267. The reason angels can accept so much wisdom is that their deeper levels are open, and wisdom, like any perfection, increases as one moves toward the deeper levels and as they are opened. ¹

In every angel there are three levels of life corresponding to the three heavens (see 29-40). People whose first level has been opened are in the first or most remote heaven. People whose second level has been opened are in the second or intermediate heaven. People whose third level has been opened are in the third or inmost heaven. The wisdom of angels in heaven is according to these levels; so the wisdom of angels of the third heaven vastly transcends the wisdom of angels of the intermediate heaven, and their wisdom in turn transcends that of angels of the farthest heaven (see above, 209-210, and on the nature of the levels, see 38).

The reason for these differences is that the elements of the higher levels are detailed, and those of the lower are general, the general ones being inclusive of the details. The ratio of details to generalizations is on the order of thousands or ten thousands to one, so this is the ratio between the wisdom of angels of a higher heaven and that of angels of a lower heaven.

However, the wisdom of these latter angels similarly transcends our wisdom, for we are engrossed in our bodies and their sensory operations, and these physical sensory faculties are on the lowest level of all. This fact enables us to see the nature of the wisdom of people who base their thinking on sensory information - that is, the ones we call sense-oriented people. Specifically, they have no access to wisdom, only to information. ² It is different, though, for people whose thoughts are raised above sensory matters, and even more for people whose deeper levels have been opened all the way into heaven's light.

Footnotes:

7816. Looking above self is being raised by the Lord to a higher level, for nobody can look above self unless he is raised to a higher level by Him who is above. But looking below self is of human origin since the person does not in that case allow himself to be raised up.

10181. 'And two cubits shall its height be' means degrees of the good and truth, and the joining together of them. This is clear from the meaning of 'two' as a joining together, dealt with in 1686, 5194, 8423; and from the meaning of 'height' as degrees of the good and consequently of the truth, dealt with in 9489, 9773. By degrees of height degrees from inner to outer levels, or from inmost to outermost ones should be understood. Regarding the nature of these degrees, see what has been shown and made clear in 3405, 3691, 4145, 4154, 5114, 5146, 8603, 8945, 10099.

[2] There are two kinds of degrees - degrees extending along the length and breadth, and degrees of height and depth. The second kind are very different from the first. Degrees of length and breadth are such as follow in succession from the middle to outlying parts, whereas degrees of height pass from inner to outer levels. The first kind of degrees - those of length and breadth - are ones that grow continuously less and less from the middle to the outlying parts, just as light gets weaker as it flows from its source all the way to where it fades, or just as what the eye sees diminishes as it looks from things nearby to those in the far distance, or just as what the understanding sees lessens as it turns from matters which are in the light to those which depart into the shade. But degrees of height, which pass from inmost to outermost, or from highest to lowest, are not continuous but discrete. They are like the inmost parts of a seed in relation to the outer parts of it, or like the inmost levels of a human being in relation to the outermost, or like the inmost part of the angelic heaven in relation to the outermost part of it. These degrees are separate and distinct from one another like producer and product.

[3] Things in an inner degree are more perfect than those in an outer one, bearing no resemblance to them except through correspondences. This explains why those who are in the inmost heaven are more perfect than those in the middle heaven, and these are more perfect than those in the lowest. The same applies to a person in whom heaven is present. The inmost level of that person exists in a more perfect condition than the middle, and this in a more perfect condition than the lowest; and these are linked to one another solely through correspondences, the nature of which has been shown extensively in explanations given before.

[4] Without gaining an understanding of these degrees no one can possibly see how the heavens are distinct from one another, nor how the inner capabilities of a human being are distinct from outer ones, nor thus how the soul is distinct from the body. There can be no grasp at all of what the internal sense of the Word is and how it is distinct from the external sense, nor indeed how the spiritual world is distinct from the natural world. There cannot be even any understanding, either, of the nature and origin of correspondences and representations, and scarcely any of what influx is. People whose thought does not rise above the level of the senses do not grasp any of these distinctions. They see any increase or decrease in accordance with these degrees as something continuous, so that to them these degrees are like those of length and breadth, which consequently causes them to stand in a position far removed from true intelligence.

[5] These degrees are degrees of height, and therefore 'high' in the Word is used to mean that which is more internal, 2148, 4210, 4599, and being what is more internal it is also more perfect. So it is that in the Word the Lord is spoken of as the Highest, for He is perfection itself, Intelligence and Wisdom themselves, and Goodness and Truth themselves. So it is also that heaven is spoken of as being on high, for it is preserved in its state of perfection, intelligence, wisdom, goodness, and truth by the Lord; and hell is spoken of as being deep down, for no perfection, intelligence, or wisdom, nor any goodness or truth exist there.