Potts(1905-1910) 4622
4622. CONTINUATION CONCERNING CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN, HERE CONCERNING THE CORRESPONDENCE OF ODOR AND OF THE NOSTRILS THEREWITH. The dwellings of the blessed in the other life are of many kinds, and are constructed with such art as to be as it were embodiments of the very art of architecture, or to come straight from the art itself. (On this subject see what has already been related from experience, n. 1116, 1626-1630.) These dwellings appear not only to the sight, but also to the touch, for all things there are adapted to the sensations of spirits and angels, and hence are such as do not come to bodily sense like that of man, but to that possessed by those who are there. I know that this is incredible to many, but this is because nothing is believed which cannot be seen by the bodily eyes and felt with the hands of flesh. For this reason the man of this day, whose interiors are closed, knows nothing of the things which exist in the spiritual world or in heaven. He does indeed say from the Word and from doctrine that there is a heaven, and that the angels who are there are in joy and in glory, but he knows no more about the matter. How the case is there he would indeed like to know, but when told he still believes nothing, because at heart he denies the existence of such things, and his desire to know about them is prompted solely by his curiosity from doctrine, and not by any delight grounded in faith. They who are not in faith also deny at heart; but they who believe get ideas from various sources about heaven and its joy and glory, each person from such things as are of his own knowledge and intelligence, and the simple from the things of bodily sensation. [2] Nevertheless most people do not apprehend that spirits and angels enjoy sensations much more exquisite than those of men in this world, namely, sight, hearing, smell, something analogous to taste, and touch; and especially the delights of the affections. If men would only believe that their interior essence is the spirit, and that the body and its sensations and members are adapted to uses in this world merely, and that the spirit and its sensations and organs are adapted to uses in the other life, then from themselves and almost of their own accord they would come into ideas about the state of their spirit after death; for they would reflect that the spirit must be the man himself who thinks, and who desires, longs for things, and is affected with them; and further that all the power of sensation which appears in the body belongs properly to the spirit, and to the body merely by influx; and they would afterwards confirm themselves in this idea by many considerations, and in this way would at last take more delight in the things of their spirit than in those of their body. [3] It is also a real fact that it is not man's body which sees, hears, smells, and feels, but his spirit; and therefore when the spirit is divested of the body, it is in its own sensations, the same as when it was in the body, only now far more exquisite; for the things of the body, being comparatively gross, had rendered the sensations obtuse, and this the more because the man had immersed them in earthly and worldly things. This I can aver-that a spirit has much more exquisite sight than a man in the body, and also much more exquisite hearing, and, astonishing to say, the sense of smell, and especially the sense of touch; for spirits see one another, hear one another, and touch one another. Moreover, anyone who believes in the life after death might infer that this is the case from the fact that no life is possible without sensation, and that the quality of the life is according to the quality of the sensation, nay, that the intellectual faculty is nothing but an exquisite sense of interior things, and the higher intellectual of spiritual things; and it is from this that the things of the intellectual and its perceptions are called internal senses. [4] As regards man's power of sensation immediately after death the case is this: As soon as a man dies and all things of his body grow cold, he is raised up into life, and at the same time into a state of all sensations; insomuch that at first he scarcely knows but that he is still in the body, for the sensations he then enjoys lead him so to believe. But when he observes that he has more exquisite sensations, and especially when he begins to speak with other spirits, it dawns upon him that he is in the other life, and that the death of his body has been the continuation of the life of his spirit. I have spoken with two of my acquaintances on the day of their burial, and with one who through my eyes saw his coffin and his bier; and as this man enjoyed all the sensation he had in this world, he spoke to me about the burial rites while I was following in his funeral procession, and also about his body, saying that they should throw that away because he himself was alive. [5] Be it known, however, that they who are in the other life can see nothing whatever in this world through the eyes of any man; but that their being able to do so through mine was because I am in the spirit with them and at the same time in the body with those who are in the world (see also n. 1880). And be it further known that I did not see with my bodily eyes those with whom I have spoken in the other life, but with the eyes of my spirit; and yet I saw them as clearly, and sometimes more clearly, than with the eyes of the body; for of the Lord's Divine mercy the senses of my spirit have been opened. [6] But I am aware that what I have so far said will not be believed by those who are immersed in bodily, earthly, and worldly things (that is, by those of them who have such things as their end), for such people apprehend no other things than those which are dissipated by death. I am also well aware that those will not believe who have thought much and investigated much about the soul, and who have not at the same time comprehended that the soul of man is his spirit, and that his spirit is the man himself who is living in the body; for such persons could have no other notion about the soul than as of a thinking principle, whether of flame or of ether, that acts solely into the organic forms of the body, and not into those purer forms which are of the spirit in the body; thus that the soul is such a thing as must be dissipated together with the body. And this is especially the case with those who have confirmed themselves in such things by views that are inflated with a persuasion of their own preeminent wisdom.
Elliott(1983-1999) 4622
4622. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN - continued IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SMELL AND OF THE NOSTRILS WITH THAT GRAND MAN
The dwelling-places of the blessed in the next life are many and varying. They are built so elegantly that they are so to speak the embodiments of architectural art itself or the direct products of that art. Concerning the dwelling-places of the blessed, see what has been described already from experience, in 1119, 1626-1630. The blessed are aware of these dwelling- places not only through the sense of sight but also through that of touch; for everything in that life is suited to the sensory powers which spirits and angels possess. Consequently their dwelling-places are not of the same nature as the objects perceived by man with his physical senses, but as the objects perceived by the senses which those in the next life possess. I realize that many cannot believe this, and the reason they cannot do so lies in their lack of belief in anything which they cannot see with their bodily eyes or touch with their physical hands. As a consequence man today, the interiors of whose being are closed, has no knowledge of the things which come into being in the spiritual world or in heaven. He does, it is true, say - because the Word and doctrine so teach it - that there is a heaven, where angels live in joy and glory; but beyond that he knows nothing. He would indeed like to know what it is like there, but when he is told this he still fails to believe it, because in his heart he denies the very existence of heaven. The reason he would like to know stems from no more than curiosity aroused by what is taught in doctrine; it does not stem from any delight to know because of any real belief. Those who do not have any real belief in heaven also deny its existence in their hearts, whereas those who do have such belief acquire to themselves ideas about heaven, its joy and glory, from various sources. Each individual does so from whatever knowledge or understanding he has gained, or in the case of the simple from what they discern by means of their bodily senses.
[2] Even so, the majority of people do not grasp the idea that spirits and angels have sensory powers that are far keener than men's in the world; that is to say, they have the powers of sight, hearing, smell, something analogous to taste, and touch, and above all else delights belonging to affections. If people did but believe that the inner essence of their being is spirit and that the body, and the senses and members of this, are suited solely to uses that are served in the world, whereas the spirit, and the senses and organs of this, are suited to uses that are served in the next life, they would arrive unaided and almost spontaneously at ideas about the state of their spirit after death. For in that case they would think of a person's spirit as his true self which thinks, has longings, has desires, and feels emotions, and after that they would think of each sensory power manifested in the body as that which belongs to the spirit, and to the body only through influx from this. These thoughts they would subsequently confirm for themselves from many other pieces of evidence, and so at length they would take more delight in the powers of their spirit than in those of their body.
[3] There is something further to be said on this matter, namely that it is not the body which sees, hears, smells, and feels through touch, but a person's spirit. That being so, when the spirit sheds its body it retains the sensory powers it possessed when within the body; indeed these are now far keener. For that which belongs to the body, being gross compared with that belonging to the spirit, has blunted those sensory powers; and these have been made even blunter because of the person's immersion of them in earthly and worldly interests. I can say this quite definitely, that a spirit has far keener eyesight than man has in the body, as well as far keener hearing. A spirit also has - and this fact will astonish people - the sense of smell, and especially the sense of touch. For spirits can see one another, hear one another, and touch one another. Anyone who believes in a life after death would also deduce this from the fact that no life is possible without the senses, and that the exact nature of that life is determined by that of the senses. Indeed he would deduce that the power of understanding is nothing else than a keener sensory awareness of interior things, a more superior power of understanding being a sensory awareness of spiritual realities. This also explains why the powers of the understanding and their perception of things are called the internal senses.
[4] So far as a person's sensory powers immediately after death are concerned, the position is this: As soon as he dies and the parts of the body grow cold, he is raised up into life, into a state which involves each of his sensory powers. At first he is scarcely aware that he is not still in the body, for the experience of his senses leads him to think he is still in it. But when he notices that his sensory powers are keener than before, and especially when he starts to speak to other spirits, he realizes that he is in the next life and that the death of his body has been a continuation of the life of his spirit. I have spoken to two of my acquaintances on the very day they were to be buried, and to one who through my eyes beheld his own coffin and bier. Since he still possessed each of the senses he had in the world, he spoke to me about his burial service even as I was taking part in the funeral procession. Regarding his body he said that they were putting this away because he was alive.
[5] But it should be recognized that those in the next life cannot see anything whatever of what is in the world through the eyes of anyone in the world. The reason they have been able to do so through my eyes is that in my spirit I am present with them at the same time as I am present in my body with those who are in the world; see also 1880. In addition to this it should be recognized that I have not used the eyes of my body to see those I have spoken to in the next life, but the eyes of my spirit. I have seen them as clearly, and sometimes more clearly, than with my bodily eyes, for in the Lord's Divine mercy the sensory powers of my spirit have been opened.
[6] But I realize that what has been stated up to now is not going to be believed by people who are concerned solely with bodily, earthly, and worldly interests, that is, by those of them who have these interests as their end in view. For such people have no conception of anything apart from that which is dissipated by death. I also realize that what has been stated up to now is not going to be believed by those who have thought a lot about the soul and have asked many questions about it, without at the same time grasping the point that man's soul is his spirit and that his spirit is his real self living within the body. For these people have been unable to conceive of the soul as anything else than something like thought, or flame, or what is ethereal, which operates solely within the organic forms of the body, not within purer forms belonging to his spirit within the body, and so is the kind of thing that is dissipated along with the body. This applies especially to those who have convinced themselves of ideas like these because the picture they have of themselves has been magnified out of all proportion by the false notion that they are wiser than others.
Latin(1748-1756) 4622
4622. Continuatio de Correspondentia cum Maximo Homine, hic de Correspondentia Odoris et Narium cum illo.Sunt habitacula beatorum in altera vita varia, tali arte constructa ut sint quasi in ipsa arte architectonica, seu immediate ab ipsa arte; de habitaculis beatorum videantur quae prius ab experientia, n. (x)1119, 1626-1630; haec non solum apparent illis coram visu, sed etiam coram tactu; omnia enim quae ibi sunt, adaequata sunt sensationibus spirituum et angelorum, inde sunt talia quae non cadunt sub sensum corporeum qualis est hominis, sed sub illum qui est illis qui ibi sunt: scio quod hoc multis incredibile sit, sed ex causa quia nihil creditur quod non oculis corporeis videri, et manibus carneis palpari potest; inde {1}est quod homo hodie, cui occlusa sunt interiora, nihil sciat de illis quae existunt in mundo spirituali aut caelo; dicit quidem ex Verbo et ex doctrina quod {2}caelum sit et quod {3}angeli qui ibi, sunt in gaudio et in gloria, {4}et praeterea nihil novit; optat quidem ut sciat quomodo se ibi habet, sed cum ei dicitur, usque nihil credit, ex causa quia corde negat dari; cum optat scire, est solum quia tunc in curioso est ex doctrina, non in jucundo ex fide; qui non in fide sunt, illi quoque corde negant; at qui credunt, illi comparant sibi ideas de caelo, ejus gaudio et gloria, ex variis, quisque ex talibus quae suae scientiae ac intelligentiae sunt, at simplices ex sensitivis quae corporis sunt; 2 sed usque plerique non capiunt quod spiritus et angeli sensationibus polleant multo exquisitioribus quam homines in mundo, nempe visu, auditu, olfactu, analogo gustus, et tactu, ac imprimis jucundis {5}affectionum; si modo credidissent quod essentia eorum interior esset spiritus, et quod corpus (c)ac corporis sensationes et membra sint modo adaequata usibus in mundo, et spiritus ac spiritus sensationes (c)et organa adaequata usibus in altera vita, tunc ex se et paene sua sponte venirent in ideas de statu spiritus sui post mortem, cogitarent enim tunc secum quod spiritus ejus foret ipse ille homo qui cogitat, et qui cupit, desiderat et afficitur, et dein quod omne id sensitivum quod apparet in corpore, esset proprie ejus spiritus, et corporis solum per influxum; et haec postea confirmarent apud se multis, et sic tandem delectarentur illis 3 quae {6}sui spiritus sunt, plus quam illis quae {6}sui corporis:
reipsa etiam ita se habet quod nempe corpus non sit quod videt, audit, {7}odoratur, sentit, sed spiritus ejus; quapropter cum spiritus exuitur corpore, tunc in suis sensationibus est, in quibus fuerat cum in corpore, et quidem in multo exquisitioribus; corporea enim, quia crassa {8}respective, sensationes {9}obtusas reddiderunt, et adhuc obtusiores quia immersit illas terrestribus (c)et mundanis: hoc asseverare possum, quod spiritus multo exquisitiorem visum habeat quam homo in corpore, tum quoque auditum, et quod {10}miraturi, sensum odoris, ac imprimis sensum tactus, vident enim se mutuo{11}, audiunt se mutuo, tangunt se mutuo; hoc quoque is qui credit vitam post mortem, concluderet ex eo quod nulla vita dari queat absque sensu, et quod quale vitae sit secundum quale sensus, immo quod intellectuale non sit nisi exquisitus sensus interiorum, et superius intellectuale rerum spiritualium; inde etiam quae intellectualis (c)et ejus 4 perceptionum sunt, vocantur sensus interni. Cum sensitivo hominis statim post mortem, ita se habet: ut primum homo moritur et apud illum corporea frigescunt, exsuscitatur ille in vitam, et tunc in statum omnium sensationum, usque adeo ut primum vix {12}aliter sciat quam quod in corpore adhuc sit; sensationes enim in quibus est, adducunt illum ita credere, sed cum appercipit quod sensationes exquisitiores habeat, et hoc imprimis quando cum aliis spiritibus loqui incipit, tunc animadvertit quod in altera vita sit, et quod mors corporis ejus {13}fuerit continuatio vitae spiritus ejus. Cum duobus quos notos habui, locutus sum eodem die {14}cum sepelirentur, et cum uno qui per meos oculos vidit suum loculum et {15}feretrum, et is quia in omni sensatione erat in qua in mundo, loquebatur mecum de exequiis, cum funeralia ejus sequerer, et quoque de suo corpore, dicendo, quod rejiciant illud quia ipse vivit. Sed 5 sciendum quod illi qui in altera vita sunt, nihil quicquam quod in mundo per oculos alicujus hominis videre possint; sed quod per meos potuerint, erat quia spiritu cum illis sum, et simul corpore cum his qui in mundo, videatur etiam n. 1880:
ac praeterea sciendum quod illos cum quibus in altera vita locutus sum, non viderim oculis corporis mei, sed oculis spiritus mei, et usque tam {16}clare, et quandoque {17}clarius quam oculis corporis, nam, ex Divina Domini Misericordia, aperta sunt illa quae spiritus mei sunt. Sed scio quod 6 haec quae hactenus dicta sunt, non credituri sint illi qui corporeis, terrestribus et mundanis immersi sunt, hoc est, ii eorum qui illa pro fine habent, hi enim non alia capiunt quam quae per mortem dissipantur: scio etiam quod nec credituri sint qui multum cogitarunt et disquisiverunt de anima, et non simul comprehenderunt quod anima sit ejus spiritus, et quod ejus spiritus sit ipse ejus homo qui vivit in corpore; hi enim non aliam notionem de anima capere potuerunt quam quod sit aliquod cogitativum, aut flammeum, aut aethereum, quod solum agit in formas organicas corporis, et non in formas puriores quae sunt ejus spiritus in corpore, {18}et sic tale quod cum corpore dissiparetur;
et hoc imprimis illi qui se in talibus confirmarunt per intuitiones sufflatas a persuasione sapientiae prae aliis. @1 i quoque$ @2 illud$ @3 illi$ @4 at$ @5 ex affectione$ @6 ejus$ @7 odorat AI$ @8 i sunt$ @9 i ejus$ @10 scio miraturos$ @11 clarissima luce$ @12 aliud$ @13 sit$ @14 quo$ @15 lecticam$ @16 exquisite$ @17 exquisitius$ @18 inde concludere alius non potuerunt, quam quod tale$