സ്വീഡൻബർഗിന്റെ കൃതികളിൽ നിന്ന്

 

Arcana Coelestia #2132

ഈ ഭാഗം പഠിക്കുക

  
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2132. As to its being said in the Word that there entered also one who was not clothed in a wedding garment (Matthew 22:11-13), and that he was cast out, it was shown how the case is with this also. There are some persons who during their bodily life have been imbued with the deceit of being able to feign themselves angels of light; and in the other life, when in this hypocritical state, they are also able to insinuate themselves into the nearest heavenly societies. But they do not remain there long, for the moment they perceive the sphere of mutual love there, they are seized with fear and horror, and cast themselves down (and it then appears in the world of spirits as if they had been cast down), some toward the lake, some toward Gehenna, and some into some other hell.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

സ്വീഡൻബർഗിന്റെ കൃതികളിൽ നിന്ന്

 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine #47

ഈ ഭാഗം പഠിക്കുക

  
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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).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #10407

ഈ ഭാഗം പഠിക്കുക

  
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10407. 'And made out of it a calf of molded [metal]' means in keeping with the delight belonging to that nation's loves. This is clear from the meaning of 'a calf' as external or natural good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'molded [metal]' as worship fashioned in support of external kinds of love, dealt with immediately above in 10406. And since the Israelite nation is the subject in the present chapter and that nation's interest lay in external things and not in what was internal, and so was ruled by external kinds of love, the expression 'in keeping with the delight belonging to that nation's loves' is used. For 'the calf', being an idol, means that delight.

[2] The ancients among whom representative worship existed knew what the various kinds of living creatures were the signs of; for the living creatures each have their own spiritual meaning, and their spiritual meanings govern the manifestations of such creatures in heaven as well, consequently the mention of them in the Word, and also their use in burnt offerings and sacrifices. 'A calf' means the good of innocence and charity within the external or natural man, see 9391, 9990, 10132; but when no good of innocence and charity is present, as is the case with those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal, 'a calf' means natural delight on the level of the senses, which is a delight belonging to a person's own wishes, desires, self-love, and love of the world. This delight is the one that exists with those whose interest lies in external things and not in what is internal, and the one they worship; for what a person loves above all things, that he worships. They say, it is true, that they worship the God of all creation; but they say it with their lips and not their heart. People such as these are meant by those who worship the calf of molded [metal].

[3] The Egyptians were such more than all others. Because they possessed a greater knowledge of correspondences and representations than all other nations they made various idols for themselves, as is evident from the Egyptian idols that are still in existence. But their chief idol was the calf, by which they wished to signify their external good within worship. But when their knowledge of correspondences and representations, which was greater than that of other nations, was turned into magic, the calf took on a contrary meaning, namely that of the delight belonging to external kinds of love. And when the calf was placed in temples and worshipped as a god it meant that kind of delight expressed in worship.

[4] Because the Israelite nation brought that idolatrous practice with them out of Egypt, in their case the calf, when worshipped by them as a god, means the delight belonging to their particular loves expressed in worship. What kind of loves these were may be recognized from what has been shown in the places referred to above in 10396. For they were ruled, as they are at the present day, by self-love and love of the world more than all others. It is well known that at the present day they are ruled by a most earthly kind of love; for they love silver and gold not because of any use these can serve but for the sake of silver and gold themselves. This love is the most earthly of all, for it is foul avarice. With them self-love is not plainly visible but lies hidden in their heart, as is normally so with all who are foully avaricious. It is well known too that no love of the neighbour exists with them; and to the extent that love of the neighbour is absent from someone, self-love resides in him.

[5] From all this it now becomes clear what the calf of molded [metal] made by Aaron for that nation means. The like is meant by it in the following places: In Jeremiah,

A very beautiful heifer was Egypt; destruction has come from the north. And her hired servants in the midst of her are like calves of the fattening stall 1 . Jeremiah 46:20-21.

In David,

They made a calf in Horeb and bowed down to the molded image; and they changed the glory into the effigy of the ox that eats the plant 2 . Psalms 106:19-20.

In Hosea,

They sin more and more, and make for themselves a molded image from their silver, idols by their own intelligence, completely the work of craftsmen, saying to them, Those who offer human sacrifice 3 kiss the calves. Hosea 13:2.

In Isaiah,

The unicorns will come down with them, and the calves with the powerful ones; and their land will become drunk with blood, and their dust will be made fat with fatness. Isaiah 34:7.

In the same prophet,

The fortified city will be solitary, a habitation forsaken and left [like a wilderness]; there the calf will feed, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. And its harvest will wither. Isaiah 27:10-11.

In David,

Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the congregation of the strong ones, among the calves of the peoples, trampling on the fragments of silver. They have scattered the peoples. Psalms 68:30.

In Jeremiah,

I will give the men who transgressed My covenant, who did not keep the terms of the covenant which they made before Me, that of the calf which they cut in two, in order that they might pass between its parts - the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the royal ministers and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf - I will give them into the hand of their enemies, that their dead bodies may be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. Jeremiah 34:18-20.

And in Hosea,

They have made a king, and not by Me; they have made princes, and I did not know. Their silver and their gold they have made into idols, that they may be cut off. Your calf has deserted [you], O Samaria. For from Israel is this also. A smith has made it, and it is not God; for the calf of Samaria will be broken to 4 pieces. Hosea 8:4-6.

For explanations of all these quotations, see 9391.

അടിക്കുറിപ്പുകൾ:

1. i.e. mercenaries who are like fat bulls

2. i.e. grass or herbage

3. Reading Sacrificantes hominem (Those sacrificing a human being i.e. Those who offer human sacrifice) for Sacrificant hominem (They sacrifice a human being)

4. literally, will become or will be made into

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.