THE SPIRIT OF MAN

is his mind and whatever proceeds from it

^{(Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg)}

The spirit of man is his mind and whatever proceeds from it. In the concrete, man's spirit means simply his mind; for this it is that lives after death, and it is then called a spirit-if good, an angelic spirit and afterwards an angel, if evil, a satanic spirit and afterwards a satan. The mind of everyone is his internal man, which is actually the man, and resides within the external man which constitutes his body; consequently when the body is cast off, which is effected by its death, the internal is in a complete human form. Therefore they err who believe that man's mind resides only in the head; it is there in principles only, from which everything that man thinks from his understanding or does from his will first proceeds; but in the body it is in derivatives, which are formed for sensation and action. And because the mind invariably adheres to the bodily structures it imparts to them sensation and motion; and it also inspires them with a perception that the body thinks and acts of itself, although this latter is a fallacy, as every wise man knows. Since, then, the spirit of man thinks from the understanding and acts from the will, and since the body acts not from itself but from the spirit, it follows that the spirit of man means his intelligence and his love's affection and whatever goes forth and operates from these. That "the spirit of man" signifies such things as pertain to the mind is evident from many passages in the Word. That this is their meaning anyone can see as soon as they are presented. The following are a few passages from among many:

Bezaleel was filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and knowledge (Exod. 31:3).
Nebuchadnezzar said of Daniel that an excellent spirit of knowledge and understanding and wisdom was found in him (Dan. 5:11, 12).
Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom (Deut. 34:9).
Make you a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 18:31).
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of such is the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 5:3).
I dwell in the contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble (Isa. 57:15).
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit (Ps. 51:17).
I will give the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isa. 61:3). (And elsewhere.)

That "the spirit" signifies also such things as pertain to a perverse and wicked mind is evident from the following:

He said to the foolish prophets that go away after their own spirit (Ezek. 13:3).
Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; as to your spirit, fire shall devour you (Isa. 33:11).
A man who is a wanderer in spirit and uttereth falsehood (Micah 2:11).
A generation whose spirit is not constant with God (Ps. 78:8).
The spirit of whoredoms (Hos. 5:4; 4:12).
That every heart may melt, and every spirit faint (Ezek. 21:7).
That which ascendeth upon your spirit shall never come to pass (Ezek. 20:32).
In whose spirit there is no guile (Ps. 32:2).
Pharaoh's spirit was troubled (Gen. 41:8);
So also was Nebuchadnezzar's (Dan. 2:3).

From these and numerous other passages it is clearly evident that the "spirit" signifies the mind of man and such things as pertain thereto.

As man's spirit means his mind, therefore "being in the spirit" (a phrase sometimes used in the Word) means a state of mind separate from the body; and because in that state the prophets saw such things as exist in the spiritual world it is called "a vision of God." The prophets were then in a state like that of spirits and angels themselves in that world. In that state man's spirit like his mind in regard to sight, may be transferred from place to place, the body remaining meanwhile in its own place. This is the state in which I have now been for twenty-six years, with the difference, that I am in the spirit and in the body at the same time, and only at times out of the body. That Ezekiel, Zachariah, Daniel, and John when he wrote the Apocalypse, were in that state is evident from the following passages. Ezekiel says:

The spirit lifted me up, and brought me back in vision in the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me (Ezek. 11:1, 24).
That the spirit lifted him up, and he heard behind him an earthquake (Ezek. 3:12, 14).
That the spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven and brought him to Jerusalem, and he saw abominations (Ezek. 8:3 seq.).
That he saw four living creatures that were cherubim, and various things with them (Ezek. 1, 10).
Also a new earth and a new temple, and an angel measuring them (Ezek. 40, 47).
That he was then in vision and in the spirit (Ezek. 40:2; 43:5).

[2] It was the same with Zachariah (in whom there was then an angel) when he saw:

A man riding among the myrtle trees (Zech. 1:8 seq.);
Four horns, and a man with a measuring line in his hand (Zech. 1:18; 2:1, 5 seq.);
Joshua the high priest (Zech. 3:1 seq.);
The lampstand and two olive trees (Zech. 4:1 seq.);
A flying roll and an ephah (Zech. 5:1, 6);
Four chariots going out from between two mountains, and horses (Zech 6:1-3).

Daniel was in a like state:

When he saw the four great beasts coming up from the sea, and many things respecting them (Dan. 7:1-12);
When he saw the battles between the ram and the he-goat (Dan. 8:1-12);
All of which he saw in vision (Dan. 7:1, 2, 7, 13; 8:2; 10:1, 7, 8); The angel Gabriel appeared to him in vision and talked with him (Dan. 9:21).

[3] The same occurred to John when he wrote the Apocalypse; he said:

That he was in the spirit on the Lord's day (1:10);
That he was carried away in the spirit into the wilderness (17:3);
Upon a high mountain in spirit (21:10);
That he saw in vision (9:17);

and elsewhere that he saw the things he described; as when he saw the Son of man in the midst of the seven lampstands; the tabernacle, the temple, the ark and the altar, in heaven; a book sealed with seven seals, and horses going out of it; four living creatures around the throne; the twelve thousand elect from each tribe; the Lamb on Mount Zion; the locusts ascending from the abyss; the dragon, and his combat with Michael; the woman bringing forth a male child, and fleeing into the desert on account of the dragon; the two beasts, one ascending out of the sea and the other out of the earth; the woman sitting upon the scarlet beast; the dragon cast into the lake of fire and brimstone; the white horse and the great supper; the holy city Jerusalem descending, the gates, walls, and foundations of which he described; the river of the water of life, and the trees of life bearing fruit every month; and many other things. Peter, James, and John were in a like state when they saw Jesus transfigured, and Paul when he heard from heaven things ineffable.

(True Christian Religion 156 - 157)