4100. Omdat al de rijkdommen welke God onze vader heeft ontrukt, die zijn onze en van onze zonen; dat dit betekent dat alle dingen vanuit de eigen macht waren en niets door iemand gegeven was, door in te vloeien uit Zijn Goddelijke in dat wat Hij daaruit zou nemen, staat vast uit wat eerder in de nrs. 4065, 4075, 4081 is gezegd en uiteengezet.

47. FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA.

Of the internal and the external with man.

It is known in the Christian world, that man has an internal and an external, or an internal man and an external man; but it is little known what is the quality of the one and of the other (n. 1889, 1940). The internal man is spiritual, and the external is natural (n. 978, 1015, 4459, 6309,9701-9709). How the internal man which is spiritual is formed to the image of heaven; and the external which is natural to the image of the world; and man was therefore called by the ancients a microcosm (n. 3628, 4523-4524, 6057, 6314, 9706, 10156, 10472). Thus in man the spiritual world and natural world are conjoined (n. 6057, 10472). Thence man is such that he can look up towards heaven, and down towards the world (n. 7601, 7604, 7607). When he looks upwards, he is in the light of heaven and sees thence; but when he looks downwards, he is in the light of the world and sees thence (n. 3167, 10134). There is given with man a descent from the spiritual world into the natural (n. 3702, 4042).

The internal man which is spiritual, and the external man which is natural, are altogether distinct (n. 1999, 2018, 3691, 4459). The distinction is such as exists between cause and effect, and between prior and posterior, and there is no continuity (n. 3691, 4154, 5145-5146, 5711, 6275, 6284, 6299, 6326, 6465, 8603, 10076, 10099, 10181). Consequently that the distinction is like that between heaven and the world, or between the spiritual and the natural (n. 4292, 5032, 5620, 5639). The interiors and exteriors of man are not continuous, but distinct according to degrees, and each degree is terminated (n. 3691, 4145, 5114, 6326, 6465, 8603, 10099). He who does not perceive the distinctions of the interiors and the exteriors of man according to degrees, and does not understand the quality of those degrees, cannot comprehend the internal and the external of man (n. 5146, 6465, 10099, 10181). The things of a higher degree are more perfect than those of a lower degree (n. 3405). There are three degrees in man answering to the three heavens (n. 4154).

The exteriors are more remote from the Divine with man, and therefore they are respectively obscure, and of a general nature (n. 6451). And they are also respectively not in order (n. 996, 3855). The interiors are more perfect, because nearer to the Divine (n. 5146-5147). In the internal there are thousands and thousands of things, which in the external appear as one general thing (n. 5707). Thence thought and perception is clearer in proportion as it is interior (n. 5920). Hence it follows that man ought to be in internals (n. 1175, 4464).

The interiors of the mind, with the man who is in love and charity, are actually elevated by the Lord, and otherwise they would look downwards (n. 6952, 6954, 10330). Influx and enlightenment from heaven with man, is an actual elevation of the interiors by the Lord (n. 7816, 10330). Man is elevated when he advances to spiritual things (n. 9922). As far as man is elevated from externals towards interiors, so far he comes into light, consequently into intelligence; and this is what is meant by being withdrawn from sensual things, according to the saying of the ancients (n. 6183, 6313). Elevation from the external to the interiors, is like that from mist into light (n. 4598).

Influx from the Lord is through the internal man into the external (n. 1940, 5119). Interiors can flow into exteriors, but not the contrary; consequently that influx is spiritual and not physical, namely, from the spiritual man into the natural, and not from the natural man into the spiritual (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427-5428, 5477, 6322, 9109-9110). The Lord from the internal, where there is peace, governs the external, where there is turbulence (n. 5396).

The internal can see all things in the external, but not the reverse (n. 1914, 1953, 5427-5428, 5477). When man lives in the world, he thinks from the internal in the external, consequently his spiritual thought flows into his natural, and there presents itself naturally (n. 3679). When man thinks well, it is from the internal or spiritual in the external or natural (n. 9704-9705, 9707). The external man thinks and wills according to conjunction with the internal (n. 9702-9703). There is an interior and an exterior thought; the quality of the one and the other (n. 2515, 2552, 5127, 5141, 5168, 6007). The thought and affection in the internal is not perceived by man during his life in the world, but only that which is in the external therefrom (n. 10236, 10240). But in the other life externals are taken away, and man is then let into his own internals (n. 8870). It then becomes manifest what is the quality of his internals (n. 1806-1807).

The internal produces the external (n. 994-995). And the internal then invests itself with such things as enable it to produce its effects in the external (n. 6275, 6284, 6299); and by which it may live in the external (n. 1175, 6275). The Lord conjoins the internal or spiritual man to the external or natural man, when He regenerates him (n. 1577, 1594, 1904, 1999). The external or natural man is then reduced into order through the internal or spiritual man, and is subordinated (n. 9708).

The external must be subordinate and subject to the internal (n. 5077, 5125, 5128, 5786, 5947, 10272). The external is so created, that it may serve the internal (n. 5947). The internal must be lord, and the external its minister, and in a certain respect its servant (n. 10471).

The external ought to be in correspondence with the internal, that there may be conjunction (n. 5427-5428, 5477). What the quality of the external is when it corresponds with the internal, and what when it does not correspond (n. 3493, 5422-5423, 5427-5428, 5477, 5511). In the external man there are things which correspond and agree with the internal, and there are things which do not correspond and agree (n. 1563, 1568).

The external has its quality from the internal (n. 9912, 9921-9922). How great the beauty of the external man is, when it is conjoined with the internal (n. 1590). And how great its foulness when not conjoined (n. 1598). Love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor conjoin the external man with the internal (n. 1594). Unless the internal man be conjoined with the external, there is no fructification (n. 3987).

The interiors successively flow into the exteriors, even into the extreme or ultimate, and they there exist and subsist together (n. 634, 6239, 9215-9216). They not only flow in successively, but also form in the ultimate what is simultaneous, in what order (n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099). All the interiors are held in connection from the first, through the ultimate (n. 9828). Thence also in the ultimates are strength and power (n. 9836). And therefore responses and revelations were made from the ultimates (n. 9905, 10548). Thence also the ultimate is more holy than the interiors (n. 9824). Hence also in the Word, "first and last" signify all and every particular, thus the whole (n. 10044, 10329, 10335).

The internal man is open to him who is in Divine order, but shut to him who is not in Divine order (n. 8513). There is no conjunction of heaven with the external man without the internal (n. 9380). Evils and the falsities of evil shut the internal man, and cause man to be only in externals (n. 1587, 10492). Especially evils from the love of self (n. 1594). The interiors are shut even to the sensual, which is the ultimate, if the Divine is denied (n. 6564). With the intelligent and learned of the world, who from the sciences confirm themselves against the things of heaven and the church, the internal is shut more than with the simple (n. 10492).

Because the internal man is in the light of heaven, and the external in the light of the world, therefore they who are in the external without the internal, that is, they with whom the internal is shut, do not care for the internal things of heaven and the church (n. 4464, 4946). In the other life they cannot at all endure internal things (n. 10694, 10701, 10707). They believe nothing (n. 10396, 10400, 10411, 10429). They love themselves and the world above all things (n. 10407, 10412, 10420). Their interiors, or the things which are of their thought and affection, are vile, filthy, and profane, howsoever they may appear in externals (n. 1182, 7046, 9705, 9707). The ideas of their thought are material, and not at all spiritual (n. 10582). The quality further described of those whose internal that looks heavenward is shut (n. 4459, 9709, 10284, 10286, 10429, 10472, 10492, 10602, 10683).

So far as the internal, which is spiritual, is opened, so far truths and goods are multiplied; and so far as the internal, which is spiritual, is shut, so far truths and goods vanish (n. 4099). The church is in the internal spiritual man, because that is in heaven, and not in the external without it (n. 10698). Hence the external church with man is nothing without the internal (n. 1795). External worship without internal worship is no worship (n. 1094, 1175). Concerning those who are in the internal of the church, of worship, and of the Word; of those who are in the external in which is the internal; and of those who are in the external without the internal (n. 10683). The external without the internal is hard (n. 10683).

The merely natural man is in hell, unless he be made spiritual by regeneration (n. 10156). All who are in the external without the internal, or with whom the spiritual internal is shut, are in hell (n. 9128, 10483, 10489).

The interiors of man are actually turned according to his loves (n. 10702). In each and all things there must be an internal and an external that they may subsist (n. 9473).

"Above" and "high" in the Word, signifies the internal (n. 1725, 2148, 4210, 4599). Thence in the Word higher is interior, and lower is exterior (n. 3084).

10236. 'And its pedestal from bronze' means good on the last level of the natural, which is that of the senses. This is clear from the meaning of 'the pedestal' of the laver, containing the water for washing, as the last level of the natural degree, which is called the level of the senses; and from the meaning of 'bronze' as good, dealt with above in 10235. The reason why 'the pedestal' means the last level of the natural, which is called the external level of the senses, is that 'the laver' which is above means the natural degree, in which purification takes place, and therefore that which is below means that which occupies the lowest, that is, the last place, which is the external level of the senses within a person. The natural degree within a person has an external level, a middle level, and an internal level. The external level of the natural degree is that which comes in contact with the world and is called the external level of the senses; the internal level of the natural degree is that which comes in contact with the internal man residing in heaven; and the middle level of the natural degree links the two together, for where an external and an internal exist there must be a middle linking them together. The human mind has a natural degree containing external, middle, and internal levels, see 4009, 4570, 5118, 5126, 5649, 9215.

[2] Strictly speaking, the level of the senses forming the last and lowest of the natural degree should be taken to mean that which is called the flesh and perishes when a person dies, thus that which has enabled the person to function in the world, namely the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. It may be recognized that the senses exist on the ground-level so to speak of a person's life, forming the terminus and base on which it rests; for they open out directly onto the world, and through them the world comes in and heaven goes out. These senses the human being shares with animals. But an external aspect of the senses which the human being does not share so much with them, though still an external aspect of the senses, is the deposit in the human memory of impressions received from the world, consisting solely of worldly, bodily, earthly images. The person whose thought and reasoning are based on these alone and not on more internal ideas is called a sensory-minded person. This level of the senses remains with a person after death, though it becomes dormant. It is the external level of the senses that is meant, strictly speaking, by 'the pedestal'.

[3] The nature of this level of the senses was represented by the pedestals of the ten lavers which were placed next to the temple. These pedestals are described as follows,

Solomon made ten pedestals from bronze. Four cubits was the length of each pedestal, and four cubits the breadth; three cubits was the height. On the panels ¹ which were between the frames there were lions, oxen, and cherubs, and on the frames in like manner above. In addition each pedestal had four wheels, and boards of bronze ² ; but its four corners had shoulders ³ . Under a laver there were shoulders ³ of cast [bronze]. The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axles ⁴ , and their rims ⁵ , and their tires, and their spokes were all of cast [bronze]. After this manner he made the ten pedestals. They were all of one casting, one measure, one symmetry. Therefore he made ten lavers from bronze; each laver contained forty baths, four cubits was each laver. 1 Kings 7:27-39.

[4] Here representative objects serve to describe the nature of the external level of the senses in a person, and in particular protection provided by the Lord to prevent a person from entering from the sensory level of his mind, thus from the world, into things of heaven or the Church. To do so is contrary to Divine order. For the world cannot enter into heaven, but heaven can into the world, which happens when the Lord coming by way of heaven flows into a person by means of the Word and resides in him, and so enlightens, teaches, and leads him. The fact that entering from the world into the things of heaven is contrary to Divine order may be recognized from the consideration that those who enter into them from the sensory level of their mind, thus who do so from factual knowledge derived from the world, have no belief at all.

[5] Protection against this is meant by 'lions, oxen, and cherubs'. By 'lions' protection to prevent truths from entering is meant, for lions are truths in their power, 6367, 6369, and by 'oxen' protection to prevent forms of good from entering, for oxen are forms of good in their power, 2781. By 'cherubs' the Lord's protection against such an occurrence is meant, see 308, 9509; and by 'the shoulders' of which also mention is made power and resistance are meant, see 1085, 4931-4937, 9836. By 'the chariot-like wheels' the ability to be made wise when everything enters from heaven is meant, for in this way everything moves on according to order, 'chariot wheels' being the ability to move on, thus to learn, 8215, 9872, and chariots being doctrinal teachings which heaven and the Church possess, 5321, 8215.

[6] What a sensory-minded person is must again be stated briefly. A person is called sensory-minded whose thought is based solely on such ideas in the memory as are derived from the world and whose mind cannot be raised to more internal levels. Such is the situation with those in particular who have no belief at all in heaven or in the Deity because they do not see them; for they trust solely in the senses, and what they do not perceive through these is not thought by them to have any existence. Such people come near to having a mind no different from that of animals, which too are led solely by their external senses. They are still wily and clever in action and reasoning, but they do not see truth in its own light. In former times such people were referred to as serpents of the tree of knowledge. Most of the hellish crew are of that sort. But what a sensory-minded person is and what the sensory level of the mind is, see the places referred to in 9331(end), and also 9726, 9730, 9731, 9922(end), 9996; and what it is to be raised above or drawn away from the level of the senses, the places referred to in 9922(end).

[7] Good on the level of the senses, meant by 'a pedestal made from bronze', is an expression which denotes the pleasure and delight that influence thought and imagination based solely on such things as are earthly, bodily, and worldly. It is distinguishable from other kinds of delight by the fact that it sees no other purposes to be served apart from those indulging the self or benefiting the self. For the sensory-minded person is steeped in self-love and love of the world, and the delights that are his go with those loves. And since the loves of a sensory-minded person are such as these, it is evident that he is cleverer than others in reasoning and in doing things for the sake of gain and position. For his body is burning with the fire of that love, and that fire produces a light that is called natural illumination. And when this light flares into brightness the light of heaven which belongs to the interior man is altogether blotted out. So it is that because the things belonging to the light of heaven are in thick darkness they are said not to exist. It is different in the case of those whose actions are burning with the fire of heaven and whose thoughts are lit by the light from it. All this shows what should be understood by good on the level of the senses, meant by the pedestal of the laver made from bronze.

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