The Swedenborg Library Vol 1/Chapter 13

by Emanuel Swedenborg

XIII.

THE LIFE THAT LEADS TO HEAVEN.

OME people imagine that, to live the life which leads to heaven, which is called spiritual life, is difficult; because they have been told that man must renounce the world, and deprive himself of what are called the lusts of the body and the flesh, and must live in a spiritual manner. By this they understand that they must reject worldly things, which consist chiefly in riches and honors; must live continually in pious meditation about God, salvation, and eternal life; and spend their life in prayer, and in reading the Word and books of piety. This they conceive to be renouncing the world, and living to the spirit and not to the flesh.

But that the case is altogether otherwise, I have learned by much experience and from conversation with the angels; yea, I have learned that they who renounce the world and live in the spirit in this manner, procure to themselves a sorrowful life which is not receptible of heavenly joy; for every one's own life remains after death.

But in order that man may receive the life of heaven, it is altogether necessary that he live in the world, and engage in its duties and employments, and that then by moral and civil life he receive spiritual life. In no other way can spiritual life be formed with man, or his spirit be prepared for heaven: for to live an internal life and not an external one at the same time, is like dwelling in a house which has no foundation, which successively either sinks into the ground, or becomes full of chinks and breaches, or totters till it falls.

If the life of man be viewed and explored by rational intuition, it will be found to be threefold; that is to say, there is a spiritual life, a moral life, and a civil life, all distinct from each other. For there are men who live a civil life, yet not a moral and spiritual one; and there are those who live a moral life, and still not a spiritual one; and there are others who live a civil life, a moral life, and a spiritual life, all at once. The latter live the life of heaven; but the former live the life of the world separate from the life of heaven.

From these considerations it is manifest in the first place, that spiritual life is not separate from natural life, or from the life of the world, but that the former is conjoined with the latter as the soul with its body; and if it were separated, that it would be like living in a house without a foundation, as was said above. For moral and civil life is the activity of spiritual life; for it is the part of spiritual life to will well, and of moral and civil life to act well; and if the latter be separated from the former, spiritual life consists merely in thought and speech, and the will recedes because it has no basis to rest upon; and yet the will is the very essential spiritual constituent of man.

That it is not so difficult to live the life which leads to heaven as some suppose, may be seen from the following considerations. Who cannot live a civil and moral life?—for every one is initiated into it from infancy, and is acquainted with it from living in the world. Every one also does lead such a life, the evil as well as the good; for who does not wish to be called sincere and just? Almost all practice sincerity and justice in externals, so that they appear to be sincere and just in heart, or to act from real sincerity and justice. The spiritual man ought to do the same, and he can do it as easily as the natural man; only there is this difference, that the spiritual man believes in a Divine, and acts sincerely and justly, not merely because civil aud moral laws require it, but also because it is agreeable to the divine laws; for the spiritual man, because he thinks about the divine laws in all that he does, communicates with the angels of heaven; and so far as he does this, he is conjoined with them, and thus his internal man is opened, which, viewed in itself, is the spiritual man.

When a man is of this character, he is adopted and led by the Lord, although he is not himself conscious of it; and then, in practicing the sincerity and justice which belong to moral and civil life, he acts from a spiritual origin; and to do what is sincere and just from a spiritual origin, is to do it from sincerity and justice itself, or to do it from the heart. His justice and sincerity in the external form, appear exactly like the justice and sincerity practiced by natural men, and even by wicked men and infernals; but in their internal form, they are totally different.

For the wicked act justly and sincerely only for the sake of themselves and the world; and therefore if they did not fear the law and its penalties, also the loss of reputation, honor, gain and life, they would act altogether insincerely and unjustly; since they have no fear of God nor of any divine law, and therefore are not restrained by an internal bond. Therefore if external restraints were removed, they would defraud, plunder and spoil others as far as they were able to do so, and would take delight in doing it. That they are inwardly of such a character, is abundantly evident from those who are like them in the other life, where external things are removed, and the internals of all are opened, wherein they live to eternity; for being then free from external restraints, which are, as was said above, fear of the law and of the loss of reputation, honor, gain and life, they act insanely and laugh at sincerity and justice.

But they who have acted sincerely and justly from a regard to the divine laws, when external considerations are taken away and they are left to their internal promptings, act wisely, because they are conjoined with the angels of heaven from whom wisdom is communicated to them. From these considerations it may now be clearly seen, that a spiritual man can act precisely like a natural man in the affairs of civil and moral life, provided he be conjoined to the Divine as to his internal man, or as to his will and thought.

The laws of spiritual life, of civil life and of moral life, are also delivered in the ten precepts of the decalogue; in the first three,^[1] the laws of spiritual life, in the four following, the laws of civil life, and in the last three, the laws of moral life. The merely natural man lives in outward conformity to all these precepts, in the same manner as the spiritual man; for like him he worships the Divine, goes to church, hears sermons, and assumes a devout look; does not kill, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness, nor defraud his neighbors of their goods. But he does this only for the sake of himself and the world, in order to keep up appearances.

The same person, in the internal form, is altogether opposite to what he appears in the external, because in heart he denies the Divine, in worship acts the hypocrite, and when left to himself and his own thoughts, laughs at the holy things of the church, believing that they only serve to restrain the simple multitude. Hence he is altogether disjoined from heaven; and because he is not a spiritual man, therefore he is neither a moral nor a civil man. For although he commits no murder, still he hates every one who opposes him, and burns with revenge inspired by such hatred; wherefore, unless restrained by civil laws and external bonds, which are fears, he would commit murder; and because he desires to do it, it follows that he is continually committing murder. Although he does not commit adultery, yet because he believes it allowable, he is perpetually an adulterer; for he does commit it as far as it is possible, and as often as he can with impunity. Although he does not steal, yet because he covets the goods of others, and does not regard fraud and wicked artifices as contrary to what is lawful, in his mind he is continually acting the thief.

The case is similar in regard to the precepts of moral life, which teach that we must not bear false witness, nor covet the goods of others.

Such is the character of every man who denies the Divine, and has no conscience formed from religion. That all such are of this character, appears manifestly from similar spirits in the other life, when their externals are removed, and they are let into their internals. Then, because they are separated from heaven, they act in unity with hell, and are therefore associated with those who are in hell.

It is otherwise with those who in heart have acknowledged the Divine, and in their actions have had respect to the divine laws, and have obeyed the first three precepts of the decalogue as well as the rest. When these, on the removal of their externals, are let into their internals, they are wiser than they were in the world. Coming into their internals is like passing from shade into light, from ignorance into wisdom, and from a sorrowful life into a blessed one, since they are in the Divine, thus in heaven. These things are said in order that the real character of both these classes of persons may be known, although they have lived a similar external life.

THE LOVE DETERMINES THE THOUGHT.

Every one may know that thoughts move and tend according to the intentions, or in the direction which a man intends; for the thought is a man's internal sight, which is like the external sight in this respect, that it is turned and fixed on the object to which it is bent and directed. If, therefore, the internal sight or thought be turned to the world and fixed on that, it follows that the thought becomes worldly; if it be turned to self and self-honor, that it becomes corporeal: but if it be turned to heaven, that it becomes heavenly. It therefore follows, that if the thought be turned to heaven, it is elevated; if to self, it is withdrawn from heaven, and immersed in what is corporeal; and if to the world, it is also turned away from heaven, and spent upon those objects which are presented to the eyes.

It is a man's love which makes his intention, and which determines his internal sight or thought to its objects. Thus the love of self determines the thought to self and its objects; the love of the world, to worldly things; and the love of heaven, to the things of heaven.

Hence it may be known what is the state of a man's interiors which belong to his mind, provided his love be known; namely, that the interiors of him who loves heaven are elevated toward heaven, and are open above; and that the interiors of him who loves the world and himself are closed above, and open exteriorly. Hence it may be concluded, that if the superior faculties belonging to the mind are closed above, man can no longer see the things which belong to heaven and the church, these being in thick darkness in him; and the things which are in thick darkness are either denied or not understood.

Hence it is that they who love themselves and the world above all things, because the superior faculties of their minds are closed, in heart deny divine truths; and if they say anything about them from memory, still they do not understand them: they regard them also in the same way that they regard worldly and corporeal things. Such being their character, they cannot attend to anything but what enters through the bodily senses, and are delighted with nothing else. And among these things are many which are filthy, obscene, profane and wicked; nor can they be removed, because with such persons there is no influx from heaven into their minds, since these are closed above, as was said.

A man's intention, from which his internal sight or thought is determined, is his will; for what a man wills, he intends, and what he intends, he thinks. If, therefore, his intention be toward heaven, his thought is determined thither, and with it his whole mind, which is thus in heaven; whence he afterwards surveys the things belonging to the world beneath him, like one who looks from the roof of a house.

Hence it is that the man who has the interiors of his mind open, can discern the evils and falsities appertaining to him, for these are beneath the spiritual mind. And on the other hand the man whose interiors are not open, cannot see his own evils and falsities, because he is in them and not above them.

From these considerations a conclusion may be formed respecting the origin of wisdom with man, and the origin of insanity; also what a man will be after death when he is left to will and to think, also to act and to speak, according to his interiors. These things are said that it may be known what a man is interiorly;—suggesting also the conclusion, that persons exteriorly alike may be interiorly very different.

THE LORD'S YOKE IS EASY.

That it is not so difficult to live the life of heaven as is believed, is evident from this; that, whenever anything is suggested to a man which he knows to be insincere and unjust, and to which his mind is inclined, it is only necessary for him to reflect that it ought not to be done, because it is contrary to the divine commandments. If he accustoms himself to think in this manner, and from practice acquires the habit of so thinking, he then by degrees is conjoined to heaven. And so far as he is conjoined to heaven, the superior faculties of his mind are opened. And so far as these are opened, he sees what is insincere and unjust; and so far as these things are discovered they are capable of being removed,—for it is impossible for any evil to be removed until it is seen.

This is a state into which man may enter from freedom,—for who cannot think from a free principle in the manner just described? But when he has made a beginning, the Lord works in him for the production of all kinds of good, and enables him not only to see his evils, but also not to will them, and finally to abhor them. This is meant by the Lord's words: "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light," Matt. xi. 30.

But it is to be observed, that the difficulty of so thinking, and also of resisting evils, increases in proportion as man from the will commits evils; for so far as he does this, he becomes accustomed to them, until at length he does not see them, and at last comes to love them, and from the delight of love to excuse them, and by all sorts of fallacies to confirm them, declaring them to be allowable and good. But this occurs with those who at the age of maturity plunge into evils as if regardless of all restraint, and at the same time reject divine things from the heart.

There was once represented to me the way which leads to heaven, and that which leads to hell. There was a broad way tending to the left, or toward the north; and there appeared many spirits walking in it; but at a distance was seen a stone of considerable magnitude, where the broad way terminated. From that stone there then branched off two ways, one to the left and one in an opposite direction, to the right. The way that turned to the left was narrow or strait, leading through the west to the south, and so into the light of heaven; the way that turned to the right was broad and spacious, leading obliquely d^wn toward hell.

All seemed at first to go the same way, until they came to the great stone at the parting of the two ways; but when they arrived there, they were separated. The good turned to the left, and entered the strait way which led to heaven. But the evil did not see the stone at the parting of the ways, and therefore fell upon it and were hurt; and when they got up, they ran along the broad way to the right, which tended to hell.

It was afterwards explained to me what all those things signified. By the first way which was broad, in which many both good and bad walked along together, and conversed with each other like friends,—because no difference between them was apparent to the sight,—were represented those who in externals live alike sincerely and justly, and who cannot be distinguished by their appearance. By the stone at the parting or angle of the ways, upon which the evil stumbled, and from which they afterwards ran along the way leading to hell, was represented the divine truth, which is denied by those who look toward hell. In the supreme sense, by the same stone was signified the Divine Human of the Lord. But they who acknowledged the divine truth, and at the same time the Divine of the Lord, were conducted along the way which led to heaven.

From these representations it was made still more evident, that outwardly the wicked lead the same kind of life as the good, or go in the same way, thus one as easily as the other; and yet that they who acknowledge the Divine from the heart, especially they within the church who acknowledge the Divine of the Lord, are led to heaven, and they who do not, are conveyed to hell.

The thoughts of man, which proceed from his intention or will, are represented in the other life by ways. Ways are also presented there to appearance in perfect agreement with the thoughts from intention; and every one likewise walks in them according to his thoughts which proceed from intention. Hence it is that the character of spirits, and of their thoughts, is known from their ways.

From these things it was also made evident what is meant by the Lord's words: "Enter ye in through the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way which leads to destruction, and many there are who walk in it; but strait the gate and narrow the way which leads to life, and few there be who find it," Matt. vii. 13, 14. The way which leads to life is narrow, not because it is difficult, but because there are few who find it, as it is said.

From that stone seen in the corner where the broad and common way terminated, and from which two ways were seen leading in opposite directions, it was made evident what is signified by these words of the Lord: "Have ye not read what is written, the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken," Luke xx. 17, 18. A stone signifies divine truth; and the stone (or rock) of Israel, the Lord as to the Divine Human; the builders are the members of the church; the head of the corner is where the two ways meet; to fall and be broken is to deny and perish.

THE LIFE OF HEAVEN ON EARTH.

I have been permitted to converse with some in the other life, who had withdrawn themselves from the business of the world, that they might live a pious and holy life; and with others also who had afflicted themselves in various ways, because they imagined that this was to renounce the world and to subdue the concupiscences of the flesh. But the greater portion of these,—having by such austerities contracted a sorrowful life, and removed themselves from the life of charity, which can only be lived in the world,—cannot be associated with angels, because the life of the angels is one of gladness resulting from bliss, and consists in performing acts of goodness, which are works of charity.

Besides, they who have led a life withdrawn from worldly affairs, are possessed with the idea of their own merit, and are thence continually desirous of being admitted into heaven, and think of heavenly joy as a reward, being totally ignorant of what heavenly joy is. And when they are admitted among the angels, and to a perception of their joy which is without the thought of merit, and consists in active duties and services openly performed, and in the blessedness arising from the good which they thereby promote, they are astonished like persons who witness things altogether foreign to their expectation. And because they are not receptible of that joy, they depart and associate with spirits like themselves, who have lived a similar life in the world.

But they who have lived in outward sanctity, continually frequenting temples and there repeating prayers, and who have afflicted their souls, and at the same time have thought continually about themselves that they would thus be esteemed and honored above others, and at length after death be accounted saints, in the other life are not in heaven, because they have done such things for the sake of themselves. And since they have defiled divine truths by the love of self in which they have immersed them, some of them are so insane as to think themselves gods. Therefore they are in hell among those like themselves. Some are cunning and deceitful, and are in the hells of the deceitful; these are they who have performed such pious acts outwardly with art and cunning, whereby they have induced the common people to believe that a divine sanctity was in them. Of this character are many of the Roman Catholic saints, with some of whom also I have been permitted to converse; and their life was then faithfully described to me, such as it had been in the world, and such as it was afterwards.

These statements are made in order that it may be known, that the life which leads to heaven is not a life of retirement from the world, but of action in the world; and that a life of piety, without a life of charity,—which can only be acquired in the world,—does not lead to heaven, but a life of charity does; and this consists in acting sincerely and justly in every occupation, in every transaction, and in every work, from an interior and thus from a heavenly origin; and such origin is inherent in such a life, when a man acts sincerely and justly because it is according to the divine laws.^[2] Such a life is not difficult; but a life of piety separate from a life of charity, is difficult; yet this life leads away from heaven, as much as it is believed to lead to it. (H. H. 528-535.)

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1. [The division of the commandments followed by the author, is the same as that adopted in the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches; according to which, the first commandment includes the first and second of the Church of England division; and the last in the Church of England division is divided into two. Thus the first three, as mentioned above, are what are commonly reckoned, among Protestant Christians, the first four; the next four are what are commonly called the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth; and the last three are those commonly reckoned the ninth and tenth.—Ed.]
2. A life of piety without the life of charity is of no avail. The life of charity consists in willing well and doing well to the neighhor, in acting in every office and employment from a principle of justice and equity, and from a principle of good and truth. In a word, the life of charity consists in the performance of uses.

   The most essential worship of the Lord consists in the life of charity, but not in a life of piety without this. A life of piety without the life of charity, is to be willing to consult one's self alone, not the neighbor; but a life of piety with the life of charity, is to be willing to consult one's self for the sake of the neighbor. The former life is grounded in love toward self; but the latter in love toward the neighbor.—A. C. 8253, '4.