NJHD 54- 55 - Just what is it that our ruling love does?

NJHD 54
The very life of a person is his love,
and such as the love is,
such is the life, yea,
such is the whole person.
But it is the governing or ruling love which constitutes the person.
That love has many loves subordinate to it, which are derivations.
These appear under another form,
but still they are all in the ruling love,
and constitute, with it, one kingdom.
The ruling love is as their king and head;
it directs them,
and, through them, as mediate ends,
it regards and intends its own end,
which is the primary and ultimate end of them all;
and this it does both directly and indirectly.
That which is of the ruling love is what is loved above all things.

NJHD 55
That which a person loves above all things
is continually present in his thought, and also in his will,
and constitutes his most essential life.
As for example,
he who loves riches above all things,
whether money or possessions,
continually revolves in his mind how he may obtain them.
He inmostly rejoices when he acquires them,
he grieves inmostly when he loses them;
his heart is in them.

NJHD 51 - of sciences and knowledges

NJHD 51
Of sciences and knowledges, by which the internal spiritual person is opened.
Those things are called scientifics,
which are in the external or natural person, and its memory,
but not those which are in the internal or spiritual person.
(AC 3019, 3020, 3293, 3309, 4967, 9918, 9922)

The external person is respectively the world,
because the laws of Divine order existing in the world are inscribed therein;
and the internal person is respectively heaven,
because the laws of Divine order existing in heaven are inscribed therein.
(AC 4523, 4524, 5368, 6013, 6057, 9278, 9279, 9283, 9709, 10156, 10472; HH 51-58).

There are scientifics which concern natural things,
scientifics which relate to the civil state and life,
scientifics which relate to the moral state and life,
and scientifics which relate to the spiritual state and life.
(AC 5774, 5934)
But for distinction's sake,
those which relate to the spiritual state and life are called knowledges,
consisting principally of doctrinals.
(AC 9945)

A person ought to be imbued (infused) with sciences and knowledges,
since by these he learns to think,
then to understand what is true and good,
and finally to be wise,
that is to live according to them.
(AC 129, 1450, 1451, 1453, 1548, 1802)

Scientifics are as it were mirrors,
in which the truths and goods of the internal person appear,
and are perceived as in an image.
(AC 5201)

Scientifics, because they are in the light of the world,
are involved and obscure respectively to those things
which are in the light of heaven. . . .
(AC 2831)

NJHD 47 - the Lord governs

NJHD 47

The Lord
from the internal,
where there is peace,
governs the external,
where there is turbulence.
(AC 5396)

NJHD 43 - the internal and external person

NJHD 43
It is so provided and ordered by the Lord,
that so far as a person thinks and wills from heaven,
so far the internal spiritual person is opened and formed.
It is opened into heaven even to the Lord,
and the formation is according to those things which are of heaven.
But, on the contrary,
so far as a person does not think and will from heaven,
but from the world, so far the internal spiritual person is closed,
and the external is opened.
The opening is into the world,
and the formation is to those things which are of the world.

NJHD 34 - spiritual truths

NJHD 34
Spiritual truths cannot be comprehended,
unless the following universals are known:

I. All things in the universe have relation to good and truth,
and to the conjunction of both,
in order that they may be anything;
consequently to love and faith, and their conjunction.

II. With a person there is will and understanding,
and the will is the receptacle of good,
and the understanding the receptacle of truth,
and all things with a person have relation to those two,
and to their conjunction,
as all things relate to good and truth, and their conjunction.

III. There is an internal person and an external,
and they are distinct one from the other like heaven and the world,
and nevertheless that they ought to make one,
in order that a person may be truly a person.

IV. The light of heaven is that in which the internal person is,
and the light of the world that in which the external is;
and the light of heaven is the Divine truth itself,
from which is all intelligence.

V. There is a correspondence
between the things which are in the internal,
and those which are in the external person;
and consequently they appear in each under a different form,
so that they can only be discerned by the science of correspondences.

NJHD 27 - truth vanishes

NJHD 27
Truth when it is conjoined to good,
vanishes out of the memory
because it then becomes of life.
(AC 3108)

NJHD 21, 24 - evil, good & truth

NJHD 21
Evil is heavy . . .

NJHD 24 - A Summary:
Faith is by truths.
Charity towards the neighbor is by truths.
Love to the Lord is by truths.
Conscience is by truths.
Innocence is by truths.
Purification from evils is by truths.
Regeneration is by truths.
Intelligence and wisdom are by truths.
The beauty of angels, and also of men,
as to the interiors which are their spirits, is by truths.
Power against evils and falsities is by truths.
Order, such as it is in heaven, is by truths.
The church is by truths.
Heaven is with man by truths.
Man becomes man by truths.
Nevertheless all these things are by truths from good,
and not by truths without good; and good is from the Lord.
All good is from the Lord.

The summary with reference numbers to the Arcana is posted in comments.

NJHD 9 - Where does wisdom come from?

NJHD 9
. . . they who are in the good of love and charity,
as to the internal person,
are in heaven,
and as to that are in an angelic society which is in similar good.
Hence they enjoy an elevation of mind towards interior things,
and, consequently, they are in wisdom;
for wisdom can come from no other source than from heaven,
that is, through heaven from the Lord;
and in heaven there is wisdom,
because there they are in good.

Wisdom consists in seeing truth from the light of truth;
and the light of truth is the light which is in heaven.
But in process of time that ancient wisdom decreased;
for as mankind removed themselves from the good of love to the Lord,
and of love towards the neighbor,
which love is called charity,
they removed themselves in the same proportion from wisdom
because, in the same proportion, they removed themselves from heaven.
Hence it was that mankind, from being internal, became external,
and this successively;
and when he became external,
he became also worldly and corporeal.
When such is his quality,
he cares but little for the things of heaven;
for the delights of earthly loves,
and the evils which, from those loves,
are delightful to him,
then possess him entirely.

NJHD 4 - living

NJHD 4
To live the life of faith,
is to live according to the doctrine of the church;
and to live
is to will and to do.

HH 603 - the last number in Heaven & Hell

HH 603
These things which have been said in this work
about heaven, the world of spirits, and hell,
will be obscure to those
who are not in the delight of knowing spiritual truths,
but will be clear to those who are in the delight,
and especially to those
who are in the true affection of truth for the sake of truth,
that is, who love truth because it is true;
for whatever is loved enters with light into the mind's thought,
especially when the truth is loved,
because all truth is in light.

HH 577 - angels have wisdom - evil spirits have malice & cunning

HH 577
In the same degree in which angels have wisdom and intelligence
infernal spirits have malice and cunning;
for the case is the same, since the spirit of a person
when released from the body is in his good or in his evil -
if an angelic spirit in his good,
and if an infernal spirit in his evil.
Every spirit is his own good or his own evil
because he is his own love . . ..

. . . the Lord cannot protect a person
unless he acknowledges the Divine and lives a life of faith and charity;
for otherwise a person turns himself away from the Lord
and turns himself to infernal spirits,
and thus his spirit becomes imbued with a malice like theirs.

Nevertheless,
a person is continually withdrawn by the Lord from the evils . . ..

HH 556 & 565- How is it that the love of self and the love of the world are so diabolical?

HH 556
The love of self is wishing well to oneself alone,
and to others only for the sake of self,
even to the church, one's country, or any human society.
It consists also in doing good to all these
solely for the sake of one's own reputation, honor, and glory;
and unless these are seen in the uses he performs in behalf of others
he says in his heart,
How does it concern me?
Why should I do this?
What shall I get from it?
and therefore he does not do it.

HH 565.
. . . in respect to the love of the world:
it is a love opposed to heavenly love in a less degree than love of self,
because the evils hidden within it are lesser evils.
The love of the world consists in one's desiring to secure to himself,
by any kind of artifice, the wealth of others,
and in setting his heart upon riches,
and permitting the world to draw him and lead him away from spiritual love,
which is love towards the neighbor,
and thus from heaven and from the Divine.
But this love is manifold.
There is a love of wealth for the sake of being exalted to honors,
when these alone are loved.
There is a love of honors and dignities
with a view to the increase of wealth.
There is a love of wealth for the sake of various uses
that give delight in the world.
There is a love of wealth merely for the sake of wealth,
which is a miserly love; and so on.

HH 549 - the Lord's unceasing presence

HH 549
The Lord from His Divine Essence,
which is goodness, love, and mercy,
is unable to deal in the same way with every person,
because evils and their falsities prevent,
and not only quench His Divine influx
but even reject it.
Evils and their falsities are like black clouds
which interpose between the sun and the eye,
and take away the sunshine and the serenity of its light;
although the unceasing endeavor of the sun
is to dissipate the opposing clouds . . ..
From this comparison it can be seen
that the Lord is unceasingly present with everyone,
but that He is received variously.

HH 533 - Is it difficult to lead the life that leads to heaven?

HH 533
That it is not so difficult to live the life of heaven as some believe
can now be seen from this,
that when any thing presents itself to a person
that he knows to be dishonest and unjust,
but to which his mind is borne,
it is simply necessary for him to think that it ought not to be done
because it is opposed to the Divine precepts.
If a person accustoms himself so to think,
and from so doing establishes a habit of so thinking,
he is gradually conjoined to heaven;
and so far as he is conjoined to heaven
the higher regions of his mind are opened;
and so far as these are opened
he sees whatever is dishonest and unjust,
and so far as he sees these evils
they can be dispersed,
for no evil can be dispersed until it is seen.
Into this state a person is able to enter because of his freedom,
for is not any one able from his freedom to so think?
And when man has made a beginning
the Lord quickens all that is good in him,
and causes him not only to see evils to be evils,
but also to refrain from willing them,
and finally to turn away from them.
This is meant by the Lord's words,

My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
(Matthew 11:30)

But it must be understood
that the difficulty of so thinking and of resisting evils increases
so far as man from his will does evils,
for in the same measure
he becomes accustomed to them until he no longer sees them,
and at length loves them
and from the delight of his love excuses them,
and confirms them by every kind of fallacy,
and declares them to be allowable and good.
This is the fate of those who in early youth plunge into evils without restraint,
and also reject Divine things from the heart.

HH 522 - Divine mercy operates through Divine truths which are the laws of order. These Divine means bring heaven to a person.

HH 522
But the life of heaven can be implanted in no one
unless he abstains from evil,
for evil obstructs.
So far, therefore, as a person abstains from evil
he is led by the Lord
out of pure mercy
by His Divine means,
and this from infancy to the end of his life in the world
and afterwards to eternity.
This is what is meant by the Divine mercy.

HH 523
The Lord never does anything contrary to order,
because He Himself is Order.
The Divine truth that goes forth from the Lord is what constitutes order;
and Divine truths are the laws of order.
It is in accord with these laws that the Lord leads a person.
Consequently to save a person by mercy apart from means
would be contrary to Divine order,
and what is contrary to Divine order
is contrary to the Divine.
Divine order is heaven in a person . . . .

Palm Sunday

Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto them,
Go into the village that is over against you,
and straightway you shall find a she-ass tied,
and a colt with her;
loose them, and bring them unto Me.
This was done that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
Tell ye the daughter of Zion,
Behold thy King comes to you, meek, sitting upon a she-ass,
and upon a colt the son of a beast of burden.
And they brought the she-ass and the colt,
and put their garments upon them, and set Him thereon.
(Matthew 21:1-2, 4-5, 7).

AC 2781 [8] To "ride upon an ass"
was a sign that the natural was made subordinate . . ..
From this their signification,
and because it belonged to the highest judge and to a king to ride upon them,
and at the same time that the representatives of the church might be fulfilled,
it pleased the Lord to do this: as is thus described in John:

On the next day a great multitude that had come to the feast,
when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
took branches of palm trees,
and went forth to meet Him, and cried,
Hosanna, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord,
even the King of Israel.
And Jesus, having found a young ass, sat thereon;
as it is written,
Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold your King comes sitting on the colt of a she-ass.
These things understood not His disciples at the first;
but when Jesus was glorified,
then remembered they that these things were written of Him,
and that they had done these things unto Him.
(John 12:12-16; Mark 11:1-12; Luke 19:28-41).

[9] From all this it is now evident
that all and everything in the church of that period
was representative of the Lord,
and therefore of the celestial and spiritual things that are in His kingdom
-even to the she-ass and the colt of a she-ass,
by which the natural man as to good and truth was represented.
The reason of the representation was
that the natural man ought to serve the rational,
and this the spiritual,
this the celestial,
and this the Lord . . . .

HH 512 - the third state after death

HH 512
The third state of a person after death,
that is, of his spirit, is a state of instruction.
This state is for those who enter heaven and become angels.
It is not for those who enter hell,
because such are incapable of being taught,
and therefore their second state is also their third . . ..

For one can be prepared for heaven
only by means of knowledges of good and truth,
that is, only by means of instruction,
since one can know what spiritual good and truth are,
and what evil and falsity are, which are their opposites,
only by being taught.
One can learn in the world what civil and moral good and truth are,
which are called justice and honesty,
because there are civil laws in the world that teach what is just,
and there is interaction with others
whereby a person learns to live in accordance with moral laws,
all of which have relation to what is honest and right.
But spiritual good and truth are learned from heaven,
not from the world.
They can be learned from the Word
and from the doctrine of the church that is drawn from the Word
and yet
unless a person in respect to his interiors
which belong to his mind
is in heaven
spiritual good and truth cannot flow into his life;
and a person is in heaven
when he both acknowledges the Divine
and acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act
because it is commanded in the Word.
This is living justly and honestly for the sake of the Divine,
and not for the sake of self and the world . . ..

HH 502 & 506 - the second state after death

HH 502
When the first state. . . has been passed through,
the man-spirit is let into the state of his interiors,
or into the state of his interior will and its thought,
in which he had been in the world
when left to himself to think freely and without restraint.
Into this state he unconsciously glides. . .
the man-spirit is in himself and in his very life;
for to think freely from his own affection
is the very life of a person, and is himself.

HH 506
All that have lived a good life in the world
and have acted from conscience,
who are such as have acknowledged the Divine
and have loved Divine truths,
especially such as have applied those truths to life,
seem to themselves, when let into the state of their interiors,
like one aroused from sleep into full wakefulness,
or like one passing from darkness into light.
They then think from the light of heaven,
thus from an interior wisdom,
and they act from good,
thus from an interior affection.
Heaven flows into their thoughts and affections
with an interior blessedness and delight
that they had previously had no knowledge of;
for they have communication with the angels of heaven.
They then acknowledge the Lord and worship Him from their very life,
for being in the state of their interiors they are in their proper life;
and as freedom pertains to interior affection
they then acknowledge and worship the Lord from freedom.
Thus, too, they withdraw from external sanctity
and come into that internal sanctity in which worship itself truly consists.
Such is the state of those that have lived a Christian life
in accordance with the commandments in the Word.

HH 498 - the first state after death

HH 498
This first state of a person after death continues with some for days,
with some for months, and with some for a year;
but seldom with any one beyond a year;
for a shorter or longer time with each one
according to the agreement or disagreement
of his interiors with his exteriors.
For with everyone the exteriors and interior must make one and correspond.
In the spiritual world no one is permitted to think and will in one way
and speak and act in another.
Everyone there must be an image of his own affection or his own love,
and therefore such as he is inwardly such he must be outwardly;
and for this reason a spirit's exteriors are first disclosed
and reduced to order
that they may serve the interiors as a corresponding plane.

HH 489 - those that have been in heaven

HH 489 [5]
. . . it is said by those that have been in heaven
that they have seen
what eye has never seen;
and from a perception of Divine things communicated to them
by those who are there,
that they have heard
what ear has never heard.