Logopraxis

Spiritual work is not about blocking negative thoughts or not having them but is instead about observing them. For when we can observe them and see firsthand for ourselves that what the Word teaches about the nature of the hellish self is true, then this allows the Text to confirm Itself to us.  It confirms that it is actually what it claims it is - Divine Truth given to save us from hell.

But we need to practice in order for this to happen; we need to take what the Text says and apply it by using what it teaches to observe and examine the sense of self. And one of the most immediate places we can begin to do this, is in our Logopraxis Life Group.  On the surface it appears as an opportunity to share our work with others, to reflect back what we hear and to collectively explore spiritual processes. But on another less overt layer, it’s an opportunity to practice observing the self from the light of what truth teaches.

A core characteristic of developing this type of spiritual literacy is the ability to split or divide our attention. The practice of this skill is based on the fundamental teaching from the Word that all life flows in and consequently that what we experience is an appearance of life - and this includes the sense of self.  When we divide our attention, we move into a living practice of this truth because it moves us away from the idea of ‘I am a self’ and towards an ‘as of self’.

So, in the former, we are in the experience, there is no separation between our experience of what we are seeing, touching and interacting with, and our self.  All that we take in from our senses confirms the belief that ‘I am a self’. We unquestioningly accept that what we receive in this experience of being a self is real. It defines what we call reality.

But in the latter, our attention is now divided between being in and focused on the event or phenomena that is occurring and then also observing the self that is in and focused on the event occurring.  In this second situation, an extra layer or level of self-awareness is added where we can now also view the experience of ‘I am a self’ from the perspective of an ‘as of self’.  And it is this extra layer that we seek to become conscious of in our Life Groups.

Why? Why do we attempt to practice in this way?

For a number of reasons.

Firstly, as has already being stated, seeking to practice in this way is one way in which we might each apply the Word in our life so that it might confirm Itself to us.

Secondly, and this is a flow on effect from the first, it increases the Lord’s capacity to flow into us as good and truth and to therefore be a more effective vessel of use for His purposes.  When we start to observe the self in this way, we are working from the principle that everything before us can be seen as a representative image of a spiritual reality that is unfolding as a process in our awareness.  The self then becomes part of that representative image that we are now observing. Learning to look on at the self in this way offers us psychological space and distance to observe the emotions, thoughts and reactions that pass through our mind in the light of what the Word teaches, so that we can gain more clarity of them.  If we can be present with others in a clearer state of mind, we can be more conscious of what the Word is asking us to shun in that moment and in doing so, this then opens us up to connecting with what is of the Lord in the exchange.

And so thirdly, working to be in a new relationship with the sense of self and seeing it as something that can be observed independently, frees us from identifying with it as “my-self’. In doing so, we can be set free from the prison that the hellish proprium is- the proprium which says, “I am”. For this proprium’s core love is built upon the life of the senses and hence the belief that is a self - that it has life in itself and agency.  So, rather than trying to stop negative and selfish thoughts occurring, or falling into self-condemnation that they even exist in our mental landscape, we can instead look to see how what the sense of self experiences in these negative states affirms what the Word teaches about the nature of the hellish proprium.  The seeing of this confirms the Word as Divine Truth, as the Lord and of Its power to draw us out of hell and into the heavenly peace that It is.

And lastly, but not least, our Life Groups offer us a rare opportunity to practice in a space in which all who are present are working to attend to their inner states in the same way; and to observe these as images which communicate spiritual principles and processes. As these spiritual literacy skills develop for us, there will be an inevitable flow on effect into the rest of our lives outside of the Life Group. We will find that we start to remember to divide our attention and observe the self in other events and interactions with others too, if not in the moment, then in hindsight. So, the more we can practise thinking above the life of the senses which lead to ‘I am a self’, the more we will come into a deeper acknowledgment of the fact that we are an ‘as of self’ and that the Lord is the only self.  And so, the more we will come into the heavenly delight of a life of use, which He offers to us all.

… they who are able to think above the things of sense, provided the things in the memory have been set in order, possess a greater capacity than others to understand and perceive, and this according to the degree in which they view things from what is interior. (6598 Arcana Coelestia)

What is the neighbour?

Arcana Coelestia 6819. But not only is man in the singular the neighbor, but also man in the plural. For a society, smaller or greater, is the neighbor; our country is the neighbor; the church is the neighbor; the Lord’s kingdom is the neighbor; and so above all is the Lord. All these are the neighbor who is to be benefited from charity. These also are ascending degrees of the neighbor; for a society of many is the neighbor in a higher degree than is an individual man; our country in a higher degree than a society; in a still higher degree the church; and in a still higher degree the Lord’s kingdom; but in the highest degree the Lord is the neighbor. These ascending degrees are like the steps of a ladder, at the top of which is the Lord.

Classes of the neighbour

Matthew 25: 31- 46. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer [d]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

How might charity be practised towards each of these classes?

New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 107. The doctrine of spiritual good, which is that of love towards the neighbor, is also of wide extent and full of arcana, but much less so than the doctrine of celestial good, which is that of love to the Lord. That the doctrine of love towards the neighbor, or charity, is of wide extent, may appear from the fact, that it reaches to all the things which man thinks and wills, consequently to all which he speaks and does, even to the most minute particulars; and also from the fact, that charity does not exist alike with two different persons, and that no two persons are alike the neighbor.

As the doctrine of charity was so extensive, therefore the ancients, with whom it was the very doctrine of the church, distinguished charity towards the neighbor into several classes, which they again subdivided, and gave names to each class, and taught how charity was to be exercised towards those who are in one class, and towards those who are in another; and thus they reduced the doctrine and the exercises of charity into order, that they might fall distinctly into the understanding.

The names which they gave to those towards whom they were to exercise charity were many; some they called the blind, some the lame, some the maimed, some the poor, some the miserable, and afflicted, some the fatherless, some widows, but in general they called them the hungry, to whom they should give to eat; the thirsty, to whom they should give to drink; strangers, whom they should take in; the naked, whom they should clothe; the sick, whom they should visit, and the bound in prison, to whom they should come.

Who they were whom they meant by these particulars, has been made known already in the Arcana Coelestia, as whom they meant by the blind (n. 2383, 6990); by the lame (n. 4302); the poor (n. 2129, 4459, 4958, 9209, 9253, 10227); the miserable (n. 2129); the afflicted (n. 6663, 6851, 9196); the fatherless (n. 4844, 9198-9200) and widows (n. 4844, 9198, 9200); the hungry (n. 4958, 10227); the thirsty (n. 4958, 8568[1-10]); the strangers (n. 4444, 7908, 8007, 8013, 9196, 9200); the naked (n. 1073, 5433, 9960); the sick (n. 4958, 6221, 8364, 9031); the bound in prison (n. 5037, 5038, 5086, 5096). It may be seen that the whole doctrine of charity is comprehended in the offices towards those who are called by the Lord the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, and the bound in prison (Matt. 25:34-36, the verses following) [n. 4954-4959].

These names were given from heaven to the ancients who were of the church, and by those who were so named they understood those who were spiritually such. Their doctrine of charity not only taught who these were, but also the quality of the charity to be exercised towards each. Hence it is, that the same names are in the Word, and signify those who are such in the spiritual sense. The Word in itself is nothing but the doctrine of love to the Lord, and of charity towards the neighbor, as the Lord also teaches:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:37-40).

The law and the prophets are the whole Word (n. 2606, 3382, 6752, 7643).

The reason why those same names are in the Word, is that the Word, which is in itself spiritual, might in its ultimate be natural; and because they who are in external worship are to exercise charity towards such as are so named, and they who are in internal worship towards such spiritually understood; thus that the simple might understand and do the Word in simplicity, and the wise, in wisdom; also, that the simple, by the externals of charity, might be initiated into its internals.

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Bones and Flesh

AC 156. Verse 23 And the man said, By this change, it is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; for this she will be called Wife, because she was taken out of man (vir). 'Bone from bones and flesh from flesh' means the proprium belonging to the external man, 'bone' the proprium that has been given not much life, 'flesh' the proprium that has been given life. 'The man' (vir) however means the internal man. And because, as is said in the next verse, the internal man was so coupled to the external man, this proprium previously called 'woman' is now called 'Wife'. 'By this change' means that it happened now, because there had been a change of state.

3812. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. That this signifies conjoined in respect to truths and to goods, is evident from the signification of the words, “thou art my bone and my flesh,” as being conjunction. The ancients had this form of speaking concerning those who were of one house, or of one family, or in some relationship—“my bone and my flesh” (see n. 157); and hence by these words is signified conjunction. The reason why it signifies as to truths and as to goods, is that all spiritual conjunction is effected by these, and all natural conjunction has relation to the same. Moreover, by “bone and flesh” is signified what is man’s own; by “bone,” the own of his understanding, and by “flesh” the own of his will; thus by “bone” is signified what is his own in respect to truth, for this is of the understanding; and by “flesh” is signified what is his own in respect to good, for this is of the will (n. 148, 149).

A 'girdle' represents what binds and secures interior things

AC 3540... in order that they might represent the Word as it is in its external form, that is, in the letter, Elijah was girded with a girdle of skin about his loins (2 Kings 1:8); and John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a girdle of skin about his loins (Matthew 3:4). And inasmuch as the skin of man and beast signified external things, which are natural things in their relation to spiritual and celestial ones; and as in the Ancient Church it was customary to speak and write by significatives, therefore also in Job, which is a book of the Ancient Church, “skin” has the same signification, as may be seen from several passages in that book, and also from this: I know my Redeemer, He liveth, and at the last He will arise above the dust, and afterward these shall be encompassed with my skin, and from my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25-26). To be “encompassed with skin” denotes by the natural, such as man has with him after death (see n. 3539); “from the flesh to see God” is to do so from what is our own, vivified (that this is “flesh” may be seen above, n. 148, 149, 780).

9828. And a belt. That this signifies a general bond in order that all things may look to one end, is evident from the signification of a “belt,” or “girdle,” as being a general bond; for it gathers up, encloses, holds in connection, and secures all the interior things, which without it would be set loose, and would be scattered. That “the belt” denotes a general bond to the intent that all things may look to one end, is because in the spiritual world the end reigns, insomuch that all things there may be called “ends;” for the Lord’s kingdom, which is a spiritual world, is a kingdom of uses, and uses there are ends; thus it is a kingdom of ends... [3] For this reason those things which are in ultimates, and which gather up and enclose, in order that each and all things may be kept together in such a connection, were represented by belts or girdles; which in the spiritual world are nothing else than goods and truths in the ultimates, or in the extremes, and which enclose the interior things.

Freedom is the ability to go against the proprial/natural inclinations

Heaven and Hell 591... the angels in the heavens are all withheld from their proprium, and are kept in the Lord's proprium, which is Good Itself. But the spirits in the hells are all in their proprium, and everyone's proprium is nothing but evil; and because it is nothing but evil, it is hell.

HH 594...beneath each society of heaven there is a society of hell corresponding to it from opposition, and from this opposing correspondence equilibrium results; and in consequence of this the Lord unceasingly provides that no infernal society beneath a heavenly society shall gain any preponderance, and as soon as it begins to do so it is restrained by various means, and is reduced to an exact measure of equilibrium. These means are many, only a few of which are to be noted. Some of these means have reference to the stronger presence of the Lord; some to the closer communication and conjunction of one or more societies with others; some to the casting out of superabundant infernal spirits into deserts; some to the transference of certain spirits from one hell to another; some to the reducing of those in the hells to order, and this also is effected in various ways; some to the screening of certain hells under denser and thicker coverings, also letting them down to greater depths; besides other means; and still others that are employed in the heavens above the hells. These things have been said that it may in some measure be perceived that the Lord alone provides that there is an equilibrium everywhere between good and evil, thus between heaven and hell

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

What is the neighbour?

Arcana Coelestia 6819. But not only is man in the singular the neighbor, but also man in the plural. For a society, smaller or greater, is the neighbor; our country is the neighbor; the church is the neighbor; the Lord’s kingdom is the neighbor; and so above all is the Lord. All these are the neighbor who is to be benefited from charity. These also are ascending degrees of the neighbor; for a society of many is the neighbor in a higher degree than is an individual man; our country in a higher degree than a society; in a still higher degree the church; and in a still higher degree the Lord’s kingdom; but in the highest degree the Lord is the neighbor. These ascending degrees are like the steps of a ladder, at the top of which is the Lord.

Classes of the neighbour

Matthew 25: 31- 46. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer [d]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

How might charity be practised towards each of these classes?

New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 107. The doctrine of spiritual good, which is that of love towards the neighbor, is also of wide extent and full of arcana, but much less so than the doctrine of celestial good, which is that of love to the Lord. That the doctrine of love towards the neighbor, or charity, is of wide extent, may appear from the fact, that it reaches to all the things which man thinks and wills, consequently to all which he speaks and does, even to the most minute particulars; and also from the fact, that charity does not exist alike with two different persons, and that no two persons are alike the neighbor.

As the doctrine of charity was so extensive, therefore the ancients, with whom it was the very doctrine of the church, distinguished charity towards the neighbor into several classes, which they again subdivided, and gave names to each class, and taught how charity was to be exercised towards those who are in one class, and towards those who are in another; and thus they reduced the doctrine and the exercises of charity into order,

The Story

Arcana Coelestia 6497. GENESIS 50 1. And Joseph fell upon the faces of his father, and wept upon him, and kissed him. 2. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of the embalmed; and the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4. And the days of weeping for him passed away, and Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If I pray I have found grace in your eyes, speak I pray in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5. My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my sepulcher which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. And now I pray let me go up, and bury my father, and I will return. 6. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. 7. And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8. And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their babes, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and the army was exceeding great. 10. And they came to the threshing-floor Atad, which is in the passage of the Jordan, and they wailed there a very great and grievous wailing; and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 11. And the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, saw the mourning in the threshing-floor Atad, and they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians; wherefore they called the name of it Abel-mizraim, which is in the passage of the Jordan. 12. And his sons did unto him as he had commanded them: 13. And his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a sepulcher, from Ephron the Hittite, upon the faces of Mamre. 14. And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. 15. And Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, and they said, Peradventure Joseph will hate us, and returning will return unto us all the evil that we requited to him. 16. And they commanded Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, 17. Thus shall ye say unto Joseph, I pray forgive I pray the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, because they requited evil to thee; and now forgive I pray the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. 18. And his brethren also went and fell down before him; and they said, Behold we are thy servants. 19. And Joseph said unto them, Fear ye not; for am I in God’s stead? 20. And you thought evil against me, but God thought it for good, in order to do as it is this day, to keep alive a great people. 21. And now fear ye not: I will sustain you, and your babes. And he comforted them, and spake upon their heart. 22. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s sons of the third generation: the sons also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon Joseph’s knees. 24. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and visiting God will visit you, and will make you go up out of this land unto the land which He sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 25. And Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, Visiting God will visit you, and ye shall make my bones go up from hence. 26. And Joseph died, a son of a hundred and ten years; and they embalmed him, and he was put in an ark in Egypt.

The Contents

After treating of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by whom in the supreme sense is represented the Lord, this last chapter of Genesis in the internal sense treats of the church-that after the celestial church had perished, a spiritual church was instituted by the Lord. The beginning and progress of this church are described in the internal sense, and at the close of the chapter, its end; and that in its stead the mere representative of a church was instituted among the descendants of Jacob.

AC 6597. The internal sense of the things contained in the Book of Genesis has now been treated of. But as in this Book all things are historic, except the forty-eighth and forty-ninth chapters, in which there are prophetic things also, therefore it can scarcely appear that the sense which has been set forth is the internal sense; for the historic things hold back the mind in the literal sense, and thus remove it from the internal sense; and the more so because the internal sense is utterly different from the literal sense; for the one treats of spiritual and celestial things, and the other of worldly and earthly ones. But that the internal sense is such as has been set forth, is evident from all the details that have been unfolded, and especially from the fact that it has been dictated to me from heaven.

Everyone fights for his own falsity and calls it truth

HH 575. Gnashing of teeth, however, is the continual dispute and combat of falsities with each other, consequently of those who are in falsities, joined with contempt of others, with enmity, mockery, ridicule, blaspheming; and these evils burst forth into lacerations of various kinds, since everyone fights for his own falsity and calls it truth. These disputes and combats are heard outside these hells like the gnashings of teeth; and are also turned into gnashings of teeth when truths from heaven inflow hither. In these hells are all who have acknowledged nature and have denied the Divine. In the deeper of these hells are those who have confirmed themselves in such denials. Because such are unable to receive anything of light from heaven, and are thus unable to see anything inwardly in themselves, they are for the most part corporeal sensual spirits, who believe nothing except what they see with their eyes and touch with their hands. Therefore all the fallacies of the senses are true to them; and it is from these that they dispute. This is why their contentions are heard as gnashings of teeth; for in the spiritual world all falsities give a grating sound, and the teeth correspond to the outermost things in nature and to the outermost things with man, which are corporeal sensual.

Dry Bones and Flesh

Ezeikiel 37: 1-14. The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the [a]breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

AC ...149 The hand of Jehovah set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. And He said to me, Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovih to these bones, Behold, I am bringing spirit 1 into you and you will live. And I will lay sinews upon you and cause flesh to come over you and cover you with skin, and I will put spirit you, and you will live; and you will know that I am Jehovah. Ezekiel 37:1, 4-6. [2] Man's proprium when viewed from heaven looks just like something bony, lifeless, and utterly misshapen, and so in itself something dead. But once it has received life from the Lord it appears as something having flesh. For man's proprium is something altogether dead, though it has the appearance to him of being something; indeed it appears to be everything. Whatever is living within him comes from the Lord's life; and if this were to leave him, he would fall down dead as a stone. For he is purely an organ of life, though the nature of the organ determines that of the life-affection. The Lord alone possesses Proprium. By His Proprium He has redeemed man and by His Proprium saves him. The Lord's Proprium is Life, and from His Proprium man's proprium, which in itself is dead, is given life. The Lord's Proprium was also meant by His words in Luke, A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me have. Luke 24:39-40.

AC 3812.... “dry bones” denote the own of the understanding,...

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6695. On the inhabitants of other earths.

As of the Lord's Divine mercy the interiors of my spirit have been opened, and it has thus been granted me to speak with those who are in the other life, not only with those from this earth, but also with those from other earths, therefore, as it was my desire to know about these latter, and as the things that have been given me to know are worthy of mention, I may relate them at the end of the following chapters. I have not spoken with the inhabitants themselves of these earths, but with the spirits and angels who had been inhabitants of them; and this not merely for a day or a week, but for some months, with open instruction from heaven as to whence they were. That there are many earths, and men upon them, and spirits and angels from them, is very well known in the other life, for everyone who so desires is allowed to speak with them.

6696. There are spirits who in the Grand Man bear relation to the memory, and they are from the planet Mercury. They are allowed to wander about, and to acquire knowledges of things that are in the universe; and they are also allowed to pass out of this solar system into others. They have said that there are earths, with men upon them, not only in this system, but also in the universe, in immense numbers.

6697. I have sometimes spoken about this with spirits, and it was said that a man of good understanding can know from many things that there are many earths with inhabitants upon them; for he can conclude from reason that masses of such size as the earths, some of which surpass this earth in magnitude, are not empty masses, created only to course about the sun, and give light to one earth; but that their use must be of greater eminence than this. He who believes, as everyone ought to believe, that the Divine created the universe for no other end than that the human race may arise, and a heaven therefrom (for the human race is the nursery of heaven), cannot but believe that there are men wherever there is any earth. That the earths which are visible to our eyes, being within the boundaries of this solar system, are earths may be clearly known from the fact that they are bodies of earthy material, because they reflect the sun's light; also that they, like our earth, revolve around the sun, and thereby make years and seasons of the year-spring, summer, autumn, and winter-with variation according to climate; and likewise that they revolve upon their own axes like our earth, and thereby make days and times of the day-morning, noon, evening, and night; and moreover that some of them have moons, which are called satellites and revolve about their respective earths in stated times, as the moon does about our earth; and that the earth Saturn, because very far from the sun, has also a great lunar belt, which gives much light to that earth, though reflected. How can anyone who knows these facts and thinks from reason, say that these are empty bodies!

6698. Moreover, I have said with spirits that men can believe that there are more earths in the universe than one from the fact that the visible universe, resplendent with countless stars, is so immense, and yet is only a means to the ultimate end of creation, which is a heavenly kingdom, in which the Divine can dwell. For the visible universe is a means for the existence of earths, and of men upon them, from whom is the heavenly kingdom. Who can ever think that so vast a means exists for so small and limited an end as there would be if only one earth were inhabited, and from it alone existed heaven! What would this be for the Divine, which is infinite, and to which a thousand, nay, myriads of earths, and all of them full of inhabitants, would be little, and scarcely anything! Moreover, the angelic heaven is so immense that it corresponds to every single thing in man, and tens of thousands of its inhabitants to each member, organ, and viscus; and it has been granted to know that heaven, in respect to all its correspondences, can in no wise exist except from the inhabitants of a host of earths.

6699. I have sometimes seen as it were a great continuous stream, at a considerable distance to the right, in the plane of the sole of the foot; and it was said by angels that they who come from the worlds come that way, and that they appear as a stream by reason of their multitude. From the size and rapidity of the stream I could judge that some myriads of men flow to it daily. From this also it has been given me to know that the earths are very numerous.

6700. As regards the Divine worship of the inhabitants of other earths, all who are not idolaters acknowledge the Lord as the only God. They do not indeed know, except a very few, that the Lord assumed the Human in this earth and made it Divine; but they adore the Divine not as a Divine altogether incomprehensible, but as comprehensible through the human form; for when the Divine appears to them it appears in this form, as it also formerly appeared to Abraham and others on this earth; and because they adore the Divine under a human form, they adore the Lord. They also know that no one can be conjoined with the Divine in faith and love unless the Divine is in a form which they comprehend with some idea; if not in a form the idea would be dissipated, like sight in the universe. When told by the spirits of our earth that the Lord took upon Himself the Human in this earth, they mused a while, and presently said that this was done for the sake of the salvation of the human race; and that they adore with most holy worship the Divine which shines as the sun in heaven, and when it appears, presents itself to view in the human form. That the Lord appears as a sun in the other life. And that thence comes all the light of heaven, see n. 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530, 1531, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321, 5097; but on this subject more will be specifically related hereafter.

6701. The spirits and angels who are from other earths, are all separate from one another, in accordance with the earths, and do not appear together in one place. The reason is that the inhabitants of one earth are of a totally different genius from those of another; nor are they associated together in the heavens, except in the inmost or third heaven. Those who come thither are together from every earth, and constitute that heaven in closest conjunction.

6702. At the end of the following chapter I shall tell about the spirits of the planet Mercury.

6703. Exodus 2

THE DOCTRINE OF CHARITY

As prefatory to the chapters of the Book of Exodus I have undertaken to deliver the doctrine of charity, it must first be told what the neighbor is, because it is he toward whom charity is to be exercised. For unless it is known who the neighbor is, charity may be exercised in the same manner and without distinction equally toward the evil as toward the good, whereby charity becomes no charity; for by virtue of its benefactions the evil do ill to the neighbor; but the good do well.

6704. The general opinion at the present day is that every man is equally the neighbor, and that everyone who is in need of help must be benefited. But it is the part of Christian prudence to search well the quality of a man's life, and to exercise charity in accordance therewith. The man of the internal church does this with discrimination, thus with intelligence; but as the man of the external church cannot thus discriminate, he does it indiscriminately.

6705. The ancients reduced the neighbor into classes, and named each class according to the names of those who in the world appear to be especially in need; and they taught how charity was to be exercised toward those who were in one class, and how toward those in another; and in this way they reduced the doctrine, and the life according to it, into order. Hence the doctrine of their church contained the laws of life, and hence they saw of what quality was this or that man of the church whom they called brother, but with a distinction in the internal sense in accordance with his exercise of charity from the genuine doctrine of the church, or from the doctrine as changed by himself; for as everyone desires to appear blameless, he defends his own life, and therefore either explains or changes the laws of doctrine in his own favor.

6706. The distinguishing differences of the neighbor, which the man of the church ought to wholly know, in order that he may know the quality of charity, vary in accordance with the good which is with everyone; and as all good proceeds from the Lord, the Lord is the neighbor in the highest sense, and in a surpassing degree; and from Him the neighbor originates. From this it follows that in proportion as anyone has of the Lord in him, in the same proportion he is the neighbor; and as no two persons receive the Lord (that is, receive the good which proceeds from Him) in the same way, therefore no two persons are the neighbor in the same way; for without exception all persons in the heavens and on earth differ in good. Precisely one and the same good never exists in two persons; it must vary in order for each person to subsist by himself. But all these varieties, thus all the distinguishing differences of the neighbor, which are according to the reception of the Lord, that is, of the good proceeding from Him, can never be known to any man, nor even to any angel, except in general, thus as to their genera and some species of these. Nor does the Lord require more of the man of the church than to live according to what he knows.

6707. From all this it is now clear that the quality of Christian good determines in what degree each one is the neighbor; for the Lord is present in good, because it is His, and He is present according to the quality of it. And as the origin of the neighbor must be drawn from the Lord, therefore the distinguishing differences of the neighbor are according to the Lord's presence in goo

And there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and numerous more than we. Come, let us use prudence with it; peradventure it will be multiplied, and it will be that wars will happen, and it will also join itself to our enemies, and fight against us, and go up out of the land. And they set over it princes of tributes, in order to afflict it with burdens. And it built cities of store-houses for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses. And as they afflicted it, so it was multiplied, and so it was increased. And they were moved with loathing because of the sons of Israel. And the Egyptians made the sons of Israel to serve with cruelty; and they rendered their life bitter with grievous service, in clay, and in bricks, and in all service in the field, with all their service wherein they made them serve with cruelty. Exodus 1: Verses 8-14.

 

Alienated truths

Arcana Coelestia 6652. Who knew not Joseph. That this signifies which were completely alienated from the internal, is evident from the signification of “not knowing,” as being to be alienated; for he who does not know truth, and does not desire to know it, is alienated from the truth of the church (that alienation is here signified is plain from what follows, for he severely and cruelly afflicted the sons of Israel, by whom is represented the church, n. 6637); and from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal (n. 6177, 6224). Memory-knowledges alienated from the internal are memory-knowledges opposed to the church; for the good and truth which make the church flow in through the internal; and if these are not received by the natural, the internal is closed, and so the man is alienated from good and truth, and then no other memory-knowledges which are in the natural are acknowledged as truths than those which are false. These are then multiplied, and the truths themselves are cast out of doors.

The strengthening of goods and truths through temptations

6663. And as they afflicted it, so it was multiplied. That this signifies that truths grew according to the infestations, is evident from the signification of “afflicting,” as being infestation; and from the signification of “being multiplied,” as being to grow in respect to truths (of which above, n. 6656). How the case herein is shall be told, because without experience of what is done in the other life, no one can now know what it is. Most spirits who come from the world and have lived the life of the Lord’s commandments, before they can be uplifted into heaven and joined to societies there, are infested by the evils and falsities pertaining to them, to the end that they may be removed (see n. 6639); for there are impurities which they have contracted in the life of the body that in no wise agree with heaven. The infestations take place by their being immersed in their evils and falsities; and while they are in them, spirits who are in like evils and falsities are present, and labor by every means to lead them away from truth and good. But still they are not immersed so deeply in their evils and falsities that the influx through the angels from the Lord may not prevail; and the balance is maintained with exactness. The purpose of this is, that he who is infested may seem to himself to be in freedom, and thus to fight against the evils and falsities of himself, yet with the acknowledgment, if not at the time, yet afterward, that all the power of resisting was from the the Lord, (n. 1937, 1947, 2881, 5660). When this is being done, not only are the truths and goods strengthened which had been implanted before, but more are instilled; this being the result of every spiritual combat in which the combatant is victorious. That it is so is also plain from common experience; for he who defends his opinion against others who attack it, confirms himself the more in his opinion, and then also finds other confirmations of it which he had not before observed, and also others which deny the opposite; and in this way he strengthens himself in his opinion, and also illustrates it with further considerations.

This is still more perfectly the case with spiritual combats, because the combat takes place in the spirit, and concerns goods and truths; and especially because the Lord is present and leads by the angels; for the contest is concerning eternal life and salvation. It is common in such combats for the Lord to turn into good all the evils which the hells intend; wherefore it is not permitted them to bring forth more or other evils than can be turned into good that is suited to him who is in combat. The reason of this originates in the fact that the Lord’s kingdom is a kingdom of uses, and therefore nothing can be done there that is not a source of good. From all this it can now be seen how it is to be understood that truths grow according to infestations, which is signified by “as they afflicted it, so it was multiplied.”

When what is of the proprium(own) is challenged 

Conjugial Love 361. The reason why a man is on fire when his love is attacked shall now be disclosed. From its creation, the human form in its inmosts is a form of love and wisdom. In man, all affections of love and thence all perceptions of wisdom are arranged in most perfect order so that together they make a unanimous whole and thus a one. These affections and perceptions are substantiate, substances being their subjects. Since, therefore, the human form is composed of them, it is plain that if the love is attacked, then, in an instant or simultaneously, the whole form is attacked together with each and every thing therein. From creation it is implanted in all living things to will to remain in their own form. Therefore the whole structure wills this from its several parts, and the parts from the whole. Hence, when the love is attacked, it defends itself by its understanding, and the understanding by things rational and imaginative whereby it represents to itself the outcome; and, more especially, by those things which make one with the love which is attacked. Were this not done, the whole form would fall asunder because of the loss of that love.

[2] Hence then it is, that in order to resist attacks, love hardens the substances of its form and erects them into crests, as it were, being so many pricks; that is to say, it bristles up. Such is that exasperation of love which is called zeal. Therefore, if there is no opportunity to resist, anxiety arises, and grief; for the love foresees the extinction of its interior life together with the delights thereof. On the other hand, if the love is favored and soothed, the form relaxes, softens, dilates; and the substances of the form become smooth, bland, gentle, and alluring.

The hellish proprium loves what it idenitifes with as it's own and thus these things are not supportive of practice 

CL 392. V. THAT THIS SPHERE AFFECTS BOTH THE EVIL AND THE GOOD, AND DISPOSES EVERY ONE TO LOVE, PROTECT, AND SUPPORT HIS OFFSPRING FROM HIS OWN LOVE. It is the testimony of experience that the love of infants or storge is equally with the evil as with the good, and likewise with mild beasts and with savage; yea, that with evil men as with savage beasts it is sometimes stronger and more ardent. The reason is, because every love proceeding and flowing in from the Lord is turned in the subject into the life's love of that subject. No animate subject feels otherwise than that it loves of itself, since it does not perceive the influx. When in addition it actually loves itself, it makes the love of infants its own love of self; for it sees itself, as it were, in them, and them in itself, and thus itself united with them.

True Christian Religion 400(4)... 3.It is said, for the sake of himself and those who belong to him; for he who loves himself loves also those who belong to him, who are especially his children and grandchildren, and in general all who make one with him, whom he calls his own. Loving these is loving himself, for he regards them, as it were, in himself, and himself in them. Among those whom he calls his own are also included all who praise, and honor, and pay court to him. All others he indeed looks upon with his bodily eyes as men, but with the eyes of his spirit he scarcely regards them otherwise than as specters.

... 5. The nature of the love of self can be made clear by comparison with heavenly love. Heavenly love is loving uses for the sake of the uses, or goods for the sake of the goods which a man does for the church, his country, human society, and the fellow citizen. But he who loves these for his own sake, loves them only as he loves his household servants, because they serve him. From this it follows that he who is in the love of self, wishes the church, his country, society, and his fellow citizens to serve him, instead of his serving them; he places himself above them, and them beneath himself.

TCR 431... But with those who are not in charity, there is no conjunction of charity with the love called parental love; consequently, many such parents love even wicked, immoral, and crafty children more than the good, moral, and discreet; thus they love those who are useless to the public, more than those who are useful.  

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

What are the things that we possess that are held in common with spirits and angels?

Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 70. VII. THE WORD IS IN ALL THE HEAVENS, AND IS THE SOURCE OF ANGELIC WISDOM. Hitherto it has not been known that the Word is in the heavens, nor could it be made known so long as the church was ignorant that angels and spirits are men like the men in this world, and that they possess in every respect like things to those possessed by men, with the sole difference that they themselves are spiritual, and that all things they possess are from a spiritual origin; while men in this world are natural, and all things they possess are from a natural origin. So long as this fact was hidden it could not be known that the Word exists in the heavens also, and is read by angels there, and also by spirits who are beneath the heavens. But that this might not be forever hidden, it has been granted me to be in company with angels and spirits, to converse with them, see what exists with them, and afterwards relate many things that I have heard and seen. This has been done in Heaven and Hell, published in London in 1758; in which work it may be seen that angels and spirits are men, and that they possess in abundance all things that men possess in this world. That angels and spirits are men, may be seen in that work (n. 73-77, and 453-456). That they possess like things to those possessed by men in this world (n. 170-190); also that they have Divine worship, and preachings in places of worship (n. 221-227); that they have writings and also books (n. 258-264); and that they have the Word (n. 259).

 

The natural mind thinks in space and time, the spiritual mind does not

Heaven and Hell 57 ... It may be mentioned what a man has in common with an angel and what he has in addition to what angels have. A man has this in common with an angel, that his interiors are equally conformed to the image of heaven and that he, too, in so far as he is in the good of love and faith, may become an image of heaven. In addition to what angels have, a man has these things, that his exteriors have been formed according to the image of the world, that so far as he is in good, the world with him is subordinated to heaven and serves heaven, 4 and that then the Lord is present with him in both worlds, just as if he were in his heaven. For the Lord is in His Divine order in both worlds, since God is order.

Conjugial Love 328. We then withdrew, and speaking further on this subject, I said: These distinctions exist solely because you, being in the spiritual world and therefore being yourselves spiritual, are in things substantial and not in things material, and things substantial are the beginnings of things material. You are in principles and thus in simples, while we are in principiates and compounds. You are in particulars, we in generals; and just as generals cannot enter into particulars, so neither can things natural, which are material, enter into things spiritual, which are substantial, exactly as a ship's cable cannot enter or be drawn through the eye of a needle, or a nerve enter or be drawn into one of the fiber of which it consists, or a fiber into one of the fibrils of which it consists. This, moreover, is known in the world, it being the consensus of the learned, that there is no influx of the natural into the spiritual but only of the spiritual into the natural. This then is the reason why the natural man cannot think the thoughts which the spiritual man thinks, and therefore cannot speak them. Therefore Paul says that the words which he heard out of the third heaven were unutterable.

[2] Add to this, that to think spiritually is to think apart from time and space, and to think naturally is to think with time and space; for something of time and space adheres to every idea of natural thought, but not to any spiritual idea. The reason is, because the spiritual world is not in space and time like the natural world, but in the appearance of space and time. In the same way also do thoughts and affections differ [in the two worlds]. Therefore, you can think of the essence and omnipresence of God from eternity, that is, of God before the creation of the world, because you think of the essence of God from eternity apart from time, and of His omnipresence apart from space. Thus you can comprehend things which transcend the ideas of the natural man.

[3] I then told him that once I had thought of the essence and omnipresence of God from eternity, that is, of God before the creation of the world. Being unable as yet to remove spaces and times from the ideas of my thought, I became troubled; for instead of God, the idea of nature entered in. But it was told me, Remove the ideas of space and time and you will see. It was then given me to remove them, and I did see. From that time on, I could think of God from eternity and not at all of nature from eternity; for God is in all time without time, and in all space without space, while nature is in all time in time, and in all space in space; and nature with her time and space must needs have a beginning and origin, but not God who is without time and space. Therefore, nature is from God--not from eternity but in time; that is to say, she is from God together with her time, and with her space.

Apocalypse Explained 739 [2] That all who are in evils of life become sensual, and that those who thus become sensual pervert all things of the church, can be seen from this, that there are with men three degrees of life, an inmost, a middle, and an ultimate, and that these degrees with man are opened successively as he becomes wise. Every man at his birth is altogether sensual, so that even the five senses of his body must be opened by use; he next becomes sensual in thought, since he thinks from the objects that have entered through his bodily senses; afterwards he becomes more interiorly sensual; but so far as by visual experiences, by knowledges [scientiae], and especially by the practices of moral life, he acquires for himself natural light [lumen], he becomes interiorly natural. This is the first or ultimate degree of man's life.

[3] And as at this time from parents, masters, and preachers, and from reading the Word and books thence, he imbibes knowledges of spiritual truth and good, and stores them up in his memory like other knowledges [scientifica], he lays the foundations of the church with himself; and yet if he goes no further he continues natural. But if he goes on further, namely if he lives according to these knowledges from the Word, the interior degree is opened in him and he becomes spiritual, but only so far as he is affected by truths, understands them, wills them, and does them; and for the reason that evils and the falsities thence which by heredity have their seat in the natural and sensual man, are removed and as it were scattered in this and in no other way. For the spiritual man is in heaven and the natural in the world, and so far as heaven, that is, the Lord through heaven, can flow in through the spiritual man into the natural, so far evils and the falsities thence, which, as was said, have their seat in the natural man, are removed; for the Lord removes them, as he removes hell from heaven. The interior degree with man can be opened in no other way, because the evils and falsities that are in the natural man keep it closed up; for the spiritual degree, that is, the spiritual mind, contracts itself against evil and the falsity of evil of every kind as a fibril of the body does at the touch of a sharp point; for like as the fibers of the body contract themselves at every harsh touch, so does man's interior mind, which is called the spiritual mind, at the touch or breath of evil or the falsity thence. But on the other hand, when things homogeneous, which are Divine truths from the Word that derive their essence from good, approach that mind, it opens itself; yet the opening is effected not otherwise than by the reception of the good of love flowing in through heaven from the Lord, and by its conjunction with the truths that man has stored up in his memory, and this conjunction is only effected by a life according to Divine truths in the Word, for when these truths come to be of the life they are called goods. Thence it may be clear how the second or middle degree is opened.

[4] The third or inmost degree is opened with those who apply Divine truths at once to life, and do not reason about them from the memory, and thus bring them into doubt. This is called the celestial degree. As there are these three degrees of life with every man, which yet are opened in diverse ways, thence there are three heavens. In the third or inmost heaven are those with whom the third degree is opened; in the second or middle heaven those with whom the second degree only is opened; and in the first or lowest heaven those with whom the interior natural man, which is also called the rational man, is opened; for this man, if truly rational, receives influx from the Lord through heaven. All these come into heaven. But those who have received Divine truths in the memory only, and not at the same time in the life, continue natural and even become sensual; and for the reason that the evils into which man is born have their seat, as was said above, in the natural and sensual man; and in such these evils have not been removed and as it were dispersed by the influx of good from the Lord and its reception by man; consequently with such the loves of the body rule, which in general are the love of self and the love of the world, and the consequent love and pride of self-intelligence. These loves, and the evils and their falsities that flow from them, fill the interiors of their natural mind, although these are covered without by things respectable and becoming which pertain to moral life, that are put on for the sake of the world and the laws enacted for the external man....

The Word is the Lord

Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 47… Where the Lord is meant, there also is meant the Word, for the Lord is the Word.

Apocalypse Explained 797 Moreover, the Word is the Lord because it is from the Lord, for the reason that the Word is the Divine truth, and the Divine truth proceeds from the Lord as a sun, and what proceeds belongs to Him from whom it proceeds, yea, is Himself; Doctrine of Sacred Scripture

77. The Word is the Word according to the understanding of it in a man, that is, as it is understood. If it is not understood, the Word is indeed called the Word, but it is not the Word with the man. The Word is the truth according to the understanding of it, for it may not be the truth, because it may be falsified. The Word is spirit and life according to the understanding of it, for its letter if not understood is dead.

Arcana Coelestia 10131...It is the Word which conjoins; in the Word is the Lord, and the Lord is the Word (John 1:1).

Conjugial Love 156...The Lord is the Word because He is the Divine Good and the Divine Truth therein.

The 'church' as a state of mind

Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 76. VIII. THE CHURCH IS FROM THE WORD, AND IS SUCH AS IS ITS UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD. That the church is from the Word does not admit of doubt, for the Word is Divine truth itself (n. 1-4); the doctrine of the church is from the Word (n. 50-61) and through the Word there is conjunction with the Lord (n. 62-69). But doubt may arise as to whether the understanding of the Word is what makes the church, for there are those who believe that they are of the church because they have the Word, read it or hear it from a preacher, and know something of its sense of the letter, yet how this or that in the Word is to be understood they do not know, and some of them little care. It shall therefore be proved that it is not the Word that makes the church, but the understanding of it, and that such as is the understanding of the Word among those who are in the church, such is the church itself. The proof of this is as follows.

78. Further, it is through the Word that the Lord is present with a man and is conjoined with him, for the Lord is the Word, and as it were speaks with the man in it. The Lord is also Divine truth itself, as likewise is the Word. From this it is evident that the Lord is present with a man and is at the same time conjoined with him, according to his understanding of the Word, for according to this the man has truth and the derivative faith, and also love and the derivative life. The Lord is indeed present with a man through the reading of the Word, but he is conjoined with him through the understanding of truth from the Word, and according thereto; and in proportion as the Lord has been conjoined with a man, in the same proportion the church is in him. The church is within man; the church that is outside of him is the church with a number of men who have the church within them. This is meant by the Lord's words to the Pharisees who asked when the kingdom of God would come: The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). Here the kingdom of God means the Lord, and from him, the church.

The marriage of the Lord and the church in man (the marriage of good and truth)

82. It is said that in each and every thing of the Word there is a marriage of the Lord and the church and a derivative marriage of good and truth, because wherever there is a marriage of the Lord and the church there is also a marriage of good and truth, for the latter is from the former. For when the church or man of the church is in truths, the Lord inflows into his truths with good, and vivifies them. Or what is the same, when through truths the church or man of the church is in intelligence, the Lord inflows into his intelligence through the good of love and of charity, and thus pours life into it.

83. With every man there are two faculties of life, called Understanding and Will. The understanding is the receptacle of truth and the derivative wisdom, and the will is the receptacle of good and the derivative love. For a man to be a man of the church these two must make a one, and this they do when the man forms his understanding from genuine truths, which to all appearance is done as by himself; and when his will is infilled with the good of love, which is done by the Lord. From this the man has a life of truth and a life of good, a life of truth in the understanding from the will, and a life of good in the will through the understanding. This is the marriage of truth and good in a man, and also the marriage of the Lord and the church in him.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

On reformation and regeneration

True Christian Religion 571. CHAPTER 1. REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. After treating of Repentance, Reformation and Regeneration come next in order, because they follow repentance, and by means of it advance step by step. There are two states that man must enter upon and pass through, when from being natural he is becoming spiritual. The first state is called Reformation, and the second Regeneration. In the first man looks from his natural to his spiritual state and longs for that state; in the second state he becomes spiritual-natural. The first state is formed by means of truths, which must be truths of faith, and through these he looks to charity; the second state is formed by means of the goods of charity, and by these he enters into the truths of faith. Or what is the same, the first is a state of thought from the understanding, and the second a state of love from the will. When this latter state begins and is progressing, a change takes place in the mind; the mind undergoes a reversal, the love of the will then flowing into the understanding, acting upon it and leading it to think in accord and agreement with its love; and in consequence so far as the good of love comes to act the first part and the truths of faith the second, man is spiritual and is a new creature; and he then acts from charity and speaks from faith; he feels the good of charity and perceives the truth of faith; and he is then in the Lord, and in peace, and thus regenerate. The man who while in the world has entered upon the first state, after death can be introduced into the second; but he who has not entered into the first state while in the world, cannot after death be introduced into the second, thus cannot be regenerated. These two states may be compared to the progression of light and heat during the days of spring; the first to the dawn or cock-crowing, the second to the morning or sunrise; and the progress of this second state may be compared to the advance of the day to noon, and thus into light and heat. There may also be a comparison with a field of grain, which is at first in the blade, then grows into the ear or head, in which the grain is afterward formed; also with a tree, which first grows out of the ground from a seed, then it becomes a stem from which branches go out, and these are adorned with leaves; at length it blossoms, and from the inmost of the blossoms the fruit begins to form, and this, as it matures, produces new seeds, like a new generation. The first state, which is that of reformation, may also be compared to the state of a silk-worm, when it draws out and evolves from itself filaments of silk, and after finishing its industrious labor, flies forth into the air, nourishing itself, not by leaves as before, but by the juices of flowers.

 

Divine Providence 263. But when the spiritual mind is open the state of the natural mind is wholly different. Then the natural mind is arranged in compliance with the spiritual mind, and is subordinated to it. For the spiritual mind acts upon the natural mind from above or within, and removes the things therein that react, and adapts to itself those that act in harmony with itself, whereby the excessive reaction is gradually taken away. It is to be noted, that in things greatest and least of the universe, both living and dead, there is action and reaction, from which comes an equilibrium of all things; this is destroyed when action overcomes reaction, or the reverse. It is the same with the natural and with the spiritual mind. When the natural mind acts from the enjoyments of its love and the pleasures of its thought, which are in themselves evils and falsities, the reaction of the natural mind removes those things which are of the spiritual mind and blocks the doors lest they enter, and it makes action to come from such things as agree with its reaction. The result is an action and reaction of the natural mind opposite to the action and reaction of the spiritual mind, whereby there is a closing of the spiritual mind like the twisting back of a spiral. But when the spiritual mind is opened, the action and reaction of the natural mind are inverted; for the spiritual mind acts from above or within, and at the same time it acts from below or from without, through those things in the natural mind which are arranged in compliance with it; and it twists back the spiral in which the action and reaction of the natural mind lie. For the natural mind is by birth in opposition to the things belonging to the spiritual mind; an opposition derived, as is well known, from parents by heredity. Such is the change of state which is called reformation and regeneration. The state of the natural mind before reformation may be compared to a spiral twisting or bending itself downward; but after reformation it may be compared to a spiral twisting or bending itself upwards; therefore man before reformation looks downwards to hell, but after reformation looks upwards to heaven.

 

On good from truth versus truth from good

Arcana Coelestia 6574... here the truth of good since the expression 'a great people' is used; for truth that is derived from good is greater than truth giving rise to good. The former kind of truth - that which is derived from good - is in essence good because it is formed from good, and so is good in its own form.

 

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.