534. I was once shown the way to heaven and the way to hell. There was a broad path leading off to the left or north. There seemed to be a great many spirits traveling along it. In the distance, though, I could see a fairly large boulder where the broad path ended. Then two paths led off from the boulder, one to the left and the other, on the other side, to the right. The path to the left was narrow and confined, leading around through the west to the south, and therefore into the light of heaven. The path to the right was broad and open, leading obliquely down toward hell.

At first, everyone was clearly following the same path as far as the large boulder at the fork; but at that point they parted company. The good turned to the left and started along the confined path that led to heaven. The evil did not even see the boulder at the fork but fell over it and hurt themselves. When they got up, they rushed along the broad path to the right that led toward hell.

[2] Later, the meaning of all this was explained to me. The first path, the broad one where so many good and evil people were traveling together, chatting with each other like friends with no visible difference between them, pictured people who live similarly honest and fair outward lives, with no visible difference between them. The stone at the fork or corner where the evil people stumbled, from which they rushed along the path to hell, pictured divine truth, which is denied by people who are focusing on hell. In the highest sense this stone meant the Lord's divine human nature. However, people who acknowledge divine truth and the divine nature of the Lord as well were taken along the path that led to heaven.

This showed me again that both evil and good people live the same life outwardly, or travel the same path, one as readily as the other. Yet the ones who at heart acknowledge the Divine, especially those within the church who acknowledge the Lord's divine nature, are led to heaven; while those who do not acknowledge it are led to hell.

[3] Paths in the other life picture the thoughts that flow from our aims or intentions. The paths that are presented to view there answer exactly to the thoughts of our aims, and our course follows the thoughts that flow from our aims. This is why you can tell the quality of spirits and of their thoughts from their paths. This also showed me the meaning of the Lord's words, "Enter through the narrow gate, for broad is the gate and open the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who walk along it; confined is the path and narrow the gate that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). The way that leads to life is not narrow because it is difficult but because so few people find it, as stated.

The boulder I saw at the corner where the broad, common path ended and the two ways seemed to lead in opposite directions showed me the meaning of the Lord's words, "Have you not read what is written, 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner'? Whoever falls over this stone will be shattered" (Luke 20:17-18). The stone means divine truth, and the rock of Israel means the Lord in regard to his divine human nature. The builders are the people of the church. The head of the corner is where the fork is, and to fall and be shattered is to deny and perish. ¹

Fußnoten:

3720. 'This is nothing other than the house of God' means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order. This is clear from the meaning of 'the house of God'. In the Word 'the house of God' is referred to in many places, and in the external sense, that is, literally, it means a building where holy worship takes place. But in the internal sense it means the Church, in the more universal sense it means heaven, and in the most universal the Lord's kingdom. In the highest sense however it means the Lord Himself as regards the Divine Human. But in the Word sometimes the expression 'House of God' is used and sometimes 'Temple'. The two are similar in meaning, the difference being that the expression 'House of God' is used when the subject is good but 'temple' when the subject is truth. From this it is evident that 'the House of God' means the Lord's celestial Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of celestial angels, in the most universal the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good; whereas 'the Temple' means the Lord's spiritual Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of spiritual angels, in the most universal the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and in the highest the Lord as regards Divine Truth, see 2048. The reason why 'the House of God' means that which is celestial and the dwelling-place of good, while 'the Temple' means that which is spiritual and the dwelling-place of truth, is that 'a house' in the Word means good, see 710, 2233, 2559, 3128, 3652, and among the most ancient people used to be built of pieces of wood for the reason that 'wood' meant good, 643, 1110, 2784, 2812, whereas 'the Temple' means truth because it was built of stones - 'stones' meaning truths, see 643, 1296, 1298.

[2] These meanings that 'pieces of wood' and 'stones' possess are clear not only from the Word where they are mentioned but also from representatives in the next life. For people who assume that merit lies in good works seem to themselves to be cutting wood, and those who assume that it lies in truths, that is to say, people who have believed that they knew more truths than anybody else and yet have lived wickedly, seem to themselves to be breaking up stones. I have often seen such people wood-cutting or stone-breaking, from which the meaning of 'wood' and of 'stone' was made clear to me - that good is meant by 'wood' and truth by 'stone'. It has in like manner been made clear to me from the fact that when I have seen a wooden house the concept of good has instantly presented itself, and when I have seen a stone house the concept of truth has done so. And I have also learned from angels about this matter. This is why, when in the Word 'the House of God' is mentioned, the concept of good presents itself to angels, the kind of good depending on the nature of the subject that is being dealt with. And when 'the Temple' is mentioned, the concept of truth presents itself, the kind of truth depending on the subject that is being dealt with. From this one may also deduce how deeply and inwardly concealed the heavenly arcana lie in the Word.

[3] The reason 'the House of God' here means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order is that the subject is Jacob who, as often shown already, represents the Lord's Divine Natural. The natural exists in the ultimate degree of order, for the natural encompasses all interior degrees and includes them all together within itself. And since they are included all together within the natural, and so countless things are beheld as a single whole, obscurity exists there compared with other degrees. This obscurity too has been dealt with frequently.