3623. 'What would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. This is clear from the meaning of 'life' as conjunction by means of truths and goods. For when it was not possible for any truth from a common stem or genuine source to be joined to natural truth, there could not be any alliance of the natural to the truth of the rational, in which case it seemed to the rational as though its own life were no life, 3493, 3620. This is why here 'what would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. Here and in other places the word 'life' in the original language is plural, and the reason for this is that in man there are two powers of life. The first is called the understanding and is the receptacle of truth, the second is called the will and is the receptacle of good. These two forms or powers of life make one when the understanding is rooted in the will, or what amounts to the same, when truth is grounded in good. This explains why in Hebrew the noun 'life' is sometimes singular, sometimes plural. The plural form of that noun is used in all the following places, Jehovah God formed the man, dust from the ground; and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7. Jehovah God caused to spring up out of the ground every tree desirable to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden. Genesis 2:9. Behold, I am bringing a flood of waters over the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 6:17.

They went in to Noah into the ark, two by two from all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 7:15 (in 780).

Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils breathed its last. Genesis 7:12.

In David,

I believe [I am going] to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13.

In the same author,

Who is the man who desires life, who loves [many] days, that he may see good? Psalms 34:12

In the same author,

With You, O Jehovah, is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:9.

In Malachi,

My covenant with Levi was [a covenant] of life and peace. Malachi 2:5.

In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Jeremiah 21:8.

In Moses,

To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land. Deuteronomy 30:20.

In the same author,

It is not an empty word from you; for it is your life, and through this word you will prolong your days in the land. Deuteronomy 32:47.

And in other places too the plural form of the noun 'life' is used in the original language because, as has been stated, there are two kinds of life which yet make one. It is similar with the word 'heavens' in the Hebrew language, in that the heavens are many and yet make one, or like the expression 'waters' above and below, in Genesis 1:7-9 , by which spiritual things in the rational and in the natural are meant which ought to be one through being joined together. As for the plural form of 'life', when this is used both the life of the will and that of the understanding are meant, and therefore both the life of good and that of truth are meant. For man's life consists in nothing else than good and truth which hold life from the Lord within them. Devoid of good and truth, and of the life which these hold within them, no one is human. For devoid of these no one would ever have been able to will or to think anything. Everything that a person wills originates in good or in that which is not good, and everything he thinks originates in truth or in that which is not truth. Consequently man possesses two kinds of life and these make one when his thinking flows from his willing, that is, when truth which is the truth of faith flows from good which is the good of love.

6600. I have been shown quite plainly that a person's thought, also that of spirits, and of angels too, radiates into numerous communities in the spiritual world, but that the thought of one person does so in a different manner from that of another. So that I might have sure knowledge of this I have been allowed to talk to some of the communities to which my own thought has penetrated. And from this I have been able to know what was flowing into my thought and which community it came from as well as the location and the essential nature of that community, and to know all this in such a way that I could not be mistaken. The extension of the thoughts and affections of man, spirit, or angel into different communities is what determines how much ability he has to understand and perceive.

[2] How amply the thoughts and affections of a person in whom the good of charity and of faith are present extend into the communities of heaven depends on the degree to which those forms of good, and also genuine good resides with him; for all these kinds of good are in harmony with heaven and therefore flow spontaneously far and wide into it. There are nevertheless some communities into which an affection for truth, and others into which an affection for good reaches. An affection for truth reaches communities consisting of spiritual angels, and an affection for good reaches communities consisting of celestial angels. But on the other hand the thought and affection of those who are under the influence of evil and falsity extend into hellish communities; how far they extend likewise depends on the degree to which evil and falsity reside with them.

[3] It has been stated that the thought and affection of man, spirit, and angel radiate into communities round about, and that understanding and perception arise from this. But it should be recognized that this was a statement only of what seems to happen, since no inflow of thoughts and affections takes place into those communities, only from them, and indeed by Way of the angels and spirits present with a person. For as has been shown at the ends of previous chapters, all influx takes place from what is more internal; thus among the good it is an influx from heaven, that is, from the Lord by way of heaven, and among the evil it is an influx from hell.