EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
While the Swedenborgians, as a religious sect, are not numerically
sufficient to be reckoned among the world's great religions, it is yet a
fact that the followers of the great Swedish seer and scientist hold a
prominent place among the innumerable sects which the beginning of this
century finds flourishing.
Swedenborg was born in Stockholm, in January, 1688, and lived to the
advanced age of eighty-four years.
Swedenborg was well born; he was the son of a bishop of the Swedish church,
and during his lifetime held many positions of honor. He was a friend and
adviser of the king, and his expert knowledge of mining engineering gave
him a place among the scientists of his age.
He was a voluminous writer, his early work being confined to the phases of
materialistic science, notably on mines and metals, and later upon man, in
his physiological aspect.
His "De Cerebro and Psychologia Rationales," published in his fifty-seventh
year, showed a different Swedenborg from the one to whom his colleagues
were accustomed to refer with much respect.
This book dealt with man, not as a product of brute creation, but as an
evolutionary creature, having at least a possibility of divine origin. It
is, however, his "Arcana Coelestia" upon which "The Church of the New
Jerusalem" is founded; and it is this work which caused Swedenborg's
friends and colleagues to determine that he had become insane. It is, in
fact, only within very recent years, that the so-called scientific world
has deigned to regard Swedenborg's revelations with any degree of serious
and respectful attention.
Swedenborg's Illumination was not, like that of so many others, who have
founded a new religion, a sudden influx of spiritual consciousness, but
rather a gradual leading up to the inevitable goal, by virtue of serious
thought, deep study, and a high order of mentality.
But that the Swedish seer received, in full measure, the blessing of cosmic
consciousness, is beyond doubt.
Swedenborg's extremely simple habits of life; his freedom from any desire
for display, or for those social advantages into which he was born; his
gentleness and unassuming manner, of which much is written by his
followers, all point to him as one upon whom the blessing might readily
descend. Swedenborg was a vegetarian, but this seems not to be a necessary
characteristic of those possessing illumination, although, when cosmic
consciousness shall have become almost general, vegetarianism must
inevitably come with it, as animal life will disappear from the earth.
Swedenborg, like many others who have perceived the cosmic light, evidently
believed that he had been specially selected and consecrated for the work
of the new church. That is, he took his illumination, not as an initiation
into the higher degrees of cosmic truth, but as a special and personal
revelation. This view characterizes those who founded a new, or a reformed
religious system, while as a matter of truth, the light that comes is a
part of the cosmic plan, and not, as Swedenborg and others imagine, as a
personal revelation.
However, Swedenborg considered himself a direct instrument in the hands of
God, and God is alluded to as a personality. He believed that his great
mission was to disclose the true nature of the Bible, and to prove that it
was actually the inspired word of God, having an esoteric meaning, which
has wrongly been interpreted to apply to the creation of a material world,
and to its history and its people, but that when understood, it explains
clearly, the nature of God, and the nature of man, and their relation to
each other. It should be remembered that at the time Swedenborg wrote his
theological works, the church had fallen into rank materialism and
superstition. That Swedenborg should have received his illumination, or
revelation, direct from the Lord, only serves to prove that the mortal
consciousness clothes the revelation with whatever personality appeals to
it, as having authority.
Thus, the angel Gabriel was the dictator in the case of Mohammed, and the
"Blessed Mother" of the Hindu reveals to them the vision of _mukti_.
Swedenborg says of his vision: "God appeared to me and said, 'I am the Lord
God, the Creator and Redeemer of the world. I have chosen thee to unfold
the spiritual sense of the Holy Scriptures. I will myself dictate to thee
what thou shalt write.'"
In "The True Christian Religion," published shortly before his death he
says: "Since the Lord can not manifest Himself in person as has been shown,
and yet He has foretold that He would come and establish a new church,
which is the New Jerusalem, it follows that He is to do it, by means of a
man, who is able not only to receive the doctrines of this church with his
understanding, but also to publish them by the press. That the Lord has
manifested Himself before me, His servant, and sent me on this office, and
that, after this, He opened the sight of my spirit, and thus let me into
the spiritual world, and gave me to see the heavens and the hells and also
to speak with spirits and angels, and this now continually for many years,
I testify in truth; and also that, from the first day of that call, I have
not received anything that pertains to the doctrines of that church from my
angel, but from the Lord alone, while I read the Word."
It is stated with great positiveness by Swedenborg's followers, and indeed,
apparently by the seer himself, if we may take as authoritative, the
translations of his works, that the revelations accorded to him covered a
period of many years, whereas, we find in most instances of cosmic
consciousness, the illumined ones have alluded to some specific time, as
the great event, even while claiming that the effect of this illumination
remains indefinitely--in fact, forms a part of a wider area of
consciousness which is ever increasing.
But when we take the numerous instances of revelations, in which the devout
ones firmly believe that they and they alone have been accorded the vision,
we must realize that this phenomenon is impersonal, looked at as a favor to
any one human being. By that we mean that Illumination comes to every soul
who has earned it, just as mathematically as the sun seems to set, after
the earth has made its hourly journey.
Perhaps this comparison is not as clear as to say: when the normal child
has grown to manhood or womanhood, his consciousness has widened, beyond
that of the infant; not excluding that of the infant but inclusive of all
hitherto acquired knowledge. Without in any degree lessening the
importance and the verity of Swedenborg's visions, it may be assumed that
his record of these visions and their meaning has partaken more or less of
the limitations of mortal mind.
Spiritual consciousness can not be set down in terms of sense. The external
world symbolizes spiritual truths; each interpreter must of necessity weave
into his interpretation and attempt at finite expression of these truths,
something of his own mortal consciousness; and this "mortal mind"
consciousness is bound to partake of the time and age, and conditions of
environment of the person who has experienced the revelation.
Making due allowance, therefore, for the impossibility of exact expression
of any spiritual illumination, we find in the revelation of Swedenborg
exactly what we find in all who have attained to cosmic consciousness,
namely, the absolute, confidential assurance of immortal life: the
conviction that creation is under divine love and wisdom, administered by
Cosmic Law and order, or Justice, and the final "redemption" (i.e.,
evolution), of all men. In his "Conjugal Love," Swedenborg touches upon the
premise which we declare, as the foundation of all cosmic consciousness,
namely the attainment of spiritual union with the "mate" which we believe
to be inseparable from all creation; the reunited principle which we see
expressed in the male and female, whether in plant, bird, animal, man, or
angel; the "twain made one" which Jesus declared would be the sign manual
of the coming of his kingdom; that is, the coming of cosmic
consciousness--the kingdom of pure and perfect love upon earth as it is in
the heavens.
In Corinthians (11: 12) we read:
"For as the woman is of the man so is the man also of the woman; for the
woman is not without the man, nor the man without the woman _in the Lord_."
Which is to say, that in the attainment of cosmic consciousness (_in the
Lord_), the "twain are made one," and immortality (i.e., immunity from
reincarnation) is gained, because of this union. God is a bi-sexual Being.
This fact is evidenced throughout all creation. To attain to immortality
is to become as God. In this day and age of the world we have come into a
realization of the Father-Mother idea of godhood, clearly and literally
signifying the coming consciousness which is bi-sexual; male and female;
perfect counterparts, or complements and through which alone, this earth
can be made a "fit dwelling place for gods." This, too, is the message of
the great seer Swedenborg, as it relates to love, as it is, when rightly
understood and interpreted, of all who have felt the blessing of
perfection, as exemplified in Illumination.
The fundamental points of Swedenborg's doctrine agree with those of all
other Illumined ones, who have founded a system of worship; a "Way of
Illumination" it may be called; or in whose name such systems have been
formed. That is, he testified to:
A conviction of immortality;
A realization of absolute justice, whereby all souls shall finally come
into cosmic consciousness.
An actual time when Christ (the cosmic illumination) shall come to earth.
A great and abiding love for and patience with the frailties of his
sense-conscious fellow-beings;
A transcendent desire to bestow upon all men, the blessing of cosmic
consciousness.
Few if any, have ever attained a full and complete realization of cosmic
consciousness and remained in the physical body.
Those who have attained and retained the highest degree of this glimpse of
the Paradise of the gods, find it practically impossible to describe or
explain the sensations experienced, even though they are more convinced of
the truth and the reality of this realm than of anything in the merely
sense-conscious life.
Lastly, let us not lose sight of the all-important fact that no one system,
creed, philosophy, or way of Illumination will answer for all types and
degrees of men. "All things work together for good" to those who have the
keenness of vision which precedes the full attainment of cosmic
consciousness, as well as to those who have grasped its full significance.
The characteristic evidence of the potentiality of the present era of the
world, is preeminently that of a desire for unity.
This desire is expressed in all the avenues of external life; its inner
meaning is obscured by commercialism and self-interest, as in trusts and
labor unions, but it is there nevertheless--the symbol of the inner urge
toward unity in consciousness.
It is found in efforts at Communism, and in allied reform movements. It is
particularly evident in the breaking down of church prejudices. In these
days a Catholic priest and a Jewish rabbi find it not only expedient but
mutually helpful, to unite in the work of municipal reform; in the
abolition of child labor; in all things that will bring a better state of
existence into daily human life.
The business man uses the phrase "let us get together on this" without
knowing that he is expressing in terms of sense-consciousness, the urge of
his own and his fellow beings' inner mind, which senses the fact of our
unescapable Brotherhood.
All religious systems then, are good, as are all systems of philosophy.
They are good because they are an attempt at bringing into the perspective
of the mortal mind the reality of the soul and the soul life; the rule of
the spiritually conscious ego over the physical body in order that we may
now, in our present incarnation, claim immortality.