It has already been shown in several previous chapters that the form
of the spirit of man is the human form, that is, that the spirit is a
man even in form, especially where it is shown that every angel has a
complete human form (n. 73-77) that in respect to his interiors every
man is a spirit (n. 432-444); and that the angels in heaven are from
the human race (n. 311-317). [2] This can be seen still more clearly
from the fact that it is by virtue of his spirit, and not by virtue
of his body that man is a man, and that the bodily form is added to
the spirit in accordance with the spirit's form, and not the reverse,
for it is in accordance with its own form that the spirit is clothed
with a body. Consequently the spirit of man acts into every part of
the body, even the minutest, insomuch that if any part is not
actuated by the spirit, or the spirit is not active in it, it does
not live. Any one can see that this is true from this fact alone,
that thought and will actuate all things and each thing of the body
with such entire command that everything concurs, and any thing that
does not concur is not a part of the body, but is cast out as
something without life; and thought and will belong, not to the body,
but to the spirit of man. [3] A spirit that has been loosed from the
body or the spirit in another man, is not visible in the human form
to man, because the body's organ of sight, or its eye, so far as it
sees in the world, is a material organ, and what is material can see
only what is material, while what is spiritual sees what is
spiritual. When, therefore, the material part of the eye becomes
darkened and is deprived of its cooperation with the spiritual, the
eye sees spirits in their own form, which is the human form, not only
the spirits that are in the spiritual world, but also the spirit of
another man while it is yet in its body.
454. The form of the spirit is the human form because man is created
in respect to his spirit in the form of heaven, for all things of
heaven and of the order of heaven are brought together in the things
that constitute the mind of man;{1} and from this comes his capacity
to receive intelligence and wisdom. Whether you say the capacity to
receive intelligence and wisdom or the capacity to receive heaven it
is the same thing, as can be seen from what has been shown about the
light and heat of heaven (n. 126-140); the form of heaven (n.
200-212); the wisdom of angels (n. 265-275); and in the chapter that
the form of heaven as a whole and in part reflects a single man (n.
59-77); and this by virtue of the Divine Human of the Lord, which is
the source of heaven and its form (n. 78-86).
{Footnote 1} Man is the being into whom are brought together
all things of Divine order, and by creation he is Divine order
in form (n. 4219, 4222, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 6013, 6057,
6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472). So far as a man lives in
accordance with Divine order he is seen in the other life as a
man, complete and beautiful (n. 4839, 6605, 6626).
455. That which has now been said can be understood by the rational
man, for he can see it from the connection of causes and from truths
in their order; but it is not understood by a man who is not
rational, and for several reasons, the chief of which is that he has
no desire to understand it because it is opposed to the falsities
that he has made his truths; and he that is unwilling to understand
for this reason has closed to his rational faculty the way to heaven,
although that way can still be opened whenever the will's resistance
ceases (see above, n. 424). That man is able to understand truths and
be rational whenever he so wishes has been made clear to me by much
experience. Evil spirits that have become irrational in the world by
rejecting the Divine and the truths of the church, and confirming
themselves against them, have frequently been turned by Divine power
towards those who were in the light of truth, and they then
comprehended all things as the angels did, and acknowledged them to
be true, and also that they comprehended them all. But the moment
these spirits relapsed into themselves, and turned back to the love
of their will, they had no comprehension of truths and affirmed the
opposite. [2] I have also heard certain dwellers in hell saying that
they knew and perceived that which they did to be evil and that which
they thought to be false; but that they were unable to resist the
delight of their love, that is, their will, and that it is their will
that drives their thought to see evil as good and falsity as truth.
Evidently, then, those that are in falsity from evil have the ability
to understand and be rational, but have no wish to; and they have no
wish to for the reason that they have loved falsities more than
truths, because these agree with the evils in which they are. To love
and to will is the same thing, for what a man wills he loves, and
what he loves he wills. [3] Because the state of men is such that
they are able to understand truths if they wish to, I have been
permitted to confirm spiritual truths, which are truths of heaven and
the church, even by reasonings, and this in order that the falsities
by which the rational mind in many has been closed up may be
dispersed by reasonings, and thus the eye may perhaps in some degree
be opened; for to confirm spiritual goods by reasonings is permitted
to all that are in truths. Who could ever understand the Word from
the sense of its letter, unless he saw from an enlightened reason the
truths it contains? Is not this the source of so many heresies from
the same Word?{1}
{Footnote 1} The truths of doctrine of the church derived from
the Word must be the starting-point, and these must first be
acknowledged, and afterwards it is permissible to consult
knowledges (n. 6047). Thus it is permissible for those that are
in an affirmative state towards the truths of faith to confirm
them rationally by knowledges, but it is not permissible for
those who are in a negative state (n. 2568, 2588, 4760, 6047).
It is in accordance with Divine order to enter rationally from
spiritual truths into knowledges, which are natural truths, but
not to enter from the latter into the former, because spiritual
influx into natural things is possible, but not natural or
physical influx into spiritual things (n. 3219, 5119, 5259,
5427, 5428, 5478, 6322, 9109, 9110).
456. That the spirit of man, when it has been loosed from the body,
is still a man and in a like form, has been proved to me by the daily
experience of many years; for I have seen such and have listened to
them a thousand times, and have talked with them about this fact,
that men in the world do not believe them to be men, and that those
that do believe this are regarded by the learned as simple. Spirits
are grieved at heart that such ignorance still continues in the
world, and above all within the church. [2] But this belief they said
had emanated chiefly from the learned, who had thought about the soul
from ideas derived from bodily sense; and from such ideas the only
conception they formed of the soul was as being mere thought; and
when this is regarded apart from any subject as its containant and
source it is merely a fleeting breath of pure ether that must needs
be dissipated when the body dies. But as the church believes from the
Word in the immortality of the soul they are compelled to ascribe to
it something vital, such as pertains to thought, but they deny to it
any thing of sense, such as man possesses, until it has again been
joined to the body. On this opinion the doctrine in regard to the
resurrection is based, with the belief that the soul and body will be
joined again at the time of the final judgment. For this reason when
any one thinks about the soul in accordance with this doctrine and
these conjectures, he has no conception that it is a spirit, and in a
human form. And still further, scarcely any one at this day knows
what the spiritual is, and still less that spiritual beings, as all
spirits and angels are, have any human form. [3] Consequently, nearly
all that go from this world are greatly surprised to find that they
are alive, and are as much men as before, that they see, hear, and
speak, and that their body enjoys the sense of touch as before, with
no difference whatever (see above, n. 74). And when they cease to be
astonished at themselves they are astonished that the church should
know nothing about this state of men after death, thus nothing about
heaven or hell, when in fact all that have ever lived in the world
are in the other life and live as men. And as they wondered also why
this had not been disclosed to man by visions, being an essential of
the faith of the church, they were told from heaven that although
this might have been done, since nothing is easier when it is the
Lord's good pleasure, yet those that have confirmed themselves in the
opposite falsities would not believe even if they themselves should
behold it; also that there is danger in confirming any thing by
visions when men are in falsities, for they would then first believe
and afterwards deny, and thus would profane the truth itself, since
to believe and afterwards deny is to profane; and those who profane
truths are cast down into the lowest and most grievous of all the
hells.{1} [4] This danger is what is meant by the Lord's words:
He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts lest they should
see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and should turn
and I should heal them (John 12:40).
And that those that are in falsities would not believe [even if
visions were given] is meant by these words:
Abraham said to the rich man in hell, They have Moses and the
Prophets, let them hear them. But he said, Nay, father Abraham, but
if one came to them from the dead they would be converted. But
Abraham said to him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither
will they believe though one should rise from the dead (Luke
16:29-31).
{Footnote 1} Profanation is the mixing of good and evil and of
truth and falsity in man (n. 6348). Only those can profane
truth and good, or the holy things of the Word and the church,
who first acknowledge them, and still more who live according
to them, and who afterwards recede from the belief and reject
it, and live for themselves and the world (n. 593, 1008, 1010,
1059, 3398, 3399, 3898, 4289, 4601, 10284, 10287). If man after
repentance of heart relapses to former evils he profanes, and
his latter state is then worse than his former (n. 8394). Those
that have not acknowledged holy things, still less those that
have no knowledge of them, cannot profane them (n. 1008, 1010,
1059, 9188, 10284). The heathen who are out of the church and
do not have the Word cannot profane it (n. 1327, 1328, 2051,
2284). On this account interior truths were not disclosed to
the Jews, for if they had been disclosed and acknowledged that
people would have profaned them (n. 3398, 4289, 6963). The lot
of profaners in the other life is the worst of all, because not
only the good and truth they have acknowledged, but also their
evil and falsity remain, and as these cling together, the life
is rent asunder (n. 571, 582, 6348). Consequently most careful
provision is made by the Lord to prevent profanation (n. 2426,
10287).
457. When the spirit of man first enters the world of spirits, which
takes place shortly after his resuscitation, as described above, his
face and his tone of voice resemble those he had in the world,
because he is then in the state of his exteriors, and his interiors
are not as yet uncovered. This is man's first state after death. But
subsequently his face is changed, and becomes entirely different,
resembling his ruling affection or ruling love, in conformity with
which the interiors of his mind had been while he was in the world
and his spirit while it was in the body. For the face of a man's
spirit differs greatly from the face of his body. The face of his
body is from his parents, but the face of his spirit is from his
affection, and is an image of it. When the life of the spirit in the
body is ended, and its exteriors are laid aside and its interiors
disclosed, it comes into this affection. This is man's second state.
I have seen some that have recently arrived from the world, and have
recognized them from their face and speech; but seeing them
afterwards I did not recognize them. Those that had been in good
affections appeared with beautiful faces; but those that had been in
evil affections with misshapen faces; for man's spirit, viewed in
itself, is nothing but his affection; and the face is its outward
form. Another reason why faces are changed is that in the other life
no one is permitted to counterfeit affections that are not his own,
and thus assume looks that are contrary to his love. All in the other
life are brought into such a state as to speak as they think, and to
manifest in their looks and gestures the inclinations of their will.
And because of this the faces of all become forms and images of their
affections; and in consequence all that have known each other in the
world know each other in the world of spirits, but not in heaven nor
in hell (as has been said above, n. 427).{1}
{Footnote 1} The face is so formed as to correspond with the
interiors (n. 4791-4805, 5695). The correspondence of the face
and its expressions with the affections of the mind (n. 1568,
2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 5695, 9306).
With the angels of heaven the face makes one with the interiors
that belong to the mind (n. 4796-4799, 5695, 8250). Therefore
in the Word the face signifies the interiors that belong to the
mind, that is, to the affection and thought (n. 1999, 2434,
3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546). In what manner the influx
from the brain into the face has been changed in process of
time and with it the face itself as regards its correspondence
with the interiors (n. 4326, 8250).
458. The faces of hypocrites are changed more slowly than those of
others, because by practice they had formed a habit of so managing
their interiors as to imitate good affections; consequently for a
long time they appear not unbeautiful. But as that which they had
assumed is gradually put off, and the interiors of the mind are
brought into accord with the form of their affections, they become
after awhile more misshapen than others. Hypocrites are such as have
been accustomed to talk like angels, but interiorly have acknowledged
nature alone and not the Divine, and have therefore denied what
pertains to heaven and the church.
459. It should be known that everyone's human form after death is the
more beautiful in proportion as he has more interiorly loved Divine
truths and lived according to them; for everyone's interiors are
opened and formed in accordance with his love and life; therefore the
more interior the affection is the more like heaven it is, and in
consequence the more beautiful the face is. This is why the angels in
the inmost heaven are the most beautiful, for they are forms of
celestial love. But those that have loved Divine truths more
exteriorly, and thus have lived in accordance with them in a more
external way, are less beautiful; for exterior affections only shine
forth from their faces; and through these no interior heavenly love
shines, consequently nothing of the form of heaven as it is in
itself. There is seen in the faces of such something comparatively
obscure, not vivified by any thing of interior life shining through
it. In a word, all perfection increases toward interiors and
decreases toward exteriors, and as perfection increases and decreases
so does beauty. I have seen angelic faces of the third heaven of such
radiance that no painter with all his art could possibly give any
such light to his colors as to equal a thousandth part of the
brightness and life that shone forth from their countenances. But the
faces of the angels of the lowest heaven may in some measure be
equalled.
460. In conclusion I will mention a certain arcanum hitherto unknown
to any one, namely, that every good and truth that goes forth from
the Lord and makes heaven is in the human form; and this not only as
a whole and in what is greatest, but also in every part and what is
least; also that this form affects everyone who receives good and
truth from the Lord, and causes everyone who is in heaven to be in
the human form in accordance with his reception of good and truth. It
is in consequence of this that heaven is like itself in general and
in particular, and that the human form is the form of the whole, of
every society, and of every angel (as has been shown in the four
chapters from n. 59 to 86); to which let it be added that it is the
form of the least things of thought derived from heavenly love with
the angels. No man, however, can easily comprehend this arcanum; but
it is clearly comprehended by the angels, because they are in the
light of heaven.
461. XLVIII. AFTER DEATH MAN IS POSSESSED OF EVERY SENSE, AND OF ALL
THE MEMORY, THOUGHT, AND AFFECTION, THAT HE HAD IN THE WORLD, LEAVING
NOTHING BEHIND EXCEPT HIS EARTHLY BODY.
It has been proved to me by manifold experience that when man passes
from the natural world into the spiritual, as he does when he dies,
he carries with him all his possessions, that is, everything that
belongs to him as a man, except his earthly body. For when man enters
the spiritual world or the life after death, he is in a body as he
was in the world, with no apparent difference, since he neither sees
nor feels any difference. But his body is then spiritual, and thus
separated or purified from all that is earthly; and when what is
spiritual touches or sees what is spiritual, it is just the same as
when what is natural touches or sees what is natural. So when a man
has become a spirit he does not know otherwise than that he is in the
same body that he had in the world and thus does not know that he has
died. [2] Moreover, a man's spirit enjoys every sense, both outer and
inner, that he enjoyed in the world; he sees as before, he hears and
speaks as before, smells and tastes, and when touched, he feels the
touch as before; he also longs, desires, craves, thinks, reflects, is
stirred, loves, wills, as before; and one who takes delight in
studies, reads and writes as before. In a word, when a man passes
from one life into the other, or from one world into the other, it is
like passing from one place into another, carrying with him all
things that he had possessed in himself as a man; so that by death,
which is only the death of the earthly body, man cannot be said to
have lost anything really his own. [3] Furthermore, he carries with
him his natural memory, retaining everything that he has heard, seen,
read, learned, or thought, in the world from earliest infancy even to
the end of life; although the natural objects that are contained in
the memory, since they cannot be reproduced in the spiritual world,
are quiescent, just as they are when one is not thinking of them.
Nevertheless, they are reproduced when the Lord so wills. But more
will be said presently about this memory and its state after death. A
sensual man finds it impossible to believe that such is the state of
man after death, because he cannot comprehend it; for a sensual man
must needs think naturally even about spiritual things; therefore,
any thing that does not appeal to his senses, that is, that he does
not see with his bodily eyes and touch with his hands (as is said of
Thomas, John 20:25, 27, 29) he denies the existence of. (What the
sensual man is may be seen above, n. 267 and notes.)
462. [a.] And yet there is a great difference between man's life in
the spiritual world and his life in the natural world, in regard both
to his outer senses and their affections and his inner senses and
their affections. Those that are in heaven have more exquisite
senses, that is, a keener sight and hearing, and also think more
wisely than when they were in the world; for they see in the light of
heaven, which surpasses by many degrees the light of the world (see
above, n. 126); and they hear by means of a spiritual atmosphere,
which likewise surpasses by many degrees the earthly atmosphere (n.
235). This difference in respect to the outward senses is like the
difference between clear sunshine and dark cloudiness in the world,
or between noonday light and evening shade. For the light of heaven,
since it is Divine truth, enables the eyes of angels to perceive and
distinguish most minute things. [2] Moreover, their outer sight
corresponds to their inner sight or understanding; for with angels
one sight so flows into the other as to act as one with it; and this
gives them their great keenness of vision. In like manner, their
hearing corresponds to their perception, which pertains both to the
understanding and to the will, and in consequence they perceive in
the tone and words of one speaking the most minute things of his
affection and thought; in the tone what pertains to his affection,
and in the words what pertains to his thought (see above,
n. 234-245). But the rest of the senses with the angels are less
exquisite than the senses of seeing and hearing, for the reason that
seeing and hearing serve their intelligence and wisdom, and the rest
do not; and if the other senses were equally exquisite they would
detract from the light and joy of their wisdom, and would let in the
delight of pleasures pertaining to various appetites and to the body;
and so far as these prevail they obscure and weaken the
understanding. This takes place in the world, where men become gross
and stupid in regard to spiritual truths so far as they indulge the
sense of taste and yield to the allurements of the sense of touch.
[3] From what has already been said and shown in the chapter on the
wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275), it can be seen that the
inner senses also of the angels of heaven, which pertain to their
thought and affection, are more exquisite and perfect than the senses
they had in the world. But as regards the state of those that are in
hell as compared with the state of those in the world there is also a
great difference, for as great as is the perfection and excellence of
the outer and inner senses of the angels in heaven, with those who
are in hell the imperfection is equally great. But the state of these
will be treated of hereafter.
462. [b.] That when a man leaves the world he takes with him all his
memory has been shown to me in many ways, and many of the things I
have seen and heard are worthy of mention, some of which I will
relate in order. There were some who denied their crimes and
villainies which they had perpetrated in the world; and in
consequence, that they might not be believed innocent, all their
deeds were disclosed and reviewed from their memory in order, from
their earliest to their latest years; these were chiefly adulteries
and whoredoms. [2] There were some who had deceived others by wicked
arts and had committed thefts. The deceits and thefts of these were
also enumerated in detail, many of which were known to scarcely any
in the world except themselves. These deeds they confessed, because
they were plainly set forth, with every thought, intention, pleasure,
and fear which occupied their minds at the time. [3] There were
others who had accepted bribes, and had rendered venal judgments, who
were similarly explored from their memory and from it everything they
had done from the beginning to the end of their office was reviewed.
Every detail in regard to what and how much they had received, as
well as the time, and their state of mind and intention, were brought
to their recollection and made visibly clear to the number of many
hundreds. This was done with several and what is wonderful, in some
cases their memorandum-books, in which they had recorded these
things, were opened and read before them page by page. [4] Others who
had enticed maidens to shame or had violated chastity were called to
a like judgment; and the details of their crimes were drawn forth
from their memory and reviewed. The very faces of the maidens and
women were also exhibited as if present, with the places, words and
intentions, and this as suddenly as when a scene is presented to the
sight, the exhibitions continuing sometimes for hours. [5] There was
one who had made light of slandering others; and I heard his slanders
recounted in order, and his defamations, with the very words, and the
persons about whom and before whom they were uttered; all of which
were produced and presented to the very life, although while he lived
in the world he had most carefully concealed everything. [6] There
was one who had deprived a relative of his inheritance under a
fraudulent pretext; and he was in like manner convicted and judged;
and what is wonderful, the letters and papers that passed between
them were read in my hearing, and it was said that not a word was
lacking. [7] The same person shortly before his death had also
secretly poisoned his neighbor. This was disclosed in this way. He
appeared to be digging a trench under his feet, from which a man came
forth as out of a grave, and cried out to him, "What have you done to
me?" Then everything was revealed, how the poisoner had talked with
him in a friendly manner, and had held out the cup, also what he
thought beforehand, and what happened afterwards. When all this had
been disclosed he was sentenced to hell. [8] In a word, to each evil
spirit all his evils, villainies, robberies, artifices, and deceits
are made clear, and are brought forth from his very memory, and his
guilt is fully established; nor is there any possible room for
denial, because all the circumstances are exhibited together.
Moreover, I have learned from a man's memory, when it was seen and
inspected by angels, what his thoughts had been for a month, one day
after another, and this without mistake, the thoughts being recalled
just as they arose from day to day. [9] From these examples it can be
seen that man carries with him all of his memory, and that nothing
can be so concealed in the world as not to be disclosed after death,
which is done in the presence of many, according to the Lord's words:
There is nothing concealed that shall not be uncovered,
and nothing secret that shall not be known; therefore what
ye have spoken in the dark shall be heard in the light and
what ye have spoken in the ear shall be proclaimed on the
housetops (Luke 12:2, 3).
463. In disclosing his acts to a man after death, the angels to whom
the office of searching is assigned look into his face, and their
search extends through the whole body, beginning with the fingers of
each hand, and thus proceeding through the whole. As I wondered at
this the reason was given, namely, that as all things of the thought
and will are inscribed on the brain, for their beginnings are there,
so are they likewise inscribed on the whole body, since all things of
thought and will extend from their beginnings into all things of the
body and there terminate as in their outmosts; and this is why the
things that are inscribed on the memory from the will and consequent
thought are inscribed not only on the brain, but also upon the whole
man, and there exist in order in accordance with the order of the
parts of the body. It was thus made clear that man as a whole is such
as he is in his will and its thought, even to the extent that an evil
man is his own evil, and a good man his own good.{1} This shows what
is meant by the book of man's life spoken of in the Word, namely,
that all things that he has done and all things that he has thought
are inscribed on the whole man, and when they are called forth from
the memory they appear as if read in a book, and when the spirit is
viewed in the light of heaven, they appear as in an image. To all
this I would add something remarkable in regard to the continuance of
the memory after death, by which I was assured that not only things
in general but also the minutest particulars that have entered the
memory remain and are never obliterated. I saw books there containing
writings as in the world, and was told that they were from the memory
of those who wrote, and that there was not a single word lacking in
them that was in a book written by the same person in the world; and
thus all the minutest particulars might be drawn from one's memory,
even those that he had forgotten in the world. And the reason was
given, namely, that man has an external and an internal memory, an
external memory belonging to his natural man, and an internal memory
belonging to his spiritual man; and that every least thing that a man
has thought, willed, spoken, done or even heard and seen, is
inscribed on his internal or spiritual memory;{2} and that what is
there is never erased, since it is also inscribed on the spirit
itself and on the members of its body, as has been said above; and
that the spirit is thus formed in accordance with the thoughts and
acts of its will. I know that this sounds like a paradox, and is
therefore difficult to believe; but still it is true. Let no one
believe, then, that there is any thing that a man has ever thought in
himself or done in secret that can be concealed after death; but let
him believe that all things and each single thing are then laid open
as clear as day.
{Footnote 1} A good man, spirit, or angel, is his own good and
his own truth, that is, he is wholly such as his good and truth
are (n. 10298, 10367). This is because good is what makes the
will and truth the understanding; and the will and
understanding make everything of life in man, spirit, or angel
(n. 3332, 3623, 6065). It is the same thing to say that a man,
spirit, or angel is his own love (n. 6872, 10177, 10284).
{Footnote 2} Man has two memories an outer and an inner, or a
natural and a spiritual memory (n. 2469-2494). Man does not
know that he has an inner memory (n. 2470, 2471). How far the
inner memory surpasses the outer (n. 2473). The things
contained in the outer memory are in the light of the world,
but the things contained in the inner are in the light of
heaven (n. 5212). It is from the inner memory that man is able
to think and speak intellectually and rationally (n. 9394). All
things and each thing that a man has thought, spoken, and done,
and that he has seen and heard, are inscribed on the inner
memory (n. 2474, 7398). That memory is the book of his life (n.
2474, 9386, 9841, 10505). In the inner memory are the truths
that have been made truths of faith, and the goods that have
been made goods of love (n. 5212, 8067). Those things that have
become matters of habit and have come to be things of the life,
and have thus disappeared from the outer memory, are in the
inner memory (n. 9394, 9723, 9841). Spirits and angels speak
from the inner memory and consequently have a universal
language (n. 2472, 2476, 2490, 2493). The languages of the
world belong to the outer memory (n. 2472, 2476).
464. Although the external or natural memory remains in man after
death, the merely natural things in it are not reproduced in the
other life, but only the spiritual things adjoined to the natural by
correspondences; but when these are present to the sight they appear
in exactly the same form as they had in the natural world; for all
things seen in the heavens have just the same appearance as in the
world, although in their essence they are not natural but spiritual
(as may be seen in the chapter on Representatives and Appearances in
Heaven, n. 170-176). [2] But the external or natural memory in
respect to the things in it that are derived from the material, and
from time and space, and from other properties of nature, is not
serviceable to the spirit in the way that it was serviceable to it in
the world, for whenever man thinks in the world from his external
sensual, and not at the same time from his internal or intellectual
sensual, he thinks naturally and not spiritually; but in the other
life when he is a spirit in the spiritual world he does not think
naturally but spiritually, and to think spiritually is to think
intellectually or rationally. For this reason the external or natural
memory in respect to its material contents is then quiescent, and
only those things that man has imbibed in the world by means of
material things, and has made rational, come into use. The external
memory becomes quiescent in respect to material things because these
cannot then be brought forth, since spirits and angels speak from
those affections and thoughts that are proper to their minds; and are
therefore unable to give expression to any thing that is not in
accord with their affections and thoughts as can be seen in what is
said about the speech of angels in heaven and their speech with man
(n. 234-257). [3] Because of this man after death is rational, not in
the degree that he was skilled in languages and sciences in the
world, but in the degree in which he became rational by means of
these. I have talked with many who were believed in the world to be
learned because they were acquainted with ancient languages, such as
the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, but had not cultivated their rational
faculty by what is written in those languages. Some of them were seen
to be just as simple as those who knew nothing of those languages,
and some even stupid, and yet they retained the conceit of being
wiser than others. [4] I have talked with some who had believed in
the world that man is wise in the measure of the contents of his
memory, and who had stored up many things in their memory, speaking
almost solely from the memory, and therefore not from themselves but
from others, and their rationality had not been at all perfected by
means of the things in their memory. Some of these were stupid and
some sottish, not in the least comprehending whether a truth is true
or not, and seizing upon all falsities that are passed off for truths
by those who called themselves learned; for from themselves they are
unable to see any thing, whether it be true or not, and consequently
are unable to see any thing rationally when listening to others. [5]
I have also talked with some who had written much in the world on
scientific subjects of every kind, and had thereby acquired a
worldwide reputation for learning. Some of these, indeed, had the
ability to reason about truths, whether they are true or not; and
some, when they had turned to those who were in the light of truth,
had some comprehension that truths are true, but still had no wish to
comprehend them, and therefore when they were in their own falsities,
and thus in themselves, denied them. Some had no more wisdom than the
unlearned common people. Thus each differed from the other according
as he had cultivated his rational faculty by means of the knowledges
he had written about or collated. But those who were opposed to the
truths of the church, and who thought from mere knowledges and
confirmed themselves thereby in falsities, did not cultivate their
rational faculty, but cultivated only an ability to reason, which in
the world is believed to be rationality. But this ability is wholly
different from rationality; it is an ability to prove any thing it
pleases, and from preconceived principles and from fallacies to see
falsities and not truths. Such persons can never be brought to
acknowledge truths, since truths cannot be seen from falsities; but
falsities may be seen from truths. [6] The rational faculty of man is
like a garden or shrubbery, or like fresh ground; the memory is the
soil, truths known and knowledges are the seeds, the light and heat
of heaven cause them to grow; without light and heat there is no
germination; so is it with the mind when the light of heaven, which
is Divine truth, and the heat of heaven, which is Divine love, are
not admitted; rationality is solely from these. It is a great grief
to the angels that learned men for the most part ascribe all things
to nature, and have thereby so closed up the interiors of their minds
as to be unable to see any thing of truth from the light of truth,
which is the light of heaven. In consequence of this such in the
other life are deprived of their ability to reason that they may not
disseminate falsities among the simple good and lead them astray; and
are sent away into desert places.
465. A certain spirit was indignant because he was unable to remember
many things that he knew in the life of the body, grieving over the
lost pleasure which he had so much enjoyed, but he was told that he
had lost nothing at all, that he still knew each and everything that
he had known, although in the world where he now was no one was
permitted to call forth such things from the memory, and that he
ought to be satisfied that he could now think and speak much better
and more perfectly than before, and that his rational was not now
immersed as before in gross, obscure, material and corporeal things,
which are of no use in the kingdom into which he had now come; also
that he now possessed everything conducive to the uses of eternal
life, and that this is the only way of becoming blessed and happy;
and therefore it is the part of ignorance to believe that in this
kingdom intelligence perishes with the removal or quiescence of the
material things in the memory; for the real fact is that so far as
the mind can be withdrawn from things of sense pertaining to the
external man or the body, so far it is elevated to things spiritual
and heavenly.
466. What these two memories are is sometimes presented to view in
the other life in forms not elsewhere seen; for many things which in
man take the form of ideas are there presented as objects of sight.
The external memory there presents the appearance of a callus, the
internal the appearance of a medullary substance like that in the
human brain; and from this what they are can be known. With those
that have devoted themselves in the life of the body to the
cultivation of the memory alone, and have not cultivated their
rational faculty, the callosity appears hard and streaked within as
with tendons. With those that have filled the memory with falsities
it appears hairy and rough, because of the confused mass of things in
it. With those that have cultivated the memory with the love of self
and the world as an end it appears glued together and ossified. With
those that have wished to penetrate into Divine arcana by means of
learning, especially of a philosophical kind, with an unwillingness
to believe until convinced by such proofs, the memory appears like a
dark substance, of such a nature as to absorb the rays of light and
turn them into darkness. With those that have practiced deceit and
hypocrisy it appears hard and bony like ebony, which reflects the
rays of light. But with those that have been in the good of love and
the truths of faith there is no such callous appearance, because
their inner memory transmits the rays of light into the outer; and in
its objects or ideas as in their basis or their ground, the rays
terminate and find delightful receptacles; for the outer memory is
the out most of order in which, when goods and truths are there, the
spiritual and heavenly things are gently terminated and find their
seat.
467. Men living in the world who are in love to the Lord and charity
toward the neighbor have with them and in them angelic intelligence
and wisdom, but it is then stored up in the inmosts of the inner
memory; and they are not at all conscious of it until they put off
corporeal things. Then the natural memory is laid asleep and they
awake into their inner memory, and then gradually into angelic memory
itself.
468. How the rational faculty may be cultivated shall also be told in
a few words. The genuine rational faculty consists of truths and not
of falsities; whatever consists of falsities is not rational. There
are three kinds of truths, civil, moral, and spiritual. Civil truths
relate to matters of judgment and of government in kingdoms, and in
general to what is just and equitable in them. Moral truths pertain
to the matters of everyone's life which have regard to companionships
and social relations, in general to what is honest and right, and in
particular to virtues of every kind. But spiritual truths relate to
matters of heaven and of the church, and in general to the good of
love and the truth of faith. [2] In every man there are three degrees
of life (see above, n. 267). The rational faculty is opened to the
first degree by civil truths, to the second degree by moral truths,
and to the third degree by spiritual truths. But it must be
understood that the rational faculty that consists of these truths is
not formed and opened by man's knowing them, but by his living
according to them; and living according to them means loving them
from spiritual affection; and to love truths from spiritual affection
is to love what is just and equitable because it is just and
equitable, what is honest and right because it is honest and right,
and what is good and true because it is good and true; while living
according to them and loving them from the bodily affection is loving
them for the sake of self and for the sake of one's reputation, honor
or gain. Consequently, so far as man loves these truths from a bodily
affection he fails to become rational, for he loves, not them, but
himself; and the truths are made to serve him as servants serve their
Lord; and when truths become servants they do not enter the man and
open any degree of life in him, not even the first, but merely rest
in the memory as knowledges under a material form, and there conjoin
themselves with the love of self, which is a bodily love. [3] All
this shows how man becomes rational, namely, that he becomes rational
to the third degree by a spiritual love of the good and truth which
pertain to heaven and the church; he becomes rational to the second
degree by a love of what is honest and right; and to the first degree
by a love of what is just and equitable. These two latter loves also
become spiritual from a spiritual love of good and truth, because
that love flows into them and conjoins itself to them and forms in
them as it were its own semblance.
469. Spirits and angels, equally with men, have a memory, whatever
they hear, see, think, will and do, remaining with them, and thereby
their rational faculty is continually cultivated even to eternity.
Thus spirits and angels, equally with men, are perfected in
intelligence and wisdom by means of knowledges of truth and good.
That spirits and angels have a memory I have been permitted to learn
by much experience, having seen everything that they have thought and
done, both in public and in private, called forth from their memories
when they were with other spirits; and I have seen those that were in
some truth from simple good imbued with knowledges, and thereby with
intelligence, and afterwards raised up into heaven. But it must be
understood that such are not imbued with knowledges and thereby with
intelligence beyond the degree of affection for good and for truth
that they have attained to while in the world; for such and so much
of affection as any spirit or angel had in the world remains with
him; and this affection is afterwards perfected by being filled out,
which goes on to eternity. For everything is capable of being filled
out to eternity, since everything is capable of infinite variation,
thus of enrichment by various things, and consequently of
multiplication and fructification. To any thing good there is no
limit because it is from the Infinite. That spirits and angels are
being perfected unceasingly in intelligence and wisdom by means of
knowledges of truth and good may be seen above, in the chapters on
the wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275); on the heathen or
people outside the church in heaven (n. 318-328); and on little
children in heaven (n. 329-345); and that this is done to that degree
of affection for good and for truth in which they had been in the
world, and not beyond it, may be seen in n. 349.