CL 461 - Delight

CL 461 [6]

"It is true that anyone who knows what delight is
also knows what heaven and hell are
and what they are like.
The will, which makes a person the person he is,
is not moved even the least bit except by delight;
for the will, regarded in itself,
is nothing but the action and effect of some love,
thus of delight,
inasmuch as it is some element
of fancy, liking and pleasure which causes one to will.
Moreover, because it is the will
that impels the intellect to think,
there is not the least idea existing in the thought
which does not flow in from a delight of the will.

"This is as it is
because the Lord activates all the elements of the soul
and all the elements of the mind
in angels, spirits and men
through an influx from Him,
and this through an influx of love and wisdom;
and this influx is the underlying activity
from which springs every delight,
which in its origin is called bliss, happiness and felicity,
and in its descent delight, gratification and pleasure,
and in its universal sensation, good."