2148. That 'he lifted up his eyes' means that He saw within Himself is clear from the meaning of 'lifting up the eyes'. By 'eyes' in the Word is meant interior sight, or the understanding, as becomes clear from the places quoted in 212, and therefore by 'lifting up the eyes' is meant seeing and perceiving the things which exist above oneself. Things that are interior are expressed in the Word by those that are higher, as in the expressions 'looking upwards', 'lifting up the eyes to heaven', and 'thinking high things' - the reason being that man imagines heaven to be on high, or up above himself, though in fact it is not on high but exists in things that are internal; when the heavenly things of love are present in a person, his heaven exists within him, see 450. From this it is plain that 'lifting up the eyes' means seeing within oneself.

450. There were some who seemed in the world to be more enlightened in the Word than anybody else. They had conceived so false an idea of heaven that they imagined they would be in heaven when they were high up, and that from that position they would be able to rule the things below, and so be in their glory and be pre-eminent. Because they entertained such a false notion, and in order that they might know how mistaken they were, they were conveyed up high and from there they were allowed to rule to some extent over things below. Then, to their shame, they began to realize that this heaven was a delusion and that heaven did not consist in being high up, but that it existed wherever the individual was in whom love and charity abided, that is, who had the Lord's kingdom within himself. Nor did it consist in wishing to be pre-eminent, for wishing to be greater than others is not heaven, but hell.