Mark 2 & TCR 301

Occasionally, especially while reading through the Spiritual Diary, a passage does not just jump out from the page.  The ideas presented do, but they are somewhat disjointed and hard to pull out.  Today is one of those days.  Thankfully, in reading from the New Testament, this did, and an explanation from the True Christian Religion:

Mark 2:27-28
Then he said to them,
"The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath."

TCR 301
Among the Children of Israel the Sabbath was the holiest of observances,
because it represented the Lord.
The six days represented the Lord's toils and battles against the hells,
the seventh His victory over them, and so rest.
Since that day represented
the completion of the Lord's whole act of redemption,
it was for that reason the height of holiness.
When, however, the Lord came into the world,
so that representations of Him ceased,
that day became a day for instruction in Divine matters,
and also a day of rest from work,
for meditation about matters conducive to salvation and everlasting life,
and a day for love towards the neighbor.
Its being a day for instruction in Divine matters is plain from the fact
that the Lord taught in the Temple and in synagogues on that day . . ..
It follows from His saying this
that that day [the Sabbath] was to represent Him.

AC 2759 (Preface) - a heresy

AC 2759 - Preface

I tell you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build My Church,
and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
(Matt. 16: 15-19)

[2] They who press (rigidly adhere to) the sense of the letter
think that these things were said of Peter,
and that power so great was given him;
although they are fully aware that Peter was a very simple man,
and that he by no means exercised such power;
and that to exercise it is contrary to the Divine.
Nevertheless, owing to the insane and infernal love of self and the world
they desire to arrogate to themselves
the highest power on earth and in heaven,
and to make themselves gods,
they explain this according to the letter, and vehemently defend it;
whereas the internal sense of these words is,
that Faith itself in the Lord has that power,
which exists solely with those who are in love to the Lord
and in charity toward the neighbor:
and yet not faith, but the Lord from whom faith is.
By "Peter" there is meant that faith, as everywhere else in the Word.
Upon this is the Church built,
and against it the gates of hell do not prevail.
This faith has the keys of the kingdom of the heavens,
and it shuts heaven lest evils and falsities should enter in,
and opens heaven for goods and truths.
This is the internal sense of these words.


arrogate - assume or appropriate; to seize without justification
(various sources)

SD 3908

SD 3908
It was observed and said
that those who have enjoyed bodily felicity from wedlock,
and have lived in conjugial love,
that they have felicity also in the other life,
so that the felicity of their life in the world is felicity in the other life;
but that those who have lived in conjugial infelicity,
from holding their partners in contempt, aversion, and hatred,
that they are unhappy in the other life also.
(November 8, 1748)

SD 3894 - concerning spheres

SD 3894
It was observed, that as when the dung of horses was seen,
certain spirits could not endure the sphere arising from it,
[from its corresponding to] that of reasonings with the evil,
and perhaps as being confirmatory of scientifics with good;
so also in other things,
as when I ate butter upon bread,
then certain spirits, or a society of spirits,
were so indignant that they threatened evil to my tongue,
saying that they could not endure it,
for the reason that butter signifies the celestial,
from which arises the sphere of the good
which the evil cannot bear;
wherefore I ought [they said] for a long time to abstain from butter . . ..
So also in regard to many other things which I ate and drank . . ..
(November 6, 1748)

AC 2727,2728,2731,2738 - conjugial or marriage love is completely mutual and reciprocal

AC 2727
What genuine conjugial love is, and where its origin,
few at this day know, for the reason that few are in it.

AC 2728
Conjugial love takes its origin
from the Divine marriage of good and truth,
and thus from the Lord Himself.

AC 2731
From those most ancient people it has been heard
that conjugial love is of such a nature
as to desire to be altogether the other's, and this reciprocally;
and that when this is experienced mutually and reciprocally
they are in heavenly happiness:
also, that the conjunction of minds is of such a nature
that this mutuality and reciprocity is in everything of their life,
that is, in everything of their affection,
and in everything of their thought.
On this account it has been instituted by the Lord
that wives should be affections of good which are of the will,
and husbands thoughts of truth which are of the understanding;
and that from this there should be a marriage
such as there is between the will and the understanding,
and between all things thereof
with one who is in the good of truth and the truth of good.

AC 2738
Mutual love, such as there is in heaven,
is not like conjugial love.
Conjugial love consists in desiring to be in the other's life as a one;
but mutual love consists in wishing better to another than to one's self . . ..

SD 3873 - equilibrium & order

SD 3873
It was perceived that as there is such an equilibrium,
that evil returns upon him who intends and does evil,
so also there is such an order,
that whoever proposes to himself good ends,
thus who intends and does good,
returns to that good . . ..
(November 4, 1748)

AC 2715 - a humble heart

AC 2715 [2]
. . . humiliation . . . is essential in all worship,
and by means of which good can flow in from the Lord;
for an elated heart does not receive at all,
but a humble heart. 

AC 2706 - the Lord's presence

AC 2706
The Lord is indeed present with everyone;
for life is from no other source,
and He governs the most minute things of it,
even with the worst of men, and in hell itself;
but in various ways according to the reception of life.
With those who receive
the life of the love of His good and truth in a wrong manner,
and pervert it into loves of evil and falsity,
the Lord is present,
and overrules their ends as far as possible for good;
but His presence with them is called absence,
and indeed in the same degree
in which evil is distant from good, and falsity from truth.
But with those who receive
the life of the love of the Lord's good and truth,
He is said to be present,
and indeed according to the degree of reception.

SD 3787 - the Lord knows it!

SD 3787
. . . as soon as anyone begins to claim good and truth for himself,
the Lord knows it,
reflection is given him,
and by various lively experiences
he is instructed that it is not from himself,
but from the Lord,
so that he is at length brought into a state of truth,
and thus again enjoys the happiest liberty.
(October 31, 1748) 

AC 2704 - the third state - instruction

AC 2704
And gave the child drink.
(Genesis 21:19)
. . . this signifies instruction in spiritual things . . ..
This state, which is that of instruction . . .
is the third state of those who are coming out of vastation or desolation;
for when they come into a state of enlightenment or of heavenly light
(treated of in the preceding verse 18, see n. 2699),
they are then in the affection of knowing and learning truths;
and when they are in this affection,
they are easily and as it were spontaneously imbued with truths:
those who are on earth,
from the Lord's Word or from doctrine;
but those who are in heaven,
from the angels,
who perceive nothing more blessed and happy
than to teach novitiate brethren,
and imbue them with the truths and goods which are of heavenly order,
and thus lead to the Lord. 

imbue - inspire, permeate

AC 2702 - fountain of water

AC 2702 [5-6]
. . . the doctrine of truth is from Him;
and that when it is from Him,
or what is the same, from His Word,
it is a fountain of water
springing up unto eternal life;
and that truth itself is living water.

Jesus said, If any man thirst,
let him come unto Me, and drink;
whoever believes in Me,
as the Scripture says,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(John 7:37-38)

The Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of water;
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
(Revelation 7:17)

I will give unto him that is athirst
of the fountain of the water of life freely.
(Revelation. 21:6)

"rivers of living water," and "living fountains of waters,"
denote truths that are from the Lord, or from His Word;
for the Lord is the Word.
The good of love and of charity,
which is solely from the Lord,
is the life of truth.
He is said to be "athirst" who is in the love and affection of truth;
no other can "thirst." 

SD 3756, 3758 - life

SD 3756
. . . life consists in the understanding of what is true
and the willing of what is good.

SD 3758
. . .  a life truly human is one which has respect to eternal life,
and consequently to the soul . . .

AC 2701 - God opened her eyes. (Genesis 21:19)

AC 2701
It is said that "God opens the eyes"
when He opens the interior sight or understanding;
which is effected by an influx into a person's rational,
or rather into the spiritual of his rational.
This is done by the way of the soul,
or the internal way, unknown to the person.
This influx is his state of enlightenment,
in which the truths which he hears or reads are confirmed to him
by a kind of perception interiorly within his intellectual.
This the person believes to be innate in him,
and to proceed from his own intellectual faculty;
but in this he is very much mistaken;
for it is an influx through heaven from the Lord
into what is obscure, fallacious, and seeming with the person,
which by means of the good therein
causes the things which he believes to be similar to truth.
But they only who are spiritual
are blessed with enlightenment in the spiritual things of faith.
It is this which is signified by "God opening the eyes." 

AC 2698 - internal grief

AC 2698
They who are in internal grief,
and in despair from the privation of truth,
are elevated and sustained solely by truth,
because it is for this that they have grief and despair.
With those who are in the affection of good,
their good desires good as one hungers for bread;
but with those who are in the affection of truth,
their good desires truth, as one thirsts for water. 

SD 3740 - communication through the heavens

SD 3740
Spirits wondered that when they 
spoke they immediately received a response.
It was then perceived 
that the response [and] thus the true and the good,
which was in the memory of a person,
was excited solely by the common [or general prompting]
which flows from the Lord through heaven,
so that unless there were influx from the Lord,
no response of true and good would issue from the memory . . ..
So it appeared that all life is from the Lord.
(October 27, 1748)

AC 2689 - those in the life of good

AC 2689 [4]
. . . with those who are in the life of good . . .
truth itself has its own ground and heart,
and has its life from the Lord. 

AC 2682 - how we look at life

AC 2682 [3]
To those who are not being regenerated
it makes no difference whether they know the truth, or do not;
nor whether what they do know be truth or not,
provided they can palm a thing off for truth.
But they who are being regenerated
think much about doctrine and life,
because they think much about eternal salvation;
and therefore if truth be deficient with them,
as it is the subject of their thought and affection,
they grieve at heart.
The state of the one and of the other may be seen from this:
While a person is in the body
he is living as to his spirit in heaven,
and as to his body in the world;
for he is born into both, and has been so created
that as to his spirit he can be actually with the angels,
and at the same time with men by means of what is of the body.
But as there are few who believe
that they have a spirit which is to live after death,
there are few who are being regenerated.
To those who believe it,
the other life is the whole of their thought and affection,
and the world is nothing in comparison;
but to those who do not believe it,
the world is the whole of their thought and affection,
and the other life is in comparison nothing.
The former are they who can be regenerated,
but the latter are they who cannot.

AC 2675, 2678, 2679 - the first state of those who are being reformed and are becoming spiritual

AC 2675
With those who are becoming spiritual,
good and truth are implanted by the Lord
in the affection of memory-knowledges;
and this so that they desire to know and to learn
what is good and true
for the purpose and use
of becoming rational and of becoming spiritual . . ..
The entering of the Lord like this does indeed flow in with all,
but no others receive it for that end and that use
except those who can be reformed;
the rest do it for other ends and other uses,
which are innumerable,
and have regard to themselves and the world.

AC 2678
. . .  the first state of those who are being reformed
and are becoming spiritual . . .
is that they suppose they do good and think truth from themselves,
thus from what is their own, nor do they then know otherwise;
and when told that all good and truth are from the Lord
they do not indeed reject it,
but do not acknowledge it at heart,
because they do not feel it, nor interiorly perceive
that anything flows in from any other source than themselves.
As all who are being reformed are in such a state at first,
they are therefore left by the Lord in what is their own;
nevertheless they are led by means of this without knowing it.

AC 2679
. . . all things
even the least with a person
are foreseen by the Lord,
and are provided for his future state to eternity;
and this for his good insofar as is in any wise possible,
and as he suffers himself to be led by the Lord.

SD 3686 - among good spirits and angels

SD 3686
. . . their life after death is in this respect
extremely similar to their life in the body,
that they see each other, that they are in societies,
that they dwell together, speak together,
that they communicate their ideas and their happinesses,
and indeed they then speak more wisely
than can ever be described,
and with an indefinable feeling of enjoyment.

AC 2665 - very simply, how the Divine & Human united

AC 2665
 . . . Divine truth was the means of which He united the Human to the Divine;
and Divine good was the means of which He united the Divine to the Human;
which unition was reciprocal.

AC 2661 - When the Lord knew He would have to come into the world as a man

AC 2661 [2]
The Lord did not come into the world to save the celestial, but the spiritual.
The Most Ancient Church, called "Man," was celestial;
and if this church had remained in its integrity,
the Lord would have had no need to be born a man.
But as soon as this church began to decline,
the Lord foresaw that the celestial church would wholly perish from the world;
and on that account the prediction was then made
concerning the Lord's coming into the world (Gen. 3:15).
After the time of that church there was no longer a celestial church,
but a spiritual church;
for the Ancient Church which was after the flood was a spiritual church;
and this church, that is, those who were of the spiritual church,
could not have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world.
This is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew:

They that are well have no need of a physician,
but they that are sick;
I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance.
(Matthew 9:12-13)

Also by these words in John:

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold;
them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice,
and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
(John 10:16)

Also by the parable of the hundred sheep, in Matt. 18:11-13.

SD 3687 - love

SD 3687
It was perceived . . .
that it is love alone which . . . is ever the grand determining principle;
to whom love is wanting,
everything appears erratic, vague, confused, and obscure.
Wherefore the Lord alone,
who is love, and from whom is mercy,
determines all things, and according to the differences of love
he disposes societies, and so heaven and heavenly things.
(October 25, 1748)

AC 2657 - Cast out this handmaid and her son. (Genesis 21:10)

AC 2657
[2] With every person who is being regenerated there are two rationals,
one before regeneration, the other after regeneration.
The first, which is before regeneration,
is procured through the experience of the senses,
by reflections upon things of civic life and of moral life,
and by means of the sciences
and the reasonings derived from them and by means of them,
also by means of the knowledges of spiritual things
from the doctrine of faith or from the Word.
But these go no further at that time
than a little above the ideas of the corporeal memory,
which comparatively are quite material . . .

[3] But the rational after regeneration
is formed by the Lord through the affections of spiritual truth and good,
which affections are implanted by the Lord in a wonderful manner
in the truths of the former rational;
and those things in it which are in agreement
and which favor are thus vivified;
but the rest are separated from it as of no use . . ..
.
[5] But as examples aid conviction,
take as an example that which is a person's own before regeneration,
and that which is his own after it.
From the first rational,
which he has procured to himself by the means described above,
the person believes that he thinks truth and does good from himself,
and thus from what is his own.
This first rational cannot apprehend otherwise,
even if it has been instructed
that all the good of love and all the truth of faith are from the Lord.
But when a person is being regenerated,
which takes place in adult age,
then from the other rational with which he is gifted by the Lord
he begins to think that the good and truth are not from himself,
or from what is his own,
but from the Lord
(but that nevertheless he does good and thinks truth as from himself . . .).
The more he is then confirmed in this,
the more is he led into the light of truth respecting these things,
till at last he believes that all good and all truth are from the Lord.
The Own that belongs to the former rational is then successively separated,
and the persoan is gifted by the Lord with a heavenly Own,
which becomes that of his new rational.

[7] But be it known that although a person is being regenerated,
still each and all things of the first rational remain with him,
and are merely separated from the second rational,
and this in a most wonderful manner by the Lord.
But the Lord wholly banished His first rational,
so that nothing of it remained;
for what is merely human cannot be together with the Divine.
So He was no longer the son of Mary,
but was Jehovah as to each essence.

SD 3636 - concerning the rainbow

SD 3636
There appeared to me very beautiful rainbows,
as on former occasions, but still more beautiful,
with a light of the purest white,
in the center of which was an obscure earthy something;
but that most lucid snow-white appearance
was beautifully varied by another lucidity,
and was thus distinguished also by little yellowish points like small stars,
besides other beautiful variations,
and, if I rightly recollect,
with flowers of different colors round about,
and entering into the most lucid part.
This was exhibited before the left eye.
On the right were exceedingly beautiful representations,
distinguished by the blue and its various related colors,
because the right eye represents affections,
and they derive colors not from a white lucidity,
but from that which is flamy. 
(October 21. 1748)

Luke 11:27, 28

But Jesus said,
Blessed are they 
that hear the Word of God,
and keep it.
(Luke 11:27,28)

(How often do we forget that these words aren't just made up by the minister,
but were actually said by the Lord Himself?)

AC 2632 - the purification of the rational

AC 2632 [2]
The Lord's first rational was born in the way it is with others,
that is to say, by means of facts and cognitions.
. . . Because it was born, as with others,
by means of facts and cognitions,
thus by the external way, which is that of the senses,
this rational inevitably included many things that were worldly in origin,
for it is from those things
that the ideas which the rational possesses are acquired.
This was even more so the case with the Lord
on account of the heredity He had from the mother.
It was those worldly things and this heredity
which the Lord gradually cast out of His rational
until it was such that it was able to receive the Divine.
At this point the Lord's Divine Rational,
represented by 'Isaac', was born,
not indeed by the external way, which is that of the senses
 - as was the case with the previous rational -
but by the internal way from the Divine itself.
As this was not accomplished all at once but gradually,
the rational was purified, and constantly so.
It is this purification that is meant by
'Abraham circumcised his son, a son eight days old'.
That the Lord gradually made His Rational Divine
and purified it constantly . . .

Jesus said, Father, glorify Your name.
A voice therefore came from heaven,
I have both glorified it,
and will glorify it again.
(John 12: 28)

'Glorifying' is making Divine, see 1603, 1999.

precept
1: a command or principle intended especially as a general rule of action

2: an order issued by legally constituted authority to a subordinate official
(Wikipedia)
cognitions
things we come to know, worldly knowledges

SD 3619 - foul and filthy water

SD 3619
. . . foul and filthy water
corresponds to that state in which a person is
when he acts on account of his own glory and renown.
(October 20< 1748)

SD 3617 - the fruits of faith in the next life

SD 3617
. . . in the other life
good works or the fruits of faith pre-eminently* exist; 
that, for instance, there could be no felicity in simple repose. . ..
Such a life would be without use or end,
and therefore not an active life,
which is a life of love;
but they there pre-eminently show forth good works or the fruits of faith,
as they perceive nothing more blessed
than to gather spirits from the life of the body,
to inform and teach them,
also to revive those who are at the point of death . . .
then that they may minister to people
and control the spirits that are with them,
and prevent their going beyond proper bounds,
and also that they may inspire good into people;
lastly that they may resuscitate the dead.
In these things [good spirits] have their highest felicity from the Lord,
thus also heaven and the angels,
so that they love the neighbor better than themselves
thus they are images of the Lord.
(October 19, 1748)

*pre·em·i·nent or pre-em·i·nent (pr - m -n nt). adj.
Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding.
(FreeDictionary.com)

AC 2625 - here and there

AC 2625
There are two things which while person lives in the world
appear to be essential, because they are proper to nature,
namely, space and time.
So to live in space and time is to live in the world or in nature.
But in the other life these two things are of no consequence. 
In the world of spirits indeed they do appear to be of some consequence,
for the reason that spirits fresh from the body
still retain the idea of natural things;
yet it is not long before they perceive
that there is no space and time there,
but state instead;
and that in the other life states correspond to spaces and times in nature . . ..

From this anyone can see what kind of an idea a person may have,
while in the world or in nature,
respecting the things of the other life and many arcana of faith;
namely, that he is not willing to believe them
until he understands them by means of the things in the world,
indeed, by sensuous things;
for he must needs suppose
that if he were to put off the idea of space and time,
and still more space and time themselves,
he would become absolutely nothing;
and thus that he would have nothing left from which he could feel and think,
except something confused and incomprehensible;
when yet the case is exactly the reverse.
Angelic life is of such a nature as to be the wisest and happiest of all.

SD 3602 - objections to the knowledges of faith

SD 3602
. . . no objections (of this kind) ought to be formed,
because they are doubts and denials;
for a thousand books may be filled with objections.
Consequently confirmations out to be assumed,
which are insinuated.
Such are those in heaven,
that they love only confirming things,
and reject objections.
(October 17, 1748)

AC 2618 - we cannot know everything

AC 2618
As regards the state of unition
of the Lord's Divine spiritual in His Divine celestial,
this is the very marriage itself of good and truth,
from which comes the heavenly marriage;
and this marriage is the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth.
For this reason the Lord's kingdom is so frequently in the Word
called a "marriage," and is compared to a marriage.
The reason (a secret one) is that all conjugial love
(and through this all celestial and spiritual love)
comes from the marriage of Divine good and truth,
and of Divine truth and good, in the Lord.
What further arcana are enfolded in these words:
that "Jehovah visited Sarah as He had said,"
and that "Jehovah did unto Sarah as He had spoken,"
(Genesis 21:1) cannot be declared, because they are inexpressible;
for they comprise the very state itself
of the union of the Lord's Divine with His Human.
Appearances of this are presented by the Lord
before the angels by means of heavenly lights,
and are illustrated by means of indescribable representations;
but they cannot be presented before men,
because it would have to be done by means of such things
as belong to the light of the world,
into which such arcana do not fall;
 Indeed a description that relies on such things
makes them all the more obscure.

AC 2606-2607 - the Word of the Old Testament

AC 2606-2607
The Word of the Old Testament
was formerly called the "Law and the Prophets."
By the "Law" were meant all the historical books,
which are the five books of Moses,
(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
and those of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings:
by the "Prophets" were meant all the prophetical books,
which are those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zephaniah, Malachi;
and also the Psalms of David.
The historical books of the Word are also called "Moses;"
so it is occasionally said, "Moses and the Prophets,"
instead of the "Law and the Prophets;"
and the prophetical books are called "Elias" . . ..

As regards the historicals they are all historically true,
except those in the first chapters of Genesis,
which are made up history . . ..
Yet although they are historically true,
they nevertheless have an internal sense;
and in that sense, like the propheticals, treat solely of the Lord.
They do indeed treat of heaven and the church,
and of what belongs to heaven and the church,
but as these are of the Lord,
through these the historicals look to the Lord,
and therefore are the Word. 

SD 3576 - ends, uses, the universe and the Lord

SD 3576
. . . no idea is to be had of use except from effects.
And as uses and ends can never exist 
but from organic substances,
and because uses and ends are the vital principles 
of organic substances,
it consequently appears that the Universe,
as to its contents, from the inmost to the outmost, is organic,
and that the Lord alone is Life,
and thus the Universe is filled by the Lord.
(October 15, 1748)

AC 2606 - the Lord

AC 2606
. . . the Lord from on high sees each and all things.

AC 2588 - order, enlightenment

AC 2588 [8]
. . . when we do that which is according to order
we are enlightened;
but when we do that which is contrary to order,
we are made blind.
All of which shows of how great concern it is
that truths should be known and believed;
for a person is enlightened by truths,
but is made blind by falsities.
By truths there is opened to the rational
an immense and almost unbounded field;
but by falsities comparatively none at all,
although this does not appear to be so.
It is because the angels are in truths
that they enjoy wisdom so great;
for truth is the very light of heaven.

SD 3530 - mutual love

That Mutual Love in Heaven
is to Love the Neighbor Better than One's Self
SD 3530
This may be seen in shadow from true conjugial love,
in that a husband loves his partner better than himself;
that he will undergo death for her;
that he will lay out upon her all his goods;
that he will give to her rather than [take for] himself.
So also from the love of parents towards their children,
as it is known to everyone,
that a mother will suffer hunger herself
rather than that her infant shall go without food.
The beasts and birds, in like manner,
are more solicitous for their offspring than for themselves.
Thus too from true friendships,
when one will die for his friend,
and will serve him in every way before himself.
So likewise from common civility,
which draws its origin from this source,
and in which mutual love is externally indicated
by giving better portions, dishes, etc., to another,
and taking the poorer to one's self.
And finally from deposits and loans,
when those that are upright will guard and preserve
what belongs to their neighbor
more carefully than they do what is their own.
The same thing appears from the nature of love,
which is such that it wishes to give itself to others,
and its joy is to serve another and not itself . . ..
But they cannot receive this who love themselves supremely,
or who are greedy of lucre, least of all the avaricious.
Thus is the Lord [in His love] shadowed forth.
[October 10, 1748]

AC 2584 - from wisdom? or from folly?

AC 2584 [3]
. . . the quality of the doctrine of faith
. . .when it is regarded from Divine truths,
that is, from the Word,
then each and all things,
of both reason and memory,
confirm it;
but this is not the case when it is regarded from human things,
that is, from reason and memory-knowledges;
for then nothing of good and nothing of truth is conceived;
for to regard it from the Word
is to regard it from the Lord,
whereas to regard it from reason and memory-knowledge
is to regard it from man.
From the former comes all intelligence and wisdom;
from the latter all insanity and folly.

SD 3525 - two angels

SD 3525
I was instructed that with every person
there are two angelic spirits at his head,
by whom the Lord protects a person,
whose office it is to moderate and control
the evil spirits who approach him,
besides various other things
pertaining to a person's truth and good.
. . . Thus, too, with the dead who are to be resuscitated,
there are always two angels.
(October 10, 1748)

AC2574 - how precious to angels

AC 2574 [3]
. . . there are angels who, while they were people,
formed ideas of the Lord's Human 
as they did of that of any other person.
In order that these angels may exist together 
with celestial angels in the next life
 - for in that life, 
ideas inspired by an affection for good join people together -
such erroneous ideas as they have had about the Lord
are dispelled by means of the internal sense,
and in this way they are perfected.
This shows how precious to angels
those things are within the internal sense of the Word,
though they may perhaps seem of small importance
 to a person whose idea of such things is so obscure
as to be scarcely any idea at all.

SD 3495 - freedom & slavery

SD 3495
. . . he who is led by the Lord is free,
and he a slave who, in his own opinion, is led by himself . . .

AC 2571 - the order in becoming spiritual & celestial

AC 2571 [2]
That the Lord's thought before this 
had been concerning the doctrine of faith,
but now was concerning the doctrine of love and charity,
comes from the fact
that the Lord adjoined the Human to the Divine
by means of the truths which are of faith
(although at the same time
by means of Divine goods which are of love, in the truths)
according to the order 
by which a person also becomes spiritual and celestial;
but not Divine, so as to have life in himself, like the Lord.
. . . for when a person has become spiritual and celestial
he then no longer thinks from truth, but from good;
yet not from the Divine good united to the Divine truth, 
as did the Lord.

AC 2547 - the Lord's Word; AC 2552 - perception, conscience & thoughts

AC 2547 [4]
. . . regarded in itself the Lord's Word is solely spiritual and celestial;
but in order that it may be read and understood by every person,
the things of heaven are set forth by such things as are on earth.

AC 2552
. . . perception is a higher thing,
and the Lord had it from the Divine Itself;
whereas thought is a lower thing,
and the Lord had it from the intellectual itself;
and as it was perception from which He had the thought,
so the answer of the thought was from perception.
This may be illustrated by something similar with a person.
The celestial person cannot think except from perception,
nor the spiritual person except from conscience.
The perception of the former,
like the conscience [of the latter] is from the Lord,
and it is not apparent to the person himself where it comes from;
but his thought is from the rational,
and appears to him as from himself.
And so again,
when a person is thinking concerning any subject from the rational,
then the conclusion of the thought, or the answer,
comes either from perception or from conscience;
consequently an answer is given him by the Lord
in accordance with his state of life, his affection,
and the truth of doctrine implanted or impressed in conformity with these.

SD 3471 - our brain; SD 3484 - forms

SD 3471
. . . if spirit was nothing but thought,
a person would have no need of so much brain as he has,
for the whole brain is an organ of the internal senses.

SD 3484
. . . there are spiritual forms
within the most subtle forms of nature
which are never perceptible.
(October 5, 1748)

AC 2540 - perspective

AC 2540
. . . he "rose early in the morning,"
this not only signifies clear perception,
but also the light of confirmation from celestial good;
for it is celestial good from which comes the confirming light of truth;
all of which shows that this is the signification.

[2] The reason why the perception
which the Lord had when in the Human,
and His thought concerning what is rational in the doctrine of faith,
are so much treated of in the internal sense,
is that which has been stated above;
as well as that it is angelic
to think with distinctiveness of various things
concerning the Lord's life in the world,
and how He put off the human rational,
and made the rational Divine from His own power;
and at the same time concerning the doctrine of charity and faith,
such as it is when the rational mixes itself with it;
besides many more things dependent on these,
which are interior things of the church and of people.
To the person
whose mind and heart are set upon worldly and corporeal things,
these things appear as unimportant,
and perchance as of no advantage to him;
yet to the angels,
whose minds and hearts are set upon celestial and spiritual things,
these same things are precious;
and their ideas and perceptions respecting them are ineffable*.
This shows that very many things which seem unimportant to a person,
because they transcend his comprehension,
are held in the highest estimation by the angels,
because they enter into the light of their wisdom;
and on the other hand,
things that are most highly esteemed by a person,
because they are of the world,
and therefore come within his comprehension,
are unimportant to the angels,
for they pass outside of the light of their wisdom.
And such is the case with the internal sense of the Word,
relatively to angels and to people, in many places. 
 

*in ef fa ble  /inˈefəbəl/
Too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words:
"ineffable beauty".
Too sacred to be uttered.

(from Google)

SD 3460 - a question

SD 3460
Who worships nature as God
more than those that are skilled in the different sciences?
(October 3, 1748)

AC 2519, 2524 - more on the rational; AC 2535 - prayer

AC 2519
. . . the doctrinal things of faith are in their entirety from the Divine,
which is infinitely above the human rational.
It is from the Divine that the rational receives its good and its truth.
The Divine can enter into the rational,
but not the rational into the Divine;
as the soul can enter into the body,
and form it, but not the body into the soul . . ..

AC 2524
Divine good and Divine truth are united to each other as if by marriage . . ..
But the good and truth of the rational
are not conjoined with each other as by marriage,
but by consanguinity, like brother and sister;
since the rational as to truth is conceived
from the influx of Divine good into the affection of knowledges;
and the good of the rational,
through the influx of Divine good into that truth,
which then becomes the good itself of charity,
which is the "brother" of faith,
or what is the same, of truth.

AC 2535
Prayer, regarded in itself, is speech with God,
and with some internal view at the time of the matters of the prayer,
to which there answers something like an influx
into the perception or thought of the mind,
so that there is a certain opening of the person's interiors toward God;
but this with a difference according to the person's state,
and according to the essence of the subject of the prayer.
If the person prays from love and faith,
and for only heavenly and spiritual things,
there then comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation
(which is made clear in the affection of him that prays)
as to hope, consolation, or a certain inward joy.
It is from this that to "pray" signifies in the internal sense to be revealed. 

SD 3442 - a single expression of the Word

SD 3442
From the incidents related above,
it appeared that a single expression of the Word,
which [one interprets] for himself according to his fantasies,
is able to induce an entirely false doctrine or heresy, and thus a life;
as, for instance, from this alone,
that all goods ought to be common,
thus also wives again from this,
that a person is regenerated while in ignorance of it,
and without the need of knowledges;
from this also, that the Lord has borne iniquities,
[implying] that all the human race is pure,
and that consequently the Lord alone is burdened with sin;
moreover, that life is that which is regarded, but not faith,
because it is something scientific;
besides other similar things;
thus myriads of heresies may exist from the literal sense of the Word. 

AC 2515 & 2516 - thoughts and thinking from the rational

AC 2515
There are thoughts from perception;
thoughts from conscience;
and thoughts from no conscience.

Thoughts from perception exist only with the celestial,
that is, with those who are in love to the Lord;
such thought is the most internal that exists with a person;
and it exists with the celestial angels in heaven,
for it is perception from the Lord
by which and from which their thought exists;
and to think contrary to perception is impossible.

Thoughts from conscience are lower,
and exist with the spiritual, that is,
with those who are in the good of charity and faith 

as to life and as to doctrine.
Moreover with these persons to think contrary to conscience is impossible;
for this would be to think against the good and truth
which are dictated to them from the Lord through conscience.

But thoughts from no conscience exist with those
who do not suffer themselves to be inwardly directed 
by what is good and true,
but only by what is evil and false;
that is, not by the Lord, but by themselves.
Such persons believe that they inwardly think
 just as do those who think from conscience and perception,
for the reason that they do not know what conscience is, still less perception;
but the difference is as great as is that between hell and heaven.
They who think without conscience
think from any cupidities and fantasies whatever; thus from hell;
and when it seems otherwise,
it is from external decorum for the sake of reputation.
But they who think from conscience
think from the affections of good and truth; thus from heaven.
But as regards the Lord's thought,
it transcended all human understanding,
for it was immediately from the Divine.

AC 2516 [2-3]
The reason why there is no doctrine of faith from the rational,
is that the rational is in appearances of good and truth,
which appearances are not in themselves truths.
Moreover the rational has under it
fallacies which are from external sensuous things
confirmed by memory-knowledges,
which induce obscurity in these appearances of truth.
The rational for the most part is merely human,
as also is evident from its birth;
and this is why nothing doctrinal of faith can begin from it,
and still less be constructed from it;
but must be from the Lord's Divine Itself and Divine Human.
This is its origin, and indeed so entirely 
that the Lord is doctrine itself;
on which account also in the Word He is called
the Word, the Truth, the Light, the Way, the Door;
and (what is an arcanum)
all doctrine is from the Divine good and the Divine truth,
and has in itself the heavenly marriage.
Doctrine that has not this in it is not the genuine doctrine of faith.
So it is that in all the particulars of the Word (the source of doctrine)
there is an image of a marriage.

In the literal or external sense of the Word
the doctrine of faith does indeed appear
as if it possessed much from the rational,
and even from the natural; 
but this is because the Word is for mankind,
and has been in this manner accommodated to him;
but still in itself it is spiritual from a celestial origin,
that is, from Divine truth conjoined with Divine good. 

AC 2479-2493 (portions of) - thoughts and memories

AC 2479
. . . insofar as the mind can be withdrawn from sensuous or corporeal things,
so far is it elevated to spiritual and heavenly things.

AC 2488
. . . the spirits with a person know and take note of
the smallest things of his memory and thoughts;
and this much more clearly than the person himself;
and the angels know and take note of the ends themselves,
how they bend themselves from good to evil,
and from evil to good;
and of many more things than the person knows . . .
Let no person therefore any longer believe that his thoughts are hidden,
and that he is not to render an account of his thoughts
and of his deeds according to the degree and the quality
of the thoughts that have been in them;
for the deeds have their quality from the thoughts,
and the thoughts from the ends.

AC 2490
. . . they who are in the faith of truth and the affection of good
retain all things which are true and good,
and are thereby being continually perfected.
Consequently it is that they can be instructed,
and that they are instructed in the other life.

AC 2492
For the exterior memory is the ultimate of order,
in which spiritual and heavenly things are softly terminated and reside
when there are goods and truths therein.

AC 2493
. . . the more interior and perfect the angels are,
the less do they care for past things,
and the less do they think of things to come;
and also that from this comes their happiness.
They say that the Lord gives them every moment what to think,
and this with blessedness and happiness;
and that they are thus free from cares and anxieties.
Also, that this was meant in the internal sense
by the manna being received daily from heaven;
and by the daily bread in the Lord's Prayer;
and likewise by the instruction
not to be solicitous about what they should eat and drink,
and wherewithal they should be clothed.
But although the angels do not care for past things,
and are not solicitous about things to come,
they nevertheless have the most perfect recollection of past things,
and the most perfect mental view of things to come;
because in all their present there are both the past and the future.
Thus they have a more perfect memory
than can ever be thought of or expressed. 

SD 3427 - what it is . . . and the general law of heaven

SD 3427

What Good Is, What the Truth of Good, and What Truth

Let fruit be [taken as an example]:

• The use which fruit answers, is good.
• The manner in which the use is to be applied, is the truth of good.
• The quality of the fruit as to taste, smell, and beauty, is truth.

The odor of fruits or flowers:

• The use which odor subserves relative to the brain,
  the lungs, and the heart, is good.
• The manner in which it is to be applied, so as to answer its use,
  as to the nostrils, the temples, or about the head like a wreath,
  is the truth of good.
• The quality of the odor, and the like, are truth.

Charity:

• The use it serves, is good.
• How charity is to be dispensed, is the truth of good.
• The quality of charity, is truth.

The General Law of Heaven

1. So far as the love of ruling enters with a person,
   so far love towards the neighbor departs.
2. Thus also so far as love towards the neighbor departs,
   so far love to the Lord departs;
   for the good which is from Him is the neighbor,
   and also the truth of good.
3. Consequently it follows, that so far as the love of ruling enters,
   so far a saving faith, which is from the Lord, departs;
   for faith is of truth which is of good.
4. That this is so appears from conjugial love,
   which departs just in proportion as the love of ruling enters.
   Conjugial love is the fundamental of all loves.

Ac 2466, 2468 - the external and the internal

AC 2466 [2]
. . . contaminations of good and perversions of truth
are described in the Word
by adulteries and whoredoms . . ..

AC 2468
. . . those who are in an external worship which appears in a manner holy,
but who are not in internal worship;
and who readily learn as being goods and truths
the things that belong to external worship,
but reject and despise those of internal worship.
Such worship and such religion
fall to the lot of those who are in natural good,
but despise others in comparison with themselves.
They are not unlike fruits which in the external form are not unbeautiful,
but which are moldy or rotten within . . ..

SD 3389 - the brightness of innocence

SD 3389
There were seen by me, infants and mothers in a lucid space,
of such brightness, that anything brighter is never seen.
The brightness was of innocence, thus represented in this sphere;
which brightness is so distinguished from white that there is no comparison.
Snow approaches its appearance;
but still it is such a brightness as cannot be described.

AC 2462 - Zoar

AC 2462
For he feared to dwell in Zoar.
(Genesis 19:30)
That this signifies because he could no longer
regard good from the affection of truth,
is evident from the signification of "Zoar,"
as being the affection of truth (n. 2439);
and when this is vastated
no one can any longer have regard to good from it.
There is then also a fear of all truth,
because this is opposed to the good of an impure love.

SD 3373-3374 - just before the flood

SD 3373-3374
. . . immediately before the flood,
nearly the whole interior man was destroyed,
so that scarcely any human principle was left.

It should be well observed that it is not the force of argument,
. . . which causes their persuasions of so deadly a nature,
but it is their fantasies, whatever they may be, even if the most absurd;
still are they in such a persuasion,
as that they kill every living thing,
that is, the good and true . . ..

AC 2454 - a pillar of salt

AC 2454 [5]
Truth is said to turn itself away from good,
and to look to doctrinal things,
when the person of the church
no longer has at heart what kind of a life he lives,
but what kind of a doctrine he possesses;
when yet it is a life according to doctrine
that makes a person of the church,
but not doctrine separate from life;
for when doctrine is separated from life,
then because good, which is of the life, is laid waste,
truth, which is of doctrine, is also laid waste,
that is, becomes a pillar of salt . . ..

AC 2447 - Will, Good-pleasure, Leave, and Permission

AC 2447 [2]
All order is from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord,
and according to this order
are all things are directed by Him
both in general and in particular,
but in many different ways, that is to say,
from Will, from Good-pleasure, from Leave, and from Permission.
The things that are from His will and good-pleasure
are from the laws of order as to good,
and so also are many of those which are from leave,
and some of those which are from permission.
But when a person separates himself from good
he casts himself into the rule of the laws of order
that are of truth separated from good,
which are such that they condemn;
for all truth condemns a person and casts him down into hell;
whereas the Lord from good, that is, from mercy,
saves him, and uplifts him into heaven.
From this we see that it is a person himself who condemns himself.

SD 3330 - the reasoning faculty

SD 3330
. . . the human reasoning faculty is hidden within when fantasies prevail . . .

AC 2429 - a paradox?

AC 2429 [2-3]
The truth in a person is exactly according to the good that is in him.
Where there is little good, there is little truth.
They are in a like ratio and in a like degree,
or, as we say, they march with even step.
This indeed may seem a paradox, but still the case is so.
Good is the very essence of truth,
and truth without its essence is not truth,
although it appears as if it were . . ..

In order that anyone may have truth in himself,
he must not only know it,
but also acknowledge it,
and have faith in it;
he then for the first time has truth,
because it then affects him, and remains.
It is otherwise when he only knows truth,
and does not acknowledge it, and have faith in it;
for in this case he has not the truth in himself.
This is the case with many who are in evil:
they are able to know truths,
sometimes more than other people;
but still they have not the truth;
indeed they have it so much the less,
because at heart they deny it.

AC 2417 - faith alone and true charity

AC 2417
[2] Doctrine is twofold: that of love and charity, and that of faith.
At first, while it is still a little maid and a virgin,
every church of the Lord has no other doctrine,
and loves no other, than that of charity; for this belongs to life.
But successively the church turns itself away from this doctrine,
until it begins to hold it cheap, and at length to reject it;
and then it acknowledges no other doctrine
than that which is called the doctrine of faith;
and when it separates faith from charity,
this doctrine conspires with a life of evil.

[3] Such was the case with the Primitive Church,
or that of the Gentiles, after the Lord's coming.
In its beginning it had no other doctrine than that of love and charity,
for this the Lord Himself taught.
But after His time, successively, as love and charity began to grow cold,
there arose the doctrine of faith,
and with it dissensions and heresies,
which increased as people came to lay stress on this doctrine.
.
[6] This shows that there are two doctrines,
the one of charity, and the other of faith,
although in themselves the two are one;
for the doctrine of charity involves all things of faith.
But when the doctrine comes to be from those things alone which are of faith,
it is then called twofold, because faith is separated from charity.
That these doctrines are separated at the present day
may be seen from the fact that it is altogether unknown
what charity is, and what the neighbor is.
They who are solely in the doctrine of faith
are not aware that charity toward the neighbor
consists in anything beyond giving of their own to others,
and in feeling pity for anybody who may seem to need it,
because they call everybody the neighbor without distinction;
and yet charity is all good whatever there is in a person:
in his affection, and in his zeal, and from these in his life;
and the neighbor is all the good in others by which one is affected,
consequently those who are in good;
and this with every possible distinction.

[7] For example: that a person is in charity and mercy
who exercises justice and judgment
by punishing the evil and rewarding the good.
There is charity in punishing the evil,
for to this are we impelled by our zeal to amend them,
and at the same time to protect the good,
lest these suffer injury at the hands of the evil.
In this way does a person feeling toward him,
as well as to others, and to the common well-being itself;
and this from charity toward the neighbor.
The case is the same with all the other goods of life;
for the good of life is never possible
unless it comes from charity toward the neighbor,
because it looks to this, and involves it.

AC 2406 - the second state: what the Lord does for us

AC 2406 [1-2]
The first state was described in verses 1-3 of this chapter,
a state when the good of charity exists with them
and they acknowledge the Lord,
and when they are being confirmed by Him in good.
The present verse describes the second state,
a state when among members of the Church themselves
evils start to act against goods
and when people are powerfully withheld from evils
and maintained in goods by the Lord.
This state is dealt with in the present verse
and in verses 16, 17, which follow.

As regards this matter, few, if any,
know that all people without exception are withheld from evils by the Lord,
and this by a mightier force than a person can ever believe.
For the endeavor of every person is continually toward evil,
and this both from what is hereditary, into which he is born,
and from what is actual, which he has procured for himself;
and this to such a degree that if he were not withheld by the Lord,
he would rush headlong every moment toward the lowest hell.
But the mercy of the Lord is so great
that at every moment, even the least,
the person is uplifted and held back,
to prevent him from rushing thither.
This is the case with the good also,
but with a difference according to their life of charity and faith.
Thus the Lord combats continually
with a person,
and for a person
with hell,
although it does not so appear to the person.

AC 2405 - dawn, the morning when the Lord comes

AC 2405 [2,8]
. . . when the upright are being separated from the evil . . .
This time or state is called in the Word the "dawn,"
because the Lord then comes; or what is the same,
His kingdom then approaches.
The case is similar with the good,
for at such a time there shines out with them
a semblance of the morning twilight or dawn;
and therefore in the Word
the advent of the Lord is compared to the "morning,"
and is also called the "morning."

After two days Jehovah will revive us,
on the third day He will raise us up,
and we shall live before Him;
and we shall know,
and we shall follow on to know Jehovah;
His going forth is as the dawn.
(Hosea 6:2-3)

As in the proper sense the "morning" signifies the Lord,
His advent, and thus the approach of His kingdom,
it is evident what it signifies besides,
namely, the rise of a new church (for this is the Lord's kingdom on earth),
and this both in general and in particular, and even in the least particular;
in general, when any church on the globe is being raised up anew;
in particular, when a person is being regenerated, and being made new
(for then the Lord's kingdom is arising in him, and he is becoming a church);
and in the least particular,
whenever the good of love and faith is working in him;
for in this consists the advent of the Lord.
Consequently the Lord's resurrection on the third day in the morning
(Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) involves all these things
(even in the particular and the least particular)
in regard to His rising again in the minds of the regenerate every day,
and even every moment.

SD 3342-3344 - spheres (or auras)

SD 3342-3344
As to the sphere of faith, their quality as to faith,
he might recognize a like spirit . . .
without exploration of one after another,
also even if one should be thinking of entirely different matters.
Such spheres . . . are human.

Such spheres are of the Lord alone;
for they descend from the sphere of faith in the Lord,
from and through this, the rest of the spheres are distinguished
and they flow forth therefrom;
wherefore spheres of odor correspond;
and so is odor mentioned in the Word
as that Jehovah smelled a sweet odor.

Visual spheres also occur,
distinct from those which belong to odor.
A visual sphere was previously perceived . . .
a sphere of grace, as it were, a golden-yellow atmosphere,
which was reddish when it pertained to mercy;
and I perceived that grace was then in that sphere,
when it was pertained to also of mercy.

AC 2380 - those in the good of charity

AC 2380 [2]
While a person remains in corporeal things,
he is in such a general and obscure idea and perception
that he scarcely knows whether he is in the good of charity or not;
and this for the additional reason
that he does not know what charity is,
and what the neighbor is.
. . . All those are in the good of charity who have conscience
(that is, who are unwilling to depart in any degree
from what is just and fair, and good and true,
and this for the very sake of what is just and fair, and good and true,
for this principle is from conscience),
and who from having conscience
think well of the neighbor and desire his welfare,
even should he be an enemy;
and this without any recompense.
These are they who are in the good of charity,
whether they be without the church or within the church.
If within the church, they adore the Lord,
and willingly hear and do the things that He has taught.

SD 3310 - wishing for more heavenly joy

SD 3310
. . . every good person obtains from the Lord the maximum of joy,
that is, even to the deepest for them,
more than which they cannot bear.
And even though in the deeper level
there may be immeasurably greater joy,
nevertheless those who wish for greater joy
than the innermost one they have attained,
are covetous.
(September 24, 1748)

SD 3254 - do thoughts from earth flow to heaven?

SD 3254
. . . the Lord's life passes through heaven,
and it is varied according to the forms there.
What these are like cannot be described.
The more perfect a society's collective form is,
the more truly and beautifully,
and the more quickly and directly [the Lord's life] streams in.
So it is a fallacy that any person on earth or any spirit
can by their own thought or their own skill penetrate into heaven,
or into spiritual and heavenly regions.
(September 22, 1748)

AC 2380 - esteem

AC 2380
. . . for the angels esteem the body as nothing in comparison with the soul.

SD 3229 - a beautiful rainbow scene

SD 3229
Different kinds of rainbows
such as I had seen previously quite often before my eyes,
were displayed to me just now also.
In the middle of these was something green, like a lawn,
and behind this an earth, with a sun not visible, but shining on it,
and at the same time shedding light round about,
so bright and beautiful that it cannot be described.
No comparison exists of that light with our day or noonday light.
Then in that bright environment
were most beautiful variegations on a light-filled pearl-colored plane.
The variations of color were without number.
(September 21, 1748)

SD 3201, 3231 - the permission and care of the Lord

SD 3201
So that I might know how and why the Lord
sometimes permits spirits in the other life
to undergo such punishments and torments as they do,
I was let into the supposition
as if a certain very friendly spirit
would be brought into most severe punishments . . ..
And then I was held in that supposition
that if he did not undergo the most grievous kinds of punishments,
he would never become good.
In that state of mind I was held with the conviction
that it would be impossible for him to become good
unless he were thus tempered.
In that state I was unable to feel at all sorry for him,
much less come to his aid,
for I had at heart the good that would come of it,
which I was constantly being inspired to turn over in my mind.
From this I am able to know
how the Lord permits such punishments, even severe ones,
because He turns everything into good,
intending nothing else but good,
and it is the means for that spirit's reformation.
(September 19, 1748)

SD 3231
I was overcome with sleep after the noon hour, and quite a sound sleep.
When I awoke there were many around me asleep,
even spirits who had wanted to entrap me were sleeping deeply,
thus all those who came with the intention of harming me.
When they awoke, they said they had slept;
and one after the other fled away,
one saying that he had not meant to fall asleep;
I sensed that he had wanted to do harm.
Consequently I spoke with the spirits,
saying that the Lord alone watches over all,
even His enemies, and does good to them.
(September 21, 1748)

AC 2362 - not what it seems . . .

AC 2362 [5]
From the things contained in this verse
it can be seen how pure the Word is in the internal sense,
although it may not so appear in the letter;
for when these words are read:
"Behold I pray I have two daughters who have not known man;
let me I pray bring them out unto you,
and you may do unto them as is good in your eyes,
only unto these men do not anything,"
(Genesis 19:8)
nothing but what is impure enters the ideas,
especially the ideas of those who are in a life of evil.
And yet how chaste these words are in the internal sense,
is made clear from the explanation,
by which it is shown that
they signify the affections of good and of truth,
and the blessedness which they who do no violence
to the Lord's Divine and Holy
perceive from the enjoyment of them.

SD - 3178 - depends on what you do with the thought

SD 3178
. . . whatever comes into the thought, not the will, is not a sin.
Then if it comes into the will, or something like the will,
and one thinks this is a sin, against the Lord's Word,
and will burden one's conscience, and so shakes it off,
neither can this be a sin, but is a temptation.
But if something comes into the thought, and into the will,
that one desires to carry out provided outer restraints do not hinder
- this is a sin, just as the Lord said,
he who looks at a girl with lust,
has already committed whoredom [Matthew 5:28].
(September 16, 1748)

AC 2338 - doubt & hope; AC 2343 - salvation

AC 2338
. . . temptations are attended with doubt
in regard to the Lord's presence and mercy,
and also in regard to salvation.
The evil spirits who are then with the person
and induce the temptation strongly inspire negation,
but the good spirits and angels from the Lord
in every possible way dispel this state of doubt,
and keep the person in a state of hope,
and at last confirm him in what is affirmative.
The result is that a person who is in temptation
hangs between what is negative and what is affirmative.
One who yields in temptation remains in a state of doubt,
and falls into what is negative;
but one who overcomes is indeed in doubt,
but still, if he suffers himself to be cheered by hope,
he stands fast in what is affirmative.

AC 2343 [3]
. . . all regeneration or new life, thus salvation, is from the Lord alone . . ..
. . . so far as a person is in good, so far he can be in truth;
or so far as he is in charity, so far he can be in faith;
especially in this chief point of faith,
that all salvation is from the Lord.

AC 2333 - reading the Word and "morning"

AC 2333 [2,3]
. . . when the ideas are kept in the sense of the letter,
the internal sense appears no otherwise
than as something obscure and dark;
but on the other hand when the ideas are kept in the internal sense,
the sense of the letter appears in like manner
obscure to the angels as nothing.
For the angels are no longer in worldly and corporeal things,
like those of man,
but in spiritual and celestial things,
into which the words of the sense of the letter are wonderfully changed,
when it ascends from a person who is reading the Word
to the sphere in which the angels are, that is, to heaven;
and this from the correspondence of spiritual things with worldly,
and of celestial things with corporeal.
This correspondence is most constant . . ..

. . . take as an example "morning" . . ..

The Rock of Israel He is as the light of the morning when the sun rises,
a morning without clouds.
(2 Samuel 23:3, 4)

Thus instead of "morning" the angels perceive the Lord, or His Kingdom,
or the heavenly things of love and charity;
and these in fact with variety
according to the series of things in the Word which is being read.

a bit from Psalm 119; SD 3144 on use; SD 3168 on equilibriums or balances

Psalm 119:149-152 (NIV)

Hear my voice in accordance with Your love;
preserve my life, O Lord, according to Your laws.
Those who devise wicked schemes are near,
but they are far from Your law.
Yet you are near, O Lord,
and all Your commands are true.
Long ago I learned from Your statutes
that You established them to last forever.


SD 3144
. . . for the law is that nothing is ever without a use.

SD 3168
. . . all things in the universal body are held in equilibrium:
it is so in the atmospheric world,
and in each and all the things of nature.
It was further shown that in equilibrium,
the slightest and least force moves,
and causes that even what appears very strong and resistant to be moved.
Thus it is in the world of spirits and in heaven,
where there are equilibriums of all things:
and thus each and all things are ruled by the Lord very easily,
and with no trouble:
wherefore equilibriums are preserved:
and for this reason souls must through sufferings
divest themselves of whatever is not in equilibrium.
(September 15, 1748)

AC 2325 - faith, conscience, charity

AC 2325
Faith is inseparable from conscience . . .
and as faith is not possible without charity,
so neither is conscience.

SD 3126 - about prayers

SD 3126
I perceived by a spiritual idea
that prayers to the Lord,
if they are done from conscience as a duty,
are then good,
but if that one may obtain or deserve something,
it is not good, even evil.
(September 12, 1748)

AC 2312, 2314 - Sodom & Gomorrah

AC 2312, 2314
In this chapter, in the internal sense,
by "Lot" is described the state of the Spiritual Church
which is in the good of charity but in external worship:
how in course of time it declines.

Further: in the internal sense,
by the "inhabitants of Sodom"
is described the state of those within the same church
who are against the good of charity,
and how in course of time evil and falsity increase with them
until they have nothing but evil and falsity.

SD 3069 - in the other life

SD 3069
. . . in the other life there is no difference
between those who are named Christians, and gentiles,
provided that they are good,
endowed with charity,
and that they love one another.
This only avails in the other life.
(September 6, 1748)

AC 2304, 2305 - little children among the angels

AC 2304
Many may suppose that in the other life the little children remain such,
and are as little children among the angels.
They who do not know what an angel is,
may have been confirmed in this opinion
by the images that are common in churches and elsewhere,
where angels are represented as little children.
Very different however is the actual truth.
It is intelligence and wisdom that make an angel,
and so long as the little children have not these
they are indeed with the angels, but are not angels.
But when they have become intelligent and wise,
then for the first time do they become angels . . ..

AC 2305
There are some who suppose that innocence is the same as infancy,
for the reason that the Lord said of little children that of such is heaven;
and that they who do not become as little children
cannot enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
But they who so imagine do not know the internal sense of the Word,
nor therefore what is meant by "infancy."
By "infancy" is meant the innocence of intelligence and wisdom,
which is such that they acknowledge
that they have life from the Lord alone,
and that the Lord is their only Father;
for that a person is a person
is from the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good,
which he has solely from the Lord.
Innocence itself, which in the Word is called "infancy,"
has no existence or abode except in wisdom;
so much so that the wiser one is,
the more innocent he is;
on which account the Lord is innocence itself,
because wisdom itself.

AC 2284 - what the life of charity is and what most delights the angels

AC 2284 [5]
The life of charity consists in thinking kindly of another,
and in wishing him well;
and in perceiving joy in oneself
from the fact
that others also are saved.

. . . nothing is more delightful and blessed to the angels
than to instruct those who come from the earth into the other life.

SD 3037 - evil spirits are the cause of evil happening to themselves

SD 3037
. . . it was shown that if anyone strikes his head against the wall,
that it is not the wall's fault, but his own . . .

AC 2280 - goods and "twenty"

AC 2280 [2-3,5]
Goods of three kinds are signified by remains,
namely, the goods of infancy,
the goods of ignorance,
and the goods of intelligence.
The goods of infancy
are those which are insinuated into a person
from his very birth up to the age
in which he is beginning to be instructed and to know something.
The goods of ignorance
are what are insinuated when he is being instructed
and is beginning to know something.
The goods of intelligence
are what are insinuated
when he is able to reflect upon what is good and what is true.
The good of infancy exists from the person's infancy
up to the tenth year of his age;
the good of ignorance, from this age up to his twentieth year.
From this year the person begins to become rational,
and to have the faculty of reflecting upon good and truth,
and to procure for himself the good of intelligence.

The good of ignorance is that which is signified by "twenty,"
because those who are in the good of ignorance
do not come into any temptation
for no one is tempted before he is able to reflect,
and in his own way to perceive the nature of good and truth.
Those who have received goods by means of temptations
have been treated of in the two immediately preceding verses;
those who have not been in temptations, and yet have good,
are now treated of in this verse.

. . . it is the knowledges of good and truth
that cause a person to be wise as a man.

SD 3028 - when good spirits get angry

SD 3028
It sometimes happened that I have noticed certain dreadful things,
supposing them the outpouring of the worst spirits,
but it appeared that they came from the upright when quickly angered,
and indeed for the reason that they are not admitted to do good,
thus burst out into the opposite, through anger,
as is also usually the case with an upright person when angry.
(September 1, 1748)

AC 2252 - What if there are fifty? and AC 2253 - . . . insofar as

AC 2252 [4]
. . . wherever "fifty" is mentioned in the Word,
it signifies what is full . . .

AC 2253
With the Lord, when He was in the world,
there was no other life
than the life of love toward the universal human race,
which He ardently desired to eternally save.
This is the veriest celestial life,
by which He united Himself to the Divine,
and the Divine to Himself -
for Esse itself, or Jehovah, is nothing else than Mercy,
which is of love to the universal human race -
and that life was one of pure love,
which is never possible with any person.
They who do not know what life is,
and that the life is such as the love,
do not comprehend this.
This shows that
insofar as anyone loves his neighbor,
insofar he partakes of the Lord's life.

SD 2994 - Stubborn?

SD 2994
I spoke with spirits about stubbornness,
saying that it pertains to imagination, to desire, to conviction,
and that stubbornness is to be compared with something hard,
and that there ought not to be any stubbornness in people,
so that they may be led by the Lord.
But as much as there is of stubbornness,
so much there is of the human proprium.
This is taken away by the Lord in those who are led by the Lord
- not breaking, but bending them in countless varieties of ways.
(August 30, 1748)

Note: In one translation, stubbornness is 'pertinacity'.
Merriam Webster defines
as being perversely persistent, stubbornly tenacious.

AC 2249 - heaven

AC 2249
It is known that heaven is not pure before the Lord;
and it is a truth that the angels are continually being perfected.

AC 2227 - loving the Lord; AC 2231 - the doctrine of charity

AC 2227
To be in love to the Lord
is the same as to be in the Lord;
and he who is in the Lord
cannot be otherwise than in His love,
which is toward the human race
and thus toward the neighbor;
thus is he in both kinds of good,
celestial and spiritual.

AC 2231 [2]
In general, there is only one doctrine, namely, the doctrine of charity,
for all things of faith look to charity.
Between charity and faith there is no other difference
than that between willing what is good and thinking what is good
(for he who wills what is good also thinks what is good) . . ..

AC 2219 - the order of creation & the love of self

AC 2219 [2-3]
This is the order into which a person has been created;
consequently it is love to God and love toward the neighbor
that should be a person's life,
and by which he should be distinguished from brute animals.
This is also the order of heaven,
in which it was intended a person should be while he lives in the world;
thus in the Lord's kingdom;
and into this kingdom he would pass when he had put off the body
that had been of service to him upon the earth,
and there he would rise into a state
continually advancing in heavenly perfection.

But the love of self is the primary and indeed the only thing
that destroys all this; and not so much so the love of the world,
for this is indeed opposite to the spiritual things of faith,
but the love of self is diametrically opposite to the celestial things of love;
for he who loves himself loves no others,
but endeavors to destroy all persons whatever
that do not pay reverence to him;
nor does he will well and do well to anyone,
except to him who is a part of himself,
or can be captivated so as to be a part of himself,
like something inoculated as it were with his evil desires and fantasies.

AC 2189 - the learning of truths and the growing of charity

AC 2189 [2]
The primary thing of the rational with a person is truth,
consequently it is the affection of truth, to the end
that person may be reformed, and so regenerated.
This is effected by means of knowledges that are of truth,
which are continually being implanted in good, that is, in charity,
so that the person may receive the life of charity.
It is on this account
that the affection of truth in a person is predominant in his rational.
For it is the case with the life of charity (which is the heavenly life itself)
that with those who are being reformed and regenerated
it is continually being born and growing up and receiving increments,
and this by means of truths;
therefore the more of truth there is implanted,
the more is the life of charity perfected;
wherefore according to the quality and quantity of truth,
so is the charity with a person.

AC 2189 - the learning of truths and the growing of charity

AC 2189 [2]
The primary thing of the rational with a person is truth,
consequently it is the affection of truth, to the end
that person may be reformed, and so regenerated.
This is effected by means of knowledges that are of truth,
which are continually being implanted in good, that is, in charity,
so that the person may receive the life of charity.
It is on this account
that the affection of truth in a person is predominant in his rational.
For it is the case with the life of charity (which is the heavenly life itself)
that with those who are being reformed and regenerated
it is continually being born and growing up and receiving increments,
and this by means of truths;
therefore the more of truth there is insinuated,
the more is the life of charity perfected;
wherefore according to the quality and quantity of truth,
so is the charity with a person.

SD 2947 - four degrees of faith; SD 2955 - ways the Writings are received

SD 2947
. . . there are four degrees of faith
the first namely faith by knowledge,
when I know matters of faith only by learning,
holding them in the memory . . ..
The second degree is faith by understanding or intellectual faith,
when I am convinced mentally . . ..
The third degree is the first conviction,
namely, when one is convinced from the Lord
that things are as stated in the Word:
then as often as one is warned that a thing is so,
one endeavors to change one's way of living,
and thus, conscience dictating, one lives according to faith.
The fourth degree is conviction,
when we cannot live differently than we believe,
realizing now that we are being led by the Lord.
(August 27, 1748)

SD 2955
First, there are those who entirely reject them,
who are of a different conviction, and are enemies of the faith.
These reject them, for the things written cannot be received by them
because they cannot penetrate into their minds.
The second kind are those who receive them as knowledge,
and who take pleasure in them as knowledge, and also as curiosities.
The third kind are those who take them up with the understanding,
receiving them quite enthusiastically,
but still remain as they were before in life.
The fourth kind receive them with conviction,
so that they penetrate and bring improvement to their life.
They recall them in certain states, and put them to use.
The fifth kind are they who receive them with joy,
and are confirmed in them.
(August 27, 1748)

SD 2946 - reward

SD 2946
As respects reward, which is promised to him who does good,
this comes from pure mercy towards those whom the Lord leads:
for no one can merit any good from himself,
but the Lord gives to him from Himself,
because from his mercy and for his own sake,
because he is Mercy itself.
(1748, August 27, 1748)

SD 2909 - meeting acquaintances in the other life

SD 2909.
This I know, that acquaintances,
whether associates or friends, or those whom they worship,
meet with each other in the other life:
wherefore let people beware
of hatreds, vengeance, envy, falsities, adorations and the like,
for such things sometimes miserably afflict them in the other life:
for they come together . . . also friends talk together,
and then the interiors of friendship are thoroughly discovered:
wherefore let them be on their guard.
(August 24, 1748)

AC 2183 - the angels rule the rational and the evil spirits rule the natural

AC 2183 [2,3,4]
. . . to most people it is unknown
that every person has an internal, a rational, and a natural,
and that these are most distinct from each other,
so distinct, that one of them may be distinct from another;
that is, that the rational, which is called the rational person,
may be distinct from the natural, which is the natural person;
even that the rational person can even see and perceive the evil
which is in the natural person
and, if it is a genuine rational, may chastise it.
Before these two have been conjoined together,
a person cannot be an entire (or perfect) person,
nor can he be in the tranquility of peace,
for the one fights with the other.
For the angels who are with the person rule his rational,
but the evil spirits who are with him, his natural,
and so there comes combat.

If the rational then conquers,
the natural is subjugated,
and the person is thus gifted with conscience;
but if the natural conquers,
he can then receive nothing of conscience.
If the rational conquers,
his natural then becomes as if it also was rational;
but if the natural conquers,
the rational becomes as if it also was natural.
And further, if the rational conquers,
the angels then draw nearer into the person,
and insinuate to him charity
(which is the celestial that comes from the Lord through the angels),
and the evil spirits remove themselves to a distance;
but if the natural conquers,
the angels then remove themselves further away
(that is, more toward the person's interiors),
while the evil spirits draw nearer toward the rational,
and continually attack it,
and fill the lower parts of his mind
with hatreds, revenges, deceits, and the like.
If the rational conquers,
the person then comes into the tranquility of peace,
and in the other life into the peace of heaven;
but if the natural conquers,
then while the person lives
he appears as if he were in tranquility,
but in the other life he comes into the unrest and torment of hell.

In this way may be known what is the quality of a person's state
as to his rational, and as to his natural;
so that there is nothing else that can make a person blessed and happy
but that his natural be conformed to his rational,
and both be conjoined together.
This is effected solely by means of charity,
and charity is solely from the Lord.

AC 2173 - a marriage

AC 2173
In the historicals of the Word
good and truth cannot be represented otherwise than by a marriage,
for this is really the case with them,
for there is a Divine marriage between things celestial and spiritual,
or what is the same,
between those which are of love and those which are of faith,
or again what is the same,
between those of the will and those of the understanding.
The former are of good,
the latter are of truth.
There is such a marriage in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens;
such also in the Lord's kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church);
such a marriage in every person,
in every single thing of him,
even in the veriest singulars of all.
That which is not in such a marriage does not live.

SD 2870-2871 - rest & confidence or tedium & annoyance?

SD 2870-2871
That there is much sweetness
in the perception by the angels
that they do not think of themselves.
It was granted me to suddenly perceive
the sweetness of the angels in perceiving this,
that they do not think of themselves,
consequently do not speak and act of themselves,
consequently is rest [quiet] and confidence,
and very many pleasantnessess.

But the rest who are not angels and among the good,
instead of sweetness perceive tedium and annoyance;
they are indignant and angry;
which also was often granted me to observe.
(August 21, 1748)

AC 2165 - the Lord and love

AC 2165 [4]
. . . because the "bread" signifies the Lord Himself,
it signifies love itself toward the universal human race,
and what belongs to love;
as also
a person's reciprocal love to the Lord and toward the neighbor.
The "bread" thus signifies all celestial things,
and in the same way the "wine" signifies all spiritual things . . .

SD 2854 - the ends of life

SD 2854
. . . the ends in a person are what lead him,
and what a person aims at, to obtain;
also that the intuition of ends is what distinguishes people from the brutes.
A brute animal is ignorant of ends, because his soul is of such a nature.
But a person ought to know ends and aspire to them,
view them, and be affected by them.
Since therefore the first and last end of a person is eternal life,
and he is of such a nature that he can view ends,
wherefore unless person views the true end,
or his eternal state,
and so the Lord,
he is not a person.
(August 17, 1748)