“In the spiritual sense of the Word there is no idea of person, place or time; but it is otherwise with its natural sense. (Apocalypse Explained 1049)
Removing Person
Here are some examples to work with:
Example (1)
“When man enters the other life, he is received first by angels, who perform for him all good offices, and talk with him about the Lord, heaven, and the angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good”. (Heaven and Hell 548)
When man (the mind) enters the other life (places its attention on mental activity) he is received first by angels (truths from the Word become active), who perform for him all good offices, and talk with him about the Lord, heaven, and the angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good.
Key Principle
The Word instructs me about the Lord and heavenly life and provides the ability to discern what is genuinely good and true.
Sample Task
Find examples each day that illustrate the truth of this principle in my life.
Example (2)
“most persons who read the Word do not read it from the affection of truth, but from the affection of confirming therefrom the doctrinal things of the church within which they were born, no matter what these may be”. (Arcana Coelestia 6047-3)
most persons (states in me) who read the Word do not read it from the affection of truth, but from the affection of confirming therefrom the doctrinal things of the church (in me) within which they were born, no matter what these may be.
Using the ‘In Me’ Tool with Removing Persons
Often, using the ‘In Me’ tool can be an effective way of allowing us to see how what is being described isn’t talking about ‘those people or persons’ anymore, but rather that it’s describing the qualities of the ideas, beliefs, concepts and affections that populate our minds.
Key Principle
There are states in me that read the Word to confirm the doctrinal understandings I have, regardless of what their quality or origin is.
Sample Tasks
- Can I see this happening in me? Can I become aware of this?
- How can I observe the quality and origin of the states in me?
- To read the Word every day and to take note of my inner talk when something doesn’t make sense or has a sense of conflict in it.
- To then observe the inner talk that also occurs when I am with other people and something doesn’t make sense or there is conflict in what the other person is saying.
Example
“And these are the generations of the sons of Noah –Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons were born to them after the Flood.” (Genesis 10:1)
A surface reading of the way this verse is constructed immediately draws the thought into thinking of people in a historical context. Certain people, living in a certain time, after a certain event (the Flood). The spiritual content has been clothed in natural terms using the concept of persons (Shem etc) and time (sons being born after the Flood). Now if we use the ‘In Me’ tool we can go some way to giving more attention to the statement with a view to its spiritual application; so that it reads…
And these are the generations of the sons of Noah (in me) – Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons (in me) were born to them (in me) after the Flood (in me).
Our attention is now drawn inward, away from the appearances of an external historical context to the inner spiritual world of our own minds, and the processes that exist there and are being represented here in the Biblical text. The use of ‘In Me’ immediately confronts us with questions like, what ‘In Me’ is Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth, what are their sons, and what is this flood? Carrying questions regarding spiritual and celestial realities is more important than having the answers. And working with the Text in this way gets us used to being comfortable in a state of not knowing – which is so important when engaged in exploring the inner processes of our mental world.
Coming to a section of the Text now, we can see how the ‘In Me’ tool works with the material on this text in the Heavenly Doctrines:
“Those who are here named ‘sons of Japheth’ were all such people (in me) as possessed external worship corresponding to internal, that is, people (in me) who lived in simplicity, friendship, and mutual charity, and knew no other doctrinal teachings than those which existed as external forms of ritual.
“Those who are named ‘sons of Ham’ (in me) were people who possessed corrupted internal worship.
“Those who are called ‘sons of Canaan’ (in me) were people who possessed external worship separated from internal. Those who are referred to as ‘sons of Shem’ (in me) were internal men, who worshipped the Lord and loved the neighbour. Their Church closely resembled the true Christian Church with us. (Arcana Coelestia 1141)
The placing of ‘In Me’ in the Text makes available the possibility of seeing that Japheth, Ham and Canaan might describe different qualities (name denotes quality) of states that exist in me, and one way of exploring this further would be to remove the idea of time (past tense) to bring things more into the present – words such as “were” and the “…ed” endings as in “possess-ed” etc. Therefore, working these ideas into the Text we might get something like…
The quality of the truths called ‘sons of Japheth’ are what gives rise to mental states (in me) that possess (are directed towards) external worship (Life) corresponding to internal, that is, mental states (in me) that support living in simplicity, friendship, and mutual charity, and is built upon doctrinal teachings as are expressed in external forms of ritual (external behaviours).
The quality of the truths called ‘sons of Ham’ (in me) are what gives rise to mental states (in me) that support corrupted internal worship. The quality of the truths called ‘sons of Canaan’ (in me) are what gives rise to mental states that support external worship separated from internal.
The quality of the truths called ‘sons of Shem’ (in me) are internal truths, that support mental states orientated toward worshiping the Lord (Good) and loving the neighbour (truths). This quality of mind (i.e. Church) closely resembles the true Christian Church with (in) us.
Key Principles
There are patterns of thinking present with me that support loving goods and truths and there are also those that don’t.
Sample Tasks
- To try to be aware of when my thoughts or speech or actions are supporting the truths that the Word teaches that I profess to love and believe and alternatively of times when there is incongruence.
- To take note of when I speak or act in what looks outwardly a very loving way, but I am having thoughts that are in opposition to this.
Removing Time
We remove ‘time’ so that what is described is read as present tense, in terms of states in us ‘In Me’.
Example (1)
“The reason Jehovah God came down into the world as the Divine Truth was so that He could affect redemption.” (True Christian Religion 86)
The reason Jehovah God (the Word) came (comes) down into the world (in me) as the Divine Truth was (is) so that He could (can) effect redemption.
Key Principle
The Word comes into my natural mind as truth, to redeem and reorder my thoughts and affections.
Sample Task
- To consider what I experience as redemption? Do I really believe that the Word can save me?
- To observe what demonstrates my belief in this idea and what actions and thoughts deny it?
Example (2)
“I have been taught from heaven that the most ancient peoples on our earth, who were celestial men, thought from correspondences themselves, the natural things of the world before their eyes serving them as the means of thinking in this way. Being of such character, they were in fellowship with angels and spoke with them. Thus, through them heaven was conjoined to the world. For this reason, that period was called the Golden Age, of which it is said by ancient writers that the inhabitants of heaven dwelt with men and associated with them as friends with friends.” (Heaven and Hell 115)
And to re-word it, we have:
I have been taught from heaven that the most ancient peoples (in me) on our earth (in my external mind), who were (are) celestial men, thought (think) from correspondences themselves, the natural things of the world before their eyes serving them as the means of thinking in this way. Being of such character, they were (are) in fellowship with angels (in me) and spoke (speak) with them. Thus, through them heaven (my internal mind) was (is) conjoined to the world (my external mind). For this reason, that (this) period (state) was (is) called the Golden Age, of which it is said by ancient writers that the inhabitants of heaven dwelt (dwell) with men and associated with them as friends with friends.
Key Principles
There is a state in me called the Golden Age in which the things of the world serve celestial truths.
These celestial truths communicate with the things of the Lord that are good and true (angels) so that I may think from correspondences, and this is how I may be cojoined with heaven.
Sample Tasks
- What truths from the Word do I know that allow me to see and think from correspondences in my surroundings?
- To reflect on what it means to think from correspondences. Does this mean to think from the Word, from seeing all that I interact with as communicating something of the Lord to me? To observe what happens when I try to remember to do this.
Removing Place/Space
The Heavenly Doctrines spend a lot of time describing how places in Sacred Scripture are in fact representative of spiritual states of mind and that their names describe the quality of the love that is ruling. They also point out that changes of place, as in when people in the Text move between one place and another, represent changes in mental state. If we are to see how the Heavenly Doctrines are relevant to our spiritual work in the here and now, then this way of viewing places must also be applied when we read these Texts.
We can then work with the idea that heaven, hell, the world of spirits and places in general in the Text, although described as places with landscapes and structures and people, may also be viewed as descriptions of states of mind.
Example (1)
“That there are many earths, and men upon them, and spirits and angels thence, is well known in the other life, for it is there granted to everyone who desires it from a love of truth, and thence of use, to speak with the spirits of other earths, and thereby to be confirmed concerning a plurality of worlds, and to be informed that the human race is not from one earth only, but from innumerable earths; and moreover to be informed what is their genius, manner of life, and their Divine worship.” (Earths in the Universe 2)
Key Principles
The ‘other life’ can be thought of as the new way of seeing and experiencing life, that starts to form when spiritual work is engaged with. The ‘earths’ can be thought of as the external mind or the church within, as it is in my awareness. So, a ‘plurality’ of earths or worlds could be thought of as the many different ever-changing ways I come to experience the church within.
Sample Tasks
- To consider how many different ways I am offered an experience of the church within, of knowing the Lord in my life.
- To be open to seeing also their quality and nature (genius and manner) and of how they worship- i.e. how they are applied in my life in a conscious acknowledgment of the Lord
Example (2)
“The nature of the love of infants and children with the spiritual, and its nature with the natural, is manifestly perceived from parents [in the spiritual world] after death. When they come there, most fathers call to mind their children who have passed away before them, and the children are presented to them and there is mutual recognition. Spiritual fathers merely look at them and ask as to their state, rejoicing if it is well with them and grieving if it is ill; and, after some conversation, instruction, and admonition respecting heavenly moral life, they separate from them. But before separation, they teach them that they are no longer to be remembered as fathers because the Lord is the one only Father to all in heaven, according to His words (Matthew 23:9); and that they themselves never remember them as their children.
But natural fathers, as soon as they realize that they are living after death and recall to their memory the children who had passed away before them and who also are presented to them according to their desire, are at once conjoined with them, and they cling together like a bundle of sticks. The father is then in continual delight at the sight of them and from conversation with them. If it is told him that some of these children of his are satans and have brought injury upon the good, he nevertheless keeps them in a circle around him, or in a group in front of him. If he himself sees that they inflict injury and do evil deeds, he still pays no heed and does not dissociate any of them from himself. Therefore, lest so harmful a company continue, they are of necessity sent together into hell. There, in the presence of his children, the father is put under guard and his children are separated, each being sent away to the place proper to his life. (Conjugial Love 406)
And to word it differently, we have:
The nature of the love of infants (new states of thought and affection in me) and children (developing states of thought and affection in me) with the spiritual (spiritual mind), and its nature with the natural (natural mind), is manifestly perceived from parents (the origin of these states) [in the spiritual world SPIRITUAL MIND] after death (the Word awakens an awareness in me of what spiritual life is).
Key Principles
Holding this way of reading the passage in mind with the ‘children’ being new and developing states of thought and affection, ‘death’ being the resurrection into spiritual life, and the ‘father’ representing good/love, then we can form the following principles from the Text.
- Once the Word awakens an awareness of what constitutes spiritual life, then spiritual loves see and recognise the developing states of thought and affections and attribute their origin to the Lord.
- But natural loves claim ownership of developing thought and affections as belonging to the self, and are blind to the nature of their quality. This is a state of hell, and as such the loves and what it produces must be separated from each other.
Sample Task
- To take note of when I attribute the good things that I do or say to the Lord and when I claim credit for them myself.
- To observe how my thoughts and affections change when I notice that I have claimed ownership of them? To also notice what the inner self talk is when this happens.
Example (3)
“After this work was finished the Lord called together His twelve disciples who followed Him in the world; and the next day He sent them all forth throughout the whole spiritual world to preach the Gospel that THE LORD GOD JESUS CHRIST reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ages and ages”. (True Christian Religion 791)
And to re-word it, we have:
After this work was finished the Lord called together His twelve disciples (the fullness of the church in me) who followed Him in the world (the external mind in me); and the next day He sent them all forth throughout the whole spiritual world (the internal mind in me) to preach the Gospel that The Lord God Jesus Christ reigns (in me), whose kingdom shall be for ages and ages,
Key Principles
At the end of a cycle of spiritual work then the fullness of the church occurs within me where the Lord is what reigns in both the external and internal mind.
Sample Tasks
- To reflect on how I experience this in my life, particularly in relation to the end of a Logopraxis work cycle.
- And in general – Can I see illustrations of the fullness of the church when the Lord rules instead of the self and likewise can I see when the self-reigns and the Lord doesn’t?
