Logopraxis

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551. ALL WHO ARE IN THE HELLS ARE IN EVILS AND IN FALSITIES THEREFROM DERIVED FROM THE LOVES OF SELF AND OF THE WORLD.

All who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom, and no one there is in evils and at the same time in truths. In the world evil men for the most part have some knowledge of spiritual truths, which are the truths of the church, having been taught them from childhood and later by preaching and by reading the Word; and afterwards they have talked about them. Some have even led others to believe that they are Christians at heart because of their knowing how to talk with pretended affection in harmony with the truth, also how to act uprightly as if from spiritual faith. But those of this class whose interior thoughts have been hostile to these truths, and who have refrained from doing the evils that were in harmony with their thoughts only because of the civil laws, or with a view to reputation, honors, and gain, are all of them evil in heart, and are in truths and goods not in respect to their spirit but only in respect to their body; and consequently, when their externals are taken away from them in the other life, and their internals which pertain to their spirit are revealed, they are wholly in evils and falsities, and not at all in truths and goods; and it is thus made clear that truths and goods resided only in their memory merely as things known about, and that they brought them forth therefrom when talking, putting on a semblance of good seemingly from spiritual love and faith. When such are let into their internals and thus into their evils they are no longer able to speak what is true, but only what is false; since they speak from evils; for to speak what is true from evils is then impossible, since the spirit is nothing but his own evil, and from evil what is false goes forth. Every evil spirit is reduced to this state before he is cast into hell (see above, n. 499-512). This is called being vastated in respect to truths and goods.[1] Vastation is simply being let into one's internals, that is, into what is the spirit's own, or into the spirit itself (see above, number 425).

[1] Before the evil are cast down into hell they are devastated of truths and goods, and when these have been taken away they are of themselves carried into hell (see numbers 6977, 7039, 7795, 8210, 8232, 9330).

The Lord does not devastate them, but they devastate themselves (see numbers 7643, 7926).

Every evil has in it what is false; therefore those who are in evil are also in falsity, although some do not know it (see numbers 7577, 8094).

Those who are in evil must needs think what is false when they think from themselves (see number 7437).

All who are in hell speak falsities from hell (see numbers 1695, 7351, 7352, 7357, 7392, 7689).

552. When man after death comes into this state he is no longer a man-spirit, as he was in his first state (of which above, n. 491-498), but is truly a spirit; for he is truly a spirit who has a face and body that correspond to his internals which pertain to his mind, that is, has an external form that is a type or effigy of his internals. A spirit is such after he has passed through the first and second states spoken of above; consequently when he is looked upon his character is at once known, not only from his face and from his body, but also from his speech and movements; and as he is then in himself he can be nowhere else than where his like are. [2] For in the spiritual world there is a complete sharing of affections and their thoughts, and in consequence a spirit is conveyed to his like as if of himself, since it is done from his affection and its delight. In fact, he turns himself in that direction; for thus he inhales his own life or draws his breath freely, which he cannot do when he turns another way. It must be understood that this sharing with others in the spiritual world is effected in accordance with the turning of the face, and that each one has constantly before his face those who are in a love like his own, and this in every turning of the body (see above, number 151) [3] In consequence of this all infernal spirits turn themselves away from the Lord toward the densely dark body and the dark body that are there in place of the sun and moon of this world, while all the angels of heaven turn themselves to the Lord as the sun of heaven and as the moon of heaven (see above, numbers 123, 143, 144, 151). From all this it is clear that all who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom; also that they are turned to their own loves.

553. All spirits in the hells, when seen in any light of heaven, appear in the form of their evil; for everyone there is an image of his evil, since his interiors and his exteriors act as a one, the interiors making themselves visible in the exteriors, which are the face, body, speech and movements; thus the character of the spirit is known as soon as he is seen. In general evil spirits are forms of contempt of others and of menaces against those who do not pay them respect; they are forms of hatreds of various kinds, also of various kinds of revenge. Fierceness and cruelty from their interiors show through these forms. But when they are commended, venerated, and worshiped by others their faces are restrained and take on an expression of gladness from delight. [2] It is impossible to describe in a few words how all these forms appear, for no one is like another, although there is a general likeness among those who are in the same evil, and thus in the same infernal society, from which, as from a plane of derivation, the faces of all are seen to have a certain resemblance. In general their faces are hideous, and void of life like those of corpses; the faces of some are black, others fiery like torches, others disfigured with pimples, warts, and ulcers; some seem to have no face, but in its stead something hairy or bony; and with some only the teeth are seen; their bodies also are monstrous; and their speech is like the speech of anger or of hatred or of revenge; for what everyone speaks is from his falsity, while his tone is from his evil. In a word, they are all images of their own hell. [3] I have not been permitted to see what the form of hell itself in general is; I have only been told that as the entire heaven in one complex reflects a single man (numbers 59-67), so the entire hell in one complex reflects a single devil, and might be exhibited in an image of a single devil (see above, number 544). But the forms of particular hells or infernal societies I have often been permitted to see; for at their entrances, which are called the gates of hell, a monster commonly appears that represents in a general way the form of those within. The fierce passions of those who dwell there are represented at the same time in horrible and hideous ways that I forbear to describe. [4] But it must be understood that this is the way infernal spirits appear in the light of heaven, while among themselves they appear as men. This is of the Lord's mercy, that they may not appear as loathsome to one another as they appear before the angels. But this appearance is a fallacy, for as soon as any ray of light from heaven is let in, their human forms appear changed into monstrous forms, such as they are in themselves (as has been described above). For in the light of heaven everything appears as it is in itself. For this reason they shun the light of heaven and cast themselves down into their own light, which is like that from lighted coals, and in some cases like that from burning sulphur; but this light also is turned into mere thick darkness when any light from heaven flows in upon it. This is why the hells are said to be in thick darkness and in darkness; and why thick darkness and darkness signify falsities derived from evil, such as are in hell.

554. From an inspection of these monstrous forms of spirits in the hells (which, as I have said, are all forms of contempt of others and of menaces against those who do not pay them honor and respect, also forms of hatred and revenge against those who do not favor them), it became evident that in general they were all forms of the love of self and the love of the world; and that the evils of which these are the specific forms have their origin in these two loves. Moreover, I have been told from heaven, and it has been proved to me by much experience, that these two loves, the love of self and the love of the world, rule in the hells and constitute the hells as love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor rule in the heavens and constitute the heavens; also that the two loves that are the loves of hell and the two loves that are the loves of heaven are diametrically opposite to each other.

555. At first I wondered how it is that love of self and love of the world could be so diabolical, and how those who are in these loves could be such monsters in appearance; for in the world not much thought is given to love of self, but only to that elated state of mind in external matters which is called haughtiness, and that alone, being so apparent to the sight, is regarded as love of self. Furthermore, love of self, when it is not so displayed, is believed in the world to be the very fire of life by which man is stimulated to seek employment and to perform uses, and if he found no honor or glory in these his mind would grow torpid. It is asked, Who has ever done any worthy, useful, and distinguished deed except for the sake of being praised and honored by others, or regarded with esteem and honor by others? And can this be from any other source than the fire of love for glory and honor, consequently for self. For this reason, it is unknown in the world that love of self, regarded in itself, is the love that rules in hell and constitutes hell in man. This being so I will first describe what the love of self is,...

The Third State: The State of Instruction (HH 512-520)

As we have seen, the initial stages of spiritual awakening involve two states: the state of exteriors and the state of interiors. These first two general states serve the purpose of familiarising spirits with their inner and outer levels of consciousness. The intention behind this is to encourage them to contemplate their thoughts and affections, allowing them to evaluate the quality of their loves and subsequently examine the basis from which they think and act.

Dispositions towards evils are gradually exposed through a process of stripping back inner states of self-denial and concealment. As a result, there comes a realisation and acceptance that these states, which are associated with the hellish proprium, are exactly as the Word describes them. It also becomes clear that these states, being hellish in nature, cannot be improved, converted into good, or reformed. This acceptance has a profound effect on the spirits involved, leading to a decreased motivation to maintain false appearances that mask their true nature.

Consequently, these spirits or spiritual states proceed unhindered towards their destined place in hell, residing on the outskirts of the mind. They willingly embrace and descend into a life that reflects the core essence of their evil and falsehood. Thus, for those states or spirits that can’t be elevated into the life of heaven, this progression constitutes both the second and third stage of awakening.

The third state of man after death, that is, of his spirit, is a state of instruction. This state is for those who come into heaven and become angels. It is not for those who come into hell, because such are incapable of being taught, and therefore their second state is also their third, ending in this, that they are wholly turned to their own love, thus to that infernal society which is in a like love. (HH 512)

On the other hand, the good spirits, which can also be thought of as states of consciousness, are those that acknowledge the Word as the Lord and recognise Him as the source of all goodness and truth. They understand that salvation from the hellish states, or the negative aspects belonging to the proprium, can only be attained through the Word. These spirits, or states of mind, are receptive of goods and truths from the Word and as such, are marked by an openness that allows them to receive and integrate specific teachings and insights from it. This receptiveness serves to enrich and deepen the expression of goodness through uses that flow in constantly from the Lord as the Word.

So, the function of the first and second states of spiritual awakening is to equip spirits with the self-knowledge about what the nature of hell and heaven are in relation to their own states of life and of the Divinity of the Word as the Lord Himself.

… no one can so act until he has been taught, for example, that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death, that God ought to be loved above all things, and the neighbour as oneself, and that the things in the Word ought to be believed because the Word is Divine. Without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these things man is unable to think spiritually (HH 512)

These foundational knowledges enable the examination and then removal of incompatible states of mind and prepares them for entrance into the third state whereby they are ready to receive the necessary instruction on how to live a heavenly life.

For one can be prepared for heaven only by means of knowledges of good and truth, that is, only by means of instruction, since one can know what spiritual good and truth are, and what evil and falsity are, which are their opposites, only by being taught. (HH 512)

 

Instruction Is From Heaven, Not From The World

… spiritual good and truth are learned, not from the world but from heaven. They can be learned from the Word and from the doctrine of the Church that is drawn from the Word, and yet unless man in respect of his interiors which belong to his mind is in heaven, spiritual good and truth cannot flow into his life; and man is then in heaven when he both acknowledges the Divine and acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act because it is commanded in the Word. (HH 512)

This third state of awakening involves gaining a direct experiential understanding of what constitutes spiritual good and truth, as well as what stands in opposition to them. It goes beyond simply acquiring information about the nature of good and truth from the teachings of the Word. Instead, it entails a process of learning and observing how these principles manifest in one’s own states of consciousness and daily life. In the context of Logopraxis, this is why practitioners are encouraged to formulate tasks. By carefully observing and listening, these tasks serve as a focal point for exploration, shedding light on the truth or principle that has been chosen and revealing what forces or influences work against it.

For a spirit can only receive what is of heaven to the degree that heaven is formed within the deeper levels of their mind, “and man is then in heaven when he both acknowledges the Divine and acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act because it is commanded in the Word.” This emphasizes the importance of leading a life that acknowledges the Word through practicing self-examination and repentance in accordance with its teachings. This is the only way to orientate a person’s deeper nature towards heaven.

This practice not only builds a desire within for the heavenly life, but also enables us to receive the necessary tools and resources for it. Without such a desire, it’s impossible to reach this third state of instruction about heavenly life, not because we’re shut out, but because we lack the desire or motivation for it. By practicing truths from the Word with a focus on self-examination and repentance, we develop a conviction that the spiritual life is just as the Word describes it. This conviction enables us to trust in the Word and that it is Divine, that it is the Lord Himself present with us.

Without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these things man is unable to think spiritually; and if he has no thought about them he does not will them; for what a man does not know he cannot think, and what he does not think he cannot will. (HH 512)

While spiritual principles are initially learnt externally and stored in one’s memory, their true integration happens through practice. By experiencing these principles in action within one’s own life, what was once merely memory knowledge evolves into a deep conviction of the heart. This process of transferring knowledge from memory to a deeper level occurs when we seek guidance from the Lord and strive to live a spiritual life with integrity, based on our understanding of the Word. This process of having the internal level of our mind formed into the pattern of heaven is described as follows….

So it is that when man wills these things then heaven flows into his life, that is, the Lord through heaven into the life of man; for the Lord flows into the will and through the will into the thought, and through both into the life, for the whole life of man is from these. (HH 512)

This is living justly and honestly for the sake of the Divine, and not for the sake of self and the world, as ends. (HH 512)

 

Instruction Is Relevant To One’s Life

Instruction in the heavens differs from instruction on earth in that cognitions are not committed to memory, but to life; for the memory of spirits is in their life, for they receive and imbibe everything that is in harmony with their life, and do not receive, still less imbibe, what is not in harmony with it. (HH 517)

The understandings of spiritual good and truth that spirits acquire in this third state of instruction are not mere intellectual knowledges but are integrated into the core of each spirit’s life or will, making one with the form of heaven. This integration serves as guidance for living a heavenly life. Since a spirit’s love is their essence and vitality, this instruction is rooted in the realm of living experience rather than mere memory. The teaching in this third state therefore is executed with careful consideration and is tailored to the spirit’s background and way of life. Angels, who are in the delight of offering guidance to those preparing for their entry into the heavenly life, are specifically matched to the newcomers’ needs.

Instruction is given by the angels of many societies, … The places of instruction are …  various, arranged and distinguished according to the kinds and varieties of heavenly goods, that all and each may be instructed there according to their disposition and faculty of reception. (HH 513)

All who are in places of instruction dwell separately from one another; for individuals are connected as to their interiors with that society of heaven into which they are about to come (HH 514)

This tailoring of teacher and learner is enlarged on further for…

But all are not instructed in the same way, nor by the same societies of heaven. Those who have been brought up from childhood in heaven… receive instruction from the angels of the interior heavens.

Those who have died in adult age receive instruction mainly from angels of the lowest heaven…

But the Mohammedans receive instruction from angels who had been previously in the same religion and had been converted to Christianity.

The heathen, too, are taught by their angels. (HH 515)

So, each spirit is guided in a gentle and unique manner by the angels, taking into account their distinct form of love and how this is to find expression within the heavenly community they are gradually led into. And even this process of being guided into their society varies, as spirits enter the spiritual world in different states of readiness....

Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 18. iii. From the spiritual sense it is that the Word is Divinely inspired, and is holy in every word. It is said in the church that the Word is holy, and this because Jehovah God spoke it; but as its holiness is not apparent from the letter alone, he who on this account once doubts its holiness, afterwards confirms his doubt when reading the Word by many things in it, for he then thinks, Can this be holy; can this be Divine? Therefore lest such a thought should flow in with many, and should afterwards prevail, and thereby the conjunction of the Lord with the church, in which is the Word, should perish, it has now pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense, in order that it may be known where in the Word this holiness lies hid.

19...from the Lord proceed Divine Good and Divine Truth, Divine Good from His Divine Love, and Divine Truth from His Divine Wisdom. Both of these are in the Word, for the Word is the Divine Proceeding, and because both are there, therefore the Word imparts life to those who read it reverently.

4. Lest, therefore, men should be in doubt that the Word is of this nature, the Lord has revealed to me its internal sense. This in its essence is spiritual, and resides in the external sense which is natural, as the soul in the body. This internal sense is the spirit which gives life to the Letter; and it can therefore bear witness to the divinity and holiness of the Word, and it can convince even the natural man, if he is willing to be convinced.

5.1. WHAT THE SPIRITUAL SENSE IS. The spiritual sense is not that which shines forth from the sense of the Letter of the Word when one searches the Word and explains it to confirm some dogma of the Church: this sense is the literal sense of the Word. The spiritual sense, however, does not appear in the sense of the Letter: it is within it, as the soul is in the body, as the thought is in the eyes, and as affection is in the countenance; and these act together as cause and effect. It is this sense especially that makes the Word spiritual, not only for men but also for angels; and therefore the Word by means of this sense communicates with the heavens.

 

Arcana Coelestia 6444... These things would be altogether hidden unless revealed by the internal sense. Of this kind are very many things in the prophets, of which if viewed from the letter few are understood; but if viewed from the internal sense all are understood.

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.

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6521. Verses 7-9. 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, 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. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and the army was exceeding great. And Joseph went up to bury his father, signifies the internal toward the setting up again of the church; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, signifies that it adjoined to itself the memory-knowledges of the natural; the elders of his house, signifies that were in agreement with good; and all the elders of the land of Egypt, signifies that were in agreement with truth; and all the house of Joseph, signifies the celestial things of the spiritual; and his brethren, signifies the truths thence derived; and his father's house, signifies spiritual good; only their babes signifies innocence; and their flocks signifies charity; and their herds, signifies practices of charity; they left in the land of Goshen, signifies that these were in the inmost of the memory-knowledges of the church; and there went up with him both chariots, signifies doctrinal things; and horsemen, signifies intellectual things; and the army was exceeding great, signifies truths and goods conjoined.

6522. And Joseph went up to bury his father. That this signifies the internal toward the setting up again of the church, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal (see n. 6499); from the signification of being buried, as being resuscitation (n. 6516), thus a setting up again, because it is said of the church; and from the representation of Israel, who is here the father, as being the church (n. 4286, 6426).

6523. And with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh. That this signifies that it adjoined to itself the memory-knowledges of the natural, is evident from the signification of going up with him, as being to adjoin to himself, for as it was by command that they went up, he adjoined them to himself; and from the signification of the servants of Pharaoh, as being the memory-knowledges of the natural. For by Pharaoh is represented the natural in general (see n. 5160, 5799, 6015); and because in the natural there are memory-knowledges, these are what are signified by his servants, as also by the Egyptians (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 5702, 6004).

6524. The elders of his house. That this signifies that were in agreement with good, is evident from the signification of elders, as being the chief things of wisdom, thus those which agree with good (of which in what follows); and from the signification of house, as being good (see n. 2559, 3652, 3720, 4982). That elders denote the chief things of wisdom is because in the Word old men signify the wise, and in a sense abstracted from person, wisdom. As the twelve tribes of Israel signified all truths and goods in the complex, there were set over them princes and elders, and by princes were signified the primary truths which are of intelligence, and by elders the chief things of wisdom, thus those which are of good.

[2] That princes signify the primary truths which are of intelligence, may be seen above (n. 1482, 2089, 5044); but that elders signified the chief things of wisdom, and old men, wisdom, is plain from the following passages. In David:

Let them extol Jehovah in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders (Ps. 107:32);

where the congregation of the people denotes those who are in the truths that belong to intelligence, congregation being predicated of truths (n. 6355), and also people (n. 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295, 3581); and the assembly of the elders denotes those who are in good, which is of wisdom; for wisdom is of life, thus of good, but intelligence is of knowledges, thus of truth (n. 1555). Again:

I am wiser than the elders, because I have kept Thy commandments (Ps. 119:100);

where the elders manifestly denote him who is wise. So in Job:

In old men there is wisdom, and in length of days intelligence (Job 12:12).

In Moses:

Thou shalt rise up before the gray head, and honor the faces of the old man (Lev. 19:32);

this was commanded because old men represented wisdom.

[3] In Revelation:

Upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, who had golden crowns upon their heads (Rev. 4:4);

elders denote the things which belong to wisdom, thus those which belong to good; that elders denote these things is evident from the description-that they sat on thrones, were clothed in white garments, and had crowns of gold on their heads; for thrones denote the truths of intelligence from the good of wisdom (n. 5313); in like manner white garments (that garments are truths, n. 1073, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5954; and that white is predicated of truth, n. 3301, 5319). Golden crowns upon their heads denote the goods of wisdom; for gold is the good of love (n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658), and the head is the celestial, where is wisdom (n. 4938, 4939, 5328, 6436). They are called wise who are in the third or inmost heaven, thus who are nearest the Lord; but they are called intelligent who are in the middle or second heaven, thus who are not so near the Lord.

[4] Again:

All the angels stood round about the throne, and the elders, and the four animals (Rev. 7:11);

where also elders denote the things that belong to wisdom. So in the following passages. In Isaiah:

The child will puff himself up against the old man, and the despised against the honored one (Isa. 3:5);

Again:

Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before His elders shall be glory (Isa. 24:23).

In Jeremiah:

My priests and mine elders expired in the city, because they have sought food for themselves wherewith to refresh their soul (Lam. 1:19).

Again:

Her king and her princes are among the nations, the law is not; the elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the earth, they keep silence (Lam. 2:9, 10).

Again:

They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah; princes were hanged up by their hand; the faces of the old were not honored; the elders have ceased from the gate (Lam. 5:11, 12, 14).

In Ezekiel:

Misery shall come upon misery, and rumor shall be upon rumor; therefore they shall seek a vision from the prophet; but the law hath perished from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with amazement (Ezek. 7:26, 27).

In Zechariah:

There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for multitude of days (Zech. 8:4).

That the elders might represent the things that belong to wisdom, the spirit of Moses was taken and given them, whence they prophesied (Num. 11:16, et seq.). In the opposite sense elders denote the things that are contrary to wisdom (Ezek. 8:11, 12).

6525. And all the elders of the land of Egypt. That this signifies that were in agreement with truth, is evident from the signification of elders, as being the chief things of wisdom, thus those which agree with good (see n. 6524), here those which agree with truth, for the things which agree with good, agree also with truth; and from the signification of the land of Egypt, as being the natural mind where memory-knowledges are (n. 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301), thus also where truths are, for memory-knowledges are the truths of the natural mind, and when they are true, they are called truths of memory-knowledge.

6526. And all the house of Joseph. That this signifies the celestial things of the spiritual, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial of the spiritual (see n. 4286, 4592, 4963, 5307, 5331, 5332); hence the house of Joseph denotes the celestial things of the spiritual.

6527. And his brethren. That this signifies the truths thence derived, is evident from the representation of the sons of Israel, who here are the brethren of Joseph, as being spiritual truths (see n. 5414, 5879, 5951); which truths are also from the internal celestial which is Joseph, but through spiritual good, which is Israel.

6528. And his father's house. That this signifies spiritual good, is evident from the representation of Israel, who here is the father, as being spiritual good (see n. 3654, 4598, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833); hence his house denotes all those things in the complex that belong to this good.

6529. Only their babes. That this signifies innocence, is evident from the signification of babes, as being innocence (see n. 430, 3183, 5608).

6530. And their flocks. That this signifies charity, is evident from the signification of flocks, as being the interior good of charity (see n. 5913, 6048).

6531. And their herds. That this signifies the practices of charity, is evident from the signification of herds, as being the exterior goods of charity (see n. 2566, 5913, 6048); thus the practices thereof, for these are the exterior goods of charity.

6532. They left in the land of Goshen. That this signifies that these were in the inmost of the memory-knowledges of the church, is evident from the signification of the land of Goshen, as being the middle or inmost in the natural, where are the memory-knowledges of the church (see n. 5910, 6028, 6031, 6068). That the goods of innocence and charity, interior and exterior (n. 6529-6531), were in that inmost, is signified by their leaving the little ones, the flocks, and the herds, in the land of Goshen; for wherever things are left, there they are; thus by they left in the internal sense is not here signified leaving, but being there,...

A short guided meditation to support the work of conscious practice.

Psalm 113: Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord. From this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down. The Lord’s name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth? He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the ash heap, That He may seat him with princes—With the princes of His people. He grants the barren woman a home, Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!

For further exploration on how the Word as the Divine Human offers a new relationship to the external outer life, listen/read  Healing at the Pool of Bethesda (Jn 5:1-9)

The Second Class of Interiors in which the Lord is Acknowledged

Heavenly states of life are grounded in the loves of heaven and hence form the basis for an acknowledgement of the Lord. This acknowledgement is not something of the lips alone but is expressed from the very life and so constitutes genuine worship of the Lord.  Good is the focus in these states where one lives according to one’s conscience. When the “Divine Being” or the Lord, as the Word, is placed at the centre, it brings with it an ever-deepening affection for Divine truths.  This affection is not just a love of learning about spiritual things, it includes this of course, but it is so much more, having a primary focus on their practice and use.

All that have lived a good life in the world and have acted from conscience, who are such as have acknowledged the Divine and have loved Divine truths, especially such as have applied those truths to life, seem to themselves, when let into the state of their interiors, like one aroused from sleep into full wakefulness, or like one passing from darkness into light. They then think from the light of heaven, thus from an interior wisdom, and they act from good, thus from an interior affection. Heaven flows into their thoughts and affections with an interior blessedness and delight that they had previously had no knowledge of; for they have communication with the angels of heaven.

They then acknowledge the Lord and worship Him from their very life, for being in the state of their interiors they are in their proper life (as has been said just above, 505); and as freedom pertains to interior affection they then acknowledge and worship the Lord from freedom. Thus, too, they withdraw from external sanctity and come into that internal sanctity in which worship itself truly consists. Such is the state of those that have lived a Christian life in accordance with the commandments in the Word (HH 506-1).

 

Metanoia or Repentance: Living from the Word as the Lord

The heavenly sense of self is the heavenly proprium that arises through the integration of the Word into our life. This integration is how a genuine spiritual conscience is formed. When we start to turn to the Word seeking truths, with the intent to live our life from them, then a change starts to occur in our mind. That change initiates subtle shifts in the state of our affections and belief structures. This process of transformation that manifests in the spiritual world of our minds, is mirrored in the process described in the awakening series in Heaven and Hell that newly arrived spirits undergo. To work with the Word means that we start to think from the Word, or to put it another way, we start to think from the Lord as the Word; from the goods and truths that are the Word.  This is the practice of repentance, which is a translation of the Greek word “metanoia”. This word means to be given a “new mind” or to think in a new way which is the product of a transformative change of heart.

Everyone must come to see their state of the life as it really is. To awaken spiritually means to awaken to the reality of our situation; to awaken to what we are apart from the Lord, as well as to who the Lord is and to the new sense of self that He provides for all through the Word, when this is believed and lived. To apply truths from the Word to our interior life is what it means to acknowledge the Lord as the source of our life. This is what it means to worship in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23) and it is this kind of worship that transforms the mind and heart as the following makes clear.

They then acknowledge the Lord and worship Him from their very life, for being in the state of their interiors they are in their proper life (as has been said just above, 505); and as freedom pertains to interior affection they then acknowledge and worship the Lord from freedom (HH 506-1).

 

Preparation and Movement into the Third State of Awakening

So, we come to see that there is a sense of self that lives from the hellish proprium that doesn’t acknowledge the Lord as the source of all that is good and true. Then there is also a sense of self in which He is acknowledged and worshiped. The awakening more deeply into these two selves parallels the separations we see described in the spiritual world between evils sprits and good spirits.

In this second state the separation of evil spirits from good spirits takes place. For in the first state they are together, since while a spirit is in his exteriors he is as he was in the world, thus the evil with the good and the good with the evil; but it is otherwise when he has been brought into his interiors and left to his own nature or will  (HH 511).

The ability to see evil states and to respond appropriately to shun them, enables the process of separation in which the sense of self is extracted from what is evil and false and implanted into what is good and true.  When effort is made ‘as of self” to see and acknowledge the evil and false states that are made conscious, the Lord is then able to gather them together and separate them from the sense of self that is spiritual and focused on the Lord. Essentially, it is the removal of the hellish proprium to the periphery in the mind and the implanting and emerging of a new heavenly sense of self or heavenly proprium, that is now the focus in the center.

The separation of evil spirits from good spirits is effected by various means; in general by their being taken about to those societies with which in their first state they had communication by means of their good thoughts and affections, thus to those societies that they had induced to believe by outward appearances that they were not evil. Usually they are led about through a wide circle, and everywhere what they really are is made manifest to good spirits.

At the sight of them the good spirits turn away; and at the same time the evil spirits who are being led about turn their faces away from the good towards that quarter where their infernal society is, into which they are about to come  (HH 511).

In the work that comes with living a spiritual life, these evil spirits or states serve a use in allowing us to see the contrast of what is good, and of the Lord, and what belongs to the hellish proprium. It is only then that we, as of self, have the ability to shun evils as sins against the Lord. We see this paralleled in the description of the uses that evil spirits serve:

Another of their uses is their collecting together evil spirits like themselves and separating them from the good; and another, that the truths and goods that the evil had outwardly professed and feigned are taken away from them, and they are brought into the evils of their life and the falsities of their evil, and are thus prepared for hell (HH 508-6).

Evil spirits are not interested in being instructed in the things of heaven which is what the next phase in the awakening process entails. This is because their essential nature is love of self and the world and they are consequently led by their loves, away to their eternal community in the hells. This separation is mirrored in all states of evil and falsity that are acknowledged through awakening to spiritual life. When what belongs to the hellish proprium is seen for what it is, this very acknowledgement initiates the separation of those things that are not of the Lord, so that they are cast aside into the hells from which they arose.

… and after death he continues to be such as the nature is that he has acquired by his life in the world; and with the evil this nature can no longer be amended and changed by means of the thought or by the understanding of truth  (HH 508-7).

Exhortation is no longer of any avail, neither is instruction or fear of the law and of the loss of reputation, since everyone then acts from his nature; and that nature can be restrained and broken only by punishments (HH 509).

So, the spirits (or states of the hellish proprium), whose interiors are of a hellish quality, find a home in hell (or are cast to the periphery of our mind).  The good spirits (or states of the Lord), that are of a heavenly quality, move onto the third state of instruction in preparation for their assimilation into a heavenly community (or state of use).

The instruction provided is directly related to the uses to which the form of mind is specifically suited.

The third state of man after death, that is, of his spirit, is a state of instruction. This state is for those who come into heaven and become angels. It is not for those who come into hell, because such are incapable of being taught, and therefore their second state is also their third, ending in this, that they are wholly turned to their own love, thus to that infernal society which is in a like love (512  HH).

Letting Go of Ownership Over Our States

We are told that those entering the second state of awakening who are evil, or those states of exteriors that project what is “good” to conceal hellish interiors, are permitted to move back and forth between their exterior and interior states of mind.  This process of back and forth movement provides the contrast needed to bring about the necessary acknowledgment of the quality of interiors when separated from exteriors, so that the awakening process can move toward its next phase. This is described as follows:

This being their character, while in the second state they are let down by short intervals into the state of their exteriors, and into a recollection of their actions when they were in the state of their interiors;

And some of them then feel ashamed, and confess that they have been insane; some do not feel ashamed;

And some are angry because they are not permitted to remain permanently in the state of their exteriors. But these are shown what they would be if they were to continue in that state, namely, that they would attempt to accomplish in secret ways the same evil ends, and by semblances of goodness, honesty, and justice, would mislead the simple in heart and faith (HH 506-3).

As we practice self-examination by the light of truths from the Word, we begin to see the quality of interior states belonging to the hellish proprium and can therefore encounter similar corresponding experiences to those described here. There can be an inner sense of embarrassment as we come to acknowledge the insanity of the behavior of the hellish proprium, that we have identified with as our self.

There are other times when we have caught a flash of the true nature of some hellish quality moving within us but we are belligerent in our unwillingness to call it out for what it is and so “some do not feel ashamed.”

And there are other times yet again where resentment can present as an internalized anger directed at the self in the struggle to separate from the evils we have identified as present “in us”. The investment of our identity in what is opposed to the Lord can be difficult to acknowledge. But acknowledge it we must if we are to come to see that these things are not “us” but belong to the hells, to the hellish proprium.  We may find ourselves judging our states and thinking that we are getting worse, not realizing that this is the work of the hellish proprium trying to condemn us. When we fall into identifying with these evils then we experience states of desolation that can foster feelings of self-pity, guilt, depression, anxiety, and negative self-talk.

This often spirals us into what is referred to in Logopraxis as the ‘merit-guilt cycle’.  This cycle is based on the belief that religion is about making ourselves ‘better people’. So, we try to be good. And all goes along fine until something happens and our response reveals that we are “not good”. In fact, what often occurs is that states we never imagined we were capable of entertaining, begin to present to our conscious awareness. We are put squarely in front of the hellish proprium’s hold and influence over us. Because this is so contrary to our moral and civil self-image, we find we are assaulted with feelings of low self-worth, a sense of failure, feelings of guilt and thoughts of self-condemnation. We mistakenly believe that these evils and falsities are sourced in ourselves, not realising that they arise from the hells. As this state passes, we once again try to compensate for this negative aspect of “our self” through resolving to be a better person going forward. And so the conditions are created in which the cycle can continue to play out.

What we fail to see is that we cannot make the hellish proprium good and that it is our efforts to do this that opens us up to the merit-guild cycle. The hellish proprium is evil and falsity itself and evil can’t be turned into good nor falsity into truth. The Word teaches that the Lord alone is good. To be set free from this cycle we need to accept that we are not asked to be good, but to do good, that is, to live from the Word in an effort to shun evils as sins against the Lord.  Our work is not to suppress or deny evil and falsity but to see and acknowledge it in the light of the truths the Word offers us. The Word seeks to place us in front of the hellish proprium, not to condemn us, but to free us from it.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (Jn 3:17)

The key function of truths from the Word is to expose the evils and falsities of which the hellish proprium is composed. They must be exposed if there is to be any possibility of shunning them as sins against the Lord. It is only when this is done consciously, as if of self, that we can be set free from the hold the hellish proprium has on what we define as ‘our self’. In this way, the Lord as the Word is given leave to remove what is opposed to His love becoming more consciously present as our life.

Because the awakening process has a devastating impact on our false self-image it is helpful to remind ourselves often, that it is the Lord who controls every detail of our awakening to spiritual life. All is directed by the laws of Divine Providence, which include the laws of permission. Nothing arises in this process that isn’t governed by necessity so far as our spiritual well-being is concerned. What needs to be exposed will be and this is what the process entails.  The process itself builds trust that the Word is well able to carry us through whatever arises, so that the end that the Lord has in view for our life might be fulfilled. The further exposure of the hellish proprium as it relates to the state of interiors is described as follows…

…what they then did and said secretly being now made manifest; for they are now restrained by no outward considerations, and therefore what they have said and done secretly they now say and endeavor to do openly, having no longer any fear of loss of reputation, such as they had in the world.

They are also brought into many states of their evils, that what they are may be evident to angels and good spirits. Thus are hidden things laid open and secret things uncovered, in accordance with the Lord's words:

There is nothing covered up that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known. Whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light, and what ye have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed on the housetops (Luke 12:2, 3).

And elsewhere:

I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36)   (507 HH).

 

Spiritual Temptations and Alternating States are Unavoidable

Truths from the Word provide the ability to see and discriminate between interior and exterior thought processes. This seeing enables us to discern the quality of our affections and thoughts. This then provides the capacity for a response, as of self, to reject what is not of the Lord so that we can receive what is of the Lord. This increasing capacity to draw distinctions between what is of a hellish and heavenly quality within the landscape of the mind, is what enables us to see those times when we have been able to act from higher rational principles. It is in these states that we are living in acknowledgement of the Lord as the Word. Then there are other times when it appears that hellish states and attitudes prevail.  In these states it appears that we are in denial of the Lord and His Word.  One way this might manifest is an increased awareness of our resistance to the Word’s claims, or of the thought processes that tend to dismiss its claims because they don’t fit in with how we see things.

Despite how things appear, this experience of alternating states is not a true mixture, for no one is permitted to be in a state of admixture, that is, in heaven and hell at the same time. These alternations between hellish and heavenly states are simply the process by which our sense of self is removed from its attachment to what is opposed to the Lord and then grafted into goods and truths that constitute the life of heaven. We find this paralleled in the description of the separation of the spirits. It is a separation between those whose life is in the loves of the Lord in heaven, from those whose lives are only in the corporeal and worldly loves of hell.

The man who has heavenly and spiritual love goes to heaven; while the man who has corporeal and worldly love and no heavenly and spiritual love goes to hell. This has been made evident to me from all whom I have seen taken up into heaven or cast into hell. The life of those taken up into heaven had been derived from a heavenly and spiritual love, while the life of those cast into hell had been derived from a corporeal and worldly love (HH 481-1).

When truths are being applied to life, those states of mind that are of a heavenly quality, that consist of goods and truths from the Word, are elevated or drawn inward, while those that are based in hellish loves, consisting of evils and falsities, are cast out to the periphery. Thus, both the heavenly and the hellish qualities are continuously being unfolded and ordered by the Word through this process of spiritual awakening.

As disruptive as the alternation of states might be, it needs to be remembered that what is important is where we are internally in terms of our relationship to the Lord as the Word. It is this that determines whether our life is one of acknowledgement of the Lord or not, especially when faced with the malicious attacks of the hellish proprium.

Without states of temptation nothing is possible in the spiritual life. The nature of temptation is such that it comes with the onset of states of despair and confusion. States of temptation cast doubt that the Lord as

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536. THE LORD RULES THE HELLS.

Above, in treating of heaven it has been everywhere shown (especially in n. 2-6) that the God of heaven is the Lord, thus that the whole government of the heavens is the Lord's government. And as the relation of heaven to hell and of hell to heaven is like the relation between two opposites which mutually act contrary to each other, and from the action and re-action of which an equilibrium results, which gives permanence to all things of their action and reaction, so in order that all things and each thing may be kept in equilibrium it is necessary that He who rules the one should rule the other; for unless the same Lord restrained the uprisings from the hells and checked insanities there the equilibrium would perish and everything with it.

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537. But something about that equilibrium shall first be told. It is acknowledged that when two things mutually act against each other, and as much as one reacts and resists the other acts and impels, since there is equal power on either side, neither has any effect, and both can then be acted upon freely by a third. For when the force of the two is neutralized by equal opposition the force of a third has full effect, and acts as easily as if there were no opposition. [2] Such is the equilibrium between heaven and hell. Yet it is not an equilibrium like that between two bodily combatants whose strength is equal; but it is a spiritual equilibrium, that is, an equilibrium of falsity against truth and of evil against good. From hell falsity from evil continually exhales, and from heaven truth from good. It is this spiritual equilibrium that causes man to think and will in freedom; for whatever a man thinks and wills has reference either to evil and falsity therefrom or to good and truth therefrom. [3] Therefore when he is in that equilibrium he is in freedom either to admit or accept evil and its falsity from hell or to admit or accept good and its truth from heaven. Every man is held in this equilibrium by the Lord, because the Lord rules both heaven and hell. But why man is held in this freedom by such an equilibrium, and why evil and falsity are not taken away from him and good and truth implanted in him by Divine power will be told hereafter in its own chapter.

538. A perception of the sphere of falsity from evil that flows forth from hell has often been granted me. It was like a perpetual effort to destroy all that is good and true, combined with anger and a kind of fury at not being able to do so, especially an effort to annihilate and destroy the Divine of the Lord, and this because all good and truth are from Him. But out of heaven a sphere of truth from good was perceived, whereby the fury of the effort ascending from hell was restrained. The result of this was an equilibrium. This sphere from heaven was perceived to come from the Lord alone, although it appeared to come from the angels in heaven. It is from the Lord alone, and not from the angels, because every angel in heaven acknowledges that nothing of good and of truth is from himself, but all is from the Lord.

539. In the spiritual world truth from good is the source of all power, and falsity from evil has no power whatever. This is because the Divine Itself in heaven is Divine good and Divine truth, and all power belongs to the Divine. Falsity from evil is powerless because truth from good is the source of all power, and in falsity from evil there is nothing of truth from good. Consequently in heaven there is all power, and none in hell; for everyone in heaven is in truths from good, and everyone in hell is in falsities from evil. For no one is admitted into heaven until he is in truths from good, neither is any one cast down into hell until he is in falsities from evil, (That this is so can be seen in the chapters treating of the first, second, and third states of man after death, n. 491-520; and that all power belongs to truth from good can be seen in the chapter on the power of angels in heaven, n. 228-233.)

540. Such, then, is the equilibrium between heaven and hell. Those who are in the world of spirits are in that equilibrium, for the world of spirits is midway between heaven and hell. From the same source all men in the world are kept in a like equilibrium, since men in the world are ruled by the Lord by means of spirits in the world of spirits, as will be shown hereafter in its own chapter. No such equilibrium would be possible unless the Lord ruled both heaven and hell and regulated both sides. Otherwise falsities from evil would preponderate, and would affect the simple good who are in the outmosts regions of heaven, and who can be more easily perverted than the angels themselves; and thereby equilibrium would perish, and with it freedom in men.

541. Hell, like heaven, is divided into societies, and into as many societies as there are in heaven; for every society in heaven has a society opposite to it in hell, and this for the sake of equilibrium. But evils and falsities therefrom are what distinguish the societies in hell, as goods and truths therefrom are what distinguish the societies in heaven. That for every good there is an opposite evil, and for every truth an opposite falsity may be known from this, that nothing can exist without relation to its opposite, and what anything is in kind and degree can be known from its opposite, and from this all perception and sensation is derived. For this reason the Lord continually provides that every society in heaven shall have an opposite in some society of hell, and that there shall be an equilibrium between the two.

542. As hell is divided into the same number of societies as heaven, there are as many hells as there are societies of heaven; for as each society of heaven is a heaven in smaller form (see above, n. 51-58), so each society in hell is a hell in smaller form. As in general there are three heavens, so in general there are three hells, a lowest, which is opposite to the inmost or third heaven, a middle, which is opposite to the middle or second heaven, and a higher, which is opposite to the outmost or first heaven.

543. How the hells are ruled by the Lord shall be briefly explained. In general the hells are ruled by a general outflow from the heavens of Divine good and Divine truth whereby the general endeavor flowing forth from the hells is checked and restrained; also by a particular outflow from each heaven and from each society of heaven. The hells are ruled in particular by means of the angels, to whom it is granted to look into the hells and to restrain insanities and disturbances there; and sometimes angels are sent to them who moderate these insanities and disturbances by their presence. But in general all in the hells are ruled by means of their fears. Some are ruled by fears implanted in the world and still inherent in them; but as these fears are not sufficient, and gradually subside, they are ruled by fears of punishments; and it is especially by these that they are deterred from doing evil. The punishments in hell are manifold, lighter or more severe in accordance with the evils. For the most part the more wicked, who excel in cunning and in artifices, and who are able to hold the rest in subjection and servitude by means of punishments and consequent terror, are set over them; but these governors dare not pass beyond the limits prescribed to them. It must be understood that the sole means of restraining the violence and fury of those who are in the hells is the fear of punishment. There is no other way.

544. It has been believed heretofore in the world that there is one devil that presides over the hells; that he was created an angel of light; but having become rebellious he was cast down with his crew into hell. This belief has prevailed because the Devil and Satan, and also Lucifer, are mentioned by name in the Word, and the Word in those places has been understood according to the sense of the letter. But by the devil and Satan there hell is meant, devil meaning the hell that is behind, where the worst dwell, who are called evil genii; and Satan the hell that is in front, where the less wicked dwell, who are called evil spirits; and Lucifer those that belong to Babel, or Babylon, who would extend their dominion even into heaven. That there is no one devil to whom the hells are subject is evident also from this, that all who are in the hells, like all who are in the heavens, are from the human race (see numbers 311-317); and that those who have gone there from the beginning of creation to this time amount to myriads of myriads, and everyone of them is a devil in accord with his opposition to the Divine while he lived in the world (see above, numbers 311, 312).

545. THE LORD CASTS NO ONE INTO HELL; THE SPIRIT CASTS HIMSELF DOWN.

An opinion has prevailed with some that God turns away His face from man, casts man away from Himself, and casts him into hell, and is angry with him on account of his evil; and some believe also that God punishes man and does evil to him. In this opinion they establish themselves by the sense of the letter of the Word, where such things are declared, not knowing that the spiritual sense of the Word, by which the sense of the letter is made clear, is wholly different; and consequently that the genuine doctrine of the church, which is from the spiritual sense of the Word, teaches otherwise, namely, that God never turns away His face from man, and never casts man away from Himself, that He casts no one into hell and is angry with no one.[1] Everyone, moreover, whose mind is enlightened perceives this to be true when he reads the Word, from the simple truth that God is good itself, love itself, and mercy itself; and that good itself cannot do evil to any one, and love itself and mercy itself can not cast man away from itself, because this is contrary to the very essence of mercy and love,...

The Second State: The State of Interiors (HH 499-511)

The second state of awakening builds on the first. The first state is introductory and provides us with a framework for thinking about the spiritual life, as it unfolds within the human mind.  It moves through a process of stripping away those exterior aspects of our sense of self that does not align with interior aspects.  This then creates conditions that open the way for these interior aspects to be brought into conscious awareness and hence examination.

Two classes of interiors are dealt with in this state of the awakening series. There is a need to distinguish between them so that they don’t get confused.

The first class are states in which the exteriors are said to be separated from interiors. What characterises these states is that the exteriors project a life of moral and civil good that conceal interiors that look solely to self-interest from the loves of self and the world or the infernal proprium. This class consists of states in which the Lord is not acknowledged.

The second class is made up of those states in which the Lord is acknowledged. These states are characterised by the presence of spiritual and heavenly loves ruling in the interiors. It is the presence of these loves that provide the basis for a new sense of self or a heavenly proprium.

For both classes, the process brings to conscious awareness the quality of the love that rules the more interior aspect of our active states. If we are to become conscious to our own awakening process, then the ability to discern the interior quality of an active state is essential. This discernment allows evils to be acknowledged and shunned and heavenly loves affirmed as the basis for one’s life.

The second state of awakening coincides with a growing conviction of the need to work with the Word to access these more interior states of the human mind, so that they can be brought forward into conscious awareness. As the Word is worked with, with this end in view, there begins to develop a deepening trust in the Word and in its ability to carry us through the processes it initiates to regenerate the human mind.

The second state of man after death is called the state of his interiors, because he is then let into the interiors of his mind, that is, of his will and thought; while his exteriors, which he has been in during his first state, are laid asleep (HH 499).

Of the second state after death, we read that both the good and the evil spirits undergo a process of having their exteriors brought into a true correspondence with their interiors. We are told that no one in the other life is allowed to speak or act in a way that doesn’t perfectly match their interior affections and thoughts.  So, where exteriors don’t match interiors, the second state of awakening describes the process by which the quality of interiors, or of the love, or life, can be seen and acknowledged.

The end result of the state of interiors for those whose states of minds are receptive to what is good and true is a heavenly state of life. This is due to the presence of the Lord as the goods and truths that compose their life. In contrast, those states that are opposed to what is good and true come into a hellish state of life in keeping with the evils and falsities that compose their life.  We see then that the process results in the orderly separation of good and evil states of mind or a separation of what is of the Lord from what isn’t of the Lord.

 

Distinguishing Between Higher and Lower Levels of Mental Activity

The section dealing with the state of interiors opens with a key teaching designed to support this phase of the awakening process.  The teaching is that we have two levels of thinking and intending (see HH 499). One belonging to our more outward nature and one belonging to our more inward nature. Anyone, we are told, through a little self-reflection can confirm the truth of this teaching in his or her direct experience.

All this makes clear that there are two kinds of thought, one exterior and the other interior; and that there are those who speak from exterior thought, while from their interior thought they have other sentiments, and that these two kinds of thought are kept separate, since the interior is carefully prevented from flowing into the exterior and becoming manifest in any way (HH 499-2).

This is a core principle in Logopraxis where people are asked to work with truths from the Word.  As we enter into states of a more interior quality, where the focus is on our affections and thoughts, self-examination is recognized as an essential spiritual literacy skill. The development of this skill through practice, enables us to read and thereby distinguish between these two levels of mental activity.

Working with the Word initiates a shift in focus. It involves the attention moving from a focus on the more outward aspects of life, belonging to the state of exteriors, to the more inward aspects of life, belonging to the state of interiors. This leads to a growing awareness that all is not well within.  We begin to become more sensitive to qualitative differences between the affections and thoughts belonging to the inner and outer levels of the mind. The ability to hold levels and contrast them is what moves the process forward. Through gaining insight into just how active the loves of self and the world are, beneath the moral and civil face we present outwardly, opens up the possibility for the kind of spiritual work required to bring the different levels of the mind into alignment.

 

The First Class of Interiors in which the Lord is Not Acknowledged

A self-image that appeals to moral and civil conduct as an indicator of its own inherent goodness, is perhaps one of the most difficult challenges to living a genuine spiritual life. It is true that an exteriorly ordered moral and civil life is the ground from which one can become spiritual. It is, however, equally the case that such an exteriorly ordered life can serve to conceal, not just from others but also from ourselves, the darker aspects of the hellish proprium tied to the loves of self and the world. It is all too easy to confuse a moral and civil life with a spiritual life. The process of awakening to spiritual life involves coming to see that the quality of exteriors is determined by the quality of interiors. It is a spiritual law that exteriors take their quality from interiors.

Works and deeds of moral and civil life, when they are done from heavenly love, are heavenly; for what is done from heavenly love is done from the Lord, and everything done from the Lord is good.

…But the deeds and works of moral and civil life when done from infernal love are infernal; for the things that are done from this love, which is the love of self and of the world, are done from man himself, and everything that is done from man himself is in itself evil; …for man regarded in himself, that is, in regard to what is his proprium, is nothing but evil. (HH 484)

When left to ourselves in moments of quiet, our thinking is unfettered and free from exterior moral, civil, or social constraints.  It’s a state in which thoughts form a unity with the ruling affections (HH 502) so that we are held in the delight of our life. It seems that we seldom reflect on the thought stream that is one with our true affections, preferring to be carried along in the pleasures and delight of our love while this state is active.

However, the situation changes once we are led into the second state of spiritual awakening where our interiors are progressively opened up and seen.

All men without exception are let into this state after death, because it is their spirit's own state. The former state is such as the man was in regard to his spirit when in company; and that is not his own state. That this state, namely, the state of the exteriors into which man first comes after death ...is not man's own state or the state of his spirit is evident from the fact that when he is in company in the world he speaks in accord with the laws of moral and civil life, and at such times interior thought rules the exterior thought, as one person rules another, to keep him from transgressing the limits of decorum and good manners. …It is evident also from the fact that when a man thinks within himself, he thinks how he must speak and act in order to please and to secure friendship, good will, and favor, and this in extraneous ways, that is, otherwise than he would do if he acted in accordance with his own will (HH 504).

We can see from this, that the state of interiors involves being led into an awareness of the actual state or quality of the affections and thoughts that are based in the hellish proprium.

In states that find their delight in evil there is no conscience at work and so at heart they constitute a denial of the Lord or of all that is genuinely good and true. These make up the hellish proprium.

… the state of those that have lived an evil life in the world and who have had no conscience, and have in consequence denied the Divine, is the direct opposite of this. For everyone who lives an evil life, inwardly in himself denies the Divine, however much he may suppose when in external thought that he acknowledges the Lord and does not deny Him; for acknowledging the Divine and living an evil life are opposites.  (HH 506-2).

This describes the states that dominate the life of the mind prior to it being awakened to spiritual life.   Before truths from the Word are used to reflect on the quality of our inner lives, we remain unconscious of just how pervasive the loves of self and the world are in our life.  We act one way externally in keeping with moral, civil, and social expectations, while just below the surface there can be a stream of negative emotions giving rise to anger, envy, jealousy, contempt, desires for revenge,...

Working with Spiritual ‘Friends’

The state of man's spirit that immediately follows his life in the world being such, he is then recognized by his friends and by those he had known in the world; for this is something that spirits perceive not only from one's face and speech but also from the sphere of his life when they draw near. (HH 494)

Because the exterior affections and memory of newly arrived spirits is still active, they can recognise and hence connect with those they knew as friends in the world but who, like them, have passed into the spiritual world. We are told that these friends take on the function of addressing the spirit’s curiosity about heaven and hell, what each is like and where they are located.  They take the newly arrived spirit to various places and introduce them into various companies of other spirits and instruct them as to the state of eternal life.  This process causes the newly arrived spirit to reflect on the beliefs they had held about such things while in the world.

These friends, when seen as something related to the experience of awakening to spiritual life through the practice of the Word, can be thought of as those ideas about the spiritual matters that we relate to and have come to trust and rely on. From our first contact with the spiritual teachings found in the Word, these “friends”, some old and some new, are a vital support to being led deeper into the practice of truths and our exploration of what the Word teaches regarding the interior life.

… their friends tell them about the conditions of eternal life, and take them about to various places and into various companies, and sometimes into cities, and into gardens and parks, showing them chiefly such magnificent things as delight the externals in which they are. They are then brought in turn into those notions about the state of their soul after death, and about heaven and hell, that they had entertained in the life of the body,

…. Nearly all are anxious to know whether they will get to heaven (HH 495).

We need to be able to recognise that these “friends” assist us to explore “places” and “companies” and “cities” and “gardens” that belong to the inner world of the mind, this being the spiritual world.  These “friends” or concepts may be somewhat sensually or naturally orientated, or they may be of a purely historical or persuasive faith.  They may be drawn from other spiritual traditions both traditional and contemporary. They may even be opposed to the deeper perspective the Word offers.  Whatever they are or whatever their quality, they remain an important starting point from which we can be led into a more genuine sense of what living a spiritual life entails.

One aspect of being in a state of exteriors is that newcomers to the spiritual world believe that entry into heaven is based on a person’s outer conduct.  The strength of their attachment to this idea means that it is difficult to break. This is particularly the case for those who believe that because they have lived upright moral and civic lives in the world they qualify for entry to heaven.  They fail to reflect on the fact that everything done in outer life by the good, can also be done by the evil, so that if the outer actions or speech are viewed alone, one is unable to draw any distinction (HH 495) between the good and the evil.  There is, as yet, a lack of understanding that it is the quality of a spirit’s interior life that makes the difference and not their outer behaviour.  A spirit’s true nature always comes back to the quality of the affections and thoughts they live from and to what degree these are centred in a love for what is genuinely spiritual or not.

Still less is it known that outward acts are such as the intentions and thoughts are, and the love and faith in these from which they spring. And even when taught they fail to comprehend that thinking and willing are of any avail, but only speaking and acting. (HH 495).

When a spirit comes to see what's actually involved in a heavenly life, they then have what’s needed to be able to draw a comparison between this and what they thought in the world.  For those who thought that entry to heaven was based on outer behaviour and so hadn’t paid a lot of attention to their intentions and thoughts...

. . . they feel indignant at their total ignorance of such things, and at the ignorance of the church also (HH 495).

The feelings of “indignation” and the concern about making “it into heaven” also often reflects states that are experienced in Logopraxis work. Through the practice of the Word, we start to understand the disparity that exists between what we project as our self-image to the world and what goes unexpressed at the level of our intentions (affections) and thoughts. As we come to examine our inner mental life we begin to see, sometimes for the first time, the true quality of the hellish proprium.  In the struggle to acknowledge this, any confidence held in what formed our historical faith starts to be called into question as new insights based on the actual practice of truths from the Word become established. This is often accompanied with a sense of lost years or even, a wasted life. There is the perplexing question of why, given its essential importance, there wasn’t this emphasis on the inner application of the Word to the life of the mind. What is clear is that the insights that arise from a more interior life focus can present a challenge. This challenge occurs when we look to reconcile the understanding we have inherited from others, which is typically called a historical faith, with the new insights gained through the direct experience that arises from the practice of truths from the Word.

We see that the spirit’s friends also provide instruction regarding what heaven and hell are. That what is experienced as a heaven or hell reflects the quality of a spirit’s inner state of life, that is, the affections and thoughts that make up the life of the mind. Essentially the inner state of life is projected out to form a spirit’s experience of an outer world. The instruction provided emphasises the importance and therefore the impact, the interior life has on the state or quality of life a spirit comes into upon awakening in the spiritual world. The instruction provides the basis for new ways of thinking about heaven and hell. It is given to assist the movement of thoughts away from the natural idea that heaven and hell are places people go to after they die, towards the idea that the experience of heaven or hell is directly tied to the quality of the thoughts and affections a spirit habitually lives from and finds delight in. This leads to the dawning realisation that it is actually the quality of our interior life that matters. Depending on what a spirit focused on and so cultivated as their life in the world, there is the potential for states of significant disruption as they grapple with whether they will make it into heaven or not.

Similar states of disruption arise for those involved in Logopraxis work.  They arise from the fact that once the inner life begins to be emphasised, any reliance we have on outer conduct as the basis for getting into heaven begins to be challenged. This could include things like religiously orientated activities, or a sense of security found in belonging to a particular religious group, or subscribing to a specific form of doctrinal understanding.  The process of awakening brings us to see that a historical faith where the emphasis for “spiritual” life is focussed on engaging in rituals, or “good/moral behaviour” or in belonging to a church organisation, doesn’t constitute a saving faith. As this realisation dawns, so we also come to see that it is the state of the church within, the inner life of our thoughts and affections, that really matters. The following quote is telling in this regard...

Most of them [new comers] believe that they will [get into heaven], because of their having lived in the world a moral and civil life, never considering that the bad and the good live a like life outwardly, alike doing good to others, attending public worship, hearing sermons, and praying;...And [so they are] wholly ignorant that external deeds and external acts of worship are of no avail, but only the internals from which the externals proceed...There is hardly one out of thousands who knows what internals are, and that it is in them that man must find heaven and the church.  (HH 495)

Just as the spirits are instructed upon arriving in the spiritual world, so we also through the practice of truths from the Word, come to experience heaven and hell as states or exterior projections that mirror the interior quality of the state of the mind that rules in our life. Understood in this way, we see that what we live in mentally, so far as its heavenly or hellish quality is concerned, isn’t something limited to some “other world” off in the future somewhere. Instead, through reflection, we see that it is an ever-present reality to be accessed in the present moment. Once it is understood that heaven and hell are the product of internal states of mind and are not places, the importance of needing to work on the inner life whilst living in this world, becomes all the more apparent.

 

Honouring Spiritual Freedom

Despite the natural, sensual and historical nature that “friends” can often embody, care must be exercised to honour them wherever we find them, whether that’s within ourselves or within others engaged in inner work. It is these ‘friends’ that serve to bring us into a state where we are ready to accept new ideas from the Word and this process cannot be rushed or circumvented.

It takes a certain level of trust to accept that challenging states that arise in awakening to spiritual life are a necessary part of the process. The temptation to somehow make things easier for ourselves or others is ever present....