AC 3624, 3634, 3645 - being in correspondence

AC 3624, 3634, 3645

. . . the universal heaven is so formed
as to correspond to the Lord, to His Divine Human;
and that a person is so formed
as to correspond to heaven
in regard to each and all things in him,
and through heaven to the Lord.
This is a great mystery which is now to be revealed . . ..

A person who is in correspondence,
that is, who is in love to the Lord
and in charity toward the neighbor,
and consequently in faith,
is as to his spirit in heaven,
and as to his body in the world;
and so because he acts as one with the angels,
he is also an image of heaven . . ..

The universal kingdom of the Lord
is a kingdom of ends and uses.
. . . Each and all things flow forth from this sphere,
and are directed by it.
Insofar as the affections, thoughts, and actions
have within them the end to do good from the heart,
so far the person, spirit, or angel 
is in the Grand Man, that is, in heaven;
but insofar as a person or spirit
has the end to do evil from the heart,
so far he is out of the Grand Man,
that is, is in hell.

AC 3623 - our lives

AC 3623
In respect to "lives,"
they signify in the plural
both what is of the will and what is of the understanding,
consequently what is of good and what is of truth;
for the life of a person is nothing else
than good and truth in which is life from the Lord,
inasmuch as a person,
without good and truth, and life in them, is not a person;
for a person without these
would not be able to will anything or think anything,
all his faculty of willing being
from what is good or what is not good,
and his faculty of thinking
from what is true or what is not true;
consequently a person has lives,
which are one life
when his thinking is from his willing, that is,
when the truth which is of faith
is from the good which is of love.

SD 4781 - why the Lord was born on this earth

SD 4781
There was a talk concerning the Lord,
why He was born in this earth and not in some other;
and [it was seen] that the reason was,
because, in this earth,
doctrine communicated from heaven,
could be propagated throughout the whole world,
and remain for thousands of years;
for, in this earth, from ancient times,
such things have been committed to writings,
and, afterward, to types,
and these can be spread throughout the whole world,
and also remain;
for such communications and travellings exist in this earth,
and not elsewhere . . ..
Besides, also,
when the heavenly doctrine concerning the Lord
is known in one earth,
the rest are thus able to know it,
when they become spirits and angels.

AC 3610 - real life

AC 3610
. . . in the love of self and the love of the world,
or in their pleasure and delight,
there is not life;
but [real life is] in celestial and spiritual love,
and in their delight and pleasure.

SD 4754 - truths of faith

SD 4754
... there was divine order,
and that the laws of order are the truths of faith;
that love to the Divine
and love towards the neighbor
constitute heaven,
and that love of the world
constitutes hell;
that divine order cannot be received save by the humble,
and that humility cannot exist with those who are in self-love;
that self-love is hard,
and love to the Divine is soft . . ..

AC 3603 - when we can know what doing good is

AC 3603
Even those who are being regenerated
do not know what good is
until they have been regenerated;
for before this they supposed that truth was good,
and that to do according to truth was good,
when yet that which they then do is not good, but truth.
When person is in this state,
he is in the state which is described by "Jacob"
and in the "blessing" given to him;
but when he comes into a state of doing good
from the affection of good
- that is, when he is regenerate -
he then comes into the state
which is described in the blessing given to Esau. 

SD 4732-4733 - golden & silver hearts and silver swords

SD 4732 - 4733
Good spirits [are such] as have not yet become angels,
but because they often come in contact with evil spirits,
who constantly attempt to produce evils.
The number of such [evil spirits] is very great;
and the evils which they produce are innumerable . . ..
Those who are good, and interiorly angels,
have given to them a breast-plate, which is, as it were,
a larger form of heart, made of gold.
When the evil, or robbers, meet them,
and they draw aside their garments and show the golden heart,
the robbers dare not do anything.
Those who confess the Lord, are given a breastplate of gold;
but beforehand, while as yet they acknowledge Three Persons,
their breast-plate is of silver.

And there is also given to them a sword with a silver hilt,
together with a belt.
When they carry that sword,
evil spirits dare do nothing.

AC 3596 - what we understand

AC 3596
What is implied by making its own
and joining to itself the truth represented by Jacob
may become clear from what has been stated already.
But because these matters are such
as to be beyond the range of anything
grasped by the natural person
and so cannot be seen
except in the light in which the rational or internal person sees
 - a light in which few see at the present day
because few are regenerate -
it is better not to illustrate them any further,
for the elucidation of things which are not known
and which go beyond the range of a person's understanding
does not throw light on them
but rather puts them in the shade.
Moreover such things are to be built upon ideas of natural truths,
through which they are to be understood,
and at the present day these also are wanting.
This is the reason why the words just preceding
have been explained so briefly,
and merely as to the internal sense of the expressions.

AC 3573 - our faces and our regeneration

AC 3573
. . . the natural is not regenerated
until it has been conjoined with the rational.

. . . the rational mind
(that is, a person's interior will and understanding)
ought to represent itself in the natural mind
just as this mind
represents itself in the face and its expressions,
insomuch
that as the face is the countenance of the natural person,
so the natural mind should be
the countenance of the rational mind.
When the conjunction has been effected,
as is the case with those who have been regenerated,
then whatever a person interiorly wills
and thinks in his rational
presents itself conspicuously in his natural,
and this latter presents itself conspicuously in his face.
Such a face have the angels;
and such a face had the most ancient people
who were celestial people,
for they were not at all afraid
that others should know their ends and intentions,
inasmuch as they willed nothing but good;
for he who suffers himself to be led by the Lord
never intends or thinks anything else.
When the state is of this character,
then the rational as to good conjoins itself
immediately with the good of the natural,
and through this with its truths;
and also mediately through the truth
that is conjoined with itself in the rational
with the truth of the natural,
and through this with the good therein;
and in this way the conjunction becomes indissoluble.

. . . how far removed people are at this day from this state,
thus from the heavenly state,
may be seen from the fact
that it is believed to be of civil prudence
to speak, to act, and also to express by the countenance,
something else than what one thinks and intends,
and even to dispose the natural mind in such a manner
that together with its face
it may act contrary to the things which it interiorly
thinks and wills from an end of evil.
To the most ancient people
this was an enormous wickedness,
and such persons were cast out from their society as devils.

SD 4712 - how the case stands with faith in the Lord

SD 4712
To those who believe in the Lord,
according to the truths of faith,
the Lord is in presence, that is,
is present and has His abode with them.
But to those who do not believe,
 the Lord is absent,
because He cannot be seen by the thought,
nor recognized by the affection.
Concerning those, the Lord says
that He does not confess them
because they do not confess Him. 

AC 3570 - paying some attention to why we do what we do

AC 3570 [2,3,6]
The rational is in the internal person,
and what is there being transacted is unknown to the natural,
for it is above the sphere of its observation;
and for this reason the person who lives a merely natural life
cannot know anything of what is taking place with him
in his internal person, that is, in his rational;
for the Lord disposes all such things
entirely without the person's knowledge.
Consequently, it is that a person knows nothing
of how he is being regenerated,
and scarcely that he is being regenerated.
But if he is desirous to know this,
let him merely attend to the ends which he proposes to himself,
and which he rarely discloses to anyone.
If the ends are toward good, that is to say,
if he cares more for his neighbor and the Lord than for himself,
then he is in a state of regeneration;
but if the ends are toward evil, that is to say,
if he cares more for himself than for his neighbor and the Lord,
let him know that in this case he is in no state of regeneration.

Through his ends of life a person is in the other life;
through ends of good in heaven with the angels;
but through ends of evil in hell with devils.
The ends in a person are nothing else than his loves;
for that which a person loves he has for an end;
and inasmuch as his ends are his loves,
they are his inmost life.

. . . the rational disposes the natural,
in order that it may serve it as the soul or what is the same,
may serve the end, which is the soul,
to perfect itself,
that it may be of use in the Lord's kingdom.

SD 4688 - interior good from the Lord

SD 4688
There were those who did not understand
that there should be such a thing as interior good,
and that it was better and more beautiful than exterior good.
They supposed that the exteriors were all.
. . . with the good, interiors are given,
which are from the Lord,
and consequently are more perfect by degrees;
and that the interiors with the evil
are more deformed and hideous.

AC 3550, 3556 - that kind of good from which truth is acquired prior to regeneration

AC 3550
. . . the truth which a person possesses prior to regeneration
is believed by him to be good itself.
People who have perception know that it is not good
but truth appearing under the form of good;
but those who do not have perception
are not aware of any such difference . . .

AC 3556
. . . good and truths from that good
are re-arranged into proper order in a person
while he is being regenerated.
That is to say, they are re-ordered
so that they appear outwardly,
or make themselves clear on the surface,
as though they were genuine good
and genuine truths from that good.
In actual fact they are not such
but . . . are home-born good and truths from this good,
which serve solely to aid a person's regeneration,
and so to bring in goods and truths of a grosser nature
because such are conducive to his regeneration.

SD 4662 - the arrogant and the humble

SD 4662
. . . the more anyone is in heart haughty towards others,
that is, in self-love,
the less is he in the faculty of growing wise,
so that they are removed from wisdom
according to the degree of their love;
and that wisdom from the Lord inflows
only with those who are humble,
who do not despise others in comparison with themselves,
who favor what is good,
and love good people from the heart. 

SD 4655 - we ought and we ought not

SD 4655
. . . we ought to think
that a thing ought not only to be done for the sake of the Lord,
but that it ought also to be willed,
and doing good for the sake of ourselves as an end,
ought to be held in aversion. 

AC 3540 - What makes a book of the genuine Word?

AC 3540 [4]
That the book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church
is evident as before said
from its representative and significative style;
but it is not of those books
which are called the Law and the Prophets,
because it has not an internal sense
which treats solely of the Lord and of His kingdom;
for this is the one thing
that makes a book of the genuine Word.

AC 3519 - innocence

AC 3519 [5, 6]
. . . all in heaven are protected by the Lord
through states of innocence . . ..

. . . Jehovah or the Lord cannot appear to anyone, 
not even to an angel,
unless the one He appears to is in a state of innocence;
and therefore as soon as the Lord is present with anyone
he is let into a state of innocence;
for the Lord enters through innocence,
even with the angels in heaven.
On this account no one can come into heaven
unless he has somewhat of innocence . . ..

HH 341
. . . innocence is a willingness to be led by the Lord
and not by oneself.

SD 4618 - the soul; SD 4644-4645 - affections & communications

SD 4618
As respects the soul,
concerning which it is said that it lives after death,
it is no other than the person himself,
who lives in the body,
so is the purer part of the person,
which is conjoined with the body,
so that, by means of the body,
it may perform the functions it ought in the world.
From this the body lives.
This, after death, is called a spirit.
It likewise appears, then, entirely in a human form;
it has the senses,
which are, touch, smell, sight, and hearing,
much more exquisitely than in the world.
It has appetites, cravings, desires, affections, loves,
similar to those which [it had] in the world,
but in a less coarse state.
It then thinks, as in the world, but more clearly;
speaks with others, and is in society;
and, this being the case,
if [the spirit] does not reflect upon the fact
that he is in another life,
he knows no otherwise than that he is in the world . . ..
This is the soul of a person . . ..

SD 4644, 4645
The communication of heaven with a person is wonderful;
and, unless one is instructed by the Lord,
it can never be known, nor, if known, believed.

. . . the affection of truth and the will of good,
is heaven with a person.
When this is delightful and pleasant to a person,
then angels inflow and communicate to them [i.e. people]
the sphere of their pleasantness and delight,
and so produce [it in him].
 It is the communication of spheres which causes it;
and one sphere has communication with another,
according to similitude.
Similar is the case with the evil;
if evil spirits speak of things agreeable to the person,
they then have pleasantness and tranquillity;
but, if otherwise, they have disquiet and unpleasantness.

AC 3509 - such is the Word

AC 3509 [3]
. . .  it may be seen what arcana are contained
in the internal sense of the Word;
but still there are very few
which can be described to human understanding;
while those which transcend it,
and cannot be described,
are without limit;
for in proportion as the Word penetrates more deeply,
that is, more interiorly, into heaven,
the more innumerable and ineffable the arcana become,
not only to man, but also to the angels of the lower heaven;
and when it reaches the inmost heaven,
the angels there perceive that the arcana are infinite,
and are altogether incomprehensible to them,
because they are Divine.
Such is the Word.

SD 4629 - angels and monsters

SD 4629
The universal heaven in general,
and the Lord in particular,
inflows into every single angel
 - consequently his human form;
and, since he is in heaven,
he is in the most splendid and beautiful form . . ..

. . . the Human of the Lord is Divine;
. . . and as to His being the Lord,
He is Divine even as to the Human;
. . .The influx from Him is into every person;
for his interiors are formed according to the image of heaven,
his exteriors according to correspondence.
. . . So it is, now, that evil spirits and genii,
because they do not correspond,
appear in the light [lux] of heaven, as monsters . . ..

AC 3502 - to learn it has to taste good

AC 3502 [2]
The natural is not made new,
or does not receive life corresponding to the rational
- that is, it is not regenerated -
except by means of matters of doctrine
or knowledges of good and truth,
the celestial person being regenerated
by means primarily of knowledges of good,
the spiritual person
by means primarily of knowledges of truth.
Matters of doctrine or knowledges of good and truth
cannot be conveyed to the natural person,
nor thus be joined to it and made its own,
except through all delight and pleasantness
that are appropriate for it,
for they are instilled by the external way
or that of the senses.
Anything that does not enter in
by way of some delight or pleasantness
does not attach itself there and so does not remain.

SD 4613 - the Lord is the Protector

SD 4613
That the case is this -
that hell injects evils and falsities,
and they pervert goods and truths
and assail a person by a thousand modes and arts;
and that the Lord,
out of heaven,
through the angels,
averts, carries away, mitigates,
and checks those things, in an instant . . ..

AC 3492 - old age

AC 3492
. . . in the Word "old age" signifies
both the putting off of a former state,
and the putting on of a new one;
and this for the reason that old age is the last of age,
when corporeal things begin to be put off,
and with them the loves of the preceding age,
and thus when the interiors begin to be enlightened,
for these are enlightened when corporeal things are removed;
and also because the angels,
who perceive in a spiritual manner
the things that are in the Word,
have no longer any idea of any old age,
but instead of it an idea of new life . . ..

AC 3490 - a summary: Isaac & Rebekah, Jacob & Esau

AC 3490 
In the preceding chapters,
where Isaac and Rebekah are treated of,
the subject in the internal sense is the rational,
and how the Lord made it Divine in Himself.
In the present chapter, in the internal sense,
the subject is the natural,
and how the Lord made it Divine in Himself.
"Esau" is the good thereof, and "Jacob" the truth.
For when the Lord was in the world
He made His whole Human Divine in Himself,
both the interior Human which is the rational,
and the exterior Human which is the natural,
and also the very corporeal,
and this according to Divine order,
according to which the Lord also makes new or regenerates man.
And therefore in the representative sense
the regeneration of man as to his natural is also here treated of,
in which sense "Esau" is the good of the natural,
and "Jacob" the truth thereof,
and yet both Divine,
because all the good and truth in one who is regenerate
are from the Lord.

SD 4577 - where the angels are

SD 4577
But where the angels are,
are the most magnificent palaces,
such as cannot be described,
and such as the best architect
would never believe possible to be produced.
They are resplendent with precious wood and stones;
and [the angels] live in the most splendid auras,
whereof [I have spoken] already. 

AC 3472 & AC 4376 - why we don't always understand, and yet . . .

AC 3472
That the things in the literal sense of the Word
are each and all representative
of the spiritual and celestial things
of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens,
and in the supreme sense
are representative of the Lord Himself,
may be seen from what has been thus far shown,
and from what of the Lord's Divine mercy is still to be shown.
But as man has removed himself so far from heaven,
and has immersed himself in lowest nature,
and even in what is earthly,
it is altogether repugnant to him
to hear that the Word contains deeper things
than he understands from the letter;
and this is still more the case when it is said
that it contains things incomprehensible,
which are adapted solely to the wisdom of angels;
and this is even still more so when it is said
that it contains Divine things themselves,
which infinitely transcend the understanding of angels.

AC 3476
. . . the Word has been given by the Lord to man
and also to the angels
in order that by it they may be with Him;
for the Word is the medium that unites earth with heaven,
and through heaven with the Lord.
Its literal sense is that which unites man with the first heaven;
and as within the literal there is an internal sense
which treats of the Lord's kingdom,
and within this a supreme sense which treats of the Lord;
and as these senses are in order
one within another,
it is evident what is the nature of the union with the Lord
that is effected by means of the Word.

AC 3483 - the visible universe

AC 3483
. . . the visible universe is nothing else than a theater
representative of the Lord's kingdom;
and that this kingdom is a theater
representative of the Lord Himself.

SD 4562 - misfortune

SD 4562
. . . all things, and the least parts of all things,
are directed by Divine Providence,
even as to the slightest step and slightest nod;
and that when such a state prevails
as is contrary to the influx from the Divine,
misfortune happens.
But [real] misfortune is such
as concerns a person's eternal happiness and felicity,
and not that which concerns such things as are in the world;
for these appear to a person as happy
when yet they are hurtful. 

AC 3469, 3470 - the rational is regenerated before the natural

AC 3469 [2]
. . . a person is regenerated as to the rational
before he is regenerated as to the natural;
because the natural is altogether in the world,
and . . . are founded a person's thought and will.
This is the reason why during regeneration
a person observes a combat
between his rational or internal person
and his natural or external person;
and why his external person is regenerated much later,
and likewise with much greater difficulty,
than his internal person.
For that which is nearer to the world and nearer to the body
cannot be easily constrained
to render obedience to the internal person;
but only after considerable length of time
and by means of many new states
into which the person is introduced,
which are states of self-acknowledgment,
and of acknowledgment of the Lord,
that is, of one's own wretchedness,
and of the Lord's mercy;
thus states of humiliation resulting from temptation combats.

AC 3470 [3]
. . . natural good is such that of itself
it is not willing to obey and serve rational good
as a servant serves its master,
but desires to command.
But in order that it may be reduced to a state
of compliance and service,
it is harassed by states of vastation and temptation
until its evil desires decline;
and then by the influx of the good of faith and of charity
through the internal person from the Lord,
the natural is tempered,
until the good received through heredity
is by degrees rooted out,
and a new good is implanted in its place,
into which good the truths of faith are then insinuated,
which are like new fibers inserted into the heart of person,
through which fibers new juice is introduced,
until a new heart has by degrees grown there.

AC 3464 - correspondence & the angels or spirits with us

AC 3464
. . . all matters of doctrine
drawn from the literal sense of the Word
include interior truths within them.
For the literal sense of the Word 
is like a well with water in it,
in that every single thing in the Word
holds within itself the internal sense,
which resides also in matters of doctrine
drawn from the Word.

[2] The situation with matters of doctrine
drawn from the literal sense of the Word
is that when anyone possesses them
and at the same time lives according to them
a correspondence exists within himself.
For the angels who reside with him
are alive to the interior truths 
when he is alive to the exterior;
and in this way he has communication with heaven
by means of matters of doctrine,
though this is conditioned by how good a life he leads.
For example, when at the Holy Supper
this person in simplicity
thinks about the Lord from the words
'This is My body' and 'This is My blood'
the angels residing with him
have in mind
love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor;
for love to the Lord
corresponds to the Lord's body and to the bread,
while charity towards the neighbor
corresponds to His blood and to the wine.
This being the nature of the correspondence,
there flows from heaven
by way of the angels
into that holiness present with the person at that time
an affection which he receives
according to the good within his life.

[3] Actually angels dwell with every person
in the affection that belongs to his life,
and so in the affection for the matters of doctrine
according to which he lives,
but never in the matters of doctrine
with which his life is at variance.
If his life is at variance with them,
as it is if his affection is to gain position and wealth
for himself by means of matters of doctrine,
the angels in that case depart
and spirits from hell dwell in that affection.

AC 3454 - to do violence to the internal sense of the Word

AC 3454
. . . to do violence to the internal sense is to deny
those things which are the principal things of this sense,
and which are the essential holy things of the Word;
and these are,
the Divine Human of the Lord,
love to Him,
and love toward the neighbor.
These three are the principal things of the internal sense,
and are the holy things of the Word;
they are also the internal and holy things
of all doctrinal things that are from the Word;
and are likewise the internal and holy things of all worship;
for in them is the Lord's kingdom itself.
A fourth is, that the Word,
as to all things therein both in general and in particular,
as to the smallest point, is Divine;
thus that the Lord is in the Word.
This is also confessed and acknowledged
 by all who have doctrinal things from the Word;
and yet at heart those deny it
who acknowledge no other holiness in the Word
than that which appears in the letter;
for such can perceive nothing holy in the historicals,
nor in the propheticals,
except only a slight external something,
from its being called holy;
 when yet it must be interiorly holy
if it be Divine as to the smallest point.

AC 3438 - looking in the dark or looking in the light

AC 3438 [2-3]
And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said.
(Genesis 26:24)
Relatively to the literal sense,
the internal sense is like the interior
or celestial and spiritual things of a person
relatively to his exterior or natural and bodily things,
his interiors being in the light of heaven,
and his exteriors in the light of the world.
What the difference is
between the light of heaven and the light of the world . . .
is like the difference
between the light of day and the shade of night.  
A person, being in this shade,
and not being willing to know
that in truth from the Lord there is light,
cannot believe otherwise than that his shade is light,
and also on the other hand
that the light is shade;
for he is like a bird of night,
which as it flies in the shade of night thinks that it is in the light
but when in the light of day, that it is in the shade.
For with such a person the internal eye
(that is, the understanding), by which a person sees interiorly,
has been formed no differently than this,
because he has not formed it differently;
for he opens it when he looks downward,
that is, to worldly and bodily things,
and shuts it when he should look upward,
that is, to spiritual and heavenly things.
With such persons the case is the same in respect to the Word
- that which appears in its literal sense
they believe to be of light;
but that which appears in the internal sense
they believe to be of shade
(for the Word appears to everyone in accordance with his quality) . . ..

In the internal sense there are singulars,
myriads of which together make one particular
that is presented in the literal sense;
or what is the same,
in the internal sense there are particulars,
myriads of which together make in the literal sense one general;
and it is this general that is seen by a person,
but not the particulars which are in it and which constitute it.
Nevertheless the order of the particulars in the general
is apparent to a person,
but in accordance with his quality;
and this order is the holiness that affects him.