For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. – Luke 12:2,3
The second state of man after death is called the state of his interiors, because he is then let into the interiors of his mind, that is, of his will and thought; while his exteriors, which he has been in during his first state, are laid asleep.
Whoever gives any thought to man’s life and speech and action can see that everyone has exteriors and interiors, that is, exterior and interior thoughts and intentions.
This is shown by the fact that in civil life one thinks about others in accordance with what he has heard and learned of them by report or conversation; but he does not talk with them in accordance with his thought; and if they are evil he nevertheless treats them with civility.
That this is so is seen especially in the case of pretenders and flatterers, who speak and act in one way and think and will in a wholly different way; also in the case of hypocrites, who talk about God and heaven and the salvation of souls and the truths of the church and their country’s good and their neighbor as if from faith and love, although in heart they believe otherwise and love themselves alone.
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Led by good or evil?
All this makes clear that there are two kinds of thought, one exterior and the other interior; and that there are those who speak from exterior thought, while from their interior thought they have other sentiments, and that these two kinds of thought are kept separate, since the interior is carefully prevented from flowing into the exterior and becoming manifest in any way.
By creation man is so formed as to have his interior and exterior thought make one by correspondence; and these do make one in those that are in good, for such both think and speak what is good only.
But in those that are in evil interior and exterior thought do not make one, for such think what is evil and say what is good.
With such there is an inversion of order, for good with them is on the outside and evil within; and in consequence evil has dominion over good, and subjects it to itself as a servant, that it may serve it as a means for gaining its ends, which are of the same nature as their love.
With such an end contained in the good that they seek and do, their good is evidently not good, but is infected with evil, however good it may appear in outward form to those not acquainted with their interiors.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” – Matthew 7:15
It is not so with those that are in good.
With such order is not inverted; but good from interior thought flows into exterior thought, and thus into word and act.
Into this order man was created; and in heaven, and in the light of heaven, his interiors are in this order. And as the light of heaven is the Divine truth that goes forth from the Lord, and consequently is the Lord in heaven, therefore such are led by the Lord.
Homework:
Over the next 24 hours, pay special attention to any conflict you may have between your thoughts or feelings and actions. Is there an area where you hesitate to be transparent, speak the truth or otherwise let your true nature show?
Again take time to reflect on the Golden Rule:
“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 7:12
Our will and thought
All this has been said to make known that every man has interior thought and exterior thought, and that these are distinct from each other. The term thought includes also the will, for thought is from the will, and thought apart from willing is impossible.
All this makes clear what is meant by the state of man’s exteriors and the state of his interiors.
When will and thought are mentioned will includes affection and love, and all the delight and pleasure that spring from affection and love, since all these relate to the will as to their subject; for what a man wills he loves and feels to be delightful or pleasurable; and on the other hand, what a man loves and feels to be delightful or pleasurable, that he wills.
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.” – Proverbs 21:2
But by thought is then meant everything by which affection or love is confirmed, for thought is simply the will’s form, or that whereby what is willed may appear in light.
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart. ” – Proverbs 20:27
Life belongs to the spirit
Let it be understood that man is wholly such as his interiors are, and not such as his exteriors are separate from his interiors.
This is because his interiors belong to his spirit, and the life of his spirit is the life of man, for from it his body lives; and because of this such as a man’s interiors are such he continues to be to eternity.
But as the exteriors pertain to the body they are separated after death, and those of them that adhere to the spirit are laid asleep, and serve purely as a plane for the interiors, as has been shown above in treating of the memory of man which continues after death.
This makes evident what is man’s own and what is not his own, namely, that with the evil man nothing that belongs to his exterior thought from which he speaks, or to the exterior will from which he acts, is his own, but only that which belongs to his interior thought and will.
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” – Proverbs 23:7
Leaving externals behind
When the first state, which is the state of the exteriors treated of in the preceding chapter, has been passed through, the man-spirit* is let into the state of his interiors, or into the state of his interior will and its thought, in which he had been in the world when left to himself to think freely and without restraint.
Into this state he unconsciously glides, just as when in the world he withdraws the thought nearest to his speech, that is, from which he speaks, toward his interior thought and abides in the latter.
Therefore in this state of his interiors the man-spirit is in himself and in his very life; for to think freely from his own affection is the very life of man, and is himself.
In this state the spirit thinks from his very will, thus from his very affection, or from his very love; and thought and will then make one, and one in such a manner that he seems scarcely to think but only to will.
It is nearly the same when he speaks, yet with the difference that he speaks with a kind off ear that the thoughts of the will may go forth naked, since by his social life in the world this has come to be a part of his will.
Homework:
Continue notation and reflection, but now pay a little more attention to your deepest motivations. As you review your previous notes and reflections, can you discern a difference?
Reflecting also on the idea that our very love, our will, is in essence our life and who we are, meditate on this verse:
“Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you.” – Matthew 6:33
*) a bit of awkward phrasing and so may benefit from a couple of clarifying points. First, it does not refer to males only, but to all mankind. It would perhaps be better be translated ‘mind’, because ultimately that is where the term man comes from. Second, the mind is the person, and regarding the internal, is the spirit. The spirit and mind, according to Swedenborg, are one and the same thing!
Our own spiritual state
All men without exception are let into this state after death, because it is their spirit’s own state.
The former state is such as the man was in regard to his spirit when in company; and that is not his own state.
Again that the state of the exteriors is not man’s own state or the state of his spirit is evident from the fact that when he is in company in the world he speaks in accord with the laws of moral and civil life, and at such times interior thought rules the exterior thought, as one person rules another, to keep him from transgressing the limits of decorum and good manners.
It is evident also from the fact that when a man thinks within himself, he thinks how he must speak and act in order to please and to secure friendship, good will, and favor, and this in extraneous ways, that is, otherwise than he would do if he acted in accordance with his own will.
Interior State
All this shows that the state of the interiors that the spirit is let into is his own state, and was his own state when he was living in the world as a man.
When the spirit is in the state of his interiors it becomes clearly evident what the man was in himself when he was in the world, for at such times he acts from what is his own.
He that had been in the world interiorly in good then acts rationally and wisely, and even more wisely than in the world, because he is released from connection with the body, and thus from those earthly things that caused obscurity and interposed as it were a cloud.
But he that was in evil in the world then acts foolishly and insanely, and even more insanely than in the world, because he is free and under no restraint.
For while he lived in the world he was sane in outward appearance, since by means of externals he made himself appear to be a rational man; but when he has been stripped of his externals his insanities are revealed.
An evil man who in externals takes on the semblance of a good man may be likened to a vessel shining and polished on the outside and covered with a lid, within which filth of all kinds is hidden, in accordance with the Lord’s saying:
“Ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.” – Matthew 23:27
Homework:
Many Christians seem to hold fast to the idea of Our Lord, Jesus Christ as some kind of ‘super-hero’ for the ‘end times’ to rescue us from our own evils and sins if we only ‘believe’ Him to be our saviour. Completely wiping away those parts of us that are not good. Swedenborg clearly presents the idea that by the rationality and freewill we are given here and now and through the continual choices we make, affirming this, rejecting that, that we determine our own quality and character. Either good, with the help of and affirming what is good and true, or evil when we reject it and only affirm our own self.
How does this sit with your current thinking?
Additional: you may also reflect on this saying.
“In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.” – Ecclesiastes 11:3
The Good
All that have lived a good life in the world and have acted from conscience, who are such as have acknowledged the Divine and have loved Divine truths, especially such as have applied those truths to life, seem to themselves, when let into the state of their interiors, like one aroused from sleep into full wakefulness, or like one passing from darkness into light.
They then think from the light of heaven, thus from an interior wisdom, and they act from good, thus from an interior affection.
Heaven flows into their thoughts and affections with an interior blessedness and delight that they had previously had no knowledge of; for they have communication with the angels of heaven.
They then acknowledge the Lord and worship him from their very life, for being in the state of their interiors they are in their proper life; and as freedom pertains to interior affection they then acknowledge and worship the Lord from freedom.
Thus, too, they withdraw from external sanctity and come into that internal sanctity in which worship itself truly consists.
Such is the state of those that have lived a Christian life in accordance with the commandments in the Word.
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.” – Revelation 3:12
The Evil
But the state of those that have lived an evil life in the world and who have had no conscience, and have in consequence denied the Divine, is the direct opposite of this.
For everyone who lives an evil life, inwardly in himself denies the Divine, however much he may suppose when in external thought that he acknowledges the Lord and does not deny him; for acknowledging the Divine and living an evil life are opposites.
When such in the other life enter into the state of their interiors, and are heard speaking and seen acting, they appear foolish; for from their evil lusts they burst forth into all sorts of abominations, into contempt of others, ridicule and blasphemy, hatred and revenge; they plot intrigues, some with a cunning and malice that can scarcely be believed to be possible in any man.
For they are then in a state of freedom to act in harmony with the thoughts of their will, since they are separated from the outward conditions that restrained and checked them in the world.
In a word, they are deprived of their rationality, because their reason while they were in the world did not have its seat in their interiors, but in their exteriors; and yet they seemed to themselves to be wiser than others.
This being their character, while in the second state they are let down by short intervals into the state of their exteriors, and into a recollection of their actions when they were in the state of their interiors; and some of them then feel ashamed, and confess that they have been insane; some do not feel ashamed; and some are angry because they are not permitted to remain permanently in the state of their exteriors.
But these are shown what they would be if they were to continue in that state, namely, that they would attempt to accomplish in secret ways the same evil ends, and by semblances of goodness, honesty, and justice, would mislead the simple in heart and faith, and would utterly destroy themselves; for their exteriors would at length burn with the same fire as their interiors, and their whole life would be consumed.
No outward constraints
When in this second state spirits become visibly just what they had been in themselves while in the world, what they then did and said secretly being now made manifest;
for they are now restrained by no outward considerations, and therefore what they have said and done secretly they now say and endeavor to do openly, having no longer any fear of loss of reputation, such as they had in the world.
They are also brought into many states of their evils, that what they are may be evident to angels and good spirits.
Thus are hidden things laid open and secret things uncovered, in accordance with the Lord’s words:
“There is nothing covered up that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known. Whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light, and what ye have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers shall be proclaimed on the housetops.” – Luke 12:2, 3
And:
“I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” – Matthew 12:36
Homework:
Take a few minutes to meditate on a scenario where you may act in a way that under closer scrutiny, does not hold up to the principles you profess to hold dear. It is of paramount importance for our personal spiritual growth that we do not trick and fool ourselves by excusing or lying about our own nature. Instead, if we sincerely believe something, we ought to put it into practice fearlessly. This is our task!
Exposing the madness of selfishness
The nature of the wicked in this state cannot be described in a few words, for each one is insane in accord with his own lusts, and these are various; therefore I will merely mention some special instances from which conclusions maybe formed respecting the rest.
Those that have loved themselves above everything, and in their occupations and employments have looked to their own honor, and have performed uses and found delight in them not for the use’s sake but for the sake of reputation, that they might because of them be esteemed more worthy than others, and have thus been fascinated by their reputation for honor, are more stupid in this second state than others; for so far as one loves himself he is separated from heaven, and so far as he is separated from heaven he is separated from wisdom.
But those that have not only been in self-love but have been crafty also, and have raised themselves to honors by means of crafty practices, affiliate themselves with the worst of spirits, and learn magic arts, which are abuses of Divine order, and by means of these they assail and infest all who do not honor them, laying snares, fomenting hatred, burning with revenge, and are eager to vent their rage on all who do not yield to them;
and they rush into all these enormities so far as their fiendish companions favor them; and at length they meditate upon how they can climb up into heaven to destroy it, or be worshiped there as gods.
To such length does their madness carry them.
“Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.” – Deuteronomy 28:45
Homework:
“Don’t forget to do your homework.” – mum
Memorable Experience
Papists of this character are more insane than the rest, for they cherish the notion that heaven and hell are subject to their power, and that they can remit sins at pleasure, claiming to themselves all that is Divine, and calling themselves Christ.
This persuasion is such with them that wherever it flows in it disturbs the mind and induces darkness even to pain.
Such are nearly the same in both the first and the second state; but in the second they are without rationality.*
Those that have attributed creation to nature, and have therefore in heart if not with the lips denied the Divine, and thus all things of the church and of heaven, affiliate with their like in this second state, and call everyone a god who excels in craftiness, worshiping him even with Divine honors.
I have seen such in an assembly adoring a magician, debating about nature, and behaving like fools, as if they were beasts under a human form, while among them there were some who in the world had been in stations of dignity, and some who had been esteemed learned and wise. So with others in other states.
From these few instances it may be inferred what those are who have the interiors of their minds closed heavenwards, as is the case with all who have received no influx out of heaven through acknowledgment of the Divine and a life of faith.
Everyone can judge from himself how he would act if, being such, he were left free to act with no fear of the law and no fear in regard to his life, and with no outward restraints, such as fear of injury to one’s reputation or of loss of honor and gain and consequent pleasures.
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.” – Matthew 15:8
*) Swedenborg writes about this in his book Last Judgment and the Destruction of Babylon.
The Lord restrains the evil
Nevertheless, the insanity of such is restrained by the Lord that it may not rush beyond the limits of use; for even such spirits perform some use.
In them good spirits see what evil is and its nature, and what man is when he is not led by the Lord.
Another of their uses is their collecting together evil spirits like themselves and separating them from the good; and another, that the truths and goods that the evil had outwardly professed and feigned are taken away from them, and they are brought into the evils of their life and the falsities of their evil, and are thus prepared for hell.
For no one enters hell until he is in his own evil and the falsities of evil, since no one is permitted there to have a divided mind, that is, to think and speak one thing and to will another.
Every evil spirit there must think what is false from evil, and speak from the falsity of evil, in both respects from the will, thus from his own essential love and its delight and pleasure, in the same way that he thought while in the world when he was in his spirit, that is, in the same way as he thought in himself when he thought from interior affection.
The reason is that the will is the man himself, and not the thought except so far as it partakes of the will, the will being the very nature itself or disposition of the man.
Therefore man’s being let into his will is being let into his nature or disposition, and likewise into his life; for by his life man puts on a nature; and after death he continues to be such as the nature is that he has acquired by his life in the world; and with the evil this nature can no longer be amended and changed by means of the thought or by the understanding of truth.
Evil experiences punishment
When evil spirits are in this second state, as they rush into evils of every kind they are subjected to frequent and grievous punishments.
In the world of spirits there are many kinds of punishment; and there is no regard for person, whether one had been in the world a king or a servant.
Every evil carries its punishment with it, the two making one; therefore whoever is in evil is also in the punishment of evil.
And yet no one in the other world suffers punishment on account of the evils that he had done in this world, but only on account of the evils that he then does; although it amounts to the same and is the same thing whether it be said that men suffer punishment on account of their evils in the world or that they suffer punishment on account of the evils they do in the other life, since everyone after death returns into his own life and thus into like evils; and the man continues the same as he had been in the life of the body.
Men are punished for the reason that the fear of punishment is the sole means of subduing evils in this state. Exhortation is no longer of any avail, neither is instruction or fear of the law and of the loss of reputation, since everyone then acts from his nature; and that nature can be restrained and broken only by punishments.
But good spirits, although they had done evils in the world, are never punished, because their evils do not return.
Moreover, I have learned that the evils they did were of a different kind or nature, not being done purposely in opposition to the truth, or from any other badness of heart than that which they received by inheritance from their parents, and that they were borne into this by a blind delight when they were in externals separate from internals.
Homework:
By now it should be obvious and clear to you why your introspection and deep consideration of your own thoughts and feelings is so critically important: the only true thing that matters, which the Lord considers and determines our quality and so true character, is our intentions – the heart or what we love!
Finding our own society
Everyone goes to his own society in which his spirit had been in the world; for every man, as regards his spirit, is conjoined to some society, either infernal or heavenly, the evil man to an infernal society and the good man to a heavenly society, and to that society he is brought after death.
The spirit is led to his society gradually, and at length enters it.
When an evil spirit is in the state of his interiors he is turned by degrees toward his own society, and at length, before that state is ended, directly to it; and when that state is ended he himself casts himself into the hell where those are who are like himself.
This act of casting down appears to the sight like one falling headlong with the head downwards and the feet upwards. The cause of this appearance is that the spirit himself is in an inverted order, having loved infernal things and rejected heavenly things.
In this second state some evil spirits enter the hells and come out again by turns; but these do not appear to fall headlong as those do that are fully vastated.
Moreover, the society itself in which they had been as regards their spirit while in the world is shown to them when they are in the state of their exteriors, that they may thus learn that even while in the life of the body they were in hell, although not in the same state as those that are in hell itself, but in the same state as those who are in the world of spirits.
Of this state, as compared with those that are in hell, more will be said hereafter.
Separating the Good from the Evil
In this second state the separation of evil spirits from good spirits takes place.
For in the first state they are together, since while a spirit is in his exteriors he is as he was in the world, thus the evil with the good and the good with the evil; but it is otherwise when he has been brought into his interiors and left to his own nature or will.
The separation of evil spirits from good spirits is effected by various means; in general by their being taken about to those societies with which in their first state they had communication by means of their good thoughts and affections, thus to those societies that they had induced to believe by outward appearances that they were not evil.
Usually they are led about through a wide circle, and everywhere what they really are is made manifest to good spirits.
At the sight of them the good spirits turn away; and at the same time the evil spirits who are being led about turn their faces away from the good toward that quarter where their infernal society is, into which they are about to come. Other methods of separation, which are many, will not now be mentioned.
Homework:
How do you distinguish what is good from what is evil? Have you picked up so far, that in essence these two are separated by usefulness?
If you have some difficulty with the term evil, or still think that evil is something terribly heinous and overtly bad, then I challenge you to replace the term evil with selfishness. Evil is the opposite of live – literally.
Supplementary Message
A message initially prepared for social media, but worthwhile sharing here, seeing as it addresses the topic of how we can test if something is good. It is meant for internal use.
