Whoever duly considers the subject can see that as the body is
material it is not the body that thinks, but the soul, which is
spiritual. The soul of man, upon the immortality of which many have
written, is his spirit, for this as to everything belonging to it is
immortal. This also is what thinks in the body, for it is spiritual,
and what is spiritual receives what is spiritual and lives
spiritually, which is to think and to will. Therefore, all rational
life that appears in the body belongs to the soul, and nothing of it
to the body; for the body, as just said, is material, and the
material, which is the property of the body, is added to and
apparently almost joined to the spirit, in order that the spirit of
man may be able to live and perform uses in the natural world, all
things of which are material and in themselves devoid of life. And as
it is the spiritual only that lives and not the material, it can be
seen that whatever lives in man is his spirit, and that the body
merely serves it, just as what is instrumental serves a moving living
force. An instrument is said indeed to act, to move, or to strike;
but to believe that these are acts of the instrument, and not of him
who acts, moves, or strikes by means of the instrument, is a fallacy.
433. As everything in the body that lives, and that acts and feels
from that life, belongs exclusively to the spirit, and nothing of it
to the body, it follows that the spirit is the man himself; or what
is the same thing, that a man viewed in himself is a spirit
possessing a like form; for whatever lives and feels in man belongs
to his spirit and everything in man, from his head to the sole of his
foot, lives and feels; and in consequence when the body is separated
from its spirit, which is what is called dying, man continues to be a
man and to live. I have heard from heaven that some who die, while
they are lying upon the bier, before they are resuscitated, continue
to think even in their cold body, and do not know that they are not
still alive, except that they are unable to move a particle of matter
belonging to the body.
434. Unless man were a subject which is a substance that can serve a
source and containant he would be unable to think and will. Any thing
that is supposed to exist apart from a substantial subject is
nothing. This can be seen from the fact that a man is unable to see
without an organ which is the subject of his sight, or to hear
without an organ which is the subject of his hearing. Apart from
these organs, sight and hearing are nothing and have no existence.
The same is true of thought, which is inner sight, and of perception,
which is inner hearing; unless these were in substances and from
substances which are organic forms and subjects, they would have no
existence at all. All this shows that man's spirit as well as his
body is in a form, and that it is in a human form, and enjoys
sensories and senses when separated from the body the same as when it
was in it, and that all the life of the eye and all the life of the
ear, in a word, all the life of sense that man has, belongs not to
his body but to his spirit, which dwells in these organs and in their
minutest particulars. This is why spirits see, hear, and feel, as
well as men. But when the spirit has been loosed from the body, these
senses are exercised in the spiritual world, not in the natural
world. The natural sensation that the spirit had when it was in the
body it had by means of the material part that was added to it; but
it then had also spiritual sensations in its thinking and willing.
435. All this has been said to convince the rational man that viewed
in himself man is a spirit, and that the corporeal part that is added
to the spirit to enable it to perform its functions in the natural
and material world is not the man, but only an instrument of his
spirit. But evidences from experience are preferable, because there
are many that fail to comprehend rational deductions; and those that
have established themselves in the opposite view turn such deductions
into grounds of doubt by means of reasonings from the fallacies of
the senses. Those that have established themselves in the opposite
view are accustomed to think that beasts likewise have life and
sensations and thus have a spiritual part, the same as man has, and
yet that part dies with the body. But the spiritual of beasts is not
the same as the spiritual of man is; for man has what beasts have
not, an inmost, into which the Divine flows, raising man up to
Itself, and thereby conjoining man to Itself. Because of this, man,
in contrast with beasts, has the ability to think about God and about
the Divine things of heaven and the church, and to love God from
these and in these, and thus be conjoined to Him; and whatever can be
conjoined to the Divine cannot be dissipated, but whatever cannot be
conjoined is dissipated. The inmost that man has, in contrast with
beasts, has been treated of above (n. 39), and what was there said
will here be repeated, since it is important to have the fallacies
dispelled that have been engendered in the minds of many who from
lack of knowledge and trained intellect are unable to form rational
conclusions on the subject. The words are these:
I will mention a certain arcanum respecting the angels of the three
heavens, which has not hitherto come into any one's mind, because
degrees have not been understood. In every angel and in every man
there is an inmost or highest degree, or an inmost or highest
something, into which the Divine of the Lord first or most directly
flows, and from which it disposes the other interiors in him that
succeed in accordance with the degrees of order. This inmost or
highest degree may be called the entrance of the Lord to the angel or
man, and His veriest dwelling-place in them. It is by virtue of this
inmost or highest that a man is a man, and distinguished from the
animals, which do not have it. From this it is that man, unlike the
animals, is capable, in respect to all his interiors which pertain to
his mind and disposition, of being raised up by the Lord to Himself,
of believing in the Lord, of being moved by love to the Lord, and
thereby beholding Him, and of receiving intelligence and wisdom, and
speaking from reason. Also it is by virtue of this that he lives to
eternity. But what is arranged and provided by the Lord in this
inmost does not distinctly fall into the perception of any angel,
because it is above his thought and transcends his wisdom.
436. That in respect to his interiors man is a spirit I have been
permitted to learn from much experience, which, to employ a common
saying, would fill volumes if I were to describe it all. I have
talked with spirits as a spirit, and I have talked with them as a man
in the body; and when I talked with them as a spirit they knew no
otherwise than that I myself was a spirit and in a human form as they
were. Thus did my interiors appear before them, for when talking with
them as a spirit my material body was not seen.
437. That in respect to his interiors man is a spirit can be seen
from the fact that after his separation from the body, which takes
place when he dies, man goes on living as a man just as before. That
I might be convinced of this I have been permitted to talk with
nearly everyone I had ever known in their life in the body; with some
for hours, with some for weeks and months, and with some for years,
and this chiefly that I might be sure of it and might testify to it.
438. To this may be added that every man in respect to his spirit,
even while he is living in the body, is in some society with spirits,
although he does not know it; if a good man he is by means of spirits
in some angelic society; if an evil man in some infernal society; and
after death he comes into that same society. This has been often told
and shown to those who after death have come among spirits. Man, to
be sure, does not appear in that society as a spirit while he is
living in the world, for the reason that he then thinks naturally;
but when one is thinking abstractly from the body, because he is then
in the spirit, he sometimes appears in his society; and when seen he
is easily distinguished from the spirits there, for he goes about
meditating and in silence, not looking at others, and apparently not
seeing them; and as soon as any spirit speaks to him he vanishes.
439. To make clear that man in respect to his interiors is a spirit I
will relate from experience what happens when man is withdrawn from
the body, and what it is to be carried away by the spirit to another
place.
440. First, as to withdrawal from the body, it happens thus. Man is
brought into a certain state that is midway between sleeping and
waking, and when in that state he seems to himself to be wide awake;
all the senses are as perfectly awake as in the completest bodily
wakefulness, not only the sight and the hearing, but what is
wonderful, the sense of touch also, which is then more exquisite than
is ever possible when the body is awake. In this state spirits and
angels have been seen to the very life, and have been heard, and what
is wonderful, have been touched, with almost nothing of the body
intervening. This is the state that is called being withdrawn from
the body, and not knowing whether one is in the body or out of it. I
have been admitted into this state only three or four times, that I
might learn what it is, and might know that spirits and angels enjoy
every sense, and that man does also in respect to his spirit when he
is withdrawn from the body.
441. As to being carried away by the spirit to another place, I have
been shown by living experience what it is, and how it is done, but
only two or three times. I will relate a single instance. Walking
through the streets of a city and through fields, talking at the same
time with spirits, I knew no otherwise than that I was fully awake,
and in possession of my usual sight. Thus I walked on without going
astray, and all the while with clear vision, seeing groves, rivers,
palaces, houses, men, and other objects. But after walking thus for
some hours, suddenly I saw with my bodily eyes, and noted that I was
in another place. Being greatly astonished I perceived that I had
been in the same state as those who were said to have been led away
by the spirit into another place. For in this state the distance,
even though it be many miles, and the time, though it be many hours
or days, are not thought of; neither is there any feeling of fatigue;
and one is led unerringly through ways of which he himself is
ignorant, even to the destined place.
442. But these two states of man, which are his states when he is in
his interiors, or what is the same, when he is in the spirit, are
extraordinary; but as they are states known about in the church, they
were exhibited to me only that I might know what they are. But it has
been granted to me now for many years to speak with spirits and to be
with them as one of them, even in full wakefulness of the body.
443. That in respect to his interiors man is a spirit there are
further evidences in what has been said and shown above (n. 311-317),
where it is explained that heaven and hell are from the human race.
444. That man is a spirit in respect to his interiors means in
respect to the things pertaining to his thought and will, for these
are the interiors themselves that make man to be man, and such a man
as he is in respect to these interiors.
445. XLVI. THE RESUSCITATION OF MAN FROM THE DEAD AND HIS ENTRANCE
INTO ETERNAL LIFE.
When the body is no longer able to perform the bodily functions in
the natural world that correspond to the spirit's thoughts and
affections, which the spirit has from the spiritual world, man is
said to die. This takes place when the respiration of the lungs and
the beatings of the heart cease. But the man does not die; he is
merely separated from the bodily part that was of use to him in the
world, while the man himself continues to live. It is said that the
man himself continues to live since man is not a man because of his
body but because of his spirit, for it is the spirit that thinks in
man, and thought with affection is what constitutes man. Evidently,
then, the death of man is merely his passing from one world into
another. And this is why in the Word in its internal sense "death"
signifies resurrection and continuation of life.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word "death" signifies resurrection, for
when man dies his life still goes on (n. 3498, 3505, 4618,
4621, 6036, 6221).
446. There is an inmost communication of the spirit with the
breathing and with the beating of the heart, the spirit's thought
communicating with the breathing, and its affection, which is of
love, with the heart;{1} consequently when these two motions cease in
the body there is at once a separation. These two motions, the
respiration of the lungs and the beating of heart, are the very bond
on the sundering of which the spirit is left to itself; and the body
being then deprived of the life of its spirit grows cold and begins
to decay. This inmost communication of the spirit of man is with the
respiration and with the heart, because on these all vital motions
depend, not only in general but in every particular.{2}
{Footnote 1} The heart corresponds to the will, thus to the
affection which belongs to the love, while the respiration of
the lungs corresponds to the understanding, thus to the thought
(n. 3888). From this the "heart" in the Word signifies the will
and love (n. 7542, 9050, 10336). The "soul" signifies
understanding, faith, and truth; therefore "from the soul and
from the heart" signifies what is from the understanding,
faith, and truth, and what is from the will, love, and good (n.
2930, 9050). The correspondence of the heart and lungs with the
Greatest Man, or heaven (n. 3883-3895).
{Footnote 2} The beating of the heart and the respiration of
the lungs reign in the body throughout, and flow mutually into
every part (n. 3887, 3889, 3890).
447. After the separation the spirit of man continues in the body for
a short time, but only until the heart's action has wholly ceased,
which happens variously in accord with the diseased condition that
causes death, with some the motion of the heart continuing for some
time, with others not so long. As soon as this motion ceases the man
is resuscitated; but this is done by the Lord alone. Resuscitation
means the drawing forth of the spirit from the body, and its
introduction into the spiritual world; this is commonly called the
resurrection. The spirit is not separated from the body until the
motion of the heart has ceased, for the reason that the heart
corresponds to the affection of love, which is the very life of man,
for it is from love that everyone has vital heat;{1} consequently as
long as this conjunction continues correspondence continues, and
thereby the life of the spirit in the body.
{Footnote 1} Love is the being [esse] of the life of man (n.
5002). Love is spiritual heat, and therefore the very vital
itself of man (n. 1589, 2146, 3338, 4906, 7081-7086, 9954,
10740). Affection is a continuation of love (n. 3938).
448. How this resuscitation is effected has both been told to me and
shown to me in living experience. The actual experience was granted
to me that I might have a complete knowledge of the process.
449. As to the senses of the body I was brought into a state of
insensibility, thus nearly into the state of the dying; but with the
interior life and thought remaining unimpaired, in order that I might
perceive and retain in the memory the things that happened to me, and
that happen to those that are resuscitated from the dead. I perceived
that the respiration of the body was almost wholly taken away; but
the interior respiration of the spirit went on in connection with a
slight and tacit respiration of the body. Then at first a
communication of the pulse of the heart with the celestial kingdom
was established, because that kingdom corresponds to the heart in
man.{1} Angels from that kingdom were seen, some at a distance, and
two sitting near my head. Thus all my own affection was taken away
although thought and perception continued. [2] I was in this state
for some hours. Then the spirits that were around me withdrew,
thinking that I was dead; and an aromatic odor like that of an
embalmed body was perceived, for when the celestial angels are
present everything pertaining to the corpse is perceived as aromatic,
and when spirits perceive this they cannot approach; and in this way
evil spirits are kept away from man's spirit when he is being
introduced into eternal life. The angels seated at my head were
silent, merely sharing their thoughts with mine; and when their
thoughts are received the angels know that the spirit of man is in a
state in which it can be drawn forth from the body. This sharing of
their thoughts was effected by looking into my face, for in this way
in heaven thoughts are shared. [3] As my thought and perception
continued, that I might know and remember how resuscitation is
effected, I perceived the angels first tried to ascertain what my
thought was, whether it was like the thought of those who are dying,
which is usually about eternal life; also that they wished to keep my
mind in that thought. Afterwards I was told that the spirit of man is
held in its last thought when the body expires, until it returns to
the thoughts that are from its general or ruling affection in the
world. Especially was I permitted to see and feel that there was a
pulling and drawing forth, as it were, of the interiors of my mind,
thus of my spirit, from the body; and I was told that this is from
the Lord, and that the resurrection is thus effected.
{Footnote 1} The heart corresponds to the Lord's celestial
kingdom, the lungs to His spiritual kingdom (n. 3635, 3886,
3887).
450. The celestial angels who are with the one that is resuscitated
do not withdraw from him, because they love everyone; but when the
spirit comes into such a state that he can no longer be affiliated
with celestial angels, he longs to get away from them. When this
takes place angels from the Lord's spiritual kingdom come, through
whom is given the use of light; for before this he saw nothing, but
merely thought. I was shown how this is done. The angels appeared to
roll off, as it were, a coat from the left eye towards the bridge of
the nose, that the eye might be opened and be enabled to see. This is
only an appearance, but to the spirit it seemed to be really done.
When the coat thus seems to have been rolled off there is a slight
sense of light, but very dim, like what is seen through the eyelids
on first awakening from sleep. To me this dim light took on a
heavenly hue, but I was told afterwards that the color varies. Then
something is felt to be gently rolled off from the face, and when
this is done spiritual thought is awakened. This rolling off from the
face is also an appearance, which represents the spirit's passing
from natural thought into spiritual thought. The angels are extremely
careful that only such ideas as savor of love shall proceed from the
one resuscitated. They now tell him that he is a spirit. When he has
come into the enjoyment of light the spiritual angels render to the
new spirit every service he can possibly desire in that state; and
teach him about the things of the other life so far as he can
comprehend them. But if he has no wish to be taught the spirit longs
to get away from the company of the angels. Nevertheless, the angels
do not withdraw from him, but he separates himself from them; for the
angels love everyone, and desire nothing so much as to render
service, to teach, and to lead into heaven; this constitutes their
highest delight. When the spirit has thus withdrawn he is received by
good spirits, and as long as he continues in their company everything
possible is done for him. But if he had lived such a life in the
world as would prevent his enjoying the company of the good he longs
to get away from the good, and this experience is repeated until he
comes into association with such as are in entire harmony with his
life in the world; and with such he finds his own life, and what is
surprising, he then leads a life like that which he led in the world.
451. This opening state of man's life after death lasts only a few
days. How he is afterwards led from one state to another, and finally
either into heaven or into hell, will be told in what follows. This,
too, I have been permitted to learn by much experience.
452. I have talked with some on the third day after their decease,
when the process described above (n. 449, 450) had been completed,
especially with three whom I had known in the world, to whom I
mentioned that arrangements were now being made for burying their
bodies; I said, for burying them; on hearing which they were smitten
with a kind of surprise, saying that they were alive, and that the
thing that had served them in the world was what was being buried.
Afterwards they wondered greatly that they had not believed in such a
life after death while they lived in the body, and especially that
scarcely any within the church so believed. Those that have not
believed in the world in any life of the soul after the life of the
body are greatly ashamed when they find themselves to be alive. But
those that have confirmed themselves in that disbelief seek
affiliation with their like, and are separated from those that have
had faith. Such are for the most part attached to some infernal
society, because they have also denied the divine and have despised
the truths of the church; for so far as any one confirms himself
against the eternal life of his soul he confirms himself also against
whatever pertains to heaven and the church.