3796. 'And so it was, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' means an acknowledgement of the affection for that truth as to its origin. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' here as acknowledging, as is evident from the train of thought, and from the representation of 'Rachel' as the affection for interior truth, dealt with above in 3793. The expression 'the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' embodies the origin of that affection; that is to say, it came from a parallel good which had been joined in a brotherly relationship to rational truth represented by 'Rebekah, Jacob's mother'.

[2] As regards affections for truth and good, genuine affections for truth and good which are perceived by a person all have a Divine origin since they come from the Lord. But as they come down they branch off into various and different streams where they form new origins for themselves. For as they flow into affections which are not genuine but spurious, and into affections for evil and falsity present with a person, so they become varied. Affections which often have a similar outward appearance to genuine ones present themselves, but these are nevertheless not genuine inwardly. The only way to establish their true identity is to discover the end they have in view. If that end is selfish or worldly those affections are not genuine. But if the end is the good of the neighbour, the good of the community, the good of the country, and more still if it is the good of the Church and the good of the Lord's kingdom, they are genuine, for in that case the Lord is their end, since the Lord is within those varieties of good.

[3] But it is the mark of someone wise to be aware of which ends are present in himself. Sometimes it does seem as though his ends are selfish when in fact they are not, for the human being is such that in everything he considers how it affects himself. This he does regularly and habitually. But if anyone wishes to know the ends he himself has in view he has merely to take note of his feeling of delight - whether it is on account of his receiving praise and glory, or whether it is on account of his performing some unselfish service. If it is the latter delight which he feels, genuine affection is present in him. He ought also to take note of the varying states he passes through, for those states cause his feelings to vary considerably. A person is able to find these things out in himself, but not in others, for the ends in view to anyone's affection are known to the Lord alone. This is why the Lord said,

Do not judge, lest you are judged; do not condemn, lest you are condemned. Luke 6:37.

For a thousand people may apparently share the same affection for truth and goodness, and yet the affection in each of them may have a different origin, that is, each may have a different end in view.

[4] The reason the end makes the affection what it is - that is to say, genuine, spurious, or false - is that the end is the person's actual life. Indeed a person has as his end in view that which constitutes his life, or what amounts to the same, his love. When the good of the neighbour, the common good, the good of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom is the end in view, a person's soul is in the Lord's kingdom and so abides with the Lord. For the Lord's kingdom is nothing else than a kingdom of ends and purposes directed towards the good of the human race, 3645. Angels themselves present with a person are nowhere else than within his ends in view. To the extent that someone's end in view is such as that which exists in the Lord's kingdom, angels take delight in him and join themselves to him as a brother. But to the extent a person's end is himself, angels depart and evil spirits from hell draw near, for in hell no other end in view reigns. From these considerations one may see how important it is to find out and to know where one's affections originate; these can be known from nothing else than one's end in view.

62. FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA

Love is the esse of man's life (n. 5002). Man, spirit, and angel, are altogether as their love is (n. 6872, 10177, 10284). Man has for an end what he loves (n. 3796). What man loves and has for an end reigns universally with him, that is, in each and all things (n. 3796, 5130, 5949). Love is spiritual heat, and the very vital principle of man (n. 1589, 2146, 3338, 4906, 7081-7086, 9954, 10740). All the interiors with man, which are of his understanding and will, are disposed in a form according to his ruling love (n. 2023, 3189, 6690). Love is spiritual conjunction (n. 1594, 2057, 3939, 4018, 5807, 6195-6196, 7081-7086, 7501, 10130). Hence all in the spiritual world are consociated according to their loves (ibid.). Affection is continuation of love (n. 3938). All delight, pleasure, happiness, and joy of heart, are of love; and their quality is according to the quality of the love (n. 994-995, 2204). There are as many genera and species of delights and pleasures as there are of the affections which are of the love (n. 994-995, 2204). The delight of the love is more vile in proportion as it is more external (n. 996). Man after death has such a life as is the quality of his love (n. 2363).

4776. 'An evil wild animal has devoured him' means that desires for evil annihilated it. This is clear from the meaning of 'an evil wild animal' as a lie invented out of a life of evil desires, dealt with in 4729, and therefore as such desires; and from the meaning of 'devouring' as annihilating, because it has reference to the truth of the Church. The one great Truth the Church possesses is that love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour are first and foremost, Mark 12:29-31, a truth that evil desires annihilate. For those who lead a life of evil desires cannot lead a life of love and charity since these two kinds of life are complete opposites. A life of evil desires is one in which a person loves only himself and not his neighbour except out of self-interest or for his own sake. People like this therefore annihilate charity among themselves, and those who annihilate charity also annihilate love to the Lord; for charity is the only means through which anyone loves the Lord, and the Lord dwells within charity. An affection that belongs to charity is a genuine heavenly affection, which comes from the Lord alone. From this it may be seen that desires for evil annihilate the one great truth the Church possesses; and once it has been annihilated some other means is invented which is called the way to salvation; and this is faith. When faith moreover is separated from charity actual truths are defiled, for in that case no knowledge exists any longer of what charity is, or even of what the neighbour is. Nor as a consequence does any knowledge exist about the inner essence of a human being, nor indeed of what heaven is. For the essence of a human being, or heaven within him, is charity, which consists in goodwill to others, to his community, to his country, to the Church, to the Lord's kingdom, and so to the Lord Himself. From this one may deduce what truth possessed by the Church must be like when there is no knowledge of the essential truths and when evil desires reign, standing opposed to these essential truths. When a life of evil desires speaks about them, are not truths defiled to such an extent that they cease to be recognizable?

[2] The truth that no one can be saved unless he has led a good charitable life, and so has acquired affections for that life, which exist in him as goodwill shown to others and as good deeds done to them which are motivated by that goodwill; also, the truth that no one can possibly accept the truths of faith - that is to say, take them in and make them his own - except him who leads a charitable life, have been made perfectly plain to me from those in heaven to whom I have been allowed to speak. Everyone there is a form of charity, the beauty and goodness of that form depending on the nature of the charity. The pleasure, bliss, and happiness of those there flow from their being able - because they are motivated by goodwill - to do good to others. Anyone who has not been leading a charitable life cannot possibly know that heaven and heavenly joy consist in goodwill and in good deeds motivated by that goodwill. To one of his kind heaven consists in goodwill shown to himself, with any good deeds done to others being motivated by this selfish goodwill. But this is in fact hell; for as has been stated, heaven is distinguished from hell in that heaven consists in doing good because one is motivated by goodwill, and hell in doing ill because one is motivated by ill will. Those governed by love towards the neighbour are motivated by goodwill to do good deeds, but those governed by self-love are motivated to do ill ones by ill will. The reason the latter are like this is that they love no one but themselves, and others only insofar as they see themselves in others, and others in themselves. They also hate these others, that hatred revealing itself the moment these go away from them and are no longer part of them. They are like robbers who love one another while they are in league with one another; but at heart they long to kill one another if any spoils can be gained by doing so.

[3] From all this one may see what heaven is, namely love towards the neighbour, and what hell is, namely self-love. Those governed by love towards the neighbour are able to accept all truths of faith, to take them in and make them their own; for love towards the neighbour holds every truth of faith within it since it has heaven within it and the Lord within it. But those governed by self-love cannot possibly accept the truths of faith since hell lies within that love. In no way can they accept the truths of faith apart from doing so for the sake of improving their own positions and for the sake of material gain; thus they cannot possibly take them in and make them their own. What they do take in and make their own are denials of the truth. For in their hearts they do not believe in the existence of hell and heaven, or in the life after death. Nor therefore do they believe anything that is said about hell and heaven, or about the life after death, and so nothing whatever from the Word and from doctrine regarding faith and charity. They seem to themselves to be believers when they take part in worship, but they do so because that state has been instilled into them since early childhood. But as soon as they leave that worship behind them they also leave that state of belief behind them. At this point, now left to think for themselves, they do not have any belief at all; and what is more, the life that their love fires them to lead causes them to think up ideas to justify it. These ideas they call truths, and also back them up from the literal sense of the Word; but they are in fact falsities. This is what all are like who in life and doctrine are adherents to faith separated from charity.

[4] In addition it should be recognized that a person's love includes everything, for his love determines the life he leads, and therefore only into a person's love does the Lord enter with His life. As is people's love therefore, so is their life because so is their reception of it. Love towards the neighbour receives the life of heaven, while self-love receives the life of hell. Thus everything of heaven lies within love towards the neighbour, and everything of hell within self-love. The fact that love includes everything may be illustrated by many observations of nature. All living creatures, not only those that walk on dry land but also those which fly in the air or swim in water, move in response to their own love. Into their love comes whatever is of use to them in the life they lead, that is, to their feeding, housing, and reproducing themselves. Therefore every genus knows its own food, dwelling-places, and mating habits such as pairing off, building nests, laying eggs, and rearing chicks.

[5] Bees likewise know how to build cells, extract honey from flowers, fill honeycombs with it, and make provision for the winter. Indeed they know how to establish a system of government under a single ruler, besides many other remarkable activities. All this is a product of what is entering their love, it being merely the different forms their affections take that lead to the different results their life produces. Their love includes all this. So what would heavenly love include if the human being was governed by heavenly love? Would not the whole of wisdom and intelligence as these exist in heaven be included? From this too it is evident that those who have led charitable lives, these and no others, are accepted into heaven, and that because they have charity they have the ability to accept and take in all truths, that is, every truth of faith. The reverse however takes place with adherents to faith separated from charity, that is, to those who know some truths but have no charity. Their love accepts ideas such as are suited to itself; that is to say, self-love and love of the world accept ideas that are the reverse of truths, the kind that exist in hell.