1015. That 'be fruitful and multiply' means increases in good and truth in the interior man, 'being fruitful' having reference to goods and 'multiplying' to truths, is clear from what has been shown already at verse 1 of this chapter where the same words occur. That they reside with the interior man becomes clear from the second half of this verse where the imperative multiply is repeated. This would be an unnecessary and therefore pointless repetition if it did not mean something specific, different from the previous use of the word. From these considerations, and from others mentioned so far, it is clear that here being fruitful and multiplying have reference to goods and truths residing with the interior man. The expression 'interior man' is used because, as shown above, one is an internal man in regard to celestial and spiritual things which are the Lord' s alone, but an interior or intermediate man between internal man and external in regard to rational things, and an external man in regard to affections for good and to memory knowledge.

[2] That man is such has been shown in the opening sections of this chapter, in 978, but the reason why the individual is not conscious of them during his life in the body is that he is immersed in bodily things. Therefore he does not know of the existence of interior things, let alone about their existing distinctly and separately in such order. Yet, if he is willing to reflect, their existence is evident to him when he is wrapped in thought detached from the body and is thinking so to speak within his spirit. The reason being fruitful and multiplying have reference to the interior man, which is the rational, is that the activity of the internal man is not felt except very generally in the interior man, for limitless integral parts manifest themselves in the interior as one general, indeed very general, whole. How limitless those integral parts are, how they interrelate and manifest themselves as an obscure and very general whole, becomes clear from what has been shown already in 545.

545. To enable me to know what heaven and heavenly joy are, and the nature of them, the Lord has allowed me frequently and for long periods to perceive the delights that accompany heavenly joys. From my actual experience therefore I can know them but in no sense describe them. However, so that people may have a rough idea of it, let me say this: It is the affection accompanying countless joys and delights which produce one general and simultaneous joy. That general joy, or general affection, consists of harmonious bands of countless affections, none of which focus clearly in one's perception, but only indistinctly, because one's perception is very general. Nevertheless I have been allowed to perceive that it contains countless things whose ordering defies description. Those countless things are such as flow from the order of heaven itself.

[2] This order extends to the smallest individual areas of the affection, which present themselves and are perceived simply as one very general whole. They present themselves and are perceived according to the capacity of the person subject to them. In a word, every general affection contains innumerable parts ordered into a perfect form. No part is devoid of life or fails to affect. This applies to the inmost parts in particular, for heavenly joys stem from things that are inmost. I have also perceived that the joy and delight went out as it were from the heart and very gently spread themselves through every inmost fibre, and from there into every cluster of fibres, doing so with such an interior sense of delight that a fibre was so to speak nothing but joy and delight; and all resulting perceptivity and feeling in like manner was alive with happiness. In comparison with those joys, the joy that accompanies the desires of the flesh is as thick choking smog to a pure and very gentle breeze.