6008. 'And Joseph will put his hand on your eyes means that the internal celestial will impart life to it. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; and from the meaning of 'putting a hand on the eyes' as imparting life. For 'putting a hand on the eyes' is used to mean that the external or bodily senses will be closed and the internal senses opened, thus that a raising up will be effected and life will thereby be imparted. A hand was placed on people's eyes when they were dying because 'death' meant an awakening into life, 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621. For when a person dies he does not really die; he merely lays aside the body that has served him for his use in the world and passes into the next life in a body which serves him for his use there.

479. Man after death is his own love or his own will. This has been proved to me by manifold experience. The entire heaven is distinguished into societies in accordance with differences of good of love; and every spirit who is taken up into heaven and becomes an angel is taken to the society where his love is; and when he comes there he is, as it were, at home, and in the house where he was born; this the angel perceives, and is associated with those there who are like himself. When he goes away to another place he feels constantly a kind of resistance, and a longing to return to his like, thus to his ruling love. Thus are associations brought about in heaven. It is the same in hell, where all are associated in accordance with loves that are the opposites of heavenly loves. It has been shown above (41-50, 200-212) that both heaven and hell are composed of societies, and that they are all distinguished in accordance with differences of love.

[2] That man after death is his own love might also be confirmed from the fact that whatever things do not make one with his ruling love are then separated and, as it were, taken away from him. From one who is good all discordant or inharmonious things are separated and, as it were, taken away, and he is thus let into his own love. It is the same with an evil spirit, with the difference that from the evil, truths are taken away, and from the good, falsities are taken away, and this goes on until each becomes his own love. This is effected when the man-spirit is brought into the third state, which will be described in following sections. When this has been done he turns his face constantly to his own love, and this he has continually before his eyes, in whatever direction he turns (see above, 123-124).

[3] All spirits, provided they are kept in their ruling love, can be led wherever one pleases, and are incapable of resistance, however they may know that this is being done, and however much they may think that they will resist. They have often been permitted to try whether they could do anything contrary to that love, but in vain. Their love is like a bond or a rope tied around them, by which they may be led and from which they cannot loose themselves. It is the same with men in the world who are also led by their love, or are led by others by means of their love; but this is more the case when they have become spirits, because they are not then permitted to make a display of any other love, or to counterfeit what is not their own.

[4] That the spirit of man is his ruling love is clearly exhibited in all fellowship in the other life, for so far as anyone is acting or speaking in accordance with the love of another, to the same extent is the other plainly present, with full, joyous, and lively countenance; but when one is speaking or acting contrary to another's love, to that extent the other's countenance begins to be changed, to be obscured and undiscernible, until at length he wholly disappears as if he had not been there. I have often wondered how this could be, for nothing of the kind can occur in the world; but I have been told that it is the same with the spirit in man, which, when it turns itself away from another, ceases to be within his view.

[5] That a spirit is his own ruling love is also clear from the fact that every spirit seizes and appropriates all things that are in harmony with his love, and rejects and repudiates all that are not. Everyone's love is like a spongy or porous wood, which imbibes such fluids as promote its growth, and repels others. It is also like animals of every kind, which know their proper food and seek the things that agree with their nature, and avoid those that disagree; for every love wishes to be nourished on what belongs to it, an evil love by falsities and a good love by truths. I have sometimes been permitted to see certain simple good spirits desiring to instruct the evil in truths and goods; but when the instruction was offered them they fled far away, and when they came to their own they seized with great pleasure upon the falsities that were in agreement with their love. I have also seen good spirits talking together about truths, and the good who were present listened eagerly to the conversation, but the evil who were present paid no attention to it, as if they did not hear it. In the world of spirits ways are seen, some leading to heaven, some to hell, and each to some particular society. Good spirits go only in the ways that lead to heaven, and to the society there that is in the good of their love, and do not see the ways that lead elsewhere; while evil spirits go only in the ways that lead to hell, and to the society there that is in the evil of their love; they do not see the ways that lead elsewhere; or, if they see them, have no wish to enter them. In the spiritual world these ways are real appearances, which correspond to truths or falsities; and this is why ways have this signification in the Word. ¹ By these evidences from experience, the things previously said from reason have been confirmed, namely, that every man after death is his own love and his own will. It is said one's own will because everyone's will is his love.

Footnotes:

627. 'For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth ¹ ' means that man's bodily-mindedness destroyed all understanding of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'flesh', dealt with already at verse 3, as in general the whole of mankind, and in particular the bodily-minded man, or everything of a bodily nature; and from the meaning of 'way' as the understanding of truth, or truth itself. The fact that 'way' has reference to the understanding of truth, or to truth itself, becomes clear from the examples already quoted in several places as well as from the following,

Jehovah said, Get up, go down quickly from here, for your people have corrupted themselves. They have suddenly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have cast for themselves a metal image. Deuteronomy 9:11, 16.

This means that they forsook His commandments, which are truths.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Whose eyes have been opened upon all the ways of the sons of man, giving to every man (vir) according to his ways and according to the fruit of his works. Jeremiah 32:19.

'Ways' means life according to the commandments, 'fruit of his works' life based on charity. 'Way' accordingly has reference to truths, which comprise commandments and ordinances, and so do 'son of man' and 'man' (vir), as shown above. Jeremiah 7:3; 17:10, also contain similar usages.

In Hosea,

I will visit upon him his ways, and require him for his works. Hosea 4:9.

In Zechariah,

Return from your evil ways and from your evil works. As Jehovah Zebaoth thought to deal with us for our ways and for our works. Zechariah 1:4, 6.

Similar phrases appear here, yet they are the contrary in meaning to those mentioned before them, since they are 'evil ways' and 'evil works'.

In Jeremiah,

I will give them one heart and one way. Jeremiah 32:39.

'Heart' stands for goods, 'way' for truths. In David,

Make me understand the way of Your commandments. Take from me the way of untruth, and graciously grant me Your law. I have chosen the way of truth. I will run in the way of Your precepts. Psalms 119:26-27, 29-30, 32, 35.

Here 'the way of the commandments and precepts' is called 'the way of truth', and the contrary of this, 'the way of untruth'.

[3] In the same author,

Make Your ways known to me, O Jehovah, teach me Your paths, guide my way in Your truth, and teach me. Psalms 25:4-5.

This in like manner plainly stands for the truth. In Isaiah,

With whom did Jehovah consult, and he instructed Him, and taught Him the path of judgement, and taught Him knowledge, and made Him know the way of understanding? Isaiah 40:14.

This plainly stands for an understanding of truth. In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Stand upon the highways and look, and ask concerning the paths of old, which is the good way, and go in it. Jeremiah 6:16.

This in like manner stands for an understanding of truth. In Isaiah,

I will lead the blind in a way they do not know; and in paths they do not know I will guide them. Isaiah 42:16.

The expressions way, by-path, pathway, road, and street all have reference to truths because they lead to what is true, as also in Jeremiah,

They have caused them to stumble in their ways, in the pathways of old, going into by-paths and not the highway. Jeremiah 18:15.

Similarly in the Book of Judges,

In the days of Jael pathways ceased to be. And those who went along the paths kept to twisting pathways; the streets in Israel ceased to be. Judges 5:6-7.

Footnotes: