Hardly any one at present knows what heaven is or what heavenly joy
is. Those who have given any thought to these subjects have had so
general and so gross an idea about them as scarcely to amount to
anything. From spirits that have come from the world into the other
life I have been able to learn fully what idea they had of heaven and
heavenly joy; for when left to themselves, as they were in the world,
they think as they then did. There is this ignorance about heavenly
joy for the reason that those who have thought about it have formed
their opinion from the outward joys pertaining to the natural man,
and have not known what the inner and spiritual man is, nor in
consequence the nature of his delight and blessedness; and therefore
even if they had been told by those who are in spiritual or inward
delight what heavenly joy is, would have had no comprehension of it,
for it could have fallen only into an idea not yet recognized, thus
into no perception; and would therefore have been among the things
that the natural man rejects. Yet everyone can understand that when a
man leaves his outer or natural man he comes into the inner or
spiritual man, and consequently can see that heavenly delight is
internal and spiritual, not external and natural; and being internal
and spiritual, it is more pure and exquisite, and affects the
interiors of man which pertain to his soul or spirit. From these
things alone everyone may conclude that his delight is such as the
delight of his spirit has previously been and that the delight of the
body, which is called the delight of the flesh, is in comparison not
heavenly; also that whatever is in the spirit of man when he leaves
the body remains after death, since he then lives a man-spirit.
396. All delights flow forth from love, for that which a man loves he
feels to be delightful. No one has any delight from any other source.
From this it follows that such as the love is such is the delight.
The delights of the body or of the flesh all flow forth from the love
of self and love of the world; consequently they are lusts and their
pleasures; while the delights of the soul or spirit all flow forth
from love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, consequently
they are affections for good and truth and interior satisfactions.
These loves with their delights flow in out of heaven from the Lord
by an inner way, that is, from above, and affect the interiors; while
the former loves with their delights flow in from the flesh and from
the world by an external way, that is, from beneath, and affect the
exteriors. Therefore as far as the two loves of heaven are received
and make themselves felt, the interiors of man, which belong to his
soul or spirit and which look from the world heavenwards, are opened,
while so far as the two loves of the world are received and make
themselves felt, his exteriors, which belong to the body or flesh and
look away from heaven towards the world, are opened. As loves flow in
and are received their delights also flow in, the delights of heaven
into the interiors and the delights of the world into the exteriors,
since all delight, as has just been said above, belongs to love.
397. Heaven in itself is so full of delights that viewed in itself it
is nothing else than blessedness and delight; for the Divine good
that flows forth from the Lord's Divine love is what makes heaven in
general and in particular with everyone there, and the Divine love is
a longing for the salvation of all and the happiness of all from
inmosts and in fullness. Thus whether you say heaven or heavenly joy
it is the same thing.
398. The delights of heaven are both ineffable and innumerable; but
he that is in the mere delight of the body or of the flesh can have
no knowledge of or belief in a single one of these innumerable
delights; for his interiors, as has just been said, look away from
heaven towards the world, thus backwards. For he that is wholly in
the delight of the body or of the flesh, or what is the same, in the
love of self and of the world, has no sense of delight except in
honor, in gain, and in the pleasures of the body and the senses; and
these so extinguish and suffocate the interior delights that belong
to heaven as to destroy all belief in them; consequently he would be
greatly astonished if he were told that when the delights of honor
and of gain are set aside other delights are given, and still more if
he were told that the delights of heaven that take the place of these
are innumerable, and are such as cannot be compared with the delights
of the body and the flesh, which are chiefly the delights of honor
and of gain. All this makes clear why it is not known what heavenly
joy is.
399. One can see how great the delight of heaven must be from the
fact that it is the delight of everyone in heaven to share his
delights and blessings with others; and as such is the character of
all that are in the heavens it is clear how immeasurable is the
delight of heaven. It has been shown above (n. 268), that in the
heavens there is a sharing of all with each and of each with all.
Such sharing goes forth from the two loves of heaven, which are, as
has been said, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; and to
share their delights is the very nature of these loves. Love to the
Lord is such because the Lord's love is a love of sharing everything
it has with all, since it wills the happiness of all. There is a like
love in everyone of those who love the Lord, because the Lord is in
them; and from this comes the mutual sharing of the delights of
angels with one another. Love towards the neighbor is of such a
nature, as will be seen in what follows. All this shows that it is
the nature of these loves to share their delights. It is otherwise
with the loves of self and of the world. The love of self takes away
from others and robs others of all delight, and directs it to itself,
for it wishes well to itself alone; while the love of the world
wishes to have as its own what belongs to the neighbor. Therefore
these loves are destructive of the delights of others; or if there is
any disposition to share, it is for the sake of themselves and not
for the sake of others. Thus in respect to others it is the nature of
those loves not to share but to take away, except so far as the
delights of others have some relation to self. That the loves of self
and of the world, when they rule, are such I have often been
permitted to perceive by living experience. Whenever the spirits that
were in these loves during their life as men in the world drew near,
my delight receded and vanished; and I was told that at the mere
approach of such to any heavenly society the delight of those in the
society diminished just in the degree of their proximity; and what is
wonderful, the evil spirits are then in their delight. All this
indicates the state of the spirit of such a man while he is in the
body, since it is the same as it is after it is separated from the
body, namely, that it longs for or lusts after the delights or goods
of another, and finds delight so far as it secures them. All this
makes clear that the loves of self and of the world tend to destroy
the joys of heaven, and are thus direct opposites of heavenly loves,
which desire to share.
400. But it must be understood that the delight of those who are in
the loves of self and of the world, when they draw near to any
heavenly society, is the delight of their lust, and thus is directly
opposite to the delight of heaven. And such enter into this delight
of their lust in consequence of their taking away and dispelling
heavenly delight in those that are in such delight. When the heavenly
delight is not taken away or dispelled it is different, for they are
then unable to draw near; for so far as they draw near they bring
upon themselves anguish and pain; and for this reason they do not
often venture to come near. This also I have been permitted to learn
by repeated experience, something of which I would like to add. [2]
Spirits who go from this world into the other life desire more than
any thing else to get into heaven. Nearly all seek to enter,
supposing that heaven consists solely in being admitted and received.
Because of this desire they are brought to some society of the lowest
heaven. But as soon as those who are in the love of self and of the
world draw near the first threshold of that heaven they begin to be
distressed and so tortured inwardly as to feel hell rather than
heaven to be in them; and in consequence they cast themselves down
headlong therefrom, and do not rest until they come into the hells
among their like. [3] It has also frequently occurred that such
spirits have wished to know what heavenly joy is, and having heard
that it is in the interiors of angels, they have wished to share in
it. This therefore was granted; for whatever a spirit who is not yet
in heaven or hell wishes is granted if it will benefit him. But as
soon as that joy was communicated they began to be so tortured as not
to know how to twist or turn because of the pain. I saw them thrust
their heads down to their feet and cast themselves upon the ground,
and there writhe into coils like serpents, and this in consequence of
their interior agony. Such was the effect produced by heavenly
delight upon those who are in the delights of the love of self and of
the world; and for the reason that these loves are directly opposite
to heavenly loves, and when opposite acts against opposite such pain
results. And since heavenly delight enters by an inward way and flows
into the contrary delight, the interiors which are in the contrary
delight are twisted backwards, thus into the opposite direction, and
the result is such tortures. [4] They are opposite for the reason
given above, that love to the Lord and love to the neighbor wish to
share with others all that is their own, for this is their delight,
while the loves of self and of the world wish to take away from
others what they have, and take it to themselves; and just to the
extent that they are able to do this they are in their delight. From
this, too, one can see what it is that separates hell from heaven;
for all that are in hell were, while they were living in the world,
in the mere delights of the body and of the flesh from the love of
self and of the world; while all that are in the heavens were, while
they lived in the world, in the delights of the soul and spirit from
love to the Lord and love to the neighbor; and as these are opposite
loves, so the hells and the heavens are entirely separated, and
indeed so separated that a spirit in hell does not venture even to
put forth a finger from it or raise the crown of his head, for if he
does this in the least he is racked with pain and tormented. This,
too, I have frequently seen.
401. One who is in the love of self and love of the world perceives
while he lives in the body a sense of delight from these loves and
also in the particular pleasures derived from these loves. But one
who is in love to God and in love towards the neighbor does not
perceive while he lives in the body any distinct sense of delight
from these loves or from the good affections derived from them, but
only a blessedness that is hardly perceptible, because it is hidden
away in his interiors and veiled by the exteriors pertaining to the
body and dulled by the cares of the world. But after death these
states are entirely changed. The delights of love of self and of the
world are then turned into what is painful and direful, because into
such things as are called infernal fire, and by turns into things
defiled and filthy corresponding to their unclean pleasures, and
these, wonderful to tell, are then delightful to them. But the
obscure delight and almost imperceptible blessedness of those that
had been while in the world in love to God and in love to the
neighbor are then turned into the delight of heaven, and become in
every way perceived and felt, for the blessedness that lay hidden and
unrecognized in their interiors while they lived in the world is then
revealed and brought forth into evident sensation, because such had
been the delight of their spirit, and they are then in the spirit.
402. In uses all the delights of heaven are brought together and are
present, because uses are the goods of love and charity in which
angels are; therefore everyone has delights that are in accord with
his uses, and in the degree of his affection for use. That all the
delights of heaven are delights of use can be seen by a comparison
with the five bodily senses of man. There is given to each sense a
delight in accordance with its use; to the sight, the hearing, the
smell, the taste, and the touch, each its own delight; to the sight a
delight from beauty and from forms, to the hearing from harmonious
sounds, to the smell from pleasing odors, to taste from fine flavors.
These uses which the senses severally perform are known to those who
study them, and more fully to those who are acquainted with
correspondences. Sight has such a delight because of the use it
performs to the understanding, which is the inner sight; the hearing
has such a delight because of the use it performs both to the
understanding and to the will through giving attention; the smell has
such a delight because of the use it performs to the brain, and also
to the lungs; the taste has such a delight because of the use it
performs to the stomach, and thus to the whole body by nourishing it.
The delight of marriage, which is a purer and more exquisite delight
of touch, transcends all the rest because of its use, which is the
procreation of the human race and thereby of angels of heaven. These
delights are in these sensories by an influx of heaven, where every
delight pertains to use and is in accordance with use.
403. There were some spirits who believed from an opinion adopted in
the world that heavenly happiness consists in an idle life in which
they would be served by others; but they were told that happiness
never consists in abstaining from work and getting satisfaction
therefrom. This would mean everyone's desiring the happiness of
others for himself, and what everyone wished for no one would have.
Such a life would be an idle not an active life, and would stupefy
all the powers of life; and everyone ought to know that without
activity of life there can be no happiness of life, and that rest
from this activity should be only for the sake of recreation, that
one may return with more vigor to the activity of his life. They were
then shown by many evidences that angelic life consists in performing
the good works of charity, which are uses, and that the angels find
all their happiness in use, from use, and in accordance with use. To
those that held the opinion that heavenly joy consists in living an
idle life and drawing breaths of eternal joy in idleness, a
perception was given of what such a life is, that they might become
ashamed of the idea; and they saw that such a life is extremely sad,
and that all joy thus perishing they would in a little while feel
only loathing and disgust for it.
404. There were some spirits who thought themselves better instructed
than others, and who said that they had believed in the world that
heavenly joy would consist solely in praising and giving glory to
God, and that this would be an active life. But these were told that
praising and giving glory to God is not a proper active life, also
that God has no need of praises and glorification, but it is His will
that they should perform uses, and thus the good works that are
called goods of charity. But they were unable to associate with goods
of charity any idea of heavenly joy, but only of servitude, although
the angels testified that this joy is most free because it comes from
an interior affection and is conjoined with ineffable delight.
405. Almost all who enter the other life think that hell is the same
to everyone, and heaven the same; and yet in both there are infinite
varieties and diversities, and in no case is hell or heaven wholly
the same to one as to another; as it is impossible that any one man,
spirit or angel should ever be wholly like another even as to the
face. At my mere thought of two being just alike or equal the angels
expressed horror, saying that everyone thing is formed out of the
harmonious concurrence of many things, and that the one thing is such
as that concurrence is; and that it is thus that a whole society in
heaven becomes a one, and that all the societies of heaven together
become a one, and this from the Lord alone by means of love.{1} Uses
in the heavens are likewise in all variety and diversity, and in no
case is the use of one wholly the same as and identical with the use
of another; so neither is the happiness of one the same as and
identical with the happiness of another. Furthermore, the delights of
each use are innumerable, and these innumerable delights are likewise
various, and yet conjoined in such order that they mutually regard
each other, like the uses of each member, organ, and viscus, in the
body, and still more like the uses of each vessel and fiber in each
member, organ and viscus; each and all of which are so affiliated as
to have regard to another's good in their own good, and thus each in
all, and all in each. From this universal and individual aspect they
act as one.
{Footnote 1} One thing consists of various things, and receives
thereby its form and quality and perfection in accordance with
the quality of the harmony and concurrence (n. 457, 3241,
8003). There is an infinite variety and never any one thing the
same as another (n. 7236, 9002). It is the same in the heavens
(n. 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002). In consequence all the
societies in the heavens and all the angels in a society are
distinct from each other because they are in different goods
and uses (n. 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263,
7236, 7833). The Lord's Divine love arranges all into a
heavenly form, and so conjoins them that they are as a single
man (n. 457, 3986, 5598).
406. I have talked at times with spirits that had recently come from
the world about the state of eternal life, saying that it is
important to know who the Lord of the kingdom is, and what kind and
what form of government it has. As nothing is more important for
those entering another kingdom in the world than to know who and what
the king is, and what the government is, and other particulars in
regard to the kingdom, so is it of still greater consequence in
regard to this kingdom in which they are to live to eternity.
Therefore they should know that it is the Lord who governs both
heaven and the universe, for He who governs the one governs the
other; thus that the kingdom in which they now are is the Lord's; and
that the laws of this kingdom are eternal truths, all of which rest
upon the law that the Lord must be loved above all things and the
neighbor as themselves; and even more than this, if they would be
like the angels they must love the neighbor more than themselves. On
hearing this they could make no reply, for the reason that although
they had heard in the life of the body something like this they had
not believed it, wondering how there could be such love in heaven,
and how it could be possible for any one to love his neighbor more
than himself. But they were told that every good increases
immeasurably in the other life, and that while they cannot go further
in the life of the body than to love the neighbor as themselves,
because they are immersed in what concerns the body, yet when this is
set aside their love becomes more pure, and finally becomes angelic,
which is to love the neighbor more than themselves. For in the
heavens there is joy in doing good to another, but no joy in doing
good to self unless with a view to its becoming another's, and thus
for another's sake. This is loving the neighbor more than oneself.
They were told that the possibility of such a love is shown in the
world in the marriage love of some who have suffered death to protect
a consort from injury, in the love of parents for their children, as
in a mother's preferring to go hungry rather than see her child go
hungry; in sincere friendship, in which one friend will expose
himself to danger for another; and even in polite and pretended
friendship that wishes to emulate sincere friendship, in offering the
better things to those to whom it professes to wish well, and bearing
such good will on the lips though not in the heart; finally, in the
nature of love, which is such that its joy is to serve others, not
for its own sake but for theirs. But all this was incomprehensible to
those who loved themselves more than others, and in the life of the
body had been greedy of gain; most of all to the avaricious.
407. There was one who in the life of the body had exercised power
over others, and who had retained in the other life the desire to
rule; but he was told that he was now in another kingdom, which is
eternal, and that his rule on earth had perished, and that he was now
where no one is esteemed except in accordance with his goodness and
truth, and that measure of the Lord's mercy which he enjoyed by
virtue of his life in the world; also that the same is true in this
kingdom as on the earth, where men are esteemed for their wealth and
for their favor with the prince, wealth here being good and truth,
and favor with the prince the mercy bestowed on man by the Lord in
accordance with his life in the world. Any wish to rule otherwise
would make him a rebel, since he is in another's kingdom. On hearing
these things he was ashamed.
408. I have talked with spirits who believed heaven and heavenly joy
to consist in their being great; but such were told that in heaven he
that is least is greatest, since he is called least who has, and
wishes to have, no power or wisdom from himself, but only from the
Lord, he that is least in that sense having the greatest happiness,
and as he has the greatest happiness, it follows that he is greatest;
for he has thereby from the Lord all power and excels all in wisdom.
What is it to be the greatest unless to be the most happy? For to be
the most happy is what the powerful seek through power and the rich
through riches. It was further said that heaven does not consist in a
desire to be least for the purpose of being greatest, for that would
be aspiring and longing to be the greatest; but it consists in
desiring from the heart the good of others more than one's own, and
in serving others with a view to their happiness, not with recompense
as an end, but from love.
409. Heavenly joy itself, such as it is in its essence, cannot be
described, because it is in the inmost of the life of angels and
therefrom in everything of their thought and affection, and from this
in every particular of their speech and action. It is as if the
interiors were fully opened and unloosed to receive delight and
blessedness, which are distributed to every least fiber and thus
through the whole. Thus the perception and sensation of this joy is
so great as to be beyond description, for that which starts from the
inmosts flows into every particular derived from the inmosts,
propagating itself away with increase towards the exteriors. Good
spirits who are not yet in that joy, because not yet raised up into
heaven, when they perceive a sense of that joy from an angel from the
sphere of his love, are filled with such delight that they come as it
were into a delicious trance. This sometimes happens with those who
desire to know what heavenly joy is.
410. When certain spirits wished to know what heavenly joy is they
were allowed to feel it to such a degree that they could no longer
bear it; and yet it was not angelic joy; it was scarcely in the least
degree angelic, as I was permitted to perceive by sharing it, but was
so slight as to be almost frigid; nevertheless they called it most
heavenly, because to them it was an inmost joy. From this it was
evident, not only that there are degrees of the joys of heaven, but
also that the inmost joy of one scarcely reaches to the outmost or
middle joy of another; also that when any one receives his own inmost
joy he is in his heavenly joy, and cannot endure what is still more
interior, for such a joy becomes painful to him.
411. Certain spirits, not evil, sinking into a quiescence like sleep,
were taken up into heaven in respect to the interiors of their minds;
for before their interiors are opened spirits can be taken up into
heaven and be taught about the happiness of those there. I saw them
in the quiescent state for about half an hour, and afterwards they
relapsed into their exteriors in which they were before, and also
into a recollection of what they had seen. They said that they had
been among the angels in heaven, and had there seen and perceived
amazing things, all of which were resplendent as if made of gold,
silver, and precious stones, in exquisite forms and in wonderful
variety; also that angels are not delighted with the outward things
themselves, but with the things they represented, which were Divine,
ineffable, and of infinite wisdom, and that these were their joy;
with innumerable other things that could not be described in human
language even as to a ten-thousandth part, or fall into ideas which
partake of any thing material.
412. Scarcely any who enter the other life know what heavenly
blessedness and happiness are, because they do not know what internal
joy is, deriving their perception of it solely from bodily and
worldly gladness and joy; and in consequence what they are ignorant
of they suppose to be nothing, when in fact bodily and worldly joys
are of no account in comparison. In order, therefore, that the well
disposed, who do not know what heavenly joy is, may know and realize
what it is, they are taken first to paradisal scenes that transcend
every conception of the imagination. They then think that they have
come into the heavenly paradise; but they are taught that this is not
true heavenly happiness; and they are permitted to realize such
interior states of joy as are perceptible to their inmost. They are
then brought into a state of peace even to their inmost, when they
confess that nothing of it is in the least expressible or
conceivable. Finally they are brought into a state of innocence even
to their inmost sense. Thus they are permitted to learn what true
spiritual and heavenly good is.
413. But that I might learn the nature of heaven and heavenly joy I
have frequently and for a long time been permitted by the Lord to
perceive the delights of heavenly joys; but while I have been enabled
to know by living experience what they are I am not at all able to
describe them. Nevertheless, that some idea of them may be formed,
something shall be said about them. Heavenly joy is an affection of
innumerable delights and joys, which together present something
general, and in this general, that is, this general affection, are
harmonies of innumerable affections that come to perception
obscurely, and not distinctly, because the perception is most
general. Nevertheless I was permitted to perceive that there are
innumerable things in it, in such order as cannot be at all
described, those innumerable things being such as flow from the order
of heaven. The order in the particulars of the affection even to the
least, is such that these particulars are presented and perceived
only as a most general whole, in accordance with the capacity of him
who is the subject. In a word, each general affection contains
infinite affections arranged in a most orderly form, with nothing
therein that is not alive, and that does not affect all of them from
the inmosts; for heavenly joys go forth from inmosts. I perceived
also that the joy and ecstasy came as from the heart, diffusing most
softly through all the inmost fibers, and from these into the bundles
of fibers, with such an inmost sense of delight that the fiber seemed
to be nothing but joy and ecstasy, and everything perceptive and
sensitive therefrom seemed in like manner to be alive with happiness.
Compared with these joys the joy of bodily pleasures is like a gross
and pungent dust compared with a pure and most gentle aura. I have
noticed that when I wished to transfer all my delight to another, a
more interior and fuller delight continually flowed in in its place,
and the more I wished this, the more flowed in; and this was
perceived to be from the Lord.
414. Those that are in heaven are continually advancing towards the
spring of life, with a greater advance towards a more joyful and
happy spring the more thousands of years they live; and this to
eternity, with increase according to the growth and degree of their
love, charity, and faith. Women who have died old and worn out with
age, if they have lived in faith in the Lord, in charity to the
neighbor, and in happy marriage love with a husband, advance with the
succession of years more and more into the flower of youth and early
womanhood, and into a beauty that transcends every conception of any
such beauty as is seen on the earth. Goodness and charity are what
give this form and thus manifest their own likeness, causing the joy
and beauty of charity to shine forth from every least particular of
the face, and causing them to be the very forms of charity. Some who
beheld this were struck with amazement. The form of charity that is
seen in a living way in heaven, is such that it is charity itself
that both forms and is formed; and this in such a manner that the
whole angel is a charity, as it were, especially the face; and this
is both clearly seen and felt. When this form is beheld it is beauty
unspeakable, affecting with charity the very inmost life of the mind.
In a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow young. Such forms or such
beauties do those become in the other life who have lived in love to
the Lord and in charity towards the neighbor. All angels are such
forms in endless variety; and of these heaven is constituted.