Ceasing from All Effort

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

To Humble Oneself

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:10

"To humble oneself" is expressed in the original tongue by a word which signifies "to afflict." That "to afflict oneself" is, in the internal sense, to compel oneself, may be seen from very many passages in the Word, and will be treated of in what follows.

That man ought to compel himself to do what is good, to obey the things commanded by the Lord, and to speak truths, which is to "humble himself under" the Lord's hands, or to submit himself to the sovereign power of the Divine good and truth, involves more arcana than can be explained in a few words.

There are certain spirits who during their life in the world, because they had been told that all good is from the Lord, and that a man can do nothing of himself, had held it as a principle not to compel themselves in anything, but to cease from all effort, thinking that as the case was so, all effort would be in vain; and therefore they had waited for immediate influx into the effort of their will, and did not compel themselves to do anything good, going so far that when anything evil crept in, as they felt no resistance from within, they resigned themselves to it also, supposing that it was permissible to do so. But these spirits are as it were devoid of what is their own, so that they have no determination to anything, and are therefore among the more useless, for they suffer themselves to be led alike by the evil and by the good, and suffer much from the evil.

But they who have compelled themselves to resist what is evil and false - although at first they supposed that this was from themselves or from their own power, but were afterwards enlightened to see that their effort was from the Lord, even to the least of all the particulars of the effort - these in the other life cannot be led by evil spirits, but are among the happy. Thus we may see that a man ought to compel himself to do what is good and to speak what is true. The arcanum herein contained is that a man is thus gifted by the Lord with a heavenly Own, for this heavenly Own of man is formed in the effort of his thought; and if he does not maintain this effort by compelling himself (as the appearance is), he certainly does not maintain it by not compelling himself.

That we may see how this is, let it be observed that in all self-compulsion to what is good there is a certain freedom, which is not discerned as such while the man is engaged in this self-compulsion, but still it is within. For instance, in one who is willing to undergo the risk of death for the sake of a certain end, or in one who is willing to suffer bodily pain for the sake of health, there is a willingness and thus a certain freedom from which the man acts, although the dangers and the pains, while he is in them, take away his perception of this willingness or freedom; and such is the case also with those who compel themselves to do what is good: there is a willingness within, and thus a freedom, from which and for the sake of which they compel themselves, that is to say, they do so for the sake of obedience to what the Lord has commanded, and for the sake of the salvation of their souls after death, within which although the man is not aware of it, there is still more interiorly a regard for the Lord's kingdom, and even for the Lord Himself.

This is the case most of all during temptations, for in these-when the man compels himself to resist the evil and falsity which are infused and suggested by evil spirits, there is more of freedom than is possible in any state out of temptations - although at the time the man cannot comprehend this - for there is an interior freedom, from which he wills to subjugate evil, and which is so great as to equal the force and strength of the evil that is assailing him, for otherwise he could not possibly wage the combat. This freedom is from the Lord, who insinuates it into the man's conscience, and by means of it causes him to overcome the evil as from what is his own. Through this freedom man acquires an Own in which the Lord can work what is good. Without an Own acquired, that is, given, through freedom, no man can possibly be reformed, because he cannot receive the new will, which is conscience. The freedom thus given is the very plane into which there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord. Hence it is that they who in temptations do not resist from their own will, or in freedom, give way.

In all freedom there is man's life, because there is his love.

Whatever a man does from love appears to him free. But in this freedom, when the man is compelling himself to resist what is evil and false, and to do what is good, there is heavenly love, which the Lord then insinuates, and through which He creates the man's Own; and therefore the Lord wills that it should appear to the man as his, although it is not his. This Own which man during his bodily life thus receives through what is apparently compulsory, is filled by the Lord in the other life with illimitable delights and happinesses. Such persons are also by degrees enlightened to see and even to be confirmed in the truth, that of themselves they have not compelled themselves one atom, but that all things of the effort of their will, even the smallest, had been from the Lord; and that the reason why it had appeared as if it was of themselves was in order that a new will might be given them by the Lord as their own, and that in this way the life of heavenly love might be appropriated to them. For the Lord wills to communicate to everyone what is His, and therefore He wills to communicate what is heavenly, so that it may appear as the man's, and in him, although it is not his. The angels are in such an Own; and in proportion as they are in the truth that all good and truth are from the Lord, they are in the delight and happiness of this Own.

But they who despise and reject all good and truth, and who are willing to believe nothing that is repugnant to their cupidities [yearnings] and reasonings, cannot compel themselves; and thus cannot receive this Own of conscience, or new will. From what has been said above, it is also evident that to compel oneself is not to be compelled; for no good ever comes from compulsion, as when a man is compelled by another man to do what is good; but it is evident that in the case we are now considering the self-compulsion comes from a certain freedom that is unknown to the man, since from the Lord there is never any compulsion. Hence it is a universal law that all that which is good and true is inseminated in freedom, for otherwise the ground cannot possibly receive and cherish that which is good, and in fact there is no ground in which the seed can grow.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1937)

What Man Does In Secret

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is a common thing in the Word for Jehovah to question a man, and for men to reply, although Jehovah knew all before, not only what is done, but also the causes and the ends, and thus all the least and inmost things. But as man is not aware of this, and believes that no one can possibly know what he does in secret when no one sees it, and still less what he thinks, therefore the matter takes place according to the man's belief. But still it is really true that even ordinary spirits perceive a man's thoughts better than does the man himself; angelic spirits still more interior things of his thoughts; and angels things even more interior, namely, the causes and the ends, of which the man knows but little. It has been given me to know this by much and continual experience lasting many years.

As spirits and angels perceive these things, what must be the case with the Lord, or Jehovah, who is infinite, and who gives to all their ability to perceive?

(from Arcana Coelestia 1931)

Concerning Man's Freedom (Part 6)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Spirits fresh from this world severely torment themselves by trying to comprehend how no one can do good of himself, or think truth of himself, except from the Lord; believing that thus they would be like machines, having no control of anything; and that if this is really so they should let their hands hang down, and suffer themselves to be acted upon. But they were told that they ought by all means to think, to will, and to do good of themselves; and that in no other way could they have an Own that is heavenly, and heavenly freedom; but that still they should acknowledge that the good and truth are not from them, but from the Lord: and they are instructed that all the angels are in such an acknowledgment, nay, in the perception that it is so; and the more exquisitely they perceive that they are led by the Lord, and thus are in the Lord, the more are they in freedom.

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 he can be gifted with heavenly freedom, and together with it with peace; 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 anyone has done a grievous evil, everybody says that he has suffered himself to be led by the devil; and when anyone has done good, that he has suffered himself to be led by the Lord.

(Arcana Coelestia 2891-2893)

Concerning Man's Freedom (Part 5)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Evil spirits cannot possibly apprehend that they do not live from themselves, and that they are only organs of life; still less that there is no life except that which is from good and truth; and still less that they do not begin to live until the life of the cupidities of evil and of the persuasions of falsity, in which they are, is extinguished. They believe that if they were deprived of these there could be nothing of life remaining; whereas the truth is that when they have lost the life of the cupidities of evil and of the persuasions of falsity, they then first begin to live; and that the Lord, together with the good and truth in which life solely consists, is not till then received; and that intelligence and wisdom, and thus the veriest life, then flow in, and are afterwards immensely increased; and this with delight, blessedness, and happiness, and thus with inmost joy, and with ineffable variety, to eternity.

The evil spirits who are with man, through whom he communicates with hell, regard him no otherwise than as a vile slave; for they infuse into him their cupidities and their persuasions, and thus lead him whithersoever they will. But the angels through whom man communicates with heaven, regard him as a brother, and insinuate into him affections of good and truth, and thus lead him by freedom, not whither they will, but whither it pleases the Lord. From this we can see of what kind the one freedom is, and of what kind the other; and that it is slavery to be led by the devil, and freedom to be led by the Lord.

(Arcana Coelestia 2889-2890)

Concerning Man's Freedom (Part 4)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

(continued)

The freedom of the love of self and of the world, and of their cupidities [yearnings], is anything but freedom, being complete slavery; but still it is called freedom, just as love, affection, and delight are so called in both senses; and yet the love of self and of the world is anything but love, being hatred; and so are its affection and delight. They are named according to what they appear; not according to what they are.

No one can know what slavery is and what freedom is, unless he knows the origin of them (which no one can know except from the Word), and unless he knows how the case is with man in regard to his affections which are of his will, and his thoughts which are of his understanding.

As to man's affections and thoughts, the case is this:

No one, whoever he may be, whether man, spirit, or angel can will and think from himself; but from others; nor can these others will and think from themselves, but all again from others, and so on; and thus each one from the First of life, which is the Lord. That which is unconnected has no existence.

Evils and falsities have connection with the hells; from the hells come the willing and thinking of those who are in evils and falsities; and also their love, affection, and delight, consequently their freedom. But goods and truths have connection with heaven, and the willing and thinking of those who are in them is from heaven, and so also are their love, affection, and delight, and therefore their freedom. From this we may see whence comes the one freedom, and whence the other. That the case is really so is most fully known in the other life, but is at this day altogether unknown in the world.

With man there are evil spirits constantly, and also angels; by the spirits he communicates with the hells, and by the angels with the heavens. If these spirits and angels were to be taken away from him, he would in a moment be devoid of willing and thinking, thus of life. That this is so may seem a paradox; and yet it is most true. ...

The truth is that the life of everyone, both of man, of spirit, and also of angel, flows in solely from the Lord, who is life itself; and diffuses itself through the whole heaven and also through hell, thus into everyone; and this in an order and series incomprehensible: but the life which flows in is received by each one according to his disposition. Good and truth are received as good and truth by the good; but good and truth are received as evil and falsity by the evil, and are also turned into evil and falsity in them. The case with this is comparatively like the light of the sun, which diffuses itself into all the objects of the earth, but is received according to the quality of each object, and becomes of a beautiful color in beautiful forms, and of a disagreeable color in disagreeable forms. In the world this is an arcanum, but nothing is better known in the other life. That I might know that influx is of such a nature, it has been given me to speak with the spirits and angels who were with me, and also to feel and perceive their influx; and this so often that I cannot number the times. But I know that the fallacy will prevail, the fallacy that is to say, that men will believe that they will from themselves, and think from themselves, and thus have life from themselves; whereas nothing is further from the truth.

(Arcana Coelestia 2884-2888)

Concerning Man's Freedom (Part 3)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(continued)

The Lord flows in through man's inmost with good, and there conjoins truth with it: their root must be in the inmost. Unless a man is in freedom interiorly as to all his affections and as to all his thoughts, he can never be so disposed that good and truth may take any root.

Nothing else appears to a man as his (or what is the same, as his own) except that which flows from freedom. The reason is that all affection which is of love is his veriest life; and to act from affection is to act from life, that is, from himself, and thus from what is his, or what is the same, from his own.

In order therefore that man may receive an Own that is heavenly, such as have the angels in heaven, he is kept in freedom, and through freedom he is introduced into it.

It may be known to everyone that to worship the Lord from freedom appears as if it were from one's self, or from one's own; but that to worship Him under compulsion is not from one's self, but from a force from without, or from some other source, compelling him to do it; thus that worship from freedom is worship itself, and that worship under compulsion is no worship.

If man could have been reformed by compulsion, there would not be any man in the universe who would not be saved; for nothing would be easier for the Lord than to compel man to fear Him, to worship Him, and indeed as it were to love Him; the means being innumerable. But as that which is done under compulsion is not conjoined, and thus is not appropriated, it is therefore the furthest possible from the Lord to compel anyone.

So long as a man is in combats, or is one of the church militant, it appears as if the Lord compels the man, and thus that he has no freedom; for he is then continually combating against the love of self and of the world, thus against the freedom into which he was born and into which he has grown up; hence comes the appearance just referred to.

But that in the combats in which he overcomes, the freedom is stronger than when out of combats (a freedom not from himself, but from the Lord, and still appearing as his), may be seen in Arcana Coelestia no.s 1937, 1947).

Most of all does man believe that he has no freedom from the fact that he has learned that he cannot do good and think truth of himself. But let him not believe that anyone ever has or ever had any freedom of thinking truth and doing good of himself, not even the man who, from the state of perfection in which he was, was called a "likeness and image of God;" for the freedom of thinking the truth of faith, and of doing the good of charity, all flows in from the Lord. The Lord is Good itself and Truth itself; and is hence their fountain. All the angels are in such freedom, and indeed in the very perception that what we have just stated is the truth. The inmost angels perceive how much is from the Lord, and how much from themselves; and so far as it is from the Lord, they are in happiness; but so far as it is from themselves, they are not in what is happy.

In order therefore that a man may receive an Own that is heavenly, he must do good of himself, and think truth of himself; but still must know, and when reformed must think and believe, that all the good and all the truth are from the Lord, even as to the very least of all (and this because it is so); while its being given to man to think that it is from himself, is in order that the good and truth may become as his own.

(Arcana Coelestia 2879-2883)

Concerning Man's Freedom (Part 2)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(continued)

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8

The good of life, or the affection of good, is insinuated by the Lord by an internal way, without man's knowing anything about it; but the truth of doctrine, or faith, by an external way, into the memory, whence it is called forth by the Lord in His own time and according to His own order, and is conjoined with the affection of good. This is done in man's freedom; for as before said, man's freedom is from affection. Such is the insemination and inrooting of faith.

Whatever is done in freedom is conjoined, but that which is done under compulsion is not conjoined; as may be seen from considering that by no possibility can anything be conjoined except that by which we are affected: affection is the very thing that receives; to receive anything contrary to the affection is to receive it contrary to the life. Hence it is manifest that truth of doctrine, or faith, cannot be received except by the affection of it. But such as is the affection, such is the reception. It is only the affection of truth and good that receives the truth of faith; for they agree, and because they agree, they conjoin themselves together.

As no one can be reformed except in freedom, therefore freedom is never taken away from a man, insofar as the appearance is concerned; for it is an eternal law that everyone should be in freedom as to his interiors, that is, as to his affections and thoughts, in order that the affection of good and truth may be implanted in him.

Whenever the affection of truth and the affection of good are insinuated by the Lord, [which is done without man's knowledge], he then imbues himself with truth and does good in freedom, because from affection; for when anything is done from affection, then as before said there is freedom; and the truth of faith conjoins itself with the good of charity. Unless a man had freedom in everything he thinks and wills, the freedom of thinking truth and of willing good could never be insinuated by the Lord into anyone; for in order that a man may be reformed he must think truth as of himself, and do good as of himself; and what is done as of one's self is done in freedom. Unless this were so, there would never be any reformation or regeneration.

There are innumerable causes from which and on account of which a man loves to learn truth and to will good (very many from the world, and also very many from the body); and sometimes these things are not done for the sake of heaven, and still less for the sake of the Lord.

A man is thus introduced by the Lord into truth and good by affections, and one man altogether differently from another, each one according to his disposition, innate and acquired. And as he is continually being introduced into truth and good by affections, and thus continually by freedom, and at length into the affections of spiritual truth and spiritual good, the Lord alone knows the times and the states, and He alone arranges and governs them in application to each one's genius and life. This shows why man has freedom.

(Arcana Coelestia 2875-2878)