Perception in Spiritual Things

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There is with every man a capacity of perceiving whether a thing is so or is not so. The capacity of drawing a conclusion within himself, or in his own mind, causes a thing to be perceived. This capacity is utterly impossible unless there is influx from the spiritual world. In this gift one man excels another. They who excel less are they who within themselves or in their own mind conclude and thus perceive but little; but say that a thing is so because others in whom they have faith have said so. But they who excel more are they who see, not from others, but from themselves, that the thing is so; for in very deed, the perception which exists with every man is one in worldly things, but not at the present day with anyone in spiritual things. The reason is that the spiritual which flows in and causes perception has been obscured and almost extinguished by the delights of the love of the world and of self; and therefore neither do they care for spiritual things, except insofar as is of duty and of custom; and if fear from duty, and delight from custom, were taken away, they would spurn, feel aversion for, and even deny them.

He who would have perception in spiritual things must be in the affection of truth from good, and must continually long to know truths. Thereby his intellectual is enlightened, and when the intellectual has been enlightened, then it is given him to perceive something inwardly within himself. But he who is not in the affection of truth, knows that which he knows to be so, from the teaching of the church to which he joins his faith, and because a priest, presbyter, or monk has said so. From all this it is evident what perception is, and that it exists in worldly things, but not in spiritual things; as is further evident from the fact that everyone remains in the doctrine in which he was born, even they who were born Jews, and also they who are outside the church, although they live within it. Moreover they who are in any heresy, if told the veriest truths, and if these were also confirmed, they would nevertheless perceive not one whit of their truth: they would appear to them as falsities.

(Arcana Cœlestia ~5937)

Enlightenment from the Lord

Selection from Doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Genuine truth, which is to be the source of doctrine, is manifest in the sense of the letter of the Word only to those who are enlightened by the Lord.

Enlightenment comes from the Lord alone and is granted to those who love truths because they are truths, and who apply them to the uses of life; with others, there is no enlightenment in the Word.

Enlightenment comes from the Lord alone, because the Lord is in all things of the Word.

Enlightenment is granted to those who love truths because they are truths, and who apply them to the uses of life because they are in the Lord, and the Lord in them. For the Lord is His own Divine Truth; and when this is loved because it is Divine Truth — and this is loved when it is applied to use — then the Lord is present in it with man. These things the Lord also teaches in John:

At that day ye shall know ... that ye are in me, and I in you.
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he is it that loveth me ... and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him ... And I will come to him and make my abode with him.  John 14:20, 21, 23

And in Matthew:

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.  Matt. 5:8

These are they who are enlightened when they read the Word, and with whom the Word is lucid and transparent.

(Doctrine of the Sacred Scriptures 57)

By Virtue of Influx from the Internal, Perception in the External

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The natural subsists and lives by virtue of influx from the internal, that is, through the internal from the Lord. For without influx thence the natural has no life, because it [the natural] is in the nature of this world, and from this derives all that it has.  The nature of this world is utterly devoid of life; and therefore in order that the natural with man may live, there must be influx from the Lord, not only immediate from Him, but also mediate through the spiritual world, consequently into man's internal, for this is in the spiritual world.  Then from this there must be influx into the natural, in order that this may live. The natural of man is formed to receive life therefrom. ... By virtue of influx from the internal there comes forth perception in the external or natural ... for influx and perception correspond to each other.

(from Arcana Cœlestia 6063)

The Truth of Faith is Subordinated to the Good of Charity

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... truth and good cannot but be obscure, and perchance of such a nature as not to be acknowledged; especially with those who put the truths of faith in the first place, and the good of charity in the second; and who consequently think much about doctrinal things, but not about the goods of charity; and think of eternal salvation as being from the former [truths of faith], but not from the latter [goods of charity]. They who think in this manner can in no wise know, still less perceive, that the truth of faith is subordinated to the good of charity.

The things which man thinks, and from which he thinks, affect him.

If he should think from the goods of charity, he would then plainly see that the truths of faith are in the second place and he would then also see the truths themselves as in light; for the good of charity is like a flame that gives light, and thus enlightens each and all things which the man had before supposed to be true; and he would also perceive how falsities had intermingled themselves, and had put on the appearance of being truths.

(from Arcana Cœlestia 4245)

Seven Things Which Might Be Known

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The things which they might have known of themselves had they chosen to use their reason, are the following:

• First, that when man is divested of his body, he comes into the full exercise of a much more enlightened understanding than when living in the body, for the reason that while he is in the body, corporeal and worldly things occupy his thoughts, which induce obscurity; but when he is divested of the body, such things do not interfere, and it is with him as with those who are in interior thought by abstraction of the mind from the things of the outward senses. From this they might know that the state after death is much more clear-sighted and enlightened than the state before death; and that when a man dies, he passes comparatively from shade into light, because he passes from the things of the world to those of heaven, and from the things of the body to those of the spirit. But wonderful to say, although they are able to understand all this, they nevertheless think the contrary, namely, that the state of life in the body is relatively clear, and that the state of life after being divested of the body is relatively obscure.

• The Second thing that they may know if they will use their reason, is that the life which man has procured for himself in the world follows him; that is, he is in such a life after death. For they may know that without dying altogether no one can put off the life which he has acquired from infancy; and that this life cannot be changed into another in a moment, still less into an opposite one. For example: he who has acquired a life of deceit, and has found in this the delight of his life, cannot put off the life of deceit, but is still in that life after death. He who is in the love of self, and thereby in hatred and revenge against those who do not serve him, and those who are in other such evils, remains in them after the life of the body; for these are the things which they love, and which constitute the delights of their life, and consequently their veriest life; and therefore such things cannot be taken away from them without at the same time extinguishing all their life. And so in other cases.

• The Third thing which a man may know of himself, is that when he passes into the other life he leaves many things behind which have no place there, such as cares for food, for clothing, for a place of abode, and also for gaining money and wealth, as well as for being exalted to dignities, all of which are so much thought of by man in the life of the body; but in the other life are succeeded by others that are not of this earthly kingdom.

• Therefore the Fourth thing a man can know is that he who in the world has thought solely of such worldly things, so that he has been wholly possessed by them, and has acquired delight of life in them alone, is not fitted to be among those whose delight is to think about heavenly things, that is, about the things of heaven.

• From this follows also a Fifth thing; namely, that when the externals of the body and the world are taken away, the man is then such as he has been inwardly; that is, he so thinks and so wills. If his thoughts have inwardly been deceits, machinations, aspiration for dignities, for gains, and for fame thereby; if they have been hatreds and revenges and the like, it can be seen that he will still think such things, thus the things that belong to hell, however much he might for the sake of the before-mentioned ends have concealed his thoughts from men, and thus appeared outwardly to be worthy, while leading others to believe that he had not such things at heart. That all such externals, or simulations of worth, are also taken away in the other life, may likewise be known from the fact that outward things are put off together with the body, and are no longer of any use. From this everyone may conclude for himself what kind of a man he will then appear to the angels.

• The Sixth thing that may be known is that heaven, or the Lord through heaven, is continually working and inflowing with good and truth; and that if there is not then in men-in their interior man which lives after the death of the body-some recipient of good and truth, as a ground or plane, the good and truth that flow in cannot be received; and for this reason man while living in the body ought to be solicitous to procure such a plane within himself; but this cannot be procured except by thinking what is good toward the neighbor, and by willing what is good to him, and therefore doing what is good to him, and thus by acquiring the delight of life in such things. This plane is acquired by means of charity toward the neighbor, that is, by means of mutual love; and is what is called conscience. Into this plane the good and truth from the Lord can inflow, and be received therein; but not where there is no charity, and consequently no conscience; for there the inflowing good and truth pass through, and are turned into evil and falsity.

• The Seventh thing that a man can know of himself, is that love to God and love toward the neighbor are what make man to be man, distinct from brute animals; and that they constitute heavenly life, or heaven; while their opposites constitute infernal life, or hell.

But the reason why a man does not know these things is that he does not desire to know them, because he lives the opposite life, and also because he does not believe in the life after death; and likewise because he has taken up with principles of faith, but none of charity; and consequently believes in accordance with the doctrinal teachings of many, that if there is a life after death, he can be saved by faith, no matter how he has lived, even if his faith is received in his dying hour.

(from Arcana Cœlestia 3957)

As The Tree Falls, It Remains

Selection from Spiritual Diary [min] ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

...if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.  Eccl 11:3

As long as people live, they are in the lowest level of order, have a bodily memory, which grows, and in which those things are to take root what belong to the inward memory. Consequently, the more harmony and interaction of good and truth there is in them, and between them, the more of life they have from the Lord, and the more they can be perfected in the other life. But it is that outward or bodily memory in which inward qualities take root. People after death indeed have with them all their outward or bodily memory, in all and the least details, but it can no longer grow, and where it is not functioning, new harmony and interaction cannot be formed. Nevertheless, all things of their inward memory are also grounded in their outward memory, even though it is not permitted them to use it.

This all shows what it means that as the tree falls, so it remains [Eccl. 11:3] not that those imbued with good cannot be perfected: such can be perfected immensely, even unto angelic wisdom, but to the level corresponding to the harmony and interaction that had existed between their inner and outer qualities when they lived in the world.  After the life of the body, no one receives outer, but only inward, and inner qualities.

As for that dogma that the tree remains where it falls, its meaning is not as it is usually explained, but it is the degree of harmony of our inner or spiritual person with our outer or earthly one, that remains as it falls, both of which man has with him in the other life.

The inner or spiritual quality is grounded in his outer or earthly one as its base.

The inner or spiritual person is perfected in the other life, but depending on the harmony it is able to find in the outer or earthly one. But the latter, namely outer or earthly one cannot be perfected in the other life, but remains of the quality it had acquired in the life of the body, and is perfected in that life by the removal of the love of self and of the world, and then by the reception of the good of charity, and of the truth of faith, from the Lord. Hence it is the harmony or disharmony that is the tree, together with its root, that remains after death, where it falls.

(from Spiritual Diary [min] 4645, 4646)

He Who Loves Himself Only

From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... he who loves himself only loves what is his own [proprium], and therefore immerses all things of his will and his understanding in what is his own [proprium], even so that it is impossible for him to be elevated from it to heaven and to the Lord; consequently he sees nothing from the light of heaven, but solely from the light of the world, which light, separated from the light of heaven, is mere darkness in spiritual things, which are the things of heaven and the church; and for this reason also the more a man loves himself the more he despises, yea, denies spiritual things.

In consequence also of this the internal spiritual mind, by which man is in the light of heaven, is closed up, and this causes the man to be merely natural, and the merely natural man is inclined to evils of every kind. For the evils into which man is born have their seat in the natural man, and these are removed from him only to the extent in which his interior mind, which receives the light of heaven, is opened; moreover, what is man's own [proprium] has its seat in the natural man, and what is man's own [proprium] is nothing but evil.

(From Apocalypse Explained 653:2)