The Nature of Heaven and It's Joys

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Heaven and Heavenly Joy

The souls who come into the other life are all ignorant of the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy. Very many suppose it to be a kind of joy into which any can be admitted no matter how they have lived, even those who have borne hatred against their neighbor and have passed their lives in adulteries, being quite unaware of the fact that heaven is mutual and chaste love, and that heavenly joy is the derivative happiness.

I have sometimes spoken with spirits fresh from the world concerning the state of eternal life, telling them how important it was for them to know who is the Lord of that kingdom, and what is the nature and form of its government, just as those in this world who go into another kingdom are especially interested to know who and of what sort is the king, what is the nature of the government, and many other things that belong to the kingdom; and how much more should they be interested in this kingdom, where they are to live forever. I told them that the Lord alone rules both heaven and the universe, for He who rules the one must rule the other; and that the kingdom in which they were now is the Lord's kingdom, the laws of which are eternal truths, all of which are based on the one great law that —

men shall love the Lord above all things and their neighbor as themselves, and now even more than themselves

for if they would be as the angels this is what they must do.

To all this they could make no reply, because in their bodily life they had heard something of the kind, but had not believed it.

They marveled that there is such love in heaven, and that it is possible for anyone to love his neighbor more than himself, seeing that they had heard that they were to love their neighbor as themselves. But they were instructed that in the other life all goods are immeasurably increased, and that the life in the body is such that men can go no further than loving the neighbor as themselves because they are in the things of the body, but that when these are removed, the love becomes purer, and at last angelic, which consists in loving the neighbor more than themselves.

The possibility of such love is evident from the conjugial love that exists with some persons, who would suffer death rather than let their married partner be injured; and also from the love of parents for their children, in that a mother will endure starvation rather than see her infant hunger, and this even among birds and animals; and likewise from sincere friendship, in that perils will be undergone for our friends; and even from polite and feigned friendship, that would emulate real friendship in offering the better things to those to whom we wish well, making great professions even when they do not come from the heart.

And finally its possibility is evident from the very nature of love, which finds its joy in being of service to others, not for the sake of self but for the love's own sake.

But all this could not be comprehended by those who loved themselves more than others, and who in the bodily life had been greedy for gain, and least of all by the avaricious.

The angelic state is such that everyone communicates his own bliss and happiness to others. For in the other life there is a most exquisite communication and perception of all the affections and thoughts, so that each person communicates his joy to all, and all to each, so that each one is as it were the center of all. This is the heavenly form.

And therefore the more there are who constitute the Lord's kingdom, the greater is the happiness, for it increases in proportion to the numbers, and this is why heavenly happiness is unutterable. There is this communication of all with each and of each with all when everyone loves others more than himself. But if anyone wishes better for himself than for others the love of self reigns, which communicates nothing to others from itself except the idea of self, which is very foul, and when this is perceived the person is at once banished and rejected.

Just as in the human body all things both in general and particular contribute to the general and individual uses of all the rest, so is it in the Lord's kingdom, which is constituted like a man, and in fact is called the Grand Man. In this way everyone there contributes either more nearly or more remotely, and in many ways, to the happiness of all, and this in accordance with the order instituted and consequently maintained by the Lord alone.

From the universal heaven bearing relation to the Lord, and all there in both general and particular bearing relation to the Very and Only Being both in the universal as a whole and in its most individual constituents, there comes order, there comes union, there comes mutual love, and there comes happiness; for so each person regards the welfare and happiness of all, and all that of each one.

That all the joy and happiness in heaven are from the Lord alone, has been shown me by many experiences, of which the following may be related.

I saw that with the utmost diligence some angelic spirits were fashioning a lampstand with its lamps and flowers of the richest ornamentation in honor of the Lord. For an hour or two I was permitted to witness with what great pains they labored to make everything about it beautiful and representative, they supposing that they were doing it of themselves. But to me it was given to perceive that of themselves they could devise nothing at all. At last after some hours they said that they had formed a very beautiful representative candelabrum in honor of the Lord, whereat they rejoiced from their very hearts. But I told them that of themselves they had devised and formed nothing at all, but the Lord alone for them. At first they would scarcely believe this, but being angelic spirits they were enlightened, and confessed that it was so. So it is with all other representative things, and with everything of affection and thought in both general and particular, and also with heavenly joys and felicities-the very smallest bit of them is from the Lord alone.

They who are in mutual love in heaven are continually advancing to the springtime of their youth, and to a more and more gladsome and happy spring the more thousands of years they live, and this with continual increase to eternity, according to the advance and degree of mutual love, charity, and faith.

Those of the female sex who have died in old age and enfeebled with years, and who have lived in faith in the Lord, in charity toward the neighbor, and in happy conjugial love with their husbands, after a succession of years come more and more into the bloom of youth and early womanhood, and into a beauty that surpasses all idea of beauty such as is ever perceptible to the natural sight; for it is goodness and charity forming and presenting their own likeness, and causing the delight and beauty of charity to shine forth from every least feature of the countenance, so that they are the very forms of charity: some have beheld them and been amazed.

The form of charity, as is seen to the life in the other world, is such that it is charity itself that portrays and is portrayed, and this in such a manner that the whole angel, and especially the face, is as it were charity, the charity both plainly appearing to the view and being perceived by the mind. When this form is beheld, it is unutterable beauty that affects with charity the very inmost life of the beholder's mind. Through the beauty of this form, the truths of faith are presented to view in an image, and are even perceived from it. Such forms, or such beauties, do those become in the other life who have lived in faith in the Lord, that is, in the faith of charity. All the angels are such forms, with countless variety, and of such is heaven.

(Arcana Coelestia 547-553)

Light of Heaven — Thick Darkness of Hell

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In the spiritual world, or in the world where spirits and angels are, similar objects appear as in the natural world, or where men are. These are similar in that as to external appearance there is no difference. In that world appear plains and mountains, hills and rocks, and valleys between them; also waters, and many other things that are seen on earth. But yet all these things are from a spiritual origin, and all appear therefore before the eyes of spirits and angels, and not before the eyes of men, because men are in the natural world. Spiritual beings see the things that are from a spiritual origin, and natural beings the things that are from a natural origin. Consequently, man with his eyes can in no way see the objects that are in the spiritual world unless he is permitted to be in the spirit, or after death when he becomes a spirit. On the other hand, an angel and a spirit are unable to see anything at all in the natural world unless they are with a man who is permitted to speak with them. For the eyes of man are adapted to the reception of the light of the natural world, and the eyes of angels and spirits are adapted to the reception of the light of the spiritual world; although the eyes of the two are exactly alike in appearance. That the spiritual world is such, the natural man cannot comprehend, and least of all the sensual man, who believes nothing except what he sees with his bodily eyes and touches with his hands, and therefore takes in by sight and touch. He thinks from these things, so his thought is material and not spiritual. Such being the likeness between the spiritual world and the natural world, man after death can hardly believe otherwise than that he is in the world where he was born, and from which he has departed. For this reason they call death simply a translation from one world into another like it. (That the two worlds are thus alike can be seen [from these next passages], where the representatives and appearances in heaven have been treated of.)

The man who thinks from natural light alone is unable to comprehend that there is anything in heaven like what is in the world, the reason being that from natural light he had thought and confirmed himself in the idea that angels are only minds and that minds are, as it were, ethereal breaths having, as a consequence, no senses like those of men, thus no eyes and if no eyes no objects of sight. Yet, an angel has all the senses that a man has, and much more exquisite senses. Indeed, the light by which angels see is much brighter than the light by which man sees.

The nature of the objects that are visible to angels in the heavens cannot be described in a few words. For the most part, they are like things on earth but more perfect in form and more abundant in number. That such things are in the heavens can be confirmed from the things seen by the prophets - as by • Ezekiel, in respect of the new temple and the new earth, described from chapter 40 - 48 • Daniel from chapter 7- 12 • John from the first to the last chapter of the Revelation, and by others, as described both in the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word. These things were seen by them when heaven was opened to them, and heaven is said to be opened when the interior sight, which is the sight of man's spirit, is opened. For the things that are in the heavens cannot be seen by the eyes of a man's body, but are seen by the eyes of his spirit. When it seems good to the Lord, these are opened and man is then withdrawn from the natural light in which he is from the senses of the body, and is raised up into a spiritual light in which he is from his spirit. In that light the things that are in the heavens have been seen by me.

But although the things seen in the heavens are for the most part like those on the earth, yet in essence they are unlike. For the things in the heavens come into existence from the Sun of heaven, and those on earth from the sun of the world. The things which come into existence from the Sun of heaven are called spiritual, but those which come into existence from the sun of the world are called natural.

The things which come into existence in the heavens do not do so in the same manner as do the things on earth. In the heavens, all things come into existence from the Lord in accordance with their correspondences with the interiors of the angels. For angels have both interiors and exteriors. All things in their interiors have relation to love and faith, thus to the will and the understanding, for the will and the understanding are their receptacles, while their exteriors correspond to their interiors.

Exteriors correspond to interiors. This can be illustrated by the heat and light of heaven - that angels have heat in accordance with the quality of their love, and light in accordance with the quality of their wisdom. The same is true of all other things that present themselves before the senses of the angels.

When I have been permitted to be in company with angels, the things that were there appeared to me precisely the same as those in the world, and so plainly that I did not know but that I was in the world and in a king's palace there. I also spoke with the angels as man with man.

Since all things that correspond to interiors also represent them, they are therefore called REPRESENTATIVES, and because they are varied in accordance with the state of the interiors of the angels, they are also called APPEARANCES. Nevertheless, the things that appear before the eyes of angels in the heavens and are perceived by their senses, appear and are perceived just as true to life as do things on earth to men, nay rather, much more clearly, distinctly and perceptibly. Appearances of this kind in heaven are called real appearances, because they have real existence. Appearances that are not real also occur, which are such as do appear but do not correspond to interiors.

To show what the things are that appear to the angels in accordance with correspondences, I would here mention this one instance only for the sake of illustration. By those who are intelligent, gardens and paradises full of trees and flowers of every kind are seen. The trees there are planted in most beautiful order, entwined in cross-beam formation with arched entrances and encircling walks. All is of such beauty as to beggar description. There walk those who are in intelligence, gathering flowers and weaving garlands with which they adorn little children. There are also kinds of trees and flowers there that are never seen and cannot exist in the world. On the trees also there are fruits that are in accordance with the good of love in which are the intelligent. Such things are seen by them because a garden or park, and fruit trees and flowers correspond to intelligence and wisdom. That there are such things in heaven is acknowledged on the earth but only by those who are in good and who have not extinguished in themselves the light of heaven by means of natural light and its fallacies, for when they think about heaven they think and say that there are such things there as ear hath not heard nor eye seen.

(from Heaven and Hell 170-176)

The heavens are in the more elevated localities of the spiritual world, the world of spirits in those that are low-lying, and under both are the hells. The heavens are not visible to the spirits in the world of spirits except when their interior sight is opened; although they are sometimes visible as mists or as bright clouds. This is because the angels of heaven are in an interior state as to intelligence and wisdom; and for this reason they are above the sight of those who are in the world of spirits. But spirits who are in the plains and valleys see one another; and yet when they are separated there, which takes place when they are let into their interiors, then the evil spirits do not see the good spirits; but the good spirits can see the evil spirits. Nevertheless, the good spirits turn themselves away from the evil spirits; and when spirits turn themselves away they become invisible. But the hells do not appear because they are closed up. Only the entrances, which are called gates, are seen when they are opened to let in other like spirits. All the gates to the hells open from the world of spirits, and none of them from heaven.

The hells are everywhere, both under the mountains, hills, and rocks, and under the plains and valleys. The openings or gates to the hells that are under the mountains, hills, and rocks, appear to the sight like holes and clefts in the rocks, some extended and wide, and some straitened and narrow, and many of them rugged. They all, when looked into, appear dark and dusky; but the infernal spirits who are in them are in such a luminosity as arises from burning coals. Their eyes are adapted to the reception of that light, and for the reason that —

while they lived in the world they were in thick darkness as to Divine truths, because of their denying them, and were in a sort of light as to falsities because of their affirming them.

In this way did the sight of their eyes become so formed.

And for the same reason, the light of heaven is thick darkness to them, and therefore when they go out of their dens they see nothing.

From all these things it has been made very clearly evident that man comes into the light of heaven just to the extent that he acknowledges the Divine, and establishes with himself the things of heaven and the Church; and that he comes into the thick darkness of hell just to the extent that he denies the Divine, and establishes with himself the things that are opposed to those of heaven and the Church.

(from Heaven and Hell 582-584)

The World Of Spirits

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The World of Spirits and Man's State After Death

The world of spirits is not heaven, nor is it hell, but it is the intermediate place or state between the two. For to that place man comes at first after death, and then, after a certain time, he is either raised up into heaven or cast down into hell, in accord with his life in the world.

The world of spirits is an intermediate place between heaven and hell and also an intermediate state of the man after death. That it is an intermediate place, has been clear to me from the fact that the hells are below it and the heavens above. Also it is in an intermediate state, since, so long as man is in it, he is not yet either in heaven or in hell. The state of heaven with man is the conjunction of good and truth with him; and the state of hell is the conjunction of evil and falsity with him. Whenever good with a man-spirit has been conjoined to truth he comes into heaven, because that conjunction, as has been said, is heaven with him; but whenever evil with a man-spirit is conjoined to falsity he comes into hell, because that conjunction is hell with him. That conjunction is effected in the world of spirits, since man is then in an intermediate state. It is the same thing whether you say the conjunction of the understanding and the will, or the conjunction of truth and good.

First let something be said about the conjunction of the understanding and the will, and about its being the same thing as the conjunction of good and truth, since that conjunction is effected in the world of spirits.

Man has an understanding and a will. The understanding receives truths and is formed out of them, and the will receives goods and is formed out of them; therefore whatever a man understands and thinks from his understanding he calls true, and whatever a man wills and thinks from his will he calls good. From his understanding man can think and thus perceive both what is true and what is good; and yet he thinks what is true and good from the will only when he wills it and does it. When he wills it and from willing does it, then it is both in his understanding and in his will, consequently in the man. For neither the understanding alone nor the will alone makes the man, but the understanding and will together. Therefore whatever is in both is in the man, and is appropriated to him. That which is in the understanding alone is with man, and yet not in him; it is only a thing of his memory, or a matter of knowledge in his memory about which he can think when in company with others and outside himself, but not in himself, that is, about which he can speak and reason, and can simulate affections and gestures that are in accord with it.

That a man can think from the understanding and not at the same time from the will is provided in order that man may be capable of being reformed. For man is reformed by means of truths, and truths pertain to the understanding, as has been said.

For as to his will man is born into every evil, and therefore from himself wills good to no one but himself; and he who wills good to himself alone delights in the misfortunes which happen to others, especially when they tend to his own advantage; for his wish is to divert to himself the goods of all others, whether honours or riches, and so far as he succeeds in this he inwardly rejoices. In order that this will may be corrected and reformed, it is granted to a man to be able to understand truths, and to subdue by means of these truths the affections of evil that spring from the will. This is why man can think truths from his understanding, and also speak them and do them. But until man is such that he wills truths and does them from himself, that is, from the heart, he is not able to think truths from his will. When he becomes such whatever things he thinks from his understanding belong to his faith, and whatever things he thinks from his will belong to his love. In consequence, faith and love, like understanding and will, are conjoined with him.

To the extent, therefore, that the truths of the understanding and the goods of the will are conjoined, that is, to the extent that a man wills truths and does them from the will, to that extent he has heaven in himself, since the conjunction of good and truth, as has been said above, is heaven. And, on the other hand, just to the extent that the falsities of the understanding and the evils of the will are conjoined, man has hell in himself, since the conjunction of falsity and evil is hell. But so long as the truths of the understanding and the goods of the will are not conjoined, man is in an intermediate state. At the present time nearly every single man is in such a state that he has some knowledge of truths, and from his knowledge and understanding gives some thought to them, and conforms to them either much or little or not at all, or acts contrary to them from a love of evil and consequent false belief. In order, therefore, that man may have either heaven or hell, he is brought after death at first into the world of spirits, and there a conjoining takes place, of good and truth with those who are to be raised up into heaven, and of evil and falsity with those who are to be cast down into hell. For neither in heaven nor in hell is anyone permitted to have a divided mind, that is, to understand one thing and to will another; but everyone must understand what he wills, and will what he understands. Therefore, in heaven, he who wills good understands truth, while in hell he who wills evil understands falsity. So in the intermediate state, with the good falsities are put away, and truths that agree and harmonize with their good are given them; while with the evil truths are put away, and falsities that agree and harmonize with their evil are given them. From these things it is clear what the world of spirits is.

In the world of spirits there are vast numbers, because the first meeting of all is there, and all are there examined and prepared. The time of their stay in that world is not fixed. Some merely enter it, and are soon either taken into heaven or are cast down into hell; some remain there only a few weeks, some several years, but not more than thirty. These differences in the time they remain depend on the correspondence or lack of correspondence of man's interiors with his exteriors.

How man is led in that world from one state into another and prepared:

As soon as men after their decease come into the world of spirits the Lord distinguishes them correctly. The evil are at once attached to the infernal society in which they were, as to their ruling love, while in the world; and the good are at once attached to the heavenly society in which they were as to their love, charity and faith, while in the world. But although they are thus distinguished, all who have been friends and acquaintances in the life of the body, especially wives and husbands, and also brothers and sisters, meet and converse together whenever they so desire. I have seen a father talking with six sons, whom he recognized, and have seen many others with their relatives and friends, but because they were of diverse dispositions as a result of life in the world, they were separated after a short time. But those who come from the world of spirits into heaven or into hell, unless they have a like disposition from a like love, no longer see or know each other. The reason that they see each other in the world of spirits, but not in heaven or in hell, is that those who are in the world of spirits are brought into one state after another, like those they experienced in the life of the body; but afterwards, all are brought into a permanent state in accord with their ruling love, and in that state one recognizes another only by similarity of love; for then similarity joins and dissimilarity disjoins.

As the world of spirits is an intermediate state between heaven and hell with man, so it is an intermediate place with the hells below and the heavens above. All the hells are shut towards that world, being open only through holes and clefts like those in rocks and through wide openings that are so guarded that no one can come out except by permission, which is granted in cases of urgent necessity. Heaven, too, is enclosed on all sides; and there is no passage open to any heavenly society except by a narrow way, the entrance to which is also guarded. These outlets and entrances are what are called in the Word the gates and doors of hell and of heaven.

The world of spirits appears like a valley between mountains and rocks, with windings and elevations here and there. The gates and doors of the heavenly societies are visible only to those who are prepared for heaven; others cannot find them. There is one entrance from the world of spirits to each heavenly society, opening through a single path which branches out in its ascent into several. The gates and doors of the hells also are visible only to those who are about to enter, to whom they are then opened. When these are opened, gloomy and seemingly sooty caverns are seen tending obliquely downwards to the abyss, where again there are many doors. Through these caverns, nauseous and fetid stenches exhale, from which good spirits flee because they abominate them, but evil spirits seek for them because they delight in them. For as everyone in the world has been delighted with his own evil, so after death he is delighted with the stench to which his evil corresponds. In this respect, the evil may be likened to rapacious birds and beasts, like ravens, wolves, and swine, which fly or run to carrion or dunghills when they scent their stench. I heard a certain spirit crying out loudly as if from inward torture when struck by a breath flowing forth from heaven; but he became tranquil and glad as soon as a breath flowing forth from hell reached him.

With every man there are two gates, one that leads to hell and that is open to evils and their falsities; while the other leads to heaven and is open to goods and their truths. Those who are in evil and its falsity have the gate to hell opened to them, and only through chinks from above does something of light from heaven flow into them, and by that inflowing they are able to think, to reason, and to speak; but the gate to heaven is opened to those who are in good and its truth. For there are two ways that lead to the rational mind of man; a higher or internal way through which good and truth from the Lord enter, and a lower or external way through which evil and falsity enter below from hell. The rational mind itself is at the middle point to which the ways tend. Consequently, so far as light from heaven is admitted, man is rational; but so far as it is not admitted he is not rational, however rational he may seem to himself to be. These things have been said to make known the nature of the correspondence of man with heaven and with hell. While man's rational mind is being formed, it corresponds to the world of spirits, what is above it corresponding to heaven and what is below to hell. With those preparing for heaven, the regions above the rational mind are opened, but those below are closed to the influx of evil and falsity; while with those preparing for hell, the parts below it are opened, and the parts above it are closed to the influx of good and truth. Thus the latter can look only to what is below themselves, that is, to hell; while the former can look only to what is above themselves, that is, to heaven. To look above themselves is to look to the Lord, because He is the common centre to which all things of heaven look; while to look below themselves is to look backwards from the Lord to the opposite centre, to which all things of hell look and tend.

(from Heaven and Hell 421-430)