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Arcana Coelestia #8911

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8911. The things that have been stated so far show what the situation is with a person and his life. That is to say, they show that a person is such as his will is, and that he remains such after death since death is not the end to life but the continuation of it. Since therefore a person is such as his will is - because, as has been stated above, the will is the real person - being judged according to one's deeds means being judged according to one's will, since there is no disparity between will and deed. Though external restraints exist - fear of the law, and fear of the loss of position, gain, reputation, or life - to inhibit the deed, the deed is all along in the will, and the will all along in the deed. It is like endeavour and motion. Motion is nothing other than an extension of the endeavour; for as endeavour comes to an end, so does motion. Therefore there is nothing essential within motion apart from endeavour. Learned people know this, for it is a recognized and well-established idea. In the human being endeavour is the will and motion is action; and they are called such in the human being because in him endeavour and motion are living. Being judged according to one's will is the same as being judged according to one's love; it is also the same as being judged according to the ends one has in view in life, as well as being judged according to the way one lives. For a person's will is his love, it is the end he has in view in life, and it is the very life itself within him. The truth of this is clear from the Lord's words which have already been quoted - One who looks at a woman 1 in such a way that he lusts after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28. It is clear also from His saying that killing someone is not only performing that deed but also the desire to perform it, which is meant by being angry and reviling him with insults, Matthew 5:21-22. Furthermore a person is indeed judged according to his deeds; yet no further questions are asked than these - How far did those deeds spring from his will? and What nature did his will give them?

Footnotes:

1. Following the version of Sebastian Schmidt Swedenborg adds a word which implies that the woman is another man's wife.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #4403

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4403. THE GRAND MAN AND CORRESPONDENCE - continued

IN THIS SECTION CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EYE AND WITH LIGHT

I have also been allowed to become aware of and get to know the character of spirits and which province of the body they belonged to from their position and place in relation to myself, and also from the level they were on, and from how far away they were on that level. Those I saw close to me were for the most part the subordinates of whole communities, for communities send spirits from themselves to other spirits, and through these they perceive others' thoughts and affections, and in this manner communicate with others. But those subordinates so-called, or emissary spirits, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be taken as a separate subject. Concerning them I have made the following observations. Those to be seen over and close to my head are ones who teach and also readily allow themselves to be taught. Those beneath the back of my head are ones who act quietly and with circumspection, and those just away from my back act in a similar yet differing manner to these. Those close to my chest or breast are ones who are moved by charity; those close to the loins ones moved by conjugial love; those close to the feet ones who are natural; and those close to the soles of the feet are more inferior members of this last kind. But those close to my face vary in disposition, that variation being determined by their correspondence with the sensory organs located there. Those close to the nostrils, for example, excel in perception; those close to the ears are the obedient; those close to the eyes are the intelligent and wise; and so on.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #1691

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1691. That 'a mountain' means self-love and love of the world becomes clear from the meaning of 'a mountain', dealt with immediately below. All evil and falsity arise from self-love and love of the world; they have no other origin. Indeed self-love and love of the world are the reverse of celestial and spiritual love. And being the reverse they are loves which endeavour all the time to destroy the celestial and spiritual things of God's kingdom. From self-love and love of the world all kinds of hatred arise, and from hatred all kinds of revenge and cruelty, and from both the former and the latter all kinds of deception, in short, all the hells.

[2] That 'mountains' in the Word means self-love and love of the world becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The eyes of man's (homo) loftiness will be humbled, and the height of men (homo) brought low; the day of Jehovah Zebaoth will be against everyone that is lofty and high, against all high mountains, and against all hills that are lifted up, and against every lofty tower. Isaiah 2:11-12, 14-15.

'High mountains' plainly stands for self-love, and 'hills that are lifted up' for love of the world.

[3] In the same prophet,

Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low. Isaiah 40:4.

This too plainly stands for self-love and love of the world. In the same prophet,

I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up every plant on them. Isaiah 42:15.

Here similarly 'mountains' stands for self-love, and 'hills' for love of the world. In Ezekiel,

The mountains will be overturned, and the terraced ridges will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. Ezekiel 38:20.

[4] In Jeremiah,

Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, destroying the whole earth, and I will stretch out My hand against you and roll you down from the rocks and make you into a mountain of burning. Jeremiah 51:25.

This refers to Babel and Chaldea, which, as shown already, mean self-love and love of the world. In the Song of Moses,

A fire has flared up in My anger, and will burn right down to the lowest hell, and will devour the land and its increase, and will set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deuteronomy 32:22.

'The foundations of the mountains' stands for the hells, as is explicitly stated. They are called 'the foundations of the mountains' because self-love and love of the world reign there and have their origin in them.

[5] In Jonah,

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul, the deep closed around me, seaweed was wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the bars of the land were upon me for ever. Yet You brought up my life 1 from the pit, O Jehovah my God. Jonah 2:5-6.

The Lord's temptations against the hells are described in this prophetic manner by Jonah when in the stomach of the great fish, as also in other parts of the Word, especially in David. A person undergoing temptation is within the hells. Being in the hells is not at all a question of place but of state.

[6] Since 'mountains' and 'towers' mean self-love and love of the world, it may therefore become clear what is meant by the reference to the Lord being led by the devil on to a high mountain and on to the pinnacle of the temple, namely that He was led into conflicts that constitute temptations - the most extreme conflicts of all - against self-love and love of the world, that is, against the hells. Mountains are also used, as is usual, in the contrary sense; in that sense they mean celestial and spiritual love, as shown already in 795, 796.

Footnotes:

1. literally, my lives

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