things of the body and the world. This results in the man having a likeness to a brute animal, with which also such persons do not unsuitably compare themselves (AC 8378).
The dangers involved in over-indulging the senses of smell, taste and touch are of such a magnitude that we are told that in heaven these....
senses with the angels are less exquisite than the senses of seeing and hearing, for the reason that seeing and hearing serve their intelligence and wisdom, but the rest do not; and if the other senses were equally exquisite they would detract from the light and joy of their wisdom, and would let in the delight of pleasures pertaining to various appetites and to the body;
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and so far as these prevail they obscure and weaken the understanding. This takes place in the world, with men who become gross and stupid as regards spiritual truths so far as they are indulgent to the sense of taste and the allurements of the sense of bodily touch (HH 462a:2).
The critical relationship between mental health and bodily health is summed up very concisely in the work on The Divine Providence,
No one is reformed in a state of bodily disease, because the reason is not then in a free state; for the state of the mind depends upon the state of the body. When the body is sick the mind is also sick, because of its separation from the world if for no other reason (DP 142).
Speaking specifically of food, the essential mind-body relationship relative to health is simply expressed as follows:
Material food does not penetrate to the mind, but only to the things of the body, which that food sustains to the end that this mind may enjoy its food while the body enjoys its food, that is, that this mind may be sound in a sound body (AC 5293).
SOUND MENTAL HEALTH FOR THE PURPOSE OF ETERNAL RECEPTION OF WHAT IS CELESTIAL AND SPIRITUAL.
In most of the teachings presented above, relating to the principle of a sound mind in a sound body, an even more important principle is either openly stated or clearly implied. Health of body and health of the natural mind have no other enduring purpose than to serve as a foundation and habitation for a spiritual mind that is eternally healthy and happy. This is beautifully outlined in The Divine Love and Wisdom (DLW 330-333).
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The following passages are introduced to further strengthen and confirm this teaching, also to emphasize the fact that health of body, mind and soul of any individual has as its final end or use the health of the Lords kingdom in both worlds, and above all, the service of the Lord.
One who is being regenerated likewise loves the things of the body and also the things of the world, but for a higher or more interior end; for he loves the things of the body with the end of having a sound mind in a sound body, and he loves his mind and its soundness with an end still more interior--that he may relish (or be wise in) good and understand truth. Like other men he too loves the things of the world; but he loves them for the sake of the end that through the world, its wealth, possessions, and honors, he may have the means of doing what is good and true, and what is just and fair (AC 5159:3).
One who is a spiritual man does not rest here, but regards the health of the mind or soul as a means for the acquisition of intelligence and wisdom--not for the sake of reputation, honors, and gain, but for the sake of the life after death. One who is spiritual in a more interior degree regards intelligence and wisdom as a mediate end having for its object that he may serve as a useful member in the Lords kingdom; and one who is a celestial man, that he may serve the Lord. To such a one bodily food is a means for the enjoyment of spiritual food, and spiritual food is a means for the enjoyment of celestial food; and as they ought to serve in this manner, these foods also correspond, and are therefore called foods (AC 4459:6).
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PART II
THE HUMAN MIND AND ITS ENVIRONMENTHEREDITY
THE HUMAN MIND AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
For a person to enjoy a full and proper use of his Divinely given faculties of freedom and rationality, it is important that he have some idea of the substance and form of the human mind in its various degrees, discrete and continuous. Rationality demands that we understand in some measure how we are related, and how we ought to be related, to our Lord and to our human associates, spiritual and natural. In order to lay something of a foundation for this understanding, we have included as appendices a brief summation of the Conditions for Freedom of Choice and several tentative diagrams of the human soul and mind from the time of conception to the period of spiritual maturity.
Such summations and diagrams, however, cannot begin to adequately describe the structure and functioning of the human mind, unless a more specific idea is gained of the two most dynamic factors affecting the conscious mind, heredity and environment. From the Word alone will we discover what we need to know about our spiritual heredity and the spiritual environment which serves in the implantation of remains or states of love from the Lord.
In what follows, by means of a series of questions and answers, we will seek to draw from the Heavenly Doctrine the leading teachings relating to heredity and remains. It is hoped that such a discussion will lead to a clearer understanding of what is from the Lord in our mind, what is from others, and what may be regarded as our own.
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In the present discussion, while the central focus will be hereditary tendencies to evil, other related issues will be introduced such as the place of self-love, of self-esteem, the distinction between hereditary and actual evil, and the existence and character of hereditary or natural good.
HEREDITY
While there are exceptions, most passages in the Word for the New Church, when discussing our spiritual heredity, speak of hereditary evil. The simple reason for this is that since the end of the Most Ancient Church the spiritual heredity of mankind on this earth is predominantly evil. The following description of the Most Ancient Church at its end describes very well the predominant character of mans heredity at this day.
And Jehovah saw that the evil of man was multiplied in the earth, and that all the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil every day (Genesis 6:5; cf. Genesis 8:21).
1) WHERE DO WE GET OUR HEREDITARY EVIL?
The Word notes that it is believed in the church at this day that all hereditary evil is from the first parent, and that all are therefore condemned in regard thereto (AC 4317). It is thought that because Adam sinned, man at this day is dead in sin. According to this concept our more immediate ancestors bear no responsibility one way or another for the condition of our heredity today.
The Heavenly Doctrine, however, shows that everyone, in every generation, male or female, contributes very directly, either in a negative or positive way, to the hereditary condition of their offspring.
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Hereditary evil derives its origin from every ones parents and parents parents, or from grandparents and ancestors successively (AC 4317; see DLW 269; DP 277a)
2) IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HEREDITY RECEIVED THROUGH THE FATHER AND THAT RECEIVED THROUGH THE MOTHER? IF SO, WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES?
The hereditary evil from the father is more inward, and the hereditary evil from the mother is more outward. The former cannot be easily rooted out, but the latter can (AC 4317).The infirm nature which a man derives hereditarily from his mother, is something corporeal [relating to the body] that is dispersed when he is being regenerated, while that which a man derives from his father remains to eternity (AC 1414, see AC 1444, 1573).
Man is born into interior evil from his father, and into exterior evil from his mother (AC 4644).
The affections of the father and mother are connate and innate in the offspring; but those of the father are interior and therefore unfold themselves after a longer time, while those of the mother are exterior and therefore unfold themselves within a shorter time (SD 83).
3) WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THIS DIFFERENCE IN WHAT IS RECEIVED FROM THE FATHER BY HEREDITY AND WHAT IS RECEIVED FROM THE MOTHER?
In order to understand the distinction between mans two heredities, we must understand what each parent contributes to the conception of a child in its mothers womb.
...the conception of a man from his father is not a conception of life, but only a conception of the first and purest form capable of receiving life; and to this, as to a nucleus or starting-point in the womb, are successively added substances and matters in forms adapted to the reception of life, in their order and degree (DLW 6).
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...the soul of the offspring is from the father, and its clothing from the mother (CL 206).
Man, by inheritance, derives evil from the father, from whom he has a soul that is clothed with a body in the mother. For the seed, which is from the father, is the first receptacle of life, but such a receptacle as it was with the father; for the seed is in the form of his love, and each ones love is, in things greatest and least, similar to itself; and there is in the seed a conatus to the human form, and by successive steps it goes forth into that form. From this it follows that evils called hereditary are from fathers, thus from grandfathers and great-grandfathers successively transmitted to offspring (DLW 269; for full discussion see DP 277a).
In brief, the heredity of the father is impressed upon the outer structure of the soul itself in the seed, whereas, the heredity of the mother is impressed upon the ovum and what is used to clothe the soul with the material body. Does this mean that the maternal heredity is of no consequence? Not at all! The teaching regarding what the Lord received from Mary, and its effect, should certainly remove any doubt in this respect (see AC 1573, 1444).
Also it should be recalled from the discussion on health of mind and body that influx is according to the state, disposition, nature or form of its receiving vessel. The maternal heredity, impressed as it is on everything of the body, has a very great influence as regards how the spirit of man is able to act into the body, and through the body, produce its effects.
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4) WHERE IN THE MIND DO ALL HEREDITARY EVILS HAVE THEIR SEAT? IS OUR SOUL ALL BAD FROM BIRTH, OK IS THERE SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT IT?
In order that we may see our soul and mind in proper perspective and correctly appreciate the conditions that the Lord has provided for the exercise of freedom and rationality, we must know that hereditary evils are not impressed on the interior degrees of our soul. They are not in the internal or inmost of man, which is the Lords own dwelling place with us, nor are they in the interior or rational man where remains, states of affection from the Lord, are imprinted from birth onwards. Hereditary evils are impressed upon the outer structures of the soul, they reside in the outermosts of the exterior or natural degree (see DLW 432).
Hereditary evils have their seat in his natural and sensual, but not in the spiritual; consequently the natural man, and especially the sensual man, is the opposite of the spiritual.... As all evils have their seat in the natural and sensual man it follows that falsities do also, because all falsities are of evil; for when man lusts and wills from evils, he thinks and speaks from falsity (AE 543b:4; AE 739:3; see also SD 2157).
...the evils of parents, which are called hereditary evils, especially lie hidden in children ... in ultimates or in the sensual man (AE 556:10).
All evils and their falsities, both engendered and acquired, have their seat in the natural mind. Evils and their falsities have their seat in the natural mind, because that mind is, in form or image, a world; while the spiritual mind in its form or image is a heaven, and in heaven evil cannot be entertained. The spiritual mind, therefore, is not opened from birth, but is only in the capability of being opened. Moreover, the natural mind derives its form in part from substances of the natural world; but the spiritual mind from substances of the spiritual world only; and this mind is preserved in its integrity by the Lord, in order that man may be capable of becoming a man;
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for man is born an animal, but he becomes a man. The natural mind, with all its belongings, is coiled into gyres from right to left, but the spiritual mind into gyres from left to right; the two thus curving in directions contrary to each other--a proof that evil has its seat in the natural mind, and that of itself it acts against the spiritual mind. Moreover, the gyration from right to left is turned downward, thus towards hell, but the gyration from left to right tends upward, thus toward heaven (DLW 270).
These teachings are of tremendous significance in helping us to appreciate how a person in adult life can act in freedom in accordance with reason. Since hereditary tendencies are impressed only in the outermosts of the exterior or natural degree of the mind, or in the sensual especially, when the interiors of the natural mind are opened and developed to their highest point which is the rational, a person in their natural thinking can be raised above hereditary inclination with its characteristic false thought. Then by means of light out of the spiritual degrees of the mind the person can enjoy an interior thought from which he can view his exterior thought, reflect upon it and pass judgment on it, deciding whether it is evil or not evil (DP 104). In short, with hereditary evils seated in the exteriors of the mind, a person, if they will, can look down on them from an elevated perspective and choose whether or not they will become of their life. As will be noted in a subsequent part of the discussion, this Divinely provided arrangement in the human mind makes possible the implantation of remains in a situation of safety. For remains are not lodged in mans exteriors, but in his interiors. They are able, in childhood, to be kept quite separate from hereditary inclinations and therefore can be used by the Lord to offset the influence of ones perverse heredity.
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5) HOW DO EVILS BECOME IMPRESSED OK IMPRINTED ON THE EXTERNAL OF OUR SOUL SO AS TO BECOME A PART OF OUR CHILDRENS HEREDITY?
Every evil which they [parents] have acquired by actual lifer even so that by frequent use or habit it has become like a nature, is derived into the children, and becomes hereditary, together with that which had been implanted in the parents from grandparents and ancestors (AC 4317; see AC 8550).
Such things as have come to be of the love, and consequently of the life, are engendered in offspring (DLW 269).
6) WHEN THE WORD SPEAKS OP HEREDITARY EVILS, WHAT IS MEANT? WHAT IS IT THAT CHILDREN RECEIVE FROM PARENTS?
...They do not derive or inherit from them their actual affections and thence their loves, but only inclinations thereto and also faculties (CL 202).
Man is not born into actual evils, but only into an inclination to evils, but with a greater or less proclivity towards particular evils;... (TCR 521).
7) AS A RESULT OF HEREDITARY TENDENCIES TO EVIL BEING TRANSMITTED FROM PARENTS TO CHILDREN OVER MANY SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS, WHAT IS THE QUALITY AT BIRTH OF THE NATURAL MAN AT THIS DAY?
...The derivation of evil has at last become so great, that all of mans own life is nothing else than evil (AC 8550; see AC 3701:2)
...Evils are derived from parents successively, and ... they increase through the accumulations of one parent after another, until man by birth is nothing but evil; also ... the malignity of evil increases according to the degree in which the spiritual mind is closed up (DLW 269).
There is nothing sound in man, but he is altogether evil. Who has any feeling that it is wrong to love himself more than others? Who then knows that it is evil? And yet this is the head of all evils (DP 277a; cf. SD 2424).
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Other passages modify the above teaching in some degree, speaking in terms of, most people etc. (see for example AC 3469:4).
Several passages bring both teachings together, speaking to the general state of our natural man at this day before regeneration but also noting that there are exceptions.
The will of man has continually been depraved, and at last so that evil has taken entire possession of it, insomuch that nothing sound (integer) has remained there.... There are few with whom there is anything sound left in the will part [of the external or natural man] (AC 6296:2; SD 4719).
8) WHILE A PERSON AT THIS DAY MAY BE INCLINED FROM HEREDITY TO EVERY GENUS AND SPECIES OF EVIL, WHAT FACTORS MAY CAUSE A CERTAIN GE~NUS OR SPECIES OF EVIL TO BE EXCITED MORE THAN OTHERS?
Further that there is an inclination in every man to every genus and species of evil, because there is such a multiplication; wherefore, when man grows up, then by his actuality are excited those genera or those species of evil, that happen according to his societies, actions, thoughts. Wherefore, man by nature inclines to every genus and species of evil, and from the determination of actuality is borne into this or that, and so multiplies (his) genus and species, according to generations and families (SD 2425; see TCR 120:2).
It is clear that we have some responsibility in the matter of what evils will be aroused. The kind of company we keep, the evils we allow to come into act, and the phantasies we indulge all have their effect.
9) TO WHAT GENUS OR SPECIES OF EVIL WILL WE MOST LIKELY BE INCLINED?
[We] are more prone and ready for one genus or one species of evil because it has prevailed in parents (SD 2426)
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The effect on children of the fathers heredity, and especially of his ruling love, has already been noted in answer to question number three (see DLW 269; DP 277a). It need only be noted in addition what is taught in many other passages regarding the effect of the heredity of both parents.
The ruling love of parents by means of an offshoot is derived from them and transcribed into the offspring and becomes its nature (AE 989:2, AE 1002:a).
10) IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE TEACHINGS, MAY A DIFFERENT GENUS OR SPECIES OF EVIL THAN PREVAILED IN OUR PARENTS BECOME DOMINANT IN US?
...Still a man can be bent to a genus or species of another evil (SD 2426).
The factors that may so bend us were noted in answer to question number eight: his societies, actions, thoughts.
11) AS A RESULT OF OUR NATURAL HEREDITY HAVING BECOME AS DEPRAVED
AND DISTORTED AS IT IS AT THIS DAY, WHAT IMPORTANT FACULTY DO WE NOT NATURALLY OR SPONTANEOUSLY POSSESS THAT WAS ENJOYED BY PEOPLE IN MOST ANCIENT TIMES?
Hereditary evil like a root lies deeply hidden, for the very inward form [of the natural man] that receives from heaven (that is through heaven from the Lord) what is good and true, is depraved, and so to speak, distorted; so that when good and truth flow in from the Lord, they are either reflected, or perverted, or suffocated. It is from this cause that no perception of good and truth exists at this day (AC 4317:5; see AC 3701:2).
Again the familiar teaching regarding influx applies. Influx is according to the state of the receiving vessel. Unlike the Most Ancients in their state of integrity, our natural mind, corrupted as it is by a predominant inclination to selfishness and worldliness, does not properly receive and respond to what inflows from the Lord.
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We have no spontaneous perception of what is orderly, of what is loving, wise and useful. Only in the final stages of regeneration is there something of restoration to the natural mind of a spontaneous perception of what is good and true.
12) IF WE DARE NOT TRUST OUR INSTINCTUAL OR NATURAL AFFECTIONS AND THOUGHTS TO ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT IS GOOD AND TRUE, WHAT HOPE IS THERE THAT WE MAY EVER COME TO EMBRACE WHAT IS GOOD AND TRUE AND BE LED TO HEAVEN?
The answer to this question will be involved in almost everything that is said in a subsequent discussion of remains. For the present let us merely note that through the implantation of remains from the Lord in our interior man, and through the knowledges from the Word introduced into our external man by means of teachers and masters, the beginnings of a new will or conscience can be built up in our understanding. From this we are able to acknowledge what is good and true from the Lord. This is the hope of the great majority of the people born today. (see AC 4317 and many other teachings) (Regarding Conscience see AC 4167, 6207; SD (minor) 4545, 46.)
13) IF OUR HEREDITY IS AS BAD AS THE WORD TEACHES, WHERE DO INFANTS AND LITTLE CHILDREN GET THEIR OBVIOUS INNOCENCE?
Hereditary evil does not manifest itself until the man becomes an adult and acts from his understanding and the derivative will, and meanwhile it lies hidden, especially during infancy. Infants are led by the Lord by means of infants and angels from Him in heaven and hence they appear in a state of innocence while hereditary evil still lurks in everything they do (AC 4563:2).
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This same passage notes that the innocence that we observe in infancy is without, and hereditary evil is within the external man. Thus it is an innocence in externals.
In another passage we are told that the inclinations from the parents ...are encompassed with the honesties that belong to moral life and with the goodnesses that belong partly to the civil and partly to the spiritual life. These constitute the external of life even with the wicked. Into this external of life every infant is born, and consequently is loveable... (DP 277a:4).
Still other passages report that the influence of hell is largely withheld from infants and children. As a result hereditary inclinations are not aroused in the measure that they will be in a later state of life (see AC 2295, 5857).
14) IN GENERAL NOTHING CAN EXIST THAT CANNOT BE TURNED TO SOME USE. CAN WE THEN REGARD OUR HEREDITY AS TOTALLY USELESS, OR CAN IT TOO BE TURNED TO SOME USE?
Speaking of infants and children the Word reveals that this hereditary evil yields them nourishment, or is as a nurse, until the time when they judge for themselves (AC 4563:2; see AC 4063).
Again in the same passage it is said that hereditary evil acts as a nurse from earliest infancy to the age of new infancy... [or the beginning of the regenerate life when it is to be expelled] (AC 4563:2, 3).
How this is to be understood is explained in various passages where it is described how our perverted natural tendencies to love ourselves and the world can be used by the Lord before regeneration not only to provide for the maintenance and development of the body, but also for the maintenance and development of the natural mind.
15) IF HEREDITARY EVIL, AND PRINCIPALLY THE TENDENCIES TO LOVE SELF MORE THAN OTHERS AND THE WORLD MORE THAN HEAVEN, CAN BE TURNED BY THE LORD TO SERVE FOR USE IN A CHILDS DEVELOPMENT, WHAT ATTITUDE SHOULD WE TAKE TOWARDS ITS MANIFESTATION IN THE YOUNG? WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH IT?
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We are told that as a child grows to boyhood or youth he passes from the loveable external of his infancy to the interior tendencies of his heredity, and finally to the ruling love of his father; and if this has been evil, and has not by various means been tempered and bent by his teachers, it becomes his love as it was the fathers (DP 277a:4).
That such an entrance by children into a hereditary love may be discouraged and that the actual thoughts and deeds of their parents may not follow, it is of the Divine Providence that depraved inclinations can be corrected and that the faculty for this has been implanted, from which comes the efficacy of the correction of their morals by parents and masters, and later, when they come to act from their own judgement, by themselves (CL 202).
16) IF PARENTS AND TEACHERS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO TRY TO TEMPER, BEND AND CORRECT HEREDITARY INCLINATIONS, WHAT EVILS IN THE YOUNG SHOULD BE OF SPECIAL CONCERN?
It is obvious that the ten commandments as explained in the Arcana Coelestia, the Apocalypse Explained and the True Christian Religion provide us with the dearest possible guide in this matter.
There are however, numerous other teachings which focus on specific evils in a most powerful manner. What responsible adult, having charge of children, can fail to note the implications of the following teachings?
These three things, especially,... adulteries, the love of ruling, and deceit ... those shun who will be of the New Jerusalem (SD 6053).
A few words shall be added to further explain how the case herein is. In man there is no pure good, that is, good with which evil is not mingled; nor pure truth, with which falsity is not mingled.
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For mans will is nothing but evil, from which there continually flows falsity into his understanding; because, as is well known, man receives by inheritance the evil successively accumulated by his progenitors, and from this he produces evil in an actual form, and makes it his own, and adds thereto more evil of himself. But the evils with man are of various kinds; there are evils with which goods cannot be mingled, and there are evils with which they can be mingled; and it is the same with the falsities. Unless this were so, no man could possibly be regenerated. The evils and falsities with which goods and truths cannot be mingled, are such as are contrary to love to God and love toward the neighbor; namely, hatreds, revenges, cruelties, and a consequent contempt for others in comparison with ones self; and also the consequent persuasions of falsity. But the evils and falsities with which goods and truths can be mingled, are those which are not contrary to love to God and love toward the neighbor. For example: If any one loves himself more than others, and from this love studies to excel others in moral and civic life, in memory-knowledges and doctrinal things, and to be exalted to dignities and wealth in pre-eminence to others, and yet acknowledges and adores God, performs kind offices to his neighbor from the heart, and does what is just and fair from conscience; the evil of this love of self is one with which good and truth can be mingled; for it is an evil that is mans own, and that is born hereditarily; and to take it away from him suddenly would be to extinguish the fire of his first life. But the man who loves himself above others, and from this love despises others in comparison with himself, and hates those who do not honor and as it were adore him, and therefore feels a consequent delight of hatred in revenge and cruelty--the evil of such a love as this is one with which good and truth cannot be mingled, for they are contraries (AC 3993:8, 9).
17) FROM THE LATTER PART OF THE ABOVE PASSAGE THE TEACHING IS CLEAR THAT THERE ARE SOME FORMS OF LOVE OF SELF AND OF THE WORLD WHICH, ALTHOUGH INTERNALLY CORRUPT, MAY NEVERTHELESS SERVE AN IMPORTANT USE PRIOR TO REGENERATION. HOW SHALL WE RESPOND TO TEACHING SUCH AS THIS? WHAT BEARING HAS THIS TEACHING ON THE MOVEMENT IN WESTERN SOCIETY TO PROMOTE SELF LOVE, SELF ESTEEM OR A GOOD SELF IMAGE?
On one hand it is clear that while we must firmly discourage the more damaging forms of selfish and worldly love, we must deal more gently with the less damaging so as not to extinguish the fire of the childs first life.
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On the other hand it is equally obvious that instruction must be given as to the fundamental character of love of self and of the world as they are inherited by people at this day. Encouragement must be given to seek to be led into those forms of these loves which may serve the higher loves which look to the service of the Lord and His kingdom. This is extremely important in todays world where people are constantly urged to love themselves, to feel good about themselves, to express themselves, realize themselves, actualize themselves and, generally to cultivate a good self image.
What then is an appropriate expression of love of self and love of the world?
It has been said that the love of self and the love of the world are hell, but the source of those loves shall now be explained. Man was created to love self and the world, to love the neighbor and heaven, and to love the Lord. For this reason when a man is born he first loves himself and the world, and afterwards, so far as he becomes wise, he loves the neighbor and heaven, and as he becomes still wiser he loves the Lord. Such a man is in the Divine order, and is actually led by the Lord although apparently by himself. But so far as he is not wise he stops in the first degree, which is to love himself and the world; and if he loves the neighbor, heaven, and the Lord it is for the sake of self before the world. But if is wholly unwise he loves himself alone, and the world and also the neighbor for the sake of self; while heaven and the Lord he either despises or denies or hates in heart, if not in words. These are the origins of the love of self and of the love of the world, and as these loves are hell, it is evident whence hell is (AE 1144:2).
The reason why the love of self and love of the world are infernal loves, and yet man has been able to come into them and thus subvert the will and understanding within him, is as follows:
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the love of self and the love of the world by creation are heavenly loves; for they are loves of the natural man serviceable to spiritual loves, as a foundation is to a house. For man, from the love of self and the world, seeks the welfare of his body, desires food, clothing, and habitation, is solicitous for the welfare of his family, and to secure employment for the sake of use, and even, in the interest of obedience, to be honored according to the dignity of the affairs which he administers, and to find delight and refreshment in worldly enjoyment; yet all this for the sake of the end which must be use. For through these things man is in a state to serve the Lord and to serve the neighbor. When, however, there is no love of serving the Lord and serving the neighbor, but only a love of serving himself by means of the world, then from being heavenly that love becomes hellish, for it causes a man to sink his mind and disposition in what is his own, and that in itself is wholly evil (DLW 396).
It is clear from these teachings that love of self and love of the world cannot be ignored nor can they be wholly suppressed. Prior to their deliberate corruption by the most ancient people, they were naturally good loves. Today from birth they are hell with man, and if they are permitted to dominate in the human mind they will destroy a person eternally. Still they are the first of life with a person prior to regeneration and, as such, are a reality that must be dealt with, indeed, bent to service or use. What use? As noted in the Divine Love and Wisdom (396) they are to serve spiritual loves as a foundation serves a house. For man, from the love of self and the world, seeks the welfare of his body, desires food, clothing, and habitation, is solicitous for the welfare of his family, and to secure employment for the sake of use, and even, in the interest of obedience, to be honored according to the dignity of the affairs which he administers, and to find delight and refreshment in worldly enjoyment; yet all this for the sake of the end, which must be use.
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For through these things man is in a state to serve the Lord and to serve the neighbor.
Speaking more generally we might say that these loves are to be bent to the uses of sustaining the body (ones own and that of others), to perfecting the rational (ones own and that of others), and to receiving what is spiritual from the Lord (for oneself and for others) (cf. DLW 327-335). We might therefore conclude that while the self per se deserves no love, respect or esteem, still love, respect, esteem and a good image are in order for an individual when and to the degree that the self has been bent to the performance of these uses.
Still, remembering the teachings noted in respect to question sixteen (SD 6053; AC 3993:8, 9) this conclusion must be modified. While bending the love of self and the world to the various uses mentioned above, certain evils must be shunned altogether, such as adulteries of various kinds, unlawful manipulation or domination of others, and malignant deceit (See SD 6053), also hatreds, revenges, cruelties, and consequent arrogance or contempt for others in comparison with oneself; also the false persuasions that arise from these attitudes and actions (see AC 3993:8, 9). As noted in the teachings, these evil and false things are of such a diabolical character that the Lord cannot associate or mingle anything of good and truth with them. They are wholly contrary to love the Lord and service to the neighbor.
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When they dominate in any state of a child or an adult, uses performed do not serve as a foundation for any sort of mental house in which the Lord can later dwell with man. In the measure that these evils and false things exist and appear in an individuals life, in the same measure self love, respect, esteem and a good self image are inappropriate. To encourage these things with an individual in a state of mind that casts love to the Lord and to the neighbor into exile, is to help the individual on the road to hell, not heaven. As noted in the Divine Love and Wisdom (396), when however, there is no love of serving the Lord and serving the neighbor but only love of serving himself by means of the world, then from being heavenly that love [of self] becomes hellish, for it causes a man to sink his mind and disposition in what is his own, and that in itself is wholly evil.
The following series of teachings from the Doctrine of Charity deliberately addresses the issue of self concern and places it in its proper relation to concern for the neighbor as the neighbor exists in various degrees and contexts.
It is a common saying that every one is neighbor to himself, that is, that one should take care of himself first of all. The doctrine of charity teaches how the case herein is. Every one is neighbor to himself, not in the first, but in the last place. In a prior place are others who are in good; in a still prior place is a society of many; in a place still prior is our country; in a place still prior is the church; in a place still prior is the Lords kingdom; and above all men and all things is the Lord.
The saying that every one is neighbor to himself and that he must take care of himself first of all, is to be understood in this way. Every one must make provision for himself so as to have the necessaries of life, as food, clothing, a place to dwell in, and other things which are necessarily required in the civil life where he is;
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and this not only for himself, but also for his family; and not only for the present time, but also for the future. Unless each person procures for himself the necessaries of life, he cannot be in a state to exercise charity toward the neighbor, for he is in need of all things.
The end in view declares in which way each person must be neighbor to himself, and must first of all take care of himself. If the end is that he may become richer than others merely for the sake of riches, pleasure, eminence, and the like, the end is evil; and therefore he who from such an end believes he is neighbor to himself, injures himself to eternity. But if the end is that he may acquire wealth for the sake of the necessaries of life, for himself and for his family, so as to be in a state to do what is good according to the commandments of the doctrine of charity, he takes care of himself for eternity. The end itself makes the man, for the end is his love, because every one has as the end that which he loves.
How the case herein is can be further seen from this similar example. Every one ought to take care of his body in respect to its food and clothing. This must come first, but to the end that there may be a sound mind in a sound body. And every one ought to take care of his mind in respect to its food, namely, in respect to such things as belong to intelligence and wisdom, to the end that his mind may thus be in a state to serve the Lord; he who does this, takes good care of himself for eternity. But he who takes care of his body merely for the sake of the body, and does not think of soundness of mind, and who does not take care of his mind in respect to such things as are of intelligence and wisdom, but in respect to such things as are contrary thereto, takes bad care of himself for eternity. From all this it is evident in what way every one ought to be neighbor to himself, namely, not in the first place but in the last; for the end must not be for himself, but for others; and where the end is, there is the first.
Moreover the case herein is like that of a man who is building a house. He must first lay the foundation; but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for a place to dwell in. And so every one must first take care of himself, yet not for himself, but in order that he may be in a state to be of service to the neighbor, thus to his country, to the church and above all to the Lord.
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He who believes that he is neighbor to himself in the first place, is like one who regards the foundation as the end, and not the house and dwelling in it; when yet the dwelling is the very first and last end, and the house together with its foundation is only a means to an end.
As is the case with possessions, so also is it with honors in the world: every one is at liberty to provide himself with these also, yet not for the sake of himself, but for the sake of the neighbor; he who provides them for the sake of himself, provides ill for himself; but he who provides them for the sake of the neighbor, provides well for himself. For he who turns his ends to himself, turns himself toward hell; but he who turns his ends from himself to the neighbor, turns himself toward heaven (AC 6933-38).
Considering what is said of the dominant state of the human mind before regeneration, we might wonder how it is possible to bring the loves of self and the world into a state of subordination such that they truly serve the neighbor in the first place and oneself in the last. The following powerful teaching describes how the Lord in His mercy has provided for a process of regeneration whereby step by step, state by state, we may be led from a predominant state of selfishness and worldliness to a state of genuine love and charity. This is clearly a lifelong process (see AC 5354:3, 4063:3, 4136), but, fortunately for man, the Lord has infinite patience. Surely parents, teachers, and adults generally should give special attention to teachings such as this. Here is the Divine wisdom needed to help us guide the child and adolescent and to be led ourselves by the Lord toward a life of charity, all the while having realistic expectations in regard to the motivation, thought and activity of which a person is capable in any given state of development.
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It is known that man is born into the nature of his parents, and of his grandfathers and also of those who have been his ancestors for ayes; thus he is born into the hereditary evil of them all successively accumulated insomuch that as regards what is from himself he is nothing but evil. The result of this is that as to both understanding and will man has been utterly destroyed; and of himself wills nothing of good, and consequently understands nothing of truth; and therefore that which he calls good and believes to be good, is evil; and that which he calls truth and believes to be truth, is falsity. For example: loving himself above others; desiring better for himself than for others; coveting what belongs to another; taking thought for himself alone, and not for others except for the sake of himself. As of himself man is desirous of these things he therefore calls them goods, and also truths; and what is more, if any one injures or endeavors to injure him in respect to these goods and truths as he calls them, he hates him, and also burns with revenge, toward him, desires and even seeks his ruin, and feels delight in it, and this in proportion as he actually confirms himself in such things, that is, in proportion as he more frequently brings them into actual exercise. [3] When such a person comes into the other life he has the same desires; the very nature which he has contracted in the world by actual life remains, and the delight just referred to is plainly perceived. For this reason such a man cannot be in any heavenly society, in which every one desires better for others than for himself, but has to be in some infernal society where the delight is similar to his own. This nature is that which must be rooted out while the man lives in the world, which cannot possibly be done except by the Lord through regeneration; that is, by his receiving a totally new will and derivative new understanding; or in other words by being made new in respect to both these faculties. But in order that this may be effected, the man must first of all be reborn as a little child, and must learn what is evil and false, and also what is good and true; for without knowledge he cannot be imbued with any good; for from himself he acknowledges nothing to be good but what is evil, and nothing to be true but what is false. [4] To this end such knowledges are insinuated into him as are not altogether contrary to those which he had before; as that all love begins from self; that self is to be taken care of first and then others; that good is to be done to such as appear poor and distressed outwardly, no matter what may be their inward character;
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in like manner that good is to be done to widows and orphans simply because they are so called; and lastly, to enemies in general, whoever they may be; and that thereby a man may merit heaven. These and other such knowledges are those of infancy of his new life, and are of such a nature that while they derive somewhat from his former life or the nature of his former life, they also derive somewhat from his new life into which he is thereby being introduced; and hence they are such as to admit into them whatever things are conducive to the formation of a new will and a new understanding. These are the lowest goods and truths, from which those who are being regenerated commence, and because these admit into themselves truths that are more interior or nearer to Divine truths, by their means there may also be rooted out the falsities which the man had before believed to be truths. [5] But they who are being regenerated do not learn such truths simply as memory-knowledges, but as life, for they do these truths; but that they do them is from the beginning of the new will which the Lord insinuates entirely without their knowledge; and in so far as they receive of this new will, so far they receive of these knowledges, and bring them into act, and believe them; but in so far as they do not receive of the new will, so far they are indeed capable of learning such things, but not of bringing them into act, because they care merely for memory-knowledge, and not for life. [6] This is the state of infancy and childhood in respect to the new life which is about to succeed in place of the former life; but the state of the adolescence and youth of this life is that regard is no longer had to any person as he appears in the external form but to his quality in respect to good; first in civil life, next in moral life, and lastly in spiritual life; and good is that which the man then begins to hold and love in the prior place, and from good to love the person; and at last, when he is still further perfected, he takes care to do good to those who are in good, and this in accordance with the quality of the good in them, and at last he feels delight in doing good to them, because he feels delight in good, and pleasantness in the things that confirm it. These confirmatory things he acknowledges as truths; and they also are the truths of his new understanding, which flow from the goods which are of his new will. [7] In the degree that he feels delight in this good, and pleasantness in these truths, he has a feeling of what is undelightful in the evils of his former life, and of what is unpleasing in its falsities; and the result is that a separation takes place of the things which are of the former will and the former understanding from the things that are of the new will and the new understanding;
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and this not in accordance with the affection of knowing such things, but in accordance with the affection of doing them (AC 3701:2-7; See AC 3688).
18) WHILE OTHER PEOPLE MAY SEE INDICATIONS OF THE CHARACTER OF OUR HEREDITY IN ALMOST ANY PERIOD OF OUR LIFE, WHEN ARE WE LIKELY TO FIRST BEGIN TO NOTICE OUR HEREDITARY EVIL AS BEING EVIL?
...It does not manifest itself until the man becomes an adult and acts from his understanding and the derivative will,... (AC 4563:2; cp. AC 3603:5).
Even in the spiritual world this development can be expected. In noting the purpose for this manifestation there, our attention is called to one of the important reasons why our tendencies are allowed to appear in this world.
It is not therefore for the sake of punishment that the little children on becoming adult are remitted into the state of their hereditary evil; but that they may know that of themselves they are nothing but evil, and that it is of the Lords mercy that they are taken away from the hell that is with them into heaven (AC 2308).
It is to be observed that a child, while thinking from others, may be aware of hereditary traits, but a sustained awareness of the real nature of their heredity is possible only when some degree of maturity is achieved and young adults are able to think from themselves and initiate for themselves some self-examination (See AC 3701:2, 3; DP 104, 105).
19) WHEN IT BECOMES POSSIBLE TO IDENTIFY FOR OURSELVES OUR HEREDITARY EVILS, TO WHAT SHOULD WE DIRECT OUR ATTENTION?
But what hereditary evil is, few know; it is believed to consist in doing evil; but it consists in willing and hence thinking evil;
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hereditary evil being in the will itself and in the thought thence derived; and being the very conatus or endeavor that is therein, and adjoins itself even when the man is doing what is good (AC 4317:5).
20) WHAT ARE SOME OF THE INDICATIONS OR SYMPTOMS THAT WE SHOULD BE ALERT TO IF WE ARE SERIOUS IN OUR ATTENTION TO DISCOVER AND RESIST OUR HEREDITARY INCLINATIONS?
Many teachings could be cited hut the following is sufficient to establish what the Word generally reveals.
It is from hereditary evil to love self more than others, to will evil to others if they do not honor us to perceive delight in revenge, and also to love the world more than heaven. Again: It is known by the delight that is felt when evil befalls another (AC 4317; 5, See AC 3701).
It is clear that if we would gain an awareness of our heredity we do well to give special attention to what brings us delight, pleasure or satisfaction and then note what the Word teaches relating to those delights (See HH 487).
Besides noting what brings delight we should also reflect on what generates a negative reaction in us.
By virtue of the reaction which is in him from birth the natural mind, or man, when he loves himself and the world above all things, acts against the things that are of the spiritual mind or man. Then also he has a sense of enjoyment in evils of every kind, as adultery, fraud, revenge, blasphemy, and other like things; he then also acknowledges nature as the creator of the universe; and confirms all things by means his rational faculty; and after confirmation he either perverts or suffocates or repels the goods and truths of heaven and the church, and at length either shuns them or turns his back upon them or hates them. This he does in his spirit, and in the body just so far as he dares to speak with others from his spirit without fear of the loss of reputation as a means to honor and gain (DLW 262; see DLW 271, 278, 267; CL 461; DLW 316).
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21) IS IT REALLY THAT NECESSARY TO DELIBERATELY EXAMINE OURSELVES IN ORDER TO BECOME AWARE OF OUR HEREDITARY EVILS? DO NOT PEOPLE USUALLY RECOGNIZE WHEN THEIR INCLINATIONS AND DELIGHTS ARE EVIL AND OPPOSED TO HEAVENLY LOVES?
Speaking of the evil and good that may be in oneself, the Word asserts that he who has not looked into and searched himself, finally ceases to know what damning evil or saving good is,... for the evil that man does not see, recognize, and acknowledge, remains; and whatever remains becomes more and more inrooted, until it obstructs the interiors of the mind, whereby man becomes first natural, then sensual, and finally corporeal, and in such states he knows not any damning evil or saving good...The merely natural man can see good and evil in others, and also rebuke others; but not having looked into and examined himself, he does not see any evil in himself, and if any is discovered by another, he cloaks it by means of his rationality, as a serpent hides his head in the dust... This is done by the delight of evil, which encompasses him as a fog does a marsh, absorbing and extinguishing the rays of light (TCR 564) (cf. DLW 267).
Not only do people who are in evil, without self-examination, fail to recognize their evil, they actually perceive it as good, and good they perceive as evil.
That evil and good are opposites, also the falsity of evil and the truth of good, every one acknowledges when he hears it. Still those who are in evil do not feel, and therefore do not perceive, otherwise than that evil is good; for evil gives enjoyment to their senses, especially sight and hearing, and from that gives enjoyment also to their thoughts, and thus their perceptions. While, therefore, the evil acknowledge that evil and good are opposites, still, when they are in evil, they declare from their enjoyment of it that evil is good, and good evil. For example:--One who abuses his freedom to think and to do what is evil calls that freedom, while its opposite, namely, to think the good which in itself is good, he calls bondage; when, in fact, the latter is to be truly free, and the former to be in bondage. He who loves adulteries calls it freedom to commit adultery, but not to be allowed to commit adultery he calls bondage;
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for in lasciviousness he has a sense of enjoyment, but of the contrary in chastity. He who is in the love of ruling from love of self feels in that love an enjoyment of life surpassing other enjoyments of every kind; consequently, everything belonging to that love he calls good, and everything contrary to it he declares to be evil; when yet the reverse is true. It is the same with every other evil. While every one, therefore, acknowledges that evil and good are opposites, those who are in evils cherish a reverse conception of such opposition, and only those who are in good have a right conception of it. No one so long as he is in evil can see good, but he who is in good can see evil. Evil is below as in a cave, good is above as on a mountain (DLW 271).
From many, many teachings it is obvious that evils, hereditary or actual, will not become apparent to a person unless they deliberately search them out and are prepared to candidly acknowledge their presence. This is especially true of the two most sinister evils that infest human nature at this day.
There are two loves which have long been enrooted in the human race the love of ruling over all and the love of possessing the goods of all. The former love, if free rein is given to it, rushes on even so far as to wish to be the God of heaven: and the latter, if free rein is given to it, rushes on even so far as to wish to be the God of the world. To these two loves are subordinated all other evils loves, of which there are hosts; but to examine these two is exceedingly difficult, because they reside most deeply within and hide themselves; for they are like vipers concealed in a cloven rock, which retain their poison, so that when one lies down upon the rock they give their deadly stroke, and again withdraw to their hiding-places. They are also like the sirens of the ancients, who allured men by their song, and by that means slew them. These two loves also decorate themselves in splendid attire, as a devil by magical hallucinations does among his own, or among those whom he wishes to delude. [2] But it must be clearly understood that these two loves may bear rule among the humble more than among the great, among the poor more than among the rich, among subjects more than among kings;
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for the latter classes are born to dominion and wealth, and these they at length come to regard in the same way as any other man, a governor, a director, a sea-captain, or even a poor farmer, regards his servants and possessions. It is different, however, with kings who aspire to dominion over the kingdoms of others (TCR 533).
22) WHEN DO WE BEGIN TO BE ABLE TO MAKE WHAT IS HEREDITARY ACTUAL WITH OURSELVES?
What is hereditary cannot become actual until the man acts from his own understanding and his own will... (AC 4563:2).
...in his adult age, namely, when he begins to think and understand things, for himself; for before this he had no faith from himself, but only from his teachers and parents (AC 9009).
It is to be noted however, that although hereditary evils may not become actual as the term is used in these passages, still, by commission in childhood, evils from ones heredity may be strengthened in the immature mind, becoming more resistant to removal (see AC 8403). This sad fact is especially evident in the following teaching in which the Lord issues a stern warning to adults not to encourage evil loves in children. It would appear that, at least temporarily, the aggravation of evil tendencies can severely damage the association with the angels of heaven that children ordinarily enjoy.
I was in the street of a large city, and saw little boys fighting with each other; a crowd flocked around and looked on with much pleasure; and I was told that little boys are incited to such fights by their own parents. Good spirits and angels who saw this through my eyes were so revolted at it that I felt their horror; and especially that parents should incite their children to such things, saying that in this way parents extinguish in the earliest age all the mutual love and all the innocence that children have from the Lord, and initiate them into the spirit of hatred and revenge;
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consequently by their own endeavors they shut their children out of heaven, where there is nothing but mutual love. Let parents therefore who wish well to their children beware of such things (HH 344).
23) HOW SHALL WE KNOW WHEN AN EVIL FROM BEING HEREDITARY WITH US, HAS BECOME ACTUAL AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A SIN?
Be it known further that the evil which enters into the thought does no harm to the man, because evil is continually infused by spirits from hell, and is continually repelled by angels. But when evil enters into the will, then it does harm, for then it also goes forth into act whenever external bonds do not restrain. Evil enters into the will by being kept in the thought, by consent, especially by act and consequent delight (AC 6204; see TCR 659).
Evils of heredity thus become actual when we willingly consent to their presence in our thought, and especially when we do them and delight in doing them. But making evils actual should be seen as something progressive, becoming more serious the more it is actualized. This unhappy development is fully described as follows.
In regard to the origin of the influx of evil from hell, the case is this. When a man first from consent, then from purpose, and at last from the delight of affection, casts himself into evil, then a hell is opened which is in such evil (for the hells are distinct from one another according to evils and all their varieties), and there afterward takes place an influx from that hell. When a man comes into evil in this way, it clings to him, for the hell in the sphere of which he then is, is in its very delight when in its evil; and therefore it does not desist, but obstinately presses in, and causes the man to think about that evil, at first occasionally, and afterward as often as anything presents itself which is related to it, and at last it becomes with him that which reigns universally. And when this takes place, he then seeks for such things as confirm that it is not an evil, and this until he wholly persuades himself;
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and then, in so far as he can, he studies to remove external bonds, and makes evils allowable and clever, and at last even becoming and honorable--such as adulteries, thefts effected by art and deceit, various kinds of arrogance and boasting, contempt for others, vituperations, persecutions under an appearance of justice, and the like. The case with these evils is like that with downright thefts, which when committed of set purpose two or three times, cannot be desisted from; for they continually cling to the mans thought (AC 6203).
This more general teaching relating to the addictive character of evil acts is confirmed and illustrated by the two teachings which follow, describing the frightening consequences of deliberately committing some form of adultery.
The sirens, moreover, are such that no man who has once esteemed adulteries and such things as nothing, and has thus involved himself as to the thought in the companionship of those who are such in the other life, can ever escape being held captive by them to the end of his life; for they bend the least things of the thoughts in innumerable ways, and make them delightful, and thus operate for the destruction of the man. This is yet more the case at the present time, when this crew is greatly increased, and also because evil spirits are tolerated in the world of spirits. Wherefore let men beware of actual evils; in this way only can any one at last abstain from them; for actualities bring on habits, and put on a kind of nature, as happens with those who have exercised themselves in thefts, and thus evils are increased, together with their delights, and men are carried away by an increasing number of sirens, like a piece of wood in a rapid stream. Such a wandering crowd of sirens is multiplied at the present day far beyond their numbers in former times (SD 4479)
It was said by the adulterer before spoken of, that he could not possibly be in the sphere of spirits who were in conjugial love, because he was thereby pained and, as it were, constricted. He said also that he could by no means desist (from his adulterous actings): whence I perceived that those who become such as he was or otherwise evil, by once giving way to actual evil, as thieves for instance, cannot afterwards desist, as there is henceforward a certain continual actuality in thought, by which he is excited to the commission, and as often as the act recurs, something is added (to the power of the propensity) till at last it becomes a nature, and then no external bond is scarcely at all regarded.
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This is the effect of the frequent repetition of the act of evil, that afterwards no external restraining bond is of any avail. It was perceived that such consequences are never removed except through the bond of conscience, and thus by a thorough repentance in order to the receiving of faith from the Lord--1748, November 27 (SD 4091).
These and other like teachings present us with a sobering truth that while evil in the mind is a serious matter, evil brought forth from the will into action is even more serious. We would do well to heed such general admonitions as the following Concerning Actuality.
It was perceived, that before any evil becomes actual with man, he should be on his guard against doing it; for as soon as it becomes actual it becomes customary and habitual, and at length natural; and is thus transmitted to the offspring and to posterity. 1748, November 26(SD 4080).
Such teachings as these relating the addictive power in evils actually done arise out of the more general principles of doctrine which explain how the outmost degree of anything is the complex, containent and base of the prior degrees and how degrees of height are in fullness and in power in their outmost degree (See DLW 209-221, 277-281; cf. HH 475; SD 6079).
It is important to realize, however, that hereditary evils may become actual with a person, actual in the mind, without being brought into bodily acts.
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CONCERNING THOSE WHICH (BELONG) TO THE WILL (BUT) NOT TO THE ACT.
Certain spirits, as was previously the case, wish to be justified because they have done no evil, although they have thought (it): wherefore it was insinuated into me that the matter stands thus, that whatever comes into (enters) the thought (and) not into the will this is not a sin: then if (it comes) (enters) into the will or (what is) like the will, and he thinks that this is a sin, contrary to the Lords Word, (and) will burden (his) conscience, and so shakes it off: this cannot be a sin but (is) a temptation. But if anything comes into (enters) the thought and the will, so that he desires to cause only the external bonds may not hinder, this is a sin: like as the Lord says, he who looks on a girl with lust, has already committed whoredom.--1748, September 16. (SD 3178; see SD 3415)
The general doctrine relating to interior acts, actions of the will that may not immediately appear before people in this world, is fully explained and illustrated in the Divine Love.
To love is to do because it is to will; for whatever a man loves that he wills; and what he wills that he does if it is possible; and if he does not do it because it is not possible, it still comes into interior act, which is not made manifest. For no endeavor or volition can exist in man unless it comes into ultimates; and when it is in ultimates it is in interior act, although this act is not perceived by any one, not even by the man himself because it exists in his spirit. From this it Is that volition and act are a one, and that the volition is counted as the act. This does not apply to the natural world, because in that world the interior act of the will does not appear, but it applies to the spiritual world, for there it is seen. For all in the spiritual world act according to their loves; those who are in heavenly love act sanely; those who are in infernal love act insanely; and if because of any fear they do not act, their will is interiorly active, but is restrained by them from breaking forth; nor does this action cease until the volition ceases.
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Since, then, the will and the act are a one, and will is the endeavor of love, it follows that in the Word to love has no other meaning than to do; thus that to love the Lord and to love the neighbor means to perform uses to the neighbor from love which is from the Lord. That this is so the Lord Himself teaches in John:--
He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me; but he that loveth Me not keepeth not My words (xiv. 21, 24).
In the same:
Abide ye in My love. If ye have kept My commandments ye shall abide in My love (xv. 9, 10).
And in the same:
The Lord said three times to Peter, Lovest thou Me? and three times Peter answered that he loved; and the Lord three times said to him Feed My lambs and My sheep (xxi. 15-17).
Moreover, there are two things that cannot he separated; namely, being (esse) and existing (existere). Being is nothing unless it exists; and it becomes something by existing. So it is with loving and doing, or with willing and acting; for to love and not do, and to wilt and Rot act, are impossible, for they do not exist; but they exist in doing and acting; consequently, when man does and acts, then love and will have being. In this and in no other way is the Lord loved and the neighbor loved (Div. Love XIX).
In still another series of passages a further important distinction is made regarding actual evils, a distinction that should be observed carefully when reflecting on the character of evil brought into act by those who have not yet reached maturity, a distinction that should profoundly influence the adult who seeks to briny comfort and correction to the life of a despondent child or adolescent.
There is actual evil which one receives from others through no fault of his own.
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This actual evil is represented in the Word by what is torn. Such evil is committed by those who suffer themselves to be persuaded to do an evil by the external reasonings of another person who is in evil. So long as the individual does not confirm the evil in thought and inwardly persuade themselves that it is allowable, the evil, while becoming implanted in the externals of their natural, does not penetrate to the interiors and pervert the internal man. Indeed, if the person is later willing to repent, the Lord can use this actual evil to sharpen their awareness of what is good.
Such is the evil through which good comes; for the internal man, which has not yet been affected and given consent, can see it in the external as evil, and therefore it can be removed. And as the internal man can see it, it can on that account at the same time see good more clearly; for good is seen more clearly from what is opposite than from what is not opposite; and the man is then also more sensibly affected by good. This then is what is meant by good coming of it (AC 4171).
In contrast to evil not of ones own fault there is evil that is ones own fault which is represented in the Word by a carcass. This is evil that a person receives of their own accord. It is the evil which a person has contracted by actual life, and has also confirmed in thought even to belief and persuasion (see AC 4171-4174) (see AC 9064-9103 for another important series presenting similar teaching).
It should be observed that while actual evil not of ones own fault does not by itself condemn a person, still it must be removed from our thought and life.
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That we should accept responsibility for shunning and removing it is represented in the story of Genesis by Jacobs willingness to accept responsibility for, to bare the loss of, both that of the flocks which was a carcass and that which was torn. Also the people of Israel were forbidden to eat the flesh of both the animal that had died of itself and that which was torn by wild animals.
24) WHEN, IF EVER, MIGHT WE DISCOVER HOW MUCH OF OUR HEREDITARY EVIL HAS BECOME ACTUAL?
There are many teachings which relate how through self-examination in the light of the Word we may be brought to realize whether or not certain evils have become actual with us. At the same time it is clear that we will not have a full view of our spiritual condition until, by the death of the body, we enter consciously into the life of our spirit.
...It is manifestly shown in the other life, how much of evil from what is hereditary each one has drawn to himself by actual life, and also how far he has removed himself from heaven by evil affections from this source (AC 4317).
25) DO WE BEAR ANY BLAME OR DO WE SUFFER ANY PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE EVILS WHICH WE HAVE NOT MADE ACTUAL?
Divine Revelation and common perception clearly answer, no!
...Of the Lords mercy no one is blamed for what is hereditary, but for what is actual (AC 4563:2, see AC 966).
No one suffers punishment in the other life on account of hereditary evil, because it is not his, and therefore he is not to blame for being of such a nature; but everyone suffers on account of the actual evil which is his own, and consequently for so much of the hereditary evil as he has appropriated to himself by actual life (AC 2308; see AC 9009:3, 9069; AE 556:10; AC 1667, 2307, 8806).
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Every man shall die in his own iniquity; and every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge (See Jeremiah 31:29, 30; Ezekiel 18:2-4).
It is from Divine Justice that no one is punished for the evils of his parents, but for his own; therefore the Lord provides that hereditary evils shall not for return after death, but ones own evils, and those that a man is then punished (AE 989:3).
26) WHAT HOPE IS THERE FOR THE RECOVERY OF MANS SPIRIT FROM THE EFFECTS OF HEREDITARY AND ACTUAL EVIL? HOW MAY THE EVIL HEREDITY OF MAN BEGIN TO BE BROKEN AND CHANGED?
The response to such questions occur many times in many forms throughout the Word for the New Church. The following are but a small sample of the teachings.
There is no recovery from this in posterity except through their fleeing from evils as sins by the help of the Lord. In this and in no other way is the spiritual mind opened, and by means of such opening the natural mind is brought back into correspondent form (DLW 269).
Evil and falsity when confirmed cannot be uprooted after death; they are only uprooted by means of repentance in the world (DLW 262e).
It was perceived that such consequences [i.e. evil becoming a nature which is transmitted to offspring (SD 4080)] are never removed except through the bond of conscience, and thus by a thorough repentance in order to the receiving of faith from the Lord (SD 4091)
This continuous derived [hereditary] nature is not broken and changed, except by the Lord through a life of faith and charity (AC 8550).
In summary, the Lord through His Word urges each individual in every generation to enter into actual repentance as it is so clearly and frequently defined in every work of the Heavenly Doctrines.
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This is the only hope for an improved heredity.
27) IF PEOPLE DO RESPOND TO THE LORDS CALL FOR SINCERE REPENTANCE, WHAT HEREDITARY TENDENCIES TO EVIL ARE FIRST TO BE BROKEN AND ROOTED OUT?
When man is being regenerated, the hereditary evil inrooted from his nearest parents is plucked up by the roots. (AC 4317)
28) IN SHUNNING EVILS AS SINS AGAINST THE LORD, IS THERE ANY ONE EVIL TO WHICH WE ESPECIALLY MIGHT DIRECT OUR ATTENTION SO AS TO COOPERATE WITH THE LORD IN BREAKING UP OUR HEREDITARY EVIL AND RENDERING IT MILDER IN OFFSPRING?
The Word indicates that there is such an evil--adulteries of various kinds. This is not a popular teaching in the Christian world of today where adulteries are so prevalent, and often are not regarded as serious evils.
That heaven is from marriages and hell from adulteries has been shown above. What this means shall now be told. The hereditary evils into which man is born are not from Adams having eaten of the tree of knowledge, but from the adulteration of good and the falsification of truth by parents, thus from the marriage of evil and falsity, from which the love of adultery exists. The ruling love of parents by means of an offshoot is derived from them and transcribed into the offspring and becomes its nature. If the love of the parents is the love of adultery it is also the love of evil for falsity and of falsity for evil. From this source man has all evil, and from evil he has hell. All this makes clear that it is from adulteries that man has hell, unless he is reformed by the Lord by means of truths and a life according to them. And no one can be reformed unless he shuns adulteries as infernal and loves marriages as heavenly. In this and in no other way is hereditary evil broken and rendered milder in the offspring (AE 989:2).
From what has been thus far presented what the good is that results from chastity in marriage can be inferred, consequently what the good works of chastity are that a man does who shuns adulteries as sins against God.
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The good works of chastity concern either the married pair themselves, or their offspring and posterity, or the heavenly societies. The good works of chastity that concern the married pair themselves are spiritual and celestial loves, intelligence and wisdom, innocence and peace, power and protection against the hells and against the evils and the falsities therefrom, and manifold joys and felicities to eternity. Those who live in chaste marriages, as before described, have all these. The good works of chastity that concern the offspring and posterity are that so many and so great evils do not become innate in families. For the ruling love of parents is transmitted into the offspring and sometimes to remote posterity, and becomes their hereditary nature. This is broken and softened with parents who shun adulteries as infernal and love marriages as heavenly. The good works of chastity that concern the heavenly societies are that chaste marriages are the delights of heaven, that they are its seminaries, and that they are its supports. They supply delights to heaven by communications; they are seminaries to heaven by producing offspring; and they are supports to heaven by their power against the hells; for at the presence of conjugial love diabolical spirits become furious, insane, and mentally impotent, and cast themselves into the deep (AE 1002:23).
When the Heavenly Doctrines single this evil out for particular attention it should be realized that much more is being condemned than what is ordinarily regarded as adultery. In the True Christian Religion (313) it is indicated that the sixth commandment prohibits all the evils discussed in Conjugial Love beginning at number 423 and proceeding to number 531. In general scortatory love, as there defined is condemned. Associated with it are certain kinds of fornication, and concubinage. Single, double and triple adultery in their various degrees are included. The lust of defloration, the lust for variety, the lust of violation and the lust of seducing innocences are all named.
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Elsewhere the various kinds of adulteries are said to include the various abominations listed in Leviticus (18:6-30, 20:11-21). Notable here is the condemnation of incest, homosexuality, and bestiality. (See AE 410:11, 434:16, 141:16; CL 519; AC 3703:17; cp. AC 6348.) It would also appear that we must include manifest obscenities which banish modesty and fill and infest the house with shameful panderings. (CL 468) These are associated with the adultery which is given as the only cause for divorce. In the True Christian Religion the sixth commandment in its natural sense refers to willing and doing obscene things and thinking and speaking about lascivious things. Intentional lust to commit some form of adultery is included.
THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.
In the natural sense, this commandment means not only not to commit adultery, but it refers also to willing and doing obscene things and thinking and speaking about lascivious things. That merely to lust is to commit adultery, is evident from the Lords words:--
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that every one that looketh on another mans wife to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. v. 27, 28).
The reason of this is that when lust enters the will it becomes, as it were, deed; for allurement enters into the understanding only, but into the will, intention; and the intention of a lust is a deed (TCR 313)
In singling adultery out as an evil that is especially to be shunned if ones heredity is to be softened, we should not neglect the association of this evil with all other grievous evils.
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In order to truly shun adulteries as infernal a person must try to shun all other evils as infernal, for adultery is the complex of them all. This is clear from a memorable relation in Conjugial Love which concludes a description given by an angel of the delights of genuine marriage love as experienced in heaven.
After saying this, the angel was silent. From the spirit of his speech the newly arrived novitiates comprehended that a perpetual ability to enjoy the delights is possible. This so gladdened their minds that they exclaimed: Oh, how happy is the state of angels! We perceive that you in heaven remain to eternity in the state of youth and hence in the vigor of that age; but tell us how we also may acquire that vigor; and the angel responded, Shun adulteries as infernal, and approach the Lord, and you will have it.
The novitiates then said, We will shun them as such and will approach the Lord; but the angel answered: You cannot shun adulteries as infernal evils unless you shun all other evils likewise, for adulteries are the complex of them all, and unless you shun them you cannot approach the Lord. Others than these, the Lord does not receive.
The angel then departed, and the new spirits went away sorrowful. (CL 356)
The other more serious evils that are to be shunned especially have been discussed in relation to questions sixteen and seventeen. These include such evils as the lust of ruling from the love of self, malignant deceit, hatreds, revenges, cruelties and contempt for others in comparison with oneself.
29) CAN OUR PERSONAL HEREDITARY AND ACTUAL EVILS, THROUGH REGENERATION, BE EXTERMINATED IN US SO AS TO VANISH OK BECOME NULL AND VOID?
The case herein is this: Evil both hereditary and actual in a man who is being regenerated is not exterminated so as to vanish or become null and void, but is only separated, and by the Lords disposal is rejected to the circumferences (AC 4551, 4552);
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and it remains so with the man even to eternity:... (AC 4564; see TCR 613, 614; AC 868).
30) HOW DOES THE LORD THEN PROVIDE THAT ANGELS MAY NOT f3E BOTHERED BY THESE EVILS? WHAT AWARENESS DO THE ANGELS HAVE OF THE EVILS WHICH AFFECTED THEM BEFORE THEY ENTERED INTO THE HEAVENLY STATE?
To the degree that an angel is willing, which varies according to his state (HH 158), he is withheld by the Lord from the evil and is kept in good. When this takes place it appears as if evils were cast away and the man purified from them, or as is said, justified. All the angels of heaven confess that with them, in so far as it is of themselves, there is nothing but evil and falsity; but in so far as it is from the Lord, there is good and the derivative truth (AC 4564:2).
To eternity, therefore, with those in heaven, evils are progressively removed beyond the boundaries of their angelic consciousness. As this is done then heavenly joy and happiness increases in equal measure.
HEREDITY AND NATURAL GOOD
When the Word speaks of the character of the natural man as to its heredity at this day the teachings usually focus on hereditary inclinations to love what is evil and to think what is false. We are taught that with regeneration this heredity can be broken, softened, rendered milder and even, to some degree, rooted out. We are promised that if man will from the Lord flee from evils as sins there can be some recovery from our hereditary condition in posterity such that the spiritual mind may again be opened and the natural brought back into a correspondent form.
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31) CAN THERE BE AT THIS DAY SUCH A THING AS HEREDITARY GOOD OR INHERITED TENDENCIES TO NATURALLY LOVE WHAT TS GOOD AND THINK WHAT IS TRUE?
In response, the Word confirms what common observation shows us. Yes, there is such a thing as natural good. Everyone knows what natural good is, namely, that it is the good into which man is born.... The good into which man is born he derives from his parents, either father or mother; for all that which parents have contracted by frequent use and habit, or have become imbued with by actual life until it has become so familiar to them that it appears as if natural, is transmitted into their children, and becomes hereditary (AC 3469:3) (cf. AC 6208).
32) IF SO, DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE APPEARANCE OF A NATURAL GOOD TENDENCY IN A CHILD INDICATES THAT THE NATURAL HEREDITY OF THAT CHILD IS SOMEWHAT RECOVERED, THAT IT IS NOT ALTOGETHER INTERIORLY CORRUPT?
Such a conclusion is not justified. There are four kinds of natural good that appear before men from heredity, two kinds that are, indeed, naturally good, and two that are not good, but only outwardly appear to be good. The latter two are also called goods by reason of their appearing in outward form as good in those persons in whom they are, although they are the very reverse of goods (AC 3469:4).
There are four kinds of natural good, that is, of the good that is born with man, namely, natural good from the love of good, natural good from the love of truth, and also natural good from the love of evil, and natural good from the love of falsity (AC 3467:2).
33) HOW MAY WE COME TO POSSESS AS A PART OF OUR HEREDITY THE NATURAL GOOD WHICH PROPERLY DESERVES TO BE CALLED NATURAL GOOD, EITHER NATURAL GOOD FROM THE LOVE OF GOOD, OR NATURAL GOOD FROM THE LOVE OF TRUTH?
The teaching given is wholly in agreement with the passages presented in response to questions 26 through 28, and merely constitutes a further development of the principles there revealed.
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For such a heredity to be passed on the parents must have entered into a state of regeneration when the child was conceived.
If parents who have lived in the good of the love of good [they love what is good and they are living what they love] and in this life have perceived their delight and blessedness, conceive offspring in this state, the offspring receive therefrom an inclination to similar good; and if parents who have lived in the good of the love of truth [they love what is true and they are living in agreement with that truth] and in this life have perceived their delight, are in this state when they conceive offspring, the offspring receive therefrom an inclination to the like good (AC 3469:3) (cf. SD 6055:11).
34) HOW MIGHT A PERSON COME TO POSSESS AS A PART OF THEIR HEREDITY THOSE NATURAL GOODS WHICH ONLY OUTWARDLY APPEAR GOOD? THE NATURAL GOOD OF THE LOWE OF EVIL AND THE NATURAL GOOD OF THE LOVE OF FALSITY?
From the teaching that is given we conclude that the natural tendency to appear outwardly good from a love of evil is inherited when at the time an offspring is conceived, the parents are inwardly in evil, but for the purpose of self-advantage and exploitation of others, delight in outwardly posing as innocent and good. The case would be similar with the natural tendency to appear outwardly good from a love of falsity.
35) ARE THERE ANY SYMPTOMS OR INDICATIONS THAT ONE MIGHT LOOK FOR IN ONESELF IN ORDER TO DISCOVER THE PRESENCE OF EITHER OR BOTH OF THE MISLEADING NATURAL GOODS?
The Word provides very direct instruction in this regard. They who are in the natural good of the love of evil are pliant and prone to evils of every kind; for they suffer themselves to be easily led astray, and from this good are compliant, especially to foul pleasures, to adulteries, and also to cruelties;....
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They who are in the natural good of falsity are prone to falsities of every kind, and from this good learn with avidity what is persuasive, especially from hypocrites and cunning persons, who know how to captivate the mind, to insinuate themselves into the affections, and to feign innocence (AC 3469:4).
36) IS IT VERY PROBABLE THAT WE MIGHT BE AFFECTED BY SUCH DECEPTIVE, EVIL TENDENCIES?
Very many in whom natural good appears have such good.
At the present day most people who in the Christian world are in natural good, are born into these so-called goods of evil and falsity, because their parents have by actual life contracted the delight of evil and of falsity, and thus have implanted it in their children, and thereby in their descendants (AC 3469:4) (cp. AC 6208).
Such teachings as this should give us reason to pause an reflect before we, on the basis of observed behavior, make judgments about the goodness and badness of children and young people. It just might be that the child who appears to have a naturally good and easy disposition may have a more malignant heredity than the child who appears to have a naturally mean and difficult nature.
37) WHILE GIVING CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE SOBERING TEACHING REGARDING SO-CALLED NATURAL GOODS, WHAT OTHER TEACHING MIGHT WE BEAR IN MIND SO AS TO BE INSPIRED AND ENCOURAGED TO RENOUNCE SUCH PSEUDO-GOOD IN OURSELVES AND SOFTEN ITS IMPACT ON OUR CHILDREN?
Offspring born of two who are in love truly conjugial derive from their parents the conjugial of good and truth (CL 202, 204).
38) IN WHAT FORM MIGHT SUCH AN HEREDITARY TRAIT BE EXPECTED TO APPEAR?
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If a son, he will have a natural inclination and faculty for perceiving the things which are of wisdom, and if a daughter, for loving the things which wisdom teaches (CL 202, 204).
39) IT IS SAID THAT FROM THEIR PARENTS OFFSPRING DERIVE SUCH NATURAL INCLINATIONS UND FACULTIES, BOT IS THIS THE TRUE ORIGIN OF THESE MOST DESIRABLE HEREDITARY TRAITS?
It is said that offspring derive from their parents the conjugial of good and truth because this is imparted to the soul of every one from its creation, it being this that inflows from the Lord into man and makes his human life. But from the soul this conjugial passes into the parts that follow, even to the ultimates of the body; and in the latter and the former, it is changed by the man himself in many ways, and sometimes into the opposite which is called the conjugial or connubial of evil and falsity. When this takes place, the mind is closed from below, and sometimes is contorted like a spiral in the opposite direction. With some, however, it is not closed but remains half open above, and with some wholly open. It is from the latter and the former conjugial that offspring derive inclinations from their parents, a son in one way, a daughter in another. That it is from the conjugial, is because, as shown above (no. 65), conjugial love is the fundamental of all loves (CL 203).
That offspring born of those who are in love truly conjugial derive inclinations and faculties, if a son, for perceiving the things which are of wisdom, and if a daughter, for loving the things which wisdom teaches, is because the conjugial of good and truth is implanted by creation in the soul of every one, and also in all that follows after the soul. That this conjugial fills the universe from first things to last and from man to worm, was shown above (no. 92). It has also been pointed out that the faculty for opening the lower regions of the mind, even to conjunction with its higher regions which are in the light and heat of heaven, is imparted to every man by creation. From this it is evident that the ability to conjoin good with truth and truth with good, and thus to become wise, and this with facility, is inherited from birth by those above others who are born of such a marriage; consequently a facility in imbibing things which are of heaven and the Church; and that conjugial love is conjoined with such things, has many times been made manifest.
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From the above, the end from which marriages of love truly conjugial have been provided by the Lord the Creator, and are still being provided, is clearly exposed before the reason.
I have heard from angels, that those who lived in most ancient times are at this day living in heaven, house by house, family by family, nation by nation, in like manner as they have lived on earth, with scarcely anyone missing from a household; and, furthermore, that the reason is because with them was love truly conjugial. As a consequence their offspring inherited inclinations to the conjugial of good and truth, and through education by their parents, were easily initiated into it more and more interiorly, and later, when they came to act of their own judgment, were introduced into it by the Lord as of themselves (CL 204, 205).
40) IS THERE ANY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN NATURAL GOOD, AS IT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IN THE TEACHINGS THAT HAVE JUST BEEN PRESENTED, AND SPIRITUAL GOOD IN THE NATURAL OF MAN?
Natural good is from parents; but spiritual good is from the Lord; and therefore in order that a man may receive spiritual good, he must be regenerated;... (AC 3470, see AC 6208).
For any good to become permanently appropriated to us, we must from the Lord, but as if of ourselves, freely choose that good and reject what is opposed to it. And this we cannot do unless we have received principles of doing what is good from the Word, the doctrine of the church, or from whatever religiosity we may possess. It is only from these that a person may be endowed by the Lord with a conscience, for conscience does not come from natural or hereditary good, but from the doctrine of truth and good and a life in accordance therewith (AC 6208). Only when good is done because the Lord so wills and teaches does what is natural become something of our spirit in the natural and remain for our use and delight to eternity.
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PART III
THE HUMAN MIND AND ITS ENVIRONMENTREMAINS
ENVIRONMENT AND REMAINS
In our previous discussion we have noted that through the shunning of evils as sins against the Lord hereditary tendencies to evil can be broken up in some measure and rendered milder in offspring. Indeed, from parents who are being regenerated, children may inherit something of a tendency to natural good from a love of good or a love of truth. More particularly, from parents who are in genuine marriage love a son may have a natural inclination and faculty for perceiving the things which are of wisdom, and a daughter may be naturally inclined to love the things which wisdom teaches. These teachings which indicate that something of soundness may be restored to the natural will of man are most encouraging, Still, as we have seen, the Heavenly Doctrines do not suggest that we should look to the natural will as an important means for effecting our regeneration or salvation. Many, many passages remind us that the natural will of a person at this day is inclined to evils and falsities of all kinds. While exceptions are noted (see AC 6296:2; SD 4719) the general teaching is that mans native will is utterly ruined. Unless there he formed in a person a new will or conscience there is no real hope of establishing spiritual or saving good in the natural mind, no hope for regeneration. This fact is made very evident in the two teachings which follow, the first of which is given in explanation of the words in Genesis where it said that the imagination of mans heart is evil from his childhood (Genesis 8:21).
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Because the imagination of mans heart is evil from his childhood. That this signifies that mans will part is utterly evil, is evident from what has just been said. The imagination of the heart signifies nothing else. Man supposes that he has a will for what is good, but he is quite mistaken. When he does good, it is not from his will, but from a new will which is the Lords; thus it is from the Lord that he does it. Consequently when he thinks and speaks what is true, it is from a new understanding, which is from the new will, and it is from the Lord that he does this also. For the regenerate man is an altogether new man formed by the Lord, and this is why he is said to be created anew (AC 928).
There are many who enjoy an hereditary natural good, by virtue of which they feel delight in doing well to others, but who have not been imbued with principles of doing what is good, either from the Word, the doctrine of the church or from their religiosity Thus they could not be endowed with any conscience, for conscience does not come from natural or hereditary good, but from the doctrine of truth and good and a life in accordance therewith. When such persons come into the other lifer they marvel that they are not received into heaven, saying that they have led a good life. But they are told that a good life from what is natural or hereditary is not a god life, but that a good life is from those things which belong to the doctrine of good and truth and the consequent life; for by means of these, men have principles impressed on them that concern what is true and good, and they receive conscience, which is the plane into which heaven flows. In order that such persons may know that this is the case, they are sent into various societies, and they then suffer themselves to be led astray into evils of every kind, by mere reasonings and the derivative persuasions that evils are goods and goods evils, and in this way they are persuaded in every direction, and are carried away like chaff before the wind; for they are devoid of principles, and also of a plane into which the angels may operate and withdraw them from evils (AC 6208).
The formation of a new will and understanding from the Lord or the establishment of conscience is the only means for bringing a person into the exercise of true freedom and rationality, into genuine and enduring health of mind.
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The question then arises, how shall the Lord provide for these things in the natural mind of the person of today? The answer to this question lies in an understanding of the doctrine of remains, a doctrine which began to be revealed to mankind in the very first published books of the Writings, in the first volume of the Arcana Coelestia.
At the beginning of our discussion of remains we must make a clear distinction between remains and hereditary tendencies to love either what is good or what is evil. Hereditary good or evil refers only to what has been impressed upon the very form of the soul and upon its bodily clothing before the individual is born into the world. It does not refer to what is received into and impressed upon the human soul and mind after birth, unless one wishes to speak of what is afterwards received from the Lord there as our inheritance from Him. Remains, on the other hand, refer to something that only begins to be received upon the birth of the individual into the world, the spiritual and natural environments serving as means in this implantation. Further important distinctions between these two, heredity and remains, will emerge as our discussion proceeds. As indicated earlier, if we are to properly understand how the Lord has provided for man to act in freedom according to reason, we must understand both the distinction and the relationship between these two dynamic elements in the human mind.
While the discussion to follow will focus primarily on the subject of remains, towards the close we will turn our attention to the relationship between remains and the new will and conscience.
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Again the discussion will proceed by means of questions and responses to the questions from the Heavenly Doctrines.
1) FROM WHOM DO WE RECEIVE REMAINS?
They are from the Lord (AC 560), they are of the Lord, they belong to the Lord (AC 565), they are of the Lord alone in man (AC 1050).
Almost every passage that mentions remains also declares them to
be from the Lord.
2) WHY THEN IN THE CHURCH DO WE SO OFTEN REFER TO ANGELS WHEN WE ARE DISCUSSING THE IMPLANTATION OF REMAINS?
For anything to be received from the Lord there must he both an immediate influx into the mind from the Lord from within, and a mediate influx from the Lord, affecting the mind from without. Unless there is, as it were, an interaction of the two, nothing is implanted or imprinted in the mind. It is the same with the body. For bodily sensation to occur, there must be both life from within and also something from without affecting the body.
In regard to remains, the angels, from the Lord through their sphere, serve as a means for the Lord to mediately affect the spirit of man from without. What is from the Lord from within may therefore be received and remain imprinted on the interiors of the mind.
Accordingly it is said of some angels from the third heaven that their uses have relation especially to the implantation of... holy things, especially with little children, with whom they have conjunction, and whom they inspire with innocence and its affections... (AE 828).
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Certain passages speak quite specifically of the societies of angels whose delight it is to serve people as they pass through their changes of state in this life.
They said further concerning infants on earth, that directly after birth angels from the heaven of innocence are with them; in the succeeding age angels from the heaven of the tranquility of peace; and afterwards those who are from the societies of charity; and then, as the innocence and charity with the young children decrease, other angels are with them; and at length, when they become older and enter into a life foreign to charity, angels are indeed present, but more remotely, and this in accordance with the ends of life, which the angels especially regulate by continually insinuating good ones, and turning aside evil ones; and they flow in more nearly or more remotely, in proportion as they can or cannot do this (AC 2303) (See SD 4382; TCR 677, 678, 729; SD 6011; HH 277, 332; AC 2736; AE 412:6; AC 99; DLW 252; SD 1201; AC 1906)
The secret is this: from earliest infancy even to the first of childhood, man is being introduced by the Lord into heaven, and indeed among celestial angels, by whom he is kept in a state of innocence; a state in which (as is known) infants are up to the first of childhood. When the age of childhood begins, the child gradually puts off the state of innocence, though he is still kept in a state of charity by means of the affection of mutual charity toward those like himself, which state with many continues up to youth, and meanwhile he is among spiritual angels. Then, because he begins to think from himself and to act accordingly, he can no longer be kept in charity as before; for he then calls forth inherited evils, by which he suffers himself to be led. When this state comes, the goods of charity and innocence that he had previously received, are banished according to the degree in which he thinks evils and confirms them by act; and yet they are not banished, but are withdrawn by the Lord toward the interiors and there stored up (AC 5342).
3) DO SPIRITS IN THE WORLD OE SPIRITS WHO ARE ASSOCIATED WITH OUR EXTERIOR OR NATURAL MIND, HAVE ANY ROLE IN THE IMPLANTATION OF REMAINS?
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The following teaching, along with others, reveals that spirits in the world of spirits must perform an important use in assisting the Lord and his angels in the implantation of remains.
The spirits adjoined to man are such as he himself is, in respect to affection or love; but the good spirits are adjoined to him by the Lord, while the evil spirits are summoned by the man himself. The spirits with man, however, are changed in accordance with the changes of his affections; thus, there are some spirits with him in infancy, others in boyhood, others in youth and manhood, and others in old age. In infancy, those spirits are present who are in innocence and who thus communicate with the heaven of innocence, which is the inmost or third heaven; in childhood, those spirits are present who are in the affection of knowing, and who thus communicate with the ultimate or first heaven; in youth and manhood, spirits are present who are in the affection of what is true and good, and consequently in intelligence and who thus communicate with the second or middle heaven; in old age, however, spirits are present who are in wisdom and innocence, and who thus communicate with the inmost or third heaven. But the Lord effects this adjunction with those who can be reformed and regenerated. It is otherwise with those who cannot be reformed or regenerated. Good spirits also are adjoined to these, that they may thereby be withheld from evil as much as possible, but their immediate conjunction is with evil spirits who communicate with hell, whereby they have such spirits with them as are like themselves. If they are lovers of self or lovers of gain, or lovers of revenge, or lovers of adultery, similar spirits are present, and dwell, as it were, in their evil affections, and man is incited by these, except so far as he can be kept from evil by good spirits, and they cling to him, and do not withdraw, so far as the evil affection prevails. Thus it is that a bad man is conjoined to hell and a good man is conjoined to heaven (HH 295) (see TCR 476; SD 5167).
4) DO PARENTS AND OTHER PEOPLE HAVE ANY ROLE IN THE IMPLANTATION OF REMAINS OR IS THIS A PROCESS THAT IS OP PRIMARY CONCERN TO THOSE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD?
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While the teachings which specifically discuss remains may not refer directly to the role of parents and other people, that role is always implied. Moreover in hundreds of other passages, the vital role of people in this world is obvious. For example, in reference to the uses for sustaining the body, for perfecting the rational, and for receiving the spiritual from the Lord, the extremely important role of parents, teachers and others is openly described (DLW 331-335). In general adults are charged with the responsibility of providing for the rising generation nourishment, clothing, habitation, recreation, enjoyment, protection and preservation of a sound state of both the mind and the body. More particularly they are to provide instruction to the young in those subjects that will enable the young, when they are grown, to provide the necessaries of physical and mental life for themselves and for others. These subjects are called sciences and branches of study, pertaining to natural, economical, civil, and moral affairs (DLW 332). In addition they are to provide instruction and leadership in all things that belong to religion and to worship therefrom; thus all things that teach the acknowledgment and knowledge of God and the knowledge and acknowledgment of good and truth and thus eternal life (DLW 333).
Without the expressed love, concern, care and instruction bestowed upon an individual in this world no remains could be implanted in their interiors. We might recall that influx is according to the state of the receiving vessel.
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The receiving vessel in this case may refer to both the natural body and the natural or external degree of the mind.
Again, in evaluating the importance of what adults can contribute in the process of implanting remains, we should recall what the Lord teaches about what is natural in relation to what is spiritual. Though lifeless in itself, the natural exists that all things higher and more interior may become fixed, settled, and constant in forms that are permanent and durable. What is natural provides a kind of base and support; for it is the outmost work, (ultimum opus), in which all things terminate, and upon which they rest. It is also a kind of womb (matrix), out of which effects, which are ends of creation, are produced... (DLW 165; cf. 160, 209-221, 277, 281). When we reflect on these and other teachings it should be very apparent that adults, as they affect the young from without through the natural world, have an exceedingly vital role to play in the implantation of what are called remains.
5) JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS IT THAT WE HAVE REMAINS, OR COULD WE GET
ALONG WITHOUT THEM?
The following are but a small sample of what is reported concerning them.
Man cannot live without remains, ... it is in the remains that the life of man is superior to that of brutes. From remains, that is, through remains from the Lord, man is able to be as a man ... for in remains alone is there spiritual and celestial life (AC 560).
... if a man had no remains he must necessarily be in eternal damnation (AC 565).
No man can ever live still less as a man, if he has not something living In him, that is, if he has not ... remains. Without these states he would be much more vile than a brute (AC 1050, see AC 1738).
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From these (remains), as from the veriest fountains of life, flow all other things both in general and particular, for all other things are merely derivations (AC 1450).
Without them a man can never be a man, for the states of the cupidities, or of evil, if not tempered by the states of affection of good (remains), would be more atrocious than those of any animal (AC 1906:2) (AC 3494).
Without the remains that are implanted by the Lord in our first age, there would never be any foundation upon which the intellectual or rational faculty which is proper to man, could be built (AC 5126).
It is plain that if there were no remains imprinted in our interiors there would never be any possibility of our acting in freedom according to reason when we come to the age of maturity. There would be nothing to offset the influence of our corrupt heredity which has its stronghold in our exteriors (See AC 857).
6) WHEN WE SPEAK OF REMAINS WHAT IS IT THAT WE AKE TALKING ABOUT?
By remains is meant everything good and true that the Lord insinuates into man from infancy even to the end of his life (AC 2280).
They are all the good and all the truth with man which lie stored up in his memories and in his life (AC 2284).
They are all the states of affection of good and truth with which a man is gifted by the Lord, from earliest infancy even to the end of life... (AC 1906).
They are states of innocence, charity and mercy with which (man) is imbued from infancy (AC 1050).
They are all the states of love and charity and consequently all the states of innocence and peace with which a man is gifted (AC 1738).
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Remains, as has been said, are all things of innocence, all things of charity, all things of mercy, and all things of the truth of faith, which from his infancy a man has had from the Lord, and has learned. Each and all of these things are treasured up; and if a man had them not, there could be nothing of innocence, of charity, and of mercy, and therefore nothing of good and truth in his thought and actions, so that he would be worse than the savage wild beasts (AC 661:2).
But what are remains? They are not only the goods and truths that a man has learned from the Lords Word from infancy, and has thus impressed on his memory, but they are also all the states thence derived, such as states of innocence from infancy; states of love toward parents, brothers, teachers, friends; states of charity toward the neighbor, and also of pity for the poor and needy; in a word, all states of good and truth. These states together with the goods and truths impressed on the memory, are called remains (AC 561) (cf. AC 2636:2, 3494, 10110).
7) WHY DOES THE WORD FOR THE NEW CHURCH USUALLY REFER TO REMAINS AS STATES OF LOVE OR AFFECTION BUT OCCASIONALLY SPEAK OF THEM AS THINGS LEARNED FROM THE WORD?
In response to question 2, it was noted that for anything to be imprinted on the mind there must be both an immediate influx from the Lord from within and a mediate influx or afflux from Him through the environment from without. This is true of remains. In general we are taught that what is good or what is of love inflows or enters man from within or by an inward way, and that what is true or the knowledge of what is true inflows from without or enters by an outward way (See AC 3030). Again, such teaching applies to the implantation of remains.
So it is that while the term remains refers especially to the states of love that man does not learn, but receives as a gift from the Lord, it also frequently refers to or includes what is received from without, truths of faith in the interior memory, and knowledges of truth in the exterior memory.
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Experience, truth, or knowledge gained from without then serves the love of good as a clothing, vessel or form so that the two together may remain with man.
The term remains therefore, may also be used to describe the goods and truths that a man has learned from the Lords Word from infancy, and has thus impressed on his memory. (AC 561), or all the good and all the truth with man which lie stored up in his memories and in his life (AC 2284). So we read of the truths of faith, that they are also what are called remains and are of the Lord alone. (AC 1050:2)
In brief, there are as it were two aspects to remains, what is received from within as a gift from the Lord, and what is learned from the Lord and implanted in the memory from without. This is especially the case with those remains that are implanted after the first stage of infancy has passed.
8) WHAT DOES THE LORD DO WITH OUR REMAINS AS THEY ARE BEING IMPLANTED?
Each and all of these things (remains) are treasured up (AC 661).
These states together with the goods and truths impressed on the memory, ... are preserved in man by the Lord and are stored up, ... in his internal man, and are completely separated from the things that are proper to man, that is, from evils and falsities. All these states are so preserved in man by the Lord that not the least of them is lost ... (AC 561).
... the Lord separates them, and stores up in his interior man the goods and truths which the man receives; ... (AC 2284:2).
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9) WHY DOES THE LORD STORE UP OR TREASURE UP OUR REMAINS IN THIS MANNER?
... to prevent their being mingled with evils an thus perishing (AC 6156).
The following teaching makes it very clear that our very salvation to eternity depends upon this separation of our remains from anything or evil and this treasuring up of them in our interiors beyond conscious control.
It is well known that there is nothing good and nothing true, except from the Lord; and also that what is good and true is continually inflowing from the Lord into man, but that it is received in various ways, and in fact in accordance with the life of evil, and in accordance with the principles of falsity in which the man has confirmed himself. These are what either quench, or stifle, or pervert the good and truths that are continually flowing in from the Lord. Lest therefore goods should be commingled with evils, and truths with falsities (for if they were commingled the man would perish eternally), the Lord separates them, and stores up in his interior man the goods and truths which the man receives; whence He will never permit them to come forth so long as the man is in evil and falsity, but only at such a time as he is in a holy state, or in some anxiety, sickness, or other trouble. These things which the Lord has thus stored up with man are what are called remains, of which very much mention is made in the Word; but it has not yet been known to any one that this is what they signify (AC 2284:2, TCR 604).
10) WHAT AWARENESS MIGHT WE HAVE OF THIS PROCESS OF IMPLANTING AND STORING UP REMAINS?
Lest man from ignorance or from evil intent should interfere with this vital process they are stored up entirely without his knowledge (AC 516; see AC 1906:3).
The constant, delicate, hidden operation of the Lord in every human mind, exploring, balancing, storing up what is good and true separate from what is evil and false, is more particularly described in the following passage.
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Exploration takes place likewise with every man who is being reformed, and also with every one who receives remains; but of this exploration the man knows nothing at all; it is so entirely in obscurity with him that he does not even believe that there is any; when yet it is taking place every moment, but from the Lord, who alone sees mans state--not only his present state, but also his future state to eternity. The exploration is a most exquisite balancing, to prevent even the least of falsity from being conjoined with good, and the least of truth from being conjoined with evil; for if there should be such conjunction, the man would perish eternally; because then in the other life he would hang between hell and heaven; and by reason of the good he would be spewed out from hell, and by reason of the evil from heaven (AC 3116).
11) DOES THE STOKING UP OF REMAINS BEYOND OUR ABILITY TO INTERFERE WITH THEM THEREFORE MEAN THAT THEY ARE OF NO KEAL USE UNTIL SUCH TIME AS WE ARE IN A HOLY STATE WHEREIN WE WILL NOT DEFILE OR PROFANE THEM?
Examination of the teachings bearing on remains makes it very evident that not only does such a condition net exist, but it could not exist. Regarded as to their essence, remains are states of love or affection, they are living and acting in our mind all of the time, although we may have no consciousness of their presence or of the use to which they are being turned by the Lord. Every expression of love, of charity, or innocence with a child, whether directed to parents, nurses, teachers, friends, companions or others, is the result of remains insinuating themselves into the other states of his life (AC 1738, AC 1906).
The Lord is constantly using remains to temper all the states that a person afterwards acquires.
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Without this a man can never be a man, for the states of cupidities, or of evil, if not tempered by states of the affection of good, would be more atrocious than those of any animal. Hence the Lord introduces them into ones natural disposition and this when the man is not aware of it (AC 1906:2).
In addition to the above, the activity of remains produces all the longing to learn what is good and true (See AE 117). In short, unless quietly moved by remains we would have no affection for knowing or understanding what is good and true.
The activity of remains before regeneration not only produces a longing or an affection for learning, but it is also responsible for all our ability to know what is good and true when it is presented, to reflect upon matters of every kind, and consequently to think and to reason (AC 560).
Again, from the Lord through the activation of our remains we have the ability to think, and also to understand what the good and the truth of civic and moral life are, and also to receive spiritual truth or faith (AC 1906:3). Speaking generally of remains, prior to the time when they are manifested in the regenerate life, it is stated that meanwhile so much is drawn from them as conduces to the use of life (AC 5894).
12) HEREDITARY TENDENCIES TO LOVE WHAT IS EVIL AND TO THINK WHAT IS FALSE ARE SAID TO BE IMPRESSED UPON THE NATURAL OK EXTERNAL MAN, ESPECIALLY IN THE SENSUAL. WHERE ARE REMAINS IMPLANTED?
From our discussion to this point, it is clear that in their implantation remains must be wholly separated from our heredity evil. Otherwise they could not be used by the Lord to offset and temper the effect of heredity.
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In the earliest teachings concerning remains it is said that they are in the internal man (AC 561, 857). When other teachings are examined, however, it is apparent that the term internal man does not refer just to the inmost degree of the human soul, but also includes what is immediately below it and is later called the interior or rational man.
In speaking of the remains implanted in infancy it is said that they there are in mans interior rational. This is the Diane or degree proper to the celestial angels who, from the Lord, are involved in the insinuation of remains in mans infancy (See AC 1906:3) (cf. AC 5145:2).
In a passage which appears to be speaking of those remains which are implanted in childhood, the interior natural is given as the plane of mind in which the goods and truths that constitute these remains find their abode. They are stored there for use especially when there is danger of profanation should they remain in consciousness in a lower region (See AC 5135:4). The interior natural in this particular series refers to that degree of the mind in which are good spirits, or the ultimate or first heaven (AC 5145:2).
In a later passage in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 5342:3), after speaking of the goods stored up in infancy and childhood, there is a discussion of truths adjoined to good that may then be stored up in later life. These in a proper sense are called remains. (These remains would appear to be synonymous with those remains that are elsewhere called the goods of intelligence as in AC 2280). These truths adjoined to good are associated with angels of the second heaven. (AC 5344) The angels of the second heaven are said to be in the degree of the exterior rational, that degree which is above the interior natural, but is below the interior rational (See AC 5145). (For an over-view of where specific kinds of remains are imprinted see diagram III in the second appendix to this study.)
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The more general teaching is that remains are stored up in his interior man (AC 2284:3, 5894, 5897:2, 6156).
The interior man is the plane of mind intermediate between the internal man and the external or natural man. It is often referred to as the rational man (AC 1702, AC 1940, AC 1999, AC 3020, AC 3057).
When remains are said to be stored up in mans memories (see AC 2284) it is assumed that reference is being made to both aspects of remains, the affectional content, and the truth or knowledge in mans memories that provides the form and foundation for that affectional content.
13) BEFORE REACHING MATURITY, IN WHICH PERIOD OF OUR LIFE ARE WE MOST
RECEPTIVE TO THE IMPLANTATION OF REMAINS?
These states, states of love and charity, and consequently all the states of innocence and peace, are given to man from infancy, but less by degrees as the man advances into adult age (AC 1738; see AC 1906).
14) WHAT ARE MEANT BY THE FIRST REMAINS THAT ARE SOMETIMES MENTIONED IN THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINES?
There are two states from which comes celestial light. The first is that into which man is introduced from infancy; for it is known that infants are in innocence and in the goods of love, which are the celestial things into which they are at first introduced by the Lord, and which are stored up in the child for use in later life, and for his use when he comes into the other life; these are what are called the first remains (AC 1548).
Elsewhere these first remains are described as celestial things of :eve relating to love to the Lord and love to the neighbor and innocence itself in these. They, especially, are described as the veriest fountains of life. These celestial things, we are told, are insinuated into man chiefly in his state of infancy up to childhood, and in fact without knowledges; for they flow in from the Lord, and affect him, before the man knows what love is and what affection is, as may be seen from the state of infants, and afterwards from the state of early childhood (AC 1450).
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In still another passage these first remains or celestial things are described as to the form they will take in the observed life of the infant. They will show themselves as his love for his parents, his nurses, his companions.... Such are the things that flow in from the Lord through the heaven of innocence and peace, which is the inmost heaven, and thus is man imbued with them in infancy (AC 1906).
15) WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE IMPLANTATION OF FIRST REMAINS FROM THAT OF LATER STATES OF AFFECTION?
As just noted, first remains or the remains of infancy are implanted in the interiors of the mind by the Lord without knowledges, before the child knows what love is or affection is (AC 1450).
In later states of childhood spiritual and celestial things, states of affection for what is true and good, are implanted with knowledges. They are imprinted in the interiors of the mind especially when instruction is provided from the Lords Word, and the knowledges gained through the instruction are stored in the memory (See AC 1548, 1906:3, 561).
16) WHEN ARE OUR REMAINS AS GOOD AFFECTIONS OF THE WILL AND TRUTHS OF THE UNDERSTANDING FIRST BROUGHT TO OUR CONSCIOUSNESS SO AS TO BE RECOGNIZED AND SUBSEQUENTLY ENJOYED?
The are not brought out so as to be recognized until the man is being regenerated (AC 737).
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The Lord will never permit them to come forth so long as the man is in evil and falsity, but only at such a time as he is in a holy state... (AC 2284). For in so far as a man is in the love of self and of the world, the good of genuine Love does not appear (AC 3336).
17) WHEN MAN CAN BE REGENERATED TO WHAT USE DOES THE LORD THEN PUT OUR REMAINS?
It quickly becomes apparent from the teaching of the Word that remains are the primary means whereby man is regenerated (see also passages as referred to under question 5), no regeneration
being possible without them.
When a man is being regenerated, these states are the beginnings of regeneration, and he is led into them; for the Lord works through the remains (AC 1050) (cf. AC 2636:2, 10110, 9296: 2, 3, 1555, 2, 13).
Speaking more specifically of the process, we are told that When therefore the time comes that the man can be regenerated, the Lord inspires the affection of good, and through this excites the things which have been adjoined by Him to this affection, which things are called in the Word remains; and then by means of this affection (that is, of the affection of good), by successive steps the Lord removes the affections or other loves, consequently also the things that have been connected with them. And thus the affection of good, or what is the same, the good of life, begins to have the dominion (AC 3336).
Still we know that our regeneration cannot be effected at this day without the combats of spiritual temptation. When the Lord inspires the affection of what is good to initiate the regenerative process, evil spirits, the agents of hell, resist and attack, seeking to destroy the affection of good. The use of remains when this development takes place is described as follows:
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In the case of those who are being regenerated through temptations, the remains in a man are for the angels that are with him, who draw out from them the things wherewith they defend the man against the evil spirits who excite the falsities in him and thus assail him (AC 737; see also AC 5893, 5280:3).
If we from the Lord persevere in the combats of temptation, holding to what we know to be true and good, and resisting the persuasive falsities of the evil, remains may begin to be employed by the Lord for the use they were originally intended. When through spiritual temptations the power of hereditary and actual evil begins to be broken in the natural mind, the way is open for our remains to be introduced consciously into the natural. In the measure that the external man is subdued, and the evils and falsities there no longer hinder, resist and suffocate what is good and true, remains, or the affections of what is good and true begin to appear and become effective there (See AC 857).
When a man is being regenerated, then, in so far as this is the case, the remains are let down from the interiors into the exteriors, for the reason that by regeneration the interiors are conjoined with the exteriors and act as a one. Remains are then first let down to generals, and afterward successively to particulars (AC 6156).
18) HAWING ONCE BEEN INTRODUCED INTO OUR NATURAL MIND DURING THE PROCESS OF REGENERATION, CAN WE EXPECT OUR REMAINS TO CONTINUE TO BE CONSCIOUSLY PRESENT IN THE STATES THAT FOLLOW?
Many passages from the Word relate how a person is regenerated during the whole course of his life. (AC 4063:3, 4136, 5354:3) While this process is being led forward by the Lord, the persons states alternate between what is good and bad until what is bad is effectively subdued.
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Applicable to these alternating states it is said that remains are let down into the exterior or natural man when he is in a state of good; but the moment he comes into a state of evil they are drawn back and stored up again. The reason of their being drawn back and stored up again, is to prevent their being mingled with evils, and thus perishing. When a man cannot be regenerated, the remains in him are carefully preserved in his interiors. (AC 6156)
19) ARE THERE ANY TIMES, OTHER THAN WHEN WE ARE BEING REGENERATED, THAT REMAINS MAY HAVE A PERCEPTIBLE, CONSCIOUS EFFECT ON OUR EXTERNAL LIFE IN THIS WORLD?
The Word teaches that there are indeed such times, even with the evil. Remains may have an obvious conscious effect when, for example, we are in some anxiety, sickness, or other trouble (AC 2284:2).
Such a perceptible arousal of ones remains can only occur, however, when at least temporarily, mens natural loves are assaulted, and broken (as during misfortunes, sickness, and grief of mind), ... and his cupidities begin to subside, and he at the same time begins to talk piously; but as soon as he returns to his former state, the external man prevails and he scarcely thinks of such things. The like happens at the hour of death, when bodily things begin to be extinguished ... (AC 857).
We are all familiar with the observation that a crisis will often bring out the best in a person. That best is an appearing of remains in mans externals. Unfortunately, with many, due to evil in their day to day life, that best, those remains, have to be withdrawn by the Lord and hidden in their interiors as soon as the crisis is past. (cp. DP 140-142; SD 4260)
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It is important to note that the Lord, in His merciful economy may do more with states of anxiety, misfortune, sickness and grief of mind than just described. In addition to arousing remains previously implanted, the Lord, at such times, may provide for the implantation of new remains. The same may occur with very natural men when for a time they leave their accustomed preoccupations and hear particularly effective preaching. This would probably be the case especially when attending a memorial service or while participating in some sacrament or rite of the church.
Sometimes, also, such persuasive preaching occurs (datur), that they who believe nothing, and think they are to die like brutes, then seem to themselves to be, as it were, elevated to heaven, but yet as soon as they go forth from the church, believe nothing, and on the other hand (alioquin), make sport of such things. That they are elevated to heaven, I perceived from a spiritual idea: also from living experience with certain ones. 1748, September 9. When man is in such a persuasive state, and is elevated, then the Lord operates, and implants (inseminat), and conceals in their minds those things which are called remains: also at many other times, as when (men are) in misfortunes and temptations. This was now insinuated in my mind (mihi nunc insinuatum).1748, September 9 (SD 3108).
20) BESIDES THE FIRST REMAINS, WHICH ARE THE REMAINS OF INFANCY, AND THE LATER REMAINS THAT ARE IMPLANTED IN CHILDHOOD, THE WORD MENTIONS STILL OTHER REMAINS WHICH ARE REFERRED TO AS NEW REMAINS. WHEN AND HOW MAY WE ACQUIRE THESE REMAINS?
It is sometimes thought that remains are imprinted in the interiors of the human mind only in our infancy and childhood.
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This, however, is not the Lords intention. The Lord is seeking to insinuate remains from mans infancy even to the end of his life (AC 2280), from earliest infancy even to the end of life (AC 1906).
So it is revealed that in adult age, when a man is being regenerated, he then receives new remains also, besides the former, thus new life ... the remains acquired in the combats of temptations are those which are here meant (AC 1738).
From the above it is clear that the combats of spiritual temptation, when we remain faithful to the Lords leading, may serve an extremely important use relative to the implantation of remains. Not only do the remains of previous states begin to be introduced into our external life, but also from the Lord, new remains may be sown in the mind at the same time.
21) HOW ARE THESE NEW REMAINS AS TO THEIR IMPLANTATION AND THEIR QUALITY TO BE COMPARED TO THE REMAINS OF EARLIER STATES?
In order that this matter may be clearly understood the Word divides the states of heavenly affection called remains into three categories: The goods of infancy, the goods of ignorance, and the goods of intelligence (AC 2280).
a) The goods of infancy are those which are insinuated into man from his very birth up to the age in which he is beginning to be instructed and to know something (AC 2280).
These goods of infancy are elsewhere described as our first remains (see AC 1450, 1548, 1906, see also questions 14 and 15) and they are implanted from the mans infancy up to the tenth year of his age (AC 2280).
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b) The goods of ignorance are what are insinuated when he is being instructed and is beginning to know something (AC 2280).
These goods of ignorance, although not given another name, are also described elsewhere where the remains which succeed first remains are discussed. (See AC 1450, 1548, 1906:3, 5135:4, see also questions 14 and 15). The goods of ignorance are implanted from mans tenth year up to his twentieth year (AC 2280).
Those who are in the good of ignorance do not come into any temptation; for no one is tempted before he is able to reflect, and in his own way to perceive the nature of good and truths (AC 2280) (cf. AC 2636).
c) Mans new remains or the goods of intelligence are what are insinuated when he is able to reflect upon what is good and true (AC 2280).
From the twentieth year the man begins to become rational, and to have the faculty of reflecting upon good and truth, and to procure for himself the good of intelligence.
How are they to be compared in quality as to how they affect us?
As regards the before-mentioned goods, namely those of infancy, of ignorance, and of intelligence, the case is this. The good of intelligence is the best, for this is of wisdom; the good which precedes it, namely that of ignorance, is indeed good, but as there is but little intelligence in it, it cannot be called the good of wisdom; and as for the good of infancy, it is indeed good in itself, but still it is less good than the other two; for as yet there is not any truth of intelligence adjoined to it, and thus it has not become any good of wisdom, but it is only a plane for being able to become so; for it is the knowledges of good and truth that cause a man to be wise as a man (AC 2280).
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In support of the teaching that, as regards the man, the goods of intelligence are the best, it should be noted that these latter remains are procured by man by the exercise of both his faculties, rationality and freedom. Not only is he able to reflect on good and truth from himself, but also, having reached adult age, he can, from himself, act in freedom either accepting or rejecting what he sees to be good and true. In short, the goods of intelligence can be appropriated to him, and thence remain in ways that the remains implanted earlier could not. This would seem to be the message of the following teaching.
For goods and truths do not become remains until they are being appropriated to man, and they are for the first time being appropriated to man when they are received from affection in freedom (AC 6157).
22) ARE ALL THE REMAINS THAT A PERSON RECEIVES IN ADULT LIFE GOODS OF INTELLIGENCE?
The same teaching that associates the goods of ignorance with the period of life between ages ten and twenty also indicates very clearly that with many people these remains may predominate in much later states and, perhaps, even to the end of life. With well-disposed people both within and without the church, when the truth of faith is lacking and yet there is charity, goods of ignorance may be implanted, but not the goods of intelligence. If goods of intelligence are to be received there must be the knowledges of good and truth.
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By twenty in this verse (Gen. 18:31), ... there is signified no other good than the good of ignorance; which good is not only declared to be with those who are under their twentieth year, as already said, but also with all who are in the good of charity and at the same time in ignorance of truth, as are those within the church who are in the good of charity, but from whatever cause, do not know what the truth or faith is; as is the case with very many of those who think devoutly about God and kindly about the neighbor; and as is also the case with all outside the church, who are called Gentiles, and who in like manner live in the good of charity. Both the latter and the former, although not in the truths of faith, yet being in good, are in the faculty of receiving the truths of faith in the other life equally as are little children; for their understanding has not as yet been tainted with principles of falsity, nor their will so confirmed in a life of evil, because they are ignorant of its being falsity and evil; and the life of charity is attended with this: that the falsity and evil of ignorance may be easily bent to truth and good. Not so is it with those who have confirmed themselves in things contrary to the truth, and at the same time have lived a life in things contrary to good (AC 2280:6).
23) IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR PERIOD IN LIFE WHEN AN INDIVIDUAL, ACTING IN FREEDOM ACCORDING TO REASON, SHOULD GIVE ESPECIAL ATTENTION TO RECEIVING GOODS OF INTELLIGENCE?
While it is obvious from many teachings that people should be zealous to procure these remains in all seasons of their adult life, there appear to be indications that the decade in life between ages twenty and thirty is a period of particular importance. We should note that in the Word thirty is often associated with a fullness of remains and also with somewhat of combat in spiritual temptations. Since the goods of ignorance by themselves do not enable a person to enter into the combat of spiritual temptation (see AC 2278-80), we conclude that the fullness of remains represented by thirty must include the goods of intelligence.
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It would appear that as these begin to be present a person is able to enter into the real business of adult life which is regeneration. They then are able to engage in somewhat of the spiritual combat that is necessary to proceed in this process, which is also represented by thirty (See AC 2274, 2276). The following is but one of the teachings that would appear to support the idea that the decade between twenty and thirty is an important period for the implantation of the goods of intelligence.
And Joseph was a son of thirty years. That this signifies a full state of remains, is evident from the signification of thirty, as being full of remains (of which below); and from the signification of years, as begin states (seen n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 893). The number thirty in the Word signifies somewhat of combat, and it also signifies full of remains. The reason why it has this twofold signification, is that it is composed of five and six multiplied together, and also of three and ten so multiplied. From five multiplied by six it signifies somewhat of combat (n. 2276d, because five signifies somewhat (n. 4638, 5291), and six combat (n. 720, 730, 737, 900, 1709); but from three multiplied by ten it signifies full of remains, because three signifies what is full (n. 2788, 4495), and ten remains (n. 576, 1906, 2284); that a compound number involves the like as its components, see n. 5291. (That remains are the truths joined to good stored up by the Lord in mans interiors, see n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 576, 660, 1050 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135.) [2] A fullness of remains is signified also by thirty, by sixty, and by a hundred, in Mark:--
The seed that fell into the good ground yielded fruit that sprang up and increased, and brought forth, one thirty, and another sixty, and another a hundred (iv. 8, 20);
As all these numbers arise from ten by multiplication, they signify a fullness of remains. And as man cannot be regenerated, that is, be admitted to the spiritual combats through which regeneration is effected, until he has received remains to the full it was ordained that the Levites should not do any work in the tent of meeting until the had completed thirty years, which work or function is also called welfare, as we read in Moses:--
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Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from the midst of the sons of Levi, from a son of thirty years and upward to a son of fifty years, every one that cometh to the warfare, to do the work in the tent of meeting (Num. iv. 2, 3).
Something similar is said of the sons of Gershon, and of the sons of Merari (verses 22, 23, 29, 30; and again, 35, 39, 43). The like is involved in Davids thirty years old when he began to reign (2 Sam. v. 4) [3] From all this it is now plain why the Lord did not manifest Himself until He was thirty years of age (Luke iii. 23); for He was then in the fullness of remains. But the remains the Lord had He Himself procured for Himself, and they were of the Divine; and by means of them He united the Human essence to the Divine essence, and made the Human essence Divine (n. 1906). From Him then it is that thirty years signify a full state as to remains, and that the priests the Levites entered upon their functions when the were thirty years old, and that David, because he was to represent the Lord as to the royalty, did not be in to reign until he was thirty; for every representative is derived from the Lord, and therefore every representative looks to the Lord (AC 5335)
From the above discussion it is obvious that while people cannot determine for themselves the quantity or quality of remains that are implanted in their infancy and childhood, the goods of infancy and the goods of ignorance, they can, by the exercise of freedom and rationality, determine both the quantity and the quality of the remains that are implanted in adult life. Let us also recall that if they are the goods of intelligence these are the best remains.
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24) IS THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF OUR REMAINS A MATTER OF ANY IMPORTANCE?
The Word reveals that this is a matter of considerable significance, especially after death in the spiritual world.
According to the quality and quantity of the remains--that is, of the good and truth with a man--does he enjoy bliss and happiness in the other life; for as has been said, these remains are stored up in his interior man, and they are opened at the time when the man has left bodily and worldly things behind (AC 2284:3).
The more remains ... that a man has received in the life of the body, that is, the more of good and truth, the more delightful and beautiful do the rest of his states appear when they return ... in the other life (AC 1906)
25) WHILE WE ARE STILL IN THE WORLD, WHAT ABILITY, IF ANY, DO WE HAVE TO EVALUATE OR JUDGE THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF REMAINS WITHIN OURSELVES AND WITH OTHER PEOPLE?
The Lord alone knows the quality and extent of the remains in a man; the man himself cannot possibly know this, for at the present day man is or such a character that he is able to counterfeit what is good, while within there is nothing but evil; and a man may also appear to be evil and yet have good within. On this account no man is ever allowed to judge concerning the quality of the spiritual life of another, for the Lord alone, as before said, knows this; but every one may judge of another in regard to the quality of his moral and civil life, for this concerns society. It is very common for those who have taken up an opinion respecting any truth of faith, to judge of others that they cannot be saved, unless they believe as they do--a judgment which the Lord has forbidden (Matt. vii. 1, 2) (AC 2284:31 4).
Such a teaching as this surely ought to be remembered with humility in many states of our life: when we are inclined to judge others harshly, when we are elated with pride at our own supposed goodness, but also when we are brought low and are filled with despair as to our salvability.
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26) WHAT ESSENTIAL QUALITY MUST BE PRESENT IN THE LIFE OF ANYONE, OF WHATEVER RELIGION THEY MAY BE, IN ORDER FOR THEM TO CONTINUE BEING GIFTED BY THE LORD WITH REMAINS FOR THEIR EVENTUAL SALVATION?
I have learned from much experience that men of every religion are saved, provided that by a life of charity they have received remains of good and of apparent truth. This is what is meant by its being said that if ten were found (in Sodom), they should not be destroyed for the tens sake; by which is signified that they would be saved if there were remains (AC 2284:4).
And what is the life of charity as it is spoken of here? The life of charity consists in thinking kindly of another, and in wishing him well; and in perceiving joy in ones self from the fact that others also are saved (AC 2284:5)
27) WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REMAINS AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
In teachings too numerous to mention the life of charity is said to especially involve living according to the Ten Commandments of the Decalogue. If these are believed and are introduced into our life, remains will be in our life. In this connection let us note what is said about the Ten Commandments.
That the Decalogue consisted of ten precepts, or ten words, and that Jehovah wrote them on tables (Deut. 10:4), signifies remains, and their being written by the hand of Jehovah signifies that remains are of the Lord alone; their being in the internal man was represented by the tables (AC 576:4) (cf. AC 5135:3).
If keeping the ten commandments encourages the implantation of remains, then breaking the commandments surely prevents the implantation of remains.
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It is obvious that we must seek from the Lord to prevent all the evils prohibited in the Decalogue from becoming actual with ourselves.
28) ARE THERE, HOWEVER, ANY SPECIFIC EVILS INVOLVED IN THE TEN PRECEPTS THAT ESPECIALLY THREATEN REMAINS, EVILS THAT ESPECIALLY NEED TO BE SHUNNED?
The Word in this regard, draws our attention to two particularly grievous evils: profanation and deceit or hypocrisy.
Remains ... are closed up by evils of life and by persuasions of falsity, so as no longer to appear; and by the denial of truth which had previously been acknowledged (both of these acts being from affection), they are consumed, for this is the commingling of truth and falsity which is called profanation (AC 5897:8).
In spiritual things, deceit, that is, hypocrisy, cannot be forgiven. The reason is that deceit is like poison, for it penetrates even to the interiors, and kills everything of faith and charity, and destroys the remains, which are the truths and goods of faith and charity stored up by the Lord in the interiors of man, which being destroyed nothing of spiritual life any longer survives..... From all this then it is evident how the case is with hypocrites, who through deceit are filled with evils as to the interiors, namely, that they cannot do the work of repentance; for the very remains of good and of truth in them have been consumed and destroyed, and therewith everything of spiritual life; and because they cannot do the work of repentance, they cannot be forgiven. This is signified by the statute that those who kill the neighbor with deceit should be taken from the altar that they may die (AC 9014:2, 4).
There are two things which not only close up the way of communication, but even deprive a man of the capacity of ever being rational--deceit and profanation. Deceit is like a subtle poison which infects the interiors, and profanation mixes falsities with truths and evils with goods: through these two the rational wholly perishes. There are in every man goods and truths from the Lord stored up from infancy, which in the Word are called remains.... These remains are infected by deceit, and are mixed up by profanation (AC 5128:5).
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It would appear that the remains which are most in danger of destruction through deceit and profanation are the goods of ignorance. These goods and truths implanted from early childhood are stored up in the interior natural region of the mind and are therefore more vulnerable to what is evil and false than are the goods of infancy which are stored up in the interior of the rational. When speaking of the remains in the interior natural it is said that
if evil steals goods and truths there, and applies them to confirm evils and falsities, especially if it does this from deceit, then it consumes these remains; for it then mingles evils with goods and falsities with truths till they cannot be separated, and then it is all over with the man (AC 5135:4).
For the sake of preserving mans freedom of choice in spiritual things, the Lord must sometimes permit the closing up of remains and even their destruction. Such a sad permission is far removed from His will which is that remains be opened up to mans full awareness and then employed for his eternal happiness. The Lord would like everyone to be like unto a man, an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old (Matt. 13:52).
29) IF THOSE EVILS WHICH DESTROY REMAINS ARE SHUNNED, WHEN MIGHT WE BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE A FULL AWARENESS OF AND DELIGHT IN OUR REMAINS?
All these states are so preserved in man by the Lord that not the least of them is lost, as I have been given to know from the fact that every state of a man, from his infancy to extreme old age, not only remains in the other life, but also returns, in fact his states return exactly as they were while he lived in this world.
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Not only do the goods and truths of memory thus remain and return, but also all states of innocence and charity, (AC 561), attended with highest delight and happiness (AC 823).
All the states of the affection of good and truth with which a man is gifted by the Lord, from earliest infancy even to the end of life, are stored up for him for the use of his life after death; for in the other life all the states of his life return in succession, and are then tempered by the states of good and truth with which he has been gifted by the Lord. The more remains therefore that a man has received in the life of the body, that is, the more of good and truth, the more delightful and beautiful do the rest of his states appear when they return (AC 1906).
30) IF ALL OF A PERSONS STATES RETURN TO HIS CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE OTHER LIFE, WILL NOT THE EVIL STATES, INCLUDING THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN REJECTED THROUGH REPENTANCE, RETURN ALSO? WOULD NOT THE EVIL STATES THEN DEFILE AND DESTROY ALL THE DELIGHT OF THE GOOD STATES?
In responding to such a question the Word reveals another marvelous use to which the good of remains can be put with those who come into heaven.
When states of evil and falsity recur--for each and all of these, even the smallest, also remain and return--then these states are tempered by the Lord by means of the good states (AC 561; SD 4164; AC 1906).
This tempering operation that the Lord performs with the good in the other life is variously illustrated and described. (See SD 2303-2305, SD 2457, SD 2490, SD 2347, SD 2409; AC 1043; SD 2350-51.) For example, it is likened to the replacement of an evil taste or offensive smell by a good taste or a pleasant odor. It is also compared to the introduction of sunlight into a cloud following a storm, which produces a rainbow of brilliant and beautiful colors, as in the story of Noah.
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It is also wonderfully described in the Psalms:
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast opened my sackcloth and girded me with joy (Psalm 30:11).
31) WHAT OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE CHOSEN THE LIFE OF EVIL IN THIS WORLD, WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR REMAINS WHEN THEY BETAKE THEMSELVES INTO ETERNAL LIFE IN HELL?
Again the infinite mercy of the Lord is revealed. We are told that with the evil the Lord collects their remains and stores them up in their interiors beyond their ability to interfere with them. By means of the remains that He has reserved there, the evil may have some communication with heaven and in this way there may be something of the human preserved with them. As to the activity of the remains so preserved with them, it said that
the truths and goods in the interiors of those who are evil effect nothing more than to enable them to reason, and to think and speak from the sensuous, thus to confirm what is false and defend what is evil. Nothing more can be let out from the goods and truths stored up and reserved within them, for if more were let out, the truths and goods would perish, and thus nothing human would be left in them (AC 7560).
With the evil not all of the goods and truths that were implanted as remains can be preserved and used by the Lord in this manner. Only those that remain undisturbed in the interiors of the rational and the interior of the natural are secure. Those that became adjoined to falsities and evils in the exterior of the natural, perhaps through profanation or deceit, are destroyed and vastated after death.
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The subject treated of in this and in the following verse is the truths and goods which were destroyed and vastated, and the goods and truths which were not destroyed and vastated; thus the truths and goods which were stored up and reserved for use, and those which were not stored up and reserved. For when the evil are being vastated, that is, when they are being separated from truths and goods, and are left to their own evils and falsities, they are then vastated in respect to those truths and goods which are in the exterior natural, and which are adjoined there to falsities and evils. That these truths and goods look downward, and therefore cannot be reserved, will be seen below (n. 7604, 7607); but the truths and goods of the interior natural are not vastated, but are brought further inward, and are there reserved for use; and then the communication between the interior natural and the exterior is so far closed that nothing of good and truth can inflow from the interior natural into the exterior natural, except only something general, to enable them to reason, and to string together arguments to confirm falsities and evils. Those goods and truths which are reserved, are signified in the Word by remains (AC 7601:2) (cf. AC 7564).
Such a disorderly and sad state, however, is far removed from the result the Lord seeks to provide through the implantation of remains from our earliest infancy to the end of our life in this world. Rather than having to close off communication between a persons interiors and exteriors, as is the case with the evil, the Lord longs to progressively open communication between the interiors and exteriors. The Lord wants to so conjoin the two that all that is in the interiors from Himself may descend into the exteriors, bringing to the person there all the joys and delights of heaven.
32) IN CONTRAST TO THE EVIL, HOW DOES THE LORD INTRODUCE REMAINS INTO CONSCIOUS AND ACTIVE SERVICE WITH THOSE WHO ARE BEING PREPARED FOR HEAVEN, WHO ARE REGENERATE OR ARE BECOMING REGENERATE?
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In response to questions sixteen, seventeen and eighteen we have seen that remains only begin to be consciously perceived in a normal state of our natural mind when we are being regenerated. The Lord then uses our remains to remove what is disorderly and from hell and to introduce what is orderly, heavenly and from Himself. (See AC 737, 1050, 3336, 857; cf. AC 2636:2, 10110, 9296:2, 3, 1555:2, 3, 5893, 5280:3.) In this way our external man is progressively conjoined with our internal man and we become whole, we come into a genuine state of health in respect both the spiritual and natural minds.
In the teachings already referred to we have noted in a general way how remains are brought into service in the human mind. In at least one teaching (AC 1616) we are given quite specific instruction as to the order in which the remains that were implanted in the various periods of life are brought into service. In general the last remains to be implanted are the first to be initiated into service, and the first remains to be implanted are the last to find full expression in the human mind.
... The celestial things that are of love are insinuated from the earliest infancy up to childhood, and also to youth, when being a man he is then and afterwards imbued with knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones). If the man is such that he can be regenerated, these knowledges are then filled with the celestial things that are of love and charity, and are thus implanted in the celestial things with which he has been gifted from infancy up to childhood and youth; and thus his external man is conjoined with his internal man. They are first implanted in the celestial things with which he was gifted in youth, next in those with which he was gifted in childhood, and finally in those with which he was gifted in infancy; and then he is a little child, of whom the Lord said that of such is the kingdom of God.
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This implantation is effected by the Lord alone; and for this reason nothing celestial is possible with man, nor can be, that is not from the Lord, and that is not the Lords. [5] But the Lord from His own power conjoined His external man with His internal man, and filled His knowledges with celestial things, and implanted them in the celestial things, and this in fact according to Divine order; first in the celestial things of His childhood, next in the celestial things of the age between childhood and infancy; and finally in the celestial things of His infancy; and thus at the same time became, as to the Human Essence, innocence itself and love itself, from which are all innocence and all love in the heavens and on earth. Such innocence is true infancy, because it is at the same time wisdom. But the innocence of infancy, unless by means of knowledges it becomes the innocence of wisdom, is of no use; and therefore in the other life infants are imbued with knowledges (AC 1616:4, 5).
Although they are not specifically named in this passage, it would appear that the goods of intelligence, those implanted while in association with spiritual angels and their agents in the world of spirits (cf. HH 295), are the first to be brought into service. It also would seem that the use to which they at first are put is the regeneration of the rational, represented by Isaac in the story of Genesis.
The affectional component of these remains seems to be represented by Rebekah when she came out of the city. It is said of Rebekah that before she was betrothed, she puts on the representation of the affection of truth from doctrinal things; for from this comes truth, truth not being truth unless it has life, and its life is affection, which is love (AC 3077). (When conjoined to Isaac, Rebekah represents the truth in the rational, conjoined to the good there as a wife to a husband.)
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The intellectual component of these remains appears to be represented by the pitcher that Rebekah Sore on her shoulder. The pitcher as a receptacle represents knowledges (scientifics and cognitions, here scientifics). These knowledges may be associated with those received when a person is truly growing up and becoming a man. (See AC 1616:4 and compare with AC 3066 et al.) For a fuller view of how the affection of truth from doctrinal things (the goods of intelligence?) and the associated knowledges serve in the regeneration of the rational or spiritual man the whole story relating to Isaac and Rebekah should be consulted. (See especially AC 3075 et al.)
Again, although they are not so named, it would appear that the second kind of remains brought into service in our regeneration are the goods of ignorance. These involve the affections along with their knowledges that are implanted in the interior natural in childhood, in a state when we are chiefly in association with angels of the natural heaven. When once the rational or spiritual man has been regenerated (Isaac and Rebekah are conjoined), the natural man can be regenerated by the Lord through the rational or spiritual man (Esau and Jacob are born). For this to be accomplished other remains must be activated: first, the goods of ignorance that man may become spiritual, and finally, the goods of infancy that man may become celestial. The commencement of this process would appear to be represented by Jacobs going to the house of Bethuel, his mothers father, to take from there a woman of the daughters of Laban his mothers brother.
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The affections with their knowledges that constitute the goods of ignorance implanted in childhood and early childhood would seem to be represented by Leah and Rachel as daughters of Laban. (See especially AC 3665.) For a full view of this subject the whole of the Jacob and Joseph series must Se consulted, beginning with the exposition of Genesis 25.
Finally, if we from spiritual are to become celestial, being regenerated even as far as the sensual, the goods of infancy stored up in the interior rational must be brought into full service, those remains implanted in association With celestial angels. For a fuller idea of this process the Exodus series Should be consulted, especially the particulars relating to the first Passover and the incidents that follow that event.
The last teaching to be presented in this discussion most beautifully, yet briefly summarizes all the states through which one ought to advance from birth even to the last state which is the very end for which the Lord has created everyone.
When first born, man is introduced into a state of innocence, in order that this may be a plane for all the succeeding states, and be the inmost in them; which state is signified in the Word by a suckling. Next he is introduced into a state of the affection of celestial good, that is, of love toward his parents which with such infants is in the place of love to the Lord; and this state is signified by an infant. Afterwards he is introduced into a state of the affection of spiritual good, or of mutual love, that is, of charity, toward his playmates, which state is signified by boys. As he advances further in age, he is introduced into a state of the affection of truth; this is signified by young men; and the subsequent states are signified by young men, and finally by old men. This Last state, signified by old men, is the state of wisdom, in which is the innocence of infancy;
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thus the first state and the last are united; and man when old, being again a little child, but wise, is introduced into the Lords kingdom (AC 3183).
35) WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REMAINS AND THE NEW WILL AND CONSCIENCE?
Up to this point in the discussion of remains the terms conscience and the new will were not used. Our attention was focused on the process whereby the Lord prepares the human mind for the exercise of freedom and rationality through the implantation of remains to offset the effect of hereditary evil. It will be recalled that remains are essentially states of love or affection. The term, however, may include not only states of affection or goods, but also the forms of affection--truths and knowledges in the memories.
After the conclusion of the Arcana Coelestia the term remains is used only occasionally in the Heavenly Doctrine. This does not mean, however, that remains are no longer discussed. A myriad passages in the Heavenly Doctrine speak about goods and truths being stored up in man, or they speak of the affections or states of affection in infants, children, and adults, and in so doing, they quite obviously speak of remains. (See for example, AC 1616 and AC 3183 appearing in relation to the previous question.)
That remains are to be associated with that which may constitute the beginnings of a new will and thence a new understanding becomes clearly evident from a comparison of passages.
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The following two passages should be compared with the teachings presented in relation to questions sixteen, seventeen and eighteen (AC 737, 1050, 3336, 857, 2636:2, 10110.) Although the term remains is not used, clearly remains are under discussion throughout these teachings.
Few, if any, know how man is brought to true wisdom. Intelligence is not wisdom, but leads to wisdom; for to understand what is true and good is not to be true and good, but to be wise is to be so. Wisdom is predicated only of the life--that the man is such. A man is introduced to wisdom or to life by means of knowing (scire et nosse), that is, by means of knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones). In every man there are two parts, the will and the understanding; the will is the primary part, the understanding is the secondary one. Mans life after death is according to his will part, not according to his intellectual part. The will is being formed in man by the Lord from infancy to childhood, which is effected by means of the innocence that is insinuated, and by means of charity toward parents, nurses, and little children of a like age; and by means of many other things that man knows nothing of, and which are celestial. Unless these celestial things were first insinuated into a man while an infant and a child, he could by no means become a man. Thus is formed the first plane. [3] But as a man is not a man unless he is endowed also with understanding together with will; and understanding cannot be acquired except by means of knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones), and therefore he must, from his childhood, be gradually imbued with these. Thus is formed the second plane. When the intellectual part has been instructed in knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones), especially in the knowledges of truth and good, then first can the man be regenerated; and, when he is being regenerated, truths and goods are implanted by the Lord by means of knowledges in the celestial things with which he had been endowed by the Lord from infancy, so that his intellectual things make a one with his celestial things; and when the Lord has thus conjoined these, the man is endowed with charity, from which he begins to act, this charity being of conscience. In this way he for the first time receives new life, and this by degrees. The light of this life is called wisdom, which then takes the first place, and is set over the intelligence. Thus is formed the third plane.
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When a man has become like this during his bodily life, he is then in the other life being continually perfected. These considerations show what is the light of intelligence, and what the light of wisdom (AC 1555:2, 3).
It has already been everywhere shown that man has two faculties of life, namely, the understanding and the will; and that the understanding is allotted to the reception of truth, and the will to the reception of good; for there are two things to which all things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world bear relation; namely, truth and good. From this It is also evident that these two make the life of man, and that the truth of faith and the good of charity makes his new life, and that unless both of these have been implanted in man he has no new life. In what way the truth which is of faith is sown and implanted in man, is known in the church; but it is not as yet so well known in what way the good which is of charity is implanted. When he is a little child, man receives good from the Lord, and this good is the good of innocence, such as little children have. This good makes the beginning of the new will in man, and in the succeeding age it grows in accordance with his life of innocence with his companions and in accordance with his life of goodness and obedience toward his parents and masters, but still more with those who afterward suffer themselves to be regenerated. This the Lord foresees, and provides according to the state of life that follows; for in every present moment the Lord foresees evil, and provides good; and this He does from the first thread of life even to eternity. Afterward, when the man grows up and begins to think from himself, so far as he is then carried away by the delights of the loves of self and of the world, so far this new willing or beginning of a new will is closed; and so far as he is not carried away by these delights, so far it is opened and is also perfected. [3] But how it is perfected the implantation of truth, shall now be told. This new will, which is from the good of innocence, is the dwelling place through which the Lord enters into man and excites him to will what is good, and from willing to do it. This influx works in the man in proportion as he desists from evils. From this he has the faculty of knowing, of perceiving, reflecting upon, and understanding moral and civil truths and goods in accordance with the delight of use, Afterward the Lord flows in through this good into the truths of doctrine of the church with the man, and calls forth from the memory such as are of service to the use of life, and implants these in the good, and so perfects the good.
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It is from this that the good with a man is wholly in accordance with the use of life. If the use of life is for the neighbor (that is, for the good of our fellow citizen, of our country, of the church, of heaven), and for the Lord, then this good is the good of charity. But if the use of life is only for self and the world, then this beginning of the new will is closed, and beneath it is formed a will from the evils of the loves of self and of the world, and from this an understanding is formed of falsities. This latter will is closed above and open beneath, that is, closed to heaven and open to the world. From all this it is evident how truths are implanted in good, and form it; and also that when a man is in good he is in heaven with the Lord; for as before said, the new will, in which is the good of charity, is the dwelling place of the Lord, and consequently is heaven in man; and the new understanding thence derived is as it were the tabernacle through which He comes in and goes out. (AC 9296:2, 3; see also such passages as AC 5342, 5280:3; AE 828.)
From these and other teachings we conclude that when remains or states of affection and their truths, are appropriated to a person in adult life through their choosing them from affection, they become a part of what is known as the new will or new voluntary. The hew will or voluntary formed in the understanding then appears as conscience. That there is such a relationship between the new will and conscience is asserted in many passages, for example:
... With the man of the spiritual church a new will part is formed by good through truth, and it appears with him as conscience (AC 8457).
The new will with the spiritual regenerate man is conscience (HD 139).
With the regenerate man there is a new will and a new understanding, and this new will and new understanding are his conscience, that is, they are in his conscience, and through this the Lord works the good of charity and the truth of faith. (AC 977; see also AC 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555:3, 4299:2, 9113, 9115, 9299, 9596; cf. AC 4328, 4493.)
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In brief, from the remains that we choose to make our own, the Lord fashions a new will, and this new will with its understanding, in the man of today, appears as conscience.
34) WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NEW WILL AND CONSCIENCE THAT ARE BEGUN FROM REMAINS AND THE THREE DEGREES OF THE HUMAN MIND?
In harmony with other teachings it is clear from the Divine Love and Wisdom that a person from birth has the potential of three degrees of willing, understanding and result or use therefrom. These degrees that are potential from birth are here called natural, spiritual and celestial.
Since there are in man three degrees of love and wisdom, and therefore of use, it follows that there must be in him three degrees, of will, of understanding, and of result therefrom, thus of determination to use; for will is the receptacle of love, understanding the receptacle of wisdom, and result is use from these. From this it is evident that there are in every man a natural, a spiritual, and a celestial will and understanding, potentially by birth and actually when they are opened. In a word the mind of man which consists of will and understanding, is from creation and therefore from birth, of three degrees, so that man has a natural mind, a spiritual mind, and a celestial mind, and can thereby be elevated into and possess angelic wisdom while he lives in the world; ... (DLW 239; cf. 236-238, 242, 245).
Similar teaching appears in the Arcana Coelestia as in the following passage (AC 5145). Here, however, the three degrees of willing, thinking and of use therefrom are referred to as the interior rational, the exterior rational, and the interior natural, terms familiar in our discussion of remains and the degrees of the mind in which the various kinds are implanted.
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It should be noted that in this passage a distinction is made between the interior natural and the exterior natural. The latter forms, as it were, a fourth degree in which man is conscious while in the world. It will also be observed that as the discussion proceeds in this passage the degrees of the mind are directly associated with that which is produced when remains begin to serve in the formation a new will from the Lord: perceptions of what is good and true and conscience, both interior and exterior. These manifestations of a new will and understanding appear as a person cooperates with the Lord in the successive opening of the degrees of their mind from the outmost to the inmost. These openings are effected by the Lord as each degree of the mind is properly terminated. A degree of the mind is terminated or properly established as the willing and thinking that are characteristic of that degree are freely brought into effect or use in a persons life. (See DLW 237, 238, 242, 245, 246.)
Mans interiors are distinguished into degrees, and in each degree the interiors are terminated, and by termination are separated from the degree next below; it is thus from the inmost to the outermost. The interior rational constitutes the first degree; in this are the celestial angels, or in this is the inmost or third heaven. The exterior rational makes the second degree; in this are the spiritual angels, or in this is the middle or second heaven. The interior natural makes the third degree. In this are good spirits, or the ultimate or first heaven. The exterior natural, or the sensuous, makes the fourth degree; and in this is man. These degrees in man are most distinct. [3] Thence it is that if he lives in good, a man is as to his interiors a heaven in the least form, or that his interiors correspond to the three heavens;
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and hence it is that if a man has lived a life of charity and love, he can be carried after death even into the third heaven. But that he may be of this character, it is necessary that all the degrees in him should be well terminated, and thus by means of terminations be distinct from one another; and when they are terminated, or by means of terminations are made distinct from one another, each degree is a plane in which the good which flows in from the Lord rests, and where it is received. Without these degrees as planes, good is not received, but flows through, as through a sieve or a basket that has holes in it, down to the sensuous, and then, being without any direction in the way, it is turned into a foulness which appears to those who are in it as good, namely, into the delight of the love of self and of the world, consequently into the delight of hatred, revenge, cruelty, adultery, and avarice, or into mere voluptuousness and luxury. This is the case if the things of mans will are without termination anywhere in the middle, or if they have holes in them. [4] It is quite possible to know whether there are these terminations and consequent planes; for the perceptions of good and truth, and of conscience, show this. With those who have perceptions of good and truth, as have the celestial angels, the terminations are from the first degree to the last; for without terminations of all the degrees, such perceptions are impossible. With those also who have conscience, as the spiritual angels have, there are terminations, but from the second degree or from the third to the last, the first degree being closed with these angels. It is said from the second degree or from the third, because conscience is twofold, interior and exterior; interior conscience is that of spiritual good and truth, exterior conscience is that of what is just and equitable. Conscience itself is an interior plane in which the influx of the Divine good terminates. But they who have no conscience have not any interior plane to receive this influx; and with these persons good flows through down to the exterior natural or natural-sensuous; and as before said is there turned into foul delights. Sometimes these persons seem to feel a pain as of conscience, but it is not conscience; it is a pain arising from the loss of their delight, such as that of honor, gain, reputation, life, pleasures, or the friendship of people like themselves; and this is because the terminations are in delights like these. From all this it is evident what is signified in the spiritual sense by the baskets with holes in them (AC 5145:2-4).
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From these teachings and others presented in response to previous questions we conclude that when a person chooses to be obedient to those precepts of the Lord that are required for some life of charity to the neighbor the goods of ignorance in the interior of the natural mind can be used by the Lord as the beginnings of a new will and understanding which appears as a conscience of what is just and equitable. Such people as to their interiors begin to be introduced among angels of the natural or ultimate heaven. Similarly, if an individual has acquired knowledges of spiritual good and truth and, through the combats of spiritual temptation, has chosen to have these introduced into a life of use and of love to the neighbor in accordance with the things of their understanding, then the Lord can also use the goods of intelligence to form the beginnings of a new will and understanding which appear as a conscience of what is good and true.
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Such people as to their interiors begin to associate with angels of the spiritual or middle heaven who are conscious in the exterior of their rational mind. Again, if an individual has chosen to be led by the Lord to a state wherein truths from good have brought new life even to the sensual man so that they flee from evils because they are hellish and devilish and do goods because they are heavenly and Divine then the Lord can use the goods of infancy in the interior of the rational to provide a plane for a new willing and understanding that are truly celestial. This new will and understanding, receptive of love to the Lord and mutual love to the neighbor, does not appear as conscience but as perceptions of what is good and true. Such people as to their interiors dwell among angels of the celestial or highest heaven. [Besides the teachings noted in respect to this question, see especially those that we noted in relation to question twelve (re: where remains are implanted), question fourteen (re: first remains), question twenty-one (re: the different kinds of remains), and question thirty-two (re: the introduction of remains into active service]
35) WHAT IS THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTER AND OPERATION OF THE NEW WILL AND UNDERSTANDING AS THEY APPEAR AS EITHER PERCEPTION OR CONSCIENCE IN THE DEGREES OF THE HUMAN MIND? HOW ARE THESE MANIFESTATIONS TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM A FALSE CONSCIENCE?
It will be noted that the first teaching, as in AC 5145, speaks of all three degrees of affirmative reception of the Lords life, including the celestial, while the final two teachings focus our attention only on the reception of what is celestial and spiritual with the spiritual, spiritual-natural and merely natural or sensual person.
CONCERNING ORDER, AS FAR AS CONSCIENCE IS CONCERNED
The first plane is the inmost of the rational, and pertains to perception; thus to love to the Lord; consequently, to good and the truth of good. The second plane is the middle of the rational, and pertains to the conscience of good and truth, thus to piety, and is of the Church and the Lords kingdom. The third plane pertains to the conscience of justice and right; thus to employment in civil life, consequently to society and the common good: it belongs to the inferior rational. The fourth plane pertains to propriety and decorum; thus to intercourse; consequently, (to the relations) amongst friends and acquaintances: it belongs to the corporeal faculty.
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These planes can be conjoined, and the interior inflow into the exterior; and, then, the last plane, namely, that of propriety and decorum, is good, because it inflows from a good origin.
But when the exterior plane is separated from the interior, although there is the appearance of propriety, it is either on account of honor, reputation, gain, life, or the laws; not from an interior source: then it is only imitative, and is nothing worth. These things were perceived.
Conscience is not given without charity towards the neighbor. Man is in so obscure a perception and idea, that he is unable to know whether he has charity, because he is not much sensible of affection; nor, if he has it, does he reflect upon it, but it is known from his zeal towards good and truth, and towards justice and right. He then has charity, if he is in zeal, namely, in the zeal of punishing the evil for the end that they may become good and that the good may not be hurt, and that the community or public might be freed from such; for then he has charity, although it does not so appear; nor is he himself able to know this (SD (minor) 4545-4547).
There are in man two planes upon which are founded the celestial and spiritual things which are from the Lord. The one plane is interior, and the other exterior. The planes themselves are nothing else than conscience. Without these planes (that is, without conscience) nothing celestial and spiritual from the Lord can possibly be fixed, for it would flow through like water through a sieve. For this reason they who are without such a plane (that is, without conscience) do not know what conscience is; nay, they do not believe that there is anything spiritual and celestial. (2) The interior plane or interior conscience is where are good and truth in the genuine sense; for the good and truth that inflow from the Lord actuate this conscience. But the exterior plane is the exterior conscience, and is where there is what is just and equitable in the proper sense; for that which is just and equitable of both a moral and a civil kind, which likewise flows in, actuates it. There is also an outermost plane, which likewise appears as conscience, but is not conscience, namely the doing of what is just and equitable for the sake of self and the world, that is, for the sake of ones own honor or fame, and for the sake of the worlds wealth and possessions, and also for the fear of the law. These three planes are what rule man, that is, they are the means through which the Lord rules him. By means of the interior plane (that is, by means of a conscience of spiritual good and truth) the Lord rules those who have been regenerated.
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By means of the exterior plane (or by means of a conscience of what is just and equitable, that is to say, by means of a conscience of what is good and true of both a moral and a civic kind) the Lord rules those who have not yet been regenerated, but who can be regenerated, and also are being regenerated; if not in the life of the body, yet in the other life. But by means of the outermost plane, which appears like conscience, and yet is not conscience, the Lord rules all the rest, even the evil; for without this government these would rush into all wicked and insane things and do so rush when they are without the restraints of this plane. All those who do not suffer themselves to be ruled by means of these planes are either insane, or are punished according to the laws. (3) With the regenerate these three planes act as a one; for the one flows into the other, and an interior one disposes an exterior one. The first plane, or conscience of spiritual good and truth, is in mans rational; but the second plane, or conscience of moral and civic good and truth (that is, of what is just and equitable) is in mans natural (AC 4167).
The influx of the angels is especially into the conscience of man: there is the plane into which they operate. This plane is in the interiors of man. Conscience is twofold, interior and exterior. Interior conscience is of spiritual good and truth; exterior conscience is of justice and equity. At the present day this latter conscience exists with many; but interior conscience with few. Nevertheless they who enjoy exterior conscience are saved in the other life; for they are of such a character that if they act contrary to what is good and true, or contrary to what is just and equitable, they are inwardly distressed and tormented; not because by so doing they suffer loss of honor, of gain, or of reputation; but because they have acted contrary to good and truth, or to justice and equity. But where these consciences do not exist, there is something else of a very low nature which sometimes counterfeits conscience, and which lead men to do what is true and good, and what is just and equitable, not from the love of these, but for the sake of self and their own honor and advantage. These persons also are distressed and tormented when adverse things befall them. But this conscience is no conscience, because it belongs to the love of self and of the world, and there is nothing in it which regards the love of God and of the neighbor; and therefore in the other life it does not show itself.
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Men of this description can also perform duties of considerable eminence, like those who enjoy genuine conscience; for in the external form they act in a similar way; but for the sake of their own honor and reputation; and therefore the more they fear the loss of these, the better do they perform public duties in favor of their neighbor and of their country; whereas those who do not fear the loss of these things are members of the commonwealth who are worthy only of rejection. They who are in this false conscience do not even know what conscience is, and when they are told by others what it is, they deride it and believe it to be the result of simplicity or of mental disorder. These things have been said in order that it may be known how the case is with influx, namely, that conscience is the plane into which the angels flow, and indeed into the affections of good and truth, and of justice and equity therein; and that in this way they hold the man bound, yet still in freedom (AC 6207).
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PART IV
SPIRITUAL ENVIRONMENT AND EQUILIBRIUM
SPIRITUAL ENVIRONMENT AND EQUILIBRIUM
In the first part of this study we observed how the Lord in His mercy constantly seeks to provide that every created human being shall be able to act in freedom according to reason. To be able to act and enjoy so acting is the very basis for all mental health both spiritual and natural. If, however, any individual is going to be able to exercise his God-given faculties in a manner that will lead to eternal enjoyment of a healthy mental and spiritual life he must have a knowledge and understanding of those two dynamic factors which especially influence the states of the human mind, heredity and remains. These two factors and their influence during the successive stages of life from birth to eternity have been the focus of attention in the second and third parts of this study. What emerges from many passages relating to heredity and remains is that the Lord must constantly operate to balance these two influences if a persons humanity is to be preserved, that is, if they are to be able to use as their own the capacities of liberty and rationality. The Lord must keep our minds continually in a state of equilibrium if we are going to be able to freely choose either what is evil and false or what is good and true, what arises from the evil heredity of man, or what comes forth from remains.
In our discussion of heredity a number of teachings were noted that explain how the hells, acting through evil genii and spirits, seek to arouse our inclinations to evils of every kind and how they occupy or operate into those evils which have become actual with us.
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Similarly in our discussion of remains, the new will and conscience other teachings were presented describing how the heavens, acting through angels and good spirits seek to stir up our remains and so assist the Lord in the formation within us of a new will and understanding which appears as a perception of what is good and true or as a conscience. From these teachings and from many others it is very evident that that equilibrium which is so necessary for the enjoyment of human life is provided for by the Lord, in general, through the competing spiritual influences of the heavens and the hells, and in particular, by means of angels and spirits representing the two opposing spiritual realms. Wow this equilibrium is thus provided and why it is so necessary is clearly established in the following selections drawn from two series of teachings, the first appearing in the True Christian Religion and the second in Heaven and Hell.
SO LONG AS MAN LIVES IN THE WORLD, HE IS KEPT MIDWAY B3ETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, AND IS THERE IN SPIRITUAL EQUILIBRIUM, WHICH IS FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
In order to know what freedom of choice is and the nature of it, it is necessary to know its origin. Especially from a recognition of its origin it can be known, not only that there is such a thing as freedom of choice, but also what it is. Its origin is in the spiritual world, where mans mind is kept by the Lord. Mans mind is his spirit, which lives after death; and his spirit is constantly in company with its like in the spiritual world, and at the same time by means of the material body with which it is enveloped, it is with men in the natural world....
[2] But to make it comprehensible how man can be kept midway between heaven and hell and thereby in spiritual equilibrium from which he has freedom of choice, it shall be briefly explained.
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The spiritual world consists of heaven and hell; heaven then is overhead, and hell is beneath the feet, not, however, in the center of the globe inhabited by men, but below the lands of the spiritual world, which are also of spiritual origin, and therefore not extended [spatially], but with an appearance of extension. [3] Between heaven and hell there is a great interspace, which to those who are there appears like a complete orb. Into this interspace, evil exhales from hell in all abundance; while from heaven, on the other hand, good flows into it, also in all abundance. It was of this interspace that Abraham said to the rich man in hell:--
Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they who are there cross over to us (Luke xvi. 26).
Every man, as to his spirit, is in the midst of this interspace, solely for this reason, that he ma be in freedom of choice (TCR 475).
Man is kept in this great interspace, and midway there in continually, for the sole purpose that he may have freedom of choice in spiritual things, for this equilibrium between heaven and hell, thus between good and evil. All who are in that great interspace are, as to their interiors, conjoined either with the angels of heaven or with the devils of hell; or at the present day either with the angels of Michael or with the angels of the dragon. After death every man betakes himself to his own in that interspace and associates himself with those who are in a love similar to his own, for love conjoins every one there with his like, and causes him to breathe out his soul freely, and to continue in his previous state of life. But the externals that do not make one with his internals are then gradually put off, and when this has been done the good man is raised up to heaven, and the evil man betakes himself to hell, each to such as he is at one with as to his ruling love (TCR 477).
BY MEANS OF THE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL MAN IS IN FREEDOM.
The equilibrium between heaven and hell has now been described, and it has been shown that it is an equilibrium between the good that is from heaven and the evil that is from hell, thus that it is a spiritual equilibrium, which in its essence is freedom.
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A spiritual equilibrium in its essence is freedom because it is an equilibrium between good and evil, and between truth and falsity, and these are spiritual. Therefore to be able to will either what is good or what is evil and to think either what is true or what is false, and to choose one in preference to the other, is the freedom which is here treated of. This freedom is given to every man by the Lord, and is never taken away in fact, by virtue of its origin it is not mans but the Lords since it is from the Lord. Nevertheless, it is given to man with his life as if it were his; and this is done that man may have the ability to be reformed and saved; for without freedom there can be no reformation or salvation. With any rational intuition any one can see that it is a part of mans freedom to be able to think wrongly or rightly, sincerely or insincerely, justly or unjustly; also that he is free to speak and act rightly, honestly, and justly; but not to speak and act wrongly, insincerely, and unjustly, because of the spiritual, moral, and civil laws whereby his external is held in restraint. Evidently, then, it is mans spirit, which thinks and wills, that is in freedom, and not his external which speaks and acts, except in agreement with the above mentioned laws.
Man cannot be reformed unless he has freedom, for the reason that he is born into evils of every kind; and these must be removed in order that he may be saved; and they cannot be removed unless he sees them in himself and acknowledges them, and afterwards ceases to will them, and finally holds them in aversion. Not until then are the removed. And this cannot be done unless man is in good as well as in evil, since it is from good that he is able to see evils, while from evil he cannot see good. The spiritual goods that man is capable of thinking he learns from childhood by reading the Word and from preaching and he learns moral and civil good from his life in world. This is the first reason why man ought to be in freedom. [2] Another reason is that nothing is appropriated to man except what is done from an affection of his love. Other things may gain entrance, but no farther than the thought, not reaching the will; and whatever does not gain entrance into the will of man does not become his, for thought derives what pertains to it from memory, while the will derives what pertains to it from the life itself. Only what is from the will, or what is the same, from the affection of love, can be called free, for whatever a man wills or loves or does freely; consequently mans freedom and the affection of his love or of his will are a one.
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It is for this reason that man has freedom, in order that he may be affected by truth and good or may love them, and that they may thus become as if they were his own. [3] In a word, whatever does not enter into mans freedom has no permanence, because it does not belong to his love or will, and what does not belong to mans love or will does not belong to his spirit; for the very being (esse) of the spirit of man is love or will. It is said love or will, since a man wills what he loves. This, then, is why man can be reformed only in freedom.
In order that man may be in freedom, to the end that he may be reformed, he is conjoined in respect to his spirit both with heaven and with hell. For with every man there are spirits from hell and angels from heaven. It is by means of hell that man is in his own evil, while it is by means of angels from heaven that man is in good from the Lord; thus is he in spiritual equilibrium, that is, in freedom. That angels from heaven and spirits from hell are joined to every man may be seen in the chapter on the conjunction of heaven with the human race (no. 291-302).
It must be understood that the conjunction of man with heaven and with hell is not a direct conjunction with them, but a mediate conjunction by means of spirits who are in the world of spirits. These spirits, and none from hell itself or from heaven itself are with man. By means of evil spirits in the world of spirits man is conjoined with hell, and by means of good spirits there he is conjoined with heaven. Because of this the world of spirits is intermediate between heaven and hell, and in that world is equilibrium itself (HH 597-600).
In these general teachings relating to the preservation of the human mind in a state of equilibrium between the influence of the heavens and of the hells our attention is drawn especially to the natural mind of man or the natural man. It is emphasized that for this mind to be in freedom of choice the association with those in the heavens and those in the hells should not be immediate, but mediate.
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Especially before a ruling love, either good or evil, has been freely chosen, it is most important that the natural mind or man be affected primarily by spirits, good and evil, who are still in the state of the world of spirits. Through the good spirits man has some communication with the angels of heaven who, so far as they are able, seek to arouse his remains. Through evils spirits there is limited communication with the devils and satans of hell, who, so far as they are able, try to kindle the evils of heredity and dominate the natural mind through evils confirmed.
While a mediate communication with the heavens and the hells is the rule before an adult person freely chooses a governing love, the situation changes after that adult begins to choose and confirm some good or evil love with its characteristic thinking. (See SD 5162-5169.) It is plain from many passages that as remains begin to be formed into a new will and some interior degree of the mind is opened, immediate association with angels becomes possible. For example, in The Divine Love and Wisdom it is said that a man whose spiritual degree is opened is in the midst of angels of heaven; and sometimes is even visible to them; but because he draws himself back to his natural man, after a brief stay there he disappears (DLW 252). Elsewhere, it appears that those who confirm themselves in evils may establish immediate association with those in hell, so much so, that in the True Christian Religion it is asserted that he who denies God is even now among the damned (TCR 14e). (See also DP 296:6, 507:2-3; AE 751, 1098:2; AC 1399, 5614; SD 5645, 4769; HD 40.)
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Although some immediate association with those who are in heaven or hell does become possible, it would appear that a person while in this world, as to the natural mind, continues in immediate association primarily with spirits in the world of spirits (AE 537:2, HH 294). This association predominates especially while we are in a state in which our understanding and will do not act as one, thus, when thought and will, or what is the same, truth and good, or, what is also the same, faith and love, are not in agreement (SD 5162). That association predominates also in states when our interiors and exteriors disagree, when we wish to appear other than we are, and also when we speak other than we think (SD 5162) (cf. CL 436).
Granting the necessity of being associated primarily with spirits in the world of spirits, we may be inclined to question the importance of being associated at the onset of adult life, with spirits both good and evil. Recalling that the freedom and rationality of the angels is the only true freedom and rationality, and that of the devils and satans is slavery and insanity, we might wonder why it is useful to be associated with evil spirits who, through our hereditary and actual evils, will only seek to destroy us. Anticipating just such reflections, the Lord in the following teachings explains why an exclusive association with angels and good spirits would not be sufficient to provide an equilibrium in which freedom of choice could be exercised by a person born with a corrupted heredity.
The reason why spirits that communicate with hell are associated with man is that man is born into evils of every kind, consequently his first life is wholly from evil; and therefore unless spirits like himself were associated with him he could not live, nor indeed could he be withdrawn from his evils and reformed.
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He is therefore both held in his own life by means of evil spirits and withheld from it by means of good spirits; and by the two he is kept in equilibrium; and being in equilibrium, he is in freedom, and can be drawn away from evils and turned toward good, and good can be implanted in him, which would not be possible if he were not in freedom; and freedom is possible to man only when spirits from hell act on one side and spirits from heaven on the other, and the man is between the two. Again it has been shown that so far as a mans life is from what he inherits, and thus from self, if he were not permitted to be in evil he would have no life; also if he were not in freedom he would have no life; also that he cannot be forced to what is good, and that what is forced does not abide; also that the good that man receives in freedom is implanted in his will and becomes as it were his own. These are the reasons why man has communication with hell and communication with heaven. (HH 293)
From all this it is now evident that for a man to have communication with the spiritual world there must be joined to him two spirits from hell and two angels from heaven, and that without these he would have no life whatever. For a man cannot possibly live from general influx, as do animals void of reason (of which n. 5850); because his whole life is contrary to order; and being in this state, if a man were acted on by general influx only, he would necessarily be acted on by the hells only, and not from the heavens; and if he were not acted on from the heavens he would have no interior life, thus no life of thought and will such as is proper to man, and not even such as is proper to a brute animal, because a man is born without any use of reason, and can be initiated into it solely through influx from the heavens. (2) From all that has been advanced it is also evident that a man cannot live without communication with the hells through spirits from them, for the whole of his life which he derives from his parents by inheritance, and all that he himself adds from his own, is of the love of self and of the world, and not of the love of the neighbor, and still less of love to God. And as the whole of mans life from his own is of the love of self and of the world, it is therefore a life of contempt for others in comparison with self, and of hatred and revenge against all who do not favor self. Thus it is also a life of cruelty; for he who hates, desires to kill, and is therefore most highly delighted with the destruction of others.
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Unless spirits of a like nature were applied to these evils (and such spirits must be from hell), and unless the man were led by them in accordance with the delights of his life, he could not possibly be bent toward heaven. At first he is bent by means of his delights themselves; and by these is also set in freedom, thus at last in the faculty of exercising choice (AC 5993).
Having been permitted to enter into this necessary association with the human race, the agents of hell do all in their power to exploit it. The evil spirits with us constantly endeavor to excite what is evil and false in our natural will and thought and to pervert the remains we have of what is good and true. By innumerable arts they assail the natural mind, and in order of influx, we are told, they are permitted to flow in first. When they do, however, the good spirits instantly come to our aid, making every effort to disperse, turn aside, restrict, and mitigate the action. They do this chiefly by arousing what truths of faith and goods of charity, or remains they can find in us. The more there are of truths and goods stored up in the mind the more they can fight for us. The less one cares for what is true and good the less assistance they can render. Thus although an equilibrium is established through these two opposing influxes with everyone, still this equilibrium will vary in accordance with the good or evil that rules in us. with those who freely choose to reject the truths of faith and goods of charity, and instead appropriate or make their own what is false and evil, the influx from angels through good spirits serves only to keep them in external bonds so that they will live an externally good life. The external bonds referred to are the love of honor, wealth, reputation, fear of punishment, etc.
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(cf. AC 2886, 2893, 4167, 5846, 6193, 6207, 6308, 6477; TCR 659; SD 4611, 4613, 3641; SD (m) 4546; HH 291.)
By means of the association of both good and evil spirits, therefore, man is held in an equilibrium wherein he may freely choose the life of heaven or the life of hell. This is the general teaching, but if this teaching is to be properly understood it must be qualified by the further teaching that an effective equilibrium can only be provided when, as to our spirit, we are associated with societies who are in a similar state to our own as to affection and thought. Merely to have association with just any society of spirits is not enough. In harmony with previous observations, if we are to experience freedom and its enjoyment, we must as to our interiors, be with our like both as to generals and particulars. This is possible no matter what our state may be, whether we be in the affection of what is good and true or in the affection of what is evil and false, for in the other life there are innumerable societies disposed and set in order by the Lord according to all the generals of good and truth; and there are societies in the opposite that are disposed according to all the generals of evil and falsity; insomuch that there is not any genus or good and truth, nor any species of that genus, nor indeed any specific variety, which does not have such angelic societies, or to which there are not angelic societies, that correspond. Nor on the other hand is there any genus of evil and falsity, nor any species of that genus, nor indeed any specific variety, to which there are not diabolical societies that correspond.
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In a society of such is every man as to his interiors (that is, as to his thoughts and affections) although he is not aware of it (AC 4067:2).
How we come to live in this or that society of spirits of course, is not a matter of chance circumstance, nor is it determined by our heredity and environment. We place ourselves in a particular society of either good or evil spirits according to what we have appropriated to ourselves. Then from that which we have appropriated or made of our life there exhales a spiritual sphere. This sphere attracts spirits in a similar sphere who then join themselves to our spirit. If we take to ourselves and enjoy the evils and falsities which are excited in our mind by the influx of evil, there exhales an evil sphere and we become associated with evil spirits, and so with hell. If on the other hand, we apply the good affections and truths to our life which are aroused by the influx of the good, there exhales a good sphere and we become associated with good spirits and so with heaven (AC 6206, 6603; SD 4686). This association and conjunction of a man with societies of spirits by means of the sphere he radiates is from the general law that all in the other life are conjoined together in accordance with their spheres, and so also are all the societies one with another, and according to their spheres they are also dissociated, for opposite spheres come into collision, and mutually repel each other (AC 6206).
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As an example of the conjunction with certain societies by means of spheres and the effect that this conjunction has upon the mind we may observe the following teaching from the Arcana:
The man who is avaricious summons to himself societies of like spirits who are in the same cupidity.... These spirits communicate with hell, and the man is in the midst of them, and is altogether ruled by them, insomuch that he is not at his own disposal, but is at theirs, although from the delight and consequent freedom that he enjoys he supposes that he directs himself. But the man who is not avaricious ... is in a society of similar angels, and is led by the Lord by their means, and indeed by means of his freedom, to all good and truth to which he suffers himself to be led (AC 4067:3).
Because of the importance of the principle of mans freedom of choice, we would note again that it is man who places himself in this or that society of spirits, or more properly, summons them to himself, according to what he appropriates to himself--what is good and true or what is evil and false. The Divinely provided equilibrium between competing spheres ensures that this will be the case.
Although we have a primary association with one particular society of good or evil spirits during each state of our life, our general associations are not limited to the spirits of this society. For the sake of preserving a healthy equilibrium, and for the further development of our state, the Lord provides that we be associated with a great many societies, either proximate or distant, according to the affections that constitute our life and thus the sphere that radiates from our spirit. The nearer the societies are to us the more are their affections appropriated to us, and the converse is true when they are more distant.
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(See SD 4139.) Nor are we while in the world limited to the association of those who are in similar affections of life. Affections of mans natural will and also remains which are not confirmed by life also provide a basis for association, and in addition to this we attract a great variety of societies to ourselves by our thoughts which come forth from the affections of our understanding, When a person meditates upon any subject, spirits, whose state is in affinity to the subject, are with him and inflow into his thoughts or, more properly, into the affections of his thought. And, as no thought is a simple, but has indefinite particulars in it, just as no member of the body is a simple, myriads of societies are associated with a person in a single thought, and from a greater or lesser distance combine by their influx to produce the persons thought. Everyone, therefore, is a center of influxes or influences from thousands of societies of angels and spirits, all of which we receive in our affections and thoughts according to our quality (SD 234, 159, 485; cf. AC 3633, 3634).
In treating of the great variety of spirits which influence mans mind and are so necessary for equilibrium and the exercise of freedom of choice the Writings speak of two general categories--those who affect the will and those who affect the understanding, for these two faculties are most distinct in man. There are angelic spirits who apply themselves to the various affections of our will and attempt to lead us to love what is good, and there are those which apply themselves to the affections which relate to the understanding and attempt to lead us to love what is true.
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Opposite to these are evil genii which also apply themselves to our will, attempting to pervert what is good and confirm what is evil there; and there are evil spirits which act into mans understanding attempting to falsify what is true and to lead us into the persuasion of what is false (See AC 641:2, 1511).
Still deeper dimensions are added to our picture of mans general spiritual associations when it is recalled that the human mind is composed of not just one degree, but has within it a number of degrees both interior and exterior. There is influx into all of these degrees. As was observed in our discussion of remains, the interior degrees, which relate to the spiritual mind of man, are three. The highest or most interior degree is called the interior rational. In this degree are the celestial angels, the angels of the third heaven, as to their conscious life. The middle or second degree is the exterior rational. In this degree are the angels of the spiritual or second heaven. The lowest degree in this trine is the interior natural wherein the angels of the natural or ultimate heaven have their conscious life. Before regeneration, these degrees of the mind are not opened. Still, as we have seen, there are remains stored therein which are states or good and truth, implanted in earlier periods of life, states not as yet made ones own by life. By means of these remains angels of the three heavens can inflow into mans mind.
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But until we form terminations in these degrees by appropriating the remains to our life, as the beginnings of a new will and understanding, this influx descends into our natural mind and is there received according to its quality.
For a still more complete view of the spiritual associates necessary for the preservation of equilibrium and the proper development of human states we should remember that the natural mind is also, as it were, of three degrees or regions, the exterior sensuous or sensual, the interior sensuous or imaginative, and the natural rational. (The terms used to describe these regions vary somewhat from passage to passage, series to series.) From infancy to maturity these regions are successively opened in us to influx from the world of spirits. After coming to maturity, this is the arena of a persons life before regeneration and here are the closest spiritual associates. Into the affections and thoughts of the natural mind, especially into the exterior sensuous and the sensuous where our heredity tendencies are imprinted, evil genii and spirits inflow, inspiring so far as they are able, disorderly, self-centered, depraved and filthy affections and thoughts. Until we begin reformation and regeneration, theirs is the dominant influence. They have the most immediate association with us, while good spirits, which seek to arouse our remains and so inspire good affections and thoughts, have less access to our mind. Apart from those occasions when remains are temporarily remitted into consciousness, this is a state in which we perceive little or nothing of the spiritual in our affections and thoughts.
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But if, by choosing to shun evils as sins, we permit ourselves to be led into a state of reformation and regeneration, our immediate associations in the world of spirits are gradually changed and good spirits draw nearer and inspire in us what is good and true. They do their utmost to serve the Lord in the formation within us of a new will and conscience. Nor are we, while living in the world, limited to the association of good spirits. As already observed, if we are regenerated to the point where we acquire an affection of obeying what we know to be good and true, and in this way form terminations in our interior natural, this spiritual region is opened in our mind and we come into close association with societies of angels in the natural heaven. In a like manner, through an affection for truth for the sake of its good or use, the exterior rational degree may be opened and we may have close association with societies of spiritual angels. Finally, if we are introduced by the Lord into the affection of good, the affection of the celestial heaven, our interior rational is opened and we associate with celestial angels. (See AC 5145, 6310, 6193; DLW 236-239, 242, 245-247, 254; AC 4570, 6240, 6500, 9215, 9825, 3020:2; AE 543:2, 739:2, 1210;3; TCR 564.)
The Heavenly Doctrines reveal that the requirements for a spiritual equilibrium in which one can enjoy acting in freedom according to their own reason change quite radically as a person is either regenerated or, on the other hand, lapses more interiorly into confirmed evil. With the good, the influence of evil spirits is progressively weakened and withdrawn.
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This is accomplished in the measure that they freely will to be withheld from hereditary and actual evil and want to be held instead within the bonds of a conscience that expresses a new will and understanding from the Lord. On the other hand, an evil person is progressively exempted from the influence of good spirits and angels in the measure that they choose to resist the arousal of their remains and indulge instead the evils that they have come to love. The final result of these changes in the requirements for equilibrium are to be observed in the condition of the angels of heaven and the spirits of hell.
The good that is from heaven is all from the Lord; for the angels in the heavens are all withheld from their proprium, and are kept in the Lords proprium, which is Good Itself. But the spirits in the hells are all in their proprium, and everyones proprium is nothing but evil; and because it is nothing but evil it is hell. From these things it can be confirmed that the equilibrium in which angels in the heavens and spirits in the hells are kept is not like the equilibrium in the world of spirits. The equilibrium of angels in the heavens exists in the decree in which they have wished to be in good, or in the degree in which they have lived in good in the world, and thus also in the degree in which they have held evil in aversion; but the equilibrium of spirits in hell exists in the degree in which they have wished to be in evil, or have lived in evil in the world and thus in heart and spirit have been opposed to a good (HH 591).
The significant and progressive change in ones spiritual associates as one is regenerated, and the changing requirements for equilibrium that accompany this process, are very apparent in the following teaching from the Arcana Coelestia.
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Man is altogether ignorant that he is governed of the Lord through angels and spirits, and that with every one there are at least two spirits, and two angels. By spirits man has communication with the world of spirits, and by angels with heaven. Without communication by means of spirits with the world of spirits, and by means of angels With heaven, and thus through heaven with the Lord, man could not live at all; his life entirely depends on this conjunction, so that if the spirits and angels were to withdraw he would instantly perish. [2] While man is unregenerate he is governed quite otherwise than when regenerated. While unregenerate there are evil spirits with him, who so domineer over him that the angels, though present, are scarcely able to do anything more than merely guide him so that he may not plunge into the lowest evil, and bend him to some goodin fact bend him to good by means of his own cupidities, and to truth by means of the fallacies of the senses. He then has communication with the world of spirits through the spirits who are with him, but not so much with heaven, because evil spirits rule, and the angels only avert their rule. [3] But when the man is regenerate, the angels rule, and inspire him with all goods and truths, and with fear and horror of evils and falsities. The angels indeed lead, but only as ministers, for it is the Lord alone who governs man through angels and spirits (AC 50).
In concluding this portion of our study we draw attention to a teaching of the word which most beautifully and intimately describes how, through angels and spirits, the Lord provides for our spiritual equilibrium--our ability to act in freedom according to our own reason, how from a Divine and most merciful solicitude He continually governs our spiritual environment so as to serve our eternal health and happiness.
The angels, through whom the Lord leads and also protects a man, are near his head. It is their office to inspire charity and faith, and to observe in what direction the mans delights turn, and in so far as they can, without interfering with the mans freedom, moderate them and bend them to good. They are forbidden to act with violence and thus break the mans cupidities and principles;
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but are enjoined to act gently. It is also their office to rule the evil spirits who are from hell, which is done in innumerable ways, of which the following only may be mentioned. When the evil spirits pour in evils and falsities, the angels insinuate truths and goods, which, if not received are nevertheless the means of tempering. Infernal spirits continually attack, and the angels protect; such is the order. (2) The angels especially regulate the affections, for these make the mans life, and also his freedom. The angels also observe whether any hells are open that were not open before, and from which there is influx with the man, which takes place when the man brings himself into any new evil. These hells the angels close so far as the man allows, and remove any spirits who attempt to emerge therefrom. They also disperse strange and new influxes that produce evil effects. (3) Especially do the angels call forth the goods and truths that are with a man, and set them in opposition to the evils and falsities which the evil spirits excite. Thus the man is in the midst, and does not perceive either the evil or the good; and being in the midst, he is in freedom to turn himself either to the one or to the other. By such means do angels from the Lord lead and protect a man, and this every moment, and every moment of a moment; for if the angels were to intermit their care for a single moment, the man would be precipitated into evil from which he could never afterward be brought out. These things the angels do from the love they have from the Lord, for they perceive nothing more delightful and happy than to remove evils from a man, and lead him to heaven. That this is a joy to them, see Luke xv. 7. Scarcely any man believes that the Lord takes such care of man, and this continually from the first thread of his life to the last of it, and afterward to eternity (AC 5992).
Other References:
For a more complete discussion of the association of angels and spirits with man and how through those associations the Lord provides for spiritual equilibrium and for our mental health consult the following:
1. Willard L. D. Heinrichs, Mans Spiritual Associations (Theological School Thesis), Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1965.
See especially:
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Chapter V. Spirits: The Cause of Mental Disturbances, pp. 104-138.
Chapter VI. Angels, Spirits, and Mental Health, I. The Lords Provisions Towards Mental Health, pp. 139-152. II. Ways in Which Man May Cooperate with the Lord, pp. 152-162.
2. Willard L. D. Heinrichs, Spirits: A Cause of Mental Disturbances, in The New Church and the Mental Health Professions: the Journal of the Symposium (November 1979), pp. 17-30.
3. Willard L. D. Heinrichs, Our Spiritual Associates and Mental Health, address to General Faculty at Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, April 5, 1979.
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PART V
THE LORDS LIFE AND MANS PERCEPTION OF IT: THE AS IF FROM SELF
THE LORDS LIFE AND MANS PERCEPTION OF ITTHE AS IF FROM SELF
The Lords most fundamental provision for mental health is expressed in the very first law of the Divine Providence: It is a law of the Divine Providence that man should act from freedom in accordance with reason (DP 71 and following). This statement, presented in the opening paragraph of this study, has been the governing principle or assumption throughout all parts of this study. While this first law of the Divine Providence, as stated in the work The Divine Providence, has been the operative principle, it is important to observe that there is another law or principle of the Divine Providence which always explicitly or implicitly accompanies this first law. Indeed, this companion law or reality, and its conscious acknowledgement by man, is of such central concern that in the Apocalypse Explained it is presented as the first law of the Divine Providence. This first law is That from sense and perception man cannot know otherwise than that life is in him; and yet he should acknowledge that the goods and truths which belong to love and faith which he thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, are not from him but are from the Lord (AE 1138:2). Briefly stated, we may say that the Lord has created men and women such that they are able to both perceive and use His life as if it were their own. And how does this reality relate to human freedom so often emphasized in the Word? This law presupposes the second, namely, that man has freedom, and that this freedom also appears to be his, and yet he should acknowledge that it is not his, but is the Lords in him....
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This law follows from the former because freedom makes one with life, for without freedom man cannot feel and perceive that life is as if it were in him; it is from freedom that he feels this and perceives this, for it is from freedom that everything that the life effects appears to man to be his own (proprium et suum), for freedom is the power to think, will, speak, and do from ones self, here as if from oneself (AE 1138:3).
The provision of the Lord that people should experience and use His life as if it were from themselves and its relation to liberty and rationality is repeated many times in the Word for the New Church. Equal emphasis is given to the need for people to acknowledge the truth of the matter relating to this appearance, that is, if they are to fully receive of the Lords life and be blessed in its reception. That there may be such an acknowledgment, in every Divine revelation from ancient times to the present, the Lord has revealed the truth about mans dependence upon Him.
Mans soul, which lives after death, is his spirit, and is in complete form a man; the soul of this form is the will and understanding, and the soul of these is love and wisdom from the Lord; these two are what constitute mans life, which is from the Lord alone; yet for the sake of mans reception of Him, He causes life to appear as if it were mans; but that man may not claim life for himself as his, and thus withdraw himself from this reception of the Lord, the Lord has also taught that everything of love, which is called good, and everything of wisdom, which is called truth, is from Him, and nothing of these from man; and as these two are life, that everything of life which is life is from him (DLW 394).
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From the above and from other teachings of the Word it is apparent that as freedom and rationality depend on the sense and perception that the Lords life is our own, so their proper exercise in a reciprocal conjunction between an angel and the Lord or man and the Lord is only possible when there is this as if from self appearance.
But how the Lord is in an angel and an angel in the Lord cannot be comprehended; unless the nature of their conjunction is known. Conjunction is of the Lord with the angel and of the angel with the Lord; conjunction, therefore, is reciprocal. On the part of the angel it is as follows. The angel, in like manner as man, has no other perception than that he is in love and wisdom from himself, consequently that love and wisdom are, as it were, his or his own. Unless he so perceived there would be no conjunction, thus the Lord would not be in him, nor he in the Lord. Nor can it be possible for the Lord to be in any angel or man, unless the one in whom the Lord is, with love and wisdom, has a perception and sense as if they were his. By this means the Lord is not only received, but also, when received, is retained, and likewise loved in return. And by this, also, the angel is made wise and continues wise. Who can wish to love the Lord and his neighbor, and who can wish to be wise, without a sense and perception that what he loves, learns, and imbibes is, as it were, his own? Who otherwise can retain it in himself? If this were not so, the inflowing love and wisdom would have no abiding-place, for it would flow through and not affect; thus an angel would not be an angel, nor would man be a man; he would be merely like something inanimate. From all this it can be seen that there must be an ability to reciprocate that there may be conjunction (DLW 115. See DLW 116).
Since the Lord wills conjunction with man in order to save him, He provides that there shall be in man something reciprocal. The reciprocal in man is this, that the good which he wills and does from freedom, and the truth which, from that willing, he thinks and speaks in accordance with reason, appear to be from himself, and this good in his will and this truth in his understanding appear to be his.
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To man they even appear to be from himself and to be his precisely as if they were his, with no difference whatever. Take notice whether any one by any sense perceives it to be otherwise. Respecting this appearance as if from oneself, see above (n. 74-87); and respecting appropriation as ones own (n.78-81). The only difference is that man ought to acknowledge that he does good and thinks truth not from himself but from the Lord, and consequently that the good he does and the truth he thinks are not his. To so think from some love in the will, because such is the truth what causes conjunction; for thus man looks to the Lord, and the Lord looks on man (DP 92:3).
It is equally obvious from these teachings of the Word and from others that if one is to be conjoined with the Lord in a heavenly state one must respond appropriately to both the appearance that life is from self and to the Divinely revealed truth that it is from the Lord in oneself. To acknowledge the truth, but not to act as if the appearance were so, results in a person being a passive receptacle with no religion. On the other hand, if a person accepts and acts upon the appearance, but does not acknowledge the truth or reality of his dependence on the Lord, he defiles with a sense of merit that which is from the Lord and so destroys religion in himself.
But it is to be carefully noted that these capacities, freedom and rationality, are neither of them mans, but are of the Lord in man, and that they cannot be appropriated to man as his; nor indeed, can they be given to man as his, but are continually of the Lord in man, and yet are never taken away from man; and this because without them man cannot be saved, for without them he cannot be regenerated (as has been said above). For this reason man is instructed by the church that from himself he can neither think what is true nor do what is good. But inasmuch as man perceives no otherwise than that he thinks from himself what is true and does from himself what is good, it is very evident that he ought to believe that he thinks as if from himself what is true, and does as if from himself what is good.
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For if he does not believe this, either he does not think what is true nor do what is good and therefore has no religion, or he thinks what is true and does what is good from himself, and thus ascribes to himself that which is Divine. That man ought to think what is true and do good as if from himself, may be seen in the Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, from beginning to end (DLW 425) (See also DLW 116).
While the principle that man should sense and perceive the Lords life as if it were from self was not dealt with in earlier portions of this study as a subject by itself, its impact on the enjoyment of health of mind in every degree was discussed. In the first part of this study (pages 7-10) a selection of powerful teachings was presented, demonstrating the necessity of mans perceiving the Lords life as if it were his own, while humbly acknowledging at the same time that all that is good and true, loving and wise is from the Lord. Further, it was noted that this acknowledgment was always to be coupled with another, that all that is evil and false is aroused in oneself from hell and that genuine and lasting health of mind results when one neither makes oneself guilty of what is evil, or takes merit for the good that is in oneself from the Lord. (See DLW 116; AC 6324, 25, 2892, 2893; DP 290.)
Rather than repeat these teachings we will conclude both this part of the study, and the study itself, with a series of teachings drawn from the Apocalypse Explained. These teachings, in a most direct and succinct manner, present, explain, illustrate, and confirm the companion principles relating to the as if from self appearance of our life and our ability thence to act in freedom according to reason.
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They describe how our life may be blessed with delight to eternity if we respond appropriately to these realities of the Divine Providence. They relate the sad results of deliberately neglecting these Divine laws (AE 1138:2-6). The secret as to how man is created to perceive what is from the Lord as his own is explained, and is illustrated in terms of how light and heat from the sun may be in a subject without becoming a part of that subject (AE 1139:2). The truths of all these teachings and their bearing on mans spiritual equilibrium are then confirmed by Swedenborgs own Divinely governed experience of spiritual life (AE 1147:2-4).
In the final teaching presented, our sense and perception that life is our own and our consequent experience of liberty and rationality is again associated with the subject of part four of this study, spiritual equilibrium. We are led at length to the practical conclusion that man is from creation in a state to know that evil is from hell, and that good is from the Lord, and to perceive these in himself as if they were from himself, and when he so perceives them to cast the evil down to hell and to receive the good, with the acknowledgment that is from the Lord. When he does these two things he does not appropriate evil to himself, and does not claim merit for the good. (See AE 1148:2-4.) Here again is that spiritual reality that angels embrace in thought and life. Here is that truth that we should similarly acknowledge if we would be led along by the Lord to that final end that He holds in store for all mankind--a whole life, a healthy life, a life of use and eternal happiness in His heavenly kingdom.
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From all this it is evident that the Lord can lead man to heaven only by means of these laws [the laws of order which are called the laws of Divine Providence], although He has Divine love from which He wills, and Divine wisdom from which He knows all things, and Divine power, which is omnipotence, from which He can do what He wills. For these laws that are called laws of providence are laws of order respecting reformation and regeneration, thus respecting the salvation of man and against these the Lord cannot act, since to act against them would be to act against His own wisdom and against His own love, thus against Himself. In respect to the first law, which is, That from sense and perception man cannot know otherwise than that life is in him; and yet he should acknowledge that the goods and truths which belong to love and faith which he thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, are not from him but are from the Lord. This law presupposes the second, namely, that man has freedom, and that this freedom also appears to be his, and yet he should acknowledge that it is not his, but is the Lords in him. (3) This law follows from the former because freedom makes one with life, for without freedom man cannot feel and perceive that life is as if it were in him; it is from freedom that he feels this and perceives this, for it is from freedom that every-thing that the life effects appears to man to be his own (proprium et suum), for freedom is the power to think, will, speak, and do from ones self, here as if from oneself. And it especially belongs to the will, for a man says, I have power to do what I will, and I will that which I have power to do; in other words, I am in freedom. Again who cannot think from freedom that one thing is good and another evil, or that one thing is true and another false? Therefore freedom was given to man together with his life, nor is it ever taken away from him; for so far as it is taken away or lessened so far man feels and perceives that he does not live, but that another lives in him, and so far the delight of all things of his life is taken away or lessened, for he becomes a slave. (4) That from sense and perception man knows no otherwise than that life is in him, thus that it is as if it were his own, has need of no other proof than experience itself. Who has any other feeling or perception than that he thinks from himself when he thinks, that he wills from himself when he wills, that he speaks and acts from himself when he speaks and acts?
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But it is from a law of the Divine providence that man should know no otherwise, since without such a feeling and such a perception he cannot receive anything to himself, appropriate anything to himself, or bring forth anything from himself; thus he would be neither a recipient of life from the Lord nor an agent of life from the Lord, but would be like an automaton, or like an upright image, without understanding or will, with the hands hanging down, awaiting influx that could not be given. For if life were not received and not appropriated as if by man, it would not be retained, but would flow through, and in consequence man from being alive would become like one dead, and from being a rational soul would become not rational, thus either a brute or a stock; for he would have no delight of life, that is, the delight that every one has from receiving as if from himself, from appropriating and from bringing forth as if from himself, since delight and life act as one, and when you take away all the delight of life you grow cold and die. (5) If it were not according to a law of the Divine providence that man should feel and perceive as if life and everything pertaining to it were in him, and should be left to acknowledge simply that good and truth are not from him but are from the Lord, nothing could be imputed to man, neither good nor truth, and thus neither love nor faith; and if nothing could be imputed, the Lord would not have commanded in the Word that man must do good and shun evil, and if he did good heaven would be his inheritance, and if he did evil hell would be his portion; nor even would there be any heaven or hell, for without that perception man would not be a man, thus would not be a dwelling place of the Lord. For the Lord wills to be loved by man as if by him; thus it is that the Lord dwells with man in what is His own, and this he has given him in order that He may be loved reciprocally; for the Divine love consists in this, that wishes what is its own to be mans, and this could not be unless man felt and perceived what is from the Lord to be as if it were his own. (6) If it were not according to the Divine law that man cannot from sense and perception know otherwise than that life is in him, no end for the sake of which man could act would be possible; this is possible to man because the end from which he acts seems to be in him. The end from which he acts is his love, which is his life, and the end for the sake of which he acts is the delight of his love or life, and the effect in which the end presents itself is use. The end for the sake of which he acts, which is the delight of his lifes love, is felt and perceived in man, because the end from which he acts enables him to feel and perceive it; and that end is, as has been said, the love which is life.
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But to the man who acknowledges that all things of his life are from the Lord, the Lord gives the delight and blessedness of His love, so far as the man acknowledges this and performs use. Thus when man by acknowledgment and by faith from love, as if from himself, ascribes to the Lord all things of his life, the Lord in turn ascribes to man the good of His life, which carries with it every happiness and every blessedness, and also enables him to feel and perceive interiorly and exquisitely this good to be in himself as if it were his own, and the more exquisitely in proportion as man from the heart wills that which he acknowledges by faith. The perception is then reciprocal, for the perception that He is in man and man is in Him is grateful to the Lord, and the perception that he is in the Lord and the Lord in him is gratifying to man. Such is the union of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord by means of love (AE 1138:2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Man has a feeling and perception that life is in him, because the life of the Lord is in him as the light and heat of the sun are in a subject. This light and heat belong not to the subject but to the sun in the subject, for they withdraw with the sun, but when they are in the subject, they in appearance wholly belong to it; from light the subject has color as if it were in it and from heat it has vegetative life as if it were in it. But this is much more true of the light and heat from the sun of the spiritual world, which is the Lord, whose light is the light of life and whose heat is the heat of life, for the sun from which these proceed is the Lords Divine love, while man is the recipient subject. This light and heat never withdraw from the recipient, which is man, and when they are in man they are in appearance wholly his own. From the light he has the ability to understand, and from the heat the ability to will. From this that the light and heat, although they are not his own, are seemingly wholly in the recipient, and from this that they never withdraw, also from this that they affect his inmosts, which are remote from the sight of his understanding and from the feeling of his will, there must needs be the appearance that they are innate, that is, they seem to be in him, and thus what they effect seems to be from him. From this it is that man does not know otherwise than that he thinks from himself and that he wills from himself; and yet he does not in the least do this from himself, for it is impossible for this light and heat to be so united to the recipient as to be his own, precisely as it is impossible for the light of the sun to be united to an earthly subject and become material as the subject is.
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The same is true of heat. But the light of life and the heat of life move and fill their recipient in the exact measure of the quality of his acknowledgment that they are not his but are the Lords, and the quality of acknowledgment is in exact accord with the quality of love in doing the commandments, which are uses (AE 1139:2).
On this subject also we will speak from experience. The angels of the higher heavens have a clear feeling and perception that their goods and truths are from the Lord, and that they have nothing at all of good and truth from themselves. And when they are let down into the state of their self (proprium) as is now and then done, they have a clear feeling and perception that the evil and falsity belonging to their self (proprium) they have from hell. Some angels of the lowest heaven, who did not comprehend that evil and falsity are from hell, because they had believed in the world that they were themselves in evils from birth and from actual life, were led through infernal societies from one to another, and in each one while they were in it they thought just as the devils there thought, and differently in the several societies, thinking in opposition to goods and truths. They were told to think from themselves, and thus otherwise, but they said that they were wholly unable to do so. In this way they were made to comprehend that evils and falsities flow in from hell. It is the same with many who believe and insist that they have life in themselves. Also it sometimes occurs that angels are separated from the societies with which they are connected, and when thus separated they are unable to think, will, speak, or act, but lie like new-born infants; but as soon as they are restored to their societies they revive. For every one, man, spirit, or angel, is connected as to his affections and thoughts therefrom with societies, and acts as one of them; and for this reason it is known that each one is from the society in which he is. All this makes clear that the quality of each ones life flows in from without. (3) With regard to myself I can testify that for fifteen years I have clearly perceived that I have thought nothing and willed nothing of myself; also that every evil and falsity has flowed in from infernal societies, and that every good and truth has flowed in from the Lord. Some spirits reflecting upon this declared that I had no life. It was permitted me to reply, I am more alive than you are, since I feel the influx of good and truth from the Lord and see and perceive the enlightenment.
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I also perceive from the Lord that evils and falsities are from hell, and not only that this is so, but also from what spirits they come; and it has been granted me to speak with these, to rebuke them, and to reject them with their evils and falsities, and thus I was delivered from them. Furthermore, it was granted me to say that now I know that I live, and before I did not know it. From all this I have been fully convinced that every evil and falsity is from hell, and every good and truth, together with the perception of them, is from the Lord; and moreover, that I have freedom and thus perception as if from myself. (4) Again, that every evil and falsity is from hell it has been granted me to see with my own eyes. Over the hells there is an appearance of fires and smoke; evils are fires and falsities are smoke. These are continually exhaled and rise up, and the spirits that dwell in the midst between heaven and hell are affected by them according to their love. It shall be told briefly how evil and falsity have power to flow forth from hell, when there exists only one acting force, which is the life that is God, this also has been revealed. There was uttered with a loud voice out of heaven a truth from the Word, which flowed down to hell and through it to its lowest part; and it was heard that this truth in its flowing down was successively and by degrees turned into falsity, and at length into such falsity as is wholly opposite to the truth; then it was in the lowest hell. It was so changed because everything is received according to the state and form; so truth flowing into inverted forms, such as are in hell, became successively inverted and changed into the falsity opposite to the truth. From this it is clear what hell is from top to bottom, also that there is but one acting force, which is the life that is the Lord (AE 1147:2, 3, 4).
That man nevertheless is a subject of guilt follows from what has been said above, and also from what has been before established respecting the life that is God and that is with man from God; it follows also from the above-mentioned laws, which are truths. Evil is imputed to man because it has been granted him, and is continually granted him, to feel and to perceive as if life were in him; and as he is in that state he also has the freedom and ability to act as if from himself; and that ability regarded in itself, and that freedom regarded in itself, are not taken away from man, because he is born a man who is to live forever. It is from that ability and that freedom that he is able to receive both good and evil as if of himself.
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And as man is held in the midst between heaven and hell, the Lord gives him to know that good is from Him and that evil is from the devil, also to know by truths in the church what is good and what is evil. When man knows this, and it is ranted him b the Lord to think, will, speak, and do this as if from Himself, and this continually by influx then if he does not receive he becomes guilty. (3) But man is in fallacies thence, especially because he does not know that his freedom and his ability to act as if from himself are from an influx of life from the Lord into his inmost, and that this influx is never taken away from him, since he is born a man, and man has such an inmost; yet the influx of life from the Lord into the recipient forms that are beneath that inmost, where and in which forms the understanding and will have their seat, is varied according to the reception of good and truth; and in fact, the influx is diminished and even taken away in the measure in which evil and falsity are received. In a word, the life that makes man to be man and that distinguishes him from brute animals, and which is in his inmost, and is therefore universally active in the lower parts, and from which he has freedom and the ability to think, will, speak and act, is unceasingly with man from the Lord; but mans understanding and will therefrom, that is, from that life, are changed and varied according to reception. Man lives in the midst between heaven and hell, and the delight of the love of evil and of falsity therefrom flows into him from hell, while the delight of the love of good and of truth therefrom flows into him from the Lord, and he is constantly held in the feeling and perception that life is from himself and thereby is also held constantly in the freedom to choose the one or the other, and in the ability to receive the one or the other. So far, therefore, as he chooses and receives evil and falsity, so far from that middle state he is carried down towards hell, and so far as he chooses good and truth, so tar from that middle state he is taken up towards heaven. (4) Man is from creation in a state to know that evil is from hell, and that good is from the Lord, and to perceive these in himself as if they were from himself, and when he so perceives them to cast the evil down to hell and to receive the good, with the acknowledgment that it is from the Lord. When he does these two things he does not appropriate evil to himself, and does not claim merit for the good. But I know that there are many who do not comprehend this, and who have no desire to comprehend it, but let them pray, That the Lord may be with them continually, that Ha may lift up and turn His face to them, that He may teach, enlighten, and lead them, since of themselves they can do nothing that is good, that He may grant to them to live;
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that the devil may not lead them astray and instill evils into their hearts, knowing that if they are not led by the Lord the devil will lead them and breathe into them evils of every kind, as hatred, revenge, cunning, and deceit, as a serpent instills poison; for the devil is present stirring up and continually accusing, and wheresoever he meets with a heart turned away from God, he enters in, dwells there, and draws the soul down to hell. O Lord, deliver us. These words coincide with what has been said above, for hell is the devil. Moreover, this is an acknowledgment that man is led either by the Lord or by hell, thus that he is between the two see also what has been said above upon this subject (n. 1134) (AE 1148:2, 3, 4).
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APPENDIX I
CONDITIONS FOR FREEDOM OF CHOICE
CONDITIONS FOR FREEDOM OF CHOICE
(A Tentative Summation by Willard L. D. Heinrichs)
The Lord has formed with man a soul consisting of an inmost or internal man, an interior or rational man and an external or natural man. The inmost, also called the human internal, is the Lords with man. It is constituted of a superior spiritual substance and is most perfectly formed to receive and be animated by the Lords inflowing love and wisdom. The Lords operation into this internal man and through it into the interior and external man is forever unconscious with man. Man and angel are conscious only in either the rational or natural man or mind. The life inflowing immediately from the Lord through the inmost of the soul into the planes of the human mind is always felt in those planes as mans own and man is free to use it as if it were truly his own.
The interior and external regions of mans soul are of an inferior spiritual substance. The interior region is responsive to the influx of love and wisdom from the Lord through the higher unconscious internal. It is also responsive to the afflux (mediate influx) of surrounding heavenly spheres. In this interior a succession of terminations may be formed--remains or states of affection may be imprinted. With reformation and regeneration three discrete spiritual degrees may be opened and established, the interior can be formed into a rational mind that is predominantly of a celestial, spiritual or natural quality, depending on the degree of heavenly life one chooses to receive.
The external or natural region of mans soul, particularly in outermosts, due especially to the paternal heredity, is in a contrary form.
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It tends to react against and to pervert the influx of love and wisdom from the interior and inmost regions. It responds instead to the afflux (mediate influx) of the sphere of hell. It is in this external with its perverted will that the natural mind, the conscious mind for life in this world, is formed with its attendant memory (sensory) and imaginative faculties. In adult life, from the Lord, through the subtle influence of remains that are in mans interiors the faculty of reasoning is also imparted to the external, producing a natural mind with three distinct regions. With the choice of some ruling love in adult life the natural mind is formed into three discrete degrees. The reigning love, which is of the will, obtains the highest or inmost place; the thought which is of the understanding from that love, obtains the second or middle place; and the results of the two other degrees, either laid up in the memory as knowledges, or determined into actions in the body, constitute the lowest degree.
Finally, the soul with its three general regions is clothed with a material body bearing the impress of the maternal heredity, but governed by a general influx of life from the Lord through heaven.
The resulting situation for man is this:
1) Through his inmost man receives a direct influx of life and love from the Lord, which, because he is not conscious of its source and entry, he perceives and may use as his own.
2) As to the interior and external regions of his soul he is in spiritual equilibrium. On the one hand, he is subject to the influence of the Lord through heaven, imprinting and arousing states of affection (remains) in his interiors and implanting their corresponding knowledges in the memory--and on the other hand, he is subject to the influence of hell arousing evil heredity tendencies from parents in his exteriors and establishing their corresponding knowledges in the memory.
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Man is conscious of the effects of the influence of heaven and hell in his natural mind but ordinarily is not conscious of the source of those influences. As a result these influences on the mind are also perceived as originating in oneself and therefore as something to which the man can respond as he chooses.
3) The soul with its two mental realms, interior and exterior or spiritual and natural, is housed and is conscious in a material body in a space and time world, a world of appearances.
The soul acting freely as if from self is therefore able to choose that sensory experience from the environment which confirms and delights inherited tendencies toward evil, or it can choose that in the environment, and especially the Lords Word, which confirms and delights what is from the Lord with man, states of love for what is good and true or remains.
To exercise freedom of choice there must be:
1) Unconscious reception of the Lords life in the inmost of man or the human internal.
2) Equilibrium in a spiritual environment of which normally man is not conscious.
3) Birth into a space and time world where the as if from self can be freely and consciously exercised and established in agreement with either what is good and true, as revealed by the Lord, or with their perversions, what is evil and false from hell.
Man therefore, as always can choose either to look to and eat from the Tree of Life, or to look to and eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He can use his life from the Lord to confirm in his mind and life what is revealed from the Lord to be so, or he can abuse his life from the Lord to confirm in his mind and life what from sensory experience appears to be so but is not so.
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APPENDIX II
TENTATIVE DIAGRAMS OF THE HUMAN SOUL AND MIND
I The Primitive Human Form or Mind
From Conception
Influx from Lord
Representation seen of 3 degrees
of spherules which, by successive
composition, formed image of tiny
brain with something of a face in
front, but with no appendage. Receptacles of the Lords
love and
Wisdom
Structure in each degree had two
beds like two hemispheres in the
brain, right bed for reception of
Lords love, left bed for reception
of wisdom.
Receptacle of hellish love and
insanity due to hereditary
corruption.
Structure within the two interior
degrees as to position and movement,
in order and form of heaven.
Outer structure (the exterior degree)
opposed to order and form of heaven.
Inclinations to evil and falsity residing
there in outermosts.
(References: DLW 432; Div. Wis; 111:2; AC 3633)
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II The Human Soul From Birth
Inmost of Man - In heaven of human internals
or - Superior spiritual substance
Human Internal - Purest forms receptive of Lords life, receptive of what is celestial
or and spiritual from Him.
Internal Man - Belonging to the Lord alone.
- Entrance for Lord into man.
- The Lords own dwelling place with man.
- What distinguishes man from animal and causes man to be man
and to have eternal life and to be able to be uplifted by the Lord
among angels.
- Inseparable from man--the very means for conjunction with the
Lord.
- What goes on there is forever unconscious to man and angel,
beyond comprehension, above rational from which man thinks.
- Cannot be perverted.
Interior Man - Intermediate between internal and external.
or - From the Lord, through the internal, receives things of love and faith.
Rational Man - Plane for implantation of remains as states of affection.
- Subject to the internal--serves internal to communicate with external, to relate internal to external, bringing what is of the internal down to the external.
- Above animals and able to think and will what is good and true. Can have dominion over the natural.
- Plane of freedom of choice--may respond to internal, becoming spiritual or celestial, or may turn down to natural and remain natural, serving as nothing more than a faculty operating in a natural directed by evil loves.
External Man - Open by birth, developed by continuous degrees through three
or regions to the highest point in natural--the natural rational.
Natural Man - Sensual experiences and knowledges provide natural basis for implantation of remains.
- like animals as regards concupiscences and phantasies.
- Seat of hereditary tendencies to love self and the world.
Body
(References: AC 1590, 1702, 1889, 1940, 1999, 3747, 7270, 8443; DLW 237; HH 39; CL 315; Influx 7, 8, 14; AE 1148:2; LJ 25; SD 4627, 5548.)
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III
Development of External and Preparation of Interior or
Rational From Brith to Maturity
Human Internal
Or
Internal Man
Interior Implantation of remains (Goods of Infancy)(age 1-10)
Or (associated with sensual experience)
Rational Man In association with celestial angels
Implantation of Remains (Goods of Intelligence) (age 20?)
(associated with cognitions of good and truth in the natural
man)
In association with spiritual angels
Implantation of Remains (Goods of Ignorance) (age 10-20)
(associated with knowledges of good and truth in natural
man)
In association with natural angels
Degrees
of
the Soul
External Interior Natural (involves Analytical or Reasoning faculty)
or (Sometimes called the still more interior sensual)
Natural (When functioning it may be called the
Man Rational Man, the Natural Rational or the merely natural rational) (includes memory of abstract ideas)
Middle Natural or Interior Sensual (involves Imaginative faculty) (Sometimes called the more interior sensual)
Sensual in thought (Scientificum) (involves the faculty of knowing and exterior or corporeal memory)
(includes scientifics and cognitions as to their permanent base)
Sensual or Corporeal-Sensual (involves experience of five bodily senses) (sometimes called ultimate Sensual)
Natural affections in common with animals Hereditary Inclinations
Body
(References: AE 739:2-4; AC 3020:2, AC 3057:2; DLW 237, 239, 242, 245, 254. 258: TCR 564; AE 543: 2, 3, 708: 3, 355:36; AC 9215; TCR 34 42; HH 295; AC 2280, 1906:3, 5135:4, 5145:2, 5335, 1616: 4, 5, 3183; AE 828; 391:13; AC 2303, 5342; SD 4382, 5588, 353, 1077, 6011)
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IV Spiritual Maturity V Heavens VI Degrees of
Truth
Inmost of Soul Heaven of 1
or Human Internals
Human Internal 2
Interior Rational Celestial 3
or Heaven
Celestial Mind
Exterior Rational Spiritual 4
or Heaven
Spiritual Mind
Interior Natural Natural Heaven
(Inferior Rational)
or (Interior of 5
Spiritual- World of
or Spirits)
Celestial-
Natural Mind
Natural Rational World of Spirits 6
with
Reasoning Faculty
Middle Natural
or
Interior Sensual
with
Imaginative Faculty
Sensual with
Corporeal Memory
Body Natural World
(References: AC 5145, 1914, 4570, 9215, 9825; DLW 186, 67, 236ff; HH 20-39; Influx 16; SD (M) 4545, 46; AC 8443.)
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