The Swedenborg Library Vol 2/Chapter 3
III.
THE ESSENTIAL CONSTITUENTS OF HEAVEN.
HE angels taken collectively are called heaven, because they constitute heaven. Nevertheless it is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which flows-in with the angels and is received by them, which makes heaven in general and in particular. The Divine proceeding from the Lord is the good of love and the truth of faith. So far, therefore, as they receive good and truth from the Lord, they are angels and are heaven.
Every one in heaven knows and believes, yea, perceives, that he wills and does nothing of good from himself, and that he thinks and believes nothing of truth from himself, but from the Divine, that is, from the Lord; and that the good and truth which are from himself are not good and truth, because there is not in them life from the Divine. The angels of the inmost heaven also clearly perceive and are sensible of the influx; and so far as they receive it, they seem to themselves to be in heaven, because they are so far in love and faith, and so far in the light of intelligence and wisdom, and thence in heavenly joy.
Since these things all proceed from the Divine of the Lord, and the angels possess heaven in them, it is evident that the Divine of the Lord makes heaven, and not the angels by virtue of anything properly their own. Hence it is that heaven in the Word is called the habitation of the Lord and his throne; and that the dwellers there are said to be in the Lord.
The angels say that there is only one Fountain of life, and that the life of man is a stream thence issuing which would instantly cease to flow if it were not continually supplied from that Fountain. They say further, that from this one Fountain of life which is the Lord, nothing proceeds but divine good and truth; and that these affect every one according to his reception of them; that those who receive them in faith and life have heaven in themselves; but those who reject or suffocate them, turn them into hell; for they turn good into evil and the true into the false, thus life into death.
That the all of life is from the Lord, they also confirm by this consideration: that all things in the universe have reference to good and truth,—the life of man's will, which is the life of his love, to good, and the life of his understanding, which is the life of his faith, to truth. Therefore, since everything good and true comes from above, it follows that thence also comes the all of life.
Because the angels believe this, therefore they refuse all thanks on account of the good they do, and are displeased and withdraw themselves if any one attributes good to them. They wonder how any one can believe that he is wise from himself, and that he does good from himself. Good done for the sake of one's self they do not call good, because it is done from self; but good done for the sake of good, they call good from the Divine; and they say that this good is what makes heaven, because this good is the Lord.
Spirits who, while living in the world, confirmed themselves in the belief that the good which they did and the truth which they believed were from themselves, or appropriated to them as their own, (in which belief are all those who place merit in their good actions, and attribute righteousness to themselves,) are not received into heaven. The angels shun them, regarding them as stupid and as thieves; as stupid, because they continually look to themselves, and not to the Divine; and as thieves, because they rob the Lord of what is his. These spirits are opposed to the faith of heaven, which is, that the Divine of the Lord received by the angels makes heaven.
That they who are in heaven and in the church, are in the Lord and the Lord in them, He also teaches where He says, "Abide in me, and I in you; as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing." John xv. 4, 5.
From these considerations it may now be evident that the Lord dwells in his own with the angels of heaven, and thus that He is the All in all of heaven. The reason is, that good from the Lord is the Lord with the angels, for what is from Him is Himself; consequently good from the Lord is heaven to the angels, and not anything proper to themselves.
HEAVENLY LOVE.
The Divine in heaven which makes heaven, is love; for love is spiritual conjunction. Love conjoins the angels with the Lord and with each other; and it conjoins them in such a manner that they are all as one in the Lord's sight. Moreover, love is the very esse of every one's life; therefore both angels and men derive their life from it.
That the inmost vital principle of man is from love, must be obvious to every one who considers the subject; for he grows warm from its presence, cold from its absence, and from its privation he dies. But it is to be observed that the quality of every one's life is as the quality of his love.
There are two distinct loves in heaven, love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor. In the inmost or third heaven is love to the Lord; in the second or middle heaven, love toward the neighbor. Each proceeds from the Lord, and each makes heaven. How these two loves are distinguished, and how they are conjoined, appears very clearly in heaven, but only obscurely in the world.
In heaven, to love the Lord does not mean to love Him as to his person, but to love the good which is from Him; and to love good, is to will and do good from love. And to love the neighbor does not mean to love a fellow-being as to his person, but to love the truth which is from the Word; and to love truth is to will and do it.
I have conversed with the angels on this subject a number of times, and they have expressed astonishment that the men of the church do not know that to love the Lord and the neighbor is to love good and truth, and to do them from the heart; when yet they might know that every one manifests his love for another by willing and doing what the other desires; and that he is loved in return, and conjunction with him is effected in this way, and not by loving him and constantly disregarding his will, which in reality is not to love him; and that they might also know that the good proceeding from the Lord is his likeness, because He is in it; and that those become likenesses of Him, and are conjoined to Him, who make good and truth [constituents] of their life by willing and doing them. To will also is to love to do. This the Lord also teaches in the Word, where He says, "He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me;—and I will love him, and make My abode with him." John xiv. 21-23. And again: "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love." John xv. 10.
That the Divine proceeding from the Lord which affects the angels and makes heaven, is love, all experience in heaven testifies; for all who are there are forms of love and charity. They appear of ineffable beauty, and love beams forth from their faces, from their discourse, and from every single act of their lives.
SPIRITUAL SPHERES.
Moreover, from every angel and spirit proceed spiritual spheres of life which encompass them, whereby they are known as to the quality of the affections of their love, even when they are a great way off; for these spheres flow forth from the life of each one's affection, and thence of his thought, or from the life of his love and thence of his faith. The spheres proceeding from the angels are so full of love, that they affect the inmosts of the life of those present. They have several times been perceived by me, and have affected me in this wise. (H. H. n. 7-16.)
The will or love of every one constitutes the whole man in the hereafter; and the sphere of his life thence flows forth from him as an exhalation or vapor, and encompasses him, and makes as it were himself around him; somewhat like the effluvium encompassing vegetables in the world, which is also made sensible at a distance by odors; also that encompassing beasts, of which a sagacious dog is exquisitely sensible. Such an effluvium also diffuses itself from every man, as is also known from much experience. But when man lays 26
aside the body, and becomes a spirit or an angel, then the effluvium or expiratory principle is not material, as in the world, but is spiritual, flowing forth from his love. This then forms a sphere around him, which causes his quality to be perceived at a distance by others. (A. C. n. 10.130.)
Whenever any spirit is coming toward others, although he is yet at a distance and not manifest to the sight, his presence is perceived, as often as the Lord permits, from a certain spiritual sphere whereby the quality of his life, affection and faith is made known. Hence angelic spirits who have the most exquisite perception, know innumerable things respecting the state of his life and faith. This has been shown to me on many occasions. (A. C. n. 4626.)
Spheres are also [sometimes] rendered sensible by odors, of which spirits have a more exquisite perception than men; for odors correspond to spheres. When the spheres of charity and faith are perceived as odors, they are most delightful. The odors are sweet and pleasant, like those of flowers, lilies and divers kinds of spices, with an indefinite variety. Moreover, the spheres of the angels are sometimes rendered visible like atmospheres, which are of such beauty, pleasantness and variety as cannot be described. (A. C. n. 1514, 1519.)
THE CAPABILITIES OF LOVE.
The Divine of the Lord in heaven is love, because love is the receptacle of all things of heaven, which are peace, intelligence, wisdom and happiness. For love receives all things whatsoever which are in agreement with itself; it longs for them, seeks after them, imbibes them as it were spontaneously; for it continually desires to be enriched and perfected by them. This is also known to man; for his love inspects as it were the stores of his memory, and draws forth thence all things which are in agreement with it; and these it collects together and arranges in and under itself;—in itself that they may be its own, and under itself that they may be subservient to it. But whatever is not in agreement with itself, it rejects and exterminates.
That every faculty for receiving truths congenial to itself, and the desire of conjoining them to itself, are inherent in love, is manifest also from those who were elevated into heaven. These, although simple in the world, when they came among the angels, entered at once into angelic wisdom and into the felicities of heaven. The reason was, that they loved good and truth for their own sake, and implanted them in their lives, and thereby acquired the faculty of receiving heaven with every ineffable thing there.
But they who are in the love of self and the world, are incapable of receiving heavenly things. They hold them in aversion, reject them, and at the first touch and influx of them they associate themselves with those in hell who are in loves similar to their own.
There were certain spirits who doubted if such things were inherent in heavenly love, and wished to know whether it were so. Therefore they were led into a state of heavenly love,—their opposing principles being meanwhile removed,—and were carried forward some distance where there was an angelic heaven; and from thence they conversed with me, saying that they perceived a more interior happiness than could be expressed in words, lamenting greatly that they must return to their former state.
Others also were elevated into heaven, and in proportion as their elevation became more interior or exalted, they entered into such intelligence and wisdom as to be able to understand things which before were incomprehensible to them. Hence it is evident that love proceeding from the Lord is the receptacle of heaven and of all things there.
That love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor comprehend in themselves all divine truths, may be manifest from what the Lord Himself spoke concerning these two loves, saying: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second, which is like unto it, is, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. xxii. 37-40. The law and the prophets are the whole Word, thus all divine truth. (H. H., n. 18, 19.)
