It is well known in the New Church that in outward appearance the spiritual world is so like the natural that the one cannot be distinguished from the other. In the spiritual world, as in the natural, men appear in a similar body, with all the parts of the body. They eat and drink as before; they stand upon ground as before; they live in houses, have clothes, ornaments, etc. Indeed, so striking is the external similarity between the two worlds that many spirits refuse to believe that they have departed from the natural world. Nor is there any external sign by which they can be convinced of the contrary; for when the spiritual touches or tastes the spiritual, it is exactly as if the material touched or tasted the material. (J. Post. 323)
But while the Writings stress the similarity between the two worlds, they also stress the underlying difference. The nature of this difference is the problem that lies before us; and on the solution of this problem will depend our understanding of the nature of the spiritual world. As to the difference itself, we read "though the two worlds are so exactly alike in their outer aspect that they cannot be distinguished, yet in their inner aspect they are entirely unlike." (D. L. W. 163) And again, that though man after death appears to be exactly the same as before, "actually he is not the same, because he is a spirit or substantial man." (C. L. 31)
The difference itself is more specifically defined as follows: "The things that appear in heaven are from a spiritual origin, while those that appear in our world are from a material origin" (E. 926); and again: "All things that appear in the spiritual world exist immediately from the sun of heaven which is the Lord's Divine Love, while all things that appear in the natural world are from the same origin, but by the mediation of the sun of the natural world, which is pure fire"; and pure love is immaterial, while pure fire is material. As a consequence, all things that exist from this secondary or material origin are "in themselves fixed, steadfast, and measurable"; fixed, because they are permanent, whatsoever be the changes in the states of men; steadfast, because they are constantly renewed by generation; and measurable, because they can be measured in terms of space. The appearances of the spiritual world, on the other hand, while seeming to be fixed, steadfast, and measurable, are not actually so, being dependent on the states of spirits (E. 1218).
In order the better to approach this subject, let me first point out the essential factors of human life, by virtue of which man, whether before or after death, lives as if of himself.
First: Such a being must be a finite vessel receptive of life.
Second: This vessel must be constituted of a series of finite parts, by the first of which life is communicated to all the others. Thus the inmost of man is constituted of primitive finites from the spiritual sun which are created by God, and are spontaneously active and living because perpetually receptive of life. In the father's seed these are clothed with compounded finites derived from the natural world, whereby they are conveyed to the ovum of the mother, where they are clothed with more and more compounded parts, even to the ultimate flesh and bones that are born into the world. In the whole of the body thus born, the only truly living things are the primitive finites proceeding from the spiritual sun. These are indeed created finites, but they are finites immediately receptive of life from God.
Third: This life is aware of every change of state that occurs in the parts below itself.
Fourth: In order that the vessel or human being may become conscious of life, that is, may feel itself to have independent life, the changes of state induced on its organism must be produced by causes which the vessel perceives to come from without, and over the entrance of which it has control by the use of the senses; for the states then induced are perceived as its own.
Changes of state are indeed produced in the womb, and life is aware of them, but the vessel itself is not aware of them until its senses are opened to the outer world. Then, and then only, does it exercise free choice and live as if of itself.
As a corollary it follows, not only that every spirit in the other world must have been born a man, but also that with every spirit there must be maintained a connection with the ultimate world of time and space. Were such connection broken, the spirit would at once he unconscious, and his life would be like the life of the child in the womb. But of this we shall speak later.
Granting that man, whether in this world or after death, is a vessel receptive of life, and that his conscious or sensitive life consists in his perceiving changes of state induced upon him by causes that come from without, it necessarily follows that the difference between the natural world and the spiritual is not a difference in respect to the sensation or perception of changes of state, but is a difference in the nature of the objects that produce the changes of state. It is clear, therefore, that an understanding of the difference between the objects sensated in the spiritual world and those sensated in the natural will give us an understanding of the difference between the two worlds.
The objects of sensation in the natural world are from a material origin, and are therefore material, fixed and steadfast, whatever be the changes of state in the man who sensates them. But the objects of sensation in the spiritual world exist from the Sun of heaven, and are therefore immaterial or substantial. They are devoid of time and space, and thus of extense, although, and this is worthy of special note--they are within the extense of the natural world (C. L. 380 circa fin.). Here let me note that by the objects of spiritual sensation, or, as they should more properly be called, the subjects of spiritual contemplation, I do not mean the appearances of the spiritual world so frequently described in the Writings. These appearances are not the subjects of spiritual perception or sensation; they are but the effects; even as the words and mental pictures in our mind are not the subject of our contemplation, but are merely the objective appearances produced by the subject.
The spiritual man or a spirit (we read) does not have matter, or space and time or size as his subjects; for though the objects in the spiritual world are so exactly like those in the natural world that they cannot be distinguished, yet they are merely the objects (or objective presentation) of the thoughts and affections of spirits, the subjects being the things of wisdom and love from which they appear (D. Wis. VII. 5).
The question then comes before us, What is the nature of those substantial things which form the subject of the sight of the spirit, and which, when perceived, produce the objective appearances of the spiritual world?
In the past, little has been said as to the distinction between the subjects contemplated by spirits and the objective appearances resulting from the contemplation. What has been chiefly discussed has been the nature of the objective appearances themselves. These have been thought to be created finite forms or substances, so compounded as to present an actual object before the senses of spirits. In judging concerning this, we must first have a clear idea of what is meant by a created finite form.
In the True Christian Religion it is said that, in the creation of the universe, God finited His Infinity, doing this by means of the spiritual sun, which consists of the Divine Essence going forth from Him as a sphere. "There and thence (the passage continues) is the first of finition; but its progression goes on even to ultimates in the nature of the world " (T. 29). This is further explained by the statement in a following passage, that "from God are the initiaments of space and time" (T. 31). And because the first of creation was the creation of finite forms, it is said in the same connection: "Spaces and times finite all things which are in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, and therefore men are finite, not only as to their bodies, but also as to their souls" (T. 29).
Now a created finite form is a form that has boundaries or limits, which distinguish it from other forms of the same kind. This Swedenborg clearly shows in his Principia, where he essays to define the nature of the boundaries of the first finite. Moreover, the mind at once sees that a created finite, howsoever sublime, must be a distinct entity, and, consequently, that in the first created finites is the beginning of what in this world we discern as space and quantity. It is for this reason that Swedenborg, in his Principia, calls the finiting motion in the Infinite, the first natural point, as being the first cause of those finite forms, the successive composition of which produced the ultimate matters of nature. It is not the first spiritual point, because the spiritual, that is, the Divine Love and Wisdom, is not revealed as the Divine of Use until finite substances and matters are created which shall clothe it and bring it forth as the Divine gift to human beings (W. 307).
It is true that, in speaking of the atmospheres, a distinction is made between those created finites which are called spiritual and those, which are called natural, but this distinction lies only in the fact that the one is autoactive, while the other is passive. The office of the one is to transmit the Divine Love and Wisdom, which is the light and heat of heaven; the office of the other is to furnish that ultimate matter which shall clothe the Divine Love and Wisdom, and bring it into finite manifestation. There is no distinction between them in respect to the properties of space and quantity. Both are created entities, and space and quantity can be predicated of both (W. 174-75).
Now the seeing of finite created forms, however interior, is the seeing of things of which space and number can be predicated, and such seeing is the property only of the sensory organs of the body; it is discretely different from the seeing of the spiritual itself; for the spiritual consists, not of created finites, but of the Divine Proceeding of the Lord which is accommodated by created finites, and which is universally manifested as the heat and light of heaven. This heat and light, we read, "which proceed from the Lord as a Sun, are what, by eminence, are called the spiritual. From this spiritual it is that the whole of that world is called spiritual, and through this spiritual, all things of that world take their origin and their name" (W. 100). Even though the eye, by some super-microscope could see the inmost finites of the universe, it would still be as far as ever from seeing the spiritual; even though it could see the inmost finites which constitute the soul of a man, it would be as far as ever from seeing the man's thought and love. Insects and animalculi sensate finite forms that are beyond our reach. True, there are many things that are invisible to us, even by the microscope. Thus we cannot see the parts of the air. Yet, knowing there are such parts, we see them in the mind merely as natural objects. It is in this way that the scientist sees the proton and the electron, and even their constituent parts.
The same is also true when we direct our gaze to the created finite forms of the spiritual atmospheres; even though we picture them as quivering with life, it is still finite forms that we see. Thus Swedenborg, in his Principia, then speaking of the first finites of creation, describes their shape and makes conjecture as to the number necessary for the making of a compound finite; and in the Writings, he describes the spiritual atmospheres as consisting of parts differentiated, the one from the other. The seeing of such parts is not the seeing of the spiritual, but is essentially the same as seeing by the eye of the body. Spiritual things come to view when we see, not created finite forms, but the Divine Love and Wisdom, which those forms are created to transmit and present. Finite forms can be seen by animals; man alone can see the spiritual.
The opinion that the appearances of the spiritual world are actual created substances involves that these substances are compounded, and that it is by this means that they come to the eyes of spirits. But the seeing of compound forms is not the seeing of appearances, but is the visual reproduction of actual figures, just as in the case of the sight of the body. If the mountains, houses, garments, etc., seen by angels are actual compound forms, whether spiritual or natural, then they see actual mountains and houses, etc., occupying space just as really as the mountains and houses of this earth. Yet it is universally acknowledged in the New Church that appearances in the spiritual world are appearances of the states of angels, or appearances of their understanding and perceptions of their loves (D. Wis. VII, 5).
If, however, it is contended that the appearances seen by spirits, while constituted of compounded spiritual forms, are not actually in the shape of earthly objects, it may be asked, By what law are such finite forms seen as objects of a wholly different shape? If I see material objects, or if, through the microscope, I see the finer things of nature, what I see is the actual shape of the thing seen. By what law, then, can spirits see created finite forms in a figure other than that which they actually possess? And what shall we say of the spiritual body? Spirits see each other as men exactly as in the world. Yet we are taught that a spirit consists of the finest things of nature, within which are active spiritual substances transmitting the Divine Life (T. 470).
That spirits, when seeing each other, do not see the finest things of nature, is evident, and, moreover, is distinctly stated in the Writings (D. Wis. VIII. 5). Are we then to suppose that the finite spiritual substances within are further compounded to form a body in the actual shape of the natural body? If not, the question again arises, By what law do spirits see finite forms in another shape than that which these forms actually possess?
Moreover, the teaching of the Writings is, that the compounding of finite, created forms takes place only as a link in the chain of creation that extends from firsts to lasts. The atmospheres in the two worlds, spiritual and natural (we read), come to their end in ultimates, in substances and matters such as are on earth (W. 302). I know of no teaching which even remotely suggests that spiritual atmospheres are compounded into any other ultimates. If such were the case, then there would be two natural worlds, two worlds of actual space; for compounding means becoming grosser, and it cannot cease until it comes to that which is fixed and at rest.
That there is no compounding of spiritual created forms into ultimate spiritual appearances, but that all such compounding reaches down to the fixed ultimates of the material world, is involved in the universal doctrine that creation proceeds from firsts to lasts, and then progresses to intermediates. So the Lord, by a series of finites successively compounded, created ultimate matter, and then, by means of matter, revealed His Divine Love and Wisdom in the forms of use. It is also involved in that other universal doctrine, that all power resides in ultimates. It is in ultimates alone that the Lord has power to give life to man as though it were the man's own in ultimates alone He has power to appear before man, to teach him, to redeem him.
Thus far I have endeavored to show that the appearances seen in the spiritual world are not and cannot be made up of created substances. What those appearances actually are will come to be spoken of later. For the present we turn our thought from the appearances of the spiritual world to the real objects or, if you prefer, subjects, that engage the attention of spirits, and produce those objective appearances, which are so, like the appearances of the natural world.
The teaching in the Writings is clear and abundant--the teaching, namely, that the objects seen by spirits are truths, and, essentially, the Lord Himself (D. 2329).
Witness the following from the Arcana: "Divine Truth is light to the angels, and it is this light which also enlightens our internal sight. This sight, because it sees not natural things but spiritual, has for its objects truths--in the [spiritual] understanding--spiritual truths called the truths of faith; but in the natural understanding it has for its objects truths of civil life which pertain to justice, and also truths of the moral state which pertain to honorableness, and in the ultimate understanding natural truths, being conclusions formed from the objects of the external senses. From this can be seen the order in the sequence of truths, and that each and all draw their origin from Divine Truths, which are the interior beginnings of all things; moreover, the forms wherein these things are have drawn their origin from Divine Truths, these forms having been created to receive and contain them. Hence it can be evident what is meant by all things being created by the Word " (n. 8861). Again, we read: "All angels and all good spirits see the truths of heaven as the eye of the body sees objects of the world, for to those who are spiritual the objects of heaven are truths "(E. 895); and, furthermore, "The objects of spiritual sight, which is the sight of the interior understanding, are spiritual truths, and these are seen by those who are in that understanding in like manner as natural objects are seen before the eyes" (A. R. 920).
It is not necessary to quote further on this point, for who does not know that the objects contemplated by the spiritual mind are truths? What is the work of the church save that men's eyes may be opened to see spiritual truths? But while this may be acknowledged readily enough in a state of elevation of thought, yet the natural mind, which sees all things from time and space, intrudes with the thought that truth is nothing real, nothing substantial; that nothing can be real or substantial unless it be bounded by space. In one state of the mind we see that the Lord is the only Substance, the only Real; in another state, nothing seems real save that which is spatial; and even when we think of the objects of the spiritual world, we desire something tangible, as in this world, something which, even though we may call it spiritual, has the intrinsic property of limits, bounds, space. Such a desire is inseparable from finite human beings, being inherent in the fact that we are finite; for the finite can see nothing unless it appears in finite form.
These two states of the mind are harmonized by the truth that, while as finite men we must necessarily think in the terms of time and space, we are yet able to think from that which is above time and space. We can contemplate abstract truths, but not apart from the words in which they present themselves to the sight of our mind. So in the spiritual world, no angel can contemplate the least thing save in the appearances of time and space yet his gaze is not directed to the appearances, but to the real and substantial things, which produce those appearances. And these substantial things, which are the true objects of his sight, are Divine Truths.
"Divine Truth, which is from the Lord (we read) infills the heavens and makes the heavens." And here let me note that the words makes the heavens are to be understood, not in any vague or abstract sense, but as meaning that it actually makes all the things of heaven, that is to say, all the real appearances, the lands, the houses, the garments, etc., by which the angels are surrounded. That it actually makes the food of heaven, or spiritual food, I suppose all will acknowledge. But to resume the quotation: "The Divine Truth makes the heavens, and, if you will believe it, it is that whereby all things were made and created. The Word which was in the beginning with God and which was God, by which all things were created, and by which the world was made, is the Divine Truth. That this is the sole substantial thing from which are all things, few can comprehend, and this, because at this day no other idea is entertained concerning Divine Truth than as concerning the speech of the mouth uttered by a commander, and according to which his commands are brought into effect" (A. C. 9410). It should here be noted that by Divine Truth in this passage is not meant Divine Truth apart from Divine Good, but the Divine Good proceeding as Divine Truth forming and creating.
The Divine Truth, which is the one substantial thing, created all things in the universe, in order that Itself may be revealed therein, and so may give Itself for the blessing of man. "There are three things in the Lord which are the Lord (we read): The Divine of Love, the Divine of Wisdom, and the Divine of Use; and these three are presented in appearance outside the sun of the spiritual world, the Divine of Love by heat, the Divine of Wisdom by light, and the Divine of Use by atmospheres."
The passage then continues: The three atmospheres of the spiritual world, and the three atmospheres of the natural world, come to an end in substances and matters such as are on earth, and these substances and matters are created in order that "uses, which are the ends of creation" may receive forms, that is, may become manifest in ultimates (W. 302, 307). Here we learn that the Divine Proceeding from the Lord comes to created being in two forms, namely, as the heat and light of heaven, and as uses clothed with substances and matters.
The Divine Truth appearing as the light of heaven, and ultimately as the light of the natural world, is not an object of sight, but is that by which all objects of sight are made visible. It is the Infinite Divine Truth, ever surrounding men and giving to them the possibility of spiritual sight, even as the ether of the natural world gives the possibility of natural sight.
But the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord comes to man also in another way--a way in which it can be communicated to man, and be appropriated by him, to become, as it were, his own. Atmospheres do indeed convey the Divine Proceeding as heat and light. But created finites have a use other than the formation of atmospheres,--the use, namely, that they may be compounded into substances and matters at rest, to the end that the Divine Proceeding may be presented as use. For what are substances and matters, unless they be the means by which uses come, it being uses alone that bring happiness?
On this subject we read: "The Divine Truth which immediately proceeds from the Lord flows in successively, and on the way, or around each new successive, it becomes more general, thus grosser, thus more obscure; and slower, thus more sluggish and cold. But it must be known that Divine Truth which flows into the third heaven, next to the Lord, at the same time also flows without successive formation even to the ultimates of order, and there, from the First, rules and foresees all and single things immediately. Hence things successive are contained in their order and connection. That such is the case, can be seen to some extent from a rule not unknown to the learned in the world, that substance which is substance is the sole substance, and that all other things are formations therefrom, and that in the formations this one sole substance rules, not merely as form, but also as non-form, as in its origin" (A. C. 7270).
In order to understand this last phrase, "in the formation (that is, in created things), the one sole substance rules, not only as form, but also as non-form," it is necessary to understand the law of sensation, especially of the sensation of sight, -the law, namely, that modification in the atmospheres becomes sensation in the human organism. When we see an object, what we actually see is a change of state in the organic substance of the mind, that is, a change in the order and arrangement of the parts, which constitute that substance. This change is caused by the modifications of the ether produced by that object, and conveyed to the retina of the eye and thence to the nerve cells of the brain, where the consequent change of state is perceived as a sight of the object. This sight we have in common with animals.
But in the objects of the world there is some other activity than that which produces modification in the ether,-an activity which may be called the formative force, but which, in its essence, is the Divine Truth creating. If man sees a flower or a tree, he sees the external object in common with animals; but man has a plane which is receptive and perceptive, not only of the modifications of the ether, but also of that inner activity which is the formative force that made the flower or the tree. He does not see it as motion, nor as a material object, but he sees it as truth; not, indeed, as naked truth, for no finite being can see this, but truth appearing within the form of natural objects, and expressed by words; and this seeing brings him a delight wholly above the delights of the senses,--a delight which comes not from the words, but from the truth itself. For what is truth but the Divine Operation which creates all things of the universe and perpetually makes them to subsist? If we see the motions by which organic forms come into being, and the reasons for those motions, we see what is called scientific truth. If we see the forces that operate upon men, and bind them into a compact society, we see civil and moral truth. If we see the operations of the Lord urging us to a life of spiritual order, we see spiritual truth.
In all these cases, what we really see is the Divine Truth which is the formative or creative force present in all things of the universe, being the one only substance that rules in all formations, and this not merely as form, but also "as non-form as in its origin." We do not and cannot perceive it as non-form, for that would be to see the Infinite; we do not even see it as force or motion, for motion, which involves space, can be seen only by the eye of the body. We see it in the change of state which it produces in the organic substance of our mind, and this change of state comes to our apprehension in the form of words, or laws, of images and illustrations, these being at once created by the truth, as mirrors in which Itself is seen. It is not the words or the images on which the sight of the mind is concentrated, but the truth which produces those images as the appearances of itself, and without which it could not be seen by finite man.
It is hard for man to think of Divine Truth as the sole, real, and substantial thing in the universe; and for the natural man it is impossible. Yet it can be seen by man if he thinks from causes, and not from effects. And he can then confirm his perception that Divine Truth is the only Substantial by the reflection that truth alone has power, and that there can never be happiness in the human heart or peace among men, save so far as truth rules the heart and directs the conduct of men. The power of truth is indeed a power, which none can resist; and sometimes we vividly experience this in ourselves when our evils are exposed by truth, especially if uttered by others, even though those others be ignorant of our evils.
As we read: "The Lord disposes all things in heaven and hell and in the world by means of truths which are from Him. For the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord is that very thing by which all things have come into existence, and by which all things continue to exist. That such is the case, they do not comprehend who think from the material, as do those who ascribe the origin and sustenance of all things to nature. Such men can have no other idea of truths than that they are of no power because they are a matter of mere thought, respecting which they perceive nothing essential and still less substantial, although they know that thought rules the whole body and arouses its several parts into motion, in entire accordance with its quality; also that there is nothing in the universe that does not refer itself to truth which is from good " (A. C. 9327).
But man cannot see naked truth, any more than he can see naked motion, for that would be to see the Infinite; he cannot see the Divine Proceeding until it reveals itself in ultimates; nor can he see it in ultimates, until it has produced a change of state in the organic substance of his mind. For man, there is no such thing as abstract truth; it is a pure entity of reason; and it is the same with good, for good is the delight which is felt at the presence of truth (A. C. 4301). Hence we have the following noteworthy teaching: "The common idea of men concerning love and wisdom is as of something volatile and fluent in the air or ether. Scarcely anyone thinks that they are really and actually substance and form. They who see that they are substance and form still perceive love and wisdom outside the subject as things flowing from it, . . . not knowing that love and wisdom are the subject itself, and that what is perceived outside it as something volatile and fluent is only the appearance of the state of the subject in itself. The truth is that love and wisdom are the real and actual substance and form which make the subject" (D. L. W. 40). Again we read: "Cognitions and truths are no more things abstracted from the purest substances which are of the interior man, that is, of his spirit, than sight is abstracted from its organ the eye, or hearing from its organ the ear. It is purer substances which are real, from which they exist, the variations of whose forms, animated and modified by means of influx from the Lord, set them forth to view" (A. C. 3726); and again: "There is no such thing as good or truth which is not in a substance as in its subject. Abstract goods and truths are not possible, being nowhere, because they have no seat. They are merely entities, respecting which reason seems to think abstractly. They cannot exist save in subjects, for every idea of man, even when sublimated, is substantial, that is, is affixed to substances" (C. L. 66).
The seat of Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord is the human mind. There the Divine Proceeding manifests itself in the creation of a spiritual paradise, even as on earth it manifests itself representatively as a natural paradise. "Since the truth of faith is spiritual light, and the good of charity is spiritual heat (we read), it follows that it is the same with those as it is with heat and light in the natural world; namely, that as from the conjunction of the latter all things flourish upon the earth, so likewise from the conjunction of the former all things flourish in the human mind; with the difference, however, that this flourishing is wisdom and intelligence. Therefore, the human mind is compared to a garden" (T. 392).
It is these truths and goods (or it may be falsities and evils) thus brought into being in the human mind that constitute that intellectual wealth of which our libraries are the repositories and our civilization the fruit. The wealth is the result of the labors of individuals, but its fruits are open to all to receive and enjoy according to their capacity and desire. In this world, this spiritual wealth can be conveyed to others only by means of ultimates--by words, written or spoken, or by works. In the other world, the communication is more directly effected, being effected by the communication of spheres.
But before dwelling further on this, let me again note that the Divine Truth is revealed to man only as it is made manifest in ultimates. What, then, shall we say of spirits who have cast off the sensory organs by which the ultimate theatre of Divine Love and Wisdom lay before their gaze? Do they see it in its proceeding through successive finites before it reaches ultimates? Or is it equally true of them, as of men that they can see it only when it is made manifest in the world of nature? That the latter is the case is abundantly taught in the Writings. There we read: "From the order of creation it can be evident that there is such a continent nexus from firsts to lasts that, regarded together, they constitute a one, in which the prior cannot be separated from the posterior, just as a cause cannot be separated from its effect, and, consequently, the spiritual world from the natural. . . . Such is the connection of the angelic heaven and the human race, that the one subsists from the other, and that without the human race the angelic heaven is like a house without a foundation, for heaven closes into it and rests upon it.
The case is the same as with man himself; his spiritual things, being the things of his thought and will, inflow into his natural things, being the things of his sensations and actions, and there terminate and subsist. Were man without these terminations and ultimates, his spiritual things, which are of the thoughts and affections of his spirit, would flow away like things unbounded, or things without a foundation. It is the same when a man passes over from the natural world into the spiritual, that is, when he dies. Then, being a spirit, he does not subsist upon his own basis, but upon a general basis, which is the human race. "From all my experience with respect to heaven, and from all my discourse with angels, I can assert that no angel or spirit has subsistence without man, and no man without spirit and angel" (L. J. 9).
Here note well the statement that this connection between the inhabitants of the spiritual world and those of the natural is as the connection between the thoughts and affections of the mind and the sensations and actions of the body. Neither could exist without the other. Spirits could have no thoughts and affections were they separated from men, and men could have no sensations and actions were they separated from spirits. That sensations and actions depend on connection with the spiritual world, is clear from the phenomenon of death. That thoughts and affections are not possible without sensations, is clear from swoons and like cases, where the senses are entirely closed; it is clear also from death, for when a man dies, he becomes unconscious, and he remains so for two or three days, regaining consciousness only when the finest things of nature which he retains become sensitive to the spheres of men on earth.
All New Churchmen are familiar with the teaching that, when man reads the Word on earth, spirits and angels perceive the spiritual sense; that the angelic heavens themselves were threatened because of the evil state of the church prior to the Incarnation; that when the Lord came on earth, the Sun of heaven shone more brightly. Moreover, this teaching is confirmed by the manifold experiences of the Revelator, who, being in both worlds at the same time was able to observe the effect on spirits of the things that he ate and drank, of the clothes that he wore, and the scenes that he saw. He also tells us of a society of spirits who, through him, heard some singing on earth; this caused them great delight, and they informed him that they had frequently experienced such delight, but had never before known the earthly basis on which it rested.
Now such a connection between the thoughts and affections of spirits and the sensations of men cannot be effected without a mode, or, if you please, a mechanism, and, indeed, a mode similar to that which exists between the sensations of a man and his thoughts and affections. Indeed, so great is the similarity that, just as man becomes unconscious if deprived of sensation, so spirits would become unconscious if deprived of connection with the human race on some earth. Neither spirits nor men are conscious of this interdependence, and there are multitudes in both worlds who deny it, believing that there is but one world. Yet men and spirits may learn the truth from the Revelation now given by means of a man who was consciously present in both worlds at the same time.
The connection between the two worlds is the same as the connection between the sensation of the body and the thought of the spirit. Even on earth the spirit of man does not see the world directly. That world comes before his gaze by means of the organs of the senses. Through these organs the modifications of atmospheres caused by the objects of the world produce changes of state in the organic substance of the mind, and ultimately in those finest substances which man retains after death; and man, as a spiritual being, is able to perceive these changes of state by virtue of the fact that within his natural substances are spiritual substances which receive Life from God and give the ability to perceive and reflect.
It is change of state that the spirit of a man on earth sees, and not the actual objects of the natural world; but because these latter are constant, the states produced by them are also constant. The appearance is, that the spirit goes forth and apprehends objects at a distance from itself; as, for instance, that the sight of the eye seems to extend outward to the person or object seen at a distance. But the truth is that we see the world within us. We are present in the world only by sensation. If the sensory organs are closed, as in the case of coma and swoons, we are at once absent from the world, even though our body is still there. Thus it may truly be said that the kingdom of the world is within us. True, the world of nature is actually without us, since it is constituted of fixed matter, but we are in it only so far as it is within us.
Now the world in which man's spirit is, that is, the world that is seen by the spirit, is very different with those who suffer their mind to be formed by the truths of Revelation from what it is with those who reject God. With the former, the truths of Revelation are like seeds containing within them the formative life of the Divine Proceeding, and this life, operating upon the mental ground of worldly images, molds from that ground new forms wherein are seen, not the material objects of the world, but the Divine Truth of the Divine Love and Wisdom; even as the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord creates from the ground of the natural world those living forms which bring to ultimate manifestation the Divine of Use (T. 392 quoted above).
That is to say, the Divine Truth, received by man and firmly retained, interiorly changes the state of the organic substances of the mind, so that the mind, beholding that state, sees, not merely the world around him, but the world of causes within it. The world around him becomes a living theatre presenting to view the Divine Love and Wisdom. He sees spiritual truths, and sees them as the real and substantial things of life. Nay, so real are they that, for their preservation, he is willing to subjugate the allurements of the world, and even to sacrifice the life of the body. These truths cannot indeed appear to him save under the form of words and of the images of time and space nevertheless, it is the truths that are seen, and inmostly the Lord Himself, and not the words and images. And these truths reveal to him a new world. This was the normal state of the men of the Most Ancient Church. Of them we read that they did indeed sensate the external things of the body and the world, "but they did not put their care therein. In the several objects of the senses they perceived something Divine and heavenly," and therefore all things with them were living, as it were (A. C. 920). And, in like manner as we are present in the world only as the world is within us, so we are present in heaven only as heaven is within us. In a very literal sense we see the truth of the Lord's words, "The kingdom of God is within you." Such is the case with those who receive and love the truths of Revelation.
Those who deny God also see with their spirit only changes of state, but they see these, not as a world revealing God, but as a material world with nature as its creator. This, moreover, continues after death. Hence they see nothing of heaven, but are in the continual phantasy that they are still in the body.
In the other world, as in this, the spirit continues to see changes of state, with the sole difference that these changes are induced, not by the spirit's own sensory organs, but by the spheres of men. And there, as here, he sees them, not as changes of state, any more than a man perceives the states of his brain when he thinks, but as appearances drawn from the natural world; and, being unable to compare these appearances with the things of nature, he knows no other, save from doctrine, than that he is in the natural world. That the phenomena of the spiritual world are appearances of the changes of states of spirits is well known to the New Church. And what else are changes of states than changes in the order and arrangement of the parts of the organic substance of the mind?
That changes of state come to man's apperception as appearances of time and space, is the result of the great universal law that the Lord reveals Himself only in and by means of ultimates, and this, in order that He may appear to be apart from man, that thus man may be free to receive Him, as it were, of himself. It is for this reason that there is no human being in all creation who was not born a man on some earth. There his first sensations are of the world of time and space. As he grows older he may learn to think abstractly; but however sublime his thought, it must come to his view in the language of time and space, and, so long as he is in this world, in the words of some tongue with which he is familiar. But it is not the words that he sees, but the ideas, just as it is my ideas that you are now looking at, and not my words. The language of words, however, belongs to this world, but the language or imagery of time and space is universal to both spirits and men, and, save in this imagery, nothing whatever can come to their apprehension. This is involved in the words of an angel to his pupils: "You must needs think of God in Person, but you must not think of Him from Person." Indeed, it cannot be otherwise, for men would then see naked spiritual truth, the Divine Proceeding itself, and this is impossible to finite beings. Even thought of the Divine Proceeding at once creates a finite appearance of time and space--the appearance of a force passing through an atmosphere. Yet, while truths necessarily are seen only in appearances, we can nevertheless see the truths themselves that thus appear.
To see the Divine manifesting itself by means of the ultimates of nature is the care and labor of angels, even as it is the care and labor of spiritual men on earth; and the seeing brings them that delight which is called the good of love (A. C. 4301). The riches of heaven, the things of varying magnificence that are seen there, are the fruits of this labor, even as the spiritual riches of the church are the fruits of the labor of men on earth. In this world, these spiritual riches are communicated to others by fixed means such as books, art, and ultimate works, and by these means all men can enjoy the fruits of the labors of each. But in the other world, communication is effected by spheres without the mediation of fixed matter.
The reception of the sphere of an angel produces that change of state which is seen by the receiver as the scenery of heaven. Hence the well-known teaching that the surroundings of an angel appear and disappear with the angel. The scenery of heaven is more magnificent, and its riches more abundant, as the number of angels in a society is greater; even as the spiritual riches of the church increase according to the number of men who contribute to those riches.
These spiritual riches, the varied scenes of heavenly beauty, the abodes of the angels, their clothes and their adornments, nay, and their very food and drink, are said to be created by God in a moment according to the affections of the angels (T. 78), and, indeed, seem as though produced by the angels (W. 327). Such creation consists, not in a compression of finite substances, but in changes of state produced by the transmission from one angel to another of that Divine Proceeding which is the only Real,--the only Substantial, the only Sustainer of human life. Hence the teaching that, if the sphere of an angel were clothed with matter, the result would be an animated material creation. (D. L. W. 344.)
The spiritual treasures are the fruits of angelic labors--fruits which are at once communicated to all who are receptive. On this subject we read: "It is the same with the extension of thought from objects which are the things of which one is thinking, as it is with the objects of sight. The sphere of rays from the latter diffuses itself to a great distance, and comes to the sight of man; so likewise the internal sight, which is the sight of the thought, from its objects. These objects are not material, but spiritual, and therefore they diffuse themselves to such things as are in the spiritual world, thus to the truths and goods there, and, consequently, to the societies which are in them" (A. C. 6601). Therefore, while it is frequently stated in the Writings that truths are the objects of the spiritual sight, it is also stated that these objects are angelic societies (L. J. 9). So it may be said that, while the objects of an intellectual mind are truths, its objects are also the intellectual world.
So wonderful is the extension of thought in the spiritual world that the treasures of each angel in a society are at once communicated to all in that society, and, in a more general way, to all the neighboring societies, even as the intellectual riches of a society on earth are at once open to all its members.
Hence we have the teaching that, when a spirit enters into a society of heaven, he at once comes into all the knowledges of that society; not that he thereby becomes as intelligent and wise as others in the society, but that he has before him the fruits of their wisdom, and understands and enjoys these fruits according to the measure of his capacity.
Let me now summarize the conclusions I have laid before you. The two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, are alike in external aspect, but wholly unlike in internal aspect. This unlikeness arises from the fact that the appearances of the spiritual world are from an immaterial origin, while the appearances of the natural world are also from a material origin, and, consequently, are fixed and measurable. The objects of sight in the natural world are material, but the objects of sight in the spiritual world are truths, being the Divine Proceeding which creates and sustains the universe. These are revealed only by means of ultimates; for it is not possible for man to apprehend anything except in the appearances of time and space, which are the alphabet of expression acquired in the world. These appearances in the spiritual world do not consist of compressed finites, but are the appearances to spirits of the state of the organic substance of their mind. These appearances are the riches of heaven, bestowed upon angels and upon spiritual men according to their love of truth and the labor they bestow on the discerning of it; and the riches given to each angel are at once and spontaneously communicated to all in his society.
I have essayed to describe the real causes that produce the appearances of the spiritual world, yet I, in common with all finite beings, cannot think in the terms of those causes. Finite man, though he can think from causes, must needs rest his thought in the appearances of time and space. Thus we say that the sun rises and sets, though we know that this is an appearance. We say that the sight extends to this object or that; yet we know that the sight does not extend, but that rays from the object enter the eye. We say that we are living, yet we know that there is but one Life. Being finite, we must think in appearances, but being images of God, we have the ability of thinking from the truth. The spiritual world appears in all respects like the natural world, nor can we speak or think of it save in the language of space and time.
In that world we stand on real ground, have real bodies, real houses, clothes, foods, etc. Of this, every New Churchman is convinced. Nor will the inquiry into the causes of these appearances in the spiritual world lessen our belief in their reality, any more than the knowledge that matter is composed of electrons and protons in the most rapid motion lessens our belief in the solidity of matter.
The appearances of the spiritual world, like the fixed appearances of the natural, are the means whereby God gives Himself to man. And in the degree that it is granted us, in the light of Revelation, to see that God is the only Living, the only Real, the only Substantial, so shall we more humbly adore Him, and more gratefully praise Him, for His gift of life, and reality, and substantiality, as though they were our own.
